Music, Cake, and Tea - K-On! Review

Over the past couple of months I've started to open my mind to different genres of anime. Most of my time spent watching anime has been spent watching shounen's, which while fun, is rather limiting. Last month I discovered how much you can have watching the Slice of Life genre through The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This new mindset on anime led me to K-On!, a show that I had heard a lot about through reviewers and internet memes. Based off of the limited parts that I had seen, I decided to give the show a shot and I was definitely not disappointed.

The story of K-On! unfolds mostly through the perspective of Hirosawa Yui, an airheaded and lazy high school freshman who has no idea what club to join. She picks the Light Music Club because she thinks she'll just be able to get away with playing the castanets. The Light Music Club had all its members graduate the year before and faces disbandment if it doesn't have four members. Ritsu and Mio, two other freshmen and childhood friend, join the club so that Ritsu can instantly become president and their "dream" of being in a band together. They're able to recruit Tsumugi, a soft-spoken and sweet girl who thought the club room was meant for chorus club, however they still remain a member short. This is where Yui reemerges in the picture. Yui joins the club believing that she'll be able to get away with not playing a real instrument but is disheartened when she finds out that the three other members are all excellent musicians. Not wanting to lose their fourth member, the three members play on Yui's love of cake and sweets and are able to convince her to stay. Yui even decides to pick up guitar so that she can play with the rest of the band.

After that, the overarching plot of K-On! just about falls to the wayside. The first episode drops a hint that they eventually want to get on the stage at Budokan and they do make mention that they have to be ready to play at school festivals. However, most episodes simply just follow the girls around on their rather random and, to be perfectly honest, monotonous adventures. The show is simply about four best friends just having fun and playing music together. Episodes are somewhat self-contained though there are a few important ones such as when a new member joins midseason or when they gain their faculty advisor. Normally, I would be very critical of an anime in which the plot never really goes anywhere or where none of the characters really face any obstacles but for some reason K-On! pulls it off. Each episode is incredibly enjoyable and was legitimately funny. It reminded me of Ouran Highschool Host Club with the way it deliberately plays with and sometimes subverts common anime tropes. Not a whole lot really goes on in K-On! but each episode leaves you feeling with warm and sweet feelings inside.

K-On! is less about the music and more about the bonds between friends, which I can totally get behind.

One thing that I heard about K-On! in the build up to when I eventually watched it was that for a show that has a heavy music premise, there really isn't a lot of music playing. This is...somewhat true. The focus of the show is definitely more on the girls themselves and their adventures together rather than the band itself. Most of the time the girls spend in the club room is spent hanging out, drinking tea, and eating cake. Most of the problems that the girls come up against are resolved (or unresolved depending on your viewpoint) by sitting down and drinking tea. The show doesn't let this slide though. Later in the season, new club member Asuza, a very serious musician, is nearly appalled by the lack of practicing the girls do. Of course, K-On! referencing this certainly does not excuse the lack of music but to be honest, I really didn't mind it. The premises for most of the episodes are band related such as an early episode where they have to find Yui a guitar. K-On! likes to go with a theme that the Light Music Club is not so much about the music, but instead about the great times that band members have with each other. There is a heavy friendship vibe here as you see the girls become true companions. I personally found this part of the show to be very well done and made up for the lack of music. This isn't to say either that the show is completely devoid of music, the characters perform a few times over the course of the season and are shown practicing in the room several times as well. In addition to that, I found that the show was also very smart about the musical references it made. These girls do know their stuff and had the technical knowhow to prove it.

The characters of K-On! generally fall into standard moe anime tropes. Yui is the ditz, Ritsu the headstrong and loud one, Mio the serious one but also a fraidy-cat, and Mugi is the wealthy and obscenely nice one. While originally this doesn't appear to make K-On! stand out from many other shows, it isn't a bad thing. It is one thing if a show is very cliched and/or trope-heavy but doesn't do anything with those tropes. K-On!, however, does what some people may find cliched or played out but does this very well. Turns out that the creators meant to base each character on the members of The Beatles The characters have immense chemistry with each other and I never found myself getting bored with them. Later in the season, the club takes on a fifth member in Asuza, who at first seems like she's going to disrupt the equilibrium between the members. However, despite some early tension, she ends up fitting right in and only makes the show better. While the girls of K-On! may not be the most original group of characters it didn't stop me from liking each of them. Character development is present but it isn't entirely noticeable. Yui gets notably more mature as the season goes on and Mio learns to relax a bit (same could be said for Asuza). Outside of those two characters though, we don't see too much development. Mugi is pretty much the same character throughout alongside Ritsu. Yet again, K-On! manages to make this not an issue. There isn't a whole lot of character development but doesn't really matter, the characters are entertaining and near impossible not to love, that should be enough. It should also be said that this show is ridiculously cute as well, frequently producing several "d'awwww" moments. The last episode of the season even made me tear up, so even without especially noticeable character development it is very easy to get attached to these characters.

You will love the characters of K-On!

As should be expected in a show that is about music, K-On! has a great soundtrack. Even if the girls perform a limited number of times that doesn't mean that the music isn't catchy and fun to listen to. Also, the animation is great in showing just how much fun the girls have playing music with each other which makes the songs all the more fun to listen to. The music in the background of the episodes is good as well, though not as catchy as the standalone tunes. In addition, the opening and ending songs were the best of all. This is one of the first animes where I've made a point to watch through the opening every episode. The animation is really strong as well. I've frequently lamented the lack of creativity when it comes to character design in modern anime so I was pleased to see that K-On! did not fall into that rut.

I have to say that I enjoyed the first season of K-On! way more than I ever thought that I would. It rendered my normal barometers of judging anime, character development and strong overarching plot, completely irrelevant. It is a show that makes you appreciate its simplicity, that every show doesn't need to have those elements. Sometimes you just want to watch a show that simply just plays itself out. K-On! was incredibly entertaining and I would have say is one of the best anime experiences I've ever had. I cannot recommend this show highly enough.

My Score: 5/5

Let Justice Be Done, Though the Heavens Fall - Aldnoah.Zero Review

Finding time to watch anime these days for me is proving to be a difficult task. However, every once in awhile I get a little window of opportunity to check out some of the new shows that have come out in the past season. One of the newer shows that I felt I had to check out was the new mecha anime Aldnoah. Zero, written by the mastermind behind Madoka Magica and Psycho-Pass, Gen Urobuchi. With that in mind, I came into Aldnoah. Zero expecting a new, dark, and refreshing take on mecha anime. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high and I came away feeling a little bit underwhelmed.

Aldnoah. Zero follows an alternate history timeline which means the universe is not entirely dissimilar to our own. In this history, the 1972 Apollo 17 expedition led to the astronauts finding a hypergate on the Moon which connected to Mars. The leaders of this expedition colonized Mars and created a new state an culture apart from Earth. In a need for resources, the newly named Vers Empire attacked Earth. Thanks to the technology of Aldnoah, the Vers Empire thrashed Earth's forces. However, the scale of the war destroyed the hypergate, leaving several Martians stranded and the job left unfinished. In the present day of 2014 however, the "Orbital Knights" as they have been dubbed, use the staged assassination of their own Princess Asseylum as an excuse to invade the Earth. As the war drags on, we get to see both sides of the conflict and begin to understand the motivations behind both sides. However, despite this strong premise, Aldnoah. Zero falls flat in the execution. The plot never explores any new avenues and finds itself falling into mecha anime cliches more often than finding new ways to explore the genre. The protagonist is nigh-invincible, the Terrans catch lucky breaks more often than not, and the only real drama is that a character will die at the end of an episode only to anti-climatically return at the beginning of the next. I've always said that merely killing off characters is a cheap way to create drama (looking at you George R.R. Martin), so I can forgive that last part, however, it is much harder to accept. Because of the war's origin being an inside plot by the Orbital Knights it set up a great opportunity to see both sides of the conflict and understand their motivations. However, while this sort of device is supposed to make you sympathize equally with both sides, it made it really hard for me to root for the Terrans because the Martians were much better developed characters and in some cases seemed more just in going to war. However, the show portrays most of the Orbital Knights as morally bankrupt sociopaths rather than people acting because they believe in the righteousness of their cause. A show cannot try and create a Black and Grey Morality in the two sides of the conflict and then hang up huge blinking lights telling the viewer who they should be rooting for.

Aldnoah. Zero wants us to sympathize with the Orbital Knights, but then also tells us we should hate them. Conflicted messages much?

The problem really lies with the characters. Mecha anime are known for being theaters for the debate of the necessity of war and to give a "war is hell" message to the viewer. However, for such themes to exist in a work, there must be strong characters for the viewer to sympathize with and identify with. Unfortunately, the characters here are entirely one dimensional and don't seem to serve much purpose besides moving the plot along. Take for example the "protagonist" Inaho, who's personality is just as deep as the shallow end of the kiddie pool. The average episode of Aldnoah. Zero usually plays out something like this: enemy mech shows up and has powers well beyond the reach of Inaho's mech, Inaho, despite a lack of actual combat experience, is able to eventually size up the opponent and defeat them single-handedly. I understand that the show is trying to convey some sort of message about how the strength of the mech is less important than the pilot within it but that isn't even the case here. You're telling me that some of the top military officers in the Vers empire, who crushed many of Earth's finest soldiers in battle before this, are suddenly powerless in the face of a high schooler who has no prior combat experience. Inaho isn't given any reason for being Earth's best mecha planet other than "the plot demands it". I mean, all he really seems to do differently from the other Earth pilots is not stand there and die. I understand that as an anime watcher I am supposed to have a certain suspension of disbelief for most situations that happen in shows but that is almost too much.

A boring, nigh-invincible Mary Sue

Other times, Inaho is actually a bit of a refreshing character because he is actually a rational pilot and understands that there are sacrifices that must be made to win wars. In this respect, Inaho is a deviation from the norm for an Urobuchi protagonist. Typically in works written by Gen Urobuchi, the protagonist is often highly idealistic which contrasts with the more cynical world they exist in. Madoka Magica saw Urobuchi deconstruct Madoka and Sayaka's ideas of heroism. Psycho-Pass put Akane Tsunemori's black and white ideas of justice to the test. Inaho on the other hand has a cynicism that matches the tone of his world. Unlike Akane, Madoka, and Sayaka, Inaho is cynical, cold, and is a consequentialist above all else. Normally this would seen as a change of pace from the naive and wide-eyed mecha protagonists that typically populate these shows. However, Inaho is cynical to the point of making his character dry, stagnant, and near emotionless. What made Akane, Madoka, and Sayaka such strong and interesting characters was despite all the evidence that told them to abandon their ideals, they held strong to them and proved that there was a place for idealism. Perhaps Inaho's character is supposed to represent the effect that war has on people. However, that idea doesn't hold up because he was born during peacetime. His cynicism only really serves to hold back any growth or depth his character could have undergone over the course of the show. It later turns out that Urobuchi was only involved in the first three episodes. That explains why the series after those three episodes feels like somebody trying (and failing) to replicate his style.

Inaho's lack of growth over the course of the series is not exclusive to him. Take for example the character of Slaine, a Terran who crash-landed with his father on Mars and is essentially a pseudo-slave to the Martians. Despite his poor treatment at the hands of a Martian count, Slaine develops a special bond with Princess Asseylum and so he doesn't hate his role. However, Slaine's role in the plot is extremely restricted and he only seems to be important when the story requires some sort of deus ex machina or somebody needs to get shot. The rest of the cast is largely forgettable and is simply there just to move the plot along. This is true of everyone except one character, Lieutenant Marito, one of the few in the military who served during the first Terran/Martian war. In doing do, he was forced to put his own friend out of his misery by shooting him in the head. Marito is constantly haunted by his own guilt and is actually an accurate depiction of PTSD and trauma that war can cause. In a series that wants to be dark and critical on the necessity of war, Marito's case should have been a larger part of the picture.

Things aren't all bad however. As said before, the premise of Aldnoah. Zero is enough to carry it through the 12 episodes of its first season. It is a well set up universe and I wish that we had gotten to see more of it. The action sequences are also phenomenal as it is still interesting to see the unique ways Inaho overcomes the technological advantages that the Martians have. The show was also still entertaining enough for me to watch it nearly nonstop, almost like a Destiny player who is still unsure why they keep playing the game despite its shortcomings. It is still entertaining in that respect, it is a mecha anime after all. The concepts and looks of the mechas are probably the most original part of the show and keep them from looking like Gundam knockoffs. The only negative thing you could say about the mech design is that the Martian mechs are a little too clunky. You would think that a technology like Aldnoah would make the mechs more streamlined rather than the clustered bodies they have. The Martian Landing Castles on the other hand? Probably the coolest piece of technology in the show.

Aldnoah. Zero's character design isn't anything special either. Nothing entirely stood out, the main characters are indicative of the unoriginality in character design that is hampering anime these days. There was a lot of potential with the Martians and instead they resembled boring and cliched nobility stereotypes recycled from Code Geass or earlier Gundam series. On the bright side though, it is a very crisp looking anime and like I said before, the action sequences looked phenomenal. It is a little too bad that the mechs had to be CGI-d in. It took a bit away from the action sequences, not to mention that the mech's were actually CGI'd in even during moments where characters were just talking and looking at them. Remember the old days when mech anime didn't just use CGI as a crutch? <sighs> There is at least something good here though, the soundtrack was handled by the one and only Hiroyuki Sawano and like always he delivers. You could always count on the epic moments of the show being perfectly punctuated by EGOIST tracks.

I will say that I enjoyed Aldnoah. Zero to an extent. Does it deliver on the hype? No. Is it guilty of using Gen Urobuchi as a draw for the show and then letting everyone down by revealing he only helped write three episodes? Yes. This being said, it remained entertaining. However, as someone who really values strong, deep, and original characters in the shows I watch I could not bring myself to truly enjoy this show. However, it is getting a second season in January which should be interesting and maybe will resolve some of the issues the first season had. I wouldn't push my luck though.

My Score: 2/5

Your Questions Are...Somewhat Answered - RWBY Volume 2 Reaction/Review

At this time last year I was smitten with a little webseries called RWBY. A little Monte Oum and Rooster Teeth joint production that turned itself into a juggernaut in the span of just a few months in 2013. In my "Best of 2013" article I labeled it the "Best Anime of 2013" despite the regular claims that RWBY is not an anime because it isn't Japanese. (BUT WHY IS IN ON CRUNCHYROLL? WHAT IS JAPAN?!?!?!) Either way, RWBY was some great stuff and packed a lot of punch for what can now be considered the first "indie" anime of its kind. So obviously, with my obsession for this series (I've watched Volume 1 about 11 times at least), I was bursting with excitement for the new season which started in July and finally came to a conclusion last Thursday. Despite being in a den on schoolwork for the past few months, hence the lack of new material on this blog, I feel that a series of RWBY's caliber deserves an article. Here are my thoughts about Volume 2, broken down into pieces.

1.) Many questions and very few answers.

"You'll know when you need to know" Preach Cinder

Volume 1 of RWBY was all about world building and establishing the characters. There was a happy vibe around it as you got to know teams RWBY and JNPR as well as the faculty of Beacon Academy. The idea I suppose was to establish the world and characters so that when the plot really got going, it would not have to worry about the characters not being fleshed out enough. In this case, Volume 1 serves as more of a "Season Zero" or prologue and Volume 2 is what kicks the plot into gear. Volume 2 acts more like the opening 5-7 episodes of other works which love to tease villains and other plot points in order to build mystery and intrigue. As a result, Volume 2 or RWBY feels like it doesn't have enough information for a show which is in its second season. However, when you consider what I wrote above, this becomes more understandable. I guess the issue really stems from the fact that what is actually going on is still very unclear. Cinder was teased at the end of the first season as the Big Bad but now it seems that even she is outranked by Adam, the White Fang member from Blake's trailer. Even so, the motivations of the evildoers are still very unclear. Several plot points got alluded to and their importance remains up in the air. However, one must not forget that this is merely the second season and it appears Monty and Rooster Teeth are committed to this series long term (they'd be idiots not to given how popular the series has become) so we should just let the plot play out. It is much better for a show to keep its cards close to the chest rather than simply going all in right off the bat. Also, it's not as if nothing was revealed this season. We finally found out the story behind Ruby and Yang's mothers, we met several new and soon to be important characters, and we know something crazy is on the horizon. Personally, I think that the more the show builds our anticipation for it, the better it will be when it actually happens.

2.) However, there are many hit and miss moments

One of the complaints I heard about Volume 2 was the abundance of high school drama that took place in the middle of the season. While Blake's character arc during that time was very well done, RWBY dropped the ball when it came to what I call the "Yule Ball Arc" in reference to the dance that took place in the middle of the season. The main drama was about asking girls out to the dance and yes, it did flesh out some good things about Jaune and Pyrrha, it felt flat in the execution. I'm hardly one to get up and arms about the shipping of characters but making Jaune THAT oblivious to Pyrrha's feelings didn't feel right. Also, this mini-arc came right after some pretty action-packed episodes so perhaps the backlash of more comedic episodes was felt there. That being said, RWBY is at its best with the mix and I think the frustration was more people's want for the plot to move forward rather than anything else. Ozpin nearly breaks the Fourth Wall during the ball episode when he speaks of how necessary events like that are (very similar to every filler episode of Code Geass).

3.) So what exactly is going on?

Spanner in the works?

The season ends with Beacon's forces stopping the Grim from overrunning Vale and for now, everything would appear to be peaceful. Of course, there is the matter of why exactly they did it and the knowledge that there is clearly something even worse over the horizon. This leads to some theorizing, who exactly is behind everything? The final episode will have you guessing that Adam is the Big Bad and this is most likely true. However, there is the possibility of an even bigger conspiracy at foot here. General Ironwood's behavior in the final episode is a little sketchy and his quick and efficient response to the Grim invasion maybe implies that he knows more than he lets on. This idea was quickly dashed in my head after his interrogation of Torchwick and the reveal of Adam. However, I cannot entirely forget the possibility since it remains a mystery as to how the White Fang got their hands on military technology or for how the events of the final episode of the season leave Ironwood himself in charge of the tournament. I guess the point being made here is that it is very unclear what the end goal of the villains actually is. The tournament will be the focus of Volume 3 and that seems to be the place where Cinder and her gang are most likely to strike.

4.) The action will always be incredible

OMFG

One thing that you know you can always count on in a Monte Oum work is that the action and fight choreography will always be phenomenal. Volume 2 opens with a food fight between teams RWBY and JNPR in a style that only RWBY can. Not to mention the the final battle of the season which showcased some pretty amazing weaponry like a gatling gun/briefcase. Monty's ability to turn literally any object into a gun is remarkable. Not to mention that he also turned Team Pet character into a freaking wrecking ball of destruction. The fact that every character in the show is a badass in some way really showed this season. However, RWBY does very well by balancing the action with great character development and comedy. I have always said that RWBY is a very trope heavy show, of course tropes are hardly a bad thing. It is one thing to be bad trope heavy but RWBY pulls these tropes off so well that it is entirely welcome. RWBY's formula totally works and this combination, while not entirely unique, is done so well that it must be seen to be believed.

5.) The cast size is hurting some character's screentime

Can we get more of these two next season?

Volume 2 also introduced a fair amount of new characters. The number of named characters at the moment is rather large and in a show which airs episodes of about 10-15 minutes a piece, things begin to get a big cluttered. For example, Team JNPR got the short end of the stick for screentime unless your name was Pyrrha or Jaune. Nora and Ren were relegated to the sidelines. This is a byproduct of introducing so many new characters but also making sure the four principal main characters remain the focus. This isn't to say that the new characters aren't good additions. Ironwood, Neptune, the Cinder trio, and Neo the umbrella girl are all intriguing characters in their own way. It just means that those who were looking forward to seeing more of some of the older characters may be a bit disappointed. Even so, the characters who do get the lion's share of the screentime get some truly awesome moments. It was really cool to see Professors Obleck and Port finally get to fight some Grim. It really speaks to the quality of RWBY's characters that just about every character has a strong fanbase that wants to see their favorite character more and more. There is only just so much screentime to go around and RWBY is managing to balance it as well as it could. Doesn't make up for the criminal lack of Nora in the season though.

6.) So what is the final verdict?

It is clear that Volume 2 of RWBY is clearly just a chapter in what is going to be a long and overarching plot. While this season didn't entirely clear everything up that we wanted, one cannot deny that it was still very enjoyable and the show remains pretty freaking awesome. It's not as if the questions brought up this season aren't going to be answered in the future. Next season promises to be especially action heavy which is a dream for fans of the show. Things are really moving in a positive direction. Sure, Volume 2 isn't perfect and has its fair share of flaws. However, it isn't like Volume 1 was exactly perfect either. Something big is brewing in the world of RWBY and I personally can't wait to see where it takes us. This season earns a 4.5/5 in my book. Can't wait for the next one!