Archive for the ‘Editorial’ tag
On Calligraphy Pens and Afterschool Tea
Omo’s post on K-ON pretty much hit all the same points I thought of after seeing the polarization of K-ON’s audience over the past few episodes (although it probably started since Episode 1). I think being the latest KyoAni show proper after Clannad, with rumors of Haruhi 2nd season going around definitely created a lot of hype around K-ON before it aired. There were a lot of expectations (unfair or otherwise) placed on the show based on the previous blockbusters of Haruhi, Lucky Star, etc. And, given just how big the K-ON tag was on AnimeNano since pretty much the minute after the first ep ended, it was easily one of the most watched series of the season. And with that level of noise, the signal is bound to go down.
For myself, the show started very much engrossed in its 4-koma roots. And to use Omo’s terms, it had the Girls, and the High School club, but I felt it was lacking a bit in the Music. After 12 episodes, I no longer feel that way, as KyoAni has beautifully captured the saccharine love-pop of an all-girl high-school band. I’ve been listening to EP 12′s insert Fude Pen, Buro Pen nonstop for the past 72 hours. Similar thing happened with God Knows. KyoAni sure knows how to do music animu, and give it some dimension along the way.
The thing is, what KyoAni does best is give each show it’s own identity, it’s own style. The animation techniques might be the same, but their purpose is to bring out the heart and soul of the source material in the best light (both figuratively and literally) possible.. And they are religiously devoted to the subtle. Even the obviously fanservice stuff, e.g. Ui’s undying worship of her older sister, is often a mask for the deeper heartwarming message. And it also makes for a pretty hilarious scene of mistaken identity. And look at the (translated) lyrics of Fude Pen, Buro Pen: instead of using the traditional ball point pen, Mio wants to use the calligraphy pen because this time she’s serious. KyoAni does not mess around, it knows what it’s doing and doesn’t just fall back on the “old ways” just because it worked before. Those who complained about how K-ON isn’t like show X, Y, or Z, missed out on the fact that that was probably the intent.