|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
 Devil Doll
|
[series:2301#752] |
[Score: 77% = "Rent"; similar girls-only high school friends story: Azumanga Daioh (TV)]
Azusa is the star of this season, and her dealing with the four senpai graduating is the core of this story. Having four times as many episodes for just one school year inevitably results in more school-related stories and fillers while rarely focusing on the band's development. But these deficits are compensated by giving the super moe kouhai Azusa and Ui more airtime and even several feature episodes, letting Ritsu mature significantly, and making the School Fest a double highlight.Art and Animation are much like the first season (with the animation being used only rarely for actually showing musicians playing this time); Music is not as good (the OP a trash metal piece with Yui's kiddie voice which I'm fast-forwarding since episode 5, the ED a decent song with Mio's more mature vocals and as such still a highlight of some weaker episodes, sigh). Story is different from the first season, with more fillers but more development of bonds between the band members as well. Characters are maturing now, most notably Ritsu, and even Yui has some serious scenes (such as writing "U & I") while Mio and Mugi are getting less important; the occasional focus on the three kouhai results in the episodes with the least degree of embarrassment and slapstick, and as such the most interesting ones for me. What's probably unique about this series is how much it deals with the high school days of the four senpai coming to an end (even at the expense of skipping several months of time during the last year while showing assorted final days in full length). Thus strongly emphasizing the "soon everything will be over" feeling over several episodes in a row makes the second half of the series very emotional. Third year in high school:
Last updated Tuesday, July 09 2013. Created Tuesday, April 05 2011. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
 Dreamer
|
[series:2301#2279] |
|
More K-On goodness! Yeah!! So, I got a bit excited when I picked this one up. Somehow, I loved the first series and getting this one was a no-brainer. Art, Animation & Character Designs Love the artwork again. It seemed the background artwork had slightly improved. At least it seemed more rich in color, detail and depth. Animation was definitely slightly improved.... smoother. As for our characters, all of our girls were still super kawaii and charming as hell. Music The OP again wasn't of my tastes but it wasn't bad overall. A bit too cute for my tastes. The soundtrack elsewhere was more or less similar to the first series. The ED was actually pretty cool. It was a rock-ish piece with female vocals similar to the ED found on the first series. Not bad at all and ok enough for me to sit through a few times listening to it.... which is rare for me. Series and Episode Story Our girls are back for another installment of fun. Again, these were all episodic with no plot to speak of. But, that's ok, because the episodes themselves stood on their own. They were all fun to watch with plenty of kawaii moments and silly antics. Overall, is was more or less similar to the first season.... just new episodes. If you enjoyed the first series, you'll enjoy this one for sure. Last updated Thursday, November 11 2010. Created Thursday, November 11 2010. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Silence
|
[series:2301#2939] | ||||||
|
Same old antics. Same old fun. More later
Last updated Thursday, April 15 2010. Created Thursday, April 15 2010. | ||||||||
| Watch |
 Stretch
|
[series:2301#628] | ||||||
|
(Watch+) (All episodes watched): 'Looks like pretty much the same as before--which is good news and a relief for me. I settled back into viewing mode for this show without the slightest friction or hesitation, except perhaps for having a slightly hard time accepting new OP and ED songs for this music-oriented show. Yui has improved her skills tremendously, I also noticed. The goofy girls realize that with Azu being the only non-senior, the club will cease to exist unless new members are found this year; so far no luck. I have no complaints and will gladly watch this. This seems like an all-about-nothing show, that is, a slice-of-life series with little or no longterm plot and no major crises to be dealt with. Just the goofy antics of the girls. That's largely OK, though it does get a little tiresome now and then. Episode three got a little tedious but episode four, about a school field trip to Kyoto, was great fun as the girls goof around in unfamiliar surroundings. Some episodes take off running and keep me thoroughly amused, while others barely cause me to crack a smile. During the good ones, I get the feeling that the quality of K-ON in regards to comedy and writing is definitely a level or two above what is normal in anime. During the less good ones, I feel as if three-fourths of the effort was concentrated into half of the episodes, and the remainders had to make do with whatever was left. Anyway, episode 26 did a good job of finishing the series off. Something must have been done right, because at the end I felt sad to see the girls go. I don't know if I'll ever rewatch all 52 (or whatever) episodes, but I don't regret doing it once. Perhaps this was an example of the finished product being greater tham the sum of the parts. Last updated Friday, October 15 2010. Created Friday, April 09 2010. | ||||||||
