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(けいおん!)

A moe slice of life comedy Yonkoma manga written and drawn by Kakifly. The title comes from the word keiongaku (軽音楽), which translates to light music. The manga debuted in May 2007 and concluded in August 2012. It became enormously popular after it was adapted into an anime by Kyoto_Animation. The anime series and film are directed by Yamada Naoko and written by Yoshida Reiko. Music is composed by Hyakkoku Hajime. Character designs are done by Horiguchi_Yukiko. Director Yamada, writer Yoshida, and designer Horiguchi, would later reunite on the 2013 Kyoto Animation slice of life comedy Tamako Market.

It tells the story of a group of high school girls, Hirasawa Yui, Akiyama Mio, Tainaka Ritsu, and Kotobuki Tsumugi who join a light music club whose previous members all graduated. Together, the four of them form a rock band, but unfortunately, they're initially not very good and they have a tendency to get distracted easily. Nevertheless, the four of them and later Nakano Azusa gradually improve their skills and develop a strong friendship with each other over the next few years, enjoying themselves the whole way.

The anime adaptation covers the first half of the manga but expands considerably on it, extending scenes and adding new material that was not present in the manga. The songs the girls sing as a band are actually heard and they, along with character image songs, are available on CDs. However, like the manga, the anime does spend a great deal of time on the characters goofing off and bonding with each other.

The anime has a tradition of having Toyosaki_Aki (Hirasawa Yui) sing the OP song with the animation summing up what the series is like. The ED songs are sung by Hikasa_Youko (Akiyama Mio) with the animation presented like a music video starring the main characters. This music video style ending animation became a trademark of Kyoto Animation which went on to do something similar for their subsequent anime. The songs themselves have become enormously successful with Cagayake! Girls and Don't Say Lazy being certified Platinum. Go! Go! Maniac became the first anime theme song to top the singles chart with Listen!! being second place. Thanks to the success of the songs, the stars of K-ON! became the first female vocalists whose work occupied the top two spots on the singles chart since Matsuda Seiko in 1983.

Both seasons of the series received recognition from the Kobe Animation Awards with both seasons winning the Best TV Animation Award for their respective years.

The anime is also notable for giving background extras (mostly the girl's classmates) distinctive designs. Some of these extras like Tachibana Himeko have become surprisingly popular as a result even though they have little to no dialogue and don't interact with the girls much.

The series has a lot of references to rock musicians, especially towards the Beatles, and some of the music the girls play resembles some pre-existing rock songs. The original four girls of Houkago Tea Time are seen by some fans as gender flips of The Beatles though it is unclear if kakifly or Kyoto_Animation intentionally modeled the girls after the Beatles.

Like Kyoto Animation's previous smash hit Suzumiya Haruhi, K-ON!'s success has launched the careers of most of the seiyuu who played the main characters. The series has also spawned concerts featuring the seiyuus who played the characters. The seiyuus not only sung but also learned the instruments their characters played. The series also launched Yamada's directorial career, and she went on to become one of Kyoto Animation's most prominent directors as well one of the few successful female anime directors.

Kyoto Animation also modeled the design of the girls' school after Toyosato Elementary School. The sheer popularity of the series has led to many fans visiting the place. The K-ON! girls have been used to promote guitars as well as non music related things like the census.

Ho-Kago Tea Time (Main Characters)

Hirasawa_Yui (main guitarist/lead vocalist)
Tainaka_Ritsu (drummer)
Akiyama_Mio (bassist/vocalist)
Kotobuki_Tsumugi (keyboardist)
Nakano_Azusa (secondary guitarist)

Secondary Characters

Yamanaka_Sawako (music teacher/club adviser)
Hirasawa_Ui (Yui's younger sister)
Manabe_Nodoka (Yui's friend)
Suzuki_Jun (Ui and Azusa's friend)
Wada_Akira (College classmate)
Yoshida_Ayame (College classmate)
Hayashi_Sachi (College classmate)
Saitou_Sumire (Sakuragaoka underclassman)
Okuda_Nao (Sakuragaoka underclassman)

Class 3-2; K-On! extras

Chikada_Haruko
Endou_Michiko
Iida_Keiko
Kikuchi_Tae
Kimura_Fumie
Kinoshita_Shizuka
Koiso_Tsukasa
Makigami_Kimiko
Matsumoto_Mifuyu
Mihara_Kazuko
Miyamoto_Akiyo
Nakajima_Nobuyo
Nakanishi_Toshimi
Nojima_Chika
Okada_Haruna
Oota_Ushio
Saeki_Mika
Sakuma_Eiko
Sakurai_Natsuka
Sano_Keiko
Sasaki_Youko
Satou_Akane
Shibaya_Toshimi
Shima_Chizuru
Shimizu_Kyouko
Sunahara_Yoshimi
Tachibana_Himeko
Takahashi_Fuuko
Taki_Eri
Tsuchiya_Ai
Wajima_Maki
Wakaouji_Ichigo
Yada_Masumi

Minor and Miscellaneous Characters

Tainaka_Satoshi (S1; Ritsu's brother)
Sokabe_Megumi (S1/2; Former Council President)
Azusa's_Friend (S1)
Hoshino_Hitomi
Ton-chan
Namayake_Girls (S1; Festival cooks)
First_Year_Students_(K-on) (S2)
Ichimonji_Tomi (S2; Yui's neighbor)
Occult_Research_Society (S2) occult_club_(k-on!)
Go_Club_President (S2; A member~president?~ of Go Club)
Death_Devil (S1/2; Sawako's heavy metal band)
"Janice" Kawakami_(k-on!) (S1/2; Live house owner)
Mihoko_(k-on!) (S2; Newlywed from the same class as Death Devil)
Love_Crysis (S1 OVA; 3-girl band)
Miura_Akane (VIPPER-made Character)
Asou_Kana (Fanmade Character)
Nanami_Shou (Fanmade Character)

Related Memes:

Un_tan
Moe_Moe_Kyun!
Money_Slap

The ED PVs
Don't_Say_"Lazy"
Listen!!
No_Thank_You!
Singing!

Sequel
K-ON!_Movie
K-on!_Shuffle




Other Wiki Information

Last updated: 01/27/23 8:10 AM by jojosstand
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