Sadly, the girls did not accomplish their goal of performing at Budakon like they said they would in episode 1, however, that doesn't mean that they didn't put on some great performances along the way including in this film. Plus, it'd probably be a bit far-fetched to see the Light Music Club rocking out to a full crowd in one of the most iconic stadiums in all of Japan. So instead of having a grand professional performance, what would be the most K-On! thing to happen?... why have the girls accidentally perform someone else's' gig of course! Ahhh Mugi thank you for being the oddball that you are and allowing the sushi-go-round live performance to happen.
Chronologically, the movie takes place after season 2 episode 22 when the girls took their college entrance exams and it runs through to season 2 episode 24 where our four seniors graduate giving an alternate viewing of the events that took place in that episode. On its own, episode 24 was already one of my favorites in the series and it had my eyes trickling some man tears, but this movie took those same emotions and then added an extra layer of excitement to them. It does this by taking the gang and having them go on a graduation trip to London. This of course leads to some awkwardness from Azusa who as always feels like she's part of the club but not on the same terms as the other girls due to her being the only underclassmen among the five. And that plays into the main challenge of that is presented to Mio, Ritsu, Yui, and Mugi who want to find a way of making Azusa feel at home and letting her know how much she means to all of them.
As always, what makes K-On! So lovable isn't that it's a show about music, it's that K-On! is about a group of friends living out their day-to-day lives together in an authentic way as television/movies can be. That's not to say that the music isn't good because I absolutely loved the intro, closer, and the other new songs. What I actually mean by this is that I find K-On! really relatable. This is the first time any of the five girls (besides Mugi because she comes from a super-rich family) has left the country before. So they all had to get passports in an earlier OVA episode, pack their stuff up, plan the trip, and fly on a plane for the first time. The way that the girls interacted doing all of these things is essentially the same way I felt when I left the United States to go to Japan for the first time. There was some difficulties in getting my passport situated with all of the paperwork (my picture turned out fine though I was no Mio about taking my picture) but my packing went pretty well (thankfully, much like Yui, I had someone to help me with that. It wasn't my younger sister though haha) as did my planning for the things I wanted to see and where I wanted to go (I did end up going to the wrong hotel at first too haha) and finally, my first airplane ride out of the country was an exciting one too as I had never been on a plane that big before that served food. It gave me the option of American or Japanese food and I of course tried Japanese food to feel cultural.
The excitement that the girls felt about the trip was contagious and reminded me so much of myself. As for their time in London, unlike a lot of other movies and shows, you could tell that a lot of time was put into making the London of K-On! as authentic and as close to the real London as an animated movie possibly could. I've never been to London before myself, but because of this movie, I feel like I got to see a glimpse of it due to how detailed their experience was. There really didn't need to be a nearly 2 hour K-On! movie, but honestly I was having such a good time, I wish there were more scenes of the girls just having fun and exploring London. I want more of Ritsu teasing Mio and dragging her along so she could get over her fear of revolving things lol! I want more scenes where Mio geeks out as they visit the homes and places of her rock idols. Why did they have to get my hopes up by mentioning David Bowie's home? But even so, the show had to go on and then it gets back into the heart of the story as to how Light Music Club was going to make Azusa feel like she belongs. And Yui out of all of the seniors, took this task the most seriously. The girl who is the most ditzy and easily distracted was the most motivated in ensuring that the girls kept their main priority in check for their sweet Azu-nyan. It was really sweet and I'm so glad that Yui got that focus especially since Azusa has such an odd relationship with Yui. Meaning, Azusa looks up to her because she is older, but doesn't like how unorganized Yui is and how she can be such a slacker when it comes to tasks of great importance. For it to be Yui after graduating to put the most effort in and making the song for Azu-nyan, it makes the episode 24 version even more special since Yui accidentally steals some of the thunder from the other girls and even steals poor Mugi's line when they were presenting it to her during that beautiful tear-jerker of a scene.
I still think I prefer the presentation of episode 24 more especially because it touches on Miss Yamanaka and the love her students had for her which was a super touching scene. But the pure happiness concealed within this movie is contagious and it made me feel like Ritsu: all giddy and obnoxious with excitement and wanting to tell the world how awesome the K-On! movie was. I love this movie and this series will always hold a special place in my heart. Especially since I watched it during a rough time in my life and it brought me nothing but joy.
p.s. Who else got fooled by the fight in the intro? They had us in the first half not gonna lie. As much as I loved every second of Death Devil's "Hikari", dat intro Ichiban Ippai is too pure for this world and is honestly one of my favorite songs from K-ON!
Chronologically, the movie takes place after season 2 episode 22 when the girls took their college entrance exams and it runs through to season 2 episode 24 where our four seniors graduate giving an alternate viewing of the events that took place in that episode. On its own, episode 24 was already one of my favorites in the series and it had my eyes trickling some man tears, but this movie took those same emotions and then added an extra layer of excitement to them. It does this by taking the gang and having them go on a graduation trip to London. This of course leads to some awkwardness from Azusa who as always feels like she's part of the club but not on the same terms as the other girls due to her being the only underclassmen among the five. And that plays into the main challenge of that is presented to Mio, Ritsu, Yui, and Mugi who want to find a way of making Azusa feel at home and letting her know how much she means to all of them.
As always, what makes K-On! So lovable isn't that it's a show about music, it's that K-On! is about a group of friends living out their day-to-day lives together in an authentic way as television/movies can be. That's not to say that the music isn't good because I absolutely loved the intro, closer, and the other new songs. What I actually mean by this is that I find K-On! really relatable. This is the first time any of the five girls (besides Mugi because she comes from a super-rich family) has left the country before. So they all had to get passports in an earlier OVA episode, pack their stuff up, plan the trip, and fly on a plane for the first time. The way that the girls interacted doing all of these things is essentially the same way I felt when I left the United States to go to Japan for the first time. There was some difficulties in getting my passport situated with all of the paperwork (my picture turned out fine though I was no Mio about taking my picture) but my packing went pretty well (thankfully, much like Yui, I had someone to help me with that. It wasn't my younger sister though haha) as did my planning for the things I wanted to see and where I wanted to go (I did end up going to the wrong hotel at first too haha) and finally, my first airplane ride out of the country was an exciting one too as I had never been on a plane that big before that served food. It gave me the option of American or Japanese food and I of course tried Japanese food to feel cultural.
The excitement that the girls felt about the trip was contagious and reminded me so much of myself. As for their time in London, unlike a lot of other movies and shows, you could tell that a lot of time was put into making the London of K-On! as authentic and as close to the real London as an animated movie possibly could. I've never been to London before myself, but because of this movie, I feel like I got to see a glimpse of it due to how detailed their experience was. There really didn't need to be a nearly 2 hour K-On! movie, but honestly I was having such a good time, I wish there were more scenes of the girls just having fun and exploring London. I want more of Ritsu teasing Mio and dragging her along so she could get over her fear of revolving things lol! I want more scenes where Mio geeks out as they visit the homes and places of her rock idols. Why did they have to get my hopes up by mentioning David Bowie's home? But even so, the show had to go on and then it gets back into the heart of the story as to how Light Music Club was going to make Azusa feel like she belongs. And Yui out of all of the seniors, took this task the most seriously. The girl who is the most ditzy and easily distracted was the most motivated in ensuring that the girls kept their main priority in check for their sweet Azu-nyan. It was really sweet and I'm so glad that Yui got that focus especially since Azusa has such an odd relationship with Yui. Meaning, Azusa looks up to her because she is older, but doesn't like how unorganized Yui is and how she can be such a slacker when it comes to tasks of great importance. For it to be Yui after graduating to put the most effort in and making the song for Azu-nyan, it makes the episode 24 version even more special since Yui accidentally steals some of the thunder from the other girls and even steals poor Mugi's line when they were presenting it to her during that beautiful tear-jerker of a scene.
I still think I prefer the presentation of episode 24 more especially because it touches on Miss Yamanaka and the love her students had for her which was a super touching scene. But the pure happiness concealed within this movie is contagious and it made me feel like Ritsu: all giddy and obnoxious with excitement and wanting to tell the world how awesome the K-On! movie was. I love this movie and this series will always hold a special place in my heart. Especially since I watched it during a rough time in my life and it brought me nothing but joy.
p.s. Who else got fooled by the fight in the intro? They had us in the first half not gonna lie. As much as I loved every second of Death Devil's "Hikari", dat intro Ichiban Ippai is too pure for this world and is honestly one of my favorite songs from K-ON!