K-On!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| K-On! |
K-On! manga volume 1 cover featuring Yui Hirasawa.
|
けいおん!
(Keion!) |
| Genre |
Comedy, Music, Slice of life |
| Manga |
| Written by |
Kakifly |
| Published by |
Houbunsha |
| English publisher |
|
| Demographic |
Seinen |
| Magazine |
Manga Time Kirara
Manga Time Kirara Carat |
| English magazine |
|
| Original run |
May 2007 – August 2012 |
| Volumes |
6 |
| Anime television series |
| Directed by |
Naoko Yamada |
| Written by |
Reiko Yoshida |
| Music by |
Hajime Hyakkoku |
| Studio |
Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by |
|
| Network |
TBS, BS-TBS, Disney Channel Japan, Animax |
| English network |
|
| Original run |
April 3, 2009 – June 26, 2009 |
| Episodes |
13 (List of episodes) |
| Original video animation |
| Live House! |
| Directed by |
Naoko Yamada |
| Written by |
Reiko Yoshida |
| Music by |
Hajime Hyakkoku |
| Studio |
Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by |
|
| Released |
January 20, 2010 |
| Runtime |
24 minutes |
| Anime television series |
| K-On!! |
| Directed by |
Naoko Yamada |
| Written by |
Reiko Yoshida |
| Music by |
Hajime Hyakkoku |
| Studio |
Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by |
|
| Network |
TBS |
| English network |
|
| Original run |
April 7, 2010 – September 28, 2010 |
| Episodes |
26 (List of episodes) |
| Game |
| K-On! Hōkago Live!! |
| Developer |
Sega |
| Publisher |
Sega |
| Genre |
Rhythm |
| Platform |
PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 |
| Released |
September 30, 2010 (PSP)
June 21, 2012 (PS3) |
| Original video animation |
| Plan!! |
| Directed by |
Naoko Yamada |
| Written by |
Reiko Yoshida |
| Music by |
Hajime Hyakkoku |
| Studio |
Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by |
|
| Released |
March 16, 2011 |
| Runtime |
24 minutes |
| Anime film |
| Directed by |
Naoko Yamada |
| Produced by |
Takahiro Ōno |
| Written by |
Reiko Yoshida |
| Music by |
Hajime Hyakkoku |
| Studio |
Kyoto Animation |
| Licensed by |
|
| Released |
December 3, 2011 |
| Runtime |
115 minutes |
| Game |
| K-On! Hōkago Rhythm Time |
| Developer |
Atlus |
| Genre |
Rhythm, Trading card game |
| Platform |
Arcade |
| Released |
Spring 2013 |
 Anime and Manga portal |
K-On! (けいおん! Keion!?) is a Japanese
four-panel comic strip seinen manga written and illustrated by
Kakifly. The manga was serialized in
Houbunsha's
seinen manga magazine
Manga Time Kirara between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues. It was also serialized in Houbunsha's magazine
Manga Time Kirara Carat. The manga relaunched from April 2011 to June 2012 with two separate storylines published in
Manga Time Kirara and
Manga Time Kirara Carat. The manga is licensed in North America by
Yen Press.
A 13-episode
anime adaptation produced by
Kyoto Animation aired in Japan between April and June 2009. An additional
original video animation (OVA) episode was released in January 2010. A 26-episode second season, titled
K-On!! (with two
exclamation marks),
aired in Japan between April and September 2010, with an OVA episode
released in March 2011. An animated film based on the series was
released in Japan on December 3, 2011.
Bandai Entertainment released the first season in North America in 2011, while the second season and film were licensed by
Sentai Filmworks. The title of the series comes from the Japanese word for
light music,
keiongaku (軽音楽?), which in the Japanese context is similar to
pop music.
Plot
In
K-On!, four Japanese high school girls join the light music
club of Sakuragoaka Girl's High School to try to save it from being
disbanded. However, they are the only members of the club. At first, Yui
Hirasawa has no experience playing
musical instruments or reading
sheet music as she is only familiar with playing the castanets, but she eventually becomes an excellent
guitar
player. From then on, Yui, along with bassist Mio Akiyama, drummer
Ritsu Tainaka, and keyboardist Tsumugi Kotobuki spend their school days
practicing, performing, and hanging out together. The club is overseen
by music teacher Sawako Yamanaka, who eventually becomes their homeroom
teacher as well during their final year of high school. In their second
year, the club welcomes another guitarist, underclassman Azusa Nakano.
After Azusa joins they gain more structure and begin to practice more.
After their third year, Yui, Ritsu, Mio and Tsumugi graduate and
enroll into a university. There they join its light music club alongside
three other students: Akira Wada, Ayame Yoshida, and Sachi Hayashi.
Meanwhile, Azusa continues to run the high school light music club
alongside Yui's sister Ui, their classmate Jun Suzuki, and new members
Sumire Saitō and Nao Okuda.
Characters
The five main characters are members of a band, Ho-kago Tea Time
(放課後ティータイム Hōkago Tī Taimu?, After School Tea Time), which performs the theme songs in the anime. The five main characters of
K-On! have surnames derived from members of the Japanese band
P-Model, and two other characters have surnames derived from members of the Japanese band
The Pillows.
[1]
Members of Ho-kago Tea Time
- Yui Hirasawa (平沢 唯 Hirasawa Yui?)
- Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki (Japanese), Stephanie Sheh (English)
- Yui is the main character of K-On!. She is one of the members of the light music club and plays a Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar (before she knew how to play the electric guitar, the only instrument she knew how to play were the castanets)[2][3][4] that she nicknames "Gīta" (ギー太?).[5]
She does not get good grades in school (though when properly coached,
she can achieve astounding results) and is easily distracted by
trivialities (mainly those deemed cute and adorable). Yui is clumsy and
easily spaces out most of the time. She can be forgetful and is
sometimes oblivious to the situation around her. Yui has
shoulder-length, brown hair (a little longer than Ritsu's) which she
accessorizes with two yellow hair clips, and brown eyes. She takes a
huge liking for any kind of food (though she never gains weight, which
is greatly envied by Mugi, Mio,[6] and Sawako[7]).
She has a younger sister named Ui, who is very mature and acts as the
"older sister" of Yui, taking care of her and keeping her in line.[3] Yui works extremely hard to get better at playing guitar, which is shown in later chapters.[citation needed] During performances, Yui plays with amazing energy and joy, which usually results in great response from the audience.[8][9][10]
- Yui is the band's main vocalist and lead guitarist and has absolute pitch—she
can tune her guitar perfectly without a tuner, which greatly impresses
Azusa, who has played the guitar much longer than Yui.[7][11]
She has a very easy-going nature, but has incredible focus and
retention when she has a clear goal in sight; unfortunately this is
limited to only one subject at a time, and her other skills deteriorate
quickly (for example, Yui is at one point pressed to make up failing
test scores, and she quickly brings her math skills up to par while
allowing her guitar skills to deteriorate.)[12]
Despite all of this, Yui is still devoted to her band and will always
practice hard enough for the club. At school, she has become quite
admired for her great voice. However, she is known to forget her lyrics
in mid-performance as well as overdoing things, making her unable to
perform sometimes.[8] Mio was the lead vocalist at first, since Yui could not play the guitar and sing at the same time.[13][14] Yui is also known to write childish lyrics as Ui has assisted her in creating them.[15][16]
- Mio Akiyama (秋山 澪 Akiyama Mio?)
- Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (Japanese), Cristina Vee (English)
- Mio is a shy girl who is in the light music club. She plays a left-handed, 3-Color Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass with a tortoiseshell pickguard,[2][3] though is shown playing a Fender Precision Bass in the first manga volume.[17] She uses D'Addario EXL160M medium bass strings.[18]
Her bass is given the name Elizabeth later in the anime. While she
originally intended to join the literary club, she was forced into the
light music club by her childhood friend and the club's
president/drummer, Ritsu.[2]
She gets excellent grades in school and is often mature and strict
especially where Ritsu is involved; her weakness is the macabre and
horrific, and she is often incapacitated with fear when stories
involving ghosts, blood, injuries,[19] haunted houses,[20] barnacles[21]
or other disturbing topics come up. She also has a fear of being in the
spotlight and gets embarrassed easily, and is often subject to teasing
from Ritsu[19]
and Sawako, their club adviser and eventual third-year homeroom
teacher. Mio has long, straight black hair and gray eyes (that are
angled slightly more than the other characters). She cites that she
chose bass since it is not the center of attention in the band, unlike
the guitarist.[17] Mio is more technical when it comes to music, and Yui often comes to her when she is in need of more guitar tutorials.
- Mio is the second vocalist of the band, though given her dislike of
being center stage, she tries to avoid taking the lead vocal if
possible, generally singing if Yui is unable to.[8][13] She writes most of the songs, although they usually feature some odd and overly girlish lyrics like "Light and Fluffy Time".[13] As she is left-handed, she becomes entranced whenever she sees left-handed instruments, because of their rarity.[5]
After their first live performance, the attractive Mio gained a huge
fan following (in no small part due to an unfortunate accident that
occurred at the end of the show),[20][22] led by an infatuated former student council president.[23] Also resulting from her sudden popularity, most of her classmates voted that she portray Romeo in their class play.[24] Mio comes to greatly enjoy her time at university as she encounters many new experiences.[25] She is also able to overcome some of her shyness and make new friends such as Sachi and Ayame.[25][26]
- Tsumugi Kotobuki (琴吹 紬 Kotobuki Tsumugi?)
- Voiced by: Minako Kotobuki (Japanese), Shelby Lindley (English)[27]
- Tsumugi, often referred to as 'Mugi' by her friends, is a wealthy girl with a gentle and sweet personality who plays a Korg Triton Extreme 76-key keyboard, though she is also seen playing a Korg RK-100 keytar in the closing credits of the first season,[2][3] and a Hammond organ
in the closing credits of the second season. She originally intended to
join the choir club, but joins the light music club instead after
receiving an invitation and encouragement from both Mio and Ritsu.[2]
Tsumugi is considered a piano prodigy since she has been playing the
piano since she was four and has experience in winning various piano
contests.[17]
Tsumugi has written several songs for the light music club, as well as
singing the back vocals in several other songs. She is a good student
and has long, pale blonde hair, blue eyes, unusually large eyebrows,
which apparently run in her family and a fair complexion that the other
characters do not have, but she does not get sunburned.
- She is the daughter of a company president,[3][17] and her family has several villas in various places around Japan[11][28] (and even one in Finland).[29] Since her father also owns a maid café,[24] she often brings confectionery
and an assortment of sweets and pastries to the club room, and she
diligently makes tea with a tea set which is kept in their club room.
Despite her wealth, she is fascinated by and finds joy in "normal"
activities, such as ordering fast food, sharing french fries with her
club mates,[2] holding down part-time jobs[30] and haggling over prices.[3][17]
Tsumugi displays a rebellious streak occasionally, diverting from her
normally well-behaved and mature demeanor to the surprise of the others.
She also displays a childlike eagerness from time to time, and
possesses unusually high strength, being able to effortlessly carry
around her own keyboard, Ritsu's drums, amplifiers,[20][22] and at one point beating an arm-wrestling game in an arcade.
- Tsumugi is often entranced by the sight of two girls interacting closely together, sometimes imagining something more risqué in her head.[13]
The series sometimes indicates that Mugi has a crush on their teacher,
Sawako Yamanaka. While a lot of things do not bother her, she is fairly
conscious about her weight (just like Mio),[6] and she gets a bit anxious when her family's staff start spoiling her friends during villa visits.[7] She later begins learning how to play the guitar from Azusa.[31]
Tsumugi has a childhood friend several years younger than her named
Sumire Saitō, who is a daughter of the family that serves the Kotobuki
household. Tsumugi grew up home schooled, and therefore spent very
little time in the outside world. Because of their close friendship,
Sumire would purchase everyday items for Tsumugi, like manga that she
was not normally allowed to see. Tsumugi was rather taken by some of the
yuri
manga she received, which may have influenced her later perceptions
about relationships. When Sumire started high school, Tsumugi wanted her
to experience the light music club on her own, but due to Sumire's
shyness Tsumugi came up with the excuse of sending her to the club room
to pick up the tea sets that had been left there and told Sawako when
Sumire did join that it was okay to leave the tea sets there.[32]
- Ritsu Tainaka (田井中 律 Tainaka Ritsu?)
- Voiced by: Satomi Satō (Japanese), Cassandra Lee (English)[27]
- Ritsu (or Ritchan, as nicknamed by Yui) is the self-proclaimed president of the light music club and plays a yellow Rick Marotta Signature Yamaha Hipgig drum kit (with an add-on floor tom in the opening credits only) combined with a cymbal set from Avedis Zildjian,[2][21] though is shown playing a white Yamaha Absolute Series drumkit in the anime's closing credits.[2][3]
She has an ambiguous yet upbeat personality, much like Yui, but often
has trouble remembering important club activities and announcements and
gets constantly rebuked by Mio and Nodoka for forgetting to send in
important forms concerning the club.[5][14]
Ritsu is cheerful, often likes making jokes and is sarcastic most of
the time. She is skilled at brainstorming ideas that earn money for the
club. Ritsu has shoulder-length, brown hair, with her bangs pulled back
with a yellow hairband, and gold-colored eyes. She wears her school
jacket open. She says she chose to play the drums because they are
"cool", but later admits that she has trouble playing instruments which
involve intricate finger movements, such as the bass, guitar and
keyboard.[3][17][33]
- She is Mio's childhood friend and will often take the opportunity to tease her whenever Mio is cowering from something.[19]
She is also known to become easily jealous of Mio's other high school
friends, even going as far as spying on Mio when on outings with them.
Ritsu is always on the go and will stop at nothing for the success of
the light music club. Despite her rough mannerisms and speech, she gets
cast as Juliet by the majority of her classmates in their class play
rendition of Romeo and Juliet and, in the end, manages to act like a proper girl.[24] In the anime, she states her favorite drummer is Keith Moon of The Who.[33] She is skilled at cooking.[31] She has a younger brother named Satoshi (聡?, Voiced by: Mika Itō (Japanese), Amanda C. Miller (English)).[30]
Members of Wakaba Girls
- Azusa Nakano (中野 梓 Nakano Azusa?)
- Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese), Christine Marie Cabanos (English)
- Azusa is a student in the same year and class as Yui's sister Ui,
who joins the light music club and becomes the rhythm guitarist, playing
a Fender Mustang electric guitar.
She eventually names her guitar Muttan, as it is a Mustang. She is a
self-proclaimed novice guitarist who has been playing the guitar since
she was in the fourth grade, and her parents are working in a jazz band.[34]
She is more serious than the other girls, and does not like to admit
how she really feels. She often finds herself bewildered by the tea
parties and cosplaying aspects of the club, when she would rather just
practice, and is curious about how the club is able to play so well
despite their problems and lack of practice.[35] However, she has a certain weakness for cakes and can be calmed down rather easily, sometimes by just being petted.[35] She is constantly a victim of Yui's skinship[7]
and is nicknamed Azu-nyan after trying on a pair of cat ears and
meowing ("nyan" being the equivalent of "meow" in the Japanese
vocabulary).[34] Despite this, Azusa is not too good with cats.[30]
Azusa has long black hair, which she wears in pigtails, and brown eyes.
While Azusa is talented in guitar, she has trouble singing while
playing unlike Yui and Mio.[36]
- In the band, she looks up to Mio the most due to her maturity and
the fact that she is an experienced bassist, even trying to give Mio
chocolate on Valentine's Day.[37]
However, she sometimes unintentionally makes remarks concerning Mio's
weaknesses, such as her weight. She also finds Mugi very beautiful, and
envies her hair and large eyes, and later starts teaching her how to
play guitar when the two are alone in the club room.[31] Since joining, Yui comes to her for advice on playing guitar,[38] as well as maintenance. She gets a tan extremely easily, once during their time at the beach[7][11] and another during a music festival (even after applying sunscreen).[39]
As a result, she frequently gets sunburned as well. She gets lonely
very easily, and often worries that everyone in the club will leave her,
as they are one year older and eventually will graduate. Due to this,
the rest of the girls buy her a turtle to look after, naming it Ton.[40]
- Outside of the band, she often hangs out with Ui and Jun whenever the other girls are busy.[41] When the others graduate, she becomes the new light music club president alongside Ui and Jun, who decide to join her.[42] Together with two new members, Sumire and Nao, they form a new band called "Wakaba Girls" (若葉ガールズ Wakaba Gāruzu?, lit. Fresh Leaf Girls).
During the Wakaba Girls' first summer training camp Azusa reveals to
Sawako her belief that she is unable to act like a proper president for
the light music club; however, Sawako suggests that there is no proper
way to define what it means to be a president and that Azusa will do
just fine. While on that same training camp Azusa is convinced by the
others to become the band's vocalist despite her prior reservations on
the issue.[43]
- Ui Hirasawa (平沢 憂 Hirasawa Ui?)
- Voiced by: Madoka Yonezawa (Japanese), Xanthe Huynh (English)
- Ui is Yui's younger sister, who begins the story as a third-year
junior high school student, but later enters Yui's high school the
following year in the same class as Azusa.[8]
Unlike her older sister, Ui is mature, responsible, and handles
household chores well. Despite these differences Ui shares a very strong
relationship with Yui and has a great deal of love and admiration for
her older sister that sometimes borders on a sister complex.[6][44] She takes particularly good care of Yui and strives to look after her even at risk to her own health.[15][16]
Ui is considered to be the ultimate groupie for her sister's band and
supports them with all her heart. She occasionally provides a narrative
to the story.[41]
Despite being a year younger than Yui, she is nearly identical to her
older sister with her hair down and is even able to fool members of the
light music club on more than one occasion.[9][45] Ui is a fast learner, able to learn how to play the guitar after only a few days' practice.[9][46] She is also able to play the organ if needed.[41][47] She eventually joins the light music club along with Jun at the end of the series, becoming a guitarist like her sister,[42] playing a Surf Green Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.
Ui becomes fascinated with Sumire's sister-like relationship with
Tsumugi upon learning of it, as Ui sees it as very similar to her
feelings toward Yui.[32]
- Jun Suzuki (鈴木 純 Suzuki Jun?)
- Voiced by: Yoriko Nagata (Japanese), Michelle Ann Dunphy (English)
- Jun is an outgoing girl and a friend and classmate of both Azusa and
Ui from before they joined the light music club. Ui at first tried to
get Jun to join the light music club but ultimately failed due to a
strange visit to the club room.[8][48] Thanks to this experience, Jun stayed in the Jazz club instead. While there she played a Yamaha Sbv500 bass.[41] Jun became one of Mio's admirers because they both play bass.[49][50]
Jun begins to regret not joining the light music club when she hears
about all the activities they do and eventually joins the light music
club at the end of the series.[42] She attempted to play the guitar but she did not feel that it suited her.[51]
She has an older brother named Atsushi who also plays bass and
regularly gives Jun lessons. Jun was embarrassed when the light music
club found out that she was receiving these lessons because she felt it
damaged her image as a person who could learn an instrument on their
own.[52] Jun owns a pet cat in the anime series.[30]
- Sumire Saitō (斉藤 菫 Saitō Sumire?)
- Sumire is a shy blonde girl who meets Azusa, Ui and Jun after Yui
and the others graduate. She is a freshman, two years below the other
light music club members.[45]
She is currently working in the Kotobuki household as a maid and
originally came to the light music room to try to retrieve Tsumugi's
teaset that was left behind after she graduated. After being scared off a
few times by Sawako, she eventually agrees to join the light music club
and eventually becomes its drummer. Similar to Tsumugi, she is quite
talented at preparing tea, but feels inclined to keep her role as a maid
a secret from the others due to the fear of being punished by Tsumugi.[36]
As her family, who came from Austria, were taken in by the Kotobuki
household before she was born, Sumire grew up as Tsumugi's playmate,
often regarding her as her older sister and inadvertently sparking
Tsumugi's interest in yuri
by introducing her to manga of that genre. As she grew up and learned
the truth about the relation between the two families, Sumire felt she
needed to regard Tsumugi with more respect while in public. Sawako
reveals that Tsumugi asked that the tea sets be left in the club room.
However, before the beginning of the new term Tsumugi had asked Sumire
to remove the tea sets thereby ensuring that Sumire would encounter the
other members of the light music club and would be invited to join.
Sumire's situation is revealed to the surprise of the other members of
the club by Sawako.[32]
Sumire uses her close ties with the Kotobuki family to reserve the use
of their largest seaside villa for her first summer training camp with
the light music club.[43]
- Nao Okuda (奥田 直 Okuda Nao?)
- Another freshman in the same class as Sumire. Generally poor at
physical activities, Nao goes through several trial runs through various
clubs before deciding to join the light music club, as she feels it is
where she can try her best.[36]
Like the kanji in her name, she is overly honest about her
shortcomings. After reading up on music theory, she ends up having an
advanced knowledge of music but lacks the ability to physically play it.
However, when she is introduced to music creation software, she decides
to become the band's producer. She is the oldest among the five
siblings in her family.[53]
When on her first training camp with the Wakaba Girls, Nao writes the
lyrics for the band's first song, titled "Answer". She wrote the song to
reflect Azusa's misgivings about her role as president of the light
music club. Okuda remarks that she keeps track of all her band mate's
conversations and behaviors by entering her observations into her
computer, therefore she was able to describe Azusa's exact feelings in
her lyrics.[43]
Characters from Sakuragaoka High School
- Sawako Yamanaka (山中 さわ子 Yamanaka Sawako?)
- Voiced by: Asami Sanada (Japanese), Karen Strassman (English)
- Sawako is a music teacher who is the adviser for the wind instrument club at the girls' school. An alumna
of the school and a member of the light music club in her student days,
she does not want people to find out that she was formerly a member of a
speed metal band called Death Devil (of which she was both lead guitar and vocalist and went by the stage name of "Catherine"[10]),
thus she covers up by being mild and gentle to her coworkers and
especially to students. She is forced to be the adviser of the light
music club, as Ritsu blackmails her after the girls learn of her past.[14][19]
However, she is able to juggle being the adviser for the wind
instrument club as well, even as the story progresses. Though she has a
mature and gentle demeanor in the school, Sawako (affectionately
addressed as "Sawa-chan" by both Ritsu and Yui) displays a totally
different, completely authentic character when she is alone with the
light music club. In reality, she is rather wild, lazy, and is quite an
irresponsible teacher who enjoys dressing up the light music club in
(sometimes embarrassing) cosplay costumes (like French maid uniforms), much to the dismay of Mio.[48] She gets a thrill out of the rare moments where she is praised for her work.[54]
- She names the club band "Ho-kago Tea Time" after the members take too long deciding on a name themselves.[54] In the anime, she once pitches in for Yui with her white Epiphone "1958" Korina Flying V electric guitar.[9]
She becomes the girls' homeroom teacher in their third year, and puts
Nodoka and all the band members (except Azusa, since she is a grade
lower) in the same class, so she does not have to remember as many
names.[4] An episode in the second anime season reveals that she owned one of the first Gibson SG models (from around 1960 with a custom stoptail bridge) which is later sold.[40]
Due to her relation to the club members, the other students in her
class start to call her Sawa-chan as well, ruining her image as a
mild-mannered teacher. Her image is further ruined after Death Devil is
temporarily reunited at a wedding reception for a high school alumnus.
Regardless, her popularity with the students remains unchanged.[55]
In spite of her laziness, she still proves herself to be an able
mentor, as shown by her willingness to coach Yui as the lead singer[13] and attending their performances.[8]
Her music abilities apparently have not dulled over the years, as she
is able to substitute for Yui at the school festival at almost no notice
without the assistance of a music score, even without any prior
practicing of the band's song.[9]
Sawako is also very perceptive: she immediately sees through Ui's
disguise when she impersonates her sister and on several occasions
boasts to the club that there is nothing she cannot see.[9]
- Nodoka Manabe (真鍋 和 Manabe Nodoka?)
- Voiced by: Chika Fujitō (Japanese), Laura Bailey (English)
- Nodoka is Yui's childhood friend and confidant who is a member of
the school's student council. As a normal, well-mannered and intelligent
girl, she is generally taken aback by the light music club's odd
behavior, and easily gets annoyed with Ritsu whenever she forgets to
fill in the club's application forms.[5][14]
She shares the same class as Mio in their second year, who appreciates
her companionship tremendously, she being the only person Mio knows in
her class.[56]
In her third year, she becomes the student council president and is
also in the same class as the other third year club members. She
gradually becomes the president of Mio's fan club through unknown
circumstances (possibly out of her control), even when she originally
turned down the position. Nodoka chooses to go to a national university
as opposed to the same college as Yui and the others.
Characters from J. Women's University
- Akira Wada (和田 晶 Wada Akira?)
- A new character introduced in the restarted manga who is in a band called OnNaGumi (恩那組?, "Gang of Girls")
with her friends Ayame and Sachi. Akira joins the university's light
music club alongside Yui and her friends. She has short black hair and
often looks intimidating whenever her hair is messy. She studies in the
Education department along with Yui. She is easily irritated to a degree
but finds herself in a similar position to Azusa from high school as
Yui seems to enjoy hugging her. She originally had longer hair in high
school, but when a boy she admired accused her band of only being
popular because of their cuteness, she decided to cut off her hair and
vowed to become popular through talent.[57] She plays an ebony Gibson Les Paul Custom electric guitar which she nicknames "Rosalie".[58]
- Sachi Hayashi (林 幸 Hayashi Sachi?)
- One of Akira's friends, who has long hair. She is OnNaGumi's bassist and is in the same department as Mio.[58] She is taller than Mio, and easily becomes embarrassed about her height if anyone mentions it.[25]
- Ayame Yoshida (吉田 菖 Yoshida Ayame?)
- Another one of Akira's friends, who has short blonde hair. She is OnNaGumi's drummer and is in the same department as Ritsu.[58] Due to their similarities, Ayame and Ritsu become friends very quickly.[26] Ayame tends to follow the latest fashion trends, and has done so since high school.[25]
- Kana Yoshii
- The president of J. Women's University's light music club who has a
sweet appearance, but is generally obsessed over things such as money
and looking youthful and can put out a threatening aura when she gets
passionate about either one. She was once in a popular band with Hirose
though retired upon entering university since wearing school uniforms
would be considered silly at their age. However, Kana is still obsessed
with school uniforms.[59]
- Chiyo Hirose
- An upperclassman in the light music club who was once in a band with Kana.[59]
- Megumi Sokabe (曽我部 恵 Sokabe Megumi?)
- Voiced by: Asumi Kodama (Japanese), Amanda C. Miller (English)
- Megumi is the former student council president and founder of the
Mio Fan Club (with Nodoka becoming her successor in both positions). She
stalks Mio during her last few days in high school because she wanted
to see Mio one more time. The band offers her a song as a graduation
gift.[23]
Megumi becomes a good friend of Ritsu through unspecified circumstances
much to Mio’s surprise. She also helps Ritsu and Yui with the
university entrance exams by giving them her old exam workbooks.[60] She goes to the same woman's university in which Yui and her friends later enroll and lives in the same dorm as them.[61]
Media
Manga
K-On! began as a
four-panel comic-strip manga written and illustrated by Kakifly. The manga was originally serialized in
Houbunsha's
Manga Time Kirara manga magazine between the May 2007
[62] and October 2010 issues, ending on September 9, 2010.
[63] The manga also appeared as a guest bimonthly serialization in
Manga Time Kirara's sister magazine
Manga Time Kirara Carat starting with the October 2008 issue.
[64] The manga relaunched from April 2011 to June 2012 in two separate magazines. Chapters published in
Manga Times Kirara,
from the May 2011 issue released on April 8, 2011 to the July 2012
issue released on June 9, 2012, focus on the main cast as they attend
college.
[65][66][67] Chapters published in
Manga Time Kirara Carat,
from the June 2011 issue released on April 28, 2011 to the August 2012
issue released on June 28, 2012, focus on Azusa, Ui, and Jun as they
continue the light music club.
[65][66][68]
Four
tankōbon volumes were released between April 26, 2008 and September 27, 2010. The manga was licensed by
Yen Press for English release, with the first volume released in North America on November 30, 2010.
[69][70] The college arc of the second manga run, titled
K-On! College (けいおん! college?), was released on September 27, 2012, and the high school arc, titled
K-On! Highschool (けいおん! highschool?), was released on October 27, 2012. Yen Press have also licensed these volumes in North America.
[71] In
Indonesia, the series is licensed by
Elex Media Komputindo. An anthology entitled
Minna de Untan! (みんなでうん☆たん Everybody's Untan!?), which features several guest strips from various artists, was released in September 2009. An official anthology series,
K-On! Anthology Comic (けいおん!アンソロジーコミック Keion! Ansorojī Komikku?),
began sale from November 27, 2009, with five volumes released as of
October 12, 2011, and two "Story Anthology Comics" were released on
November 26, 2011. An illustration book with official art and
fan art from well known
dōjin artists was released on January 27, 2010.
Anime
A 13-episode
anime adaptation directed by Naoko Yamada, written by
Reiko Yoshida, and produced by
Kyoto Animation aired between April 3 and June 26, 2009 on
TBS in Japan.
[72] The episodes began airing on subsequent networks at later dates which include
BS-TBS,
MBS, and
CBC. The TBS airings are in 4:3 ratio, and the series began airing in
widescreen on BS-TBS on April 25, 2009. Seven
BD/DVD compilation volumes were released by
Pony Canyon between July 29, 2009 and January 20, 2010. An additional
original video animation (OVA) episode was released with the final BD/DVD volumes on January 20, 2010.
[73] The BD/DVD volumes contained extra
short anime titled
Ura-On!.
The series later began airing on Japan's
Disney Channel[74] from April 2011.
Animax
has aired the anime in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan. Both an
English-subtitled and English-dubbed version by Red Angel Media began
airing on March 16, 2010 on
Animax Asia.
[75] At their industry panel at
Anime Expo 2010, anime distributor
Bandai Entertainment announced that they have acquired
K-On! for a DVD and
Blu-ray Disc release,
[76] with
Bang Zoom! Entertainment producing an English dub for the show.
[77] The series was released over four volumes in standard and limited editions for each format
[27][78] starting on April 26, 2011.
[79] Bandai released the full first season on DVD under their "Anime Legends" line on February 7, 2012.
[80] Manga Entertainment
released the series in the UK in individual DVD volumes during 2011,
and in a complete DVD of the first season on April 30, 2012.
[81][82] A planned BD box set release in 2012 was cancelled.
[83]
It was displayed on screen at the
Let's Go live concert in
Yokohama, Japan on December 30, 2009 that a second season would be produced.
[84] The second season, titled
K-On!! (with two
exclamation marks), aired with 26 episodes on TBS in Japan between April 7 and September 28, 2010.
[85][86] An additional OVA episode was released with the final BD/DVD volumes on March 16, 2011.
[87] As with the first season, the BD/DVD volumes contained extra short anime titled
Ura-On!!. This season has also aired on Animax Asia starting October 20, 2010.
[88] Sentai Filmworks
licensed the second season and released the series on DVD and Blu-ray
in two boxsets released on June 19, 2012 and August 28, 2012
respectively. The series continues using the English dub cast from the
previous season.
[89]
Film
Promotional poster for the film
A film adaptation of
K-On! was released in Japan on December 3, 2011. It follows the girls as they travel to England to celebrate their graduation.
[90] It is an original story and was produced by Kyoto Animation with Naoko Yamada as the director.
[91][92][93]
The film features the two songs "Ichiban Ippai" and "Unmei wa Endless"
by Aki Toyosaki. The ending theme is "Singing" by Yōko Hikasa. According
to Box Office Mojo, the film opened at #2 with a gross of ¥317,287,427
($4,070,919 USD) from 137 theaters, and has earned a total of
¥1,639,685,078 ($21,419,792 USD) as of February 5, 2012. The film
features a London cafe inspired by the Troubadour Cafe in Earl's Court,
and
K-On! fans often visit the cafe.
[94]
The film was released on BD and DVD on July 18, 2012. Sentai Filmworks
released the film on BD/DVD in North America on May 21, 2013.
[95] Madman Entertainment will release the film in Australia.
Music
The first season anime's opening theme is "Cagayake! Girls" by
Aki Toyosaki with
Yōko Hikasa,
Satomi Satō and
Minako Kotobuki.
The ending theme is "Don't Say 'Lazy'" by Hikasa with Toyosaki, Satō
and Kotobuki. The opening and ending theme singles were released on
April 22, 2009. A single containing the insert song "Fuwa Fuwa Time"
(ふわふわ時間 Light and Fluffy Time?) used in episode six was released on May 20, 2009. A series of
character song singles have been released containing songs sung by the
voice actresses
of the five main characters. The singles for Yui (by Toyosaki) and Mio
(by Hikasa) were released on June 17, 2009. The singles for Ritsu (by
Satō) and Tsumugi (by Kotobuki) were delayed, but later released
together with the single for Azusa (by
Ayana Taketatsu)
on August 26, 2009. The singles for Ui Hirasawa (by Madoka Yonezawa)
and Nodoka Manabe (by Chika Fujitō) were released on October 21, 2009.
The anime's original soundtrack, largely composed by Hajime Hyakkoku,
was released on June 3, 2009. The four songs highlighted in episode
eight of the anime were released on the mini album
Ho-kago Tea Time (放課後ティータイム After School Tea Time?) on July 22, 2009. The single "Maddy Candy" by Sawako's band Death Devil was released on August 12, 2009.
[96]
The second season anime's first opening theme is "Go! Go! Maniac" and
the first ending theme is "Listen!!"; both songs are sung by Toyosaki,
Hikasa, Satō, Kotobuki, and Taketatsu. The singles containing the songs
were released on April 28, 2010. From episode 14 onwards, the respective
opening and ending themes are "Utauyo!! Miracle" and "No, Thank You!",
both by Toyosaki, Hikasa, Satō, Kotobuki, and Taketatsu. The singles
containing these songs were released on August 4, 2010.
[97]
The single "Pure Pure Heart" also sung by Toyosaki, Hikasa, Satō,
Kotobuki, and Taketatsu was released on June 2, 2010. Another single,
"Love", by Sawako's band Death Devil was released by on June 23, 2010. A
single sung by Toyosaki, "Gohan wa Okazu/U&I", was released on
September 8, 2010.
[98] The composer Bice who wrote the song "Gohan wa Okazu" died on July 26, 2010 of a heart attack.
[99]
A second set of character song singles were released, starting with the
singles for Yui and Mio on September 21, 2010. The show's second album,
Ho-kago Tea Time II, was released on both normal
double CD and
limited edition that came with a
cassette tape on October 27, 2010.
[100]
The second set of singles for Ritsu, Tsumugi, and Azusa were released
on November 17, 2010. The set of singles for Jun (by Yoriko Nagata), Ui
(by Yonezawa), and Nodoka (by Fujitō) were released on January 19, 2011.
The singles and albums were released by
Pony Canyon. The first set of character song singles will be released on vinyl at Canime Summer Festival.
Video games
A
rhythm video game titled
K-On! Hōkago Live!! (けいおん! 放課後ライブ!! Keion! Hōkago Raibu!!?), developed by
Sega for the
PlayStation Portable, was released on September 30, 2010.
[101] The
gameplay
involves the player matching button presses in time with music featured
in the anime. The game supports local multiplayer for up to five PSPs.
[102]
The game features 19 songs from the first anime season and first set of
character song CDs. The player can customize the clothing, hair style
and accessories of the characters, plus customization of the light music
room and Yui's bedroom. There is also a custom track maker. A
remastered HD port of the game was released for the
PlayStation 3[103] on June 21, 2012.
[104]
An
arcade game developed by
Atlus,
K-On! Hōkago Rhythm Time (けいおん!放課後リズムタイム Keion! Hōkago Rizumu Taimu?), was released in Japanese arcades in spring 2013. The game features rhythm gameplay and also awards
trading cards that can be used to read songs into the game.
[105]
Reception
Fans of the anime visit the former elementary school in
Toyosato, Shiga, which is used as a model for the high school in the anime.
[106][107]
The first manga volume of
K-On! was the 30th highest-selling
manga volume in Japan for the week of April 27 and May 3, 2009, having
sold over 26,500 volumes that week.
[108]
The following week, the first and second manga volumes were the 19th
and 20th highest-selling manga volumes in Japan, having sold 23,200 and
22,500 volumes each the week of May 4 and May 10, 2009. As of May 2009,
the first two manga volumes each sold about 136,000 copies each.
[109] The third volume sold over 120,000 copies the week of December 14–20, 2009,
[110] and became the 46th top-selling manga for the first half of 2010 in Japan (ending May 23), selling over 328,000 copies.
[111]
The single for the first anime's opening theme, "Cagayake! Girls", debuted at fourth in the ranking on the
Oricon
weekly singles chart, selling approximately 62,000 copies. The ending
theme "Don't Say 'Lazy'" debuted at second in the ranking, selling
67,000 copies.
[112] It was also awarded Best Theme Song at the 2009 (14th)
Animation Kobe Awards.
[113] Additionally, "Cagayake! Girls" and "Don't Say 'Lazy'" were certified
Platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for 250,000 full-track
ringtone digital
music downloads (
Chaku Uta Full), respectively.
[114][115] The mini album
Ho-kago Tea Time debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly CD albums charts selling 67,000 copies, making it the first
image song album credited to fictional anime characters that reached the highest position.
[116]
The second anime's opening theme "Go! Go! Maniac" and ending theme
"Listen!!" debuted at No. 1 and No. 2 in their first week of release on
the Oricon singles chart, selling over 83,000 and 76,000 copies,
respectively.
[117]
"Go! Go! Maniac" became the first anime image song to ever top the
singles chart and the band also became the first female vocalists to
occupy the top two spots on the singles chart in 26 years since
Seiko Matsuda in 1983.
[118][119]
The season's second ending and opening themes, "No, Thank You!" and
"Utauyo! Miracle" respectively, sold 87,000 and 85,000 in their first
week and ranked at No. 2 and No. 3 in the Oricon charts respectively,
only being beaten by
SMAP's single, "This is Love".
[120] "No, Thank You!" and "Utauyo! Miracle" were certified Gold by the RIAJ in August 2010 for 100,000 copies shipped.
[121] The single "Gohan wa Okazu"/"U&I" debuted at No. 3 on the Oricon singles chart, selling 53,000 in its first week.
[122] The album
Ho-kago Tea Time II debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon weekly CD albums charts selling 127,000 copies.
[123]
The first Japanese DVD volume of the anime series sold around 8,000
copies to debut seventh in the ranking on the Oricon charts for the week
of July 29, 2009.
[124]
The Blu-ray Disc release of the first volume sold about 33,000 copies
in the same week, to top the Oricon BD charts. In August 2009, the first
volume of
K-On! was the top-selling anime television Blu-ray Disc in Japan, having surpassed the previous record holder
Macross Frontier,
which sold approximately 22,000 copies of its first volume. It was the
second best-selling Blu-ray Disc in Japan, trailing only
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, with around 49,000 copies.
[124] However, in October 2009, the first volume of
Bakemonogatari surpassed
K-On!'s previous record, having sold 37,000 copies at that time.
[125] Later, with the release of
K-On!! volume 3, total BD sales for the series have outsold
Bakemonogatari.
[126] K-On! received a Best TV Animation Award at the 2010
Tokyo International Anime Fair.
[127] K-On!! won the Best Television award at the 2010 (15th)
Animation Kobe Awards.
[128] Both series have sold a combined total of over 520,000 BD copies as of February 20, 2011.
[129] The film has been nominated for the
Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
[130]
At the beginning of September 2010, the
Kyoto prefectural government began using
K-On!! to promote the
census and encourage people to be counted.
[131] Sharp and Bandai have stated that they would jointly launch a calculator with designs of the characters from
K-On!.
[132]
Source: Wikipedia.org
![Foto: [GADGET+ NEWS]
Redmi Note Resmi Mendarat di Tanah Air, Dijual Rp 1,9 Jutaan
Setelah sukses dengan Redmi 1S, Xiaomi kembali menghadirkan satu lagi produk andalannya, Redmi Note, di Tanah Air Kamis (6/11). Ponsel dengan display 5,5 inci tersebut segera dipasarkan di Indonesia dengan harga Rp 1,9 jutaan.
“Kami sangat gembira dapat menghadirkan kembali gadget Mi ke pasar Indonesia,” kata Hugo Barra, VP Xiaomi Global dalam keterangan pers yang dikutip Gadget+ dari Okezone Tekno Sabtu (8/11/14). “Untuk pengguna yang menginginkan perangkat smartphone yang lebih canggih, Redmi Note menawarkan performa yang tak tertandingi serta layar yang lebih lebar dengan harga yang sangat terjangkau.”
Seperti Redmi 1S, Xiaomi akan menjual phablet-nya ini melalui situs Lazada Indonesia. Registrasi pre-order telah dibuka mulai 6 November hingga 12 November 2014 dan pembelian dapat dilakukan pada tanggal 13 November 2014 mulai pukul 11:00.
Redmi Note melakukan debutnya pada bulan Maret 2014 lalu. Perangkat ini dilengkapi dengan layar IPS seluas 5,5 inci dengan resolusi 720x1280 piksel. Ia pun didukung oleh prosesor octa-core MediaTek MT6592, RAM sebesar 1 hingga 2 GB, memori internal seluas 8GB, dan baterai berkapasitas 3200mAh.
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^CDS
#Xiaomi #RedmiNote](https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/9464_10154769447830463_6004160994525304577_n.jpg?oh=3b37116a3b28d4c92281f127ebb87d91&oe=54E9B209&__gda__=1425124852_aec911fa69af5e7afcf8040ea6f1c795)
