K-ON

[Mog]

Alright, so we've talked about a few different animes of various genres. But hell. Lets face it, we're just beating around the bush, trying to ignore an undeniable fact.



Holy fuck. This anime. This mana filled slice of ambrosia sent by the great pantheons to satiate the dreaded Orochi. This intricate, layered deep cake cooked by chefs not of this world to serve in a feast to Zeus and the other Gods. This legendary blade of quality used to slice through arcane horrors of the night like Cowboy Bebop and Fooly Cooly with a single poised strike.

It would be impossible for me to describe a story of this caliber with mere words, the quality of the relationship between girl and girl and instrument, the incredibly moving portrayal of life under the oppressive thumb of a totalitarian church. So instead, I provide an example. Imagine taking a strawberry. Dunk it slowly in chocolate sauce, savour the feeling of it slowly sinking into the sticky liquid. Now pull it out twice as slowly and oh god, there's a small droplet drippoing from the tip. Catch it. Now, take that first bite of the strawberry. Don't be shy, don't be polite, just sink your teeth deep into that rich flavour, enjoy yourself... How was it? Alright, now throw that feeling away and do the one thing you love even more than me turning you on with strawberry innuendos. Got it? Good, times it by nine thousand and one. There you have it, K-ON my frinds, K-ON.

The animation. Holy Religious Sacred Artifact on a fucking pogo stick, I started counting colours, I stopped counting when I involuntarily came in my pants. It's just so beautiful, I wish I could reach out and hold it and sometimes, in the darkest parts of the night, I truly believe I can.

And, of course, the coup de grâce, the ending. Ahh, the many sleepless nights I spent tossing and turning, racking my mind for some way the ending could satisfy me, to no avail. But ha, I believe there was more than mere creativity at work the night the writers wrote the anime's ending. I belive, no, I know now that what occured that night was nothing less than a miracle. The writers no doubt thought the same, as upon completion I have it on good authority that both of them self-immolated there and then out of faith and love for the masterpiece they had had bestowed upon them and the legends they would become thanks to the workings of a Creator far above our measly monkey minds. I cannot spoil the ending, I daren't. But I will say this: This show changed me. It changed me, as it changed all who watched it. I have seen the light at the end of a very long tunnel, I have grasped the ambrosia with both hands and I am ready to devour with all the righteous fury I can muster. The thing about this anime, the real thing about this anime, is that it is not just an anime.






At the end of the day you are watching cartoons because you grew up incorrectly. Doesn't matter how good the animation gets or what amazing depths the show's plot plunges to there is always the inescapable fact that you are watching kids cartoons.
Nevar forget. NABESHIIIIIIIIIIIINNN.

[vyseelric]

iaintevenmad.jpg

First of all, if you're content with watching a mindless run-of-the-mill moe-moe-desu anime that explores no themes, provokes no thought, and tries to reach an audience with an intellect comparable to that of a twelve year old, then by all means watch this show.

If you really must watch a show that the creator of Cowboy Beebop openly rants against and is one of the reasons he doesn't do any writing anymore because he believes his audience to be content to eat this shit up like it's gold, then go ahead.
If you really want to contribute to the decline of any intelligent thought put into anime and the end to the provokative writing style that set anime apart from other, more simple cartoons of the time, have at it.
This anime, to me, is the paradigm of lazy writing with no consideration for depth or subtext of any sorts. What you see is what you get: moe-moe-desu-ka-watashiwarurushdes bull shit that wastes your time. From the moment you watch the first episode to the series end, you will not have changed in any way. You will not have rethunk any aspect of your life or genuinely felt touched about a certain subject matter that is looked at in this show. It's about a girl who learns how to play a guitar. That's it. It isn't like Beck in it's exploration of what it means to be comfortable with who you are and to develop into a person who sets themselves apart from the crowd through their own talents. It doesn't introduce characters that are both well rounded and generally likable, who act within an established personality that is both dynamic and awe-inspiring. It's four girls who play mediochre jpop.

As for Mr. Nabeshin- I have respect for him as a director and I genuinely think he's entertaining in nearly everything that he does. That being said, along with all of the aformentioned perspective on depth, I can safely say that Nabeshin hasn't done much when it comes to creating a thought provoking series. It's just wacky comedy. I liken it to Animaniacs and Freekazoid- it's just a cartoon.
However, what separates genuinely GOOD anime from the rest of the crowd is that it doesn't treat you like a child. It doesn't say "here's a show, eat it up and buy our merchandise" without having you look at life in a different light. Truly great anime, as well as any other form of creative medium, treats its audience with respect enough to engage them in thoughts that lead to very sophisticated perspecitves of life. Be it book, anime, graphic novels, comic books, television shows, whatever; a creative medium's purpose is to lead the audience on a thought experiment that, at the end of the day, makes them consider the other side of the coin of life.

But again, this is just if you're one of the few anime viewers who still wish to be treated with the respect given to you by shows like Evangellion, Cowboy Beebop, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Metropolious, and Kikider. For those of you who are content to watching shows like Negima, Inuyasha, Excell Saga, and K-ON that treat you as if you have the intellect of a child, then I have no place in saying what you should and should not watch. It is not my job to scold children.

[vyseelric]

Your move, moefags

[thatfallout3guy]

Wow..........
Vyse wins, anyone object to that?

[Mog]

I don't think you appreciate the subtext of K-ON Vyse. I don't think you appreciate the subtext. ::Loch Ness Monster::

Ps, ;D (it's mfw reading that reply, especially when you started talking about Nabeshin, honestly, oreos everywhere.)

Firstly, I used to wake up every morning and wonder to myself why every good modern writer doesn't just throw down their pen and give it up when their market is thronged with true crime stories and autobigraphies from goddamn Justin Bieber and his ilk. I do the same with artists, directors and yes, the guys and gals writing for anime. Then it hit me. There's one thing that separates an artist from an entertainer, and that's the facet of not giving a shit what the rest of the world thinks and concentrating on making the work you love. As Stephen Fry put it, "All the true artists I know are uninterested in the opinion of the world and wholly unconcerned with self-explanation." Van Gogh didn't paint a single picture and then stop because nobody appreciated him. However, saying "I'm not good enough" is a cassic entertainer quote, wanting to please an audience is what makes them happy. Saying "You're not good enough" on the other hand just strikes me as being massively big headed.

This quote from the guy who did Cowboy Bebop that you bring up pretty often Vyse therefore paints an obvious picture. The man is clearly no artist, else he'd have fucked all the ignorant masses and made beauty once again, all artists are massively defensive, but they don't just big up their work and then stop anyway. However, I don't think he's an egocentric prick of an entertainer either, though his comment portrays him as one. To be honest "I won't write anymore because people are too easily pleased" just sounds like a massive cop out. O writer, if you can't be arsed writing then just tell us, don't use some trite little excuse that's about as shallow and meaningless as the shows you apparently despise.

There is a pretty big chance I'm wrong and there's an absolutely tiny chance Stphen Fry is wrong. Perhaps this writer has hit the nail exactly on the head and the folk who watch anime are dull, easily impressed morons. But then my equally hackneyed argument that anime is for badly raised children would just have more evidence to back it. And even if that's true and there are only a few seekers of good anime left out there, as you said Vyse, then wouldn't it just mimic every other creative medium? Us fans of 'the good stuff' are going to spend our lives sifting through the rough in search of those diamonds. The thought of this massive, hideous rough never stopped true artists from crafting genius an-oh look we're here again.

Finally, I don't like K-ON. I hate Negima. I despise Haruhi Suzumiya. But there are going to be times when I want to watch slow-paced and predictable anime. There are times when I don't want to boggle my mind with intricate plotlines and there are times in the middle of the night when I don't want to sit, tired and cross-eyed, pondering the meaning of unfathomable humour. You yourself (as opposed to you myself ) loved Toradora, a show that's about as predictable as my sex life. The same occurs with these wonders of nature you, the ever faithful hound of whoever wrote Cowboy Bebop, jump to defend. There are times when I don't want to be able to say what's going t happen next 15 mins before it happens, there are times I don't want to watch an ignorant male stumble around a harem winning hearts easier than Mario and there are times in the middle of the day where I don't want to sit stony faced after a squeaky voiced 10 year old teacher makes a joke about as witty as my sex life (wut?). We all go through different mood swings Vyse, you can't expect an anime fan to eat nothing but rapier wit and heavy tears, it would become very dull very fast.

The moral of the story is that the writer for Cowboy Bebop, for whatever reason, is talking shit. Now, we're both stubborn mules but we're arguing over something we have little to no control over so feel free to post a reply knocking down all my hastily constructed and un-checked over arguments but after that I'm sure you'll understand if I reply with a joke or not at all. I prefer to watch debates than join in, after all. (And the kids hate it when we fight. )

Pps. NABESSHHHIIIIN, SUPPOSEDLY HE HAS 4 SHIRTS.
NABESSHHIIIIN, HE ONLY EATS RAW EGGS.
NNAAAAABBBESSHHHIIIIIIN.

Ppps. Did you notice the semantic field of painting? Honest to God, that was an accident. I was like "wha?" later.

[Mog]

Also, this is a K-ON thread.

[vyseelric]

I really should stop quoting that guy. The way the universe unfolds usually has me with egg on my face, so it'd probably be best not to quote the guy when my source is Greg

But my point still stands: If you wish for the writer of a show to treat you like you're a child who understands nothing about subtlety and metaphor, then go ahead and watch those shows. I only ask that you realize that the writer thinks of you as an imbecile- a host to leech off of in the form of merchandising and dvd sales. If that is the kind of existence that you wish to live then I have no say in the matter.
However, if you want to be treated as an equal in the eyes of the writer, who's purpose isn't dvd sales or merchandising but to present to you a view on life that you might have not considered previously, then there are certain shows that reign supreme. Going with the whole relationship allegory, if K-ON is a parasite that gives nothing to its host and expects to be given everything, then Akira is a symbiotic relationship where you are given a compelling narrative that has you consider other points of view and it is given what its writer needs to survive to make more of these works of art.

But allow me to entertain your point of view. From what I'm understanding, you view anime, and to an extent all forms of media, to some extent like food. There are a wide variety of delicacies to pick and choose from. Say Akira is a duck a la ronge and K-ON is a peanut butter sandwitch. In one perspective, duck a la ronge is clearly the superior meal. However at the same time, having duck a la ronge every day would diminish the overall value placed in it because, instead of being a rare meal, it has become commonplace. The peanut butter sandwitch then, according to your argument, is there to relieve us of that desensitization of deliciousness, having something inferior to compare to the clearly superior meal.
This is a pretty good way to look at the anime line up as a whole, however you're forgetting one very important part of what makes any form of expressive medium truly great: effort.

Using the previous examples again of the duck and sandwitch. Let's take an anime that tried to be one of the greats but failed at it simply because there wasn't enough effort put into it: The more modern Cyborg 009. It came out in the early 2000 and had a short run. It wasn't spectacular or thought provoking, yet it tried to be something amazing like the original Cyborg 009. However, there wasn't much effort put into the show which is exemplified by it riding on the coat tails of its predecessor. To compare it to the duck, it's one that wasn't thouroughly cooked enough. In its attempt to become something great it forgot that effort was required to hold it together.
Now let's look at the other end of the spectrum with an anime that didn't try to be all-that-and-a-bag-of-potato-chips but still managed to excel because of how much effort was put into it: Toradora. On the surface, yeah it's just another peanut butter sandwitch, but there was care and meticulous preparation in its execution which made the entire coposition that much better. For lack of a better phrase: The effort put into that show made it the best damn peanutbutter sandwitch I have ever tasted.

In conclusion: I'll eat anything that tastes good much like I'd watch an anime that had effort put into it. But the key word here is "effort". I'm more than willing to watch something that tries its best to be what it was meant to be like Toradora, but I refuse to watch something that insults me by blatantly being a processed cookie cutter moe moe anime because there wasn't any effort in its creation or execution.

[Mog]

tl;dr

[vyseelric]

too logical;didn't read

[mybeutifullife]

I watched the first 2 or 3 episodes. Cant say I enjoyed it that much, but the intro was epic ill say that

[Mog]

WHAT? Are you implying this thread is for discussing K-ON beutiful?! GET OUT.

[lukuz13]

Ill tell you, there is nothing quiet like

is one intense anime, I mean my god, who doesn't love ? I know several of you all do love K-ON in fact I see you looking at in your bed at night....thats right and you should be ashamed of loving so much

Also LOLUMAD

[thatfallout3guy]

Trololol
I<3Lolicon
DracoWrath
K-ON
Haruhi Suzumiya
fallout guy
Tali1
lolwut
lolwut?
Fallout3Guy
FAPFAPFAP
Badass1
SexyBeast1
lickedalampostinwinter
licked a lamp post in winter
paradox1
Paradox1
Ace1

[Noven]

LOL, GLORIOUS, simply GLORIOUS! and.... lolwut?

[graybeardhalt]

lolwut?