The appeal of "Moe" and how well did K-On! really achieved it · Waifora

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K-On! is a Moe SoL Anime that came out in 2009 by studio "Kyoto Animation", and it's believed to be the one that revolutionized the modern saturated (or overly saturated) "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things (CGDCT)" aka the "Moe" genre. This actually should've been my first in the genre but it ended up as the 20th one. And while it is the Grand mommy of Moe genre, it certainly isn't the best.

#The appeal of "Moe" Anime In Moe anime, the characters are mostly cutesy, with personalities that gives off massive feel good vibes, and the plot is always seems to be simple to digest without many complications so that your brain can just chill out by watching a harmless show about these cute characters living their daily life in the most childish & cute way possible, which as you can tell doesn't sound all exciting or interesting. The strength for these kinda shows, mostly boils down to the appeal of the show to the targetted audience. And that appeal should be maintained both in terms of characters and plot. Because if it doesn't, it becomes boring & uninteresting and might loose it's appeal. Now with that said, let's talk about how well K-On! balanced it's appeal in characters and plot.

Appeal of Characters

Name: The appeal of "Moe" and how well did K-On! really achieved it
Item: K-ON!
Rating: 72
Author: R2R

Mio, Ritsu, Yui, Azusa & Mugi are the main leads, and they get a 100/100 in terms of character appeal. They all have cute & varied personalities and the series gives enough screentime to show off their appeal and it pays off really well. Yui is a very lazy bum but has a surprising talent when it comes to guitar, Mio is a well-behaved but shy character that plays bass and is mostly the main highlight among everyone, Ritsu is your energetic tomboy-ish character that plays drums, Azusa is twin-tailed guitarist who's more dedicated to her guitar but always falls in hands of the gang who numbs her dedication with sweets & tea, and Mugi is your blonde & rich character who plays keyboard. Remaining characters like Sawako the teacher, Nodaka the childhood friend and "Ui" the Best Girl, I mean the little sister; all does their job well.

Appeal of Plot

The plot centers around the "Light Music Club" and their journey to perform at a much bigger stage, and the starting point for that is their school festival. And I give a 55/100 for this. The plot only exists to make these characters blend in a different setting which looses it's appeal half way through. While it highlights the moments for comedic & sometimes heartfelt moments, it doesn't look fun anymore. It deviated a lot from it's initial premise; like there are two (beach) episodes that pretty much follow the same exacts events. The focus on the music side of things gradually decreased and shifted more on the 'cute' things that doesn't have much relation to plot and just happens, even if those cute moments were slightly fun to watch. If it focussed more on the music side; like more concerts or other music related stuff, it might've been more fun & interesting to watch.

In conclusion;
The characters will constantly spark but the plot gradually looses it's charm it initially had.

On technical side of things, the art style and animation were good, as you expect from "Kyoto Animation". Character designs have a fluffy feel to them and the backgrounds are well drawn. OST & songs are very good too.

#Summary K-On! is a very sweet show. That sweetness might not appeal some but for the ones it does, it's definitely, worth a watch. It might not be the greatest in the genre but it certainly has it's charm and worth the time.

But PLEASE!!

Spoiler, click to view