K-On!

[aliveinHim]

I just started watching it and I just have to say I'm now obsessed with it! It's cute, and so far clean and all out entertaining!

[Vega]

K-ON! is my all time favorite music related anime by far!
The chracters are all memorable and relatable. My favorite is Ritsu!
Probably because we're both drummers. XD

Also im super happy that a K-ON!! movie is due this December!

[aliveinHim]

The characters in K-On are soooooo adorable! I wish they were real so they could be my friends.

[Yamamaya]

K-On is one of those series that despite how mindnumbing it is, it's still pretty fun.

My list of characters from favorite to least favorite

Mio-Can't go wrong with Mio.
Mugi-DEM EYEBROWS
Yui-She's adorable and hilarious
Azu nyan.
And the other one whose name I have forgotten.

[UniqueAngelStar]

K-ON is pretty cool!
I really like the plot of the anime and the characters are soo cute and cool!
I like all of them!
It's one of my favorite animes!

[Atria35]

I have yet to see it, but that's because I hear such drastically different things about it. Here a lot of people like it. On my other anime forum site, no one really likes it. So I'm debating.

Not that I don't have tons of other anime to fill my time with in the meanwhile, so I don't think I'm missing anything.

[aliveinHim]

I'm horribly obsessed with the opening theme. It's one of the best (aside from second season Bleach).

[Atria35]

Honestly, I'm totally indifferent to the OP. The second season ending- freakin' awesome.

[aliveinHim]

I'm only on the second episode and as soon as I finish my homework, I'll be either doing a K-On marathon or sewing my associate pastor's kids vocaloid costumes.

[LadyRushia]

K-ON is a pretty cute series. I cosplayed Azusa at a small con last month and that was fun. It seems that people either love it or hate it and that's probably due to its genre. Anyway, the music is fantastic and gets better in season two.

[DangoDaikazoku]

I have watched every episode. It is a great anime. I miss it. I can't wait until the movie comes out. (YES!! The anouncement was at the end of the second season). I love all their songs (and so does my sister). We both especially love "No Thank You" because we love the line "Don't tell me you are lazy, datte hontowa (because you're really) CRAZY!"

[Mithrandir]

This one is a keeper. Both the wolf and I really dig it. I remember when I watched the last episode I was borderline depressed because I "missed them."

That's universally the sign of a great show, for me. I can't wait for the movie, another season, or pretty much anything else かきふらい wants to do. XD

[Maokun]

I've kept myself fully away from it. I'm usually distrustful of way too popular stuff (says the guy with a MoHS avatar, yeah) especially one that seems so unabashedly moe. I can't help wondering if between catering shamelessly to drooling otakus and fanboys, there's room for actual good writing, not to mention I find the very premise of the show uncompelling. Then again, I held very similar views about Lucky Star but ended loving it.

[Falx]

K-On isn't as pandering to otaku's as Lucky Star was so if you enjoyed that I can guarantee you'll like this.

Being distrustful of seemingly overly popular things sounds like something that backfires easily, if you ask me. Often things are popular for a reason, like being extremely good. Although there are exceptions of course. You really shouldn't judge any show on it's fans. If you like something, like it for your own reasons, and not the discordant shrieking of the mindless masses. The reverse also applies.

[blkmage]

I can't help wondering if between catering shamelessly to drooling otakus and fanboys, there's room for actual good writing

I think there have been plenty of shows in the last few years that have demonstrated this line of thought false.

Anyway, I hate the idea of letting other people determine what I watch. This is why I enjoy watching shows as they air, so I can make my own judgements on things I watch rather than come to them a year later with general opinion of a show already largely set. It's also taught me to ignore what people say about older shows when I actually get around to watching them.

It's fine to listen to other people if you're looking for a show to watch, but it's silly to be judging them based on what other people say or how they act. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to avoid a show, but its fans are not one of them.

[Agloval]

I wouldn't want to outright judge a show on its fans, but then before you've watched something you're hardly judging it. You're just making a decision about investing time in watching it. Life is short, art is long, and not watching a good anime is hardly a disaster -- so really, a rule of thumb which makes you miss two gems but helps you dodge ten millstones is well worth it. I think, anyway.

K-On doesn't interest me, but I do like 'Listen!!'

[blkmage]

Neither is accidentally watching a bad anime. Or even one or two episodes of a bad one.

I take the exact opposite approach in deciding what to watch. If those gems are really worth watching, I will watch those and the ten terrible ones that I would've needed to go through along the way to get there. As a result, I've watched a lot of bad anime. Maybe it's because I like to think about the things I've watched and why they did or didn't work, but I don't think my life would be significantly better if I watched Cowboy Bebop instead of H2O. I enjoy having that kind of perspective.

[Hiryu]

After finishing the first season, I've decided to not watch the second season. I think I was looking for something that wasn't going to happen. I care more about the plot and character growth/development than watching cute girls loafing around drinking tea.

It's a bonus, sure, but for me, they put too much moe into it. At first I was like "Wow, are these noobs really going to play at something like that?" But then, they hardly ever practice. I mean, I guess seeing them just practice would be boring, but so is watching them drink tea.

I just feel like azu-nyan in episode 9. I did like the first couple of episodes though, and the opening and ending are catchy.

[Atria35]

I dunno- I've had the experience where a show's been so hyped, that my opinion of it seems to drop from where it would have been otherwise, because I didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips. So that's why I'm avoiding the series for now. Maybe in a year or two, when the whole thing has died down a bit.

[Maokun]

I like the short debate that my little, aimless rant produced. I agree with Atria the most, that's why I ended watching Lucky Star some time after the hype died and didn't regret it. I'll most likely end watching it in a couple years in the same way that this year I've watched Spice and Wolf and Code Geass.

On the other hand, I'd really like to agree with blkmage, but I don't have the luxury of too much free time so I have to try and make sure that every choice of entertainment counts Long time ago, I did have the time and watched anime indiscriminately, so I understand where he comes from.

[Narnian]

I loved the first series and am almost finished with the second. The music and setting is what captured me the most. That and the fact that it is an anime that my kid sister and I can watch together without me telling her to cover her eyes every episode or two. >_<

[Yamamaya]

It's been in my experience that if someone wants to "hate" on a series they will use the phrases, "It's moe crap" or "It panders to the otaku audience." It's a clever tactic used in many circles of using certain words or phrases that are perceived in a negative way to dismiss something.

[Midori]

I dunno- I've had the experience where a show's been so hyped, that my opinion of it seems to drop from where it would have been otherwise, because I didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips. So that's why I'm avoiding the series for now. Maybe in a year or two, when the whole thing has died down a bit.

I don't blame you. I did exactly that for some time. Eventually I got around to watching out of a slight sense of guilt for causing SoRaNoWoTo to beat K-ON in the contest despite not having seen K-ON.

So I eventually started watching K-ON, and it turns out I really liked it. I am currently on episode four of the second season with my parents. We love it. However, I might not have enjoyed it so much if I'd watching it back when it was being super-hyped. I am like you in that excess hype tends to turn me off of a show. That and I'd seen the first episode at a social gathering, and the first episode of K-ON is kinda slow and slightly boring. But I am glad I finally got around to watching more of it.

Next up for me: Full Metal Alchemist?

[Narnian]

Personally, I don't pay attention to hypes at all. I judge the anime based on it's worth via story/plot, characters and development, as well as objectionable content rating. If an anime is worth watching based on those factors, then I'll watch it regardless of the potential hype that surrounds it. Likewise, if an anime is not up my standards, no matter how popular it is, I will not watch it unless it is directly changing the face of anime. In which case I will research and observe it to better understand how it will affect and influence the current and future anime culture. Maaaaybe then I'll watch it, especially if my good friends are into it so I can discuss it with them. Hype doesn't impress me. Quality does. K-On! is just one of those lucky animes that I ended up liking well.

Midori, Fullmetal Alchemist is a great show! I hope you like it. It's one of the few anime that is hyped because it is good not because it pleases fan boys or girls. I highly suggest watching the 2003 series before Brotherhood as it makes a great anime and then watching Brotherhood if you want to see the story line from the manga's point of view.

[Atria35]

Hype doesn't impress me. Quality does.

It's not that hype impresses me, it's that it gets to me. At a certain point, you hear so much about it, and it just... Even if it's 'changing the face of anime', that's a huge amount of hype. What if I don't like something that's changing the face of anime? I'm still going to be disappointed, moreso than if I'd seen it without hearing the hype.

And I would recommend going for the original FMA, Mid, since right now it's getting a huge amount of flack. So that means if you don't like it, well..... you're in good company. But it won't be overhyped at this point.

[Maokun]

Oops, it seems that I once again derailed the main topic of a thread. I do understand that not always "popular" means bad. In fact, I'm quite aware that you can expect that something is popular /because/ it's good. However, it is undeniable that there's is such a thing as pandering to the [s]lowest common denominator[/s] profitable, well-established target audience and you can effectively expect that to be popular as well.

Now, I do not always let popularity be a decisive factor in my watching a series. Rather, I take it as a multiplier of other factors such as premise, character design, production values, etc. If a series seems good to me and it's also popular, I'll take as a sign that it is in fact very good; if on the other hand, it fails to interest me, I'll be wary of it's popularity being a result of pandering to the masses.

That's my problem with K-On! It's premise seems to me as the result of the following conversation:

-"Hey, that Haruhi stuff was quite good and we really nailed the momentum with Lucky Star. Now we should keep following that profitable road!"
-"Yeah, what if we keep the setting and tone, but introduce a twist... something that's also marketable... What's popular with kids nowadays?"
-"Well, I keep hearing about this vocaloid thing..."
-"That's it! Music! We make the cute and quirky high school girls form a band!"
-"Brilliant! After all, Live Alive is probably the most beloved anime episode of the past decade! We could have several Live Alives!"
-"And keep the ultra-moe style so the otakus could go crazy over all these new waifus!"

And so on... And probably something good came of it all, because Japanese have a knack for making compelling stories even from the most trite or silly concepts. But it feels rather cheap to me and not worth my time, when there are so many original and authentic series to watch instead.

As I said before, I might be dead wrong and I'd be glad to hear some good arguments to prove it.

[blkmage]

So your argument seems to be that pandering is bad. Except that this is late-night anime we're talking about, and almost every single show is created to pander to some segment of otaku. Except most people don't recognize this and they end up assuming moe = pandering. And it seems this bias against moe specifically is the root cause of your hangup over the series.

After all, there is nothing that relates all three of Haruhi, Lucky Star, K-ON other than the art style. I mean, they're three different works by three completely different authors. Yeah, Lucky Star has some Haruhi references, but that's a part of the liberties in adaptation that KyoAni likes to take. And I will say that the expectation of concerts is something that was created entirely in the minds of the fanbase (which lead to some disappointments as there are considerably fewer concerts than you'd expect).

There's also the other assumption, that originality is necessarily better. Of course, my favourite dead horse to beat this year is that Yamamoto Yutaka's Fractale is the counterexample to this. Interesting premise, interesting world, completely original, but horribly written and executed.

I mean, if you don't like anime about high school girls, then yeah, deciding not to watch K-ON based on the premise is probably a good idea. But you are someone who's watched and enjoyed at least one of these kinds of shows, which makes me kind of raise an eyebrow when I see this kind of posturing against supposed pandering. I don't see anything that should keep you away from this show specifically other than a false sense of elitism and that's why I rail against the perceived moe/"pandering" criteria so hard.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I don't think my life would be significantly better if I watched Cowboy Bebop

...You are so wrong XD.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Next up for me: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or the manga?

I hope that's what you meant.

[Maokun]

So your argument seems to be that pandering is bad. Except that this is late-night anime we're talking about, and almost every single show is created to pander to some segment of otaku. Except most people don't recognize this and they end up assuming moe = pandering. And it seems this bias against moe specifically is the root cause of your hangup over the series.

After all, there is nothing that relates all three of Haruhi, Lucky Star, K-ON other than the art style. I mean, they're three different works by three completely different authors. Yeah, Lucky Star has some Haruhi references, but that's a part of the liberties in adaptation that KyoAni likes to take. And I will say that the expectation of concerts is something that was created entirely in the minds of the fanbase (which lead to some disappointments as there are considerably fewer concerts than you'd expect).

There's also the other assumption, that originality is necessarily better. Of course, my favourite dead horse to beat this year is that Yamamoto Yutaka's Fractale is the counterexample to this. Interesting premise, interesting world, completely original, but horribly written and executed.

I mean, if you don't like anime about high school girls, then yeah, deciding not to watch K-ON based on the premise is probably a good idea. But you are someone who's watched and enjoyed at least one of these kinds of shows, which makes me kind of raise an eyebrow when I see this kind of posturing against supposed pandering. I don't see anything that should keep you away from this show specifically other than a false sense of elitism and that's why I rail against the perceived moe/"pandering" criteria so hard.

I think you are taking to the extreme what I'm trying to say. I don't believe that pandering is, per se, a bad or tainting trait. As you say, almost every show, except perhaps only the most militant arthouse have to pander to a demographic in certain measure]happens[/I] and it's something that in my eyes is not alright. Even if the resulting show is an enjoyable series due to the quality of the writers hired to flesh it out, production values invested, character design, etc, I'm a lover of storytelling, and as such, I believe storytelling -like the best of the arts and humanities- is something that should come from the heart. Secondary details such as trying to increase its appeal among the consumers should serve the story and not the other way around. The best example I can think of right now is Shrek. I love Shrek. However, Shrek 2 and the rest did not need to exist.

So, I choose to be wary of shows which have the external appearance of being heartless marketing ploys; it's one of my most superficial filters I use when I'm narrowing down the shows on which I want to spend my limited iddle time, and everyone else have their own filters for that purpose, which I'm sure, are not less subjective and arbitrary than mine. Even so, I was careful to remark this arbitrariness and invite people several times to prove me wrong in this thread, and explain why this series is actually worth my time as opposed to my prejudiced qualms. All I've gotten so far is negative criticism of my bias and not a single argument in favor of the series. Because I think higher of the members of this board than others' I'll hold accusations of fanboyism for another round and let you instead present me with clear arguments showing me why I'm wrong in this particular case.