Review: K-On! Season 2 Complete Collection DVD

Release Date
15/6/2015
Format
DVD
Publisher
Manga Entertainment
Certificate
12
Language / Subtitles
English, Japanese / English
Discs
4
Run Time
646 Minutes

After-School Tea Time are back! in this complete collection of K-On! Season 2 from Manga Entertainment. K-On! Season 2 Complete Collection comes with a total of 27 episodes, including an OVA, spanning across four discs in one very rigid box.

K-On, or the light music club, and its members could be mistaken for a club whose primary focus was learning and performing music. Well, think again! as this motley crew of slightly oddball, high school girls seem more interested in drinking tea and eating cake. Add to that an advisor whose sole purpose in managing the club is to also eat cake, it’s a wonder they even manage to pick up their instruments. Thankfully, amongst all the tea drinking and cake eating, they do find time to practise and, on the odd occasion, we are treated to a fantastic performance. Of course, the main attraction is the charming and cute interaction between the main cast; the music is just the icing on the cake.

This season of K-On! sees the main characters looking to recruit new members into the light music club. As the majority of its members enter their final year of high school, this would leave Azu-nyan, or Azusa Nakano, classmate of Yui’s little sister, as the only remaining member the following year. After various attempts at recruiting prospects, including feigning injury to trick students into their clubroom, dressing up as animals, and even spying on other clubs to see how they recruit new members, the light music club eventually decides that they want to stick together as they always have, just the five of them.

Behind the scenes is studio Kyoto Animation, now known for their use of ‘Moe’ in anime, K-On! was one of the first of their series to really push this concept along with the rise of the slice-of-life genre. Since K-On!, Kyoto Animation has continued a tradition of ‘Moe’ styled series, to the dislike of some, I will add, but generally extremely popular with anime fans.

The collection comes with both English and Japanese languages but only with 2.0 audio; not a deal-breaker, but it would have been nice to see 5.1 surround for at least one of the audio tracks. Extras in this collection include the standard textless opening and ending animations, and an OVA, or original video animation. Visually, the series is very good; being a DVD only release, what more can you expect. With Kyoto Animation, the focus is never on the quality of animation, although still generally of a high standard, but the quality of the characters themselves.

Verdict
K-On! Season 2 Complete Collection brings together a two-part release into one rigid box, a plus for many collectors. While there’s nothing new to add to this release, K-On! is a series that has a firm following. Season 2 brings to light the realisation that they won’t be together forever but they have formed an unbreakable bond. K-On! is a charming series from start to finish, one that will have you smiling from ear to ear with each of its quirky characters; we just wish it could go on forever!
7.5
GOOD
Editor-in-chief