It’s the start of high school, but the Pop Music Club is about to be disbanded due to a lack of members. First year Ritsu, who plays the drums, senses an opportunity for power — er, is really hoping to create a band with her best friend, Mio. Mio plays the bass, but she’d rather be in the literature club. Their squabbling manages to pique the interest of Tsumugi, a mysterious girl. With a keyboardist onboard, all the Pop Music Club needs is a fourth member to be their guitarist.
Enter Yui!
…Except Yui can’t play any instruments and joined just because she thought it’d be an easygoing club. But well, maybe she’ll be able to learn guitar…and enjoy a laid-back club after all!
K-ON! is a 4-koma cute girls doing cute things (CGDCT) series. The latter label may seem strange since we don’t usually think of band practice as “cute”, but this Pop Music Club generally spends their days enjoying snacks and tea after school.
Most of the goodies are courtesy of the kind Tsumugi, whom the other members eventually realize is a rich girl. She is also a closet yuri fan. Mio, meanwhile, may be a bit stern since Ritsu is the fun-lovin’ type, but Mio likes cute and fluffy things. That comes out in the songs she writes but is too shy to perform. Finally, Yui is the definition of an idiot savant. When she puts her mind to it, she can master new guitar chords and techniques quickly. But she can also forget things just as quickly if she needs to spend her brainpower elsewhere.
The cast is rounded out by their club advisor, a former hard-core rocker who loves making costumes, Yui’s pragmatic best friend Nodoka, and Ui, Yui’s younger sister who acts more like the older sister (or mother). Azusa, a fifth member, eventually joins in the girls’ second year, and the experience is definitely not what she was expecting.
It’s not that the girls dislike music or playing their instruments. Even newbie band member Yui falls in love with her guitar and even gives it a cute nickname. It’s just that relaxing with good treats and friends is hard to resist. In fact, teacher Sawako may love teatime even more than her students!
So the manga is full of humor like this as the girls occasionally pull together for a performance. That means deciding on songs, vocals, costumes, and getting Yui back up to speed on her instrument. If you’re not a music aficionado, there aren’t a lot of music terms or J-pop references to confuse readers. This is mostly the girls having fun and occasionally agonizing over school or others’ quirky behavior, like Ritsu teasing Mio or others confused by Ui’s doting of Yui.
Readers will likely gravitate to certain heroines over others, and I imagine the easily embarrassed Mio and Azusa are the faves. Personally, I enjoyed Tsumugi who occasionally wields the power of money and secretly feeds on the girl-on-girl moments she observes. Teacher Sawako has a bit of a closet pervert streak, and while this type of teacher has been seen before in similar manga (Azumanga Daioh), it doesn’t make it any more acceptable. At least Sawako has another angle with her rocker background and love of teatime to be more than just a character who wants to stick her students in risqué costumes.
Judging from the sample images in the single volumes’ digital releases, The Complete Omnibus Edition is literally just the single volumes put together in one. This isn’t a deluxe hardcover and color images were included originally, so there is no reason to double dip for K-ON! veterans. I would have liked some adjustments to the dialogue, as some lines are dated or a bit cringe (“Jiminy Christmas!” for instance).
But those who missed out previously and enjoy 4-koma fare, K-ON! The Complete Omnibus Edition is a great way to experience this music club comedy. I don’t think K-ON! is the best in either the 4-koma or CGDCT genres, but K-On! does well in balancing the crazy club trope with a more intimate cast and without heavy romance plots or subtexts.