In answer to the question which forms the title of this post, I must firmly say neither. However, if you look around at viewer responses, you are very likely to find one of these two extremes. Why is this? Well, I can understand why those moe-addicts out there would react with shameless gushing, cause the darn show is targeted at them and naturally has the things they’d like in it. But what about the hate? Certainly some people are just turned off by the moe thing, but then I wonder why they even bother watching when they know in advance what they are getting into? Is it just to have material to rant about? If people genuinely want to give a show a chance, then you have to give it a few episodes at least, to see how consistent it is or if a plot develops. Most anime don’t show their true colors right away and tend to have the most excessive elements in the first episode or so. And if you think the main girl is annoying, well…., you don’t have to have seen much anime or read much manga to know that if a real plot develops, it will be all about the aimless girl getting more confidence and gaining a new purpose in life. That’s like manga plot #1.
So what were some interesting (and possibly positive) things about K-On ep. 1? I liked how you, of course, pretty much knew what was going to happen and the animators knew you knew what was going to happen so they could have some fun in bringing the girls together. Yes, the girls are all well-established character types, but most anime are not going to deviate from that. But if you have any feeling for this type of story at all, then you’ve gotta love the shy directionless girl meeting up with her wacky new friends. Old story, but each new version can be interesting in its own way, or else why watch at all? I like how the other girls were trying to bribe the clumsy girl to stay in the club. I also thought it was funny when that one girl had an elaborate false memory about a life-changing pinky promise at a rock concert. It’s nice when an anime can make fun of its conventional material and, in general, these girls seem a lot more relaxed about having fun making music then the over-serious characters in an overblown series like Beck.
I may have pissed some people off who liked Beck. I liked it at first, and had fantasies of playing guitar (like I did of playing go after watching Hikaru no Go), but the quality of the show began to fall and the ridiculousness of the story began to grow and, although I watched it to the end, I was not liking the pretentious, predictable rubbish it had become. I’m hoping for more from K-On.
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“I liked how you, of course, pretty much knew what was going to happen ”
This sort of thing annoys the hell out of me. Not you saying it, but what other people say. :P
In defense of the haters:
Perhaps they think that a show shouldn’t be judged solely from it’s promotional material. You never know how the finished product could turn out, despite the impressions you get before hand. K-On could have ended up being a show with more widely appealing humour. Too bad it was, as you say, “targeted” at the moe crowd so it’s going to have humour cater-made for that moe crowd.
The show is clearly light-hearted slice-of-life so the chances of a plot developing are slim to none. Then take into account the similarity to any other slice-of-life and you can see that they don’t vary that much. What’s the point of continuing to watch something you immediately dislike, just because it might get change or suddenly become appealing when you could be watching shows you want to watch?
This is clearly your kind of show, but that may not be the case for others.
“Perhaps they think that a show shouldn’t be judged solely from it’s promotional material. You never know how the finished product could turn out, despite the impressions you get before hand. K-On could have ended up being a show with more widely appealing humour. Too bad it was, as you say, “targeted” at the moe crowd so it’s going to have humour cater-made for that moe crowd.”
The problem is that this impression comes only from the promo materials and the first episode. Hardly the best way to make an “I told you so” argument because your information is too limited. And I disregard people’s opinions when they’re too flimsy to stand on.
“What’s the point of continuing to watch something you immediately dislike, just because it might get change or suddenly become appealing when you could be watching shows you want to watch?”
Why are you looking at it in that perspective? That speaks to me of being jaded more than anything else.
“Perhaps they think that a show shouldn’t be judged solely from it’s promotional material. You never know how the finished product could turn out, despite the impressions you get before hand. K-On could have ended up being a show with more widely appealing humour. Too bad it was, as you say, “targeted” at the moe crowd so it’s going to have humour cater-made for that moe crowd.”
Actually, I recall seeing a tweet from someone who had not yet seen it, who said it looked like it would be crap, and then this person, of course, wrote a negative review on a blog. This gives me the impression of people who watch it fully expecting to hate it and getting ready to rant about it in advance lol.
@TheBigN
I was talking about impressions only from the promotional material before even watching a full episode of the show. You can’t claim that the show is great or horrible from the first episode, but you can say what the numerous things are that you dislike about it and why you don’t want to watch any more episodes.
And not watching something that I hate from the off isn’t being jaded. I gave the show a chance (for example, Shangri-la) and it disappointed me so there’s no way I’m going to waste any more time on it.
@DS
There could be the chance that that person dislikes that type of show anyway. Not everybody loves moe! They may have thought that the show might not be crap, and yet when it turned out it was (at least to them) wanted to say why.
Hmm… total rubbish!
I’m one who thinks K-On! is highly entertaining, so far. I think discussion has generally ignored two important aspects of this show — and of Lucky Star and Kannagi, to cut to the chase: the nature of the humor and the nature of our relationship with the characters.
The characters are not just objects of attraction, but aspects of our unconscious minds. Aspects of the anima, in Jungian terms. We don’t just see these characters from outside, we identify with them. Or at least I do. In laughing at their foibles, we are laughing at our own — and accepting them. This is a humane kind of humor. And I find it hilarious, at least as practiced in K-On, Lucky Star, Kannagi, and especially in Ichigo Mashimaro.
kyoani is srs bsns