What They Say:
Graduation time is finally here, but the girls of the Sakuragaoka Girl’s High Light Music Club aren’t going to let the end of high school be the end of all they’ve built together. First though, they have to keep a promise to take a trip together, and like everything else they do, they’re not doing it halfway. So it’s time to hop on the bus – the double-decker bus that is – and go around the world as the band heads for the birthplace of the British Invasion: the United Kingdom!
On the way they’re going to have to solve that one last big puzzle that’s been vexing them: what to get for their underclassman rhythm guitarist Azusa, who will be taking over the club once they don their caps and gowns and leave Sakuragaoka for the last time. Get ready for a Magical Musical Tour as the whole gang takes in the sights and sounds of London and prepares for one last amazing encore!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release features the original Japanese language track in 5.1 as well as the new English language dub that’s also in 5.1, both of which are done using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The mix for this release is a pretty good one overall where the extra channels are used for the music aspects where it has a larger and richer feel to it that definitely helps the presentation. The majority of the film is straightforward material across the main forward soundstage and it works well with the dialogue and placement throughout. The characters come across cleanly and without any problems, making for an engaging mix as the girls joke and talk throughout. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout and we had no problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.
Video:
Originally in theaters in 2011, the transfer for this feature film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. Kyoto Animation had a strong looking series to begin with in how it presented the show and the movie has some tough shoes to fill. What they do here is just take it up a couple of notches where there’s a lot more detail to the backgrounds and the character animation is stronger with its detail and fluidity. The visual design for the show is at its best here and this is definitely the way to send off the property and the transfer captures it really well. Colors are bright and vibrant, the backgrounds are solid and detailed and it’s generally free from any issues outside of a little noise in a few solid color areas in the occasional background.
Packaging:
The packaging for this release is decent but understated as we get a standard sized Blu-ray case with somewhat muted artwork dominating it. The front cover gives us the five main girls as they sit in the subway station while wearing their coats, so there’s a cuteness factor to how they’re pressed together and it’s a pretty cold place in terms of design. It certainly fits for the show itself and what it wants to do but it’s also just a little more dour than it needs to be for a cover. The back cover goes for the more traditional color design from the series with whites and reds, lots of sparkly aspects of the music variety and the usual taglines. There’s a cent look at the overall premise of the show and a very good listing of all the extras to be had in it. The technical grid is laid out well and easy to read as well as being accurate and the production information fills things out a bit more. No show related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.
Menu:
The menu design for this release is very simple as we get a blue diamond bordered static menu where the main background is that of the Union Jack itself. It’s done a bit faint with a slight pink filter to it while layered on top of it we get the logo for the film and the navigation strip itself, which is along the right and doubles s the pop-up menu. The layout for the navigation is good and easy to use, mirroring aspects from the TV series release itself, and it has a bright and colorful feeling to it. It just doesn’t feel like it sells the film well itself or really sets the mood in a strong enough way. Submenus load quickly and easily and it’s important when dealing with the heavy selection of extras available on this release.
Extras:
While the feature has a two hour runtime, there’s also a lot of extras to be had here as there’s nearly two hours worth of materials. The first is a twenty-minute “dubbing” report that has the main girls being interviewed, or mostly playing games with, while in the booth that’s kind of cute and silly but far, far too long. We also get a twenty minute press conference piece from 2011 that TBS did which involed a Lond bus being used, which I suspect you don’t see too often in Japan. It’s all done up for the movie of course an dleads to the full costume press conference with the girls which is sparkly and fun, but about what you’d expect from a press junket. There’s also a twenty-three minute piece from TBS that looks at the whole K-On phenomenon with some good concert footage, behind the scenes stuff and exploration of the show itself. It’s a nicely done promotional piece, though it feels a bit more middle school aimed in terms of how the presenters work it, but it brings in bits from other extras to showcase the cast and production. The movie premiere event is another twenty minute feature that showcases the leads talking before the audience at the premiere of rht efilm and hits up a lot of the usual things with their feelings on the production, the characters and its meaning.
A really fun feature that I had hoped would be included is here with a thirty minute behind the scenes look at the director, Naoka Yamada, as she flew to London and experienced all of it. You can see how much of that trip ended up in the film and it’s a very fun little work-vacation video log. The release also includes a fourteen minute piece called the K-on Music Hall that does a similar thing to one of the other specials in how it’s set up for TBS to promote the hell out of the movie by showing things with the cast and some of the concert footage and the series itself. TBS went all out to pimp this movie and it shows. The release is rounded out with the usual trailers, TV spots and the clean opening and closing.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
K-On has had a good run in Japan and was certainly popular, with a few seasons under its belt, a decent manga run and a feature film. While I didn’t see much of the first season, I liked the second season well enough, but it wasn’t a show that really won me in a big way as there are quite a few shows that play to this particular kind of storytelling. With the popularity of the series, doing a movie was a no-brainer, especially with the kind of tale they wanted to tell. The connection with the film comes entirely from the characters, though the setting provides a bit of additional fun, but it really does come down to whether you like them or not. And while the film can sort of stand on its own, it’s mostly not something that people will get into unless they’ve been into the series.
With the senior year for the girls winding down, except for Azusa of course as she still has another year to go, the biggest decision of their last weeks is coming up fast. Not what college to go to, as that’s all largely been decided and occurs elsewhere, but rather what to do for their last school vacation before. The discussion about it is certainly cute as they all have their ideas – and misconceptions as well about the layout of the world that makes you question whether some of them should be graduating – but it really makes the most sense that they end up going to London. With their love of music, and the whole afternoon tea time aspect as well, going to where some of their most important music has been made is hugely appealing. While they only get to go for five days and three nights, it’s the kind of great club vacation trip that will stick with them forever.
Of course, they girls are also making sure that Azusa can go since even though it’s not her senior trip, it’s not a club trip without her. The film spends some good lead-up time to the trip itself as they have fun with deciding and going through their checklists, asking their families and going through all the other preparations as well. The bonds between the girls is well done and you know there’s a good history to them that is just below the surface, which we know from the seasons that have fun. Seeing the way they’re so close and comfortable with each other, teasing the right way but supporting as well, makes the lead-up to getting on the plan worthwhile in its length.
The bulk of the movie does spend its time in London though, which is a field day of fun. The girls are the perfect tourists as they take tons of photos, experience the variety that London has to offer and get a feel for the music as well. There’s a lot of really good bits along the way, from going to the wrong hotel which causes them a bit of grief to being mistaken for some other Japanese musicians and performing in their stead. I really liked their surprise at how a sushi place in London was handled contrary tot heir expectations, but you know a chunk of it just has to come from the size of the place and how open it is in comparison to the smaller and more cramped Japanese places.
But for the most part, it really does feel like any other vacation that you’d get when going overseas and ending up in London. They visit some familiar locations and they get time seeing where some of their musical instruments came from. With the girls staying in two rooms, we get different dynamics but also the slowly gestating subplot of the film, which is with the seniors trying to come up with the perfect gift for Azusa for when they depart. It makes a lot of sense with what they come up with considering what their group is, but it all just flows together well. Like the K-On series itself, there’s a lightness and simplicity to all of it and seeing it blend together over the course of the nearly two hour run time makes it feel shorter than it is, but a welcome journey overall.
In Summary:
K-On is a naturally popular property for a lot of reasons that I’ve seen over the years, even if it’s a show that leaves me enjoying it but not being hugely behind it. With the series, it was enjoyable and I was glad to see it come to an end, bringing the girls to a new point and a sense of closure. The film slides in just before that a bit and gives them a chance to go have a great adventure that will be a big part of the rest of their lives, and of their friendships as well which will face some challenges as they move on. The trip to London is well done, even if there are a few too easy coincidences coming up along the way, and it’s just fun to see them in a place where thir love of music is an important thing. They don’t go too far with the music in some ways when it comes to the heritage there, but they do their own music well and there’s some fun performances to be had. This release has a good film to it and something like two hours of extras that are worth spending time with, making this a good bit of closure for fans of the property.
Features:
Japanese 5.1 Language, English 5.1 Language, English Subtitles, Interviews, K-ON’s Anniversary, 1-2-3 K-ON!, Live Event, K-On in London
Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: A+
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: May 21st, 2013
MSRP: $39.98
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
