The Movie
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, the 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 show that I’ve struggled with as a whole at times because it is that slice of life series that can be frustrating because little really happens, especially with as much material as there is and in my past experience in watching it a little out of order. At the same time, the beauty of it is that a lot happens as the characters grow up in front of our eyes across the seasons and film as opposed to focusing on just a single year in the life. It’s done so very well and with such detail in small but great ways that it’s almost deceptive in how it happens. This release gives us I believe all of the anime that’s out there and it’s definitely a great way to get a lot of stuff that takes up little space in one set if you’re just into the show itself. There’s definitely something special about these girls and the creative that brought them to life that it resonates still a decade later for many fans, so it’s great to have this out here at this time. Easily recommended for those that have wanted to own the show but have never hunted up the various releases over the years.
Features:
TV: Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, Movie: Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1 Language, TV:English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, Movie: DTS-HD MA 5.1 Language, Minami Tanaka’s Dubbing Investigative Report, London Bus & Press Conference at TBS, Navi Show 1-2-3 is K-ON!, Movie Premiere Event, Director Naoko Yamada in London, Good Luck Music Hall ~ K-ON! Music hall, Japanese Trailer, Teaser & Spots, K-ON! Season 1 & 2 Shorts, Clean Opening Animation, and Clean Closing Animation
Content Grade: A-
Audio Grade: A-
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: A-
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: December 3rd, 2019
MSRP: $129.98
Running Time: 1135 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 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.
Chris Beveridge
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
