brief little thoughtdump on the k-on movie

tl;dr - this review basically says what i say here in just one sentence lmao

From the outset, this movie is structured kinda oddly. Like separate episodes of the show strung together into a movie. But I think there is one scene that fully explains why this film was structured the way it is. And that's the iconic rooftop scene. Especially since they've been building up the tension of this final performance for the entire movie, and most importantly, have been contrasting this performance with the other performances we've seen throughout the movie. For most of these performances, none of the girls felt all that nervous, even though they have every reason to be nervous. They're performing in a completely different country, performing songs that are completely foreign to their audience. And yet, the audience that freaked them out the most wasn't the most unfamiliar one, but the one they all were the most familiar with out of anyone: Azusa. And this speaks to how this franchise actually connects the girls' story with music.

At its core, music is communication. That has always been a core tenet of Yamada's works for her entire career. And when the girls are on-stage, not only is it important to focus on what they're communicating with the audience, but it's just as, if not even more important to focus on what they're communicating with each other as friends. When they were in London, they performed songs that didn't really make that much sense (both in the sense that it's a foreign language and that the lyrics are nonsense lol), but as they returned to school, they performed U&I, a much, much, much more personal song thanking everyone for the memories they were blessed with in the most blatant and literal terms.

And yet, there's still someone else. Someone even more important to them than anyone else... Even in the midst of this very song they point it out to her. In this very moment, for these particular lines, Azusa is their audience.*

This final song is intended for no one except for her. And as a result, came the most personal, emotional song the girls have ever made. No other performance could ever be more intimidating, and yet so, so important to them. They may have said at one point that they're aiming for the Budokan. They may have never reached that in the literal sense, but for them? This performance to Azusa, in that clubroom of theirs that became their home for the entire series, is their Budokan. To express how important Azusa is to them is a feat no other performance, no other stadium, no matter how grand, can top.