This past weekend saw the “roadshow” — what a movie release is called in Japan, from an old movie distribution method used in the U.S. through the 1950s or so — of the K-On! movie, and I did my duty as a Japan blogger and went to check out the film. It was great seeing Mio, Yui, Ritsu, Mugi and Azunyan on the big screen for the first time, and in no time my yuri meter was over 9000. In the film the girls take a graduation trip to London (Yui says, “No, we’re not going to England, we’re going to London!”), where they visit the birthplace of many famous musicians, walk across the Abbey Road intersection and are confused by British sushi. The film accurately captures the thrill Japanese people experience when they leave their safe island nation and venture out into the wider world with nothing but a guide book and a little English. I write a lot about how the anime industry has had to get “smarter” in the 21st century, bringing in new ideas like product placement since they can’t expect fans to pay $600 for a series like we used to. In the film, the girls stay at the Ibis Earl’s Court Hotel, which may be the first example of a company outside Japan paying to be included in an anime. (Pizza Hut Japan does it all the time, but they’re a domestic company.)
The Light Music Club takes a trip to London.
