I can’t even begin to describe how delighted I am that K-ON! is back, and (supposedly) for two cours, at that.
THIS.
By the way:
I never expected K-ON! to grow into a franchise. I think it goes without saying that, until now, Kyoto Animation’s output has mostly been defined by Haruhi and their various VisualArt’s/Key adaptations. Initially, I assumed K-ON! to be little more than a four month long part time job taken to help pay the rent. Oops. Of course, it may very well be that K-ON! is the very model of a modern unexpected hit to which all parties directly involved were just as surprised as I was.
I think the way KyotoAni was surprised and (initially) underbudgeted is very obvious from the clumsy way they retrofitted Azusa into the OP midway.
Watching a bunch of girls sitting around drinking tea, eating cake and being moe... or rowing boats... or having a nice soak in the bath at the end of the day... perhaps there are plenty of anime fans out there who really do like this sort of thing after all?
Pfft. I am firmly on the side of GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class.