A Fondness for Revelation
[Seems like everyone else in blogland has overtaken me in watching K-On!! (I’m on episode 4). I lag even further behind in regard to Aria (still working on the Organisation), so this will not be a very authoritative post with regard to either show.]
Aria clearly means a great deal to a fairly large number of people. In my own experience of the franchise I’ve come across a few of those moments of epiphany which Aria can deliver, at its best. Such moments have made sense to me of the high regard in which the twisted community seems to hold this happy go lucky chillout series.
Perceptions of the K-On franchise are more prone to be based around condescension, bafflement, or disinterested amusement than passionate advocacy. Only I can’t help but wonder whether K-On could fulfil Aria’s purposes better than the slice-of-life show which has already become a community classic.
At heart Aria is concerned with the enjoyment of life. It manifests this concern by telling simple stories about girls doing stuff and then telling you what the stories mean. When those stories tie into threads of characterisation established over multiple episodes there is a mighty gathering of forces and everything rocks. Like all the fans I am pulled right on in and come away with a sense of renewed purpose and optimism.
A consciously understood message can certainly make for some effective dramatic highlights, but does the sublime actually amount to a hill of beans once we leave the room? I’d argue that the revelatory structure makes for serious fans, while policies of careful indoctrination are condescended to out of familiarity. Our canon doesn’t reflect what we choose to watch so much as what we choose to respect. Which is fine, provided that the special privileged shows are actually better for us.
The value system of K-On is broadly similar to that of Aria. What you don’t get is the flush of charged sympathy, or the sense of viewing a positive example in the face of challenge. What you do get is a happiness based in uneventful day to day living - you get something closer to true “slice-of-life”.
K-On’s idyllic situation is fascinating, and its proven power to keep the audience coming back surely buys the opportunity to quietly shape their idea of what life is, or should be, like. Sure, watching it can be stuporific, but might something creep into our consciousness while immersed in the dream? Isn’t that the best way to encourage happiness, to describe it as something unassuming? Maybe watching K-On secretly makes us better people.
As well as paedophiles.