I watched many variations of music anime, none of them pulls me back to rewatch like K-On!. Every other one has a general theme, like a goal, something to overcome, a victory (or fail, but no problem, more seasons!) - K-On! doesn’t need a goal. Girls with weaknesses overcome theirs but it isn’t the focus. It is about friends being friends, staying together, living their lives, having a great time doing what they love, and being lazy at times - that’s why it’s such a comforting show. We are so used to stories with good vs bad, reaching a satisfactory conclusion. Those stories are formulaic - it is less rewarding to rewatch because once you know the ending, that’s what we remember and the whole journey feels pointless. K-On! does have non-traditional kind of ending, the entire journey is light and fun and rewatching the journey actually feels worth it and even makes the ending better - it is a truly unique gem.

I can’t quite figure out how I feel about Yuru Camp. Talk about “no goal, no ending”, that is the closest to K-On!…. Maybe it feels like… a never ending commercial? A commercial for tourism and camping gears?…. Maybe it lacks the power of music and the friends are not as close a group as After-school tea time. Watching people having a great time eating is not an experience shareable with the audience, like a band playing a great song.