“K-ON!” Op & Ed singles

In what was no doubt the biggest anticipation and rush since the release of “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi” ending single “Hare hare yukai” sung by Aya Hirano, the opening and ending singles of “K-ON!” have just been released in Japan.

Both the opening “Cagayake! Girls” and ending “Don’t say ‘lazy’” are sung by the four main voice actresses, Aki Toyosaki (Yui), Yoko Hikasa (Mio), Satomi Satou (Ritsu) and Minako Kotobuki (Tsumugi).

Aki Toyosaki takes the lead vocals in “Cagayake! Girls” while Yoko Hikasa leads in “Don’t say ‘lazy’”.

The singles themselves are the standard type of anime opening and ending CD singles, each features four tracks, comprised of two individual songs and their instrumental versions.

Quite handy, the included booklets have the lyrics of each song printed inside.

The limited edition versions contain four alternative cover card images, each featuring one of the keion-bu girls individually in the same pose as seen on the default booklet cover that shows all girls grouped together.

Adore the alternate cover for Mio, she looks irresistibly moe in it with her shy expression.

The opening single also features a second song, called “Happy! Sorry!!” but wasn’t much impressed by it, felt a bit too much like generic music filler and failed to stand out.

Especially like the alternate cover of Yui, she looks lovely on it, with her typical expression bursting with energy and radiating a lively, positive aura.

Next to the full version of “Don’t say ‘lazy’”, the ending single also has a nice track titled “Sweet Bitter Beauty Song” which has a good rhythm and poppy bite to it.
Just like “Don’t say ‘lazy’” it combines a nice guitar and synthesizer melody.

Saw that fellow otaku Danny Choo also wrote a nice article about the “K-ON!” opening and ending singles which he acquired through Amazon Japan.

For those not able to get a hold of the singles (yet) you can find nice mp3 or even flac samples online, the usual sources already have them available.