K-ON!! 4

Are we watching Yui who has gotten up early to dutifully pack for her school trip to Kyoto? Of course not, it’s Yui’s reliable sister Ui who has prepared her suitcase and diligently wakes her older sister on time.

Grouped with her friends from the light music club for the school trip, Yui enthusiastically opens a bag of sweets as they speed to Kyoto on the shinkansen. Berating the four girls for causing a ruckus on the train, Sawako soon gets sucked into their pace, much to her own despair.

Exasperated at Ritsu and Yui goofing off, Mio fears the worst and laments Nodoka’s choice of putting the four of them in the same group. When the energetic drummer and aloof guitar player continue their antics when they arrive in Kyoto, Mio’s sighs grow longer and longer.

Visiting Kinaku-ji, the girls are impressed by Tsumugi’s explanation about the temple. Having some bitter green tea in the surrounding garden, Mio’s exasperation increases for this seems all to akin to their daily music club shenanigans.

When their next stop takes them to the Kitano Tenman-gu shrine which features a statue repenting a cow said to make one smarter if you rub its head, Yui and Ritsu’s ensuing antics gets them a stern scolding by Sawako. Soon running through the grounds to write some wishing plaques, the rambunctious Ritsu and Yui are again berated by Sawako.

Arriving at their hotel, the girls have some time to kill before dinner so Tsumugi suggests playing a board game. Indulging themselves to many sweets against Mio’s explicit advice, Yui and Ritsu are unable to finish their exquisite traditional dinner.

Observing Mio and Tsumugi discussing hair care in the baths, Ritsu wonders if she should grow out her hair as well, hoping to become more lady-like, which soon solicits teasing mockery from Yui.

Ready to tuck in for the night, the girls are surprised by Tsumugi’s sudden pillow fight assault. Their room erupting in an all out pillow war battlefield, Mio and Yui soon fall victim to well placed pillow throws, but as Ritsu retaliates against Tsumugi, her pillow hits none other than Sawako.

Turning off the lights, their visibly irritated teacher plants her foot firmly on Ritsu’s back in retaliation. No sooner has Sawako left their room that the girls continue with their pillow fight shenanigans.

Off into Kyoto to enjoy a free day, the girls don’t keep to the itinerary set by Mio. Rushing to a monkey animal park, the girls have a fun time feeding the monkeys while Mio enjoys the scenery. Spotting a souvenir store, the girls browse through the many trinkets, wondering what to get for Azusa who’s still back in school.

Heading back to their hotel in late afternoon, the four girls get completely lost having followed Ritsu’s expert map navigation skills. Spotting Nodoka and her group in an adjacent street, Ritsu’s glee at seeing the reliable class representative soon crashlands her into the pavement when Nodoka admits to being lost as well.

Luckily the girls do make it back to dinner where Mio can barely keep from bursting out in laughter at Yui and Ritsu’s antics of imitating a Kyoto accent, the relief from the stress she had bottled up resulting in earnest laughter.

Their final night in Kyoto, Mio’s pleas for a good night rest fall on deaf ears as Ritsu soon tries to scare the shy bass player. When Sawako barges in and scolds the girls, Yui pleads with her to join them, prompting Sawako to retort she can’t allow herself to be dragged into such behavior.

Unable to resits the lure of candy, Sawako end sup joining the girls but they soon regret having invited her when their teacher rants on how her image is ruined now that the other students also call her Sawa-chan.

A nice episode full of laughs. Sawako falling asleep in the girl’s room was simply priceless. Liked how they rendered her, Mio and Tsumigi in this episode, though wasn’t as convinced by how they portrayed Ritsu and Yui.

Yui’s usual aloof but also bright character felt too abrasive with her childish behavior, the same for Ritsu who was just too hyperactive, more so than usual which lead to her almost coming over as annoying. Was also surprising how Yui immediately thought to buy Azusa a souvenir or call her when they had gotten lost, while she did not mention her own sister Ui at all actually.

Looks like next week we’ll see what Azusa and Ui were up to while their upperclassmen were in Kyoto.