K-ON!! 9

Contrary to her typically oversleeping self, Yui heads out for a morning jog and energetically greets her elderly neighbor. At school, Mio, Ritsu, Tsumugi and Nodoka are not convinced of her good intentions considering she swiftly falls asleep in class.

Studying together in the library, the light music club girls still wonder about Yui’s pledge to give it her all. Running into her neighbor again, Yui reminisces how the elderly woman has always been looking after them, she wishes to return the favor.

Practicing guitar and diligently studying for upcoming finals, Yui has gotten serious! Much to Azusa’s surprise when Ui tells her classmate all about Yui’s hard work.

Nonetheless, Yui remains her goofy self, when she goes out to buy some soy sauce, she asks her neighbor for sugar instead. The elderly woman mentions how the yearly talent contest held in their neighborhood is short on contestants and she would surely love to see Yui participate.

Initially not keen on entering the talent contest considering it is held the day after their finals, Yui ultimately agrees to participate, unable to resist her neighbor’s plea.

Telling her friends about the contest, Yui surprises them by saying she’ll be participating by herself so they won’t have to worry about combining it with their finals. Soothing their concerns, Yui assures everyone she’ll be able to combine studying for finals and rehearsing for the contest.

Seeing Yui practice her guitar by the riverbank that evening, Azusa asks her upperclassman about the contest, having heard about it from Ui. Realizing Yui will be performing by herself, Azusa says she’ll join in, much to Yui’s glee.

Fetching Yui from class the next day, Azusa surprises the aloof guitar player with a spartan schedule of studying and guitar practice. The twin tailed girl swiftly drags Yui off to the library, with Ritsu, Mio and Tsumugi looking on approvingly.

Pondering what song to pick for the contest, Azusa wonders what direction Yui will take them for her upperclassman seems decided on creating some eclectic mix of a Houkago Tea Time song in enka style. Eating some croquettes they were treated to by Yui’s neighbor, Azusa’s suggestion of using ‘YuiAzu’ as their stage name meets with Yui’s approval.

Somehow dragging herself through finals, Yui is exhausted by the day of the talent contest and soon falls asleep leaning on Azusa’s shoulder while they await their turn to perform.

Bringing their own version of “Fudepen -ballpen-” complete with jokes and Azusa hitting Yui with a paper fan, Yui’s elderly neighbor and their friends from school that have gathered to watch are wooed by the performance.

Praised by her neighbor, Yui is happy she was finally able to do something to return the elderly woman’s kindness. Getting the results back for her finals the next day, Yui stuns her friends with impressive scores.

Thoughts on this episode~

This week we definitely start to get the impression the season is nearing its conclusion and that the series is approaching its ending point.

The previous episode which delved into Yui’s past and showcased how many of her typical antics hadn’t changed at all since her childhood was a starting point this episode built on, by showing us how in some ways Yui has grown these past years, thanks to her fellow light music club members.

While at her core Yui is still the same oddball girl who can’t seem to get serious about her future, she’s become much more reliable than before, really giving it her all, diligently studying daily and also practicing her guitar.

Azusa’s warm smile at seeing this shows that although she appreciates how Yui has improved herself, she realizes that her treasured upperclassman’s character charmingly remains unchanged in many ways.

As a fan of Azusa and the synergy she has with Yui, adored this episode that focused on them and off course could not resist how cute they looked in those yukata.

Next week will be all about Sawako and her… love life?