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10[[foldercontrol]]
11
12!From the original manga
13!! The Light Music Club/Houkago Tea Time
14[[folder: In General]]
15* [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Absurdly Powerful Club]]: Consider the size of each music-related club's fiefs. Chorus and Wind Ensemble clubs, despite their numbers and prestige value to the school, '''share''' the Secondary music room ([=S2E17=]). Jazz Club, being numerically comparable to Wind, gets a classroom ([=S1E8=], [=S2E5=]). Meanwhile, Light Music Club despite having only 4-5 people usually resides in the Preparation Room, but also has the storeroom ([=S2E2=]) and officially ([=S1E1=]) the Primary Music Room which they use as they please ([=S2E7=]). [[spoiler:One can understand Chorus and [=Wind=]'s reluctance to do them any more favors.]]
16* BunnyEarsLawyer: Mio, Mugi, and Azusa at least try to get consistent practice, but Yui and Ritsu prefer to play around. Most of the group's time together is spent enjoying tea and cake and [[NotSoAboveItAll neither Azusa nor Mio are above it all]]. Despite all this, they're actually really good when they perform.
17* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: While Yui (and also Mugi to a lesser extent) are straight examples, all the girls here have their own fair share of quirks.
18* ComicTrio: The founding members formed a quartet variant in their first year, with [[GenkiGirl Ritsu]] as TheLeader, [[TheQuietOne Mugi]] as TheFool, [[TheChewToy Mio]] as the OnlySaneMan, and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Yui]] being either the Leader or the Fool.
19* TheCutie: They're all very kind-hearted and innocent girls, though Ritsu is a bit of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
20* DidntThinkThisThrough: Yui and Ritsu are prone to making impulsive and spontaneous decisions.
21* FourGirlEnsemble: Yui is the [[NiceGirl sweet]] and {{ditz}}y {{cloudcuckoolander}}, Ritsu is the {{tomboy}}ish and [[TheGadfly mischievous]] DeadpanSnarker, Mio is the token MsFanservice, and Mugi is the TeamMom.
22* FourPhilosophyEnsemble: Yui, being the {{cloudcuckoolander}} who lives in her own world and lacks goals or has different ones, is the apathetic, with Ritsu qualifying as well: although she's less airheaded, both are still rather unfocused and BookDumb. Mugi is more down-to-earth and focused, and definitely an optimist as she's cheerful and positive; Mio instead is the conflicted, as she tries to be serious and mature, but is a shy child at heart. Azusa, being the OnlySaneWoman and the most mature one despite being one year younger, is definitely the realist, if not a lighter cynic sometimes (well, as far as a ''K-On'' character can be cynical).
23* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Slight variation: {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Yui is sanguine/phlegmatic, {{Tomboy}} Ritsu is sanguine/choleric, ShrinkingViolet Mio is melancholic/supine, TheQuietOne Mugi is phlegmatic/sanguine and OnlySaneWoman Azusa is supine.
24* KiddieKid: They're in their mid-to-late teens but overall act more like preteens. Even Mio, who's usually the "mature" one of the group, acts more like a slightly more mature 12-year-old than anything.
25* MusicalThemeNaming: They each take their family name from a member of the defunct {{New Wave|Music}} band P-Model. Yui Hirasawa is named after frontman and founder Music/SusumuHirasawa, Ritsu Tainaka is named after drummer Sadatoshi Tainaka, Mio Akiyama is named after bassist Katsuhiko Akiyama, Tsumugi Kotobuki is named after keyboardist Hikaru Kotobuki, and Azusa Nakano is named after bassist/keyboardist Teruo Nakano (though Azusa herself actually plays second guitar).
26* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Well, as far as a character in such a series can be described as ''mean'', as they're overall very kind girls. That said, compared to each other, Yui (who always brings happiness among them), Mugi (who always provides things to spend time together) and Mio (who, despite her shyness, is very warm and always helps studying) are nice, Ritsu (ThePrankster JerkWithAHeartOfGold) is a bit mean, and Azusa is in-between due to her {{Tsundere}} tendencies and slightly standoffish behaviour at times.
27* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: In concept, they're a school club that focuses on practicing light music. In practice, however, they're basically a group of girls who spend most of their time fooling around, only to practice every once in a while.
28* SmartJerkAndNiceMoron: Averted by Mio and Ritsu's dynamic. Ritsu is the more carefree and scatterbrained one but slightly jerkish, while Mio is TheSmartGirl but also the nicer one, though she can be harsh on Ritsu.
29* SweetTooth: All of them love sweets and frequently snack on cake that Mugi brings in for them, though [[WeightWoe Mio and Mugi]] both tend to worry about their weight as a result.
30* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tea. It's the solution to all of life's problems, according to Mugi. Their band eventually gets the name Houkago ("After School") Tea Time from Sawako because of it.
31* TrueCompanions: They're very close best friends.
32* [[ManChild Woman Child]]: By the second manga, all founding members of Hokago Tea Time are adult women attending college. Emotionally, on the other-hand, they are still quite innocent and adorable children.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder: Yui Hirasawa]]
36[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yui_instrument.png]]
37%%
38->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AkiToyosaki (Japanese) and Creator/StephanieSheh (English)
39
40Yui is the first character introduced, and remains the primary viewpoint character throughout the series. She is the lead guitarist and main vocalist of the band. Yui is a kind-hearted but air-headed girl who initially only joined the club because she was tempted by the offer of snacks. She initially had no musical experience whatsoever and has difficulties maintaining her attention, but shows herself to be a fast study when focused, and discovers surprising talents she herself was unaware of (such as having [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch perfect pitch]]).
41
42----
43* AchievementsInIgnorance: She had never seen a tuner until her second training camp when Azusa uses hers. When asked how she tunes her guitar, she demonstrates just by listening. Azusa realizes Yui has a perfect pitch, something that is extremely rare and usually found in people with a musical background, something Yui likely doesn't realize.
44* AllLovingHeroine: There's not a single person in the entire manga Yui shows hate or dislike towards: She loves her fellow band members, ''adores'' her sister Ui and Azusa, gets along well with the grandma that she and Ui live close to, the list goes on.
45* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: She tends to get very easily distracted. Taken literally in Episode 8 when she proves immune to nerves after finding a 100 yen coin on the stage.
46* AmbiguouslyGay: Yui tends to be very huggy and affectionate around her female classmates, especially towards Azusa, who she outright attempts to kiss multiple times. However, this is mostly played for laughs, and neither the manga nor the anime touch on Yui's sexuality. Her nature as a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} only complicates things.
47* AwesomenessByAnalysis: She is shown to able to pick up on things such as guitar and certain academic subjects rather quickly through brief observation, provided that she is sufficiently motivated.
48** The earliest is when Yui plays the チャルメラ melody used in ramen carts [[note]]technically an arrangement with the key moved from G to C[[/note]], played out as C-D-E-D-C-C-D-E-D-C-D.
49### A beginner can still easily recognize a full semitone change in pitch as such, but it's harder to determine the ''amount'' of change (1 semitone or 2?). It's also easy to mistake two consecutive notes of the same pitch as different, because the listener anticipates ''some'' pitch change and the ear is so affected by what comes before [[note]]the 2nd C in the C-C, for example, sounds different from the first because it is preceded by a C instead of a D[[/note]].
50### The melody is played out on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_scale diatonic scale]], while the guitar is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_and_chromatic chromatic instrument]] which means the fingering changes are less intuitive than moving along the white keys (diatonic scale) of a piano.
51### Yui's fingering was A (string)+3 (fret)=C, D+0f = D, D+2f=E, which both requires her to know the frets are worth one semitone, but most importantly that ''the difference between the 3rd (D) and 2nd (A) strings is 5 semitones''.
52*** A book and a few minutes of experimentation can resolve all but the first, and that may be what Mio assumed Yui had even if she didn't "practise", but the viewer knows "zero really ''is'' zero" and for a true first time being able to divine that much is quite impressive.
53* BigEater: She never gets fat for it, much to the dismay and envy of Mio and Mugi. In the song "Ichigo Parfait ga Tomaranai", she likens herself to a black hole when it comes to sweets.
54* BookDumb: Yui is shown to get rather poor grades in school, being weak in pretty much every academic subject. Despite this, she is a very talented guitarist who can tune her guitar by ear. And later on, things change, since she shows to be definitely able to get very high marks.
55* BrilliantButLazy: Most of the time Yui is an airhead who suffers from frequent bouts of laziness, but she can learn things pretty quickly once she puts her mind to it. Even Azusa, who's trained for years, is amazed at how good she is with the guitar, such as being able to tune it without an auto-tuner. In addition, she can achieve excellent grades when she manages to focus on studying.
56* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite coming off as an airhead, Yui proves to be surprisingly clever and talented. Azusa's [[ChildProdigy years of experience with the guitar]] sets up Yui as this by contrast. For example, when Yui sees Azusa's electric guitar tuner, the audience learns that Yui doesn't know what a tuner is, but she has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch perfect pitch]], and can tune her guitar perfectly by ear. Of course, she has no idea what perfect pitch is. She's also not a great student most of the time [[BrilliantButLazy due to her laziness, but when she focuses on schoolwork hard enough, she can get excellent grades]].
57* ChildishOlderSibling: Yui is airy and rather irresponsible compared to her younger sister Ui.
58* ClassicalAntiHero: Mostly in the first season; she's lazy, ditzy, and thrown into a position she has no experience with, but she pushes on through regardless.
59* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: She lives in her own world, is easily distracted, and can sometimes forget almost everything else each time she focuses on something new: she once temporarily forgot how to play the guitar after she was forced to study for a make-up test. She also has a [[CompanionCube very strong love for Giita]] and is sometimes shown talking to it as if it were a real person.
60** Unexpectedly, she has her moments where she tends to be the one who thinks about practical matters: e.g., how much their training trip will cost (ep 4), or whether they're actually allowed to use the club room as they please (ep 5). She's also the first one to recognize Sawako (ep 5).
61** There have also been times where her tendency to only be able to focus on one thing didn't show; in episode 9 of season 2, she managed to focus on both performing at a local talent show and her exams at the same time, succeeding in both pleasing her neighbor (despite not winning) and passing her exams.
62* ComicalNapDrool: She falls asleep during the opening ceremony, and ends up drooling on Akira's suit.
63* CompanionCube: She has a very close devotion to "Giita", though some of the ways she expresses her love for it can be downright impractical: letting Giita wear clothes and sleeping in bed with it at night is going to do a number on its strings' lifespan. It's even lampshaded in-series, with side character Himeko noting how she loves it like a boyfriend.
64* ConvenientlySeated: Yui sits in the window seat in the last row of the classroom, with Ritsu sitting in front of her.
65* CovertPervert: She fantasizes about getting slapped with a big wad of cash… but then again who wouldn't?
66* CuddleBug: Generally towards Azusa, but also to everyone she's close to.
67-->'''Azusa (watching Jun receive her first {{glomp}} from Yui):''' "I see Jun's undergoing her baptism by Yui-Senpai."
68** In university, Yui has found her new "victim": Akira.
69* CuteClumsyGirl: Ritsu's first impression of Yui, and she sure isn't wrong. Yui is quite the klutz and definitely an airhead.
70* {{Determinator}}: If Yui wants to see something through to the end, she ''will''. Her official character bio even mentions how determined and competitive she is.
71* TheDitz: PlayedWith. Yui isn't exactly ''stupid'' in the truest sense of the term, it's just that she's a {{cloudcuckoolander}} and very unfocused most of the time. That said, she does possess a fair amount of intelligence and creativity, and can be very competent and talented when the situation calls for it.
72* DumbassHasAPoint: Yui's far from the smartest, but she's shown to be more alert of things when the others aren't.
73** When Mio recommends a training camp that Ritsu insists on goofing off in, Yui is the first to bring up the cost of said trip, something Mio didn't take into account.
74** Sawako broke into tears over how things didn't work out when she was younger and is upset she's still single. Ritsu tries to get her to cheer up by saying it doesn't matter who she was before, but who she is in the here and now. While that does calm her down, Yui absentmindedly, though correctly, points out she doesn't have a boyfriend in the here and now either, making her break down in tears again.
75* TheEmpath: Yui sometimes demonstrates a weak version of this.
76** When she was young, she instinctively chose Nodoka to be her friend, and Nodoka stuck with her despite the relationship clearly being pretty one-sided in Cost versus Benefit.
77** In the first episode, Yui was rather uncomfortable with the other girls, being temporarily placated with sweets before her nervousness returning. Do note that Ritsu was sizing her up in the teacher's office, then all three of them were wearing masks and trying to say whatever is needed to get her name into their club. Yui herself was clumsily navigating through pleasantries while trying to quit. When they offered to play for her is also when they '''dropped their greed''', and Yui relaxed enough to not only join their club, but tell them what she thought.
78** In the fourteenth episode, Yui was able to mingle with the other scary-looking bands easily, who turned out to be perfectly friendly. Remembering that she's not an unconditionally bold person when interacting with unknown people ...
79** Contrast the above with the movie when Yui was clearly nervous about the restaurant manager. Yes, he's big, he's speaking English and he's backlit, but as seen above superficialities doesn't affect Yui. The story doesn't clarify whether he's good or bad.
80* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: In season 2 - episode 8, club members try to imagine what job Yui could do later. Her [[TheDitz ditziness]] always ends up messing things up.
81* FamilyThemeNaming: She and her sister Ui have [[RhymeThemeNaming names that rhyme with each other]].
82* FlippingTheBird: ''Almost'' does this in the music video for the first school festival song in episode 6, but catches herself and throws a peace sign instead.
83* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The foolish to Ui's responsible. Compared to her younger sister, she's airheaded, easily distracted, and very dependent on Ui to do everything for her when she's at home.
84* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine with phlegmatic tendencies: she's quite outgoing, very kind and friendly, and is also cheerful and excitable despite her laziness.
85* GenkiGirl: Quite bubbly and always happy and cheerful, she's rather excitable (if she's not [[LazyBum lazing around, that is]])... and although she's not as hammy and loud as Ritsu, she still counts.
86* TheHeart: Thanks to her natural kindness and charisma, Yui is often the one who holds the entire band together when things get rough (well, as rough as things can get when it comes to a group of adorable and pure-hearted girls).
87* HiddenDepths: She's somehow able to do a pretty decent impression of a sumo wrestler, complete with deepening her voice.
88* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Yui is one of Sawako's favorite victims for her cosplay, but her sheer innocence (and adaptational difference) prevents her from being too embarrassed by it. In fact, when Sawako punishes her with the santa dress in the anime, she flashes a peace sign and looks rather cheerful about it.
89* KindheartedSimpleton: Despite usually coming off as a goofy GeniusDitz, she holds no ill will towards anyone and is someone who will go the distance for those she cares for.
90* LargeHam: Yui is either 100% happy or a 100% sad DramaQueen (in the ''very'' few moments she's sad), there is no middle ground. Still, Ritsu beats her in hamminess.
91* LazyBum: Before she joined the Light Music Club, Yui was part of the Going Home Club (AKA, she always went home after class). Her time was spent reading manga, eating snacks, and just lazing around while Ui took care of the house. She's gotten better since joining the club; she spends a lot of time practicing with Giita, but her laziness still shows from time to time.
92* LeadSingerPlaysLeadGuitar: She's the band's lead guitarist and primary vocalist.
93* LostFoodGrievance: She sees taking the strawberry from a strawberry shortcake as the equivalent to taking its crown, or even its heart or its very soul.
94* NiceGirl: Yui's most noble quality is her ability to go above and beyond the distance for the people that she loves; notable examples include letting the rest of Hokago Tea Time have their fairly-earned share of the part-time-job money meant for her guitar, rehearsing for a musical festival competition to win a trip for the grandma who has been kind to her since childhood in spite of a looming midterm exam (and '''acing''' the test, no less), not to mention writing '''two''' sincere and heartfelt songs to celebrate her love and gratitude for the most precious people in her life, "U and I" for her sister Ui, and "We Met A Wonderful Angel" to give courage to Azusa.
95* NeverGetsFat: When the rest of the band asks on why she never gets fat with all of those sweets, she explains that she has a high metabolism.
96* TheNicknamer: Her guitar becomes "Giita", Tsumugi becomes "Mugi-chan", Ritsu becomes "Ricchan", Azusa becomes "Azu-nyan", Sawako becomes "Sawa-chan-sensei", and Mio's bass becomes "[[BilingualBonus Elizabeth]]". Also, in the "extra" episode of the first season, she calls her pair of gloves "Tebukuro-chan".
97* NotHerself: She undergoes a personality about-face due to a fever during the college arc.
98* PluckyComicRelief: How her bandmates apparently see her. Based on the way the band introduces her in the last cultural festival concert, and [[spoiler:what Azusa says in the manga while tearfully begging her seniors to not leave her]], the quality about Yui they like best is her ability to boost their morale.
99* TheProtagonist: Despite ''K-On!'' having an ensemble cast, Yui is considered the main character. The first season of the anime focuses on her growth as a musician, culminating in her [[{{Determinator}} pouring her heart out]] to play at the school festival.
100* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Azusa and Nodoka's blue.
101* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: In the manga, when Sawako has Yui dress up in a SexySantaDress as punishment, Yui acts embarrassed as she shows it off. It (doesn't) help that the outfit is a two-piece that shows a lot of midriff.
102* RookieRedRanger: The story begins with Yui signing up to the Light Music Club as lead guitarist despite no music experience.
103* StockingFiller: Yui wears black stockings in contrast to the other characters who wear socks.
104* StrongFamilyResemblance: She and her sister Ui look incredibly similar to the point that they could pass as twins, even though they're actually a year apart in age. The main physical difference is that Yui always wears her hair down while Ui has hers up in a ponytail.
105* SweetTooth: She has a great fondness for sweets, which gets abused relentlessly to seduce her into joining the club. Even after she joins, Mugi [[CrazyPrepared keeps a lot of sweets handy]] for whenever the band needs Yui to do something. (Mugi seems to believe that [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer sweets are the solution to all problems]].) The scary thing is, [[TruthInTelevision she's often right]].
106* TechnicianVsPerformer: The Performer to [[ChildProdigy Azusa]]'s Technician. While she almost never practices and doesn't possess the musical experience and skill that Azusa does, she instead relies on her energy and charisma to entertain the audience during performances.
107* TooKinkyToTorture: When Sawako forces Yui to wear a SexySantaDress in episode 7 of season 1 in order to embarrass her, she instead proudly poses in it. This causes Sawako to complain that it's no fun forcing Yui to wear it because [[InnocentFanserviceGirl "she has no sense of embarrassment."]]
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder: Ritsu Tainaka]]
111[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tainaka_ritsu.png]]
112->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SatomiSato (Japanese), Creator/CassandraLeeMorris (English), Creator/JenniferWeiss (German)
113
114Club president and drummer who has problems following her responsibilities. A rowdy and loud girl, she's been friends with Mio since they were little. Her interest in the club was primarily because, being a vacant club, she could elevate herself to president without having to be elected. While not as disorganized as Yui, she often misses deadlines or important details because she's too distracted by something else, which often leads to her and Yui being the club's troublemakers for one reason or another.
115----
116* ACupAngst: She has the smallest bust of the original four and is very conscious about it, especially since her best friend and immediate {{Foil}} Mio has the largest bust.
117* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Somewhat. The anime endings tend to portray her as a PerpetualFrowner, despite her extroverted [[LargeHam hammy]] and [[ThePrankster jokey]] [[DeadpanSnarker personality]] in the canon material.
118* AllDrummersAreAnimals: Downplayed. Ritsu is the most extroverted girl in the band and will do things she wants to do (sometimes to the dismay of Mio). However, she's not as extreme as other examples of the trope.
119* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Although to a lesser extent than Yui.
120* AttentionWhore: Ritsu is very outgoing, loud, boisterous, definitely hammy and quite attention-seeking. Although she isn't actually self-absorbed as most examples, since she's generally pretty kind.
121* AuthorityInNameOnly: She's nominally the club president, but slacks off with her responsibilities. She attended her first club president meeting halfway through Season 2, which takes place during her ''senior year''.
122* BerserkButton: Don't ever accuse her of being unfeminine to her face.
123** She mentions that even thinking about having to move one's fingers frenetically to play guitar and bass and keyboards "makes me want to scream!"
124* BirdsOfAFeather: With Ayame, at college.
125* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: The Boke to Mio's Tsukkomi.
126* BoyishShortHair: She sees her hair as symbolic of her tomboyish attitude; during the trip to Kyoto, she notices that the more girly Mio and Mugi have long hair, and wonders if growing her own hair out will make her more feminine.
127* TheBully: Ritsu really enjoys abusing Mio's many phobias. She ''usually'' realizes when she goes too far, but when she doesn't, either she gets a CranialEruption or Mio crawls into her CornerOfWoe.
128* CameraFiend: One ''Ura-On'' segment is devoted to this trait of hers.
129* CharacterCatchphrase: In the dub -- "What are you, a grade schooler?"
130* ChildhoodFriends: She and Mio have been friends ever since they were children.
131* ClingyJealousGirl: In the anime Ritsu starts showing this behavior toward Mio at one point (Episode 11).
132* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Not to Yui's extent, since she's definitely more grounded, but she's still lazy and rather unfocused, as she prefers having fun than practicing. She's also rather forgetful.
133* ClubPresident: Subverted: while Ritsu simply joined the club to jump at the chance to become President without getting elected in the first place, her position rarely comes up again. Club decisions are mostly done in democratic fashion, as opposed to her telling the others what to do, and when it comes to doing the necessary paperwork and such, she more often than not forgets about it, much to Nodoka's annoyance.
134* CranialEruption: Very often when she annoys/scares Mio.
135* DeadpanSnarker: Definitely more of a snarker than deadpan, but she's ''very'' sarcastic, if not a bit mischievous, and loves playing jokes... especially, when they scare Mio.
136* DumbAndDrummer: Downplayed. Ritsu isn't particularly stupid, just lazy and forgetful. Although the reason she plays the drums is because she thinks playing the guitar or keyboard is too complicated and would frustrate her.
137* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Her bangs which spill out from the side of her hair-band weren't drawn as prominently in first chapters of the manga.
138* FeminineWomenCanCook: Subverted: in spite of her tomboyish personality, she cooked a nice dinner for the whole band after they came to her house to help her with her sewing assignment for Home Ec.
139* ForeheadOfDoom: So much that it's the only thing audiences can make of her from the back of the stage.
140* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Sanguine with choleric tendencies. Ritsu is very energetic, athletic and tomboyish, a bit brash and quick to take action, very energetic and rather mischievous and sarcastic.
141* GamerChick: One panel in the manga implies she was playing VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} when she should've been studying.
142** She also gets bored and plays video games with Ui while Mio and Mugi were helping Yui cram for her make-up exam. Ui kicks her ass.
143* GenkiGirl: The drums just fit her.
144* HypocriticalHumor: She frequently partakes in antics with Yui, but often criticises her for the things she herself would do. Sometimes, she'll complain about what Yui is doing even when she is doing the same thing. Mio often calls her out on her hypocrisy.
145* InkSuitActor: Coincidentally enough, Ritsu looks like Creator/CassandraLeeMorris if she's in high school.
146* IronButtMonkey: She takes a lot of physical abuse from Mio. Granted, [[LaserGuidedKarma she often brings it upon herself]], but sometimes it borders on DisproportionateRetribution.
147* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: {{Downplayed}}, she's not a ''big'' jerk. Still, she's lazy, irresponsible, sarcastic and kind of a bully towards Mio, but she's a good person and wants to make her friends happy. This is best shown when Mugi says that she's a kind person who's determined to make her friends happy, and that she would be popular with the girls [[{{Tomboy}} if she were a guy]]; Ritsu doesn't take this compliment well and hits her, which in all fairness was what [[ItMakesSenseInContext Mugi wanted all along]].
148* LargeHam: Boisterous, very outgoing, and prone to making dramatic pronouncements about [[MundaneMadeAwesome trivial things]], which results in her being punched by Mio when [[IncomingHam she enters Azusa's classroom.]] Yeah, she fits the trope to a T.
149-->'''Mio:''' "Don't scare the freshmen!"
150** Episode 3, ''Drummer!'' shows that even when she's sad she has to lay it on thick. She spends a moment sobbing in the corner while adding onomatopoeic "Hiku Hiku" noises to indicate that she's indeed crying. Note that these sound effects can generally be found in {{Manga}}.
151* TheLeader: She created the band, she dictates the direction and moods of the band, she's the club president and she schedules their gigs. This is noteworthy, as it's not very common that the drummer leads the band, as she's not the "face" of the band (a role shared by Mio and Yui).
152* LettingHerHairDown: The first time she lets her hair down in the manga, Mio doesn't recognize her.
153* LovingBully: One moment she can be exploiting Mio's fears, the next she can be encouraging her to get over them.
154* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Ritsu's entire relationship with Mio is based on her desire to help Mio emerge from her shell.
155* MeaningfulName: The kanji for her name (律) is one of the characters making up the Japanese word for "rhythm" (律動, read as "ritsudou"). This is quite fitting for the drummer of the group.
156* NiceGirl: Despite her hamminess and somewhat rude attitude (and, of course, bullying towards Mio) she's a kind and friendly girl, and naturally has a good heart like the others.
157* NonUniformUniform: Ritsu always wears her school uniform differently from the rest of the club (during the colder months, her jacket is always unbuttoned and during the warmer months, she doesn't wear the yellow vest).
158* SheCleansUpNicely: Oh yes. She's normally unkempt and boyish, but... Look at her when she plays the role of Juliet.
159* ThePrankster: Is she ''ever''. Very playful and a bit of a bully, being always ready to play jokes, especially if they scare Mio.
160* RedOniBlueOni: The loud and playful red oni to Mio's quiet and shy blue.
161* ThroughHisStomach: In one of her {{Image Song}}s she sings about cooking dinner for "the person I love".
162* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The brash and energetic Tomboy to Mio's Girly Girl.
163* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She rarely wears skirts or dresses when not wearing her school uniform, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_ritsu_skirt_7273.jpg refuses to tuck her shirt in unless explicitly told to do so]], and has relatively bad manners compared to the other girls (for example, holding her chopsticks in her mouth). On the other hand, she's pretty good at sewing and seems to fret over her hair as much as a teenage girl would. Really she might even lean more towards being a "lazy" girl more than being a pure tomboy (that is she doesn't take being feminine seriously but still appreciates some things about her gender).
164* UnkemptBeauty: While she normally dresses casual, if not boyish, Ritsu is actually very pretty. She just has to let her hair down and be a bit more feminine.
165* UnwillinglyGirlyTomboy: She is forced to play [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Juliet]] and has troubles playing the character, because she's not really girly.
166* VitriolicBestBuds: Has been friends with Mio since elementary school, but scares and teases her all the time.
167[[/folder]]
168
169[[folder: Mio Akiyama]]
170[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mio_instrument.png]]
171%%
172->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YokoHikasa (Japanese) and Creator/CristinaValenzuela (English)
173
174The extremely shy bassist and backup vocalist whenever Yui can't sing. Ritsu's friend since childhood, her shyness and being easily spooked makes her a prime target for Ritsu's playful prodding, much to her annoyance. Otherwise she's a very organized and mature girl who has to keep the rest of the club on-task when they start drifting into their less serious tendencies.
175----
176* AccidentalCelebrity: Mio becomes a celebrity at school after accidentally showing her panties on stage. She even garners her own fan club over it.
177* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Like ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'''s Sakaki, she [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] the usual stereotype by appearing cool and aloof on the surface but actually being very [[ShrinkingViolet shy]]. She also tries to be TheStoic, but her many phobias will usually turn her into a cowering, nervous mess.
178* AuthorAvatar: To a degree. While not much is known about Kakifly, he did publish a photo of his instrument collection in the first manga volume, showing off several left-handed bass guitars.
179* BerserkButton: Ritsu's tomfoolery in general gets under Mio's skin, especially if it's at her expense.
180* BewareTheNiceOnes: She's a shy sweetheart, but can be rather harsh towards Ritsu when she punishes her because of her childish attitude.
181* BirdsOfAFeather: With Sachi at university.
182* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: The Tsukkomi to Ritsu's Boke. She even administers [[DopeSlap dope slaps]] when appropriate.
183* BrokenAce: She's smart, attractive, popular, and talented, but is far too shy to enjoy the most out of it.
184* ButtMonkey: Is she ''ever''. Especially, she's Ritsu and Sawako's favourite target.
185* CharacterTics: Before beginning a performance, she always holds her guitar pick in her mouth and flips her hair back over her shoulder.
186* TheChewToy: Her fears and anxieties get milked for all they're worth, especially by Ritsu and Sawako. Sometimes she could really use a hug.
187* ClassicalAntiHero: A pure-hearted and extremely cute girl who tries to be mature and serious, but suffers from her anxieties and is ''very'' shy.
188* ComfortFood: She takes to munching on Pocky after Akira made fun of their band name. Ritsu warns about gaining weight from this.
189* TheCutie: Although all characters qualify, she's very likely to stand out, as her shyness makes her even more adorable. The only character able to make her lose her cuteness is Ritsu, who always annoys her; otherwise, she's a total sweetheart without a mean bone in her body, who is just as kind as Yui and Mugi, albeit very shy.
190* DefiledForever: A RunningGag of the series is that everytime Mio's MsFanservice status is exploited, she will remark that "no one will want to marry her anymore".
191* DoesNotLikeMen: In the manga, she famously shouted ''"Men are animals!"'' when she thought Ritsu had a boyfriend.
192* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: The [[OneGenderSchool school]] has a fan club devoted to her, and it is packed.
193* {{Fainting}}: With the subtypes Emotional (when she has anxiety attacks) and Monster (when she gets too scared).
194* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic: she tries to be serious and mature but is overly shy, anxious and with many phobias and insecurities. However, she tends more towards supine when she overcomes her issues, becoming more balanced and developing a more playful and cheerful side.
195* TheFreelanceShameSquad: She'll go through every effort to move on from the PantyShot incident, but her friends [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Sawako]] won't let her. When she tried to prevent Azusa from seeing it, she was promptly restrained.
196* GagCensor: Her infamous PantyShot is represented with a striped rice bowl in the anime.
197* GoingToSeeTheElephant: Mio is unexpectedly the most excited about going to Summer Fest out of all the members in the club.
198* GrewASpine: In the college arc, Ayame is able to convince her to both look and feel good wearing nice clothes, which motivates her to start losing weight to fit into more cute outfits instead of from [[WeightWoe personal shame]]. Ritsu notes that this is probably a lot healthier for her than Sawako forcibly dressing her up (not that Ayame's intentions were pure either).
199* HimeCut: Long hair with sidetails and even bangs make for a picture perfect lady and [[InvokedTrope thus ideal for the face of the band]] much to Mio's dismay since she lacks certain character traits such as eternal composure.
200* InformedAttractiveness: Mio is supposedly the most beautiful of the girls, to the point that she's the series' MsFanservice and her looks are often exploited to generate publicity for the band. However, her character design isn't any more attractive than her friends', aside from being somewhat taller.
201* InformedDeformity: She at one points remarks about how she has "cold man hands" after it's shown she makes onigiri much bigger than Azusa and expresses disappointment for it. The thing is that Azusa's hands are smaller because she's a year younger, and is shorter than her peers as well, while Mio's hands are drawn similarly if not exactly the same as the rest of the girls her age, and not just in the club.
202* {{Irony}}: For someone who thinks men are animals, her lyrics sure are heavy on the theme of confessing to a boy or hoping to be noticed by a boy. Then again, they [[AmbiguouslyGay might not be about boys]] after all.
203* JerkassToOne: Downplayed. She and Ritsu are undoubtedly friends, and Mio, being a genuinely NiceGirl, is very kind to her friends, but Ritsu is also the person she's most likely to whack on the head or make snide and snarky comments on due to her immaturity.
204* LeadBassist: Became this after the PantyShot incident and her popularity skyrocketed.
205* LostFoodGrievance: The poor girl breaks down and starts crying once her strawberry is taken. At least Mugi apologized...
206* {{Moe}}: In-universe: Yui and Ritsu think she's extremely cute when she wears a {{Meido}} outfit and when she cries.
207-->'''Yui and Ritsu:''' "Moe Moe Kyun~!"
208** Also, her lyrics are so sickeningly sweet Ritsu and Sawako can't handle it.
209* MsFanservice: To her horror, this is [[InvokedTrope exploited mercilessly]] by Sawako (and to a lesser extent, Ritsu) for the sake of the band's publicity; what can she do when she is a beautiful, [[ShrinkingViolet shy]], [[HimeCut classically Japanese looking]] girl and is considered adorable whenever her attempts to try looking cool ends in tears?
210* NiceGirl: She may be a scaredy-cat, but Mio is very kind, warm, helpful and considerate towards others, and loves her friends. [[{{Tsundere}} She can sometimes lose her temper if Ritsu pushes her buttons too much, though]].
211* NobodyLovesTheBassist: At first, Mio believes this to be true, since she has anxiety issues and is content with being in the background. Unfortunately for her, [[InvertedTrope this backfires spectacularly]] (see MsFanservice above) and she becomes the band's face.
212* NotSoAboveItAll:
213** During their BeachEpisode band camp, only Mio is eager to begin practicing, all while Ritsu, Yui and Mugi flee to the beach immediately. It doesn't take long for Mio to relent too, and they end up losing the whole day playing at the beach.
214** After having been all business while scolding Yui and Ritsu again and again on the Kyoto trip, she finally cracks when they get lost and run into Nodoka's group... and she starts laughing hysterically! This marks a turning point in her development, now that the band's voice of reason has been transferred to their adorable kohai Azusa.
215** In the midst of a heat wave, she finds a fan and positions it so that it blows in front of everyone... except Ritsu. [[TheGadfly Mio is aware of it.]]
216* OnlySaneWoman: Before Azusa came and took over that role. Azusa may be slightly standoffish, but is undoubtedly calmer and less prone to lose her cool; instead, Mio ''tries'' to be stoic and is undoubtedly more mature than Yui or Ritsu, but she's far too anxious.
217* PalmOnCheekPose: To be expected for such a shy girl.
218* RedOniBlueOni: TheReliableOne and [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] blue oni to Ritsu's forgetful and [[ThePrankster mischievous]] red oni.
219* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: She's been forced into her share of costumes, not to mention tripping over a cord and landing in a panty-exposing position during the band's first performance in front of the whole school.
220* ShrinkingViolet: Shy around strangers and suffers crippling anxiety over performing in front of crowds. Decided to play bass so that she won't attract much attention, which backfires spectacularly when she becomes the band's face. %%in-universe%%.
221* SickeninglySweet: The song lyrics she writes are so saccharine that they drive Ritsu and Sawako nuts, though [[CloudCuckoolander Yui and Mugi]] actually like them.
222* StatuesqueStunner: The tallest in her group, and she's also considered the most attractive even InUniverse. However, this is only in comparison to her friends and also largely by Japanese standards, since she's 160 cm (a bit more than 5 feet two inches) tall, which is only slightly above the average height for Japanese women. She might still grow, though.
223* TheStoic: What she desperately tries to be. She tries to be aloof, mature and serious, but she's far too emotional and adorably fails.
224* SugarAndIcePersonality: {{Subverted}}; Mio is not cold or aloof, she's just painfully shy. Though she tries to be stoic, serious, mature and above the childishness of her friends, with a heavy emphasis on ''try''. But when she fails...
225* TenderTears: Looks rather serious, if not aloof, at first glance. And yet it turns out she's the biggest crybaby in the entire series.
226* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The shy and easily startled Girly Girl to Ritsu's Tomboy.
227* TsurimeEyes: The way her eyes are drawn in the manga makes her look very much like ''Anime/LuckyStar'''s Kagami with her hair down. Her eyes in her anime character design are still tsurime, but different in style.
228* {{Tsundere}}: Has shades of the Sweet type towards Ritsu. She's usually one of the nicest characters, but Ritsu's antics are enough to rile her up.
229* VitriolicBestBuds: Mio considers Ritsu her best friend, but she can't stand her childish attitude and is prone to [[CranialEruption hitting her]] when she gets too annoying for her.
230* WeightWoe: Is very sensitive about her weight even though Ritsu implies it all goes to her breasts.
231* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
232** She has quite a lot of phobias, but is especially terrified of blood and blisters. Ritsu repeatedly teases her about this.
233** The anime [[CharacterExaggeration exaggerates]] on these, and then some more -- she also earns a fear of barnacles and even the mere ''thought'' of crayfish in the bathtub.
234** ''The Movie'' ups the ante even further; having her suitcase delayed at the London Airport luggage carousels gave her a traumatic fear of all things that "turn", be it the conveyor belts in sushi restaurants, turning lamps and even ''Ferris wheels'' like the London Eye. The poor girl just doesn't have it easy.
235* WolverinePublicity: If one were to go by all the K-On's Endings, it'd be easy to mistake Mio as the lead singer of the band. Each ED puts emphasis on Mio being both the lead singer and the front-man of After School Tea Time. Irony here is that in the show itself, she's only the backup singer and outside of the very first performance, where she had to sub in for Yui who had lost her voice, Mio has a complete aversion to singing.
236** She does take the full lead role on certain insert songs, most notably "Pure Pure Heart" from ''K-On!!''. She also did the lead for "Fude Pen ~Ball Pen~" during the performance at the second school festival at the end of the first season but that was just because Yui left her guitar at home so she wasn't present to sing as was intended. The full album version of "Fude Pen" is sung by Yui.
237[[/folder]]
238
239[[folder: Tsumugi "Mugi" Kotobuki]]
240[[quoteright:143:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kotobuki_tsumugi.png]]
241->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MinakoKotobuki (Japanese) and Creator/ShelbyLindley (English)
242
243The soft-spoken keyboardist who frequently provides tea and sweets in the middle of band practice. Hailing from a very wealthy family with a large business empire, she takes great delight in the more mundane aspects of middle-class life, being so separated from it normally. Extremely kind, she's always willing to use the resources she's been blessed with to help the club.
244-----
245* TheAce: Tends to be competent in most of the new things she tries, although this is usually treated as a background event. Case in point: the awesome sand castles she builds in S1's BeachEpisode.
246* AffectionateNickname: Yui gives her the nickname "Mugi", which sticks so well that the other girls call her by that name more often than her real name.
247* AmbiguouslyGay: She is implied to have a crush on Sawako in episode 5; when asked about that by Ritsu though, she evades the question and this is never brought up again. She's also jealous of what she perceives as physical intimacy between Mio and Ritsu or Yui and Azusa, though she admits she think Ritsu would be popular with girls if she were a boy. It's not clear if she's actually a lesbian herself, or if she's just really into close interactions between the other girls because she thinks that's how "normal" girls behave.
248* BadassAdorable: PlayedForLaughs. She's freakishly strong without sacrificing any cuteness.
249* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_mugi_stare_8644.jpg Manga]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_mugi_beware_5953.jpg Mugi]] is this a little.
250* BigOlEyebrows:
251** Not that they make her any less charming. They apparently run in her family, as a store attendant was able to tell who her father was ''just by looking at her eyebrows''. Her father having BigOlEyebrows may be a reference to Mitsuru Umemura, president of Yamaha, who also has large eyebrows.
252** The bonus manga chapters turn her eyebrows into a gag by saying they're actually takuan pickles (pickled radishes) and if both are removed, she starts melting until they're replaced by more pickles or something similar. At one point in said bonus comics, her eyebrows are protractors, which have an interesting effect on her personality (she starts referring to everything with angles).
253* ButNotTooForeign: Not explicitly spoken of in either manga or anime, but there are enough hints that point to Mugi being half-European. Fan theory posits her mother as being either Finnish or, thanks to the revelation of Sumire's own origins, Austrian.
254* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: While not at Yui's level by far, she has her fair share of moments. As some girls can attest, spending time with her one-on-one can be quite a heady experience.
255* CovertPervert: Mugi is rather less innocent and sweet than she shows. Basically, if she's not lesbian herself, she sure does seem to [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_mugi_bunny_2030.jpg enjoy the semi-naughty cosplay]] and picturing her friends in sparkly, blushy embraces a lot.
256** Her longing for ''more skinship'', resulting in requests for hugs and [[spoiler:being hit over the head]], also makes one wonder.
257* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Her distinctive eyebrows were drawn noticeably thinner in the earliest manga chapters.
258* FictionFiveHundred: So ludicrously rich that her family owns ''multiple'' mansions, are first-name-basis friends with ''The Royal House of Finland'', and is ''so'' used to taking trips overseas that she ''happily'' forfeits a trip to Hawaii she won in a lucky-raffle so she can have a board-game to play with her friends.
259* FlatCharacter: In the anime's first season, has the least focus and least development of all five girls--including Azusa, who appears in half as many episodes. Unlike Ritsu and Mio (who have each other) and Yui (who has her sister, Nodoka, and Asuza to bounce off of), Mugi never pairs off with any other characters and rarely appears outside of ensemble scenes, wherein her characterization is limited to "filthy rich FishOutOfWater in the land of poor people" and "thoughtfully brought sweets for everybody".
260* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Phlegmatic, with some sanguine traits. She's TheQuietOne, very gentle and soft-spoken, yet she's also cheerful and playful at the same time, and not infrequently gets excited.
261* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Sure, she wanted it to begin with, but this may have more to do the fact that it was Ritsu who won that bear for her.
262* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Gentle, innocent, nurturing, kind; truly [[TeamMom the "mother" of ''Hokago Teatime'']].
263* HitMeDammit: She wants Ritsu to do this to her because she interprets Mio hitting Ritsu as [[SlapSlapKiss an act of affection]]. Ritsu can't bring herself to do it, so they try to trick Mio into hitting her, which fails. Mugi gets her wish when she embarrasses Ritsu at the end of the episode by calling her a would-be ChickMagnet.
264* IJustWantToBeNormal: Despite -- or possibly, because of -- being incredibly rich, she gets much enjoyment out of doing [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_mugi_dagashi_171.jpg mundane]] things, such as [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_yakisoba_1310.jpg eating fast food]] or having [[ChildishPillowFight pillow fights]].
265* IdiotBall: Much of the pain the girls faced in Day 1 of their London trip could be avoided if Mugi was able to handle everyday conversational English as she promised and as implied by her Oujo background. Also, when they were in the sushi restaurant in a rare show of insensitivity she fails to notice the clear discomfort of the rest of the group (she being Oujo has presumably met large Caucasoids before), so instead of clearing up the situation, she uses what English skills she has to borrow a keyboard, making it even harder to back out.
266* InformedAbility: When the girls discuss having to talk English abroad, she says that her conversational skills are good, but she doesn't show them. Considering how her GratuitousEnglish [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggN2PlqOYA sounded]], it might be a case of Creator/MinakoKotobuki not being as good at English as Mugi's supposed to be.
267* InnocentBlueEyes: Highlighting her kindness and dreamy nature.
268* LargeHam: While she's not as extroverted as Yui and Ritsu, every day is like a Creator/JulieAndrews and Creator/AudreyHepburn romantic musical to this young lady. She really tends to get excited about things.
269* MsFanservice: Mugi's proportions are just as astounding as Mio's; though in her case she openly ''enjoys'' dressing up in the ridiculously fetishistic costumes that Sawako puts her in.
270* NiceGirl: Like Yui, Mugi is willing to go beyond the distance to create fun, warm and happy memories with her friends, as to her there is nothing more precious than the people that she loves; being already ludicrously rich, she is more than able (and willing) to do so.
271* {{Ojou}}: Mugi's initially the only one with any decent musical talent, and the first of her incredibly spacious beach houses that the club visits is mentioned to be her ''smallest'' one. (The largest is only visited ''after'' Tsumugi has graduated.) Also, visitors to her ''family home'' need ''official appointments''. Not too common even by anime standards.
272* ParodySue: Let's see, she's a [[PhenotypeStereotype blue-eyed blonde]] student in a school full of brunettes and raven-haired girls, her family's so ridiculously rich this page probably broke a record by how often it's mentioned, [[MsFanservice she's one of two of the most well-endowed members]], [[StrongerThanTheyLook is capable of lifting and carrying instruments that are very heavy]], calms everyone with sweets whenever things get hairy, and she has been a DeusExMachina for the club at least once (having a villa the club could use to practice when they didn't have money to rent a place).
273* PunnyName: Possibly. Her nickname sounds a lot like "Moog", a famous synthesizer brand.
274* ShipperOnDeck: Chapter 5 of the Anthology seems to suggest this.
275* SignatureStyle: Her preference for using the Hammond organ voice on her keyboard (a specialty of the Korg Triton Extreme) is responsible for the retro-[[TheSixties '60s]] sound on many of HTT's songs.
276* SuperStrength: She is quite strong, as noted [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_mugi_strength_3450.jpg here]].
277** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mugi_Light_Strike_9880.jpg Even better]] [[http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/889980-k-on examples.]]
278*** Several fans have pointed out that the Korg Triton Extreme is a ''hefty'' piece of equipment (62 lbs/25 kg). Mugi casually slings it over one shoulder whenever the band travels, which might be normal for thick roadies but certainly not for a petite high school (now college) girl.
279* StylishSunhats: Tsumugi wears a white sunhat with a pink belt and a golden clasp while she's at the beach.
280* TaremeEyes: Even more so than the rest of the cast.
281* TeaIsClassy: She's the TokenRichStudent of her club who provides the food and beverages for her band, most frequently tea and other tea snacks served in an expensive set.
282* TheTeamBenefactor: Mugi provides the club's food and beverages as well as the venue for their training camps.
283* TeamMom: While every inch as zany as her fellow club-mates, her comparative emotional maturity (rivalling that of ''Sawa-chan sensei'') allows her to don the mantle of the nurturing mother-figure in the ensemble.
284* ThisExplainsSoMuch: Azusa's reaction to learning that Sumire would sneak Mugi what is implied to be Yuri manga to help her learn how normal people lived, explaining Mugi's welded-on Yuri goggles.
285* TokenRichStudent: She's from a ridiculously rich family (to the point that her family owns ''several'' beach houses and she's very used to going on overseas trips), and yet she attends a middle-class girls' high school. This mainly leads to jokes about how her experiences up until this point have been vastly different from her friends due to being so rich.
286* WeightWoe: One of her few self-conscious personality traits is the fact she shares Mio's distaste for gaining weight and gives an equally indignant reaction when Yui mentions that she doesn't need to manage her own weight.
287* WiseBeyondHerYears: At least in the manga, Mugi tends to be uncannily perceptive about certain things.
288* YuriFan: Mugi tends to see a little more between Yui and Mio than is probably there. This eventually extends to any close interaction (regardless of context) between any two girls. In the manga, it's eventually revealed that she turned into this because, in an attempt to learn how "normal" girls interacted, she had [[spoiler:Sumire]] sneak in manga for her. Said manga is heavily implied to be yuri manga.
289[[/folder]]
290
291[[folder: Azusa "Azu-nyan" Nakano]]
292[[quoteright:175:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/azusa_k_on.png]]
293->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AyanaTaketatsu (Japanese) and Creator/ChristineMarieCabanos (English)
294
295The Light Music Club's first new member after Yui, who joins in her freshman year (with the rest in their second year). She's also the secondary guitarist. Originally starting out as a very firm and demanding member, not tolerating the club's lackidasical attitude, their propensity for social eating and slacking off eventually rub off onto her and she eases up. Still, she's a committed musician, being born and bred to musically inclined parents, and often becomes the one who needs to keep the club on task besides Mio.
296-----
297* AllJustADream: ''All of them'' in episode 13.
298* AnimalEaredHeadband: A minor RunningGag is how everyone fawns over her whenever she's made to wear fake cat ears. It also ties into a general cat motif.
299* AnimalMotifs: Cats. The nickname that [[TheNicknamer Yui]] thinks up for her is "Azu-Nyan," unlike the rest of the club who have a shortened named with "Chan" added, [[CosplayOtakuGirl Sawako]]'s first thought when she sees her is that she'd look good in cat ears, and she's the one Jun picks in order to watch over her aunt's cat when her grandma can't do it.
300* AntiMentor: Azusa's skill as a guitarist is not always matched by her skills as a pedagog:
301** In [=S1E11=], facing Yui who was already reeling from the revelation that she was supposed to ''replace parts'' on a '''21st century consumer product''' and knowing she's weak in technical vocabulary, Azusa fed her a sentence where all the critical words are not only technical, but in katakana (that is, '''English'''). To try and put the English reader in Yui's shoes, she heard "The ''jingzi'' is warped! Your guitar's ''badutiaoyin'' would be a mess." Yeah, steam's going to come out of her head.
302*** From a pedagogic point of view, Azusa also should not have accused Yui of not taking care of her guitar. Not only do such comments all but guarantee the shown defensive reaction, it devalues what Yui does do in the correct "vector" for her guitar (which she seems to feel is beneath mention). Azusa had at least two chances to look at Gitah closely, when she handled it the day she joined the club (Gitah was about 11 months old) and when they were working closely in summer camp (just a month before E11), as well as hearing it every time the club does practise. There must be a reason you didn't notice a thing, Azusa...
303** When Ritsu wants to learn to play the guitar ([=S2E3=]), Azusa brought out the lead (melody+chord+lyric, a.k.a. fake) sheet for "Fuwa Fuwa Time", and started working Ritsu towards learning its first chord, E. Again, she lets English ("fret") slip into her vocabulary. Ritsu freezes.
304*** In Azusa's defense, Ritsu always insisted she's less BookDumb than Yui, and when she realizes Ritsu is stuck, Azusa patiently adjusted Ritsu's fingers for her and advised her on how to improve her posture to bring out the sound.
305*** If we must say something is wrong here, we can suggest that knowing Ritsu's weaknesses, Azusa could have deviated from the textbook recommendation of teaching chords first and gone for something melodic using only a single string. She could also have shut Yui up - though she means well and probably wasn't saying anything wrong, having to process two streams of recommendations must have ended Ritsu's patience faster than otherwise.
306** In [=S2E6=], Azusa and Yui revisit the problem of octave tuning and warped guitar necks. This time, Azusa demonstrates the procedure. Yui picks up its essence instantly to the point of realizing what part of the procedure she can skip. One must wonder how many others could have done the same, though, since Azusa didn't define terms or explain what to listen for ... etc. Just pick, shorten string with finger at position 12, pick again.
307** In [=S2E16=], Mugi tries playing the guitar. It seems to go well until they graduated to the F-Chord. There are 10 different ways to play a F Major chord on guitar, of which one, X-X-3-2-1-X does not require '''any''' finger to press on more than one string. Azusa somehow decides that it's a good idea to teach Mugi, a total beginner at guitar, how to play the Barre Chord version (1-3-3-2-1-1). Many guitar players spend months or even years mastering Barre Chords. Mugi did not instantly master them either and gives up on learning to play guitar (in the anime).
308*** In Azusa's defense, in-story there are some factors to justify trying the barre chords, such as Mugi being extraordinarily strong and Yui liking barre chords for her own reasons (the ring's fuller, the basic fingering's reusable for other chords and she doesn't have to work around strings that shouldn't ring).
309*** To begin with, some books introduce only the Barre Chord variants (another is X-8-10-10-10-8), so maybe the variants simply never occurred to her. Here's where we expect more from multi-year guitar veterans whose parents are musicians, though...
310** In the same episode, she casually uses words like ''Dal segno'' (now it's not even English, but '''Italian''') while teaching Yui to navigate the score. Overwhelmed by unfamiliar language, Yui falls asleep. There's probably no need to use Italian there - just to call it a mark and tell Yui where to go.
311*** Azusa should not have resisted Yui's efforts to make her connections with the new vocabulary. Playing is the best way to learn.
312** But moving into IdiotBall level was with Nao in the ''High School!'' manga who was trying to demonstrate how you can build the C-Major 7 chord (C-E-G-B) on first principles of music theory, but gets stuck trying to "add" the B note. The joke is that [=CM7=] requires only ''two'' fingers, X-3-2-O-O-O: shorten the A-string by three semitones / frets for the C, the D string two semitones for the E, the next strings are G and B in their open state (they don't have to be ''added''), and it's OK to leave the high-E ringing as well; finally stroke while avoiding the low-E string. Clearly neither Azusa, Nao or Sawako-sensei realized this and only a last minute intervention moved Nao into digital music composing rather than leaving the club.
313* TheBabyOfTheBunch: The only band member who wasn't an inaugural member of the current generation of the club as she was only in middle school when Ritsu restarted it, joining during the other members' second year.
314* BreakoutCharacter: She doesn't appear until midway through season one, but come season two, one could make a strong case that she's the primary viewpoint character, with many episodes told from her perspective, especially the story finale (Episode 24).
315* BreakTheCutie: Subverted in her first episode as a club member. The fact she can't adjust to the club's friendly-but-overdone prodding mixed with their lax attitude wears away at her spirit to be a member until she's reduced to sobbing over her decision that she can't continue by the end. However she snaps out of it when she realizes that despite that, they can still be a functional band and play together competently because of how well they understand each other and decides to stay with a renewed motivation.
316* ChildProdigy: She comes from a musical family and played guitar at a young age. She completely floored the music club by demonstrating her professional-level skills. However, her musical skills don't seem to include [[HollywoodToneDeaf singing]], at least in the manga.
317* ClubPresident: For the new generation of the Light Music Club.
318* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of Season 2. She becomes the leader of her own team of three and gets several plotlines that are separate from her seniors.
319* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: She has a bad habit of speaking her thoughts without realizing. It's never anything offensive or serious though. More in the anime than in the manga, however; when she names her guitar "Mu-tan", Mugi thinks it's a wonderful name. In the manga, it's an instance of Mugi's "girls' mind radio reception", but in the anime, she said it out loud.
320* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Attempts one upon hitting third-year... but this does not sit well with Ui and Jun.
321* FourTemperamentEnsemble: As the OnlySaneWoman, Azusa generally fits the supine position, and is easily the most mature and balanced member in the group overall.
322* GirlishPigtails: She wears her hair in pigtails, emphasizing how she's the youngest of the group and her occasional naivete despite her generally serious and mature demeanor.
323* HollywoodToneDeaf: In the 2011 restart, she discovers -- much to her despair -- that she's terrible at singing. However, she ends up getting roped into being Wakaba Girls' vocalist anyway, after Sawako offers to give her voice training. (We can only hope that it turns out better than what happened when Sawako [[EpicFail tried training Yui's voice.]])
324* IconicSequelCharacter: In the manga she debuted during the original four's second year of high school. Averted in the anime, as the first season incorporated the four's first two years of high school.
325* InSeriesNickname: Azu-nyan. (Literally "Azu-Meow", which was the translation used in the Hong Kong Animax Channel English dub of season 1)
326* KidSidekick: Initially she doesn't look too different from other characters, but she's a year behind the rest of the club, is shorter than even her peers Ui and Jun, and her cuteness is frequently mentioned.
327* TheLeader: [[spoiler:After the others graduated, she becomes the band leader of the New Leaf Girls.]]
328* LoonyFriendsImproveYourPersonality: Not that Azusa was a jerk before meeting the club, but before and especially after she joins, she proves herself to be quite strict and a stick-in-the-mud, which quickly shocks the rest of the band. The longer she hangs out with them, however, the more she loosens and learns to relax. She's not stopping being strict with them when they slack off, but she's certainly ''much'' more relaxed since then.
329* LostFoodGrievance: Yui is able to tease her by implying she's going to share some of the cake Azusa just sampled.
330* NiceGirl: Though she doesn't open up so easily as Yui does towards her, she's still a cute, kind and polite girl, and shares the good heart of the other members.
331* {{Nosebleed}}: Suffers one upon watching Mio's PantyShot in a video of her seniors' first performance.
332* NotSoAboveItAll: In spite of her attempts to be the lone voice of maturity in the club, Azusa is still easily placated into joining the fun with the offering of sweets and the occasional CoolDownHug, and has taken being called the ridiculously cute nickname "Azu-nyan" in stride.
333* NotSoStoic: Season 2 Episode 24 -- after spending the rest of Graduation Day holding back her feelings, Azusa finally breaks down crying in front of her senior bandmates, begging them to not graduate.]]
334* OlderThanSheLooks: Azusa's tiny and youthful appearance is better fitting of a ''grade-''schooler than a high or even middle schooler, leading to the following hilarious moment at Customs in London Heathrow Airport:
335--> ''Yes: I am seventeen.''
336* OnlySaneWoman: She feels this way when she sees what makes the light music club tick. It's especially apparent during the bus trip to Summer Fest. That said, she does have a bit of a temper.
337** Come Season 2, poor Azusa knows her seniors need to use their time to practice for their final performance. And they keep getting distracted... ''all'' of them.
338* PassingTheTorch: Became the new ClubPresident of the light music club.
339* PromotionToOpeningTitles: She debuts in the anime's eighth episode and is added to the opening billboards (OBB) in the ninth.
340* ProneToSunburn: It's a RunningGag that whenever the light music club goes to practice camp by the sea, Azusa always gets sunburnt in a matter of hours and spends the remainder of the camp red as a lobster. Along with the pain, her sunburns have led to her classmates laughing at her tan lines in the changing room and even not recognizing her.
341* SixthRanger: She joins the other members of the club when they're in their second year of high school.
342* SuperStrength: While nowhere as strong as Mugi, Azusa is still possesses remarkable physial strength for her size, being able to drag a crying and screaming Yui (6 centimeters taller and 4 kilograms heavier than she is) [[DraggedByTheCollar behind her back to study for her remedial-exams]] with '''one''' hand.
343* TanLines: Happens whenever she gets a bit of sun.
344* TechnicianVsPerformer: The Technician to [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Yui]]'s Performer. She's more serious about practicing compared to Yui and possesses more musical experience and skill, but Yui is better at hyping up the audience with her energy and charisma during performances.
345* TokenMiniMoe: She's the youngest team member, but she's also OlderThanSheLooks, being rather short with a cute and cuddly appearance. Despite her serious behaviour she's still lovable and kind.
346* {{Tsundere}}: Quite a Harsh type in the manga; she usually tries to shrug off Yui's acts of affection, but she always lets up in the end. This aspect of her personality is toned down in the anime, making her a very {{downplayed}} example.
347* VerbalTic: She says "desu" quite often, but doesn't put quite as much emphasis on it as [[Manga/RozenMaiden Suiseiseki]]. She actually tends to use politer Japanese in general than the other girls.
348** In the restarted manga, she begins speaking in a much more casual (less polite) manner than she did before.
349[[/folder]]
350
351!! Other Characters
352
353!!! The Light Music Club Adviser
354
355[[folder: Sawako "Sawa-chan" Yamanaka]]
356[[quoteright:155:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yamanaka_sawako.png]]
357->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AsamiSanada (Japanese) and Creator/KarenStrassman (English)
358
359The Wind Instruments Club advisor, who was eventually blackmailed by Ritsu into also becoming the Light Music Club teacher on threat of exposing her past as a death metal rocker in a previous incarnation of the club. She normally tries to appear as a mature and collected teacher, but she ends up breaking her facade around the club and takes great delight in playfully using the members as canvasses for her costume designs. Beyond that, she is lonely and often dumps her lack of a love life on the other club members when she's feeling particularly down.
360----
361* BerserkButton: She has two.
362** Anyone who calls Death Devil cute will make her ''very'' irritable.
363** Questioning or commenting on her age will make her ''even more'' irritable.
364* BespectacledCutie: Subverted; she wears glasses and appears to be a sweet, gentle teacher on the surface, but her real personality isn't like that at all, being more of an immature CosplayOtakuGirl instead.
365* CoolTeacher: FunPersonified, friendly, and a great musician. While she tries to come across as a mature, gentle teacher while keeping her past as a death metal rocker a secret, she's still greatly admired by the students even after her cover is blown.
366* CosplayOtakuGirl: She loves to dress up the girls of the light music club. ''Whether they want it or not''. Apparently eight episodes of Sawako indulging her fetish even made Mio [[NotSoAboveItAll all too happy to]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k-on_cosplay_5221.jpg join in]].
367** Hugely averted come second season. She did design the costumes for the ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' class play, but they were surprisingly tasteful.
368** It's brought back in the first OVA, where her new costume for the girls gets her thrown out of the room and a CranialEruption.
369** At Wakaba Girls' first summer training camp, she tries to get Nao to wear a SeashellBra. Everybody ignores her.
370* DeathGlare: In the second season episode "Clean-Up!" she unleashes one on Ritsu, and it's so intimidating that it sends the entire band into a state of ColorFailure.
371* DestroyTheEvidence: Her (allegedly) embarrasing past as a HeavyMetal musician prompted her to destroy every piece that would incriminate her present teacher persona. Unfortunately for her, a single photo survived and was found by the girls, which Ritsu uses as blackmail to make her the club's adviser.
372* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When she snaps after learning that evidence of her HeavyMetal days has survived through a single photo in an album. She immediately breaks her "gentle, wise teacher" image and changes into a rebellious rocker who's capable of impressive musica talent with Yui's guitar.
373* FunPersonified: Oh yes. She's even more of a goofball than the girls.
374* TheGlassesComeOff: When she takes off her glasses, she essentially becomes a different person.
375* HotTeacher: She's attractive and SheCleansUpNicely.
376* IHatePastMe: She puts a lot of effort so her HeavyMetal days would not resurface.
377* {{Irony}}: Sawako strives to be an exemplary and admired teacher to her students by trying to portray what she perceives to be the exact contrary to what she is deep inside. The irony comes from the fact that she is an exemplary and admired teacher to begin with, meaning, her efforts are superfluous because she's already an awesome person.
378* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's not so much of a jerk as she's very mischievous, and loves teasing the girls, especially Mio with the help from Ritsu; that said, she's genuinely kind, loves her students and is always ready to do her best to help them.
379* LargeHam: Has her moments if she tends to [[FeedMe chew some scenery]].
380* LostFoodGrievance: At one point in the manga, she threatens to stop being the club's adviser if they don't start wearing the costumes she makes. Ritsu points out to her that she won't be able to eat cake and tea if she does this, which makes her apologize immediately (while bowing very lowly).
381** She goes through withdrawals at one point when the girl's finals prevent them from having any tea parties.
382* MyEyesAreUpHere: She can identify two girls who look alike by their bust size... [[spoiler:which is how she can differentiate Yui from Ui (note that Ui is ''larger'' than her elder sister)]].
383** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that she designed the club's costumes, and therefore would have had to have known her bust size; she would also, as a seamstress, most likely notice body proportions out of habit. Though there's no excuse for her attempt at copping feels on Azusa and Mio in episode 10...
384* NerdsAreSexy: Subverted, as she isn't as nerdy as she looks at all.
385* OldMaid: Like many SenseiChan characters, she's very insecure about being single and unmarried at her age, and often vents to the Light Music Club over her lack of a love life.
386* OldShame: She is deeply ashamed of her own days in the Light Music Club when HeavyMetal was all the rage.
387* OneOfTheKids: While she does her best to act mature around everyone else at school, hanging out with the Light Music Club shows that she can be just as childish as they are.
388* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Essentially, during the first episodes, her initial portrayal as a normal teacher ''was'' her OutOfCharacterMoment but it all gets washed down the toilet the moment the girls bring up the photo of when she was into HeavyMetal, prompting her to make a frantic mad dash to the Light Music Club room in order to [[DestroyTheEvidence dispose]] of it (she thought she had eliminated every trace of those days).
389* RetiredBadass: Come season 2 episode 10, when she finally gets back into action, she pretty much floored ''everyone''! She also sets the bar up high for the Light Music Club.
390* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic: Inverted. She seems like a gentle, caring teacher on the surface, but it's revealed that back when she was a member of the Light Music Club, her preferred musical genre was ''death metal''.
391* ScaryShinyGlasses: When she makes a mischievous smile, her glasses shine and she can look somewhat scary.
392* SenseiChan: To most of the students, she comes across as a gentle, mature and responsible teacher. After she's blackmailed into becoming the advisor to the Light Music Club, however, she displays a very different side when she's alone with them, being a lazy, immature CosplayOtakuGirl who keeps trying to make the girls wear her costumes and [[OldMaid vents to them about her lack of a love life]]. She eventually becomes so OneOfTheKids that Yui and Ritsu nickname her "Sawa-chan", and occasionally "Sawa-chan-sensei".
393%%* SkinshipGrope
394* StepfordSmiler: A humorous example -- her sweet personality is a cover for her rocker past but her sweet personality is her original personality. She developed the rocker personality to appeal to a crush when she was a teenager. Yeah, she's a complicated gal. Essentially, she treats the club as a place where she can either veg out, dress up cute girls in ridiculous clothing, or eat cake.
395* TaremeEyes: Her "professional and lady-like teacher" personality has rounded eyes.
396* TsurimeEyes: When she goes into her "wild rocker" personality, her eyes become pointed.
397* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She's afraid of ghosts.
398[[/folder]]
399
400!!! Azusa's Trio
401
402[[folder: Ui Hirasawa]]
403[[quoteright:177:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hirasawa_ui.png]]
404->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MadokaYonezawa (Japanese) and Creator/XantheHuynh (English)
405
406Yui's more responsible younger sister. Whereas Yui is flighty and lives with her head in the clouds, Ui takes care of the house and manages her sister on top of it. She is also highly adept herself, being able to grasp things even faster than Yui and with a better understanding of the underlying principles, no less. She and Yui share a very tight bond, despite their rather polar opposite personalities, and Ui is almost dependent on having to dote on her sister.
407----
408* TheAce: In the manga, which causes Nao to search for her weak spot. In fact, she somehow managed to play a song written by Nao that Sawako says you can only play if you have 3 hands! She also is better at video games than Ritsu (who probably plays them much more) and can even suggest how to solve math problems on questions one grade above her own.
409* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Even more so than her sister. She learned guitar after only a few days of her sister letting her strum away while practicing at home and hit a home run at a batting center after overhearing some tips from a neighboring player.
410* BigLittleSister: Not exactly bigger, but she's similar enough to Yui that she can pass off as her. And if Sawako is to be believed, she's bustier than Yui.
411* BookSmart: The anime's rendition of Ui, which is more nuanced than the unqualified TheAce rendition in the manga. Ui is decent in school, but her talent is to ''correctly interpret oral and written instruction'' (which are often far from as clear as they need to be) and rapidly apply them to her own situation.
412** Thus, in the anime, her learning of guitar starts with Yui teaching her (see the photo in [=S2E6=]), followed by multiple (''nankai'', implying more than the manga's ''suukai'', a few) times when she learns while deciphering written instructions for her BookDumb sister (who's AwesomebyAnalysis allows her to learn it faster by watching Ui than by reading the instructions herself).
413** Note also how in the batting center, Ui doesn't figure out how to hit the ball ''by herself'', but only after ''decoding the oral instructions'' by the neighboring father and son. Yui, on the other hand, does figure out how to play the guitar and even mute without even learning the terms. These subtle distinctions is how the anime distinguishes between the two sister's talents.
414* TheCaretaker: She's this to Yui, being the one who cooks their meals and assists Yui with whatever she needs help with. It's mostly PlayedForLaughs, and the Kyoto field trip episodes show that Ui doesn't know what to do with herself when Yui isn't around to look after. During her own field trip, she's shocked by how the meals for the class are already prepared and she doesn't have to cook anything.
415* CuddleBug: As Nodoka said, she and her sister love cuddling up to people.
416%%* DitzyGenius: Has her moments.
417* FamilyThemeNaming: She and her sister Yui have [[RhymeThemeNaming rhyming names]].
418* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The responsible to Yui's foolish, being more down-to-earth and very good at cooking and household chores compared to her more lazy and carefree sister.
419* GamerChick: She defeated Ritsu at least twice in a video game while the rest were helping Yui study during Season 1.
420* InstantExpert: Creator/KyotoAnimation heavily averts from this for their [[AdaptationExpansion rendition of Ui]], especially in the second season. Instead of just having her figure guitar (and music) out by "playing a few times" or even "multiple" times, on the 5th episode they revealed she played the organ when little. In addition to learning the instrument itself, this exposure to music gives Ui a chance to have learnt how to read sheet music, acquire ear-copying skills [[note]]b/c '''Fuwa Fuwa Time''' in-show has only a lead sheet without a fully worked out score, for Ui to mimic Yui, she must listen to how '''Yui''' renders her part[[/note]] and perhaps even some music theory. This change makes her perhaps the second most veteran in music after Mugi, albeit with a very long blank that drops her present skill level with the organ to passable.
421* IronicName: The kanji for her name has rather negative meanings such as "melancholy", "sad" or "unhappy", but she's a NiceGirl who's rarely ever sad for long.
422* MatureYoungerSibling: She's much more responsible and hardworking than her older sister Yui. She acts as the parental figure of the house while their parents are away, taking care of the household chores and Yui as well.
423* NiceGirl: The one thing she has in common with her big sister. Kind, polite, friendly and helpful just like her, but very responsible and serious.
424* NotSoAboveItAll: Notable moment in the 2011 restart, where she {{troll}}s Azusa by untying her hair and pretending that she's actually Yui (who is actually in college). Given Yui's known [[CloudCuckooLander behavior]], Azusa actually almost falls for it.
425* PassingTheTorch: She joins the Light Music Club in lieu of her graduating sister.
426* PromotionToParent: Ui is shown taking care of the house and Yui as well whenever their parents are away on business trips. She's become so used to looking after Yui that she doesn't know what to do with herself when her sister is away on a school trip to Kyoto.
427* SeriousBusiness: Getting up at seven is considered oversleeping.
428* SiblingYinYang: Ui is mature, hard-working, and wakes up on time for school (She also wakes up Yui every morning); these traits all contrast with the more airheaded and irresponsible Yui.
429** Played with in season 1 episode 12 -- [[spoiler:when Ui stood in for the sick Yui, the band couldn't see through the disguise. It was her slip of the tongue which first raises suspicions. Sawako saw through the disguise due to Ui having a ''larger'' bust-size than Yui]].
430** In the manga, [[spoiler:they're first tipped off by the fact that she keeps timing better than her sister. The slips of the tongue are the clinchers.]]
431* StrongFamilyResemblance: She and Yui look incredibly similar to the point that they could pass as twins, even though they're actually a year apart in age. The main physical difference is that Yui always wears her hair down while Ui has hers up in a ponytail and, according to Sawako, has a larger bust.
432* TenderTears: In episode 5 of season 2, [[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmmzyeRy1I1qd6621.gif when she first realizes Yui won't be home with her that night.]]
433* TwinSwitch: While they're not actually twins, she and Yui look similar enough that she can completely masquerade as her sister when the situation calls for it. The problem is her impersonation is spotty in some areas (such as when calling others by their last names instead of first names) and her skill at the guitar being ''better'' than her sister's.
434* YamatoNadeshiko: While she doesn't have the typical looks, she does have many of the trope's personality traits. She's mature, responsible, does the household chores, and is devoted to her family (specifically her big sister). And of course, there's tea.
435[[/folder]]
436
437[[folder: Jun Suzuki]]
438[[quoteright:197:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/suzuki_jun_0.png]]
439->'''Voiced by:''' Yoriko Nagata (Japanese) and Michelle Ann Dunphy (English)
440
441Azusa and Ui's friend and classmate, as well as a member of the Jazz Club. Often laments not being able to join in the fun of the club but eventually gets a shot at being a member during her senior year.
442-----
443* AscendedExtra: She was a satellite character in the first season, but come second season she's a part of Ui's Trio (together with Azusa) and even appeared in said season's opening. In the 2011 restart she becomes the third senior at the Light Music Club, along with Azusa and Ui.
444* GirlishPigtails: However, she's embarrassed to wear them around her family, so she [[LettingHerHairDown lets her hair down]] at home.
445* GrassIsGreener: Her envy at all the fun things the Light Music Club gets to do becomes a RunningGag.
446* GreenEyedMonster: Non-romantic example, but she often complains that the Light Music Club is cool because of all the activities they do as a group (more often than not thanks to Mugi's riches) unlike the Jazz Club's activities being much less extravagant. This often becomes a point that makes her want to join the Light Music Club, but laments that her joining would somehow hurt the budget if there were more members (though she does join in her senior year).
447* HardWorkFallacy: Something Jun learns in Season 2 Episode 5. After a disastrous first impression, Jun was so put off by Light Music Club she chose the Jazz Club without even checking out their performance. Finally seeing the Live in her second year made her concede they are pretty good and certainly cohesive, but she still can't kick her image of them as lazy wierdoes who will play Kick the Can over practising. Cue Azusa and Ui visiting Jazz Club. In one session, Jun realizes while Jazz Club might have been practicing more ''during club hours'', her seniors aren't teaching her and her underclassmen some basic tricks, while Light Music Club's members clearly know and are doing them. Learning that Light Music Club are working smarter rather than harder significantly improved Jun's impression of Light Music Club.
448* ImagineSpot: She does this a lot, mostly involving the four seniors of the Light Music Club.
449* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: PlayedForLaughs in season 2 episode 5. She buys a dozen donuts in assorted flavors, takes ''one bite'' out of each, rolls across the floor and unintentionally headbutts Azusa. She also refuses to join the Light Music Club, but seeing how much fun Azusa is having in the club made her regret her decision, and ultimately decides to join Azusa and Ui in the club in their third year.
450* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: She's a skilled bass player and popular in the jazz club. She is also a huge Mio fangirl.
451* MessyHair: Whenever she lets it down, especially on humid days. Bemoans this to Ui and Azusa during their sleepover. She even states that she can predict the weather depending on how messy it is.
452* SatelliteCharacter: She is solely defined around her relationship with Ui and Azusa.
453* UnkemptBeauty: Not in the morning, but she looks much better without her pigtails. Assuming it's dry out.
454[[/folder]]
455
456!!! Other Students
457
458[[folder: Nodoka Manabe]]
459[[quoteright:162:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/manabe_nodoka.png]]
460->'''Voiced by:''' Chika Fujitou (Japanese) and Creator/LauraBailey (English)
461
462Yui's friend and classmate before she joined the band. A highly organized and responsible girl, she becomes a major player in the student council, going on to be its president in its senior year. Generally regarded as Yui's minder by the other members of the club she's also often on Ritsu's case for frequent missed deadlines concerning the club.
463----
464* BespectacledCutie: Besides Sawako, she's the only character who regularly wears glasses, which add to her cuteness and fit her gentle, kind and quiet personality.
465* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:She makes a brief return in volume 6 chapter 8 when Yui returns to her hometown for the summer break. However, she's considering going abroad to study, so she might be going on an even longer bus trip.]]
466* ChildhoodFriends: She was Yui's best friend since kindergarten, but by their last year in high school, Yui has become closer to her bandmates. Subverted in that she has since become a friend to the rest of the band, and Yui still remembers how important she is in her life enough to [[spoiler:ask her to walk home together on their last day of school, knowing that by going to different universities, they probably won't be able to do so again]].
467* NiceGirl: She's a very kind, polite and friendly person. She's always been a good friend to Yui, and being a good person is basically what she shares with her; otherwise, their personalities are pratically the opposite of each other.
468* OnlySaneMan: The only member of the cast who is consistently level-headed and mature, and does not lose her temper like Azusa (or outright fly into panic like Mio) when trying to keep order. She's always well-balanced, kind, polite and quiet.
469* PowerHair: She has short hair and is a member of the student council. This is also emphasized by her wearing a policewoman's hat in Season 1 Episode 6.
470* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:She doesn't attend the same university as Yui.]] When the restarted manga began, she only appeared in a one-panel dream sequence.
471* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: She never gets too out of sorts whenever the club misses a deadline or requests something. She seems to advocate for them, despite the fact a lot of the problems are Ritsu's doing and when she was solicited for an air conditioner in the club room, she agrees to it with no muss at all, despite Yui and Ritsu planning a huge skit to try and sell her on the idea.
472* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Yui's red.
473* SocialCircleFiller: Subverted. Yui doesn't ditch her once she joins the Light Music Club, and frequently hangs out with her, with or without the club.
474* StudentCouncilPresident: During her senior year. Prior to that she seems to fill a more junior administrative role (mostly collecting paperwork for club activities, something she often finds Ritsu screwing up).
475[[/folder]]
476
477[[folder: Megumi Sokabe]]
478->'''Voiced by:''' Asumi Kodama (Japanese) and Creator/AmandaCelineMiller (English)
479The former Student Council Class Representative during Yui, Ritsu, Mio and Mugi's second year and founder of the Mio Fan Club. She eventually becomes their dormmate come their college years.
480-----
481* ContrivedCoincidence: Through some whiff of coincidence, upon hitting college Yui, Ritsu, Mio and Mugi -- who made it their pledge to stay together -- end up sharing the same dorm as Megumi.
482* FanGirl: Of Mio. She was even the founder of the [[InstantFanClub Mio Fan Club]].
483* PassingTheTorch: She is succeeded by Nodoka, both in the Student Council ''and'' the Mio Fan Club.
484* StalkerWithACrush: How she acted towards Mio when they first met.
485%%* StudentCouncilPresident
486-----
487[[/folder]]
488
489!Characters from ''High School''
490[[folder:Sumire Saitou]]
491A blonde freshman who eventually joins Azusa, Ui and Jun's reformed Light Music Club. She's the drummer of the "New Leaf Girls".
492-----
493* ButNotTooForeign: Averted. Her family is from Austria, but after they moved to Japan, they changed their names because of the Kotobuki family.
494* ChekhovsGunman: Apparently. In the manga, when Mio once phoned with Mugi, the latter is yelling at a subordinate called Saitou. It's unknown if it's really Sumire, it could also be another Saitou of her family. Considering how close Mugi is to Sumire, it's likely not Sumire herself.
495* ClosetKey: She smuggled in [[YuriGenre yuri comics]] for Mugi and got a rather unexpected reaction from her.
496* ExpyCoexistence:
497** To Mugi, including her tea-making skills, sans the BigOlEyebrows.
498** She is also a ShrinkingViolet like Mio and is Sawa-chan's new favorite victim for cosplays.
499* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Her hair color is mentioned several times, and she's one of the nicer club members.
500* InSeriesNickname: Everybody's starting to call her "[=SuMIIre=]", as if her name was pronounced the way an English speaker would say it.
501* CoolBigSis: Mugi is this for her. She and Mugi grew up together, and albeit she still considers herself subservient to Mugi and her family, to Mugi, Sumire is nothing short of her little sister in all respects. As a matter of fact, it's due to Mugi's demands that Sumire is able to enjoy the same privileges that Mugi herself has.
502* {{Meido}}: She has worked as a maid for the Kotobuki household and tries to hide that by pretending to be a CuteClumsyGirl instead.
503* NiceGirl: She grew up with Mugi, which says an awful lot about the kind of person Sumire is.
504* OstentatiousSecret: Sumire makes it very obvious that she doesn't want anybody at school to know she's Mugi's maid.
505* ShrinkingViolet: She's markedly shy, and rarely does things or talks without permission.
506* SomethingWeForgot: As a resident of the Kotobuki household, Sumire was asked by Mugi to retrieve her teasets she left behind upon graduation. Too bad Sawako caught her on her first try and jumped at the chance to try and recruit her and have her dressed up.
507** Subverted, as it was all part of [[spoiler:Mugi's plan to get Sumire to join the Light Music Club. Mugi really had no intention of taking back the tea set, until at least Sumire graduates]].
508[[/folder]]
509
510[[folder:Nao Okuda]]
511Another freshman who becomes the fifth member of Azusa's new Light Music Club. After several attempts to get a role in the "New Leaf Girls" band, she becomes the producer and songwriter.
512-----
513* CoolBigSis: She has four younger brothers, and they're quadruplets.
514%%* CuteClumsyGirl
515* EpicFail: Her attempts at joining clubs.
516* EverybodyKnewAlready: Yes, everybody knows that you can't play a musical instrument.
517* FirstNameBasis: Strongly averted so far, as she's the only one who's not referred to by her given name. However, Sumire starts to call her by first name when their senpais are on school trip, and late in the series, Nao lampshades this trope and the rest of the band also start to call her by her first name.
518%%* GiftedlyBad
519* HollywoodToneDeaf: The rest of the band lose all interest in hearing her sing after she mentions that her brothers don't want to take her to karaoke anymore.
520%%* NaiveNewcomer
521* NoNameGiven: PlayedForLaughs when the seniors realize they don't know her given name despite being in the club for a while now.
522* NotSoStoic: She's stoic for most of the time and barely changes her facial expressions. However, there are some moments where she shows emotions.
523%%* TheQuietOne
524* StalkerWithoutACrush: She spent a chapter following Ui around (and being very conspicuous about it), and she's been quietly observing and taking notes about her bandmates so that she can write customized songs for them.
525* TVGenius: Admits that the only thing she's good at is studying. This may be about to pay off as she takes on her new role as the band's producer.
526[[/folder]]
527
528!Characters from ''College''
529
530[[folder:Akira Wada]]
531Yui, Ritsu, Mio, Mugi and Megumi's dorm-mate, leader of three-girl band "[=OnNaGumi=]" with fellow dorm-mates Sachi and Ayame during their High School days, and a new member of the university Light Music Club. Like Yui, she's majoring in education and is the guitarist.
532-----
533%%* AloofDarkHairedGirl
534* BirdsOfAFeather: The only member of her band who avert this trope because she has troubles to get along with Yui.
535%%* DeathGlare
536* FaceOfAThug: It's mostly an act, and truthfully she's afraid to get a real piercing.
537* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Yui finds out she sleeps next to a stuffed bear.
538* GuiltyPleasures: She grows to like Hokago Tea Time's music, and she's far too ashamed to admit it (and thus sees it as this).
539* HiddenHeartOfGold: She tries to look as intimidating as possible... with less-than-optimal results in the face of four easygoing girls.
540* HopelessSuitor: She joined her high school's Light Music Club because she had a crush on a boy named Maeda, who thinks her band only gets by on their looks. Implied to be averted.
541* ImportantHaircut: Her response to Maeda-sempai's opinion of her was to crop her hair short and promise to become a professional musician.
542* OnlySaneMan: Effectively Mio and Azusa's successor in this department... and like them, she's not very effective in bringing some seriousness to her new dorm-mates.
543* RightThroughTheWall: Complains about how much noise the girls often make. Backfires on her spectacularly when Mio [[SingingInTheShower hears her singing the lyrics]] to Fuwa Fuwa Time ''[[EarWorm for 10 days after the show]]''.
544* RockTrio: The guitarist.
545%%* ThoseTwoGirls: With Sachi and Ayame, bandmates in the [=OnNaGumi=].
546* {{Tomboy}}: Has forced herself to become one to prove her LoveInterest that she's a strong woman.
547* {{Tsundere}}: A Harsh type, and it seems to be the characteristic that Yui finds attractive in both Azusa and Akira. Akira even has ExpressiveHair that spikes up when she's ''tsun-tsun'' and lays flat when she's ''dere-dere''. It's spiky most of the time, of course.
548* WorthyOpponent: She eventually sees Hokago Tea Time as this.
549[[/folder]]
550
551[[folder:Sachi Hayashi]]
552A member of the [=OnNaGumi=] with Akira and Ayame (and eventually of the university Light Music Club), as well as dorm-mate of Yui, Ritsu, Mio, Mugi and Megumi. She's in the same department as Mio and is like her the bassist.
553-----
554* BirdsOfAFeather: With Mio. Both are calm, tall, the same cup-size, and share some interests and issues.
555* CharacterTics: She tends to start crouching lower whenever her height is brought up as if attempting to stand out less, and Mugi finds this cute.
556* ComplimentBackfire: Suffers one from Ritsu after she tries to sympathize with their band "having a weird name" (which, hypocritically, Ritsu once thought would be a good name her own band) under the assumption that Akira thought it up. It was actually Sachi's idea, and hearing this hurt. For what it's worth, Akira made fun of Hokago Tea Time's name, so maybe they deserved some payback.
557* {{Foil}}: She's distinctly more confident than Mio, plays the bass without standing out too much, is also quite good-looking and as her own share of (ridiculous) insecurities. Looking at this sort of personality from the outside is partially what helps Mio to find some confidence herself.
558* HeightAngst: She frequently shows a sensitivity to her own height, almost to the point of SingleIssueWonk whenever words like "height," "tall," and "big" are brought up. One of her CharacterTics is crouching lower when she starts to get shy.
559* HimeCut: Being Mio's foil she has this same style of hair and reflects more of the usual character traits.
560* HugeSchoolgirl: Even taller than Mio and it bothers her.
561* RockTrio: The bassist.
562* SingleIssueWonk: Any time the words "big" or "tall" are brought up in reference to her, she gets a bit depressed or insinuates it as a negative trait.
563* StatuesqueStunner: In contrast to her [[HugeSchoolgirl self-image]], most everyone else thinks she's this.
564%%* ThoseTwoGirls: With Akira and Ayame.
565[[/folder]]
566
567[[folder:Ayame Yoshida]]
568The third [=OnNaGumi=] member who, along with Akira and Sachi, joins the university Light Music Club. She's also dorm-mates with Yui, Ritsu, Mio, Mugi and Megumi. She's also in the same department as Ritsu and is like her the drummer.
569-----
570%%* ACupAngst
571* BirdsOfAFeather: With Ritsu. Ayame lampshades immediately that they're both similar. Of course, they get along well.
572* CorruptTheCutie: She convinces everyone to skip class and just keep chatting. This becomes another new experience that Mugi's always wanted to try.
573-->"I wanna school this girl in all kinds of wrong things."
574* CursedWithAwesome: In-universe, of sorts: she's unable to understand Mio and Sachi's worries about fitting into nice clothes. They'd both rather dress cutely but don't have the figure for it, and it's bothersome to a girl with ACupAngst like hers. She immediately apologizes for making light of their insecurities after Sachi points out how people can be self-conscious about all sorts of things ([[SingleIssueWonk like being tall...]])
575%%* TheFashionista
576%%* GamerChick: Just like Ritsu.
577* GenkiGirl: The main reason she made fast friends with Ritsu.
578* KickChick: Has a tendency to kick (or punch, but mostly kick) Akira whenever she [[DopeSlap says something out of line]], which is noted to be ''way'' harder than Mio ever hit Ritsu. Ritsu writes it off as just crazy-rocker antics. She also has a moment to wonder who she'll kick now that Akira's disposition has been improving.
579-->'''Ritsu''': Don't turn that weapon on me.
580* RockTrio: She's the drummer.
581* SkinshipGrope
582-->'''Ritsu''': She sure makes groping look totally normal.
583%%* [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Three Girls]]: With Akira and Sachi.
584* WardrobeWound: Suffers a pretty severe one that also serves to drive home her ACupAngst.
585-->"I feel like I've been pounded flat in more ways than one..."
586[[/folder]]
587
588[[folder:Kana Yoshii]]
589The current club president of the University Light Music Club.
590----
591* ClubPresident: Although her concern for trying to get more funding for the club may lead us to believe that the Club lacks a treasurer.
592* EarlyBirdCameo: Mentioned by name in the flyer the first chapter of Volume 5. Introduced in Chapter 3, but her role wasn't formally confirmed until Chapter 5, and [[NoNameGiven her name ]]until Volume 5, Chapter 11.
593%%* HimeCut
594* RetiredBadass: Although the band she formed with her partner Chiyo Hirose [[SpellMyNameWithAnS (pronunciation unconfirmed)]] was said to be pro-level, they've become too busy with academics to perform publicly, not to mention Chiyo feeling embarrassed about Kana's insistence on playing in their old school uniforms.
595[[/folder]]
596
597!Characters from ''Shuffle''
598
599!!The Light Music Appreciation Society
600A club at a different school from Sakuragaoka.
601----
602[[folder:In General]]
603* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: The original Light Music Club was made of four first-years, with another joining them in their second year. The Appreciation Society is made of three first-years and one second-year.
604* HeroOfAnotherStory: Their story happens concurrently with Hokago Tea Time's adventures.
605* LoopholeAbuse: When Maho makes the excuse that she can’t join because she’d already in another club, Yukari points out that this is the ''Light Music Appreciation Society'', not a club, which means that Maho can join without quitting her current club.
606[[/folder]]
607
608[[folder:Yukari Sakuma]]
609[[quoteright:221:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k_on_yukari.png]]
610TheProtagonist of ''K-On! Shuffle'', Yukari is an enthusiastic girl who decides to pick up drumming after seeing Hokago Tea Time play at their school festival.
611----
612* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Yukari, like Yui, is a ditzy and friendly girl who is looking for a club to join. But unlike Yui, who joins her music club because she thought it would be easy to take part in, Yukari joins her club out of genuine enthusiasm.
613* FanGirl: Of Ritsu, greatly enjoying her drumming when she saw HTT perform.
614* GenkiGirl: She combines Yui's overreactive personality with Ritsu's proactive enthusiasm. Naturally, this trope is the result.
615* HamAndDeadpanDuo: With Kaede, being the enthusiastic GenkiGirl of the duo.
616* MistakenIdentity: While infiltrating Sakuragaoka High by wearing her sister’s uniform, Yukari finds Houkago Tea Time like she intended to. Too bad she mistakes them for being the cooking club.
617* SmarterThanYouLook: Maho is surprised to find out Yukari scores higher grades than her and even tutors Kaede.
618[[/folder]]
619
620[[folder:Kaede "Kae-chan" Shimizu]]
621[[quoteright:202:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k_on_kaede.png]]
622Yukari's friend from middle school. Like Yukari, she expresses an interest in joining a music club and becomes the bassist of the band.
623----
624* AmbiguouslyGay: Well, the reason she’s the bassist is because Mio’s panty shot caught her attention first... and there’s the fact she spends some time gushing about how cute her panties are.
625* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Averted. While she's more composed than Yukari, she's just as enthusiastic as her and has no problem receiving affection from her. Then it becomes clear she’s as much of a ditz as Yukari...
626* DeadpanSnarker: As Yukari is raving about Ritsu's drumming, Kaede notes that her "impact" with the drums is impressive, while [[StealthInsult slyly implying that she was lacking in skill]].
627* HamAndDeadpanDuo: With Yukari, being more coolheaded than her.
628* HeavySleeper: Kaede depends on Yukari to wake her up, and is even late to school when Yukari was sick and couldn’t wake her up in time.
629[[/folder]]
630
631[[folder:Maho Sawabe]]
632[[quoteright:206:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/k_on_maho.png]]
633A classmate of Yukari and Kaede, who gets roped into joining the Light Music Appreciation Society by them. Eventually becomes the guitarist of the band.
634----
635* AcademicAthlete: Is very good at basketball, and gets high grades in school.
636* AmbiguouslyGay: When asked why she joined the band, she gets teased by Karin saying Maho is a ‘sucker for a pretty face’, referring to Yukari. Maho also gets flustered thinking about being alone with Kaede.
637* ChildhoodFriends: With Karin.
638* RefusalOfTheCall: She is reluctant to join the Appreciation Society at first and only joins after Yukari imposes LoopholeAbuse on her.
639* {{Tsundere}}: A Harsh type, towards Yukari. Apart from snarking at her a lot, Maho gets embarrassed thinking about telling Yukari about the fact she’s really impressed by her spirit.
640[[/folder]]
641
642[[folder:Karin Shimada]]
643Maho’s childhood friend and basketball teammate.
644----
645* ChildhoodFriends: With Maho.
646%%* GenkiGirl%%
647[[/folder]]
648
649[[folder:Riko Satou]]
650The only member left of the previous generations of the Light Music Appreciation Society.
651----
652* BlatantLies: Keeps insisting that she has no experience with music despite all evidence. No one believes this.
653[[/folder]]
654
655[[folder:Shinano Iwasaki]]
656----
657[[/folder]]
658
659[[folder:Kurumi Sakuma]]
660Yukari's older sister. Goes to Sakuragaoka High, the same school as Houkago Tea Time.
661----
662* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Inverted. Kurumi constantly annoys Yukari, such as always going into her room without knocking.
663[[/folder]]

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