History YMMV / KOn

** Blue-White Rice Bowl[[labelnote:Explanation]]More popular in the Chinese fandom, but the image of the blue-white rice bowl used to represent Mio's infamous PantyShot is a big meme and used as an offhand for anything with blue and white stripes.[[/labelnote]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXKJa-NQsUU Un-tan! Un-tan! Un-tan!]] (S1 01 12:12)
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP-3YaGuv6A Moe Moe~ Kyun!]] (S1 04 14:55)[[labelnote:Explanation]]"Moe Moe Kyun" actually predates the series, as it's a common phrase said by waitresses at [[CosplayCafe maid cafes]] as a "magic spell" to make the food more delicious for the customers. However, its use in ''K-On!'' made the phrase memetic, especially to anime fans outside Japan who had never heard it before.[[/labelnote]]

** A small one between it and fans of ''Manga/{{Beck}}''. Both are music anime that follow the exploits of bands formed by teenagers but fans of ''Beck'' tend to dislike ''K-On!'' for not focusing on the music. Fans of ''K-On!'' don't necessarily dislike ''Beck'' but do point out that the detractors miss the point of the show when complaining about the lack of music.

** [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/649/459/a41 Moefist!]][[labelnote:Explanation]]The permeation to Mui's "brofist" in the attached image was predictable.[[/labelnote]]

* EvenBetterSequel: The second season of the anime is often considered this due to CharacterDevelopment, the episodes being more eventful and of course the emotional catharsis of the ending. Having twice as many episodes to cover a shorter timeframe (''K-On!'' covered the first two years of the girls' high school life across 14 episodes while ''K-On!!'' only covered the final year in 27 episodes) certainly helps.

** X is canon[[labelnote:Explanation]]Thanks to the very LesYay-happy nature of the series, any moment or interaction between two characters (mainly [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Mio]]/[[ChildhoodFriendRomance Ritsu]] and [[SenpaiKohai Yui]]/[[MentorShip Azusa]]) automatically makes a ship "canon" in the fanon's eyes.[[/labelnote]]

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls: It's a very light, comedic slice-of-life series focused on a group of high school girls who [[KiddieKid tend to act more like preteens]], but it's actually aimed at adult men, since the manga ran in the {{seinen}} magazine ''Magazine/MangaTimeKirara''. That said, the anime [[TamerAndChaster tones down the more risque aspects]] of the original manga (including Mio's infamous PantyShot), and it even aired on the Japanese Disney Channel with some minor censorship, which [[PeripheryDemographic led to preteen and teenage girls enjoying it as well]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP-3YaGuv6A Moe Moe~ Kyun!]] (S1 04 14:55)[[labelnote:Explanation]]"Moe Moe Kyun" actually predates the series, as it's a common phrase said by waitresses at [[CosplayCafe maid cafes]] as a "magic spell" to make the food more delicious for the customers. However, its use in ''K-On!'' made the phrase memetic, especially to anime fans outside Japan who had never heard it before.

** [[https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/903915-yuri-goggles Mugi's Yuri Goggles]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]In episode five of the first season, resident YuriFan Mugi is seen looking at Ritsu and the teeacher through two rolled up magazines like binoculars, and blushing. The fandom immediately assumed she thought yuri was afoot[[/labelnote]]
** Racist ''K-On!'' fans [[labelnote:explanation]]There are disturbingly numerous instances of people on social media spouting racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic rantings and just so happen to have profile pictures of ''K-On!'' characters. Due to this, people have semi-ironically started a generalization that all ''K-On!'' fans are racist, ranging from the fandom functioning as a hate group to the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan losing the "most racist person" award to a ''K-On!'' fan.[[/labelnote]]

* FanPreferredCouple:
** Ritsu/Mio, for certain.
** Yui/Azusa also count to a lesser extent, even though later chapters of the manga seem to be [[ShipTease Ship Teasing]] Yui/Akira and Ui/Azusa, and more recently, Ui/Jun.
** And then there's [[TeacherStudentRomance Sawako/Mugi.]]
** The Fan Preferred Couple among the background characters is Akane/Eri.

** X is canon[[labelnote:Explanation]]Thanks to the very LesYay-happy nature of the series, any moment or interaction between two characters (mainly [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Mio]]/[[ChildhoodFriendRomance Ritsu]] and [[SempaiKohai Yui]]/[[MentorShip Azusa]]) automatically makes a ship "canon" in the fanon's eyes.[[/labelnote]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP-3YaGuv6A Moe Moe~ Kyun!]] (S1 04 14:55)

** Racist ''K-On!'' fans [[labelnote:explanation]]There are disturbingly numerous instances of people on social media spouting racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic rantings and just so happen to have profile pictures of ''K-On!'' characters. Due to this, people have semi-ironically started a generalization that all ''K-On!'' fans are racist, ranging from the fandom functioning as a hate group to the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan losing the "most racist person" award to a K-On! fan.[[/labelnote]]

** Racist K-On! fans [[labelnote:explanation]]There are disturbingly numerous instances of people on social media spouting racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic rantings and just so happen to have profile pictures of K-On! characters. Due to this, people have semi-ironically started a generalization that all K-On! fans are racist, ranging from the fandom functioning as a hate group to the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan losing the "most racist person" award to a K-On! fan.[[/labelnote]]

* VindicatedByHistory: When the anime first came out in 2009, it was a very divisive show among the anime community with a lot of detractors using it as an example of everything wrong with {{Moe}} anime. Over a decade later, it's a beloved favorite among fans of heartwarming and therapeutic stories of friendship, not to mention an inspiration for many to follow the footsteps of its heroines down the road of (rock) music.

** Around the time that both ''Manga/KOn'' and ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' were airing, it was a bad idea to mention both of them in one sentence at websites where fans of those shows were. The odd thing is: While the creators for the manga/light novels are different, they were both adapted into an anime by the same company, Kyoto Animation. The rivalry stemmed mainly from the fact that both ''K-On!'' and the second season of ''Haruhi'' were produced around the same time, and both (supposedly) suffered for it in terms of quality storytelling. Plus, there were moments in ''Haruhi'' where the characters resembled ''K-On!'''s characters. This rivalry has cooled down over time however, as fans of Kyoto Animation as a whole usually enjoy both for different reasons nowadays.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls: It's a very light, comedic slice-of-life series focused on a group of high school girls, but it's actually aimed at adult men, since the manga ran in the {{seinen}} magazine ''Magazine/MangaTimeKirara''. That said, the anime [[TamerAndChaster tones down the more risque aspects]] of the original manga (including Mio's infamous PantyShot), and it even aired on the Japanese Disney Channel with some minor censorship, which [[PeripheryDemographic led to preteen and teenage girls enjoying it as well]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls: It's a very light, comedic slice-of-life series focused on a group of high school girls, but it's actually aimed at adult men, since the manga ran in the {{seinen}} magazine ''Magazine/MangaTimeKirara''. That said, the anime [[TamerAndChaster tones down]] the more risque aspects of the original manga (including Mio's infamous PantyShot), and it even aired on the Japanese Disney Channel with some minor censorship, which [[PeripheryDemographic led to preteen and teenage girls enjoying it as well]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForLittleGirls: A very light, comedic slice-of-life doesn't mean the series won't have any possible Yuri subtext. There's also Mio's infamous panty shot, which is brought up more than once long after it happened (even though the anime [[AdaptationalModesty makes it less raunchy]]).

** You really can't help but feel bad for Mio, what with her [[ShrinkingViolet extreme shyness]], her painfully adorable CryCute moments, and the fact that Sawako and Ritsu often make her do embarrassing things. The poor girl really needs a hug sometimes.

* TastesLikeDiabetes:
** Mio's lyrics. Assuming she continues to write them after the SchoolFestival we are treated to more of her saccharine creations in Episode 8 with "[[CargoShip My Love is a Stapler]]". (Mio probably wrote them since Yui's lyrics are carbohydrate-based, not sugar-based.) Viewers are treated to the first reaction to her lyrics by Ritsu and Sawa-chan in episode 5 season 1:
-->'''Ritsu''': It's so itchy... I want to scratch it till it breaks!
** Seemingly the entire Hirasawa family. The parents are SickeninglySweethearts, the older sister is a lovable oaf and the younger sister is a doting YamatoNadeshiko who is obsessed with her Onee-chan (not in [[{{Yandere}} that kind of way]], at least not in canon).
** The episode "Christmas!" is noticeably higher in sugary Moe content and lower in salty humor than any other first season episode, to the point where it's almost heart-attack inducing.
** TheMovie's opening. All of the [=OPs=] have the characters being cute while playing music etc. but the movie really ramps it up, showing the girls doing almost pointless cute things.

* CoveredUp: This doesn't apply to ''any'' Japanese person since it's a classic pop standard and children's song, but face it--the only reason ''you'' know about "''Tsubasa o Kudasai''" is either because of this show, ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'', or ''Anime/DanganRonpa3''. The dub replaces it with "Love Me Tender".[[note]]This is still in keeping with CoveredUp, since the tune of "Love Me Tender" was based on a Civil War-era song called "Aura Lea", but the Elvis version is much more famous.[[/note]]

** In Season 2, Episode 13, one of Azuza's dreams features Mio with BlankWhiteEyes while watching a horror movie.