K-ON! “Finale” Airs, Bonus Episode Revealed

The last episode of K-ON! has aired, but crestfallen otaku have been given a fortunate reprieve – the “Next Episode” segment promises a bonus extra episode next week, something sure to come as good news to those many dreadfully bereaved by the ending of the series.

Below is an extensive collection of screenshots with a recap of the finale episode, if you are so inclined:

Obviously, those who would rather not see spoilers should stop here.

Yui and Tsumugi converse about the odd size of Mugi’s eyebrows.

Mugi cheerfully hands one of them over to Yui for inspection. (!)

Yui has a taste…

And wakes up, suffering from a feverish cold.

During Yui’s absence from school, Ui talks to Azusa about her sister’s illness, eventually leading to a flashback…

Sawa-chan-sensei was being going about the business of urgent preparations for the club’s upcoming live performance.

Luckily, Mugi’s cosplay montage from the manga made it intact into the anime:

The girls try Sawa-chan’s cosplay ideas, deciding on these cute mini-yutaka:

Yui apparently liked hers so much that she wore it the rest of the day, leading to…

Her catching a cold.

Feeling sorry for her sister’s absence, a disguised Ui tries to take Yui’s spot in practice, doing surprisingly well until….

She is spotted by Sawa-chan’s probing eyes.

Ui is betrayed by her oppai, which are apparently bigger than her older sister’s.

The real Yui eventually turns up, but is still sick.

She’s told kindly to recuperate at home, and to not worry about the rest of the club until she’s fully recovered.

The next day at school, the girls worry about yet another absence from Yui.

Nodaka appears, turning a blind eye to the group’s missing a member on her roster for the performance coming up.

She relates a story from her and Yui’s youth…

…

Fortunately, Yui had actually gotten better, and was simply being being dressed in her stage outfit by Sawa-chan.

Azusa is a bit upset at Yui for not even bothering to make a phone call.

Yui comforts Azu-nyan…

!

…

Yui seems to think it was worth the slap, as many would likely agree.

The girls get ready for their performance, before Yui realizes her sister had brought her guitar home the day before…

Sawa-chan offers hers…

But Yui is unable to play any guitar but her own.

She rushes home to retrieve hers.

The club has to start their act without Yui…

Having retrieved her guitar, Yui hurriedly rushes back to the school festival.

The Yui-less group performs a new song, ふでペン　～ボールペン～ / Fudepen ~Boorupen~ (Brush ~Ball-point Pen~)

Being the finale, the episode’s concert scenes were substantially more detailed this time than in previous episodes.

Yui keeps on running back, hoping to make it in time to perform…

As she runs, she reminisces about the past year…

Yui finally makes it back to school.

She tearfully apologizes to the rest of the club for having been such a nuisance for the entire school year…

…and has her tie straightened by Mio in response.

With Yui back, the girls play Fuwa Fuwa Time, as sung by Yui (not the OP Cagayake Girls, as some had speculated would be the series’ final song).

Yui’s singing is rather beautifully animated, just as Mio’s was.

The girls finish, apparently satisfied with their performance…

But a heavily sweating Mugi coaxes an encore of the song…

The rest of the band happily obliges…

“The End”!

A “Next Episode Preview” plays.

Bonus Chapter: Winter Day(s)!

While this “final” episode may not fit perfectly into the definition of the word, it was obviously intended as the show’s “true ending”, and the bonus episode looks to be a filler-like one, akin to the bonus episodes sometimes included on the DVD releases of a series.

Many tender otaku hearts will doubtless feel the pangs of melancholy aching as they always do at the end of a favored show, but at least some of those wounds should be tended to by the arrival of more Kyoto Animation anime, in the form of the new Haruhi season that began in earnest with the new “Endless Eight” episode airing coincidentally (?) on the same night.

For more K-ON! finale salve, the huge amount of fanart, MADs from Nico such as these, elaborate cosplay, and the absolute assurance of a huge bevy of doujinshi featuring every single member of the Keion-bu flooding the upcoming Comiket conventions will all be sources of blessed relief.

With the anime proper finished, fans can now be about the business of trying to second guess when (and presumably if) a second season will emerge, whilst perhaps being led on a merry jaunt by marketers…