Yui Hirasawa arrives at school early and heads up to the practice room to work on her skills, once the other girls arrive, Yui finds that her wake up time was wrong again.
This is the beginning of a new school year, Azusa Nakano is now a junior, and the other girls are seniors. After Yui makes some small talk about being a senior the girls head to the class assignment board to find out where their home rooms are. Yui pushes her way through the crowd to discover that all four of the girls are in class 3-2, and Mio Akiyama sheds tears of joy.
They discover that their homeroom teacher in none other than Sawako, last year’s adviser for the wind instrument club. During the welcoming ceremony Nodoka Manabe reminds Yui that the club needs to find new members so Azusa won’t be all alone next year.
The club concentrates on trying to get new members, passing out fliers, wearing costumes but to no avail. The club redoubles their efforts to get new members by trying all sorts of sneaky tactics and even resort to observing other clubs.
Back in the club room, Sawako and Nodoka join the girls and they plan for tomorrow’s performance at the orientation ceremony, and Yui hopes someone will join the club after hearing them play like Azusa did.
Main Characters
Yui Hirasawa is one of the members of the light music club, and plays a Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar. She does not get good grades in school, though properly coached, she can achieve astounding results, and is easily distracted by trivialities. Yui has a very easy-going nature but when hyped, has incredible concentration, though this is only limited to one subject at a time. She will totally neglect any other things in the process, to the point of forgetting anything she has learned beforehand. Her surname is taken from P-Model guitarist Susumu Hirasawa.
Mio Akiyama is a shy girl in the light music club who plays a left-handed, 3-Color Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass with a tortoiseshell pickguard. She originally intended to join the literary club, but was forced into the light music club by her childhood friend Ritsu. She gets excellent grades in school, but is bad with listening to stories involving painful experiences, and will assume a fetal position whenever something gross is brought up. While she can be strict sometimes, she gets embarrassed easily, and cites that she chose bass since it is not in the center of attention like with guitar.
Ritsu Tainaka is president of the light music club and plays a Yamaha Hipgig Drumset. She has an ambiguous personality, and often has trouble with forgetting about important club activities and announcements. She says she chose to play the drums because they are “cool”, but she has trouble playing instruments which involve intricate finger movements. She is a childhood friend of Mio and will often tease her whenever she’s cowering from something. Her surname is taken from former P-Model drummer Sadatoshi Tainaka.
Tsumugi Kotobuki is a wealthy girl with a gentle personality who plays a Korg Triton Extreme 88 Key keyboard in the light music club. She has played piano since she was four-years-old, and has experience in winning piano contests. She is the daughter of a company president, and her family has several villas in various places around Japan. When Yui goes to buy her guitar, Tsumugi is successfully able to drive down the price. The reason she gives for her success is that her family just happens to own the store. She often brings confectionery to the club room, along with a tea set which is kept in the room. She originally intends to join the choir club, but joins the light music club after receiving an invitation and encouragement from Mio and Ritsu. Her surname is taken from former P-Model keyboardist Hikaru Kotobuki.
Azusa Nakano is a new student who joins the light music club and plays a Fender Mustang electric guitar. She is a self-proclaimed novice guitarist who has been playing the guitar since the fourth grade and whose parents are working in a jazz band. She often finds herself bewildered by the tea parties and cosplaying aspects of the club, when she would rather just practice and is curious on how the club is able to play so well despite their problems and lack of practice.
Nodoka Manabe is Yui’s childhood friend and confidant who is a member of the school’s student council.
(けいおん!!)
