K-On!/Trivia

Non-Trope Trivia

 * In the first episode of the anime, Mugi is making a big deal out of mixing her fries with those of the other two girls. In Japanese culture, sharing your food with the group is a sign that you accept the group as your own, so Mugi was both being formal and very sweet in one go.
 * The train station seen most in the series, which is the one Mugi uses for commuting, is the Shugakuin Station on the Eizan Electric Railway in Kyoto.
 * The high school is based on an elementary school in Toyosato in the Shiga prefecture. The building was supposed to be torn down, but after protests from the local community it got renovated and opened for the public, and it now serves as a museum. It's needless to say that the building is now a very popular destination for fans of the series.
 * The Max Burger fast food restaurant frequented by the girls is based on a real-life McDonald's.
 * In episode 5 of the first season, Sawako plays her super flashy solo. However, the way she moves her arm while "speed picking" is something more akin to new guitar players. Faster playing is done using mostly the fingers or the wrist, Sawako's using her arm almost exclusively.
 * The place where the girls go to feed the Japanese monkeys, as seen in in episode 4 of the second season, is the Iwatayama Monkey Park in Kyoto, situated on top of Mt. Arashiyama. It is pretty much as depicted, including the splendid view of the city.
 * The statue seen at the very end of episode 7 of the second season is based on a statue of William S. Clark, the founder of Sapporo Agricultural College (now Hokkaido University), which implies that Sokabe-sempai is studying in Sapporo. Also, the full version of "Cagayake!GIRLS" contains the words "Girls, be ambitious", which is a reference to Clark's famous parting words to his students ("Boys, be ambitious!").
 * Ton-chan is a pig-nosed turtle, a species that is actually hard to keep in captivity, since it's rather aggressive and prone to stress and illnesses. It takes dedication and specialized knowledge to care for one, so one wonders whether the girls would be up to the task. It might be especially unwise to keep it in a place with lots of noise, like where a band is playing.

Trivia Tropes

 * The Bechdel Test: Every single episode passes the test, and so does The Movie. Conversations range from music to snacks to hanging out with friends to wondering just what Mugi's house looks like, but only rarely mention boys in any sense. This is aided (at least in the series) by them being students at an all-girls school.
 * I Am Not Shazam—The name of the band is Hokago Teatime, not K-On!. "K-on" is a Roman-letter transliteration of the first syllables of the Japanese word 軽音楽 (keiongaku), "pop music", making "K-On!" roughly equivalent to "Pop!"
 * No Export for You: Hey, Puerto Rico, want this series on Blu-Ray? Tough luck, they're only available on DVD.
 * Now subverted! Volumes 1 and 2 for Blu-Ray finally came out in October!
 * The United States won't see the second season released let alone dubbed, nor the movie, because Bandai Entertainment ceased distributing home videos due to illegal fansubs!
 * Not anymore! Sentai Filmworks announced in February 2012 that they'd acquired the rights to the second season, complete with an English dub from the first season's cast.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!:
 * From the Japanese version...
 * Yui is Suu reincarnated!
 * Mio is Satan.
 * And Yui is in Umineko too; in fact, she's one of Satan's sisters, Asmodeus.
 * Sawa-chan is Matoi Tsunetsuki, AKA Stalker Girl-nyo...
 * From the English dub...
 * Azusa is Squid Girl, (whose Volume 1 English DVD was released the same month as the release of Azusa's official English appearance.)
 * Yui is Mikuru Asahina, Hinata, Orihime Inoue Illyasviel von Einzbern...
 * Mio is Nanoha Takamachi.
 * Sawa-chan is Miyuki Takara, and the current Rouge the Bat.
 * Nodoka is the current Blaze the Cat and Chun Li.
 * Relationship Voice Actor:
 * In the dub:
 * Mio Akiyama (Cristina Vee) and Tsumugi Kotobuki (Shelby Lindley) once met in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's as Nanoha Takamachi and Shamal.
 * Yui Hirasawa (Stephanie Sheh) and Sawako Yamanaka (Karen Strassman) met in Fate/stay night as Illyasviel von Einzbern and Rider.
 * Azusa Nakano(Cristine Marie Cabanos) and Ritsu Tainaka (Cassandra Lee) will become Kaname Madoka and Kyuubey in Puella Magi Madoka Magica
 * Fridge Brilliance: The Band is made up of Nanoha Takamachi, Shamal (Mio and Mugi (Shelby Lindley), Illyasviel von Einzbern, Kyuubey and Madoka Kaname (Ritsu and Azunyan) with Kallen Stadfeldt Kouzuki (Sawako Yamanaka) as their mentor. Sweet! This make it a team of Magical Girls + a mascot with an Ace Pilot as their mentor!
 * The Wiki Rule: K-ON! Wiki