Rumination: Humanising your character with the least amount of effort
Watching K-On episode 13 has made me thought a lot about the act of rumination in anime. In the opening minutes of the episode, we get a view into the girls going about their daily routines detached from the presence of each other. Mio is brainstorming for ideas for a new song; Ritsu is walking to school; Mugi is waiting for the train; Azusa tries to pet a cat and Yui is together with Ui. Each of them don't have much dialogue or are engaged in anything interesting. They are separate of the influence of each other and are each engaged in their own actions, and in Mugi and Ritsu's case, they are even portrayed pensively in their own space. I can't shake the thought of how relatable this makes them. Often times K-On is a show with many fun or chaotic high-jinks that makes for a sort of episodic high school adventure. But in moments like this when the characters only have themselves to engage with, it really adds a flavour into the characters that I find really humanising. An a