kakifly creates a new “K-ON!” story titled “K-ON! Shuffle” starting on July 9th

A new “K-ON!” story will be released on July 9th by kakifly for the manga magazine “Manga Time Kirara”.

“K-ON!” began as a four-panel comic strip written and illustrated by kakifly and the manga would then be serialized in Houbunsha’s seinen manga magazine “Manga Time Kirara” between May 2007-October 2010.  In April 2011, the manga was relaunched on both “Manga Time Kirara” and Houbunsha’s magazine “Manga Time Kirara Carat” with two separate storylines.

The popularity of the manga series led to a 13-episode anime TV series which aired in Japan on April-June 2009, an OVA episode in Jan. 2010 and a 26-episode second season titled “K-ON!!” which aired in Japan from April through Sept. 2010 and a new OVA released in March 2011.

The series would also lead to a Sony PSP music rhythm video game and a film adaptation.

【次号予告】
特報！ 7月9日発売のまんがタイムきらら8月号より、かきふらい先生の待望の新連載が始まります。
主人公が手にしているのはドラムスティック…？
「けいおん！Shuffle」、どうぞお楽しみに！ #kirara pic.twitter.com/aVTAa4B8De

— まんがタイムきらら編集部 (@mangatimekirara) June 8, 2018

Who is the girl holding the drumsticks?  We’ll have to wait and find out!

So, what is the original “K-ON!” series about?

“K-ON!” is a play on the Japanese word “keiongaku” (light music) and the series follows four high school students of Sakuragaoka Girl’s High School who are members of the “keiongaku” club.  The four characters featured thus far in the series are Yui Hirasawa, a naive and clumsy student entering high school who is not entirely sure what she wants to do in terms of extracurricular activities.  While she tries to figure out what she wants to do, two other students, Ritsu Tainaka and Mio Akiyama join the keiongaku club to find out that most of the members have graduated and the only way they can keep the club open is if they have four members.

Because Ritsu plays the drums and Mio plays the bass guitar, they hope they can find other musicians and form a band.

Fortunately, a new member joins the group, Tsumugi Kobobuki, a student from a wealthy family who plays a Korg Triton Extreme 76-key keyboard.  Now all they need is one member.

While Yui is trying to think of activities to do, she sees a flyer for the keiongaku club and in her mind, she remembers light music as something she did when she was young student in elementary school and so she joins.  Meanwhile, the other three members are happy because with a fourth member, the club will stay alive but also the fact that maybe Yui is a guitarist and now, they can start their own band.

But Yui is not a musician and if anything, what she loves about the club is the ability to eat desserts and drink tea with the other members but when the three members perform in front of her, she becomes inspired and wants to be a member of the club and be part of the band.

The first four episodes features the startup of the new Keiongaku club, how the new members try to help Yui become a guitarist and how the four members become friends.

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