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I'm often asked - actually, no one asks me about this but it's important for me to give my honest opinion on the matter.

After being a fan of the "genre" for almost 3 years now, it seems that the overall understanding about the topic changed quite a bit in that time. I don't particularly remember this being a "thing" until K-ON! arrived, but then again I've started with anime in 2009 so take of that what you will. The formula seems interesting on paper, but kinda boring on reality from a majority of perspectives. Why would we watch girls drinking tea and doing nothing productive the whole day and believe that's a fun thing? The very thought of slice-of-life is already very fragmented, but experienced viewers take it as easy to understand. It just doesn't seem to be something that would work, but it did.

When watching a show of cute girls doing cute things, I ask myself: "Why am I watching this?". I reply "I like it, it's fun" but I keep thinking for a little while, at some point I start to doubt that my own vision of reason is getting blurrier. Believe me, if you ever felt the same it's understandable. Let me tell you why I watch it again: because it's fun, that's not all though.

Now there seems to be a misunderstanding about "fun" and the actual meaning of it. Mostly, you're the boss in this department.

Let's say I'm having a talk with a friend about the topic, this particular friend of mine never really liked "cute x (girls + things)" because he believes it's boring. For him, the solely reason this exists is for pandering and sell bait for otakus, that sort of thing that is meaningless and just not worth your time. "You should watch something that might actually change your life, something that will give you a new reason to do things, cute x (girls + things) wouldn't give anyone that sort of feeling." that is what he firmly and strongly believes.

I say that is a flawed view, not his opinion, but his understanding of what this is supposed be. He didn't get it.

Let's go back and think about what is fun. You might just end this conversation and say "our tastes are different, deal with it" but the issue at hand is more complicated than that. This friend of mine, I believe he and a lot of other people have the wrong idea of what cute x (girls + things) is about. When I'm watching it, I don't do it just because it's fun. There are way too many feelings on the same place, at the same time. Watching them laugh, cry, talk about things as meaningless as the taste of their ice cream, their new bra, boys, childhood stuff and much more is what makes it interesting. I want to know what is happening in the lives of that character, what is happening in the lives of the friend of that character. What is happening in that world.

When I fell in love with Mio, it wasn't just because she was cute. Sure she is cute, and I also admit that her as a character can't be hold strongly as an argument for the quality of a show. However, if I were to look only at the bad side of people before deciding to be friends with them, my life would be boringly predictable. The same logic holds in this particular case. Why is that people only look at the bad side of cute girls doing cute things? You may not believe it, but K-ON is one of the few things that gave me energy to survive the day, especially when I was feeling depressed. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there watching those shows just to get a laugh. They're not looking for a way to increase their life knowledge or think about how to change anything, they just want to relax.

It's fun you know, just everything about it. The mood of the show lightens the mood of my own life. This is not limited to K-ON! though, Yuyushiki, Yuri Yuri, GJ-bu, Natusme Yuujinchou, Tamayura (sort of) and everything which has the intention of bringing heartwarming moments. They are all based mostly on that same logic yet I can feel a different feeling, about each one them. They all give me new perspectives of things that I might have watched or experienced, but never in the same way. They are all almost the same thing, but not the same thing.

There is also this misunderstanding that "cute x (girls + things)" is a simple formula. It's not. It's not easy. You can't just put a bunch of cute girls on the same place and call it a day. Every show that based itself on that particular characteristic needs to have its own aura, it's own reason for existence. It just can't work for everyone. I know some shows like this that are detestable, using themselves as some sort of airing slot just to fill time. I would understand why someone would feel these are meaningless.

So what point am I trying to make? You might have realized it already, but I'm somewhat bad at expressing myself on topics like this. All I ask is that the people that aren't particularly fond of this "genre" or "thing" to understand that the concept goes beyond the actual presentation. Yes, you might find it boring, that's okay. You don't need to like everything. However respecting someone's else view and opinion instead of creating a fact around something that can't be explained by words (like emotion) will just, maybe, not make you look stupid.