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K-ON! Shuffle, Vol. 1
“Let’s start a band!” Yukari is all fired up about playing the drums after hearing a certain teatime-loving band play at the Sakuragaoka High School Festival! She makes big plans with her best friend, Kaede, only to run into a Her school doesn’t have a Pop Music Club! But after the duo use their momentum to bring in a pair of quirky girls (a basketball player and a pop music “researcher”), nothing stands in their way! Except, that is, the fact that none of them own their instruments―or even know how to play them…
136 pages, Paperback
Published April 18, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 24, 2023
Many years ago, some plucky girls formed a band and birthed a genre unto itself. This, however, is the story of some other girls, who happened to see the former’s debut performance and got inspired far more than their talent would suggest they should have.
I have dipped into the K-On! universe enough to have familiarity with the characters and their big inaugural performance in front of a crowd (this universe will never let Mio live down that panty flash). It’s not a requirement for entry, but it does help the reader get the best jokes in the story.
Picking this up on a whim, having not gone beyond season one of the anime, I was rewarded with a really fluffy good time. K-On! made ‘cute girls doing cute things’ into its own thing and, while others have iterated on it, it’s clear that the original material wasn’t just a fluke.
This has all the goofing around and yuri-bait and genre staples you expect, delivered in a very welcome 4-koma style that allows for a slew of punchlines as these knuckleheads try and get their act together, literally. And their story is different enough from what came before to make it a fun little companion series.
Yukari is the star and she seems clueless, but is way more put together than anybody in the original cast. Her older sister is a scene stealer who is well trained in the arts of sibling torture to a masterly level. There’s a lot of clever stereotype subversion from these characters that really helps them grow on you quickly.
Maho is sidelined from the basketball team and gets pulled along with the group energy, eventually, but is mostly defined by her crush on Kaede, who is also quite clever but is borderline narcoleptic and relies on Yukari to a crazy degree.
They decide to join a club that essentially doesn’t exist and inadvertently draw in an enthusiastic senpai who definitely doesn’t know anything about music (this running gag made me laugh very hard for no good reason, but the timing is so good here), a feral basketball teammate of Maho’s, and an even more enthusiastic senpai whose teaching ability is inversely proportional to her exuberance.
There’s no real big narrative arc here - the girls are forming a band and we’re waiting to see who’s going to end up on it with them and what hi-jinx they’ll get up to. It’s definitely K-On!, but it’s different enough that it’s not just the same thing again. Just mostly. The pleasure is in the details.
Setting this concurrent with the first run of the original series is pretty clever. There’s a little bit of a crutch feeling early on, as if it’s leaning on its predecessor for good will, but it quickly becomes its own thing. This lets the cameos and side comics about the original band feel more fun.
When Yukari goes undercover to meet her heroes, the one panel featuring After-School Tea Time in all its dubious glory is both a riotously simultaneous on-point praising and condemnation of the original crew all done in one perfect moment.
If you don’t like these stories, well, this isn’t going to change your mind. I don’t know what I was expecting from this, band manga can sometimes run a little dry since there’s no music, but this knows how to have fun and deliver a joke at the same time, which are not necessarily the same thing at all.
3.5 stars - strong start is strong, let’s see where it goes. As for me, this makes me want to finish my season 1 rewatch and/or pick up the original manga and work forward, so on that level I can’t deny that this little confection worked a treat on me.
I have dipped into the K-On! universe enough to have familiarity with the characters and their big inaugural performance in front of a crowd (this universe will never let Mio live down that panty flash). It’s not a requirement for entry, but it does help the reader get the best jokes in the story.
Picking this up on a whim, having not gone beyond season one of the anime, I was rewarded with a really fluffy good time. K-On! made ‘cute girls doing cute things’ into its own thing and, while others have iterated on it, it’s clear that the original material wasn’t just a fluke.
This has all the goofing around and yuri-bait and genre staples you expect, delivered in a very welcome 4-koma style that allows for a slew of punchlines as these knuckleheads try and get their act together, literally. And their story is different enough from what came before to make it a fun little companion series.
Yukari is the star and she seems clueless, but is way more put together than anybody in the original cast. Her older sister is a scene stealer who is well trained in the arts of sibling torture to a masterly level. There’s a lot of clever stereotype subversion from these characters that really helps them grow on you quickly.
Maho is sidelined from the basketball team and gets pulled along with the group energy, eventually, but is mostly defined by her crush on Kaede, who is also quite clever but is borderline narcoleptic and relies on Yukari to a crazy degree.
They decide to join a club that essentially doesn’t exist and inadvertently draw in an enthusiastic senpai who definitely doesn’t know anything about music (this running gag made me laugh very hard for no good reason, but the timing is so good here), a feral basketball teammate of Maho’s, and an even more enthusiastic senpai whose teaching ability is inversely proportional to her exuberance.
There’s no real big narrative arc here - the girls are forming a band and we’re waiting to see who’s going to end up on it with them and what hi-jinx they’ll get up to. It’s definitely K-On!, but it’s different enough that it’s not just the same thing again. Just mostly. The pleasure is in the details.
Setting this concurrent with the first run of the original series is pretty clever. There’s a little bit of a crutch feeling early on, as if it’s leaning on its predecessor for good will, but it quickly becomes its own thing. This lets the cameos and side comics about the original band feel more fun.
When Yukari goes undercover to meet her heroes, the one panel featuring After-School Tea Time in all its dubious glory is both a riotously simultaneous on-point praising and condemnation of the original crew all done in one perfect moment.
If you don’t like these stories, well, this isn’t going to change your mind. I don’t know what I was expecting from this, band manga can sometimes run a little dry since there’s no music, but this knows how to have fun and deliver a joke at the same time, which are not necessarily the same thing at all.
3.5 stars - strong start is strong, let’s see where it goes. As for me, this makes me want to finish my season 1 rewatch and/or pick up the original manga and work forward, so on that level I can’t deny that this little confection worked a treat on me.
December 16, 2025
cute, liked the snippets of the og girls, but omg these girls gay, let them kiss!!
March 24, 2023
K-ON Shuffle is manga about first year students Yukari and Kaede who want to start a band after hearing one during a school festival. Neither of them plays any instrument or listens to any music, and there isn’t even a band club in their school, but they won’t let small details like that stop them. They talk a new girl in their class, Maho, to join their band, and with the help of Riko who runs a music club and seems to know how to play every instrument, they set out to learn.
This was a cute story about friendship and working towards a goal together. The girls were highly chaotic, the conversations went on tangent at times—noted by the characters even—and they had absolutely no idea what they were doing. But they had fun doing it. The story was a bit too long for the content, as nothing really happens, but I had good time reading it, so it didn’t matter that much.
Illustrations were black and white and good but not terribly unique. The girls were cute, but I had trouble telling some of the characters apart at times. The illustrations worked better in the larger frames at the beginnings of the chapters, and I think the entire book should’ve been laid out similarly instead of the smaller frames that didn’t leave room for details. It might have tightened the story too.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This was a cute story about friendship and working towards a goal together. The girls were highly chaotic, the conversations went on tangent at times—noted by the characters even—and they had absolutely no idea what they were doing. But they had fun doing it. The story was a bit too long for the content, as nothing really happens, but I had good time reading it, so it didn’t matter that much.
Illustrations were black and white and good but not terribly unique. The girls were cute, but I had trouble telling some of the characters apart at times. The illustrations worked better in the larger frames at the beginnings of the chapters, and I think the entire book should’ve been laid out similarly instead of the smaller frames that didn’t leave room for details. It might have tightened the story too.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
April 21, 2023
I’ve been waiting for this localization for so long and now that it’s in my hands, I was so quick to drop everything and read it! The cast are so funny and quirky and they meld well together!
There are a few good nods of cameos from the iconic light music club girls we all know and love and yet they allow the new cast to show off what they are made of without taking too much of the spotlight.
So far, I’m very satisfied with the main trio and love how they can be so chaotic but also understanding to one another! There were great moments of friendships here and there and of course, the subtle Yuri nods for a certain few that I appreciate! ❤️❤️
My favorite so far is especially Yukari Sakuma who in appearance looks like a typical clumsy, cutesy girl but actually subverted her type very well that to me, she stands out the most! I also love her chaotic yet realistic relationship with her sister who also happens to be a student from Sakura High.
The upperclassmen are also very great, I’m particularly having my eyes on Riko Satou who is also seen to subvert her character type in many ways.
All in all, a fantastic start of cast, setting and slice of life shenanigans to continue the iconic K-on series we all know and love! 💕💕
There are a few good nods of cameos from the iconic light music club girls we all know and love and yet they allow the new cast to show off what they are made of without taking too much of the spotlight.
So far, I’m very satisfied with the main trio and love how they can be so chaotic but also understanding to one another! There were great moments of friendships here and there and of course, the subtle Yuri nods for a certain few that I appreciate! ❤️❤️
My favorite so far is especially Yukari Sakuma who in appearance looks like a typical clumsy, cutesy girl but actually subverted her type very well that to me, she stands out the most! I also love her chaotic yet realistic relationship with her sister who also happens to be a student from Sakura High.
The upperclassmen are also very great, I’m particularly having my eyes on Riko Satou who is also seen to subvert her character type in many ways.
All in all, a fantastic start of cast, setting and slice of life shenanigans to continue the iconic K-on series we all know and love! 💕💕
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2024
Got my daughter this one for Christmas and finally read it after finishing the original K-On! Omnibus. Cute characters, if a bit chaotic…a lot of set-up, but some nice mysterious alluded to throughout and I like the original enough that I’m certainly curious to see where Kakifly goes with this series. I liked the silly-playful moments like Kurumi giving drum lessons to Yukari in instructional list format. And yes. Ritsu always had a smartphone. Why would you question that?
Fun reboot, glad new stuff is being added to the series.
Fun reboot, glad new stuff is being added to the series.
May 15, 2024
Very much the "Love Live Sunshine" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" of the K-ON series.
After watching Ho-kago Tea Time (the band from the original K-ON), new girls with similar personality traits and appearances set out to start their own band, following very similar story beats.
I feel like I should like it less, but it's cute enough that it doesn't bother me as much as a lot of soft reboots do.
I'm just happy that there's more K-ON out there.
After watching Ho-kago Tea Time (the band from the original K-ON), new girls with similar personality traits and appearances set out to start their own band, following very similar story beats.
I feel like I should like it less, but it's cute enough that it doesn't bother me as much as a lot of soft reboots do.
I'm just happy that there's more K-ON out there.
July 24, 2023
An enjoyable read that's more of an interquel. The character designs are nice and the characters themselves while in a 4 panel format are distinct and a nice mix of personalities. Character introductions and reveals take place up until the last page and lead on a cliffhanger like note!
December 7, 2024
The characters and their struggles feel a little more flat than the main K-ON crew's (at least for now), but the art is very cute and the gags got a few guffaws from me. Slice-of-life 4koma manga like this'll never be my preferred genre of gag manga, but this one's pretty solid!
June 4, 2023
This was cute and Moe. The old group makes a appears too.
October 10, 2023
Funny and cute
May 6, 2024
I read this a while ago but apparently forgot to mark it. It was probably good.
August 23, 2025
It's no original K-On!, but it's still engaging and funny enough to be worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews