About Houkago Tea Time

Houkago Tea Time (放課後ティータイム) is a 5-Piece Japanese Rock/Pop band originating from the manga K-ON! (けいおん!) by Kakifly. The manga was successfully adapted into an anime by Kyoto Animation. The first series was called K-ON! (けいおん!), and the second being K-ON!! (けいおん!!). The manga is about a set of girls in High School who save the Light Music Club (Keionbu in Japanese, hence the name of the manga) from liquidation. They form a band, which is eventually named Houkago Tea Time by the club's advisor, Yamanaka Sawako. The story follows their many adventures through school life and being in a band together as friends. Over the course of the anime adaptations, the songs have been performed and released on CD for the public to buy. This includes the theme songs, performed by the band and the songs that the characters perform within the storyline of the show. The 5 members of the band are as follows: Yui Hirasawa (Hirasawa Yui 平沢 唯) [Voice Actress: Aki Toyosaki] Yui is the lead guitarist of the band, a ditsy and air-headed girl. She learns the guitar because of joining the Light Music Club, and picks it up naturally. She has the gift of perfect pitch, and can distinguish notes with ease. She plays a Gibson Les Paul Standard in Cherry Sunburst finish, which she nicknames Giita (ギー太) Ritsu Tainaka (Tainaka Ritsu 田井中 律) [Voice Actress: Satomi Satou] Ritsu is the drummer of Houkago Tea Time, a boisterious and intense girl. The self-declared leader of the Light Music Club, she is supposed to deal with the paperwork and bureaucracy of running a club, but always forgets to do so, resulting in rushes to get stage-time at festivals. She plays a Yamaha Hipgig Drumkit in yellow, with Zildjian cymbals. Mio Akiyama (Akiyama Mio 秋山 澪) [Voice Actress: Youko Hikasa] Mio is the bass guitarist of the band. She is extremely shy and scared of anything that is remotely disgusting or ghoulish. She has trouble at first playing live in the band, because of this crippling shyness. She was forced into the Light Music Club by Ritsu, who tore up her application for the Literature Club before dragging her to the Music room. She plays a Left-Handed Fender Jazz Bass with a 3-Colour Sunburst finish and tortoiseshell pickguard. In the second series of the anime, she names her bass Elizabeth. Tsumugi Kotobuki (Kotobuki Tsumugi 琴吹 紬) [Voice Actress: Minako Kotobuki] Tsumugi is the keyboardist of the band, a very affluent girl. Coming from a rich family, she regularly brings tea and sweets to the clubroom for the band to enjoy. She is very mild-mannered and kind and does not like to make a scene. She also seems quite detached from normal school life, often asking weird things of her bandmates (such as asking them to hit her on the head to see what it feels like). She has played piano and keyboard for a long time, and has also won competitions for her playing. She plays a Korg Triton Extreme keyboard. Azusa Nakano (Nakano Azusa 中野 梓) [Voice Actress: Ayana Taketatsu] Azusa plays rhythm guitar for Houkago Tea Time. She joined the band when the other four were in their second year, and is subsequently one year younger than the rest of the band. She is very studious, but it is easy to make her put down her work and get her to have fun with the rest of the band. Because of this, she is often the person to complain that all the band does is drink tea and eat sweets. In spite of this, she has a lot of fun with the band and makes good friends with them all. Azusa plays a Fender Mustang, which she names Muttan.