Waifu Wednesday: Yui Hirasawa (K-ON!)

It is already that time of the week again, so here’s another delightful waifu to celebrate this Wednesday! Yui Hirasawa is the shining beacon of K-On! for sure. For a show that ended up being about food rather than music for the most part, Yui is the main reason I stuck around for the long haul around the time it originally released.

So, without further ado, let’s highlight all the reasons why the show’s cute-as-a-button, wholesome-as-heck ditsy airhead of a guitarist deserves your appreciation and attention.

Who is Yui Hirasawa?

Yui Hirasawa is the main character of K-ON!, a slice-of-life comedy music anime. Following the school lives of five girls, we see them learn to tackle their individual problems together, eventually in the form of Ho-kago Tea Time, their band. Yui is at the forefront of the story as a whole, being the only member to be completely unfamiliar with all things music-related, though she gradually gets to grips with playing guitar.

Yui’s lack of experience is a natural setup and starting point for the audience, and as she brushes up on the basics and learns how to make the group’s music unique, we see this once rather outcast schoolgirl become a part of something bigger – a place where her strengths are exemplified and where she belongs.

Why we love her

Frequently regarded as useless or unappealing to the mass watchers and fans of K-ON!, Yui is often the sole contributor to the comedic value of the show through her particular quirks. With her popularity being nowhere near the height of fellow bandmember Mio (Mio is love – Ed.), it is surprising that I am so drawn to her, especially as one of the very few anime main characters I favour over the rest of the cast for once.

Sure, Yui may be way too dim for her own good and incompetent for the most part, but for every one of her faults there is another reason to relate to her – depending on the person, that is. For someone as flawed as Yui to still find a place she belongs, with friends for life and where her latent talents can be used to their fullest potential, it makes for an underrated, oftentimes sidelined, subtle and wholesomely heartfelt personal journey.

Yui joining the Light Music Club leads her into discovering her untapped special talents when it comes to musicality, such as great rhythm and perfect pitch. She is not only hardworking – mostly seen in how much catching up she has to do in order to play alongside her other band members – but her authenticity and feel-good nature makes her all that more likeable and genuine.

Despite her being a massive ditz and airhead, she is just as much of an empath. Yui is quick to comfort and console others, even able to feel out their emotions and work hard to make them happier. This is best seen in her initial encounters with Azusa.

Why you will love her

There are many inspiring takeaways from Yui’s character – one being the way she is described as an unfocused schoolgirl before finding meaning and worth in joining the Light Music Club. Additionally, her trial and error way of learning how to play guitar tells us that there is no right or wrong way to approach similarly daunting challenges in real life. She dives headfirst into learning about musicality despite not even knowing the fundamentals.

The way she goes about things is subtly encouraging, despite her clearly being a fish out of water to begin with. She goes all-in, so much so that her tunnel vision gets the best of her whenever she’s focused on any single activity. She is passionate about it all, and she is hard-working despite how slow she can be on the uptake.

She also can be hard on herself for her slowness especially, as shown in the first season’s finale. But for all the times she struggles or fails, no amount of poor grades or difficult stages can kill her spirit, drive and optimism. She truly is the most fearless of champions, despite perhaps not being the most capable, particularly in academic terms.

Before we close this out, it’s also worth highlighting a particular character trait of hers that is the icing on the cake – her being the personification of kindness. She not only performs and writes songs for others, but she has an especially sweet bond with her younger sister Ui, which hits particularly hard since they are so close due to their parents often going out on vacations without them.

What more could you ask from a waifu?

Watch K-ON! now on Funimation.

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