Ho-Kago Tea Time is the first mini-album by Ho-Kago Tea Time ("After School Tea Time"), a band from the TV anime “K-ON!”. It was released by Pony Canyon on July 22, 2009.
Contents
Overview
This mini-album features the band “After School Tea Time,” consisting of the four members of the fictional Sakuragaoka High School Light Music Club, Yui Hirasawa (voiced by Aoi Toyosaki), Mio Akiyama (voiced by Yoko Hikasa), Ritsu Tainaka (voiced by Satomi Satō), and Tsumugi Kotobuki (voiced by Minako Tojo).
The band name “After School Tea Time,” which is also the album title, was decided in the anime just before the second-year school festival (original volume 2, p. 74; anime episode 11). This work is a two-disc set containing both the Studio Mix and Live Mix versions. As a first-press limited edition, it includes a glittery outer box and full-song melody sheets for one chorus of every track.
While all songs featured in the series are credited in-story as having lyrics written by Mio Akiyama and music composed by Tsumugi Kotobuki, the actual lyrics and arrangements were written and arranged by real life individuals.
Disc 3 of the "K-ON! Music History's Box," which released on March 20, 2013, compiles “Disc-1 (Studio Mix)” and “Disc-2 (Live Mix)” from this album.
Chart performance
According to Oricon's tally, After School Tea Time ranked No. 1 on the daily chart on July 21, 2009, which was the day before its release, and then remained at the top for five consecutive days until the daily chart on July 25 of the same year.It debuted at number one on the weekly chart dated August 3, 2009, and as a CD released under an anime character's name, it became the first album in Oricon chart history to achieve this feat.
The Recording Industry Association of Japan announced that this album was Gold certified in July 2009. This marks the third CD related to “K-ON!” to receive Gold certification, following “Cagayake! GIRLS” and “Don't say ‘lazy’”. For full-length songs, the version of “Fuwa Fuwa Time” included on this album received Gold certification for December 2012.
Marty Friedman, a guitarist living in Japan and former member of the American rock band Megadeth, mentioned K-ON! and this CD in his column “Marty Friedman's J-POP Metal Review” in the October 2009 issue of "Nikkei Entertainment!". He wrote, "In America, 30 years ago, a band called The Archies became popular, born from the show 'It's the Archies!' I think the Archies that exist within the anime are a mysterious presence that makes you want to root for them. I think people in Japan who are hooked on ‘K-ON!’ right now feel the same way.“ Regarding the music, he analyzed the first track, ”Curry Then Rice,“ saying, ”If you remove the voice actor's vocals and the organ part, it's just a cool hard rock-style pop punk song, but the vocals are so baby-like you'd think an 8-year-old girl was singing, and the fact that the lyrics are about curry rice is shocking. Lyrics about food are unheard of in Western rock music; it's something only Japan, with its world-class food culture, could produce."
Personnel
Aki Toyosaki
Yoko Hikasa
Satomi Satō
Minako Kotobuki
Ayana Taketatsu