Sakamichi no Apollon

Being someone who played saxophone for 7 years and cherished the band program I attended in high school, I'm someone who has become a sucker for music anime. While some of the shows in the music genre are already highly acclaimed from anime viewers with musical background or none whatsoever, these shows have a near and dear part of my heart and usually I am someone that doesn't get bored and is genuinely excited during scenes of musical performance. With Kids on the Slope, this is absolutely no different. The draw to me for this show at the start was the focus on jazz, as I was in jazz band in high school and took a jazz history class in college as well. But what surprised me, is just how little I ended up caring for the jazz in the show. And not in a bad way either. Kids on the Slope is focused on 3 specific main characters, who each fill their anime tropes they're intended to follow. Our lead Kaoru, is at the top of his class, and is a social outcast at his new school. He meets a young lady Ritsuko, who is the nice but timid class president, and she is also close with the rebellious troublemaker named Sentarou. Both Sentarou and Kaoru bond over their love of going up on the school rooftop, and through interacting with one another bit by bit they discover that both of them are fond of playing music. While Kaoru is a classical pianist, Sentarou is a jazz drummer, and pushes Kaoru enough to interest him into a famous jazz standard "Moanin' ". Through this, while not necessarily getting along at first, start to play jazz together and form a tight bond, while each of them falling in love with a different female. What's great about this show is that all the getting to know aspects of the characters only occurs in the first episode, and as each episode continues more and more and more time passes through their time in high school. The real story isn't focused on the jazz aspect of the show, the show is primarily focused on these three characters, and two other characters, one being Sentarou's crush Yurika, and the other being a fellow jazz musician and role model of sorts to Sentarou, Junichi. These five individual characters are what makes the show, and how we learn through each point of view stuff that they have gone through, and stuff that they deal with in this current time. This show, while sounding like lots of fun following the lives of jazz and friendship in love of multiple high schoolers, is really deep down a drama. Each character deals with baggage in their lives, and each struggle that they go through on a day to day basis is what the root of the show is about. In the end, it's not the jazz that the show focuses on, but just merely that a group of individuals who are close with one another appreciate jazz for their own reasons and deal with growing up. That's what I truly enjoyed about this show, is that while the first two episodes seem more like a comedy, with truly gut hurting moments, it molds itself into this very deep drama following heartbreak, death, family outcastings, and many more. It's what really took me aback, and made this show a very easy marathoning, because these characters are people you become invested in through each episode and root for no matter the hardship. Being a musical show, what comes first is the music. The jazz standards that were used throughout the show, a few examples being "Moanin' ", "But Not For Me" and a jazz-arranged "My Favorite Things", are all very much known through jazz connoisseurs. That being said, a lot of these songs are also known to jazz casuals, and the focus on standards in the show is what I greatly appreciated throughout the show. While there were not a bunch of jazz-inspired songs within the OST, all the music within the show was extremely well done and put in at key moments correctly providing the right amount of satisfaction for the viewer. What really surprised me though is just how much I grew to love the anime opening and ending of the show. While both start off being your generic anime tune, the opening turns into an extremely gripping and high-energy visual spectacle that provides nice key notes to really satisfy the ears. The ending however, grows into an extremely heartfelt tune, one that is extremely touching while watching the pieces of animation that is shown. The best example I can provide for each is Angel Beat's "My Soul, Yours Beats!" and Wolf Children's "Okaasan no Uta", both exceptional tunes in their own ways. What really surprised me the most about this anime, is the animation for the show. While the art style seems more generic in a sense, it honestly never falters in quality. The animation for the show is absolutely stunning, the entire show. There's no obvious dips that have stills or make things cartoon-y in shows that have tight animation budgets, which just goes to show how much was put in to the process of creating Kids on the Slope. The animation is gorgeous, especially within the opening credits. The voice actors for the show were all cast perfectly, but I greatly suggest doing a sub-only viewing of the show. While I have only seen clips of the dub, only two characters are viable to make the show watching, while the rest have cringe-worthy performances, with even worse dialogue. The dub tries to use lots of 1950's lingo within the show because of the jazz within the show, but the fatal flaw within the dub, is that no one talks like that whatsoever in today's world. So watching a show that has dialogue stolen from eras ago, in what is supposed to be a serious drama is a superb buzzkill, and is almost a parody of the original source material. That being said, watching this subbed you will not be filled with complains, and the dub I am pretending does not exist so I am not counting it into my rankings whatsoever. In the end, Kids on the Slope is a powerful drama, filled with fun, laughter, tears, and overall enjoyment. Everything about this show is, in the end, satisfying. That should be the goal for every anime, and this one is almost the perfect model of how to create a satisfying series. While there are a couple characters or moments in storylines that are a bit bothersome, in the end the show succeeds in creating an engaging plot with characters you come to love. With fantastic production and a fresh new take on shows within the music genre, I cannot recommend this show enough. So go onto Crunchyroll and give this thing I shot, you will not be disappointed.

There are only two types of art : good art and bad art. I am no otaku, but here is my honest take on "Kids on the Slope." Overall Enjoyment - This is a beautiful, beautiful anime. The most tender years of one's life are often those in middle and/or high school. Friendships and relationships are so important and so difficult. The future looms ahead. Between school, hobbies, and social activities, it is easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. This anime takes a snapshot of all of these feelings and perfectly conveys them through music and a delicately told story that is simple yet emotionally complex. The one thing that I really dislike the lack of developed female characters. Apparently, females cannot be top of their class, play jazz, have interesting life stories, become doctors, or have as meaningful and deep relationships as males. While I may sound like "just another feminist," it really is disheartening to see yet another anime fail to show the complexity and beauty of humanity in its entirety. This warped view of the world distracted me so much that moments that were supposed to be deep or heartfelt fell very flat. I found myself incredulous that the main characters were really a trio of best friends when the girl in that trio had no backstory and no discernible personality. Besides that, this was a beautiful anime, and I can hardly blame this single anime for the systemic exclusion of women's perspectives. After all, there are animes with mostly men, and there are animes with mostly women. What I want people to know about this anime is that it captures the essence of adolescence perfectly. Watching, one experiences nostalgia, joy, and heartbreak just as everyone once did in their childhood. Overall it is an outstanding work of art.

Story The story was mainly told from observer pov, sometimes showing the thoughts of the characters. Complexity was somewhere in the middle. The story was flowing well. It was a fun story that not only focused on the main characters but also gave some so-called supporting characters focus on their story. I really liked that aspect. Also, beside the theme being jazz, political activism was another theme that was shown a bit, which I really liked also. So the story was serious and touching as well as funny. The ending was a bit weird or not particularly satisfying, though. Art I loved the art. The characters looked realistic and unique. The animation was very well done, also. Sound I liked both the calm opening and ending. I loved the music and the voices of the characters fit well. Sometimes there were scenes in which sound effects were added to imply something, which was funny and nice. Character The characters had depth and the supporting characters also! Even in the art (and story) it shows that they're not some generic characters to help the main characters develop or drive the story, as if the creator really loved their characters and wanted the best for all of them. I found them to be unique. Enjoyment I enjoyed this series so much I watched it in one go through the night. Overall I really enjoyed this series. It was like a good movie to me. I wish there was more story, though, because at the end there's a jump of several years and you don't really know how the characters live now.

I had this anime on my plan to watch list for quite some time now, so I decided to finally give a try. I started yesterday and if it wasn't for school I had probably finished it yesterday as well. The show is really enjoyable, at least to me. Story: 7 Good story about a boy who comes from a rich family that just transfered to this city. He meets a girl and another guy, they soon become friends and the guy and the MC play Jazz together. One on the drums and the other on the piano. Art: 8 The art looked amazing... Excelent animation as well. Sound: 7 I'm not in to Jazz music at all, but it didn't sound bad, it was actually surprisingly good. Character: 6 The characters are good. As the story continues you see more of each (important) character, as well as their background. I didn't like the attitude of MC, so that's why I gave that a 6. Enjoyment: 7 I enjoyed the show á lot! As said before: if it wasn't for school, I had probably finished it the same day.

It's very difficult for me to give this anime an accurate score given how much the initial nine episodes differ from the final three. The former were nothing short of masterful, infused with that lovely awareness that everything is transcient that I think Watanabe does so well. The music was beautiful (thanks again, Kano), and the characters were endearing. It felt real, and as a good friend of mine said, it felt like you're being presented with a piece of art. For those first nine I would probably give it a 9. However, the last three were disappointing, the final being the most disappointing with an out of place time-skip (8 years is pushing it for a 12 episode anime) and a visibly rushed conclusion. While it wasn't bad or even poor, I would say that it teetered on "fine" and the fact that the previous nine were so masterful made "fine" look like a whole lot of nothing. Score for the last three is probably a 5 or a 6. I wanted so much to say that this anime was as thouroughly outstanding as everyone seems to think it is, but while in part it has some moving, poignant scenes, the overall story is marred by its rushed conclusion. Still, I respect it and would recommend it to people who enjoy slice of life, coming of age, period/historical dramas, or anyone who likes Watanabe's other works. Overall score: 7

Sakamichi no Apollon, or better known as Kids on the Slope is a coming of age anime about three teenagers, each with their own saddening past and personal issues, who overcome the struggles of life through the playing of jazz music. It was written by Ayako Katoh in coalition with Yūko Kakihara (the manga creator). The anime was directed by the god among gods Shinichirō Watanabe known for Cowboy Bebop, among many others. Story: Kids on the Slope is not what many of us have come to think of when we watch an anime. There are no epic battle scenes, or large dangling "tracks of land"; there is only the pleasant serenity of life in post war Japan. Life for these three teenagers is much like the slope they walk up and down each day, while attending school. They all experience rough patches, and seemingly endless hills; but they manage to make it back down every day through the friendships they create. We can all relate to this story in one way or another; be it the death of a family member, or the rejection of a loved one. Yet life continues on, and our pain is soon forgotten in place of joy. I only found two complaints to make about the story. The first being the lack of detail sometimes found during the time skips. Often there are many months, if not years that go by with only a small monologue in between to catch the viewer up. In addition there were not enough jazz jam sessions/concerts, but I believe this was due to the 12 episode time constraint. Art: The art the style chosen is a perfect pick for this type of anime. The extreme detail given to the characters faces makes every little change in emotion noticeable. This is especially prevalent during the musical sessions. Seeing the characters eyes move up or down as they increase pitch or speed really brings the show to life. All of the characters have been drawn in a proportionate manner, almost mimicking an actual human face. As a tenor saxophone player myself it was great to see this inclusion. However, this is where our experience starts to get a little rough. The water color backgrounds can be utterly astounding at times, but the animation quality drops at random intervals. The still frames will be left close to blank, and the running animations can look very off. I'm not sure what this shows budget was, but seeing as that Watanabe headed it I'd be surprised if it was under the normal rate for a single cour program. Also what's up with a the opening sequence, it looks terrible? None of these problems are very serious I would just like to know why they happened in the first place. Sound: I'm just going to say one thing, Yoko Kanno. If you don't know what I mean by that the door is to your right. All jokes aside if a sound track is good enough for me to listen to without the animation behind it, it deserves a 10/10. From "husky" woman solos to the ever amazing Moanin' by Art Blakey, this soundtrack is just about as perfect as perfect gets. For the voice dubbing I choose to go with the English version, as I normally do, produced by Sentai Filmworks. I'd say the best word to describe the voice acting for this show would be "passionate". I could tell right off the bat that the voice actors had been matched to their respective characters perfectly; hats off to Sentai for their excellent screening process. Not only are the actors voices filled with emotion, they adjust their level and type of emotion from scene to scene in a manner that rivals traditional acting. It's a damn good piece of work. Characters: KOTS has three main protagonists, with a variety of supporting characters. Kaoru Nishimi is the well off "prodigal son" who at a young age was chosen to, by his aunt, become a wealthy doctor in order to carry on the family name. He plays the piano. Sentarō Kawabuchi is seen as a bully with a negative outlook on self worth. He plays the drums. Our final protagonist is a girl named Ritsuko Mukae. She has always been a sister figure to Sentarō, and his only true friend. These characters are as close to perfect as they come. They all develop in a natural way as the show progresses; weaving their personal stories into the overarching narrative. While not always positively, the three react to each other meaningful ways. They understand the problems of each other, and share a deep connection that can only be found in love and friendship. The only complaint I can muster, is the supporting character "Pops" didn't receive enough development. While showing potential, he is no more than a walking string bass. Personal Enjoyment/Overall: After having just finished watching "Durarara!!" (review coming...someday) it was relaxing to just sit back, and take in this life-like story. Other than the occasional fault this anime is a joy to watch from start to finish, and receives a "Must Watch" on my scale of recommendation. Masterpiece-Best Must Watch Watch Try The First Couple Episodes Skip It Run For Your Life-Worst As usual I recommend you buy a copy, and help support our local dubbing companies and the anime industry as a whole. However, just taking the time to watch it is of greater importance. As a final statement I recommend that you take my numerical scores with a grain of salt; as numerical scores are easily skewed and each person has their own understanding of the 1-10 scale.

As a current high-schooler in a jazz Band, when I saw clips from this show I was immediately intrigued. I saw a video of Charles Cornell analyzing some of the music scenes in it, and was amazed by the quality of the arranging and animation. I then learned that Yoko Kanno did the soundtrack for it. I feel like many people don't understand how amazing this animation is. It's the most accurate representation of all the instruments shown I've seen so far in all of anime. I especially love the festival scene when Kaoru plays "My Favorite things" and then "Moanin". The level of musicality between the players was demonstrated very well, and again, the animation for both instruments was spot-on. My main critique of the show is that with such an amazing show of music, they chose to cut all music scenes after around episode 5 and "develop" the budding romance. It would've been fine if it was done well, but none of the characters meshed well together, and it took so long for them to move it along that I quickly lost interest. The only reason I finished this show was because of the final music scene in the church. Also, with Yoko Kanno doing the soundtrack, you would expect the rest of the time when the characters aren't actively performing to still have jazz behind it, like Cowboy Bebop,l. But no, it was a mix of lofi sounds and pop. All in all, the only thing I see in this show is wasted potential, with amazing music scenes and great animation, choosing to focus on a bad romance was a shot in the foot. 6/10, I hope to find other music-based anime that do better than this.

I've never been so drawn into a show from the get-go before. Sakamichi no Apollon blends in mature themes with a very light coming of age story, and it's a damn masterpiece. Story: 10 The story of Sakamichi no Apollon does an amazing job fitting in a broad cast of side characters without losing any development of the main bunch. It's a witty and believable story that expresses many themes of maturity and friendship. One would think with such a large cast of characters, some would feel underdeveloped and with loose ends, but Sakamichi no Apollon hammers out these common mistakes. Art:10 The visuals are outstanding. Easily one of the best looking shows of the past decade. It still holds up by standards set this year. Sounds: 10 It's a music anime with the bonus of Jazz! The selection of music and covers from the in house band are outstanding. The way the music is worked in, and the power it brings is phenomenal. Character: 8 While the characters themselves are outstanding, there is some stuff that was left out of the anime, and it's not for the best. I heavily reccommend that anybody who enjoys this show go and read the manga, or at least the "bonus track" edition. Enjoyment: 10 There was never a dull spot in this entire show for me. I was hooked from the get-go, so I knew there was something special about it. Overall: 10 A masterpiece in all of it's glory. I would heavily recommend this to anybody, even those who don't enjoy jazz. The relationships and the characters are all written in a very believable way, and that just adds to the overall experience. 10/10

It can be a bit trope-y, but Kids On The Slope is a well animated and scored anime drama. STORY The story is nice, but at times it feels like it's trying too hard to be a drama. Certain key events don't feel entirely natural. The last couple episodes suffer from this issue in particular, where the cast makes a series of emotionally charged but not completely believable choices to keep the tension up. The ending is still nice, but a part of me is left wondering "there had to have been better ways for these people to go about this". ART & SOUND The highlight of this show has to be the music sessions, which display not only the incredible jazz soundtrack but also some stunning character animation. Body animation gets amazingly fluid and realistic, they must have rotoscoped the image over film of actual musicians. Jazz predominates the soundtrack, but classical music and 1960's Rock-And-Roll also make appearances, and this has to be the first time I've ever heard traditional Christian hymns in an anime. On the voice acting front, this show features some of the most impressive English I've ever heard in a Japanese dub- I've heard some MANGLED Engrish in subbed anime before, some of the English here could almost pass for natural. CHARACTERS I know this show was made earlier so it may not be a fair criticism, but I still couldn't help thinking "I've seen these characters in Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju". The skinny, socially proper, somewhat effeminate male lead, his big, manly, rowdy, goofball of a best friend, the beautiful older woman with sometimes dubious romantic judgement, they all fit rather neatly into archetypes I've seen before. Still, K.O.T.S. does a decent of making them an interesting cast to follow. OVERALL Kids On The Slope is a decent drama, and I'd definitely recommend it for those who love top quality music in their anime, but ultimately it's too formulaic to make the jump from 'good' to 'great'.

Sakamichi no Apollon/Kids on the Slope ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| It's been a long time since I found a satisfactory music based anime that wasn't about idols; seriously what is it with Japan and Idols? I could even call this anime on par with Beck one of my favorite anime of all time! Enjoyment-10/10 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| (Overview) Because of his father's job situation, freshman high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru learns the attractions of jazz and finds the first person he can call a "friend". He also discovers how much fun it is to play music with a pal. Other characters include Sentaro's kind childhood friend, Ritsuko, who is the daughter of a record shop owner; the mysterious upperclassman, Yurika; and Brother Jun, the much-admired leader among their peers. Set against the backdrop of a seaside town with a scent of American culture, this series is a drama about young people coming into their own, crossing each other's paths, and finding friendship, love, and music! ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| The soundtrack is not large but makes up for it with some great music, although I didn't really like their representation of sixties rock, although I'm yet to research how rock spread in Japan. Considering these factors the music and sound of Sakamichi no Apollon gets a 9. Music/Sound-9/10 (great) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| The story provides a good look into early jazz and a small glance at rock while all the while utilizing some whoop-ass main characters, while the cast is small the important characters make up for it with their development and backstories. Sakamichi no Apollon also has a balanced amount of romance and drama developing characters further. It also has an ending disliked by most but to me it wrapped up the whole 12 episode anime nicely, reminding me of the ending of The Shawshank Redemption, a great movie btw, although the manga--which i'm yet to read, went a few chapters further. These factors give the story and characters a 9. Story/Characters-9/10 (great) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| The art in Sakamichi no Apollon is a little strange for at least some people's faces, although most are fine and the environments are beautiful. The Animation as well, is just above average, not outstanding. These factors give the art and animation a 8. Art/Animation-8/10 (very good) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| To conclude, the overall score for Sakamichi no Apollon or Kids on the Slope, adding all previously scored categories together, dividing them by the number of categories for our average is a well deserved 9! Overall-9/10 (great) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

kids on the slope (sakamichi no apollon) is heavily based on the music and soundtrack of the anime, as expected being directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. it really doesn't disappoint, the music is absolutely perfect and easily the best part of the show, diving deep into the classic jazz of the 1960's, if you love jazz this show is perfect for you, or if you are like me and just love music its well worth a watch. the artwork in the show is not your standard anime style (again, typical of Shinichirō Watanabe.) but the standard of the animation at points is absolutely immaculate, for instance any scene showing Sentaro Kawabuchi performing improv on his drum kit; its honestly some of the most fluid animation i have ever seen. the story is fairly light to start but will hook you within the first few episodes, it becomes more and more emotional as the show progresses and i would advise some tissues for your tears in the last couple episodes. overall kids on the slope is very very charming and is perfect for the music lover or fans of Shinichirō Watanabe's work. it is one of my personal favourites and i would recommend it again and again

OMG!! Words cannot express how much I love this show! When I first picked it up I figured it looked okay, but the more I watched, the more I could not put it down. I have cried, laughed, and been through an emotional roller coaster. This story is a masterpiece that truly expresses how life is. The characters are so realistic that I felt I knew them personally and the story was just magnificent. There is none of the boring copy and paste stereotype characters that are seen in so much anime today. This is really a gem; one of the best anime I've ever seen due to its unique storyline and my love for the characters and the awesome music.

in all intensive purposes, this would normally be a fairly good anime. To myself personally though I thought this anime was about as average as episodes 1-10. Really the only thing that mangaged to catch my attention was the last two episodes of this anime(being episode 11 and 12), other than that I suppose the Jazz element was a bit of a stand alone factor for this series. All in all, it's not an Anime I'd recommend but it's worth the watch I suppose.

I loved this anime. I can say whole-heartedly that this is my favorite anime. The characters were great, the music was the best and the overall story was awesome! I'm not really a fan of stories that take place in the past, but this is a great exception! My heart followed the ups and downs of the show and the ending almost tore my heart out at first, but overall the whole show was outstanding!

The persons involved in the English dub of this precious anime should be lined up against a wall and shot. It is a crime against humanity. Avoid it at all cost. This anime can only be appreciated in the original Japanese. Sakamichi no Apollon is a love story between two orphaned young men. Raised by relatives, no contact with their mothers or their absentee fathers, they become antisocial rebels, until they are brought together by music. Specifically, mid-twentieth century American jazz. Originally a josei manga published by a young women's magazine, our female lead Ritsuko serves as the love interest for young Nishimi. But in truth, she represents the young women readers, supporting our male protagonists, cheering them on as they channel their passions into music and a friendship that will be "lifelong". The boys are too innocent for their love to manifest sexually. But this is no ordinary friendship. Ritsuko ultimately loves the relationship between Nishimi and Kawabuchi more than she loves Nishimi Kaoru. Her most precious photo is a picture of the two boys embracing. Volumes have been written about the homoeroticism of the story, but it is really so innocent and wholesome that it is a waste of time to ponder such things. The devout Christianity of Mukae Ritsuko and Kawabuchi Sentarou sets the tone for our story. This tale is one of pure Platonic love, even if we are shipping Risuko and Kaoru like crazy. For lovers of romance, slice of life, and old school jazz, this is an almost-perfect anime. It's only flaw is its brevity. It really deserved two seasons.

Sakmichi No Apollon is your standard slice of life anime. The main character is a new student in his school and falls in love with this one girl, and tries to impress her. On his way, he feels sick and needs to get to the rooftop to freshen up a little, but discovers that the rooftop is locked up and owned by some bullies inside the school. Then he meets Sentaro, a tough guy who gets into fights a lot, but loves playing drums. More specifically, jazz music. Then the story pretty much becomes a love triangle fiesta, which honestly I really did not enjoy or like how they did it. However, one thing that stands out in this anime is the amazing soundtrack and music that the characters produce. Bon, coming from a classical background, suddently discovers the amazing world of jazz, and starts coming to Rii-chan's shop to do some sessions with her dad and Sentaro. Jazz has always had a soft place in my heart, since I have been listening to jazz since I was a kid. The anime itself also referenced a lot of Jazz's biggest musicians and artists. Chet Baker, Bill Evans, John Coltrane... the list goes on. Every time I saw one of those names, I nerded out to be honest. You should definetly give this anime a shot. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys jazz, or wants to hear some fantastic soundtracks.

It was one hell of a damned anime, with a great storyline and attention grabbing. The anime is a masterpiece created by Watanabe. If you still haven't watched this, then you're most definitely missing out - so go look at the series now! I was extremely disappointed by the fact that the anime and the series as a whole discontinued, however with the current 12 episode/1 series anime, I am satisfied that the ending came out smoothly and the storyline was extremely well flowing. The series included a set of accurate and well made animation alongside the music which was extremely well fitting with the story flow. There was not a single bit from the anime which lost my attention, which is an extremely rare case. Absolute 10/10 masterpiece. This anime will definitely stay on the number 1 place in my opinion.

Since watching school rumble i found out that their are a lot of old anime that are masterpieces but no one knows about them; so i started watching these kinds of anime and i stumbled upon this JEM, i never thought an anime can be this good, their wasn't even a single dull moment in this anime whole story in 12 episodes and what a happy ending... Seriously i highly recommend it. I also recommend School Rumble, it have some fillers and bad episodes but overall it is also a very good anime. This always happen to me ... i decide to stop watching anime because of the huge amount of time i have been giving to it , but then i stumble upon an anime like this that pulls me right back in; Once you watch your first anime its all over from then on, you become obsessed with them, its like a drug

This show was the most overhyped title of the first half of 2012 and the fandom was going crazy about it months before it began to air. The reasons were rather easy to pinpoint. 1) It had the director of Cowboy Bebop, Watanabe Shinichiro. And because Cowboy Bebop is awesome, this show must be awesome too. 2) The show would also be about a Jazz band. Jazz is considered to be the classiest type of music ever made. 3) The main genre may be the simplistic slice of life, but since Nodame Cantabile was a great slice of life around music, this one must be awesome too. 4) The setting of the series takes places in the 60’s. It is an era no other known modern anime dealt with, and thus it will be very original and interesting. 5) It would be part of the NoitaminA timeslot, which for most translates to amazing production values and quality storytelling. 6) 2012 is a shitty year for anime and the fandom is grabbing at straws. So sure, one could easily expect it to be the anime of the year with all those reasons above. I on the other hand didn’t have high expectations for some very simple counter-reasons. 1) Cowboy Bebop was an awesome space western full of action, suspense, interesting sci-fi stories, and tributes to various retro movies. Unless this anime would head for that direction, there is no way to expect the director to pull out something equally entertaining. And all the info pointed out this would be a very down to earth show; so why would I expect it to be awesome? 2) I don’t like Jazz; I am a fan of rock and metal. And it’s not about the size but the way you use it. 3) Nodame Cantabile was great because it was set in university and dealt with the adult lives of grown up people. This anime would deal with the naive lives of immature high school kids; something commonplace to hundreds of shows and thus hardly mature or special. 4) So what if it takes place in the 60’s? What special did that era have next to the 80’s or even today? They didn’t have internet, or cell phones, or colour television, and that is pretty much all of it. People didn’t live or behaved that differently than they do today, aside from using a slightly different vocabulary and women being nothing but housewives. Ok, there were also hippies back in the 60’s. Lots of stoned flower people dancing and preaching about the happiness of life. Too bad this show is not about them; it would be awesome if it were. 5) NoitanimA stopped being a guaranteed source of quality anime years ago. It has produced some of the most terribly executed shows of all times; although this is restricted to those including sci-fi and not slice of life. So it might not have been much of a minus in this show, yet I stopped believing in them offering something great all the time. 6) Ok, we were desperate for good shows but I would never place my hopes on a slice of life anime. I find them boring. So after the show finally aired, what were most of the viewers saying? Nice production values, nice atmosphere, nice high school feeling. But nothing more. As I foresaw it was just your average romantic school comedy with the usual stereotypes, and predictably simple lives of normal kids living the peak of their youth. Motivational and inspirational? Yes. Special in any way? No. And the biggest disappointment was the Jazz part everybody was so thrilled about. There is barely much music in this; it is used only as a subtle excuse for the main heroes to form a band and interact with each other for a common goal. And sure, there is romance too but damn is it simple and linear. It is not even a love polygon since all you get is A loves B who loves C who loves D who loves E. That’s it; nothing to spice things up like two guys after the same girl. Or a threesome. Or gays, traps, cat girls, stoned hippies, WHATEVER. And their personalities are your standard fare of simplistic caricatures. I can hardly say anything to describe them other than the insecure boy, the cheery girl, the motivational sailor, and so on. In all, it makes a fine time killer if you are into school romance with some Jazz for BGM but it is hardly something we haven’t seen before or worth to talk about in a few years from now. And now for some excused scorings. ART SECTION: 7/10 General Artwork 2/2 (good looking) Character Figures 1/2 (generic) Backgrounds 1/2 (basic) Animation 2/2 (smooth) Visual Effects 1/2 (basic) SOUND SECTION: 7/10 Voice Acting 2/3 (corny but fitting with the feeling of the series) Music Themes 3/4 (not great but fitting with the feeling of the series) Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess) STORY SECTION: 4/10 Premise 1/2 (typical) Pacing 1/2 (typical) Complexity 1/2 (not much) Plausibility 0/2 (none) Conclusion 1/2 (cheesy) CHARACTER SECTION: 6/10 Presence 1/2 (generic) Personality 2/2 (rather cheesy but well founded) Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there) Development 1/2 (overblown but it’s there) Catharsis 1/2 (overblown but it’s there) VALUE SECTION: 3/10 Historical Value 0/3 (none) Rewatchability 1/3 (low because of too little plot) Memorability 2/4 (aside from a few aesthetic touches it is a generic show) ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10 Art 1/1 (looks nice) Sound 0/2 (sounds typical) Story 0/3 (generic as heck) Characters 0/4 (generic as heck) VERDICT: 4.5/10

This review contains minor spoilers. If I had to describe this show in a few words, I would say this is the best friendship in anime history. I didnt got this hooked for an anime in a lot of time. The first 2 episodes seem to be the typical rom-com series start, but after that the story turns out to be different and unpredictable, and you finally realize you are not watching a rom-com but an unique story, where the friendship is the main theme. So since the very beginning I was amazed for the beautiful art: different character desings, detailed backgrounds drawings and finally I get to see an anime where they dont remove the part of the glasses that covers the character's eye (which I personally find annoying). Character's movement was smooth, specially when they were playing music and I didnt even spot bad cgi animation. The music is the best tool this anime has to make people fall in love with it and it isnt weird if you start to listen to jazz after you finish this show. The way the characters talk to each other through the instruments is so good and captivating. Yoko Kanno is god herself, since not only the original soundtrack was good, but also the songs she adapted. Im pretty sure this anime has one of the best OST ever made, besides FLCL's J-rock, Naruto and Shippuden's rock mixed with japanese folk music and other Yoko Kanno's works. I enjoyed a lot the scenes where Kaoru and Sen were playing music and the main reason for this was that they werent even talking but just playing music. I love Shigatsu wa kimi na uso, but one of the biggest issues I have with this show is that they dont shut the fuck up when they are playing. Like cmon dude, let me hear that precious music you are playing, you can tell me later how much you admire Kousei. Finally a show with mature teenagers. However, I wont lie to you, the main cast is cliche. Your typical shy, introverted and sad background story guy who has a crush on the typical good girl of japanese shows. At least their interactions dont make you cringe like other shows' relationships do. I have to admit that the way Sentarou influenced Kaoru's character was great. In a little amount of time, Kaoru was confident enough to confess his feelings to his crush, and he easily became the main pillar who hold Sentarou. But the best part of this common cast is that the non-common characters shine even brighter. Thats when Sentarou comes in. Sentarou seems to be the bad and handsome guy every school show has, but as the anime goes on, you realize he is something special as he turns out to be a shy, religious, responsible and very kind guy. Is that the reason why his character is that good? No, it isnt (at least by itself). Later on, you see his backstory, and then you realize how good this character is. An unwanted kid who is bullied and hated even by his family to the point his dad left home. After that "childhood", he had to be the father figure for his siblings while he studied and worked to bring some money home. If that wasnt enough, he is a real character, as you can see in the 2 last arcs. Best written character of the show by far. In adittion, supporting cast also get some development and protagonism. This anime has a lot of good things, but it also has bad ones. The end of the story felt a little bit rushed, characters' movement could have been more constant, some of the side characters needed more time to develop etc. Even if you enjoy the arc when Kaoru goes to visit his mother, it loses its charm when they dont explain why his mother left home or why did she act like that when they met. Anyway, this is a great show and I highly recommend it if you are bored of childish stories.