[aliensporebomb]

For some reason this reminded me of season 2 of "Honey and Clover" and Season 2 of "Nodame Cantabile". Lots of content in half the time and this one left me less emotionally satisfied than either of those two series mainly because the ending is ambiguously stated.

Lots of good potential. Lots of interesting characters.

Some frustrations:

Spoiler:

We all know that people usually don't end up marrying their first love but Ritsuko was so indecisive and plagued with pauses at awkward moments you couldn't figure out who she really liked. Was it Sen? Was it really Kaoru? Any time Kaoru would get any backbone and try to put a move on her she'd freeze up like an ice cube. It was even implied it was Junichi at one point.

That side story with Jun-nii was interesting but ultimately took time away from some of the main story in a 12 episode series.

The music and friendship aspect was great, that eight year leap into the future at the end was mildly frustratiing. Right down to what each of them were doing and the deus ex machina of reintroducing a major character seemed too serendipitous to believe. A doctor? A priest? Did they pull these professions out of a hat to show you how wonderfully random life is?

And to the director - I've got news for you: every gifted musician I've ever known has NEVER stopped playing even when holding down a professional career - they find some time to practice or play because you CAN'T really stop when you're that into it. If I could play B3 organ like that after eight years of not playing I'd be able to hold my own on any stage in the world. Heh heh.

ASB rating? C+

Mainly because it could have been so much better than it was. The raw ingredients were there for an altogether better show. Maybe I should read the manga even if it is frustrating.