(L) Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope)

[Sageblink]

Finally, a great episode !

I wasn't enjoying myself for some times with the show but ep.11 is top notch !
The songs and musics (especially the one at the hospital) are gorgeous !

[Julio C]

So I just started watching this show today. After watching the first 3 episodes, I'm shock on how well it's turning out. Now why didn't I watch this sooner, damm. How many episodes are there left after the current one?

[hikarihikari]

Originally Posted by Julio C

So I just started watching this show today. After watching the first 3 episodes, I'm shock on how well it's turning out. Now why didn't I watch this sooner, damm. How many episodes are there left after the current one?

8


complain...I'd say this ep like a damn korean show.

[LKK]

What's the OST track name for the duet played during the school festival? (The My Favorite Things / Someday My Prince Will Come / Moanin' medley.)

Edit: Nevermind. I found the information I was looking for.

[gianna]

What do you think is the chance of the bonus tenth volume getting animated? Interest enough or most likely not?

Can't wait to see the "end" Thursday!
Even if it weren't for the extra chapters now I doubt I'd forget this series any time soon
I find myself reminded of them when any of the featured tracks play on the radio

[gianna]

Kodama Yuki herself drew for this final episode
Four images are included but they are safe to view if one has watched the preview

ttp://natalie.mu/comic/gallery/show/news_id/71958/image_id/133452

(also mention of second OST on July twenty fifth and a live music event - Yokohama - Motion Blue - August twenty seventh with Takashi Matsunaga (Sen's drums) and Shun Ishikawa (Kaoru's piano)

Just about another hour to ago man

[Pocari_Sweat]

On the romance/drama front, compared to Watanabe's work on Baby Blue (Episode 7 of Genius Party), this is kinda meh. That's Watanabe doing "Shinkai style" and pretty much matching it in 15 or so minutes. But in comparison to the majority of the romance/dramas out there, it kicks ass. Fortunately, music was a big part of this series (which was awesome) so it wasn't all a rollercoaster. The bromance between Kaoru and Sentaro was also excellent.

Overall a solid watch, but honestly I thought the 12 ep limit somewhat killed it. It felt way too brisk, though it's not Watanabe's fault at all given he had to adapt what 11 volumes? Put in pretty much any other director and there is a very high chance it would have trainwrecked.

Would give it 8/10 ranking it behind Fate Zero S2 as my favorite for the season.

[Flawfinder]

There's another OST? Sign me up!

[KyriaL]

An overall fine series, which is perhaps my personal favourite of the season. I personally felt that they did a quite a decent job balancing between music and romance in this show, which many other series would have favored one over the other.

However, it still felt as if More could be done, I think that if its possible, perhaps 15 or 16 episodes for this show would do it more justice, not that it in itself isn't already good enough.

[ookamigirl]

Nishimi was slipping back into his old lonely life without Sentaro.
Without him things are kinda more relaxed in school and with Ritsuko.
Kaoru's feelings were obviously deeply hurt by Sentaro.
High school ended and sad goodbye's followed.
Life continued for all of them and carrier choices they made were pretty cool ^^
The reunion sure was full of nostalgia and really nice.
Great final episode!

[gianna]

I'm curious to see what non manga readers thought of this final ep pace wise and their impression of where certain characters stand with each other

Bit thrown off with this ep and I can't really tell what I though of it

I also wonder if Kodama told them to write in that one certain future development

[Kaioshin Sama]

Well that was great. Completely honest, moving and engrossing from start to finish. In some ways I can't help but feel that the pacing of the show at 12 episodes actually has an advantage since it serves to show just how fleeting that time growing up as Kids on The Slope was. Yeah they eventually return 8 years later but it's as adults. I love it when finales use their second half to show what happened to the cast after the main story arc is completed and pretty much every major character gets some form of closure in one way or another. Also nice touch working in that fat kid from the class as the conductor sending off the train as Kaoru heads back home.

Overall what made this show work in only 12 episodes besides the fantastic direction and impeccable use of time by Watanabe (I'm seriously in awe of what he accomplished and frankly it shames the many writers and directors these days that can barely make your average show work in 26 episodes the way they waste time) was the great chemistry between the cast. None of these archetypes are exactly new, we had the rich overachiever that struggles to socialize and convey his feelings, the rabblerouser outcast with a heart of gold and the sweet and sincere female companion/love interest, but the way they play off each other and share experiences and the way that it's all tied together through the theme of mutual love for Jazz is quite unique.

Going to miss this show and this season and it's variety of great shows of all different types and genres, because like the Kids on the Slope the time spent with it was fleeting if memorable. Heck I think just by finishing up the shows I watched this season my median rating on my completed list on MAL went up a full .1, and that's over 15 years of watching anime of copyright dates spanning as far back as the early 70's. For one season to have that much of an influence says a lot, and this show played a big part in it.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Also nice touch working in that fat kid from the class as the conductor sending off the train as Kaoru heads back home.

I thought that was him! But I wasn't sure. Good to hear I wasn't too far off the mark then.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Grifis

Poor Sen-boy shall be alone.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I think that has been Sen's fate for the last couple of episodes now. Maybe he'll study for the priesthood?

Wow, even I am surprised. My predictions in series don't generally come true.

I wonder if Kaoru likes being called "sensei;" I know I do.

[kuromitsu]

Weeell, I suppose this was one way to fit the entirety of the last volume into less than one episode... they didn't even try. ^^;; Well, they got the ultimate point across (Kaoru reuniting with Sen and Rikko), I just kind of missed Kaoru's personal journey.

Also, I don't think I've ever seen something like this - they do a perfect ending sequence to the OP song, and then they insert the regular ending credits (with some changes). Why? o__O) Guys, you just wasted 1,5 minutes of precious time!

[Kismet-chan]

Just thought that some may find it interesting to know (if you didn't already) that the opening of Aoi Teshima's cover of Lullaby of Birdland may be based on Dee Dee Bridgewater's version of the song. I was bored so I was listening to every popular cover of Lullaby of Birdland that I could find, and this is the only one I've heard so far that began in a similar fashion to Teshima's version (the first 30 secs, specifically).

[butahill]

I loved everything about last episode! They flashed out secondary characters as well as major characters. I usually dislike open endings but this was perfect ending for this series everything made sense and the last scene was so touching when everyone gathered at the slope. Finally anime where friendship was more important than romance.
Overall I do think it's a must see anime, instant classic :smitten

It's true that anime didn't show why sen run away or what Ritsuko has been up to but we can all guess, after all, whole 12 episodes we have been watching their growth and their character development so judging by all of the previous episodes we can guess what will happen. Amazing show!

[Dop]

Loved the jam session in church, and I have to admit I had a tear in my eye at the ending.

[Flawfinder]

Bad idea to read the manga, because I was comparing the last episode to it a lot. I will say this though. Watanabe managed to remove and change most of the last volume (which was mainly dealing with Kaoru's depression in college) so that the episode could flow more naturally. And I loved how no words were needed in the reunion, but instead, the jazz did the talking. Congratulations Watanabe, you did it again.

While this didn't beat Daily Lives of High School Boys for my favorite anime of 2012, I loved this anime a lot (except for Episode 11 and possibly Episode 6), I thought the drama was mostly good, the jazz was great (when it was there), and the directing is just brilliant. Props to you Watanabe. I saw you do a slice-of-life series like I wanted you to. Now go back to doing your own creative ideas. Or make a slice of life of your own creation. That'll be fun.

[bbee]

What can I say? The last episode was much in the vein of the previous 2.. It just didn't do nearly as much for me as the preceding ones.
It's tempting to chalk it up to adaptation decay, and the fact that the source material needed to be condensed so heavily. But I'm a firm believer that a work needs to stand on its own merits. And somehow, ever since the timeskip after the confession in ep 10, it feels like this show has failed to do just that.

There's been a lot of discussion in this topic about whether the main theme of this show was the romance or the friendship. Regardless of how you feel about that, it's plain that the romance part just shriveled and died after aforementioned confession. This is simply bad storytelling, and there's no excuse for it. Worse: nothing but more bad storytelling follows. The show goes off on way too many tangents without actually focusing on any of them or pursuing any of them in any depth.
The return of the father: why did Sen want to leave so badly? How is it that they seemed to resolve this without words? What did the father do to Sen in the past? The buildup to the festival which never happened.. The accident. Why feature it at all? It was so out of the blue, it just felt like a cheap excuse to generate drama and a deus ex machina reason for Sen to leave. Why did he leave, exactly? What does he mean by "I always end up hurting the ones I mean to protect"?

How the hell is it that the loss of Sen does not drive Kaoru and Ritsuko closer together, but only ends up driving them apart? If you lose a friend, you value the remaining ones MORE, not less. This goes beyond bad storytelling and into horrible storytelling territory since it ignores the lessons the characters learned in the past. (Kaoru's re-discovery of his love for Ritsuko, and Ritskuo's decision to not just let things pass.) How in god's name could he be so hurtful to her? This can't possibly be the same person.

I have to admit, though; I belong to the 'romance first' camp, so this show lost an immense amount of appeal for me. It's hard for me to tell if this is clouding my judgement about the ending. Perhaps it's because I personally value romance vastly more than friendship..
It just feels like before the confession in ep10, I was able to understand every subtlety, see the meaning behind every stray glance (the mark of a great anime), and afterwards, none of it made any sense anymore.
I'm not even going to waste any words on the cliched and contentless epilogue that manages to waste half an episode without even making an attempt to address any of these issues.

What a terrible waste.. At ep9, this show was 3 eps away from becoming my favorite anime of all time. Now, it's not even close. I'll have to remember to bring the manga with me on holiday to see if it will meet the same fate. Sigh..