Hello guys! Thanks for sticking through my blog even though I haven't posted lots of stuff lately. But anyways, at least I'm back! Today we will be discussing or rather, I will tell you of a beautiful anime that I just managed to finish last weekend: Sakamichi no Apollon.

Basic Info:

Anime Name: Sakamichi no Apollon ("Kids on the Slope" as it's English title)

Number of Episodes: 12

Genres: Drama, Josei, Romance, Music, School.

Duration of Each Ep: Approximately 22 minutes per episode.

Synopsis:

 "Introverted classical pianist and top student Kaoru Nishimi has just arrived in Kyushu for his first year of high school. Having constantly moved from place to place since his childhood, he abandons all hope of fitting in, preparing himself for another lonely, meaningless year. That is, until he encounters the notorious delinquent Sentarou Kawabuchi.

Sentarou's immeasurable love for jazz music inspires Kaoru to learn more about the genre, and as a result, he slowly starts to break out of his shell, making his very first friend. Kaoru begins playing the piano at after-school jazz sessions, located in the basement of fellow student Ritsuko Mukae's family-owned record shop. As he discovers the immense joy of using his musical talents to bring enjoyment to himself and others, Kaoru's summer might just crescendo into one that he will remember forever."

Background:

I saw Kids on the Slope as one of the featured anime shows on this website where I watch anime a few months ago and I ended up bookmarking this because of the wonderful picture it accompanied it (picture is above) grabbed my eye's attention. I forgot about it after that day but this anime was brought back when my big brother shared a picture on 9GAG of someone's top anime recommendation list and as we were scrolling and looking at it together, this picture was there. The feeling of familiarity towards this anime made me search for it that night and alas! It came back to view in my bookmark list. I then proceeded to tell myself that I'd watch this sooner or later.

The title, "Kids on the Slope", is derived from the street, in the form of a slope, that the "kids" (a.k.a the main characters) always pass by everyday going to school. 

Thoughts/Opinions:

Sakamichi no Apollon or Kids on the Slope, is a Spring 2012 anime aired from July to September that year. 

It's a coming of age story that deals with friendship, love & relationships  It centers around a group of people who love a certain type of music: jazz. Though it's considered a music anime, I must say that the music factor isn't the main revolving point that the show goes. Yes, the jazz is important, but the direction of the show is only influenced by music, the real theme this anime revolves around to is friendship.

One of the main things that got me hooked was it's animation. The animation was so spot-on! It was so fluid that I can really tell that it was done well and was carefully put in with the most important little details! Oh did I mention that the one who directed this series was Shinichiro Watanabe who directed the hugely acclaimed classics, Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo?

The opening song also was beautifully done! It sounded so inviting and it made me want to listen to it throughout the whole series. The ending theme was also excellently chosen! It was a really soulful song that made me feel "closure" as the episode was about to end. The chorus was so powerful that it gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it. The jazz element of the show gave it an additional spice to enhance the mood of the episode. The first episode was put together pretty good that it gave me a really good impression to continue on! With it, I was able to not follow it's date on my weekly schedule (which was Friday) and ended up watching the other episodes within 2 consecutive days!

One of the downsides I can see in this show is that some parts of the story tend to be a little bit fast paced. I won't spoil what it is, but it is an arc featuring a supporting character. I feel that it could have given out alot more in terms of the emotions it needs to let others feel and it could have done that if  the show had an additional episode or two.

Sakamichi no Apollon is another one of those precious gems that needs to be given a chance to be watched by any avid anime enthusiast. It truly is something special that I can't put into words. If only it could have had a few more episodes to fully satisfy my need for feels, but I guess that's just how seasonal anime goes - they usually have 12 episodes per season.

Anyways, I hope you liked this post! I really recommend that you should give this anime a try. It's a really heartwarming show.

Out of 10, I'm going to give this show a rating of:

9/10

That's it for now see you on my next blog post!

Authors Note:

1. I'm really sorry if I haven't been posting a lot lately. I'm just so busy with my cosplay project

2. Other upcoming posts you should all stay tuned for this month are my reviews on Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Spirited Away, the part 2 of my summer 2016 anime impressions and lastly, my updates on my first cosplay project!