Kids on the Slope - Complete Collection

A story of friendship and jazz
The year is 1966. Kaoru Nishimi has recently moved to Kyuushu to live with relatives. He has spent most of his life transferring schools, so he knows there is little to look forward to at this new one. The fact that he must climb a long sloping hill to school every morning is just rubbing salt on the wound. But when he meets Sentaro Kawabuchi, Kaoru learns about the magic of jazz and the joy of real friendships. With Sentaro and Ritsuko by his side, the hill to school becomes easier to climb.

I think the greatest thing about this show was the characters. They seemed like real people; ones you could emphasize with, feel sympathy for, and cheer at their efforts. The characters in this show were probably some of the most human characters I've seen in anime. Both Kaoru and Sentaro grow and change over the course of the series through their friendship with each other. Ritsuko is probably the least developed character, but she grew on me.

Part of what made the...

Music to My Ears
Every once in a while, a series comes along that shakes you up, along with everything else around you. This series pretty much ruins anything you could potentially enjoy over the next year or so, because you'll always be comparing whatever you watch to it. These series include classics like "Evangelion" and "Cowboy Bebop", along with contemporary gems such as "Welcome to the NHK" and "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." Joining that pantheon of classic titles is "Kids on the Slope", which anybody who enjoys living and breathing is sure to love, regardless of whether they like anime or not.

Set in 1966, the series follows Kaoru, an introverted and bookish high school boy who is secretly skilled at the piano. However, his relatives seems to frown upon it, and thus, he focuses solely on studying. That all changes, though, when he meets Sentaro, a hotheaded boy with a bad reputation due to his somewhat violent disposition. But after being defended from bullies, Kaoru begins to...

Kids on the Slope" is not just highly recommended, it's on my list as one of the top anime series for 2013 on Blu-ray!
In 2007, mangaka Yuki Kodama would create a manga series titled "Sakamichi no Apollon" which was serialized in "Flowers" Magazine.

The manga series would attract the attention of director Shinichiro Watanabe ("Cowboy Bebop", "Samurai Champloo", "Baby Blue"). Knowing that the series would feature a lot of music (especially with jazz), who best than go to a person that is well known for creating music for anime series, Yoko Kanno ("Cowboy Bebop", "Aquarion", "Macross Frontier", "Macross Plus", "Escaflowne", "Darker than Black", etc.). And in 2012, the 12-episode anime series was featured on Fuji TV's "noitaminA" anime block.

"Sakamichi no Apollon" would feature a storyline written by Ayako Katoh ("Chihayafuru", "Stitch!: Itazura Alien no Daiboken") and Yuuko Kakihara ("Heaven's Lost Property", "Stitch!", "Chihayafuru"), character design by Nobuteru Yuki ("Battle Angel", "Battle Royale High School", "The five Star Stories", "Heat Guy J", "Space Battleship Yamato...

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