Sakamichi no Apollon

Sakamichi No Apollon (also known as Kids On The Slope) is a josei manga which can get some catchy jazz song in your head, and manage to keep it there all day. At first, you'd catch yourself tapping your fingers or toes to some melody, and after some time, you just can't stop. The musical style of jazz is off-beat, nonrhythmic, and often improvises the melodies. It's very different, but often in a good way. That definition also best describes Sakamichi No Apollon. As the winner of the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for General Manga, I don't think you could really expect anything sub-par. Kaoru, a stotic,young, freshman in highschool during the 60's, began living at his aunt's house as a result of his father's excessive moving. He has no means of making friends or memories, since he has always been transferred out of the class before any true friendship could blossom. And yet, the two people he meets on the first day of school, Ritsuko and Sentarou, eventually manage to change his way of thinking, and his way of life. The characters and the development in this series is excellent. The world of jazz manages to pull the unexpected three together into a friendship for life. And get this –it isn't sappy. The feelings, the conflicts, the misunderstandings, and the (very) young love is realistic and sensible. Their relationships were the best part about it; a whirlwind of fast-paced feelings that are similar to the nature of jazz. Many of the characters are based off of high school tropes (ie: the quiet boy with glasses), but there are little flaws and characteristics built into each one in order to make them unique. This story is mainly character-driven, and as you could probably tell from my total rating, they are done extremely well. Though Sakamichi No Apollon is a slice-of-life that focuses it's plot on the different, social situations, it never falls into generic high-school tropes. And despite the fact that the slice-of-life genre can be the longest, and cover the most in a character's life, this manga downplays it quite a bit. Sakamichi No Apollon is focused on the experience and little changes in Kaoru's life. And it only takes 9 volumes to do so. He's a piano player who changes his style from strictly classical to jazzy 'swing'. He falls in love; something he probably thought he could never do. He changes from an outcast to a pretty social guy. Sakamichi No Apollon chronicles the little things in life. One may say that there isn't a true plot to this manga, but I beg to differ. This manga covers Kaoru's life during the early years in high school. I mean, it's high school in the 60's, for crying out loud; it's the time of his life! I don't really have much to say about the pacing or the narration, other than the fact it's superb. The ending was a bit rushed, but the concept of it was still meaningful. The atmosphere and the setting too: I don't think I could give a accurate description of it, except that when everything is over and done, you'll be left with a soft, fuzzy image of two boys running down a hill, living for every moment in their youthful lives. Sakamichi No Apollon (aka. Kids On The Slope) was magnificent. The effort, the creativity, and the teens who are ever-so naive – all of it is packed within a story which parallels the world of jazz. It's a fairly simple story, but then there are the characters, who, being teenagers, are always so complex. And it's something surprising for a josei; it doesn't primarily focus on romance. So because it allows the reader to slip into the lives of the characters during the 60's with realistic ease, it deserves a 9.0 / 10.0. (To add a side note, I'm sure we've all read a manga before with music involved. They usually tell you the lyrics and the title, and that's as far as the musical impact goes, right? Sakamichi No Apollon really, really lets the reader get involved with jazz. Even now, the melodies of My Favourite Things, Someday My Prince Will Come, and, of course, Moanin', are memorized. So definitely read this, and you'll get to experience 60's jazz.) ★★★★★★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED.

I came across this manga while I was looking for josei manga and decided to read it because it won an award. I thought it could be boring but that wasn't the case! The story takes place in a small town with a warm, cozy atmosphere (around 1960s I think) and you really feel you're there! The characters are very realistic. There's one girl and two guys but the story is not cliché. The girl is a timid, sweet small town girl who's still friends with her childhood friend, the "delinquent" Sen. Then the city boy/ good student comes into the picture and music pulls themall together. The main guy is not this amazing, cool type but he has his goods and bads, he's human. And Sen is an amazing character, you would have to read. From the way the characters meet to the way the mangaka turns romance between characters upside down throughout the manga, I think the right word for this manga for me is "believable". There's no crazy romance with lots of drama but your regular romance you would stumble upon everyday, equally mixed with music and a strong friendship between the two main guys which is rare to find in common literature. I just loved this, made me feel warm stuff :)

Again, I am not writing a review just because and I rarely write reviews for things I've completed. I randomly found this tile (Kids on the Slope) while browsing Tumblr, so I checked its wikipage out. I was interested, so I started reading it at the early hours of today. Maybe 1 am. Anyway, I was instantly drawn in by the main character and I was wanting more from him, as well as his new life with his new friends. What made the story better for me was the fact that he gained such good and new friends easily and he slowly began to comeout of his shell once he became friends with Ricchan and Sen. Additionally, a bonus would be that almost any character he came into contact with, they had a story of their own, which is brought to light and resolved in a way. I knew it was a feel good story when I started reading it, and now that I'm finished, I can say it really is. It really is a story about friendship and how friendship is forever (or for life, as stated in the manga). The simple art style gave life to the characters and the characters came to life on their own. Literally, it gets a 10/10. The end legitimately made me cry and I understood why they were the Kids on the Slope. I love feel good stories and this is a good read.

I don't have the slightest idea why i kept overlooking this manga before. Probably it was because of the cover.... it had this aura of seriousness around it and i wasn't really in the mood for all that. WELL, my fellow people-with-the-same-thinking Do not be tricked by it. Because little did i know that this manga i picked up just out of curiosity, would be a masterpiece. Guys, you don't know what's going on behind the scenes of this sane looking review. Im actually pacing about with excitement, because that's how much this story has got to me. Well, the friendship-forever tag has been the underliner ina ton of manga and anime, but the way sekamichi no apollon brought it out is amazing. It genuinely made me smile and laugh out loud throughout the story, and frankly speaking, it made a brick wall like me, cry too. I previously mentioned i wasnt ready for serious and sad shit, but this was different. I got attached to it and my emotions went with the flow because it all felt real. The chacters, oh my god.... they are what made this story into what it is. There weren't any incosistencies or anything of that sort and everyone one had an important role in the story, in some way or the other. They were down to eath, with feelings of joy, insecurity, strength, envy, love, lonliness and the most important of all, passion. Well, i may have said i kept looking away from this because of the cover art, but man apart from that, it is a beauty. The art style works with the story so well, i found myself staring at a single page. And oh god were they beautiful. What can i say, the art didn't potray music but i dont how to deliver this, um it could make you feel the music. I can safely say, sekamichi apollon may not have been sekamichi apollon if not for the art. Well if i keep going, ill keep going on for ever. But its up to you. All ican say is this manga was beautiful and was an incredible experience for me. You may think im kinda stupid for giving a whole lot of 10-s but im just going with instict and this is what my insticts told. Once again, DON't BE DECIEVED by the cover. Go read it. Now.