Sakamichi no Apollon

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Sakamichi no Aporon, Kids on the Slope

Japanese: 坂道のアポロン

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 9

Chapters: 45

Status: Finished

Published: Sep 28, 2007 to Jan 28, 2012

Genres: Drama, Music, Romance, School, Slice of Life, Josei

Authors: Kodama, Yuki (Story & Art)

Serialization: Flowers (Monthly)

Statistics

Score: 8.57¹ (scored by 8,384 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #88²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #507

Members: 21,786

Favorites: 834

8.57

Ranked #88Popularity #507Members 21,786

MangaFlowers (Monthly)Kodama, Yuki (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /9

Chapters: /45

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Synopsis

Constantly transferring schools since childhood, Kaoru Nishimi has always been seen as a social outcast when he transfers due to his intellectual nature and wealthy background. But after moving to Kyushu for his first year of high school, things begin to change when Kaoru befriends the class president Ritsuko Mukae and, unexpectedly, the notorious school delinquent Sentarou Kawabuchi. While Kaoru is an honors student, Sentarou is constantly getting into fights and skipping class. However, these two opposites find a common ground in one thing—music.

One day, Kaoru is invited by Ritsuko to visit her family's record store, where he finds Sentarou in the basement showcasing his skill in jazz drumming. Kaoru, being a classical pianist, knows nothing about jazz. But inspired by the performance, he begins to open his mind to the genre alongside Sentarou. The duo begin to practice in after-school jazz sessions in the record store's basement. As he spends more time improving his skills in jazz, Kaoru finds a person whom he can truly call his friend, and comes to learn the joys of playing music. Sakamichi no Apollon follows their story of friendship and love brought together by jazz.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Sakamichi no Apollon won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.

The series has been published in Polish by J.P. Fantastica since July 2, 2015 and in Spanish by Milky Way Ediciones since October 2015.

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Side story:	Sakamichi no Apollon: Bonus Track
Adaptation:	Sakamichi no Apollon

More characters
Characters

Kawabuchi, Sentarou

Main

Nishimi, Kaoru

Main

Mukae, Ritsuko

Main

Katsuragi, Junichi

Supporting

Fukahori, Yurika

Supporting

Mukae, Tsutomu

Supporting

Matsuoka, Seiji

Supporting

Kaoru's aunt

Supporting

Mariko

Supporting

Nishimi, Father

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Apr 30, 2012

45 of 45 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

loey (All reviews)

77 people found this review helpful

While I write this review, the intro of Moanin' by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers is playing inside my head. Not just that, for two weeks, all I could hear was pure and awesome jazz songs. Of course it's Sakamichi no Apollon's fault.

Music. Do you know how powerful can it be? C'mon, I bet music changed your life or your day, at least once. Now, jazz songs. Jazz is contagious, you hear it and starts tapping your fingers, moving your shoulders or doing weird footsteps under the table. It's magical! In the end, you're smiling and you don't even know how that happened. You're just smiling, even if you got some problems here and there... And this is what this manga is talking about.

In the late 60s, we got a freshman high school student Kaoru, who not so coincidentally looks like a American jazz pianist, Bill Evans, in the early days. He's our honor student kind of character and just moved to Kyushu to live with relatives. In school, he's not the most social guy, but destiny brings two new friends, Sentarou and Ritsuko. Sen introduces him to jazz music and after being told he can't play other music style, 'cause he's a "piano-classic-songs boy", Kaoru accepts the challenge and try to learn how to play jazz, without knowing he'll not only change his music style, but change inside, change himself.

The story goes by. New characters appear, revelations, some little plot twists that make you feel a tightness in the heart. It's a slice of life, don't expect action or explosions, don't expect the answer to the Universe. This is simple and pure slice of life. Their lives, their thoughts, their feelings (oh, their feelings!) and their problems. That kind of manga you read and say: "oh man, I'm this character" (hey, Kaoru, I'm with you!). The characters aren't ORIGINAL, you have seen a lot of characters like them, "big brother mentor", "childhood friends", "delinquent", "cute girl" and "megane". Yes, they aren't original, but they're UNIQUE. Little details makes you love them... I like how things happen, isn't your "oh, let's put 60 chapters and solve things, I don't know, in the 59th chapter". It's your "Oh my, is this really happening? But it's only chapter 14... Oh, oh, go for it! But wait, oh my" (I'm sorry, that's my inner self talking).

So, you ask me: "Why should I read this manga?" Because it's good. It has quality! Doesn't matter if it isn't the most original one, it's unique. Introduces you to a Japan in the 60s with culture and costumes being corrupted. We got japanese christian, which it's the first time I see it in a manga. We got a imaginary triangule and "love hurts" from a new perspective, not your shoujo-type "He hates me, sniff sniff, I want to die". This is Josei, people are dealing with their problems, they're facing past issues, changing little by little. The art is a little retro too and I like the artist style. The music recommendations are the best too! So, please, give it a try. If you don't like it, I'm sorry, but I'm in love with this story.

Put some jazz, read it and travel with the characters to the beginning of japanese summer in 1966.

** This isn't yaoi or shounen-ai. Bromance? Well, maybe a little, if your idea of "friendship" is "boy huging boy? gay!", but for me is just friendship, two friends laughing, facing life and being comrades. I watched the anime first and I got to say: the anime exaggerates a little bit if you compare it with the manga. But, well, that always happens!

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Dec 8, 2012

50 of 45 chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

tlne (All reviews)

20 people found this review helpful

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.

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Mar 31, 2013

45 of 45 chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

Baharuka (All reviews)

15 people found this review helpful

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 them read more

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Feb 29, 2020

45 of 45 chapters read

Overall Rating: 7

abystoma2 (All reviews)

4 people found this review helpful

"Manga about music, that's not going to work well, isn't it?" is what you might be thinking. Well, wrong. Sakamichi no Apollon is about jazz and one of it's best qualities is certainly how well can it deliver the soundtrack (despite having none) and the atmosphere in the reader's head. Yes, you can almost hear the jazzy music from those pages.

And it is not only music-wise atmosphere that is done right. It is also the historical setting of 60's Japanese school that is done right. Now, I'm no historical expert, of course, but the architecture, the clothing and the behavior of characters convey accuratelly that read more

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Recent News

'Sakamichi no Apollon' Gets Live-Action Film for 2018

The cover of Shogakukan's Flowers June issue (pictured) has announced that Yuki Kodama's Sakamichi no Apollon will receive a theatrical live-action adaptat...read more

Apr 28, 2017 2:16 PM by Sakana-san | Discuss (19 comments)

Watanabe Shinichiro Directs Sakamichi no Apollon

According to the official website, the production staff of Sakamichi no Apollon was announced. Watanabe Shinichiro and Kanno Yoko will work together for the first ti...read more

Jan 26, 2012 4:39 PM by dtshyk | Discuss (84 comments)

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	Anime to manga stuntinEverlong - Jun 20, 2019	4 replies	by abystoma2 »» Feb 29, 2020 7:25 AM
	Poll: Sakamichi no Apollon Chapter 45 Discussion Dodecahedron-O24 - Jun 12, 2012	44 replies	by Effulgence »» Nov 7, 2017 2:58 AM

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