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It's been a long time since I found a satisfactory music based anime that wasn't about idols; seriously what is it with Japan and Idols? I could even call this anime on par with Beck one of my favorite anime of all time!
Enjoyment-10/10
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(Overview)
Because of his father's job situation, freshman high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious bad boy Sentaro Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru learns the attractions of jazz and finds the first person he can call a "friend". He also discovers how much fun it is to play music with a pal.
Other characters include Sentaro's kind childhood friend, Ritsuko, who is the daughter of a record shop owner; the mysterious upperclassman, Yurika; and Brother Jun, the much-admired leader among their peers. Set against the backdrop of a seaside town with a scent of American culture, this series is a drama about young people coming into their own, crossing each other's paths, and finding friendship, love, and music!
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The soundtrack is not large but makes up for it with some great music, although I didn't really like their representation of sixties rock, although I'm yet to research how rock spread in Japan. Considering these factors the music and sound of Sakamichi no Apollon gets a 9.
Music/Sound-9/10 (great)
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The story provides a good look into early jazz and a small glance at rock while all the while utilizing some whoop-ass main characters, while the cast is small the important characters make up for it with their development and backstories. Sakamichi no Apollon also has a balanced amount of romance and drama developing characters further. It also has an ending disliked by most but to me it wrapped up the whole 12 episode anime nicely, reminding me of the ending of The Shawshank Redemption, a great movie btw, although the manga--which i'm yet to read, went a few chapters further. These factors give the story and characters a 9.
Story/Characters-9/10 (great)
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The art in Sakamichi no Apollon is a little strange for at least some people's faces, although most are fine and the environments are beautiful. The Animation as well, is just above average, not outstanding. These factors give the art and animation a 8.
Art/Animation-8/10 (very good)
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To conclude, the overall score for Sakamichi no Apollon or Kids on the Slope, adding all previously scored categories together, dividing them by the number of categories for our average is a well deserved 9!
Overall-9/10 (great)
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