I watched it on a whim when I was looking for a show to watch and ate through all the episodes in one night.
The story is realistic, I feel. It touches upon some really human emotions, the simple ones. The ones we deal with in our everyday lives: the happiness we acquire from those around us, confusion, misunderstanding, love (not necessarily romantic love). The plot sucks you in and by the second episode you are attached to the characters completely. The ups and downs they have, you feel too.
The art is simply stunning. Simple, yet effective. The characters have distinct features that are unique and interesting. While there are the occasional sausage hands and some odd blobs, usually even down to the fingernails are done in a very tactile way. The animation is smooth and clean.
Sound, well it has to be good for a show with a music theme! And it was. I enjoyed listening to both the jazz the characters played as well as the jazz that was in the bg music. It moved from classical to jazz appropriately based on the mood. Even though the singing was mediocre, I actually quite enjoyed the cover of "My Favorite Things".
Character is the only place where this show lost a pinch of its greatness. And its only because of the relationship between Nishimi and Ritsu. I felt that them never having a real good romantic moment was a bit of a letdown. It was always one or the other in a bad mood or misunderstanding. I feel like all the other characters got their "happy ending" except these two. Even Sen is happy despite vanishing after he crashed his bike. But the ending made up for most of it. I was left feeling like "everything is ok and is going to be ok in the future" which is how i like to feel at the end of a show. So only 1 point lost here!
I thoroughly enjoyed this show! It felt real - relate-able. Visually and sound-wise, yummy. Good characters. Cliff hangers at ends of episodes were perfect and made me want more. Its a melancholy show that fluctuates between heartache and simple but wholesome happiness. You go up and down, but you are sure to feel good at the end! A must watch!
