Sakamichi no Apollon

[Killer_Ossi]

If you could say one thing this show really is good at its pissing me off. I was really glad that they finished the stuff with Sentaro wanting to run away pretty quickly and then that stupid stuff happens. All they had to do was show them playing at the festival and it wouldve been a good end, but no they have to pull this bs -.-

Btw, does someone know why there are more than 11 eps coming out now all of a sudden?

 

[Ausdoerrt]

Agreed, that was pretty weird. First they resolve the "running away" issue, and then throw it back in again. Not to mention all the completely wasted build-up to the festival.

 

[franzoir]

Hmm...fascinating.

I now understand what they were going for with this adaption but anime was the wrong choice. Live action would have been a better format for the show. The surrealist/ trippy element would have come off really well.

The question is does the ambiguity work...probably not but it was brave. I get what they were going for with the overall series and what this episode was meant to encapsulate.

 

[julez]

QUOTE (franzoir @ Jun 21 2012, 08:28 PM) The question is does the ambiguity work...probably not but it was brave. I get what they were going for with the overall series and what this episode was meant to encapsulate.
Can you please elaborate? I'm not sure what you mean exactly?

I loved the scene where Kaoru ran up to the hospital roof where all the laundry was hanging to dry and he found Sentaro laying under a white sheet. The music and the emotion just fit so perfectly together. Might be my favourite scene in the show.

 

[franzoir]

QUOTE (julezia @ Jun 24 2012, 10:31 AM)Can you please elaborate?


Ok. I going to try and be short so as not to go on a tangent.

The scene you described was pretty surreal. Surrealist elements are regularly used in coming of age stories because it is some kind of commentary for the transformation from childhood to adulthood. In the sense that it is probably the most confusing time in your life and probably where you are most susceptible to elements of fantasy.

The whole scene you describe was trying to allude to Sentaro being a tragic figure. Wants to white/pure but feels inherently dirty due to being mixed race. This inherent defect, he feels, continually manifests itself and causes problems for everybody he cares about because he is out of place. Faced with no other choice but to leave.

Out of context, it is a great scene. Within the context of the series, I dont feel the character development was strong enough to justify that moment, or maybe the adaption was not strong enough.

As I've been saying I think I would find if I read the source material that these characters have a great amount of depth. But due to an 11 episode run this seemed to have been eschewed. Therefore, the impact the finale was suppose leave doesnt resonate as good as it could or should haved.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

QUOTE As I've been saying I think I would find if I read the source material that these characters have a great amount of depth. But due to an 11 episode run this seemed to have been eschewed. Therefore, the impact the finale was suppose leave doesnt resonate as good as it could or should haved.

Finale? I'm pretty sure there's another episode coming.

QUOTE The whole scene you describe was trying to allude to Sentaro being a tragic figure. Wants to white/pure but feels inherently dirty due to being mixed race. This inherent defect, he feels, continually manifests itself and causes problems for everybody he cares about because he is out of place. Faced with no other choice but to leave.

I feel like the show doesn't emphasize this point nearly enough to make it a major element like you describe it. Hard to tell whether it's the show's fault, or its main message for Sen lies elsewhere.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

Well, if the last ep was a setup for failure, the ending was a disappointment. It's more like a non-ending. Nothing happens, nothing's resolved. The protagonist just runs away from problems/relationships again with nil character growth.

The "8 years later" part was sure sweet and fuzzy but plot-wise seemed more like a waste of time. Half an episode just to show that the 3 meet again. I suppose it was curious to see the fates of the characters, but that, too, was rather superficial. Doubly disappointing because it felt like the whole "friendship" experience the series is primarily about had little to no impact on the characters. Protagonist is still a boring workaholic, and even stops playing music (I won't even ask how he can still play well after 8 years of no practice); Sen is still a good-for nothing without a "place" to call his own; and Ritsuko is still... I don't even know, an afterthought?

 

[franzoir]

Almost a perfect ending. If it was me, I would have Yukari give Nishimi the photo and then end it right there. Let the audience decide what happens but maybe that is just me.

The idea of 8 years passing with no resolution in sight is just a fact of life. People move on and never see each other again, which is why I was hoping Sentaro wouldn't be seen again but oh well.

One thing that I did question was Yukari and Jun are seemingly doing well for themselves. I thought that was a disaster waiting to happen. Still do.

Overall, I can describe this series as being bottlenecked. I can tell it had a lot to give but not enough time to do so.

6/10

Would recommend this shows to anybody but more for the set pieces and backdrop rather than the main plot.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

QUOTE The idea of 8 years passing with no resolution in sight is just a fact of life. People move on and never see each other again, which is why I was hoping Sentaro wouldn't be seen again but oh well.

It might be realistic, but it's not good storytelling. Makes you question if whatever you finished watching has any meaning or significance at all, or all of it was just a shallow soap opera.

Although speaking of realism, people also don't just meet "8 years later" as if nothing changed or happened in between. In reality, this would've been a lot more awkward.

 

[Killer_Ossi]

So this show really ended with bromance just like I thought. Maybe this show wouldve been better it it was yaoi instead of trying to be hetero. Sure most people wouldntve watched it (me included) but so we wouldntve wasted our time on this show.

In the end this show was not a show about jazz with a bit of slice-of-life and romance but slice-of-life and romance with a bit of jazz. The jazz part was really disappointing since it was rarely featured and if it were always the same two or three songs they played.

Characterwise I can second what Aus said. They were typical soapcharacters, meaning they each had more problems in a few months than an entire family in reality has their whole life. Added to this is that they didnt grow but stayed the same regardless of what they went through. Not to mention the love rollercoaster in which, surprisingly, Jun was the only one who got out lucky. Surprisingly because he was the one furthest away of an happy ending.

4/10 from me which makes it the weakest show this season for now (except the drops of course).

 

[Barbobot]

QUOTE (Killer_Ossi @ Jun 30 2012, 07:20 AM) Characterwise I can second what Aus said. They were typical soapcharacters, meaning they each had more problems in a few months than an entire family in reality has their whole life. Added to this is that they didnt grow but stayed the same regardless of what they went through. Not to mention the love rollercoaster in which, surprisingly, Jun was the only one who got out lucky. Surprisingly because he was the one furthest away of an happy ending.
Excluding the 8 year epilogue, the show takes place close to over a 2 year time span i believe, not a few months.

 

[Kit-Tsukasa]

Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) is based off a 9 volume josei manga that ran from 2007 to 2012. It’s a show that falls under the category of romance, coming-of-age, and music, particularly jazz. Sakamichi no Apollon received much praise prior to it airing in the Spring 2012 anime season mostly due to its strong staff lineup featuring director Shinichiro Watanabe and music composer Yoko Kanno. The duo is famous for their work together on the 1998 series known as Cowboy Bebop, which many people, both anime fans and not have heard of worldwide. With that said, the bar for Sakamichi is set very high and the question now is can it live up to such expectation despite being a completely different genre?

Sakamichi no Apollon’s story is initially interesting mostly due to its setting. It’s set during the 1960s in Japan meaning just coming off the aftermath of World War II as well as a lack of significant technology, much of which has become second nature to us in today’s world. The story begins as a simple love “circle”, similar to that of last season’s Ano Natsu no Matteru. Matters get more and more complicated in this show and it actually becomes painful to watch in a bad way. Eventually, the show throws in too many elements it can handle in a 12 episode series. A lot of conflicts end up being resolved simply and coincidentally to the point where they’re rather unbelievable. One example is Jun’s and Yurika’s elopement. It’s hard to imagine that given Yurika’s family status, they wouldn’t put any effort in trying to get her back. Ending wise, the plot is ultimately unresolved. It’s implied in the manga that Kaoru and Ritsuko end up together while Sentarou continues to distant himself from society/his hometown but in the anime, it’s pretty boring where they just remain friends forever as if nothing had happened. The sudden 8 year time skip also left out a fair amount of content and felt like a cheap way of saying “oh hey nothing happened for x amount of time.” Also, I don’t think Apollon translates to Kids, so whoever translated it into English should get their head checked. It’s obvious where the name “Kids on the Slope” comes from…but I digress.

Art wise is fine as is animation by Tezuka Productions. I liked the setting feel and atmosphere to match the 1960s and 70s, which is very important for a show that emphasizes on the time period. Character designs looked a lot like CLAMP’s style of tall and thin characters with broad shoulders, but I didn’t really have much of a problem with that in the end. Animation is very smooth across the board, especially when playing the instruments. These guys constantly improve and only do works once in a blue moon, so it’s really enjoyable when available.

The OP/ED, as many people have complained, don’t really fit the series. I personally think it’s people overestimating the context of the series based on the first episode. It actually does fit the ACTUAL premise of the series quite well. Overall they’re decent and while not like the “jazz” element people were hoping for, keep in mind that jazz is actually a sub-theme in this show. It’s certainly the musical period for it but not the primary plot of the series. Background music and sound effects are solid for this show as expected of Yoko Kanno. Seiyuu is quite good. It’s also a big treat to hear Yuuka Nanri do some major seiyuu work recently. We also get a nice treat of Amina Satou from AKB48 despite playing a minor character here.

Enjoyment? The show starts off very strong but quickly gets caught in its own trap. As said before, it attempted too much in a small time frame. It becomes painful to watch and really does not become one of those “must watch” urges each week.

Overall, Sakamichi no Apollon definitely does not live up to the Watanabe and Kanno duo that was produced in 1998 with Cowboy Bebop. People came into this show with too high expectations, myself included. It’s got some good stuff but for a show so close to ground level, events are far too coincidental and unbelievable. Plus, the presentation is a mess. Nodame Cantabile or BECK is really a better replacement here. In fact, BECK is really what this show tried to be and BECK just does everything multiple times better.

Preliminary Score: 8/10
Final Score: 6/10