It’s the third nuke of this season! Those nukes did nothing but leveling my watchlist more and focusing it to just the interesting ones. With Jormungand airing now, Upotte! can now be safely put on-hold. And with Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope, for those lovers of EN-translated titles), I can now enjoy better romance anime with serious tones. It’s also one of the best music-themed anime in recent times. Yoko Kanno does another stunner sound track!

In the spirit of preserving the 90s feel, detailing had been subdued and the CGs are used to emulate the traditional feel. Despite the new technologies it used and the 90s feel, it’s still stunning and immersing. How conservative the art is contrasted by the polished and great animation style. Very reminiscent of the fluidity present in most P.A.Works- and Sunrise-produced series. I’m just viewing the Crunchyroll stream, and I can’t imagine how much of a stunner would the telly and home media releases be.

Yoko Kanno leads in the staff in-charge of the music, and as expected, great results were delivered. Genuine jazz music are sampled in the first episode and I hope there’d be more. Songs are also great! Voice acting is another great thing here, no typecasts and all voices fit their characters. This is a proper MUSIC anime that’s hard to beat.

EVERYTHING in the first episode is great; from the audio-visual presentation to the direction, and to the writing. The first episode was a proper introductory episode. No confusing event ordering, no ambiguous nor out-of-context lines. The romance here is executed very well, even though the technique used to introduce it is a little overused. The romance would be used to develop the bonding and relationship between the three characters. The setting and jazz music theme totally jives well! I can’t wait for the next episode!

Sakamichi no Apollon is a must-watch this season. Get it for the music and the story and you’ll not be disappointed.

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