Kids On The Slope "Sakamichi no Aporon" adapted by Cowboy Bebop Director

[craigdbfan]

"Kids On The Slope" adaptation directed by Shinichirō Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo)

In the summer of 1966 Kaoru Nishimi moved 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 would change all of that. 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. 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!

I was curious about this because of the director so I read up on the manga and I thought it was a really neat little story about an unlikely friendship and the awkwardness yet greatness of young love.

Very good stuff and the Jazz aspect is definitely awesome and the score by Yoko Kanno. I'm going to check this out seeing as it premieres on April 12th.

Official Trailer:

 

[Still Wynning]

Definitely looking forward to seeing this when it's released.

 

[craigdbfan]

You should check out the manga Wiseguy. I think you'll really like it.

I read all the chapters released thus far and I'm itching for more. Incredibly addicting story. The characters are really great.

 

[Roose Bolton]

I've been looking to get into a new anime, so I think I'll give this one a try

 

[craigdbfan]

Yeah I'm excited. I found out about Watanabe directing this a few days ago and decided to read the manga today and boy was I hooked.

There are 8 volumes out but I've only been able to find 2 translated volumes. I hope that with the anime coming out shortly it gains a bigger fan base so we can get some officially translated English releases here in the states.

 

[Still Wynning]

You should check out the manga Wiseguy. I think you'll really like it.

I read all the chapters released thus far and I'm itching for more. Incredibly addicting story. The characters are really great.

I don't read manga that much, since I don't want to invest myself in something that could go on too long and lose it's quality, save for Fullmetal Alchemist and Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I'll definitely look into this when I get the chance.

 

[craigdbfan]

The first episode already premiered and I have to say I enjoyed it quite a bit. My only complaint is that they crammed the first three chapters into the first episode which is obvious for anyone who has read the manga but I think that's the only reason why it bothered me because I kept thinking back to that.

Aside from that the animation is flawless and the voice acting is really great and Yoko Kanno's soundtrack is great. Still a very faithful adaptation that trimmed some of the material from the manga but it didn't really hurt the pacing all that much.

Everyone over at Crunchyroll seemed to have liked it so I'm happy about that. The positive side in all of this is that it already covered the first three chapters and only 10 of those have actually been translated in English so I'll probably get to see the rest of them in animated form before I get to actually read the rest of the untranslated chapters.

Great start.

 

[Still Wynning]

I have to check this out a little later today when I get the chance.

 

[TheVileOne]

Interesting.

 

[craigdbfan]

Yeah I mean it's really some great stuff. The animation for Sentaro's drumming near the end of the episode is scary good. For anyone that plays drums or is familiar with them they'll see what I mean. Damn near looks like they rotoscoped it.

Here's the 1st OP/"Sakamichi no Melody" by YUKI" guys:

 

[Sharkboy]

I want to watch this NOW! like RIGHT NOW!

Are there any fansubs? Is the manga worth it?

EDIT: found it. I'm so excited. Kanno/Watanabe combination sold this to me day one.

 

[craigdbfan]

Official subs are available out there. Crunchyroll releases the first episode which premiered last week for free tomorrow for those without a paying account.

Although you can find that subbed first ep elsewhere for zilch.

As for the manga I've enjoyed the 10 chapters (2 volumes) available in English. I went through them like in 30 minutes. It's that good.

In Japan 8 volumes are already out but English scanlators have been translating this series fairly recently thus only 10 chapters being available.

I'd recommend both the manga and the first episode. I've enjoyed this series greatly so far.

 

[Sharkboy]

Official subs are available out there. Crunchyroll releases the first episode which premiered last week for free tomorrow for those without a paying account.

Although you can find that subbed first ep elsewhere for zilch.

As for the manga I've enjoyed the 10 chapters (2 volumes) available in English. I went through them like in 30 minutes. It's that good.

In Japan 8 volumes are already out but English scanlators have been translating this series fairly recently thus only 10 chapters being available.

I'd recommend both the manga and the first episode. I've enjoyed this series greatly so far.

Good stuff, I'm not usually into Josei manga, but Nodaime Cantable and Honey and Clover blew me away, if it's anything like that, then I'll be very happy.

 

[craigdbfan]

This is the first time I've ever watched or read a slice of life manga/anime. I didn't even realize it until I had finished reading those 10 chapters and then looked it up on wikipedia to find out the genre.

My face when I found out it was Josei ---> (-_-) .

I'm much more into seinen & shonen but honestly genre barriers hardly matter to me if the material is good enough to make it not matter. I'm happy to say Sakamichi is that kind of story. The Jazz aspect and the incredibly likeable characters make it for a fun read.

 

[Sharkboy]

This is the first time I've ever watched or read a slice of life manga/anime. I didn't even realize it until I had finished reading those 10 chapters and then looked it up on wikipedia to find out the genre.

My face when I found out it was Josei ---> (-_-) .

I'm much more into seinen & shonen but honestly genre barriers hardly matter to me if the material is good enough to make it not matter. I'm happy to say Sakamichi is that kind of story. The Jazz aspect and the incredibly likeable characters make it for a fun read.

Definitely, but it is getting harder and harder to get into most shonen nowadays, be it due to me getting older or all the seinen I read. Some of them are still good.

 

[craigdbfan]

Yeah the only new shonen I've picked up is Ao No Exorcist. I guess Soul Eater & Bleach are the only shonen I'm actively reading at the moment. I started Bleach back when I was 13 in 04 so I can't drop something I've been reading for the past 8 years, plus I kind of love that series despite some of its shortcomings in recent years.

But I agree that a lot of shonen is derivative and can kind grow tiresome. I definitely don't blame you for not being interested in the genre.

 

[Sharkboy]

Yeah the only new shonen I've picked up is Ao No Exorcist. I guess Soul Eater & Bleach are the only shonen I'm actively reading at the moment. I started Bleach back when I was 13 in 04 so I can't drop something I've been reading for the past 8 years, plus I kind of love that series despite some of its shortcomings in recent years.

But I agree that a lot of shonen is derivative and can kind grow tiresome. I definitely don't blame you for not being interested in the genre.

I actually watched a whole lot of Ao No Exorcist, I liked what i watched. Yeh I started Bleach/One Piece/Naruto around the same time in 04-05 something like that, theres no way i can drop either of them on sense of duty alone, though one piece is the only one that excites me now, bleach still has it's moments.

Still yet to see Sakamichi, I should be able to watch it tonight.