Kids on the Slope
A music anime called Kids on the Slope takes place in Japan in the 1960s, when things with the US were still a little shaky. Three high school teenagers are the focus as they develop in both love and life. Kids on the Slope, like other coming-of-age tales, explore the passage from adolescence to adulthood via common challenges that, to the young mind, are insurmountable.
Sentaro needs to take on more responsibilities, Kaoru needs to quit acting like such a spoiled brat, and Ritsuko will eventually understand that a crush doesn't define who you are. Jazz compositions by John Coltrane or Bill Evans are subtly woven into the anime's love and friendship scenes as a way to suggest that these bonds are also dynamic and full of surprises, much like jazz's unique improvisational style, which it has used to usurp the structured and orderly nature of classical music. The bitterness that life delivers to the three companions is balanced out by the sweetness of youth in the Kids on the Slope.
It's a fantastic coming-of-age story with believable main characters, lovely scenery, the ideal resolution, and a piece of stunning jazz music by Japanese composer Yoko Kanno, and it doesn't take too long to become one of the best music anime of all time.
Directed by: Shinichiro Watanabe
Aired: Apr 13, 2012 to Jun 29, 2012
Duration: 22 min/ ep
MAL rank: 245
