Sakamichi no Apollon: Kids on the Slope (Of Love, Apparently)



“Unlike love affairs, friendship is for life.”



I won’t deny for a second that Sakamichi no Apollon is an amazing work of art. It really is. The music, the atmosphere…everything just fits. But, at the same time…

Yes. I really do wish everyone would stop falling in love.



It was fine at first. I nearly didn’t mind the love triangle. But then it turned into Richie-->Ri’ko-->Sen-->Yurika-->Jun. And something about it is just really irritating because, honestly, I can’t see that kind of love…line…happening. I guess it would be a complete love pentagon if Jun fell in love with Richie, but I’m not sure I want to go there. Or rather, I can’t picture that happening.

So, anyway, my solution to this problem goes something like this:

I’m kidding, of course. There’s really no chance of that happening, and I’m not particularly into threesomes. That said, it would settle the issue of the love pentagon—if those three end up together, then Yurika and Jun could be a couple, and I’m okay with that.

Just STOP THIS PENTAGON!

(Also, let us take a moment to appreciate that guy in the background who looks like a knock-off Richie clone. I think his lover friend stole his glasses, though!)

Thankfully, the latest episode kind of dialed it down a notch...kinda. It's still there, but the focus went back to Richie and Sen, which, in my opinion, is where it belongs. When the show started, the focus was their friendship and their music, and I think that was where the series excelled. I'm hoping it gets back to that now...for a while, the music was sidelined, and I thought that was a shame, since that's one of the things that really attracted me to the series.

ANYWAY, rant's over now! Let's take some time to appreciate the new character who I like (despite the fact that he was obviously put in to mess with Richie and Sen's friendship)!

Meet Matsuoka Seiji! He sings, he's cute, and look at those fancy hand movements! And his seiyuu is Okamoto Nobuhiko, which is half the reason I like him! (Okamoto-san shows up in a lot of anime I like, and has a fantastic, versatile voice--I might do a post about him later!)

And I ship him with this guy, because this screenshot is adorable!

Is he not the cutest thing? I mean, how could you say no to that?

I kind of wish he would get more developed...I think there's plenty you could do with him, but I doubt it'll happen now that the main two are back together again. But he was kinda refreshing since everyone else is so lovesick and heartbroken right now...


...Somehow, this did not end up being a review at all, but it was a lot of fun to do anyway! Um, I don't really feel like giving this a full review right now, but in short: Sakamichi is good, it just gets too sidetracked sometimes. It's a great show, but as it stands now, it's probably not one I'll rewatch. I get why people like it (really, it's fantastically well made!), but I've always had issues with love triangles, and this took it a step further into this crazy pentagon, so...yeah...it's just not for me. Had they focused more on the friendship aspect and the music, with the love kept out of the spotlight a little more, I think I'd be all over it. I'll follow it to the end, but I doubt it'll go beyond that for me...

~Hana

P.S. I'll be providing episode-by-episode reviews/rants from now on, starting with episode 8.

And, of course, I don't own Sakamichi no Apollon or the images used above...they are simply for review purposes.