Kids on the Slope

Set in 1966 on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, Kids on the Slope (Sakamichi no Apollon) follows Kaoru Nishimi, a reserved and academically gifted transfer student who has spent his childhood being shuffled between relatives. Accustomed to keeping his distance and prone to stress-induced anxiety, Kaoru expects his new school in the seaside town of Sasebo to be just another temporary stop. Instead, his life is upended when he crosses paths with Sentaro Kawabuchi, a tall, brash classmate with a fearsome reputation for fighting, and Ritsuko Mukae, the kind-hearted class representative whose father runs a record shop with a basement practice space.

Through Sentaro and the records hidden in that basement, the classically trained pianist Kaoru is introduced to jazz, a genre he initially dismisses as noisy and undisciplined. As he learns to improvise alongside Sentaro on the drums, the two opposites form an unlikely and deeply felt friendship grounded in the music they make together. The series threads its coming-of-age story through jam sessions, school festivals, and the small dramas of adolescence, with composer Yoko Kanno providing arrangements of standards such as 'Moanin'' and 'My Favorite Things.'

Beneath the warmth runs a tangle of unspoken feelings. Kaoru falls for Ritsuko, who has long carried a quiet affection for Sentaro, while Sentaro is drawn to the older Yurika Fukahori, setting off chains of longing that test the friendships at the story's heart. Adapted from Yuki Kodama's award-winning manga and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe in his return to anime after a seven-year break, the twelve-episode series is a gentle, music-soaked meditation on friendship, first love, and the way a shared passion can pull a person out of their shell.