Underplayed Gems

KIDS ON THE SLOPE (2018)

KIDS ON THE SLOPE poster
Original title
坂道のアポロン
Directed by
Takahiro Miki
Genre
drama film, school anime and manga
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h
Rated
G
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 32 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A shy high school student named Kaoru meets a loud and energetic classmate named Sentaro. Through their friendship, Kaoru discovers jazz music for the first time.

nostalgicgentlewarmbittersweetintrospectiveearthyleisurelyheartfelt

What happens

Kids on the Slope (Japanese: 坂道のアポロン, Hepburn: Sakamichi no Aporon; lit. "Apollo on the Slope") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Kodama. It was originally serialized in Shogakukan's josei manga magazine Monthly Flowers from 2007 to 2012, with its chapters compiled into 10 tankōbon volumes. The series follows Kaoru Nishimi, an introverted high school student who discovers jazz music through his friendship with his delinquent classmate Sentarō Kawabuchi. The series has been adapted twice: as a television anime series in 2012, and as a live-action film directed by Takahiro Miki in 2018. The anime adaptation is directed by Shinichirō Watanabe with music by Yoko Kanno, making it the third collaboration between Watanabe and Kanno following Macross Plus (1994–1995) and Cowboy Bebop (1998). The series was produced by MAPPA and Tezuka Productions, and aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. In North America, the series was licensed by Sentai Filmworks and aired on the streaming service Crunchyroll, which simulcast the series during its original broadcast run. The anime adaption of Kids on the Slope was widely acclaimed, with praise given to its direction, narrative, and music. Critics explored Kids on the Slope's depiction of Catholicism in Japan, its themes of male friendship and subtextual homoeroticism, and its relation to Watanabe's broader canon of works in their analysis of the series. Multiple outlets listed Kids on the Slope as among the best anime of the 2010s. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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