It says a lot about an anime when the characters are stock and the storyline is predictable - and you still find yourself thinking this is really good as you watch it.
A quick heads-up on the most-anticipated series of the season - which looks to live up to all the hype.
Kids on the Slope, set in 1966, is about Kaoru, an honor student whose father is in the Navy. His mother left the family and thus Kaoru has been shunted from relative to relative all over Japan.
When Kaoru moves to Kyushu to live with his uncle, he has a run-in with the school tough guy, Sentarou.
Sentarou, big and scary and quick to use his fists, unexpectedly takes a liking to Kaoru. An odd couple kind of fellow feeling is there from the start, even before they discover they're both musicians: Kaoru on classical piano and Sentarou on jazz drums.
By the end of the first episode, the set-up is clear: the fearless live-big Sentarou is going to show the uber-repressed Kaoru how to loosen up via the power of jazz music.
Kids on the Slope has already been licensed for U.S. DVD/Blu-ray release by Sentai Filmworks - and this after only one episode has aired.
The series has that quality feel to it that certain series just seem to have. I don't care for slice-of-life stories and I don't even like jazz music, but I will be watching Kids on the Slope. Even if it doesn't sound like your kind of story or your usual sort of anime, you really might want to give this one a try.
