television series adaptation of the same name aired in 2012. It is directed by

Shinichirō Watanabe at MAPPA and Tezuka Productions with music provided by

acclaimed composer Yoko Kanno, reuniting the two who previously worked together

on Macross Plus and Cowboy Bebop. The anime has been licensed in North America

by Sentai Filmworks. Plot

The beginning of summer, 1966; because of his father's job situation, freshman

high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves by himself from Yokosuka to Sasebo in

Kyushu to live with relatives. Until then, Kaoru was an honor roll student

who tended to keep to himself, but meeting notorious "bad boy" Sentaro

Kawabuchi starts to change him. Through his devil-may-care classmate, Kaoru

learns how much fun it is to play jazz and finds the first person he can call a

real friend. Characters

Kaoru Nishimi Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura, Chris Patton

Kaoru is a brainy young man who moves during the summer of his first year in

high school from Yokosuka to his uncle's house in Kyushu. In fact, Kaoru has been

moving from place to place ever since he was a little kid due to his father's

constant departure to work on a ship. That, combined with his expanded

family's expectations for him, causes him to become an extreme introvert. But

after Kaoru encounters Sentarō, he starts to change, all while learning the

joys of jazz. Kaoru is a skilled pianist, familiar with classical music

until he meets Sentarō and he starts practicing jazz music with him. Kaoru

has unrequited feelings for Ritsuko who loves Sentarō instead, until Ritsuko

herself starts reciprocating his feelings.

Sentarō Kawabuchi Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya, Andrew Love

Sentarō is a wild 1st-year high school student who meets incoming student Kaoru

at Higashi High School. Sentarō is mistakenly thought of as a thug by his

peers, who fear him due to his tall and strong figure, but really he is a kind

and bighearted person. In the beginning it seems he is the exact opposite of

Kaoru, yet somehow they hit it off when Sentarō starts to share his love for

jazz. As the child of an American soldier and a Japanese mother, Sentarō

is shunned by his grandmother and foster father, but gets well along his younger

siblings. The drums are Sentarō's instrument of choice.

Ritsuko Mukae Voiced by: Yuuka Nanri, Rebekah Stevens

Ritsuko is a classmate of Kaoru and Sentarō and an old friend of the latter.

This kind, always cheerful and charmingly-freckled high school freshman

is also the poster girl for Mukae Records, her family's record shop. The

basement of the shop has a practice studio that serves as a hangout for

Sentarō, Kaoru, her father, and occasionally Junichi. She is a devoted

Catholic just like Sentarō, and is in love with him. However, even though

Ritsuko denies Kaoru's initial advance and confesses her love of Sentarō to

Kaoru, she later begins to feel emotions for Kaoru instead.

Junichi Katsuragi Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe, David

Matranga Junichi is idolized by Sentarō, whom he

affectionately calls “Brother Jun.” In fact, the friendship between Junichi,

Sentarō, and Ritsuko goes back to when they were kids. Junichi goes to college

in Tokyo, but whenever he comes home, he always stops in at Mukae Records and

jams on the trumpet, playing jazz with Sentarō and Ritsuko's father. Later,

Junichi becomes involved with a political revolutionist movement; as a

result, he stops attending college and becomes disinherited from his family.

Tsutomu Mukae Voiced by: Zenki Kitajima, David Wald

Tsutomu is Ritsuko's father and the owner of the record shop where Sentarō

and Kaoru play jazz. He plays double bass and occasionally joins in with

Sentarō and Kaoru. Yurika Fukahori

Voiced by: Aya Endō, Maggie Flecknoe Yurika is a sophomore at Higashi High.

Though the daughter of a well-to-do family, Yurika has a spunky, polite and

strong personality and is brimming with curiosity. She becomes acquainted with

Kaoru and the gang after Sentarō helps her out by chance. Sentarō falls in love

with Yurika, but she takes a liking to Junichi instead, after she is introduced

to him by his friends. Later, after Junichi becomes disinherited, Yurika

begins living with him, which causes a drastic change in her life.

Shigetora Maruo Voiced by: Ayumu Murase, Greg Ayres

Shigetora is Kaoru's seemingly dorky classmate who has a passion for trains.

He is the one who arranges Sentarō's ticket when Kaoru travels to meet his

mother and also becomes part of Matsuoka's rock band. At the beginning

of the anime, classmates compare him to Kaoru in order to mock Kaoru.

Seiji Matsuoka Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto, Blake

Shepard Seiji is originally seen with Yurika in

the art club, Matsuoka's secret dream is to start a rock band to help support his

family. He asks Sentarō to play drums at the spring festival with his rock band,

much to the chagrin of Kaoru. Mariko

Voiced by: Amina Satō, Cynthia Martinez Mariko is Kaoru's cousin, who often acts

bratty towards him and sometimes uses the favor of her mother to get Kaoru

into trouble. It seems that she enjoys hearing Kaoru play the piano.

Media = Manga=

= Anime= An anime TV series adaptation of the

manga started airing on the noitaminA timeslot of Fuji TV on 12 April 2012.

The opening theme is "Sakamichi no Melody" by YUKI while the ending theme

is "Altair" by Motohiro Hata. The anime series was broadcast on Viz Media's Neon

Alley online channel on January 17, 2014. The anime also aired and continues

to be available on Crunchyroll in English-speaking countries around the

world. Episode list

Reception The manga series won the 57th Shogakukan

Manga Award for general manga. References

External links Official anime site

Kids on the Slope at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Kids on the Slope at Anime News Network's encyclopedia