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Wed 6 Jun 2012
The Ups and Downs of Sakamichi no Apollon
Posted by Aeroblip under Anime
[6] Comments
Sakamichi no Apollon is definitely one of the most popular shows of the season. For the past sevreal weeks, it has been at the top of the Anime Power Rankings. Even before the anime season began, I felt the hype surrounding this show. The premise alone was enough to catch my interest — two teenagers coming together though the magic of jazz. Watanabe Shinichiro as director and Kanno Yoko as music composer appeared a dream team poised to create yet another spectacular character drama.
The title implies a coming of age story, so I was prepared for some teen angst. The first couple episodes introduced the two main protagonists in Kaoru and Sentaro. We learn of their different personalities and witness the eventual blossoming of their friendship. In addition to two potential love interests, we see a web of romantic relationships. While the drama was prevalent, it wasn’t overwhelming; it was still clearly about growing pains and music. Each episode, we learn more about each character and their personalities, gradually learning more about their personalities, background, and goals.
My problem with the show isn’t entirely the drama itself, but the lack of resolution. Each episode adds new troubles Kaoru and Sentaro without clearing up previous problems. The main duo eventually learn about each others circumstances, but the show does not explore the issue any further and instead focuses on love triangles. It may have added some depth to the character relationships, but not the characters themselves.
This becomes especially frustrating in later episodes when the conflicting love interests become the central focus. The episodes are filled with characters dealing with their emotional swings. Their problems continue to pile up when coupled with family troubles and changing times. However, the characters themselves do not change as a response. They do not really try to overcome their issues, and they don’t seem to learn from the experience. For a character drama, this lack of development hinders the plot progression of the show.
However, a bulk of my disappointment may simply be unmet expectations. Much of the initial hype was based on the jazz concept. Honestly, I was hoping it would be like a jazz-version of Nodame Cantabile. That show was a romance drama at its core, but the classical music element was always prevalent. It was clear that music was an integral part of the plot. The music of Sakamichi no Apollon doesn’t feel connected to the story. Its importance has faded as the show more focused on the romantic drama. It is not necessarily a bad direction, but not one that I expected.
Sakamichi no Apollon is not a bad show, just underwhelming. It has all components to make a fantastic anime: a decent story, likable characters, and great animation. The music by Kanno Yoko is fantastic, but it’s just not pieced together well. Jazz is the crux of the anime, but it doesn’t play any factor in the flurry of character relationships. There is still some potential for the show to change my opinion. Episode 7 had a wonderful musical piece to show the rekindled friendship of Kaoru and Sentaro. That easily could have worked as a fantastic series finale. Drama resolution and well-directed jazz segments for the last three episodes can easily turn this show around.
“Honestly, I was hoping it would be like a jazz-version of Nodame Cantabile. That show was a romance drama at its core, but the classical music element was always prevalent.”
THIS.
Episode 8′s end had what I’ve been hoping for in these past episodes that I hadn’t really seen since Kaoru’s original piano confession to Ritsuko. The other jazz scenes seemed thrown in with little relevance to the plot–perhaps solely for character and atmosphere. With the end of the season coming quickly, I have a hard time imagining the series really marrying the two in the next three episodes. Perhaps we’ll have a lead into a second season, like Nodame’s plans for Paris at the end of that first season?
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I think you’re talking about episode 7. Episode 8 was more about Jun and Yurika.
I’d think that this is one of those times when the preview and that synopsis on the Spring 2012 chart has grossly misled people into believing that the story is primarily about jazz. Much like how the synopsis of Nazo no Kanojo X turned away a lot of people when they believed that the show was just going to be about swapping bodily fluids.
I see the same reaction when people criticize mystery anime for not being, uh, clever enough in its actual mysteries. However, with shows like Gosick and Un-Go, it’s apparent that the mysteries were not supposed to be the focus. Maybe it’s the same with Sakamichi no Apollon in the sense that we’ve been looking for something that the anime is clearly not interested in going for. Yet we continue to hope that it’s going to happen. Of course, now I have to rewatch this series from the beginning so that I can find new things to appreciate. I’m very into music, so the jazz aspect always stuck out to me, but maybe that’s also something that blinds people from seeing other things that are just as significant to the story.
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Aeroblip Reply:
June 7th, 2012 at 10:31 am
You are right about the episode count. Thank you.
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I also wish that they had focused on the jazz more and had married the drama together with it better. I went in to the show hyped and episode 1 certainly seemed to deliver what I was hoping for, but then I ruined it for myself.
I had found the manga it was based on and decided I couldn’t wait for the next episode and dove right in. What I discovered was not an amazing story of jazz and love, but just another shoujo manga full of cliches and contrivances.
I love the jazz sessions and the animation is great, but the story is melodramatic and the characters are shallow. I feel I could have enjoyed the series more if I had not known any better.
What has been seen can not be unseen.
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I don’t mind the romance-drama elements, though the inconclusive way the characters handle it is, as you say, a bit underwhelming. I wasn’t really looking for a totally music-centered anime so I wasn’t disappointed on that front.
Honestly the only thing that really bothered me in the series is how in episode 6, Kaoru acted like a jerk to Sentaro just because he thinks he’s making a new friend. I mean, it’s not like Sentaro had been ignoring him or showing any sign that this friend is going to replace him. So to out of nowhere be like “I hate you!” and “I don’t need you anymore” and running off was a very immature way of handing things. And I believe he said unwarranted mean things to Sentaro a few episodes before that too (I think it was because he thought he wasn’t being considerate of Ritsuko)? His childish fits of anger against his friend (who hadn’t been mean to him at all) did turn me off for a while. But thankfully we haven’t seen much of that in recent episodes.
And I agree that the end of episode 7 would have worked great as a series finale. The final episode is going to have to do a lot to top that.
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I kinda just let this show wash over me. This show handles High School drama in a more realistic and upfront way. If you think about, you cannot resolve every issue because isn’t that just how life rolls. And in friendship, it’s never going to be perfect.You say immature things, do immature actions, get resolve from the simplest things. In the end isn’t that how friendship works? This is why I never really saw Sakamichi at not resolving threads or characters being immature at times (and aren’t they supposed to be? They’re in high school).
Comparing it to Nodame is a far cry though since Nodame is more mature (and rightfully so since they’re in college) and its more musical (rightfully so because they’re in a music college).
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