History Manga / SakamichiNoApollon

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_gk_unekids.png]]

''Sakamichi no Apollon'' [[note]]literally ''Apollo on the Slope'', although officially subtitled ''Kids on the Slope''[[/note]] is a {{manga}} series by Yuki Kodama.

Summer, 1966. Kaoru Nishimi (''Ryouhei Kimura'') constantly moves from town to town and school to school due to his father's job. Because of his [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation intelligence]], his wealthy background, and his nausea problems, Kaoru has been alienated by his classmates and is subsequently seen as an outcast. When Kaoru [[NewTransferStudent transfers]] to yet another school, this time in Sasebo on the island of Kyushu (not far from Nagasaki), he expects the same things to happen as they always do. However, this time his luck begins to change as he meets seeming {{delinquent}} Sentarou Kawabuki (''Yoshimasa Hosoya'') and pretty class president Ritsuko Mukae (''Creator/YuukaNanri''), and the [[ThreeAmigos trio]] begin bonding over {{jazz}} music.

The series won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga and has been adapted to an anime for the Spring2012Anime season, airing on the Creator/{{noitaminA}} block. The anime adaptation is notable for being directed by Creator/ShinichiroWatanabe and music composed by the acclaimed Music/YokoKanno, as well as being the debut of Creator/{{MAPPA}}.
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!!This series contains the following tropes:

* TwelveEpisodeAnime: Despite the fact that the manga is 50 chapters long.
* AdaptationDistillation: The anime leaves out many details, since there are just 12 episodes and the manga has 50 chapters.
* AnimationBump: The anime's musical sequences.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: Kaoru slaps Sentarou after he refuses to see Junichi before he leaves for good.
* BabiesEverAfter: By the end of the manga, [[spoiler: Junichi and Yurika have twins and Ritsuko is pregnant with Kaoru's child.]]
* BeachEpisode: Chapter 5/Episode 2. In the manga, they go to beach a few more times.
* BigEater: Sen.
* BigBrotherMentor: Junichi.
* BlindWithoutEm: Averted. Kaoru frequently takes off his glasses, usually to impress Ritsuko. One ImpairmentShot shows that he's a bit myopic, but can see well enough to get around.
* BrattyHalfPint: Kaoru's cousin Mariko, who asks Kaoru to play the piano in the morning, only to blame him and get him in trouble when his aunt catches him.
* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Junichi for Sentarou]], as of Episode 8.
* ButtMonkey: Maruo.
* CallBack: When Kaoru leaves his mother, he leaves her with a jazz record to memorize so that they could perform it together when they met again. In one of the last few chapters of the manga, she started singing the song. She also mentioned before that she couldn't read or write, and one of her customers had been teaching her. Ritsuko, who had been revealed to be a former piano player, plays it while Sentarou's brother plays the drums.
* CampStraight: Seiji Matsuoka. His flamboyant gestures even creeps Sentaro out.
* ChildhoodFriends: Sentarou and Ritsuko.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Ritsuko has unrequited feelings for Sentarou.]]
* CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with [[spoiler: Sen, who has decided to become a priest.]]
* ComingOfAgeStory
* ConspicuousCG: Kaoru's thrown umbrella and piano-playing hands.
* CreepyCoolCrosses: Sentarou wears a rosary around his neck. Kaoru is surprised by this, and Ritsuko mentions that it's uncommon, but the priest allows only Sentarou to do this. Sentarou quickly ends the conversation, and for a second Kaoru senses there was a different atmosphere.
* CruelToBeKind: Kaoru, who keeps telling Sentarou that going after Yurika is a waste of time and hurts his feelings when he says that Yurika wouldn't like someone of such low social standing, which makes him realize that he went too far that time and he apologizes. He was just trying to keep Sentarou from getting hurt [[spoiler: because Yurika was in love with Junichi.]]
* CryIntoChest: Sentarou cries into Kaoru's chest when they meet at [[spoiler: the hospital after the motorbike accident,]] so they do not have to see each other cry.
* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: The anime doesn't explain, but the manga reveals that Kaoru's mother didn't want to leave him. [[spoiler: Kaoru's father's family treated his mother horribly because she was poor, while they were rich, while the dad just told her to suck it up. Since Kaoru's father was always away on business, their relationship suffered and she tried to leave with Kaoru. She realized she couldn't take him, since she thought she couldn't offer him a good life, and let the father's family take him in.]] She also couldn't read or write, so she couldn't even write letters.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Sentarou.
* {{Delinquent}}: Sentarou comes off as this and doesn't really help his case when he ends up in fights. Ritsuko remarks that as a second year student, he fought a lot less frequently, presumably because of Kaoru's influence.
* DoggedNiceGuy: Kaoru towards Ritsuko, and Sentarou towards Yurika.
* FaceOfAThug: Sentarou.
* TheFaceless: The eyes of Yurika's parents are never shown.
* FastForwardToReunion: [[spoiler: The last episode of the anime skips over eight years to show Ritsuko, Sentarou, and Kaoru reuniting.]] The manga is a bit different in that [[spoiler: it actually shows Kaoru in college and him visiting his mother regularly, as she lives close by, and meeting up again with Junichi, Kaoru, and Ritsuko.]]
* FirstNameBasis: Sentarou and Ritsuko call each other by their first names and are familiar with each other because they are {{childhood friends}}. Ritsuko offers Kaoru to call them by their first names as well.
* FreudianExcuse: When Kaoru throws a massive fit at the beach, after finding out Sentarou was going to work with Seiji's band. At first it seems unnecessary and immature, and Kaoru admits that, but then we are shown flashbacks of his childhood with other kids saying they want to spend less time together for a while, and end up not being friends with him anymore. He thinks Sentarou is doing the same thing, and Kaoru tries to end the friendship before he gets hurt.
* GenkiGirl: Ritsuko.
* GirlishPigtails: Ritsuko.
* GratuitousEnglish: Sentarou's rock band at the culture festival is named "The Olympus". There's a brief dispute over whether to adapt "the" as "''ji''" or "''za''" (which imitate either pronunciation of "the").
* GreenEyedMonster:
** [[spoiler:Ritsuko shows signs of this when she notices how close Sentarou is to Yurika.]]
** [[spoiler:Kaoru is jealous of Sentarou for being the object of Ritsuko's affections, as well as for having a loving family. This changes once Kaoru learns about Sentarou's DarkAndTroubledPast.]]
* HairDecorations: Ritsuko.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Kaoru and Sentarou.
* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Jazz song titles
* ImaginaryLoveTriangle:
** By the end of the first volume, Kaoru, who has feelings for Ritsuko, questions the nature of Sentarou's and Ritsuko's childhood friendship and suspects that there might be something between them or that one might like the other. He eventually comes to the conclusion that he just was over-thinking things [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope until it's made apparent]] that Ritsuko does have feelings for Sentarou.]]
** Ritsuko comes to the conclusion that Kaoru's fall out with Sentarou was because Kaoru has feelings for Yurika too (as it is mistakenly believed that Kaoru was the one who invited Yurika to their group outing and Kaoru's fight with Sentarou concerned Yurika's handkerchief). In reality, [[spoiler: Kaoru was provoked by Sentarou's happiness over receiving Yurika's handkerchief because Sentarou is blissfully unaware that his crush on Yurika is secretly causing Ritsuko (who has a crush on Sentarou) pain.]]
* ImportantHaircut:
** Sentaro has one in the flashback, shortly after he gets into his first fistfight over being only half-Japanese.
** Yurika cuts her hair in front of Junichi, in an attempt to stop being TheOjou.
** When he leaves, Junichi is considering letting [[spoiler: Yurika]] cut his hair, which had gotten longer.
* InSeriesNickname: Ritsuko is referred to by Kaoru as "Ricchan" and by Sentarou as "Rikko," and Sentarou refers to Kaoru as "Bon" (short for "Bonbon-dono"), which is the Kansai dialect for a green or naive man from a well-to-do family. Both official subs naturally adapt this to "Richie".
* IndirectKiss: In Chapter 5/Episode 2, Sentarou asks Kaoru for a bite of the latter's ice cream. Kaoru declines, so Ritsuko offers hers; Kaoru, realizing that that would be an indirect kiss, hastily offers his ice cream instead.
** Yurika and Junichi, when he takes a cigarette from her mouth and starts smoking it.
* InSeriesNickname:
** Ritsuko is referred to as "Ricchan" and "Rikko" by Kaoru and Sentarou, respectively.
** Sentarou calls Kaoru "Bon", who calls him "Sen".
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: One of the factors that alienates Kaoru from his classmates. When he recites a passage in fluent English, one of his classmates mutters disdainfully that he's showing off.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler: Kaoru who keeps trying to push Ritsuko and Sentarou together. Sentarou sees that there is something between them and tries to push Kaoru and Ritsuko together.]]
* UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian: Sentarou and Ritsuko, to Kaoru's surprise. [[spoiler: Sentarou trains to be a priest at the end.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: A guy that Ritsuko goes to school with who [[HopelessSuitor likes her]] but doesn't realize she's still in love with [[spoiler: Kaoru]], who calls her while the guy is in her room. The guy picks up the phone and tells him not to call her again. Later, while Ritsuko is hanging out with Sentarou's brother, the guy doesn't take no for an answer and grabs Ritsuko, who almost goes with him because she doesn't want the kid to get hurt.
* {{Jazz}}: What the series revolves around.
* {{Josei}}
* LastNameBasis: You can tell Kaoru's really in a rough patch when he reflexively reverts to "Mukae-san" to declare "SheIsNotMyGirlfriend".
* LonelyRichKid: Kaoru's family isn't very loving, his father seems to be the only one who cares for him, but he is always away on business. His father's side of the family is more concerned about keeping up appearances, which is why they push him to be a physician.
* LoveDodecahedron: [[spoiler:Kaoru has a crush on Ritsuko, who has feelings for Sentarou (but [[SecondLove eventually develops feelings]] for Kaoru), who is in love with Yurika, who is more interested in Junichi.]]
* LoveHurts: [[spoiler: Any of the main romances in the Love Dodecahedron mentioned above can qualify as this, though chief among them must go to Sentarou seeing as he didn't get the girl in the end.]]
* LuminescentBlush: Kaoru towards Ritsuko; Sentarou towards Yurika.
* MeaningfulEcho: Kaoru is the one that tells Sentarou that since he loves children so much, he will be "surrounded by children" (as in having a [[MassiveNumberedSiblings large family)]]. He remembers this at the end when [[spoiler: he is surrounded by the children of the church where he is a priest in training.]]
* MeaningfulName: In the anime, Yurika qualifies for this trope [[spoiler:because her name phonetically sounds like "Eureka!", and she is the reason Kaoru, Sentaro, and Ritsuko ''find'' each other in the end.]]
* MeetCute:
** Kaoru/Ritsuko. Kaoru is staving off his nausea, but seeing her makes it miraculously go away.
** Kaoru/Sentarou. Kaoru removes a sheet from some chairs to find a sleeping Sentarou by accident, who, still half-asleep, [[HomoeroticSubtext takes Kaoru's hand and tenderly says, "So you finally came for me?"]]
** Sentarou/Yurika. Sentarou [[RescueRomance rescues]] Yurika from boys who were harassing her.
* {{Megane}}: Kaoru.
* MissingMom:
** Kaoru's mother lives in a different area and he hardly see her.
** Sentarou's mother died when he was very young.
* MoodWhiplash: When Sentarou buries his face in Kaoru's shoulder and appears to be crying, Kaoru tells him to cry as much as he needs to and tells him that when he was rejected he cried for three days. Then Sentarou starts laughing and says three days is a bit much, even for a girl.
* MythicalMotifs: See title. Yurika uses Sentarou as a model for Apollo in a painting. The story's AllLoveIsUnrequited plot is also compared to the tale of Apollo and Daphne. Additionally, Sentarou joins a temporary rock band called the Olympus for the culture festival in second year.
* NewTransferStudent: Kaoru frequently transfers schools due to his father's job.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Kaoru's attempt to help Sentarou get closer to Yurika results in [[spoiler: a heartbroken Ritsuko, who has a crush on Sentarou.]]
* NotWhatItLooksLike: Kaoru walks in on what appears to be an intimate moment between Yurika and a mostly naked Sentarou in the art room. He assumes that they are going to have sex and runs off. [[spoiler: When Kaoru questions about it later, Sentarou reveals that he was just modeling for Yurika's oil painting.]]
* OddCouple: Sentarou and Kaoru.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: Sentarou's rosary beads that were from [[spoiler: the woman believed to be]] his mother.
* ParentalAbandonment:
** Kaoru's father is usually away because of his job on a ship, and Kaoru's mother left him at a young age.
** [[spoiler: Sentarou's parents. He is actually a DoorstopBaby who lived at the church until he was three years old.]]
* PrecociousCrush: One of Sentarou's brothers has a crush on Ritsuko.
* RaceForYourLove:
** Happens a few times, though on trains instead of airplanes. With [[spoiler: Jun and Yurika]], he ends up taking her with him. Later, in one of the "bonus tracks", he ends up returning the favor when she decides to move out.
** Also happens with [[spoiler: Kaoru and Ritsuko]], when he is going to Tokyo.
* RealPlaceBackground: Even though the show takes place in the 60s, many current Sasebo locales can be still be recognized. The most notable examples are the high school (on top of the eponymous slope), the Miuracho Catholic Church and Meganeiwa.
* RedOniBlueOni: Sentarou and Kaoru.
* TheyDo: [[spoiler: Kaoru/Ritsuko]] in the manga. In the anime they get a MaybeEverAfter.
* RedStringOfFate: The anime's ending theme is about unrequited love, which is probably why the sequence extrensively uses imagery of a [[InvertedTrope blue string]].
* RichBitch: Kaoru's aunt.
* RuleOfSymbolism: In the manga when Seiji sees Yurika's painting of Sentarou he interprets it as being symbolic of Apollo, who is crying over his unrequited love for Daphne. InUniverse, it [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic wasn't meant to be symbolic]] as Yurika had accidentally dropped paint near the eye so that it looked like a tear, although it did happen when Kaoru told her [[spoiler: Jun]] may have been staying over at a girl's house, so it's something akin to a FreudianSlip. It does, however, symbolize Sentarou's unrequited love.
* SceneryPorn: In the anime.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Kaoru and Sentarou.
* ShipperOnDeck: Several girls in Kaoru and Ritsuko's second year class try to push them toward each other. So does Sentarou, who forces her to visit Kaoru when he is sick and hides while they are on the beach so that
* ShoutOut: Sentarou's bird is named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Vaughan Sarah Vaughan]]. Yurika named her cat Chet, after Chet Baker, after finding out [[spoiler: Junichi]] is a fan of his music.
* SliceOfLife
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: In episode 4, the drunk American speaks English very well, and at a reasonable speed. In the same episode Junichi's singing is also very well done.
* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Kaoru starts off with classical piano training but Sentarou slates his rendition of "Moanin'" as lacking "swing." Later while performing at a piano bar, he becomes bored and wishes to have someone to jam with. [[spoiler: He gets his wish when Junichi shows up.]]
* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: Yurika is offended when Jun calls her {{Ojou}}-[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics Sama]].
* ThreeAmigos: Kaoru, Sentarou, and Ritsuko.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Sentarou loves watermelon.
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Again, Kaoru, Sentarou and Ritsuko.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: The series becomes even more interesting if you know a bit of {{Jazz}} history, as a few of the characters are most likely inspired by famous musicians.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Sentarou and Kaoru have a more downplayed version of this dynamic. Ritsuko also compares their improv performance at the culture festival to this trope.
* WeddingDay: [[spoiler: Sentarou's sister gets married on the island.]]
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The series won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga and has been adapted to an anime for the Spring2012Anime season, airing on the {{noitaminA}} block. The anime adaptation is notable for being directed by Creator/ShinichiroWatanabe and music composed by the acclaimed Music/YokoKanno, as well as being the debut of Creator/{{MAPPA}}.

* CampStraight: Seiji Matsuoka. His flamboyant estures even creeps Sentaro out.

* CampStraight: Seiji Matsuoka.

* FastForwardToReunion: [[spoiler: The last episode of the anime [[spoiler: skips over eight years to show Ritsuko, Sentarou, and Kaoru reuniting.]] The manga is a bit different in that [[spoiler: it actually shows Kaoru in college and him visiting his mother regularly, as she lives close by, and meeting up again with Junichi, Kaoru, and Ritsuko.]]

* CampStraight: Matsuoka Seiji.

The series won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga and has been adapted to an anime for the Spring2012Anime season, airing on the {{noitaminA}} block. The anime adaptation is notable for being directed by ShinichiroWatanabe and music composed by the acclaimed Music/YokoKanno, as well as being the debut of Creator/{{MAPPA}}.

* ImportantHaircut: Sentaro has one in the flashback, shortly after he gets into his first fistfight over being only half-Japanese.

* InSeriesNickname: Ritsuko is referred to as Ricchan and Rikko by Kaoru and Sentarou, respectively.
** Sentarou calls Kaoru Bon, who calls him Sen.

* MissingMom: Kaoru and Sentarou

* ParentalAbandonment: Kaoru's father is usually away because of his job on a ship, and Kaoru's mother left him at a young age.

* RaceForYourLove: Happens a few times, though on trains instead of airplanes. With [[spoiler: Jun and Yurika]], he ends up taking her with him. Later, in one of the "bonus tracks", he ends up returning the favor when she decides to move out.

** TechnicianVersusPerformer: Kaoru starts off with classical piano training but Sentarou slates his rendition of "Moanin'" as lacking "swing." Later while performing at a piano bar, he becomes bored and wishes to have someone to jam with. [[spoiler: He gets his wish when Junichi shows up.]]

* SceneryPorn: In the Anime.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Kaoru and Sentarou

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: In episode 4, the drunk American speaks English very well, and at a reasonable speed.
** In the same episode Junichi's singing is also very well done.

** TwoGuysAndAGirl

* TwelveEpisodeAnime: Despite the fact that the manga is 50 chapters long.

* JapaneseChristian: Sentarou and Ritsuko, to Kaoru's surprise. [[spoiler: Sentarou trains to be a priest at the end.]]

** ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Ritsuko has unrequited feelings for Sentarou.]]

* FastForwardToReunion]]: [[spoiler: The last episode of the anime [[spoiler: skips over eight years to show Ritsuko, Sentarou, and Kaoru reuniting.]] The manga is a bit different in that [[spoiler: it actually shows Kaoru in college and him visiting his mother regularly, as she lives close by, and meeting up again with Junichi, Kaoru, and Ritsuko.]]

The series won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga and has been adapted to an anime for the Spring2012Anime season, airing on the {{noitaminA}} block. The anime adaptation is notable for being directed by ShinichiroWatanabe and music composed by the acclaimed YokoKanno, as well as being the debut of Creator/{{MAPPA}}.

* [[spoiler: BabiesEverAfter:]] By the end of the manga, [[spoiler: Junichi and Yurika have twins and Ritsuko is pregnant with Kaoru's child.]]

** [[spoiler:ChildhoodFriendRomance: Ritsuko has unrequited feelings for Sentarou.]]

* [[spoiler: FastForwardToReunion]]: The last episode of the anime [[spoiler: skips over eight years to show Ritsuko, Sentarou, and Kaoru reuniting.]] The manga is a bit different in that [[spoiler: it actually shows Kaoru in college and him visiting his mother regularly, as she lives close by, and meeting up again with Junichi, Kaoru, and Ritsuko.]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SakaApo_388.jpg]]

!This series contains the following tropes:

* [[spoiler: WeddingDay: Sentarou's sister gets married on the island.]]

* BonusEpisode: There are 5 "bonus tracks" at the end, to make 50 total chapters.

* [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou Mommy Had A Good Reason For Abandoning You]]: The anime doesn't explain, but the manga reveals that Kaoru's mother didn't want to leave him. [[spoiler: Kaoru's father's family treated his mother horribly because she was poor, while they were rich, while the dad just told her to suck it up. Since Kaoru's father was always away on business, their relationship suffered and she tried to leave with Kaoru. She realized she couldn't take him, since she thought she couldn't offer him a good life, and let the father's family take him in.]] She also couldn't read or write, so she couldn't even write letters.

Summer, 1966. Kaoru Nishimi (''Ryouhei Kimura'') constantly moves from town to town and school to school due to his father's job. Because of his [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation intelligence]], his wealthy background, and his nausea problems, Kaoru has been alienated by his classmates and is subsequently seen as an outcast. When Kaoru [[NewTransferStudent transfers]] to yet another school, this time in Kyushu, he expects the same things to happen as they always do. However, this time his luck begins to change as he meets seeming {{delinquent}} Sentarou Kawabuki (''Yoshimasa Hosoya'') and pretty class president Ritsuko Mukae (''Creator/YuukaNanri''), and the [[ThreeAmigos trio]] begin bonding over {{jazz}} music.