Kids on the Slope

Kids on the Slope
Final volume cover, featuring (from top) Sentarō Kawabuchi, Kaoru Nishimi, and Ritsuko Mukae
坂道のアポロン
(Sakamichi no Aporon)
Genre
Manga
Written byYuki Kodama
Published byShogakukan
ImprintFlower Comics Alpha
MagazineMonthly Flowers
DemographicJosei
Original run28 September 200728 July 2012
Volumes10
Anime television series
Directed byShinichirō Watanabe
Produced by
  • Noriko Ozaki
  • Daisuke Konaka
Written by
  • Ayako Katō
  • Yūko Kakihara
Music byYoko Kanno
Studio
Licensed by
Original networkFuji TV (Noitamina)
English network
Original run 12 April 2012 28 June 2012
Episodes12 (List of episodes)
Live-action film
Directed byTakahiro Miki
Written byIzumi Takahashi [ja]
Music bySuzuki Masato
Studio
Released10 March 2018 (2018-03-10)
Runtime120 minutes

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 serialized in the manga magazine Monthly Flowers from 2007 to 2012, and was published as ten tankōbon volumes (collected editions) by Shogakukan. 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.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ANN1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Kids on the Slope". Sentai Filmworks. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.