Kids on the Slope (2012)

"A painting is created on a space, while jazz is created during a time called a performance. It's like etching your living self into that place in time."

I'm back with another contender for my Definitive Top 100 Anime of All Time List - Kids on the Slope.

A gorgeous 12 episode anime directed by Watanabe and animated by Mappa studio (it was actually Mappa's FIRST production!) though not either of their usual approaches to storytelling - a soft, poignant coming of age story of a group of kids becoming obsessed with jazz music. This marks an even more interesting departure from Watanabe's usual storytelling, as this was also his first directorial role SINCE concluding Samurai Champloo in 2005.

Watanabe has always had a large focus on music in his projects, though up to this point it was always an immersive soundtrack to highlight beats and choreography. In this anime, it's wholeheartedly the focus - not only is it about kids playing Jazz, Jazz as a genre is used as a vehicle for the themes as the main character, ordinarily a quiet, sheltered, reserved kid, gradually learns to come out of his shell and live more freely.

Something fantastic to note about the production of this anime is that Watanabe initially was pressured to use CGI for the music performances to cut down on time and costs, but Watanabe pushed for hand drawn animation for all of it, using motion capture of real world musicians performing as reference for the animators.

Kids on the Slope is a beautifully realistic portrayal of all of the pains of growing up - From moving around a lot and losing friends, to living in poverty, to the loneliness of living with wealth, to unrequited love and awkward relationships, and even just the struggles of regular friendships and jealousy. With the beautiful dialogue, wonderful animation provided by Mappa, and the great direction by Watanabe, this anime has all the makings of Top 100 Contender.

My Current MAL Rating: 9/10

Top 100 Contender: Yes

Top 100 Ranking (Temporary): 11/100