# Kids on the Slope (2012)

> A brooding transfer student and a rebellious drummer bond over jazz in early 1960s Kyushu.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/38870

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, drama, romance
- Network: Fuji TV
- Cast: Yuuka Nanri, Ryohei Kimura, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Aya Endo, Junichi Suwabe
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2341375/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: wistful, nostalgic, melancholic, gentle, bittersweet

## What critics say

Viewers broadly respond positively to the warm friendship and music-driven story, with audience ratings reflecting a well-liked but modestly rated single season.

## Synopsis

Kids on the Slope (2012) is a Japanese animated drama series created for Fuji TV, produced by MAPPA and Tezuka Productions. Across a single twelve-episode season of roughly twenty-four minutes each, it follows two students whose friendship forms through their love of music: an aloof, successful academic and a rebellious but kindhearted delinquent who discover jazz together. Their bond is the engine of the show, with each episode built around rehearsals, performances, and the pressures of school, family, and class that stand between them and their shared dream of playing music. The supporting cast includes Yuuka Nanri as Ritsuko Mukae, Ryohei Kimura as Kaoru Nishimi, and Yoshimasa Hosoya as Sentarou Kawabuchi, each adding a distinct rhythm to the story. Set in a school milieu of the early 1960s, the series has a gentle, nostalgic, wistful register, with an undercurrent of unspoken longing and quiet tragedy. Its jazz and classical soundtrack gives the drama a warm, melancholic pulse. Fans of Your Lie in April, Nodame Cantabile, and Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day will find resonance in its blend of youthful friendship, musical passion, and bittersweet coming of age.

## Shows like Kids on the Slope

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- [Just Because! (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/64431)
- [Honey and Clover (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/32576)
- [I Cannot Reach You (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/150888)
- [given (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74741)
- [Nodame Cantabile (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/41316)
- [Glass Heart (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/163228)
- [Sound! Euphonium (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55617)
- [Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/72918)

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