Sakamichi no Apollon Final Episode

Well, another show ends. As far as endings go, that wasn’t particularly a bad one. Everyone brought back together with music and friendships last forever…the usual stuff. It felt a little weak to me, though. Sentarou ran off, then suddenly resurfaces. The fact that no words had to be said when the two re-united was cool, but it just felt like everyone was running away from each other. It’s normal for friends to drift apart, but it felt like everyone had to get away from everyone else.

Nonetheless, I can’t deny that it was entertaining to cover this series. Drama gets a little high at points, but perfectly fine for romance stories. Glad that I called Yurika/Jun coming back into play later and that I called Kaoru leaving Ritsuko. I’m getting better. Anyway, I’ll review the series as a whole later!

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 11

Well, that’s quite the development. Like I said last week, it has to be something pretty big to force Kaoru’s confession to come out so quickly. I was shocked that Kaoru was able to stop Sentarou from leaving before his father showed up, which blindsided me so that I wouldn’t expect the motorcycle accident. Just wishful thinking to hope that the festival could go off without a hitch, I suppose.

It’s an interesting turn of events, but what happens now? I mean, of course Kaoru has to go searching for Sentarou, but where could he be? I wonder if Jun and Yurika will come back into play when he does go looking. It still feels weird that their story just kinda ended and they disappeared into the sunset. That scene with Ritsuko has me a little worried. When Kaoru says that he won’t leave her, does that foreshadow a situation where he won’t be able to go back after finding Sentarou? Or am I worrying too much?

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 10

Big confession that actually was successful, I guess. I wasn’t expecting it quite yet, but it wasn’t bad. At least Kaoru didn’t drag it out too long like most protagonists. I also think it’s hilarious that there was a time skip where he didn’t make any progress with Ritsuko after that almost kiss. Oh the lols…

But now that the confession is out, I wonder about this last bit with Sentarou. If it’s so important that they had to squeeze out the confession first, what could it possibly be? Some big conflict with his father? If he’s being doomed to becoming the third wheel in the group, I hope that the last few episodes give him some sort of satisfaction (surprise love?).

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 9

Huh…not bad…pretty much called everything with Yurika and Jun running off together (although not quite as simple as I expected). I wonder if their story is over or if they’ll be back in some way. Ritsuko falling for Kaoru again at the point where he is trying to push her towards Sentarou was pretty predictable too.

Kaoru and Ritsuko ending looks pretty imminent, especially after Ritsuko rejected Sentarou. It’s not like they’d try to reverse it again…….right? This is looking good…I’d have hated the triple friend zone ending I mentioned before. Still, it looks like they have to work out some drama first, so we’ll see how that ends up. The mittens signal the start.

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 8

A lot of stuff about Jun this week…political activism and whatnot. Also an explanation for his state of depression. Still…I’m just gonna put money on him eloping with Yurika (because her parents disapprove), and move on to another topic. Sentarou finally finds out that Yurika is out of his reach, and with some hints from Kaoru, he figures out that Ritsuko has feelings for him.

Honestly, I’d prefer he didn’t try to act on anything, because it almost makes me feel like he’s settling on Ritsuko after being heartbroken…kinda lame. Or maybe I would just prefer Ritsuko with Kaoru. Yeesh…it seemed to get clearer this week which one Ritsuko would choose, but it just keeps getting murky. For now, I guess I’ll stick with the triple friend zone ending.

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 7

And the band’s back together again! Was a bit worried about that bit with Kaoru overhearing Sentarou’s conversation. Personally, I wouldn’t have accepted Sentarou’s empathy for Matsuoka to be enough to reconcile things…but then he said the bit about only planning to play for that one gig, so it was all good.

As for the end of last week’s episode, I guess it really was Jun, who seems to be suffering some troubles (girl problems?). I see two possibilities for why Sentarou punched Jun. The first one, which is a bit obvious, is that he is disappointed at seeing someone he admired fall so hard. The second, which is a bit more interesting, is that he realized that Yurika had feelings for him from her behavior and he is pissed that Jun disappointed her.

One final thing to talk about…I’m curious about why the students all gathered when Sentarou and Kaoru were playing. My theories: first off, it could be a cultural thing. Maybe at the time jazz had a reason to be more interesting. Maybe rock band style was too ahead of its time (the upperclassmen teasing suggests this)? Or maybe it was too overdone (I feel like that would be more modern, though). I don’t know the times, so I can’t be sure.

Another theory is the two of them…Kaoru’s typically silent and Sentarou is seen as a delinquent…so when the two of them perform together, everyone gets interested. I see this as slightly more likely. Final theory is simply that they were playing a better song…but that’s the least likely explanation. Anyways…let me know what your take is on all of this. I’m kinda expecting a closer look at Jun’s problems next week…we’ll see what’s up.

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 6

Oh no…things are getting serious. Though it didn’t actually come from the love polygon (mostly). Instead, the problems arrive in the form of Matsuoka Seiji, a friend of Yurika’s in the Art Club. Seiji is interested in starting a more boy band type of group and tries to recruit Sentarou as a drummer, which he eventually agrees to do.

While it might seem like an overreaction and a bit much of teen angst, I have to side with Kaoru when he runs off. He’s not used to people and he’s been in a situation like this, so it’s only natural for him to freak out. Plus, he was putting so much effort into helping Sentarou be with Ritsuko and protecting him from Yurika, and Matsuoka seemed to work against that.

All of those Sound of Music references were giving me chills…I’ve seen that movie like 10 times from band class in middle school…the horrors. Still, it worked out as a way for Ritsuko to get Kaoru to understand how she feels for Sentarou. I’m not completely sure what happens at the end of the episode. Was it Jun that the shopkeeper saw at the bar? Was he depressed about whoever he was staying with when Kaoru and Sentarou went to see him? If so, it could set the stage for his romance with Yurika. We’ll have to wait and see.

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 5

Well, Kaoru’s love thing sure ended quickly. This week’s episode starts off with rejection, then ends with acceptance. I’m kinda glad, though, that they didn’t decide to drag on the confession thing with Ritsuko, but I’m really lost as to where it will go. Will Ritsuko be free now to pursue an ending with Sentarou? Or will Kaoru somehow find a way to get back in the equation? Yurika hopping off with Jun looks like a pretty certain thing, so it’s up to the main three…someone gets left out or they all get friend zoned.

To be honest, I was a bit worried Kaoru might do the Tetsurou thing from Ano Natsu and just tell Sentarou how Ritsuko feels about him to force something to happen. Although it’s still possible, I don’t really see Kaoru as being that kind of person…or is he? I thought the bit with Kaoru’s mother was pretty nice…I was expecting something weird, but she turns out to be pretty normal. Also, it was a step away from the normal tearful reunions where they run into each others’ arms. I definitely look forward to seeing more of this show…it’s pretty interesting.

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 4

More love polygon action going on this week. Yeesh…there’s a lot of teen drama. Okay…where to start? Like a boss, Kaoru kisses Ritsuko, but she ends up running off. Poor guy…At least he gets a better understanding of Sentarou, who turns out to be just as uncomfortable at home as Kaoru is (bromance engage?). Meanwhile, Jun goes to work too, stealing Yurika’s affections with his calm problem-solving and maturity.

Based on what I’ve seen so far, it’s starting to look more likely that Sentarou ends up with Ritsuko or something. Yurika’s not central enough of a character…I find it likely that she’ll be with Jun in the end…especially after seeing how much more innocent that scene with Sentarou was than what Kaoru first thought.

Of course, another option is that Sentarou, Kaoru, and Ritsuko just have their trio of friends ending…that could work. Another part of the episode was that the jazz becomes a tad more central…with the first gig and everything. We finally get to hear them play…I mean like really play. The random English made sense…and it didn’t actually sound too slurred. Even when Jun was saying/singing it. So the romances becoming slightly more clear and the music coming out more…wonder what happens next.

Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 3

The complications begin this week. Ritsuko becomes jealous of the new girl Yurika Fukahori for the attention she gets from Sentaro, showing that she truly does have a crush on him. Poor Kaoru tries to help her, but his efforts are misinterpreted as an interest in Yurika himself. But he finally gains the courage to admit to Ritsuko that she is the one he truly likes. Early confessions like this are always problematic. Even if Ritsuko accepts (which is unlikely because she likes Sentaro), there will always be something that gets in the way because there’s still so much of the show left.

I’m just guessing she turns him down and maybe later falls in love with him, but his affections are elsewhere and the drama will commence from there. Then again, we can’t assume that Sentaro’s love is so simple either. It may very well be the case that he realizes that he actually likes Ritsuko and he dumps Yurika or something. Or we could go the Occam’s Razor route and just say that Ritsuko ends up with Kaoru and Sentaro ends up with Yurika…we’ll just have to see. I look forward to seeing where this goes. I also think that the pigeon (Sarah) should do something epic…just because…it would be awesome?