Martin-Sensei’s Guide to Jazz: Sakamichi no Apollon Episode 12 [FINAL]

June 30, 2012 in Currently Blogging Anime, Sakamichi no Apollon/Kids on the Slope

I know long hair was a thing in the seventies, but I wish he kept it short.

What a wonderful end to a wonderful series.
To any of you people who have not read my notice earlier, I urge you guys two read the last volume of the manga, especially if you really enjoyed this series. The last volume includes lots of details on everyone’s life after high school. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It left me feeling warm and fuzzy all over after reading!
Here’s hoping for an OVA! :)
Ghosty: So Martin”I don’t wanna read the manga”Man.
Ghosty: What did you think of this episode?
Martinman: This episode was definitely one of the better ones overall, and one of the best since the start of the series.
Martinman: I liked how they showed how many of the characters ended up.
Martinman: We got to see fangboy, trainboy, Yurika, Sentarou, and Ritsuko (sort of).

She wasn’t pregnant in the manga, but I guess this made up for not having Junichi in the episode.

Ghosty: I loved seeing Maruo working at the train station
Ghosty: Everyone is following their dreams, almost
Ghosty: Even Matsuoka, who looks more like a woman.
Martinman: That was gross.
Ghosty: “I even like jazz”
Ghosty: Shut the fuck up, Matsuoka!

CHOO CHOO MOTHERFUCKERS!

Matsuoka followed his dreams and got the surgery.

Ghosty: I was personally surprised at Kaoru and how he acted in Ritsuko’s bedroom.
Martinman: That was….0_0
Martinman: Granted, he’s taken it too far before, like with that first kiss, but I halfway thought he was going to rape her or something.
Ghosty: I’m sure he had no intentions of raping her or anything, but man, to say that about your best friend?
Ghosty: I’d even punch him if I was Sentarou.
Ghosty: Or Ritsuko, I guess.
Martinman: Or Ritsuko’s dad.
Ghosty: Haha.

Awww yeah!

WHOA. NUH-UH!

Ghosty: Speaking of dad, Tsutomu is the best character in this series.
Martinman: He’s pretty cool. Own a record shop, and doesn’t afraid of anything.
Ghosty: Plus, he’s not overprotective of his daughter like we initially thought.
Martinman: Thankfully for Kaoru. Or Kaoru would be a dead man.
Ghosty: Yup

He reminds me of my father, in a nice way! :))

Ghosty: Funny thing.
Ghosty: During the timeskip, I initially thought Kaoru was Junichi and I was like “Wow, he never got a fucking haircut.”
Martinman: LOL
Ghosty: Then they said “Nishimi” and I was like “OH CHRIST, GET A HAIRCUT”
Martinman: You have to realize that this was 1976.
Martinman: No one got haircuts.
Martinman: NO ONE.
Martinman: I have pictures of my dad from about this time.
Martinman: They are nightmarish.
Ghosty: True
Ghosty: and those who did, got bad women haircuts like Matsuoka.
Martinman: *pukes*
Ghosty: I have to say though, Ritsuko looked damn cute with a short haircut.
Martinman: It suited her.
Ghosty: In the manga, Kaoru comments on how she looks like Maria from the Sound of Music.
Ghosty: Which I thought was very sweet <3
Martinman: Yeah, she kind of does.
Ghosty: I was a little surprised with Sentarou’s future. At the same time, I thought it was perfect.
Martinman: Yeah…I’m curious as to what the requirements to be a priest were back then, as far as education goes.
Ghosty: I’m sure it doesn’t take much to become a priest, as long as your faith is strong, you’re a virgin, blah blah blah.
Ghosty: But what do I know about religion?
Martinman: I guess since this is an island out in the middle of nowhere, they’ll take who they can get.

HNNNNNNNNNGH!

Martinman: The nun in Operation Mindcrime wasn’t a virgin when she became a nun.
Martinman: Not that Queensryche is a good factual resource.
Ghosty: I’ve never seen that
Martinman: It’s a concept album.
Ghosty: oh
Ghosty: How did you like that Organ/Drum session?
Martinman: It was awesome.
Ghosty: I thought it was pretty funny
Martinman: The kids loved it.
Ghosty: too bad the priest didn’t.

PRAISE THE LORD! HALLELUJAH!

“Sentarou! What did I tell you about playing the devil’s music in the house of the Lord?”

This jam session was not initially part of the manga, but I felt that it more than made up for what they didn’t keep in the anime.
Martinman: So, the title of this episode was “All Blues”.
Martinman: Here’s the song.
Martinman: Best album of all time.
Ghosty: wow, that’s long
Martinman: Yes, but it is amazing.
Martinman: I remember my sophmore year of high school, I had to drop my mother off at work since her car was in the shop, and I got to school really early while it was still dark out. I sat in my van and listened to this album and realized that I loved jazz.
Ghosty: I like it!
Ghosty: That’s really cool!
Martinman: Kind of Blue, sort of like Dark Side of the Moon, is a great album to just sit and listen to with no lights on.
Ghosty: I’ll have to try that sometime <.<
Martinman: Turn you phone off, turn your facebook/AIM/Skype off, grab a glass of wine – or not – and just sit down, shut up, and LISTEN TO THE MUSIC.
Ghosty: :3

;O;
Ghosty: What would you rate this series overall?
Martinman: I gave it a 6.5/10.
Martinman: I was pretty disappointed overall.
Ghosty: I’m sorry.
Martinman: I was really wanting one of two things based on the first couple of episodes:
Martinman: a) A show where Sentarou kicks butt with awesome music playing to protect Richie, and then both of them play lots of jazz.
Martinman: or
Martinman: b) Jazz K-On, but with a major focus on the music. So basically, dudes chilling and playing jazz, and eventually playing a major festival or something.
Ghosty: Well, you kind of got b. Just with a lot of drama…
Martinman: WHY IS THERE DRAMA IN MAH JAZZ ANIME?
Ghosty: I guess a lot of people expected jazz to be the main point of this show.
Ghosty: Personally, I’d give it an 8.5/10
Ghosty: It certainly had a better ending than Fujiko Mine did, although if you put the manga into account, it had a GREAT ending.
Ghosty: Even without the manga ending, it does well on its own. The final volume was published earlier this year, so I’m sure Watanabe couldn’t fit everything major into the final episode.
Ghosty: Being a Noitamina show, it got special treatmeant along with Tsuritama by being given an extra episode. Obviously, another episode would be better, since we would be able to look at Kaoru’s life in University, meeting new people, making new friends, and more importantly, reuniting with his old friends.
Ghosty: I am glad they didn’t try to rush everything from the manga into the anime. The anime is great on its own, but the manga just makes the story even better.
Martinman: Cool.
Martinman: Are there any saxophones in the manga?
Martinman: Because there was a complete lack of them in the anime.
Ghosty: Yeah, actually!
Ghosty: Kaoru joins a jazz club at his university and one of them plays sax
Martinman: Nice.
Ghosty: Plus
Ghosty: You get to see Junichi again, and he and Kaoru jam together
Martinman: Cool.

Ghosty: So, if we’re lucky, we can get an OVA about Kaoru’s college life and you can see the manga ending, since you don’t wanna read it yourself :P
Martinman: Yeah.
Ghosty: Above all, I would rate this show to be my favorite of the season, along with Fujiko Mine and Space Brothers.
Martinman: My favorite of the season was Fate/Zero.
Ghosty: I’ve recently gained interest to watch that, but I’m not sure.
Martinman: Watch it.
Martinman: It’s freaking awesome.
Ghosty: Any other gripes you have with the show?
Martinman: Not really.
Martinman: The music wasn’t quite what I had hoped for. It was good, but it was freaking Yoko Kanno.
Ghosty: Yeah, I’ll admit it wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. I still enjoy it for the most part though.
And here we are at the end of our discussions. Martinman may have wanted more jazz, but I felt it did fine with the amount it had.
Thank you everyone for tuning into our discussions. If there is an OVA (and there better be one!) you can count on me to cover it. I’m sure Martinman will be willing to as well. :)
Episode 12 Eyecatches:

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