IMHO. 'Sakamichi no Apollon' ~ moanin'

I hate coming-of-age stories with their first-love-first-heartbreak developments, their quarrel-and-make-up friendships that only last throughout the high school because, supposedly, adolescence is such a special kind of time in life.

Not only is 'Apollon' that kind of story, but it is also so generic in many aspects that you could make a whole list of cliches used in this anime without a smallest attempt at originality. This slope leading to the school that represents life... This jazz that represents freedom and happiness... This 'unbelievable' combi of a smarty pants and a musclehead...

And I can totally understand why viewers would hate the smarty pants who can't cope with his own emotions, why to many the heroine looks like nothing more than an object of rivalry without her own personality, why people would say Kanno's jazz in 'Apollon' is not the jazz they expected after 'Bebop'.

Many people would dislike this anime and give it a low rating. And if I try to be objective, they would be right in doing so.

Lucky them.

They probably never felt like lonely loosers, like Kaoru. Never had to betray their family's expectations like Yurika. Never felt their lives crashing down when their friends grow apart, like Ritsuko.

And they never went through that acute pain of realising just how much their life lacks a friend like Sen. Or maybe, they just don't make a big deal of these things.

Looks like I do.