It's pretty good but I don't think it's that amazing. Personally I'd rate it something like an 8. Sans the jazz, it would have been 7.

I'm not giving it like a really high score mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of coming of age stories, and this one didn't really change that opinion. The point of the whole genre (as far as I can tell) is to tell a story about a kid with a strong yet premature opinion about life go through experiences that will leave him better than what he was. Now seeing as how I prefer stories about characters over stories about a setting/era/idea/etc, I should theoretically like coming of age stories. The thing though is that coming of age stories, from the introduction to the climax, are centered around unlikable shitheads. Richie not being an exception. Richie isn't an unlikable shithead for stealing a kiss before getting an answer or for thinking after being rejected that Ritsuko still likes Sen. The former I'd say is a pretty hilarious mistake that a kid would do, and the latter is actually pretty reasonable. He's really just such a temperamental bitch, though. While the rest of the cast are actually endearing, I still blame them for not addressing the main issue of Richie being a cunt and instead just alleviating the symptoms by doing jam sessions.

I'm not saying the genre is shit or the concept is flawed, I just don't like it.

Another thing I didn't like about it was the ending. The three were about to perform together when Sen and his sister got in an accident, and because of which Sen decides to just up and leave. Why would you set up a scene where the three were about to perform, make a reason for this to not happen, and then and not do it eventually in some manner. Shit they could all have found each other in the church and they all did the song together there.

But what I really don't like about it is that there's a time-skip before any meaningful development among the characters. Richie reverted back to being a pussy, Ritsuko didn't actually become a go-getter, and Sen just did something uncharacteristic that doesn't make sense. Sen left his rosary, which I interpret as him getting over his belief that the world will abandon him if he lets go of it . That would have been symbolic and great. Sen became a priest, which could be interpreted as him staying true to his word about wanting God to take his life instead of his sisters. That would have also been symbolic and great. Both of these are, however, eclipsed by the fact that he left for absolutely no reason and without explanation. He wasn't an alien in his own house anymore, so what the fuck, dude. It felt like a way to avoid addressing the romantic relations of Ritsuko and Richie. Like, the author absolutely did not want them to get together, but neither of the characters can reject the other because they both felt the same way, so instead he just got Richie to be an asshole again and that would be that. Did that particular love affair break off from what is usually expected of a romance? Absolutely. Did they execute it well? That's where my opinion differs.

I would have liked it better of they all changed for the better or for the worse right after the incident. Instead they just, again, ended up not talking and their story together just kind of stopped. It wasn't even bittersweet or anything. I just sat here feeling nothing as Richie's train left. Then there's a time-skip to when they became adults, which I don't even know why. They meet each other again, and once again, there's no resolution. They don't talk about what happened, they don't try to apologize, they, once again, had a jam session that, again, left me feeling out of the loop like a mere irrelevant spectator instead of an audience. An anime that I think did this type of ending well is 5/cm, because .

What I really like about it though is that the other love stories other than Richie's and Ritsuko's are well done. Sen's chick ending up with Jun was pretty refreshing. Ritsuko not holding on to a love that began since childhood made me say "good for you." Sen ending up with nobody and becoming a priest was a pretty fun end point for his character (even though I think it was poorly executed).

No need to say it but still the music was dope. I don't know why the OP and ED aren't jazz, but I haven't watched either of those completely so this one's not a real complaint from me.


Also, Raptor if you're reading this (if you're not then nobody's ever going to, I think) isn't it kinda funny that you like this story but multiple times it reminded me of Clannad (the slope to school), Toradora (falling in love with someone you rejected), and all of which you hate/don't like that much?