Kids on the Slope Episode 11 Review

Oh, there’s another episode of Kids on the Slope coming your way next week. Look forward to it! Anyway, getting right down the episode 11…

I thought this was going to wrap it all up nicely with a little bow and just let it be and I kind of would have hated it for that. I believe now, and will likely believe at the end of the series, that both Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are above and beyond this show by a long stretch. I blame that on two things: 1. It’s adapted from a manga and has constraints that Watanabe didn’t have with Bebop or Champloo and 2. It’s much shorter than Bebop and Champloo. It isn’t given enough time when it definitely does have the time to slow itself down and fill up some of the gaps in time that it skips due to episode constraints.

I loved the move of Sentaro running away. I thought he had some bad motivations for it, but his father coming home means that he should at least get out of his house, which he tried. But Kaoru came along and everything seemed peachy and keen and I started to dislike the direction the series was taking because of it. Then Sentaro crashed into a car with his motorbike thing with Sachiko on the back (this is not seen when Sentaro is riding on it). I expected the obvious of Sentaro getting hurt and not being able to play in the festival. In a twist, Sachiko gets hurt and might not wake up. That storyline was quickly wrapped as she woke up and Sentaro ran away again. I like that he ran away again, as he got the proper reconciliation with his father. But I dislike that Sachiko immediately woke up and got better. Take your time Shinichiro Watanabe. You are Shinichiro Watanabe and you have that right.

I would have loved to see the battle between Beatles-boy and the impromptu jazz band, but alas. Other events take priority. I can’t say I completely like the direction the show took with this latest episode, but I can’t say I completely hate it either. It’s certainly not up to Shinichiro Watanabe’s usual very high standard, but it makes itself stand out among the rest (except Space Brothers) of the shows this season.