Sakamichi no Apollon

Just picked this up today , now being  past 4 in the morning i can say this is fricking good , it leaves me craving for more , the best way for me to read this is by listing to the  OST of the anime it makes the page come alive in my head.

I cried.

God, am I glad I hit "random."

Interesting little bittersweet paranormal stories.  The bug one was really weird.  Not that I didn't like it, I'm just saying.

Thank you for the bonus chapters, Lovely Strange Dark.

i cried so much...i read all of it in one night the whole night was full of tears and laughter at the end i was such a mess of emotions i wanted to have a friend by my side...i wanted to write again and i wanted to jump in there and hug sen and bon so much ...it was a really good story a really good manga i loved it so much

Ah, that incredible sad feeling of longing when you finish a good manga. Full of the melancholy of satisfaction.

And yet, when you see them all grown up, you realise it'll never go back to what is was. That is, until you read it, once again, from the start of course.

Splendid.

Which I just did.  Damn, this is good.

saw the anime. definitely going to read this.

I loved the anime's music, but the ending was just awful! So I read the manga! and I adore it! The ending is MUCH better...

Yeah, I see what you meant about the ending......it was almost like they ran out of time/room and had to quickie it.

Kind of a shame after being as true to the manga as they had been in the first 11 eps......then they got in a hurry, mashed an ending together, and dropped a pretty fundamental ball to the overall story in the process. 

Oh well, it really was a very good overall product though, even considering what they missed in the ending compared to the manga.

Spoiler

It's a worth-while read about friendship, except for it's mainly male friendship (and that's unusual! Mostly, you just get BL...). 

I loved the anime's music, but the ending was just awful! So I read the manga! and I adore it! The ending is MUCH better, and I think I like it better than the anime (the music is great and the animation is gorgeous). But you should probably watch the show....As a supplement to the manga? Naw, it's still lovely.

It's a fun, feel-good occasionally over-dramatic ride that leaves you smiling wistfully.

 

Oh, I didn't know it had an anime, I might just have to check that out, if only for the jazz.... this is one that comes to my mind every now and then with the thought of rereading. It really is an outstanding work.

It's a worth-while read about friendship, except for it's mainly male friendship (and that's unusual! Mostly, you just get BL...). 

I loved the anime's music, but the ending was just awful! So I read the manga! and I adore it! The ending is MUCH better, and I think I like it better than the anime (the music is great and the animation is gorgeous). But you should probably watch the show....As a supplement to the manga? Naw, it's still lovely.

It's a fun, feel-good occasionally over-dramatic ride that leaves you smiling wistfully.

OK, I'm an old geezer nearing sixty.  Younger folk now are far more divorced from the 1960's than I was from the 1920's when I was a teenager.  I don't personally remember a great deal about the sixties, other than how it affected me as a bratty kid.  While this may not be an "historical" manga, it is certainly a period piece.  It belongs up there with Studio Ghibli's "Up on Poppy Hill."  This manga serves several purposes beyond plain old "good reading."  It is a story that may introduce the J-pop generation to jazz, a genre that is still going strong among music afficionados (think Joe Hisaishi).  Within the story, there are a number of great lessons about tolerance and what could be called racism (prejudice against "half-Japanese", as well as class prejudice that destroyed the mc's family).  It also chronicles the end of a great cultural upheaval in Japanese society after World War II.  If a great story like this can educate younger people about what was going on in Japan during that era, you can call it "period", "historical", or whatever.  The main point is that it's a manga written by a fantastic writer who knows her jazz, knows her history, and can put together a really great read.  I can nitpick with the best, but won't, for fear it could take away from the awesomeness of this manga.

So am I crazy or is this actually historical? Set in the 1960s, has all sorts of stuff about jazz and culture set during that time, all those student protests and movements? Hell it even showed a bit of stuff about the end of the war.

Baka lists it as Historical, yes, though both Batoto and there list the Historical genre as "....old or ancient times".........so, yeah, I guess it's a matter of viewpoint.

I'd personally call it a "period piece" to use the theatrical term. It's certainly that, as you point out it's set in a particular era other than the current one.......but yeah, that's not a category/tag available on most manga sites. Historical really should be applied to it in my opinion.

Beautifully done. Reading these sort of manga is always a treat, and there's obviously not many like them.

It's scary what kids think is "HISTORICAL" nowadays.

Historical Tag removed, as this is obviously not.

So am I crazy or is this actually historical? Set in the 1960s, has all sorts of stuff about jazz and culture set during that time, all those student protests and movements? Hell it even showed a bit of stuff about the end of the war.

Those bonus tracks are amazing

Chapter 04 is missing a page:

Probably one of the best manga I read in 2013-2014 :')

*exhales* what a great read.

Beautifully told, light hearted story that just makes you feel good when you read it. The omake ending chapters were the icing on the cake.

This is a great companion series to read alongside with Piano no Mori.

Bwahaha!  Pirate no Apollon!