Today the one day @Con event is being held in Melbourne, hosted by the same crew that bring you the Manifest anime conventions. At this event, Australian anime publisher Hanabee held a surprise panel – bringing with them one new acquisition announcement set for release in May 2013. This series is Kids on the Slope which was originally picked up by Sentai Filmworks in North America and was fortunate enough to be one of the series on the receiving end of an English dub in addition to the original Japanese dub.
The release which has not yet been priced will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray and features a hybrid dub.
At the beginning of summer in 1966, Kaoru moves yet again, this time to a sunny part of Kyushu Japan. For him, it’s a never-ending cycle of trying to adjust. A classically trained pianist, Kaoru would soon be left alone to play or to study.
But local bad-boy Sentaro Kawabuchi has a taste for confrontation and feels no need to leave Kaoru alone. He demands Kaoru’s attention, and at first their friendship is precarious at best. But upon discovering Sentaro’s immense talent as a jazz drummer, neither of them can ignore each other, and through music a friendship beyond words emerges.
Master director Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Beebop) handles this brilliant manga adaptation with care, and along with an amazing soundtrack from Yoko Kanno (Macross, Ghost in the Shell), Kids on the Slope is one of the most accomplished anime programs in recent memory.
