Kids on the Slope - Episode 11

I'm sure I wasn't the only one expecting this to be Kids on the Slope's final episode, so it's rather a pleasant surprise to find that it's actually running on into next week - it's most definitely a case of the more the better with this show, however.

With the return of his father imminent, Sentarou has taken it upon himself to leave his home in the dead of night given the rocky relationship between father and son - luckily perhaps, Kaoru now knows Sentarou well enough to figure out what's up, and duly ambushes him as soon as he decides to leave.  Having created a sufficient ruckus to wake the rest of the household, Sen has no choice but to stay, and upon his father's return things have perhaps changed for the better, with Sentarou's father even going to the lengths of giving his eldest child an expensive gift.

Thus, all is wonderful in the world of our main characters as they begin the hard work of preparing for their latest school festival appearance, with their only real worry being the possibility of being outshone by Seiji's group - a problem swiftly resolved by press-ganging Ritsuko into singing duties for their own band.  So, life seems to be perfect... however, life also has a habit of sticking a proverbial leg out and tripping you up just as everything seems to be perfectly placed, and so it goes that an accident brings about a life-changing state of affairs which looks set to rob Sentarou of everything.

Ignoring my glee at the fact that this series has another episode still to run, Kids on the Slope once again managed to deliver everything that it aimed to here in spades - even after a surprisingly quick resolution to Sentarou's plan to leave home (in the short-term at least), this week's instalment managed to deliver plenty of joy and beautiful moments of friendship on the one hand, and sadness on the other.  Where other shows may trip up in offering such a wide gamut of human emotion in one hit, Kids on the Slope managed to balance it perfectly, melodrama and all, creating a stand-out episode of an already superb series.  I'm both excited that we're still not done with the series yet, but sad that the end is still nigh.