Sakamichi no Apollon

Nishimi Kaoru has moved from city to city and school to school because of his father’s job, so having his first day at a new school was just routine for him. Being intellectual in addition to being a transfer student all the time, he has always been seen as an outcast. All he has had to do was bear it as usual until the next time he moved.

But things were slightly different this time. First, he started to get close to the class president, Mukae Ritsuko, and secondly, unlikely as it seemed, he grew closer to Kawabuchi Sentaro. Sentaro was infamous for getting into fights, skipping class and was an overall bad boy. Strangely enough, the three of them find common ground in music, namely jazz, and Kaoru finds himself actually enjoying the new town.

Note: Won the 57th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.