A Serenade for Pretend Lovers

Nana

Nana Komatsu is a cheerful but naive twenty-year-old who has spent years chasing one failed romance after another. Hoping to start fresh, she boards a train to Tokyo to be with her current boyfriend and build a more stable life. On that same train is Nana Osaki, a determined punk vocalist from a small city. After ending a relationship with her band's bassist to pursue music, she heads to Tokyo with one goal: to make it as a professional singer. The two women, who share a name but little else, meet by chance during the journey. When they later cross paths again while apartment hunting, they decide to become roommates. From that shared home, their unlikely friendship grows as they navigate l

Given

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with everything: school, his basketball club, and even the guitar, which used to be his true passion. One day, he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by Mafuyu Sato, a strange boy holding a guitar with broken strings. Initially put off by Mafuyu's odd behavior, Uenoyama asks him to sing on a whim and is struck by the raw power of his voice. Uenoyama plays guitar in a band with kindhearted bassist Haruki Nakayama and rough-looking drummer Akihiko Kaji. They have done well as an instrumental group, but Uenoyama sees a chance to reach new heights when he hears Mafuyu sing. He invites the reluctant Mafuyu to join the band as vocalist. As they work together

BECK

Yukio Tanaka is a fourteen-year-old boy with no hobbies, an unremarkable taste in music, and a quiet, neurotic personality that keeps him from chasing the exciting life he dreams of. His days pass in monotony until a chance encounter with Ryusuke Minami, an unpredictable sixteen-year-old who has just returned from America, turns everything upside down. Ryusuke plays guitar in a rock band named Beck, after his patchwork dog, and introduces Yukio to the raw energy of western rock music. Inspired for the first time, Yukio picks up a guitar and discovers a passion that gives his life new meaning. As he joins Ryusuke in pursuit of the ultimate band, Yukio must balance school, work, and friendsh

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan

Juri is the daughter of a once-famous pianist whose career ended after giving birth to her. Traumatized by events in her teenage years, she has attempted suicide three times and harbors a deep resentment toward her mother. Her aunt Monica, a member of the clergy, invites her to visit a prison and meet a death row inmate. Yuu is a convict sentenced to death for murdering three people. He has tried to end his own life multiple times inside his cell. When he finally agrees to meet Monica, intending to ask her to stop writing letters, he encounters Juri instead. Their meeting forces them to confront the deep scars they both carry. Slowly, the violent rebellion in their hearts gives way to a sh

Your Lie in April

Kosei Arima was a piano prodigy who dominated every competition he entered, earning the nickname "Human Metronome" for his flawless, rigid performances. Trained relentlessly by his strict mother, his world revolved around following the score perfectly. But when his mother dies suddenly, the shock leaves him unable to hear the sound of his own piano. Two years later, he has abandoned the stage and lives a quiet, colorless life, supported by his childhood friends Tsubaki and Watari. Everything changes when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a free-spirited violinist whose passionate, unconventional style defies every rule Kosei was taught. Drawn into her world of bold, expressive music, Kosei begins to

Kids on the Slope

Kaoru Nishimi has spent his life moving from city to city due to his father’s job, which makes him used to being the new transfer student. His intellectual nature and reserved personality have always made him an outcast, so he expects more of the same when he arrives in Kyushu for his first year of high school. This time, however, he finds himself drawn to two very different people: Ritsuko Mukae, the kind class president, and Sentarou Kawabuchi, a notorious delinquent known for skipping class and getting into fights. Despite their differences, the three of them connect through a shared discovery of jazz. Kaoru, a classically trained pianist, is introduced to the genre when he hears Sentaro