I have mixed opinions on music shows. Sometimes, they hone in too much on the music portion of it and let the rest of it fall away. Other times, there is too much inner turmoil and that saps whatever interesting parts of the show that were working. So, for me, it’s a mixed bag. And in a lot of instances, I really can’t get behind the music. It just sits there for me. This offering, “Fuuka”, is a double music show.

We start off with Yuu Haruna, a loner of some caliber (that’s him slightly above everyone on the left shot). Many, many, many years ago, he made a promise with his childhood friend Koyuki Hinashi (the cutie in the right photo) of starting a band or playing together on stage. Well, who really remembers childhood promises, right? One night, on his way to buy dinner, he stops to take a photo to upload to Twitter. A strange high school girl named Fuuka Akitsuki (blue hair in the left shot) accidentally bumps into him and mistakenly believes that Yuu is trying to take snaps of her panties. In the ensuing confrontation, she smashes his phone and storms off into the evening.

However, as a result of this, Fuuka leaves behind a CD, which Yuu returns the following day. Appreciating Yuu’s personality, Fuuka starts a relationship with him, and they decide to form a band, even though Yuu doesn’t know how to play an instrument. Still, they manage to pull together a variety of divergent folks, which include (left to right) Sara Iwami, guitar; Makoto Mikasa, keyboards and Kazuya Nachi, drums. However, relationships get complicated when Koyuki, now a popular idol, contacts Yuu on Twitter and invites him to attend her concert.

Yuu has never used his contact with her to his advantage, but she is happy to learn of his trying to become a musician. Then, when there is a Twitter snap of them together, lives start to fall apart and careers are in jeopardy, especially when Fuuka is actively scouted by a talent agency.

On the one hand, this is a show about life and trying to make it; on the other hand, it’s just a series of high school romance mishaps and in trying to do the right thing for too many people. It’s not a weak show, but there seemed to be too many problems flung in front of everyone, making them question if what they are pursuing is worth all the efforts and sacrifices to make it work. Having been in an improv comedy group, I understand the dynamic tension that exists that spurs one on to achieve more, but those self-same forces can easily tear you apart.

Oh, the music. Yeah, it is about making it in music. For me, the music is serviceable. It does what it is supposed to do, but I felt was not all that stunning or spectacular. Especially for Koyuki, who is supposed to be this tremendous idol, the music comes off to me as listless. But I didn’t come for the tunes, I came for the complicated relationships….that really aren’t all that complicated. If people would just sit down and talk it out (look, you are in the restaurant already. Get another round of drinks and make it work), they would come to a better understanding.

Even with a rather cheesy ending, it was still an interesting trip to take. I would say watch it, but it can be on your “B” listing.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           7 (Serviceable)
Plot                  7 (Rather typical)
Pacing              8 (The band sequences really hep it up)
Effectiveness   7 (Just too much is going on)
Conclusion      5 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service     2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)

Overall            7 (Fair story, but not all that realistic)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. One, two, three, FOUR!