This movie is as sweet as it is short. Sadly, we don't get more than about 20 minutes to get to know our main character, Aki, and her story growing up. The story starts showing us how her life has turned out as a professional drummer, and then jumps back to show us how she was introduced to, and came to love, the art. We follow her life from this point and watch her as she grows up. It's a cute personal story, focused heavily around the points where drumming has affected her life. I think the main point that can be taken from Aki noKanade is to follow your dream and work hard to make something you love a reality, and not stopping at the first hindrance. It doesn't offer too much else really; it's charming, it's comfy and it's worth the 20 minutes it takes to watch.

As arbitrary as number-ratings are, MAL has them, so I will use them.
Story 7 - Art 8 - Sound 8 - Character 8 - Enjoyment 8. None of which I feel like I need to justify with an explanation. They're set with the show's length in mind - They did good for the time they had, as I think the show would've held up quite well if dragged out for the usual 12 episodes instead of 1. Overall 8.