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Your Lie in April has the potential to be great, but it never lives up to that potential. The show is good enough to worm its way into your heart and make you care about the characters and story, but it left me feeling disappointed in the end.

The story revolves around Kousei Arima, a child piano prodigy, who has given up piano because he can no longer "hear the notes" due to childhood trauma. He meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist who inspires him get back into music. Thematically, parts of the show are quite strong, especially its portrayal of music and the ... role that music plays in our lives. However, viewers should be aware that this is a drama and a tearjerker, not a romance.

Why was I disappointed? First of all, the plot is entirely predictable. You can see what's going to happen from a mile away. There are no twists and turns, it just plods on towards the inevitable conclusion, which robs the story of some poignancy.

Second, Kousei is a thoroughly unlikable character. He's apathetic, brooding, and a coward, and has to be prodded and dragged by his friends into almost everything he does. That makes sense at the beginning of the story, but becomes tiresome by the end. Even Tsubaki, a childhood friend who loves Kousei, cannot list a single redeeming feature of his personality. Yes, Kousei does develop and improve to some extent, but for me it was too little, too late.

In contrast to Kousei, the other characters are all full of life. Whereas he is dull and listless, they sparkle with energy. Each of them has their own trials and tribulations, but unlike Kousei, they face their challenges head-on. Kaori in particular steals the show.

But that brings us to the biggest problem that I had with this show, which is that Kousei is completely self-centered. The supporting cast is great, but Kousei is so caught up in his own internal feelings and drama that he ignores the feelings and needs of everybody around him. His friends pour their energy into helping him, but he is unwilling to return the favor. He ignores Tsubaki when she needs him. He's oblivious to Emi and Takeshi. At one point, when Kaori is hurt, he can't bring himself to visit her in the hospital. Why? Because he's sad? This is the girl who supposedly made his world sparkle, and he can't be bothered to say "hi?". Totally unforgivable.

What's more, not only is Kousei self-centered as a character, but the entire world revolves around him. Every single character either loves Kousei, or is obsessed with him in some way. None of them have lives, interests, or motivation apart from him. Talk about ego-centric. The whole world apparently exists to serve Kousei, but he owes it nothing in return.

The problem is particularly acute for Kaori. She's by far the most interesting character in the show, and yet is oddly sidelined for much of the story; we barely learn anything about her until the very end. Kaori is a stereotypical example of the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" (look it up). Her only purpose in life is to pull Kousei out of his funk, and then to fade gracefully into the background so that she doesn't get in his way. I found that offensive. IMO, "Your Lie in April" would have been far more compelling if Kaori had been the main character, or if she had at least been placed on an equal footing to Kousei, or if their relationship had been allowed to develop in any meaningful way that wasn't all about him.

As others have mentioned, the pacing of the story is a bit too slow, and overly melodramatic, even considering that it's a drama. The animation makes heavy use of flashbacks, so we hear characters say the same things 2, 3, or more times. The comic relief is over-the-top, crudely done, and often misplaced, so it frequently detracts from the story.

All that being said, the animation is beautiful, the music is great, and the characters (other than Kousei) are interesting and empathetic, so I can't say that I hated the show. I just wish it had done a better job of living up to its potential.

The soundtrack for .hack//sign is one of Yuki Kajiura's early works, and it is absolutely amazing. When it came out, it was unlike almost anything else. (Noir is another early work by YK, and also very good). You should absolutely buy the soundtrack. Don't bother watching the anime.

The music is especially noticeable, because there is almost nothing else that will grab your attention on screen. The background art is decent, but most of the animation simply reuses the same sets over, and over, and over again. The first few episodes make you think that the anime is going to ... turn into something really cool, but it never pans out. The plot is entirely uninteresting, and the characters are either really annoying, or really boring, and often both.

The anime is supposedly set in an online MMORPG (kind of like Sword Art Online), but it has got to be the most boring game ever made, because we almost never see any of them actually play the game. Instead, they mostly sit around waiting for things to happen. Of course, nothing ever does.

All that would be okay if we had great characters and dialog, but the characters are entirely meh. The authors attempted to make the dialogue deep and mysterious, but nothing of importance is ever said or revealed, because nothing of importance ever happens in the plot, and the characters don't develop in any meaningful way. There's a little bit of action at the end, but after 20-something episodes of just waiting, I had long since ceased to care.

Bloom Into You is a charming and unusual romance in which love is unrequited, and both partners are perfectly fine with that. It is currently lacking a second season, but it follows the manga very closely, so viewers who want to see the end of the story can pick up volumes 5-8 of the manga.

Yuu Koito wants desperately to fall in love, but is unable to; there's nobody who "makes her heart pound." She thinks she has found a kindred spirit in Touko Nanami, a beautiful upperclassman who rejects every suitor that proposes to her. But Touko isn't incapable of love, she's ... afraid of it, for complicated reasons. As soon as Touko learns that Yuu can't love her back, she falls head over heels.

What follows is a touching and rather awkward friendship between the two. Yuu decides that it's kind of nice to be showered with affection, even if she has to constantly rebuff Touko's more amorous advances. Although she herself feels nothing, and can't fall in love, at least she has somebody who loves her. Touko, meanwhile, can relax in Yuu's presence and indulge her feelings, safe and secure in the knowledge that those feelings will never be returned.

It sounds a bit weird, and some viewers may struggle to identify with the characters, but apparently this situation is actually common enough to have names for it. Yuu is demiromantic, while Touko is lithromantic or akioromantic (look it up).

Some of Touko's advances cross the line into inappropriate or predatory behavior, especially with the gentle and aromantic Yuu. But Tokou is always quick to apologize and back off when she realizes that she's gone too far, and Yuu doesn't seem to mind. In fact, it bothers Yuu more when Touko tries to keep her distance than when Touko is too pushy. The two develop a close and genuine friendship, and Yuu helps Touko grapple with some traumatic experiences from her past.

Eventually Yuu learns that for her, love is not a dramatic crush that comes crashing down from the sky, but rather a subtle affection that sneaks up on you, so gradually that you don't even realize it's there. And Touko must learn to set aside her fear, or lose the person that has become most precious to her.

I watched this movie twice in a row, and I cried both times. I don't think I have ever been so emotionally invested in an anime character. There's one scene in particular that I watched white-knuckled, with clenched fists.

If you want happy and cute and cheerful, then this movie is not for you. If you want pain and heartache, but also love and friendship and guilt and redemption, then watch it. The characters are complex, the story is compelling, and the emotions are very real. There are some issues with the way the film deals with deafness (see ... below), but overall it's still a fantastic film. 10/10.

The good (bullying):

Some viewers may think that Shouko is an unrealistic character -- she's just too sweet and kind. Given everything that Shouya did to her, how could she possibly forgive him? Why doesn't she hate him? Having experienced bullying myself, though, I really identified with Shouko, and I thought her character was spot on.

The thing is, victims of bullying often blame themselves, rather than blaming the bullies. After all, why are bullies picking on you? It's because you're different, because you don't fit in. That's clearly how Shouko feels, because she's constantly apologizing. She blames herself.

Consequently, if a bully later turns around and starts acting nice, it's not hard to forgive them. In fact, the emotion can easily run in the opposite direction -- it feels as though the bully has finally forgiven you for being different, and has accepted you as a person.

Again, I can speak from personal experience. There was this guy who always bullied me in middle school, but I didn't hate him, I just tried to avoid him. Then in high school, he grew up. There was an incident in which someone else was picking on me, and he actually came to my defense. That was a big deal to me. We didn't become friends or anything, but I really respected him after that for turning things around.

The bad (deafness):

I think the main problem with this movie is the way it deals with the deaf community, or lack thereof. Why was Shouko enrolled in a hearing school at all? I am not an expert on the deaf community, but my understanding is that it is standard practice to enroll deaf children in special schools for the deaf. Putting a deaf child in a school where they can't understand the language, and never will, is practically child abuse.

Similarly, when Shouko is in high school, where are her deaf friends? The deaf community is very tightly-knit, and in any large city, there should be a sizeable group of deaf peers for Shouko to interact with. Shouko knows sign language, so she must have had instruction from a tutor. She didn't learn it from her hearing mother, and her tutor should have been well-connected with the deaf community.

Failing that, why didn't she make any new hearing friends at her new school? We see that even in high school, Shouko is still socially isolated, and dependent on her sister for almost all social interaction. That setup is necessary for the plot, but it doesn't feel realistic to me.

Conclusion:

If you accept the premise of the movie -- that Shouko somehow lives in a place (maybe small town?) where there are no other deaf people -- then this is a fantastic movie. If you want a guide to what the lives of deaf people are actually like, not so much.

Some flaws, but well worth watching for adults.

Based on the other reviews, I didn't initially have high expectations for the show, but Mai Hime turned out to be surprisingly good. I started watching it mainly because the soundtrack is by Yuki Kajiura, and the music is absolutely amazing. The main theme, "Mezame", is one of the best in any anime.

The good:

Characters and relationships are always the most important part of any story, and that's where Mai Hime shines most strongly. The main character Mai really carries the show. She's torn between the love and responsibility she feels to her brother, ... her reluctance to use her powers, her confusion over budding romantic feelings towards boys, and her friendships and rivalries with the other girls. The other characters are great too; they all have distinct personalities and different motivations. The relationships between the characters are what drive the story.

The plot is also quite good. The first half of the show follows a fairly typical magical-girl setup, where girls with powers battle monsters, while engaging in typical high-school antics. However, the themes are darker, more mature, and more sinister than is typical for the genre. There's a shadowy organization named District 1 that wants to use the Hime in some way, and we don't know why. Mai's powers are a curse, not a blessing. The show feels much more like Evangelion than Sailor Moon. Then, in the second half, there's a major and unexpected plot twist, and from there on Mai Hime turns into a truly heart-rending drama. You really feel for Mai as her world begins to fall apart around her.

The animation is good, the battle scenes are good, and the girl's powers and "children" that they summon are interesting and creative. However, Mai Hime is not a battle anime. Mai's powers are strong, but she's reluctant to use them, so viewers who are hoping that the conflict will be resolved by testosterone-fueled combat will be disappointed. Mai has grit and determination, but she's not a typical shounen action hero. This is a show about love and sacrifice.

The bad:

The pacing is poor. The mystery of who the Hime are, and how they relate to District 1, is introduced in the first episode, but for the first half of the show the girls make very little progress towards unravelling it. There's a bunch of silly fluff, including a ridiculous panty-stealing episode, and a cake-baking competition, that do nothing to advance either the story, or to develop the characters. The show feels a bit bi-polar, like it can't decide whether it wants to be Evangelion or Azumanga Daioh, and the silliness contrasts sharply with the more serious themes. For such a character-driven story, they should really have spent that time on more serious character development and back stories.

Because of the poor pacing, the second half of the show feels rushed. Mai hasn't yet had a chance to come to terms with her powers. There's a large cast of characters, and we get emotional scenes with side characters that have barely been introduced yet. The mystery of District 1 is revealed, but there's so much other stuff going on that it kind of gets lost in the shuffle. In an effort to keep the plot twists coming, some people start behaving out of character.

The ugly:

Totally unnecessary fan-service in the first few episodes. Worst of all, one of the Hime is a highly sexualized femme fatale *middle-schooler*. Ugh. Together these two things make the show utterly inappropriate for its target demographic of teenagers. For adults only.