Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

Hers was a white lie built on a grain of truth that snowballed as one lie after the other piled up. At first it was only hers, but then it became something that the two of them shared together – like a secret, a world upon which no other could encroach. He may have been “Friend A,” and she “the girl that loves my best friend,” but they were masquerading around a truth that neither one could openly admit because ultimately, the truth was much more painful.

Your Lie in April is a deceitfully masterful series that initially appears light-hearted and colorful, its palette boasting pastels ... that lend to the idea of it being another romantic comedy. Yet the moment we step past the disillusionment that it casts upon us by its false prefaces, we quickly realize that what we have immersed ourselves in is actually a tragedy in the making.

Tragic not because of a single element but because of all of its parts, and yet at the end of everything, this isn’t a series about tragedy. It is a series about learning to heal, learning to move on, and learning to accept the parts of ourselves that we’d rather pretend aren’t there. Part of that is accepting that sometimes we need a helping hand to take that first step. Part of it is learning to say goodbye when the time comes.

What is so compelling about the storyline is that it’s not merely an adventure into first love, it delves into the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder, childhood abuse, and chronic illness. It doesn’t paint any of these as artistic or tragically beautiful—they are horrible, they twist people, they ruin the best moments, and they have a long-lasting impact.

No one is completely black-and-white; everyone has their short-comings, fleshed out in full before our eyes. They have their hang-ups, their strengths, their struggles—and it’s in these characters that this series really takes off in full stride. It would be enough for them to be multifaceted with equal amounts of depth, but they take it a step further in painting the reality of youth.

Older anime fans may critically analyze the series as an unrealistic approach to young teenagers, but that pessimism overlooks the reality of what it was like for us to be that age. We were all that point when we found our first love, when we thought it was forever, when we poured our passion into something that ultimately would not come to fruition or last. That’s what being young is about—and that’s what Your Lie in April gives us.

Granted that it may veer a bit over-dramatic at times in its representation of youth; there are moments of symbolism or hyperbole so overt that the cheesiness makes you shift a little uncomfortably in your seat (but I promise it’s not enough to gag you). Given that this is, however, a rather common trope that runs in series with heavier themes, it’s not necessarily a huge setback for an otherwise solid series. In the end, it is intended to be a fictional representation that conveys more than just what can be summarized in a few sentences or less.

The sound is completely on point, and the soundtrack artfully matches the emotions intended to be represented in each scene. From the actual classical music to the opening and ending, everything fits in like a jigsaw puzzle to give a full, satisfying final piece. When the characters analyze someone’s playing as harsh, rigid, and stilted, we can hear this—whether we are knowledgeable about music or not. Your Lie in April conveys emotion to us not just visually but aurally as well.

The animation is wonderful with bright, vibrant colors that bring the characters fully to life. There is an amazing, visually perceivable transition for the characters as time passes, particularly in regards to Kaori as the series moves on. It occasionally has some stilted moments but nothing outrageously noticeable to detract from the overall quality.

Ultimately, Your Lie in April is a story that starts out of the gates moving a bit slowly, but the pace matches the tone of the series. Structurally, it is a solid story of youth that dramatizes some aspects but never distracts from the intended message. On top of its other strong points, it’s aurally and visually a joy to the senses – and to anyone appreciative of a series willing to realistically approach the conflict of childhood abuse and the resulting trauma in a positive way. It’s not without a few setbacks, but in the end, Your Lie in April fashions itself to be a stand-out romance series that reminds us that while some relationships may be transient and brief, some people will come into our lives at just the right time for just long enough to touch us in a way we never thought possible.

"Did I reach you? I hope I did."

I nearly skipped this gem just because of the music tag. Not really big into music anime but somehow the art dragged me into watching the first few episodes. First episode was an average episode with few interesting plot lines. But the second episode was the hook. Irony. The tag that made me nearly skip this anime was the one that kept me in it. The music, the music... THE MUSIC.. what can I say? It was just right down my taste. Never in my life did I thought of "oh hey let's listen to some classical ... music" but this anime opened a new taste in music in me. And I'm grateful for that.

The first half and second half have clear differences with a very smooth pacing and objectives in mind. Some may say the pacing was slow and sometimes it felt that a point is being dragged out for long. As much as I understand where they are coming from, I feel that this series took the right amount of time to build up for the many impact full moments that is present. The inner monologues that the series loves to do felt right to display the conflicts that our characters are fighting with. Also, the conflicts dealt with are very realistic and people can very much relate to them. I happen to be one of them being able to relate to our main male protagonist.

The cast of characters in this show is pretty high. As a 22 episode anime, I think it did an excellent job portraying those characters. As most animes, not all the characters were fully fleshed out, and I didn't expect it to do so. The ones that mattered most were developed beautifully. Besides, nearly everyone's thought process were clear, motivations/purpose in tact and passion which shone through.

Sound is something that I will not even talk about since it is subjective. The main reason, however, that I will not dive deeper is because for me, it was perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Animation wise. Throughout the whole series, it was standard stuff from A-1 Pictures. It did have some drop from time to time, especially during the comedy segments, which I didn't find distracting but it wasn't great to say the least. Animation stood out where it counts. Those performances. I would have been really been disappointed if the animation was average in those moments, because of how beautiful the soundtracks are. But A-1 delivered, and they both complimented each other outstandingly.

By the end of the series, I was just left in awe, and honestly a bit (extremely) emotional. To compare, the 'feels' in this series (my opinion) surpasses the highly praised Clannad: After Story for one simple reason. I was just slightly more attached to the relationship our main characters shared than I was with Clannad. But the story is not about tragedy. It's about inspiration, passion, moving forward, family, friendship, helping each other (many more). It is about life and how hard it can be to carry on, but you still gotta do it. You still gotta live your life to your fullest.

"If you can't move with your hands then play with your feet! If you don't have enough fingers, then use your nose as well! Whether you're sad, you're a mess, or you've hit rock bottom, you still have to play! That's how people like us survive." - Kaori Miyazono.

Overall 9.4/10.

My Thursdays won't be the same after finishing this anime. Shigatsu has taken me to a world of music that I will never forget.

Even though the story isn't anything new, the way it was written and directed make it feel like one. It is a story that revolves around music and how it connects people and how it affects them. It does not only affect them in a good way, but in a bad way too. And with that premise, a beautiful story about tennagers started.

Although there were some characters that didn't get a proper development to know and understand their own problems, motivations, and ... dreams, they didn't feel empty and meaningless. They all had a purpose and most of them where helpful to our main characters. They didn't feel cliché neither, even when we got some of them like the childhood friend and the dandy best-friend. And the best part, at least to me, is that there was no fan-service.

I didn't get to see a flaw in the animation in the 22 episodes aired. The palette of colours used, especially the blue ones, were gorgeous, while the performance moments were dynamic and realistic. Not to mention the opening and ending sequences, which are to date some of my favourites of all time.

Add to this a beautiful ost and amazing songs for the openings and endings and you'll feel in heaven. The opening songs were upbeat and represented a good tonal contrast to the story, while the ending songs complemented it, especially the second one, which can make you cry (if you were not crying already) after the emotional final episodes.

Overall, this anime has been one of the bests I've ever seen. It hooked me since the first teaser, and never let me go until the last episode. It is not a hard story, so everyone can enjoy it as much as I did. With loveable and relatable characters with deep stories, a gorgeous animation and an amazing score, I'm pretty sure that this is one of the best anime from the past few years, and the best (TO ME) of this season. I can recommend this show to anyone who want to watch and experience a good, heart-warming romance anime.

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW**

The latest romantic-comedy/drama to take the anime world by storm is a little project known as Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, or as many people know it, “Your Lie in April”. YLA has been the talk of the last two seasons as it has managed to captivate audiences around the world with its unbelievably bright colors and fantastic musical score complete with both famous classical pieces and original hits. However, if there is one thing about this show that people can’t help but gorge themselves on, it’s the melodrama. That’s right folks: a romantic show contains MELODRAMA! Try to contain your surprise! Since ... intense over-exaggeration is virtually the only way to make shows like this interesting, know that I’m willing to overlook melodrama to a certain degree… But not to THIS degree. Ladies and gentlemen: Do you think you know monologuing? Oh ho ho, you’re about to.

Synopsis: Kousei Arima is a former piano-playing prodigy; he was the best player alive for his young age until some serious mental trauma forced him to quit. He has refused to touch a musical instrument ever again, until he meets an eccentric girl named Kaori Miyazano; the girl who would change his life forever.

YLA got off to a charming start with a great comedic focus while still hinting at a sufficiently dramatic backstory. In combination with the previously mentioned art and music, this anime showed promise. By the time the breathtaking violin performance in episode 2 had finished, pretty much everyone was hooked on this show, and understandably so. However, it didn’t take long for it to divulge into one of the most laughable and overly drawn-out excuses for a narrative I’ve ever seen. This show is about 10% original content and about 90% REPEATING THAT SAME CONTENT. Over and over and over and over and over and over again! You’d think it was a parody of an anime drama rather than an actual iteration into the genre if you didn’t know any better. This anime should have been 12 episodes TOPS, especially considering all the pointless side characters that serve no purpose. Instead, we get an anime that is just monologuing on top of monologuing episode after episode. You REALLY have to slog to get through all of it. I find it hard to pay attention to a show that’s just going to spell everything out for me a million times; ever hear of subtlety? SHOW. Don’t tell.

That’s not to say that the drama is all that bad when they actually decide to advance the plot though. There are several instances of legitimately investing and interesting storytelling in this anime, but it’s too few and far between be worthy of any real praise. Not to mention that it is constantly interrupted by inopportune comedy during or immediately following a dramatic moment. The strange thing is that the comedy can be pretty good too; this show has gotten more than one chuckle out of me. The problem lies in the directing, which is causing these elements to work against each other rather than cooperatively. Instead of adding another dimension to the show, the comedy merely dulls the edge of the more important dimension, and that’s obviously a major problem.

The characters aren’t necessarily bad, but I found them to be pretty poorly handled overall. Kousei, for example, is inconsistent. He will tell the audience how he feels about the SAME thing in SAME way over and over and over again, but there are also times when we should know what he is thinking and simply don’t. For example, it’s nonsensical how the most minor of exchanges will stick with him throughout the entire show and be monologued about dozens of times, but then major interactions between him and anybody not named Kaori are instantly forgotten even when they should be having a major impact on him. Kousei is an okay character, but his backstory is really the only thing that defines him. I was personally more partial to his best friend, Tsubaki, whose alternate perspective of having to deal with a struggling friend is often more interesting than the person who is actually suffering.

Kaori, on the other hand, really held the show back in my opinion. Yes she’s cute, yes her violin performance was the best scene of the show, and yes she is the source of lots of drama. The problem is that she is treated a lot more like a plot device and a lot less like a character. With all the monologuing that goes on in this show, can someone explain to me why we never find out Kaori’s true feelings in regards to so many events? Where exactly does her love of music come from? How does it motivate her? What are her specific feelings on Kousei at various intervals in the show? What about Watari? We don’t know until the final episode of the show so we can pretend that all this vital information which we desperately need to get invested in her is some sort of Shyamalan twist; it's completely immature and ineffective. Kaori simply shows up, does whatever she needs to do to create drama, then leaves. She is the weakest character in the show and a big reason why I found the romance to be poorly executed and completely one-sided. I never felt like I knew this person.

In conclusion, Your Lie in April is a cheesy drama loaded with inopportune comedy and cringe-worthy dialogue. It has its moments and the musical score/animation are wonderful, but bad directing and the lack of so much as an ounce of subtlety killed it. If you’re one of those mushy-gushy drama lovers, I really can’t recommend against this show since its flaws aren’t too much more egregious than what you would normally see, but if not, I don’t think you need to go out of your way to watch it by any means.

Making use of a calm, vibrant palette, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso begins by depicting a mysterious blonde chasing after a black cat. Weirdly enough, it feels like it's meaningful; each camera angle is loose and meticulously timed, and the cuts between don't hinder the flow. I soon came to realize, however, that the problems lie not in the execution, but the narrative; so much so that it ends up being more of an eye-catcher than a drama.

The struggles musicians face are apparent for most: Writer's block, commitment, or even becoming notable are some of the most common examples of these. Arima's struggles, on ... the other hand, are quite different. Ever since the death of his abusive mother, he's been too traumatized to hear his own playing. But when he meets the aforementioned blonde, Kaori, that all changes. Dubbed love at first sight, the series documents the ongoings of Arima and Kaori as they succumb to the world of music. By itself, this is no problem, but by introducing these characters minutes apart, we're given no time to really understand either of them. Instead, the viewer learns of Arima's past through an intrusive series of flashbacks throughout. Placing these sequences in the middle of recitals and performances disregards any tension that they may have created in the first place. Because of this, winning or losing doesn't matter; it's unsatisfying and hard to care either way.

Sadly, this isn't the only problem Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso faces. The dialogue feels like that of a middle school creative writing project, and when combined with a healthy amount of melodrama, it's hard not to laugh in ridicule each time Arima whines about his "monotone" life. In fact, it's a challenge to take this seriously. Each episode is filled with around ten or more minutes of these monologues, and in the end, it feels mostly redundant; a way to drag out the length of the series. The rest of the cast isn't even as lucky – the only information we get about them is regarding their past tragedies or to further the annoyingly weak symbolism regarding growing up. Since every major character is about 14, any appeal to emotion through dialogue only comes off as disposable and pretentious teenage angst. Constant similes are made regarding the texture and flavour of any musical performance, but they sound completely hilarious and synesthetic ("The smell of chalk. […] The faint breathing of someone asleep."). There's even some comedy here and there, but it's incredibly unfunny and gets in the way of the little drama that's left - by portraying gags with brief changes in artstyle, the otherwise appealing consistency of the animation is interrupted. It might be welcome in a comedy series, but why is it here?

Despite my other complaints, the OST itself is fairly interesting. While the arrangements of traditional classical pieces are nothing to get too excited about, they're nice enough to listen to for a few minutes while trudging through the rest of the show. Arima's disjointed playing isn't always welcome, though, as some parts sound a little too horrible. Even deaf musicians of his skill level and tenure should be unable to play that badly when given basic theory lessons. The OST itself consists of mostly ambient music to build tension, but it isn't anything too extraordinary – any fan of electronic music should find most of these tracks dull and utterly forgettable. The OP, on the other hand, is something that kept me watching each week; Goose House's acoustic harmonies really set the mood for the show, and I dare say that nothing else in the series lives up to it.

As a package, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is bloated and gimmicky to the point of exhaustion, but it's decent entertainment nonetheless. The main storyline doesn't even progress for eleven episodes. It's like a Pitchfork résumé. If you're looking for a pretty experience and not too much more, you should definitely give the series a try — maybe even marathon it now that it's over!

'Your Lie in April' is quite possibly the most disappointing anime that I have ever seen. This is because the series pulls you in with gorgeous visuals, fantastic sound work, an interesting concept and elements of delicious suspense... and then lets you down with horrible story execution, insufferable characters, and an ending which makes you want to go into "Kyle mode" and punch a hole through the fucking screen. I really, REALLY wanted to like this series... but it just wouldn't let me.

To get it out of the way, here is how I rated the show (out of 10):
Story: 3
Art: 10
Sound: 10
Characters: 2
Enjoyment: 2
Overall: *3/10*

***SPOILER ... WARNING: PLOT ELEMENTS & ENDING REVEALED***

I thought about delving into detail on everything wrong, and right, about the series, but I think it would be better if I focused on the two aspects which drag this series down into the pits: Kaori, the female lead; and the "twist" ending.

Let us begin with Kaori, who is lowkey one of the most terrible FMCs I have ever seen. She is selfish, dishonest, manipulative, abusive, self-righteous and histrionic; far more resemblant of a spoiled ditzy cheerleader than a well-accomplished music prodigy. She spends the entire series forcing Kousei to relive traumatic experiences just so she can get him to play the piano, either as her accompaniment on-stage or simply for her own amusement, all the while leading him on with mixed signals as she is dating his best friend, a popular jock-type who is almost his exact opposite. She constantly belittles him for doing any little thing she doesn't like, hitting him excessively and/or talking down to him like a misbehaving child. On occasion, she will be incredibly sweet & endearing towards him while they're hanging out... before eventually ditching him abruptly to hang out with her boyfriend. Throw all this shit into a blender, and you will have yourself a smoothie made out of male tears & textbook psychological abuse.

Such behavior by itself doesn't necessarily mean the character is poorly-written, but what makes it particularly unpleasant is that her stupid bullshit is presented as though it were a good thing for all parties involved! She is framed as some quasi-tsundere goddess with a heart of gold when she is actually just a sick, twisted, manipulative teenage bitch with a superiority complex. Talk about cognitive dissonance! Had she been portrayed as more damaged and/or morally-ambiguous, which is far more suited to her actions, the entire series would have been drastically improved as a result, and she would have been, in the end, a far more compelling and even likable character... but alas, that is not what happened.

Which brings us to the abysmal "twist" ending, and the biggest "fuck yo couch" moment this series could have possibly given. Are you ready for this shit? *drumroll* And, behold: It turns out that Kaori was in love with Kousei all along, and only dated his best friend to get close to him - the titular lie in April: "I like Watari" - claiming that she didn't have the confidence to approach him; however, Kousei doesn't find out about this until he reads it in a note, which she arranged to have delivered to him only after she was already dead.

What. The. Fuck.

So let me get this straight: She spent how many months belittling this poor kid over the agonizing pain he experienced due to the death of his abusive & overbearing mother by being incredibly abusive herself, playing with his emotions and leading him on the entire time, all while dating a guy she secretly doesn't even like just to subject him to this disgusting behavior... because she was in love with him?! How fucking pathetic! Seriously, it's like watching an eight year-old boy go bully his crush on the school playground because he doesn't want the other kids to make fun of him. Oh, and let's not overlook her lame bullshit excuse about not having the confidence - yeah, as if I am going to believe that a bubbly & outgoing teenaged girl doesn't have the guts to start up a conversation with a shy loner, especially since she had no issue with beating & scolding him throughout the entire fucking show. This plot twist, and how it was executed, instantly made Kaori one of the most unlikable characters imaginable, and further ruined what little enjoyment the series could have brought to the table.

Again, had they presented Kaori and/or the revelation differently, this twist could have instantly made her more compelling, sympathetic & endearing, and had you looking at her actions in an entirely different light, especially since harboring such love for Kousei would have seemed more antithetical to her personality. Instead, we get a boring-yet-infuriating resolution to a mediocre story that leaves you feeling anything but satisfied.
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IN SUMMATION: As I said before, this show had a world of potential, and I really did want to like it. I honestly thought it would have everything I wanted in a story like this, and it started out strong enough to make me anticipate the rest of the series... but then it took a watery shit all over my expectations, leaving me annoyed & dissatisfied in the end. Fucking blah.

This series is overrated. It peaked my interest when I saw it on the front page at the highest rated anime on this site. I thought to myself this was worth a watch, I definitely won't be disappointed since the top rated anime here pretty much deserve to be there. How wrong was I.

Let me first start by saying this series is melodramatic, slow-paced and cliched as hell. We have Arima Kousei, a depressed and traumatized 14-year-old pianist prodigy who lost his abusive mother two years prior to the story. The anime may come off as an anime that focuses a lot on music, but ... music is merely a sub-genre here. If you're watching this anime just for the music, you will be disappointed more than me. I couldn't symphatize with any of the characters in the story, it was pretty much predictable all the time. The romance is pretty below par too.

We're introduced to two rivals early in the story, but that's about it, they don't really have any impact or effect the main character in anyway. They end up being just mere acquaintances by the end. They tried to redeem his horrible mother whiched failed miserably. Characters are crying all the time, then they bring out a loli in the middle of the series with nothing to add to the story, just a mandatory irrelevant loli which seems to be a running occurance in every anime now. The main character barely develops during the story, he doesn't really accomplish anything in the musical world during the 22-episode course of the series, we're constantly having flashbacks about his past and how horrible his mother was to him. The dialogue in the series sounded too poetic and cheesy most of the time, and we're are constantly thrown life quotes at us, which was funny to me considering the main characters are 14-year-olds.

Of course it has its strong points too. The animation really flows well with the series and while I'm not a fan of classical music, I must say I enjoyed the music being played throughout the series. But that doesn't exclude the fact that there are hundreds of anime out there with the same school drama setting with teenagers as main characters. This series ain't no Clannad, it just tries too hard. The main girls all seem to have a thing for the main character, but I didn't feel much romance effect here. The story was all about Arima coming out of his depressed self and back to the real world again. The ending wasn't really a tearjerker, as I predicted it way before during the course of the series, so there was no element of surprise here.

Overall I can't say I particuarly enjoyed the series nor would I recommend it to others. I guess I COULD recommend it to someone who is particuarly interested in music, but then I'd also would recommend K-ON as well. It isn't a masterpiece like people are constantly saying. It's not bad but it's not good either - just average.

If you don't want to read, then there’s a tl;dr at the end, as well as a tl;dr for every section.

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, or Your Lie in April, is 24-episode anime that started airing in October 2014, and ended in March 2015. Since its end, it has been a subject of hot debate on this site. Usually there are 2 types of people for any controversial show, those who love it to no end, and those who flat out despise it. I personally am somewhere on the fence.

Now is it the best anime ever? No. Is it bad? Definitely not. Then what ... exactly is Shigatsu?

Well, at its core Shigatsu is a story about a boy(Arima Kousei) who used to be a fantastic pianist at a young age. Unfortunately, during his growth, he lost his mother, something that left him unable to hear the piano ever again. Or at least until he met a violinist named Kaori Miyazono, who tries to help him return to music.

Well, that’s the basis of the story. Now onto the review.

Story:- 6/10

The story of Shigatsu has both good and bad sides to it. Before we delve into the bad, let’s take a look at the good.

The story, as you would normally expect, has a lot of romance, which is done pretty well. The romance in Shigatsu, is very heartfelt at times and also very fun at other times. The story tries to maintain a perfect balance of comedy and real romance, which does work, most of the time.

Unfortunately, this show is also a melodrama, which is the bad part. The drama in this show apparently got many people teary-eyed, but, I have a hard time believing that. The show tries way too hard to make you feel some “feels”, and pretty much drops flat on its face. The show constantly tries to shove its drama in your face, from episode 13 onwards, and it gets annoying at times. Before episode 13, it still had some dramatic moments, but those were much better done, showing Kousei’s inner fears.

As I previously mentioned, the show is filled with comedy, romance, and now, drama. When you but all these in a blender what do you get? Well if the blender was a good one, then you might get something amazing. But this wasn’t a good blender. Instead what we got was a drink with a beautiful exterior, but a bad aftertaste.

Since Shigatsu thinks it’s a drama, but also tries to make time for comedy and romance, we get painfully abrupt scenes of melodrama, followed closely by comedy, which does not fit at all.

One second we might be seeing a person die, and the other we see Kousei getting kicked by his “not-girlfriend”, Tsubaki.

Speaking of which, the romance aspect isn’t flawless either. Somewhere during the time that the show was trying to find what genre it belongs to, we got a love-triangle. Now, it really isn’t as bad as I make it sound, but it’s still a bit cliché at times. Boy A loves Girl A, Girl A loves Boy B, Girl B loves Boy A, and Boy B doesn’t give a shit.

The romance isn’t complex but it still does get stale at times.

But, for as much as I railed on the story, it has one saving grace. The ending. The final episode is probably the best part of this anime, in my opinion. It’s a simple monologue by the female lead, Kaori. But it’s so beautifully written that I couldn’t help but be engrossed by it.

TL;DR for STORY : The story has pretty good romance, which gets slightly stale near the middle. The excess of melodrama mixed with the comedy is probably the biggest flaw of the story, since those are two genres that should be implemented far away from each other. But, no matter how many flaws it has, its ending is beautiful in every way possible. Great writing, good background music, very good voice acting, and beautiful art. Speaking of art, let’s move on to the next section.


Art and Animation:- 9/10

The art of Shigatsu is probably the best part of it. It changes according to the mood of the scene, and fits the overall feel of the show. It’s very bright most of the time, and it everything ranging from the night sky to the school playground look gorgeous.

The character designs for the main characters are well done, and easily recognizable. The adults were also very well designed, to a point that you could actually guess their age. The only flaw I see with the character design are the children. It might just be me, but it’s weird to see children who have buttons for eyes, which makes them stand out in comparison to the rest of the cast.

Most of the time the animation is very fluent, and everything moves very nicely. The performance scenes are where the real budget went though. Accompanied with great music, it uses CGI for the piano, and extremely fluent animation for the violin. The CGI is a bit odd, and does stick out sometimes, but it did not distract from the focus of the scene, the performance.

TL;DR for ART : The art in Shigatsu is the best part of it, with a hefty use of colors, and a very bright scenery which changes according to the mood and feel of the scene. Most of the character designs are pretty good, besides the children in the show. The animation is fluent for the most part, and the performance scenes were amazing. Even though the CGI piano was a bit jarring at times, it didn’t distract me from what really mattered in the scene, the music.


Sound:- 8/10

Being an anime focused around music, one would normally think that the music of the show should be its strongest point, including me. But no, that’s sadly not the case.

Towards the beginning the performances were all amazing with the focus remaining solely on the performance and nothing else. But this is soon forgotten in the latter half of the show. The music itself is very good, or at least as much of the music I could hear.

The performances(in the latter half) are constantly interrupted by monologues, which are meant to bring up the drama, but instead come off as a distraction and an annoyance. Most of the performances I was yelling at the screen “Stop talking! I’m trying to listen to the brilliance that you’re playing!”. I personally am a fan of classical music, so when someone talks over it, I get very annoyed, and feel like punching a hole through the screen.

That being said, the overall soundtrack of the show, excluding the performances, was pretty good. Although no song really stood out to me.

The voice actors also do their jobs pretty well, with all of the voices fitting the characters. Especially Kaori and Kousei’s voice actors.

But of course, nothing in the show can top it’s masterful opening. Opening 1(Hikaru Nara), is probably one of the best openings I’ve ever heard in a while. The second opening(Nanairo Symphony) while not as good, was still great. Both endings were also pretty well done, but the second ending(Orange) is the better of the two.

TL;DR for MUSIC : The show should focus on music, but instead many of the performances are spoken over for the majority of the time. The show tried to bring drama into the mix again (by talking over the performances) but failed horribly in this case. The soundtrack of the show is pretty good, and the voice actors do the characters justice. Its openings and endings are few of the best of 2014, and Opening 1 is one of my favorite openings of all time.


Characters:- 5/10

This is where Shigatsu really fails. It’s not that there isn’t any character development, but certain characters, who needed development, didn’t get any. I’ll start with the good.

Kousei: He’s probably the character who is best developed throughout the entire show. After meeting Kaori, he starts to regain his will to play music, and starts to overcome his fears. Many other characters, including Kaori, act as foils in his development, like his friends, teacher, his rivals, and even his pupil. His development is the one that got the most focus in the entire story, but maybe even too much.

Kaori: This is where I feel that the characters fail. Since I can’t talk too much about Kaori without spoilers, I’ll be as careful as possible to avoid spoiling anything. Kaori is probably the character who had the most potential to develop, but instead, she was used as a mere plot device. Something to simply be present to help Kousei grow. While I did praise Kousei’s development, it’s not worth sacrificing the development of another character that could’ve grown into so much more. In fact, she was probably the character who I loved the most in the entire show, so I was extremely disappointed to see her get sidelined as a plot device with no depth at all.

Tsubaki: She’s the other main female lead, and the other love interest of Kousei. In other words Girl B. She also played a large role in Kousei’s development, but here, unlike Kaori, she also got some development. While she didn’t get a lot of development, she was still the second-most developed character in the show, which was a step in the right direction.

Other Characters: Most of the other characters are just treated as side characters, but some of them are developed. In fact Kousei’s rivals and his pupil, all get some development, which was nice to see.

TL;DR for CHARACTERS: The entire story of Shigatsu seems to focus on both Kousei and Kaori, but in fact it focuses just on Kousei. He is developed the most throughout the show, while Kaori gets the shortest possible end of the stick. Her development was expected, but it never came to be. The other characters sometimes got some development, and the other female love interest also got some development.


Enjoyment:- 8/10

As much as I might rag on the show, and no matter how many flaws I point out in it, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, some characters got on my nerves, and the performances were really disappointing when someone talked over them, but even with all those flaws, I still enjoyed watching it.

Most of the time I was engrossed by the beautiful exterior of the show, and at other times, I was yelling at the characters to stop talking over the music. But, it was still a fun ride.



Pros:
+ Great animation.
+ Brilliant Openings and Endings
+ A beautiful ending
+ A well developed main lead, and a likable cast of characters.
+ Enjoyable, if you don’t try to notice the flaws.

Cons:
- Terribly developed female lead, with a ton of misused potential
- Performances were often talked over
- Story tries way too hard to be a drama, but in reality is just a mediocre melodrama


TL;DR for OVERALL:

Overall, the anime definitely isn’t bad, but it doesn’t know what it wants to be. It thinks it’s a drama and tries to act like one, but it had much more potential as a simple romance. If it wanted to be a drama, then it didn’t need to add so much comic relief at every second. It keeps trying to get tears out of you, but it tries way too hard to do so. The characters were also something that needed a lot of work, with Kaori being one of the most misused characters in the show.

On the plus side, the anime looks gorgeous, and it has some of the best openings of all time, along with performances that could’ve been much better, but were still very well done. The final episode is also a very good part of the show, meaning that the show has a brilliant ending.

In the end, it’s not a masterpiece, nor is it garbage. It’s a good experience, that I can recommend watching.

Overall: 7.2/10

TL;DR A not unenjoyable series with some fantastic musical performances, that unfortunately suffers from forced drama, shallow characters, a drawn out, surprisingly predictable story & a tendency to have characters talk at length about what the music being played expresses rather than let us listen & hear it for ourselves. If you're looking for a tearjerker that will do everything short of poke you in the eye to get those tears flowing, Your Lie in April (YliA) might be for you. If you're looking for something more, you might want tosearch elsewhere.

Music is the food of love. Something like that, anyway. It is certainly ... used by many as a means of expressing emotions in ways they cannot put into words. Indeed you'll find few things that people (at least teenagers) will identify so strongly with as a favourite song or a passion for playing. But what might it take to kill that passion in someone? & if you met someone who had lost their love for music, what would it take to bring it back? These are the questions YliA sets out to answer & asks you to come with it. (Note that while I don't consider anything discussed a meaningful spoiler, you may think otherwise)

The boy for whom the music died is Kousei Arima, a gifted & renowned pianist as a child but having lost all passion or even the ability to play since the death of his (psychotic) mother. Now he just wiles away the days, transcribing sheet music & hanging out with his childhood friends Tsubaki Sawabe & Ryouta Watari, stuck in that awkward period when no longer a child but not yet ready to be an adult. Then one day, in a scene that pays homage to Laputa: Castle in the Sky, he meets Kaori Miyazono, the carefree girl who he can't take his eyes off & who quickly takes it upon herself to break Kousei out of his shell & bring back his passion for music, whether he wants to or not.

If there is one rule that anime frustratingly breaks all too often, it's that of show, don't tell. Specifically, that it is better to show something through action rather than through exposition. YliA is full of this. Musical performances are an important part of the story & used as a means for the characters to work through internally whatever their “thing” at that point is, be it determination to prove that they're better than the competition or, often in Kousei's case, trying to overcome his personal demons so he can play. Musical performance, particularly of classical pieces with different sections & phrases that allow for the expression of different emotions, is a perfect for this. The actual performances in YliA are fantastic, with a range of Chopin & other classical pieces (although a little more variety or more well known pieces might have been appreciated) performed to a high standard but also in such a way that it mirrors the emotions of the performer, which is impressive considering we're watching cartoon characters play a cartoon piano. Indeed the music, both the original pieces & those by classical composers, is most certainly the strongest point of YliA.

Unfortunately, in almost every performance the music plays for about 20-30 seconds before someone's internal monologue starts talking all over it, usually as a form of very long winded exposition explaining what the performer is feeling. This isn't always a bad thing. When it accompanies more surreal visual expressions of the performers emotional state, such as when Kousei is playing only to find himself apparently enveloped in water & unable to hear the music, having his inner thoughts accompany the scene can add to it. However, more often than not our listening is simply interrupted by a still shot of the someone's head while they talk in detail about what we'd be able to hear & see for ourselves if only we were allowed to.

It's made all the more frustrating on the few occasions, such as the duet between Kousei & Nagi Aiza, where the exposition is kept to a relative minimum & the music allowed to just play, letting us see the two characters play off each other as they start with a fairly pedestrian rendition before gradually raising the tension in the scene as they both start to play off of & try to outdo the other. It just makes the scene that much more enjoyable to be allowed to just follow the performance without having someone talk over it to tell you what you could be listening to. Likewise the final performance, which I won't spoil, suffice to say that it is a nearly nine minute performance where everything comes together to produce a genuinely engrossing piece of animation. The high point is a nearly three minute part where no words are heard, with everything expressed simply by the facial expressions & body movements of Kousei & Kaori as they play together. If only the same could be said of all that came prior.

This may well simply be due to a mixture of practical constraints (animating multiple 5-10minute performance at a consistent quality can't be easy or cheap) & a hangover from the manga where, of course, there's no music to accompany the panels. It would be more forgiveable if it wasn't for the additional problem that the scriptwriter/author/translator seem to have a false sense of their own literary prowess, writing with a “why say it in a sentence when a metaphor laden paragraph will do?” approach. The use of poetic language isn't a problem in itself, but the characters monologues just go on & on, spouting simile after metaphor, often to the point that it's hard not to be somewhat taken out of the moment. Kousei is a repeat offender of this, often unable to think about anything without employing multiple mixed metaphors. It doesn't help that despite all the words, the characters in YliA don't really think about much. Kousei monologues about his (abusive) mum & Kaori; Kaori about Kousei & music; Tsubaki about Kousei & childhood; & Watari about nothing because he's a plot device, not a character.

In fact all the cast in YliA are surprisingly shallow characters considering all they have to say. Watari just exists so there is someone in the way of Kousei & Kaori having a romantic relationship (because she's gotta stay on that pedestal, after all), playing no meaningful role beyond that. Tsibaki is the childhood friend & third corner of the triangle that every romance must have, while her boyfriend/senior Saito & classmate Kashiwagi are just there so she can talk to someone about her feelings for Kousei other than the audience. Kousei's mum is just a (very abusive) albatross hanging around his neck that he needs to shed in order to move on from his childhood, & Kaori herself is ultimately only there to first encourage him out of his past & then her own misfortune to make him take the next steps into adulthood. Kousei of course bumbles fairly passively through all this, to the point that at times it feels more like watching the author kick a puppy than anything else. It doesn't help that on occasion the plot takes some ridiculous twists purely for the sake of melodrama at Kousei's expense. At one point, for example, he nearly drowns in a swimming pool because, rather than try to swim, he sinks to the bottom miming a piano because the water is what it feels like when he's trying to play. As examples of forced drama go, YliA has some pretty egregious ones.

Indeed, on more than a few occasions the show takes an uncomfortable turn into outright cynical emotional manipulation of the audience. Kousei's childhood seems to exist purely for this purpose, as though you can hear the writer shouting “look at this child! Doesn't he make you feel sad? No? How about if his mother hits him over the head with a cane? Are you sad now? DO YOU FEEL!?” Yes, YliA, I do feel. Apparently, however, you don't, because despite all this clear abuse Kousei was put through everyone else just seemed to take a “not my problem, not my business” view to it. Kousei's mum is depicted as a psychotic child abuser, destroying her son's mental health so she can live vicariously through his success. Despite this, however, ultimately the show takes the view that it's okay because he's got over it now & she only did it so he'd have the musical talent to play after she died. Even cultural dissonance can't be an adequate explanation for why that was thought a good story arc or why Kousei's mum deserved the character redemption it tries to give her.

All this is in contrast to the comparatively marginal b-plot, the competition between Kousei, Takeshi Aiza & Emi Igawa, where something akin to actual character progression takes place. They begin with Emi & Takeshi harbouring old grudges against Kousei, only for the trio to progress as Kousei rediscovers his passion for music while Aiza & Takeshi move on from simply wanting to stick it to their old rival to aspiring to greatness in their own rights. We get to see progression both through their thoughts & conversations & also their musical performances, not to mention that the more peripheral characters connected to this part of the story actually feel like they have a purpose beyond listening to Tsubaki's boy problems or the like. The main plot really doesn't have anything like that sort of dynamic, which makes sitting through episode after episode of Kousei thinking about his mum or Tsubaki thinking about Kousei all the harder to enjoy because it never feels like it's going anywhere meaningful. The ending doesn't help in that regard either. Without spoiling, it basically reveals that the whole journey we've been on was basically a “romantic” version of Cameron's b-plot in the “One day, One Room” episode of House.

But I'm digressing now. Despite all the problems YliA has I can't say it wasn't watchable. Indeed, many of the problems I had with it are things you have to either take or leave with anime that share the same genre tags. As frustrating as it got, YliA never feels as dragged out as, say, Chihayafuru, & there were moments where the show really did shine as the romantic drama it is supposed to be. There are more episodes than were needed but the finale is both a highpoint & a definitive ending, which is always welcome. The art & animation were fine for the most part & were impressive when it counted, which is all one could ask for. Having reached the end of Kousei & company's journey, I can't say I'd want to watch it again, but nor would I say it wasn't worth watching either. All things considered, perhaps that's enough.

Ok so, if you liked Your Lie in April for the inspiration and music aspect, then try Nodame Contabile. If you liked it for the drama, unrequited loves, and music, try Kids on the Slope.

These two shows did it way better than Your Lie in April.

----------------

It's about a piano genius boy who has been mentally abused by his over controlling, psycho mom, and thus is dealing with issues regarding his piano/musical life. Meets a forceful girl who's to change all that. She literally just comes along and forces him to do things her way. Most of the story is just so unrealistically exaggerated. You ... just can't take it seriously. This show is drama, I understand, but this is melodrama to the next level. I couldn't help laughing at parts I should be feeling sentimental about instead. Speaking of laughing, this serious show also attempts to throw in a bit of comedy. Fine, but make sure it's funny before you go and do that. The comedy scenes for the most part didn't work for me. It just felt forced, not natural, and well....not funny.

They have things repeated to you over and over, and even in the same episode sometimes. Good god, way to make use of the 22 min screen time you get. The story is kinda predictable, and the fact that they spell everything out for you doesn't help to alleviate the boredom. Throw in some unrealistic, overdone drama, and you're left cringing for the most part.

The art. The only thing that will fool you into thinking this anime is great. I wouldn't say the animation is top notch, but the art is indeed pleasing to the eye. The OST is kinda nice as well. That's it. Those are the only pros to this show.

For this to creep up even in the top 50s, I don't even know what to think. It's not terrible, but it's way way way overrated, and I can't fathom why it's in the top 15 on MAL (at the time of writing). The quality of the story, the script, and the characters doesn't feel like it warrants this anime to be in the top 50 even.

I fine with drama. Heck I LOVE a good touching show with or without romance. This show though, eventually became something I had to force myself to keep watching. If you are expecting this to be top quality anime that all should watch because it's sitting up here near the top of the list, you may find yourself severely disappointed... unless you're a preteen who loves romance and over the top sob stories. Then by all means go for it.


STORY:4
ART:8
SOUND:8
ENJOYMENT: 3
OVERALL: 4

"To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable." - Ludwig Van Beethoven


Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is about a child prodigy classical pianist named Kosei Arima, who gave up playing due to crippling depression following the death of his mother. Even though he won many competitions back when he was still playing piano, his playing was always very "by the book", mechanical, and lacking in passion. This was because of the extremely strict way in which he was trained by his late mother. After hearing the very passionate and innovative performance of a brilliant young violinist named Kaori Miyazono, ... Kosei is able to rediscover his love for music and learn to play with heart.

That sounds AMAZING right? An anime musical drama/romance that tells a heartwarming tale and introduces beautiful classical music to a new generation who otherwise wouldn't give it a chance. Why then didn't I rate it a 9 or 10?! I will sadly have to explain.

Firstly, I must say that this series REALLY had potential! Especially for me, since I am a huge fan of classical music. Both of my parents were classical violinists who played in an orchestra. I went in with very high expectations, but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. That isn't to say that I felt Shigatsu was a bad anime. Shigatsu is a fine anime, but I am saying it could have been a LOT better and it wasted a tragic amount of potential.

Story:

Although the basic premise of the story is the stuff of an award winning drama film, the execution was...not so much. Shigatsu has a LOT of really crappy comedy that never once made me laugh and constantly threw the mood out the window! This comedy is almost always accompanied by painfully obnoxious chibi style animation to save on the show's budget. I'm not saying that using tone jarring chibi out of nowhere instantly makes an anime bad. Hellsing Ultimate did it for comedy scenes, but Hellsing Ultimate never took itself seriously and never expected the audience to take it seriously. It is a show about Count Dracula fighting Nazi vampires! Shigatsu on the other hand, tries REALLY hard every 5 seconds to make the audience cry. Shigatsu DOES take itself quite seriously and wants to really emotionally move the audience, so the use of shitty comedy and random chibi in this context was a rather poor choice. The other most obvious problem in the show's execution was just how forced a lot of the tragedy felt. Shigatsu is a flat out melodrama. I'm not one of those critics who instantly hates on melodrama and condemns series just for using a writing style that is no longer in vogue. However, this story really didn't need to be a melodrama. It felt completely tacked on unnecessarily. Tragedies get more respect than comedies right? We better try REALLY hard to make this into a tragedy! I love a good tragedy, but Shigatsu in terms of its themes, message, and basic story isn't really crafted to be a tragedy. It feels like a comedy that was forcibly changed into a tragedy in post production because some jackass thought it would win more awards!

Art:

The art and animation is very inconsistent. During the scenes where an instrument is being played, the animation is gorgeous and accurately captures the movements of the musician. Then it goes to barely animated chibi garbage because...why? The art style is extremely "moe" which may piss off some viewers.


Music:

The selection of classical music is AWESOME! We get Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and basically lots of excellent pieces by amazing composers. The only problem is the quality of the playing used for the anime's soundtrack. We are told over and over again how Kosei is this AMAZING child prodigy and quite possibly developing into the greatest pianist of his day. Yet the piano playing we hear is...not THAT good. This wasn't a live action film. They could have used any recording since the invention of the phonograph and synced up the animation with the playing. Why not use a recording of a pianist who actually plays like ALL the characters describe Kosei? Vladimir Horowitz could play better than the dude from this soundtrack after 3 bottles of vodka, blindfolded, while being attacked by killer bees!


Overall:

Basically I just wanted to say that Shigatsu wasn't a bad anime, but it really wasn't a new masterpiece and actually squandered a ton of potential with extremely questionable choices in terms of execution. This actually isn't the first time I have seen a "moe" melodrama that mixed slapstick comedy with extremely forced tragedy. Angel Beats already accomplished that feat years ago. The difference is that the comedy in Angel Beats was actually funny! Angel Beats was also always supposed to be a comedy, but with some drama and tragedy thrown in. Shigatsu probably started out as a comedy, but was changed into a tragedy first, a romantic drama second, and a loveletter to classical music 3rd. The comedy in Shigatsu honestly feels WAY more out of place than the comedy in Angel Beats. Overall, I would still check it out if you really love classical music or wish to learn more about classical music, but if you are coming for the drama/romance, I would pick a better anime.

So maybe you're like me, and chose to watch this because the animation looks good, it's a new, ongoing anime, and heck, maybe you play an instrument or sing and were interested anyway. However interested I was at first, even with the outstanding music, at this point I can't even stomach this show. In my opinion, this show puts way too much of an emphasis on the entire drama of everything and kinda distracts from what I think is most important in a good show: an interesting story. Say you're not like me, and you enjoy all this whiny drama stuff. I'd say disregard everything ... else I'm about to say and go ahead and watch this, because you'll be sure to enjoy it. However, if all these tears and uncertain moments make you kinda wanna puke, I'd maybe kinda wanna stay away, because you'll only end up distraught and dissatisfied with all the mixed emotions in a show like this.

Beethoven was a piano genius who couldn’t hear his own music because of his deafness. Arima Kousei is a piano prodigy can’t hear his own music because of the tragic death of his mother causing mental breakdown that casted a deep, dark shadow over music.

[Story]

Your Lie in April starts out as a colorful, and lighthearted anime, but all this contrasts the life of it’s main character, Arima Kousei, which is described as monotone, and dull. The lightheartedness is contradicted yet again as deeper, and much darker past is revealed as Arima falls deeply in love with Kaori. You get a large glimpse of ... his dismal past revealing the actual reason behind why he can’t hear his own music, but his conditions steadily improves as he ventures into his first love. Though only calling him “Friend A” Kaori slowly begins to drag him back into music, as well as showing him a new side of life that was colorful, and vivid.

I enjoyed the story as well the storytelling methods of Shigatsu. The story is told mostly through Kosei’s point of view, and the anime utilizes a unique way of narration, much of the story is told through internal monologues, and thoughts. There are several pros and cons of this method, and a pro is the fact that you can see the character’s thought processes, and the con is that too much monologues can be quite overwhelming as well as annoying at times.

[Characters]

One of the things that made this anime so great was the characters. The anime heavily centers in on the past of the characters, which proves to be an excellent way of characterization. Every single character in the anime no matter substantial or minor is given a great personality. And as far as character development goes, most of the main characters display a considerable amount of it, especially Kousei.

I really enjoyed diversity between the personalities of Kousei, and Kaori. Kaori seemed like the incarnation of freedom, a happy go lucky girl. Yet Kousei is a sheltered person, he seems to withdraw himself from others in order to protect himself. They were polar opposites of each other, yet they were also made to be together.

[Sound]

Amazing put together, the soundtrack to the anime emphasized every aspect of the anime making it so much better. I’m definitely no fan of classical music but, they were essential to the show, as to any music anime, and it turned out I really enjoyed them because the songs were part of the story. Each time Kosei performed a song it revealed to us a little bit of his past. As a person who always skips the OP and ED of an anime, I made the exception for this one since they all were so well written, and complemented the tone of the anime.

[Art & Animation]
Original, would be the word I would use to describe the type of art style in the anime. Personally I thought it was okay but it was fairly compatible with the show, it used a lot of vibrant colors which thoroughly emphasized a lighthearted mood.

[Negatives]
No show is perfect, and this show is no exception. Not really sure why people had such a big problem with the overly dramatic scenes but it’s true there were a lot of drama, especially towards the end. Personally I thought the drama made the show more realistic, but honestly do a couple of 14 year olds need that much drama.

Pacing, one thing I learned after watching this anime was that the author really likes to drag things out, and I understand that this might not be a problem for some people, but honestly, do they really need to spend a whole episode on the past of a supporting character? I really wish they would’ve made the last part of the show longer rather than adding in too much detail.

[Overall]

I really enjoyed this anime as a whole, it took a very clichéd plot, and with it’s added elements turned it into something original. And taking it’s genre’s into perspective, it really excels at each of them except the humor it could’ve been done a lot better. The jokes were poorly placed and overall just caused awkwardness. The anime is a real tearjerker it made me cry twice, and I pride myself in being a real macho person. But as far as masterpieces go, this definitely belongs in the best of the best. It’s an anime that I wished would never end, but nothing lasts forever, except true love.

"Will you forget?" - Kaori

Honestly, I have not written an anime review probably since Sword Art Online. I don't necessarily prefer writing reviews cause they're generally tedious & time consuming. However, There is only so long I can see such misleading, disrespectful, and uninformative reviews. Out of the well over 300 anime series I have seen, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is one of Seven anime I have given the perfect score to. And that is because this anime epitomises quality & perfection.

I came in to this show with moderate expectations. I followed this show weekly - watching it each Thursday as it ... aired alongside my other Fall 2014 & Winter 2015 shows. Episode after episode continued to raise expectations, to command attention & perpetuate interest. I've seen a relatively fair share of Romance/Drama/School type anime, the most recent one of this genre being "Nisekoi" and most falling in a long line of trope filled, generic characters, non-developing story, and non existent romance.

The first thing you have to judge a show by is its first impression, just like any other art medium. My first impression of Shigatsu was along the lines of "Wow, this is aesthetically pleasing." The meticulous attention to detail of backgrounds, artistic displays, character designs was beyond impressive. Even the way A-1 transitioned between Kosei's world of colour & that of black/white played a positive, constructive role into developing not only Kosei's character, but the plot itself.

The music coincides with the other positive elements of the show to create the stunning masterpiece it is. First and foremost Shigatsu is a music anime & i find some of the criticisms of this not only amusing, but contradictory. OF COURSE, the drama, romance, setting & other plot elements are going to be centred around Kosei and his Piano playing - his fears, his desires, & his inability to overcome that struggle. I thought this would be more obvious to some people who call it melodramatic, or saying the drama is forced, which is rather ironic seeing as all the drama that occurs is relevant to the story & does not feel forced. Anyway I did not intend to deviate from how special the music is. The score is very evenly and appropriately composed, and at points where the emphasis is on the recitals, the music always fits the mood of the show well, and the monologue that occurs during these moments provides invaluable access to the minds of the characters (predominately Kosei) that allow us to resonate not only to the sound of the music being played - but to the intention of the sound. To the tension of that sound - of that meaning reaching its final destination. The hearts of the audience. The hearts of us.

Did it reach us? - Yes it did.

You can't have a perfect score without characters of the highest calibre. That's where Kaori Miyazano sparkles. She is confident, strong willed, beautiful, motivational, short-tempered, fragile, lonely all at the same time. To me she rates among the best female characters of all time. Kosei was a little more frustrating at times, and a little more bland. A little more of the generic type, but even when he should feel generic, there is a realness he represents. The struggle he faces, his desires to overcome those struggles, his human emotion - his black and white world that is slowly being transformed to that of colour. Kosei surely wasn't the most spectacular of protagonists - but seeing the once "puppet to the score's" transformation both as a person - and as an artist is one of the best coming of age developments in Anime history. Even some of the side characters I particularly grew fond of. The most specific of these is Aiza. Aiza while truly looked up to Kosei as a hero- as an idol, despite being equally as talented and prodigious himself. Even looking at Kosei's back, he always strives to catch up to him, to make an impact. Not all of the characters were strong - Watari is the generic best friend who's athletic, good looking, confident, etc & Tsubaki has the archetypal role of being the childhood friend who's in love - but can't realise it.

When I rate anime, 9 to me represents masterpiece, and 10 represents what i describe as "beyond masterpiece". I always say if I have to "question" if a show is a ten it is inherently not a ten, So what separates Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso from other masterpieces? It's the show's impact. Week in and week out my heart aligned with the characters - aligned with the drama. The aesthetics were unparalleled, the score so diligently composed, the characters so well developed and an ending that catalyses tears from even the most desensitized of viewers. Save for a few moments of misplaced comedic madness, the tone was consistent - the mood always properly developed & accentuated by both the score & art, and the show epitomised the absolute pinnacle of its genre. I loved this show.

Prepare yourself for a musical ride with Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie In April), one of the most talked about anime in the western community of late. The big question is whether the music-focused romance has earned its acclaim we’ve seen from the bulk of reviewers? I feel it’s both a yes and no, but mostly the latter. That’s not to take away from it at all. This artful, musical adventure is still better than your average anime by a long way and it’s still a show I’d encourage everyone to watch if they get a chance.

It is one gorgeously crafted anime from ... a technical perspective. While its animation doesn’t leap out at you, the character designs, background art and music are superb. Every scene is oozing with charm. The show is not, however, free from its flaws which come mostly from the character interactions, comedy and strange writing choices that plague the show particularly in its back half. There is no doubting that the show will be remembered for a long time in the genre thanks to its wonderful blend of art, music and sprightly collection of characters. It’s not flawless, by a long shot, but it will manage to reach you somewhere on the emotional spectrum through either its uplifting moments or its sadder periods.

The story itself is simple enough. We have our protagonist Kousei who is a former child prodigy on the piano but has since lost both his desire and ability to play due to events in his life. Along comes Kaori into his life, a blond-haired ball of energy, who suddenly puts the colour back into his life and sparks his journey back into the musical sphere. There’s no themes in here you haven’t seen before but the way they are conveyed is full of life and charm. Though it borders on the overbearing when it comes to dialogue the story trundles along with a decent pace throughout the episodes, perhaps dragging along at moments. Could it have been done over 12 episodes instead? Possibly.

The show’s biggest flaw comes from its handling of the relationship between our two main characters Kousei and Kaori. It’s hard to delve into this without spoiling the story and their development but I will say a few things on the topic.

First, the not-so-good news. A combination of some dreadfully unfunny and poorly timed comedic breaks, repetitive dialogue, slow progression and also exposition overload with the duo always kept me frustrated as a viewer. A lot has been said about the lengthy amount of philosophical ramblings of the characters, and it must be said that the problem with them doesn’t come with the words being spouted from a 14-year-old’s mouth. Instead, the problem comes in that such monologues are in stark contrast to the wacky comedic moments. The show really has no idea what kind of tone it’s going for because of this conflict. The show could have done without both the philosophical and comedic moments and struck a friendly middle ground that could still have produced a concentrated script.

The other side of the coin is that, on their own, I feel like our leading pair are very interesting. They have desires and they change as our story progresses. As they each help them find out more about themselves and their own ability we start to see new sides of them. This is true more so in Kousei’s case as Kaori remains criminally underdeveloped at points. Nothing in the show, I feel, is worthy of the dreaded ‘melodramatic’ tag. All the decisions made revolving around their music make sense, plus the emotional baggage they carry is certainly not unfounded. It’s great to see Kousei try to fight through the barriers preventing him from playing without fear once again. The way he tries to achieve that makes perfect sense and is handled with respect and – to a point – realism.

In regards to our other characters, it seems all their purpose in the show is to further Kousei’s development without expanding their own a great amount. That’s not to say they don’t have their moments. Tsubaki and Watari are the friends tagging alongside our leading duo and they provide a welcome change up sometimes. Their own successes and failures are utilised well by the writers as a parallel to what our leads are going through. They certainly don’t just sit by the wayside achieving little.

While a central theme of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is its classical music and how it is used to express emotion, it commits the big sin of telling instead of showing. It's disappointing to see a show that is supposed to be letting the music speak to us instead have its message spit out to us in lengthy monologues from those both playing and listening to it. Music has the ability to speak to us through its expression and dynamics. There is supposed to be no better example of this than classical piano. Shigatsu manages to capture this through its artistic elements like its beautiful light and art and also its depiction of the playing styles between our different characters. However these moments become fractured and tainted to an extent due to the constant spilling of thoughts from our characters.

This nit picking, to a point. Every musical scene is packed with energy and also seems to be where the majority of the animation budget would be poured into for the show. The song choices are fantastic and do a superb job at mirroring the current state of the person playing it. It would be most accurate to describe all of Kousei’s performances as a means of concluding an ‘arc’ or development for him. We see him either grow or recede in his confidence in himself each time and, as stated above, the art and direction manage to capture these changes wonderfully.

On another music note the opening and endings are all wonderful and perfectly encapsulate the themes that the show is going for. Goose House’s Hikaru Nara is the big highlight with its energetic vibe and singalong chorus, it’s without a doubt one of the best openings I’ve had the pleasure of listening to.

Overall Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is a show that I feel everyone should experience. Some may be able to look past the bloated dialogue and the sketchy writing, instead uncovering a colourful and vibrant show that manages to give off plenty of charm through its music and superb art. More than anything – despite the flaws I see – the show will stick with you. There will be moments you look back on with either fondness or sadness some time from now.

They say that when you fall in love, your whole world changes. The grey becomes colored, the dull becomes vivid, and the little moments become unforgettable ones. While there may be other stories that are written better or other productions that are animated better, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April) struck a chord with me that I hadn’t felt with a show in a long time. Even with its flaws, I loved every moment of this show, both as a musician and as an ordinary viewer.

Shigatsu focuses on the journey of Arima Kousei, who was a brilliant pianist as a child, ... but is now just a shell of his former self, haunted by the tragedies of his past. However, one day in April he meets Kaori Miyazono, the wild and unorthodox violinist, and that meeting sets off the beginning of Kousei’s journey as Kaori drags him out forcefully to confront himself. While there’s nothing especially groundbreaking about the premise, I felt it was executed in such a way that made the journey engaging and got me invested in the lives of the characters. The story’s lighthearted moments were very enjoyable, bar a bit of repetitiveness in the slapstick comedy, while the tragic moments made me sympathize and mourn alongside the characters. Some may say that the show was a bit overdramatic, but I’d have to disagree. The emotional plights that seem trivial to an outsider have much more weight to growing adolescents, and that is something I could definitely empathize with. On the other hand, the stress and despair that the musicians feel leading up to their performances may not be understandable to the casual player, but to those with a real investment in music, it is very real. I felt that the drama was well done and raised the tension in such a way that made the stakes at cost feel present. Also, I’m glad that they committed to their ending and didn’t kind of half-way attempt it but then turn tail because they were too afraid of committing *cough* Oreimo *cough*. It made the ending feel much more satisfying, which sadly is not the case for many shows.

One complaint that some might have with the show and that I’d be able to understand is that it’s a little heavy-handed. With an abundance of monologues containing flowery, Shakesperian-esque dialogue as well as not-so-subtle symbolism, it probably would’ve been to their benefit to have toned it down a little and made it a bit more subtle. While it might be too much for some, I personally didn’t really have too much of an issue with it, but it was noticeable. It could also be a little slow at times, but other than one especially noticeably repetitive episode, it wasn’t too big of a problem.

A part of the show that I enjoyed immensely was watching the musicians grow. From the climb out of despair in Kousei or just the small steps as a musician in the young Nagi, seeing all the musicians grow up on their own journeys both musically and emotionally was extremely satisfying to watch. The rest of the cast were a bit more stagnant, but they were still enjoyable characters nonetheless. Watari was a bit of the typical male best friend character and didn’t really grow through the series, but was still fun to watch. Tsubaki didn’t really grow much either for most of the series, but when the time came around where everyone realized just how fleeting time is, she was able to do more than just the typical childhood friend character, and I appreciated that. The characters felt like more than just two dimensional people, leading me to grow invested and care about their lives.

Now, there was some slight controversy surrounding the show, mostly involving Kaori’s forcefulness with Kousei, as well as Tsubaki and Watari to a lesser degree. While it’s certainly not going to be the same case for everybody, and there are probably hundreds of different methods that could have been used, I feel as though Kaori’s push isn’t as wrong as some people think. I may not have gone through the same circumstances that Kousei did, nor was my despair ever as great as his, but I think that I can empathize with Kousei’s mindset. And if it was me, I definitely would’ve needed to have had someone else push me, even if it hurt, to ever have a chance of finding a way out, so I feel as though the story’s take on the situation wasn’t wrong. Of course, some people may have different opinions, and I respect that, but that’s my personal take on the matter.

On the artistic side of things, it was a beautiful show to look at. The art style was pleasing, and the animation was mostly fluid; they also had some gorgeous stills too. The color palette changed to fit the emotions as well as the livelihood of a certain character, so that was a nice touch. There were times that the animation cut the corners a little in a way that you could tell, but it was never anything too prominent. The soundtrack was nice and fitting, with the everyday moments feeling pleasant while the dramatic ones being accentuated with the emotional music. I loved both OP’s, although Hikaru Nara edges it out slightly for me, while both ED’s fit nicely with the tone, with the second one more somber than the first to fit with the growing tragedy.

Of course, as a show about musicians, the performances had to be good. And they were absolutely amazing. The performances were extremely engaging, and after every single one, I noticed that I hadn’t moved an inch during the whole thing. They were animated beautifully, and the emotions in the music captivated me as a viewer. As a musician, watching these performances reignited a love for classical music I had forgotten for a long time, and it’s stirred me to expand my repertoire to more than just contemporary music. As a side note, I’m extremely glad that they finally didn’t have a violinist just flailing around the bow like they’re playing the music even though it doesn’t match what’s playing at all. As a former violinist it would grate my eyes whenever I saw that in a show, but thankfully this one avoids doing just that.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a teenager and a musician so I can relate with the characters, but this is a show that captivated me in a way that anime hasn’t done in a long time. While it may have had some flaws, the character journeys, the tragic moments alongside the lighthearted ones, the performances, and the energy of the show all just came together to create a show that was extremely enjoyable from beginning to end.

"Are you going to forget? Even if I die, I won't forget."

tl;dr – I liked it. A lot.

Spoiler free but one could infer things based on my reaction.

Shigatsu is an anime that had me torn in so many places. I think the plot , the music and the artwork are the best you will see recent memory. That said, the melodrama between the big events of the series is absolutely excruciating to watch especially for a modern anime. I had to constantly remind myself that the main characters are junior high students and not high school students to give some meaning to the unrealistic drama that unfolded. I will describe why I feel that this melodrama was so horribly written and executed ... and why I feel it ruined an incredible piece of art that is Shigatsu.

The "lie" is supposed to be a plot device that allows Arima to have mixed feelings and give him a drive.
This worked out fine story wise but to introduce that type of background and never work with it was annoying to say the least. I really feel I could argue that this was made so that "romance" could be injected into a musically focused story. Normally this type of relationship would be questioned. We never experience that thrill of someone finding out. Later in the series Watari openly comments on other cute girls with no remorse or guilt or obligatory anime slap to the face. This brings another issue with the series which is my main dealbreaking issue. Anytime there is a problem all you have to do is beat the shit out of Kosei,
Kaori messes something up,attack Kosei, another girl shows affection to Kosei, attack him for it,
Kosei does all the work and takes no credit, attack him for it,
Kosei suffers from depression due to trama, help him by attacking him,
Kosei does his absolute best given the circumstances, beat the shit out of him
I don't know if this was supposed to funny but it was the most irritating I ever watched. I started to question anime in general because of this series.

There was so much they could have done instead of attacking Kosei. I wanted more from this anime. The art work caught my eye immediately with eye popping colors that were so vivid on an OLED screen and an excellent repertoire of classical music. Character development felt very forced as most anime do with a beta male main character.
This anime could of been a must see classic if the writer had been more mature about it but now it's a just a good watch for people who like music anime with a little romance. Don't watch this anime for the romance like I did. just enjoy the ride and try not to think about it.

This review has spoilers so if you haven’t watched Shigatsu yet, just scroll down to the bottom for the (spoiler-free) pros and cons section. If you do decide to read all of it, then you’ve been warned, it’s pretty long.


I would start by explaining the plot but I’m sure you know what it’s about by now. If you don’t know, go read it and come back. Did you read it? I don’t know about you but its premise to me sounds amazing. In fact, before Shigatsu aired, I thought it would be the easiest 10 I have ever given a show. However, I was quite ... wrong and I’ll tell you just how bad this show actually turned out to be.


This is a romance and drama anime, and in shows of these genres the cast of characters is the most important aspect. There’s a lot to say about them but to summarize our cast in just two words, it’d be “mediocre” and “underdeveloped.” There’s honestly not much to say about our MC, Kousei Arima. I liked him most of the time. The only time I felt frustrated with him was when, in one episode, his mom’s ghost finally smiles and it looks like he overcame his fear of playing but a couple of episodes later, he’s back to crying and clutching his head. What happened to all that character development, ehh??? Oh yeah, there was also that one time he said “Kaori’s the only person I need” even though his friends have been with him longer than Kaori has. How can you just ignore your friends like that for some girl you just met? Despite that, he’s the only character who gets a decent amount of development and his outlook on life changes by the end. If you compare how he was at the beginning with how he ended up, there’s definitely a difference.

Our other MC, Kaori, is one of the worst-written characters I’ve ever come across in any medium. She has no definitive personality and most of the time she’s insufferable. At the beginning she seemed like a nice girl but as it went on, the worse and worse she got. She could be replaced by a cardboard cutout of a VS Pink model with a speech bubble saying “You can do it!” and the show would be 10 times better. She’s just a plot device and because of that, the author forgot to give her a personality. The little bit of personality she DOES have makes no sense and is just all around inconsistent. One second she’s smiling and telling Arima to believe in himself and the next she’s hitting him for no reason. At least in other shows, the tsundere hits the MC because he embarrassed her or made himself look like a pervert, but with Kaori, she hits him for literally no reason. Every time Arima asked angrily “what was that for?!” I was asking myself the exact same thing. Why, Kaori, did you hit Kousei when he did nothing to hurt or embarrass you? Please tell me, I want to know just as much as he does. Kaori also loves to spout philosophical BS that sounds like she got from one of those Tumblr pages filled with filtered photos with “inspirational” text on it that girls like so much. She makes those stupid philosophical speeches many times, too. It’s not endearing, it makes it seem like she’s trying too hard with this “carefree and happy” vibe she’s trying to project. Kaori is also manipulative, proven by the fact that she cried one time to get Kousei to be her accompanying pianist. She could’ve just calmly told him that she admires him (I’m sure he’s quite used to hearing those type of comments) but no, she had to go and cry. And to make her personality even more confusing, there was that one time she asked Kousei out of the blue, “wanna commit double suicide? Nah, just kidding.” Her “personality” is an utter mess. That’s not her only flaw, though. We barely find out anything about her. The only things we know about her is that she likes sweets, cats and that she always wanted to perform with Arima ever since seeing one of his performances when she was little. That’s pretty much it. Her character is confusing, extremely underdeveloped and there’s no way someone like her can exist in real life. I do not understand why people think she is a good character and cry when she dies. She isn’t realistic, relatable or likeable so why do so many people feel sad when she dies? It’s like if you were watching someone kick rocks. Do you cry when you see those poor rocks getting kicked about? Hell no, they’re lifeless rocks. That’s exactly what Kaori dying is like to me. I don’t feel sad or anything because it doesn’t feel like she could be an actual person, as if she’s just some rock.

Tsubaki is another main character and Arima’s childhood friend and as with every “childhood friend” cliché, she likes Arima and boy, does she take forever to realize it. It was absolutely infuriating waiting for her to come to terms with her feelings already. Her chibi comedy bits were unfunny and incredibly annoying. Most of the chibi segments consisted of her yelling nonsense at the people around her. The worst example of those comedy bits being unfunny and just plain disrespectful was when in the last episode, Kousei is reading Kaori’s letter by the train tracks, there’s a sad atmosphere and all, and then Tsubaki shows up uninvited and kicks him in the shin (while looking like a chibi) and yells at him “don’t ever think you’re alone!” Who thought that was an okay thing to add to that scene??

Watari is Arima’s other friend and another plot device. There are two plot device characters in this show??? Yup. Watari only exists so Kaori and Arima can meet, and Kaori only exists so Arima can feel better again without getting any actual development of her own. Back to Watari. His only traits are: acting like a playboy and liking cute girls and acting like a bro to Arima. Even when he said he liked Kaori (for some reason), Watari just put his arm around Arima’s neck and said “I know.” Watari’s 100% top bro material. Too bad he barely gets any character development, either. There was a scene with him where I felt was the ONLY time I actually related to a character on this show and it was when his soccer team lost a match and he cried over their loss. That’s kind of childish but I’m sure everybody has lost a match or some competition and cried or at least FELT like crying. I could relate to how he was feeling at that moment. However, that’s the only lick of development he gets in the whole show. After that he’s mostly just ignored.

There are a bunch of supporting characters that are just….there. They don’t add anything to the story nor do their personalities get fleshed out. There’s Takeshi, Arima’s “rival,” whose main traits are: sporting a frown most of the time, acting confident in his piano-playing skills and having one of the most ridiculous hairstyles I have ever seen. Seriously, his hair’s ridiculousness rivals even JP’s from Redline. He would be completely forgettable if it weren’t for his retarded hair. There’s the other “rival,” Emi, who is only there because the author says so. She likes Kousei as well, so I guess her only real purpose is to be the third girl in his little harem. She’s a pretty useless character too. Here’s my problem with Arima’s “rivals”: their “rivalry” doesn’t feel like a rivalry because he doesn’t care about them. Not once, during a competition, did Kousei look at them, acknowledge that they have talent and say “I’m gonna beat you guys!” like actual rivals do. Takeshi and Emi think of Arima as their rival but he didn’t even remember their NAMES when he met them again after their last competition together. It’s a one-sided rivalry and that’s why I put quotation marks around the word “rival,” because Arima himself doesn’t think of them as rivals, he just ignores them most of the time, like their talent is nothing compared to HIS talent. There’s also Nagi, Takeshi’s little sister. She likes to say “what a cliché!” a lot, which is extremely annoying. Even though she only got a couple of episodes in the spotlight, I felt like I understood more of her personality than I understood Kaori’s in the entire show. Arima’s teacher and mother figure, Hiroko, was a pretty nice person and I liked her. She didn’t annoy me and there were no scenes with her where I felt like strangling her. She’s probably the best character in the whole show mainly because there aren’t any glaring flaws in her personality or role. I’m going to talk about one other character that people never mention in reviews: Kashiwagi, Tsubaki’s friend. She had literally the worst character introduction I have ever seen: by not getting introduced. One episode, she’s not there, and the next she’s hanging around Tsubaki and getting screentime. I thought I accidentally skipped an episode when I saw her. We never find out anything about her, she doesn’t do anything to help Arima nor do anything significant of any sort. Heck, she even got a spot in the second OP. But just look at her MAL page. There’s nothing on it. She shows up a lot and there’s no info on her to put on there.
You see all these supporting characters I talked about? Yeah, all of them are pretty much useless. They don’t have very interesting personalities not did I ever feel like wanting to learn more about them.

Overall, the cast is absolute garbage. None of the characters are interesting and character development is non-existent in this show. Arima was the only one who got even a bit of development while everyone else was ignored. But hey, he’s our main character, he’s the only one that REALLY matters here, amirite?


There is also an insane amount of flashbacks, foreshadowing, deathflags and inner monologues. Even the supporting characters get flashbacks. There are TOO. MANY. FLASHBACKS. The “foreshadowing” was incredibly obvious and made you see the ending coming from a mile away. They even made it seem like Kaori had a chance of living. There was one scene where her doctor tells her that she can have surgery and she decides to have it. This scene brought us false hope, making us think she’ll live, but since we’ve been stuffed to our necks with deathflags, it’s no surprise she ends up dying anyway. In one of the later episodes, Kousei comes out of the hospital (after visiting Kaori) feeling depressed, he sees that the black cat that REPRESENTS KAORI is lying on the street after being run over, dying, and he picks it up and tries to help it but it dies anyway. If that isn’t the most obvious “foreshadowing” ever, I don’t know what it is. It’s not subtle, that’s for sure. The inner monologues are just as annoying as the flashbacks and they show up at the most inappropriate of times: during performances. The most idiotic example of inner monologues interrupting the music being played was in one of Emi’s performances. Instead of hearing the piece she’s playing, what do you hear instead? Emi’s voice in her head exclaiming, “Hibike! Hibike!” Just STFU, Emi, and let me hear the song you’re playing! I hate it when people praise this show for having classical music in it when you can barely hear it. All you hear is the characters’ voices OVER the music.


The “romance” in this show is abysmal. If anything, it’s quite shallow. Kaori started to become interested in Arima after hearing one of his performances (and the reason why I say Kaori was only “interested” in Arima and she didn’t “like” him is because we never find out if she likes him or not. This makes their little romance one-sided), and the only reason why Arima started to like Kaori was because of her violin-playing and her little inspirational speeches. What, does he go falling in love with every one of his therapists, too? Because that’s basically what Kaori is to Arima. There is no romantic development between our two MCs, and they like each other for very stupid reasons.


One last thing I want to talk about is Kaori’s disease. They NEVER tell us what disease she actually has. It’s like the author just HAD to make her have some sort of disease but didn’t care enough to think about exactly WHAT disease she will have. I have seen people try and GUESS what disease she has based on her symptoms. The very fact that people had to GUESS and that the show never told us is incredibly lazy on the author’s part.


I will talk about the good parts, though. The OPs and EDs were above-average. I even listen to 2 of the songs regularly because I just liked them SO MUCH. I have one complaint, though: the second OP wasn’t as good as the first one (although I still liked it) and it didn’t fit the overall tone of the show in the second half. Luckily, the second ED makes up for the positivity of the OP with a more sad melody, definitely fitting the tone better than the OP. The animation was pretty good and the backgrounds were lovely. The actual animation was pretty solid, for the most part, but sometimes they used still shots during performances, so whenever they did that it just looked lazy. I was quite pleasantly surprised at how the last episode and Kaori’s death played out. The last episode was really well done (except for that one scene with Tsubaki I mentioned earlier). I thought the last episode would have a really depressing tone and lots of crying and screaming from Arima but the atmosphere was actually quite mellow compared to other episodes and there was no crying, either. After Kaori’s death, they skipped the whole grieving process (I’m quite thankful they did that) and moved ahead to a little while after her death when the characters have gotten used to her being gone and have stopped crying. This creates a very peaceful atmosphere. Another thing, Kaori’s “death” scene was actually quite tasteful and special, in a way. The way they showed her “dying” was a pretty good way to show her leaving the world. And that concludes my points on the good parts of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

As for my personal enjoyment…..there was none. At the beginning I quite liked it but the more it went on the more I hated it. I didn’t ENJOY watching these kids deal with their problems. If anything, I feel only pity towards these characters, living in that sorry little world of theirs.

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Pros
+ Above average OPs and EDs
+ Good animation
+ The last episode was well done

Cons
- Characters are unrelatable, boring and underdeveloped
- Lots of useless characters
- Foreshadowing was incredibly obvious, completely ruining the ending
- Too many flashbacks and inner monologues
- The slapstick chibi parts weren’t funny and uncalled for at times
- Terrible “romantic” development
- Performances kept getting interrupted by inner monologues, not allowing you to actually hear the music being played


For those that haven’t watched Shigatsu yet: if you like classical music, don’t watch this because you can’t even hear the music anyway. If you like romance, don’t watch this because it’s not romantic in the least. If you like watching realistic and interesting characters, then DON’T. WATCH. THIS. Don’t even watch it for any of the pros I listed. Just look up the OPs and EDs on youtube and save yourself some time. Don’t watch it for the last episode because it’s in no way worth suffering through 21 other episodes to watch, and if you’re watching it for the animation then you’re watching anime wrong. None of the pros I listed are worth picking this show up to watch.


I gave this show a 2 because there is NOTHING about this show that could’ve saved it. I couldn’t even find anything about the characters or story that was actually good. The only reason why I didn’t give it a 1 was because I loved the opening and ending songs, but that’s it. This show is garbage and it’s not even worth the salary of the animators who made it. It is horrifying that so many people think that this show is good simply because it made them CRY. Just because it made you cry doesn’t mean it’s a good anime, it just means you’re a huge baby who gets attached to cardboard cutout characters easily. I’m probably the biggest crybaby I know and I couldn’t even FORCE myself to cry at the end. It is a disgrace that better shows such as Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei and Uchouten Kazoku get rated lower than this turd.

It would seem that feeling some modicum of emotional involvement whilst watching/reading something is all it takes to make a masterpiece these days. Whilst emotional involvement is always a great thing, it's not enough to excuse problems that a particular work in question has. On another note, it irks me when people say they "got the feels" from watching something because more often than not, it was something stupid/cliché/melodramatic. Maybe I'm a heartless sociopath or maybe it's because I've been through a lot worse in life, but I can't help but scoff when people tell me they cried like a baby whilst watching stuff like ... the first season of Clannad. Then enters Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, an anime/manga series that plagues me with cognitive dissonance because there's a lot of stuff I truly do like about this programme but there's also a LOT of irritating crap that just got on my nerves.

The biggest reason as to why I got emotionally involved with Shigatsu is because of Kousei himself. Like I've said in some of my other reviews, my mother's dead and I know damn well where Kousei's at and all that stuff. To me, Shigatsu was less about the music and more about the story of a teenager learning to move on from past tragedies. Add into the mix that I'm a huge fan of romantic drama and music, and you'd basically have a recipe for something that would've been among my all-time favourites (alongside the likes of White Album and Solanin). Unfortunately, it wasnt perfect. The gag comedy was a mild annoyance that gradually turned into something cringe-worthy, the monologuing was a bit tedious and it just got even more ridiculous as the show went on, and as these two aspects of the show became more obvious, I found myself getting less and less involved with what was going on. If you're an avid fan of this show, allow me to explain myself.

I understand that levity has a place in storytelling, and what's more is that this show is aimed toward a mainstream audience that probably can't handle the intensity of things like Gong Ji-young's Our Happy Time or White Album 2. The problem is that Shigatsu's particular style of humour was grossly inappropriate for the subject matter that this show was tackling. This is a show revolving around a 14-year-old who has a dead mother who was extremely abusive toward him learning how to cope with past tragedies and learning to move on with his life. The last thing we need is a chibi-style cutaway interspliced with every dramatic moment out there. Stuff like that just takes away from the emotional impact of the story and just ruins the mood for me. If the humour was more dialogue-oriented like in Daria or in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, it would've been more than enough to break up the excess tension that would build up and make the show uncomfortable to watch whilst also allowing for the show to play with your emotions without any interference whatsoever. Alack, hindsight's an anime studio's worst enemy and there's no changing what's already done.

On another note, the monologuing was nothing short of tedious and insulting. Monologues are a powerful tool and if used sparingly, they can strengthen the impact of various events that would go on in your story. The problem is that the mangaka (and A-1 Pictures by extension) fails to understand that more monologues does NOT equate to more emotional weight. I don't know about you, but I find it nothing short of insulting when an anime studio decides to tell us exactly what a character is feeling via long, drawn-out monolgues in almost every episode because it gives me the impression that A-1 Pictures thinks I'm some socially inept otaku with no understanding of how human emotions work. The strange thing is that all of the monologuing could've easily been omitted if the story actually decided to focus on Kousei and Kaori instead of bringing up the perspectives of people like Kousei's piano rivals and Tsubaki.

I don't know about you, but I don't give a rat's ass about Tsubaki, Watari, Emi, Takeshi, or any of those other people. They're side characters, so why even bring them up? The only characters that ultimately matter by the end of it all are Kousei and Kaori. All that time that A-1 Pictures spent on those characters could've easily been spent making fleshing out Kousei and Kaori's personalities. As much as I adore the two of them, I can't exactly say that I think they''re well-written characters. Let me put it to you like this: I've found several other characters empathetic in the same way I found myself empathising with Kousei (i.e. Tohru Honda, Tomoya Okazaki, Shinji Ikari) and yet those characters made more of a lasting impression in my mind than Kousei did, namely because I found them empathetic in many more ways than I could find myself relating to Kousei. I mean, outside of the fact that I was once a motherless teenager with the hots for a blonde chick, I can safely say that Kousei isn't exactly the most relatable of individuals. As for Kaori? Well... outside of the fact that I actually like her, she's no different than Nagisa from Clannad in that they're just there to be plot devices meant to evoke an emotional response out of the viewer.

Now those problems aside, another thing that never really sat right with me was how Kousei was treated by his friends over the course of the series. He's got a dead mother who was pretty damn abusive toward him. The last thing the bloke wants to do is play the piano, and yet he still finds himself drawn to it because you know... that was his thing. I understand his friends want him to just play the bloody instrument again and that 14-year-olds aren't psychotherapists by any stretch of the imagination, but the way they go about doing so is rather cruel to say the least. He's harassed and manipulated quite a bit over the course of the series and somehow, that's the solution to all of his problems. You know, Kousei would've had a mental breakdown if he was a real person because he'd be forced to re-live some nasty childhood trauma. I wouldn't really have much of a problem with this were it not for the fact that I've seen shit like this first-hand, and it *RARELY* works out. It also doesn't help that there was a lot of inappropriate gag comedy that was going on during these scenes where Kousei was forced to play the piano again, but let's not get into that.

I really don't want to pick on this show so much, but the problem is that these flaws make the show incredibly difficult to take seriously. When I get taken out of my moment by flaws in a particular programme, my critical faculties are automatically turned on and now I have no choice but to take the piss out of the show I'm watching because it failed to keep me entertained in the first place. This means that stuff I would've ordinarily let slide if I were actually invested in what I was watching (i.e. the simpering, stupid dialogue about "seeing the notes" and "colourful music") end up being another point lost in my book. If this were any other programme (like say Tokyo Ghoul or Fate/stay night), this wouldn't be a problem because half the fun in watching them came from making fun of what was going on in the show. However, Shigatsu falls in with Nagi no Asukara in that it was a show that I adored the crap out of that gradually lost my interest because of various factors (much to my own dismay, of course).

A lot of these problems could've easily been avoided if A-1 Pictures actually took the initiative to fix the problems that the source material had in the adaptation. An adaptation isn't supposed to be a translation of the source material verbatim into another medium. Adaptations can be viewed as a sort of "second chance" for the source material, so the most important job that an adaptation has to do is fix the various problems that plagued the source material in the first place. Unfortunately, that didn't happen whatsoever and the end result is a show full of wasted potential, poorly-timed gag comedy, tedious monologues, and a whole lot of farcical melodrama: just like the manga that it came from. Well, that's not entirely fair to say because Shigatsu does have a few redeeming qualities.

For a show that couldn't keep me invested in what was going on for more than five minutes at a time, I must say that the parts where I was actually into what was going on had me on the edge of my seat and despite that Clannad comparison I made earlier, this show actually had me invested in what was going on a lot more than the first season of Clannad could ever hope to. Despite the fact that the show is plagued with bad comedy, laughably pathetic melodrama, and annoying monologues, there will come a powerful scene every so often that would've otherwise left you in tears were it not for the inexcusably flawed execution. On that note, at least Shigatsu did a fair enough job of actually making me care about the characters throughout the entire show as opposed to some of the other things I've watched (i.e. Air, Nagi no Asukara) so it has that going for it as well.

The production values also showcase what A-1 Pictures is capable of from an audiovisual standpoint. Despite the fact that the animation quality hiccups every now and then, it's remarkably consistent and the amount of effort and detail they put into the musical performances makes them all the more captivating to watch. Speaking of music, the OST is lovely to say the least. I personally find myself liking the first OP the most, mostly because it's quirky, catchy, and makes me eager to watch more of the show despite knowing damn well what's in store for me if I do. I would say something about classical music, but I don't got that much knowledge in that department. I like violins and I like pianos. This show has plenty of tracks with violins and pianos and they sound good to my ears. Therefore, the OST is good. What more do you want me to say?

Final thoughts? Well... Shigatsu was definitely something I'll keep in mind for a while and whilst it was tedious to get through, it managed to do more than enough right to get a pass from me. With that said, I wouldn't necessarily call this show "good" because honestly... there are so many other things out there that do what Shigatsu does and better. I mean, if you want this particular show, go right ahead but I'd hold off on it for a while and try going for something like say...

a) White Album 2
- Another romantic drama with music that came out during the fall season. This show puts a lot more focus on the romance than the music, and what's more is that it actually keeps a serious tone throughout the eniter story! Kazusa is easily best girl, by the way

b) Clannad: The Motion Picture (and Clannad: After Story to a greater extent)
- Another story about a guy whose life was changed completely after a fateful encounter with a girl in spring. Within the span of an hour and a half, a story of love, loss, and coping with tragedy is told and is done to a much greater effect than it was done in Shigatsu for various reasons (namely the fact that the entire movie was told from Tomoya and Nagisa's perspective).

Yeah, that was a lazy way to shoehorn my alternate show recommendations, but that's what happens when I spend an hour and a half writing up a review for a show that'll probably get downvoted into oblivion anyway. That's all for now though. Feedback's always welcome and with that, I'm out. Peace :)

***

For all you people craving some emotional music, here you go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaJoDAXkSMw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euJclp0g-2E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pootZMH1zFQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuoEtohPv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvFknfm2bEA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKW-N2ao8no
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmDlkdxoHCY

WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Did it reach me? Well, in some parts.
Let's just say that Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is a very over-rated series. I understand why people say it's so great, because "omg, the art is amazing, the music is amazing, the end is so sad, oh no, i cried so much, best ever 10/10" Ok. The art was beautiful. The only word to describe the art in KimiUso is beautiful. I have not seen music being played animated so beautifully, since Free did that with swimming. The character design fit the characters perfectly. The music was also tip-top, as to expect from a ... music anime. I loved all the opening and ending themes, with an exception for the 1st ED, which for some reason, didn't buy me. Plot.... I was fine. I guess. The "deliquent, who meets a girl and suddenly his life starts to change" motive is used very, very frequently, and KimiUso does not outstand the schemes. I'm not gonna go into the story, cos I'm pretty darn sure all of you know it all by heart. The plot was fine, but I feel the ending, the sad, dramatic ending, was a bit rushed, and so was the progress of Kaori's illness. I felt that literally in the moment she and Kousei went on stage together, she went into hospital and STAYED THERE. And that, my friends, is a big shame, 'cos I was really looking forward to seeing more of Kousei and Kaori on stage together. Fun fact: after watching this anime, I started wanting to play the violin. Like, really bad.
The biggest disappointment in KimiUso was the characters. I want to discuss that a little more deeply.
Arima Kousei
A heart-warming, good person, who didn't deserve the tragedy he got. I admit, he was a bit of a coward, sometimes annoying, but he was such a good guy! The one thing I loved about the characters in KimiUso was their reaction to Kaori's death, even Kaori herself. But Kousei, even though he was heart-broken, even if he was sad and wanted to cry and scream: he didn't. Because he was a musician. Because Kaori taught him, that he was a musician. And I liked that better than the situation in Clannad:After Story, whereas Tomoya had a mental breakdown and depression after losing Nagisa. And as much as I liked Clannad better than KimiUso, I can't not say that Kousei acted better than Tomoya. And they were in a really similar situation. Anyways, for the wonderful development and his kindness, Kousei gets a 8/10.
Miyazono Kaori
Ah, Kaori. Haven't had such mixed feelings towards a character since Kushieda Minori from Toradora. One one hand, I hated, HATED Kaori. She had the predispositions to be my favorite character, but she killed them before the end of the first episode. Her personality was bitchy and annoying, and the titular "lie" she told was really stupid. I mean, she really wasn't the sort of girl who'd do that! But on the other... I absolutely adored her reactions to her illness and the fact she knew she was going to die. Opposite from Hazel from TFIOS, who got all depressed after finding out she was gonna die. Not Kaori! Knowing she didn't have much time, she did all the things she wanted to do in life, just to do them! To gain experience! That motivated me in so many ways. But, for the reasons earlier mentioned, Kaori gets 6/10
Sawabe Tsubaki
People hate Tsubaki- And I'm no exception! I think she was the most hated anime character of 2014, starring alongside Seryuu Ubiquitous. She was annoying, selfish, and just simply STUPID! She, like all of the "main" characters except Kaori and Kousei did not get any development and at times I even wondered why she's even there. 4/10
Watari Ryota
Aww, Watari! Pal, you are so under-rated! I loved you! And that is the thing with Watari: he deserved and could have had amazing development, but did not. Even still, I loved Watari. He gets a solid 7/10
Overall, KimiUso isn't a bad series. It just had so much wasted potential. Neverthless, it was touching. It was enjoyable. And it deserves a score of 6-7 but not higher and not lower. 7 is a high as it gets, really.