Tsuki ga Kirei (Tsukigakirei)

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Alternative Titles

English: Tsukigakirei

Synonyms: The Moon is Beautiful, As the Moon, So Beautiful

Japanese: 月がきれい

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 7, 2017 to Jun 30, 2017

Premiered: Spring 2017

Broadcast: Fridays at 00:00 (JST)

Producers: Sotsu, Mainichi Broadcasting System, flying DOG

Licensors: Funimation

Studios: feel.

Source: Original

Genres: Romance, School

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 8.15¹ (scored by 180,608 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #363²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #379

Members: 389,856

Favorites: 6,659

8.15

Ranked #363Popularity #379Members 389,856

Spring 2017TVfeel.

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Episodes: /12

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Synopsis

With a new school year comes a new crowd of classmates, and for their final year of junior high, aspiring writer Kotarou Azumi and track team member Akane Mizuno end up in the same class. Though initially complete strangers, a few chance encounters stir an innocent desire within their hearts. A yearning gaze, a fluttering heart—the hallmarks of young love slip into their lives as fate brings their paths to a cross.

However, though love is patient and love is kind, Kotarou and Akane discover it is not always straightforward. Despite the comfort they find in each other's company, heartache and anxiety come hand in hand with pursuing the feelings in their hearts. With the uncertainty of how the other truly feels as well as the competing affections of those around them, the road ahead is unclear. Even so, under the shining light of a beautiful full moon, Kotarou gathers his courage to ask Akane a single question, one that forever changes their quiet relationship.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

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Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Summary:	Tsuki ga Kirei: Michinori
Side story:	Tsuki ga Kirei Special

Inoue, Kikuko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Kishi, Seiji

Director

Iida, Satoki

Sound Director

Takada, Masatoyo

Episode Director

Kakihara, Yuuko

Script, Series Composition

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Opening Theme

"Imakoko (イマココ)" by Nao Touyama

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Ending Theme

"Tsuki ga Kirei (月がきれい)" by Nao Touyama

More reviews

Reviews

Jun 29, 2017

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

TuyNOM (All reviews)

611 people found this review helpful

It is true that school-life is one of the most common genres in Japanese animation. From specialty school (magic, cooking etc) to school-life with mysteries or supernatural. In short, it is a genre that has been widely exploited in all respects. As for Tsuki ga Kirei, it doesn't pretend to revolutionize the genre and doesn't propose an original plot at first.

In fact Tsuki ga Kirei is exceptional in its simplicity. The relationships between the different characters are particularly well developed. The series accurately combines the gestures, facial expressions of the characters without exaggerating the reactions, which in some scenes may seem surprising and unexpected. The series doesn't necessarily focus on the dialogues and emphasizes the subtlety of the reactions of the characters making the relationships very realistic.
The other point is the meeting of our two protagonists: Akane and Kotarou. Initially they don't know each other. They notice briefly in the classroom and do not talk to each other. Their relationship is built slowly but surely. At first, they look at each other several times discreetly, meaning that they are interested in each other. Then, following certain trivial events, they meet several times. Of course, you may be a little irritated by their behavior because they are shy and because they do not dare look at each other to discuss. But gradually they learn to know each other.Also social networks play an important role in their relationship and in general we notice the omnipresence of LINE (very popular in Japan) among students.

This relationship will gradually evolve into a romantic relation. And with this type of relationship come all the difficulties that go hand in hand, namely the acceptance of the relationship by the entourage and the friends. Jealousy? Envy? Different feelings that lead some characters to interfere in the Akane-Kotarou couple and possibly create love triangles. Do not expect ridiculous infidelities that would be completely out of step with the personality of our protagonists. Of course there will be difficult times calling into doubt the feelings of another or his, wondering how their relationship is solid. And thank God! the series does not propose forced drama with characters who cry to each episode in order to move its audience.

Furthermore our characters live with their families. Surprisingly and relatively rare in a school-life, we see the parents of our two protagonists. This aspect contributes to the realism of the series allowing us to see the relationship of our protagonists with their family. Especially that of Kotarou with his mother who regularly opposes his son because the latter privileges his dream of becoming a writer to his studies. Akane's and her sister's relationship is also very interesting, as she often gives advice on Akane's love life. Besides our two protagonists also have their occupations: Akane participates in the athletic club and Kotarou at the festival of the city. The series devotes time to show their perseverance and motivation to achieve their goals. To return to what I was saying on LINE, I was surprised by the modernity of this series. Especially when a publisher recommends Kotarou to write light novels ((Kotarou doesn't seem to know it) or the big sister who laughs when she sees Akane knitting a scarf for Kota. (She also mentions that they are in 2017)

Concerning the secondary characters, Chinatsu and Hira receive a screen time sufficient for their characterization and develop their interests and objectives. For the other characters I wouldn't say they are useless because regularly, in several scenes, some play a prominent role in the Akane-Kotarou relationship. I regret that the series doesn't spend more time for these characters. Although at the end of each episode we see small short films showing funny moments among the various couples formed of these supporting characters. Contrary to our two main protagonists, they have already developed relations. I thank the writer because he has not censored allusions about the nights that the couples spent together.

On the technical aspects, the artistic direction has the merit of being unique with simple chara-design without weird hair colorings (except Roman lol). The soundtrack plays an important role in creating a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. But many scenes have no background music, preferring to highlight the sound effects. No use of artifices to reinforce dramatic moments, just discrete tracks. I don't forget the remarkable performances of Nao Touyama in the scenes where the characters don't speak allowing the viewer to rest while contemplating the cityscapes or the daily life of the characters. However I have spotted is the use of the CGI on the characters in the background which is frankly unpleasant and which I hope will be corrected in the blu-ray. (I sometimes feel they limp)

I personally had a great time watching this series. I agree that the series doesn't have a deep or complex plot that allows it to stand out from other works but nevertheless I have no really honest criticism to make it except one or two above-mentioned. The guiding principle of the series has always been respected and has mantain a certain coherence from beginning to end. If you are looking for a school-life with genuine relationships, I can only recommend that you throw yourself on it. On the contrary, if you prefer school-life with redundant gags and more eccentric characters, the series is not for you. However, I think Tsuki ga Kirei is a unique experience that should be watched by anyone looking for novelty.

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Jul 7, 2017

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 4

KingKatsura (All reviews)

279 people found this review helpful

Tsuki ga Kirei is a boring adolescent romance that masquerades as something more than it is. It's avoidance of standard romance tropes is not an act that by default renders a romance any better, or even realistic or compelling, if it's still utterly lacking in anything substantive whatsoever.

The main couple have a serious lack of chemistry that plagues the show from front to back. Their reservations and quaint interactions are cutely refreshing and much more in line with the actuality of young love than your typical anime portrayal. That said, I still don't understand why they liked each other in the first place or why that feeling only grew over time. They were awkward, but it wasn't just a cute display of awkwardness, as they legitimately had nothing substantive to talk about, ever. It felt almost ironically shallow. Nothing particularly exciting happened either, which is both astounding and damning in this show's bewilderingly positive reception. I personally don't watch television or film to be bored out of my mind while in some desperate search for trope-avoidance tactics. There are surely more valuable things to do in this world than conduct pointless meta-analysis on how a boring anime is actually good because it isn't generic. Uniqueness and quality are not mutually exclusive metrics.

Tsuki's side characters are also extremely undeveloped and not impactful in the slightest. The show employed an interesting technique of having brief side character stories shown after the ED of each episode, but these were far too scattered and simplistic to provide any insight into the actual characters. 'Twas nothing more than some quick laughs arising out of character interactions from characters' faces you sadly may not even recognize or ever see again. Back to the main show, the two romantic foils, who had actual relevant screen-time, disappointingly ended up amounting to nothing more than stale obstacles. There was also no discernible difference between the two's roles in the series. Furthermore, there really wasn't a discernible difference between the two main characters themselves other than gender. The pseudo-plot is that these are two very goal oriented longing to fulfill their dreams but gratefully burdened by unexpected love. The actual plot is that these are two regular kids who aren't particularly interesting to watch nor display no distinct, marked instances of actual romantic relationship.

The art style is a blatant ripoff of Kimi no na Wa. Which is good, in the sense that Kimi no na Wa has a great art style, but somewhat shameless nonetheless. The fonts, the lighting techniques, the environments,.. everything screamed budget Shinkai. I sure hope he gets royalties from this show for inadvertently providing the entire visual framework. There was also a very prevalent usage of CGI for background characters in Tsuki ga Kirei, which was wholly unnecessary and distracting. The CGI was awful and not befitting of modern animation standards. There was also no real need to have crowds of background characters populating every scene. The environments were perfectly fine on their own. The music was decent but nothing notable and the voice acting was very poor. I haven't heard so many audible groans, breaths, and bodily noises since I last watched Dragon Ball Z. Why write actual script when you can pencil in dumb, nonsensical noises?

Watch Kimi ni Todoke or Ao Haru Ride if you want to see shy young people fall in love organically, albeit dramatically and with a theatrical flavor, as is the nature of entertainment media. Those shows are compelling, in part, because high school is an interesting romantic setting. Middle school is not. Please do remind me of a middle school romance you witnessed that wasn't (in retrospect) hilariously shallow and forced. Tsuki ga Kirei is the most forced romance I've ever watched, personally, and that's not enjoyable.

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Jun 29, 2017

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

FuryTomic (All reviews)

234 people found this review helpful

Honestly in my opinion, this show is one of those original work gems that stand out for this season of Spring 2017!

An Original Work containing Romance, mixed along with Middle School themed characters, plus those awkward and moments we all had at some point in our lives. As what some others have said, I also agree that this show is something refreshing and nice to watch.

The story has good development overtime. It's not really rushed a lot with tons of scenes and action that was all done in one go. The story progressed at a reasonable good pace. Though, there's a notable amount of time-lapsing to transition to each episode. I did like the development for the characters too, since it went at a pace that isn't too fast for viewers to try and understand, and not too slow where the viewers will be bored.

The art is good quality. There were a few scenes that were done well. However, I do have some issues with a few particular scenes that could be revised for the DVD/BD Release. But other than that, I don't think it would affect much for my rating. Art wise for the characters, I liked it, and found Akane cute too.

The sounds is something that I found pleasant. The casts all fit with the characters represented too. What stood out for me was the noises that Akane makes. "Eh?" "Aah!" Un!" Like Kumiko noises. Kotarou on the other hand, "Ah.." "ooh.." "Un." basically like Akane but a male version. (lol) Though, that did motivate me to work on a video dedicated to both of their noises that I could find from every episode.

The characters, I don't have much to say (As it also contains spoilers if I do say something about them and the others) but characters that will make you want to like, laugh at, or maybe be going, "What? No! Don't you dare do that!" It's a typical range of emotions and stereotypes that you find in Middle/High School. I do find that the staff and producers managed to make the characters feel more interesting instead of bland.

My enjoyment with the show was lovely. I did like it how in the ED, there's text conversations that is interesting to read. I do believe someone made a forum post dedicated to translations for the conversations. Anyways, the Shorts after the ending were entertaining too. Some in which are hilarious. When I get my Blu-Ray order in October, I will definitely re watch the show to see if they changed anything from how it was aired this season.

Overall, I loved Tsuki Ga Kirei. As I stated, it's one of those original work gems that is both good and refreshing to watch. I've started to support this show by ordering the Blu-Ray. You should too if you enjoyed it! My last thoughts is that it would be lovely to see an OVA or an adaptation (like light novel, manga) for Tsuki Ga Kirei. Who knows what Studio Feel. and the staff members might do for now. Hopefully, maybe something that is good as Tsuki Ga Kirei :)

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Jul 6, 2017

12 of 12 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Intelos (All reviews)

221 people found this review helpful

When attempting to define romance, a few notions come to mind: a feeling of excitement, a remoteness from the mundaneness of everyday life, or perhaps a quality of mystery. These are the qualities that litter the romance genre today. However, one cannot discount the impact that simpler techniques create; subtle changes in body language during an involving conversation, an alter in the pitch of a voice after an unexpected text, or the absence of any background music so that any impertinent buffer is removed at a crucial developmental moment. It is in these archaic ways that Tsuki ga Kirei manages to strike me as not read more

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