Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Episode 22 Discussion

hdd1230 said:
Honestly I'm equally amused with people giving out 10/10, as with people giving out 5/10 like it is some harem show that ended where it started in the plot. The anime definitely suffer from dragged out drama along with many instances of awkward comedy insertions, but to say the anime has no direction and only a way to pander to melodramatic audiences is hilariously inaccurate.

I would like to establish that I'm not a fan of melodramatic show, nor did I cry in the final episode or any episode for that matter, but the ending did tug at my heart. I seriously doubt some of the people even understood the real theme and premise of the story. I do follow the original source, but here are some thoughts based solely on the anime.


The premise is a traumatized talented young pianist overcoming his trauma and finding his passion for music, with a certain girl playing the catalyst to his recovery. Obviously the executions of some ideas were poorly done, particularly with the drama exaggerated, but the story stayed true to its premise as we saw the major change and development of our MC pianist. I honest didn't care too much about the romance, and was more focused on how the MC changed the span of 22episodes.

The start of the anime actually gave me a poor impression. One meek and physically weak MC, one womanizer, one overly active tsundere childhood friend, one violinist trying to play the "perfect" heroine by virtue of plot no different from hot transfer student magically seated beside you. The relationship already setup, with the connotation of developing into a messy middle schooler love polygon, where the MC going to NTR his friend's girlfriend.

The story surprisingly took a different turn and focused on the characterization of the MC, showing the complexity of his character. We were shown a strict, overly demanding, and abusive mother treating the MC(Kousei) poorly in his flashback, but the MC brazenly protecting his mother from outsiders in spite of his poor treatment. The naivety of the MC was almost pitiful, only to be shown he left his mother with the words: "I hate you! I hope you die!" Only after the introduction of Hiroko did we receive the full picture of the situation of MC's mother. Showing Kousei's defense for his mother was justified, as she does care about him. The mother's illness and urgency caused Kousei to misinterpret her actions, resulting in the guild which led to his trauma.

The MC's character was fleshed out with the perspective and interaction of the different side characters. For example Aiza showing the talent of old Kousei. Tsubaki and Emi showing the mischievous and bright Kousei before he turned into a "human metronome", or into the depressing trauma Kousei. I dunno how anyone can characterize this anime as "full of 1-D characters", when clearly Kousei alone makes up one of the more complex characters in the anime industry. Even his mother was given the characterization of being not just the "strict parent" cliche, and shown justifications. Not to mention Aiza sibling showing different layers of personality.

I have to say I really disliked Kaori at the beginning of the anime, why did she keep trying to get Kousei's attention like she want to cheat on Watari? Why did she know which song to choose for Kousei which invoked his memory of his mother, almost too convenient? Her character seem too convenient like it's just for the sake of plot, analogous to a female alien falling into your bathtub(To-Love-Ru). The ending letter really tied up many lose end to her actions over the course of the anime, she clearly had a goal to want to get Kousei out of his slump before she dies, but instead disguising herself just some random encounter nonchalantly.

I dunno why some of you view Kaori as this "1-D violent slut" when she's actually fairly developed character. She was shown to be very cheerful, flamboyant, passionate and lively in front of Kousei. We were also shown very early that she has some kind of illness really early. Somewhere between the first 5 episodes i don't really remember which, where she's seen taking a handful of pills while in the restroom after her 1st performance. I'm sure most of you can already foreshadow the death flag, which support the idea that her current personality is a facade. And that was shown to be more evident over every passing episode.

The fluffy and bright background for Kaori was most likely Kousei's interpretation(admiration) as we're given clear visual representations of Kousei's thoughts in the background for example when he "can't hear" his notes. I'm honestly not that surprised when Kaori's personality took a swift turn, because it was already hinted she's faking her smiles. The drama was obviously overdone and poorly executed, for example the cat dying in front of Kousei... but the overall premise are conveyed properly. Her characterization is really similar to Minori from Toradora.

I was really frustrated with Kaori's actions in the early episodes which seem like she's leading Kousei on without reciprocating, while having a boyfriend. I disliked her then, but after seeing the final letter, it's quite clear the intention. She wanted to help Kousei, but didn't want him to be attached as she's on death watch. She obviously know Kousei liked her at some point given she seem to be perspective, evident by her statement: "The only one who didn't know Tsubaki liked you were Tsubaki and yourself."

Kaori's interactions with Kousei in the later half really brought out the best in Kousei. After losing his mother the same way, no one would have faulted him if he gave up piano. Despite being physically weak, we have a juxtaposition showing Kousei's mental fortitude after overcoming this hurdle.

I honestly didn't really care that much about the romance in this anime, the people who only watch it for the romance or expect it to be only romance is honestly missing out on the bigger premise of the anime. Which is the transformation of Kousei, the traumatized pianist who wanted nothing to do with piano, to a musician who could give a bittersweet smile reading the last words of the love of his life.

I would have hated a magical revival of Kaori type of ending. People grow stronger in the face of adversity, and I honestly couldn't be happier for Kousei who came out better as a person in spite of the unfairness of reality.

Obviously I disliked some of the characters too, but I didn't let that prejudice my comprehension of the story. Perhaps some of you should put down any prior expectation or prejudice so you could understand what you watched. A interesting irony is Kousei admiring Kaori's passion for music, when his younger version is the one who inspired Kaori to pursue music, the author is fairly clever.

side note: I disliked Tsubaki the most but given she's a middle schooler, I can understand some of her selfish and immature behaviour. Kousei and Kaori acting more mature than their age is a given for their respective circumstances obviously not normal. I don't actually care too much about the romance, but if I had to pick, I would pick Emi for Kousei, Kaori was just not meant to be. Emi, an independent woman who's clear with her mindset and goals seem like a good fit with poor Kousei, not to mention she has a crush on him.

Conclusion: I really like the premise of the coming of age story of Kousei the pianist and his transformation. The poor execution of some of the ideas and not enough development on the rivals left me somewhat unsatisfied. So rating of 8, given melodrama is not my thing. I probably would give a 9 otherwise.

hdd1230 said:
Honestly I'm equally amused with people giving out 10/10, as with people giving out 5/10 like it is some harem show that ended where it started in the plot. The anime definitely suffer from dragged out drama along with many instances of awkward comedy insertions, but to say the anime has no direction and only a way to pander to melodramatic audiences is hilariously inaccurate.

I would like to establish that I'm not a fan of melodramatic show, nor did I cry in the final episode or any episode for that matter, but the ending did tug at my heart. I seriously doubt some of the people even understood the real theme and premise of the story. I do follow the original source, but here are some thoughts based solely on the anime.


The premise is a traumatized talented young pianist overcoming his trauma and finding his passion for music, with a certain girl playing the catalyst to his recovery. Obviously the executions of some ideas were poorly done, particularly with the drama exaggerated, but the story stayed true to its premise as we saw the major change and development of our MC pianist. I honest didn't care too much about the romance, and was more focused on how the MC changed the span of 22episodes.

The start of the anime actually gave me a poor impression. One meek and physically weak MC, one womanizer, one overly active tsundere childhood friend, one violinist trying to play the "perfect" heroine by virtue of plot no different from hot transfer student magically seated beside you. The relationship already setup, with the connotation of developing into a messy middle schooler love polygon, where the MC going to NTR his friend's girlfriend.

The story surprisingly took a different turn and focused on the characterization of the MC, showing the complexity of his character. We were shown a strict, overly demanding, and abusive mother treating the MC(Kousei) poorly in his flashback, but the MC brazenly protecting his mother from outsiders in spite of his poor treatment. The naivety of the MC was almost pitiful, only to be shown he left his mother with the words: "I hate you! I hope you die!" Only after the introduction of Hiroko did we receive the full picture of the situation of MC's mother. Showing Kousei's defense for his mother was justified, as she does care about him. The mother's illness and urgency caused Kousei to misinterpret her actions, resulting in the guild which led to his trauma.

The MC's character was fleshed out with the perspective and interaction of the different side characters. For example Aiza showing the talent of old Kousei. Tsubaki and Emi showing the mischievous and bright Kousei before he turned into a "human metronome", or into the depressing trauma Kousei. I dunno how anyone can characterize this anime as "full of 1-D characters", when clearly Kousei alone makes up one of the more complex characters in the anime industry. Even his mother was given the characterization of being not just the "strict parent" cliche, and shown justifications. Not to mention Aiza sibling showing different layers of personality.

I have to say I really disliked Kaori at the beginning of the anime, why did she keep trying to get Kousei's attention like she want to cheat on Watari? Why did she know which song to choose for Kousei which invoked his memory of his mother, almost too convenient? Her character seem too convenient like it's just for the sake of plot, analogous to a female alien falling into your bathtub(To-Love-Ru). The ending letter really tied up many lose end to her actions over the course of the anime, she clearly had a goal to want to get Kousei out of his slump before she dies, but instead disguising herself just some random encounter nonchalantly.

I dunno why some of you view Kaori as this "1-D violent slut" when she's actually fairly developed character. She was shown to be very cheerful, flamboyant, passionate and lively in front of Kousei. We were also shown very early that she has some kind of illness really early. Somewhere between the first 5 episodes i don't really remember which, where she's seen taking a handful of pills while in the restroom after her 1st performance. I'm sure most of you can already foreshadow the death flag, which support the idea that her current personality is a facade. And that was shown to be more evident over every passing episode.

The fluffy and bright background for Kaori was most likely Kousei's interpretation(admiration) as we're given clear visual representations of Kousei's thoughts in the background for example when he "can't hear" his notes. I'm honestly not that surprised when Kaori's personality took a swift turn, because it was already hinted she's faking her smiles. The drama was obviously overdone and poorly executed, for example the cat dying in front of Kousei... but the overall premise are conveyed properly. Her characterization is really similar to Minori from Toradora.

I was really frustrated with Kaori's actions in the early episodes which seem like she's leading Kousei on without reciprocating, while having a boyfriend. I disliked her then, but after seeing the final letter, it's quite clear the intention. She wanted to help Kousei, but didn't want him to be attached as she's on death watch. She obviously know Kousei liked her at some point given she seem to be perspective, evident by her statement: "The only one who didn't know Tsubaki liked you were Tsubaki and yourself."

Kaori's interactions with Kousei in the later half really brought out the best in Kousei. After losing his mother the same way, no one would have faulted him if he gave up piano. Despite being physically weak, we have a juxtaposition showing Kousei's mental fortitude after overcoming this hurdle.

I honestly didn't really care that much about the romance in this anime, the people who only watch it for the romance or expect it to be only romance is honestly missing out on the bigger premise of the anime. Which is the transformation of Kousei, the traumatized pianist who wanted nothing to do with piano, to a musician who could give a bittersweet smile reading the last words of the love of his life.

I would have hated a magical revival of Kaori type of ending. People grow stronger in the face of adversity, and I honestly couldn't be happier for Kousei who came out better as a person in spite of the unfairness of reality.

Obviously I disliked some of the characters too, but I didn't let that prejudice my comprehension of the story. Perhaps some of you should put down any prior expectation or prejudice so you could understand what you watched. A interesting irony is Kousei admiring Kaori's passion for music, when his younger version is the one who inspired Kaori to pursue music, the author is fairly clever.

side note: I disliked Tsubaki the most but given she's a middle schooler, I can understand some of her selfish and immature behaviour. Kousei and Kaori acting more mature than their age is a given for their respective circumstances obviously not normal. I don't actually care too much about the romance, but if I had to pick, I would pick Emi for Kousei, Kaori was just not meant to be. Emi, an independent woman who's clear with her mindset and goals seem like a good fit with poor Kousei, not to mention she has a crush on him.

Conclusion: I really like the premise of the coming of age story of Kousei the pianist and his transformation. The poor execution of some of the ideas and not enough development on the rivals left me somewhat unsatisfied. So rating of 8, given melodrama is not my thing. I probably would give a 9 otherwise.