Why don&#039;t you like this anime or why do you? and why did you give it the rating you did?

Offline

Jan 2015

411

ToG25thBaam said:
I rate it -/10.

I am fine with the show except for the high rating, I don't think it deserves to be above Nodame, not that it should be degraded, but I'd like Nodame to get into the top 20 as well. :p

As for the show itself, I thought the flashback was overdone, it's pretty much in every episode, especially when they keep reusing the same flashback over and over again, it calls for technique to pull it off well, but it didn't.

I also feel that the 2 friends should have either more screen time and solid development or less screen time so that we can focus on other things. In the end I don't really care about both of them.

A shame that we never get to see romantic moments between Kousei and Kaori. I know that's not the point of the show, but I would still like to see that. ):

Well, the flashbacks are just showing what he has to overcome because this was his main problem in the first half of the show in the second half, they toned it down.

and yea the two characters like i said are better thought of as side characters, Watari more than Tsubaki.

HasHashMar 20, 2015 9:30 AM

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Mar 20, 2015 9:32 AM

#7

Gov

Offline

Oct 2011

2479

7/10

Too much romance melodrama shoved down our throats in the second half
Tsubaki Sawabe is damn near one of the most annoying side characters in recent memory
As someone said before, too many damn flashbacks
Middle schoolers acting like 30 year old adults
Not enough music for my liking
Good animation
Decent plot
Ending was solid

Mar 20, 2015 9:33 AM

#8

billybob300c

Offline

Jan 2009

1171

my god, just 2 days ago it was ranked #46, as of today it's #17. bitter sweet series ftw

9/10 overall for the series

俺の命を百合に。
Currently translating Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o - Atelier no Koibito-tachi -- when bored.
Above visual novel is 22.22% translated with progress uploaded to youtube; if you're into yuri VNs, check out my channel.

Mar 20, 2015 9:46 AM

#9

Scrypt

Offline

Sep 2008

1909

7.5/10

It hit some high notes for me with the flashbacks from kousei's side but as someone had mentioned, the melodrama you get from a bunch of 14(pretty sure thats what they said they were) was just a little over the top for that age. Had this been the set fr them Twilight series age group I may have half believe it(but then i would have been zoned out within first 10 minutes). I've given it an 8 on MAL(since you can't do halves), purely because we at least get a death in the end confirmed although it wasn't as sad as I expected it to be. Will Kaori be memorable? Not in the lines of anime greats like Spike, Kamina or Lelouch and all those anime greats(hell I'd even have kousei's mom as more memorable), but I'm glad Kaori did die(sadistic as i am) as, should she had lived, this series would have taken a nosedive for me to an easy 3 or 4 out of 10.

Like a BOSS

Mar 20, 2015 10:10 AM

#10

Alcoholicide

Offline

Feb 2010

34597

Let me quote some posts:

TripleSRank said:
My main problem with Shigatsu is the framing and premise for the in-story events. Kousei was given a good backstory to give depth to his character; namely his psychologically and physically abusive mother. This made his introverted tendencies and dramatizations of events believable and even relatable. It also gave him an interesting/unique relationship with the piano, a sort of love/hate relationship thanks to the trauma associated with it. He tried so hard to please his mother, to "earn" her love, but he failed and it crushed him. Now, despite the piano being something so connected to him, he can't bring himself to play it because it reawakens said trauma: The inability to hear the notes isn't literal, but mental- a coping mechanism. Kousei is a dramatic and depressive sort of person, after all.

None of that is bad. In fact, by itself it is a superb premise. The problem arose with Kaori and Tsubaki started pushing him. The pushing itself wasn't bad; Kousei viewed his life as empty and meaningless. He needed a push. However, the way they pushed was all wrong. They were giving him "hell on earth" over playing the piano. They put music sheets everywhere; they kept bugged him about it incessantly; Kaori even guilt-tripped him. It was bullying, plain and simple, and while I can't fault Kaori for that, Tsubaki knew Kousei's background and should have been more sensitive.

Still, depicting bullying in itself isn't a bad thing. You could even justify it in that these are middle school students who probably though they were actually doing something helpful (though I don't feel realism is always desirable in fiction, but I digress). However, what makes it a problem is how the anime framed it. Kousei was depicted as having psychological trauma and the anime frames the bullying as the solution to his problem. It is flippantly unbelievable and even offensive. Rather than suffering a breakdown (a realistic reaction), he sees it as a wonderful experience! Reliving the trauma of his past is so amazing now that he has this pretty girl in front of him.

The story is completely belittling and outright ignoring the realities of those who have suffered abuse. It might not be a problem in a series that doesn't take itself seriously, but Shigatsu definitely does, and it treats the issue with total disrespect. "Man up Kousei! You should be totally okay since this pretty girl likes you!" (The "man up" part is actually stated by a character in a later episode.)

Not only are these problems ignored, but it even turns into full-on emotional abuse after the violin performance via victim blaming. “I collapsed because of the stress someone gave me because they refused to play” (paraphrased). It's totally unfair and wrong: they essentially forced him to relive a trauma then berate him when he does poorly. Then, to add more insult to injury, it's used later as leverage to guilt trip Kousei into reliving his trauma yet again via a piano competition.

The entire method in which Kousei recovers from his trauma is suspension-breaking and offensive.

It gets even worse, though; the latter problems are even more offensive than the former ones. Leading up to the climax of Kousei's inner struggle with his abuse, the writer/director (I don't know which) decided it would be a good idea to portray Saki in a "positive" light. They started showing scenes of her making justifications for herself. In the scene following her hitting of Kousei and drawing blood (which DOES juxtapose horribly, even offensively, with the bloody comedy), she starts talking about how she loves him so much and worries about his future. Bullcrap. Later, she talks about how she won't be able to protect him; how she just wants him to have a future in music; etc. More bullcrap. In essence, it tries to make the abuse look like it stems from love, when it does not. She was taking out her frustration with the world on him; she was overstepping her role as a parent and forcing her desires on Kousei- who, being a child, wanted to please his mommy. Immediately after these scenes, it shows a scene of Saki and Kousei together before she became abusive, embracing.

After all of these scenes of false justification on Saki's part, and the sudden happy scene, we get a thought from Kousei seemingly out of nowhere: "I knew all along. The ghost of my mother was a shadow of my own creation. An excuse for me to run away. My own weakness."

Those lines take a dump on anyone who's suffered abuse and its aftereffects, and it continues to be suspension-breaking with the following lines: "My mom isn't there anymore. Mom... is inside me." Scenes are then shown of them embracing- happy memories. Kousei is (wrongfully) leaving the blame on himself and pretending the happy memories are all that existed. Without addressing the abusive actions themselves, this cannot be construed as forgiveness or "moving on". Rather, this is showcasing denial as the solution while simultaneously portraying Saki as "loving".

I find that extremely offensive and suspension-breaking.

There are other parts as well (such as the bridge-shoving scenes, which Tsubaki's friend even called her out on, and the fireworks scene recreating the sensation of drowning that Kousei felt whenever he played the piano), but the above parts were the main ones. Higashi's claim that anyone who is familiar with real life abuse first-hand or second-hand also finds the show offensive holds true for me as well (save mayu, to an extent). In fact, I know of people who had panic attacks watching the early portions of this show- to the point that they had to drop it.

Now Kousei is parading around without a care for his past nor a lick of depression. He's just having love problems now. We get to see Tsubaki continue to act like she owns Kousei, and see Kaori (almost certainly) die and cause so many "feels" despite acting so selfishly around Kousei. How utterly disappointing for a show that had so much potential.

Nidhoeggr said:
This anime is full of horrible women and the writer is an idiot.
Why is the concept of fucking psychotherapy foreign to anyone in Japan The dude has serious mental problems, yet the authors thinks that a cute companion can somehow cure these severe issues through sheer "love and attention"? This is not how it works...

ESPECIALLY WHEN BOTH YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND YOUR SUPPOSED LOVE INTEREST ARE ABUSIVE AS FUCK AND DO EVERYTHING TO FORTIFY SAID TRAUMA

Seriously:
- Violent behaviour towards a mentally damaged person.
- Stalking and bullying him into joining activities he doesn't want to do.
- Making him relive the most traumatic experiences in his life.

Are we supposed to feel sympathy for the female main characters here? Because all I see are some people who use a fake altruism to foster highly egocentrical goals while putting their supposed friend through suffering. And even worse is the fact that the anime's messages seem to support these girls. Even his friend joins in on the "disbelief at his lack of accompanying ability" train despite better knowledge. Why!?
It's baffling how the author thinks we can be supportive of such a rotten personality just because she is good at playing music and looks cute? Oh, because she has a disease! Give me a break: Another way to add cheap drama and make her sympathetic despite our better knowledge.

Everything Kaori did was egocentric so far (She only wants a good support for her violin and even gets mad when he actually gets better at the end of the performance because he "might steal her thunder"!) and it is baffling to see so many people both in-universe and here being supportive of her. And Kousei's sickness gets downplayed simply because
a) the author is too incompetent to write it more realistically or
b) the author is a giant asshole who thinks psychological trauma is not serious and is fun to mock.

I think it is a mixture of both.

Ironicallly enough though, the anime mirrors Kaori: Nice looks and presentation, but rotten content. But since apparently appearances matter more than content, this criticism will not garner much attention.

I said:
The disgusting thing about Shigatsu is that it pretends to seriously tackle the issue of abuse while ending up being extremely hypocritical about it since it still can't let go of the 'female abuse for comedy' trope. Usually that trope is just mildly annoying but ignorable, but in the context of that show where abuse, pressure and emotional distress coming from his mother = bad and traumatic, but when Kaori is doing it = good and helpful and funneh because she's a cute girl.

Everything the show does in regard to trauma, psychological issues and abuse is just WRONG and harmful but it is portrayed as the best thing that could have happened to him, which actively disgusts me and makes me cringe more than any other anime before it. Pressuring someone and telling him to 'man up and not be a pussy' (which is what she basically did) instead of taking his obviously psychosomatic trauma seriously and having it treated by a professional is just terrible and there's no excuse for it.

You simply can't expect to have even on ounce of credibility left regarding the topic of trauma and abuse AND still portray it in the usual, comedic anime matter, but Shitgatsu does exactly that. It even regularly triggers flashbacks of his childhood trauma when Kaori/the girls are doing their thing with the MC, it can't really get more obviously hypocritical.

I don't even need to talk about the shitty dialogue a la 'The winter rain tastes like lemonade.' to justify why I hate this show so much.

I probably regret this post by now.

Mar 20, 2015 10:20 AM

#11

Okashi

Offline

Jul 2014

13353

I'll add a quote as well.

Higashi_no_Kaze said:
Let me quote some posts:

TripleSRank said:
My main problem with Shigatsu is the framing and premise for the in-story events. Kousei was given a good backstory to give depth to his character; namely his psychologically and physically abusive mother. This made his introverted tendencies and dramatizations of events believable and even relatable. It also gave him an interesting/unique relationship with the piano, a sort of love/hate relationship thanks to the trauma associated with it. He tried so hard to please his mother, to "earn" her love, but he failed and it crushed him. Now, despite the piano being something so connected to him, he can't bring himself to play it because it reawakens said trauma: The inability to hear the notes isn't literal, but mental- a coping mechanism. Kousei is a dramatic and depressive sort of person, after all.

None of that is bad. In fact, by itself it is a superb premise. The problem arose with Kaori and Tsubaki started pushing him. The pushing itself wasn't bad; Kousei viewed his life as empty and meaningless. He needed a push. However, the way they pushed was all wrong. They were giving him "hell on earth" over playing the piano. They put music sheets everywhere; they kept bugged him about it incessantly; Kaori even guilt-tripped him. It was bullying, plain and simple, and while I can't fault Kaori for that, Tsubaki knew Kousei's background and should have been more sensitive.

Still, depicting bullying in itself isn't a bad thing. You could even justify it in that these are middle school students who probably though they were actually doing something helpful (though I don't feel realism is always desirable in fiction, but I digress). However, what makes it a problem is how the anime framed it. Kousei was depicted as having psychological trauma and the anime frames the bullying as the solution to his problem. It is flippantly unbelievable and even offensive. Rather than suffering a breakdown (a realistic reaction), he sees it as a wonderful experience! Reliving the trauma of his past is so amazing now that he has this pretty girl in front of him.

The story is completely belittling and outright ignoring the realities of those who have suffered abuse. It might not be a problem in a series that doesn't take itself seriously, but Shigatsu definitely does, and it treats the issue with total disrespect. "Man up Kousei! You should be totally okay since this pretty girl likes you!" (The "man up" part is actually stated by a character in a later episode.)

Not only are these problems ignored, but it even turns into full-on emotional abuse after the violin performance via victim blaming. “I collapsed because of the stress someone gave me because they refused to play” (paraphrased). It's totally unfair and wrong: they essentially forced him to relive a trauma then berate him when he does poorly. Then, to add more insult to injury, it's used later as leverage to guilt trip Kousei into reliving his trauma yet again via a piano competition.

The entire method in which Kousei recovers from his trauma is suspension-breaking and offensive.

It gets even worse, though; the latter problems are even more offensive than the former ones. Leading up to the climax of Kousei's inner struggle with his abuse, the writer/director (I don't know which) decided it would be a good idea to portray Saki in a "positive" light. They started showing scenes of her making justifications for herself. In the scene following her hitting of Kousei and drawing blood (which DOES juxtapose horribly, even offensively, with the bloody comedy), she starts talking about how she loves him so much and worries about his future. Bullcrap. Later, she talks about how she won't be able to protect him; how she just wants him to have a future in music; etc. More bullcrap. In essence, it tries to make the abuse look like it stems from love, when it does not. She was taking out her frustration with the world on him; she was overstepping her role as a parent and forcing her desires on Kousei- who, being a child, wanted to please his mommy. Immediately after these scenes, it shows a scene of Saki and Kousei together before she became abusive, embracing.

After all of these scenes of false justification on Saki's part, and the sudden happy scene, we get a thought from Kousei seemingly out of nowhere: "I knew all along. The ghost of my mother was a shadow of my own creation. An excuse for me to run away. My own weakness."

Those lines take a dump on anyone who's suffered abuse and its aftereffects, and it continues to be suspension-breaking with the following lines: "My mom isn't there anymore. Mom... is inside me." Scenes are then shown of them embracing- happy memories. Kousei is (wrongfully) leaving the blame on himself and pretending the happy memories are all that existed. Without addressing the abusive actions themselves, this cannot be construed as forgiveness or "moving on". Rather, this is showcasing denial as the solution while simultaneously portraying Saki as "loving".

I find that extremely offensive and suspension-breaking.

There are other parts as well (such as the bridge-shoving scenes, which Tsubaki's friend even called her out on, and the fireworks scene recreating the sensation of drowning that Kousei felt whenever he played the piano), but the above parts were the main ones. Higashi's claim that anyone who is familiar with real life abuse first-hand or second-hand also finds the show offensive holds true for me as well (save mayu, to an extent). In fact, I know of people who had panic attacks watching the early portions of this show- to the point that they had to drop it.

Now Kousei is parading around without a care for his past nor a lick of depression. He's just having love problems now. We get to see Tsubaki continue to act like she owns Kousei, and see Kaori (almost certainly) die and cause so many "feels" despite acting so selfishly around Kousei. How utterly disappointing for a show that had so much potential.

Nidhoeggr said:
This anime is full of horrible women and the writer is an idiot.
Why is the concept of fucking psychotherapy foreign to anyone in Japan The dude has serious mental problems, yet the authors thinks that a cute companion can somehow cure these severe issues through sheer "love and attention"? This is not how it works...

ESPECIALLY WHEN BOTH YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND YOUR SUPPOSED LOVE INTEREST ARE ABUSIVE AS FUCK AND DO EVERYTHING TO FORTIFY SAID TRAUMA

Seriously:
- Violent behaviour towards a mentally damaged person.
- Stalking and bullying him into joining activities he doesn't want to do.
- Making him relive the most traumatic experiences in his life.

Are we supposed to feel sympathy for the female main characters here? Because all I see are some people who use a fake altruism to foster highly egocentrical goals while putting their supposed friend through suffering. And even worse is the fact that the anime's messages seem to support these girls. Even his friend joins in on the "disbelief at his lack of accompanying ability" train despite better knowledge. Why!?
It's baffling how the author thinks we can be supportive of such a rotten personality just because she is good at playing music and looks cute? Oh, because she has a disease! Give me a break: Another way to add cheap drama and make her sympathetic despite our better knowledge.

Everything Kaori did was egocentric so far (She only wants a good support for her violin and even gets mad when he actually gets better at the end of the performance because he "might steal her thunder"!) and it is baffling to see so many people both in-universe and here being supportive of her. And Kousei's sickness gets downplayed simply because
a) the author is too incompetent to write it more realistically or
b) the author is a giant asshole who thinks psychological trauma is not serious and is fun to mock.

I think it is a mixture of both.

Ironicallly enough though, the anime mirrors Kaori: Nice looks and presentation, but rotten content. But since apparently appearances matter more than content, this criticism will not garner much attention.

Higashi_no_Kaze said:
The disgusting thing about Shigatsu is that it pretends to seriously tackle the issue of abuse while ending up being extremely hypocritical about it since it still can't let go of the 'female abuse for comedy' trope. Usually that trope is just mildly annoying but ignorable, but in the context of that show where abuse, pressure and emotional distress coming from his mother = bad and traumatic, but when Kaori is doing it = good and helpful and funneh because she's a cute girl.

Everything the show does in regard to trauma, psychological issues and abuse is just WRONG and harmful but it is portrayed as the best thing that could have happened to him, which actively disgusts me and makes me cringe more than any other anime before it. Pressuring someone and telling him to 'man up and not be a pussy' (which is what she basically did) instead of taking his obviously psychosomatic trauma seriously and having it treated by a professional is just terrible and there's no excuse for it.

You simply can't expect to have even on ounce of credibility left regarding the topic of trauma and abuse AND still portray it in the usual, comedic anime matter, but Shitgatsu does exactly that. It even regularly triggers flashbacks of his childhood trauma when Kaori/the girls are doing their thing with the MC, it can't really get more obviously hypocritical.

I don't even need to talk about the shitty dialogue a la 'The winter rain tastes like lemonade.' to justify why I hate this show so much.

Okashi_sama said:
I agree with Higashi on this, but that's not my main problem with Shigatsu.

Anyway, The dialogues, the damn dialogues. They are probably the worst dialogues I have ever came across in anime. For a romance anime about middle school kids, they sure have a wide vocabulary. The amount of pointless monologues which are trying to be deep and have a meaning is so just too much. And the metaphors. oh boi, they literally pointless and pretentious. trying to add the slightest meaning to the smallest of events by using stars, seasons, colors.. etc just doesn't fit and make sense. They also make any scenes, like when Arima's girl rival (whatever her name) see him finishing his piano play ostentatious. It's all over exaggerated to the point that any connection with the viewer that the show is trying to establish fails hard, and drives the viewer away by the amount of bullshit that he is seeing.

The comedy moments are also bad and poorly handled. They are mostly forced and out of place.

OkashiMar 20, 2015 10:24 AM

Mar 20, 2015 11:53 AM

#12

ichii_1

Offline

Sep 2013

22818

Higashi_no_Kaze said:
I don't give a shit about the melodrama in Shitgatsu, that is decidedly NOT the main reason why this show is bad, nay, disgusting. In fact I like a lot of shows people call melodramatic (Ano Hana, Kokoro Connect for example). Key stuff is just too convoluted and far-fetched with all those tragic backstories for every single cast member. It's just more silly than dramatic to me. It does NOT draw emotions out of me, which is why I tend to dislike their shows compared to other shows people also call melodramatic.
And Shitgatsu has much deeper-rooted issues as I mentioned.

Here take 2 rants about Shitgatsu that explain why this show is so terrible (one is from me and one isn't):
[spoiler]

This anime is full of horrible women and the writer is an idiot.
Why is the concept of fucking psychotherapy foreign to anyone in Japan The dude has serious mental problems, yet the authors thinks that a cute companion can somehow cure these severe issues through sheer "love and attention"? This is not how it works...

ESPECIALLY WHEN BOTH YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND YOUR SUPPOSED LOVE INTEREST ARE ABUSIVE AS FUCK AND DO EVERYTHING TO FORTIFY SAID TRAUMA

Seriously:
- Violent behaviour towards a mentally damaged person.
- Stalking and bullying him into joining activities he doesn't want to do.
- Making him relive the most traumatic experiences in his life.

Are we supposed to feel sympathy for the female main characters here? Because all I see are some people who use a fake altruism to foster highly egocentrical goals while putting their supposed friend through suffering. And even worse is the fact that the anime's messages seem to support these girls. Even his friend joins in on the "disbelief at his lack of accompanying ability" train despite better knowledge. Why!?
It's baffling how the author thinks we can be supportive of such a rotten personality just because she is good at playing music and looks cute? Oh, because she has a disease! Give me a break: Another way to add cheap drama and make her sympathetic despite our better knowledge.

Everything Kaori did was egocentric so far (She only wants a good support for her violin and even gets mad when he actually gets better at the end of the performance because he "might steal her thunder"!) and it is baffling to see so many people both in-universe and here being supportive of her. And Kousei's sickness gets downplayed simply because
a) the author is too incompetent to write it more realistically or
b) the author is a giant asshole who thinks psychological trauma is not serious and is fun to mock.

I think it is a mixture of both.

Ironicallly enough though, the anime mirrors Kaori: Nice looks and presentation, but rotten content. But since apparently appearances matter more than content, this criticism will not garner much attention.

The disgusting thing about Shigatsu is that it pretends to seriously tackle the issue of abuse while ending up being extremely hypocritical about it since it still can't let go of the 'female abuse for comedy' trope. Usually that trope is just mildly annoying but ignorable, but in the context of that show where abuse, pressure and emotional distress coming from his mother = bad and traumatic, but when Kaori is doing it = good and helpful and funneh because she's a cute girl.

Everything the show does in regard to trauma, psychological issues and abuse is just WRONG and harmful but it is portrayed as the best thing that could have happened to him, which actively disgusts me and makes me cringe more than any other anime before it. Pressuring someone and telling him to 'man up and not be a pussy' (which is what she basically did) instead of taking his obviously psychosomatic trauma seriously and having it treated by a professional is just terrible and there's no excuse for it.

You simply can't expect to have even on ounce of credibility left regarding the topic of trauma and abuse AND still portray it in the usual, comedic anime matter, but Shitgatsu does exactly that. It even regularly triggers flashbacks of his childhood trauma when Kaori/the girls are doing their thing with the MC, it can't really get more obviously hypocritical.

I don't even need to talk about the shitty dialogue a la 'The winter rain tastes like lemonade.' to justify why I hate this show so much.

Mar 20, 2015 11:54 AM

#13

7starkiller99

Offline

Jun 2014

3004

How many threads are we going to make about the same thing?

A great protagonist once said, "It's only overpowered if you can't return the favor!"

Mar 20, 2015 11:59 AM

#14

Nidhoeggr

Offline

Apr 2009

5713

Higashi_no_Kaze said:
Let me quote some posts:

TripleSRank said:
My main problem with Shigatsu is the framing and premise for the in-story events. Kousei was given a good backstory to give depth to his character; namely his psychologically and physically abusive mother. This made his introverted tendencies and dramatizations of events believable and even relatable. It also gave him an interesting/unique relationship with the piano, a sort of love/hate relationship thanks to the trauma associated with it. He tried so hard to please his mother, to "earn" her love, but he failed and it crushed him. Now, despite the piano being something so connected to him, he can't bring himself to play it because it reawakens said trauma: The inability to hear the notes isn't literal, but mental- a coping mechanism. Kousei is a dramatic and depressive sort of person, after all.

None of that is bad. In fact, by itself it is a superb premise. The problem arose with Kaori and Tsubaki started pushing him. The pushing itself wasn't bad; Kousei viewed his life as empty and meaningless. He needed a push. However, the way they pushed was all wrong. They were giving him "hell on earth" over playing the piano. They put music sheets everywhere; they kept bugged him about it incessantly; Kaori even guilt-tripped him. It was bullying, plain and simple, and while I can't fault Kaori for that, Tsubaki knew Kousei's background and should have been more sensitive.

Still, depicting bullying in itself isn't a bad thing. You could even justify it in that these are middle school students who probably though they were actually doing something helpful (though I don't feel realism is always desirable in fiction, but I digress). However, what makes it a problem is how the anime framed it. Kousei was depicted as having psychological trauma and the anime frames the bullying as the solution to his problem. It is flippantly unbelievable and even offensive. Rather than suffering a breakdown (a realistic reaction), he sees it as a wonderful experience! Reliving the trauma of his past is so amazing now that he has this pretty girl in front of him.

The story is completely belittling and outright ignoring the realities of those who have suffered abuse. It might not be a problem in a series that doesn't take itself seriously, but Shigatsu definitely does, and it treats the issue with total disrespect. "Man up Kousei! You should be totally okay since this pretty girl likes you!" (The "man up" part is actually stated by a character in a later episode.)

Not only are these problems ignored, but it even turns into full-on emotional abuse after the violin performance via victim blaming. “I collapsed because of the stress someone gave me because they refused to play” (paraphrased). It's totally unfair and wrong: they essentially forced him to relive a trauma then berate him when he does poorly. Then, to add more insult to injury, it's used later as leverage to guilt trip Kousei into reliving his trauma yet again via a piano competition.

The entire method in which Kousei recovers from his trauma is suspension-breaking and offensive.

It gets even worse, though; the latter problems are even more offensive than the former ones. Leading up to the climax of Kousei's inner struggle with his abuse, the writer/director (I don't know which) decided it would be a good idea to portray Saki in a "positive" light. They started showing scenes of her making justifications for herself. In the scene following her hitting of Kousei and drawing blood (which DOES juxtapose horribly, even offensively, with the bloody comedy), she starts talking about how she loves him so much and worries about his future. Bullcrap. Later, she talks about how she won't be able to protect him; how she just wants him to have a future in music; etc. More bullcrap. In essence, it tries to make the abuse look like it stems from love, when it does not. She was taking out her frustration with the world on him; she was overstepping her role as a parent and forcing her desires on Kousei- who, being a child, wanted to please his mommy. Immediately after these scenes, it shows a scene of Saki and Kousei together before she became abusive, embracing.

After all of these scenes of false justification on Saki's part, and the sudden happy scene, we get a thought from Kousei seemingly out of nowhere: "I knew all along. The ghost of my mother was a shadow of my own creation. An excuse for me to run away. My own weakness."

Those lines take a dump on anyone who's suffered abuse and its aftereffects, and it continues to be suspension-breaking with the following lines: "My mom isn't there anymore. Mom... is inside me." Scenes are then shown of them embracing- happy memories. Kousei is (wrongfully) leaving the blame on himself and pretending the happy memories are all that existed. Without addressing the abusive actions themselves, this cannot be construed as forgiveness or "moving on". Rather, this is showcasing denial as the solution while simultaneously portraying Saki as "loving".

I find that extremely offensive and suspension-breaking.

There are other parts as well (such as the bridge-shoving scenes, which Tsubaki's friend even called her out on, and the fireworks scene recreating the sensation of drowning that Kousei felt whenever he played the piano), but the above parts were the main ones. Higashi's claim that anyone who is familiar with real life abuse first-hand or second-hand also finds the show offensive holds true for me as well (save mayu, to an extent). In fact, I know of people who had panic attacks watching the early portions of this show- to the point that they had to drop it.

Now Kousei is parading around without a care for his past nor a lick of depression. He's just having love problems now. We get to see Tsubaki continue to act like she owns Kousei, and see Kaori (almost certainly) die and cause so many "feels" despite acting so selfishly around Kousei. How utterly disappointing for a show that had so much potential.

Nidhoeggr said:
This anime is full of horrible women and the writer is an idiot.
Why is the concept of fucking psychotherapy foreign to anyone in Japan The dude has serious mental problems, yet the authors thinks that a cute companion can somehow cure these severe issues through sheer "love and attention"? This is not how it works...

ESPECIALLY WHEN BOTH YOUR CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND YOUR SUPPOSED LOVE INTEREST ARE ABUSIVE AS FUCK AND DO EVERYTHING TO FORTIFY SAID TRAUMA

Seriously:
- Violent behaviour towards a mentally damaged person.
- Stalking and bullying him into joining activities he doesn't want to do.
- Making him relive the most traumatic experiences in his life.

Are we supposed to feel sympathy for the female main characters here? Because all I see are some people who use a fake altruism to foster highly egocentrical goals while putting their supposed friend through suffering. And even worse is the fact that the anime's messages seem to support these girls. Even his friend joins in on the "disbelief at his lack of accompanying ability" train despite better knowledge. Why!?
It's baffling how the author thinks we can be supportive of such a rotten personality just because she is good at playing music and looks cute? Oh, because she has a disease! Give me a break: Another way to add cheap drama and make her sympathetic despite our better knowledge.

Everything Kaori did was egocentric so far (She only wants a good support for her violin and even gets mad when he actually gets better at the end of the performance because he "might steal her thunder"!) and it is baffling to see so many people both in-universe and here being supportive of her. And Kousei's sickness gets downplayed simply because
a) the author is too incompetent to write it more realistically or
b) the author is a giant asshole who thinks psychological trauma is not serious and is fun to mock.

I think it is a mixture of both.

Ironicallly enough though, the anime mirrors Kaori: Nice looks and presentation, but rotten content. But since apparently appearances matter more than content, this criticism will not garner much attention.

I said:
The disgusting thing about Shigatsu is that it pretends to seriously tackle the issue of abuse while ending up being extremely hypocritical about it since it still can't let go of the 'female abuse for comedy' trope. Usually that trope is just mildly annoying but ignorable, but in the context of that show where abuse, pressure and emotional distress coming from his mother = bad and traumatic, but when Kaori is doing it = good and helpful and funneh because she's a cute girl.

Everything the show does in regard to trauma, psychological issues and abuse is just WRONG and harmful but it is portrayed as the best thing that could have happened to him, which actively disgusts me and makes me cringe more than any other anime before it. Pressuring someone and telling him to 'man up and not be a pussy' (which is what she basically did) instead of taking his obviously psychosomatic trauma seriously and having it treated by a professional is just terrible and there's no excuse for it.

You simply can't expect to have even on ounce of credibility left regarding the topic of trauma and abuse AND still portray it in the usual, comedic anime matter, but Shitgatsu does exactly that. It even regularly triggers flashbacks of his childhood trauma when Kaori/the girls are doing their thing with the MC, it can't really get more obviously hypocritical.

I don't even need to talk about the shitty dialogue a la 'The winter rain tastes like lemonade.' to justify why I hate this show so much.

Nothing more to add.
Then again, MAL was always superficial and did not like thinking about "simple entertainment XDD" so I should not be suprised.

Steel Ball Run anime when?

Mar 20, 2015 12:09 PM

#15

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Mar 2013

20064

10/10 because Unicorn is out of the top 100, so fuck everything, let's just see how far the madness can go.

top 10 or bust.

Mar 20, 2015 1:27 PM

#16

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Jan 2015

411

Dear: Higashi and other people with long quote towers and no spoiler buttons.

I do not know where you guys got this idea that the author was trying to tackle abuse in some way or that he was mentally damaged by his mother's abuse. The guy couldn't play the piano only after his mother passed away, if the author was trying to tackle abuse, he would've done so by showcasing his mother beating him so bad that eventually he just froze up and couldn't play piano anymore while she was alive or something similar. If you recall when he told his mother to go die, he was pissed as fuck, not traumatized lol.

Did you listen to what the ghost of his mother was saying all the time when he tried to play piano but went into a hole? "This is your punishment". This is clearly stating his inner demons that he feels regret and that he couldn't satisfy his dying mother of her last wish.

Moving onto his mother, her past was shown to exhibit her extreme love for his son and that in the end, unfortunately, her illness took control of her and warped her mind to the point where she thought that abuse was a legitimate way for her to educate her son. Btw, on another note people have panic attacks/PTSD from seeing their traumatic moments relived in real-time, not a piece of film/literature failing to demonstrate that said abusive elements were wrong.

The only other thing I can address is the dialogue, well..............it's anime drama so yea fine things got out of hand for a few seconds, I can live wit it.

- Sincerely
HasHash

HasHashMar 20, 2015 1:48 PM

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Mar 20, 2015 1:48 PM

#17

Nidhoeggr

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5713

You bloody admit she abused him and then try to advocate that this show isn't about overcoming abuse... And justifying this is part of the horrible framing this anime does constantly. There is just so much wrong with your doublethink that it is honestly not worth arguing with you.

Also, screw spoilers. This is a discussion about the show's merits after it ended. if you haven't even finished the show you shouldn't read this anyway.

NidhoeggrMar 20, 2015 1:53 PM

Steel Ball Run anime when?

Mar 20, 2015 1:51 PM

#18

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20064

HasHash said:
Dear: Higashi and other people with long quote towers and no spoiler buttons.

I do not know where you guys got this idea that the author was trying to tackle abuse in some way or that he was mentally damaged by his mother's abuse.

You didn't watch the show did you?

Mar 20, 2015 1:53 PM

#19

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Jan 2015

411

Nidhoeggr said:
You bloody admit she abused him and then try to advocate that this show isn't about overcoming abuse... And justifying this is part of the horrible framing this anime does constantly.

Yes, she abused him but where in the hell did he ever portray feelings of trauma when being abused? never

He was always like, "it's okay, I know my mom is doing this because of my benefit" ...by no means was he hiding under a bed or anything like that.

You can't overcome feelings of shock if they were never there.

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Mar 20, 2015 1:55 PM

#20

Nidhoeggr

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5713

HasHash said:

Yes, she abused him but where in the hell did he ever portray feelings of trauma when being abused? never

So you basically admit you are too dumb to follow the content of the show you try to defend here....

Steel Ball Run anime when?

Mar 20, 2015 1:56 PM

#21

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411

Nidhoeggr said:

HasHash said:

Yes, she abused him but where in the hell did he ever portray feelings of trauma when being abused? never

So you basically admit you are too dumb to follow the content of the show you try to defend here....

Give me a quote, an image anything to prove this

All you ever keep saying is you're wrong where are your examples? if you can't do anything but talk out of your ass then don't bother to post some minority accepted argument that has nothing to say except you're dumb

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Mar 20, 2015 1:58 PM

#22

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20064

HasHash said:

Nidhoeggr said:

So you basically admit you are too dumb to follow the content of the show you try to defend here....

Give me a quote, an image anything to prove this

Fuck it I'm too lazy to find the screenshot of him bleeding out of his head from being caned.

Mar 20, 2015 2:04 PM

#23

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Jan 2015

411

fst said:

HasHash said:

Give me a quote, an image anything to prove this

Fuck it I'm too lazy to find the screenshot of him bleeding out of his head from being caned.

Auxoran said:

Did you watch the show with your eyes or your asshole?

OMFG WTF lol it's like you just overlooked the entirety of what I said

If you wanna say that he was beaten the shit out of to the point of no return then fine but that and him being actually traumatized and showing it clearly or even subtly are two very different things.

It's pretty much on the same philosophical level that a first grader thinks at.

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Mar 20, 2015 2:05 PM

#24

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20064

Most people consider being beaten to be evidence of trauma but if you want to argue semantics....

Mar 20, 2015 2:07 PM

#25

Botato

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22765

fst said:
Most people consider being beaten to be a form of trauma but if you want to argue semantics....

Do I see another similar/same war or are my expectations too high?

Mar 20, 2015 2:10 PM

#26

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fst said:
Most people consider being beaten to be a form of trauma but if you want to argue semantics....

Definition of trauma: "a deeply distressing or disturbing experience"
If he didn't feel deeply distressed or disturbed by it how is it trauma?

Oh and in Japan and Asian countries in general it's common to see beatings as a form of discipline. Speaking from experience.

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Mar 20, 2015 2:11 PM

#27

Yehart

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Jul 2014

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HasHash said:

fst said:
Most people consider being beaten to be a form of trauma but if you want to argue semantics....

Definition of trauma: "a deeply distressing or disturbing experience"
If he didn't feel deeply distressed or disturbed by it how is it trauma?

O.O....

Mind = blown.

"Hi!"

Mar 20, 2015 2:13 PM

#28

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411

_P5 said:

HasHash said:

Definition of trauma: "a deeply distressing or disturbing experience"
If he didn't feel deeply distressed or disturbed by it how is it trauma?

O.O....

Mind = blown.

lol read the arguments beforehand again if you didn't

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Mar 20, 2015 2:17 PM

#29

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HasHash said:

_P5 said:

O.O....

Mind = blown.

lol read the arguments beforehand again if you didn't

Oh wow ok I see what you're saying now. The way that we was just able to go about life afterwards without having to be institutionalized or anything, go to school, hang out with friends, etc just like normal means that he didn't suffer at all from what his mother did to him. Absolutely no lasting consequences at all from any that.

I'm so sorry I didn't read your post carefully, but now that I understand, I absolutely and completely agree with you.