Am I the only one who thinks Your Lie in April doesn't make sense? (don't read if you're planning to watch this)

Aquamirror said:
Yeah you are the only one in the world, be proud of yourself.

midoripeach9 said:
But I was looking forward to seeing why people liked this anime :)

Swagernator said:

Because people tend to like ultra teen tragedy anime shows, where MC is in deep "psychological" state.


For me ? it was dull teen dramedy.

Salokannel2 said:
I just really liked the opening songs.

BararaqSaiqa said:
I was really drawn by the atmosphere of the show. I like the way the musical aspect of the show was approached, made it really good imo. However the character development and back stories were quite dry. The lackluster death caused by only god knows what added to the the dullness of the story as well and not to mention, it was filled with melodram. But I really do feel the musical approach did redeem the show, at least that's what kept me watching it

midoripeach9 said:
(Title)

I take these kinds seriously, I mean, what is the real tragedy here?
The main girl (blonde one) should be the focus, not the guy (in glasses) with the...unexplained sickness.

Main guy (megane) tragedy is quite similar to Orange's protag's (Kakeru) situation, but yeah why is the girl's sickness overshadowed by megane guy's lack of... balls? He was traumatized -maybe- but why is his weird sickness the main thing (which wasn't explained? Or it's really just the trauma? but heck Kakeru reacted realistically to his situation)?




Also, I don't get some poetic... lines like:
"His notes... They're starting to sparkle."
"this song has your scent"


TLDR:
girl is dying, but main guy has MORE MAJOR problems than that. I don't think that makes sense.

These are *my opinions* the thread is open to yours!

:3

midoripeach9 said:

I take these kinds seriously, I mean, what is the real tragedy here?
The main girl (blonde one) should be the focus, not the guy (in glasses) with the...unexplained sickness.

CatSoul said:
I never finished that. Who lied in April in the end?

Kruszer said:
Honestly, romantic tragedies have never made sense to me. Why build something at all if you're just going to destroy it later? Completely pointless, stop wasting my time with these kinds of stories.

tragedydesu said:

It can make sense
Show you how the main characters deal with a tragedie and move on

What don't make sense for me is teasing a ship to death in a romcom then make it sink
seriously why ???

Mirai said:
When I opened this thread I expected more complaining about the fact that the characters behave unrealistically for their age lol

Ventus_S said:


No idea what your complaint is about, but it's true, my biggest gripe about Your Lies in April are those people talk in a way no normal people would talk like..

They talk like they're using metaphor and poetry to communicate-.-...
It's really weird and immersion breaking.

The biggest problem is they don't always talk like that, and that's not what the show is about too. So sometimes they talk like sane normal people, and then some other time they talk like 19th century poetry/ drama actors...

simon443 said:
I couldn't stand it either, but for another reason.
The MC had a trauma that paralyzed him whenever he tried to play a piano, I really liked the struggle he was going through.
The problem was the "love heals everything" bullshit, it takes decades of therapy to go through such things but since his teenager girlfriend tells him so he heals in less than an year...
I even expected the girl to survive thanks to the power of love, but I guess there's a limit even to bad writing

Vyzass said:
It's a character driven show about character development and overcoming his inner conflict.

le_halfhand_easy said:
-snip-
She wants to inspire him to his feet again after he inspired her. Her failing health is her deadline and her push to risking it all to be near to him. I suppose it adds a layer of tragedy and melancholy. She got him back on his feet and disappeared forever.

-snip-
And it also added a touch of the poetry to it all. Losing his mom had grinded his entire life into a halt. Kaori set it going again. And then he lost her. The second great winter of his life. But this time Arima didn't shrink back. He stood up and welcomed the symbolic spring. Two losses serve as bookends to the part of his story we get to see. How he deals with the losses is his growth.

le_halfhand_easy said:


The blonde inconsiderate bitch who didn't give a single flying f*ck about Watari because he's technically not a main character so she's just going to pretend to be his girlfriend so that she can get closer to his best friend.

GamerUnglued said:
-snip-
Kousei didn't have a disease like Kaori. He had PTSD from everything that happened with his mother, or trauma, like you said. It's sort of like while Kaori accepted her death and chose to live the rest of her life happily, Kousei was unable to overcome his trauma. And Kousei most definitely acted realistically to his situation. Kakeru was depressed but didn't have PTSD, and even if they did have the same condition mental illness often manifests in different ways depending on the person.

GamerUnglued said:
-snip-
She was too focused on him and not herself. Kaori did everything for herself as well as for him in a way that was both sincere and difficult but not traumatizing, and that helped him. This is why he was able to overcome her death but not his mom's. Kaori's death is a symbol of him moving forward and making a positive change to his life.

Aslt said:
Yes, special snowflake, you're the only one on this planet who thinks like that.

GamerUnglued said:
@midoripeach9

For your first point, I think it's possible to have selective deafness triggered by something like that, but I'm not really 100% sure. Even if it weren't possible though, his depression and PTSD is sold to me through both his actions outside of performances, and the animation of the performances. Idk about you, but I'm not going to anime for complete realism. The incredible color palette, underwater motif and accompanying sound design, facial expressions, fast editing, camerawork, frantic animation, and voice acting all sell me on the idea that Kousei feels traumatized when performing, and that is enough to feel for him during those scenes if I am emotionally invested in him as a character, which I was.

GamerUnglued said:

-snip-
Kaori is always presented as a parallel to his mother, and while he was unable to overcome his mothers death he was able to overcome Kaori's. It's not the death itself that allowed him to overcome his trauma, but the fact that Kaori was in his life at all. Her death is just proof that he doesn't need to rely on her anymore to perform, and he can do it for himself thanks to the little time they had together. I certainly don't think his trauma was overly emphasized, as it was the most important issue any of the characters had by far, and depression and PTSD are absolutely not issues to be underplayed considering the effects of poor mental health. As for therapy, lets just say that every person needs a different form of treatment. Therapy doesn't work for everybody, I know from experience, and sometimes it takes the right person or people and a little push to overcome personal demons.

midoripeach9 said:


The creators are trying to tell me that main guy is traumatized and they were trying to tell me that through these colorful scenes and bubbly animations. Apparently they weren't able to tap into my stone heart. I mean, if they'd just focus on emphasizing "yes you can have selective hearing with PTSD" and not on the poetic jargon maybe I could sympathize? a little. Anyway, it doesn't have to look real to feel real. But you could win me through better script and better back stories with substance.



All righty, first off, I haven't had the determination to look/think that deep into this, I still think they can sell this off by showing how "real" his sickness can be.
Second, I have nothing else to say about her death, I still think: is her death added as an afterthought? to put in that extra oomph of bittersweetness? I'll never know.
LAst but not least, they can have romantic or poetic lines all they want but for the love of tomatoes I wish it has to do with the story, or the plot, or their personal tragedies...I think, most of the time, they're just trying to be poetic--which is sad.

That said, you mentioned that the time they had is important in that he doesn't need her around anymore (this is just cruel imo), and it is this that made him move on, so her death is necessary to show that. But can it not be done with her death? Like, she can move far away (see second point). It's ironic that he treasured their time together and was able to overcome his trauma because of it, but also be able to move on with her death. (correct me if I'm wrong with this one, that he overcame her death more easier than his mom's death)
My opinion still stands, the way he overcomes his trauma is a bit off the hinge? Which is basically why it doesn't make sense to me. But maybe if they did a better job with script writing this could've turned to a masterpiece. (A waste of good plot, it seems)

TLDR: I have a problem with how they presented this series. They wasted a good plot.

GamerUnglued said:


Well I definitely have to disagree with the script. It seems you were unable to get past the monologues. I feel like they did a good job at showing the characters thoughts while performing. We can see the frustrations through the visuals, but this way we get to see their thought process and who their performing for via the monologues. Sometimes the performance quality changes depending on who they choose to dedicate their performance too, and it wouldn't be possible to show with only color changes. The poetic-ness is just more interesting than "I'm performing for Kaori (long pause), wait maybe I shouldn't do that (long pause), but who should I perform for (long pause), lets do it for myself." It's not realistic per se but once again I'm not looking for realism here.

GamerUnglued said:

And what do you mean by his sickness being "real?" Is the incredible visual of him being under water, muffled piano sounds coming in time as he hits the keys, and frantic animation and voice acting not enough to show you how he feels while performing? Not even mentioning the literal hallucinations of his mother that scare him so much he stops playing during competitions. As for depression, he definitely acts the part. He is able to have a normal life and friends and generally perform, but it's taxing to do so and at the end of the day you go lie in bed in a dark room and do nothing, which Kousei does quite a few times.

GamerUnglued said:

Your second point is odd to me because it implies that one can't get over the death of a person they treasured. If my best friend died today, I would be devastated for a while but eventually I would get over it (unless they were abusing me and I was tricked into thinking it was to help them get better). Mourning doesn't last forever. And it's not that he didn't need her around anymore, but that he didn't need to be able to perform anymore and could do it for himself. He overcame his internal struggle. He is sad that she dies, but in terms of the narrative it's also symbolic. Of course he overcame her death more easily though. His mother caused him massive trauma that effected him through middle school and perhaps for longer if not for Kaori, and she's still his mother who he did love for all of his childhood before her death (why he allowed the harsh treatment at all), where Kaori was always happy and accepted her death from the beginning. Her letter also helped him to move on, even essentially giving a blessing to do so and go out with Tsubaki. It had to be death because it wouldn't be a parallel with Kousei's mom otherwise (like by moving away).

GamerUnglued said:
@midoripeach9
-snip-
It seems like you have trouble with the idea that Kousei's PTSD might not be fully realistic to real life. I personally don't care at all if an anime or its contents are realistic to actual, real life, as I treat the world of each anime as one separate from ours. What matters most to me is that I am able to care about the characters because I find them believable (not realistic, but believable), and feel the characters emotions.

midoripeach9 said:


I don't have trouble at all with thinking his selective hearing can be real. I am trying to say the show/script FAILED to deliver how his sickness can be real. Hence, I didn't feel it was real. It's real, just that main guy seemed whiny. Because MAYBE he didn't try to fight it-that's also where my problem comes from. I'm not sure if I felt an ounce of courage from main guy. He didn't try to fight at all. Zero percent. That is maybe the reason why I just thought he is whiny. (not until blonde girl entered the story? even so, he still lacked balls...)
So yeah, basically it's all the script's doing. As I mentioned, it seems like everyone talks like everybody else, and that's what made it fail for me, and failed in making me feel his sickness' (or everyone else's personal struggles in that matter) reality.

edit: to me, they are like the same hollow shells but with different colors. get what I mean...no unique personality, thoughts, only different circumstances --and that's all because of the way they talk

edit2: if his trauma is something he can't fight, well, as I said already, I thought he didn't try at all.

GamerUnglued said:


He didn't try to fight it because it's beyond terrifying. Trauma is terrifying to fight, that's why people who suffer from it need help. It's easier to just live miserably and never move than to actively face your worst fears. People with trauma have to be pushed to be cured of it, it's nearly impossible, in real life even, to fight it on your own. He's not courageous because every time he performs he literally hallucinates that he's drowning and that his mom is trying to punish him. Plus he feels guilty because he thinks he's responsible for his mothers death, so that's another reason to sort of just live with it. Who would want to perform if that happens, especially if you're depressed on top of that and just waking up takes more effort? That's why depression is a problem; because a persons negative thoughts are not accurate and they need to be convinced that they are not at fault for anything and have worth as people. Kaori is exactly what he needed, a push and a crux until he can perform for himself and not for her.

And shells without personalities? During performances, they monologue similar things because they are all thinking about similar things, as Kousei is the focus of the performances. Outside of performances though, where most of the show takes place, they are entirely different people with different personalities and facets and manners of speaking. A scene with Kaori and Kousei at the park is completely dissimilar to one with Tsubaki and Kousei at the park for example, and that's different from Kousei and Takeshi at the park. No one in this show is similar to anyone else.

neon-kun said:
Wow still no "am I the only one" meme here? I'm surprised.

midoripeach9 said:

But apparently, I'm not the only one. Anything else you have to say? :P
Also, it wouldn't be called "forums" if lengthy discussions are discouraged?

Reasons why people tend to not enter in a discussion 1) if it's for something they can't fight for, 2) when they think it's not worth the trouble, 3) when they think the forums is for people to huddle together with the same thoughts and same interests. Sorry I like fighting for what I think and will defend it 'til I'm defeated. And I'm unique and don't join the bandwagon until something is worth my standards.
Anyone know someplace else where debates are not stale? :)

neon-kun said:


Heeey calm down XD no need to exaggerate, I wasn't pretending to dismiss your points....all I was saying was that since I joined this site every single time a user creates a thread that starts with the words "am I the only one"....another user that wants to make fun of the thread (because it's title starts with those words) posts a certain famous meme to mock the OP, but I mean every-single-time, so that's why I said I was surprised it was still not the case here. That's all.

And I hardly have anything else to say since I haven't watched the show yet. And currently I have little intentions to do so. I'm sorry.