I couldn't bring myself to watch Tsuki ga Kirei at first as the idea of a romance story between two 'middle schoolers' didn't really appeal to me at all. More often or not, I find a good story is more enjoyable when you are able to self-insert, so knowing these characters were somewhere between 13 and 15 years old didn't excite me at all - especially seeing the former age is now a decade past.
Fortunately, I was bored enough to give it a go, and as it turned out, Tsuki ga Kirei was nothing like I expected.
Rather than a story of self-inserting
...
to find enjoyment and relatability to the characters and their actions, Tsuki ga Kirei is a story that had me reminiscing my school years to heights I've never experienced before. This show managed to captivate me, filling me with nostalgia of my own high school romances, thanks to the brilliantly realistic portrayal of two 15-year old's falling in love.
Akane and Kotarou are two very shy 15-year-olds that appear to pick up an interest for one another the first moment they saw each other. Their shyness truly needs to be emphasised, these two teenagers may never have spoken to one another their whole final year in middle-school had it not been for a series of coincidences and situations leading to them exchanging social media details to help prepare for a upcoming school sports festival.
Both characters capture exactly what it's like to be a shy teenager falling in love. I don't think I've seen a better representation of shyness in adolescence before in any story I have seen. So often do I see characters that are written to be permanently shy, but that's now how it works in real life. Shyness can come and go in sudden waves, from one moment finding it difficult to say a word, to having a heated and enjoyable conversation the next, only for the shyness to return when you've had enough time to think. Shy people can force themselves when needed to be vocal, even if only temporary, and Tsuki ga Kirei captures that reality of shyness perfectly.
Most impressive to me is the phone messages sent between Akane and Kotarou. While finding difficulty to talk to each other in person at times, their interactions on their social media app were completely different. These conversations were generally filled with confidence and energy. That didn't mean their shyness was gone completely, it was blatantly obvious by their facial expressions and actions those messages were often hard to send and waiting for a reply seemed agonising. Finally, the other party would always be filled with happiness and excitement whenever they got a reply.
Appropriately, their conversations online also appeared to be very, very real. So real, I could swear I've had so many of these conversations myself playing out so similarly in years past.
The scenes Akane and Kotarou shared were so insanely sweet, more often than not while watching I had a grin from ear to ear. I was so grateful to finally see another anime romance where the relationships begin early, not at the end. It was also enjoyable to see them slowly grow more accustomed to each other as the story went on, finally reaching a point where they could share emotions they wouldn't have dared shown earlier in their relationship.
As well as the romance, both Akane and Kotarou have their own goals and motivations. Kotarou wants to be a novelist, while Akane is very good at running. These desires for the both of them were often overshadowed by their relationship, however their perceptions of their hobbies do grow as the show goes on.
Moving away from the plot and characters, the story also features some excellent shorts after the credits of most episodes. They typically range anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds each and give an opportunity to flesh out some of the other characters a bit that I often wished had a little more screen time. I think I would really appreciate some OVA's, even if only filled with these shorts.
Around episode seven the animation drops off a bit. It doesn't stay poor permanently, but a few scenes do feel a little incomplete. I can only imagine they will be touched up in a Blu-ray copy later down the line. Given it wasn't for an extended period, and the series is slice of life, not action, I'm compelled to let it slide but it's not something I would have been happy to put up with had it spanned half or more of the show.
It's also worth noting Tsuki ga Kirei is an original project by studio feel. most recently known for their adaptation for the second season of Yahari ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. The Director, Seiji Kishi, is most notable for his work directing Angel Beats, while script writer Yuuko Kakihara has done scripts for various anime including the recent anime Orange and Sakamichi no Apollon.
At the very least, I recommend giving it a try, perhaps you'll also be fortunate to get far more than you bargained for as I did.
If you're looking for a conclusive romance that has an actual conclusion that feels almost unrivalled outside of Shoujo and Josei demographics, Tsuki ga Kirei is for you.
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Jul 9, 2017
Tsuki ga Kirei
(Anime)
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I couldn't bring myself to watch Tsuki ga Kirei at first as the idea of a romance story between two 'middle schoolers' didn't really appeal to me at all. More often or not, I find a good story is more enjoyable when you are able to self-insert, so knowing these characters were somewhere between 13 and 15 years old didn't excite me at all - especially seeing the former age is now a decade past.
Fortunately, I was bored enough to give it a go, and as it turned out, Tsuki ga Kirei was nothing like I expected. Rather than a story of self-inserting ... 
Mar 27, 2016
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
(Anime)
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This review contains spoilers that may ruin your experience watching the show. You can’t review this show very well without them, so please watch the show first before reading this review.
This show started out painfully slow. The characters received very little development individually, and plot seemed to be far from any form of existence. I was about to drop it and not look back. A curve ball was thrown that I couldn’t have seen coming from a mile way during episode 4. The show seemed so light-hearted, the chances of a main character dying was not something I foresaw, nor expected. I wasn’t expecting those themes ... |
