Mar 31, 2015
Your Lie in April or Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is a melodramatic anime adapted from a manga of the same name. The show follows the life of Kousei Arima as he attempts to overcome his trauma and be able to play the piano again. Naturally, Your Lie in April is full of the usual tropes present in schoolkid slice-of-life musical animes, prodigies, romance, and teenage angst galore.
So the entire point of any review is if you should watch the aforementioned show: and my short answer is yes, especially so if you like melodrama. Below is the long answer.
When viewing any new anime a question
...
arises, does Your Lie in April bring something fresh and new to the anime community?
Well the short answer is, no, it doesn't. It follows the same formula that is present in every melodrama of the last decade. In fact, it doesn't even try to hide it, blatantly foreshadowing melodrama every step of the way. But does that mean you shouldn't watch it? By all means no. Although it doesn't bring anything new that doesn't mean that it's not good at doing what it does. To put it in short, Your Lie in April does what a melodrama does best, it acquaints you with the characters and makes you actually care about their lives.
The story is decently written, although there are few if any plot twists, the story does what it's meant to do, and that is it kept me interested to the very end. Although pacing in the show is sometimes questionable, when some side arcs felt more distracting to the overall story, it was generally alright, though the middle of the series lagged on a bit.
The art was beautifully done in most cases as well, the pastel art style and beautiful landscapes make many frames of this show wallpaper worthy material. However, there are several times when it is obvious the animators skimped with the art.
The sound was generally good considering much of the soundtrack is comprised of songs written by the classical giants. Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Kreisler, and even Debussy comprise the majority of the show's important scenes. A gripe I had with the sound though was the constant voice overs during the musical performances. An anime about music and the music is replaced by dialogue. Who decided that was a good idea?
Finally, the main problem I had with the show were its characters. I understand that it is hard to build up many complex characters within a 22 episode time frame, but even so some of the characters were so shallowly developed it makes me wonder why they're there in the first place. Also, at many points in the show I felt I was listening to adults going through their midlife crisis instead of middle schoolers. Their views on life and success make this cast the most mature set of 15 year olds I have ever seen. Even so, the characters were generally likable, even if they were not the most dynamic.
Overall the show had a well written story and it had good execution. The characters were the weakness of the anime, but it doesn't take too much away from the overall experience. And I guess the most important part was that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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