Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is about a child prodigy classical pianist named Kosei Arima, who gave up playing due to crippling depression following the death of his mother. Even though he won many competitions back when he was still playing piano, his playing was always very "by the book", mechanical, and lacking in passion. This was because of the extremely strict way in which he was trained by his late mother. After hearing the very passionate and innovative performance of a brilliant young violinist named Kaori Miyazono, Kosei is able to rediscover his love for music and learn to play with heart.
That sounds AMAZING right? An anime musical drama/romance that tells a heartwarming tale and introduces beautiful classical music to a new generation who otherwise wouldn't give it a chance. Why then didn't I rate it a 9 or 10?! I will sadly have to explain.
Firstly, I must say that this series REALLY had potential! Especially for me, since I am a huge fan of classical music. Both of my parents were classical violinists who played in an orchestra. I went in with very high expectations, but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. That isn't to say that I felt Shigatsu was a bad anime. Shigatsu is a fine anime, but I am saying it could have been a LOT better and it wasted a tragic amount of potential.
Story:
Although the basic premise of the story is the stuff of an award winning drama film, the execution was...not so much. Shigatsu has a LOT of really crappy comedy that never once made me laugh and constantly threw the mood out the window! This comedy is almost always accompanied by painfully obnoxious chibi style animation to save on the show's budget. I'm not saying that using tone jarring chibi out of nowhere instantly makes an anime bad. Hellsing Ultimate did it for comedy scenes, but Hellsing Ultimate never took itself seriously and never expected the audience to take it seriously. It is a show about Count Dracula fighting Nazi vampires! Shigatsu on the other hand, tries REALLY hard every 5 seconds to make the audience cry. Shigatsu DOES take itself quite seriously and wants to really emotionally move the audience, so the use of shitty comedy and random chibi in this context was a rather poor choice. The other most obvious problem in the show's execution was just how forced a lot of the tragedy felt. Shigatsu is a flat out melodrama. I'm not one of those critics who instantly hates on melodrama and condemns series just for using a writing style that is no longer in vogue. However, this story really didn't need to be a melodrama. It felt completely tacked on unnecessarily. Tragedies get more respect than comedies right? We better try REALLY hard to make this into a tragedy! I love a good tragedy, but Shigatsu in terms of its themes, message, and basic story isn't really crafted to be a tragedy. It feels like a comedy that was forcibly changed into a tragedy in post production because some jackass thought it would win more awards!
Art:
The art and animation is very inconsistent. During the scenes where an instrument is being played, the animation is gorgeous and accurately captures the movements of the musician. Then it goes to barely animated chibi garbage because...why? The art style is extremely "moe" which may piss off some viewers.
Music:
The selection of classical music is AWESOME! We get Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and basically lots of excellent pieces by amazing composers. The only problem is the quality of the playing used for the anime's soundtrack. We are told over and over again how Kosei is this AMAZING child prodigy and quite possibly developing into the greatest pianist of his day. Yet the piano playing we hear is...not THAT good. This wasn't a live action film. They could have used any recording since the invention of the phonograph and synced up the animation with the playing. Why not use a recording of a pianist who actually plays like ALL the characters describe Kosei? Vladimir Horowitz could play better than the dude from this soundtrack after 3 bottles of vodka, blindfolded, while being attacked by killer bees!
Overall:
Basically I just wanted to say that Shigatsu wasn't a bad anime, but it really wasn't a new masterpiece and actually squandered a ton of potential with extremely questionable choices in terms of execution. This actually isn't the first time I have seen a "moe" melodrama that mixed slapstick comedy with extremely forced tragedy. Angel Beats already accomplished that feat years ago. The difference is that the comedy in Angel Beats was actually funny! Angel Beats was also always supposed to be a comedy, but with some drama and tragedy thrown in. Shigatsu probably started out as a comedy, but was changed into a tragedy first, a romantic drama second, and a loveletter to classical music 3rd. The comedy in Shigatsu honestly feels WAY more out of place than the comedy in Angel Beats. Overall, I would still check it out if you really love classical music or wish to learn more about classical music, but if you are coming for the drama/romance, I would pick a better anime.
