Story (7.98/10): For the most part, OVA's of anime usually give us, the viewer, a little side story or comedic bit of a series that we have already watch before, acting as a little bit more of a series that we either enjoy, or hold dear to our hearts. However, Shigatsu's OVA takes a different route than most OVA's.
In this OVA, Shigatsu takes a step back in time, going all the way back to the time of Arima's first concert. Acting as a precursor for the original anime's time, this OVA tells the story of the two piano rivals that Kousei has, Takeshi and Emi, and how they became the the rivals to Kousei with the ever growing musical bloodlust they have for going forward and beating Kousei in a music competition, as noted by the original 22 episode run of Shigatsu. (Also, it throws in a little bit of Kaori in there as well.) Personally, I find this to be a good use of an OVA for the anime, as it takes a step back and shows the viewer in greater detail, what happened before the original run of the series, and why some things and character relations are the way they are.
In addition, the OVA shows a couple little small details, showing little tidbits of places, actions, and people from before the time the original series, which I personally thought was a nice touch, as it shows just how much things can change as time goes on. Overall though, I thought the story of this OVA was a very fitting one in order to give the viewer more detail as to what happened before the "present day" time in Shigatsu. While there were some imbalances, like Emi's story and motivation not being as prominent as Takeshi's (reminds me of what happened in the original series. Yeesh.) it was overall, a good story that ties in well with the overall series.
Overview:
+ Flashback OVA that tells the events that lead up to the story
+ Deepens some characters a little more
- Character stories still had imbalance in screentime and attention.
- Kinda bounces back and forth perspective
Characters: (8.00/10): The characters in this OVA are very different in terms of importance, than in the original series. As I had mentioned before, the piano rivals Takeshi and Emi are put forth in center stage as the viewer gets to understand and learn why and how Kousei is what he is to them. You get to see them grow up and go through the years leading up to the fated 2 years ago moment that centers around Kousei's character, thus giving a bit more detail to their characters and allow a bit more understanding to their motivations.
In contrast though, the main four characters Kousei, Tsubaki, Watari, and Kaori, are pushed to the back, only having momentary appearances throughout the 30 minute runtime of this OVA. (This is to be expected from having character importance shifted.) Overall though, I appreciated the development that we got from this OVA, on account of the fact that the characters who got it were characters we as the viewer knew somewhat little about. (Watari still gets jack. Poor Watari, always forgotten.)
Overview:
+ Other characters gained development and importance
Art and Sound (8.75/10 and 8.80/10): The visuals for Shigatsu seemed to have dipped slightly in quality (though this is to be expected in an OVA.) Similar to its full length predecessor, all manners of its artstyle are utilized, ranging from its symbolism backgrounds when Kousei is playing, to the over exaggerated facial expressions when someone is having a "comedy moment." But compared to the original series, they didn't seem as grand as they could've been, so there's that to take into account.
On the sound department, this OVA takes form the beautiful stylings from the first half of the show, using "Hikaru Nara" and "Kirameki", the first OP and ED as the beginning and ending song for this OVA. Both are wonderfully beautiful pieces, and my personal favorite duo of the two OP and ED combos, using a very cheerful and bright sound and tone that for me, warms my heart.
Overview:
+ Art is rather consistent
+ Uses the beautiful tracks from the original series (my personal favorite tracks)
- Art quality has dipped from the standard of the original series
Personal Enjoyment (8.00/10): While many people argue that Shigatsu is a series that doesn't deserve the credit that it gets, I personally believe it is a beautiful piece of work and deserves at least the majority of the praise that it gets. As for this OVA, well, it doesn't stack up to the original in my opinion, (I was actually hoping for a timeskip OVA where Kousei would be like 21 and in college, coming back to visit Kaori's grave or something like that.) I still believe that this OVA was a good experience.
What did I like about this OVA?
I liked more or less the fact that it was a development OVA. It wasn't a generic OVA where comedy or a ridiculous plotline was used to fill up the time, but rather one that had to do with the story that was being told, and contributed, even slightly, to the grand scheme of the anime that it was tied into. It gave the viewer greater detail on the events that took place before the period of time when the anime started, and gave a bit more backstory to some characters whose pre-existing backstories were lacking quite a bit of detail.
What didn't I like about this OVA?
The character importance really irked me quite a bit. Similar to the original series, Emi doesn't get as much screentime as she does, losing out to her male rival counterpart, Takeshi, in detail, screentime, and overall importance. In addition, the art quality drop wasn't something I took as kindly to since the show didn't look AS stunning as it was before.
Would I recommend this OVA?
If you watched Shigatu wa Kimi no Uso, and liked it, you might like this OVA. If you didn't, I wouldn't recommend this. Like all OVA's, this one is tailored to fans of the show, giving more of a series to viewers that liked the original show. While this OVA isn't perfect as there are quite a few flaws with its execution, it should provide a decently enjoyable experience to those who have a more positive reception of this series.
Overall Score: 7.99/10
