This show is the true embodiment of a tragedy, and not because this show is sad. The work itself is tragically bad. This show really threw me for a loop. Initially, while appalled by the character art (particularly the lips and eyes), I was still vaguely enthralled. The atmosphere in the beginning made the show seem full of potential. However, it quickly devolved into a mockery of a serious anime.
The main character was basically what it would look like if Shinji from Evangelion was a piano prodigy. He was indecisive, whiny, and uninteresting. I understand the effect the writers were going for with the psychological element of child abuse and loss, but it became an obnoxiously repetitive theme, that never went away. It even got tossed in at random points after he had seemingly put those demons to rest.
The main heroine was also an annoying character. Many of her actions did not make any sense, and she was often just generally obnoxious. The ending particularly bothered me, but that's a spoiler, and it's plain to see once one has seen this travesty. It was really the other girl in the love-triangle who was the one I found myself rooting for. Yet she showed no backbone, and did a lot of things that just didn't make sense.
The most interesting characters were Tsubaki, her friend (who came in mid-way through the story with no introduction whatsoever, no back story and no development. She ended up saying something really poignant at the end, and ruined it with a really inappropriate and poorly timed joke, as the mood did not warrant such a joke), Seto, and Koharu (she was genuinely funny and adorable even though she didn't contribute to the story at all).
My biggest issue overall with this show stems from the fact that it tries desperately to be deep and meaningful, but it ends up coming out as forced and unnatural. Every episode was littered with internal monologues where the characters thought deeply to themselves. However, I find it hard to believe that all of these characters, many of them 15 or younger, were thinking this deeply for such a significant amount of time. Even if I were to give them a pass on that, the use of this device lost its meaning quickly. When characters are having at least one epiphany an episode, it loses its emotional power. There's a fine line between having characters with awareness, and feeling unnatural. This felt unnatural. Characters and the audience need to be led towards the final climax: a real epiphany where the characters learn a lesson. But here, it was crammed down our throats every episode. By the time I reached the end, every one of these internal monologues made me upset and angry. There were so many literary, auditory, and visual devices used, but they were used in excess. In this situation less is more, because it can accentuate the truly important parts, instead of creating confusion about what's important and what's not.
Also, the way the characters' realizations were spoon-fed to the audience makes me think either the writers are stupid, the writers think the audience is stupid, or both.
The one redeeming quality of this show was the music. It was really good. I loved OP 1, didn't care much for ED 1, but I liked OP and ED 2 pretty well. Also Koharu was always there making a funny face to make me laugh. I needed those laughs to keep from tearing my hair out.
With that said, this show ranks number three on my all-time worst anime, right above Oregairu S2 and Guilty Crown. If you're considering watching this, I implore you not to believe the hype, and save yourself the frustration of watching this show. It really is terrible.
