STORY (9/10)
The story is honestly solid. The maturity, the romance, the friendship, the music- everything was just played right! The conflicts were so real and I love the take on the psychological trauma. The trauma Kousei experienced after the death of his mother made his character development even more enjoyable and empathizing. The problems didn't take on the deus ex-machina, which is what most animes ended up doing due to limited episodes, they were solved within the right time frame and just well-executed.
ART (10/10)
I love the art style! It's aesthetically pleasing that I actually had different variations of the characters pictures for the sake of wallpapers. The colors are so beautifully chosen. The palette for each character made them unique in their own way. Everything about the art is just eyegasm, enough said.
SOUND (10/10)
This anime's take is music, after all, so the perfect score is out of the question. But to put it out there, the music is really amazing! The songs takes you to a different time and well, the music and sounds were really no joke.
CHARACTER (10/10)
If you're not able to empathize with even JUST ONE CHARACTER, then I swear to God, you have no heart. Just kidding. But in all fairness, the characters were really well-constructed.
We have our main lead Kousei who from child music prodigy is now an average middle-school student, traumatized to play the piano again. I can give you a list of reasons why Kousei is one of the best well-written anime characters of all times, but I'll just give you the main point- HE'S REAL. KOUSEI IS REAL. We see how he interacts with his friends like an average middle school introvert, we see his longing, we see his surprise at Kaori's bold attempts, and we see his vulnerability. I mentioned this earlier but the take on psychological trauma within Kousei's character is incredibly well-written! We see him trembling, making mistakes, we see the fright in his widened eyes- we see the little tics that makes us fear for the well-being of his character. When he get over his trauma, we get satisfied because we've been there with him. We saw him attempt, give up, attempt, and give up til he can actually play again- the development is truly amazing. I hear my friends saying how Kousei is just annoying half the series for being a "wimp" but to be honest, his giving up and being afraid to try again is all the more the reason why I felt like Kaori- I was determined to see him play. This is why when the resolution came, it was honestly a cherry on top on an already good sundae.
Kaori was also well-developed, which surprised me because I though she was just another YOLO dying type of character. She was eccentric, Kaori, but it didn't feel forced or anything, it felt... right. Kaori didn't have as much exposure as Kousei in the anime but we were still able to see a good development within her character. She was young, wild, and sometimes dumb, all the more reason why I, like Kousei, fell in love with her.
Another thing I like to note is Kousei's friends- Watari and Tsubaki. Albeit the shorter exposure, they were also well-written. Tsubaki was the sporty and passive aggressive, tough and fragile childhood friend who didn't know that she likes Kousei romanticaly. Watari was the womanizing slash playboy type who has a soft spot on his friends and understands love well albeit his mischievous acts. The thing about these is that, we actually had this friend (well at least I did hehe) once in a lifetime. I had my fair share of Watari and Tsubaki, making them familiar and real to me, even with a short amount of time.
I could say more about the characters but this will end like a novel so I'll cut this short. To conclude, each character in this manga has a story, main or supporting, and that's why the writing of the characters in this manga is all the more notable.
ENJOYMENT (10/10)
Solid story line, well-written characters, a beautiful set of soundtracks- what more can I ask for? I know this sounds like an exaggeration but I kid you not, YLIA is one of the best romance anime I've watched for a while now. I've put it off my list for a while now and I honestly regret doing that.
I actually had no plans of watching this anime because I already know the ending but really, I still cried like a baby towards the end. I admit, I would've probably wasted more than just one box of tissue if I didn't know the spoiler but still. This anime is just so beautiful and amazing that I just have to give it a perfect score.
