But to be totally honest - after a lot of people telling me how great , enjoyable, deep and beautiful this anime is, I expected a lot more than I got out of it in the end.
I don't dislike the anime but for me it was kind of disappointing. Seeing the score (8.9 at the time I decided to watch it) I thought it would be an overall great experience.
Let me explain why, except for the music and imagery, it wasn't for me:
First of all: the story
No other word than "mediocre" comes to mind when I think about the plot and most of the characters. To be honest, only two characters really had any noticeable character development whatsoever over the course of 22 episodes. Most of them just felt squeezed into the story for plot reasons.
The way the main plot point was handled made it so obvious how the anime would progress and finally end that I really didn't feel all that much when the "big reveal" dropped.
Secondly: the characters
Until episode 6, I couldn't warm up to any of the characters besides Kousei - and for Kousei I felt more of an "I can relate to the terror of a mother that wants you to fulfill her dream for her" vibe.
Then, suddenly Tsubaki got some character development which made me start caring for her more than any other character on the anime. That's quite sad for an anime where you are supposed to accompany the main characters on their journey; because Tsubaki plays an important role, but isn't meant to stay in the foucus that much.
Tbh (again), Kaori frustrated me more than any other character. She was so damn obnoxious at some points and the fact that there was something going on with her didn't justify some of her really annoying traits and actions. Especially the way she kept using physical violence against Kousei whenever he avted differently than what she wanted at that moment.
Yes, I felt sorry for her but that was it.
Third and final point: how the anime ended
The last episode was something between "holy moly, that beautiful animation (and CGI that didn't look crappy!) and music; and on the other hand so much frustration about the last few minutes.
Idk if they wanted this to feel like a plot twist but it definitely left me facepalming.
The "lie in april" gets revealed and I was ready to throw something out of the window because it was clear as daylight but still felt, well...stupid
What made me hang on to the anime was the feeling it conveyed whenever someone was on stage. Because I can relate to all the nervousness and the backstage waiting for your performance, the feeling of pure terror before your act comes up and how you either crash or start off while performing.
If it wasn't for that, and a friend suffering through it with me, I might have dropped it at episode 11.
