What does first love mean to you? Is it the first person you were in a relationship with? Or is it the more cliché answer of the first person you were truly in love with?
Who would you consider your first love assuming you have been in a relationship before?
Was it the first partner you had? Was it a later partner you had?
Have you even had someone you truly loved?
If you have not been in a relationship… would you want your first love to be true love?
Tsuki ga Kirei is an attempt to pull off a realistic view and story of first loves as well as unrequited love.
Story: 9
Tsuki ga Kirei explores the concept of first loves and crushes that happen during the time that many people develop their first relationships, middle school. Although this may sound like a young age to many people, it is usually the time that these students develop feelings for each other and are often confused on what to do with these feelings. Tsuki ga Kirei executes this confusing and awkwardness well, showing characters that make awkward conversation/silences as well as having characters’ stammer upon speaking with their crush. This was a highlight of this show to me, with it being very relatable and realistic.
The story itself follows the young romance of Kotarou and Akane. Both are experiencing their first love together and all the new problems and emotions that come with it. Their journey throughout this series has highs and lows much like any relationship has, adding to the realism. The only problem with the story is how they handled some of these problems. Responses to some of these problems felt out of place when compared to a middle school student. Although the responses were not mature, it’s something that felt out of place and slightly detracted from the realism the anime was trying to present.
The flow of the series was excellent. A bit on the slower side, which is ideal when trying to portray a first romance between young teenagers. Since it is their first romance and the personality of the two, Kotarou and Akane tend be cautious about their decisions and try to take things slowly. To further progress the story, seasons change, and time passes between each episode. We get to see the higher and low parts of their relationship rather than seeing the middle parts… which is deemed the more interesting parts story-wise.
Art: 9
This style of art wasn’t outstanding but was still enjoyable. The art had a focus on using pastel-ish color palate rather than extremely vivid or dark colors. The colors used essentially lacked depth and tone resulting in a more pastel-esque appearance. These types of colors add to a more calming feel which helps tell the story. A slow and awkward relationship should not use vivid colors but instead calming colors.
The only problem with the series, which does usually get fixed in blu-ray releases, would be the CGI. The CGI was mainly used to animate background characters but they moved unnaturally. Animation of main and side characters were fine and no problems there but the animation of background characters leave much to be desired.
Sound: 9
The opening theme, Imakoko by Nao Touyama, was a theme that represented one half of the relationship between Kotarou and Akane. The best way to describe the song was a slow start rushed into happiness which turns into even more happiness. The song has a wholesome and cheerful mood to it which helps portray the happiness and joy they both experience during their relationship. Starting off slow, both got more enjoyment and happiness from each other. The opening theme was a standout part of the series and was very enjoyable to listen to.
The ending theme, Tsuki ga Kirei by Nao Touyama, represented the latter half of their relationship. The song is a slower paced song accompanied by an excellent instrumental track. The song was a somber yet happy song, which shows the lows of their relationship and how they still want to be together. Not as much of a standout song compared to the opening but it is still a great song.
The OST was very nice, supporting the mood of the series. The background music used throughout the series wasn’t striking or very inspiring but did its job to carry the flow and feeling of scenes. The only noticeable background song was a melancholic song called Promise, it’s the piano song that is used in most of the wholesome scenes. The song is probably the most enjoyable of all the OST.
Characters: 10
The characters throughout the series are probably the best characters this season. They show personal growth throughout the series which was something this show needed because of how the characters are first portrayed. Both Kotarou and Akane have shy personalities, keeping a lot of their feelings and emotions to themselves. These personalities do change throughout the series, which is to be expected from being in a relationship. Dynamic characters is one of the most enjoyable things to see throughout a story.
Side characters have unique personalities, some cliché others a new trope. Classmates besides two do not impact the story well although they get little shorts at the end of some episodes. Family members and friends that are not classmates do have impacts in their life and are used as a story telling device to create problems for our main couple.
Enjoyment: 10+
This series, for being so mundane, somewhat slow, and wholesome, was such a surprising series to watch. The series does a great job at getting its viewers emotionally invested in the story, in the character, in the drama. It presents such relatable settings, characters and stories that a majority of the viewers can/will relate to. Watching the relationship change from two people who have never experienced no love change into two characters who deeply care for each other is something that has been done before in anime, especially with the more recent seasons. Tsuki ga Kirei adds a different sense to the mix, by adding realism, angst and shyness giving the change in character and relationship more meaning.
As I have said, this show does a great job at making itself relatable to its viewers, and I will say that I was a victim of this anime. Although I didn’t have the exact story or a similar one in that matter to this story… I have drawn parallels to the story with my own life. Rather than trying to force the story to compare to your life, it’s forcing the feelings of the characters onto the feelings that happened to you. Although the stories may be different, it will try to pull those times you felt similar emotions in you back to light. It’s a story of first loves, getting over your first crush, getting over problems that the relationship has caused, balancing your new life with your old activities. You may not be able to relate to these, but you can relate to the feeling of happiness, the feelings of success, the feelings of sorrow, the feelings of frustration. This anime doesn’t invoke old memories, it brings back feelings you may have forgotten or don’t want to remember.
Overall: 10
With everything this anime presented, it was the most enjoyable anime this season as well the most enjoyable so far, this year. Watching the start of their relationship and the progression of the relationship was such an enjoyable part. The series grabs your attention with the first few episodes, has you screaming at the decisions the characters made… some of these screams are cheering for things to happen, other screams are you yelling at the character to do something. In the end, you realize that you are emotional invested into this series and it’s something that you couldn’t care less for, because the series is so enjoyable.
