However, as a romance anime “Your Lie in April” failed (if that was its intended purpose), but that’s not to say you won’t enjoy this anime or experience any “feels” throughout the story because it might have failed as a romance, but “Your Lie in April” definitely excelled in other areas specifically with the colorful and engaging art accompanied by characters that might not be everyone's favorite, but they were good enough for the story it was apart of, as the story isn’t groundbreaking to begin with.
Now, let’s make this clear the music presented from start to finish is simply outstanding, it was not only mesmerizing but it also served to further enhance the impact of certain scenes and even led to me discovering a new found appreciation for classical music that I didn’t have before the start of this anime. The music competitions also led to the introductions of new likeable characters (they reminded me of sports competitions from sports animes as well) and they also presented opportunities to listen to even more wonderful music, that being said I felt this aspect while enjoyable (as an avid/biased sports anime fan) kind of completely overshadowed or even overpowered the romance and it made the romantic development feel lackluster until the final episode. Lastly, If you don’t mind an ending that’s been foreshadowed from the very beginning, then you will most likely enjoy this particular anime, at the very least because of the reasons mentioned above.
Truth be told, I can only appreciate those specific elements after deciding to rewatch it a year later, but during my first go, I simply couldn’t give such praise nor notice these elements and that’s due to the melodrama that transpired over the course of the show which left me with a feeling of frustration at the lack of communication and honesty present which led to me having a very strong reaction that was fueled by said frustration, While “Your Lie in April” tackled mature themes which could only have been done because of the characters experiences/situations, but this also led to me treating them as “Mature” individuals when in reality they were just teenagers starting to figure everything out, but I mean come on they could have at least slowly learnt how to be more upfront/learn how to communicate as the story and character development progressed because love isn’t straightforward either, so why make it even more complicated.
This led to one thing being very clear and that “Your Lie in April” just didn’t do the job for me in terms of what I look for in romance animes because romance based on misunderstandings followed by Love squares/polygons aren’t really my thing, which is truly a shame because it had more than enough potential to meet my “unfair” standards when it comes to romance, but this sentiment wasn’t enough to convince me to give this a lower score because the music alone was a worthwhile experience and I managed to be able to fully watch/complete “Your lie in April” not just once, but twice.
Scores:
First experience/watch: 4/10
Second experience/watch: Story= 4, Art= 6, Sound = 10, Character= 7, Enjoyment= 5
Overall: 6.4/10 (Felt generous and decided to give it a 7).
(I Apologize for the awkward wording, as I was struggling to find the appropriate term when describing on how I had 2 separate scores from my first go around compared to my 2nd time/rewatch of “Your Lie in April”.)
