Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso has great music and animation, as well as an interesting premise that will capture the watcher. However, as the show progresses its flaws become more apparent, showcasing its mediocre characters and its terribly paced and oversaturated storyline. Although known as one of the more emotional anime, its flaws create a frustrating and unfortunately average watch. There are some themes and messages worth exploring, but the show was unable to execute these themes well enough to leave a lasting impact on me.
Story: 6
Art/Animation: 7
Sound: 8
Characters: 5
Enjoyment: 4
Overall: 5
Discussion:
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is a lot of flare with not a whole lot of substance. The show creates a barrier of beautiful music and animation along and brings out people’s emotions in order to shield the viewer from its bad pacing, uninteresting characters and lazy writing.
The story comes in two parts, one following a music plot and the other following a romance plot, though the two are delicately intertwined. The music plot is interesting as music is conveyed as an extension of one’s own feelings, emotions and experiences. While they do use the music plot line as a way to develop Kousei, it never feels genuine. It’s almost like they are borrowing aspects from the Shonen genre and forcing it into a musical tournament, which comes off as unnatural and unrealistic. They also repeat plot points a lot, meaning that the story feels frustratingly monotonous in certain parts. The romance plot is handled well as the contrast in the characters creates an interesting dynamic and because Kousei is heavily influenced by the people around him, it is interesting to see how he reacts to other people’s emotions.
There are two main flaws with the story, the first being the comedy. Of course comedy is subjective, but I did not find any of the jokes to be that funny. It left a bad taste in my mouth when an emotionally scarred Kousei is made fun of and physically abused for the sake of the entertainment of the main female characters. This also doesn’t contrast well with the show’s more serious themes. The second flaw is the pacing. The pacing in this show is unbearably slow. The story is stretched out for too long, to the point at which the story just halts in order to cater for a performance or a pointless side story. The teaching arc serves no purpose to the narrative, with little development for any of the main characters and only development for non-essential characters, wrecking the pace of the story and detracting from the more emotional moments. There is also an overabundance of flashbacks, with some serving a greater purpose and some only re-explaining ideas that were already present.
The characters in the show are all over the place. We’ll start with Kousei. The show’s development of Kousei is actually quite interesting and is the backbone of the show. We follow him on his journey as he begins to play music again. While he is quite submissive to the people around him, this becomes both a good thing and a bad thing for him as he struggles and faces problems, which elevates his personality and provides interesting themes of self-importance and character growth. And the main character who influences Kousei is Kaori. Kaori is an interesting character. She is bright and bubbly, in direct contrast to Kousei. Her motivations and ideals are left intentionally mysterious as the show gradually releases information to flesh out her character, but not enough information is revealed for the majority of the show which leaves her a bit generic and ordinary. Despite this, the romance plot is handled alright, if a bit slow to begin and left slightly uncertain until the very end.
But this isn’t the problem with the characters. No, the problem is its other characters. Tsubaki could have been an interesting character, but the way she is portrayed makes her seem a bit cold. Her story is cliché and predictable, to the point where I was just getting bored because her story just failed to surprise me and her development detracts from the main story, and in consequence the show’s pacing suffers. Watari also serves no purpose. He is defined only by one or two traits and has no real impact on the plot of the show. He is left one-dimensional and gets barely any development.
The art or animation in the show is actually handled pretty well. The character animation feels pretty smooth, and the animation of the performances feel realistic, even if it did suffer towards the end of the show. The colouring is also really pleasing to the eye. It consistently fits the mood that the show is trying to elicit. It’s dark and bleak in sad scenes, while being bright and warm in the happy scenes.
The music is also handled well. As a fan of classical music it is interesting to see and listen to music being played at a high level. The insert songs also fit the mood of the show and definitely make character’s emotions become more apparent and relatable for the viewer. The music also feels creatively constructed and contrasts piano with more modern sounds well.
Overall, the writing of both characters and story made the show feel less genuine and unfortunately less emotional. The main emotions I felt were boredom and frustration, and the emotional high point of the show did not hit me as hard because I was already fed up with the characters, as well as the teaching side story ruining the natural flow of the story and splitting the show when a split clearly was not needed. I understand why a lot of people enjoy this show, but to me the show has too many flaws that can’t be overlooked so easily, creating a frustrating watch that failed to capture my emotions or my heart.
