Tsuki ga Kirei 1
If I didn't already know, I would never in a million years have guessed this was directed by Seiji Kishi. I associate Kishi with either amusing low-brow comedy (in his earlier years) or less-than-no-effort game adaptations (in his more recent years). But this is a low-key, sensitive portrayal of middle schoolers on the cusp of puberty and the first budding of potential romance among them, with naturalistic dialogue and direction and delicate character animation that pays a lot of attention to nuanced body language. The way the show is content to peacefully yet keenly observe the characters greatly appeals to me. From beginning to end there's a keen awareness of mundane humanity, especially the turbulent yet gentle spirits struggling to navigate social interactions and their own feelings. The material here, such as the scene in the bookstore in which the boy's eyes are tempted by the gravure magazine, is handled way better than most anime. The backgrounds and composite are somewhat inconsistent, with some digital clumsiness or blandness juxtaposed against beautiful moments, and going back and forth between CG and 2D crowds is not perfectly handled, but overall I'm rather impressed with the production. Hopefully the quality can keep up.
