Your lie in April Series Review
***SPOILER WARNING!!!!***
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Story:
Kousei Arima is a piano prodigy who can no longer hear his own playing. Two years prior his mother, who was also his instructor, passed away and left Kousei only with the means of being able to "play the score exactly as the composer intended it". He lives a quiet, easy-going life with his best friend Ryota Watari and childhood friend Tsubaki Sawabe. That is until a girl comes into his life that changes how he views his monotone world and even the very music he plays.
Simple enough synopsis. Some would maybe say cliche. But it's from this simple foundation that the show grows from. It is a deliberately paced show that was clearly given a lot of thought while being made.
Kousei is an awkward kid but plays well off of the many characters in the show that makes everything so genuine and heartfelt. He's not an infallible character and has many flaws. Which makes his transformation during the show that much more enjoyable to watch. He does the best in the situations that are thrown his way but sometimes his best doesn't cut it. And that's okay. This is not a series about how people can overcome everything. It's a show about someone who has lost important things and finds peace in that situation. Someone who learns to take the good with the bad and turns it into music. Someone who can uplift others and move them even when the can't uplift and move themselves. That's the type of show this is.
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Characters:
There are quite a few important characters in this show but I am going to focus on the main four since this is very much "their" story:
Kousei Arima - Our piano prodigy with a little bit of baggage. He lost his mother at a young age. Despite everyone saying otherwise, he understands his best quality is his piano playing and understands people care more about him being a pianist than about Kousei the fourteen-year-old kid. He learns throughout the show that he can convey his powerful emotions through his performances.
Kaori Miyazono - Kaori is Tsubaki's classmate, who asks her to set up a date with her and Watari. She asks Tsubaki to join and invite another friend to watch her in a music competition. She is a free-spirited violinist who draws much criticism from judges due to her unwillingness to follow the score and making it her own, but is loved by the audience. Kaori eventually convinces Kousei to play the piano again, first as her accompanist and later in a piano competition.
Tsubaki Sawabe - Kousei's childhood friend and next-door neighbor. She is athletic and is part of the softball club at school. She is one of the driving factors to help Kousei back on track and helps him in times of need. She wishes early on to get Kousei to start playing the piano again but also makes it known how she "hates" music for causing Kousei so much pain.
Ryota Watari - Watari is Kousei's best friend who is also the captain of the school's soccer team. He is stupid popular with the girls, often adopting a frivolous attitude. He does, however, give good advice to Kousei throughout the show and has some keen insight. More then a few times throughout the show I found myself saying "he's a really great friend" or "wow, this guy is a real bro".
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Music:
http://youtu.be/2Qg_gwpN8IY
Come now. Did you expect a show about music to not have great music and terrific music placement? This show plays certain music at the right moments when it is needed most and helps set the mood and atmosphere, enhancing the show to higher levels then it would've been without it.
Of course with this show being about piano and music the regulars Mozart and Beethoven are used but thankfully are used along with other great pieces. Most notably Chopin pieces, whose music is honestly used the most throughout the show and in competitions.
The OPs and EDs are fantastically with the first OP and second ED being my favorite OP and ED respectfully. All of them are well done but I had to post my favorites.
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Animation/Art:
It's really hard to convey the animation of this show with just a few pictures and gifs but hopefully what I have posted so far gives you a general idea of the show. The last episode has some of the best art direction I have seen in an anime. Every frame is so thoughtfully done.
I am sure one of our animation experts here on GAF could probably find issues if they look hard enough, but the overall series is quite impeccable with how it is drawn and animated.
The show also has a distinct character art style that I quite liked with very defined facial features that most shows tend to quickly go over (like the lips for example). When I first watched the show it took me a few episodes to get used to it and by the end I was actively enjoying the art I was seeing.
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Overall Thoughts:
When I look back on my time with
Your lie in April I think about what I felt as I took this journey with these characters. When they lost I felt for them. When they won or did a good job I was as happy as the other characters in the show. Any time a character would experience a loss of heart I understood why and sympathized. Despite what it may seem like, it's rare for me to connect with a show's characters like this. Maybe it's because of my own life experiences. Whatever it may be this show did connect with me.
The characters really did grow as the show goes on. They grow as people and musicians/athletes. I think this is important to have in a character driven story like this. It can't win you over with flashy battles or overly cute moe girls. It has to sell you on it's characters and their story and the journey they take.
The show does have other things in the story to balance itself out so that way your always curious what happens next. It's almost a sports anime in regards to your always rooting for Kousei to do his best. That doesn't mean he will always turn in a good performance unlike most shows where the main character can always come out on top in some manner.
This show is love letter to music and the struggles of being an artist. I know that sounds cheesy as hell but hey I really wanted to say it! It is a lovingly crafted show that on the second watch made me appreciate it even more and even solidified my opinion and reinforced my opinion of the show. I hope I was able to convey why the show is as good as it is.
So, yeah, this anime is pretty amazing and I recommend it to anyone who even remotely likes slice-of-life, drama, character driven or music anime in general. This is a must watch. It's a show where it's ending will stick with me for years to come. 10/10
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Trailers/Images/Gifs
Your lie in April Trailer 2
-PshycoNinja
