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Your Lie in April Review

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Looks like we’ve got a little time loop shenanigan going on here right? Well it’s time to talk about the anime version of this series. It’s pretty similar to the manga, I’d say just sped up in some ways. It has to go pretty fast to adapt everything in time. It’s a pretty solid title for most of its run….until the ending which doesn’t survive any better than the manga. It ends up keeping this one from being a good title which is definitely unfortunate. If the anime could have only diverged from the manga, this title could have been saved.

The story follows a boy named Kousei who is still dealing with a lot of trauma after his physically abusive mother passed away. He was known as a complete child prodigy pianist. He could play the piano better than any other kid using a super mechanical style where he did not add his own personality to the music. Other kids resented him while the adults thought it was really impressive. His mother taught him well but it came at the expense of her humanity and he wasn’t really able to have friends.

Kousei isn’t able to hear music anymore and is definitely not at his best but he doesn’t play competitively anymore anyway. Well one day on the way to a double date (His childhood friend Tsubaki made him attend) he bumps into his best friend Watari’s date Kaori. Kaori also plays music via the violin and she quickly declares that he will support her in the competitions by being her accompanist. He doesn’t want to help her but she isn’t the kind of girl who takes no for an answer. So he will have to really get over the trauma here or it’s all over for him.

Kousei has to go through a lot during this series. You feel bad for him all the way because it’s more than you would want any kid to have to endure. I know that being a musician comes with sacrifice but this gets ridiculous after a while. he’s basically not allowed to live an ordinary life at all. Kousei puts in the work to get better and better but it’s really always matched by a trauma to set him back once again. The hero is a bit too timid for my liking which holds him back but I’ll cut him some slack. He can also be pretty hard on Kaori in order to raise her spirits but considering that she is quite sick as well, it makes a certain degree of sense.

So he’s got his flaws and all but at the end of the day Kousei is doing his best to help out. Meanwhile Kaori is a lot of fun. She always has a ton of energy and really keeps the characters together. She gave Kousei a reason to smile again and made good friends with the whole group in general. Not an easy feat when you are jumping into an existing friendship circle. Kaori just jumps in and it all works out. She definitely has a tough time of things as well but tries not to let anybody worry about her. So she puts on a brave face and keeps on looking forward.

Then we have the rival Takeshi who is a lot of fun. He feels like he could have been the main character in another series. He’s loud and always striving to be better and better. It’s a hard road to the top but he pulled it off. He still yearns to beat Kousei one on one but by every metric he has already surpassed the guy. It’s always nice when you see someone rise to the top through hard work and dedication outside of the main character. It can actually be rather rare.

Meanwhile Emi is the other rival and her skills are also good when she has the right motivation. Kousei is really the only motivation that works on her though. If she wans to be the best then she will need to get over that at some point. Additionally, while she likes Kousei, she never really made any obvious attempts at him. As a result it feels like a doomed romance from the start since none of them are mind readers. There is no realistic way for him to know what she is thinking after all. That’s just not how it all works. She’s a fun character though and the fact that she can reach the top level at all is definitely worth praising.

Nagi may not be at their level yet but she’s another mini rival to show up. Her role in the anime definitely feels quite a bit smaller though. She wants to mess with Kousei but basically drops that as a goal almost immediately. Here she just becomes another friend almost immediately. Nothing wrong with that of course but it would have been nice to have had a longer antagonist. She did good in not letting Kousei sabotage her big moment though. While it was portrayed as a teaching moment, I’d actually say it just made Kousei look bad the whole time. If she had not kept up with him when he started playing off tempo, she would have never come back from that.

Meanwhile poor Tsubaki can’t play the piano so she doesn’t really get to mix it up with the other characters as much. We see her internal struggles as she resents music a lot but her biggest problem is not really getting involved with the others. Her friend Kashiwagi tries to spur her on to get involved but it takes a long time for any progress. Being a little nervous is natural of course but if you stay on the sidelines forever then you will never make any progress. You have to continue to move forward. Unfortunately she is in an impossible situation due to the way the show ended and I don’t see her having any hope now. Ah well, there’s nothing wrong with just staying as friends and she can still be a super valued friend all the way to the end.

While Hiroko sympathizes with Kousei’s Mom too much, she was a solid mentor. I appreciated her being there for Kousei when he needed some help. She is a really solid coach and definitely someone who knew what she was doing. The grownups in this show definitely look rather decent when it counts so I could appreciate that. if anything it would have been fun to have seen her play the piano at least once during the series. We even got to hear the mother playing a bit before she died and that character was rough. There just isn’t any excuse for the way she was hitting Kousei back in the day. The death was still tragic but the series made her as unlikable as possible. There was really no redeeming factor for her here. Kousei wouldn’t have had to deal with so much trauma if she had treated him right.

Then of course we have Kousei’s best friend Watari. Watari’s a good friend who always looks out for everyone. Where he is found lacking is in being a reliable boyfriend. He’s always chasing after all the girls which is a bad look for him. Yes, we do see that he cares about Kaori by the end so you can say it’s one of those things where he cares about all of the girls but there is nothing genuine or noble about that. He comes off as an indecisive guy who chases after every skirt. It’s why he can only be relied on as a friend and definitely nothing more. He’s good natured and fun to have around but that’s about it for him.

The animation is pretty solid. It’s very bright and colorful. The scenes all transition together very well and the movement is good. There is even one death scene near the end that the anime extends a whole lot to really show off the animation effects. In that way it looked impressive but made the scene even sadder. Because it looks like the character is trying to hang on but it’s like the person is blowing up with lots of energy leaving the body. Resistance is futile and it’s a real spectacle. Then you later on have a background that looks like something out of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It was really cinematic all the way around. So I’d say the animation does a good job of elevating the content to a grand level, even if that isn’t quite enough to raise the score itself.

As for the soundtrack, it’s more on the okay side. None of the tunes are all that memorable. The openings are okay but probably not something I would be listening to all that frequently. It all works well enough for a fairly low key title like this one but otherwise I’d still take a more fast paced rock theme or something like that. Sometimes you just have to really surprise people with something new right? At least that’s the way I see it.

While this series is part romance, there aren’t really any pairings for you to root for. First you have Tsubaki and the random guy she had a crush on. It’s evident early on that she doesn’t actually love him a ton though and the guy doesn’t stick around for long. There is Watari and Kaori but it’s clear that Watari isn’t serious about the relationship so by those standards there’s no way you could root for this. Kousei likes Kaori but of course we definitely can’t root for that since she already has a boyfriend. That would be absolutely crazy. There is Tsubaki and Kousei but he doesn’t like her in that way so of course that was a doomed romance as well. Yeah, I guess there were no romances to root for here. It does you just how chaotic and all over the place the characters were. None of them were really ready for romance. At the end of the day they are basically kids so they’ve got a ways to go.

Okay skip these next two paragraphs that will deal with the spoiler content. Unless you’ve watched the show of course in which case you are definitely free to stick around. Just think about it carefully. Okay so of course as you’ve probably guessed Kaori dies. Additionally a random cat also dies to drive home the fact that the end of the series is super serious business. Nobody is really spared from the onslaught of rage and madness. In a lot of ways I think the saddest part about Kaori dying is that it feels like the series could have easily still had a sad ending if it wanted to by having her not able to play music just yet. Keep her in the wheelchair for a while or something. Actually bumping her off during the surgery though? It’s just too cruel.

The whole series is about moving past trauma but now Kousei ends up having a whole new trauma on top of that one. That’s exactly what I got out of this at least and it’s definitely not fitting in with the tone of fighting to the end. Sometimes things don’t work out but it’s still not the message that I would have been sending the viewers. In the end Kaori confesses her feelings but you could argue that’s the worst time to do it because now that she’s dead, Kousei has no way to respond. It’s just giving him more things to agonize over. I don’t see how he will ever manage to get over this no matter how the series tries to hint that he’ll be okay.

For the most part the series is definitely nice and happy which I appreciate. The episodes go by quickly as a result and the pacing is good. While the anime does have to jump past some manga elements quickly, it’s done in a seamless way where you will only notice something is missing if you read the manga. If you just watch the anime directly then I don’t see why you would suspect a thing. That shows just how well the anime was handled here. It is also nice to hear the actual piano playing even if I don’t understand it to the dramatic extent that the characters do as they decipher each note and cry about how beautiful it is.

Overall, Your Lie in April is definitely a pretty fun show for most of its run. I appreciate the themes of moving past trauma and all, at least while the show sticks to them. Ultimately though, a story like this completely depends on the writing and other elements backing it up. If those run out then you’re not going to have a good time. The ending just doesn’t work and it crushes the usual replay value that would be here. Sad stories are the hardest to do for that reason since everybody wants a happy ending. Or if not happy, then your task becomes 10X harder. It is definitely possible to do like the DBZ Trunks OVA from a long time ago. It’s just easy to backfire as well.

Overall 4/10

Your Lie in April Review

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It’s time for a very emotional story about drama and loss. The series is definitely going for some themes about recovery here and using music is definitely a classic way to do it. That said, the title does end up losing steam by the end of its run and isn’t quite able to finish the journey. I would make the case that the ending goes against all of the main themes here and just doubles down too hard on how rough things can get. It’s definitely not what I was expecting there.

The series introduces us to a boy named Kousei who grew up as a piano prodigy. He was able to play any piece to near perfection but one day his sickly mother passed away. Kousei developed a mental block which prevents him from hearing music anymore and so he can no longer play the piano. Many years pass by and now the most he can do is trace lyrics and do some music work for school. He’s basically depressed and doesn’t have any real motivation. Well one day he meets up with a girl named Kaori who plays the violin. She declares that Kousei will be her accompanist and so it’s time to enter the competitions again. Can he really handle this though?

There is also a second wrinkle here which is that he immediately falls in love with her. The problem is that Kaori is dating his best friend Watari. So he knows she is out of reach and tries to squash his feelings but this gets tougher and tougher as the series goes on. These feelings may end up enhancing his music and yet they can also destroy it. He will need to figure out his feelings quickly or Kousei’s going to end up shutting down again. In a way this helps distract him from his previous trauma but it also opens up the door for more trauma.

The series has a fairly small cast although we do get more characters as the adventure goes on. We meet some rivals and mentor figures but for the most part this is definitely Kousei’s story all the way. He’s a good main character but at the same time he can be annoying at different points. He definitely panics quite a bit and is more on the timid side. He does a good job of getting past the trauma and pushing through though. So on that side he does pretty well for himself. I also appreciate him keeping his feelings for Kaori to himself for so long. That’s really the only option you have here because otherwise he would really be the bad guy in all this. You can’t confess to someone who is already taken. When the person you like is taken, you just gotta internalize and keep on living your life. Kousei really stays strong for the majority of the series until it doesn’t really make much of a difference anymore. Although because it was so late in the series I’d say he should have still kept things to himself.

Meanwhile the trauma means that he isn’t able to hear his own notes while playing the piano. This is a pretty tough trial. Even when you know the right keys, if you can’t hear what amount of pressure you’re putting on them, you’re bound to mess up at some point. So it did make sense that he was struggling a whole lot even as a prodigy. That’s not really something you can simply play through and so destroying the source of trauma was his only chance. We get that in a fairly literal way as he plays harder and harder and learns to move past his old history.

The series tries to massage his mother’s character near the end but it was too late for that. During the series we see how she was flat out abusive to him. She would beat him until he bled, isolated him from all other kids, etc. Even though we see that it was to make him stronger and all, that’s just not a valid excuse or even closer to one. It would be difficult to think of any excuse that would make it okay to be hitting a child like that. It makes sense that he was so traumatized and while forgiving her and moving on is a heroic thing to do, it’s not going to be making me any more sympathetic as the reader. The Mom messed up in her job of raising Kousei.

The series definitely doesn’t give nearly as much screen time to his friend Watari. Watari is always around and has his moments but at the same time he doesn’t undergo any major character arcs. His ending shows that the guy does care to an extent but the fact that he is constantly flirting with every girl is still a bad look for him. You can’t really root for any of his romances when he’s always so flaky. He does do his best to encourage Kousei at every turn though. He never really gets upset and is there for the lead whenever possible. So while he is probably not a good romantic partner, at least he does serve as a good friend. Watari works hard to give Kousei the push he needs near the end. Considering that Watari didn’t even get to win the big soccer game, you could say that things never went very well for him here.

Tsubaki is the main heroine in a sense. Kaori is way more pivotal to the story itself but Tsubaki gets several chapters to herself and we get to see her pov different times. She’s a character who is at a cross roads because she wants everything to stay the same but of course that’s not really possible in any setting. Then at the same time she also likes Kousei but is unsure of how to actually tell him this. She stays in denial for a very long time and even by the end she never really makes a move. So that keeps her from really being a strong character.

She’s a nice friend and all but it makes sense why Kousei wouldn’t pick up on any signs of her liking him. She just didn’t make it easy at all and was just being her same ole self. Yes, she finally does have a big moment near the end of the series but by then it’s simply too late for her. I would say Tsubaki completely missed her window because by the end of the series she will never know if she could ever be anything more than a rebound. That’s assuming she even gets a romance in the future at all. I’m all for thinking your feelings through before making a move but that should take a day, not several months. Ah well, at least either way she always gets to hold onto her memories of really supporting Kousei no matter what.

I had some good respect for her first boyfriend as a result. It became pretty apparent to him early on that Tsubaki wasn’t all that interested and so he broke up with her in the nicest way possible. He was a real gentleman about the whole thing and he knows that you can never settle for second place. So since he wasn’t needed, the guy ended up moving on without having anybody lose dignity or have to get embarrassed in the process.

As for Kaori, she’s definitely a standout character in the series. She’s always really cheerful and outgoing. She easily gets Kousei out of his shell and keeps on pushing. Without her, the other characters wouldn’t have been able to move forward. She can often be a troll and likes to mess with Kousei. I liked how she would call him friend A. That was a fun nickname. As the series goes on we do get to see some cracks in her cheerful armor which makes sense. Nobody is happy all of the time, everyone has their own struggles and it’s why you can always be impressed by someone who seems chronically happy. They are able to put up the front, whether for others or even for themselves and just have a good time in the moment.

I always tend to like these characters. They’re like walking Martyr complexes who are determined to make the world a better place even at their own expense. Yes, she has some rough moments like when she jokes to someone about committing suicide. That was a low moment for her both as a character but also literally since she was finding it harder to stay alive. Her path is definitely the thorniest one and definitely didn’t go the way you’d hope. She is the heart of the series though so without her things would be tougher.

Kashiwagi is a fairly minor character but she was always trying to help push Tsubaki to make a move. Without her Tsubaki would really have been dragging her feet even more. She just wasn’t a very proactive character. The fact that Kashiwagi knew more about music than she did was quite telling. That said, I think she works best as a side character and it’s probably good that they didn’t try to give her a major plot or anything. Not everyone needs to be in the spotlight like that.

Then we have Nagi who shows up fairly late in the game. She wants to ruin Kousei but that goal falls through early on. She’s an interesting character but her character arc goes a bit quickly. In a way she mirrors how Kousei used to be with how easily she gets frightened. Nagi means well and she beats the average kid but her role does feel the most superfluous. You could remove her from the series and I don’t think a whole lot would change.

An example of a character who is much worse is Toshiya. This kid is annoying not because he didn’t want to switch seats with Kousei but because the guy was whining a whole lot when he first appeared. Then later on he becomes a fan of the lead but is too scared to say anything. Yeah he’s definitely got a ways to go. You have to be able to defend your positions with poise and confidence. If you always have to hide then something is not right. He is just a kid so he’ll probably get better, but he’s definitely not at that point yet.

Meanwhile Kousei’s coach Hiroko is a solid character. She takes a tough approach with him without being abusive so you can always appreciate that. She has a lot of personality and is a fun character all the way through. I definitely enjoyed her and she adds a lot to the dynamic. Without her, Kousei would have really been in a lot of trouble. Then we have the lead’s two main rivals Emi and Takeshi. Emi is one of those rivals who secretly likes him so that adds some drama to the mix. She’s at her best when he’s around and does great in the competitions but apparently she gets sloppy otherwise.

Emi is the definition of a high maintenance star. If conditions are perfect then she will excel but otherwise she will falter. It’s really as simple as that. She’s a fun character since I always like competition but it’s fair to say that Takeshi gets more of a role. Without Kousei for all those years, Takeshi quickly rose to being the best musician on the block. The only reason he is still in Japan is because he has always wanted one more rematch. So he gets that and even gets a really grand final song. He gets a whole lot of credit throughout the series and I think he has the most full songs aside from the main character. He’s a very well rounded character so I was glad to have him around.

There are a few more characters like the other coaches but that’s about it for the regulars. The series gives everyone some time to shine and while it is more of a drama than a comedy, it has its share of light hearted scenes as well. The series is probably at its best with the long piano performances as the series goes all in on making them really emotional. We get a lot of internal dialogue to go along with the lyrics and we see how everyone really gets caught up in the experience. You definitely do have to enjoy the performances though because otherwise they do go on for a long while and you may get bored.

The writing is enough to keep you interested though. That’s why it’s a shame that the ending basically throws this all away. It could have been worse for sure and the series tried its best to handle the ending as tactfully as possible but it still takes major points. The series even includes an animal death near the end in what has to be one of the most unnecessary moments in the series. That was just crazy.

Skip these next two paragraphs which will have spoilers for the ending. This way you can still be surprised when you read the series. All right so here we go. Kaori decides to take the surgery after Kousei inspires her to fight to the end. Unfortunately she dies during the surgery and so now Kousei’s going to go through the feeling of loss all over again. Even more so since he is the one who really pressured her to take the surgery. Yes, she was going to die either way but that level of pressure will absolutely haunt him. The manga has Tsubaki show up to try and comfort him, she still hopes to be his girlfriend but it’s hard to see the guy ever opening up again.

Kaori also prepared him a letter for after death explaining that she was always in love with him and just pretended to love Watari. While that’s her way of trying to finally come clean and make things easy, it will only make things harder on Kousei as he wonders why he didn’t notice. The manga tries to prevent this as more of a bittersweet ending but it really feels like a terribly sad ending all the way. There’s just no way around it, you can’t have the heroine die at the end. After all the themes of fighting hard and not giving up, for it to all be in vain like that is a terrible message. Then having a cat die slightly earlier just so Kousei could have another person that he couldn’t save in time. The whole thing was way too mean spirited and definitely dropped some points. I would have definitely kept her alive and also not done the twist about the letter. Yes, the letter makes things better on why she was so friendly with him the whole time but him just being friend A would have still been satisfactory.

The art for the series is solid enough. I don’t think it’s really my kind of style but it’s never unclear or anything like that. Maybe it can seem a bit un detailed at times or it’s the way the characters move. That said, it’s still clear enough to be sure and I had no real issues with it. It lands the emotional parts as needed and you can easily be binging the series. The artwork definitely fulfills its purpose there.

Overall, A Lie in April definitely lives up to the title. The lie makes sense by the end and you also feel lied to if you were expecting a certain ending. The series goes well for most of its run, but as they say the ending is the most important part of any title. If you don’t stick the landing then it’ll hurt. It’s a bit debatable as a bad ending can hurt almost as bad but i might agree that the last impression will overtake the first. There would definitely be no incentive to re read this one either unless you choose one of the volumes to end at. Making your own fake ending in a sense but of course that’s still fake so it’s sort of stretching disbelief. After al, you know that the series isn’t really over. For that reason I would say to go read Nisekoi instead for a very wholesome adventure.

Overall 4/10