My spoiler-free review of Tsuki ga Kirei

Tsuki ga Kirei is that kind of anime that just suddenly pops up on my radar, immediately prompting me to watch it. I was just idly browsing the activity tab to check what the people I'm following are watching as I found someone currently watching this show. The simple title and cover art intrigued me for some reason, and I checked the description. Immediately I was sure that I had found another gem.

Thanks @Wilza for watching this anime and @Loxem and @An1meDweeb for recommending it to him. You three made it possible for me to get to see this piece of art.

I will try not to ramble overly long about any of the elements this anime has to offer. It is not a complicated show to watch or understand. I would even say it's simplicity is its greatest strength. The premise of the show is simple enough. Two middle school kids, one an aspiring writer, the other a member of the school's track team, slowly fall in love with each other after being placed in the same class. That's it. And it is amazing.

The anime approaches young romance with an amount of honesty and realism I have seldom seen in anime. The two main characters start off being so awkward with each other that it borders on a miracle they even end up in a relationship. But that is just how it is sometimes, isn't it?

Akane Mizuno and Kotarou Azumi both have some interesting quirks and character traits that make them both more entertaining to watch and more human.

Akane is the first character we meet, and I was immediately able to empathize with her, due to her being placed in a class separate from all of her friends at the start of the new school year. She always carries a pink potato mascot plush for good luck, which she squeezes like a stress ball whenever she feels anxious... which is often. Overall she is very easygoing, though, and generally very sympathetic. She also has a love for running and is one of the aces of the school's track team.

Kotarou is a boy with the dream of becoming a published writer. He loves literature and writing, though he is too embarrassed to show his works to even his closest friends. I have to admit something. I love these kinds of characters. Struggling writers are my jam. Cough Whisper Of The Heart cough
Anyway, he isn't really the physically active type and is also a rather reserved. He also practices traditional festival dancing at his Shinto shrine in his free time, when he isn't writing.

As you can see, the two characters are pretty different from each other, and for me, the best part about this anime was seeing Akane and Kotarou growing closer to each other and just growing and evolving as people. I want to keep this review relatively spoiler-free, so I will not go into it any further. Just watch it, for the love of god.

Sadly, I have a criticism. Or is it really one? Well, either way, it is easy to see that studio feel. had some heavy budget and/or time restraints when it came to the art and animation. This isn't really obvious in the focal points of any given scene, as pretty much all the background art and character animations are amazing. Sadly, for many pedestrians and background characters, there were rather bad CGI models that move too smoothly compared to the rest of the animations. It was, sometimes, distracting, it was almost always obvious, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this series in the least.

If you are someone who can only watch a series if every frame looks like an HD anime desktop wallpaper, this sadly isn't for you. If you are in it for the amazing characters, some good emotional beats and a show with a satisfying ending, then I cannot recommend Tsuki ga Kirei enough.

I can't hope to give this show justice with this review, but here you have it. Please do give this anime a watch, I'm sure you won't regret it.

I give Tsuki ga Kirei an overall score of:

90/100