Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

It’s up there with anime like Clannad AS, Angel Beats, and Anohana in terms of making most people cry. One of the saddest, sweetest, most touching and moving anime of all time.
Umm…

I’ll just start out with this. Most people jabber on and on about the ending, and how it’s a beautiful finale to a masterfully told story. Sorry guys. The ending didn’t really touch me. Maybe it’s because I’d just finished reading ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness, and nothing can compare to that in terms of touching the reader’s soul.

That’s not to say there weren’t any touching or emotional moments, and these moments were mostly due to Kousei. He was a brilliant MC, his struggles and breakdowns were so perfectly and realistically portrayed that I was amazed at the way he handled each situation, and was really rooting for him by the end. The way he dealt with his mother’s memories was especially moving.

As for Kaori, I do understand the train of thought that she doesn’t really seem to be anything but a plot device until the final episodes. In a way, I can understand her, and her desire to make a mark on the world. But the way it was done felt quite pretentious, and ticked me off for some reason I can’t quite put my finger on. Death isn’t a grandiose melody on the stage. The person’s there, and then they’re not. They die, and then they’re gone. You forget sometimes and think ‘oh, I’ll call them’ or ‘I need to tell them this’ or even call out their name before realising no one’s gonna answer. You can play music and do wonderous things in that person’s name, but those things aren’t for the person. They’re for you, and they’re to help you move on.

The ‘ordinary’ parts of the story – love triangle, fierce rivalry – were good. I didn’t like Tsubaki much at the beginning but grew to like her much more because of her character development. She became a good person, and a better friend than she had been. Watari, on the other hand, remained totally one-dimensional the entire series. Having him there had no real purpose except to show that A) Kousei did have at least one male friend B) to be Kaori’s ‘love interest’ and bring Kaori and Kousei together. The other side characters were quite decent, they all not only served a purpose in pushing the story along but also became quite interesting characters themselves.

The music was beautiful. The openings and endings were stunning, and the instruments all sounded superb to me. I don’t really play any, (at least not on this level,) so couldn’t really tell the difference when the tone of the melody changed or whatnot. I mean, I knew it changed when the anime said so, but wouldn’t have attributed any real significance to it without being told. Regardless, it was good to listen to.

Now to conclude. Like I said earlier, it’s hard for me to sort out my feelings about this anime. On the one hand, there were parts I did find moving and powerful, particularly mid-way through the series. On the other hand, there were parts I felt were just pretentious and mentally draining to watch. Not in a tear-jerking way, either. I literally had to push myself to watch the next episode at a couple of parts. So, no 80+ from me, because, no matter how beautifully an anime is done, if I don’t enjoy watching it or care about it deeply almost the entire time, it’s not getting a top score.

Nonetheless, I can’t deny that it was a work of art with deep aspects and there were parts I was invested in. And the art and music were gorgeous, after all. 75 which is still a very high score - was my compromise.

Remember, though, this is just my opinion. Now go and watch Shigatsu Wa Kimi no Uso, and form your own.