Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso | Your Lie in April (Anime)

Hi everyone! This is my first post on this blog. I actually meant to make this into a book review blog, but I suppose I'll also write reviews on anime and movies I've watched. :)

So let's get to straight to the point! SPOILERS INCOMING!

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

I am a huge anime fan and I have watched over 350 anime. My taste has changed a lot with time, and recently no matter what I watch I just end up either hating it, or not getting into the show. Something is always missing.

The other day my boyfriend sent me a picture of an anime girl like usual. But she was so beautiful, so dazzling, something about that girl and her smile enchanted me. On the left upper corner I read the following kanji: 四月は君の嘘。

It turned out the show had just ended a couple of weeks ago. I decided to watch this show in a second, and I watched it in one breath...

I must admit that I have a passion for classical music, hence it became even more enjoyable. I also must admit that I haven't enjoyed an anime this much since Nodame Cantabile. However, unlike Nodame, this one was bitter-sweet...

You could tell from the very first minutes that something bad was going to happen, that someone was going to get hurt, and when Kaori collapsed on stage you could tell it's her, you could tell she's not going to stay alive for much longer.

Well unlike what I thought she was alive till the very last episode, and didn't die somewhere midanime which would probably be for the worse.

It made me really sad that Kaori didn't manage to play with Kousei more than once, and even then Kousei somehow managed to fuck it up to a degree. But hey, Kaori managed to make her dream come true and that counts! :)

I don't want to make this post much longer, so I'll mention a couple of more things that I liked and that bothered me.

Cons:

1. At first I really disliked how Kousei's mother was portrayed. They made her seem like some kind of monster. I both hated her, and pitied her. 

2. I found it a bit unrealistic that a 2 year gap could make those kids look so different. I mean before Kousei quit playing he looked like 7? 8 at best. And in the current time he looked around 16. Well it's just an animation style thing, so not a huge problem.

3. The show was very predictable from the start, but it doesn't make it any worse really. I'd just like to not see the tragedy coming so early in the show.

Pros:

1. I want to connect this with the first con, since in the end it turned out that the monster-like image of Kousei's mother was just his imagination which was brought to life maybe because of guilt. You can disagree, and say she abused him. And I will agree, child abuse is bad. But let us think of the circumstances for a second. Kousei's father was never around for whatever shitty reason it might have been. His mother was sick and she could tell her end was approaching. She had an only child, a little cute boy who had talent which he could use. His mother loved him just as much as our parents love us. She wanted to create a way for his son to be able to earn his own money as soon as possible and that was by playing piano. She was harsh on him, at times she was cruel, but that was because she knew the world of musicians so well, that's because she knew that suffering like that would make her son stronger. And she wasn't wrong. Kousei was able to become an amazing pianist thanks to his mother, and only her. If it wasn't for her he might have been an amateur, never a pro. He played for his mother's sake. And then he played for Kaori. Now doesn't this mean that his mother meant a world to the child Kousei?

2. This anime has a spectacular character development. It's amazing that not even main character but even the tiniest supporting characters managed to grow up, change, reflect on their mistakes in the little screen-time they were given.

I won't mention Kousei, since his growth is the most apparent. Nor will I mention Kaori, even though we learn the whole of her story in the last episode and she that she worked on herself and changed so much in a short time.

Let's start with Tsubaki. A tomboy, Kousei's childhood friend who's in love with him but doesn't even realise it herself. She starts fighting with herself as soon as it hits her. She doesn't want to lose the relationship she has with Kousei. But when she's in love, and there isn't much she can do. She ends up snapping at him when he hasn't done anything wrong, kicking him for no reason, yelling at him at random times. I liked to see how hard she tries to be next to Kousei. It's nice to see a dense character studying and getting high grades, even if it's just to be closer to your love interest. But the thing here is she doesn't want to be next to Kousei to make him her boyfriend. She want to be close to him to be able to take care of him, because she knows Kousei is a clumsy and hopeless boy. He falls asleep everywhere: on the floor, under the piano, literally everywhere. He doesn't eat for days because he's giving his all to studying and playing piano. She knows him better than anyone and she wants to use this to be able to take care of her precious Kousei, even if he will regard him as an older sister all his life. That's really audible.

This show has so many pros I don't even know which one to state and which one not, but I also don't want to make this post much longer than this, so I'll just add a couple of more things I liked:

1. Music. Forget the classics the anime OSTs are absolutely beautiful and charming, they fit the mood, and they don't bleak next to the classical pieces which feel the anime.

2. The animation style. Well the art speaks for itself :)

3. And lastly, I think this anime is an inspirational one. At least it was for me. It made me feel alive, it made me want to create something with my hands, hell it inspired me to sit down and start this blog which I've been putting off for a long time. I can definitely say this is an anime that has influenced my life, an anime that has left its mark in my heart forever... just like the music they played...

It's an amazing anime. It's brilliant. For me it's 10/10. It's a story of young individuals struggling, feeling lost, giving up on their own self, but being able to find will, desire and reasons for moving on.
It's a story that makes you reflect on yourself and your life. It's a story that will make you cry yet smile at the same time... It's a story as real as our lives. It is life...

Well that's it for today! 

Thanks for reading! :)