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[mdubs]

What is It?

Your Lie in April is a shounen anime which premiered on October 9th on the noitaminaA block and simulcasts weekly on Thursdays on Crunchyroll, Aniplex Channel and Hulu. Kousei Arima is a former piano prodigy who lost his ability to hear the piano after the death of his mother. Two years later he has not played the piano since and sees the world in monotone without color but is content with his life until he meets a girl who changes everything. Kaori Miyazono is a free spirited and beautiful violinist who changes Kousei's perspective and makes his world colorful again, helping him return to the world of music.

Why Should I Be Watching?

Your Lie in April is based of the winner of the Best Shounen at the 37th Kodansha Manga Awards (2013) authored by Naoshi Arakawa (which is being released by Kodansha Comics in English in Spring 2015!) and will run for 22 episodes, covering the complete series since the manga will also be ending simultaneously with the anime in early 2015.

Your Lie in April takes a familiar story as well as old cliches and adds new flair to them, combining gorgeous animation from A-1 Pictures with some well-written characters. Classical music lovers will also find a lot to like here as classical music is heavily featured on the show (the Kreutzer Sonata by Beethoven is performed in episode 2!), and the show promises to be more about self-realization as well as a sweet romantic story. This has made it my most anticipated show of the Fall season and through 2 episodes it has not disappointed one bit.

Edit March 19, 2015:

The show just ended today, and this is truly one of the masterpieces we have seen in the medium in recent years. The series is a complete and faithful adaptation of the manga but manages to be the definitive version. You should not miss this.

I wrote a review which you can find here http://anitay.kinja.com/your-lie-in-april-the-ani-tay-review-1691904314

Character Designs

Hanae Natsuki as Kousei Arima
After the death of his mother, his world has lost color.

Risa Taneda as Kaori Miyazono
A free spirited violinist whose playing style matches her personality.

Ayane Sakura as Tsubaki Sawane
Kousei's childhood friend who wants to see him return to the piano.

Ryota Ohsaka as Ryouta Watari
Kousei's friend and the school playboy.

For the first cour, the OP is Hikaru nara (光るな&#12425 by Goose House(!) and the ED is Kirameki (キラメ&#12461 by wacci. Live performance of Hikaru Nara here.

For the second cour, the OP is Nanairo Symphony (七色シンフォニ&#12540 by Coala Mode and the ED is Orange (オレン&#12472 by 7!!

Performance of the Kreutzer Sonata by Beethoven in episode 2. So good.

Couldn't help myself. Went and caught up with the "Your lie in April" manga (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso).

it's incredible. I can't wait to see and hear this animated.

You should all be paying attention to this show.

 

[campfireweekend]

Is that gif actually representative of the animation quality of the show?

If so, I definitely need to be watching this.

 

[mdubs]

Is that gif actually representative of the animation quality of the show?

If so, I definitely need to be watching this.

Yes it is. Animation is beautiful, check out the link for the Kreutzer for a look at it.

 

[Envelope]

One of the best this season, it receives my stamp of approval

 

[KimiNewt]

Episode 1
Animation is quite good, as said, though it's the first episode and already there are some portions that are just stills (but it was not a very important part, I suppose).
The story seems kind of obvious, which is annoying, don't really feel like seeing it go through its paces.
Backstory with a mother that only cared about getting first place, girl falling in love with that other guy and then him winning her back, probably in the last episode..
I guess I shouldn't hope for them to showcase an actual relationship for most of the series, seeing how most anime is just about 'getting to the relationship' which is increasingly annoyingly juvenile for me.

That said, the theme seems nice and the "Friend A" joke was funny (the first time they said it, anyway) so I'll keep watching.

EDIT: Okay I'm a fucking moron, I accidentally watched the second episode thinking it was the first. Time to watch the first! (though I'm somewhat pessimistic about it now, let's see how much it actually adds..)

 

[mdubs]

Episode 1
EDIT: Okay I'm a fucking moron, I accidentally watched the second episode thinking it was the first. Time to watch the first! (though I'm somewhat pessimistic about it now, let's see how much it actually adds..)

I'm feeling like the first episode probably isn't going to add too much to your impression. For what it's worth regarding the cliche stuff, from what I've heard apparently in the manga there is a pretty major plot twist so it seems there may be hope there.

I'm just really enjoying the execution which in my eyes has been spot on so far. I like cliches when they are done right and done well and I think this show is doing both so far.

 

[Marow]

Can't wait to get started on this (want to catch up on some other series beforehand). I absolutely adore the artstyle and it looks like it also boasts impressive animation at times. On another note, I've been looping the OP constantly these past days. So good.

 

[KimiNewt]

Actual Episode 1
Not much was added other than the fact we're gonna have to get past him even 'admitting' he likes the violinist girl and later the childhood friend being jealous.

Animation was good so I expect it'll be consistent throughout.

The tongue-out thing the girl was doing looked really stupid, but I'm assuming it was meant to look like that (because she was trying to act hip/kawaii).

 

[mdubs]

Can't wait to get started on this (want to catch up on some other series beforehand). I absolutely adore the artstyle and it looks like it also boasts impressive animation at times. On another note, I've been looping the OP constantly these past days. So good.

Good house is just too good. They had had me hooked when they did the Silver Spoon OP and I was not disappointed at all with their effort here.

 

[Angelus Errare]

I'm more curious as to why Kaori's name is written as かをり. I'm sure it'll be explained

 

[Einherjar]

Not a fan of the romance love rectangle aspect of the show, but I am looking forward to watching MCs journey in recovering his passion for playing music.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

First two episodes have been really nice. Interesting characters (slightly cliched setup, but the characters are all well sketched out) and a really nice art style. The performance looked really nice, and there's some good cinematography on display in a number of places. Even though there were places that didn't look as nice (everyone other than Kaori's performances, for example), it was mostly a nice looking show, and obviously the music is stunning.

I think this will definitely be one of the better shows this season if it can keep it up.

 

[mdubs]

Also worth noting the detail they put into the performance with episode 2, duckroll asked what I had been wondering.

Your Lie in April - Episode 2

At least the other half of noitaminA this season is much better. I'm still not really sold on the dramatic aspects of this show, but I think the feelings it successfully invokes in the presentation of the characters and themes make up for it somewhat. It was pretty funny seeing all the static "performances" before the Kaori shows up and gets a fully animated one though. Expected for a TV series, but still, really funny. I wonder how accurate the actual musical performances were for the episode though. I'm so bad at music stuff I can't tell one way or another. Was the guy who was supposed to be "off" actually making any obvious mistakes?

The guy was rushing in his performance.

(Rushing is a term used to indicate that in the structure of linear music, he is performing notes ahead of the other performers (in this case it's his accompaniment, the pianist); they are not together)

Like, a sixteenth to an eighth ahead. Which is really horrible. To me it almost hurt to listen to it get messed up that badly lol. Pretty much would get huge marks off for something like that in solo contests.

Really impressive, it's great that they paid that much attention to detail.

 

[witchedwiz]

Following the manga instead of the anime, but anyway, the story is really good..
I can already feel tragedy unfolding, hope it's nothing like hanbun ga tsuki no our Sora, or i' dead.. Again..

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Episode 3:
Things are moving a bit faster than I expected. This episode had more physical comedy than the previous two, which I wasn't too crazy about, but the rest of the episode was really nice. I continue to really like the art and music for the show, and the scenes between Kousei and Kaori are pretty nice. Their relationship is forming into something distinct, and we're getting to see more about how each of them feel about music. Next episode should be the really big one, especially since we should be in for another really captivating performance. The theme of seeing the world with more color continues to be played up, so I expect this to continue and also play some into Kousei possibly starting to hear music again in a similar manner (or at least play into how he could perform even if he's having issues hearing his own music).

 

[mdubs]

Haven't seen episode 3 yet, but incredibly stoked that Thursday is finally here. Only a few more hours to go till I'm done school and can finally watch.

 

[mdubs]

Episode 3:
Things are moving a bit faster than I expected. This episode had more physical comedy than the previous two, which I wasn't too crazy about, but the rest of the episode was really nice. I continue to really like the art and music for the show, and the scenes between Kousei and Kaori are pretty nice. Their relationship is forming into something distinct, and we're getting to see more about how each of them feel about music. Next episode should be the really big one, especially since we should be in for another really captivating performance. The theme of seeing the world with more color continues to be played up, so I expect this to continue and also play some into Kousei possibly starting to hear music again in a similar manner (or at least play into how he could perform even if he's having issues hearing his own music).

I enjoyed this episode a lot. Fascinating that we've already pretty much seen the love square or whatever completely vanish so it's pretty clear we'll be focusing on the central relationship for the large bulk of the series. Loving the Kousei Kaori moments so far, and the show is maintaining a really great pace and there's been a lot of plot progression which I'm happy about.

 

[Fireblend]

Really happy about this last episode. I thought we'd have to wait a long time to see

Spoiler

the kid's piano playing. Hopefully he doesn't fuck up too soon

.

 

[Qvoth]

damn the artstyle is a lot better than the manga version, which i very much enjoy
has he started playing yet?

 

[mdubs]

damn the artstyle is a lot better than the manga version, which i very much enjoy
has he started playing yet?

Yeah I'm really glad about how great the animation has been. Nope not yet, next episode probably.

 

[Jarmel]

Your Lie in April-3

This was an extremely strong episode. The direction is on fucking point at times. Yes it's drama laden but I don't really feel it's artificial or forced but rather the characters themselves are dramatic. I'm sure the heavy drama is coming though. The comedy does seem awkward occasionally as the show does the dramatic moments way better than the comedic ones, which is extraordinarily rare for this to be case.

That said, I find the lead character's introspection rather fascinating. His infatuation with blonde genki girl is a little annoying but he does put up some resistance so he doesn't feel like a walkover.

The OST in this episode was phenomenal. Really great stuff with all the piano work. This is the first episode this season where I was really blown back by an OST in a positive way.

 

[Jonnax]

Goose House are doing the OP? I stumbled upon their youtube channel years ago where they have a doing some fun covers of songs that is some members playing instruments and harmonising to songs. It's great to see they're producing their own music.

Here's some examples of their covers that I quite enjoyed:
Chiisana Koi no Uta by Mongol 800 which was a song that played in Proposal Daisakusen

Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari by Supercell which I believe the opening from Bakemonogatari

Am 11:00 by HY

RPG by Sekai no Owari

Sorry about the tangent, the anime looks quite interesting and I'll give a look. I notice that it's been done by A-1 Pictures, who also did the P4 Golden animation which was sort of badly animated, how does this compare?

 

[Frog-fu]

Will give this a try.

 

[mdubs]

Your Lie in April-3
That said, I find the lead character's introspection rather fascinating. His infatuation with blonde genki girl is a little annoying but he does put up some resistance so he doesn't feel like a walkover.

The OST in this episode was phenomenal. Really great stuff with all the piano work. This is the first episode this season where I was really blown back by an OST in a positive way.

I agree, I really like Kousei's introspection a lot. It's just balanced enough where it portrays his emotions well but never feels overdramatic or anything. I really have to praise the director, and we've seen some beautiful framing shots over these episodes. The OST is also fantastic, blends into the background perfectly but punctuates the emotional scenes really well.

Goose House are doing the OP? I stumbled upon their youtube channel years ago where they have a doing some fun covers of songs that is some members playing instruments and harmonising to songs. It's great to see they're producing their own music.

Sorry about the tangent, the anime looks quite interesting and I'll give a look. I notice that it's been done by A-1 Pictures, who also did the P4 Golden animation which was sort of badly animated, how does this compare?

Love Goose House, especially their work with Oto No Naru Hou E which was the second ED for Silver Spoon. They have a number of fantastic covers and have only gotten better over time.

The animation is great, much better looking than P4G. P4G was some of the worst animation I've seen from A-1, usually they are much better based on their other shows so I'm assuming they had a low budget and just rushed through P4G.

 

[darkwing]

this is amazing, I play the piano and this stuff is spot on

 

[mdubs]

Very nice episode this week, the performance was excellently portrayed. Really enjoying the pace they are keeping up week after week.

That cliffhanger ending though.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Very nice episode this week, the performance was excellently portrayed. Really enjoying the pace they are keeping up week after week.

That cliffhanger ending though.

Yeah, they've kept things at a really nice pace so far.

That cliffhanger was brutal. I don't know where it's going.

 

[mightynine]

Just binge watched because of this thread and I am hooked.

Spoiler

Interesting in that it seems for a second that Kaori perhaps chose Kousei because she thought she could control him a bit.

But dat cliffhanger. I'm watching on Hulu, when do these normally hit?

 

[Herla]

Ep 1-3

With Barakamon gone this seems like a really nice replacement! Can't wait for the hea...

Ep 4

...OH FFS.

 

[mdubs]

Just binge watched because of this thread and I am hooked.

Spoiler

Interesting in that it seems for a second that Kaori perhaps chose Kousei because she thought she could control him a bit.

But dat cliffhanger. I'm watching on Hulu, when do these normally hit?

This makes me happy to hear, so so good.

It hits on Thursday's at 3

 

[darkwing]

I have to say this will be a classic


especially for music lovers

 

[Rainy]

Episode 4

YOOO Holy crap I didn't see that ending coming.

Spoiler

I wonder what's wrong with her.

 

[darkwing]

Episode 4

YOOO Holy crap I didn't see that ending coming.

Spoiler

I wonder what's wrong with her.

feels will be had next week

this show has reignited my piano playing

 

[Rainy]

feels will be had next week

this show has reignited my piano playing

I never played but did admire those who did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1V_3QxKHJY check out this live performance of the opening, I really love it.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I never played but did admire those who did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1V_3QxKHJY check out this live performance of the opening, I really love it.

That's pretty cool. I like the opening a lot, and it was neat to see a live version of it.

 

[darkwing]

I never played but did admire those who did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1V_3QxKHJY check out this live performance of the opening, I really love it.

beautiful, now to find the sheet music lol

 

[mdubs]

beautiful, now to find the sheet music lol

http://www.mediafire.com/view/6pbka...Kimi+no+Uso+OP+-+Hikaru+Nara+-+Full+Score.pdf Here's some sheet music, pretty good I thought

 

[darkwing]

http://www.mediafire.com/view/6pbka...Kimi+no+Uso+OP+-+Hikaru+Nara+-+Full+Score.pdf Here's some sheet music, pretty good I thought

I found another one, seems a bit easier to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgTy4oWw_4M&list=PLV_PAmzmshasUPmTZrrkmfVxvT6ndeB_2&index=7

 

[Tizoc]

Concept is interesting, but not liking those moe eyes and needlessly short skirts.
Will give it a watch and hopefully like it.

 

[mdubs]

Concept is interesting, but not liking those moe eyes and needlessly short skirts.
Will give it a watch and hopefully like it.

That would cut out like 90% of anime if the short skirts turn you off. The good news is this show is not fanservicey at all so you don't have to worry about that.

 

[darkwing]

That would cut out like 90% of anime if you the short skirts turn you off. The good news is this show is not fanservicey at all so you don't have to worry about that.

true, breath of fresh air, plus the music

 

[fredrancour]

I just decided to try watching this.

I swear if

Spoiler

I'm about to witness a metaphorical truck offing a character only two weeks after the literal one in a certain manga I'll ... I'll....

 

[Qvoth]

has he started performing yet? i don't really watch anime anymore so i'll probably just take a look at youtube clips of the performances

 

[darkwing]

has he started performing yet? i don't really watch anime anymore so i'll probably just take a look at youtube clips of the performances

hmm sort of, just watch the last episode

 

[mdubs]

I just decided to try watching this.

I swear if

Spoiler

I'm about to witness a metaphorical truck offing a character only two weeks after the literal one in a certain manga I'll ... I'll....

Good! I don't think you have much to worry about yet considering this is only on episode 4.

has he started performing yet? i don't really watch anime anymore so i'll probably just take a look at youtube clips of the performances

Trust me, it's worth watching the entire thing to know the context of the performances.

 

[fredrancour]

Good! I don't think you have much to worry about yet considering this is only on episode 4.

i do not like the way you are saying "yet"

 

[Jarmel]

Your Lie in April-5

Holy shit, this might have been the best directed episode this entire season. There are so many things that I could applaud were done well. First is the great usage of light throughout the episode to convey emotions. Yes it was somewhat heavy handed but I thought it was consistent enough and the actual emotions weren't melodramatic enough for it be negative. Instead we have the cloudy skies reflect the turmoil in all of the characters, not just Kousei and Kaori. Everybody is not sure what direction they should take their lives, and not just on a musical front. There's a sort of aimlessness that I thought the director did a fantastic job portraying. This makes the scenes at the beginning and ending all the more pointed in that Kousei and the world around him is filled with light. This emphasis on light really stands out too in the applause from the competition in that all he can see is light and Kaori. The show isn't just about the romance but rather a musician trying to find his footing again and I thought the applause scene portrayed that while Kaori is re-introducing color to him, his music is also making everything shine around him.

Another thing I liked about this episode is that everybody is seemingly aware of each other's feelings to an extent. Ryota's banner with Kousei felt very pointed in that manner and you can see the awareness in Tsubaki's eyes as she watches Kousei stare at Kaori on stage.

There were also minor scenes such as Kaori pointing out how piano is a part of Kousei like any other limb and the camera focuses specifically on his extremities such as his feet and hands(both things used to control the piano). Another great scene was Tsubaki with the ex-Captain. The show didn't have to

Spoiler

show her answer and it didn't bother

. It did a great job of portraying her emotions both then and now.

There were some really notable cuts throughout the episode and the motion in general seemed pretty fluid. Much more so than any of the other episodes. In fact on an animation front, this felt better than any of the other episodes even if there wasn't an actual performance. There was a lot of emphasis on body language and the animation portrayed a good amount of that, although there were some scenes that lingered a bit too long. The storyboarding too felt really strong this episode in how the shots were framed. The OST itself also was really great this episode but that's been a constant through all the episodes so far.

Fantastic fucking episode, really great stuff. It felt like everything came together into one really solid package with everything working on the same page. I have almost no complaints other than a bit too many still shots but when the rest of the episode is this damn good, it doesn't matter. Super impressed.

 

[mightynine]

I can't remember where I read it - I believe it was a review of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - but it was a point about how the Japanese look back so fondly at this particular time of their life.

I guess I bring that up because this show gives me that feeling that TGWLTT did - it hits that note of change your teenage years bring, but not in the overwrought manner something like, say, Twilight does.

Anyway, episode 5. More hints about Kaori's condition, and where as of the last episode I thought she was trying to be more manipulative

Spoiler

(i,e., her comments about "Hey, hey, Friend A, don't upstage me")

, I now think there's something else there - I think she's afraid of losing what drives her like Kousei lost his, and if she can bring him back, then whatever that is - drive, inspiration, talent, what have you - is something she can't lose.

Also,

Spoiler

her comments about how they're young and have plenty of time could be *gulp* foreshadowing. Perhaps her fear of not being able to play comes not from her fear of losing talent or inspiration, but something that could rob her of her ability to play?

Oh, and the laughing animation was kinda creepy.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Episode 5:
This was an amazing looking episode. The animation was great, the direction was very strong, and just about every scene was framed really well. I loved the way various facial shots only showed part of the characters profile depending on the scene. There were a lot of good facial expressions throughout the episode, and everything looked really nice. The episode also did a good job of cutting between flashbacks and present day material, and they kept the themes of the episode in hand at all times. I also enjoyed the changing lighting/colors depending on the mood of the scene. While it was a bit on the nose, it works well for the tone the series is going for, and it connected back to the Gray Skies title of the episode and the cloudiness, as well as the Monochrome/Colorful dichotomy from the first episode.

The final scene was a really great moment; it was built up to throughout the episode, but it also should represent a big turning point for Kousei's character. The music continues to be outstanding in just about every scene. I'm excited to see where these characters head to next.

 

[TheGreatDirector]

I'm surprised that this show is still going strong and in fact, is growing stronger with each new episode. The writing along with the repetition of dialogue in places was extremely well implemented with the direction in each scene. The The cuts and transitions were phenomenal, and the story perfectly flowed along and ultimately built on top of the climax of the last episode.

Does anyone know if they're going for a direct adaptation of the manga or are they loosely taking things from it. I haven't read it but I did want to know.