First Impressions: KimiUso (Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso)

As some of you might know, or might’ve not known, I am a 12th-grade student preparing for the university life.

As such, I was not able to watch as much anime as I wanted to during the past few months.

Apart from being busy as heck, I also somehow lost my motivation to actually START watching something.  Don’t know exactly why.  It’s like one day I woke up and BAM! no motivation, no drive, no reason to watch ANY anime at all.

No matter what, I couldn’t seem to get myself the motivation needed to watch things again.  My life was pretty much just studying and some League of Legends on the side.

In other words, it was dull, bleak, colorless, and full of homework, tests, quizzes, lectures, and massive amounts of butthurt rage-quitters.

Until one cold and rainy night in November, a friend of mine suggested an anime, saying how amazing it was, how riveting the story is, how the art is stunning, and how it’s all about music and friendship and hopes and dreams……….

……and how the opening theme is the best opening theme in the history of history.

No, it ain’t love live, but it’s just as good, if not better (SPOILERS:  IT’S PROBABLY BETTER).

What’s up, everyone, my name is Ken, from Prince Kouhii’s Anime Reviews, and welcome to my first impressions of the first 5 episodes of A-1 Pictures’ addition to the 2014 Fall season: Your Lie in April, also known as Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, or as I affecctionately call it, KimiUso.

Now, before I carry on, I must put a disclaimer that these are MY opinions and only concern what I think of the FIRST FEW EPISODES AS INDICATED.  Therefore, if you have any opinion or complaints about my opinion, or this show, my opinion of this show, or if you just wanna rant about how K-On is the best music anime out there and anyone who says otherwise shall receive 40 lashes, then please direct them to the comment section down below.

Shall we begin?

First off, the premise:

Kousei Arima was hailed as a prodigy during his younger years and dominated musical competitions across Japan and even at some foreign recitals. He became a popular child musician, considered one of the best of his time, and is basically on par with the best orchestral instrumentalists in the country.  After his mother, who was also his instructor, passed away, he had a mental breakdown while performing at a piano recital at the age of eleven. As a result, he is no longer able to hear the sound of his piano even though his hearing is perfectly fine, meaning that he doesn’t feel any motivation to play the piano again.

Two years later, Kousei hasn’t touched the piano and views the world in monotone, without any flair or color. He has resigned himself to living out his life with his good friends, Tsubaki and Watari, until, one day, Kaori Miyazono, a pretty, free-spirited violinist whose playing style reflects her personality, helps Kousei return to the music world and shows that it should be free and mold breaking unlike the structured and rigid style Kousei was used to.

First off, I approve of this show’s setting.  It is simple to follow,yet it has sooooo much potential.  The anime follows through the premise strongly during the first six episodes, which is a good thing, but can also be a source of worry for me, since the show plans on having a full 20-something0-episode series.  If it fleshes out its main central conflict at about, say, the halfway point, then what about the rest of the episodes?  Are they going to outstretch the plot across the entire series with various sub-plots, or introduce another main central idea?  Both of these things can cause an issue of inconsistency within the show.

Other than that though, I like where the story is going.  The premise is interesting, and as I mentioned, the main ideas are conceptualized effectively.  I just hope that the romance sub-plot doesn’t get in the way with any of the good stuff….

Now, the art style of this show is AMAAAAAZIIIINGGGGGGGGG, to say the least.

A-1 Pictures, known for making things like Angel Beats, Sword Art Online, and, more recently, Nagi no Asukara (which is another beautiful show, both art-wise and story-wise), is no stranger to wonderful art, and you can clearly see it in this show.  The environments are detailed and lots of color are used, which contribute to the bright and cheery tone of the show.  They are also very proficient in implementing various shades to convey whatever emotion a scene contains (i.e. using a monotonous black-and-white shading to convey Kousei’s view of his life versus the bright and colorful tones used in association with Kaori’s personality).

I also wanna give props to the show for its fantastic animation.  Prior to this show, I probably would’ve thought that KyoAni was the only company that can animate instruments well.  Well, clearly, I was wrong.  The way that each violin stroke and piano flourish was animated so expertly, you can feel the impact that each movement has when playing an instrument, making the performance scenes all the more beautiful to watch.  I just have minor complaints about some scenes having some………..noticeably unique animation……but other than that, props to you guys over at A-1.

The characters for this show, with the exception of the 2 main characters, Kousei and Kaori, need a bit more development, because as it stands, the two do nothing for the plot’s sake.  Both main characters have been given good background checks and have interesting personalities that contrast each other, which is a nice imagery for how both view music.  Character interaction is definitely present in the show and, so far, it’s being handled very well, with relationships between characters (as far as we know) being clearly established.

The soundtrack, from what I can hear so far, is pretty fitting for the show and does a great job at accompanying whatever scene it is used.  It makes the happy moments happier and gives the emotional moments more impact, which is a good thing.

Finally, a brief mention of the opening theme:

Imagine a double rainbow, a box of puppies, a cauldron of your mom’s signature chicken soup, and a box of peanut M&M’s.

Now, combine everything.

Got it?

Okay good.

KimiUso’s opening theme, Hikaru Nara (by Goose House) is 10000000000x better than all those things combined.

With all that in check…

What I want to happen:

1. Characters.

   I’m content with Kousei and Kaori, but since you guys had to add the other two, might as well give them some more development.

2. Develop the central story arc.  

   Or do something, ANYTHING, just don’t ruin the main theme of the show by introducing another one by the halfway point.

This show broke the 3-expectations record that my Aldnoah Zero first impressions recently held, and for good reason.  This is a simple show with an astounding theme, and the way that they use music to convey that theme, as a conduit for the actual story, and not just some random thing tossed to the side at the last minute when the production team were in a meeting discussing how to make the show a little unique.  It does a lot of things well so far, not gonna lie, and hey, any anime that can dispel my monotonous life and reignite my passion for anime deserves a full recommendation from me.

If this show isn’t a full length 20-something-episode series, it’ll definitely be a shoo-in for 2014’s anime of the year.

As per usual, leave a comment down below pertaining to your thoughts on this topic, on the show itself, or if you would like me to review or make a first impression about anything.  And, speaking of liking, give the article a thumbs-up if you enjoyed it.

With that, I bid you all adieu. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, this has been Ken, and I’ll see you guys in the future.