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Your lie in April
Episode 15

by Rose Bridges,

Claude Debussy is one of my favorite composers, and one of the hallmarks of his music is how dreamlike it sounds. His harmonic and rhythmic style give the feeling of drifting off to sleep under puffy clouds or a starry sky, and being transported to dream worlds of colorful illusions. It isn't the music of action and adventure, or of change and moving forward. Debussy's is the music of escapism, when you want to float away from your life. I always thought the exception to this rule was "Clair de lune," the third movement of Debussy's Suite bergamasque, and one of his best-known works. That's what Kosei plays this week on Your Lie in April, as Tsubaki tells him about her breakup beneath the moonlight.

I always heard "Clair de lune" (French for "moonlight") as full of anticipation and yearning, in the way it stacks its imperfect and incomplete cadences. It's the night before something happens, and that's certainly how it feels for Tsubaki. She's the one stuck in the dreamlike stasis. She has her life how she wants it, even if she's in constant denial of her feelings for Kosei. She's content being his friend and dating other boys for show, as long as he doesn't fall for someone else or otherwise leave her behind. But while Tsubaki was happy with the way things are, everyone else is moving forward. Watari has his sports dreams, and Kosei is considering leaving the prefecture or even the country to pursue his musical goals. Kaori is moving in her own way too, though not necessarily "forward." As she falls at the end of the episode and realizes she can't get up, she learns that she can't keep living her life as though nothing is changing. Her condition is worsening, and she must acknowledge that.

This sets up Tsubaki's dilemma as more than a simple love triangle. Tsubaki isn't so much competing with Kaori for Kosei's affections (even though she still is, especially with Kosei spelling out his feelings this episode). She's also competing with his musical career, and how it diverges from her own personal goals. She's competing with the vague, endless Future, that rival who gets the better of most teenage romances. Your Lie in April also uses the idea of Kosei's rival love interests as "symbols" for his larger life choices, while still fleshing them out as individuals. Tsubaki is the "familiar" and Kaori is the "uncertain," but they deal in their own way with what it means to be that person. Has Tsubaki been spending so much time enjoying where she is now that she's forgotten to make her own plans? She and Kosei have their beautiful moonlit night now, but what will happen when the sun comes up?

The second half of the episode focuses more on Kosei, as he comes to terms with his feelings for Kaori. He can't bring himself to visit her in the hospital, noting that the growing distance between them makes it that much harder to surmount. He's a lovestruck teenager obsessing over his crush and every move he makes around her—easily identifiable if you've ever been there yourself. The circumstances raise the stakes though, so Your Lie in April doesn't feel like a thousand other anime romances we've seen before. These scenes play out under moonlight too, and Kosei's pacing back and forth is its own stasis, filled with its own uncertainty and yearning. He realizes how he feels for Kaori, but he doesn't know what to do about it. He knows he wants to further his musical career, but how can he abandon the two girls who need him?

Your Lie in April weaves together two characters' ongoing stories by showing the similarities in their dilemmas, despite their differences at first. Both Tsubaki and Kosei are at crossroads in their lives, and are unsure of what to do. Part of the problem is they're being dishonest with themselves, as the title of the episode ("Liar") indicates—as is Kaori, who can't accept how bad her condition is. In a way, it almost makes sense that we'd introduce a new, mischievous prankster character, in the form of Hiroko and Kosei's new student. She's clearly hiding something about her background that Hiroko had to look up, adding another lie to the mix.

I don't know how I feel about our new girl yet. I thought this episode wove her into the storyline well, but I could see her sticking out more in future ones, as the personal drama between the main characters heats up. Then again, she could also provide some fresh comic relief, which I'd like to see more of outside the usual slapstick. (There was a good gag early on this episode where Tsubaki, lost in her despair, interrupts the track team practice by sliding into the long jump pit. Her accidental fall breaks a school record. It was a goofy background event instead of a big slapstick showdown, and that made it that much funnier. More of this, please.) Humor is definitely something we're going to need if Kaori's arc goes where I think it's going. I can only handle so much of this show piling on the sadness with no reprieve. So if our new character means more silliness, I'm all ready for that. I just don't want another subplot to clutter things up when the main ones are getting so good.

This episode was understated yet strong in its thematic unity around a single piece of music (and a popular, easily identifiable piece at that). Those are my favorite parts of Your Lie in April, when its classical music plot adds something special to its teen melodrama beyond a unique premise. This isn't Princess Tutu, where every musical track is imbued with meaning that connects directly to the story's themes. Your Lie in April still does that sometimes though, and it shines when it does. There are plenty more pieces with that potential across the standard piano repertoire, and I'm sure we'll hear them when the moon sets and our heroes and heroines face the harsh light of the new day.

Rating: A

Your Lie in April is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a musicologist who studies film music. She writes about anime and many other topics on Autostraddle.com, her blog and her Twitter.
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