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REVIEW: Your Lie in April Episodes 1-22 Streaming


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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:22 am Reply with quote
Yeah, "the humor is never good" is pretty accurate. Every frickin time.. ugh, way to ruin every emotional moment in the show Ishiguro. I'm assuming that would be the directors fault. Otherwise this was a very good show though.
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Animelover12313



Joined: 07 May 2014
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:30 pm Reply with quote
relyat08 wrote:
Yeah, "the humor is never good" is pretty accurate. Every frickin time.. ugh, way to ruin every emotional moment in the show Ishiguro. I'm assuming that would be the directors fault. Otherwise this was a very good show though.

As far as I know, the comedy was actually in the manga so this was a really faithful adaption.
I'm surprised, I've said the same thing about the comedy of this show at another place and they called me crazy. Glad to know that there are other people that shares the same opinion as me.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:01 pm Reply with quote
Animelover12313 wrote:

As far as I know, the comedy was actually in the manga so this was a really faithful adaption.
I'm surprised, I've said the same thing about the comedy of this show at another place and they called me crazy. Glad to know that there are other people that shares the same opinion as me.


Ah, I see. I've generally been just keeping my mouth shut about it, due to similar backlash. The more I complain about it, the less I am able to enjoy the show, so I've been doing my best to ignore it.
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Redcrimson



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 160
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:37 pm Reply with quote
The show was definitely flowery and overwrought, but I actually kinda respect that it just embraces how theatrical and overwritten the whole teen melodrama thing actually is. It takes the trod-over star-crossed lovers set-up and pushes it to the logical extreme. If melancholy adolescent romance is the order of the day, you might as well just go full-on Shakespearean Tragedy, right? And I think that totally works for KimiUso, in the way that art and performance reflects both the sheer terror and ultimate reward of young love.

The show definitely needed better jokes, though. I'll agree with that.

Overall: Solid, but not great. An easy stand-out for its genre, but kinda overwritten. Playing with interesting aesthetics that never quite coalesce. I actually thought the pacing was fine, but the character focus was way too uneven. In the end Watari seemed like he only existed to prevent Kousei from confessing to Kaori before the third act, and Nagi felt kind of redundant even though she actually ended up surprisingly well-articulated.
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Zhou-BR



Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 1419
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 1:40 pm Reply with quote
What really impressed me about this show was the character artwork. There's a depth to the shading and the amount of different tones used on each character's skin that reminds me of '80s movies and OVAs, and it looks so much better than the crappy digital gradients used in otherwise great shows like Kids on the Slope and JoJo.

As for the writing, I think the qualities outweigh the flaws, and the final episode was especially effective, but I wasn't crazy about the physical abuse-based humor and Kousei's sappy inner monologues either.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:12 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The show's constant refrain of “reach them!” reveals how all of Your Lie in April's heroes want their songs to change others as songs once changed them. All of its performers inspire each other through song, and the show's music and visuals are so good that you'd never wonder why.

Outside the OP/ED I don't recall any songs in this series. Without vocals, it's not a song. I know that's nitpicking, but in this series, I think it's an important distinction, since the music is their vehicle for their voices to be heard, not their actual voices. [/quibble]

I agree the series is quite beautiful, and the music certainly is, but I never really liked any of the characters except Kousei and Tsubaki's friend whose name I can't recall. Kaori's backstory redeemed her somewhat, but by then it was too little, too late. So while it wasn't a waste of time to watch, it left me with no desire to revisit it in the future.
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:19 pm Reply with quote
I found the show radiantly beautiful and powerfully emotional. It ranks high in my all-time favorites, so I really should let others notice the flaws... (Yes, the slapstick humor did fall flat frequently, but not always... and there was some decent sarcasm here and there that did not rely on slapstick to deliver a laugh. Especially from Hiroko and... what's her name... Tsubaki's best friend from the softball team... Not to mention her statement about how she knows so much about relationships in the last episode. That was a winner!)
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BassKuroi





PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 2:43 pm Reply with quote
Good God! The humour is right, nobody would really take offense on the "Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male" trope; and more importantly, in hindsight, the jokes add to the melancholic tone of the series.

The idiotic comment
Quote:
It can drag, at times - like many adolescent dramas, it feels like the show was given about half a season too many episodes, and so the second half involves enough repetition and dramatic digression to significantly hurt investment.
Fails in a important point: if it is a shounen, think of it as a shounen, not something that fails to be more mature, for Christ sake!
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Animelover12313



Joined: 07 May 2014
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 3:22 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The idiotic comment

I would advice you to read this article before you start insulting people again. animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=47636
If you liked it, great. We didn't like it so we have our rights to say it. Pretty much what this forum is for. Unless the author of the article made mistakes then sure, go ahead and tell them.
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garlogan78



Joined: 01 Mar 2014
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 3:36 pm Reply with quote
The melodrama and terrible comedy was too much for me. I haven't been able to make it past episode 4. Even If I someday power through the series though, I doubt my opinion will change.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:05 pm Reply with quote
garlogan78 wrote:
The melodrama and terrible comedy was too much for me.

It's what ruined it for me. 2 episodes in, and I was already forming my own ideas when it came to "dark pasts, trauma, illness etc."

Just felt like I knew where this was heading, and it filled me with dread. It isn't often that I can guess things so well, but when it is plot points that are meant to be rather important, it totally ruins the show for me.

Regret catching up on this before UBW.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:06 pm Reply with quote
Too long at even a few episodes short of the usual? If only they could swing making an ~18-episode series.

Animelover12313 wrote:
relyat08 wrote:
Yeah, "the humor is never good" is pretty accurate. Every frickin time.. ugh, way to ruin every emotional moment in the show Ishiguro. I'm assuming that would be the directors fault. Otherwise this was a very good show though.

As far as I know, the comedy was actually in the manga so this was a really faithful adaption

So it is the director's fault.
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bemused Bohemian



Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 404
Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville)
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm Reply with quote
Comments aside re show's cerebral resonance in its entirety to the viewer I found the last episode's effect quite moving. Anime can deliver memorable closure given the right circumstance.
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5521
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:33 pm Reply with quote
This show is really overrated. The music and art are really good, and the female characters are it's strongest point. The main character's spoiler["deafness"] is just plain unrealistic and unrelatable. It's stupid to be it the best I can. There's so many real issues pianists have that they could've used. Second, it was one of the most predictable anime of it's seasons. It really did nothing new. I still gave it an 8 because of it's good sides and it was worth watching but anyone that thinks it's unique or really anything special must have a small library. I hate to sound so hostile because I really did enjoy it but it I hate being able to predict an anime 2 episodes into it. It shows a lack of creativity from the author, more so when added onto Kousei's unrelatable issue.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:49 pm Reply with quote
garlogan78 wrote:
The melodrama and terrible comedy was too much for me. I haven't been able to make it past episode 4. Even If I someday power through the series though, I doubt my opinion will change.

I went into Your Lie in April with somewhat high expectations; I also wanted it to be thematically similar to Anohana. After watching the first 3-4 episodes of Your Lie in April I was disappointed. But shortly after that things started to come together.

I ended up enjoying this anime a lot. I gave it a Very good rating, but I would probably have rated it Excellent if the first episodes had not been mediocre (episode 1 was actually strong).
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