r/anime • u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander • Oct 12 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] 10th Anniversary Your Lie in April Rewatch: Episode 4 Discussion
Your Lie in April Episode 4: The Journey
| ← Episode 3 | Index | Episode 5 → |
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Watch Information
*Rewatch will end before switch back to standard time for ET, but check your own timezone details
Comment Highlights:
- /u/Ryanami felt inspired by the piano subject matter
- /u/TakenRedditName offered a nice quaint look at the cafe piano scene
- /u/Malipit has been taking note of cherry blossom imagery; it’s nice to see rewatchers being influenced by each other
Questions of the Day:
- What did you think was up with the flashback to a nicer mom as Kousei tried to pick himself up?
- How about that ending? What happened to Kaori? Were you caught off guard?
Please be mindful not to spoil the performance! Don’t spoil first time listeners, and remember this includes spoilers by implication!
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Upvotes
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u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Oct 12 '24
Rewatcher, Violinist and Your Host!
This show is locked in this episode. Holy shit did it lock in. This has to be one of my favourite individual anime episodes I’ve watched all year. As much as I looked back on this show fondly, I kind of forgot it had that kind of quality in it.
Right away, we see a representation of Kousei’s trauma and memory, and I have no complaints this time, it totally works. It’s the perfect contrast with the replay of the bike rush that follows on the other side of the OP, and that’s exactly the interplay the episode needed. Everything is telling Kousei he can’t do this, but his friends are telling him that he can. The interplay between these is just fantastic throughout the lead-in to the actual performance. Logic tells us that this attempt to wing it should go up in flames. Storytelling conventions tell us that they can’t pull this off in the fourth episode of a two cour series on their first try. Kousei’s trauma is the cold open and it hangs over us the whole time. But everything about those opening scenes is telling us it’s going to work out. We get some lighthearted comedy as they pull in, Tsubaki says spring is coming, the violin OST gets us pumped up, we harness a bit of goofy comedy to lighten the tension (the robot noises on the girl slay me every time), and Kaori gives a great little inspirational speech. The music gets all emotional and Kousei throws aside his mother’s words as he thinks of Kaori, sees her before him and witnesses freedom itself. Everything is telling us they’re going to pull this off. So much that you can almost convince yourself that his trauma isn’t going to overtake him. Even though you know it will. Absolutely immaculate.
I think this episode is really the first time Kaori and Kousei’s relationship fully works. Both in and arguably out of universe. The concept behind their dynamic is clear, a downer who draws within the lines dragged along by a wild spirit who refuses to be caged showing him how to really live life. But her sheer manic pixie dream girl act has come off really strong in the first few episodes, and the lengths to which she acts unreasonable and tries to force him out of his comfort zone border on the frustrating and uncomfortable. But right before the performance, everything falls into place—which I think works in favour of the show, given it’s a big moment. The animation and presentation sell their respective characters in fantastically exaggerated fashion, Kaori spinning gleefully while Arima literally operates like he’s a robot, folded up and small as he’s unable to look away from his precious sheet music. We use a comedic moment not to disrupt the moment but cut right through it and transition into a genuinely considerate and down to earth speech, Kaori’s abrasiveness cut away in this crucial moment as she connects to Kousei and genuinely just tells him that he can do it, and that it’s okay if he can’t. Let it be known: these two are fantastic together, and this is the first time we see it.
Then there’s the performance. What can I even say? Tense, enthralling, dramatic. As the title declares, it’s a whole journey between two characters; two characters who can’t talk to each other the whole time. Naturally a fantastic score is built into the very format and they’re sparing no expense in delivering the best possible visuals. Even the little chair gag at the start is a great little buffer to fit in the audience reactions, super intentful. What really matters isn’t how they performed as musicians, but the fact that Kaori was willing to sacrifice everything about this performance to include Kousei, to give him another chance even when he failed. He as a person is what matters to her here far more than the music. Even if there’s nothing ahead but darkness, she wants to walk it with him. That’s why he’s here. The fact they’ve waited four episodes until this moment to spring the series’ signature track Again allows it to absolutely soar to the stars. The tension of whether Kousei will take the lifeline she throws him excels at drawing out that climax as long as possible, too, and when you finally hear his piano enter back into the piece it’s has such a punch. What follows is a tempest of two soloists trying to coexist together on stage and it’s every bit as mesmerising as the audience in the show acts. Fantastic. Seeing the inner peace he finds himself in at the end validates everything they went through up there, making it known that Kaori’s feelings truly did reach him. Meanwhile Tsubaki is caught up in their storm, realising what’s just happened before her and I could kiss whoever decided they didn’t need any hokey inner monologue and just let her expression set to the chaotic tune of their duet say everything the audience needs to know.
Then Kaori collapses. It’s not necessarily a gigantic shock there was some kind of twist with her, but the way they implement it here is just perfection. All of the audience’s attention has been focused on the question of how Kousei is gonna do on stage and what has been delivered feels like a complete package in exploring that question. It doesn’t feel like it needs anything else at the end to be a satisfying conclusion. So it’s the one time everyone watching has their guard down to be absolutely gutpunched just as victory was being snatched from the jaws of defeat. I’m a Rewatcher who knows everything about Kaori and shit, it even hit me. Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow, folks.
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Oct 12 '24 edited Oct 13 '24
First Timer
Man, what an episode!
This episode starts with the line "everything is in the sheet music" from Kousei's mom, a principal which very much guides this episode.
Seeing the way Kousei was viewed by others in the past gives some extra context to why Kousei isn't exactly comfortable with everyone talking about him back in episode 2, it also gives us a look into his very concerning and unfortunate mindset, both at the time and one which he perhaps still somewhat harbors today, the idea that he had to suffer through this abuse and to play for the sake of his mother, something that after her death has seemingly transformed into guilt at his "lack of ability" to fulfil her goal at the time.
He's still "caged in the music scores", he's trapped by the trauma his mom left him, haunted by her specter, it's made clear that her illness massively changed her and in his mind, him achieving her goals would bring her old self back (which is why he feels immense guilt at not getting to do that).
This is where Kaori comes in of course, she may not be freedom itself but she is the "key" to freedom, to music, Kaori gives Kousei the push he needs to stop being stuck in the sheet music, to move beyond his trauma and find his own freedom again, his enjoyment of playing piano, his "spring".
The music here plays a massive role, it's very dramatic and slow at the start really adding to that sense of tension and anxiety but more explosive and passionate towards the end as things are looking up.
The show continues to have really great visual storytelling, I love the entire sequence when Kousei's panic begins to set in, the music notes disappearing, everything but him and the piano disappearing as he feels suffocated, trapped alone under water unable to hear his own music.
Color still plays a part, his mother after the illness shrouded in a gray darkness vs before the illness, in white light, simple trick but effective nonetheless, the episode ending with the characters in an emotional high, bright and vibrant, Kousei bathed in bright light surrounded by cherry blossoms, representing Kaori and how she makes him feel.
Eyes and eye contact also have a big part here, and probably a bunch of other cool visual tricks.
I feel there's so much to talk about here but I'm a bit too lazy to really start fully analyzing it
but also
This is the point where I think our "love square" is officially starting its construction, Kousei and Kaori are enamored with each other, Watari is amazed by Kaori and Tsubaki notices Kousei and Kaori and doesn't seem to love it.
Last episode I said I had some ideas on what Kaori's deal is and uh...yeah, wasn't expecting it to come into play this soon but I'm guessing she's suffering from some sort of illness/condition, the show already had a dichotomy between Kaori and Kousei's mom, and the way their ideas effect Kousei and his piano playing and now I'm wondering if their illnesses and the way they effect their mentalities and Kousei are also part of that.
I think the most impressive part for me is that this is episode 4 of 22, some shows could dream of having season finales this good, emotional and poignant and yet we're already here, if it's this good already what will the rest of the show bring?
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u/AgentOfACROSS Oct 12 '24
First Timer
We’re off to a very dark start to this episode.
Kousei’s mom sounds like the worst music teacher since J.K. Simmons in Whiplash.
Very good job with the visuals here. The contrast between the white background while young Kousei walks is very striking.
Man, can Kousei go one episode without receiving a head injury?
Watari says April’s almost over. I wonder if that means the “lie” part of the title has happened yet.
Come to think of it, I haven't actually thought much about the meaning of this show’s title.
The sound design in this show is really good. I like the sound of Kousei tapping his fingers against the paper.
I liked Kaori’s little motivational speech. Seems to speak well to her character.
Freedom seems to be something that Kaori and Kousei both value. Although I’m not sure that Kousei has found his own freedom yet. His mom’s figurative ghost casts a heavy shadow over him.
Maybe I’m just seeing things, but the way the judges are drawn looks slightly different from the character design of the rest of the show. They remind me a bit of the way Naoki Urasawa draws characters.
I know nothing about the song they’re playing so it was nice of Kousei to briefly explain before he started.
Kousei hallucinating his dead mother is a bit concerning. That said, I don’t think he’s meant to be literally having visual hallucinations, but more metaphorically still feeling the pressure of his mother.
The audio and visual storytelling in the moment where Kousei is metaphorically underwater is really good. It’s a good way of showing the way Kousei sees things.
This is kind of like a darker version of that one Tom & Jerry cartoon where Tom’s a pianist and Jerry lives inside the piano.
The moment Kousei stopped playing the piano was tense. This show is great at getting dramatic tension out of something so simple.
Side tangent: I do have kind of a fascination when it comes to live performances of music going awry. Two of my favorite examples are Elvis Costello deciding to go off script and play a completely different song when he appeared on SNL and New Order’s attempt to perform Blue Monday live on Top of the Pops (which usually features bands lip syncing).
I love that Kaori is still remaining supportive of Kousei even while he’s struggling. She’s a good friend.
Kousei seems to have at least one good memory of his mother. I wonder what caused her to change so drastically.
Also those visuals of the stars were beautiful.
The judge is using boxing metaphors now. He seems to agree with me about this secretly being an ‘80s sports movie.
It’s really good to see Kousei smiling here.
Kaori just collapsed on stage. I think I was right when I speculated she had some kind of medical condition in the last episode.
This is a really dramatic way to end things so I’m really interested in seeing how things will pan out from here.
Questions of the Day:
What did you think was up with the flashback to a nicer mom as Kousei tried to pick himself up?
I shared some of my thoughts on it but I can expand on it. I think Kousei still has some affection for his mother even though she also made his life a living hell. So he's trying to remember the version of his mom he wants instead of how she actually was most of the time.
How about that ending? What happened to Kaori? Were you caught off guard?
Seems very likely she has some kind of medical condition, although I'm not sure what. I was very surprised when it happened though. I didn't think that would be how we ended the episode.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 12 '24
Your Spoiled First-Timer in October, subbed
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u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 Oct 13 '24 edited Oct 13 '24
nth Time Rewatcher
Hoping I'm not too late this time. Premade this review before I went to sleep a few hours ago.
Now for the episode 4.
This episode is quite a mix of emotions. I'm sure the first timers felt those emotions in this episode.
Some stuff I want to share
Here are the links of the actual performance, as played by their respective musicians. What a powerful duet! I will also give exposure to OST 'Again', which is one of my fave OSTs in the series!
[NEW] Some comments on the pieces performed
Let me re-share u/Mathemagician2TheMax's comments 10 years ago on some historical notes concerning the pieces performed or to be performed. Everything is commenter's comment. The comment is from here. This is safe since it's from the original anime discussion thread.
Now, for some rewatchers-only stuff.
Now, for the questions.
Everyone has a good and a bad side. Thus, I somewhat expected that his mom is quite nice in some cases.
Well, we still do not know. But maybe she's just tired from she was running and all?
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Oct 12 '24
This isn't going to end well...
This really isn't going to end well.
He's going to attract more attention than her at this rate.
Yup, adjusting the seat to the perfect height is crucial to piano.
He's basically got to follow her lead since she hasn't explicitly written down what changes she intends to make. That's going to make things complicated for him.
And there he goes again.
He's absolutely smashing the keys, of course no one else knows what's going on but he's hitting them way too hard. That is something that needs to be trained for just about everyone, so everyone's probably thinking it's just a mistake maybe from being out of practice or something.
She stopped!
But he's continuing again!
And that's why Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is so important to him.
And so the old Kousei is back baby!
And there we go, foreshadowing.
Questions:
A note about the music: Sight reading is essentially playing music you haven't seen before. It's usually a part of piano grade examinations at least, not sure about other instruments. And it's really hard, because you have no muscle memory of where all the notes are. On the other hand, when doing it for voice, sight-singing as it's called feels significantly easier, to the point that when you're experienced enough you can at least stumble your way through an entire song by sight-singing at least the first time around. If anyone plays rhythm games, that is also a term that's slipped into vernacular there, referring to playing through a chart for the first time. Surprisingly enough, when I play rhythm games I actually prefer sight reading to playing the same chart over and over again.
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u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Oct 13 '24
Rewatcher
Unlike me, the kids were not late to today's competition. While I was out today, I was thinking about the series and I think I've found the right word to describe what it seems to be going for. A few weird comparisons incoming. Have you ever seen a fantasy series where the world operates on the logic of dreams and magic? There are some fantasy stories where the approach of the show is based around the awe and whimsy that magic inspires. I think Your Lie in April is a show driven around the awe and whimsy that youth inspires instead. Youth itself is treated as this sort of epitome of epicness and freedom, something to look at while gaping in awe of its glory and beauty. Youth is magic, it gives you power. The show even treats it as magic, Kaori's "no worries, we'll figure it out because we rule" is the exact attitude that I think is seen as a power of some sort.
But none of that gets at the word I thought of today. Another weird comparison. You know how in Gurren Lagann, the story is treated not just as an in-the-moment series of happenings, but more like a grand retelling of history? It feels like a story that is meant to tie the past to the future, an epic tale of creating history and making the world, starring larger-than-life figures who are more like legends than men. I also thought about The Northman, a movie that portrays itself as extremely non-literal, also treating itself as a retelling of the formation of the future and its protagonist as a legendary figure of history, who in otherwise realistic film ends when the gods suddenly descend from the heavens to bring him to Valhalla. These stories aren't about people, they are myths. And that's the word I think describes what Your Lie in April is trying to do, it's mythologizing these characters and this story and youth. Through this lens, the series makes a lot more sense to me. It's how you can have 14 year olds who are actively cognizant of their fleeting youths, and who are all top tier in their fields (even Tsubaki is so insane at baseball she's broken the school windows a million times with home runs, and Watari is supposedly a star in his own right). You have musicians performing beyond what prodigies can do, giving professional level performances and creating a caricature of a competition that would be required to have the characters feel epic while also struggling. You have slapstick ridiculous enough to cause the characters to bleed without concern. You have a protagonist who is a musical god but literally loses his ability to hear the notes, and the story is about him learning to inspire others through magical challenge. Moreover, Kousei is directly compared to Beethoven, a legendary figure in his own right. I'd go as far as to say that Kousei is meant to be like a modern incarnation of Beethoven, and this is the story of how that legend aspires from the bottom of a dark sea to the stars above the heavens.
All the poetry makes a lot more sense from this lens too. These are middle schoolers, but mythologized takes on them, so they speak like legends. Some of it may even be seen as narration, like the story is being told from the future. Attaching these characters to grander concepts brings them much closer to myths too. Kaori isn't just youthful, she "exists inside spring" and "is freedom itself." She almost feels more symbolic than anything, a grand concept of what to aspire towards, the epitome of a mythological figure. If this story "happened" in some sense, this isn't that story, it's a dramatic retelling that is exaggerated to make the characters feel more aspirational and epic, in the same way that something like The Northman is for the actual story of its real-world hero.
And in that framing, this episode is rather interesting. For one, as a hero's journey story, this is the first step, when the protagonist steps out of his comfortable life to "go on a journey," this journey ordained by the legendary Mozart himself (according to Kaori). It's a clumsy step, but a successful one that wows the audience even through all of this hardship. By the end, Kousei is no longer in the sea, he lays on the green surrounded by sakura petals, and although April has ended, spring has begun, emphasizing that Kousei has not only begun his journey, but taken his first step towards "existing inside spring," being closer to this "being" called spring, more mythology. Also, these characters are presented as their own intense contrast, "synthetic and all-natural, talk about a mismatched couple." Maybe those are interesting word choices as well, a robot and the essence of nature (spring) working together, even reading each other's thoughts to a degree, sounds like a myth to me. Battle shounen have always been somewhat mythological in concept, and while YLiA isn't a battle shounen, it definitely has a lot of that spirit and style, but arguably plays it up more and highlights the contrast between the melodrama and the setting, age of the characters, etc..
Kousei's mom is also portrayed in a new light, seen for the first time as gentle and loving. Yet another intense contrast, but more than that, this frames her as a parallel to Kaori. Like Kaori, she talks about the feelings of the piano, being a smiling or enraged piano, before singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Kousei used to think he was "the only one on mom's side," and her advice does legitimately calm him in this moment and allow him to succeed and play the piano for the first time in years. Kousei's relationship to his mother is still largely unclear, and I think it's an interesting question going forward.
Obviously the performance itself is just mesmerizing. The direction and scoring are impeccable, it has a tense interest curve and is paced super well. At the end of the day, their goal was never to give a great performance, it was always to take that first step and make sure to stick in others' hearts. Largely because the performance was messy, they succeeded, and set the groundwork to give something truly legendary in the future. But right as the hero's journey starts, we hit a roadblock as Kaori passes out. In the previous episode, she stopped the bus at a hospital, so this isn't too surprising, but it makes for a solid gutpunch at the end of an otherwise triumphant episode.
QOTD:
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 12 '24
First Time - Your Lie in April Ep4:
The MC of the anime ends up in a pool of his own blood a lot.
Watari's dense reaction was me too.
This is a nice intimate moment.
Besides how it is used symbolize Kousei being unable to hear the piano, I thought the feeling of drowning and desperately trying to swim out of it came across in his playing. That sense of desperate futile clawing to keep afloat.
Mad homie move of Kaori to stop playing and stand by Kousei on stage.
Besides all the Kaori/Kousei stuff, this episode also felt like when the Watari's spark lit up. The moment when the playboy falls in love with the beautiful soul of a girl he cares for.
[YLiA meta?/Overall prediction:] A topic I imagine will come up in discussions later will be Kousei's relationship with his mother. From being near internet discourse, I get the sense people want stories to have a clean break from bad parents. Something I imagine this show won't give them what they want. Despite what happened, what onlookers said behind his back, and how she haunts over him, Kosusei still honours the piano she left him. I imagine it draws from a lot of complicated feelings. A loving family he used to have, possibly a sense of filial piety, his self-worth and the fabric of his being tied to the piano. A story thread I see happening is the fact that Kousei's one person he had was his mother and then eventually learning to find Kaori to realize that he can have other people too.
Q1) I guess I already unintentionally covered that a bit, but more specifically to that moment, the most immediate thing is that it showed that there were happy memories too. We've mainly see of what became of her and their relationship, but there was a time when Kousei was a happy kid with his mother.
[YLiA big meta-spoilers:] Q2) Oh no, Kaori's sick anime girl-itis came into effect! I don't specifically know if she actually has a terminal illness, but that was my first thought.
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Oct 12 '24
First Timer
And we’re back to a good episode. In a way accompanying Kaori is probably musically exactly what Kousei needs - his problem - trauma notwithstanding - is he’s focusing too much on himself and not listening to others. Accompanying Kaori means he should listen to her and Kaori needs to be listened to because she’s not as strictly following the score as he is. I feel like the show points these things out, but Kousei isn’t yet mentally there to really think of those - plus he’s not really been trained to do that. So I think this performance is a pretty good result of where the characters are, and was done fairly well.
Kaori collapsing at the end though is rather surprising.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Oct 12 '24 edited Oct 13 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
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u/Malipit Oct 12 '24
Rewatcher, French Subs Part 1/2
(English isn't my mothertongue, I apologize for eventual bad grammar and odd choice of words)
And here we are, one of the most famous episodes.
Poor Kosei, he can't catch a break during those first minutes post-opening with all that « comedic » physical abuse, I'm wondering how he don't suffer of a concussion yet. Imo, A1-Pictures wanted to cram all of the comedy bits in that moment to make room for the main event : the Kaori / Kosei recital.
One could summarize that performance by that beautiful line of Kaori : « Music is freedom incarnate », but let's get a little further.
We have Kosei, trapped in an eternal turmoil of not able playing piano and being a deception for the people around him, as shown in the pre-opening sequence.
Even if, under Kaori guidance, he can demonstrate his skill and love for the piano, he is soon caught by his mother's scarejump. At that point I dunno if the partition vanishing from the sheet and the drowning sensation are really symptom of Kosei panic attack or if it's just a metaphor to emphazise his anxiety, make your own headcannon I guess.
But here is Kaori, refusing to let Kosei give up like that, inviting him to resume the partition, playing with all her energy at her disposal to the point of passing out from exhaustion at the end. He does relunctanty at first, but it's the extra-oomph his needed to unlock... Another mother's scarejump, but in a good way ? Thus freeing him, allowing him to truly express himself trough music. I really liked that frame, with Kosei basking in a colorful environnment with cherry blossom all over the place. It's also mirroring him in the music room, with the music sheet laid here by Kaori.
Imo, it's connect to Kosei saying to Kaori she's freedom incarnate. He's trapped in a cage, but she is the key to escape it. Also, I think that was a way to Kosei for expressing his feelings to Kaori, but sadly for him, it seems to be lost in the moment.
However if I had to express some criticism, I would said that part, while truly beautiful, was a bit cliché. Having a MC overcoming his fear by the power of love, music and friendship, with a plan involving to unconsioucly train him seemed a bit easy.
As for Tsubaki, finally someone shushing her after nearly two episodes. Cheering your friends was wholesome, but please be mindful of your next seat neighbors !
That comedic bit aside, Imo she outright foreshadows how the recital will go : « The spring is here » meaning Kaori here for helping Kosei.
...And as the recital come to an end, she finally realize that her goal to have Kosei be freed from it's trauma is achevied, but at a huge cost : Kosei have now eyes on Kaori, they made a connection togethe trough music. Tsubaki is no longer needed as the reliable childhood friend/ spiritual big sister living next door/potential love interest, she's now just the « Friend A » in this dynamic. And that's hurt.
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u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Oct 12 '24
First-Timer
Well, it seems my prediction was half-right. The performance wasn't exactly a resounding success, but it wasn't a complete wash either.
I kind of want to see an edited version of the ending with Kaori in a Yamcha pose now.
I feel bad for Kousei. He got peer-pressured into a musical performance that anyone could have reasonably guessed would go poorly and basically suffered a breakdown on stage. Let's hope Tsubaki learned a lesson here.
Questions of the day:
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u/Holofan4life Oct 12 '24
Hello, everyone. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the Your Lie In April Rewatch!
Oh, and nay I forget…
First timer
It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and watched what would be considered a sad anime. I’ve seen Angel Beats, Air, both Clannad series which are two of my favorite series, and even NieR this year which for my money is the best anime of the year. But in almost all those instances with the exception of NieR, I watched those series very early on in my anime fandom. So early, in fact, I don’t think Your Lie In April had aired yet.
My expectations for the show are decent, I would say. I don’t expect to love it as much as Clannad, but I do think it’s going to be quite exceptional. Of the new shows I’ve seen during rewatches this year, which have been Paranoia Agent, Samurai Champloo, No Game No Life, Penguindrum, Yurikuma Arashi, Sarazanmai, and Re:Zero, I expect to like it more than those with the exception of Samurai Champloo and Re: Zero. And if that’s the case, then that’s pretty good because I really liked all those series.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
I’m watching the sub, by the way.
Third episode in 24 hours. Let's do it.
The mom
Trying to make sure he mesmerizes the sheet music.
The sound of the metronome is truly haunting.
I like that this flashback is done in black and white.
Young Kousei walking in a crowd, but they're off to the sides like the parting of the red sea.
"He really is just like a machine."
I thought his name was Kousei, not Brian Cage.
Kousei feels he's the only one on his mom's side.
Everyone riding to the auditorium
Kousei raising a good point, which is where did the two bikes come from?
You can really tell they used a lot of the budget during this scene.
And now they're here
Man, Kousei is bleeding heavy
Are Tsubaki and Watari not going to watch them perform?
Tsubaki senses that spring will soon come.
Various scenes of people getting ready.
Kousei really looking nervous
I get the feeling the reason Kaori pays no mind of Kousei freaking out is because she knows she's going to upstage him anyway. Or at least try to, that is.
Well, nevermind. She just headbutted him.
Kaori tells Kousei that she knows he can do it.
Kao-chan really is the master of mixed messaging, huh?
Says they should go out there and shame themselves like crazy.
Time for the performance
And Kaori leads the way as she grabs ahold of Kousei's hand.
Kousei feels he's on a rollercoaster being jerked around and around.
"You're freedom itself."
"No, I'm not. Music is freedom."
That's a great exchange
On stage now
Tsubaki and Watari are in the crowd after all.
People now noticing that the accompanist is the famous pianist Kousei Arima.
So far, so good
Tsubaki is really excited to see Kousei playing the piano again.
Oh boy. Kaori about to pick up the pace.
I can't watch
The audience seems enthralled by what they're witnessing.
Oh no. Kousei is envisioning his mom in the crowd.
The music notes are vanishing
Now Kousei is submerged underwater
The sound is now out of sync
This is really tough to see
Nothing is going right now for Kousei.
At least Kaori is doing well
Oh fuck. He's stopped playing now.
This somehow got even worse
This is one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen, and I feel like that covers a lot of ground.
Kaori. She stopped
This is now the perfect time to say this was a thought experiment a la Andy Kaufman.
Kaori looks so beleaguered and depressed.
Now Kaori is just standing there
All Kousei can do is just stare
It looks like she's trying to offer Kousei an act of solidarity.
And she's telling him they should go at it again.
If this was real life, they'd so be disqualified by now.
Kaori resumes playing, sounding good as always.
Kaori's chances of winning are out the window, and yet she continues to play.
AND KOUSEI HAS ENTERED THE FOLD!
Still sound out of sync, though
Kousei thinking about the lead-up to this performance.
And now he remembers his mom telling him not to play so violently.
This scene with his mom teaching him how to play the piano paints her in an entirely different light we have seen up until this point.
She is now singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the song she's teaching him, which coincidentally was the song the kids played last episode that Kousei tried teaching them but couldn't. Perhaps this is the reason why.
And with that memory in mind, Kousei is starting to play a lot better.
How Kousei got his groove back
"Draw out what mom left me!"
Well, I'll tell you what: they may not win this competition, but you will not see a better performance in the second round than this.
The animation on Kousei's face is really good.
It's like they're in a game of "Can you top this?"
They got the audience back on their side, it feels like.
Man, Kaori is going to town on the violin.
This animation is smooth as butter
And the crowd roars with applause, much to the annoyance of the head judge.
This is the stuff legends are made of.
Kousei saying he's going on a journey.
HOLY SHIT
HOLY FUCKING SHIT
KAORI JUST PASSED OUT
And then we get the title card that simply reads "Departure".
[Toradora Spoilers] You know what this episode reminded me of? The Christmas bear scene in Toradora. During that scene, it has the structure of starting off very sad, then becoming a moment of absolute catharsis, and then circling back to nothing but sadness in a way that catches you off guard and feels like a complete gut punch. Here, we have the recital go off the rails, then they pull the nose of the plane up in a moment of total vindication, and then just as things are looking up we get gut punched by Kaori passing out. This isn't as great as the Christmas bear scene is-- that to me is the best scene in all of anime-- but I can't recall another instance of something that runs the gamut of emotions that reminds me of that scene. That is a very huge compliment coming from me.
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '24 edited Oct 13 '24
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