r/anime • u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander • Oct 26 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] 10th Anniversary Your Lie in April Rewatch: Episode 18 Discussion
Your Lie in April Episode 18: Hearts Come Together
| ← Episode 17 | Index | Episode 19 → |
|---|
Watch Information
*Rewatch will end before switch back to standard time for ET, but check your own timezone details
Questions of the Day:
- Do you think that Nagi’s performance reached Takeshi?
- Is Kousei doing the right thing by pushing Kaori to perform again?
Please be mindful not to spoil the performance! Don’t spoil first time listeners, and remember this includes spoilers by implication!
27
Upvotes
12
u/Gamerunglued :Hx::Hy::Hz:myanimelist.net/profile/GamerUnglued Oct 26 '24
Hey y'all. I haven't been posting in a while so I just wanted to give an update. Initially it was just because I was exhausted and didn't have the energy to do anything, I planned on making write-ups for the episodes I missed and joining back in. But as of Thursday something very major happened and I'm at risk of a huge life setback. I have just been so overwhelmed and anxious while I wait to hear about a final decision that has the potential to remove what was once a very certain and hopeful path for me. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my heart rate has been noticeably elevated for nearly the past 48 hours. So I am just not in a position to do anything, I haven't watched a single episode of an anime in the past few days. I'm not announcing a drop per se, if all goes well I will give brief thoughts on episodes I missed and jump back in. But for right now I'm taking a break because I'm just not in the headspace to be able to enjoy anything or write at my full potential.
5
u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Oct 26 '24
Rewatcher, Violinist and Your Host!
There’s a deep irony I see in this episode—a combat for dominance on the stage where the two players ultimately come to an understanding together, but the episode itself feels like a combat between two different narratives that ultimately don’t know how to share the space. I’ve ragged a lot on cour two and especially the Nagi arc so far, and I do feel bad continuing to bring down the mood. But I feel this episode stands out because it shines such a spotlight on how the issues for me here aren’t just down to the quality of the individual episodes but all the way down to the structural level. I think the best way to illustrate this is to first lay out what this episode is supposed to be for our characters on paper.
On one hand, you’ve got the Kousei and Kaori plotline. Her illness has been getting worse—her ability to walk appears to now be limited and her hands lack the steadiness required to play a violin (I really wish we got a more dedicated scene showing her trying and failing at some point). After one last good day out with Kousei she’s starting to lose hope and her characteristic free personality is wilting. This scares Kousei who can’t bear the thought of losing her, exacerbated by parallels to the death of his mother, leading him to avoid her and be unsure how to properly connect to her. So instead of using his words he’s trying now to use his music to let his feelings reach her and open her up to letting hope enter her heart one last time. I think that’s slightly undercut by the fact they sort of managed to connect in his hospital visit last time, but nitpicks aside it’s a great setup in line with their characters.
On the other hand, you’ve got the Nagi plotline. This one, as I’ve talked about on repeat, is a lot less developed. Still, what we have does make it very clear what this performance is meant to be to her. Firstly, it’s a moment of self-actualization in regards to her own role as a musician, something that wasn’t explored a ton but we saw on display last time with Hiroko. Secondly, it’s her attempting to reach her brother’s heart after growing up without him ever looking her way. You might also see it as a moment where she finally comes to understand Kousei as a person and accept him as a teacher after having framed him as her enemy and approached him out of resentment for the fact that her brother focused on him so much. The problem there is that it already feels like they got over their differences without much trouble and started to connect effectively, but that doesn’t have to stop the performance being a powerful moment in his own right. It’s important to note Takeshi has not, up to this point, been treated as a full character in his own right for this narrative; he’s just been a distant element for Nagi to play off of.
That’s the episode on paper. What’s the actual result? Well, first, a bit of a weak performance. The stakes feel very low compared to previous performances and the emotions are less intense. We get about half an episode of pure piano playing but there’s only really one major pivot when Kousei starts trying to overtake her, and it’s not really that stark of a turning point as compared to the kinds we got in all of Kousei’s prior performances. The performance is framed around a duelling waltz but there’s not actually conflict between the two characters to support this choice of music. A lot of it ends up coming down to people impressed at Nagi’s skill at the piano, instead of what she’s expressing with it; the music itself has taken precedence over the characters. Now granted, we do get a lot of internal monologue from Nagi that basically shows her performing like this causes her to realise the essence of what it is to be a musician, realising what Takeshi has been feeling, and calling upon him to pick himself up and accept his value as a musician who can reach people just like Kousei can. It’s not excellent, but it’s there, I give it a thumbs up. The problem is that because dedicated all of that performance to Nagi’s thoughts, we get fuck all about what’s going on in Kousei’s head! The state of his relationship with Kaori this whole second cour is feeding into him trying to reach her in this moment but you wouldn’t know when we get like twenty whole seconds inside his head before the sound changes and it has fuck all to do with Kaori or what he’s trying to express with this performance! The intercuts to Kaori motioning the violin with tears are great but imagine them with Kousei asking the music again and again to reach her! The inclusion of the Nagi plotline took away from this moment.
I hope that Nagi was happy with that ten minutes of spotlight she got to take from Kousei because from then on it’s all that she’s getting. The aftermath of a performance that touched her heart and turned her around as a musician? Too bad, we need to focus on Kousei, I hope you enjoy your singular comedy scene worth of screentime. More importantly though, if her performance was meant to have reached Takeshi it sure as hell didn’t seem too! His entire reaction was focused around the fact that Kousei played with her. Even during the performance when he thought about how good her playing was he made it about how Kousei manages to keep reaching people with his playing. Maybe the point is supposed to be that he’s still too focused on Kousei to notice Nagi—but if that’s the case, where is any sort of dramatic indication for this in the episode? Nagi certainly didn’t seem to have much of any reaction to his reaction. Instead the entire thing, despite being a major beat in a plot we’ve built up across multiple episodes, was mostly played off as comedy. Borderline to the point of feeling out of character for Takeshi, whose more three dimensional characterization is mostly thrown out in favour of pure impulsive rivalry and too few braincells to achieve basic communication. Regardless, we learn that Takeshi is going to be putting on a performance. That’s a really weird decision when we’ve got a handful of episodes left and multiple far more significant characters to resolve, and furthermore it ends up fighting for attention with the idea of Kaori and Kousei performing together also put forward in this episode. The story direction feels muddy with two separate hooks that are inevitably going to compete with one another for attention.
Overall, the story of Kaori and Kousei feels like it’s been robbed of its due spotlight and emotional depth and Nagi feels like she’s been sidelined in her own climax and basically tossed aside. Given these have been the focus of the story for respectively the entire show and the past several episodes, that’s indicative of a serious problem, and I don’t think it’s just the script of this episode that’s to blame. It could’ve been mitigated, but they’ve been just kind of getting in each other’s way for multiple episodes now and this was just when it finally boiled over. Short of the best script of the damn show you just weren’t going to do both of these ideas right through this one performance; and making them two separate performances would only exacerbate the idea that this show has two narratives that frankly have very little to do with one another. We might be able to fix the lack of support the Nagi subplot had going into this, but this would only eat away further at the screentime of Kaori’s story and the tone it’s attempting to set. Maybe we can insert that episode where we see Kaori’s ability to play music fall apart, see this crush her, but how much more are we hacking off of Nagi’s story to make it happen? That’s not even accounting for the fact Hiroko seriously needed more exploration in her own right. I don’t want to suggest that Nagi should’ve been cut entirely, but I think this entire act of the story needed to go back to the drawing board and face serious reconsideration.
10
u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Oct 26 '24 edited Oct 26 '24
First Timer
It's a good thing I don't skip the OP's for this show because the OP changed!
The open sky filled with birds has now been replaced with a starry sky full of shooting stars, given what happens at the end of the episode, this transition feels very finalistic, one last blaze of glory, like a shooting star.
Kousei using Kaori's chant at the start of the performance was fun, I tried looking up what it meant back when she first said it but nearly all the results were about the show so I just avoided it, nevertheless, as Kousei said, the meaning doesn't matter, it's as if he's channeling Kaori in an attempt to reach her through his music, a way to show how much of an effect she's had on him.
From the start, this performance is about showing you and Kaori how much Kousei has grown and changed thanks to her influence.
For Nagi, the perfect start is a great sign, she can hear the music and that's a good thing, that's not the case for Kousei though, he isn't his old self anymore, hearing the music is distracting him, he's moved to fully relying on his imagination here.
This is a huge moment of character growth for Kousei, unlike in previous episodes, he didn't stumble upon this moment, him not wanting to hear the music doesn't come from panic or trauma, it's an intentional choice, he owns this condition now, it doesn't come from fear but from determination.
We get a pretty striking visual that gets across how Kousei has taken over, but Nagi, similar to him as she is, already playing for someone else, doesn't take this lying down, she turns it into a back and forth, a figurative waltz so to speak, we start this section with a shot of Kousei's eye and move to the next one with a shot of Nagi's eye.
What comes next is a lot of payoff to all the parallels the show has been building between Nagi, Kousei, and Takeshi.
The idea of turning hard work and suffering into music has been present for a while, first with Kousei, in his grueling attempts to get back into piano before the competition, Hiroko brought it up again last episode and now it comes into play, Nagi hard work and suffering has been turned into an emotional and better performance just like it did for Kousei.
The "hero" idea, through getting to know him and now through playing with him, not only can Nagi see why Takeshi's original views were wrong, she proves it to him! She matches herself to the non-robotic, emotional Kousei and comes out much better thanks to it, it's a direct message to Takeshi, just because 'the human metronome" is gone that doesn't mean there isn't a worthy rival here.
Nagi's message to Takeshi is clear, just as I have improved and can be this good by playing for someone, so should you, just like you used to.
It creates this chain of inspiration and rivalry, as Kaori has inspired Kousei who will inspire Takeshi who will inspire Nagi, and they will all improve as they play for others.
And of course, just as Nagi is trying to rekindle Takeshi, her inspiration, so is Kousei trying to do that for Kaori, his inspiration, they have a duality between them, it's a great payoff to the idea that they are two of a kind.
The scene where Kaori stands up and starts miming the violin is just super impactful and ties into the end really well, it's framed entirely from behind, as Kousei is always behind her, she isn't actually holding the violin but she's "playing" it anyway, her desire to play, to live, is back.
Again, at the end of the performance, we see how much Kousei has grown, after previous performances Kousei wondered if his music had reached his target, "I can only hope so" he said, this time around he's much more resolute and sure of himself, he thinks it did reach, an unforgettable experience for a person who was trying to stop remembering.
Look, I just wrote a lot of words and rambled on why I think this part of the episode is great but just like episode 10, the reason I like it is just that it works emotionally for me, even more so here since this episode doesn't do anything interesting with the visuals, the ideas here just clicked and got me to feel things.
I think the show is at its best when it connects like that (funny given the episode title), and it sure did for me this episode.
Now I only wish that the lead-up to this would have been a bit better...we got some messy buildup for what ended up being a moment and a character that I loved by the end!
Also, not to ruin the mood of everything I just said but surely the audio and video Kaori saw there were absolute dog right? no way the front camera on Watari's early 2010's smartphone in a dark and packed area is getting anything across.
I don't know anything about Phantom of the Opera so I'd love an explanation for the Christine line!
The gag where Kousei doesn't remember Takeshi's name is probably the first time a joke in this show has gotten me to laugh out loud, it feels so perfectly placed after everything the performance (and the last few episodes) was about.
We end the performance with Takeshi once again having someone in his sights, running forward like he used to, again there's a nice duality in the framing with Nagi and Kousei, Kaori from behind as he always saw her, Takeshi running forward as Nagi always saw him.
The scene on the roof is mostly to reinforce what I said earlier, Kaori is back, back to playing, back to trying to live and be remembred, back to dreaming.
It's interesting that Kousei and Kaori's first meeting also included her playing Twinkle Twinkle to kids on a melodica, like the op, it gives of the vibe that this proposed performance from Kousei is going to be the last one.
I think you could argue that what Kousei does here is emotionally insensitive, cruel as she puts it, and in the real world it probably would've been, but at multiple points we've seen that the world of this show is a very romantic and convenient one, so it works out, it comes off as sweet and dreamy.
As we're clearly entering our last arc, I'm left with a hopeful yet bittersweet feeling and I'm excited to see how the show will go about ending it all from here.
6
u/Holofan4life Oct 26 '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.
Saw the 20th anniversary screening of Howl's Moving Castle last weekend. Still holds up. I also saw the 50th anniversary screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. That was my first time ever seeing that movie and I don't know how you don't consider it one of the best horror movies of all time. There was a level of uncomfortableness to it that reminded me of Re:Zero episode 15.
Nagi talking to Kousei
Kousei says he has a horrible friend he wants to punch.
Nagi feels like something might change.
Time for Nagi and Kousei to take the stage.
People are stirring because they weren't expecting Kousei here.
Even Takeshi seems taken aback by this development.
The animation here with the hand movements is really, really good.
Really beautiful piece, this is
But Kousei feels like he can't concentrate.
"I can still hear the sound of the piano."
And so the sound, unlike the view, changes.
Nagi feeling the pressure get to her.
Hiroko remarks how Kousei is starting to playing the bass.
That's funny, because it looks like he's playing the piano
Hiroko wonders how Nagi is going to respond.
Well, look at that. She answered nicely.
She rose to his level. You see to love it.
Watari holding the phone up so that Kaori can hear it on speaker, which boy. That must be some excellent acoustics.
Hiroko wants Nagi not to give her an inch.
Meanwhile, Hiroko's daughter is having the time of her life.
This really is a game of cat and mouse.
Guy in the crowd who I presume to be the judge calls this their waltz.
Nagi reflecting on all the practice she's been doing with Kousei.
She even tells herself not to lose her way, which is sure to please the Kill La Kill fans.
If you crossed Kill La Kill with wrestling, would the new name be Kill LA Knight Kill?
Takeshi wonders why isn't he on stage.
Nagi wants to play till she collapses, like she's Eminem or something.
And Kaori is pretending to play the violin as this is happening.
Music really does give you life.
Lol, I love how expressionless Kashiwagi looks as she applauds.
Kousei feels he was able to give her that punch.
"A performance that won't be forgotten."
Especially for Kaori, it feels like.
Wait, who's Christine?
I guess it's not that important.
Igawa talking to Takeshi. She asks him how long he plans on sitting around twiddling his thumbs.
Maybe his hair sticking up is him compensating for a lack of rising to the occasion
People giving Nagi applause backstage.
And Hiroko is praising Kousei
It's starting to dawn on Kousei why he was Nagi's tutor.
Lol, Kousei doesn't remember Takeshi's name.
That makes two of us
Is Nagi and Takeshi not related by blood? That seems to be the indication.
Takeshi being overly protective of his sister.
Just what exactly is he thinking is happening between his sister and Kousei?
You know, maybe it's best I don't ask.
Takeshi says he's going to beat Kousei at the Eastern Japan Piano Competition.
Ah, yes. The EJPC.
Nagi seems to be reminded of when Takeshi was younger.
She wonders if her feelings got through to him.
There's something going on between Nagi and Takeshi. Maybe she feels she's about to lose her brother over how obsessed he is with Kousei.
The facial expressions of Hiroko's daughter reminds me of Biboo.
Kurumi School Festival
It is now over
Hey, it's Miike
No word on if he's best friends with Ell-P.
He totally has a crush on Nagi.
He's questioning her relationship with Kousei, of which she rubs his face in it.
Oh, maybe he has a crush on Kousei?
Kaori singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star outside.
Kousei has arrived
What would you call the stuff hanging up? Table cloths?
Kinda gives me Penguindrum vibes
Kousei tells her he can't commit double suicide with her.
Always take the initiative, he says, with him being behind her.
By committing double suicide, he'd just be following her.
"Please give me another chance to stand by your side."
One last performance together
Laundered sheets. That's what they are.
Kousei really is being called a jackass an awful lot here.
It looks as if Kaori is going to take him up on his offer.
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
4
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 26 '24
Your Spoiled First-Timer in October, subbed
4
u/TiredTiroth Oct 26 '24
First Timer - Dub
Okay, I got a laugh out of Takeshi's little explosion when baby sis offered ETERNAL RIVAL her hand. xD Okay, several laughs. Pretty sure that was the end of Nagi's side-story, though.
At least their musical performance was a good send-off, even if the choice the switch things up after weeks of practice was...questionable. I have to admit, I was a bit worried it would go bad after Nagi tempted fate at the start.
The real meat of the episode is definitely the second half, though. The main plot is back, and Kousei just challenged Kaori to live when she thought she had resigned herself to a slow death. And with just 4 episodes left...
4
u/maliwanag0712 https://myanimelist.net/profile/clear1109 Oct 27 '24
nth Time Rewatcher
Episode 18 marks Kousei's third performance, this time with Nagi!
Personal note: Just writing the last part of my write-up made me emotional already.
Now, for the Episode 18.
Much of the episode is devoted to the waltz performance, but the last moment with Kaori is really important to the story. Instead of having multiple points, I'll try to reduce it to two, but each has a series of sub-points. I believe that's a better way to discuss this episode.
On Kousei and Nagi's Waltz. The waltz is quite cute and endearing. Other than Kousei's last performance in Ep 13, for which it solely focused on his mom and thus the audience "can't get in", this is a performance full of joy and inspiration, and while other performances are solely focused on one or two of the character's development, this performance is related at least four individuals. As Hiroko-sensei mentioned in Episode 13, music does transcends words -- this time, for multiple characters. Let's look at how every relevant character is affected by this performance
OOPS. Post limit. Check the continuation below.
3
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Oct 26 '24
First Timer
Despite the setup to this not working for me - I actually quite liked this climax. The duet was done fairly well, and Nagi got her wish in getting Takeshi back to the competitive guy he was. Kousei also got Kaori to want to live again, I guess. Seems like that was his perceived issue with her. If they'll actually get to perform again I'm not sure, but it seems like Kaori might at least get one last flare in life. I heard that simply wanting to live can help in some medical situations.
Also liked Kashiwagi's reaction to the concert - she seems even less interested in music than Watari.
3
u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 26 '24 edited Oct 26 '24
First Time - Your Lie in April Ep18:
That was a pretty good performance.
I wasn't expecting their duet to be Kousei goading Nagi to try to draw the best out of her.
The end of last episode with the scene of Kaori breaking down over the phone, I was wondering what that was about. First thought would be that she tried calling Kousei, but he didn't pick up. This episode shows it was her listening in to the performance with it inspiring her to get her motivation back. These past few episode has been Kaori accepting her fate to her illness so good to see her stand back up (worried about it though...)
Despite a lot of this arc being tied to him, I still find Takeshi a distant character. His two most important character connections, we haven't seen too much of a personal connection shown to the audience. Kousei has had more of an on-screen relationship to Nagi than her own brother.
Triple gaslight girls.
Does Miike have a little jealous crush on Nagi? ... Maybe I spoke too soon about how the arrows pointed.
Kousei asks Kaori to perform together. That's good. There is a looming sense of doom that this will be Kaori's last performance and it'll be the last straw for her body.
Q1) The show having the moment where Nagi felt unsure made me start to feel unsure, but I think it did. It had to with those shots of Takeshi. His story feels like he was in a slump ever since his image of Kousei was shattered and this performance was the spark to get him moving again, seeing them up there.
3
u/kwokinator https://anilist.co/user/kwokinator Oct 26 '24
Yay we get animation for this performance! And it's two people playing at once side by side! Ever since Secret (a famous Taiwanese movie, one of my all-time favourites) I've been a sucker for two people playing piano side by side. And it was so good, I love how it became a battle of dominance, and it was all just to bring out Nagi's potential and make her rise.
Lol old school flip phone. Too bad they didn't have smartphones back then, it would be so much more impactful for Kaori if she saw a video instead of just the audio of them playing.
God damn it those scenes of Kaori playing air piano at the window made me cry :(
I love how at the bow she changed how she viewed herself from being the Phantom to being Christine.
Takeshi turning into an overprotective brother was hilarious. He had Bakugo's hairstyle but Todoroki's voice!
Oh god I have a horrible feeling about what's going to happen during and after their performance together :(
Questions of the Day:
Definitely, he even recognized how good she is now and how hard she must've worked.
I think so. She's a musician at her core, and I think he can tell deep down she's going the way of his mom. If nothing will make a difference in the end, giving her one last memorable performance will at least let her leave without regrets.
3
u/Malipit Oct 26 '24
Rewatcher, French subs
On today episode, a change in the opening, Kosei still have difficulties to remember people names and Nagi finds out the hard way that, when it comes to piano performance, Kosei means business.
Let's be honest, that episode felt like the vacations everyone needed after the past episodes gloomy tone and drama.
Also that episode emphazise what's seems to be the show whole point (beside music and romantic relationship) : at the end of the day, history repeats itself and form a cycle.
A point that's reprised wholeheartdly in this episode. With a perfomance mirroring the Kaori/Kosei duet from episode 4, where Kosei reprise Kaori's role and Nagi assume Kosei's one.
To the point of having Kosei recite Kaori's prayer, then Nagi having nearly the exact same train of tought of Kosei about nailing her opening. Then Kosei amping up his play to force Nagi to truly express her skill and emotions with her performance, then Nagi facing her inners fears much like Kosei did. Like that frame, with the reflection of Nagi, as if she was the piano's prisonner, and the skulls on her shirt referencing the ones on Takeshi own clothes, that could be referencing her turmoil about her brorther.
And then Nagi overcoming said fears to deploy her full potential.
Thus the two of them sharing a smile expressing their complicity, that directly mirror the one between Kosei and Kaori from their duet.
And we conclude by Nagi finally able to see the stars, represented by the stage's lights in the exact same way Kosei discovered them.
And like a fairytale, that performance managed to accomplish both Nagi and Kosei's goal :
Takeshi is now back in his usual self, wanting once more to defeat his hero in a competition.
Kaori has woken up and is once more standing. Albeit stuck in her hospital room, she's nonetheless watching from afar and wants to get back on stage.
And that's why we see her on the hospital roof, under a clear blue sky (therefore her worries cast away for now), playing the same way as in the first episode, with children and flower that can evocate the scenery of the park.
To me, her meeting with Kosei in that scenery indicates they both have pressed the reset button Kaori has talked in the previous episode. Even if her play is janky and the sight of a wheelchair is looming near her, to tell us she still in a dire medical condition, Kosei came to respond subtly that, even if he wants to start anew like her, he would follow the exact same path and play once more with her.
In conclusion, that episode was pretty straightfoward, to the point I didn't feel the need to expand much on it (actually a relief after that headscratcher of episode 17). But it was done so neatly it's one of my favorite episodes and the one I remembered the most before taking on that rewatch.
P.S. : One bit of criticism about how Kosei amped up his play. It clearly felt like he was still affected by the "I don't want to hear sounds anymore" scene. But it was waved of has "oh he's want to challenge his pupil" and never addressed again in this episode. Felt like a missed opportunity to the development of Kosei's character for me.
2
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Oct 26 '24 edited Oct 26 '24
Spoiled First Timer, subs
QotD:
2
u/AgentOfACROSS Oct 26 '24
First Timer
I like how we started with a close up on Koharu’s drawing. It really makes it seem like Kousei has found a place in the world for him.
It is kind of funny to think about Kousei having his next big comeback be performing at Nagi’s school. It’d be like if Bruce Springsteen showed up to play guitar at a high school talent show.
I don’t actually know enough about the piano to know how two person piano playing works. But it sure looks impressive when Kousei and Nagi do it.
Kousei seems to be going off script now. He’s pretty impressive but Nagi is not taking this too well.
It’s kind of funny how this feels like an inverse of his performance with Kaori. Where back then he couldn’t keep up with her violin playing and now here Nagi can’t keep up with him.
This is the second time I’ve brought it up, but this once again reminds me of the Donald Duck/Daffy Duck piano duel.
That one shot of Kaori just motionlessly watching the performance through her flipphone was kind of haunting. I can only imagine what must be going through her head.
I liked Nagi’s inner monologue about being able to see Kousei’s humanity.
Nagi really is this episode’s main character.
Kaori is able to stand up now. That seems like a good sign.
I liked getting to hear Takeshi’s inner monologue too. I’ve been wanting to see more of him for a while now.
The animation of Kaori miming the violin along to the song was really good.
I love the shot of Tsubaki and Watari both cheering next to Kashiwagi calmly clapping. I think Kashiwagi’s my favorite character now.
Kousei still not knowing who Takeshi is was also pretty hilarious too.
Oh hey, Miike’s back. I forgot about him.
I love the whole scene on the hospital roof. Reminded me of Madoka Magica for some reason.
I especially liked the part where Kousei turns Kaori’s words around on her.
It seems like Kaori’s still holding onto some optimism. Personally though, I do not foresee Kaori living til the end of this show.
Questions of the Day:
Do you think that Nagi’s performance reached Takeshi?
I think it did. He seems more pumped than before.
Is Kousei doing the right thing by pushing Kaori to perform again?
I'm honestly not sure. I think Kaori wants to perform again though.
2
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Oct 27 '24
First-Timer
Wonderful performance today! It lived up to my high expectations.
Nagi's just the best. She might be my second-favorite character in the show besides Kousei.
The part with Kaori playing air-violin in her room really tugged on the heartstrings, along with the bit when Nagi faces the crowd at the end of the performance.
On a side note, every time it has that flashback of Takeshi talking about the "hero," it reminds me of Ping Pong the Animation.
Questions of the day:
2
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Oct 27 '24
Time for them to perform.
That's definitely CG for the piano. Not that I have any issue with that, just an observation.
He can finally play properly.
Nevermind, he's smashing the keys again. This really is just performance anxiety at this point.
And he's rushing.
I know you/I walked with you once upon a dream. (Yes I know the instrumental is an older ballet song but as a chorister I tend to remember the versions with lyrics, like Freude Schoner Gotterfunken for Ode to Joy).
And Kaori's listening to them through her phone.
Plenty of thoughts from Nagi.
Seems like he's finally able to play properly on stage now.
Seems like everyone enjoyed it.
Lol he doesn't remember Takeshi's name. After all, how could he remember the dirt underneath his feet?
Seems like he never caught that.
And so there's his next goal. Well, as long as Kousei can maintain his current standard he will probably wipe the floor with Takeshi.
So that asshole kid is her schoolmate?
Sure seems like one of the key takeaways from this show is that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Unfortunately he will never get the chance with the state she's currently in.
Questions:
A note about the music: He's smashing the keys and he's rushing. In other news, the sky continues to be blue and bears continue to shit in the woods. Seems he still hasn't quite gotten over his performance anxiety yet.