WYSW: Your Lie in April

**why you should watch**

Your Lie in April was the first anime I ever watched in full. It’s both beautiful and tragic, and if you follow this blog you might’ve noticed that I have a history of loving depressing/sad anime. But hey, I like crying and catharsis is important, so here we go again!

Your Lie in April or Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso follows the story of Kousei Arima, a former piano-playing prodigy who fell from grace after a tragedy left him unable to focus or “hear” the piano anymore. When he meets another young classical musician, Kaori Miyazono, she encourages him to try playing the piano again so he can accompany her while she plays violin.

It goes without saying that the music in this anime is, obviously, excellent. And I don’t just mean the characters’ classical pieces; both OPs/EDs and the OST are fantastic as well. Sometimes the soundtrack even incorporates classical music into the OST; one of my favorites is titled For You, which samples Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune.

Besides the music, the other reason this anime was so well received is because of its emotional impact. Without explicitly stating so, the anime makes it incredibly obvious (through depictions of his inner thoughts) that Kousei is suffering from depression after experiencing a devastating loss. And of course, losing interest in activities that previously brought you joy is a common symptom of depression. As you learn more and more about his past, it becomes clear that Kousei is also questioning if he ever derived joy from playing piano.

Besides depression, loss, abuse, and illness are other themes within this show that may be triggering or upsetting to some audiences. Please keep this in mind!

From the main trio of Kousei/his two best friends Watari and Tsubaki, to his determined and ambitious musical rivals Emi and Takeshi, all of the characters in this story are fully realized and sympathetic individuals. As a result, large-scale tragic events aren’t the only tear-jerking moments in Your Lie in April; plenty of the characters’ smaller emotional struggles and pain are just as likely to make you sob.

I’m in the middle of reading the manga right now, which I’m loving so far. However I believe this type of story works so much better in anime form, where you can actually hear the music they’re playing and the variation in the players’ styles. The manga does give you recommended music clips to listen to while you read which is a nice touch, but it isn’t quite the same.

I hope you decide to give Your Lie in April a chance. Because it was my first ever anime it holds a special place in my heart, so I really cannot recommend it enough. Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking