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"The piano is you. If you touch it gently, it will smile. If you touch it with force, it will become enraged." - Saki Arima

For today, we will be reviewing Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso or Your Lie in April, a music anime that was very touching to me.

Story:
Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April) is about a teenage boy named Kousei Arima, who was known to everyone, as a piano prodigy. He has descended into despair as his mother, also his music teacher, has passed away. Since his mother's death, he was unable to hear the notes and sound of the ... piano, and he has quit playing the piano, but that one faithful day in spring under cherry blossoms, he met a girl named Kaori Miyazono, who changed his life completely.

Throughout the course of the story, Kousei's friends, Tsubaki and Watari along with Kaori rebuild him as a whole person and to ultimately return to play the piano. The story was really well-paced, as we were able to easily see what experiences and feelings that he was going through and how he develops from them. We are able to see what sufferings, emotions and events that musicians have to go through before they excel. As a pianist of over 11 years, I can perfectly relate to Kousei's feelings, which causes a feeling of the story being pretty realistic. Not to forget, Your Lie in April really opens a new perspective of music (especially classical music) to many. Some of these are: "Who are we playing music for?" or "What message are we trying to say from our playing?". All of these questions makes music a huge impact on the audiences.

A major theme of Your Lie in April is coming of age. Throughout the series, we don't just focus on Kousei, but also the other characters. This allows us to see how others around us make an impact on our life. Your Lie in April perfectly shows how our life would be, such as the moments of joy and happiness and then the moments of sadness and loss. We could flawlessly relate this to the piano. The black keys represents sadness, while the white keys represent bright times, which both create music. The up and downs that we experience, creates our life.

To sum up the story section, the plot was executed really well. Even though the plot was simple in general, behind the plot's mask, we see a whole list of things that we could relate to in our own lives, which causes a huge influence on the audiences.
10/10

Art:'
In this series, the art and animation is being done by A-1 Pictures.
I have to say that the art and animation is really well done and absolutely beautiful to the eyes. The unique design of the characters enables us to distinguish them from one another. The visuals, especially in the piano performances scenes, does a great job expressing how each characters are feeling, such as bright and vivid colours in the cheerful moments, while dark and gloomy colours are used at the depressing points.
10/10

Sound:
For the soundtracks of Your Lie in April, I have to say that it is very outstanding. The OPs and EDs in both sections of the anime were very memorable and all of the concert pieces were really well-chosen to be used at the right scenes. As the music was done at the right moments, it helps the audience see what the anime is trying to exude. It just makes your feel trip even better and more emotional.
10/10

Characters:
The characters would have to be considered as the 'foundation' of Your Lie in April. Each character in the series plays a certain part, which contributes to the main plot. The character that stood out the most would definitely have to go to Kousei. In the beginning, Kousei is depicted as a depressing and tedious person, but as the series progresses, we begin to see Kousei developing a lot. One major ways of him developing is the gradual journey to re-playing the piano, but playing in a completely new way, comparing to his past.

Then we have Kaori Miyazono. She is depicted as a violent, demanding and needy girl, but if we dig deeper, we can see that these personality traits create a deep character, as Kaori is a perfect replica of Kousei's mother. Kaori's main purpose in the series is to be the main inspiration for Kousei's journey of rebuilding himself. Throughout the series, we see Kousei and Kaori grow closer together through their conversations and their times playing music together. Through their interaction, we were able to know more about them and their backstory.

For the other two main characters, they were Watari and Tsubaki. Generally speaking, their main role was to support Kousei and Kaori, but it was a agreeable addition to the main characters, which creates significance into the plot. As for the side characters, there was a pretty good cast. Some of the outstanding side characters would be Hiroko and Takeshi. Even though the side characters have small roles, they actually play importance towards Kousei in a certain way.
10/10

Enjoyment:
Overall, Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso was an emotional, but exceptional anime.
As a pianist myself, I was very indulged into the music in every single moments and they all gave me those strong feeling, which leaves me a feeling of happiness and also crying. The story was well-carried out and the pacing was at a suitable rate. The art perfectly fits the mood of every scene and the animation was smooth. The characters were memorable and developed very well. The audience are able to connect with the character through their emotions.

Conclusion:
Story: Well-executed and connecting to the audience (10/10)
Art: Appealing and suitable in every scene (10/10)
Sound: Well-chosen and emotional (10/10)
Character: Great cast (10/10)
Enjoyment: Made me went on a feel trip (10/10)

OVERALL SCORE: 10/10 (Wonderful and impacting)

"What is the wish which you would trade your soul for?"

Here we come to another anime series about magical girls. This genre usually involves girls that have to deal with their lives while having a form of supernatural power. When I first saw this anime, I had the thoughts of it being another 'Sailor Moon', but I was wrong. I have to say that Madoka Magica is a major deconstruction of the magical girl genre. Since the series, the magical girl genre has been more noticed. As I go into the review of this anime, I have to express my view that this series is ... a magnificent piece of work, which many will remember. Let's now go into details...

Story:
Madoka Magica is about a girl named Madoka Kaname living a normal life with her friends and family, but one day, her life took a dramatic twist, when she and her friend, Sayaka confronted a cat-like creature named Kyubey, who was being chased down by a girl named Homura Akemi. Kyubey then offered the girls the opportunity to wish for anything, but in exchange, to become magical girls. As this is a magical girl series, many would expect a light-hearted and passive atmosphere, but think again, Madoka Magica actually has a very dark atmosphere, as the magical girls had to face evil, such as fighting witches. Because of this, Madoka Magica has completely rewritten the magical girl genre. Even with the dark atmosphere, the story was really well-developed throughout. The first few episodes of the anime were pretty slow-pacing, but as the story progressed, it became more intense. The plot was setted out really well and this causes the audiences to be 'on the edge of their seats' for the whole time.
10/10

Art:
The art and animation is being done by Shaft, the studio that also did the art for other series, such as Nisekoi and the Monogatari series. The art throughout the series suited the atmosphere really well, especially in scenes, such as when the magical girls fight the witches. It perfectly gives the impression of a dark and gloomy place and environment. The use of various colours on the characters makes them all look really unique in their own ways. The characters design were done really efficiently, which allows the audience to distinguish between the characters. The animation were very fluent in every scene, such as in the fighting scenes or passive scenes.
10/10

Sound:
The Madoka Magica has an amazing soundtrack, from A to Z. The thing that stands out the most in this area is the OST. There were many emotion expressed in each songs, such as happiness in the OP, 'Connect' by ClariS, or despair in one of the ED, 'Magia' by Kalafina. The songs just fit every situation in the series perfectly and intensifies our feelings.
10/10

Characters:
Despite the small amount of characters in the series, this allows us to know more about each of the characters as they grow and change throughout the series. Madoka Magica does a good job of showing the audience, the past and backstories of all the characters. This helps us to evaluate the reason behind each characters' action and feelings towards certain situation. This makes each of the characters all different in their own ways.
10/10

Enjoyment:
Overall, Madoka Magica was a spectacular anime. The story was very well-written and developed really nicely. The art perfectly fits each scenes of the series. The music was impressive in every bit and the characters were really memorable.
10/10

Conclusion:
Story: Excellent in every aspect (10/10 Outstanding)
Art: Nice-looking and intriguing to look at (10/10 Outstanding)
Sound: Suited the scenes' atmosphere efficiently (10/10 Outstanding)
Characters: Well-developed and memorable (10/10 Outstanding)
Enjoyment: Hooked for the whole time (10/10 Outstanding)

OVERALL SCORE: 10/10 (Very well-done and superb)

I bet many people would had high expectations for this anime, like me from the beginning as Glasslip was made by P.A Works and they made some really great animes such as Nagi No Asukara, Hanasaku Iroha and Angel Beats. I expected this anime to be the next 'Nagi No Asukara', for the settings and the characters, but I was wrong.

At the start, it was pretty engaging, so I decided to keep watching. Gradually as the series unveiled, my views on this anime began to degrade. My overall thoughts of the anime is complete utter s***! Let's now break this down into sections.

Story:
The plot ... of Glasslip takes place in a seaside town called Hinodehama. Touko's family runs a business of glass-working and Touko hangs out with her friends at a cafe called Kazemichi. A transfer student called Kakeru then comes into the scene, which reminded me of Nagi No Asukara, (when Tsumugu came along). The show was slow-pacing, but I expected slow-pacing animes would result in a very memorable one such as Steins; Gate, but this anime was a very big exception. Overall, nothing happens pretty much throughout the whole series. There wasn't any dramatic moment, so I was really bored for almost the whole time, watching Glasslip, The story was the weakest point of the series, along with the characters.
1/10

Art:
The art was indeed the strongest point of the anime. The scenery and setting were really appealing and beautiful to the eyes. Enough said.
8/10

Sound:
The music was pretty good, in particular the OP, due to the tone. The ED was ok. The tracks throughout the series were mostly classical music and from what I notice, they are mostly compositions from Frederic Chopin. It's not bad using tracks of other artists/composers, but it would be better if the anime used original soundtrack, as they would stand out more.
6/10

Character:
As I said in the 'Story' section, the characters were also the weakest point in the entire series. Many of the characters have developed little to nothing, in personality and actions. The series does not allow us to learn more about each of the characters and we cannot see the characters changing throughout. So overall, the characters were not really memorable and that you could easily forget them after you completed the series.

Enjoyment:
Overall, I didn't really enjoyed this project from P.A Works, unlike Nagi No Asukara and Angel Beats. I was really looking forward to another great romance slice of life, but it didn't turned out what I expected to be. Nothing dramatic happens in the series, so I wasn't on the edge of my seat (NOT EVEN ONCE!) and I barely understood the relationship between the characters. Even though it's a slice of life anime, the characters just literally play their role in their daily lives. Other slice of life animes, such as Clannad and K-On is much better than this.

Conclusion:
Story: Very boring and neutral (1/10 Pathetic)
Art: Nice-looking and colourful (8/10 Very Good)
Sound: Decent, but could have been better (6/10 Fair)
Character: Little to no development throughout the series (1/10 Pathetic)
Enjoyment: Bored for almost the entire time (2/10 Dreadful)

OVERALL SCORE: 3/10 (POOR)