Your Lie in April is a rather famous tearjerker of an anime, but over time, people have taken a closer look and found some problematic elements in the work. I mostly enjoyed it, but had mixed feelings in the end.
YLIA is about Kousei Arima, a pianist who hasn't been able to play since his mother died, and it doesn't help that his mother physically abused him while teaching him piano in her final days. He meets a girl named Kaori Miyazono, who seeks to help him play again, but has a dark secret of her own.
As you can see, this is not the happiest anime, even without getting into the ending. Despite this, the story often features slapstick comedy, often immediately before or after a serious and/or sad moment. This not only results in jarring Mood Whiplash, but can be problematic, since the victim of the slapstick is Kousei, the aforementioned child abuse victim.
Speaking of the abuse, another problem is how Kousei's mother is portrayed. After being established as a borderline Hate Sink of an Abusive Parent in the first half, Kousei apparently forgives her in Episode 13, or at least seems to remember her more fondly. For viewers, though, it can be a harder sell, considering how terrible her actions were and that she never made up for them.
There's also Kaori. In addition to frequently subjecting Kousei to slapstick comedy(granted, so do a lot of characters), she also completely disregards his objections to returning to music, or his trauma regarding it. This turns out to be a good decision in the long term, but her approach still comes off as selfish, manipulative and insensitive. The latter half of the last episode sheds some light on Kaori's motivations, but not only does it not justify all of her actions, it also raises further questions.
On a more positive note, Kousei develops a lot over the course of the series, gradually regaining his passion for music and love for life, which is heartwarming. This occurs at a realistic pace, with him sometimes stumbling and coming close to giving up, but continuing to grow.
Hiroko is probably the best secondary character in the series. She combines comedic quirks with deep-seated guilt over inadvertently ruining Kousei's relationship with his mother. A friend of Kousei's mother, Hiroko sympathizes with her but also calls her out on her actions.
The art is generally quite well-done overall, and there aren't many cases of the animators cutting corners. The characters have good designs that complement their personalities (for example, compare Kaori in the present to in a flashback at the end of the series), and while part of Kousei's glasses vanishing so the viewer can see his eyes is a bit odd at first, I got used to it over time.
The music is quite good, featuring famous classical pieces combined with the anime soundtrack, although I wasn't all that impressed with the OP or ED.
YLIA has strong emotional beats, but it has enough problems that I wouldn't recommend it without knowing what you're getting into.
Manga Inspires a lot of feelings, both good and bad
Your Lie in April is a rather famous tearjerker of an anime, but over time, people have taken a closer look and found some problematic elements in the work. I mostly enjoyed it, but had mixed feelings in the end.
YLIA is about Kousei Arima, a pianist who hasn't been able to play since his mother died, and it doesn't help that his mother physically abused him while teaching him piano in her final days. He meets a girl named Kaori Miyazono, who seeks to help him play again, but has a dark secret of her own.
As you can see, this is not the happiest anime, even without getting into the ending. Despite this, the story often features slapstick comedy, often immediately before or after a serious and/or sad moment. This not only results in jarring Mood Whiplash, but can be problematic, since the victim of the slapstick is Kousei, the aforementioned child abuse victim.
Speaking of the abuse, another problem is how Kousei's mother is portrayed. After being established as a borderline Hate Sink of an Abusive Parent in the first half, Kousei apparently forgives her in Episode 13, or at least seems to remember her more fondly. For viewers, though, it can be a harder sell, considering how terrible her actions were and that she never made up for them.
There's also Kaori. In addition to frequently subjecting Kousei to slapstick comedy(granted, so do a lot of characters), she also completely disregards his objections to returning to music, or his trauma regarding it. This turns out to be a good decision in the long term, but her approach still comes off as selfish, manipulative and insensitive. The latter half of the last episode sheds some light on Kaori's motivations, but not only does it not justify all of her actions, it also raises further questions.
On a more positive note, Kousei develops a lot over the course of the series, gradually regaining his passion for music and love for life, which is heartwarming. This occurs at a realistic pace, with him sometimes stumbling and coming close to giving up, but continuing to grow.
Hiroko is probably the best secondary character in the series. She combines comedic quirks with deep-seated guilt over inadvertently ruining Kousei's relationship with his mother. A friend of Kousei's mother, Hiroko sympathizes with her but also calls her out on her actions.
The art is generally quite well-done overall, and there aren't many cases of the animators cutting corners. The characters have good designs that complement their personalities (for example, compare Kaori in the present to in a flashback at the end of the series), and while part of Kousei's glasses vanishing so the viewer can see his eyes is a bit odd at first, I got used to it over time.
The music is quite good, featuring famous classical pieces combined with the anime soundtrack, although I wasn't all that impressed with the OP or ED.
YLIA has strong emotional beats, but it has enough problems that I wouldn't recommend it without knowing what you're getting into.