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Your Lie in April could have been an A+, five-star anime. I’ve highly rated and recommended it in the past. But when I re-watched the series, I found myself skipping over several segments. Your Lie is uneven, with one excellent thread and one that fell short because of definite, glaring issues.
The excellent thread is the main plot: Kousei, a musical prodigy who leaves the concert scene after his mother’s death, returns to the stage to face the piano and all the baggage that it carries, through which he comes to terms with his mixed feelings toward his mom and finds closure and connection. The psychology of it and the portrayal of his trauma was very raw and immersive, and the emotional payoff of this thread endears the series to me despite its flaws.
The secondary plot thread is a love triangle between Kousei, his childhood friend, Tsubaki, and a violinist named Kaori who pushes him back into the music world. This thread falls flat for several reasons, which boil down to one key problem: the series’ poor sense of humor.
To be honest, Your Lie’s slapstick comedy almost stopped me from watching the series when I first picked it up. “But Kita,” you might say, “you’re absolutely fine with the slapstick humor in other series.” True, slapstick can be absolutely hilarious when it’s used correctly. But it can also hurt a series when it’s overdone and/or doesn’t suit the context. (Looking at you, original Rurouni Kenshin anime.)
The reason it doesn’t work in this particular series is that Kousei was abused. When you’re dealing with a sensitive topic like this, it’s in bad taste to choose slapstick as your mode of comic relief, especially when the one being smacked and hit in the head with softballs (to the point of bleeding that oddly-realistically doesn’t go away the instant after the comedy moment is over) is the abuse victim. This DOUBLY fails when the potential love interests are the most frequent offenders. How can I get invested in the romance plot when I don’t believe that either of the girls treats him right? In this case, my disinterest in the romance aspect worked for me since it softened the blow of the tragic ending. But I don’t think that’s what the author was going for.
What do you think? Have you seen other series that were sabotaged by their humor? Feel free to share in the comments.
The "isekai," or "another world" sub-genre has gotten a lot of harsh criticism recently. The problem is that one or two tropes inundate modern isekai -- video game worlds/mechanics and reincarnated with modern knowledge/technology. Seasonal anime lineups and manga releases are oversaturated with "reborn into a fantasy world with x technology" or "stuck in a game" titles that don't have much unique content to offer and rely on gimmicks. So, people are getting tired of them. I've even read that publishers and hosts of contests are growing weary of the genre.
So, what, do we boycott isekai? If you really think about it, stories where the protagonist is whisked off to another world are as old as the fantasy genre itself. Some famous examples outside of anime are The Chronicles of Narnia (one I haven't read personally) and The Never-ending Story. Anime and manga examples from before the craze caught on would include series like Fushigi Yuugi (another I haven't read/seen personally) and Digimon. These titles and their popularity show that there are a lot of ways to write an interesting and engaging "other world" story. You've gotta have more than popular tropes and gimmicks; you've gotta have a good story and cast.
Before you write off the whole sub-genre (or start raising your eyebrows at your friend who likes it) read up and find out which isekai series actually have solid writing to support them. You might find a hidden gem or two.
What are your thoughts on isekai? Share in the comments!
