Review of Tsukigakirei

In an era where people continously gush about Serial Experiments Lain for being one of the most mind-boggling shows to ever come out of Japan, in an era where people all over the world jump from excitement when they see a new fight in Boku No Hero Academia, in era where people consider Rem from Re:Zero to be their ideal waifu, there's something that I always felt was left underappreciated. That thing was simplicity. Some look at simple shows and say that they're not making their minds busy, some say that they're not worth their time when so many excellent, fantastical adventures await, but for onceI want to give credit to a wonderful, amazing piece of animation that just followed every single step of how to create a great anime, and it did so to with the understanding of each of those elements and with the passion for a project that isn't as exciting as some would like.
Tsuki Ga Kirei is a show that could only be created through anime, as it is absolutely boring on paper and wouldn't sell anywhere else. With that in mind, it almost seems as if the people who created it wanted to prove to themselves and to the audience that simplicity can be an advantage. With pretty much every possible part of this series being handled with care and ingenuity, it shines much brighter than most anime with an original or a fantastical plot.

*A few spoilers included*

Tsuki Ga Kirei doesn't only tell a story, it SHOWS you a story. This is something that can usually be swept under the rug, but here the visuals are much more important the the written word. With a simple premise of "boy meets girl, he likes to write, she likes to run" creating melodrama and simple arcs wouldn't be enough. So the director decided that he will just tell you everything, and I mean every single thing, through visuals alone. As an original work, this was possible more than with most other series that are just adaptations of writtern word. Now, don't get me wrong, people speak, there are dialogues, monologues, everything of the sorts, it's just that most of the exposition for the world and the characters is done either through quick, short versions of those things, or entirely through the visuals and music.
The perfect example for this would be one of the little quirks of the main character Azumi. In his room, there's a a light on his ceiling with a little cord to turn it on and off. Azumi tends to punch it, but does so differently depending on his emotional state. He either does almost proffesional-like hooks when he's full of determination, playful jabs when he's in a happy mood, or throws in punches full of power whenever he's angry. This is only one of many examples of character presentation through the visuals, others include things like portrayals of happiness through uncontrollable random movement, lots of facial gestures during conversations, different body movement while being with different people, more energetic when with friends and more reserved when being with your loved ones, slowly devloping those into more expressive ones as the relationship goes on.

That's not the only thing however. Another one that I want to point towards is the quick shots that express a lot about characters, without the viewer even realizing it. As such, in one of the episodes, when Azumi enters his home we see his father polishing a gun, a hunting gun to be more precise. This immediately adds personality to a character that overall has very little screen time. You know he acts like a living being, by that I mean he has interests and does things on his own free time. In the same scene, in the background we see Azumi's mother washing dishes, we actually see her cleaning in different ways and caring for the home a lot. This allows us to safely assume that it's her daily work, that this is what she does for most of her time. So we can already create a pretty clear imagine of a daily life of that family, through those two or three shots alone.
This also happens often with the designs, like the interior designs for example. Remember when I mentioned Azumi punching a cord? Well, it still could be weird seeing him doing this one thing out of nowhere, but if you look closely, you can se a Muhammad Ali poster next to his bed. Turns out, he's into boxing, his quirk relates to something else other than just being random.
There's also minor things like the differences between his and his girlfriend's - Akane's - houses and rooms. Akane sleeps in the same room as her sister, but even then her side is extremely clean, even while studying, there are shelves full of cute things and bright colors all around. Azumi's room is more messy, but it's also darker. You can get a lot of information based on ones room they say, and here it's definitely true. You can come to many conclusions about both characters based on their rooms alone, such as "Akane likes girly things", "Akane has to have everything in the right place", "Azumi is messy" or "Azumi prefers to be left alone". All of those are true. Akane has her little pink squishy toy that helps her relieve stress, but she gets really confused whenever she loses it. Azumi's hair earned him a nickname "Curly-kun" for how messy they are, and when he studies his notes are all over the place, he also is in a little conflict with his mother because they disagree on what path he should take in the future, thus he prefers to be left alone in his house. It all clicks, doesn't it?

And don't even get me started on the wonderul directing. Seiji Kishi, you clever bastard! I have an entire list of all the scenes that I've found to be incredible, but I'm only going to bring up a few to prove my point.

1. First one comes from episode 7, where Azumi was searching for Akane in an amusement park. This consists of a few shots, the trick is, we see Azumi moving, but every time the background changes, he is in the same place on the screen. It symbolizes how despite him searching, he's pretty much in the same place, and while the director could've shown multiple angles, the transitions feel magical and special when he does them this way, not to mention that they are less tiring to look at and don't require to draw more with an already limited budget.

2. Second comes from two episodes, episode 6 and 9. In those episodes, we see two of the last track meetings for the school club that Akane goes to. In episode 6, there's a lot of conflicting feelings inside her, mostly because she has to choose her boyfriend between Azumi and her track club leader Kira. This uncertainty is reflected mostly through three things: facial expressions, character positioning and lighting. Of course it is obvious that she looks troubled, but she does moreso when she realizes that her close friend Chinatsu also has a crush on Azumi. When they both walk into the arena, Chinatsu stops in the part where she's lit up by the sun, and stops Akane to tell her this when she's in the dark. The next shot we see them both, Chinatsu is practicing her running start while Akane is doing practically nothing, once again, in the shadows. Next thing we see is them preparing to start on their respective blocks, Akane breaths in and the voices of the crowd start to become quiet. The race starts and the last thing we see is Chinatsu passing Akane. As we learn later, she lost. Sulking in her defeat she sits on the stairs, once again, in the shadow as her track team leader approaches her from the right side (which is lit up of course) with an angry expression. During their conversation we slowly see how Akane's face changes into extreme despair and how Kira becomes more troubled when he notices. In episode 9 we get to see the club's last track meeting, but this time it's after Azumi and Akane confessed and have been going out for some time, leaving both Chinatsu and Kira filled with regret. This time around, Akane is in the sun for most of the shots, while Chinatsu is the one that's in the shadow. This already indicates that it's going to be a good run for Akane, and it is, in fact it's her record time! Through little subtleties this show creates an atmosphere and allows the viewer's subconsciousness to provide him with expectations. Remember, you may not notice it, but your brain always does.

3. And as the last one I want to bring up Chinatsu's point of view after she gets rejected (well, technically doesn't confess, but she sees Azumi announce their relationship for the first time). Two scenes especially come to my mind when I think about it. One of those is when Akane drives home on a train and gets a message from Chinatsu saying "I couldn't confess", and the already sad and melancholic music becomes slower and more distorted, the last thin we hear is a warning sound for a closing gate... I don't have to explain that, do I? Another one happens in episode 9, as we see Azumi leaving the track meeting, Chinatsu notices him as he's exiting, but through the whole time she sees him through the bars on the gate or behind a bush, this of course symbolizes how he's too far from her reach.

I hope that at this point you can get a good grasp on what this shows' directing visual-wise. There are many, many other shots like this, countless directing tricks that I didn't bring up here that you can find on your own. Perhaps this is what made this series so fun and exciting for me despite it being a rather slow burn. Characterization and exploration through such technical stuff is something that I'll probably never get enough of.

However, it's important to bring up that there are things make the presentation overall seem less impressive. Obviously, the time limits and such led to quite a few CGI crowd models. What's even worse is that they do end up dropping the frames in several scenes. Don't let that discourage you though! This show is much better visually than just that.

Tsuki Ga Kirei knows not only how to show using visuals, but also how to tell using music. I can't quite describe how well the tracks complement the scenes, as I think this is for each person to judge separately in this case, but I want to bring attention to the moments where the show pretty much turns into a music video. There are places where everything goes silent and the only thing you hear, is a song. It's used so that showcasing even more mundane things than usual doesn't feel as mundane, instead it feels magical, captivating, it's almost as if the characters do those things with some sort of grace that none of us see on a daily basis, despite doing the same things. This is another reason why I think this series wants to put simplicity on a pedestal of glory for everyone to witness. It almost glorifies normality.

The plot itself does suffer a tad bit from being so normal though. Despite the excitement that spotting small details brings, watching this show just for the plot can leave the viewer a bit bored, with all the exposition shots and longer scenes included. There's this aura of awkwardness everywhere the two characters go, it fits the social ineptitude quite well but can prove to be tiring.
Akane and Azumi are both introverts, despite having friends and laughing with them, they aren't as expressive and don't have the same presence as someone like Roman or Chinatsu have in their respective friend circles and both prefer to keep their private life to themselves. As such, the show relies heavily on their own awkwardness, cute scenes that happen when they interact, their small quirks and speech patterns. As they start to date, all of that changes into normality and finally into boundless love. It's a very natural progression that sells the image of the series as a show about adolescence and romantic feelings during that time. It asks questions like "should you truly commit to your first love" and "how much should you trust your partner". Most of the time, it ends on a positive note, because Akane and Azumi fit each other very well, they're able to overcome their hardships through each other's advice and simple, often short talks. Knowing that there's someone always waiting to listen to them, caring for their achievements and their losses and simply someone who loves them. Their relationship also allows them to notice what other people mean for them, Akane start to distance herself from her friends a bit when she notices that some almost treat her like just another gossip material, Azumi notices that his mother really cares for him despite his shortcomings, even if she treats him like a child at times. Their relationship keeps blossoming, and even with bumps along the way they keep getting stronger with it, no matter what others say. Each event does impact both of them in a way, they're just getting more comfortable with themselves and the people they're around. Simply put: They're growing up, leaving people who keep playing children with their silly relationships behind. Their love is pure, meaningful and precious and they both believe in it.

Another very interesting take that this show has, is it's view on romance in modern society. Akane and Azumi at first communicate mostly though LINE, which is pretty much their version of Facebook Messenger. They smile when they see new messages, get all excited because nobody can see them, send each other cute and funny stickers. It's not only charming, but shows how that the internet can be a place, where people who typically aren't communicative speak freely and do whatever they want in the meantime, keep being awkward while also socializing. Not only that, but at no point does it feel like it's trying too hard to appeal to the teen audience with it, it really seems like people who worked on this show write like this on an everyday basis. It never boils down to just pandering to a certain audience. I find this approach very charming. It's something that hasn't been explored too much, which, when I think about it, is pretty weird with all the anime about teenagers coming out each season. Well, at the same time, not many of those have characters as socially awkward as those two dorks.

That's really all there needs to be said about Tsuki Ga Kirei. It's an easy to understand show, but one that's very hard to comprehend the beauty of. It is simple, it embraces being simple, but it knows how to compensate for that on so many levels. It's like a reflection of the moon on a small pond, but if you lift your head you may be able to see the true image of it on the night's sky, start noticing the stars around it that compliment it and make it even more amazing than it already is. So As the Moon, So Beautiful lights up the dark anime sky with it's imagination, I am finally able to see how wonderful can it truly be when you just put the effort into making something. I won't be forgetting this image for a long while.

As always, this is purely my opinion. I highly encourage you to develop your own.