Review of Tsukigakirei
The anime had the kind of simple, yet romantic story plot as others may say it does. While others may simply call it puppy love. The plot had a consistent pace with noticeable side characters who helped developed the story even further. For an original work, this anime had me invested in the story, its characters and whatever conflicts that may have arose throughout its journey. The story had a consistent pace for this 12-episode anime. What I loved about this anime was the insight into the lives of each respective male and female lead. Whether it be the interactions with their respective family, the interactionswith their groups of friends, the messages between one another, or minor glimpses they have of each other. This is coming from two characters who I would consider fairly shy and kept to themselves to where those glimpses have so much meaning when paid close attention to.
The art had a rougher animation where you can see the outlines of the characters, but not horrible to the point of being unable to watch. What I found interesting was the coloring as it reminded me of Your Lie in April where they had a streak of white down their face to show light shining onto their faces.
The sound were simple and enjoyable. They were fitting to the story and their scenes. Some of my favorite sounds were the surprised sounds of the characters such as Akane's "Ehhh?", or Chinatsu's upbeat voicing when she pops into the scenes.
The side characters were entertaining to watch despite not having as much screen time as I would hope. However, what may make up for this is the gags at the end of almost every episode. These gags helped the audience have more insight into the kind of personalities of these characters and personally, I love side characters as they make the story feel like a bigger world than a story between just two characters.
This anime brings a level of enjoyment like those who watch or read fairy tale related stories as most of us might have experienced during our childhoods. No doubt there will be conflict, there will be happy moments, and there will be emotional times. This anime did an excellent job in portraying these moments within the lives of the characters in a somewhat realistic sense. Also, one of the strong suits of the anime is the use of their silent moments, the nonverbal actions. These moments can be seen in the character's facial expressions when speaking through the interesting use of "LINE" to which I believe is their method of sending messages. It is through these layers of moments that the anime achieves the score I ended up giving it.
Overall: The anime was enjoyable, and I would be interested in re-watching. This anime is one of those gems for a light-hearted romance animes. There were moments to where I was squirming in my seat, shouting at the characters saying things like, "What are you doing!", "No! You better not do that!". I especially recommend this anime to those who like Ore Monogatari. Despite not having the monstrous feats of the male lead from Ore Monogatari, the romance between the main characters leaves the sense of a heartwarming emotion inside you. Also, for those who made it this far into my review, thank you reading through the entirety of this review as this was my very first review ever on MAL.
Score: 9.1