Review of Tsukigakirei

“People exist for love and revolution.” - Osamu Dazai 🥇 9/10 At first glance, Tsuki ga Kirei might look like a simple love story of middle-school students, but this show has something more than just a romance story to offer to audiences. Watching Tsuki ga Kirei is like becoming a middle-schooler once again, but this time in Japan, giving audiences a chance to experience such a beautiful culture of Japan. 🎬 Story - 7/10 The story is mainly about a relationship between a shy novelist introverted boy and an athlete girl, set place in Japan, mostly in middle school. The story is simple, not being too plain. Unlikemany other shows, the story of this show seems to be based on reality, trying to be most realistic as possible. By doing that, the story risks being too plain, however, it actually went well. Despite having calm and slow storytelling, it was not boring at all. I love how small details are being focused, the story is also being spiced up by Japanese culture, erasing almost all of its plainness. Throughout the story, there might be some irritating moments, but they ended well, so I did not mind. As for the ending, I am pretty satisfied, however, it somewhat left a story hole there.

🎨 Animation - 8/10
Tsuki ga Kirei has a watercolor art style, which is nice, matching the calm mood and tone of the show. Overall pretty high quality, but the 3D model usage on background characters is being obviously noticeable, terribly ruining the rest of the art in some scenes.

🔈 Sound - 10/10
Simply amazing and stunning. The opening and ending suit the overall mood and tone of the show, as well as insert songs, having an impact on audiences. Soundtracks are also done very well.

🕶 Characters - 10/10
According to the story, the concept is trying to be as realistic as possible. Let’s start with the character design, characters are designed to be simple, almost plain, without fancy hairstyles or colors (except Roman, probably intentional hair dyeing), which follows the concept as being realistic. Despite being plain, I find almost no character confusion.

Character personalities are understandable, as there is no reaction exaggerating. Happiness, shyness, nervousness, anger, sadness, all seem real. Some people may dislike how shy and quiet characters are, saying that boring and would not work in a relationship, but that is what I liked. It seems real, getting to see how that would actually work out.

Character development is surprisingly good. Despite having a slow storytelling, character development is greatly recognized. The relationship between characters is getting developed throughout the series without rushing. Furthermore, not only the school and romance side of characters are being told, but also their family, activities, interests, basically their personal life.

Lastly, supporting characters are also not being too bland, at the end of each episode, also in Tsuki ga Kirei Special, comedic shorts about supporting characters are included, giving a feeling that they are not being left out.

🎉 Enjoyment - 9/10
I enjoy literally almost every moment of the show. Even though there were some irritating moments, but they later were followed by somewhat satisfying ones. Things I enjoyed the most were art style, insert songs, Japanese culture, and how realistic the show is. What I did not enjoy were some cheap-made 3D character models and a hole at the ending. However, those flaws were almost nothing compared to the things that this show has to offer.

📌 Recommendations
Since this show contains many obvious characteristics of Japan and Japanese culture, it is recommended to at least understand some of the Japanese cultures prior to watching this show, especially about love, or the show may leave you confused. Lastly, if you are looking for a non-comedic romance anime, then I recommend this anime. Enjoy!