Review of Tsukigakirei

This may seem like a cliche romance story. Well, it actually is, especially given how it is produced in this period when romance ideas have more or less been tried and tested and are getting increasingly banal. Nevertheless, the production value behind this Anime is what makes it stand out. The story is simple: Two Middle-School students fall in love with each other and experiences the ups-and-downs of first love. You can read more in the synopsis provided. As for the Art, it is commonly seen in other Animes as well, a close resemblance would be Girlish Numbers. I just wished they would pay more attentionto portraying characters on the side or far away though, as they tend to get slightly 'distorted' in terms of facial features. But, that does not discredit the entire series in any ways, just a personal preference.

What I love most about this series is its reference to Japanese Literature, one of my favorite aspects of Japanese culture. In fact, the title itself, is a giveaway: Tsuki Ga Kirei roughly means "The Moon is Beautiful", and is a translation made by Natsume Soseki, the father of Modern Japanese Literature and my favourite Jap Lit. author (I can write an entire essay on Soseki but one thing I can confess to liking his works so much is because they hold a personal touch to me and he is a masterful writer who can handle any perspective and literary setting. But that's for another day.) Soseki felt that translating "I Love you" to the common "Aishiteru" does not represent truly the Japanese romantic sentiment. In fact, it would prove to be too Westernised and forward, which does not represent at all the Japanese sense of reticence, encapsulated in their ideas of honne and tatemae. As such, Tsuki Ga Kirei is a series bound for numerous reference to Jap Lit. (Spoiler: Even the MC is a fan of Osamu Dazai, another Meiji period writer, who is unfortunately morbid and died at a young age.) So, it's nice how they choose to explore love using Jap lit.

Some may find the pacing extremely slow, especially the first four or five episodes, but to me, it just does exact the kind of vibe it wanted to show i.e the atmosphere of reticence and the virginal experience of first love. The music does well to heighten the close couple moments as well. All in all, it is a very heartwarming series and does well to showcase the Japanese sense of romanticism (This might sound quite exaggerated but the MC really resembles many Jap Lit especially Meiji period-Those "I-novel"-protagonists; He is terribly shy and incapable of expressing himself well. He keeps to himself most of the time.