Review of Tsukigakirei

Simplicity is such a beautiful thing sometimes. It's often all you need to just relax after either a long day, or a difficult set of times. Combine simplicity with the ability to relate, and you have the fantastic Tsuki ga Kirei. ***Contains very minor spoilers*** I will admit, I didn't see the value of a show like this initially. Who would want to watch something so predictable, quiet and boring? Me. That's who. I was so mistaken by what it could be as nothing I see about TGK anywhere is clear about what this anime actually is about. For that reason, I'll explain. TGK is simply a story ofyoung love. Kotarou Azumi and Akane Mizuno are both 14 year olds at middle school, and through a chance meeting, their feelings for each other start to blossom. Again, that sounds extremely boring, but believe me when I say this - TGK is anything BUT boring.

The first four episodes are a bit of a slow burn to develop the characters' personalities and interactions. The slow pacing lets us really link with these kids as they laugh, study, talk, and generally just do what 14 year olds do. By the end of these four episodes, I couldn't help but keep thinking just how much I related to Kota, I genuinely thought he was a reincarnation of myself at the same age.

If it isn't obvious by now, the story isn't the strong point of this anime. It's a highly character based anime, which is why it felt so much more relatable. The character development was absolutely fantastic - Akane is a fantastic character that many people could relate to due to her quiet nature, while also being happy and outgoing with certain people. Kota is the same, in that aspect, and both have aims which aren't exactly too far fetched - Kota wanting to write and Akane wanting to get better at running. Even in the later half of the show, we see side characters get developed. While I won't say what I mean, their reactions and attitudes really reflected their ages and how people would act.

Besides the sometimes really jarring CGI, the production is honestly one of the most underrated things about this anime. TGK boasts incredible music and OSTs in addition to a really beautiful yet unique art style that stands out as better than most well known anime. Both the OP and ED songs are sung by rejection loving seiyuu Nao Touyama (voices characters such as Yui from Oregairu and Tomoe from Bunny Girl Senpai), and these songs fit this anime absolutely perfectly. In addition, the team even went out of their way to change the OP video as time progressed to represent what was happening during the entire anime.

Overall, TGK was a fantastic watch with characters that made me feel like I was part of the cast, beautiful music to set the mood and a comfortably predictable story that was pushed beautifully by the characters.

Story: 7/10
Art: 9/10
Sound 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Enjoyment 9/10

Overall: 9/10