Review of Tsukigakirei

Wonderful little series, very sweet and full of charm and likeable characters, No-one is mean, everyone has their strengths and flaws and pulling off a romantic drama with two introverted leads is some achievement. Art style is distinctive and very easy on the eye, even if the animation itself is somewhat uneven in quality throughout the series, and when the CGI extras appear at certain points in the story then they are really jarring to look at. Sound design and sparing use of music are terrific throughout, as is extremely strong storyboarding and shot composition, although a reliance on framing and nonverbal cues lead to missing keydetail and character dynamics. This is one show that gets better on rewatch, as it's a more nuanced story than it initially appears.

For a series that largely avoids drama, a surprising amount of narrative tension is built at key points, and although a lot of the usual tropes common with this type of show are present they are very well handled or even cleverly subverted in ways that make sense within the overall narrative.