Review of Tsukigakirei
I actually didn’t intend on watching this initially, nor was I even aware of it when it aired. But after watching Just Because! and really enjoying the type of story it told, I went to the recommendations tab for shows that were similar, and Tsuki Ga Kirei was not only what users thought was the most similar, but was also a show that aired in Spring 2017, so I decided to pick it up and watched on a flight back to the UK. Lets just say, it was the best flight I’ve ever had in my life at that point. The show follows two protagonists, aboy named Kotarou and a girl named Akane. The show is mainly about the relationship of these two protagonists who and their time during their final year in middle school. In it, we see their meetings, interactions, and growth with their fellow classmates. It’s a show about that time in middle school where you begin to find yourself, your purpose, and others to care about. They go through different stages of growth and learn different lessons as they change, dealing with relationships with themselves as well as others in one of the most wonderful romantic coming of age stories I’ve ever seen.
Story: 9
In the new Japanese semester that begins in Spring, the cherry blossoms bloom a beautiful pink hue. In the location of Daisan Middle School, where the feeling of a new start and a new stressful school year can be felt all around. In this time, a boy named Kotarou and a girl named Akane are introduced, and are both pitted into the class of Class 3-1. We quickly learn that they are introverted by nature, but also have a number of friends and family members that support them. After school, they run into each other at a restaurant and meet face to face due to a number of coincidences. After their initial awkward introduction, they are initially a bit trepid from talking to one another. However, due to curiosity and certain feelings they may have, they eventually get to properly get acquainted with each other, and become new friends that often message each other on LINE.
The show then follows these two characters as our protagonists, and their final year of high school together. After their fated meeting, they then develop their relationship, bit by bit, learning more about themselves and each other while gradually building their bond step by step. They are easily the main driving point of the story, as this show mainly focuses on the relationship of these two protagonists, and their time during their final year in middle school. In it, we see their meetings, interactions, and growth with their fellow classmates. The show is a slice of life romance and coming of age show about maturing and change, as this is because it’s time where most teens have to break out of their shells and begin to find themselves as well as start planning their life.
Something I want to bring up about the show’s tone, is that it’s heavily grounded in realism. What do I mean by that? It’s simply that the show is extremely realistic, where no characters feel overly fictional or the plot doesn’t have extra drama or exaggeration. It’s grounded in a realistic scenario with views that reflect such. The interactions between characters and the multiple events that are really similar to that of real life, and due to this, the things that happen are really tangible. The plot in general, as well as another factor, makes this show very easy to both understand and emphasise with.
The reactions and plot points in it feel like an ideal, yet real story about the relationship between a boy and a girl. It may feel a bit romanticised in a way, maybe with the main pair acting too innocent for the culture of modern age. But I see this show as being able to be a bit idealistic with this take, yet at the same time, able to capture the feeling of natural teenage love and romance, through taking that ideal golden pathway to happiness. Regardless, I argue that the show overall still remains grounded to earth despite this, and feels genuinely real throughout.
Art: 8
The art is unique for an anime, upon first seeing it, you might think that it’s a more simpler style without too much to talk about, and in some areas, that holds true. The characters are mostly simple, with mostly average, simple designs without a lot of facial detail that don’t make them stand out from one another. The characters themselves take a minimalistic design approach, with simple colors and designs that do not stand out from the crowd. In fact, with the exception of Roman, don’t expect a lot of wacky anime hair colors that most other anime may have, because this show does not do that very often. Even our own two protagonists look just as bland as the rest of the cast, and would blend in perfectly in a group picture without standing out. However, this simpler and normalised take on the character designs, helps them feel even more realistic overall as they feel like normal humans. This makes the immersion more convincingly real in the end, which is something I appreciate Feel doing.
However, upon closer inspection, you’ll find that the art does have considerable detail when it wants to, specifically in the backgrounds. The art overall is reminiscent of a watercolor drawing, not always the most consistent, but it’s pastel colorscheme and it’s shading allows things to feel pretty despite this. It’s a style that takes a bit to get used to, but you can really learn to appreciate it over time. Animation itself for the most part is simple or minimalistic, as this is not a show that really requires any insane movements or such. It’s just a simple story above love and finding yourself, and thus it stays normal enough to accomodate that tone. However, some may find this a bit off-putting, as the characters and background have different art style philosophies, some may find that the styles clash a bit with one another. I certainly did upon watching the first episode, and I’m sure others could find gripe with it as well.
There are two aspects of the art style that I could consider a negative, one which I think is mostly objective and brings down the art a mark. First of all, is the shading. You’ll quickly notice that the shading style of the characters also take a minimalistic approach, and instead of having lots of hues and colorations to make something look more realistic, the show sticks with it’s minimalistic art style, and only has two or three shades for a certain area. You’ll find large blotches of one color in an area, especially for the characters, which is what gives the show it’s minimalistic art style impression. Feel also decided to put areas of white on the characters in the show, which is done to replicate the reflection of the sun or light while remaining with the minimalistic art. Needless to say, that white sometimes breaks the illusion of the character models, and could look really off to some people, I personally got used to it pretty quick, but it is something to take note of.
The actual problem with the art though is the sparing use of CGI animation they used in certain scenes for people walking, mostly background characters or extras. I get it, budget is a thing and they needed to save it, and animating tens to hundreds of characters is difficult with 2D animation. But frankly, the 3D animation in this is no Land of the Lustrous. It looks absolutely awful and sticks out like a sore thumb on the 2D backgrounds. There’s no defending it, it looks bad and feels extremely off-putting. Even the animation itself is robotic and stiff, it’s like they didn’t even try to animate those parts and just made them all follow a pre-done walk cycle. It sucks, and I doubt most people can ignore it.
Sound: 8
The sound of the show is quite normal itself. The sound effects aren’t super stylised or need to be brought attention to, they’re simple and do the job, nothing big here. What does need to be brought up are the OSTs and tracks. The OST captures a feeling of elegance and beauty, especially with it’s piano or woodwind tracks. Some tracks convey an air of mystery, while others cary an air of peacefulness and satisfaction. None of the songs here are blood boiling or exciting, like the show, it’s just a peaceful everyday tune, as grounded as the characters and life is.
The OST does an effective job of setting their scenes, and the use of piano is especially effective in touching scenes (as it’s always). In my opinion though, it's the vocal songs that carry the sound of this show, with Nao Toyama giving great performances in each one. The opening reflects the feeling of discourse and energy of being happy and enjoying your life with someone you love during the free teenage years, and against that the ending contrasts that with a slow, sweet melody. It felt heartfelt yet feels like it’s full of passion and true emotion, like love, and I’m sure that if you like this, you’ll be crying to this song by the end of the series.
This isn't even to bring up the insert songs, of which there are actually quite a handful for a 12 episode show, and yet each compliment the scenes they accompany so perfectly well. I still remember Toyama's cover of "Natsu Matsuri" used in episode 8...I teared up and it wasn't even the finale, that song perfectly complimented Kotaro's feelings and the intimacy of the moment, making it hit so hard and feel so warm.
Character: 10
This segment played a huge part in the show due to the nature of it, and I’m happy to say that Feel managed to deliver on this part. First off, as I’ve said before, the show is very realistic, and that especially shows in this part. First off, lets get the most important ones out of the way, our main characters Kotarou and Akane are absolutely fantastic, near perfect I’d argue. First off, they’re immediately extremely relatable to us from their introverted nature. They are characters that deal with their own lives and relationships in it, and worry about issues like embarrassment, peer pressure, and awkwardness around others. Their personalities, choices, and actions in the show aren’t exaggerated, and thus makes them feel like real human beings that are easy to understand and emphasise with.
Obviously at first, our protagonists are not immediately friends. They ran into each other by coincidence, and while they clearly showed mild interest or attraction to one another, they didn’t act on it instantly and avoided each other for a bit in fear of awkwardness or leaving bad impressions. However, they eventually meet again and slowly become acquainted with one another before becoming proper friends, and it wasn’t dragged out at all. Their growth from strangers to friends in the first two episodes alone felt perfectly done, without moments that were exaggerated, shortened, or prolonged. It felt like a realistic situation of two people meeting each other and becoming friends, and that’s the beauty of it. Their growth is extremely realistic without anything changed, making it easy to understand and feel their relationship develop genuinely.
Throughout the show, they keep growing together, eventually becoming an awkward couple, and strengthening that bond every episode. They grow together, and seeing their relationship with one another is adorable. Their relationship felt realistic, like if true love truly exists in this world, then their story would be a perfect telling of it. This makes it extremely easy to get attached to them, as their relationship was simply a lovely one. We as the viewers got to see it bud, bloom, and grow ever larger as the show goes on, and it all felt genuine. I seriously got attached to them as a couple, and related to it. The show managed to make me smile and root for them when I’d see their adorable interactions day by day, and it lead for some really cute and heartwarming moments.
That’s not all the show has to offer though, as the side characters are quite prevalent for a show that focuses mostly on it’s main characters. There are a lot of major, supporting, and extra, side characters and they all play their uses well. One great thing about them is that each of them have distinct, unique, and believable personalities. Both the friends of each of the protagonists, their families, and especially major supporting characters all are convincing with how they react and handle situations just like the main duo. They do sometimes exaggerate certain interactions in the minor supporting cast for comedic value, especially in the many shorts that the show has, but overall everyone just feels human, and that holds especially for the major supporting characters. Characters like Chinatsu, Tachibana, and even the parents to Kotarou are fleshed out, real, and have a solid semblance of likeable characteristics despite the focus not being on them most of the time. This is a really good thing, and it makes these extra characters feel even more likeable.
Enjoyment: 10
I have always been a fan of romance shows, but what I enjoy about it isn’t any drama, craziness or coincidences like a lot of romcoms like to do. No, the reason I love romance is to emphasise and care for the characters and their story of falling in love. A romance show that I enjoy simply needs to tell a tale of convincing love, one that feels natural, maybe fated to the point that it feels ideal. Regardless, watching certain characters fall in love with one another simply by being with each other over time is cute and heartwarming, especially seeing what they do once they become a couple.
Tsuki Ga Kirei delivered on that so goddamn well. The fact that the characters and story was written in a way that felt not only realistic but also unexaggerated was two big positives that kept me interested and feeling comfortable throughout the show. Watching the characters grow and develop through their final high school year through each other and other people was very pleasant to watch, and seeing the characters grow stronger and become more open with one another felt sweet.
The real seller for me was that the romance in the show felt very genuine, it started off as mere attraction, but as the pair grew more accustomed and used to one another, they begin to open up more, show care for each other more, and grow into a strong, loving couple that feels like it could last forever. It’s these types of romances that I gravitate to as they feel realistic yet are so perfect in a way that it almost feels hard to obtain in the real world. But unlike many romances in anime, it doesn’t feel impossible or too farfetched. It’s idealised, but it still feels like many people can obtain that ideal happiness, which is really pleasant to think about. The couple led for a plethora or heartwarming and touching scenes that made me feel happy and relaxed inside, and that’s why I love this show so much. It delivers exactly what I look for in a romance, without adding anything that it doesn’t need to, and that is why I feel like it resonates with me so well.
Overall: 9
Tsuki Ga Kirei is a beautiful show from beginning to end, at the very least I found it to be so. From the beginning, the show gently lets you get yourselves used to the characters enough to understand them and their life at the current point. Soon after you get used to them, you see the characters get used to their new lives and the new people that enter them. You’ll see Kotarou and Akane meet for the first time, and begin their relationship that develops immensely as the show goes on. They’ll meet and interact with friends from each other’s parties, and soon you’ll become acquainted with them as well.
The show’s main bread and butter is of course it’s main protagonists Kotarou and Akane. As this is a romance show, the show focuses on their relationship together as they grow together throughout the series. The characters develop in the show, yet it doesn’t feel like it’s outwardly development that happened due to supernatural circumstances, but instead just the growth of two teens finding their place in life and getting used to the people around them, while dealing with change. The couple in this show are both convincing and easy to emphasise with, and that truly lead to some really heartwarming and even tearjerking moments.
It’s not just heartwarming due to the romance alone however, the relationships our protagonists have with other characters like their family and friends also have their strong moments. Yet it all still feels realistic, tangible and relatable, and everything just allows for a very heartwarming, realistic come of age story. It’s so realistic that they constantly put in product placement for LINE! There’s even short, comedic little sidestories that happen by the end of every 2 episodes that adds some bonus entertainment should you be curious about some of the quirky interactions between the side characters.
Overall as a fan of romances that feel tangible and are easy to emphasise with, this is one of my favorites in the genre. I came into this show expecting thinking I’d like it about as much as Just Because!, as the recommendations on MAL were what got me interested enough to watch it in the first place. But I ended up loving this show so much more than what I expected. It captured the feeling of true love, the confusing nature of finding yourself at that age, and maintaining positive relationships with your friends. It captured the beauty of an ideal teen life for me, and that's a reason I emphasised with it so much. It got me to cry, and that’s a sign alone that I had an unforgettable experience with this. I highly urge any person to watch this, especially those who wants a relaxing warm romance. This is top of the trophy case, it was fantastic and gave me the best flight I’ve ever had.