Review of Tsukigakirei

I don't think I've ever seen an anime as realistic in its portrayal of first love than Tsuki ga Kirei. It absolutely nails it on the head in all the right ways, ranging from the awkward texting, even more awkward "post-confession" day, and steady growth of trust and comfort between the two parties. The way it handles character interaction and character growth are pretty much unrivaled when it comes to anime similar to it. How does it do these things so well? Well, it starts by knowing what it is and sticking exactly to that the entire time. It doesn't try to be anything morethan a simple love story between two tyros who've never been with someone who loved them back. This makes it truly effective at relaying exactly what it wants to say and how it wants to say it.

However, it's not flawless. While deliberately and precisely executed in its narrative, the art and supporting cast suffer in that they are both underdeveloped. In the art department, it's very clear to anyone who's seen quality animation that many corners were cut to save on cost; for example, extensive use of CG character models for background characters (and sometimes even foreground characters, believe it or not) is absolutely rampant throughout this anime and almost no measures were taken to make it look more convincing than what it is. Also, the scenery, while stylized, is clearly not hand-drawn or in high resolution. It comes out blotchy and blurry at times, particularly when it needed to be layered in order for characters to pass through the middle ground. The supporting cast is there at times for the protagonists to lean on but don't develop much as individuals at all. The character designs themselves aren't particularly interesting either, but this isn't a negative as this was clearly the intention to add to the already substantial realism.

Tsuki ga Kirei excels at exactly what it wants to, and that's crafting a simple yet beautiful and innocent love story that's presented and develops in a believable and highly realistic way. It does this through minimal spoken dialogue and scarce use of background music, particularly during normal conversation scenes. It gives the anime a sense of visceral unpredictability which runs parallel with reality. It does what it sets out to do and that's exactly why it succeeds so well, because it doesn't focus on making the story bigger or more interesting by throwing curveballs to keep the audience's attention. While it may seem mundane and boring to some, Tsuki ga Kirei is undeniably realistic and relatable in every sense in its portrayals of developing feelings and first time romance.