Review of Sing "Yesterday" for Me
Sing Yesterday for Me was an anime out of my usual watching genre, with it being a much more mature and subdued story focusing around our 4 main characters (but really 3 IMO). Starting with Rikuo stuck in his dead end part time job he's resigned himself to, the conflict most of the story resolves around starts when he chances upon his old college crush Shinako and another girl, Haru, who is interested in him. The story follows the relationships of this often awkward love triangle as each character struggles with both romantic and personal issues. Story: The story is in a slow burn style withepisodes giving small hints of progress for both the personal issues of each character and the "main plot" of the love triangle. The characters make realistic decisions that are sometimes frustrating but give a solid impression of how they feel in their life. The biggest problem is the ending, where the first half of episode 12 feels very much in line with the rest of the series but the second half seemingly comes out of nowhere and could have used a less sudden decision by Rikuo. This may be partly influenced by the false impression that there were going to be 18 episodes (later determined to mean 12 actual episodes and 6 extra scenes), so perhaps it will grow on me.
Art:
Not much to say here, but in a good way. The whole show has a more mature vibe and the art matches. The characters have simplistic art designs that fit in with the world and never look out of place. I won't pretend to be an expert art critic or anything so I'll just say it looks nice and doesn't clash with the story or take me out of the experience.
Sound:
The episodes are very quiet in terms of music, and that's only exemplified by the lack of an OP for the show, replaced by a simple camera shot of an in universe object and an episode number. Surprisingly it doesn't subtract from the anime, and the few times the music does come in help set the mood very well. The ending themes are also great, with number 3 being my favorite.
Characters:
The characters are the foundation of the anime, so it's a good thing that 3/4 of our main characters are good. Shinako is often frustrating but I can't say I didn't relate to her and her fear of moving forward at moments. The same goes with Rikuo's hesitation to put himself out there and actively pursue a career or his love interest. Haru doesn't have as obvious a mental block as those two, so she often is the one moving the plot forward, and her dedication to Rikuo is admirable, if not perhaps a little misguided. Rou on the other hand is the theoretical 4th main character, but it's hard to like him for most of the series. He gives off a constant air of feeling entitled to Shinako's attention. He has one, maybe two episodes where his problems are on par with the rest of the cast, with the rest having him being almost annoying whenever he's on screen. The other side characters work well within the plot. There are two episodes back to back that introduce a side character and then dismiss them by the end of that same episode, but they work because of how they influence the main characters, forcing further development of both the plot and the main characters emotions.
Overall: 8/10
I was lost on how to rate this show for most of my watch time with it, so the overall score may change as I mull the show over more. If you enjoy stories about characters and the slow burn of some plots i could definitely recommend this show; but it would be tough for me to recommend it to someone who doesn't already have an interest in one of those two things.