Review of Tsukigakirei

Tsuki ga Kirei is like an embarrassing flashback to those days in middle school where you wanted to grow up as fast as possible and do things all the cool adults did. Remember that first time you fell in love from looking at someone, but didn’t know what to do or didn’t have the guts to try it out? Yeah, Tsuki ga Kirei is just a reminder what should’ve or could’ve happened for all those with regrets from their younger days. Tsuki ga Kirei is everything I wanted Kuzu no Honkai to be, the characters are brimming withpersonality, the visual storytelling is off the charts, and there is more to it than just a love story. Each character has their own aspirations and there is substance to why they exist. I’m glad the show takes its subject matter seriously, because there’s not a lot of room for comedic relief and gags in a show trying to express how difficult young love is. Characters have insecurities and can’t explain why they feel a certain way to specific people. Tsuki ga Kirei does a great job showing how young people can make relationships work without needing a reason.

First of all, the story is basically what the synopsis is saying. However, that is just a hair of what Tsuki ga Kirei is trying to express. It goes without saying that we are going to see these characters mature, as they are in their adolescence stage. But just the cringy awkwardness of character interactions and difference in personalities depending on settings just show that the writers care a little bit more about portraying the life of adolescent teenagers taking the next step in life. Besides even showing the romance between our main characters, (which I think is its weakest link) the development each character gets leads to satisfying results. The show doesn’t hold back in regards to losing out. No doubt by the end of this anime, we see characters mature and become their own person. The process of getting to that point makes Tsuki ga Kirei different from other anime in the romance drama/ coming of age anime.

The characters are all full of life and are definitely the high point of this anime. The character interactions in this are what you’d expect from middle schoolers ready to get into their naïve “we will be together forever!” stage. However, it’s a joy seeing how characters think about other things other than this character or meaningless gossip. Of course, gossip plays a part in the story, but there isn’t anything overly dramatic where it forces an interaction like for example the main guy saving the main girl from girls talking about her behind her back. What we get are characters listening to what peers say and coming to the realization that it’s not a bad thing to fall in love with this certain someone. While it’s really cheesy, the portrayal of these real-life scenarios is what really makes these characters shine. There ends up being a love triangle in this Tsuki ga Kirei, but instead of the really cringy “let things flow” that anime does, the characterization really shows through these scenes. Instead of letting it go, characters resolve themselves to see it through to the end and it just makes me feel so bad because it makes me regret seeing these young kids do what I couldn’t (it also makes me feel great). Seeing every character go beyond their roles is what gave me the most enjoy watching Tsuki ga Kirei.

The visual presentation of Tsuki ga Kirei was really breathtaking sometimes. It’s use of angles and scenes with no words but animation created powerful scenes. Accompanied with the music, it really brings out the mood and atmosphere of whatever scene we’re watching. Of course, the animation itself isn’t that great, there are instances of awful CG characters and some sloppy animating of the main characters, but all can be forgiven because the most powerful scenes were the best animated. Also, the music really brings out the charm in some of the romantic scenes. It’s excellent how the animations and music mesh together and it’s almost rare nowadays to see anime express themselves like this.
I also really liked the skits at the end of the first 7-9 episodes, they were funny to watch and just that little bit of screen time makes me think of characters I would otherwise not even bat an eye to after they’re off the screen. They were also just a slight, but effective addition to the overall narrative Tsuki ga Kirei is going for, so I’ll accept them.

Side Note: too bad Chinatsu was the weakest link in all this.

All in all, Tsuki ga Kirei impressed me. The setting and age of the characters leaves the anime vulnerable to pandering, but Tsuki ga Kirei went above that and elevated itself above most romance anime by taking its subject matter seriously and not making a joke of it. The empathy I got from watching these characters struggle is what lead me to believe that the writers didn’t joke around when it comes to adolescent love. The satisfaction I got from watching characters talk out their problems and resolving themselves for hard decisions is what really made me like these characters. The plot also has decent substance without using that much exposition, as previously said. The directing was very good and projected the characters emotions very well. The overall package of Tsuki ga Kirei created a very enjoyable experience for me and proves to me that anime can still be expressive and creative in ways live action movies can’t.