Time: Your Lie in April

"We all need someone to kiss us goodbye."
-Marcie​

*sigh*
Where to begin with this one? Well, to start, I suppose I'll state a few things before I even tell you what I even thought of the anime as a whole:

For one, I was not spoiled by this, at all. Unlike another series that some bastard decided to spoil vital plot points in which I still yell at him to this day for doing so. Because of this, I am grateful no one decided to spoil this series for me.
For two, though I don't mind listening to classical music, I don't have a very keen ear for listening to music or its appreciation.

I guess there's not really much to get out of the way. So here we go: Your Lie in April.

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Story:

Now even though this is an anime based mainly around music, it wasn't necessarily the reason I picked it up. I had a lot of people telling me that the reason I should give it a watch is because it had a "tragic" feeling to it akin to Clannad and other works by Key that I'm a huge sucker for. It had plot twists about as noticeable to me as a strand of DNA and a rhythm (pun intended) to it's storytelling that made it a bit soap opera-ish, but not to the point where I would slam my laptop shut and walk away from it like a completely soap opera-ish series that I was forced to watch in the past which had plot twists about as noticeable as a pretzel. The only real complaint I can say about this series is that they sometimes use a bit of slapstick comedy during situations that are meant to be strictly serious.

Characters:

Now the characters of this show are pretty diverse and unique in their own ways from each other. You have the pessimist, the optimist, the tomboy, and the lovable best friend. Believe me, though. At first I started to pick sides and think "well, I like this character 500 times better than this guy", but over time I guarantee you will find at least some sort of connection between the four main characters and will most likely pick a favorite.

Audio:

Now before I talk about the music, I suppose I'll get the voice acting out of the way before I get to the bigger mention. The voice actors for this show are all well-cast and each of them shines in their own individual way that couldn't be described as anything less than marvelous. Unfortunately, for dub-only watchers, there is no current dub for Your Lie in April, but it has been licensed by Aniplex, so there may be hope for the future.

Now let's talk about the music, shall we? This really wouldn't be much of a review without talking about the music for the show, now would it? There are many adjectives I could use to describe this anime. Vibrant, magnificent, wonderful. But if there was any form of accurately describing this anime, it would be colorful. So colorful that I was even mimicking the characters' piano playing on my own keyboard, imagining what it would be like if I myself could play like that. Speaking of colorful...

Art:

In my opinion, the art of A-1 Pictures resembles something similar to Kyoto Animation, which, coincidentally are the same studio that brought forth masterpieces like Clannad, Kanon, and Air. But instead, A-1 Pictures has had a very high notoriety track record, producing anime shows such as Black Butler, Fairy Tail, Blue Exorcist, and Sword Art Online. If you were a fan of any of the aforementioned shows, I definitely think you would find the artwork and animation from this work appealing.

Verdict:

Honestly, when I first picked up this anime, I was a bit afraid of what to expect because of my lack of appreciation. However, with it rich story, diverse characters, vibrant art, and wondrous melodies, I cannot recommend this to you more than I already have. If you're a fan of music appreciation, you will most likely enjoy this anime even more than I have. And if you're a fan of emotional series such as Clannad and its Key counterparts, you will enjoy this as well, so long as you have the emotional integrity to endure it.

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If you'd like me to review a show, go ahead and comment down below and I'll see what I can do so long as it's not an extremely bulky series (Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, One Piece, etc.) ^_^

 

@Timekeeper A strand of DNA is a weird thing to compare something to. Why a strand of DNA and not say, a speck of dust?

 

A strand of DNA has twists

 

Does it though? It's just two alpha helixes wrapped around each other, so there is no twist so much as a constant rotation (BIOLOGY MAJOR MUTHA FRICKA*)
*I have been asked to tone down my language in the past.

 

Little side note: it was not to my knowledge that they are releasing a dub for this series. Here's the cast list:


Erica Lindbeck as Kaori Miyazono
Max Mittelman as Kousei Arima

Erica Mendez as Tsubaki Sawabe
Erik Scott Kimerer as Takeshi Aiza
Erika Harlacher as Emi Igawa
Julie Ann Taylor as Nao Kashiwagi
Kyle McCarley as Ryota Watari
Stephanie Sheh as Nagi Aiza
Wendee Lee as Saki Arima

Not sure if I wanna give this dub a try. Surprisingly I recognize a good amount of the voice actors on here with the exception of, well....the main characters Kousei and Kaori. And thankfully the dub is being done by Aniplex and not Sentai, so I won't have the overwhelming urge to kill the ADR director

 

Great anime!! Made me cry as much as I did when I watched Clannad After Story for the first time!!

 

I saw the dub on Netflix. To be honest, it was a bit hard to get into at first because the story seemed scattered but by the end of it, it all started making sense like a puzzle being put together without a picture reference. I'm not sure how well the sub version is, but the dub was done quite well. It kept me wondering what will happen next each time an episode was concluding. For me, it had a unique catch to it especially in how it ended.

 

I only watched the first two or so episodes dubbed. I thought they did a decent job, but I suppose I like the sub better since I watched it first.