Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso

[David75]

My guess is that somehow the 2 competitors will become friends/friendly competitors.
So he needs to fail enough to make them shine a bit and join the crew.
The downside to that is that Childhood friend and soccer boy would lose even more screen/story time and become even less important with regards to the Music anime theme.

[fireheart]

I never said he'd fall apart, but I still think he'll fail generally in the way I described. He's already gaining a lot of things whether he does well or not in this competition, he's actually taking a look at his competitors instead of staring at the ground and realizing they're all feeling the same fear. He's also standing for the first time on his own and as Kaori said even if you mess up you'll stand back up because he's a musician so I think this is more about him realizing that. In terms of story it's unrealistic to expect him to do well enough and overcome his trauma that fast which is why I think it'll be a repeat of the earlier performance which was a disaster in terms of the competition.

[Kraco]

In terms of story it's unrealistic to expect him to do well enough and overcome his trauma that fast which is why I think it'll be a repeat of the earlier performance which was a disaster in terms of the competition.

If this show is all about the trauma, then yes, but if it's only the beginning of this story, then not necessarily. His only problem is that he can't hear his own playing. Only but huge. It's such a strange problem that he could snap out of it quite suddenly. After all, it appeared extremely suddenly. With Kaori around, I'd say he already has all the keys needed. But, yeah, I very much believe this performance isn't going to go smoothly. When he snaps out of his unhearing, I'd prefer if it happened due to Kaori more directly, making him fall for her all the more. It would be quite boring if it happens during a competition play such as this.

[Buffalobiian]

The biggest hurdle for me in this show is that you can't hear your own playing. That's just weird.

[Kraco]

Episode 8 - HS






- - - - -- --





I guess it makes sense they would feel so strongly about Arima since they are still middle schoolers. Despite the fact the dude hasn't played for two years (publicly, as far as they know) and they witnessed the last performance that turned into a catastrophe and ended his career. Do they know about the hilarious performance in the violin competition? I don't recall if it was mentioned. I reckon not, or they wouldn't be taking him quite so seriously. The dude thought directly that he's not sure if he has caught up to Arima, or if Arima is now even higher above. The girl seems a bit different since she's not as much trying to catch up to him as she's trying to show that the robotic Arima isn't anything special.

Man, it's going to be both so sad and so funny when Arima gives a horrible performance. If he manages to play till the end I guess technically it could be mediocre, but for those two, and maybe others who know his name, they would obviously be expecting something grand, so mediocre would be the same as disastrous.

Still, I didn't actually foresee Arima being so affected by these other pianists. Did Kaori foresee this? I might have been highly dubious about entering this competition in his current condition, but in fact everything else but his own playing seems to be doing wonders to his mentality. I suppose I grossly and unfairly underestimated Kaori's plan.

[David75]

I wonder what we should be waiting for.
We already had a horrible performance where he was at his low and somehow got the will to fight back.
Since this is anime, anything between abysmal bad and heavenly good is out of the question.
So what is the way out?
Because I can't see Arima outperform those 2. He started playing again for what, 2 months since Kaori entered his life.
Even if he's a genius, I wonder if that would be enough. I do not take fairness into the equation, hardwork is not enough in a competition. But even a true genius needs some serious training. And I think that even if Arima suddenly is freed from his various schakles and he starts playing with all of his soul, mind freed of every doubt, he should'nt be able to overcome his lack of training.

[Buffalobiian]

I think he will end up playing well and emotionally. It might be from the start, in which case he might have a chance of winning the competition, or it might be after an initial stuff-up like last time. In that case, he wouldn't have scored well overall, but the other two rivals would know that Arima had reached a higher level.

The depictions of their past is confusing. Arima looks like he was 6 years old when he quit. It's hard to believe that it's only been a 2 year gap. It visually seems more like a 5-7 year gap.

I liked how the girl this episode was really emotional, explaining how she suddenly peaked when she wasn't as good usually.

[Kraco]

The depictions of their past is confusing. Arima looks like he was 6 years old when he quit. It's hard to believe that it's only been a 2 year gap. It visually seems more like a 5-7 year gap.

Yeah, it's pretty confusing. It feels wrong every time they say two years.

I liked how the girl this episode was really emotional, explaining how she suddenly peaked when she wasn't as good usually.

Only the last two years. Before that she was apparently competing for the second or third place with the blond dude whilst Arima always took the first place.

[Buffalobiian]

Only the last two years. Before that she was apparently competing for the second or third place with the blond dude whilst Arima always took the first place.

True, but that was because Arima was driving her so you could say that she was always emotional.

[Kraco]

Episode 9 - HS





- - - -- - -




Hmm... I think Kaori grossly, and fatefully, underestimated just how big a demon Arima is carrying on his shoulders. The mother really was a monster, no question about that. After these gruesome flashbacks, it's kind of a good question whether Arima really is a musician or if it's only what he has left, after everything else was literally beaten away. Sure he must have talent, but it's nigh impossible to say, after such spartan upbringing, if that's what he would have chosen for himself if given a chance. He simply had no other choice whatsoever and it did continue for a long time, apparently. However, the fact the curse now is stronger than his love for music does suggest he's not, at least for the moment, nearly as genuine a musician as Kaori believes. If he was, the curse wouldn't be so disastrous. Although that's only what I think. I have never seen outside of fiction people who would be too emotionally crippled to do the things they most love to do. A fear of public performances and such are a different matter, naturally.

I have no idea how the dude's going to break that curse he's so strongly adhering to. The fact it's so illogical only makes it harder. Before this ep I didn't realise it was anywhere near that bad and thus I thought it would be a simple matter of replacing the negativity of his mom's ghost with the positivity of Kaori. However, he had been driven by a basically negative force for as long as he had played. It's no simple matter.

I always find it damn hard to watch episodes of (semi-) realistic shows where the main character will perform something publicly and is likely to fail. Fortunately this ep was so broken by those flashbacks that my thoughts were diverted.

[David75]

Another ep with some fillers some data... and a cliffhanger cut.

I think Arima has music in him, the girl in red is the proof. It's after that first performance the monstruous mother did all of that.

I guess that now that he made mistakes, he can't win, so I guess he'll drown a bit and will surface again. Seems like we've been there.

Kaori now... somehow, I do not think it's a good idea to have another close woman with severe health problems for Arima.
It now feels like he'll live the same story all over again: play to please her and have her health get better.
Of course he's not a young kid anymore, still the idea remains.

[Kraco]

Kaori now... somehow, I do not think it's a good idea to have another close woman with severe health problems for Arima.
It now feels like he'll live the same story all over again: play to please her and have her health get better.
Of course he's not a young kid anymore, still the idea remains.

Yeah, it's a really cruel fate waiting for him. Maybe it'll turn out different this time: The death of the monster made him unable to play, the death of the angel will make him play so well that people will cry listening to it.

[David75]

And I don't know if we really need that kind of drama in the setting we've had so far.

[Kraco]

Episode 10 - HS





- - - -- - - -




Damn those Japanese. They are so formal that even when they realised how much he was struggling to overcome an obvious trauma or other sort of (musically) fatal problem (and some did know what it was), they didn't bother to applaud afterwards, despite the fact the last portion really drew them in so much they didn't even noticed the passing of time.

I hope Arima got rid of the ghost of his monster mother with this. Every time she appeared, I was thinking that Arima needs to go and kick her gravestone to the ground, and that she ought to be pretty high on the most hated characters poll this season. Even if it's just her ghost. Not that the living version was any better. As expected, thinking of Kaori helped him crucially. Kaori the Exorcist.

All in all I'm happy with how this was executed. It was realistic he failed, though he wouldn't have necessarily needed to fail so much he would get disqualified, but it could have gone either way. This way, fortunately, allowed him to return as a pianist, even if it meant he won't be evaluated, so it was certainly worth it. Above all, it was quite nice he didn't give a shit about the competition at that point anymore. He only thought of Kaori and apparently was happy he could play once again, which is naturally the most important thing.

[Buffalobiian]

I think he will end up playing well and emotionally. It might be from the start, in which case he might have a chance of winning the competition, or it might be after an initial stuff-up like last time. In that case, he wouldn't have scored well overall, but the other two rivals would know that Arima had reached a higher level.

BAM

That last scene before the credits made it seem like the only person who mattered was his mother, even though I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be Kaori. Tsubaki's all but officially out of the romance ring now. :'(

Oh, and he's playing for Kaori now, is he going to have another slump?

[shinta|hikari]

The title, people.

[Buffalobiian]

The you in April lied (was a lie)?

I have yet to form a solid opinion on this yet.

[shinta|hikari]

Shigatsu wa kimi no uso = April is your lie.

Obsessive pianist girl just mentioned how his playing is like April.

Kaori has a plethora of death flags.

[Kraco]

Kaori has a plethora of death flags.

Yeah, we even saw an arsenal of pills, quite unbecoming a middle school student. She clearly didn't pass out just for the hell of it, back then. Will she live till the end of the story, though? Or are we forced to see her death?

[David75]

She even mentioned she plays to leave something alive in people... (No, nothing sexual )