四月は君の嘘 (Your Lie in April) is an anime-adaption of the manga series written and illustrated by Arakawa Naoshi (新川 直司). It spans two cours, and weighs in at 22 episodes of 25 minutes each (total viewing time, just over 9 hours).
四月は君の嘘 centres on romance and drama with a hefty serving of classical music, wrapped up in some very nice animation, indeed. It is a very adult story about four teenagers and the people around them. By ‘adult’, I don’t mean that it contains sex, drugs, or violence, or indeed anything that might warrant censoring, but that the story conveys the thoughts and emotions of its characters frankly and without shame, in a fashion usually reserved for mature audiences.
Unlike many anime-adaptions of manga, this series forms a full and complete story with a definite conclusion.
The Setting
The setting is present-day and real-world, set in Tokyo in the region of Nerima City. The setting is rendered faithfully – though just a touch more colourfully than the real thing.
Trigger Warnings
Hospitals, chronic and degenerative illness, domestic violence (parent/child), contemplation of suicide, neurosis.
That’s a fairly powerful cocktail of triggers for some people, and they are brought to you quite vividly, so be warned.
The Story
The story features four main high-school-aged characters. Arima Kosei is an insecure, haunted boy, who was a piano prodigy as a child, but who can no longer play due to psychological trauma. His mother passed away from a severe, degenerative illness (likely Muscular Dystropy), and he lives alone in the family home. Sawabe Tsubaki is the girl-next-door and Kosei’s oldest friend. Watari Ryouta is their mutual friend, an athletic boy who overachieves at sports, and romance. Together, the three of them have a comfortable and familiar friendship.
Then this relationship dynamic is disrupted by Miyazono Kaori, a vivacious violin player who confesses her love for the sporty Ryouta, but cannot conceal her interest in Kosei, and tries to push him to return to the piano and play again.
Others will get swept up in the vortex surrounding these four youngsters as they search for meaning, for love and for themselves, and we’ll hear a lot of beautifully-played classical music.
As to what the titular “lie” is – that is revealed at the end, though you might be able to guess what it is sooner. Don’t sweat it, though. Just get swept up in the tale.
Notes and observations
Tissues are key. I cried a lot through this series. A whole lot, and on the off-chance that it isn’t just me, you’ll want to have some handy. The characters cry a lot too – they could probably do with more tissues as well.
The colours in the first episode are somewhat muted, but the whole series becomes significantly more colourful and vivid after that, which complements the distinctive art-style and character-designs very well indeed.
A quirk of that style is that the sides of Kosei’s glasses are transparent when his head is side-on, so that you can see his eyes.
Drama, drama, drama. This is indeed a drama series, though it is by turns heart-warming, hilarious, horrifying and depressing. It is a roller-coaster about music, underscored by music.
Recommendation
Don’t forget what I said about tissues. 四月は君の嘘 is an emotional roller-coaster coming-of-age romantic drama, particularly for lovers of classical music, and I looked forward to each and every episode, while sometimes simultaneously dreading the emotional ride to come.