Tsuki ga Kirei.
I don't give out 10s easily. It takes a lot to get me to cough up a 10. My absolute favorite anime doesn't even have a 10/10. This one got a 10/10. Why? Well, keep reading, obviously.
Story: 8/10
This isn't higher because, really, the show isn't all that unique in what its story is, on paper. The two main characters meet and they fall in love, and eventually date. They face a variety of hardships along the way, and learn to overcome them together. It's very simple, but that's not a bad thing. I see far too many people preaching stuff for being unique, when really, they should be preaching stuff for doing what it wants to do, really well. Tsuki ga Kirei is an anime that is very simple, but its effectiveness is through the roof. It takes things that have been done before, and makes them work better than most anime ever manage. It takes situations that have been done to death, and puts a refreshing spin on them. Not even a unique, or new and daring spin, simply a realistic one.
Characters: 10/10
HUMANS! THEY ACT LIKE HUMANS!
Tsuki ga Kirei casts aside most typical tropes and cliches for its characters, allowing some really great moments between both main and side characters. It's the realistic angle that the creators decided to take that really makes these characters shine, and it is shown heavily throughout the show, to great effect.
So, the two main characters of a romance anime, in middle school, how should they act? Well, think about average anime school romances and you immediately have the wrong idea already. In Tsuki ga Kirei, the two main characters Akane and Kotarou are shy kids, experiencing love for the first time. So how do they get to know each other? Over text. And a large portion of the show has them communicate this way.
"That sounds like it'd be boring if they don't interact directly!"
But that couldn't be further from the truth. It's cool to see this anime take that angle of teen interactivity into account since JUST like real young teens would do, they're much more open and brave when texting due to that screen between the two of them. That simple idea of them knowing that they're not really right next to each other, and can take their time to think and compose messages, not to mention being able to take back what they say before they hit that send button, makes for some genuinely great moments between the two characters. Whenever the two of them would meet up, they'd be shy and awkward because they didn't want to say anything embarrassing, and really, you can more than likely relate to this directly: It isn't easy to chat with the person you have a crush on, especially if it's your first love. The contrast between their interactions when they're texting and when they're seeing each other in real life was incredible to see, and really lends all that much more impact when things do happen to draw the both of them together, especially when it takes more than just being awkward and shy in person to uphold a relationship.
If you grew up using a mobile phone throughout your school years, I'm sure you could relate to a lot of the reactions that characters have when they use THEIR phones. Hopping onto your bed, clutching your phone as you lay there, waiting for a response, or when your significant other says something cute you may roll around on your bed, grinning like a dumbass for no reason other than that you're happy. Tsuki ga Kirei goes above and beyond to make their characters truly relatable and realistic, without sacrificing any character depth at all.
This realism extends to side characters as well. You have the rival for Kotarou, a super athletic guy, which creates a love triangle of course. Kotarou see's that this guy has a thing for his girlfriend, so what does he do? He walks up, holds Akane's hand, and says that she is his girlfriend, and that she isn't available. What does the athletic guy do? He liked her, so he was naturally upset, but he accepted the fact that she was taken and he didn't know, and moved on with his life. This is an example of why how the show is so great at handling its characters. Anime has a tendency to delve into the trope where the protagonist isn't brave enough to say what needs to be said, regardless of how important it is. This is a technique used to build drama, and personally, I find it to be in poor taste, as it just leaves the viewer feeling rather annoyed. Tsuki ga Kirei simultaneously defused a love triangle trope, and a cheap way to produce bad drama, in a single, extremely simple way: just have the main character step up and say what needs to be said, because it IS just that important. Another side character is the best friend of Akane, and she has a crush on her boyfriend Kotarou. Another love triangle is formed! And the anime handles it brilliantly as well. The friend confides in Akane about her feelings for Kotarou, and asks for permission to tell him her feelings. For starters, this shows that Tsuki ga Kirei places true value in all of its characters. Akane's best friend isn't just a staple "best friend" for the sake of having one, they go out of their way to show that the two of them trust each other enough to even allow the friend to ask Akane such a sensitive question. It goes exactly as expected and Kotarou turns her down, but that's all there was to it. Akane's friend was clearly upset, but she knew it was coming too, she just wanted to get it off her chest. She remained Akane's best friend with Akane even comforting her after the fact, there was no needless drama that stretched the arc out for far longer than it had to go, everyone acted like a human being would. This interaction also doubles as showing how much Akane trusts Kotarou. She wasn't worried that Kotarou would leave her, she had utmost faith in him, and that's a thing that a lot of anime simply don't really get to delve into.
One final quick note, is the tendency of "show don't tell" that the show takes into account. One great example of this is Kotarou's room. He has a tendency to shadowbox his light switch whenever he gets excited about something, and most people would think that that's all there is to it, but if you look around his room, he has posters of Muhammad Ali around, a famous boxer. From that very subtle hint, you can see that Kotarou is a fan of boxing, despite the show never once bringing it up or saying anything. Another example would be Akane's sister. To the naked eye she seems to just be your average doting sister that doesn't want her younger sister getting into trouble with boys, but you have to remember that Akane's sister is a good few years older than Akane herself. She's gone through the experiences that Akane is currently going through, and is fully capable of being someone that Akane can rely on. Is the sister correct in her assumptions? Not necessarily all the time, but isn't everyone like that? The anime does this kind of thing quite a lot, so I suggest keeping an eye out for it.
Art & Animation: 7/10
The art is just good. Very pretty, gotta love those white highlights. It works well for the feel of the show overall, and while it isn't drop-dead gorgeous like Violet Evergarden for example, it absolutely gets the job done while also making itself stand out from the crowd. The backgrounds were gorgeous though, have a screenshot. The animation is average when it doesn't matter, and great when it needs to have impact, with all of the characters being very expressive.
My one issue with this show in its entirety is its CGI background characters, which were incredibly ugly. But such a minor detail being the worst I can think of is a little hilarious.
Music & Sound: 8.5/10
The music suits the show well, with insert songs at the perfect moments to really hit home with the feels. The opening and ending themes are simply fantastic, and even use the ED as an insert song for impact on occasion. The voice acting is also top notch, with characters being highly believable throughout. I cannot say the same for the dub however, at all. The dub is, in all honesty, absolutely terrible. Never watch the dub, and tell other people to never watch the dub too. My largest issue with this dub is that it completely destroys the emotion that the scene needs to have to make it so effective. When it isn't making a fool of itself like in that clip, the characters sound like tour guides, just going through the lines.
Effectiveness: 10/10
I may have accidentally splurged about some of this in the characters section, but that's fine, since the characters are what make the show so effective in the first place.
This show absolutely nails what it wanted to accomplish, no holds barred. It took what could have been a fairly generic romance anime, and turned it into something incredibly special by way of realism. Everything that the characters do is something that you could expect a real person to do, without sacrificing entertainment value. Are Kotarou's parents mean and want to separate him from Akane? No, he's being a dumb kid and they're looking out for his future, and while he eventually shows them just how determined he was and they let him do what he's working so hard towards, in the end they were still correct.
Something that causes a lot of romance anime to stutter or fail, is that they wait until the very end of the show to get to the real "romance" part of the romance, or never get there at all. This could refer to a simple confession and response from the other character, or a full-blown relationship, so on. Tsuki ga Kirei waits until the halfway point of the show for the characters to begin dating. Half the show to develop them getting to know each other, half the show to develop their relationship. All the while making us, the viewers, feel more attached to them. The confession itself wasn't grand, or overly dramatic, it was simple, and it happened naturally, which given the show's very clearly stated theme of realism, was very important. Many fuzzy feelings were had.
The finale of this show was incredibly well done, largely in part due to the credits of the final episode. I feel bad for people that missed it by skipping the ED out of reflex, but if you pay attention to the illustrations behind the credits, it reveals a great deal of Akane and Kotarou's life as their relationship powers through the good times and the bad, extinguishing that "but what happens next?" that a lot of anime leave viewers feeling.
Finally, branching off of credits, every episode has a more comedy-focused after credits scene (excluding the first and last episodes) where side characters got their own fill of development. This was a fantastic choice as it left room in the main show for the things that truly mattered, and didn't clog anything down as a result.
Overall: 10/10
I cannot recommend this anime enough. The way it handles its characters is absolutely amazing, and it brings forth a certain realism that anime very rarely offers. Any fan of the romance genre should find this one to be worth your time, and it will stick with you for many years to come.
Submitted September 17, 2018 at 08:57AM by Fanceepance https://ift.tt/2D1OBfZ
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