Your Lie in April

## The Anime

### Soundtrack

Your Lie In April has some excellent openings and credits. The animation is standardly good, if that makes sense. The real highlight is in the music. The music feels like a product of its time, but it's still as fun as any other excellent romance anime opening. I especially liked the second opening, Nanairo Symphony. It's a fun song with a slight undertone of sentimentality. Wonderful!

I won't talk about the music in the show itself here, because I want to talk about it in the next section. But I will say that the music in the show is just as good as the music in the openings and credits. Each and every piece was played with such passion and emotion. It's a great soundtrack that fits the show perfectly.

### Thoughts

On the 2nd of April 2026, I woke up during the middle of the night to watch the last few episodes of Your Lie In April. It was such an intimate experience to watch an anime with nobody else awake in the house, in total silence and complete darkness. When I finished, my heart ached for Kosei and Kaori. If I had to choose the last anime I ever (re)watch, it would probably be this one.

Your Lie In April is a romance anime that made me cry. I had planned to watch this anime in April since the beginning of the year. I didn't expect how good every single aspect of this anime would be. You know, when I first downloaded this anime, I knew there was going to be a bad ending. What I didn't know was how emotional the 22 episode build up was going to be. This anime builds up the characters so well, not only just from the dialog but also from the music, which speaks to your heart. It's amazing.

The story looks deceivingly simple. When I watched it, I didn't feel the complexity at all. In reality, it has some of the most complex story beats out of all animes I've ever watched. At first, it seemed like it was going to be a Cinderella story with the competitions. Then, Kaori and Kosei failed together. It was then I realized this wasn't a simple romance anime. It was a tribute to the freedom of music. From then on the story developed into how music shapes the lives of musicians and the people around them. This show portrayed fierce rivalries, blossoming romances, simple admiration, and parental love all with the tools given by music. It's beautiful.

Your Lie In April is an anime I wish I had never watched. There is this teased storyline regarding Kaori's illness from the start. I knew it was going to hurt, but what I wasn't ready for what transpired. This show built up the characters so well, especially Kosei. He was a completely different person at the end. He was something, no, someone greater that didn't surpass the shortcomings of his past, but rather embraced it. This, of course, only made the heartbreaking ending even more agonizing. It was like being hit in the face right after eating the best cake of my life. I can't say it's an experience that I want to relive. Wow, what a distressing ending. I get how the characters have come to terms with it, but it's just so hard to let go, you know. I wish they could've reciprocated their love at the end.

Besides the main romance plot, there are also other storylines. I'm not gonna list them all, but just so the reader knows, they were all developed and resolved so beautifully. More specifically, the themes that this show brings up are so simple in writing, yet executed so elegantly. There's the theme of doing everything before you die, romances that weren't reciprocated, parental abuse and love, years-long rivalries, and most importantly, the freedom of music. It's not fair how good the story is. Some plots are so intertwined with one another, it just felt so smooth. Maybe it's because I binged it in under 24 hours, but anime didn't feel like the usual anime, with the 3-4 episodes focusing on 1 plot point. Obviously, it was structured like that, but it didn't feel like that at all. It was like the story just flowed so smoothly between the episodes. My 2 AM mind was blown. I don't know how it was done.

I'd also like to talk about the music. Your Lie In April is an anime that pays respect to its material First of all, there are obviously the competition and concert scenes. These scenes were animated so passionately. They didn't really use figurative imagery, aside from a few things. A lot of it was representative, which I loved. More than that, the way they characters played the instrument really makes you feel like a fly on the wall. It was so intimate, even though it's public. Of course, the scoring is what picks up the ante. Every piece was clearly played so well, and the nuances that were explained really were felt beforehand. It made the analysis seem natural. I also thought the pieces that were picked made a lot of sense. Not just in how they sounded, but also in the context of the story and the media itself. Of course, it was mostly Chopin, one of the greatest. Besides the music scenes, I also thought the scoring and the usage of music everywhere else was perfect. The score isn't really something you're supposed to admire, but in this anime it really felt inspired. I especially loved the Clair de Lune scenes. Those really put a spotlight on the characters, speaking as to what the piece can speak about. Overall, the scoring of Your Lie In April amplified the music aspect of the story. No, it was essential. There was no other way except to intertwine the soundtrack and the story together. Truly a storytelling masterpiece.

This anime also has one of the best final episodes. That final competition scene really hurt. Yet, it was beautiful. Kosei picked a really beautiful piece, and he played it so gently at the beginning only to burst with emotions at the end. It felt like a retelling of his story up to that point; about how he learned of the freedom of music. Man, and that scene in the flow state is a tearjerker. Incredibly passionate playing along with the heartbreaking animation of Kaori and Kosei's duet together really pulls on your heartstrings. The way they ended it was so elegant, too. Kaori died in the flow state realm in such an amazingly heartbreakingly beautiful way. She even wrote him a letter to show how grateful she was for him, and how much she really loved him from the beginning. It was horrible. I felt so bad after Kosei finished reading the letter. I couldn't cry anymore after that. Wow.

Thanks, everyone in this world who recommended this anime. At first, I thought I hated those people, as this anime broke my heart. I then realized that to not experience that agonizing ending would be not to start watching the anime at all. Your Lie In April is the most heartbreakingly beautiful anime I've ever watched. The passion it has for music is clearly felt in every frame, scene, and episode. It's a tribute to music and what it means for musicians. It's about how music speaks louder than words. Overall, I give it a 10/10 Gem-Gem. Truly, this anime is impossible to replicate. Keep dreaming, find your sound, and find who you're playing for.

Go on a journey.