Your Lie In April/ Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso Review (No Spoilers)

Life is a series of moments. And you are in love with them all. Is that why you sparkle the way you do?

Being inspired is really important to me. And when that feeling goes a little dim, or when I don’t feel the familiar fluidity of thoughts, I know that I need to do something to recharge my mind. Or in simple terms, find a muse.

So when this weekend rolled around, I told myself that instead of more writing and planning, I was going to do the complete opposite- I wasn’t going to do anything.

Yup. You heard me. I wasn’t going to do a thing. I was going to get bored out of my mind and let something hit me square in the face. Or so I hoped.

And God, did it ever.

Naturally, I gravitated towards anime. I wanted something short (like 25-40 episodes) and I had a subconscious list of things I wanted to watch. So I reached in and this anime came out.

Your Lie In April, or Shigatsu Wa Kimi No Uso

Sighs. And it took my heart away.

(P.s. its Spoiler Free! You are welcome! :)

Snap Summary: Kosei Arima is a piano child prodigy. His mother, who taught him everything he knows, was a strict and merciless instructor. After she passed away, Kosei found it difficult to play the instrument again without breaking down in between. Without music, the only thing he knew that defined him, he claimed that his world became monochrome and devoid of color.

And then comes in a free-spirited girl-Kaori Miyazono, who changes his world. An eccentric, fun-loving violinist who teaches him to break free from his inhibitions and fear of the piano, and finally play to his true talent. She teaches him how to live life again, enjoying the small moments, overcoming your fears, and basking in the support and love of the people around you.

The subtitle of this anime is: I met a girl under the full-bloomed cherry blooms, and my fate had begun to change.

Of course, I am not going to tell you about the ending. Or why the title is called Your Lie In April. Because I want you to watch it and feel as much about it as I did.

Please note how lyrical the quotes are, and how much depth has gone into translating them with such vivid words. I am incredibly thankful to whoever managed to lyrically translate the anime, making the subtitles so much more meaningful. I think that made the anime so much better and heart-warming. 

 So, without further ado, here are ten things (and quotes!) I learned/ loved from this anime.

1. “She makes me feel like I am strapped onto a roller coaster. I am laughing and crying all at once. Just by being around, she has taken my monochrome world and filled it with color. She is like a firework. Glowing radiance into the night.”

2. It’s ohkay to feel like you don’t know what to do with yourself anymore. Everyone has been there. But giving yourself time to grief and falling down a spiral of no return are two very separate things. Don’t tumble into the darkness of grief, give yourself the break and rise back up again. You don’t know what talents within you are waiting to be discovered.

3. Having competition can also be a good thing. It teaches you to be on your toes and always up your game. In fact, competition means you are doing something right to have people see you are a positive force to be reckoned with.

4. “Maybe there's only a dark road up ahead. But you still have to believe and keep going. Believe that the stars will light your path, even a little bit. Come on... Let's go on a journey!”

5. Sometimes, all you need to break your tunnel vision is to realize how fortunate you are to have the people around you who love you and support you. The ones who really matter are the ones who don’t leave you no matter how hard things get.

6. You never know who you may meet, and who might just inspire you to look at the world a whole lot differently. Keep an open mind, wear your heart on your sleeve. Live in the moment and cherish the individuality of whoever comes your way.

7. “A lump of steel, like a shooting star. Just seeing the same sky as you make familiar scenery look different. I swing between hope and despair at your slightest gesture, and my heart starts to play a melody. What kind of feeling is this again? What do they call this kind of feeling? I think it's probably... Called Love. I'm sure this is what they call love.”

8. Learn something from every circumstance. It may be hard, but adversity is a great teacher. Learn something from every person you meet, for you do meet them for a reason.

9. People come into your lives for a reason. They teach you something and then if they are meant to stay, they will. Or perhaps they are meant to move on and teach something to someone else.

10.  "What did you have in your heart? What was your inspiration?"

"I had you."

Can we please take a moment to ‘Aww’ at the last one? 

I don’t know if it’s just me, or is it silly to feel all sorts of things about something as ordinary as an anime. But this anime did it for me. It was beautiful, it was soulful, it was poetic and… it broke my heart. I felt something I haven’t felt in a while. I was sad, but I was also inspired.

Can something good come out of something so painful? I guess it can.

I suppose when your heart breaks once, you aren’t scared of protecting it from happening again.  And again. You let yourself feel everything there is to feel about something and if that breaks your heart in the process then, I guess it was worth it. You learn to pick up the pieces every time and build something new and beautiful from it. You learn something from it. Something that helps you grow unlike any other experience you might ever have.

So, thank you anime, for bringing back a good feeling. An enriching feeling that left my heart a little heavy, but made it all the more full again.

Thank you for reminding me that heartbreak can be a good thing. It can shake up the dark depths of your soul. The pieces you may call broken might just be a Kaleidoscope of things just waiting to be found. Ready to form beautiful patterns of color, unlike anything you have ever seen before, bringing a little bit of sparkle back into your life.

Almost like magic.

May you find something that helps colors your world,

NikiJads :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the image properties above. All rights and artwork are reserved with the original owner/company and publisher.