Anime: Tsuki ga Kirei 145560

When attempting to define romance, a few notions come to mind: a feeling of excitement, a remoteness from the mundaneness of everyday life, or perhaps a quality of mystery. These are the qualities that litter the romance genre today. However, one cannot discount the impact that simpler techniques create; subtle changes in body language during an involving conversation, an alter in the pitch of a voice after an unexpected text, or the absence of any background music so that any impertinent buffer is removed at a crucial developmental moment. It is in these archaic ways that Tsuki ga Kirei manages to strike me as not just a school romance, but as a relevant and relatable tale of finding acceptance in one’s self. By adapting these aforementioned techniques, it is no wonder that Tsuki ga Kirei is seen as an excellently produced tale in the field of romance.

Story:

Before embarking on Tsuki ga Kirei’s 'emotional roller-coaster', or often lack there of, there's a key symbolic concept that is readily used throughout the series’s run-time and that involves the use of the moon. There is a saying that goes as such: “The moon teaches us that darkness can’t hide the beauty of life if we know how to reflect beauty”. It is with the use of this abstract idea, that the growth of the main characters in the story takes place and how they can break out of their apprehensive shells and eventually find affection for another person. An example which illustrates this is during the ending sequence in each episode where a moon appears on the top right-hand corner of the screen. Starting from a new moon and concluding with a full moon, this imagery hints that in the end the romance between Akane and Kotarou will have been fully realised and will come into fruition. This is further shown, as a full moon is often seen as a symbolism for height of power, the peak of clarity, fullness and obtainment of desire: which in this case is romantic tension.

In addition to this allegory, quotes from a famous Japanese author, named Osamu Dazai, are tastefully used in each episode. These quotes are directed from Kotarou’s point of view and are applicable to the advancement of the story. In episode 1 the quote “The feeling of joy is perhaps like a speck of gold, glimmering faintly at the bottom of a river of grief” is used, while in a later episode the recitation “This is what I want to believe implicitly: Man was born for love and revolution”. These aren’t utilised without any ulterior purpose simply to sound high-witted, but are imperative to give the viewer the ability to follow the state of the story, as well as to read the character’s mind-sets at that point in time: starting from the initial moment when affection is first sparked, until the eventual full-fledged liaison.

As stated in the introduction, refining of simple techniques are used in Tsuki ga Kirei. These techniques are made use of because in essence, this is a simple story: two middle-schoolers meet by sheer chance and a romance blooms. The advantage of such a straight-forward setting is that the more vital features of a good story are highlighted, while simultaneously a large audience is able to enjoy said story, since there is not a lot of challenging information which needs to be digested first-hand. There are no deeply psychological traits here, nor are there any surreal plot-twists. In all honesty, that is precisely what made this anime so effective to me. All the viewer’s focus is predominantly extended to the relationship between the characters, without much distraction from anything else. Tsuki ga Kirei, in this way, is a profoundly efficient tale as every scene exists simply to further and more strongly achieve a realistic narrative.

Correspondingly, the efficient nature of the story is accentuated by the barren use of any major drama or comedy segments (in the main story at least). While these attributes are certainly existent, similarly to the quotations of Dazai, they are applied elegantly and are spread enough apart from one another, so that no overwrought or soppy scenes would strive the viewer away from the show's principal backbone; which once again is the successful capturing of a realistic and believable cast of characters set in a logical and credible environment.

The only issue I personally experienced with Tsuki ga Kirei’s story, ironically (as this is the event that sold most people into becoming infatuated with the show), is with the ending itself. Although beautifully executed, I feel as if it ventured away from what the production attempted to achieve and that is centrally a credible chain of events, but I digress as I was relatively pleased with the finale.

[Score: 8.5/10]

Characters:

Matching the astounding storytelling, what makes the characters so rational is that they all have their own respective backgrounds, quirks and set of values. This makes each persona their own, instead of relying on tired tropes which bargain on a gimmick to describe their personalities. Equally, one of the most notable achievements in Tsuki ga Kirei is the manner in which the characters enhance each other throughout the series, but more on this later on. Foremost I want to talk about the two protagonists: Azumi Kotarou and Mizuno Akane, starting with Azumi Kotarou.

The story is told chiefly from the perspective of Kotarou as he gradually develops a meaningful connection with Akane, while exploring the changes that occurs in his adolescent mind. What makes him such a proper protagonist is that he acts, sounds and thinks like a child in his age. Combining a fascination for classical writing and love for shadow-boxing, he feels like a living, breathing person and in the same fashion as the story he is shown in a diffident, simplistic light, once again rejecting any unnecessary personality traits which would likely distract from his maturation as a teenager. He is an individual filled with a past of embarrassments and regrets; he has felt failure many a time yet he is determined to succeed in the end. The outstanding writing and characterisation allows for Kotarou to feel genuinely authentic as he is not shown to be without flaws, yet simultaneously he has enough motivation in himself so that he is an ever-changing and distinctive person, without the limits seen in typical male protagonists.

Akane is the female leading character and, besides acting precisely how a middle-school girl would, has her own key traits which allows for her to have an ineluctable bond with Kotarou. She too has experienced sorrows such as constantly moving homes and failures such as losing sprinting races despite years of preparation that permits her to have this innate and almost platonic initial connection to Kotarou, as they both share similar experiences and so can converse about their problems together. However, unlike the way in which Kotarou is portrayed, Akane has experienced and tasted success; she achieves high grades in school and readily sures her previous record times in track and field. She also often plays with this potato plush toy, which underscores her anxious nature, increasing the amount of realism in her personality. This opposing nature in character, leads to our main male lead to almost yearn for and strive to be like Akane; this leaves the story space to work with and manipulate its run-time and thus leading to maximum evolution in their romantic relationship, which suggests why Tsuki ga Kirei is so efficacious as a romance.

As previously stated, a remarkable achievement of Tsuki ga Kirei is how different characters enhance each other during the run-time of the show. This enhancement is achieved by the surprising use of both sets of parents of the main characters. For both parties, parents provide much-needed , be it in a direct way such as motivational talks, or in a laconic and unhurried way such as the making of a celebratory lunch box. Parents are underused in media in my opinion, as more often than not only one parent exists as the focal role for development. This is a waste of good influence, however, as parents are constantly around the characters we follow in stories, so the presence of both a mother and a father is more likely to lead to strengthening of the more relevant characters.

Although the side-characters do not have as much exposure as Kotarou and Akane, they do a great job of adding gravity and intensity to the relationship between them. They are all well crafted and balanced and often have their own battles and desires, which creates increased tension in the overall atmosphere of the series. Something, however, that I would have liked to have been done better is the reasoning behind the actions that some characters take later on the story. I can’t help but feel as if these were slightly rushed so that the intrinsic romance is focused on instead. In a way this is forgivable, as teenagers often act irrationally and radically, particularly in situations such as love which they may not have as much experience in.

[Score: 8.5/10]

Art/Animation:

The art, although once again simple, contributes greatly to the relaxed atmosphere of the anime. Backgrounds are meticulous compared to that of the foreground and the designs of the characters. This, together with the use of blank space and white accenting is perhaps to further emphasise how simple humans, especially in their younger ages, truly are as well as the nostalgic feeling of first falling in love. The facial expressions characters make, although lacking detail, are accurate to the emotions felt at that point in time.

The animation, however, is more polarising. Despite the fact that many frames are drawn to highlight an accurate representation of a character’s actions, the flow of these frames is commonly ruined by sloppy editing, leading to an almost jerky aesthetic. Furthermore, the use of CGI in the background for crowds of people makes casual movement robotic to say the least. These CGI models don’t carry themselves as fluidly as the drawings do and often end up looking comedic. In retrospect, however, Tsuki ga Kirei’s production team was struggling to release episodes on time, so this is less of an issue concerning talent and more of an issue on time management.

[Score: 6.5/10]

Sound:

One of Tsuki ga Kirei's most surmounting achievements for me, were the extra phonetics the voice actors made during a lot of the dialogue segments. This produces an almost lifelike status when hearing characters converse, as their conversations mimicked that of an actual discussion. Not only this, but especially in the opening episodes the awkward disposition between Kotarou and Akane’s relationship was further realised by this effortless technique. Besides this, the voice-acting itself was as well pleasant to listen to, especially knowing how both protagonists’ actors were relative newcomers to the industry, accommodating for a more genuine-sounding series as the viewer relates that unfamiliar voice to the specific character being voiced.

The soundtrack itself was comprised of some wonderful vocal insert songs and a pleasant array of classical instruments. These were used sparingly and so no particular soundtrack ever felt forced or hackneyed, which is quite rare for a show especially when you have marathon-ed it, like I did. Perhaps a hindrance I felt with the show’s musical score, is that no singular song especially stood out to me. This may, of course, simply be a result of the abundance of different soundtracks used.

[Score: 8/10]

Enjoyment:

From its hyper-realistic setting with stunningly crafted backgrounds, to its effortless communication of emotion at just the right times, Tsuki ga Kirei is an anime which promptly came to my surprise from the very first minute of the first episode. Euphoric yet wistful, joyful yet dismal, melancholy yet hopeful, the innate beauty which Tsuki ga Kirei permeates can dispense a wide array of emotions. For myself, this allure lead to tears being shed through almost every episode despite there being no logical reason to. But in shows like these, reason should be the last thought in your mind:

just sit back and cherish the inevitable void you will feel once the 12th episode hits 24:26.

[Score: 9/10]

[Final Score: 8.2/10]

Final comment: An absolute gem of a school romance; there may never be another like it of its caliber for me.

My first impression of the show is that these kids have extremely mature rationality and emotional stability. I read that today's young generation is being encouraged to mature faster, but what the author shows here is well beyond the maturity of what I see in other adults. It's like stoicism vs hedonism. Can reading philosophy (Dazai, a real-life philosopher) really prepare a young bookworm that well? He's well beyond the "arrogant-know-it-all" stage teens usually show, and progressing in the "know enough to know that you know little" stage. Is chuunibyou no longer a thing? The other characters seem somewhat homogenized by the writer's ideals; the over-reactions, jumping to premature conclusions, social judgment, general temptations, misfits, stress, exhaustion, and sense of freedom shown in others seem way too tame for 8th graders. Is Roman supposed to be the sole class clown and comic relief? Seems like there's droves of class-clown types in real life, at least if you waste time on meme sites, if you go by that standard. I suppose the fantasizing girl with the glasses counts as having chuunibyou.

I typically don't like these non-comedic high school romances, since I'm sensitive to the cringe factor of teen communication awkwardness. Oddly, I don't complain of the maturity of the kids in cringe-worthy battle high school or military academy shows with romance, showing high mastery of Sun Tzu strategy or some useful talent (perhaps saved as a trump card), which I actually crave. When it comes to shows like Tsuki ga Kirei, I wonder why find myself a critic, rather than someone who simply enjoys the show as entertainment. Is it because it's trying to send a message and I'm resisting change? Maybe I'm emotional over how these kids gained a level of maturity that is comparable to respectable grown adults that I see as stand-out examples in RL, and am both envious and in denial? Maybe my Mary Sue syndrome is being triggered (distaste for perfect characters), when I see how these characters are too idealized? Maybe it's simply because there's no character development that showed how they got to their stage--what pressure was put on them to grow that way? Their parents seemed to not be involved. It's as if it must be assumed is these kind of behavioral standards were taught in school from an early age and kids have conformed. I suppose that's one factor that sets apart other higher quality romance shows, such as Nagi no Asakura.

My general response to the show was simple mental exhaustion. I couldn't watch this show marathon style, spreading it out over a few days, sometimes stopping in the middle of episodes. This one is sort of a paradox--it feels heavy, yet calm and relaxed. The opportunities to empathize with the characters seem too staged and stretched out. The flow was a bit too controlled, and directed down a single narrow path. Having a few ending credit bonus scenes, showing the relationships of other kids progressing, helped release some of the backed up flow, and give a little contrast to the main romance, but it quickly got heavy again by the end. In a nutshell, it was just slow boat ride watching two kids with a natural interest in classic/vanilla romance, the girl being more intuitive, and the boy drawing from his literary knowledge, modestly fitting time together in with their other school lives through a chat app (Line). Where's the ion?

The title doesn't make sense until you watch it. Even the MC's light novel title, "13.70", was confusing until I read what it was about. They're given meaning through all the context & details from the story. It's a romantic thing, which I find hard to judge. I see it like an in-joke that only your buddies will understand. The MC's writing, like this show, kind of reeks of "cult following" rather than pop hit, since you have to understand the built-up context to appreciate it.

Technically, I'd like to rate this show slightly above average, but emotionally, my Mary Sue syndrome (and distaste of author self-insertion) says to mark it average at best. The content was forgettable and the ending was such a rush of info, that it created closure and basically gave me the go-ahead to bury my memories of the show. This show may have had more potential if there was more focus on character development and a more comprehensive prologue; instead, it drops right in, has a lot of filler content that slows the pace down to an agonizing level, and relies on the ending to wrap it up it all pretty to create a strong positive impression. Instead of being impressed, I felt relief, as if I worked to complete it. I like more suspense to accompany my emotion. I also prefer that such a character-driven show have more budgeting for voice actors, as Chinatsu was the only one that really stood out. Maybe if better seiyuus were recruited and pumped these kids full of intuitive ion, which is *not* the same as energy (e.g. genki-girl), nor will power (e.g. loud boy that powers up from screaming), but pure desire, it would be more enjoyable. I saw a hint of it when the MC decided to write and study, and that one last spurt at the very end.

This show is very agreeable in of desirable behavior, boosting its value factor in of learning morals, but I personally felt no inspiration. I like philosophy and happy stories, but this did not appeal to me due to the execution. I suppose those who are less mature and would like to walk this path of emotional self-control might see what's shown as an idealized path, but since it doesn't show the development steps, change won't come easy. I've enjoyed better romance in non-romance titles, like Shin Sekai Yori, which touched on way more emotion in more thought-provoking ways. In comparison, this show seems to merely touch on jealousy, deciding on a future school, and other challenges involving middle school life. It contains the usual idealistic open mindedness and persistence that most anime preach, just expressed through an example of romance.

If you think a "feel-good" romance is a general waste of time, especially if its realism is questionable, and want to avoid the agonizing awkwardness and slow pace, click to "spoil" if you just want to see the shallowness of it: