Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso – 05
An oddly violent show
Welcome back for Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso. I had some issues with this episode, but how much did they affect my overall enjoyment?
Misleading
If someone who looks like this tells you you’re cloudy, you should listen
This was the first episode that didn’t continue exactly from the same point as the end of the previous episode, and also exposed a bit of misdirection that annoyed me. It turns out that Kaori didn’t collapse on-stage, but in the wings after she and Kousei walked off. Not that you could tell last week from the apparent continuity, but at least they didn’t go all revisionist on us with the artwork (the shadows were the same, just not what we were looking at last week). That certainly changes the impact of her collapse, from being something that everyone in the hall is concerned about to something only Kaori’s friends are concerned with.
But perhaps we’ve now gotten to (one of) the titular lie(s), as Kaori baldly tells Kousei that she’s never fainted like that before, when she knows she has, since she mentions ‘again’ later. So of course we’re in the realm of ‘rare diseases that affect our dream girl.’ We’ll see what the ultimate ramifications of that are, and how much more of the rest of the series it takes up, but it’s not the major plot that we have yet. I think there’s also a lot of room for more ‘lies’, as I can see ones coming down the pike for Tsubaki, Kousei, and Watari as well. It’s a long series, and everyone will have their chance.
The Unexpected
大丈夫
A major part this episode was Tsubaki’s impending realization of how much she likes Kousei, and how much she doesn’t like him slipping closer to Kaori. Sure, she can’t come up with a listing of his other good qualities, but she knows he has them. And the thing is, that isn’t really how you decide who you love anyway. But what is her repeated ‘daijoubu’ about? Is she telling herself it’s ok if he doesn’t have overt charm points? Is she telling herself that she’ll get over it if he slips away from her? Is she telling herself that she’s not really a little down, even though her friend says her eyes are ‘cloudy’? But what she’s not saying is to calm down because she’s with the dreamy former baseball club captain.
A surprise confession
I actually found the introduction of this character interesting, because it felt very sincere on Saito’s part. He made time to run into Tsubaki, so that he could ask her out. She wonders if she’d have been more happy about it if he’d asked a month ago (when graduation happened), but I wonder if she would have. Has she really just changed her focus to Kousei that recently? Or has it been just in the last few days, after seeing him play with Kaori, that she realizes what she’s losing in him, what she’s losing in herself if she lets him go.
Ambushed again
What’s not as unexpected is Kaori’s being where Kousei is going to be going (thanks kids). This time, her goal is to wheedle him into capitulating as far as entering a piano competition. She’s definitely got manipulation down, and Kousei is nigh unto powerless to resist her. I don’t really think that she unfairly pushed him into performing with her before, and I definitely don’t think she blames him for anything bad at their performance (since her wailing about it was just for effect to get him to agree to something new). But once again, it’s not her threats or wheedling that gets him to agree with her. It’s her example and her reasoning. I think he’ll definitely end up in a competition (even though in the real world he’s gotta be at least 6 months from competition ready), but how will that tie in to Kaori?
Something that bugged me in this episode more than the others were the art shifts and physical violence. I’m just not a fan of it in this show. I don’t find it funny at all when Tsubaki decks Watari and Kousei. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the character art overall in this show (I just do not like the faces in this show: lips and eyes just turn me off), but it gets worse when we just get angry stick figures. But enough about bad stuff. Not a bad episode for wrapping up the previous story about the duet performance and getting started on the next phase, where Tsubaki has to figure out who she likes, and Kousei has to figure out what to do.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I feel that most of the violence in the show is hyper-realized; more to the metaphorical side than literal side. They’ve yet to illustrate it in the same sphere as dialogue, or some of the more normative moments. Always an art shift. So it’s more like “really emphatic yelling”
And I felt this was quite a good outing, as it blurred lines between the characters. Yeah, sometimes someone from your past comes along and challenges how you think. But is Tsubaki really overthinking it?
Ah, that Manic Pixie Girl. They are treading some tempestuous waters with her…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yeah, I just find it offputting and that it takes me out of the show. Similar to how I find the yelling in manga offputting.
I don’t know if she’s overthinking it. I think her honest reaction is important, and her honest reaction is “I’m just not that excited about it. Why not?”
POWUH: iLurker with 11 comments
Highway, since you are watching Shirobako, I thought you would like to know this bit of info about episode five. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso#05 done by two people, Masashi Ishihama, the director of Shin Sekai Yori and Takashi Kojima, young up coming animator. Ishihama directed and storyboard the episode while Kojima assist with directing and did everything else
P.S.
Here is an video of Takashi Kojima animation
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
When you say ‘everything else’, is that primarily the Key Animation? I did feel that there was a difference in the animation of this episode, with respect to character movement, and even directoral prerogative like character disposition. In particular, the scene with Watari and Kousei talking through the fence during soccer practice felt like it wasn’t really from the same show that we’d been seeing so far.
POWUH: iLurker with 11 comments
That’s correct.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Thanks for the information!
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
When we want stuff to happen, it doesn’t, and when we least expect or want it, it happens. Fate is great, huh?
The episode overall was good. I was reading the manga and it was kind of weird because it revealed that Kaori collapsed on the chapter after the one where they ended their performance. They only made it like that in the last episode because they wanted to leave us with a cliffhanger, which resulted in an unfortunately offputting start for episode 5.
I seriously can’t get how Watari is so possessive with Kaori and yet keeps hanging out with random-chan… I mean, Keiko-chan. Maybe it’s only to me but it sounds really messed up and it’s a setup for disaster at some point.
One good thing I love here is the interaction between Kousei and Kaori. Add the two kids and that just made the best part of the episode, second being random-senpai… I mean, Saito-senpai’s confession. What put me off at the end was the unnatural and unsynced laughs at the end.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Laughing in anime is usually only better than crying in anime because crying is almost always just awful. I agree with the de-synced laughing (funny, because we’ll accept completely unsynchronized mouth movements for talking with no problem).
I actually think that Watari realizes that he’s in a distant second place for Kaori’s heart, and that’s part of why he’s so outgoing with her: Part because he’s the kind of guy who hates to lose attention, and part because he actually likes Kaori a bit.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
But there are ways to make laughs and cries better in anime. Remember Taiga in Toradora?