Is Your Lie In April as good as remembered?

Your Lie In April is a name that pretty much every anime fan out there has heard of at one point or another. It's a romantic drama about a former pianist named Arima Kousei who, after meeting a violinist named Kaori Miyazono, starts to get back into playing the piano.

The show is pretty much considered a classic in the wider anime fandom. It garnered a steady popularity from when it was first aired in 2014, and it only increased over time as fans recommended the show to other anime enthusiasts.

However, it's been a quite few years since Your Lie In April was released and the standards and expectations for anime have gone up since then. Thus, now seems a good time to see how well it's stood the test of time.

To start off, the technical aspect of the anime is fantastically well done. The quality of craftsmanship is really impressive with both the animation quality and the soundtrack being immaculate. It looks like a big budget movie and has an actual musical soundtrack that also acts as a perfect accompaniment of the themes and undertones present in the unfolding narrative.

The background narrative and world building of Your Lie In April is also realistic, with themes and emotional beats that are resonant and striking. The backstories of the characters are well detailed, creating a relatable base for the characters whilst painting a deeper portrait of them as the story unfolds and they go through various struggles.

However, setting aside the overall plot, some elements of Your Lie In April aren't as well put together. For example, the characters, despite being well textured and having coherent backgrounds, are not realistic when considering them as individuals with personalities that act and react. They go through these human struggles pretty close to perfectly, always coming out on top. While a feel-good story is always appreciated, it is frustrating to see the poignancy and complexity of the subject matters highlighted in the anime be sacrificed for crowd-pleasing simplicity.

Unfortunately, this impacts the pacing of this show. Considering the simplified plotline told in the anime, the entire story could have been fit in about 15 to 16 episodes. A major reason behind the extension of episodes would be the lingering upon and persistent re-emphasising of certain moments for dramatic impact. Though the intent behind them might be to aid scenes that elaborate on the characters, or plot points of developing atmosphere, many may have been largely unnecessary.

Overall, is Your Lie In April still an anime worth watching? Despite the flaws stated, yes. The story is tremendous, with beautiful themes well complemented by a top-tier soundtrack and movie-grade animation. It may also be a good anime for those looking to get into the world of anime, as it can set a decent bar for them to judge from. But for veteran watchers, perhaps it's better to watch it at 1.5x speed if for nothing else but to save some time.