Your lie in April

Episode 4

In the past few weeks, I said that Your Lie in April is a great series for fans of its genres: slice-of-life, romance, music. Each week though, this little series continues to stretch that expectation, showing it has more potential than its milquetoast premise indicated. This week, it finally shattered expectations completely, and it's only episode 4 out of 22! Everybody should check out Your Lie in April. This series has some interesting directorial and psychological tricks up its sleeve, and it keeps getting better and more interesting as it goes.

Looking back on this whirlwind of an episode, all that really happened was one concert. (The length of the event's feature piece, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, runs a little less than 10 minutes all by itself.) We don't even get to see the audience's reaction beyond the immediate aftermath, unlike in episode 2. It all breezes past quickly, despite its emotional weight. Even if Kaori and Kosei struggle to keep their momentum up during the performance, this episode itself hooks you from the first scene and doesn't let go.

In fact, it's structured quite a lot like a piece of music. The episode follows the classic "sonata-allegro" form of many a symphony's first movement, with exposition, development and recapitulation. It starts out better than we expected, with everything proceeding as it should, upbeat and energetic, as Kaori and Kosei stay perfectly within the lines. We can see signs of what's to come, but we're not quite there yet. Then comes the development: this is where, in a symphony, sonata or other musical work, the harmony and structure branch off further, giving off a feeling like wandering away from town into the wilderness. Of course, in Kosei's case, things go completely off the rails. He freezes up, feels like he's been plunged underwater, and like both the notes he's playing and the ones on the page are disappearing. His performance deteriorates, and the audience notices.

This section is also the most artistically adventurous in terms of direction. Just as "development" sections of sonata-allegro compositions are the ones that deviate the most from formula, we jump out of the "slice-of-life" and into Kosei's head. He sees his mother's ghost in the back of the audience, the "ocean" he's plunged into rises around him, and the notes actually do fly off the page. Your Lie in April's head-trippy bits are more literal and conventional than the Evangelion ones I compared them to last week, but it's still quite jarring, even more so this time than in episode 3. Nearly half the episode seems to take place in Kosei's head, and while it's generally possible to tell where the line between his fantasy and reality begins, there are still a few moments that blur the distinction.

After the performance halts completely and Kaori sends some encouragement Kosei's way, they start again and they're back on track. It's the recapitulation of their sonata: similar to the exposition, but not quite the same, and stronger after having made it through the forest. Not only do they earn the audience's good will and the viewer's relief, but they also get a standing ovation in spite of incensing the judges again. It looks like Kaori will be getting by on the audience reaction score just like last time, but she took a completely different path to get there this round. Finally, we end on a jolting cliffhanger, hopefully setting up some Kaori exploration next week. The viewer emerges from this tour-de-force feeling like they're coming up for air after drowning in the sea, not unlike Kosei.

I haven't felt this completely reeled-in by an anime since my recent watch-through of another excellent music-focused series: BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. One of BECK's distinguishing features is that, in its best moments, it feels more like watching or even playing a great live rock show, than simply being a story about teens in a band. You're living the music, not merely being told about it. If Your Lie in April has more episodes like this week's, it could end up as a classical music equivalent to this. The emotional rush of this episode reminds me of how I felt after my own high school recitals.

Even if music isn't your thing, Your Lie in April has already given its characters enough depth to enrich anyone who simply wants an emotionally-fulfilling character piece. It also has enough creativity in direction to interest those who'd like to see a slice-of-life show pop out of its genre boundaries, at least visually. Ignore the cliché synopsis: this series is unique, and it looks like it will continue to push itself to break new ground.

Rating: A+

Your Lie in April is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a graduate student in musicology, who has written about anime and many other topics for LGBT site Autostraddle.com and her own blog. She tweets at @composerose.