Some of their dreams came true / some just passed away / And some of the stayed behind
What They Say:
“Love’s Sorrow”
Kousei has taken the stage at the Gala Concert. Endeavoring to put on a performance without Kaori. This is his chance to prove his abilities as a pianist and try to come to terms with the memory of his mother.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There were things I absolutely loved and there were things that I absolutely hated about this episode. This is perhaps the first episode since Kousei’s mother went crazy and struck Kousei hard enough to draw blood that I’ve hated Your lie in April. This time, it’s for a different reason.
For 12 episodes, the show has built up a hatred for Saki inherent in Kousei because of the way she trained him at the piano. She was harsh. Too harsh for someone that was as young as Kousei was. Saki is no Terence Fletcher and Kousei is no Andrew Neiman. Kousei has no drive to become one of the greats and Saki is pushing her ideals too hard onto her son. Through it all, though, there was little hatred in Kousei’s eyes or in his mannerisms. This is his mother and this is what he wants to do. He doesn’t want to become a musician—not yet at least—he wants to make his mother happy. Striking him was the final straw and he lashed back out.
There’s a shot of Saki, grasping for Kousei’s glasses because they’d fallen off after she struck him. He’s just out of reach for her, now-perennially attached to her wheelchair and her time left on this Earth all too finite. She says there’s not much time left for her. She wants to see Kousei succeed and she’ll do anything to make it happen, even push away the one she’s supposedly helping. These kinds of hints needed to be in the first 12 episodes. My impression of Saki up until now has been terrible and the transition in Kousei’s heart from seeming disdain to love is too far, too fast. Too much has been built against Saki for it all to shatter into pieces. There needs to be a transition somewhere.
The transition, as it were, is Kousei’s piano piece, Kriesler’s Love’s Sorrow. It was played by his mother instead of Love’s Joy because she was teaching him sorrow in music, as in life. The realization comes as Kousei plays that his mother is not the demoness that broods over him, but in the way he plays and the way he moves and the order in which he eats his food. His mother is a part of him as much as the music is…but it all feels artificial. I’m more experiencing Kousei’s change of mind rather than seeing it happen before me. This may be a case of too much showing and not enough telling, but I fear even bringing up the notion.
The next episode could tell all in whether this works or not, but it will likely turn its attention back to Kaori, now in hospital. It could address Kousei’s change in mind in relation to the music. He could regale Kaori of the tale of him on stage, in his own words and in his own mind.
When Kousei was on stage though…Oh when he was on stage. It was magnificent. It is perhaps my favorite performance of the series thus far. It was raw and emotional, second only to his solo piece—the love letter to Kaori and, in Emi’s eyes, a declaration of his return.
Kousei put his heart into the music this time. An accompaniment is left without his violinist and he decides to play by himself, a challenge to play the music he wants to. To finally step on the stage and do what he wants to do on his own terms. His solo was at the behest of Kaori and he fell apart in the middle of it. This one was perfect. It encapsulated his entire being up until this point in his life. It changed him from somewhat passive to much more active. He speaks to Tsubaki with confidence like a man with words to say. It doesn’t seem like friendly banter like it used to. They’re surely fall back into their natural roles, but Kousei is on a high from his performance. He could do anything right now.
The final sequence of the day after—the calendar not yet changed to the next month and Kousei playing softly in the music room, the window still busted from the first episode—was heartbreaking. Tsubaki runs into the music room and hurriedly opens the door, her school shirt untucked, no doubt from running so haphazardly. She tells Kousei of the news of Kaori, in the hospital with an IV in her arm and wrapping around her head. She’s pale as a sheet, yet she gives her same energetic hello. I worry for her more than any other fictional character in history.
In Summary:
This episode was the culmination of Kousei’s music learnings up until this point. Kaori’s influence, combined with Hiroko’s teachings, let him overcome the muted sounds of the piano that come from it. I can’t wait for Kousei and Kaori to make music together again after this episode because it seems that Kousei is finally fully matured (at least to this point in his life) as a pianist. There’s only up to go from here.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Equipment: PS3, LG 47LB5800 47” 1080p LED TV, LG NB3530A Sound Bar
