”’Like’ and ‘Don’t hate’ are tens of thousands of lightyears apart!”
Creative Staff:
Story and Art: Naoshi Arakawa
Translation: Alethea and Athena Nibley
Lettering: Scott Brown
Editing: David Yoo
What They Say:
MOVING ON
With Kaori nowhere to be seen at the gala concert, Kosei is forced to perform alone. As he plays, he confronts painful memories and finds a link connecting him to the audience, his late mother, and even himself. Meanwhile, Tsubaki struggles to find truth within her complicated feelings for Kosei—is he like a little brother to her, a childhood friend, or something more…?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
A good chunk of this volume’s first half is dedicated to finishing off the Gala storyline, Kousei finally getting some closure with his late mother through his solo performance. And while having the last bit of this “arc” being split between last volume and this volume breaks up the pacing significantly (especially when one of Kousei’s mother’s better lines via flashback is shown so early on), it never feels like the story itself is dragging by any means. As Kousei continues his performance, we’re treated to some very manga-like over-explanations and mental reactions from the audience, all of whom are so entranced by the performance, with the more musically-inclined spectators like Hiroko and Ochiai-sensei offering some better insight on the performance and how it’s affected Kousei as a whole.
As we get a better idea of what Kousei’s mother went through before she died, we learn exactly why she insisted on pushing Kousei so hard in the first place. The pressure she faced knowing she will die without seeing her own child grow up was something so obvious yet unrelatable earlier in the story if only because she was always painted as a villain until this point. And what was previously seen as blind devotion from Kousei now feels significantly more justified and relatable than in earlier volumes. So to spend some time mulling over this mother/son relationship and how music had initially failed them only to have it mend their broken bond is time well spent, even if on the surface it doesn’t progress anything from a literal standpoint (Kousei having been simply playing this entire time).
Moving on from the gala, the series shifts in focus from solely musicians, to the outsiders looking into the world in the form of Tsubaki. Having been Kousei’s friend since childhood, it’s fascinating to see how while she has known Kousei for so long, her appreciation for music isn’t exactly something positive. Rather, she sees it with so much contempt—something that gets in the way of relationships, which is in complete contradiction to the message given off by the end of the gala just pages before. And yet we as the reader do not criticize her for taking on such a stance because we know that her judgement is fueled by her love for Kousei—a major driving factor in this volume’s latter half in general.
As we’re treated to flashbacks from childhood and small anecdotes like being lost whenever the conversation moves toward music, we still see Tsubaki as very human and vulnerable, fearing that she will lose Kousei to a world she herself can never immerse herself in. Things only get more complicated as she admits to not fully understanding how she sees Kousei romantically, muddling through her own emotions and having to get over her occasionally brutish personality to reach an answer. It’s standard teen-angsty romance, yes, but pulled off so well.
In Summary:
The lack of story progression in Your Lie in April volume 7 is more than made up for in its character progression. Shifting the story from how music can mend old wounds to how it’s currently creating new ones shows how author Arakawa isn’t afraid of showing every side of what the musical world has to offer. He unabashedly portrays likable characters in emotionally compelling situations that don’t have any clear initial solutions. It’s this blurriness that only further deepens my enjoyment of the series.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: April 26, 2016
MSRP: $10.99
