Your Lie in April

Your Lie in April, known in Japan as   Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso   (四月は君の嘘) or just simply Kimiuso in Japanese and YLiA in English, is a Japanese anime television series based on Naoshi Arakawa's manga of the same name. Produced by A-1 Pictures, it aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina block from October 10, 2014 to March 20, 2015. Aniplex of America streamed the anime on Netflix, Hulu, Viewster, and Crunchyroll, and released it on Blu-ray along with an English dub in 2016. A prequel episode was released on DVD in Japan bundled with the final volume of the manga on May 15, 2015, titled Your Lie in April: Moments

Plot
Kousei Arima is a genius pianist who was under the very strict tutelage of his mother. He became the subject of both popularity and controversy due to his emotionless musicality. The sudden death of his mother triggered a specific type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in that he could no longer hear the sound of his own music, despite his hearing being perfectly fine.

After four years of a boring life consisting of school, home, and hanging out with his friends Ryota Watari and Tsubaki Sawabe, describing it as "monotone," Kousei meets an eccentric blonde girl named Kaori Miyazono who has an unconventional style to playing the violin. She helps Kousei break out of his shell and return to the world of music.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Top-notch animation, courtesy of A-1 Pictures (Blue Exorcist, The Seven Deadly Sins).
 * 2) The scenes where the characters play music are well-directed and feature incredibly magical visuals that make them look stunning.
 * 3) The posters look really nice.
 * 4) Excellent soundtrack by Masaru Yokoyama.
 * 5) Amazing voice acting in Japanese, English, Spanish, German, and Korean.
 * 6) *The English dub features many talented voice actors such as Max Mittelman (Kousei), Erica Lindbeck (Kaori), Erica Mendez (Tsubaki), Kyle McCarley (Watari), Erik Kimerer (Takeshi), Erika Harlacher (Emi), Stephanie Sheh (Takeshi's sister), Wendee Lee (Kousei's mother), Carrie Keranen (Hiroko), Cristina Vee (Hiroko's daughter), Robbie Daymond (Saito), Julie Ann Taylor (Kashiwagi) and many more.
 * 7) *The original Japanese version also has good performances from equally as talented voice actors like Natsuki Hanae (Kousei), Risa Taneda (Kaori), Ayane Sakura (Tsubaki), Ryota Osaka (Watari), Yuki Kaji (Takeshi), Saori Hayami (Emi), Ai Kayano (Takeshi's sister), Mamiko Noto (Kousei's mother), Mie Sonozaki (Hiroko), Inori Minase (Hiroko's daughter), Kazuyuki Okitsu (Saito), and Shizuka Ishigami (Kashiwagi) among many others.
 * 8) The characters have interesting relationships, especially Kousei's friendships with Watari and Tsubaki, his rivalry with Takeshi and Emi, his love-hate relationship with his mother, his bond with his guardian Hiroko, Kaori's fake love for Watari and her real love for Kousei, Tsubaki's respect to Saito and her feelings for Kousei.
 * 9) Likable characters such as Kousei Arima, Kaori Miyazono, Hiroko Seto, and Koharu Seto.
 * 10) The relationship between Kousei and Kaori is cute.
 * 11) Very emotional, especially if one focuses on Kaori's side of the story.
 * 12) Gut-wrenching conclusion.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Poorly placed comedy.
 * 2) *In addition, some of the humor is more cruel than funny.
 * 3) Mostly weak characterization. Examples include:
 * 4) *Tsubaki Sawabe comes off as very unlikable throughout as she spends the entire series toying with Kousei's feelings and expecting too much from him. She's also a very short-tempered tsundere and a bad friend.
 * 5) **She even ruins part of the final scene of the series by kicking and yelling at Kousei which is very rude and unjustifiable.
 * 6) *Ryota Watari is little more than a dumb comic relief who just spends most of his scenes being a pervert.
 * 7) **Plus, he's not a very good friend to Kousei either as he gets mad at him for just talking to girls.
 * 8) *Nagi Aiza does start off as annoying but she does become more tolerable eventually.
 * 9) *Emi Igawa and Takeshi Aiza aren't particularly likable either as they are overly competitive and ill-tempered.
 * 10) **There are even scenes where they strangle Kousei for no justifiable reasons.
 * 11) *Some sexist stereotypes: There are characters in the series who are just little girls and they view boys as an inferior gender.
 * 12) The way it handles child abuse at times can be dismissive and the line "No mother doesn't love their children" was also tone deaf.
 * 13) Some scenes which are meant to be taken seriously are ruined by weak humor and mean-spirited characterization.