Cuki ga kirei

Mature, enjoyable, not in a hurry to get anywhere, cute. You turn it on and watch everything go haywire. Even though the main character is a runner, she doesn't run anywhere or from anything, and boy is she shy! The object of her interest, however, is also shy, and while he may occasionally escape into the world of words, writing or reading because he likes the classics, like Dazai, he is not afraid to take action himself. The runner and the teenage writer, just out of high school, begin to form a relationship. We also follow their ordinary lives, ordinary worries, and interactions with family, friends, and surroundings. Broad, slow, and just long enough. Although I didn't particularly like the look of the characters, the setting was breathtaking – Kyoto, their rooms, the festival, Kawagoe... it was something to behold. If you don't mind that the series flows at its own pace and that it lacks traditional genre clichés, check it out. Even in the winter, it can warm you up. (26.01.2021)

Eine zivile Geschichte einer Liebe, welche langsam geboren wird, ihre Erfüllung erreicht und sich mit jedem Hindernis, welches die Helden überwinden, intensiviert. Es ist wirklich sehr ungewöhnlich, sich eine romantische Geschichte anzuschauen, die so normal aussieht, so dramatisch wie möglich wirkt, und vor allem übertreibt sie nicht. Es ist echt, es ist menschlich und dank des absolut gelungenen Endings ist das Ende ein intensives Erlebnis, das beim Zuschauer ein wirklich angenehmes Gefühl der Erfüllung hinterlässt. Anfangs hat es mich aufgrund seiner Normalität mehr oder weniger kalt gelassen, dann dank der Art und Weise, wie manche Probleme irgendwie von selbst gelöst wurden und ganz normal und leicht apathisch, aber dank der Schlussfolgerung, dass die Autoren mir gezeigt haben, dass sie emotionale Situationen gut und zufriedenstellend schaffen können. Tsuki ga kirei ist so eine Liebeswerbung, die uns zeigt, wie großartig Liebe sein kann. Klar, vieles läuft hier zu sehr glatt und manchmal fühlt es sich an, als würde man die Welt durch eine rosa Brille betrachten, aber andererseits, warum nicht? Denn ein Werk, das uns sagt, dass alles funktioniert, wann wir wollen und eigentlich alles normal zu handhaben ist, kann einen Menschen motivieren, mit positiver Energie aufladen, und das hat durchaus seine Bedeutung. Ich könnte hier noch darüber plaudern, wie mir die Animation nicht so gefallen hat, aber die Musik schon oder über die Charaktere und wie normal, aber sympathisch beide Helden waren (ja, so sollten Leute der Kategorie normale Schüler aussehen), aber am Fazit ändert sich nicht viel. Schön - 7,8/10. (03.07.2017)

This is the anime I had always dreamed of. Not because it takes place in Kawagoe, where I had a nice trip at once, and which brings back a lot of memories, but because it is an unassuming gem that gambled everything on a single card and succeeded. That card is believability. They bet everything on it: they threw away the popular tropes associated with high school romance anime, they threw away the typical character designs, and they threw away any exaggeration to which the setting of a Japanese school can create. To make matters worse, the production company decided to focus on the psychological side of the characters, and created a very serious coming-of-age contemporary romance that does not take place in high school, as is the case with other anime, but rather at the end of junior high school. They could not have risked any more - but a miracle happened, it all worked out. Together with a fitting soundtrack, and engaging artwork, a completely believable story unfolds over only 12 episodes, and with each passing episode, it never ceases to amaze you with its playfulness, freshness, degree of believability, attention to detail, the director's assuredness - and yet the finesse with which it is narrated. I understand that for a Western audience, believability can be uncomfortably startling: there are no eccentric heroes with strangely-colored eyes or hair, and instead of going off on some exciting adventure, the characters awkwardly engage in embarrassing school activities, and boring studying for entrance exams, they do not scream, they do not giggle, they do not behave like idiots, and the parents and teachers behave the way Japanese parents and teachers often do - in both good and bad ways. Many people may find the development of the heroes' relationship a little too rosy - but in my opinion it is more the result of watching other anime, where in accordance with the unwritten Japanese tradition they have to make the story as dramatic as possible, and throw as many obstacles as possible in the way of the heroes to show how much they have suffered for their successes, and that they have to deserve that happiness. These obstacles are also there, but there is a reasonable amount of them - and that brings us back to the beginning of my review. Again, I verified the hypothesis that Kishi knows how to direct anime, as long as it is not an adaptation of a video game. Until the penultimate episode, it looked like a strong 4 stars, but the end completely amazed me, and so I decided to definitely award it the full thumbs up. Watching this again in the future is guaranteed - and I'm already looking forward to seeing what other interesting details I can find. –– Edit: This anime reverberates in my memory so much that it simply has to make it to the top. Wonderful. (20.03.2021)