Forum - View topicYour Lie in April (TV).
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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@A Mystery & @Animegomaniac:
I appreciate your comments but a few notes: 1. At no point did I ever say nor do I think Saki was fully sane. It seems to me clearly she was at very least unstable. Her physical illness probably contributed. So statements such as "No mother would..." really don't apply. 2. Her objective, which may have changed over time (which we don't know from the story but it is suggested) was not to produce a perfect score-playing robot. What she wanted Kōsei to be required that skill but actually required more than that. She knew how to drill him for that skill, but not how to instill that "more" part of it. So she drilled Kōsei in what discipline she could like a demon because that was the only ability she had. 3. If you scroll back in this thread and possibly the Talkback thread on this anime you will see I complained as much if not more than anybody about the horrifically passive/non-existant response the community including Hiroko showed in the face of obvious child abuse. That said, as bad as it is that scenario is plausible in real life and that's the story. We don't really know to what extent Hiroko was culpable because it seems that Saki was isolated from her friends during much of that period. 4. As I wrote in the prior post it appears that Saki was relieved when she realized that Kōsei actually had the strength to reject her. It is possible it took the form of "at last I can now die and I don't have to hang on anymore." That is a frickin horrible thing to do to a grade-school child but once again, that's the story. |
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A Mystery
 Posts: 1888 Location: Netherlands |
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Yeah, I'm just expressing my complaints with this show, it's nothing against you HaruhiToy. I know you wouldn't believe Saki to be a 100% sane person. I personally would've liked some more exposition on the women's motives, including Saki. It's okay if other people have other views.
I love drama, comedy, romance and music in shows, so I want to enjoy this show too, because it has all those elements. Right now I have some trouble doing that. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4157 |
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I know what the creators are trying to do, compare what an artist when faced with imminent death- maybe, they're still holding back on the other half- but they're not framing Kosei's mother {I'm not using her name as that would just humanize her, kind of like showing her eyes would} correctly or maybe objectively in the story. She did what she did and she certainly had reasons but it does not condone her friend and guardian of her remaining son to tell Kosei that not only her treatment of him was fine, it was beneficial. Probably beneficial. Intentional? No but...
Maybe the thinking is too Japanese, that they're not only being overly kind to their ancestors, sempais, senseis and dead {and I believe Kosei's mother would cover the bases here} but they're not even doubting her. Of course, I also cheered when Handa decked that art critic in Barakamon so maybe my thinking is too western. I don't know. I like this series but the directions it takes and decisions it makes regarding Kosei's mother make me wonder if they're ignoring her emotions and reasoning on purpose. The only one who viewed her subjectively was Kosei but he's not talking about it the right way to the right people. Paraphrase: "Should I feel guilty about telling my dying mother to die?" "Yes, she was doing it for your own good." No and she was putting you, her son, her last connection to the living world, through Spartan music training for her own ends. Yeah, maybe my problem is with Hiroko. In this episode, at least. Haruhitoy: Kaori's "play because you want to play" thinking is not something that hard to teach. The first thing to do is not do anything Kosei's mother did {Kosei's reason for playing was his childish way of thinking that it kept his mother alive while his mother was only happy to use against him so none of that as well}. No manipulation, no disrespect, no physical abuse. So another way to look at the smile is "Oh right, he's a person of his own and not a thing created by my will for my own reasons." Still too little, too late and always will be. But that's not my problem here anyway. |
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Episode 13:
Good episode overall spoiler[and it was nice to see Kousei perform once again on stage. The transition between his past again wasn't pleasant to see but I think he did much better than before. Not bad at all Kousei.] The ending had me worried for spoiler[Kaori. That had better not be a death flag.] |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4157 |
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So far, there hasn't been enough of them. Or too many, I forget which. But this isn't an accident or "act of God", this is something that's been in the series since the start so it's not a death flag by now but signs they've run out of stalling tactics. Where am I now in the story? I now hate Hiroko. She was there, she saw, she considered, she left. Why? spoiler[Because she thought she was the cause for Saki's treatment of Kosei.] That's not the issue anymore, the problem now is the kid spoiler[crying under the piano who lost the only two things he had in his world]. It's not about her, what is wrong with these selfish, stupid people... Another odd thing; Now that we see how Hiroko and Saki first came into contact with Kosei's abilities, why did they merely limit him to "perfect playing" rather than see what he could do with composition? The last thing to do with developing genius is to set arbitrary outside goals; "This is what I can do so let's get you to that point." And the elephant in the room: Saki. A lot of my questions were answered and guesses confirmed but again, the problem is now evidently all on Hiroko. Turns out that not only was she always there, she was supposed to always be there. Wonderful. And now, she thinks having Kosei going through all this pain again will help further strengthen his playing. Just like Saki, she's automatically setting the bar for him by only thinking of what she could do, her limits. "This is what he could be but this what needs to happen in order for that to happen." What, if instead of respect for the form, if they instilled a love of music into Kosei? Why does he have to be tempered with more pain, why couldn't it be joy this time instead? And Tsubaki's now in Honey and Clover {if Kosei leaves to find himself via bicycle, I'm out of here} as she measures her love by how tongue tied she is. "Hey, since I can talk to Kosei normally, I guess I'm not really in love with him after all." Because he really needs to be left alone ... how many times would this be in his life? Four now? Five maybe? |
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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Whatever you don't like about AIYL, you have to give it a lot of credit for even attempting to tackle such a complex set of relationships. As it turns out I was right about Saki's desperation but a little off on everything else. We have had every reason to hate her and I did, but now I felt that she herself was let down. Her disease turned her from a perfectly loving mother to something of a monster, and there was nobody to guide her or help her. So Kosei took a lot of bruises over it. That audience seemed spoiler[totally blown away] by his performance but it spoiler[didn't come out in the applause]. Hiroko's song about her husband: LOL. What a way for Kōsei to start out. And now I have a whole week before I get to find out what he is going to say to Kaori. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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I'm utterly disgusted with how this show is trying to redeem Kousei's mother. Yeah, she abused him physically when he didn't play like she wanted and psychologically by tying her own health to his successspoiler[, but it was all for his sake, she just wanted to make sure he'd get by when she died.] fudge you, show. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't show us how deep the abuse was and then spoiler[shake it off with "oh she was just worried about his future"]. I would've been OK with just the imagery of Saki before she became a batshit manipulative terrible mother, when her piano playing lulled her precious son into sleep, because there's nothing wrong with a child trying to at least keep some positive memories of someone they love, but spoiler[Hiroko getting all teary-eyed because Saki actually meant well when she BEAT HER SON BLOODY]... I was screaming at the screen.
And talking about Hiroko, spoiler["I'm gonna vanish from this traumatized child's life and leave him alone right when he's having a meltdown after losing his abusive mother because I got him into piano. He's 11-y-o, he'll sort through all this shit on his own, surely."] fudge her too. I feel bad for Kousei. The more I watch the series, the more I feel that he's actually being abused by the writers (or the mangaka), who in turn justify the abuse because spoiler["going through pain makes him stronger"]. There is not a single dependable adult figure in his life to help him pull through all this misery, and those who should become one (Hiroko) only justify all the abuse and terrible things he goes through. I'm so pissed off at this series I'm this close to dropping it, I just can't take anymore of the shit they put Kousei through. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15571 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 13
I think that maybe explains, why his mother turned that way, but it does not excuse what she did. She was trying to help his future, but at the end of the day it was still abusive and misguided. I almost expected spoiler[Kaori to have already passed]. There are so manyspoiler[ death flags on her] that I don't think even spoiler[Souta Hatate] can stop it. |
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Stark700
Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Episode 14:
Goodepisode overall although imo, spoiler[the pacing felt a bit slower. I thought the balance of the episode was very well portrayed though ranging from the cuteness of the yutaka to the emotions coming from Tsubaki. And I think by that reaction, it's obvious where her feelings lie regarding Kousei.] As for Kaori, I hope she is doing better. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15571 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 14
Firstly, Kaori is a spoiler[huge liar that is getting me more and more annoyed], next episode is called "spoiler[Liar]" so hopefully that means something. Feel like a broken record, but what she is doing is not okay. Plus there is also Tsubaki who I think the audience is meant to think like her friend, telling her to be honest already because things may get worse. Granted that the spoiler[parts with Tsubaki realising it] were probably the best of the episode. Last part was quite spoiler[awesomely emotional], and have you shout "spoiler[about time]". |
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CrowLia
Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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I too am growing tired ofspoiler[ Kaori's lies]. Who does she think they benefit? She's obviously spoiler[going to die very soon], judging by thespoiler[ "I don't have time to read these books"] comment, does she think spoiler[not telling anyone that she's terminal wil somehow make it better?] I'm pissed at her, and at the writers who keep bullying Kosei by spoiler[making the parallel between Kaori and his abusive mother].
Tsubaki's part was definitely stronger, but it felt it dragged out for too long. The spoiler["conflict" of not being sure whether she liked Kosei or not was kind of over-the-top, considering she seemed to be very much aware of her own feelings when the show started]. She was even shown to feel regret about introducing Kaori to Kosei, because she realized he became infatuated with her. The part when she realizes spoiler[music is taking Kosei away from her] was a lot better executed, and the spoiler[emotional climax with her running away while wailing] was very beautiful |
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鏡
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Oh god, this show. I haven't seen something this effectively emotive in anime in a long time. Episode 14 was brilliant, and spoiler[Tsubaki's realization and concurrent shattering of defense mechanisms was very well done.]
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4157 |
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Yes, Tsubaki's turmoil in episode 14 was good but isn't it nothing more than a distraction?
Creative team: "Alright, we did another episode where Kaori's situation is still up in the air. This is good drama." No, good drama develops from the reality of the situation, not Kaori's "another day, another lie" plotline. Kosei's starting to catch on to her, not by being observant but because the situation is familiar. I want to see them go through with the obvious plotline, to whatever conclusion they feel is right {Kosei's future POV ignored for now because he could be nostalgic for the banality of that scene for other reasons. No, really...}, especially if they have the guts to name the disease/condition rather than force me to call it "Clannad Syndrome" {and we all know how that one turned out, right?}. But in order for that to happen, they have to start it. So, yeah: Episode 14, still waiting for the real story to start. |
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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Question for Tsubaki: do you really want a relationship that is based on denying your beloved's one thing he can do?
As much as it pains me to admit it, I think this is right. Or becoming right. Karori has passed the point where her privacy is the overriding interest here. Kousei already knows the truth but he is clinging to denial based on her paper-thin-and-shredding assurances. Regardless of all that I am not convinced that Kaori is terminal. Something seriously wrong of course and potentially fatal but as usual for anime kids they just don't get the guidance they need when they need it. |
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TRNielson
Posts: 182 |
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So, even though this is over a week late, and the general opinion seems mixed on it, I still have to say it.
Episode 13 blew me away! Most people have seemed only fixated on how Saki was trying to defend herself when confronted about how abusive she was to Kousei. I'm not going to defend her. She's earned all the hate she's gotten for that. But getting to see the opposite side of her, as a loving mother who truly cared for Kousei, and how he was able to use those memories to finally (I think) overcome this obstacle in his playing was amazing to me. As soon as, for the first time in the series (I believe) we see Saki not as some eyeless demon, but an actual human, complete with eyes, I had a feeling this was going to be a different episode. And boy, was it. The part that really hit home for me was when Kousei breaks down after the performance. Both my parents are still alive and I have a great relationship with both of them. Having said that, seeing all the love/pain Kousei had with his mother play out over the series and then finally seeing him hoping that she heard him play his heart out as a final farewell, let's just say it takes a lot for a show/movie to make me cry, and that there were a lot of tears that had to be held back. I know a common complaint for this show has been how it's starting to feel repetitive, but I honestly couldn't care. Even at it's low points, it's still been one of the most engaging anime I've watched in a long time and when it's at it's high points, it's hard to find a show to beat it. |
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