Manga Review: Your Lie in April, Volume 1, by Naoshi Arakawa

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: April 21, 2015

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.
Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kosei Arima was a piano prodigy until his cruel taskmaster of a mother died suddenly, changing his life forever. Driven by his pain to abandon piano, Kosei now lives in a monotonous, colorless world. Having resigned himself to a bland life, he is surprised when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist with an unorthodox style. Can she bring Kosei back to music, and back to life?

Review:

I have heard a lot of hype for this series, so of course I was going to pick it up. But I was kind of expecting more.
It's about Kosei, who was pushed as a piano prodigy, only something went wrong and now he's terrified to play. He's depressed, doesn't do much of anything. And then he meets Kaori, who surprises him with her way with music. And then pushes him to start living again.

Firstly, the art is not great. The faces are kind of weird; it is not as pretty as the cover all the time.

None of it really hit me like I thought it should. When the two characters meet at the beginning, it didn’t seem as big as a moment as it should have. I didn’t feel his emotions as strongly as I thought I would. When the two decide to pair up, it didn’t hit me as much as I thought it would have. I thought he was going to see things and start living, that she would be a burst of color in his eyes. But it just fell flat.

I see what the author is trying to do, what moments are supposed to stand out, what statements are supposed to matter, but it’s just not working for me like it could be. The humor doesn’t work that well, either, at least for some of it. The exaggeration doesn’t work with the serious moments for me.

This volume just seemed off and not as polished as I expected. I’m going to give it a couple more volumes at least, though. I’ve heard so much praise; I have a hard time believing that it won’t get better. I mean, it must, right? At least I hope so.