Manga Review: Your Lie in April, Volume 2, by Naoshi Arakawa

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: June 2015

Volumes: 11

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

RONDO CAPRICCIOSO

After the death of his mother, child prodigy Arima Kosei gave up the piano forever — or so he thought. That vow turned out to be no match for the persistence of sprightly violinist Kaori Miyazono, who’s roped Arima back into the world of competitive classical music. But after so many years, will Arima be able to sit down at the ivories again like nothing happened? Or will history repeat itself, with Arima crumbling under the pressure?

Review:

I really want to like this series. And I’m honestly surprised that I don’t like it more.

Where is all this hype coming from?

I will admit that this volume was better than the first, at least.

Arima and Kaori have their first performance together, and it’s terrible. Arima goes in with high hopes, but quickly his memory of his mother is getting in the way and he can’t play. Kaori pushes him, though. And even if their performance is bad, the audience is pulled into the drama of it.

We get hints that Kaori is maybe sick after the performance, but she’s quickly back to surprising and urging Arima to do more with himself. To live life instead of dragging through it.

Mostly, I’m having a hard time really feeling anything for the characters. Something about the art, and their noses, bothers me. The humor is off. Most of the powerful moments, reveals and statements and memories, just aren’t hitting me right. All of it together just isn’t pulling me in enough.

I think it’s getting better along the way, but it’s not at the top of my list to continue. I want to love it, but I’m not.