Your Lie in April
Your Lie in April, known in Japan as or Kimiuso for short, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoshi Arakawa. The series was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine from April 2011 to May 2015. An anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired from October 2014 to March 2015 on Fuji TV's Noitamina block. A live-action film adaptation of the same name was released in September 2016.
Plot
Piano prodigy Kōsei Arima dominates various music competitions and becomes famous among child musicians, but also controversial. When his mother Saki dies suddenly, he has a mental breakdown while performing at a piano recital; this results in him no longer being able to hear the sound of his piano even though his hearing is otherwise perfectly fine.Two years later, Kōsei has not touched the piano and views the world in monochrome, without any flair or color. He resigns himself to living out his life with his good friends, Tsubaki Sawabe and Watari Ryōta, until, one day, a girl changes everything. Kaori Miyazono, an audacious, free-spirited, fourteen-year-old violinist whose playing style reflects her manic personality, helps Kōsei return to the music world and shows him that it should be free and mold-breaking unlike the structured and rigid style Kōsei was used to. As she continues to uplift him, he quickly realizes that he loves her, although she already likes Watari.
Later, while performing together, Kaori suddenly collapses after a moving performance and is hospitalised. At first Kaori says that she is anaemic and just needs some routine testing, but this is revealed to be a lie when flashes of her past reveal her collapsing and bleeding many times before.
Finally Kaori is discharged and back to her happy, crazy self, inviting Kōsei to play at a Gala with her. However, Kaori fails to show up on the day of the Gala, and as her health deteriorates, she begins to give up on life. This time, Kōsei is the one who inspires her after playing a duet with Nagi Aiza, the pianist sister of a fellow rival of his named Takeshi Aiza. After shedding tears and listening to it, Kaori opts for a risky surgery that may kill her if it fails, just so that she can play with him one more time.
While playing in the finals of the Eastern Japan Piano Competition, Kosei sees Kaori's spirit accompanying him and eventually realizes that she has died during the surgery.
After Kaori's death, her parents give her letter to Kōsei at her funeral. The letter reveals that she was aware that she was about to die, so she became more free-spirited, both as a person and in her music, in order to not take her regrets to Heaven. She also revealed that she had been in love with Kōsei since she was five, and was inspired to play the violin so that she could one day play with him. Her supposed feelings towards Watari was the lie the series was named after, fabricated in order to get closer to Kōsei without emotionally injuring Tsubaki, who also has limerent feelings towards Kōsei. After finding this out, Tsubaki confronts Kōsei and tells him that she will be by his side for the rest of her life. Kaori also left behind a picture of her as a child coming back from the concert that inspired her, with Kōsei in the background walking back home. Kōsei later frames this picture.
Characters
Media
Manga
The Your Lie in April manga series is written and illustrated by Naoshi Arakawa, and began serialization on April 6, 2011, in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine. The first tankōbon was published by Kodansha on September 16, 2011, and the final volume was released in two editions, a regular edition and a limited edition, with the limited edition bundled with an OVA, and was released on May 15, 2015. The series is licensed in English in North America by Kodansha Comics, and the first volume was published on April 21, 2015.A spin-off manga titled Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso: Coda was bundled with the release of the Blu-ray release of the anime series. It was later published in tankōbon format on August 17, 2016.
Volume list
Anime
A-1 Pictures has aired the anime production of Your Lie in April. It premiered on October 10, 2014, in Japan and ended on March 20, 2015. The first opening theme song is "Hikaru Nara" by Goose house and the first ending theme song is "Kirameki" by wacci. The second opening song is "Nanairo Symphony" by Coalamode and the second ending theme is "Orange" by 7!!. The original soundtracks are composed by Masaru Yokoyama.In North America, Aniplex of America licensed the series within the region, who simulcasted the series on Crunchyroll, Aniplex Channel, Hulu and Viewster. In Australia and New Zealand, the series is licensed by Madman Entertainment, who streamed the series on AnimeLab. The series is licensed in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Anime Limited. The series was later made available on Netflix with the English dub, as well as English subtitles.
Live-action film
On August 24, 2015, the domain 'kimiuso-movie.jp' was registered under Toho, a Japanese film production and distribution company, which made fans believe that a movie adaptation was in the works. Speculations were confirmed in September 2015 when the main cast was announced for the live-action adaptation of the series: Kento Yamazaki as Kōsei Arima, Suzu Hirose as Kaori Miyazono, E-girls' Anna Ishii as Tsubaki Sawabe, and Taishi Nakagawa as Ryōta Watari. While the original story depicts the characters in their junior high year, it is announced that they will be in their second-year of high school in the film. The adaptation, slated to be released in Japan in September 2016, will be written by Strawberry Night's live-action scriptwriter Yukari Tatsui, and directed by Paradise Kiss's live-action director Takehiko Shinjō.Stage play
In the May issue of Monthly Shōnen Magazine, it was announced that a stage play adaptation of the manga was green-lit, and set to run in August the same year. The stage play was announced to be held at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo from August 24, 2017, to September 3, 2017, and at the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka from September 7, 2017, to September 10, 2017. The stage play is directed by Naohiro Ise, and written by Kaori Miura. It was also revealed that the play would have live musical performances, with Yuta Matsumura performing the piano, and Shuko Kobayashi performing the violin. The main cast was announced, and stars: Shintarō Anzai as Kōsei Arima, Arisa Matsunaga as Kaori Miyazono, Misato Kawauchi as Tsubaki Sawabe, Masanari Wada as Ryōta Watari, Haruka Yamashita as Emi Igawa, and Shōjirō Yokoi as Takeshi Aiza. Additional cast was later announced, with: Takako Nakamura as Yuriko Ochiai, Shun Mikami as Akira Takayanagi, Haruka Igarashi as Nao Kashiwagi, Kuniko Kodama as Hiroko Seto, and Ryōko Tanaka as Saki Arima.Reception
The manga won the award for Best Shōnen Manga at the 37th Kodansha Manga Awards. It was nominated for the 5th Manga Taishō.The anime adaptation was the winner of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper's 2016 Sugoi Japan Awards.