TheSocialite

Spoiler Free Review

Overall

As an accurate depiction of the typical middle school existence, Tsuki ga Kirei may be ideal as it perfectly captures the nearly endless tedium punctuated with excruciating moments of awkwardness. But as an entertaining anime goes, it’s only so-so. Now you may be thinking, “This guy just doesn’t like slow paced stories” to which I would respond, “You don’t know me!” I think a slow-burn story can be quite compelling when done correctly, like Hyouka or Mushishi. Hyouka overcame its slow pace with interesting characters and an interesting plot while Mushishi had compelling individual stories. Tsuki ga Kirei only has dull main characters and a generic plot to offer.

If you really want to see a Romance, Coming of Age, Love Triangle, School Life anime, try Ore Monogatari!! (My Love Story!!). It deals with all the same issues with a similarly aged group (first year high schoolers instead of third year middle schoolers) with much more interesting characters and story. And while the action in Ore Monogatari!! is a little less realistic, it’s far more interesting and that’s okay as these are works of fiction. If you have already seen Ore Monogatari!!, wasn’t it great? I might watch it again now.

Story

There isn’t one.

Okay, there is a budding relationship between two shy, awkward middle schoolers. That’s it. The entire story can be summed up in one boring sentence. That’s not good, feel.

Animation

I’m not usually one to complain about the animation style of an anime. Usually my opinion is as long as it doesn’t look like Speed Racer or detract from the story it is fine. The problem here is the animation occasionally detracts from the store. The close-up shots of the characters are fine but the use of computer animation for background characters in wide shots is sometimes scary. The characters move like mannequins brought to life by black magic.

Sound

It has sound. Who has ever decided to watch or not watch an anime based on the sounds? Not me.

Characters

As stated before, the main characters are tedious and boring. Perhaps if you are at a similar age and are similarly shy, speak Japanese, and are two-dimensional then perhaps you can relate, otherwise they two main characters are boring. The supporting characters are far more interesting, especially in the little vignettes occasionally shown after the end credits. Those short bits are the only reason to watch this anime.

Conclusion

I hope this review is helpful. I feel kind of bad coming down so hard on this anime, but it really is not worth the time. Toadora!, Ore Monogatari!!, Hyouka, or even Silver Spoon would be better use of your time.