History Manga / YourLieInApril

*** Opens with a seemingly unrelated superhero genre clip where the narration mentions that [[spoiler:heroes are lonely and end up alone.]]

*** The camera lingers on a copy of ''Ichigo Doumei'' by Masahiro Mita while Kaori quotes from it, [[spoiler:a love story which ends tragically for the ill girl.]]

* YouAreNotAlone: Tsubaki is certain to make sure that Kousei knows this after Kaori's passing.

* CloseOnTitle: Episode titles only show right before the closing credits, except for the final episode that inverts this by having it right after the opening credits.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: One of the main themes besides the music. Tsubaki likes Kousei, who develops a crush on Kaori, but she's interested in Watari, who is fond of her but also [[TheCasanova goes after other girls]] and is oblivious to her feelings. Emi meanwhile is in love with Kousei as well while Watari has displayed attraction towards her. By the end of the series, this trope becomes incredibly depressing. [[spoiler:Tsubaki is still in love with Kousei but there's no indication of her feelings being reciprocated. Kaori reciprocates Kousei's feelings...[[DeadManWriting in a letter she wrote that Kousei didn't receive until after she passes away.]] ]]

* ComedicSociopathy: One of main reason for people who dropped this series (as pointed out in one [[http://randomc.net/2014/11/07/shigatsu-wa-kimi-uso-05/ anime review site]] that skipped reviewing between Episodes 6-11) is because its [[HeroicBSOD traumatic]] main character, Kousei, is prone to abuse such as being kicked, slapped, or having stuff thrown at him by [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale the girls, Tsubaki and Kaori]]. This lessens during the latter half of the show, though. [[spoiler: Also, in the end, one of them (Kaori) apologizes to him via her [[DeadManWriting posthumous letter]] for being mean and hitting him all the time.]]

** Episode 2. [[spoiler:Kaori's shaking left hand after asking for Kousei's opinion about her performance. She is also the fourth performer to play. FourIsDeath]]

** Episode 11. Opens with a seemingly unrelated superhero genre clip where the narration mentions that [[spoiler:heroes are lonely and end up alone.]]
*** Also, Kaori embracing and apologizing to her violin because she dropped it [[spoiler:when she collapsed]].

** Episode 12. Kaori's parent's attitude toward Kousei. [[spoiler: Despite Kousei just meeting them for the first time, they already have a very good opinion of him because Kousei is the only reason [[IllGirl Kaori]] is still motivated to live her short life.]]

*** [[spoiler:Also, Kaori missing the gala concert.]]

** Episode 16. [[spoiler: Kaori dropping the drink Kousei gives her.]]
*** Also, the camera lingers on a copy of ''Ichigo Doumei'' by Masahiro Mita while Kaori quotes from it, [[spoiler:a love story which ends tragically for the IllGirl.]]

* {{Megane}}: Besides Kousei, there are few male characters who wear glasses on a regular basis: Takahiko Arima (Kousei's father whose face is revealed very briefly in an OVA episode), Akira Takayanagi (Takeshi's piano mentor), Toshiya Miike (the kid that insults Kaori's playing to Kousei in Episode 13). The latter two can be counted as {{Nerd}} with their NerdGlasses.
* {{Meganekko}}: [[spoiler:Kaori, before she starts her "change" as she said in her letter.]]

* RunningGag: The bruise Kousei got on his forehead after being hit by a baseball in episode 1 keeps opening at various points in the series, and nobody seems to care despite the stream of blood on his face. [[spoiler: It soon becomes HarsherInHindsight when we first see that it really started when Kousei's mother beat him over the head in a fit of rage in a venue lobby, opening the wound on his forehead and knocking off his now broken glasses.]]

* TheEndingChangesEverything: In the final episode [[spoiler: Kaori's goodbye letter reveals that she was inspired to become a musician by Kousei during his ChildProdigy days, that she had wanted to play music with him ever since she was a little girl, and that she lied about liking Watari in order to get close to Kousei]].

*** Also, the camera lingers on a copy of ''Ichigo Doumei'' by Masahiro Mita, [[spoiler:a love story which ends tragically for the IllGirl.]]

** Episode 11. Kaori embracing and apologizing to her violin because she dropped it [[spoiler:when she collapsed]].

* GiliganCut: In episode 11, Kousei's mom tells Hiroko that she doesn't want to turn the infant Kousei into a pianist... then immediately cuts to Kousei's mom telling Hiroko to make him one... and then cuts to Kousei curled up in fear of his mother's abusive methods.

** After jumping in the river, Kousei lets Kaori change into his dry clothes at his house. Kaori, in a fit of rage, slams open the windows in the piano room... and Tsubaki, who lives next door, sees the two of them through her window at that moment. Of course, Tsubaki gives Kousei a good beating.

A live action film [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-09-03/kento-yamazaki-suzu-hirose-to-star-in-live-action-your-lie-in-april-film/.92493 has been confirmed]] and will air in 2016, starring Kento Yamazaki (L from the ''Series/DeathNote'' 2015 drama series) as Kousei and Suzu Hirose (Chihaya from the ''Manga/{{Chihayafuru}}'' 2015 live action film) as Kaori.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Tsubaki is shown to have bluish hair on the cover of volume 3 of the manga, while the anime gives her brown hair. Also, Kousei says his eyes are brown early in chapter 1 (and in the first episode of the anime), but all of the covers and the anime depict his eyes as blue.

** It's revealed that [[spoiler: this was invoked by Kaori because it turns out, just like Takeshi, Nagi, and Emi, Kaori was also moved by Kousei's music and it brought colours into her world and when Kousei stopped playing music, she dropped piano and picked up the violin just to try and help him get back on his feet.]]

* CentralTheme: [[WordOfGod According to Arakawa]], the main theme of the manga is a contrast and interrelation between "death and rebirth". We meet Kousei at a time when he's deeply scarred by the death of his mother, and he can't hear the music anymore, but he meets Kaori who puts so much life into her playing, and she pushes him to wake up to his potential. [[spoiler:But at the same time that Kosei is regaining his strength and confidence as a musician, Kaori's body is weakening more from her illness every day. Finally, Kaori dies at the same moment that Kosei is reborn on stage as a classical musician]]. An important secondary theme was to depict the feelings of a person who is [[GreenEyedMonster jealous of someone else]], or envies what they have, whether in musical competition or in a LoveTriangle.

* CherryBlossoms: Since the series starts in April, there are plenty of cherry blossoms. They serve as a symbol of Kaori and her relationship with Kousei, as they first meet in a rain of cherry blossoms.

* IWishedYouWereDead: [[spoiler:Kousei told his mother to die after being fed up with her abuse and harsh critique of his playing. Apparently she died some time after it.]]

* CentralTheme: [[WordOfGod According to Arakawa]], the main theme of the manga is a contrast and interrelation between "death and rebirth". We meet Kousei at a time when he's deeply scarred by the death of his mother, and he can't hear the music anymore, but he meets Kaori who puts so much life into her playing, and she pushes him to wake up to his potential. [[spoiler:But at the same time that Kosei is regaining his strength and confidence as a musician, Kaori's body is weakening more from her illness every day. Finally, Kaori dies at the same moment that Kosei is reborn on stage as a classical musician]]. An important secondary theme was to depict the feelings of a person who is [[GreenEyedMonster jealous of someone else]], or envies what they have.

* ConspicuousCG: The piano playing shots.

--->'''Kousei''': A lump of steel, like a shooting star. Just seeing the same sky as you makes familiar scenery looks different. I swing between hope and despair at your slightest gesture, and my heart starts to play a melody. ''What kind of feeling is this again? What do they call this kind of feeling? I think it's probably called loved''.

[[caption-width-right:300: "I met the girl under full-bloomed cherry blossoms, and my fate has begun to change."]]

* Kousei is the technician, since his mother drilled into him that he must always stick to the score and memorize it inside and out, while Kaori is the performer whose wild and energetic playing greatly deviates from the sheet music.
** The show as a whole focuses on the importance of technique vs performance and tends toward the latter, with the emphasis about "Speaking to the audience" through the music, and [[spoiler: the only reason Kousei's mother pushed him so hard on the technician front was due to not having enough time left in her life to emphasize the importance of the latter]].

* RayOfHopeEnding: Show shades of this, as Kousei is still surrounded by loved ones after Kaori's passing, and as Tsubaki puts it, he isn't or ever will be alone, something she promises to see to. So in a way, while it will take time for Kousei to move on from Kaori's death, his future is still far brighter than when she first meet him, which was her greatest final wish for him.

* TechnicianVsPerformer: Kousei is the technician, since his mother drilled into him that he must always stick to the score and memorize it inside and out, while Kaori is the performer whose wild and energetic playing greatly deviates from the sheet music.
** The show as a whole tends toward the latter, with the emphasis about "Speaking to the audience" through the music, and [[spoiler: the only reason Kousei's mother pushed him so hard on the technician front was due to not having enough time left in her life to emphasize the importance of the latter]].