Screenshot taken from: http://www.crunchyroll.com/your-lie-in-april/episode-19-goodbye-hero-668299
Review:
This is quite possibly the most emotional episode of Your Lie In April yet. As time inevitably progresses on, Kousei’s classmates ultimately take their mock entrance exams for high school, with one primary character scoring unexpectedly well on her exam. At the same time, Kousei is preparing for his own entrance exam by practicing for his upcoming piano contest, while also taking time to visit Kaori in the hospital. Interspersed through the episode (and especially during one particular visit to the hospital) are flashbacks to Kaori sitting in a doctor’s office, giving a speech of sorts about why she doesn’t want to give up, but instead wants to try everything she can, even if it only grants her a little bit of a longer life. It is one of several scenes that can make a grown man choke up in this episode.
In terms of male/female relationships, Tsubaki and Kousei also share a moment this time around, which involves Tsubaki taking food to Kousei and cutting his hair. It’s not really the most impactful moment of the episode, but it has its amusing points, particularly when Tsubaki first walks into Kousei’s room. The end of the episode focuses on Kousei’s relationship with his two “rivals”, as they all sit down and share Kousei’s egg sandwiches before Takeshi’s performance. It’s a bitter sweet scene to think about, because it really shows friendships that could have been. While the three are rivals (or at least, Emi and Takeshi see Kousei as a rival), there doesn’t appear to be any animosity between them, and it certainly seems that Emi has a crush on Kousei based on past episodes(this reviewer would still like an Emi/Kousei angle), so the potential for friendship is there. Sadly, Emi and Takeshi did not receive the type of screen time that I personally would have liked to have seen.
With all that said, it still doesn’t diminish the power of Takeshi’s performance, or the emotions and feelings that he is expressing while playing. This whole series of scenes is powerful and emotional in its own right, but the real clincher is when Takeshi “moves on”, for lack of a better term. Perhaps it’s because we all eventually reach a point in our lives where we have to move on from dreams or notions we once had that this scene feels particularly impactful. In the end, it is certainly clear that the story is beginning to wrap up. The series is only slated to run for twenty-two episodes, and we are beginning to see character stories wrap up. The big question now is whether the ending will be favorable to our favorite characters.
A Christian Perspective:
Off-hand I don’t know of a particular verse for this, but I think a common element that comes up in Christianity is the fact that we may (and most likely will) have to give up some thing(s) as a result of following Jesus. Maybe it’s because these things were harmful to us, maybe they just distracted us to much from Jesus, or maybe they simply weren’t what God wanted for us, but they have to go. We are supposed to relinquish anything, and if I may be so transparent that is a concept that I still haven’t quite grasped myself, especially when I see people who are far better Christians than I still maintaining their hobbies and interests while effectively and powerfully serving Christ. Anyway, continuing down this path would take me off the point of this perspective, so allow me to put it back on point.
One thing that many Christians have probably had to sacrifice is personal dreams. Let’s face it, we’ve all had dreams in our lives of doing some great thing—at least, by our definition it was great. Whether we’ve allowed those to fall to the wayside or whether we’ve poured out blood, sweat, and tears into them, they meant something to us at some point. The problem is, our dreams aren’t always God’s dreams, and that means they may have to go. After all, if we are too fixed on trying to accomplish our own goals then we may very well let God’s will and desires fall to the wayside, which is not the way things are supposed to be for Christians. It can be hard and painful beyond compare, but sometimes that’s the cost.
In this episode, we see Takeshi finally moving on from a sort of different dream. As we know, Takeshi had looked up to Kousei as some sort of super hero when they were kids, and it would appear that this somehow stunted Takeshi’s growth as a pianist. Perhaps it was Kousei’s abandonment of the piano followed by his less-than-stellar return—I’m not entirely sure what, exactly, injured Takeshi’s progress, but it is clear that in this episode he has finally found his return to his craft and at the same time has bidden adieu to his dream of Kousei as a hero. This scene, along with the closing scene of the episode, will truly tug at the heartstrings.
Content Guide:
Language: 1 “j**z”, 1 “h*ll”, 5 “d*rn”, 1 “d***it”, 1 “d**n”
Alcohol/Drug Use: None
Nudity/Sex/Fanservice: None
Violence: A kid is hit in the face with something gray; a young Takeshi is shown kicking a kid
Blood/Gore: A cartoon bear is shown with blood on its claws
Christian Anime Review 