Spoilers of Your Lie in April

Ignatius Bagussuputra

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There’s not much to break down here since they pretty much explains everything in the final episode. But, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to discuss. Here’s some of the things I find quite interesting and worth to talk about.

Kousei Arima illness

The human mind is truly a fragile thing, and what Kousei experienced was real, it shouldn’t be taken lightly and definitely not something to be ignored or brushed off. It may not seem like it, but Kousei actually experienced an extreme form of mental scarring that develops a mental illness in him called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He was truly suffering as a person after his mother’s death. Explained more thoroughly here

Him not being able to hear his own piano tones might seem absurd and his vision of himself playing in the bottom of a deep dark waters may also be called an exaggeration. But, those image that he had represents a real world disease, tone deafness. Also called congenital amusia, or perhaps in Kousei’s case it was acquired amusia, amusia meaning the loss of ability to produce or recognize musical sounds.

Kaori Miyazono illness

A single petal that drifted into my life

A metaphor used by Kousei to describe Kaori who appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared due to how fragile she was.

The show strongly hinted a similarity between Kaori and Saki (Kousei’s deceased mother) illness, but it’s probably there for the sake of the plot to re-trigger Kousei’s trauma.

However, judging by her symptoms, it is hypothesized that Kaori suffers from either one of these

• Bone marrow failure
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Friedreich’s Ataxia

It’s more likely to be Friedreich’s Ataxia, judging from the symptoms that begins between the age of 5 to 15, muscle weakness in the arms and legs, and loss of coordination. It also causes heart disorders, which she may be experiencing in episode 20.

A surgery to “prolong” her life may just be to implant a pacemaker since she may be having a severe and painful tachycardia previously, but we saw her heartbeat drop steadily during the surgery, which might be the cause of another cardiac arrest.

Final Scene

• Kousei performs Chopin`s Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 at the competition while Kaori undergoes surgery.
• As he plays, he enters into a dream-like state, surrounded by color and light with Kaori and her violin appearing before him. Kousei immediately realize that her surgery was unsuccessful as he played along with her. This scene also presents the last promise they made to play together again.
• As the play is nearing the end, she started to disappear steadily and he begs her to stay with him, she then disappears with one last tearful smile.
• In reality, Kousei completes his performance with tears running down his face, saying his final farewell to her, just like he did previously with his mother.

After receiving her letter, Kousei finally knows that Kaori loved him and reaffirms his vow to never forget her, continuing to play the piano. Her intentions from the beginning may not be for Kousei to love her back since she realizes that she doesn’t have a lot of time left, however she insisted on doing what she claims to be the things she won’t end up regretting in the end, and one of them was to be part of Kousei’s life.

Side Note: Kaori claims that Watari was an amazing friend but will probably forget all about her. However, it’s visually suggested that he really did like her. This is supported by the scene where we can see him picks up his phone and looks at their picture together, and Kaori is likely the one who scolds Watari and slaps him in the scene, hence her believing he’ll probably forget about her and move on to another girl quickly.

Title Origin

I thought I’ve figured it out when Kaori said this in episode 5 (Gray Skies)

We’re all just faking it, some of us better than others, but you put your music on the stand and play anyhow because that’s the way you tell the most beautiful lie of them all.

Well, it was a surprise when it turns out that it wasn’t what the title was talking about. It was a welcome one though, it wouldn’t be fun if the viewers had figured it that early in the show.

Your Lie in April wasn’t describing the scene from Kaori’s perspective (which is what I thought at first), but instead from Kousei’s.

• “April” as a phrase used to describe Kaori which exists in spring (April).
• “Your Lie” being Kaori’s lie she told at the last episode.
• “Your Lie in April” being used to remind Kousei to never forget Kaori, to never press the “reset” button every year when spring comes, the season when he met her for the first time.

Spring will be here soon. The season I met you is almost here. A spring without you will arrive.