Tsukigakirei

Episode 11

This week's Tsuki ga Kirei was lifted by an unexpected hero - Kotarou's mom. After spending much of the series in a distant but vaguely antagonistic role, we were finally allowed to get closer to her perspective this week to learn how she's working as hard as she can for Kotarou in her own way.

Given Tsuki ga Kirei's general perspective, having a parent become one of the big heroes wasn't that surprising. Tsuki ga Kirei has always possessed an understanding that the adolescent thoughts and emotions of its leads are, in the end, kind of silly and ephemeral. It hasn't condescended to its leads or mocked them for feeling things so deeply, but much of the show's humor comes from its backward-facing perspective, where sequences of Akane and Kotarou mumbling awkwardly at each other are treated less with dead-on seriousness than rueful fondness. Shows that treat young teenage feelings as if they truly are the end of the world can be quite effective as well (see: The Flowers of Evil), but Tsuki ga Kirei has embraced and drawn both warmth and comedy from its more mature perspective.

Given that, it makes perfect sense that Tsuki ga Kirei would highlight how hard these parents work for their kids and how easy it can be for someone like Kotarou to not notice that. Kotarou's mom pushing back against his choice of school made him understandably bitter, but it also made perfect sense from her perspective. After all, Kotarou really has never committed to his studies before, and leaping from “I don't care about studying” to “I'm going to apply for a distant, extreme-reach school because the girl I like goes there” doesn't really scream "newfound maturity." Plus, as Akane's sister was quick to remind her, the odds are beyond high that these two won't be together forever, and being responsible for your former boyfriend attending an incredibly inconvenient school would be a serious emotional burden.

And yet, over the course of the episode, Kotarou's mom came to be his greatest defender. Not only did she keep from knocking down his dream, she actually supported him even before it became clear he was fully committing to this path. And when his newfound conviction became obvious, she fought for his sake, supporting him even as he was petulantly avoiding conversation. Her sincere dedication to her son formed the emotional bedrock of this episode's touching final scene, where intimate shots of her making rice balls into the night formed a perfect visual articulation of motherly love.

That sequence of rice balls was a fine example of one of this episode's other strengths - its carefully martialed animation. Tsuki ga Kirei strives for the kind of precisely captured everyday moments that bring dramas like Sound! Euphonium to life, but lacking the formidable animator resources of a studio like Kyoto Animation, its moments of carefully illustrated character animation are a rare luxury that can still be somewhat jerky in motion. Along with those shots of mom padding the rice balls, this episode's other solidly animated sequences were all perfectly chosen. Sequences like Akane and Kotarou greeting for their Christmas date, or Kotarou and Chinatsu awkwardly celebrating Akane's exam results, made exceptional use of animated gesture work.

I'd also like to applaud this episode's emotive sound design. Nearly the entire first half of this episode passed without any background music, letting the cold distance between Kotarou and his mother come across even in the clatter of plates and noncommittal grunts that passed for conversation. As their confrontation moved into the past and anger thawed, the show's warm orchestral arrangements slowly returned, culminating in the choral track underlining that beautiful nighttime reunion. Eleven episodes in, Tsuki ga Kirei is articulating this lovely romance with just as much detail and empathy as ever.

Overall: A-

Tsuki ga Kirei is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.