The end of the anime season is a time of withdrawal, especially when a series you love ends. That’s how I feel right now with Tsuki ga Kirei coming to a close. It was such a precious and thoughtful series, one that evoked the innocence and awkwardness of youth, but remained genuine in it’s treatment… Read More Interview with Loundraw, Tsuki ga Kirei’s Character Designer
At lunch today, I was talking to a friend, someone who’s a mentor to me, and he mentioned the idea that it’s been shown that we make bad decisions under duress, due to things like stress, bad health, tiredness, and hunger. I agreed, and in fact, I explained that I’d shown the worst side of… Read More Tsuki Ga Kirei, Episode 10: Bad Mood, Bad Decisions
First fight. Romantic rivals. Long distance relationships. The conflict in Tsuki ga Kirei is real to life. I meet consistently with college students who attend my church, and these are some of the problems they’re dealing with in relationships. And of course, I’ve been there myself. The beauty of Tsuki ga Kirei is in evoking… Read More Tsuki ga Kirei and the Detours of Life
One of the things I try to teach young people I mentor is to question the culture. Question the church. Question authority. Why do you do the things you do? Why do you believe the things you believe? Are they in line what with you believe is true, or do you just accept them blindly?… Read More Akane v. Chinatsu: Is All Fair in Love and War?
Tsuki ga Kirei is about a romantic relationship between a boy and girl, but even so, episode six was especially full of relationships. Through juxtaposition, we saw what it means to have a good relationship, via Kotaro’s family v. Akane’s, friendship v. relationship, and Takumi’s scolding of Akane v. the editor’s response to Kotaro. And… Read More Tsuki ga Kirei Episode 06: Relationship Building 101
I’m continually amazed at how Tsuki ga Kirei is getting it right. Kotaro and Akane’s experiences may not have been mine, but they’re still genuine – they feel like they’re supposed to feel, they act like they’re so supposed to act, and they fumble along as two awkward, innocent kiddoes would. And in episode five,… Read More Tsuki ga Kirei Episode 05: Building Blocks (and Stumbling Blocks)
Tsuki ga Kirei is a cute series–not in the traditional moe way, but in the “those awkward kids are so precious” sense. Over on Twitter, Kaze and I discussed it and he mentioned that the series is capturing that awkward middle school stage almost too well, especially through the eyes of Kotaro, an aspiring writer,… Read More Tsuki ga Kirei and Superstitious Scripture