“Tsukigakirei” is an anime series for those who have been wanting a romantic love story. While “love” can often be seen in an anime series, for a story that is grounded in real-life situations and is plausible, makes “Tsukigakirei” a captivating and delightful anime series which I highly recommend!
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TITLE: Tsukigakirei
DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (300 Minutes)
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Japanese 2.0 Linear PCM, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Funimation
RATED: TV 14
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Directed by Seiji Kishi
Series Composition by Yuuko Kakihara
Music by Takuro Iga
Original Character Design: loundraw
Character Design: Kazuaki Morita
Art Director: Yukari Yasuda
Anime Production: feel.
Featuring the following voice talent:
ShÅya Chiba /Stephen Sanders as KotarÅ Azumi
Konomi Kohara/Apphia Yu as Akane Mizuno
Atsushi Tamaru/Daman Mills as Takumi Hira
Rie Murakawa/Megan Shipman as Chinatsu Nishio
Chiwa Saito/Monica Rial as Saori Mizuno
Eishin Fudemura/Brandon McInnis as Roman Yamashina
Haruka Chisuga/Brynn Appril as Miu Imazu
Haruka Shiraishi/Felecia Angelle as Aoi Takizawa
Honoka Inoue/Michelle Rojas as Sakura Tanaka
Kazuo Oka/Kent Williams as Ryūnosuke Azumi
KentarÅ Kumagai/Aaron Dismuke as Tsubasa Kaneko
Kikuko Inoue/Alex Moore as Junko Azumi
Makoto Kaneko/Ian Sinclair as Daichi Ogasawara
Manaka Iwami/Kristen McGuire as Aira Miyamoto
Mark Ishii/Ben Phillips as Yasuhito Inaba
Misono Suzuki/Kristi Rothrock as Setsuko SatÅ
Mitsuo Iwata/Sonny Strait as Hiroshi Mizuno
Mutsuki Iwanaka/Ian Sinclair as Daisuke Tachibana
Nao TÅyama/Jamie Marchi as RyÅko Sonoda
RyÅko Maekawa/Morgan Garrett as Ayane Mizuno
YÅ«ya Hirose/Austin Tindle as ShÅ Nagahara
Falling in love is a complicated matter, especially for third-year middle schoolers Kotarou Azumi and Akane Mizuno who live in totally different worlds. But when a school assignment pairs them together, their relationship has a chance to blossom-that is, if they can muster up the courage to talk! As if that wasn’t hard enough, navigating the intricacies of junior-high life won’t be any easier.
In 2017, the 12-episode romance anime TV series “Tsuki ga Kirei” (which translates to ‘as the moon, so beautiful’) aired on Tokyo MX featuring anime production by Feel.
Licensed by Crunchroll and Funimation (using the title “Tsukigakirei”), the anime series was recently released on Blu-ray +DVD .
The series revolves around two junior high students, Kotaro Azumi and Akane Mizuno.
Kotaro Azumi is a student of class 3-1 and a member of the literature club and hopes to become a novelist. He is quiet and often embarrassed of sharing his written work to others. Kotaro is not really into school or athletics and has to attend cram school in order to get into a high school and often pressured by his mother to study more.
Akane Mizuno is a student of class 3-1 and belongs to the track and field club. She excels as a runner, she is very good in school but is very shy and often carries around a potato character plush. She often has to move as her father is often transferred to different locations for work.
Both end up having to do things together for school and eventually, it would lead the two towards secretly dating.
But as teen romances go, things become complicated when the president of the track and field club, Takumi Hara, wants to tell Akane that he loves her. And Akane’s friend Chinatsu Nishio, wants to tell Kotaro that she loves him.
But also dealing with the pressures of keeping their relationship quiet, Akane trying to keep dominant in track and field and Azumi trying to pass cram school despite not having much interest in school at all.
Will these pressures affect Kotaro Azumi and Akane Mizuno? And what challenges lie ahead for the young couple?
VIDEO:
“Tsukigakirei” is presented in 1080p High Definition and for the most part, anime production from feel is very well-done. Background art is detailed and colorful, character designs are also well-done and and capture the awkwardness of the two characters. But animation is fantastic and I was impressed by this anime series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Tsukigakirei” is presented in Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Dialogue and music are crystal clear through the front channels. While the series sounds much better with the English dub as it was given the 5.1 treatment, the surround channels utilize ambiance and crowd scenes. But for the most part, both soundtracks are well-acted.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
There are no special features but the usual textless opening and ending themes.
EXTRAS:
“Tsukigakirei” comes with both a Blu-ray and DVD version of the anime series and a slipcover.
I absolutely love romantic anime stories especially when they are well done.
“Tsukigakirei” is one of those anime series that has a well-told story and a short anime-series worth investing your time in.
The story is about two people who fall in love with junior high and face a lot of pressures not just from their friends but trying to meet their potential as expected of them, may it be from their parents or classmates.
Kotaro Azumi wants to become a novelist but his mother is adamant of him studying hard and taking cram school, so he can attend a good high school (Note: In Japan, everyone takes a test to find out what high schools based on your test scores that you can attend, it’s not based on living location, like the United States).
Akane Mizuno is shy but yet smart and does great in track and field. While one of her friends brag about having sex with her boyfriend and the other two gossiping about love and relationships, she is often asked if she would date the track and field club president, Takumi Hira.
But one day, as both Azumi and Akane have to work together for class, the two begin communicating with each other through LINE (a social media/SNS application) and slowly they start out as friends, then they start dating and eventually have a relationship.
But they keep their relationship a secret until certain situations force them to reveal their situation but also other situations start to put pressure on their relationship, as the two are in love with each other but can these two maintain a relationship? Especially if they are unable to attend the same school and other factors that get in their way?
I actually enjoyed “Tsukigakirei” because it’s typical junior high style of life and situations featured in this anime are possible situations. My friend’s young sister married a her childhood boyfriend after graduating from college and seeing relationships go that long may be rare these days, but they do happen.
And I was captivated with “Tsukigakirei” for its delightful storyline. It’s a romantic love story that many anime fans, who enjoy love stories, can easily follow.
As for the Blu-ray release, it’s pretty much a barebones release as there are no major special features (but the textless opening and ending theme) but the animation and lossless audio is great on Blu-ray.
Overall, “Tsukigakirei” is an anime series for those who have been wanting a romantic love story. While “love” can often be seen in an anime series, for a story that is grounded in real-life situations and is plausible, makes “Tsukigakirei” a captivating and delightful anime series which I highly recommend!
