Given
2020 · Directed by Hikaru Yamaguchi
Original language: Japanese
- animation
- drama
- music
- romance
The story
Haruki secretly had feelings for Akihiko for years, but Akihiko was still in a relationship with his roommate, the violinist Ugetsu Murata. Haruki, Akihiko, and Ugetsu's love clashes and starts to move forward.
What it’s like
Soft, rain-washed anime frames of a Tokyo school year, with pale blue skies, warm lamplit rooms, and close, tender framing on faces during quiet exchanges. Music carries much of the feeling: a wistful violin line threads through practice rooms and late-evening streets, and the score tends toward gentle piano and strings that swell at emotional turns and then fall away into quiet. The vibe is bittersweet and aching, a slow simmer of longing and unspoken feeling that suits a rainy afternoon, a late night alone, or a comfort watch with a cup of tea. Pacing is unhurried and conversational, with long pauses where characters look at each other and don't say what they mean. The emotional arcs follow three young men learning to be honest about wanting and losing, and the mood leans toward grief and loneliness more than hope. Intensity is low: some kissing and romantic intimacy, a few tense confrontations, and sorrow handled through restraint rather than spectacle, with no graphic violence and no explicit content. It is for viewers who want an emotionally raw, music-soaked queer romance that lingers on feeling rather than plot twists.
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