One of the best coming-of-age anime series in recent years, Your Lie in April was first released as a one-shot comic, then manga, and eventually followed an anime, that took over the world. The story follows a young pianist named Kо̄sei Arima, who loses the ability to play the piano after his mother’s death. He later meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist that will impact Kо̄sei’s life forever. The OVA was a success and it garnered critical acclaim all over the charts.
Your Lie in April tells a story about the boy who, even when he thought that he couldn’t impact anyone with his music, still managed to touch many people, including Kaori, which teaches us that we are more important to other people than we think.
Since “Your Lie in April” touched so many hearts all over the world, we decided to reveal some answers and discuss them in this article. If you are interested in what happened to the main characters of the story and what was the ending of the anime series, stay with us until the end of the article. Without further ado, let’s start! We warn of spoilers for the OVA Your Lie In April.
Do Kousei and Kaori Get Together?
Kо̄sei Arima and Kaori Miyazono met at the beginning of the story, two years after Kо̄sei stopped playing his beloved piano. That was his life, and being a prodigy of the instrument seemed as if Kо̄sei will play the piano and create beautiful music forever. However, his beloved mother died out of nowhere, and a fourteen-year-old boy who depends on his parents that much was devastated to the point he stopped playing the instrument that made him the happiest. However, why would he continue to play if his biggest fan and light in life is gone?
This is quite an interesting premise, and one of the main points of the anime – who are we playing for? What is our goal? Do we even affect other people with our actions? Kо̄sei did, but unfortunately, he did not know that until he met Kaori Miyazono, whose character is quite interesting.
She is a free-spirited girl who does not play by the rules and plays the violin her own way. That garnered her a lot of popularity amongst the audience, but the experts in the violin and music industry disliked her for “disobeying” the rules. Love for musical instruments and music seems as the main staple of the Your Lie In April, however, music is a metaphor for how you can create love with other things, and impact other people the more you know yourself.
That is to say, Kо̄sei and Kaori were never explicitly together during the OVA but they still felt love and had feelings for each other. The love they shared was shown through the music and Kо̄sei, after years of losing faith and love for the music and the world, finally “woke” up with the help of Kaori. She showed him the way how to play and create music free, without any obstacles or hesitancy, and with groundbreaking love.
Even though they loved each other, Kо̄sei and Kaori never ended up together… at least in real life. What does that mean? Well, we interpreted their relationship like this – Kо̄sei and Kaori don’t end up together, because Kaori succumbs to the mortal disease. However, Kо̄sei is playing in the Eastern Japan Piano Competition, where he went all the way to the finale, with the help of Kaori. He felt something was wrong when Kaori’s spirit accompanied him during his final performance. She was gone.
After the competition, Kо̄sei attended Kaori’s funeral, and read her letter which included a photo of the young girl with a violin. It was revealed that Kо̄sei inspired Kaori’s passion and love for music and violin, which prompted him to keep the photo and frame it.
Kо̄sei and Kaori do not end up together, but Kо̄sei keeps Kaori in his heart as she kept him in hers since she was a little girl.
Does Tsubaki End Up With Kо̄sei?
Tsubaki Sawabe is Kо̄sei’s childhood friend and a next-door neighbor. Even though she was his friend, Tsubaki often dismissed Kо̄sei’s inability to move on from his mother’s death and reluctance to play the piano. She tried convincing him to start playing again but Tsubaki never affected Kо̄sei as Kaori did.
Tsubaki treated Kо̄sei as her younger brother and never expressed any feelings for him during the story. However, that changed, and after some time, Tsubaki realizes her love and feelings for Kо̄sei. The revelation of the feelings she has for her best friend stunned Tsubaki – Kо̄sei wanted to leave to pursue his dreams.
When the revelation occurred, Tsubaki had a boyfriend, whom she left to help Kо̄sei realize his feelings for Kaori. This is huge character development for Tsubaki since she does not want to acknowledge her feelings for Kо̄sei at all, until she realizes she will lose him forever, even as a friend. She moves her feelings aside and helps Kо̄sei with Kaori, even in the aftermath of Kaori’s passing, Tsubaki tells Kо̄sei she will give anything to help Kо̄sei and be his support.
This is the only hint we get for Kо̄sei and Tsubaki, which means they stayed friends after the end of the anime, and manga series.
How Does Your Lie In April Ends?
As we already mentioned, Your Lie in April’s last episodes are heartbreaking and emotional. After Kо̄sei finds out that Kaori is really sick, he once again is struggling to continue playing the piano. He cannot play in the competition or for anyone because he only ever wanted to play for his mother and Kaori. Tsubaki manages to convince Kо̄sei to visit Kaori after her health has gotten worse.
They have a heartfelt talk where Kо̄sei expresses his fears of not ever playing the piano for the ones he loves – his mother and Kaori. He also realizes that he just wanted to make his mother happy with his music and now, knowing that Kaori is really sick, he is scared to play again. What is the purpose of playing the piano if can’t play it for the people he loves?
Kaori, being the ever-lasting optimist, tells Kо̄sei that her fight to live is what drives her and that is why she has chosen the risky surgery that can save her life. Being near Kо̄sei, playing music with him, and ultimately hanging out and being each other’s support, is what is fuelling her will to fight for her life.
After Kо̄sei voices his concerns and fear, Kaori once again shows his love for him and tells him he always fueled her music, as she fuels him. At the end of the heartbreaking roof scene, Kaori tells Kо̄sei she wants to know, and ask him so many things, and that she doesn’t want to die.
After a few struggles, in the beginning, Kо̄sei nails the performance and realizes that he was never alone and that he will always have someone to play his music to. At the same time, Kaori is having surgery, and we do not know what is happening to her until her spirit accompanies Kо̄sei during the performance. Cue to the aftermath of the performance and Kaori’s passing, Kо̄sei is seen with the letter Kaori left him, where she told him everything – from her love for to him, and her lie she told him.
The letter has Kaori’s photo as well, where she is only five years old holding a violin – it was revealed that Kо̄sei inspired Kaori to play music, and instruments, exchanging the piano for violin. Kо̄sei answers her questions in the letter, by saying she will always be in his heart and is seen playing the piano freely, with Kaori’s photo framed in front of him.
What Lie Did Kaori Tell?
There is one lie Kaori told to Kо̄sei that she reveals in the letter. Throughout the anime, Kaori is seen taking interest in Ryōta, Kо̄sei’s best friend. Kо̄sei was sad and devastated when he found out that Kaori likes Ryōta, but towards the end of the anime, Kaori is seemingly more interested in Kо̄sei. That is why fans were confused by Kо̄sei and Kaori’s relationship.
However, Kaori’s letter to Kо̄sei revealed the lie she told to Kо̄sei – she fabricated her feelings towards him to Ryōta, so she can get close to Kо̄sei. Kaori also mentions that she knew Tsubaki has feelings for Kо̄sei and did not want to hurt her feelings for Kо̄sei’s friend. Ultimately, Kaori tells Kо̄sei she loves him and hopes that he will have her in his heart forever.
Now, the fans, including me, realized there was another Kaori lie to Kо̄sei – she promised Kо̄sei they will play again together. Even though she realized her dream of playing with Kо̄sei, she promised that they will do it again, but never got a chance to do it.
Your Lie in April sends a great message – you always fight, no matter what, because you are part of the world as anyone else, and ultimately, even when you think you don’t, you have an influence on other people, more you will ever know. Like Kaori affected Kо̄sei and vice versa.
