Tsuki ga Kirei

Tsuki ga Kirei (月がきれい, transl. As the Moon, So Beautiful.[lower-alpha 1]) is a 2017 Japanese romance anime television series produced by Feel. It originally aired from April 6 to June 29, 2017.[3] Crunchyroll has licensed the series in North America.

Tsuki ga Kirei
Cover of the first Blu-ray volume for Tsuki ga Kirei.
月がきれい
Genre	Romance, coming-of-age
Anime television series
Directed by	Seiji Kishi
Produced by	Ken Minami Takema Okamura Toshihiro Maeda Hiroshi Kamei
Written by	Yūko Kakihara
Music by	Takurō Iga
Studio	Feel
Licensed by	^NA Crunchyroll (streaming) Funimation (home video)
Original network	Tokyo MX, MBS, BS11, TVA
Original run	April 6, 2017 – June 29, 2017
Episodes	12

As a coming-of-age contemporary romance, the story follows the lives of two junior high school students, Akane and Kotarō, who fall in love for the first time and struggle to maintain their relationship.

Plot

Kotaro Azumi and Akane Mizuno become third year students at junior high school and are classmates for the first time. They are put in charge of the equipment for a sports festival and slowly grow closer via LINE. These two, along with fellow students Chinatsu Nishio and Takumi Hira, relate to their peers through mutual understandings and feelings. As their final year at junior high school progresses, the group overcome their challenges to mature and become aware of changes in themselves.

Characters

Main

Kotarō Azumi (安曇 小太郎, Azumi Kotarō)

Voiced by: Shōya Chiba[4] (Japanese); Stephen Sanders[5] (English)

Student of class 3-1 who belongs to the literature club. He's aiming to become a novelist and respects Osamu Dazai. He generally has a calm and composed attitude. He initially is too embarrassed to show his novels to other people, but upon learning Akane's love for running and openness to use embarrassment as a method of improving oneself, he begins to open up to that prospect. From early childhood, Kotarō has received instruction in the performance of traditional dance and festival music accompaniment, Hayashi, at a local Shinto shrine. He secretly starts dating Akane, but later reveals this to Takumi.

When Akane is forced to move to Chiba due to her father's work, Kotarō tries to get into the same school as her, despite his parents' objections, but is unsuccessful. He is unable to see Akane off on her moving day, but publishes an online story promising to love her forever. Despite their long-distance relationship, they are shown to still get in contact and visit each other. The final shot at the end of the anime shows them married with a child years later.

Akane Mizuno (水野 茜, Mizuno Akane)

Voiced by: Konomi Kohara[4] (Japanese); Apphia Yu[5] (English)

Student of class 3-1 who belongs to the track and field club. She's an easy going character, but can be self-conscious and timid at times. When feeling nervous, she would squeeze her potato mascot plushie. Akane moved to Kawagoe, Saitama when she was a fifth grader in Primary school. She secretly starts dating Kotarō, but later reveals this to Chinatsu and Takumi, who inform the class about that.

When she is forced to move to Chiba due to her father's work, she becomes anxious over her future relationship with Kotarō, but cheers him on as he tries to get into the same school as her. When Kotarō fails to get in, she again becomes anxious, but finds new hope when she reads his online story, which is a promise to love her forever. The final shot at the end of the anime shows them married with a child years later.

Takumi Hira (比良 拓海, Hira Takumi)

Voiced by: Atsushi Tamaru[4] (Japanese); Daman Mills[5] (English)

The president of track and field club. He's been in love with Akane since first year.

Chinatsu Nishio (西尾 千夏, Nishio Chinatsu)

Voiced by: Rie Murakawa[4] (Japanese); Megan Shipman[5] (English)

One of Akane's best friends in track and field club who's easy going. She begins to catch feelings for Azumi.

Class 3-1

Daichi Ogasawara

Voiced by: Makoto Kaneko (Japanese); Tyson Rinehart (English)[6]

One of Kotarō's best friends.

Roman Yamashina

Voiced by: Eishin Fudemura[6] (Japanese); Brandon McInnis[5] (English)

One of Kotarō's best friends who has easy going personality and constantly wanting to read Kotarō's novel, despite of the latter's rejection. He's in love with his homeroom teacher Ryōko and won't hesitate to show it.

Aira Miyamoto

Voiced by: Manaka Iwami[6] (Japanese); Kristen McGuire[5] (English)

Akane's friend in class 3-1 who's belonged in the tennis club.

Setsuko Satō

Voiced by: Misono Suzuki[6] (Japanese); Kristi Rothrock[5] (English)

Akane's friend in class 3-1.

Miu Imazu

Voiced by: Haruka Chisuga[6] (Japanese); Bryn Apprill[5] (English)

Akane's friend in class 3-1.

Sakura Tanaka

Voiced by: Honoka Inoue (Japanese); Michelle Rojas (English)[6]

Shō Nagahara

Voiced by: Yūya Hirose[6] (Japanese); Austin Tindle[5] (English)

Setsuko's boyfriend.

Yasuhito Inaba

Voiced by: Mark Ishii[6] (Japanese); Ben Phillips[5] (English)

Aoi Takizawa

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi[6] (Japanese); Felecia Angelle[5] (English)

Tsubasa Kaneko

Voiced by: Kentarō Kumagai[6] (Japanese); Aaron Dismuke[5] (English)

Daisuke Tachibana

Voiced by: Mutsuki Iwanaka[6] (Japanese); Ian Sinclair[5] (English)

Ryōko Sonoda

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama[6] (Japanese); Jamie Marchi[5] (English)

Class 3-1's homeroom teacher.

Others

Ryūnosuke Azumi

Voiced by: Kazuo Oka[6] (Japanese); Kent Williams[5] (English)

Junko Azumi

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue[6] (Japanese); Alex Moore[5] (English)

Hiroshi Mizuno

Voiced by: Mitsuo Iwata[6] (Japanese); Sonny Strait[5] (English)

Saori Mizuno

Voiced by: Chiwa Saito[6] (Japanese); Monica Rial[5] (English)

Ayane Mizuno

Voiced by: Ryōko Maekawa[6] (Japanese); Morgan Garrett[5] (English)

Production and development

An original anime television series produced by Feel was announced in January 2017. Seiji Kishi directed the anime while Yūko Kakihara penned and supervised the series' scripts, and Kazuaki Morita adapted Loundraw's original character designs.[3] Takurō Iga and FlyingDog composed and produced the music, respectively, while Nagano served as the series' producer.[7] It aired on April 6, 2017 on Tokyo MX with further broadcasts on MBS, BS11 and TVA[8] then ended on June 29, 2017. Nao Tōyama sung both the opening and ending theme titled "Ima Koko" (イマココ) and "Tsuki ga Kirei" (月がきれい), respectively.[9] Tōyama also performed the insert song for episode 3, "Hatsukoi" (初恋).

Crunchyroll licensed the series and streamed it outside of Asia,[10] and Funimation dubbed the series and released it on home video in North America as part of their partnership with Crunchyroll.[11][12]

Episode list

All episodes are named after notable works in Japanese literature.

No.	Title[lower-alpha 2]	Directed by	Written by	Original air date[13]
1	"Spring and Hard Times" "Haru to Shura" (春と修羅)	Mitsuhiro Iwasaki	Yūko Kakihara	April 6, 2017
Kotarō Azumi and Akane Mizuno are two middle school students at Kawagoe Academy in Kawagoe, Saitama. Upon entering their third and final year, they join their school track club: Kotarō as an equipment manager and Akane as a runner. Both struggle with social situations: Kotarō is a bookworm with an affinity for Osamu Dazai who is reluctant to reveal his own writings to other people, while Akane often squishes a plushie to curb her anxiety. The two end up in the same class together, but are too embarrassed to talk to each other. One day, they bump into each other while at dinner with their families, who end up facilitating conversation between them, much to their chagrin. After Akane asks Kotarō not to reveal the situation to anyone, they rarely talk until Akane accidentally forgets to put Kotarō in the track club's LINE group. She eventually corrects the mistake.
2	"A Handful of Sand" "Ichiaku no Suna" (一握の砂)	Yoshimichi Hirai	Yūko Kakihara	April 13, 2017
Akane and a reluctant Kotarō take part in their last sports festival of middle school, as part of the same team. Akane manages to gain a massive lead for them during her 200 metres, which leaves Kotarō impressed. However, the out-of-shape Kotarō ends up tripping during his trial and scrapes his hand, leading Takumi Hira, the track club president and Akane's friend, to win. Chinatsu Nishio, Akane's track club best friend, poorly bandages it for him. Later, while going over the itinerary, Akane drops her plushie into the equipment. Upon realizing she's lost it, Akane's anxiety peaks and she fumbles the baton in the 4 x 100 metres relay, costing her team the victory. Takumi, whom most of the school assumes has a crush on Akane, later tries to console her. Kotarō eventually finds the plushie, having earlier seen her with it, and returns it to her. Grateful, Akane spills all of her insecurities to Kotarō, which he finds he can relate to, and awkwardly tells her that she is fine just the way she is. Inspired by Akane, Kotarō begins showing his work to local bookstore owner Daisuke Tachibana. Upon returning home, Kotarō and Akane begin a private chat on LINE.
3	"Howling at the Moon" "Tsuki ni Hoeru" (月に吠える)	Gidai Hiromine	Yūko Kakihara	April 20, 2017
During midterm exams, Kotarō learns that a story he submitted in a magazine competition did not get selected. He messages Akane about it, who encourages him to be himself. It is revealed that Chinatsu is now friends with Kotarō. With the school trip looming, the third-years become abuzz with dating gossip; Kotarō overhears Chinatsu and her friend Aoi talking about how Takumi should ask Akane out, to his dismay. On the day of one of Akane's track meets, Kotarō goes to a shrine for work and decides to pray for Akane there, where she sets a new personal record. Takumi attempts to ask her out there, but backs out. Later, after Kotarō finishes, he runs into Akane outside the shrine. As the two sit privately in silence, Kotarō asks Akane out.
4	"Passing Shower" "Tōriame" (通り雨)	Makoto Nakata	Yūko Kakihara	April 27, 2017
Akane decides to give Kotarō's request some thought, but does not reply for several days. Eventually, it is time for the school trip to Kyoto. At the beginning, the teachers confiscate all of the electronics, but Kotarō and his friends Daichi and Roman smuggle theirs in by hiding them in a snack bag; several other students use similar tactics. On the trip, Akane continues to avoid Kotarō, despite him constantly looking at his phone waiting for a response. At night, he eventually messages her to meet in front of a Daimaru department store, but one of the teachers (despite bring drunk) catches him, causing him to miss Akane's mixed reply. In the morning, Akane goes out shopping with friends. She eventually decides to go to the store, but while waiting for him, it starts to rain. Kotarō arrives, but ends up just missing her. He eventually contacts her by borrowing Chinatsu's phone, and they meet at a shrine. Akane chastises him for being late and his apparent closeness with Chinatsu, but eventually agrees to go out with him to get to know him better.
5	"Kokoro" "Kokoro" (こころ)	Takafumi Fujii	Yūko Kakihara	May 4, 2017
Kotaro and Akane start dating, but they begin keeping it a secret with the exception of Akane’s older sister Ayane. As a result of their relationship, Kotaro’s grades begin faltering. The two begin questioning how to progress their relationship, leading Kotaro to eventually ask Akane to meet at the library during lunch for privacy. When the time comes, however, Akane becomes anxious to not leave her friends behind. Kotaro ends up in the library with Chinatsu, who decides to go to the same cram school as him. Akane eventually shows up and continues to be jealous, causing her track performance to falter. Takumi confronts her later about her performance, exacerbating the rumors that they are dating. Kotaro goes to Daisuke for advice, who leaves his bookstore and lets Akane spend time with Kotaro. The two engage in small talk, where Kotaro says he admires watching her run and decides to go to her next track meet. They hold hands for the first time, when Akane gets a message from Chinatsu saying that she has a crush on Kotaro.
6	"Run, Melos!" "Hashire Merosu" (走れメロス)	Makoto Nakata	Yūko Kakihara	May 11, 2017
Akane does not tell Kotaro about Chinatsu’s message, and Kotaro, his spirits lifted, begins excelling at his temple practices and learns his story will possibly be published. He meets with Akane in the library to tell her, though he learns that he will miss he will miss her track meet as a result. On that day, Akane tells Chinatsu that she is dating Kotaro, who says she already knew. Each of them fail in their respective tasks: only Chinatsu does well in the meet as Akane fails to move to the next round, while Kotaro’s story is rejected. Akane later tells Ayane (who told her parents about Akane dating someone) about Chinatsu, who tells her to dump Chinatsu. Instead, after she and Kotaro vow to keep working to their goals, Akane tells Chinatsu that she just wants to remain friends. Chinatsu agrees, but asks Akane if she can at least gain closure by confessing to Kotaro.
6.5	"First Half: The Road So Far" "Zenhanshō Dōtei" (前半抄「道程」)	N/A	N/A	May 18, 2017
Recap of episodes 1–6.
7	"Hold Back Nothing When Taking Love" "Oshiminaku Ai wa Ubau" (惜しみなく愛は奪う)	Masatoyo Takada	Yūko Kakihara	May 25, 2017
Chinatsu invites Akane, Kotaro, and Hira to the amusement park, which results in a large group forming. During the trip, Chinatsu begins making several passes at Kotaro, and the others attempt to push Akane and Takumi together. While browsing the gift shop, Roman goes missing. Kotaro finds him in the First Aid, where Roman admits that he knew Kotaro is dating Akane. Roman attempts to give them some privacy, but learns that the group abandoned Akane and Takumi, intentionally getting them lost so that they can start dating. Kotaro eventually finds them and, feeling threatened, tells Takumi that they are dating. The couple leaves, which a saddened Chinatsu sees. Takumi goes back to the group and reveals the situation. Kotaro and Akane decide to go off on their own through the park. Hours later, they watch the fireworks separately from the group. They almost share their first kiss, but are interrupted by a little girl. Meanwhile. Chinatsu admits to Takumi that she invited him to try and split Akane off with him, and he forgives her.
8	"Vita Sexualis" "Wita Sekusuarisu" (ヰタ・セクスアリス)	Satoshi Saga	Yūko Kakihara	June 1, 2017
Eventually, the entire school becomes aware that Kotaro and Akane are dating, and they manage to spend more time together, including Akane visiting Kotaro while he does his festival practice. Afterwards, the temple heads give Kotaro some money for him to take Akane to a festival. Things go well until Akane learns that she missed Kotaro’s birthday, prompting her to briefly go out to buy him an identical plushie as a gift. At night, they continue to explore the festival, including writing relationship fortunes. While walking back together on a bridge, the two share their first kiss. It is revealed that the two wrote the same relationship fortune: that they remain together forever.
9	"The Wind Rises" "Kaze Tachinu" (風立ちぬ)	Gidai Hiromine	Yūko Kakihara	June 8, 2017
High school applications start to happen, and Kotaro and Akane are determined to go to the same school despite not knowing which one specifically. At dinner, each is faced with serious prospects: Akane’s father is getting transferred to Chiba, while Kotaro’s mother pressures him to make a serious choice of high school (despite his father’s opposite belief), causing him to consider doing light novels instead of serious literature. Neither tells the other about the situation. Instead, Kotaro secretly invites himself to Akane’s final track meet, where she sets a new personal record; Chinatsu ends up spotting him. Akane later accidentally tells Takumi about moving. In response, Takumi invites the track club to go to Kotaro’s festival. Both he and Chinatsu acknowledge that they have not really gotten over Akane and Kotaro. That night, Kotaro admits to Akane that he saw the track meet, and Akane tells him about moving.
10	"The Setting Sun" "Shayō" (斜陽)	Yoshimichi Hirai	Yūko Kakihara	June 15, 2017
Akane decides to apply to a school in Chiba that her parents and Takumi recommended. She meets with Kotaro, who says he will try to apply to the same one and that, regardless, they will be together. The track club later goes to Kotaro’s festival, where they see him performing. Later, Takumi and Akane go separately to throw away some belongings. While they wait for Kotaro to get on break, Takumi admits that he has a crush on her, unaware Kotaro is watching. Overwhelmed with everything going on, Kotaro later confronts Akane about Takumi. Though she explains the situation, Kotaro remains frustrated and continues to help with the festival, causing Akane to tearfully leave. The two don’t talk to each other for a while, until Akane notices that someone at Kotaro’s cram school ordered an application to the high school Akane plans to attend. Akane asks Kotaro about it, and he tells her that, regardless of his future, he wants to be with her. Akane tearfully thanks and kisses him.
11	"An Encouragement of Learning" "Gakumon no Susume" (学問のすすめ)	Masayo Nozaki	Yūko Kakihara	June 22, 2017
Kotaro begins studying incredibly hard to go to Akane’s school, despite not having sufficient grades. Initially, his mother is elated, having earlier criticized his hobbies as distractions. However, at a PTS conference, Kotaro reveals his true intentions, straining his relationship with his parents. Meanwhile, in addition to studying, Akane starts knitting a scarf for Kotaro. Ayame catches her, forcing Akane to reveal the situation; she is skeptical, believing they might break up later. The entire school eventually finds out about his intentions, much to their embarrassment. Kotaro and Akane manage to go on a Christmas date, during which Akane gives Kotaro the scarf. As they talk about the grades, Akane mentions how a parent’s support can mean a lot, comparing how her parents always supported her to his parents. Sometime later, after Akane gets accepted, Kotaro learns from his father that his mother (and subsequently he himself) now supports his decision due to his dedication, as long as he passes the exam. They make amends over a midnight exam. Kotaro leaves in the morning to go to the exam.
12	"And Then" "Sorekara" (それから)	Takafumi Fujii Masatoyo Takada Makoto Nakata Yoshimichi Hirai Takafumi Ikehata	Yūko Kakihara	June 29, 2017
Kotaro learns that he was not accepted into Akane’s school, saddening them. Daisuke suggests Kotaro use it in his writing, while Ayane suggests Akane should break up with him rather than do long-distance. Kotaro and Chinatsu end up accepted into the same high school. While walking home, Chinatsu confesses to Kotaro, but amicably accepts his rejection. After graduation, upon a suggestion from Roman, Kotaro starts self-publishing online. He and Akane go for a walk, where they make plans to do long-distance. A seemingly-hopeful Kotaro vows to make more efforts to see her rather than her, but Akane remains worried that, as evidenced by Chinatsu’s confession, they will eventually break up. She admits that her anxiety has left her convinced she has done nothing but trouble Kotaro, and after kissing him, she flees and breaks down crying. Weeks later, Akane’s family begins moving. While Akane says goodbyes to Chinatsu and Aoi, her parents let her take a later trip, and Chinatsu shows her Kotaro’s published work: a story about her. Kotaro, meanwhile, is caught up in festival work and is unable to see her off. Daisuke shows him that the story has become incredibly popular, when Kotaro notices that Akane commented “What happens next?”. He rushes to see her at the station, but she has already left. Instead, he replies in the comments, and shouts from a bridge as her train goes by, that he loves her. In the credits, the couple make their long distance relationship work over the next several years. They eventually go to college together, move into an apartment in adulthood, and at the end, are married with a child, all the while messaging through LINE.
SP	"Tsuki ga Kirei Specials" "Tsuki ga Kirei Tokubetsu" (月がきれい特別)	Seiji Kishi	Yūko Kakihara	September 27, 2017
It consists of 27 extra scenes in the Tsuki ga Kirei series, which is released in the blu-ray of the anime.

Notes

1. While directly translated as "The Moon is Beautiful," the phrase "Tsuki ga Kirei Desu ne." (月が綺麗ですね。, transl. "The Moon is Beautiful, Isn't it?") is a common Japanese phrase that translates to "I love you." The phrase was translated by Meiji-era novelist and teacher Natsume Sōseki since he believed that two people in love do not need direct words to convey their feelings.[1][2]
2. All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.

References

1. "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?". ASAHI NIHONGO. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
2. "オリジナルTVアニメ『月がきれい』が4月に放送決定". Animate Times (in Japanese). January 30, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
3. "Studio feel. Reveals Tsuki ga Kirei Original TV Anime Project for April". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
4. "Studio feel. Reveals Visual, Expanded Character Descriptions for Tsuki ga Kirei Original Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
5. "Funimation Announces English Dub Casts for Tsukigakirei, Tsugumomo Anime". Anime News Network. May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
6. "Tsuki ga Kirei TV Anime Reveals Video, Visual, More Cast". Anime News Network. March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
7. Listed as producer at AnimeJapan 2017.
8. "Studio feel.'s Tsuki ga Kirei TV Anime Premieres on April 6". Anime News Network. March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
9. "オリジナルTVアニメ『月がきれい』最新キービジュアル＆番宣PV公開＆主題歌決定など、5大ニュースをお届け！". アニメイトタイムズ (in Japanese). animateLAB Corporation. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
10. "Crunchyroll to Stream Tsukigakirei Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
11. "Funimation Announces English Dubs for 8 More Simulcast Titles, Brave Witches (Updated)". Anime News Network. April 25, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
12. "Crunchyroll, Funimation Outline Home Video Releases for elDLIVE, Tsukigarei, Tsugumomo, Clockwork Planet Anime". Anime News Network. February 17, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
13. "The Moon is Beautiful" (in Japanese). Tokyo MX. Retrieved April 6, 2017.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Tsuki ga Kirei (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Tsuki ga Kirei at IMDb