Despite being released in 2014, Your Lie in April is still hailed as one of the most emotional anime of the last decade. Fans would go so far as to claim that it’s actually among the most heartbreaking anime to ever come out of Japan. It’s easy to see why such claims are made regularly, seeing how fans went in assuming the show would be a light-hearted romantic comedy
However, viewers soon realized that the anime was a dramatic tragedy that focused on the failures, imperfections, and constant rejections of its characters faced. Although Your Lie in April is effectively unique, there are several anime series that employ the narrative elements, structure, and characterizations in this Naoshi Arakawa masterpiece.
Updated on May 23, 2023 by Ajay Aravind:Your Lie in April is a masterful take on human relationships, one that involves as much joy as heartbreak. The franchise includes the anime series, a live-action movie, and several stage adaptations. As such, we’ve revamped this list containing anime that fans of Your Lie in April might enjoy.
10 Maquia: When The Promised Flower Blooms
After the kingdom of Mezarte goes to war with Maquia’s land, the supernatural being is forced into the “outside world” as a result of a brutal battle. In a forest with no way to go back, this girl finds a human baby and instantly decides to raise him as her child.
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms touches on subjects like loneliness, utter despair, and a lot of emotional frustration. These concepts are also highlighted in Your Lie in April — a notable similarity between these two anime would be the journeys of self-realization taken by their characters.
9 March Comes In Like A Lion
Due to society’s immense pressure on his shoulders, shogi player Rei Kiriyama decides to live alone in Tokyo. He cannot make any friends, but the emergence of three sisters in his life changes everything.
Despite their dark pasts, the Kawamoto sisters instantly welcome Rei as one of their own. Rei soon finds himself the familial love he’d desired his entire life, but he still can’t decide if that’s enough to stop him from playing shogi. March Comes in Like a Lion and Your Lie in April both revolve around their respective protagonist’s loneliness and isolation.
8 Angel Beats!
Otonashi wakes up in the afterlife, having no memory of his past life. At the insistence of Yuri, he ends up joining her Shinda Sekai Sensen group (along with other students) to fight the evil girl Tenshi.
Unable to accept that Tenshi is a lousy person, Otonashi starts talking to her to understand her while also trying to remember who he was before he died. The Isekai anime Angel Beats! is set around high-school life, and chronicles a number of existential scenarios, much like Your Lie in April.
7 The Garden Of Words
Takao Akizuki meets, talks, and falls in love with Yukari Yukino, without realizing she was an absentee teacher from his school. The more the two talked, the more they ended up opening their hearts and realizing just how much they had in common.
However, there was one big problem in taking things further – Takao is 15, while Yukari is 27, an age difference that is problematic without taking into account their student-teacher relationship. The Garden of Words incorporates a gorgeous visual aesthetic, rather similar to Your Lie in April.
6 I Want To Eat Your Pancreas
Haruki finds a personal diary written by his classmate Sakura and realizes she’s about to die soon due to her pancreatic disease. He initially shows no sympathy for her condition, but he soon gets caught up in her friendly and charming demeanor.
Despite the inevitable outcome of Sakura’s illness, the two of them embark on a deep relationship. Like Your Lie in April, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas revolves around the fleeting nature of life. That said, these two anime are equally difficult to watch for overly sensitive viewers.
5 Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day
Jinta Yadomi initially brushes off his friend Menma’s apparition as a hallucination, seeing how she died years ago. However, after he is convinced that Menma’s ghost is real, he involves all of their childhood friends.
Together, they must find a way to put her spirit to rest, but they have to overcome their overwhelming feelings of guilt and regret before that can happen. Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day is a highly complex story involving the sheer depth and sophistication of human emotion. Your Lie in April is rather similar in that regard.
4 A Silent Voice
In elementary school, Shouya Ishida’s bully was called out for his behavior and was soon ostracized by everyone, including his friends. He grew up to be a complete loner who felt intense regret for his poor actions as a child.
Now, as a teenager, he only wishes to befriend the young girl whose life he had inadvertently made a living hell, but he needs to apologize for his egregious actions first. Like Your Lie in April, A Silent Voice grapples with complex emotions like guilt, remorse, atonement, and forgiveness.
3 Kids On The Slope
Kaoru Nishimi is a pianist who is also an introvert. He starts feeling alienated after shifting to a new city but all of that changes when he meets Sentarou Kawabuchi.
Despite being a troublemaker, Sentarou’s surprising passion for Jazz music lights a fire within Kaoru, allowing him to gradually emerge from his self-inflicted shell. Your Lie in April and Kids on the Slope both rely heavily on the impact and influence of music on a person’s emotional development.
2 The Anthem Of The Heart
Jun Naruse’s naivety results in her parents’ divorce. Following that traumatic event, a fairy egg seals her mouth so that her words can never hurt anyone again. When she’s suddenly asked to participate in a school musical, Jun is hesitant because she cannot speak.
However, she changes her mind after listening to her partner Sakagami sing on stage. The Anthem of the Heart is all about the results of trauma, while simultaneously demonstrating Jun’s inner strength. Your Lie in April’s Kosei Arima goes through a near-identical experience, albeit with a radically different character arc.
1 Violet Evergarden
After the Great War ends, child soldier Violet Evergarden starts adjusting to civilian life by becoming an Auto Memory Doll. Her job is to travel to new places, transcribing people’s emotions and feelings into beautiful words.
While she’s initially terrible at her job, Violet slowly begins to understand what it means to “love” someone, leading her down a surprising path of self-perception. Your Lie in April and Violet Evergarden share overarching themes, from the enduring power of the human spirit to the protagonists’ eventual self-discovery.
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