Hiroko is a great parental figure for Kousei–  it’s too bad the adults in this series are outweighed by all the drama of the main cast because she would have been great to explore for a few episodes during her college life.  They could have put into more detail her relationship with Kousei’s mother in an entire episode to establish an even greater view of Kousei’s relationship with her.

As much as Kousei has changed he is still very much the same as when he was a child whom lost his mother–  hiding in the same place and Hiroko choosing to comfort him differently this time spells out their past history together.  This is a very powerful episode because Kousei blames himself for what is happening with Kaori– he fell in love with her and is giving up his music due to this!  It’s good to see Kousei struggling personally because this is what he needs to find a new direction in handling his own musical style.  The caneles as I mentioned before translates for Kaori that she wants to see him–  this is very tough to watch here.  He carries her up the stairs in order for her to see the outside possibly for the very last time.  The snow outside foreshadows her death greatly and the writer of this episode really knew what they were doing transition from Kaori’s heartwarming lovable side to her scared behavior of being left all alone.  How amazing this entire scene is it revitalizes Kousei’s desire to see his performance through the end.

The Your Lie in April is enhanced quite a bit here because we now get to see Kaori being affectionate within her own mind about Kousei–  we all need someone to kiss us goodbye.  Everything will be ok and it will be Kousei’s passionate performance that will give her this message and more importantly send her home.  The smallest things in life can make the biggest impact–  the caneles play a pivotal role especially in this episode:  a gentle sweetness to a short-lived life.   Kousei’s breakdown on stage is completely saved by Tsubaki’s clumsiness–  that he’s not alone he has support through his mentors and his friends.  So why not let it ring for them Kousei?  His performance is awesome here but I wish they hadn’t cut it off with the ending.  Guess we will see what happens in the final episode!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9/10

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