it's been a little over two years since Your Lie in April initially aired - a series that captured the hearts of many people with it's compelling yet tragic story of finding yourself through music. A lot of people found it to be beautifully relatable and how could it not be? From it's surreal musical performances being a gateway to characters emotions and a gut wrenching tale of sorrowful love, while it's not perfect by any means having a few too many overly dramatic moments and putting focus on less than irrelevant characters, Your Lie in April is a series many won't ever forget. While there are a lot of discussion topics that can be said about the series, many of which can be found in other videos, it's easy to gloss over a small point - that being, what was Kaori Miyazano sick with? Today, Dr. Nyaa makes a return in trying to diagnose what exactly Kaori was sick with and lesson 3 of "What are you dying from?". If it wasn't clear enough already, this video will contain major spoilers. So, go watch the series if you haven't already! For those of you who don't recall, it was never specifically stated by the doctors or Kaori herself what her illness exactly was, because that would be way too easy. Instead, what we're shown is Kaori developing various symptoms throughout the series, showing the copious amount of medication she has to take until she eventually has to be hospitalized and undergo surgery. To make things manageable, we'll start from the very beginning and note down the symptoms and treatment she underwent. We first see Kaori playing the melodica at a children's park, waiting for Kousei's group to show up, and at first glance she doesn't show any signs of visible health issues. She's feisty, independent, but most of all passionate about music and is the girl that would forever change Kousei as a person. Everything seems to go smoothly - she plays at a violin recital, goes to school and relaxes at cafes. For the most part Kaori acts as a typical student, until it's discretely shown that she presses the Stop button while on the bus towards Totsuhara University hospital in episode 3. This is the first hint that's given about her health, albeit a really small detail if you aren't paying close attention. The second instance comes from when Kaori is frantically running upstairs towards the school rooftop in hopes to force Kousei to perform together at the recital, but midway up the stairs she gets unreasonably exhausted and out of breath. Admittedly this isn't concrete proof of a symptom since anyone could be out of breath if they expended enough energy, so we'll put this down as a maybe. The first major flag showing Kaori's health issue is at the end of episode 4, right after her performance on stage with Kousei, as she passes out due to exhaustion, so we can note this down as a definite symptom. At the start of the next episode the group is worried about her hospitalization, but Kaori assures them that it's her dad who's over the top and that she's just there for routine testing. Kousei is skeptical and asks if she's ever fainted before. She quickly answers by saying that it's her first time, but from the shot we're given, having only seen her answer from the back, it's heavily implied that she's giving a white lie. She gives an excuse saying that she's always been anemic, but later, we're given a flashback showing Kaori waking up at the hospital and her saying: We'll debunk whether or not she's anemic a bit later - once we're finished. Continuing on, the next couple of episodes progress as usual showing some truly stellar performances from its characters. It's only when Kaori goes to the bathroom during Kousei's piano recital that we see the vast amount of pills and medication that she has to take. Then, in episode 11, we finally get a glimpse of her home and inside, the hallways of her house contain a handrail, suggesting that she has weak leg muscles and collapses easily. I think you can see a trend here. Possibly the biggest death flag so far is later that night as Kousei and her are reminiscing about the recital. Kaori whispers to herself: By this point we can deduce that wherever illness she has is fatal and most likely can't be cured. After a beautiful solo performance by Kousei in episode 13, Kaori is later found out to be hospitalized again, this time having drip IV therapy and a head wound. When the group visits her in the following episode, her skin is noticeably more pale, as you can see. Her conditions worsen and while walking in the hospital hallway, Kaori falls over and is unable to move her legs, dragging herself on the floor struggling to get up. At this point she started to develop paralysis in her legs and this is further supported by a flashback of her collapsing in her house, hitting her head when her legs failed to move. The next symptom appears when Kousei and Kaori are out shopping. He hands her a drink, but as she reaches for it, Kaori can't grip her hands tightly enough and ends up dropping the bottle. This suggests that she's developing paralysis in her arms and as the show continues the doctor can be seen briefing her parents, as it cuts to Kaori losing hold of her violin bow and dropping it. From this point on in the series, Kaori is only shown to be in the hospital and the next time we see her is in episode 19, where the doctor explains that surgery would be very risky and that even if it was a success, it would only give her a little more time. Just before Kousei and Watari are able to visit her the next day, Kaori appears to be in cardiac arrest and is put into an ICU unit. She undergoes surgery on the day of Kousei's performance in hopes to play the violin one last time, but tragically doesn't survive. In the letter she left for Kousei, Kaori tells him that she had surgery as a child and was treated as an outpatient. After collapsing in the 7th grade, she was in and out of hospital regularly. She saw her parents crying in the hospital, which signaled that she didn't have much time left. So, from the series what we've learned, is that she collapses easily, has regular check-ups from the hospital, and on top of that takes piles of medication. She eventually develops paralysis in her legs, which spreads to her arms and in the worst case scenario has cardiac arrest. There seems to be no cure as surgery only buys her a little more time. Now that we have all the pieces, it's time to fit all this together. First, her claim to be anaemic. Anaemia is a deficiency in the number of red blood cells a person has. Red blood cells carry oxygen around the body to the organs When a person is anaemic, their heart has to work harder in order to pump the quantity of blood needed for sufficient oxygen around the body. If we take a look at the symptoms of Anaemia, we can definitely see some similarities, such as: pale skin, tiring easily and breathlessness. But, as you can see, Anaemia doesn't cause any type of paralysis. It is possible and even likely for Kaori to be anaemic, but this is not what killed her. There are currently two prevailing theories that people have come up with: Kaori either has Bone Marrow Failure or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, but I think you know it by its initials, A.L.S. So let's take a look at these two, shall we? According to many people and the Your Lie in April wiki, Kaori suffers from Bone Marrow Failure, due to her change in skin pigmentation and operation needed for recovery. Anaemia is also a very common cause of the disease. But the thing is, BMF is not a terminal disease and can be treated. The surgery itself is not very risky and failure chances are even reduced if you're young and receive blood donation from a relative, which we all know her parents would. That's also not mentioning that BMF does not cause any sort of paralysis to the arms or legs, so sorry, BMF is busted. This leaves the other most plausible disease - ALS, which is a disorder that affects the functions of the nerves and muscles. This is already looking pretty good. Most people who develop ALS are between the ages of 40 and 70. We'll see that Kaori is a special case. So, what happens? It takes away your ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow and breathe, while shortening your lifespan. How fast and the order it occurs in varies from person to person. This almost seems like the perfect match, right? ALS is fatal and there is no known cure. Surgery is also not recommended. So, that's it. Case closed - Kaori has ALS, right? Well, considering there's still a couple of minutes left in the video, no. Why? Because ALS does not explain Kaori's cardiac arrest at episode 20, as heart condition is not a symptom of ALS. Busted! You might think that we've hit a roadblock, but fear not! Dr. Nyaa has proposed a new disease that doesn't take a quick Google search of "what was Calorie sick with" - melodrama. WTF? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you - Friedreich's Ataxia. Okay, so you probably have no clue what that is, so let's run it down and prove to you that Kaori suffers from this disorder. Friedreich's Ataxia is a genetic disorder that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. This results from the degradation of nerve tissue in the spinal cord and nerves that control muscle movement in - you've guessed it!, the arms and legs. Symptoms usually begin between the ages of 5 and 15, putting Kaori right within the range. The first symptom is usually difficulty in walking, which gradually worsens and spreads to the arms. People with Friedreich's Ataxia can develop shortness of breath and heart disease. There is no known cure, but treatment is available, including surgery, physical therapy and medication. Generally, within the appearance of the first symptom, the person is confined to a wheelchair and most people die in early adulthood if there is significant heart disease. This description perfectly fits to what Kaori has, and her pale skin can be attributed to her anaemia. The only small problem we have is that Friedreich's Ataxia is a genetic disorder, meaning that it had to be passed down, but her parents show no signs of the disease... ...until you research that it's passed down as a recessive trait, meaning that both Kaori's mother and father are carriers that never developed the disease. When both parents are carriers, the chances of a child inheriting Friedreich's Ataxia are 1 in 4. So, there you have it - the disease that caused the heartbreak of so many fans of the series finally revealed - Friedreich's Ataxia. We can finally put this question to a rest, though I do feel bad for Kaori's parents as they only have their bakery left. Wait a second, a bakery. Why does that seem familiar? No. It couldn't be, could it? I've already made an analysis detailing bad bread as Nagisa's sickness, but could Kaori's illness be the same as Nagisa's in Clannad? Nah. That's just a theory... A- -oh hang on. I've got mail. Hi Kevin. Due to a copyright claim, your video has been blocked. What? By who? MatPat? But he can't even do his theories correctly! I mean, have you seen his FMA1? 11%H, 89% O... What the fuck is this? This is literally not how chemistry works. For every mole of O there are two moles of H, meaning there's 3884.6 moles of H, and 1942.3 moles of O. Jesus Christ, do a bit of research! It's embarassing! Hey guys, hopefully you like that video. It should have been out months ago, but I guess I'm just lazy. Well, that and exams. [I'm] on Madman's presslist And they were kind enough to give [me] a copy of the your lie april box to make a video on, hopefully they don't take a [back] for making this video so late anyway If you like the show as much as I do and live in Australia or New zealand you can buy your lie april and DVD Or [bluray] from Madman entertainment Madman has a variety of anime in their back [catalogue] as well as many new releases each month I'm not paid [to] say this but I [think] they're the best anime company in Australia So go check them out and with that. I'll see [you] when I make another video in 2018
