ef – A Tale of Melodies

Mizuki & Yuuko: the leading ladies of 'ef - A tale of melodies'

Second season down. I don’t know what it was with this one, I liked it and hated it at the same time. At the forefront this season became a show about people with intense psychological issues. One’s dealing with death, the other never let go of his dead sister and then his dead lover, while there’s even characters that will make you want to scratch your eyes out. I don’t know what was up with the plot but this season was far more dark and morbid than the last one. Of course it’s a happy ending, after that heavy dose of depression that’s the least the writers could have done for their viewers.

Anyone who saw the first season would have immediately fallen in love with the way the anime has been drawn, along with the way the different scenes merge with each other. This season is no different in terms of technique and you see much of the same work here. Although it seemed just a tad bit forced to me. The last season really hooked me onto the feel of the scene and I could really reach into the character because of the way the anime was drawn but this time around I don’t think it helped much.

Another problem was the fact that I kept hoping to see some of the older characters (who did keep appearing) in more significant scenes but to no avail. Eventually I gave up on the idea, the problem was I gave up around episode 8 and the season was 12 episodes long! A pleasant surprise was the altered opening from season one which was thrown into episode 11.  I loved it! It seemed like a nice conclusion to all the other stories that I always saw in the previous season.

Also the last season has characters which could be annoying but nevertheless you could always throw a sock at the screen and hope they would grow up (which they did). This time around there are characters who aren’t just annoying, they are downright weird and sick in conception. This season gives you characters like Amamiya Akira who you would really relish hating.

Coming back to this season: I don’t understand the clashing theme that one of the protagonists keeps dishing out – on one hand he’s  all about reality and practicality and on the other hand he has this Utopian dream of creating the perfect city where everyone is happy, has equality and never gets left out. The guy who says there are no miracles and no god sure as hell knows how to dream.

ef – A Tale of Memories

One of the more prevalent techniques on the show, making the background part of the person. Does that mean the background became the person? Was the person empty on the inside? This anime didn't cease to boggle my brain the entire time I was watching it

This anime would fall under the Shoujo category if we were talking manga I believe.

I don’t know what to say about it really, it feels weird while you’re watching it and then you just can’t stop once you start. Right now I have no idea who the artists are but whoever did the conceptualization and art for this anime should be given the biggest anime award around.  It’s brilliant how they take the scenery and make it a part of the characters and then rip the characters apart and splatter them in terms of their feelings all over the screen. If for nothing else then just for the way it’s been drawn out, this Anime is one of my favourites.

Chihiru Chan

It’s like the most complicated ideas are presented with such simplicity and vice versa that you just lose yourself. I’m not sure what I was more excited about, the way a character was developing or how his/her feelings were being thrown about so casually and yet so delicately in each frame. It’s just over 11 episodes long but I wish it could be longer.

I had this insane urge to actually get down to drawing something while I was watching the first season (there are only two seasons). This anime also made me realise that the only kind of love I believe in is morbid love which is fractured in places and bleeds often. Does that make me a masochist or just plain messed up in the head? Bit of both perhaps.

There are two plots running parallel to each other and I’m not sure which one I like more. I think it was slightly confusing in the start and it would be a terrible idea to watch this thing while you’re preoccupied with something else as it literally takes something out of you. I think the one thing I remember thinking extremely clearly is that there are several parts of this anime that looked like wallpapers, unlike actual anime scenes most wallpapers are elegant, beautiful and they almost sparkle. That seemed to be the case with most bits of this anime.

12 years - 13 hours <--- extent of Chihiru's memories

I think I could relate to the concept of dreams and how the only way you can follow them is if you know what they are and the only way you can know what they are is if you wish for them first. hmm… wouldn’t wishing for a dream be a dream? A dream to have a dream? I think my favourite character in the whole plot was Renji. Ignoring the fact that I have a thing for the name, I think this was one of the most fragile yet agile character on the show. I think most of the female characters were extremely annoying though. I can’t really wait to give the second season a hit, the first one was amazing.