(L) ef - a tale of memories.

[martino]

Just managed to watch up till episode 10 in the past day and a half, and oh dear. This series falls nothing short of to be my favourite for the current season and maybe even get to the list of my overall favourites.

Episode 10~

Spoiler:

The way they killed/cut the climax with the 100 second countdown on the telephone, in conjunction with the music, was just plain godly done. One of my favourite scenes from ef, if not "the one" so far...

EDIT: Also I'm a bit confused after this episode. Didn't Kei confess to Hiro her love, and didn't he accept her? Then he says that he loves Miyako... Or did I miss/misunderstand something? I guess they just went back to how they were when kids...
EDIT2: Watched it again... Nevermind. ^^

Can't wait for the rest and the soundtrack too. For now I'll just have to do with listening to the OP Single non-stop. ^_^

[Xellos-_^]

EF defintely tops my favorite anime this season and probably the whole year. Shaft did a amazing piece of work with this series.

[puretsundere]

Just watched the 10th episode. To me one of the three best anime episodes of the season along with Myself; Yourself ep 8 and of course, ef - a tale of memories ep 9. This episode left me no doubt that this is the best series of this anime season to me.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Same same ^_^. I eventually got to the "100" ticking down and that scared me to death wondering what "0" would bring. The ending of ep 10 sure brought me joy, but I just wanted more. Humm... I guess i'm just a person who wants tragic endings >.<

So far the anime is very becoming, enjoying this one right along with Higurashi 2, other than that I don't think there's any other ^^

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Same same ^_^. I eventually got to the "100" ticking down and that scared me to death wondering what "0" would bring. The ending of ep 10 sure brought me joy, but I just wanted more. Humm... I guess i'm just a person who wants tragic endings >.<

So far the anime is very becoming, enjoying this one right along with Higurashi 2, other than that I don't think there's any other ^^

Just a guess but i think you will get your wish with the Renji and Chihiro ending.

Anything short of a Duex Ex-machina miracle is not going to be able to save them.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

Just a guess but i think you will get your wish [a tragic ending] with the Renji and Chihiro ending. Anything short of a Deus Ex-machina miracle is not going to be able to save them.

Well, probably. But I think she really is the same person, even after forgetting things. It would be weird -- and not necessarily the best thing for him -- but I think a "together" ending is possible. As long as she doesn't lose the diary. Pleeease make some copies, Chihiro, Renji, Yuu. An ending where she lost the diary but eventually showed signs of becoming fond of Renji again would work for me: temporary tragedy with a light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, we have two episodes for stuff to happen in, for RxC and for KeixKyousuke. I really don't know what will happen in either case. But I also hope that we keep seeing Miya and Hiro. It's too soon for "and they lived happily ever after."

In fact, I half-agree (only half) with the people saying Miyako is crazy. She's nervous and neurotic, like a lot of people who still can be classed as normal. In any case, her life will never be totally smooth. She will continue to fear abandonment and be ready to flee, I think.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Well, probably. But I think she really is the same person, even after forgetting things. It would be weird -- and not necessarily the best thing for him -- but I think a "together" ending is possible. As long as she doesn't lose the diary. Pleeease make some copies, Chihiro, Renji, Yuu. An ending where she lost the diary but eventually showed signs of becoming fond of Renji again would work for me: temporary tragedy with a light at the end of the tunnel.

I am thinking of the longterm future. What happens when Chihiro collapse again and again. How many times can Renji start over with Chihiro. And for Chihiro, how would she feels reading how much she loves Renji and realize she forgets about him each time she collapse. 1x, 2x, 3x 4x, 5x? how many times does she read about it before she feels life is hopeless.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

I am thinking of the longterm future. What happens when Chihiro collapse again and again. How many times can Renji start over with Chihiro. And for Chihiro, how would she feels reading how much she loves Renji and realize she forgets about him each time she collapse. 1x, 2x, 3x 4x, 5x? how many times does she read about it before she feels life is hopeless.

Or do they both find hope in it? (I get your point. I'm just trying out the idea.)

[CrowKenobi]

Originally Posted by martino

Just managed to watch up till episode 10 in the past day and a half, and oh dear. This series falls nothing short of to be my favourite for the current season and maybe even get to the list of my overall favourites.

Episode 10~

Spoiler:

The way they killed/cut the climax with the 100 second countdown on the telephone, in conjunction with the music, was just plain godly done. One of my favourite scenes from ef, if not "the one" so far...

EDIT: Also I'm a bit confused after this episode. Didn't Kei confess to Hiro her love, and didn't he accept her? Then he says that he loves Miyako... Or did I miss/misunderstand something? I guess they just went back to how they were when kids...
EDIT2: Watched it again... Nevermind. ^^

Can't wait for the rest and the soundtrack too. For now I'll just have to do with listening to the OP Single non-stop. ^_^

Doubly agree! The telephone conversation was done top notch! We get one minute and ten seconds of "it's taking forever to countdown" to thirty seconds of "it's counting down too fast!"

Another nice touch was the color disappearing as the time counted down (and props to conclave-mendoi for removing the sub's color at the same time!) and then reappearing when Hiro arrived!

10 outa 10 from me.

+Miyako sig from the end of the episode:

[MonkeyDude]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

I am thinking of the longterm future. What happens when Chihiro collapse again and again. How many times can Renji start over with Chihiro. And for Chihiro, how would she feels reading how much she loves Renji and realize she forgets about him each time she collapse. 1x, 2x, 3x 4x, 5x? how many times does she read about it before she feels life is hopeless.

Spoiler for Clannad Spoiler?:

I can see a Tomoyo:After type of scenario playing out. Actually, its likely that the same thing would happen...

[X207]

i liked ep 10. for the past 3-4 eps it got pretty interesting with the 2 couples. i liked how they did that last few scenes.

[Major1138]

I love how stylish this series is - at first I found the countdown clock annoying as hell, but it certainly helped make the scene more dramatic as you began to wonder if Hiro and Miyako would be able to say all that they wanted to before they were out of time.

Plot-wise, looks like things are more or less settled on the Hiro/Miyako/Kei front. The parallels between the story that Hiro/Kei/Chihiro were arguing about as children and Hiro and Kei's current situation didn't go unnoticed.

With two episodes to go, I guess the next episode will be Renji/Chihiro. I suspect that the way it ends will depend on how the series answers the question about how much does the person you are depend on the memories you have? I'm not 100% sure this story will have an outright happy ending, although I could see Renji deciding to stay with Chihiro no matter what because he sees that she's still the same person he fell in love with, regardless of the memories she has.

I have no idea how Kyousuke and Kei will end up - to be honest I find that storyline to be the least interesting of the three. I do wonder if we'll see some crossover between the storylines in the final episode(s).

[ThoHell]

I'm not really into this series, but watching it helps me learn more Japanese for my major. But anyways, this series is a masterpiece and episode 10 confirms it. Great work and creativity.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Well, probably. But I think she really is the same person, even after forgetting things. It would be weird -- and not necessarily the best thing for him -- but I think a "together" ending is possible. As long as she doesn't lose the diary. Pleeease make some copies, Chihiro, Renji, Yuu. An ending where she lost the diary but eventually showed signs of becoming fond of Renji again would work for me: temporary tragedy with a light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, we have two episodes for stuff to happen in, for RxC and for KeixKyousuke. I really don't know what will happen in either case. But I also hope that we keep seeing Miya and Hiro. It's too soon for "and they lived happily ever after."

In fact, I half-agree (only half) with the people saying Miyako is crazy. She's nervous and neurotic, like a lot of people who still can be classed as normal. In any case, her life will never be totally smooth. She will continue to fear abandonment and be ready to flee, I think.

For Chihiro, her memories is her Diary. Losing that would mean losing the countless days she's been alive. Alhemizer at such a young age, *sigh* ^_^ j/k

Well... as the way the anime is going, Hirono & Miya is pretty much a solid piece now, all we have left is a episode left of Kei & Kyou and Chihiro & Renji. Pretty much each of the last 2 is about them, since Hirono & Miya arc is done, done, done. I feel enlightened that, Hiro & Miya are together again, but the story saddens me. Is it the mood that the anime presents, or is it I actually paid attention to details. I don't know, i just like it ^^ (ughh... if I wanted to watch a anime like that, I should go back and watch Melody of Oblivion ^^ and die of boredness because of repetition)

Time for another week of boredness. Oh, Higurashi ep 23 is coming up soon.

[Sorrow-K]

Ep 10

I can't say I was exceptionally impressed with this ep. I was disappointed that this fell back on the standard love triangle cliche of "you can't have both, if you don't choose, you'll lose everything" when the show has had so few other cliches to date. I thought the confrontation between Hirono and Kyousuke was particularly trite, while Hayama may as well have walked around with a giant sign above her head saying "I'm a plot device".

The beeping countdown really killed the tension in that scene. It's one of only a few experimentalisms (apparently a real word) in this series that just did not work.

I guess what I can appreciate about this episode was just how freely open characters were with their emotions, since most anime characters in romance series have this knack of requiring little short of mace before showing their emotions.

A timely resolution, if only because I've had an inkling for about a week that the love triangle was running out of momentum, and I think this ep confirmed it. It just wouldn't have worked to stretch it out by another ep. I found the resolution to this subplot satisfactory, but I had higher expectations than "satisfactory".

Originally Posted by Liingo

So 1 down. 2 to go.

Although it's debatable whether Kei and Kyousuke will end up as a couple at this point.

I wouldn't bet on it. He hasn't had enough character development to play a role in a key relationship and she still needs time to get over her feelings for Hirono. I think the last two episodes will be all Renji and Chihiro.

[SuperKnuckles]

Wow, what can I say, Sorrow-K? I disagree with you on a lot of things. The time ticking was a very nice metaphor for Miyako putting a physical and emotional constraint in her relationship with Hirono, and it was a long time coming for Kyosuke to voice his concerns after 10 episodes of hither and dither. They didn't just pop out and voice their emotion on a whim. It was long brewing and had to pop.

Also, the show could've benefited more from more episodes, but it's not exactly like it was hampered for not showing more. I think the speedy, cutting-through-the-filler feel of the show is its own charm. And I don't think there's anything experimental about the show other than its avant garde approach in storytelling itself. The quickfire dialogue is what sets this show apart from most romance anime I've ever seen, really. It's all very deliberate, very quirky with a sense of purpose, very Shaft. Watch any of their other rapid-fire-visuals show in the recent years, and ef was a long time coming really. A serious show with the jarring visuals. Doesn't strike me one bit as experimental rather than fully intentional and with great success IMO.

And you say the love triangle was losing momentum? Are we watching the same show here? It was getting pretty intense until Kyosuke decided to punch some sense into Hirono. In any other lengthier show, they could've carried 26 eps with the triangle. Or quadrangle with Kyosuke.

[Sorrow-K]

I don't disagree that the show's been punchy, which is why I found it so jarring when Kei and Miyako started having multiple confrontations in the episodes leading up to this. They were interesting, riveting even, at first, but when they started following the same pattern of "I will make you disappear", "oh no, don't make me disappear, that's like my greatest fear", I started getting bored. The big problem I had with this episode is that the dire warning of "you must pick one or you'll lose both" feels like it's in every second love triangle in anime, where love triangles are in pretty much every second romance anime. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Kashimashi, Suzuka (IIRC), even Emma to a certain extent, the list goes on. I'm disappointed that a show that's hitting it out of the park in all directions as far as originality is concerned would choose to bring up such a massive cliche at an important moment like this.

[tripperazn]

What would be an alternative to a love triangle for sowing uncertainty in a relationship? Harem? There are very few romance anime with no major love triangle or harem. REC/Rekku and Ramune are among them. Neither have done extremely well in terms of sales and popularity. The only way to compensate for single pairing is extremely good writing to make up for lost tension. Hell, even the single pairing series have an alternate love interest at one point (REC: the girl in accounting for example), which makes a temporary love triangle.

Agreed, it is an extremely cliche setup, but there is a reason for that.

[TooPurePureBoy]

I don't know, maybe it is cliche' or something but I just thought it was truth. You can't have both and Hiro was trying to do that. Too much kindness will hurt those around you if you aren't careful where you focus it. If you don't choose one you will lose both (unless you got hardcore pimpin' skills ).

I thought (even though it's been done before) it was a fairly deep message about relationships they were trying to send. *shrugs* Oh well hey it worked for me, but that doesn't mean it has to work for everyone I suppose.

In the end I think its unfair to judge a show based on how many cliche's are in it. It's all about presentation. Hell I believe it was Mark Twain who said it best, "There are only seven original stories, everything else is just variations of them." So I never put too much weight on a stories value based on whether or not it breaks new ground. Just present it well and I'm a happy camper.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by tripperazn

What would be an alternative to a love triangle for sowing uncertainty in a relationship? Harem? There are very few romance anime with no major love triangle or harem. REC/Rekku and Ramune are among them. Neither have done extremely well in terms of sales and popularity. The only way to compensate for single pairing is extremely good writing to make up for lost tension. Hell, even the single pairing series have an alternate love interest at one point (REC: the girl in accounting for example), which makes a temporary love triangle.

Agreed, it is an extremely cliche setup, but there is a reason for that.

It's not the love triangle itself that I have a problem with. There are lots of good examples of love triangles in anime, eg, Honey and Clover. It's the fact that, to resolve it, they had to resort to "if you don't choose one, you'll hurt both and lose both". I've just seen it too frequently in other series to react to it with anything but "meh".