ef – a tale of melodies [ep 3]

by eternal on October 27, 2008

Things progress quickly in the world of ef – which is only natural, I suppose, considering we’ve only got 12 episodes to cover a pair of dramatic love stories worthy of the greatest Key games and Shinkai films. The only thing better than a show with incredible content is a show with incredible content that never gets boring; and ever since the start of the season, the new episode of melodies has been the highlight of my week (however sad that sounds), so I think it’s safe to say that the show has accomplished the latter for at least one person.

But I digress: what are you waiting for? Read more to hear about minori’s sad girls guy in Australia.

For some reason, I just can’t help going screencap-happy with this show. Oh well. Pictures are always good, right?


I’ll refrain from speaking my mind on this one…or at least I’ll try to OTL.


Mizuki is up to something strange, as always.


I have a feeling you’ll disappoint an awful lot of fans if you do that…

Awesome eyes are awesome.


Yes! Yes! YES!!! ……Or rather, “long time no see”, ehehe…


Ah, natsukashii~


0_o


Recharging…complete!


I believe I was thinking the same thing…

All this rabu-rabu talk is tingling my shoujo senses.


Jun Maeda had his hand in this, didn’t he?


Looks like Yu’s got his work cut out for him.

Like always, a superb episode as delivered to us by the brilliant minds at SHAFT. Just like I was saying last time, the artistic style of the directing of this show knows no bounds, delivering once more visual effects and symbolism that’s nothing short of ingenious. However, that’s a staple of the series itself (and has been since the first season), so I’ll refrain from elaborating further in this post – just keep in mind that the quality of the animation and directing is a constant. It’ll never falter as long they keep the same team together.

As for the episode itself, it looks like the Mizuki/Kuze route just moved forward in leaps and bounds. Two weeks ago they met for the first time, last week she confessed her feelings, and now, she’s already thrusting her hands into fire for him. The knowledge of his illness and imminent death has now been formally revealed to the viewer and to the characters, triggering the kind of sympathy and emotion one would expect to feel at the very end of the series. Needless to say, this leaves me wondering: just how will things develop from here on out?

On the surface, it looks like Mizuki and Kuze have grown infinitely closer with hardly anything happening between them, but I’m expecting (and hoping, to some extent) that they’ll encounter more problems in the episodes to come. I suppose it’s a little like the Renji/Chihiro route from the last season: simply knowing the problem doesn’t allow you to fix it. As I mentioned in my previous posts on the show, Kuze continues to remind me of the stereotypical tragically frail female characters we see in visual novels, the key difference being that he’s the guy, and Mizuki is the one that’s going to have to cope with her loss. Seeing things develop from the girl’s side should be quite interesting indeed; and if the violin-kicking scene is any indication, then we’ll have an awful lot more bittersweet heartwarming-yet-heartbreaking moments in the weeks to come.

On the Yu/Yuuko side of things (I’ve gotta remember to add that extra “u”), it looks like Yu is slowly starting to act less tsundere. Once more, what’s the target audience of this show, again? But in all seriousness, Yu’s situation is far more relatable than Kuze’s; in fact, at times he and Yuuko make this show feel normal. But of course, it isn’t, and that’s most definitely a good thing. The developments in their route seem pretty ordinary so far, but I’m sure they have an ace up their sleeves somewhere – and even if they don’t, there’s nothing wrong with “normal” done to perfection. Just look at Kanon.

Speaking of “cliche” developments, though, I have to say that this is probably one of the few times that I actually felt like hurting the bullies in an anime. It’s not because they were particuarly bad or anything – I’m sure we’ve seen much worse – but honestly, why Yuuko? Anyone who messes with one of the ef girls deserves to be Falcon Punch’d by one of the awesome harem male leads.

Personal opinion aside, though, Yuuko’s reaction to the bullying is certainly curious. However, I won’t bother pretending to know what’s going to happen – I’d much rather sit back and enjoy the show that speculate the ending to death. All I can say is, I found her comment on the shoes and human nature (out-of-context quoting FTW!) to be quite intriguing.

All in all, SHAFT delivers us another excellent episode, as I’ve come to expect. Next week, more genki goodness and tragic violinists for the rest of us!

Oh yeah, and for the love of everything that’s good about this show, bring back Miyako!

~ ETERNAL
つづく

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

M12 October 28, 2008 at 7:08 am

Chihiro is back, that’s all I need :3. I pretty much had the same reaction – Yes, yes, YES!!

I hate those bullies as well. Anyone who bullies girls shall answer to me >:(.

M12s last blog post..Zomfg do it now!

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ETERNAL October 31, 2008 at 6:14 pm

@ M12: Yes, give them a taste of M13 XD

Reply

Regenwurm November 1, 2008 at 5:17 am

Nyo~ I know you don´t know me but… I watched a new ef episode one hour ago:
http://www.zomganime.com/ef-a-tale-of-melodies-episode-4/
I love this anime that much ^^ I just read the first half of you comment, but I´m sure you liked it as well, don´t ya?
Well…. What I just wanted to say is, Chihiro is *_* xD But I like Mizuki-chan as well (through Chihiro is better)

Reply

ETERNAL November 2, 2008 at 1:18 pm

@ Regenwurm: Indeed, it’s easily my favourite show this season, and probably one of my all-time favourites as well. Also, feel free to comment if you ever feel like it; that’s what blogs are all about, right?

(well, technically that’s NOT what they’re all about…but I’m still okay with it ^^;)

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