⑨ Moments of Anime #1: ef – a tale of melodies ep 6

by eternal on December 25, 2008

And here we are: the final day. Did you really think I would pick anything else? After going on about it endlessly after it first aired, and after taking days to recover from the effects of a mere 22 minutes of animation, this was the one moment that I had planned from the start. It was quite possibly the climax of Yuuko’s story (I say possibly because I haven’t seen the final two episodes yet), and in my eyes, it was easily the most heart-stopping moment of the year.

After writing everything that I did here, I’m not sure what more I can do to expand on it: in a word, it was brilliant. From hatred to sadness to fear, that short yet powerful scene dragged just about every emotion out of me, and as I sat curled up in front of my TV, I felt almost as destroyed as Yu. And as if the story itself wasn’t cruel enough, it was all magnified by the fact that even Yu’s words weren’t enough. When he cut in to give his inspirational speech in an attempt to save Yuuko from her suffering, I was sure it would have worked; but I was wrong.

And on top of all that…the incident took place on Christmas.

As I sit here on the evening of the 25th of December, still feeling what lingering fragments of warmth remain from today and each of the Christmas days of my childhood, I can’t help but feel a little sad. That’s the power of a good story…and that’s the power of what I see as the year’s greatest Moment of Anime.

~ ETERNAL
つづく

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Miretruck December 26, 2008 at 2:13 am

nice choice for numba 1. Most memorable scene yet

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digitalboy December 27, 2008 at 3:10 pm

I wish I could agree with you. I actually watched this episode with a straight face and no emotion whatsoever. I haven’t brought myself to like Melodies at all D:

digitalboys last blog post..Eureka Seven 27-39: To the Center of the Sun

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Watch Naruto Episodes December 27, 2008 at 8:41 pm

Thanks for teh great post!

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ETERNAL December 28, 2008 at 5:30 pm

@ digitalboy: Really? I’d be interested in reading your thoughts on the matter at some point, because I find it hard to imagine that someone could love memories but hate melodies.

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