Shameful Otaku Secret!

Anno-ism

There are plenty of moments so far in the current ef: a tale of melodies sequel to get into this list (“Warum” comes to mind), but I’m not sure any of them beat the first series’ phone card scene, which Martin described in the comments of this site as “Anno-esque” (best word for the text-on-blank-screen stuff I’ve ever heard). I watched ef: a tale of memories shortly  after it aired, all at once, so episode 9’s nail-biting climax can sit comfortably in an ‘08 list.

Usually romantic anime (especially VN adaptations) don’t even have much of a conclusion, but those that do tend to force the characters into dramatic confessions through horrifying situations reeking of melodrama. There’s no shortage of melodrama in ef, but for all its fantasy, its characters have certain ways about them that really strike me as realistic. It’s not just that they have sex or even, God forbid, touch each other (I’m looking at you, Okazaki), it’s how their obsessions and hangups affect the plot more than any outside influence (not so much with the current series).

Episode 9 was the perfect fusion of Shinbo-ism and melodramatic character-driven angst. As the saying goes, you’ll pay for your seat, but you’ll only need THE EDGE.

A tale of melty-cheese.

I have to admit, there is only one series that must come on without fail as soon as possible after it finishes downloading. That is this one. It’s also the one series that turns me instantly into a massive cheeseball ready to whip out the stupidest pseudo-writerly nonsense my fingers can manage to type. I stare, riveted, allowing ef’s now tried-and-true methods to work on me: red herrings, surprise appearance of the OP, stained-glass visuals, and extreme melodrama that even Key can’t front on.

Random-ish thoughts

• Australia, lols.
• Nagi seems to have given up easily. While Kei took until the climax to admit that she wasn’t The One, Nagi really seemed to let it go. Is that because she’s just a bridge between series (as Hiro’s sister) or because she’s not really done yet? Would be a shame if the show came and went with her just being “Hiro’s naked sister.”
• Am I missing something? Did I not stare riveted enough? Who did all that raping and beating on Yuuko — was it Amamiya? She did call him her “brother,” didn’t she? What a monster scene, though.
• Mizuki-chan kinda sucks. She’s just a flighty little girl who’s as easily swayed toward crushing on Kei as she is “falling in love” with Kuze. Is this why Kuze sent her away? Or does he really believe that one or both of them will be irreparably damaged by his little about-to-die scenario?
• Blacking out of faces seems to be used for different purposes. When Yuuko is all black, I thought it was because her true self was hidden from Himura.

I think this is a big reason why I love ef. I can come up with this list (or a much bigger one; see TheBigN’s MAL blog) and have a discussion with people or even just a mental exercise with myself. Like a good novel or piece of experimental music, ef requires a little active participation.

If I’m obligated to say something critical, I have to mention that it’s almost too similar to the previous series. But ef: memories didn’t get by on whack-tastic visual effects alone; there was a gripping story there. The Anno-esque (thanks Martin) phone card scene would not have worked without a character like Miyako there to support it. Now that we’re fully embroiled in the current storylines — what a wild, guilt-filled ride last episode — I totally expect the impossibly tight drama to unfold. And hopefully ef delivers a second time.

And regardless of what I said about active participation, that doesn’t quite extend to predictions for me. I don’t like to speculate on where ef will go. I’d much rather soak it in. Because regardless of the story’s twists and turns, it’s about execution and characters for me. Watching the characters, enjoying the pretentious dialog, taking in the visuals and wondering whether this or that is symbolic or red herring. That’s the fun.

Get out your eyepatches, yarrrr

As you may have heard, a sequel to the popular visual-novel-turned-anime ef: a tale of memories is coming in the next few weeks, hopefully to power us through the fall season angstily. ef seems to be a touchy topic: some people find it a perfect case for attempting to give an anime series a handjob, while others condemn it as artsy pretentiousness. In preparation for the upcoming ef: a tale of melodies, here are some nice election-year-ready arguments you can use around the dinner table when dealing with both the ef-ignorant and the ef-haters among your family and friends.

“I don’t like visual novel adaptations.”
This is probably the hardest one to start with. ef has all the trappings of a VN story. The girl with the tragic yet mysterious problem, the love triangle, the childhood friend, the mysterious stranger who observes the situation, and most of all, the wrenching melodrama. But you really have to boil it down not to what makes a VN what it is, but what makes it suck — and what ef does to counteract that.

1. Two stories, two males, three females. There’s your character roundup. Compare that to, say, a Shuffle! or even a Clannad, with a single male protagonist going up against a virtual Hinata Inn of girls. In ef, all characters are actually characters, not just potential pairings for a male lead. Essentially what I’m saying, a VN adaptation doesn’t necessarily mean a harem show.
2. The tsundere, the genki girl, a loli, the space cadet genius, blah blah, you won’t find them here. Miyako’s a little crazy, but like True Tears’ Noe, she’s a believable kind of crazy that you may have met/dated/gotten 100 voicemails from before.
3. It offers something different than just regular unrequited love or fake-ass distant courtship. I get so damn tired of these chaste anime kids who can’t even manage to hold hands. ef’s characters kiss, call each other out for corny lines, and even enjoy a little bit of the old in-out. That’s refreshing.
4. Speaking of refreshing, try this spoiler: Show ▼
   Childhood friend doesn’t win.
5. How many VN adaptations have the elements of suspense and darkness in ef? Not many, I’d wager, and School Days spent its first half being shitty.

“It’s all style and no substance.”
Well, it does have style. I suppose that means that most VN adaptation have no style and no substance? Fine by me, you go ahead and watch those, I’ll watch the one with style.

“Everyone thinks it’s so deep.”
I don’t see how that’s the animation’s fault. TV anime usualy lacks depth. Even Kaiba didn’t have that much to say in the end, though it said it well. So when something comes along that even implies a little depth, it’s latched onto by fans and the blogging world pretty quickly. Not the series’ fault if some people projected too much depth onto it. Perhaps the style seemed to imbue ef with a hidden meaning or depth that it didn’t really have. Either way, even if nothing was behind it, ef was provocative, and I don’t see how that’s bad.

“The animation is distracting.”
Touchy subject, so this one is multiple choice:

1. I find your breath distracting.
2. Your MOM’s distracting! Hooooo!
3. Give it a chance, it just becomes part of the show eventually and it’s not distracting anymore.
4. That shit was necessary. Without Shin Onuma and Shaft’s self-conscious “artsiness” (as an art-ignorant Philistine like yourself may call it), we’d never have The Phone Card Scene, one of the most harrowing and nail-biting bits of (melo)dramatic anime ever made.

“There are no lesbians.”
There are in some versions.

Anyway…

For a VN adaptation, or for a dramatic anime in general, ef works pretty well. It did away with some of the more standard symbols, shortcuts, and easy routes that anime romance often follows, and it did so with great style. This time around, we’ve seen all the tricks that ef had to offer, so is A Tale of Melodies going to have the same impact? Probably not, but under the stylistic uniqueness and the head-spin factor, A Tale of Memories was a very good, well-executed story that stood up to multiple viewings, and that bodes pretty well for its sequel.