Forum - View topicef - a tale of memories.
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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SHAFT usually does comedies and tends to use a lot of visual gags and unconventional visual styles (lots of that in ef). They, or at least one of the directors that works for them, are infamous for blackboards with constantly changing images (see Pani Poni Dash, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and Negima!? [the second one]). |
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usagimimi
Posts: 12 Location: jakarta |
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Thanks for the info. I guess that SHAFT's works are very distinct if compared to others, right? I mean, you can tell right away that the series are produced by SHAFT.
I happen to watch the whole series of Mahou Sensei Negima and watched only the first two episodes of Negima!? I stopped watching Negima!? because the series felt dark and not as cheerful as the first one. And I can feel the same atmosphere from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which I find suitable for the series because it's a dark comedy anyway (But, most of the times, I don't get the chalkboard jokes). But, for EF, I agree with all of you that say SHAFT's "unique" animation style really make us feel the emotions that the characters go through. It has made the series very beautiful and a feast for the eyes. By the way, I've watched the 11th episode, and I think the story that Chihiro wrote has something to do with the ending. Is it? I mean, spoiler[the girl from her novel has gotta be Chihiro, and the boy in the painting is Renji, right? So, at first, the girl was lonely, and then she decided to paint a boy in her paintings, and then soon after that, she started to paint herself together with the boy in the painting, and she married the boy, and finally,she burned all the paintings and throw herself from the cliffs. I think the reason why Chihiro put Renji as the boy in the painting is because Chihiro feels that Renji is a part of a world that she can't get into and be a part of. And at the end, when she threw away part of her diary that have her memories with Renji it's like the part when the girl burned all the paintings. So, next should be Chihiro throwing herself from the school's rooftop!? Noooooo, I hope not!! ] Well, I'm still waiting for the last episode, so if any of you has watched it, I envy you! |
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chichiriNoDa
 Posts: 531 |
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Yup in my understanding Chihiro's novel represents both herself and Renji.
I don't think Chihiro would throw herself.... She was just letting Renji go, because she feels that she was a burden for Renji and so by letting go of her memories she thinks it's the best decision for both of them. Aw episode 11 was so sad. I like the part when Chihiro said spoiler[she wanted to end their relationship while she still remembers their memories....] This episode is just heartfelt and touching. |
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Ultenth
 Posts: 229 Location: Washington State |
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Even though the premise of the show is very much a carbon copy of a combination of parts of Momento and parts of 50 first dates and I can guarentee the writer of this has watched either if not both shows, I still liked it. Very well executed, entertaining, emotional, good dialogue etc. Even with a mostly ripped off premise, they still did a good job, and this is probably one of my fav animes of this overall fairly weak season.
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chichiriNoDa
Posts: 531 |
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I cant wait for the final episode...... What happen to the subbers?
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HitokiriShadow
Posts: 6251 |
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Christmas happened. |
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chichiriNoDa
Posts: 531 |
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Wow episode 12 just came out! The long wait was worth it. The ending was really great!
I'm speechless, I just savored the whole episode and it didn't disappoint me. My ideas of ending is somewhat the same as the real ending. Over all this series is the best one yet for romance genre that I've watched. Spoiler: spoiler[Yay for Chihiro and Renji!] |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5470 |
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Final episode!
The first half was titled "love" which dealt with aftermath of Renji's and Chihiro's relationship. spoiler[ And what we got is a happy ending, and the keyword to obtain that was effort. Renji finally found the determination to make an effort to recollected all the missing diary pages Chihiro threw away. And as for Chihiro, she couldn't forget Renji; she just couldn't despite the fact she has to. Do note that it's not because of some "deus ex machina", but it's from Chihiro being able to remember things much longer than 13 hours by constant reminders; she has done that in one of the past episodes.] The second half was appropriately categorized as coda with the title "dream". spoiler[It's pretty much the epilogue of the entire series with each of the respective couples' (though Kyousuke and Kei aren't "really" going out, but they've became close). After the ending credits (which by the way a remix of the original visual novel's opening), Yuu finally met up with Yuko in the church. It seems they knew each other for quite some time.] Final thoughts: All right, let's be honest! Is anyone pretty much shocked that SHAFT was able to pull off a romantic/drama series so effectively? We're dealing with the same staff who mostly did visualized comedy series, and they employed those visual techniques to create abstract representations of the characters' emotions (and not to mention some beautiful scenery, screenshots, and naked body shots of the girls  ). This is greatly complemented with very effective voice work from the seiyuus; due to the fact not all the scenes required them to be "on screen" I can imagine the English dub would be at a good advantage since they don't have to worry about lip-flaps. And finally there's Tenmon's gorgeous soundtrack which is SO worth owning; it's great hearing his stuff outside from Makoto Shinkai's works.
This is really one of the better romance series that came out of 2007 and just in time as well too! 
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Samurai-with-glasses
 Posts: 628 |
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I loved it.
spoiler[The show didn't pull a deus ex machina to solve Renji and Chihiro's dilemma; though I wouldn't mind one, I'd give credit to them for not resorting to the easy way. She just remembered because she couldn't forget him no matter how hard she tried. It's obvious of course that the same problems remain -- what if she happens to get unconscious for more than 13 hours, for example -- but that's trivia considering the series isn't really about realism as much as it is an artistic and theatrical piece. We also see the other couples also getting on with their lives, more happily than before. And though the situation with Yuko and Yu aren't explained, I thought it was a nice ending to the whole thing.] I must admit the epilogue felt overblown just a bit, but considering the tone of the series and how much I enjoyed the whole thing, I'm feeling pretty lenient. Oh, and I noticed one thing: it seems all three male protagonists are artists of some sort! That's interesting, since most anime male protagonists tend not to be, shall we say, artistically inclined. Novelist, photographer/cameraman, and manga-ka... Oh, and I agree with darkchibi07. SHAFT pulling romance/drama/eroge adaptation, and do so successfully? Fun stuff. |
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HitokiriShadow
Posts: 6251 |
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Yes, I was quite shocked that they pulled off the emotional scenes so great. As far as I know, Shaft hasn't done anything like this before and the director is also pretty inexperienced and certainly hasn't worked on anything like this. And most of the seiyu have done little if anything else. And yet, they did an awesome job. ef surprised me and became the best series of the season. Though how it will stack up against Clannad when the latter is finished remains to be seen. The music for this series was beautiful. The music and the unconventional visuals complemented the scenes perfectly and helped really drive the emotions home. |
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frodonk
 Posts: 99 |
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wow, my prediction did come true, in a way
i have no complaints about the final episode, although i would have wanted to know the story behind yu-kun and yuko.. in the end, i want to thank this thread and the thread starter for introducing me to this series 
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ryokoalways
Posts: 562 |
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This definitely is going to be hard to top for this season. The visual presentation was unique, the plot wasn't overblown and filled with too many elements, and the flow was perfect. Like many said, I like how the story for the last couple was resolved without the need of an outside force. The music was extremely fitting for the series the entire time. Definitely the sleeper hit, and should be regarded very highly for people that are a fan of this genre.
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ElementSun
Posts: 106 |
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There was only one flaw I had for this series, which was the opening of the anime.
Being sung in less-than-perfect english, it was sort of a turn off for me, but the Japanese version is absolutely astounding. I'm still unsure why the developers didn't choose to use the japanese one instead of the english version... Here's a link if you want to listen to it: http://profile.imeem.com/ZcJ4zb/music/NMlmPool/elisa_euphoric_field_japanese/ Elisa'a voice is amazing, and with Tenmon's music, this song is a joy to listen to. |
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chichiriNoDa
Posts: 531 |
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I disagree..... I prefer the English version. Maybe because I'm use to it!
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Lemwon
 Posts: 61 |
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Agreed. I've been considering the OP to ef a bad choice (majority of Japanese-speaking viewers couldn't understand the song, majority of English-speaking viewers couldn't understand the song ...), but it's hard to say the same for the Japanese version of the song. It's sung clearly and seems to fit more with the harmony. Maybe the creators were "saving the best for last"?  .
The last episode had good poetential, but was executed too sloppily. spoiler[First of all, the Chihiro/ Renji arc felt very rushed, as it did episode 11. Clearly the creators had to find a way to wrap everything up with only 12 episodes to work with, but this arc was running with little development untill episode 7. If those first few episodes (where Chihiro and Renji basiclly talk and get to know each other) were condensed, these last few episodes probably wouldn't have been so packed.] Most of the comments I've read on this episode are generally unhappy with the ending because spoiler[Chihiro "broke" her 13-hour rule. But Chihiro said she remembered important things for longer than 13 hours, and I'd count this relationship as important. The way they ended up together seemed completely plausible to me (unless I'm missing somthing...)] The limited time on the Hiro/Miyako/Kei arc almost felt forced except for Kei's time. spoiler[The Hiro/ Miyako scene wasn't necessary, lessened the impact of episode 7's ending, and could have been spent on Chihiro/Renji.] I knew the creators had to connect the two arcs in this last episode, but I didn't expect it to be done so spoiler[subtle- with Yuu and Yuko meeting. In the end, no two main characters from the different arcs met without a flashback occuring. ] |
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