[Ascaloth] ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 1 at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

[Ascaloth] ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 1

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Popularity: 9% [?] Published by Ascaloth October 8th, 2008 in Ascaloth, Anime

Almost exactly one year ago, when much of the hype of the season was with Kyoto Animation’s CLANNAD (TV), few were those who believed that any other studio could possibly do visual novel adaptations anywhere near as well as the little studio from Uji, Kyoto. Of course, Fall 2007 was also the season that a dark horse appeared, in the form of SHAFT’s ef ~a tale of memories~. While not many would have thought that the latter could have been as good as the benchmark-setting Key/KyoAni adaptations, and fewer still were able to stomach the avant-garde visuals of Shinbou Akiyuki a chance when it came to an adaptation of this genre, the surprisingly well-executed melodrama of the series soon propelled it to become a most worthy genre rival to KyoAni’s big hitter of the time, matching and sometimes even beating CLANNAD (TV) in its execution of the story. One year on, and once again Oonuma Shin brings us a sequel, ef ~a tale of melodies~, to pit against Ishihara Tatsuya’s adaptation of the sequel to his previous work, CLANNAD ~After Story~. This time around, the dark horse status is gone; with two high-profile titles pitted against each other in the season, fans of the VN adaptation genre have much to look forward to.

Much thanks to the Chihiro fansub group in advance for their quick subs, and I will be counting on them in the weeks to come. ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 1.

In our reintroduction to the ef world, once again we are introduced to two of the more mysterious characters of the previous ef ~memories~ series; Amamiya Yuuko, and Himura Yuu respectively. While they were little more than a deus ex machina and a side character respectively, word from the game vets suggests that the two will be elevated to main character status in this series, which mean we will be getting a lot more background from them than we did back then. I can’t wait to hear their stories.

While it was revealed that the two knew each other in the last episode of the previous series, now it appears that they have always known each other while they were still students. Their relationship takes on an interesting twist with the Yuuko’s revelation that she still hated him, even though as this was a flashback, how this would remain relevant in the present day of the ef world still remains in question. Nevertheless, no doubt this will be resolved in time.

Fermata: "an element of musical notation indicating that the note should be sustained for longer than its note value would indicate. Exactly how much longer it is held is up to the discretion of the performer or conductor, but twice as long is not unusual". Exactly how this is relevant to Kuze will be shown later in the episode.

Word from the game vets is that Amamiya Akira, one of the new characters in this sequel, is one to look out for. Apparently the fact that there was no BGM playing in this scene was no accident; it seems that every time he appears in the VN, the BGM stops playing altogether. If Oonuma follows that to the letter, we’ll be hearing nothing but dialogue every time we see this guy.

In fact in the game, apparently one can hear Akira’s breathing in his scenes. He seems to be set up to be one of the creepier characters around in the story, and the fact that his family name is a giveaway as to how he figures in the storyline doesn’t help matters.

And the other new character in the series, Hirono Nagi, whose family name is also a giveaway as to how she relates to the overall storyline. It seems that "artistic sensibilities" does run in the family….

Of course, she also seems to be related to Himura in some way when they were both students. I don’t remember seeing her in the previous series, so I don’t have much of a clue as to what happened to her in the present day. I think I was told something by one of the game vets, but I’ve clean forgotten it…..

Getting to see a girl naked, and getting a freebie from her because of it? I’ll take that anytime.

Ready, Set, Bitch-off!!!

With the metaphorical distance between the two, the stage is set for Himura and Yuuko’s storyline. Clearly there is actually a long history behind them; who exactly is Yuuko? Was she once an adoptee of Himura’s family, and afterwards transferred to the care of another family? And what exactly was it that happened between them? More importantly, how does the history between them, whatever it is, going to influence events in the present day?

Welcome back, Asou Renji! Although this time round, it seems that he is no longer a main character in the sequel; on the other hand, we learn that Mizuki is actually a cousin of Renji, and that the reason why Kei and Hiro never seemed to meet Chihiro face-to-face, despite clearly being in contact, is that because they aren’t actually in the same city; in fact, Chihiro and Renji, along with Himura and Kuze, are apparently in Australia. LOLWUT.

Well, this does explain what might have seemed to be a plot hole in the previous series, but it raises another question; why did Himura bring Chihiro to Australia to begin with? Also, if he’s also in Australia, how did Kuze have in his possession the uniform of the school that the Hiro-Miyako-Kei group attends? Come to think of it, which school did Renji take Chihiro to back in the first season?

This time around, Mizuki takes the role of one of the lead heroines, even as it is Renji’s turn to be relegated to side character. I wonder if we’ll see any appearances by Chihiro later on in the series though….

And Mizuki has one of the most awesome lines just in this episode alone. XD

Either she’s just one of those kinds who loves to take any opportunity available to bullshit, or it gives a whole new meaning to the "I had no choice, so I taught her how to make it while holding back my tears for her happiness" line from episode 10 of the first season altogether….

And the leading lady meets her leading man. They’re the other main couple of the sequel, although considering the large age difference that must be between them, it’s entirely plausible that there would be some who would be more than a little uncomfortable about the situation…..oh well, not like anything I haven’t seen before.

What does the state of an apartment reflect about the state of mind of its occupant?

Well, of course not, since we all know that you just lend them to your girlfriends, before "stripping half of it off"….

And like the kind of genki girl that she is, Mizuki starts having entirely too much fun with Kuze’s uniform collection altogether. Perfect otaku girlfriend, perhaps?

And Kuze becomes responsible for the other awesome line of the episode. If these two actually have a tendency to spout off awesome lines, then they might very well be meant for each other. XD

Oh BTW, there may not be any TL notes in the Chihiro subs, but apparently there was some kind of wordplay going on here in Japanese that couldn’t be fully translated into English. If I heard and guessed correctly, the Japanese word for both "live" and "bare" is nama….does someone have the appropriate kanji for both meanings?

….I have no idea whether they were just being natural boke, or whether they were totally aware of the suspicious wordplay throughout anymore. LOL.

Speaking of which, are the seifuku Mizuki was wearing throughout originals, or were they references to anything I didn’t know about?

And apparently lying around on the floor is so comfortable that Mizuki sprouts nekomimi. Not that it doesn’t suit her personality because it really does, but still, LOL SHAFT. It has to be said though that there wasn’t actually all that much Shinbou-WTFness compared to the first season, or perhaps it’s just that this time round I’ve learned to expect it.

I bet there are quite a few bloggers out there who would be comparing the mask talk to that of the one in Code Geass R2, but in fact, Kuze’s take on the subject is not just philosophically pertinent, it is also relevant from a social psychological point of view. What Kuze describes as "masks" that "increase rapidly" with age, and become "a part of who you really are", might be considered by William James as the existence of multiple selves. According to James, "a man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him and carry an image of him in their mind", and that "He generally shows a different side of himself to each of these different groups". This is considered by him to be normal, as every one of us "do not show ourselves to our children as to our club-companions, to our customers as to the laborers we employ, to our own masters and employers as to our intimate friends"(James, 1992)*. In other words, while Kuze is on to something here, it’s something that actually has long been recognized in social psychological circles.

*James, W. 1992. Writings, 1878-1899. New York: Literary Classics

No prizes for guessing Kuze’s true condition, and his reasons for acting the way he has been.

And there is what Kuze meant when he mentioned that "fermata" is the correct meaning for his current situation; for it is obvious that he hasn’t got much time left for this world. It is a drawing out, a sustaining that lasts for as long as the performer wants or is able to keep it up. And after that, the rest, the interval of silence, the end. This is the foreshadowing that the Kuze portion of ef ~a tale of melodies~ is going to be the last movement of his life, how Mizuki is the theme of his Finale. Shall we have cause to rise and applaud, exclaiming "Bravo!" at the end of his concerto?

Great start to the excellent first movement of ef ~a tale of melodies~. And yet, there’s more to come. Ascaloth of RIUVA, starting coverage on the second of three selected series of Fall 2008, signing out.

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18 Responses to “[Ascaloth] ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 1”

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1 issa-sa 10 comments Oct 8th, 2008 at 8:56 pm

Err… You mean the Australia thing wasn’t a joke?
2 Dagger 3 comments Oct 8th, 2008 at 9:25 pm

issa-sa > No, the Australia thing isn’t a joke. I found it very interesting (and typically daring) that they chose to reveal it now, since it was one of the very last plot twists to be cleared up in the second game. I guess they’ll explain the background behind it later.
3 Tess 5 comments Oct 8th, 2008 at 10:18 pm

“Nama” doesn’t particularly have different meanings, it’s all one kanji. It’s just about the usage. The base meaning would be “raw”, which thus meanings from “uncooked” to “live” (not recorded), as well as “unprotected”. Cause everything is… just in the raw.

I was also wondering about the seifuku, since they look like they could be very much original, yet look familiar at the same time. ^^;
4 Maserko 9 comments Oct 8th, 2008 at 10:41 pm

Australia? What the bloody hell? I thought it was the same city… A city called ef universe.
Sigh.

Avant-garde? I love avant garde, One reason why I enjoyed it more than Clannad, not that I didn’t enjoy clannad…

Music Theory? Brilliant, I’m odd, I like music theory. Could someone point me to a few animes that makes effective use of music theory?

More intentional moeness fanservice than season one though… But I suppose thats due to Mizuki…
5 Ascaloth 202 comments Oct 8th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

@issa-sa & Dagger,

Yup, that’s what I heard from my “source”. ^_^

@Tess,

You won’t happen to be able to show me the kanji, do you? Learn every day. ^_^

@Maserko,

Oh, the sequel of a particular anime that is ALL ABOUT music (including its theory) is airing this Thursday. Watch this space for the upcoming third coverage of the season.
6 Bah 1 comment Oct 9th, 2008 at 12:01 am

Do you have any psychological insight about drawing in nude?
7 Akira 5 comments Oct 9th, 2008 at 3:10 am

Hey man, I love your reference to “veterans of the game.” Way to make it discreet. _>; Some may have found it odd (I dunno, I didn’t watch the subs) that Nagi refers to herself as “boku”, just to show the lengths she’ll go to to be different. She does it because she has— never mind, I’ll stop there for now.
8 Akira 5 comments Oct 9th, 2008 at 3:16 am

Just made a complete fool of myself on the last post, forgot to read instructions.

I said that Mizuki’s seifuku isn’t a reference to anything; Kei and Miyako’s seifuku are the same as Nagi’s: black, dress, white borders, buttons up the chest, red ribbons. Mizuki’s normal seifuku is the one she was wearing when she was first introduced to Kuze; recall that she goes to a different school, even though all four of them (Nagi, Kei, Miyako, Mizuki) are from Otowa, Japan.

In addition, the school that Renji took Chihiro to is the one in Otowa, Australia. Recall that Himura said at the very beginning that both cities are identical… down to the schools, apparently.

Anyways, I’ll stop spamming now. That was embarrassing c_c;
9 Tess 5 comments Oct 9th, 2008 at 3:58 am

Opps, I actually had the intention of including the kanji in my comment but I guess I forgot.

生 would be the kanji for nama. It is also read in numerous other ways… most commonly “sei” or the verb “ikiru”, to live. So in general the kanji itself has the meaning for “life”.
10 SnooSnoo 175 comments Oct 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

Wait. Did a few years pass after the first season? I remember Kei was in High School in Season 1, and if Mizuki calls her Senpai and is entering university now. That would mean a couple of years have gone by, right? Right?! RIGHT?!
11 Ascaloth 202 comments Oct 9th, 2008 at 10:03 pm

@Tess,

Thanks for the little kanji lesson. ^_^

@SnooSnoo,

Now that you mentioned it….should be the case, right? Any game vets wanna corroborate?
12 Akira 5 comments Oct 9th, 2008 at 10:36 pm

@SnooSnoo, Ascaloth:

A translation error. Mizuki is in her last year of Junior High, going onto High School. She tells Kuze, “I wanted to get into Otowa,” which is the high school that Kei, Hiro et al go to; according to Hiro it’s ridiculously prestigious, so what Kuze said still makes sense in context.

In reality, it’s unclear whether or not Mizuki’s story takes place after or concurrently with Kei and Miyako’s story; all we know is that it takes place some time in December (as it is summer in Australia AND Mizuki’s on break); and we know it takes place after Renji’s story, which occured the previous summer. Here is my hypothetical timeline for all heroine’s stories:

Miyako Hiro (Winter Japan) –> Kyosuke Kei (Summer Japan) ———–> Winter Japan
Chihiro Renji (Winter Australia) —> Mizuki Kuze (Summer Australia)

So in this timeline, Chihiro and Renji would have run concurrently with Kyosuke and Kei’s stories. This would make sense as well since Mizuki already knows Kyosuke, as she mentioned when first meeting Kuze. The anime sort of fudges Kei and Kyosuke’s storyline, but their real story (in the VN) starts after Miyako and Hiro’s story end, which would make sense since Kei’s plotline is all about getting over Hiro dumping her.
13 Eldar 2 comments Oct 10th, 2008 at 11:48 am

They can’t be in Australia, Chihiro has sex with Renji on top of the same school that all the others go to in the second to last episode of Ef.
14 SnooSnoo 175 comments Oct 10th, 2008 at 6:57 pm

@Eldar, apparently the Otowa in Australia is an exact duplicate of the one in Japan. Right down to the prestigious school.
@Akira, thanks for the clarification. Now if only I studied harder I would be playing the VN now instead of sitting around and yapping non-stop. >:(
15 ETERNAL 29 comments Oct 13th, 2008 at 6:37 am

Awesome review, I’ll be looking forward to more. They sure made things confusing with the chronology though -_-
16 machan 9 comments Oct 19th, 2008 at 4:46 am

hmm I’m kind of confused then, if they’re really in different cities, then Yuuko would be in the church in Japan and Yuu would be in the church in Australia, but don’t they see each other in the final scene of the first season? Unless that final scene was from some other time…?
17 kencute321 1 comment Nov 12th, 2008 at 7:17 pm

FOR YOUR INFORMATION THE STORY TOOK PLACE IN OTOWA AUSTRALIA………………… ALL of the CHARACTERS ARE IN THE OTOWA CITY OF AUSTRALIA

1 ef - A Tale of Melodies — Ep1 « ちっぽけな世界なのに。。。 Pingback on Oct 9th, 2008 at 9:51 am

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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