[Ascaloth] ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 2 at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

[Ascaloth] ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 2

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Popularity: 7% [?] Published by Ascaloth October 16th, 2008 in Ascaloth, Anime

And so, the relationship between the mysterious Himura Yuu and the even more mysterious Amamiya Yuko have finally been brought to light; having known each other since they were both charges at an orphanage, their connection persists into the high school days which is currently the focus of the story about them. It is interesting to note that the Yuu-Yuko story appears to be taking place a number of years before the current Kuze-Mizuki story, while Yuu and Kuze were still high school students. How the events of that story will eventually influence events in the present day is still unknown, but for now, we get to see the history behind two of the more mysterious figures of the ef world, and how the events of their past would slowly build towards the motivations behind their actions in the present day.

ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 2

A shattered watch, the broken glass reflecting several different images of the teenaged Yuu back at him. Considering how the present-day adult Yuu seems to be a fairly steady figure, one has to wonder how the troubled adolescent became the man that Yuu is in the present day.

Let’s just call this….artistic license?

The young Yuko turns out to be surprisingly persistent, to the point that I was wondering if Yuu was going to take a restraining order out on her sooner or later. I mean, no matter how cute the girl is, she’s still creepy if she’s not so much stalking you as she is breathing down your neck. Case in point, Tsunetsuki Matoi from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

Hold on…..isn’t that the very same key to the rooftop that Hiro exclusively possessed back in ~memories~? How did it reach his hands if Yuko was the one who originally had it?

Very nice vantage scene; I wonder what effect they’re trying to mimic here. Can the hobby or professional photographers educate us on what is used to create this effect, other than the "Photoshop" answer?

For some reason, I’ve felt like SHAFT has actually been cutting down on the Shinbou-WTFness compared to ~memories~, and what little they use isn’t quite as jarring as I know it could have been. I vaguely recall having had a headache when I watched Episode 2 of ~memories~ due to what I felt back then was an overdose of Shinbou-WTFness, but at the equivalent point at this series I’m perfectly comfortable with it. Is it really because there is now a more judicious use of Shinbou-WTFness in ~melodies~, or have I simply gotten used to it?

And despite his motto being to live without dependence on anyone else from now on, Yuko points out that Yuu remains haunted by a nightmare from his past. Speaking of which, I vaguely remember that Hiro shared the same motto as Yuu of living by himself, albeit for other reasons. Did I recall wrongly?

Mizuki’s prize of the day from looting Kuze’s storeroom. I wonder if she’s actually aware of what Kuze really uses these costumes for.

For my part, I am always at a loss as to how to handle what I see as overly-positive girls like Mizuki. Like, where do they find all this positivity in life? Maybe I’m just too far gone cynical, but I’d like some of that positive outlook whereever it comes from, please.

For a moment there, I thought it was Chihiro who was running poor Renji ragged, if you know what I mean.

Well, that’s a creative way of using the anime agitation symbol.

Is it just me, or are things getting really….broken around here?

(BTW, shouldn’t Renji have told Mizuki to avoid Kuze’s costumes once he saw her wearing it? He does know their true purpose after all….then again, when he’s fine with his lover having worn them….)

The person Kuze was referring to here was Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, who was a showman inventor known for, amongst other things, going on tour with a fraudulent Chess Turk machine. It is noteworthy that Kuze makes a mistake which is not at all uncommon; incorrectly attributing the invention of the metronome to Mälzel, when the true inventor was actually Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel. Mälzel was simply the first to receive the patent for the portable metronome in 1816, and to this day is mistakenly attributed its invention.

A useful practice tool for musicians, the metronome helps the musician to maintain a steady tempo when practising a piece. Ludwig van Beethoven was the first notable composer to include specific metronome markings in 1817.

Excuse me, Miss Hayama; 119 may be the emergency number in Japan, but you just so happen to be in Australia, where the emergency number is 000.

facepalm.jpg

Comfy.

I also found it a point of interest, how Kuze seems to be isolating himself from all human contact apart from Yuu, just like how the latter did the same with exception to the former back in his schooling days. Maybe there’s a theme of history repeating itself going on here?

You know, I totally get how traumatized Yuu was by the loss of his sister in the fire years ago, and how the shattered watch symbolizes that trauma haunting him all throughout his life. However, is it just me, or does this bear some sort of eerie resemblance to another teenager and his dead little sister’s cellphone who was supposed to star as the main lead in a series which many considered to be THE definitive Sunrise trainwreck anime?

Loli Yuko is loli. I mean, cute. I mean….crap.

Loli Yuko takes an interest in the drawings of Shota Yuu, just like how Loli Kei takes an interest in the drawings of Shota Hiro several years later. The number of superficial similarites between this event and later ones are just astounding, and while most of them seem like they won’t go beyond superficiality, one has to wonder.

And ultimately, the initial story between Yuu and Yuko was that of the former’s rejection of the latter, despite all her attempts to get him to open up to her. Somehow, there is this great sense of loneliness from Loli Yuko’s voice when she heard his rejection.

And so they parted on a none-too-positive note, but despite the way he treated her, Yuko somehow doesn’t seem to resent that even after they’ve reunited in the high school. Well, apart from the opening statement in Episode 1, but since we don’t really know the context in which she said that as yet, we’ll have to see where that leads.

With even Yuko eventually having left him, Yuu comes to the conclusion that it is best to live a life independent of others, beholden to no one, as there will come a time when they will leave one eventually. Although it sounds pretty sad, for my part it is also a fairly tempting train of thought. After all, it is true that being beholden to nobody would keep one free from the chains that human relationships usually imposes on one, and leave one free to do whatever as long as he or she remains apathetic…

And with the setting sun in the background, Yuko confesses that her first love still remains strong as ever.

The confession is made, but the story is far from being at an end. For the present-day Yuu and Yuko are clearly not together, and questions are still unanswered as to what happened since then that they could not share fate together as yet. We’ll get to see soon enough though.

Back to the present day, and Kuze contemplates his mortality as personified by the ticking metronome as well as the two Masked Heralds of his doom. I wonder what do these two represent?

A most eloquent discourse on the part of Mizuki on the joys of classical music, against a beautiful backdrop of the Milky Way in the sky. Unfortunately, there is no seeing such a sight in the overlit nights of Singapore, and one has to travel overseas to even see a significant number of stars. Sometimes, it’s just a shame.

And being the straightforward girl that she is, Mizuki confesses her growing love for Kuze. Reading the ef ~melodies~ thread in Animesuki lately has been amusing because, as someone whose name I’ve forgotten said, "it’s a blasphemy if Kuze hits on Mizuki, but somehow everyone will cheer if Mizuki takes the initiative?". Yep, we’re all still bound by double standards in society; even if Mizuki is in no way an underaged loli, there’s still a lingering prejudice about an older man in working society having a relationship with a schoolgirl who’s nevertheless of legal age. Thankfully, that prejudice seems to be slowly vanishing with time, and perhaps it will cease being an issue in my generation. Heck, the Kuze-Mizuki relationship would hardly be the most "scandalous" thing I’ve seen compared to my own real-life experiences….

The confession has reached his heart, the pendulum weight has been adjusted downwards, and while the metronome ticks out a quicker tempo than it originally did….

….the specter of the Heralds continues to haunt his dreams….

….as Kuze contemplates what the confession means in light of his plans to throw away all his links to human society before what could be inferred as his expiration date. Does he have enough time left to pursue a final relationship, doomed as it may be?

ef ~melodies~ have been panning out to be one of the season’s more interesting watchs so far, and there’s really an impatience on my part to see what happens next. I guess that’s the mark of a truly gripping anime series, right?

Ascaloth, out.

Popularity: 7% [?]

2 Responses to “[Ascaloth] ef ~a tale of melodies~, Episode 2”

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1 Skyfall 1 comment Oct 16th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Speaking of which, I vaguely remember that Hiro shared the same motto as Yuu of living by himself, albeit for other reasons. Did I recall wrongly?

I do believe you are recalling wrongly Hiro was living alone because he had a dispute with his father over his choice of career (mangaka), so he ‘vacated the house’.

Excuse me, Miss Hayama; 119 may be the emergency number in Japan, but you just so happen to be in Australia, where the emergency number is 000.

Shouldn’t that answer the question whether the key Yuuko has is the same as Hiro’s ? I mean, the later is located in Japan, so i don’t think him getting his hands on a key from Australia, never mind it being capable of opening the door, is very likely to happen

…which reminds me, i have to work on my own entry for the ep …crap…
2 zashiki 1 comment Oct 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 am

hmm… but in the ~memories~ Yuko is in japan, so as Hiro. Then it is possible that he has the same key.
however Yuu from ~memories~ passed a key for Chihiro and it to Renji saying that it was a custom there…

then there’s two keys at same time in ~memories~?
maybe the other key in ~melodies~ belongs to Nagi and she is somehow related with Hiro then passed her copy to him…

ps:sorry for my bad english…

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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