Review for ef ~ a tale of melodies Collection

Introduction

I never really know what motivates creators to revisit a property, and with anime typically divided into 12 or 13 episode cours, representing broadcast seasons in Japan, it isn’t uncommon for one season to follow directly after another, a story quite naturally split into two. You have to separate that from actual sequels, shows that are revisited following a first season’s success, and for which maybe a new story has to be crafted, new producers brought on board, as an attempt to recapture what made the original show so good. It helps to look up the release dates for shows, to see just how much of a gap lies between the seasons. There’s a gap of over twelve months between ef ~ a tale of memories, and ef ~ a tale of melodies, which indicates it’s one of those shows that try to recapture old glories. MVM have made it simpler for the UK purchaser, as they are releasing the two shows just one month apart on DVD. I recently reviewed a tale of memories, and found its tales of tragic romance to be quite well done and very engaging. Hopefully ef ~ a tale of melodies can capture the same atmosphere as the first series.


ef~ a tale of melodies continues on after the first series, this time exploring some of the supporting cast, including that enigmatic couple who would appear at auspicious moments in the first series when that show’s protagonists reached emotional crossroads in their lives. a tale of melodies explores two towns with the same name. In Otowa, Australia, musician Shuuichi Kuze is running away from his life, shedding all ties to his friends and family, as he comes to terms with a terminal diagnosis. Following him there is Kei’s best friend Hayama Mizuki who falls in love with him. That’s the last thing he needs when he’s trying to accept his fate with resignation.


Years ago in Otowa, Japan, student Himura Yuu reunited with his childhood friend, Amamiya Yuuko. Following a devastating earthquake, they spent time together as children in an orphanage, where Yuu was trying to come to terms with the loss of his family, and was uncomfortable with the affection Yuuko had for him. That childhood friendship ended when Yuuko was adopted, but now in school they’ve reencountered each other, and Yuuko is still in love with him.


Twelve episodes of ef ~ a tale of melodies are presented across 2 discs by MVM.

Disc 1

1. ever
2. read
3. union
4. turn
5. utter
6. flection

Disc 2

7. reflection
8. reutter
9. return
10. reunion
11. reread
12. forever

Picture

ef ~ a tale of melodies gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer on these discs. The image is clear and sharp throughout, and the native PAL playback is smooth and unmarred by standards conversion artefacts and the like. The image is also free of visible compression and any significant aliasing. All in all it’s a very pleasant anime transfer, and the only issue you might have is when the image is up-scaled to a decent sized HD panel, where a smidge of edge-enhancement becomes apparent.


It’s a Studio SHAFT presentation, but a year has passed since tale of memories, and this is a significantly different show when it comes to its visual presentation. The character designs are much the same as before, but I did find that the character animation was comparatively lacking, particularly when they were speaking. Also this time SHAFT have been let off their leashes when it comes to visual creativity, and this time they throw everything including the kitchen sink at the screen, and most of it in German. There is a whole lot of German text on screen during this show, and I’m sure for once Japanese fans would have wanted translated text subtitles to know just what was going on. Generally this is a show where the sheer visual frenzy on screen wholly distracts from the stories that are being told.

Sound

You have the choice between DD 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese, with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. I went with the original language track and was happy enough with that. The dialogue is clear throughout, and the music and sound design comes across well. I tried the dub long enough to confirm that it exists, but not long enough to form an opinion either way. The subtitles are accurately timed and free of error.

Extras

Both discs present their content with animated menus, although the only extras are on disc 2. They amount to 13 minutes worth of clean opening sequences, 16 minutes worth of clean closing sequences, and Hanabee trailers for Alien Nine, .hack//G.U.TRILOGY, Arakawa Under the Bridge, and Bodacious Space Pirates. MVM have released Bodacious Space Pirates in the UK, and will be releasing Arakawa Under the Bridge at the end of the year.

Conclusion

I don’t know if this is a sequel, or a parody, or a twisted and warped mirror image of the first series, but what I do know is that I quickly grew to loathe ef ~ a tale of melodies. It’s as if Studio SHAFT experienced the success of a tale of memories, and vowed to repeat it, but did so by missing the point of what had made that first series so unique and outstanding. They saw a tale of memories and saw a tragic romance, with somewhat realistic characters, and their trademark visual aesthetic and decided to Spinal Tap the whole shebang for a tale of melodies. They’ve punched the tragedy up to 11, and they’ve released the limiter on their visual extravagance, and consequently any semblance of realism has gone out of the window. Given that one of the stories they tell this time around is of the enigmatic pair with supernatural overtones, that might be expected, but realism of situation is one thing, realism in character is something else entirely, and any suspension of disbelief I had with this show rapidly evaporated.


Let’s take the characters. Once again, two sets of relationships are examined, and once again one couple have medical issues standing as obstacles in the path to their happiness, and once again we have something of a love triangle causing anguish. This time it’s the supporting cast of a tale of memories that take centre stage. Shuichi Kuze is the guy with medical issues. He’s dying, has a heart condition that has given him a death sentence, and he’s dealing with it by buggering off to Australia, ditching all his friends and loved ones. He’s slowly erasing any connections to people and things that he had forged, so that he can wallow in Spartan self pity for the few days remaining to him. He is the most normal character in the show. His love interest is Mizuki, an endlessly perky and peppy girl who falls head over heels for him, and walks straight into his impotent rage at the world. As a child her parents killed themselves and tried to kill her too, and that has sort of coloured her perceptions of the world.


The other story is set a few years previously in Japan. Yuu had a family, and a sister he doted on, but was orphaned in an earthquake, and he feels responsible for the loss of his sister. He met Yuuko in the orphanage, and she quickly fell in love with Yuu. But seeing a resemblance to his sister, Yuu shunned her. Then Yuuko was adopted by Akira Amamiya, who had a similar experience to Yuu, and dealt with it in the opposite way, looking for a substitute for his own lost sister. When Yuuko turned out not to be that substitute, their adoptive relationship turned abusive. Years later Yuuko and Yuu are reunited at high school, where Akira is an art teacher, and it’s clear that the wounds have festered.


What horrible, horrible characters! I had neither sympathy for, nor empathy with any of them. The further into this series I progressed, the more I hoped for unhappy ends for all of them. In a romance, even a tragic romance, you need some empathy with the characters; you have to have some reason to root for them, for them to overcome the trials that they face. I had none of that here, which is surprising given how well a tale of memories managed to do this. This show is really just emotional torture porn, an examination of just how screwed up people can be to each other and themselves.


Then you have SHAFT unleashed with the visuals, once again throwing everything they have at the screen in the hope that something will stick, animating a whole episode in monochrome just because they can, filling every corner of a blank canvas with German text because it’s easier than actually thinking through a decent metaphor. In the end, ef ~ a tale of melodies is ef ~ a tale of memories’ evil deformed twin brother, and it was a show that left a sour taste in my mouth.