Ef – A tale of memories: THAT must be your pick for this season!
I did not blog this series at all due to the fact that the fansubs have been out and running extremely quick. Many bloggers are also blogging this even though I am surprised that there are no overwhelming numbers going for it. In addition, I am glad that a certain someone is giving this show the deserved praise that it warrants, as he often have huge disagreements with me on the notion of quality in anime.
Nevertheless, there are many things that are definitely non-mainstream for this and results in the confusion and unflattering comments by some of the anime bloggers out there. One is definitely the direction brought by SHAFT. Known to most as a rather artsy animation team, the various cut scenes seemed to be random and aimed to confuse the audience. However, it is apparent that many of these random cut scenes are laden with many hidden meanings and metaphors. The usage of such symbolism is often a way to transit and connect the various viewing points of a possibly disjointed show. In that notion, SHAFT has done an excellent job to connect the seemingly unconnected stories into a story of memories, and a story of two.
I think Owen did a good job trying to explain the theories behind the shots. One thing that he missed is the usage of threads in the random switches, since threads are considered to be memories that are stranded along the collective unconscious of the world. It’s the interconnecting symbolism that holds the three couples together: the memory of yesteryear and the creation of today.
My favorite character in this “harem” show has to be Chihiro. Chihiro is an extremely interesting character, one that draws me due to her disease known as anterograde amnesia. She is perhaps the character that attracts me the most in this series up to Episode 5. I think it is the eye patch, or the inescapable fate that she cannot remember anything beyond 13 hours. The show is getting better, albeit a little slow in pace. Nevertheless, give it a chance if you have not watched this at all: It’s likely to be in Impzie’s Top 3 anime shows for this season, if not the best right now.
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I told you it was going to be good , Impzie. Just don’t mind the guys who don’t understand why Shaft uses all those filter effects.
Someone has anterograde amnesia in this anime? Maybe I should watch it. *is actually currently reading about that particular brain disease*
I don’t really like this show, but if that’s your cup of tea I’m sure it’s nice
Not enuf Makoto Shinkai.
This series fails so hard
(j/k)
I want to elaborate a bit on my opinion after reading some of the AS and blog posts on this show circulating around the net. Note that this isn’t directed toward any one person, but is my general sentiment. Frankly I was offended at many of these folks saying that those that don’t love this show are automatically considered stupid otakus who don’t understand symbolism. Personally, I don’t consider myself an idiot, and I dispute the assertion that if you don’t like this show you aren’t intellectual.
What happened to different strokes for different folks? Personally, I’ve never liked highly symbolic entertainment, be it anime or live-action. I’m not a literature, art, etc. major who is going to spend an hour engrossing himself in massive symbolism. I also have little interest in massive filters, funky effects, and artsy transitions that I find distracting. To the contrary, my personality fits my current profession-law student-I want to know what the hell is going on and what the writer is thinking, I don’t want to dance around the topic. I do not enjoy shows like Ef and Eva, I prefer shows that don’t try to have a different meaning for everyone that watches it, I want one meaning if possible. As a result, I tend to be big on action and humor instead.
So, to those individuals who have written some of the unfortunate remarks, instead of trying to act a bit elitist and assume people who don’t like this show are idiots, be glad that there are many types and genres of anime that appeal to different tastes.
@extrange: I actually listed it extremely high in my anticipation list and it has not failed me extremely since I trust SHAFT whenever it goes on a path.
@Linya: Arrr, I actually only knew about the disease after checking it up with Wiki (the words wiki and google are almost becoming words). Hah, you should give it a 3 episode try.
@Drm: *kicks the resident troller*
@MTL: That is the issue sometimes. I mean, I do not think that I like to shove my opinion up anyone’s rear, but a strong language to consider others to be stupid if they do not understand symbolism is rather mean. I mean, we watch anime not to study a whole thesis on it, but simply to enjoy. Different people like different things. For example, I definitely will not like someone trying to shove shounen and mecha onto me, telling me it’s the bible (no, Crusader , if you try, I will finish you faster than a Battousai).
I think that we often push the limits of language too much in terms of different strokes for different folks. It can be poison for one, and tolerable for another person. It is up to tastes and it is only the reviewers like us to convince people who are likely to be not interested to give it at least a chance. If we turn them off, it’s gone.
I do think that Calawain is an idiot, since he likes mature tsunderes and not cute cuddly green hair lolis though. YAY!
I need to clarify to those reading this post that my disagreements with Impz about quality are usually confined to exchanges like these:
Repeat 1000x
M.T.L Calawain: I don’t know if that was for me, but my post was attacking those who had the gall to condemn it for the most superficial of reasons without even bothering to watch further. I find the misrepresentation of the value of an anime quite inexcusable given how it’s my hobby and all, so I simply had to write something about it.
That post I wrote was attacking the mindset of the people attacking ef, because if there’s something I hate to see it’s shoddy reasoning, or a lack of thinking involved when it comes to stuff like these. There is nothing wrong with someone saying that they think ef sucks, but there is something wrong when someone says that ef sucks because of “shitty filters”, “being pretentious”, “SHAFT doesn’t know what they’re doing”, etc. I’d rather people just admit that it’s not their cup of tea and move on, not act like they’re the bastion of anime superiority when they themselves fanboy/fangirl about shows way shittier than ef.
Oh, and I hereby declare Impz stupid for lumping me in together with his generalisation, WTF. I, for one, love anime because I enjoy watching it AND writing theses on it. So he is wrong, and I am right.
I was just kidding
hmmm well i may try to pick up ef again but chihiro’s voice is so damn annoying.
THANK YOU FOR BLOGGING.
P.S. beat you tj.
@Impz: according to Encyclopedia Britannica, Wiki and Google are words…and even verbs…
@DrmChsr0: Shouldn’t you be humping hamsters?
@Calawain: The problem isn’t if you don’t like it or no, everyone has it’s own personal tastes; the problem is the reasons they present for not liking it. The most usual excuse used is the “Shitty Filters” and nothing else, and some guys make it sound even worse by typing it like a 5 year old making a tantrum. I’m one of the most liberal guys you can meet and I perfectly understand that everyone has their own set of tastes, but the thing I hate more is half baked reasons, which is what composes a great deal of the ef haters. If anyone want to provide their opinion about ef or any other matter, please do it using more than 5 words.
@Owen S: We basically share the same view of the subject.
Honestly, without those cut scenes/symbolisms, this would just be your generic harem show. Gotta give credit to Shaft for effectively masking them.
I wasn’t directing my anger at any person here in particular, I was just venting at the aggregate comments of many. I suppose it’s a bit at fault on both sides, there are people that have hated on the show for the silly reasons you mentioned and with some very inarticulate words. This action has in response caused some proponents to angrily berate them, which caused me to have a PMS bout in response to that.
I don’t really have a problem with people giving their views and opinions on a show, in fact I’m extremely opinionated and if something blows I’m going to point that out. However, I think we all (including myself) need to make sure we don’t go too far into the “if you like/don’t like” this show you are automatically an idiot.
ef rocks. That is all.
i agree ef rocks
[...] Ef- a tale of memories- See my mini-rant here. [...]
Well, tastes are not to discuss, just to lament… I sincerely hope that the design of Ef will be more common in the near future. It’s a great piece of very fine work. If the characters are not so original, well, the art is fantastic. And, really, I didn’t understand the talk about a confused audience…