ef - a tale of melodies.

[Board of Command]

Second ef series announced!! :eek: :eek: :eek: It appears to be a prequel to the first series.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-06-28/anime-ef-a-tale-of-melodies-announced-promo-posted

Trailer: http://www.ef-melo.com/trailer.html

Best news all summer.

[Buffalobiian]

HELL YEAH!!!

It says it's a sequel, but the trailer looks like a prequel. I don't care, it's ef :D

Best news this season indeed

[Harima Kenji]

A lot of good series coming up :)
This is very good news indeed!

[David75]

Fly High,
Make it,
Get to the new World that I seek
Someday
With my little Wings

I don't know why, but those few words, sang like that were really a great thing to listen to before each ep.

I know the songs will (should?) be different, nonetheless, I will watch the prequel show with great pleasure, should they be able to cope with the first series.

[shinta|hikari]

That is a tall order.

[Board of Command]

I don't know why, but those few words, sang like that were really a great thing to listen to before each ep.

I know the songs will (should?) be different, nonetheless, I will watch the prequel show with great pleasure, should they be able to cope with the first series.
I don't think I've seen another anime whose OP fits the series as well as ef's.

[shinta|hikari]

Like the first series based on the ef - a fairy tale of the two adult romance game franchise, Shin Oonuma will direct the animators at SHAFT.

This is great news, since what made the first season for me was the sheer genius of the direction. I still believe Ef could not have been done better (or even equally good) in any medium other than anime.

[Board of Command]

No, I think it has to be anime. All those color effects and backdrops are only possible in anime.

[shinta|hikari]

Thats what I said.

[Board of Command]

Oh yeah... Sorry. I'm dyslexic.

[Board of Command]

Anyone know when the first episode airs? I'm led to believe it's October 6.

[Buffalobiian]

Ttitle: ef - a tale of melodies.
Season: Fall 08
Channel: TV Kanagawa
Producer: SHAFT
Air Time: Tuesday 2:15AM
Air Date: 2008-10-07

[animus]

What time zone is that?

[Board of Command]

So for us (excluding Buffalobiian), that's actually October 6.

[Buffalobiian]

What time zone is that?

That's Japan's time zone. I think they use GMT+9. So yeah, like BoC said, effectively all of you in the American or European continents will see it as Oct 6. I'm on GMT+10, so I'm an oddity :D

[animus]

Episode 1 Pre-Release by Chihiro (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=torrentinfo&tid=35365)

Pre-release meaning no karaoke or typesetting, for those of you who must have the subs especially since it's by Chihiro.

[oyabun]

Woot! I've been waiting for this. And I'm glad that its a sequel. There just some back story about the priest.

[Board of Command]

I'm still waiting for a better group to pick this up.

[David75]

I'm still waiting for a better group to pick this up.
yup, video quality was just awful too, like a vhs encode.

That first ep was very much like what I remembered from the show, except that there was maybe a little too much "scenes" to it. But I guess it serves a purpose for what is to come

[Board of Command]

Yeah, you'd think every group would jump on this series since it's one of the most highly anticipated series this season.

Weird...

[Kraco]

Maybe they are taking their time making the karaoke or waiting for better raws. Or at least I hope so. It would a UN proclaimed crime against humanity if Chihiro remained the only group subbing this one.

[Board of Command]

KBS Kyoto (2008-10-07)
Sun TV (2008-10-07)
TV Kanagawa (2008-10-06)

Chihiro used the TV Kanagawa source. Are the other two better quality...?

[Buffalobiian]

Menclave is subbing this. That's the only group we'll need.

[Board of Command]

And the wait continues...

[Board of Command]

Still nobody else subbing this.

Shit..........

[animus]

I'm surprised not more groups are picking this up. Besides Chihiro, not even the speed subbers. Maybe it's easier to identify crap subs on a good anime.

[Kraco]

I saw somebody commenting on some subber group's channel (sorry about the abundance of "some" there, but I wasn't really looking for this info, just happened to read it) that only crappy raws are so far available for this series. Maybe it's true and the reason why no good subs are around.

[animus]

Still waiting on decent subs for this series, and a sub group to pick up Tytania.

Anyone happen to know if any groups are planning to pick up Tytania?

[Buffalobiian]

Still waiting on decent subs for this series, and a sub group to pick up Tytania.

Anyone happen to know if any groups are planning to pick up Tytania?

Not the right place to ask.

But...doesn't look like it.
Maybe Shinsen. Those guys look like they want to pick up everything this Fall.

[Board of Command]

[Aquastar] ef - A Tale of Melodies -- Prologue (http://a.scarywater.net/aquastar/%5BAQS-Anime%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_Prologue_%5B8B8B0D39%5D.mkv.to rrent)

It's better than nothing...

[Alhuin]

The prologue was barely anything more than what was in the PV for all the fall anime. I was at least expecting more than that. At least the style was reminiscent of the first series, and the music was great. I'm another on the boat for a quality sub...

[Board of Command]

The prologue was barely anything more than what was in the PV for all the fall anime. I was at least expecting more than that. At least the style was reminiscent of the first series, and the music was great. I'm another on the boat for a quality sub...
Yeah, there was around 30 seconds of actual footage in that. The rest was just the PV.

[Buffalobiian]

Of all the shows airing out there, why the hell is THIS one stuck with a shitty raw? :mad:

[Marik]

[Chihiro]_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_-_02_[h264][169DAE09].mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=36345)

[Chihiro]​_ef​_-​_a​_tale​_of​_melodies​_-​_02​_[XviD][809AA3CB].avi (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=36350)

[Board of Command]

Screw this. I'll give Chihiro a chance. I'll just download a better version for archiving later.

[Marik]

[Menclave]​_ef​_-​_a​_tale​_of​_melodies​_01​_[H264][25A1AEFA].mkv (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_01_%5BH264%5D%5B25A1AEFA%5D.mk v.torrent)

[Menclave]​_ef​_-​_a​_tale​_of​_melodies​_01​_[XviD][ED1C44B8].avi (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_01_%5BXviD%5D%5BED1C44B8%5D.av i.torrent)

[Board of Command]

The first episode (I watched Chihiro) was fucking awesome....

The OP is also amazing. Cinematic masterpiece. This is without a doubt one of the best OPs in the history of anime. It's up there with the likes of Ergo Proxy.

[Board of Command]

Excuse the DP.

The official site has a higher resolution version (900x676) of the OP available for download.

http://www.ef-melo.com/dat/op_mov/op_Atype900.zip

It doesn't have karaoke and I'm lacking the scripting skills to do it myself.

[David75]

Excuse the DP.

The official site has a higher resolution version (900x676) of the OP available for download.

http://www.ef-melo.com/dat/op_mov/op_Atype900.zip

It doesn't have karaoke and I'm lacking the scripting skills to do it myself.

There's something about her voice that makes it. She really has a hard time with phonetical english, but her voice brings it up. Should she learn a bit of english...

Also I was surprised that a better image is so important for that OP, because in the low quality raws in 4:3, it's in fact totally butchered.

[Buffalobiian]

Is it just me, or does menclave's mkv not look as sharp and kinda washed out compared to the first series's video. (FYI, menclave's vid is 848x480)

As for the episode, Kuze has definitely got issues. He's keeping in control, but just barely. I'm totally enjoying the way they've set this out. As both a sequel and prequel, we're seeing both past and future of what happened last year.

"Princess is asleep" - looking like the future/present, that'll be Chihiro?

Memory loss is making a return to ef, but this time in the form of reincarnation?

Besides a better raw, I can't ask for anything else.

(edit: I played the ep alongside the official OP. It's definitely washed out and blurred. :()

If we don't get better ones soon, chances are I'll be replacing them when DVD subs come out.

[Board of Command]

(edit: I played the ep alongside the official OP. It's definitely washed out and blurred. :()
Not just that, but the TV version has a lot of color bleeding. That one major cause of the fuzzy look.

I wonder if this series will ever get a HD broadcast. The first series could use a little revamping too. The animation in these two series deserve better.

[Buffalobiian]

I wonder if this series will ever get a HD broadcast. The first series could use a little revamping too. The animation in these two series deserve better.

Maybe not a broadcast, but according to the OP, the'll be Blu-Ray releases for Melodies at least.

I wouldn't mind downloading the HD raws then and remuxing them with menclave's subs. Just hope whoever does the HD encode has enough sense (or skill) to keep it at the 350MB mark or lower.

[Ryllharu]

I can deal with the crappier raws. While the series is certainly as shiny as its predecessor, the art style of ef and others like it (Pani Poni Dash and Tsukiyomi Moon Phase) doesn't really require that perfect visual. It's more stylized and often simplified to just silhouettes or color contrasts. That's what makes it visually stunning to me.

I'm sticking to Menclave for now, so a good intro episode. Not too much detail, but they are certainly hinting at a much darker side to everyone's stories. When Renji's apparently enternally cute mother mentioned Chihiro, I was kind of surprised the Mizuki arc takes place after the arc of the first season. However, it was nicely balanced out by the Yuuko arc which seems like it will mostly take place in the past.

So with the previous arcs focusing on sound and memory, these ones seem to focus more on time. One time running out, and the other avoiding the past. Chihiro was stuck in her past, Yuu wants to forget his.

[Buffalobiian]

I can deal with the crappier raws. While the series is certainly as shiny as its predecessor, the art style of ef and others like it (Pani Poni Dash and Tsukiyomi Moon Phase) doesn't really require that perfect visual. It's more stylized and often simplified to just silhouettes or color contrasts. That's what makes it visually stunning to me.

Maybe it's me, but I just can't call faded colour and undefined lines visually stunning. It just doesn't do ef justice :(.

Anyway, enough complaining, I'll get whatever's the best out there so far.

[Board of Command]

I wouldn't mind downloading the HD raws then and remuxing them with menclave's subs. Just hope whoever does the HD encode has enough sense (or skill) to keep it at the 350MB mark or lower.
It doesn't make much to get a good looking 720p episode down to 350 MB. Heck, even at 250 it will still look great.

But if you're talking about 1080p Blu-Ray, then that's another matter :D

[Kraco]

Silhouettes and color contrasts:

Episode 2 - Menclave (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_02_%5BH264%5D%5BE00012E3%5D.mk v.torrent)

[Board of Command]

Episode 3 (h264) - Chihiro (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=37147)

The OP in Chihiro's episode 3 has different animation from previous releases, as shown below on the right side. The left side shows the "official" OP, which was used in the first two episodes. The new OP has less silhouettes and more details, but I prefer the old one (especially the part with Himura pinned to the wall). I hope the go back to the old B&W version.

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/1108/efopcomparisonlj8.jpg

[Ryllharu]

Spoiler warning: Watching Chihiro's releases.



I'm not really sure what it is, but I can't help but find Mizuki absolutely entrancing. Maybe it is her near-boundless energy, or the totally carefree way she presents herself, but I find myself transfixed by her. There was something about the scene where she spun and danced on the train tracks before meeting Chihiro that I wasn't able to tear my eyes from the screen. Normally I find characters like her utterly annoying (like I did the few times where she appeared last season). Something is very different about her this season. She's dramatically more mature than she was (the pedo within says, "More than one...") but there is this quality about her than I can't even put my finger on fully or even describe with words. The scene at beach was fairly powerful too.

Yet, compare her to Yuuko. On an outer level, the two are very much the same. They both say teasing words to others, and neither of them seem to care at all what others think. Despite all the ways they seem similar, I can't stand Yuuko. Something about her makes me hate her. Maybe something rubbed off her weirdo teacher-brother, but for all the indescribable reasons I am drawn to Mizuki, Yuuko drives me away.

Perhaps it is the difference in energy.

It's almost as if Mizuki is life, while Yuuko is death (her ghostly appearance last season helps that).

[Buffalobiian]

Silhouettes and color contrasts:

Episode 2 - Menclave (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_02_%5BH264%5D%5BE00012E3%5D.mk v.torrent)

The raw was noticably better than episode 1. God bless them. I wonder how discussion will go with us split half-half?

[Board of Command]

[Chihiro] Episode 4 (h264) (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=38220)

Damn, they're still using the new OP animation. I guess that means the first two episodes used an unfinished animation sequence where they didn't have time to fill in the details and colors?

The black and white version was amazing.





edit: SPOILERS

This episode was quite revealing for me.

Firstly, the timeline difference between the "past" and the "present" are not that far apart. I thought the gap was huge - that Nagi was Hirono's mother. It turns out they're actually siblings and probably no more than 10 years apart in age. I don't recall ever seeing Nagi in the first series. In fact, I think Hirono was portrayed as being all alone, which was why Miyako's presence had such a huge impact on his life.

Next, we're told that there was a huge earthquake in the past. This explains those end-of-the-world backdrops that kept popping up throughout both series. I thought those were just artistic renditions to produce the alone-in-the-world feeling for the characters, but I guess there's more to it than that.

These details gave me a whole new perspective on things, especially the timeline issue.

[Ryllharu]

Spoiler warning: Watching Chihiro's releases





I agree with the Nagi situation. It was explained that Kei and Chihiro had more or less adopted Hirono as a brother. Kei and Hirono remained close after Chihiro's accident, while Kei kept her distance from Chihiro. Perhaps Nagi was abroad at the time, and she might have called him once, I don't remember. The large age gap between the two raises that possibility. Still, rather cold of her to abandon him for so many years, but from the flashbacks, that's just the way Nagi is.

What I am beginning to wonder now is whether the Nagi/Yuu/Yuuko love triangle will resolve itself during the flashback, or in present day. It seems like the flashbacks are establishing all the relationships, Nagi is just as secretly possessive of Yuu as Kei was of Hirono, Yuuko is really weird, etc. This may lead up to Yuuko's eventual death (I'm sticking with her being a ghost) and how hurt Yuu became over that.

Then we will return to the present, where Nagi is in town for a rare occurence, right before she leaves for Australia. Perhaps we will see Yuu learning to love once more, and join Nagi.

As for the Mizuki storyline, their relationship is...was progressing very rapidly, but now Kuze is still attempting to blow her off. We know that she will get him to have sex with her before he dies, but I wonder now progress can really be made in terms of character development, given their little "CPR" sessions.

[David75]

The Sound Track is really incredible and really gives a lot of strength to the show.
Also, I do not think any feeling is forced on us, mostly we get to see/watch and then decide for ourselves

[Buffalobiian]

ef - a tale of melodies - 03 (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_03_%5BH264%5D%5B323EDE50%5D.mk v.torrent) by menclave

[Board of Command]

Ebullient Future (OP) - Nippnsei (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20ef%20-%20a%20tale%20of%20melodies.%20OP%20Single%20-%20ebullient%20future%20%5BELISA%5D.zip.torrent)

Fermata (ED) - Nipponsei (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20ef%20-%20a%20tale%20of%20melodies.%20ED%20Single%20-%20Fermata%20%5BMizuki%20Hayama%5D.zip.torrent)

[EinReB23]

ef - a tale of melodies 5 (www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=38691) by coalguys

[Ryllharu]

ef - a tale of melodies 05 [Chihiro] (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=torrentinfo&tid=39017)

It is really easy to hate Amamiya-sensei (Yuuko's older "brother"). He looks so much like Matou Shinji from Fate/Stay Night.

[spoiler warning obviously]




I am somewhat enjoying the epilogues of the first season's arcs that are intersperced through this series so far. I also failed to realize that their are two towns. I always thought they were the same, and that made it even more strange that Kei never came anywhere near Chihiro while I thought they lived in the same city. So now the twins will go their separate ways...

The Mizuki-Kuze sections were brief this episode, I was a little disappointed. But there was an interesting bit at the end, where Nagi proclaimed herself to be Kuze's girlfriend. Up to this point, I had always thought that Nagi had a thing for Himura. I still think that she does, and she's only with Kuze because she may have thought it would bring her closer to Himura. It's hard to say what her aim is here, perhaps to not see Kuze regret dying and leaving someone he really loves behind.


What was far more interesting was the final moments of the episode. Where Amamiya-sensei brought up two things about Yuuko. One, her "arm," and two, the watch. We saw Himura run away from her when she brought up the subject of her being like a little sister to him while the fire his sister died in still smoldered in the background. I wonder if Yuuko ran into the fire, and pulled the watch Himura's sister cherished off of his sister's body. She would have burned her arm in the effort, leading to the answer why she always wears gloves and why she has the watch at all.

That's a pretty disturbing scenario. Yuuko must still be completely obsessed with the idea of being or replacing Himura's late sister. But it looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the hand that picked it up, Amamiya-sensei and Yuuko are both pretty messed up in the head. They deserve each other.




[end spoilers]

[Board of Command]

I think I have a thing for Nagi.

:(

[David75]

[CoalGuys] ef - a tale of melodies - 06 [45D6D88A] mkv 230Mb @ Mininova (http://www.mininova.org/get/2003105)

Decent subs, eventhough I wasn't really paying attention.
Darker arc, it"s been a long time since I thought I should rewatch an ep to really get everything.
Some will probably hate it, but sometimes darker plots are nice.

Also the op changed again, funny enough the instrumental without the main melody (so a really bare op) still had my mind playing the whole song. Some kind of ghost sound ringing while it played.

[Buffalobiian]

If I'm the only one watching Menclave, I won't mind if you guys dropped the [spoiler tags]. Saves you guys the pain, and I'm part of the minority anyway. Happy discussing ;)

[Board of Command]

Decent subs, eventhough I wasn't really paying attention.
Darker arc, it"s been a long time since I thought I should rewatch an ep to really get everything.
Some will probably hate it, but sometimes darker plots are nice.

Also the op changed again, funny enough the instrumental without the main melody (so a really bare op) still had my mind playing the whole song. Some kind of ghost sound ringing while it played.
Yeah, this episode was similar to the latter bits of Memories with Chihiro and Miyako breaking down. I think it's stuff like this that make the ef series stand out from all the other anime out there. It really doesn't hold anything back and much of it is just raw emotions. It's what makes the scenes so powerful.

[Chihiro] Episode 6 (h264) (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=39732)

[shinta|hikari]

As always, but maybe up another level this time, an excellent episode. I love the presentation for the drama in this show. Angst in most series is usually quite cheesy or too melodramatic, but because of the way they use symbolism and colours to represent the emotions in this show, it just comes out powerful and enthralling.

[Ryllharu]

I have to commend Chihiro on this episode. According to their site, they re-timed that scene at least 4 times to get it just right, and they nailed it.

Even more respect goes to the actress playing Yuuko, it creeped me out more and more the further she went on and the faster she got. The similar scene with Miyako last season made me cry by the end of it, this one only filled me with dread.

There's just something about her, even with all the horrible things she's gone through, but I just can't sympathize with Yuuko. There's a huge part of her that seems to have accepted the treatment she recieves from her 'brother' and almosts seems like she wants to return it to everyone around her, especially Himura. There were glimpses of it during her confession, there is a deep, growing darkness within her. She may have said it herself, Himura left her behind, and the girl he used to know died there.

She doted on him, chased him around, tried to become his little sister, but he was still too stricken with grief about losing his other one. Does Yuuko really have the grounds to blame him? Yuuko accepted what she has now become.

Kei's life wasn't nearly as bad, but she was turning into something not unlike Yuuko. Lying, cold, becoming dirty to get what she wanted. She turned it around eventually though, and didn't drag Hirono and Miyako down into her unhappiness. She eventually found the happiness she sought, and even made peace with Chihiro.

This still doesn't explain why Yuuko has his sister's watch.

[David75]

This still doesn't explain why Yuuko has his sister's watch.

I just hope they do not tell us Yuuko is responsible for Himura's sister death...
Up to now, they didn't resort to using such lame plots. So I hope they do not take
that route now.

[shinta|hikari]

Rather than responsible, I think they are going to go for the "enjoyed" or "celebrated" her death instead. Either way, this was already done with the twins, so its not like ef never chooses to go for the cliche. But I believe everything has been done before, so delivery matters much more than content, and that is what this show excels at.

[Ryllharu]

I think "reveled in" is perhaps the most appropriate term for it.

I was going to say that I might have felt bad for the young Yuuko, before she became this twisted, manipulative and possessive Yuuko. I can barely even pity what she has become due to how it appears she has fully accepted what she's become (due to the scene with her 'brother' at home where she seemed quite content around him).

But, if the case is that she was more than happy about finally getting a chance to take Himura's sister's place, then perhaps Yuuko has really been this way all along, and there is no need to ever feel pity for her.


Now I just wish that Nagi would stop deluding herself by being Kuze's girlfriend and admit she has always liked Himura. She let him go in the past so that Yuuko could steal him, and now she is denying it and doing the exact same thing to Mizuki that Yuuko did to her.

[Buffalobiian]

[Nipponsei] ef - a tale of melodies. ED Single - Fine [Nakajima Yumiko].zip (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20ef%20-%20a%20tale%20of%20melodies.%20ED%20Single%20-%20Fine%20%5BNakajima%20Yumiko%5D.zip.torrent)

[Ryllharu]

[CoalGuys] ef - a tale of melodies - 09 [9E1F72D2].​mkv (http://tor.doctorx.eu/t/%5BCoalGuys%5D%20ef%20-%20a%20tale%20of%20melodies%20-%2009%20%5B9E1F72D2%5D.mkv.torrent)

While I haven't been all that pleased with the larger focus on Himura and Yuuko (being a Mizuki fan) this episode was rather disturbing. In a very different way than when Yuuko revealed what happens to her every night and how her body now is. We got to see a full view of Yuuko's hand, and her 'brother' went much further off the deep end.

The largest revelation in this episode, however, occurs in the final minute after the ED. A connection that I never saw coming...the details of which will have to wait until next episode!

[David75]

[Chihiro] ef - a tale of melodies - 12 [h264][Final][8332CC68] mkv 175.08 Mb @ Mininova (http://www.mininova.org/get/2123169)
So this is supposed to be the last one for this season. Will see for myself.

[tystic]

Holy crud I thought they dropped it!

[Menclave] ef - a tale of melodies 04 [h264] mkv (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_04_%5BH264%5D%5B00DC971F%5D.mk v.torrent)

[Board of Command]

This was a fantastic series, but I still liked the first series more. I think they overdid the scenes with Kuze.

[Board of Command]

Edit: moved to the proper thread...

http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?p=411759&postcount=106

[Ryllharu]

While this was a good series, it really didn't get to the same level of the first season. The stories were there (though not as good as the Kei-Miyako-Chihiro storylines) but the presentation fell a bit short.

There were some good scenes like Mizuki dancing on the train tracks, Yuuko revealing what happened to her, and Amamiya burning in a fire, but it didn't really compare to the Miyako Messages and Payphone scene, the Kei Confession, or Chihiro ripping her own heart out.


I liked it a lot, but it was really hard to top the first season, and they fell just a little bit short.

[shinta|hikari]

Indeed. Not to mention Chihiro is a very likeable character, and her story arc ending was just well done.

What really made me feel this season is lacking is a solid ending for Nagi (and well, Himura). I just wish they ended up together, instead of just opening up that possibility. All in all, it was a bittersweet end for both stories, unlike the first Ef where the best possible end was given.

[Buffalobiian]

Holy crud I thought they dropped it!

[Menclave] ef - a tale of melodies 04 [h264] mkv (http://bt.mymenclave.com/torrents/%5BMenclave%5D_ef_-_a_tale_of_melodies_04_%5BH264%5D%5B00DC971F%5D.mk v.torrent)

Given the quality of the raws, I thought they were waiting for the DVDs. I'd rather they do that. Since their release schedule is so irregular and behind, they might as well translate all the episodes and mux them with DVD raws when they come out. Quality picture and quality subs for a quality show is only fitting.

meh, /downloads and ignores other posts.

(btw, ef - memories won Thora's vote for HD release - look forward to that. I know I will)

[Pandadice]

ahh, I just finished this the other day. It was such an amazing series! I'd say it was easily equal to the first season, if not better.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm still up to menclave's ep6. Not only does the teacher look like Shinji from FSN, they even used the rape part....bastard...

[Pandadice]

I got a batch which had the first four menclave, but then the last 8 as coalguys.

menclave was much better.

[Buffalobiian]

Thora to pick up melodies HD. (http://www.thoranime.org/?p=685)

I know where I'm downloading from now :D

[Board of Command]

1080p! Finally something worth archiving. However, 700 MB per episode is a bit steep. I might have to re-encode this when it comes out. In fact, I definitely need to re-encode because 12 episodes can't fit on a single dual-layer DVD.

[Buffalobiian]

1080p! Finally something worth archiving. However, 700 MB per episode is a bit steep. I might have to re-encode this when it comes out. In fact, I definitely need to re-encode because 12 episodes can't fit on a single dual-layer DVD.

They haven't put up a torrent for it yet, so I'm hoping they'll do a 720p one as well. That's all I'll really need. The first series is winning too. I made a few illicit votes myself :rolleyes:

[Board of Command]

1080p is ideal since I can just shrink it to something like 1600x900 and re-encode it at a lower bitrate. Theoretically, this gives a sharper image than a 720p source (i.e. a half-assed method of supersampling).

[Board of Command]

THORA released 720p and 1080p versions of the first two episodes.

http://www.thoranime.org/?p=685

I downloaded the 1080p version, and re-encoding it to 720p gives a stunningly sharp image. Super-sampling FTW!

A word of caution for those who like to use Warpsharp when watching these HD videos: Warpsharp and 1080p don't mix nicely.

[Buffalobiian]

How does that compare with simply downloading their 720p version?

[Board of Command]

To be perfectly honest, the difference is almost undetectable by the naked eye.

[Buffalobiian]

[Nipponsei] ef - a tale of melodies. Original Soundtrack 2 ~felice~.zip (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20ef%20-%20a%20tale%20of%20melodies.%20Original%20Soundtra ck%202%20~felice~.zip.torrent)

[Buffalobiian]

Complete series in 720p is out by THORA (subs my menclave).

Torrent here (http://www.anirena.com./viewtracker.php?action=download&id=21214)

THORA's torrents tend to get unhealthy real quick, so jump to it.

Otherwise, you can just visit their irc channel. For some reason or other, they've taken off their xdcc list from the site though. Up now, downtime was probably for a host changeover.

[Buffalobiian]

Ef - a Tale of Melodies [1080p,BluRay,x264] - THORA (http://bakabt.me/152380-ef-a-tale-of-melodies-1080p-bluray-x264-thora.html)

Lossless Soundtrack Collection (http://www.bakabt.com/144197-ef-a-tale-of-melodies.html)

So after years of waiting, I finally watched this.

I can't rate this any lower than Memories. Not when it makes me cry twice. (Yuuko's death and post-Memories reunion-parting)

Not red-eye cried. Not teary-eye cried. Not wet-around-the-corner-of-the-eye cried.

Tears-down-my-face cried. (Okay, not river-cry or sobbing cry, but you get the message)

Bias was definitely present, I should say. Yuuko's always been of great interest (and my favourite girl) to me ever since Memories, while Mizuki's a very refreshing counterbalance keeps me from falling too deep. I find both Kuze and Yu very cool.

In contrast (from memory), I didn't really care much for Kei, Kyosuke. Chihiro's appeal needed warming up to but still reached there in the end.

Regarding Ryll's previous comments about Yuuko coming off as rather dark and her fate being self-caused, it's something I can completely relate with. I am especially talking about her treatment towards Yu. It resonates with me very personally - the desire to enact revenge on someone who resulted in your suffering, only to see them suffer.. and the increased suffering you go through yourself in response to seeing them like that. It's a melting pot of love, hate, wanting to be understood and not understanding yourself.

The two shows show how it's generally hard to live up to good S1s. The approach is usually to take the good parts of the forerunner and expand on them. The issues that come into play is whether too much can have a negative effect (and what constitutes as too much), along with the problem of applying the same aspects to a fundamentally different storyline/direction.

S1s start by building a story and making sure they move in a good direction and pace without having to worry about too much else. Everything is built from the ground up. Sequels that want to tie into the original have a lot of hole-plugging to do (as in filling in details or mysteries that were left unanswered or unexpanded upon from S1) as well as maintaining continuity. The former aspect especially contributes to a lot of "fragmentation" that can be found in many sequels.

While I didn't find Melodies fragmented despite its flashback/present approach, it did overdo some of those "intense, rapid-fire" scenes that Memories was applauded for (overdo = too many [even if only 1 too many] times, not too long in duration). Kuze's slump could have been fastracked a little (as BoC mentioned).

That's... actually the only complaint I had a problem with. The story wrapped up in a way that perfectly deserves the fine at the end. Everything came full-circle. Everything was complete.