ef - a tale of memories.

First episode by a group called Nuke:
http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=2388

Here's the prologue by Aquastar-Anime and Nuke:
http://a.scarywater.net/aquastar/%5B...5D.mkv.torrent
http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=2326

Here's the game intro by Froth-Bite for those interested:
http://www.froth-bite.com/torrent/%5...5D.mp4.torrent

Quote:

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Based on the visual interactive novel by Minori, featuring character designs by Nanao Naru.

The story revolves around the protagonist Hirono Hiro, a poor high school boy who draws shoujo manga for his living. One cold Christmas night after meeting a very strange woman in a church, who tells him that he`s going to meet someone he has to meet, his bike gets stolen by another strange girl. He runs after her and finds her collapsed on the street. Her name is Miyamura Miyako and her bag got stolen by a man on a motorbike. Soon after, they start hanging out together, enjoying highschool life. Miyako falls for Hiro pretty quickly but naturally finds a rival in his childhood friend, Shindou Kei, who has been dictating Hiro`s life since ever.

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http://www.ef-memo.com/
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl...anime&aid=5274

I'm going to wait for Conclave-Mendoi or AQS-Anime to release before giving this a try. Anyone knows if Nuke is any good?

Fortunately your wait wasn't a very long one:

Episode 1 - Conclave-Mendoi

Edit: Hmm... A peculiar series. I have yet no idea what to think of it. This was pretty random stuff for a first episode. No clear main character, no clear idea what is supposed to be going on, except for guys meeting, fatefully, some girls. I wonder if this series is going to even have anything more concrete than this. I hope it will, because the fragmented feeling it had could be hard to bear through all of it. Still, some things suggested they could all be connected sooner all later, which would certainly do wonders to the disjointed feeling.

Man that was so odd. It's like Baccano cept in Japan and without the killing and gangs and stuff.

Very random episode indeed. I have no idea what this thing is about, but the mysterious undertones seem interesting. The camera work is also a bit odd, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Seems like Chihiro has some memory condition that requires her to write down everything that happens to her so she won't forget it the next day. (reminds me of fifty first dates).Strange first ep, as mentioned. Hope that makes this series a good one, rather than let it down. Can anyone make out if the girl in the Camera guy's bed was the one with glasses that he was talking to earlier?

Wow. That was such a confusing intro. But, I like it all the same. The anime shows alot of promise, and I'm hoping to get alot out of it.

Looks like its gonna be one of the better new ones.:cool:

This is purely a guess, but Chihiro seems to forget everything that happened the day before.

I'm guessing she wrote it all down in that diary of hers, then read it as soon as she woke up. All she had was a name, but she didn't recognize Asou when she saw him the next day.

Whatever it is, this show looks promising and the characters are more than alright.

Damn, I was hoping for epic OP :(
Considering the game OP was amazing...
It doesn't follow the game exactly, some things are out of chronology I think, then again, I haven't played the game too far yet.

Is this epic OP the one that was played during the ef anime preview trailer? That one was awesome, one of the thing that dragged me into this.

The tale of amnesia continues but will it offer any answers?

Episode 2 - Conclave-Mendoi

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Can anyone make out if the girl in the Camera guy's bed was the one with glasses that he was talking to earlier?

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Yes, it's the same girl.

I still don't get this part: is Kei really Hirono's sister? Chihiro never mentioned a brother, and Hirono's friend kept insisting Kei is Hirono's girlfriend.

Well according to the series description it says Kei has a crush on Hirono. I don't think they're related, because as they were entering the school Hirono told her to stop calling her by his Manga pen name, and Onii-chan. So then the last thing she says to him as she disappears is Hirono-senpai.

huh, I like ep two's ED a lot. And for some reason, the ED sequence reminds me of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi OP. Maybe I'm just crazy.

This episode pretty much expanded on episode 1, but still seemed fragmented. I hope all the different parts fit in together soon. I guess it's already happening, but continuing such a disjointed form of story telling will "take it's toll", so to speak, if it keeps it up too much longer. But then again, this is what's setting this show apart form the other school-days anime this season, if you can consider it so.

Singles are out for ef - a tale of memories.

OP- euphoric field
http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents...5D.zip.torrent

ED- Adagio
http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents...5D.zip.torrent

With three episodes you can already start to talk about memories:

Episode 3 - Conclave-Mendoi

It was an interesting episode. Seems like that Mizuki character's been reading too much yuri.

Kei goes back to calling Hirono Onii-chan. We learn a bit more about Chihiro's 13hr memory. If she loses the first hour on the 14th, and 2nd on the 15th, I'd be interesting to know if she forgets what she reads in the morning by midnight. Kuze-san was interesting. Amazing anger management.

Finally got somewhere in the game, and it explains the anime's unique styling. The game has enough movements and voice, that if the anime was done in a normal fashion, it'd look exactly like the game. Interestingly, the Hirono in the game has more of a spine than the Hirono in the anime, who just seems like a normal, lazy, school kid that gets bossed around, at least in the game he has some good banters.
The music is amazing, unfortunately I can't find it :(

O yeah, just in case anyone really wants to know about the sibling relationship
[SPOILER]They are not related by blood[/SPOILER]

A life, thirteen hours long, reset:

Episode 4 - Conclave-Mendoi

Not really reset, but tape over. Its like using a 13 hour tape to record your experiences and when you reach the end you simply tape over the beginning. Its not nearly as bad as 50 first dates, but it presents its own brand of suffering and fear, since in this case, the person is aware of the situation and has to deal with it.

Yeah. It's actually feeling pretty realistic how she was coping so well with her condition as long as she continued the "not to bother anyone" way of life. After all, it surely must have kept her own life empty as well: empty of fears and hopes equally. But now that she dared dream a bit, it all crashed as the hopelessness of her situation came back in full force. Who knows what she was like when she first learned the truth of her situation (many times), but likely something closer to how she behaved in this ep.

It feels kind of sad that both Hiro and Kei know Chihiro, but since her accident, she has become separate from their lives. It's reality, and that would really happen, but still...
Things are getting along for the characters.

The Kei-Hiro-Miyako relationship is developing. It'll get more interesting when Kei and Miyako start talking and interacting more.

Renji almost ruined his relationship with Chihiro, but now it looks more like advancement.

Perhaps the exception is Kyosuke. Relationship stalled, but he's more into making his disired film.

If one word were to describe this anime, it'd be "Dreams".

I could be describe as "memories" too, but that is the title already lol.

This week's release of ef:

http://a.scarywater.net/conclave/%5B...5D.mkv.torrent

Edit: Same pace as the other episodes really. Kei's confrontation with Miyako worked out much less fierce than expected. Miyako handled it much better than other stereotypical, love-rival anime girl would have. She gave a very mature and insightful response that left Kei speechless pretty much. A surprise, considering her carefree and playful nature.

Chihiro meets Renji's mum. We learn that Kei's cooking skills, or lack there of, runs in her family. I'm actually enjoying this series, despite it's easy pacing and lack of action. Following Renji's urge to help her write a novel, Chihiro once again summons up her courage to challenge and find meaning in her life again. Once again tries to struggle against the chains that have bound her for so long since her accident long ago. And it seems Kei's attitude (Jealousy/selfishness for Hiro) was something that she developed since she was little, with a rather serious consequence.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Miyako handled it much better than other stereotypical, love-rival anime girl would have. She gave a very mature and insightful response that left Kei speechless pretty much. A surprise, considering her carefree and playful nature.

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Dunno. I thought Kei was more right and Miyako's view was more naive. After all, the dude is still a high-school student so he should either finish the school or drop out altogether. And something like high-school isn't really anything, not even in Japan, that would actually decide what you are going to do for the rest of your life. Besides, a manga artist can't live in a box and a place like a high-school which deals out general education should be very valuable to a manga artist. After all, manga tells about something relevant to the larger audience unless it's totally psychedelic.

Besides, with his hand near breaking, who knows if he even can continue as an artist. If he sabotages his own education, his other options would be more limited.

Kei was probably rendered speechless because she's simply lacking eloquent skills for argumentation. She's totally a sports type person.

What Miyako was saying was simply to respect what the guy wants for himself, and that he is old enough to decide what he wants to do in the future without some overly concerned "imouto" trying to push her ideals on him.

What Miyako said about the manga world is true as well. The guy (yes I forgot his name) is not an aspiring manga artist hoping to go pro, but a professional already making a name for himself. He has considerable talent, and he seems to be doing quite well. If he stops working on his manga career to focus on school, he might lose the chance that most people would kill to have (since being a mangaka is definitely competitive and difficult). Kei didnt even consider allowing the guy to go pro and quit school, but even if he did, it wouldnt help much. Like you said, it is always useful to have a highschool education, and I guess that is why he is still going to school despite his distaste and simple lack of need of it.

Kei was rendered speechless because she realized she was interfering with the guy's life by imposing what she wants, instead of respecting what he desires.

It could very well be that Kei was too far on the other side, disregarding his already thriving mangaka career as something trivial (she didn't pay much attention to it even in the flashback). However, like you said, Hiro might still see merit in getting the high school education. But he clearly is lacking internal motivation to see it through. That's why it would be useful if not even essential to have someone tell him he can and should do it.

Miyako gives me the impression of some drug addict bitch who just encourages to do what feels good in a short run. While it might be beneficial to take into account what the dude himself says and not just follow other people's intentions, like Kei is doing, that's still not how it always works in the real life. I guess a middle ground would be where the best course would be.

While it may seem that Miyako seems to just encourage what feels good in the short run, I think she is seriously trying to think of Hiro's future as well. I dont think she would have supported his mangaka career if his work sucked. She even called him a genius, which means she is not simply supporting him with irresponsible notions but rather an actual belief that it will do him good and that he can succeed.

Whether it will really do him good or not is of course left to speculation, but I dont believe that Miyako is any less concerned about Hiro's life than Kei is. It is just a matter of ideals and method.

Though Miyako might be closer to Hiro than Kei is, her attitude to their relationship is more "set back", for lack of better words. She can encourage him like a friend, see the pros and cons of what he's doing and give him her honest opinion. I know not all friends are like that, but that's the case this time. From what we've been shown, Kei tends to think more possessively of Hiro. She wants Hiro to herself a lot more than Miyako, and when you think like that, you'll tend to steer things the way you want it, even unconsciously impose your desires on others.

I'm left wondering whether the preview means the girls will clear up their issues with each other by the next episode. Maybe it'll be done in the rain? And whether or not Kei takes up the date will say something...

Anyone else notice the ep4 ED is slightly different from ep 5 ED?

Episode 6 - mendoi/Conclave

http://a.scarywater.net/conclave/%5B...5D.mkv.torrent

This is probably my second favorite series right now next to Genshiken 2. It came out of nowhere and I just love the way it's presented. Very "artistic."

Maybe the director / art director of this series feels some connection to the Kyosuke character, who seems to have his own vision of how camerawork should be done.

Or maybe Kyosuke is modeled after the director.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Church

Anyone else notice the ep4 ED is slightly different from ep 5 ED?

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's been different for the last 3 weeks.

There were some funny moments in this ep. Kyosuke's FBI scene was funny, especially when he was mimicking Miyako. Uniform scene was done well too. Renji's neighbour has the right attitude. :D

Kei has got Miyako on her toes now too. Those words across the crossing hit home.

The camera work is peculiar, which makes this really stand out. The themes are really well put together as well. Despite it's seemingly randomness, it feels right. A bit like poetry. Yeah, I think ef is most definitely the most "poetic" anime I've seen so far.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's been different for the last 3 weeks.

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Yeah, I guess it was the subtle changes instead of a whole new ED change that caught my eye.

I'm now kind of intrigued at Chihiro's book... kind of want to read it.

Chihiro and Himura just gets more and more interesting, can't wait for "the latter tale."
Speaking of which, I'm kind of sad that Yuko doesn't get much appearance, [SPOILER]seeing as how she's supposed to be the one behind everything[/SPOILER]
She's such an awesome character with wit and style.

After much anticipation, Menclave gives us ef 7.

http://a.scarywater.net/conclave/%5B...5D.mkv.torrent

edit: And Nipponsei releases another ef ED single Vivace

http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents...5D.zip.torrent

lol, I got a little freaked out after the last part. -_-

I thought that episode was pure genius.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

I thought that episode was pure genius.

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I agree. You generally don't see stuff like this in anime.

That voice transition they used on Chihiro was freaky. Kei was evil, and Renji + Miyako are having a break down. The music was excellent. Camera and art was unique as always, and very fitting.

Kei is not evil. It's not like she purposely hid the cell phone. She doesn't know about Miyako's situation, so she just treated her as a creepy stalker sending hundreds of text messages.

That didn't happen in the game... :|
Wow, I am completely speechless, this is by far one of most well done scene(s)/episode I have ever seen, of any series. Not only so, but one of the more painful and creepy ones too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Board of Command

Kei is not evil. It's not like she purposely hid the cell phone. She doesn't know about Miyako's situation, so she just treated her as a creepy stalker sending hundreds of text messages.

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She knew Miyako was a threat relationship wise. She saw all the messages Miyako sent,(note facial expression here), then pressed delete. Miyako didn't even get a chance. Okay, evil wasn't really the right word, (I can think of true evil here....), but harsh just doesn't convey enough.

I would have compared her actions to seeing Miyako's love letters on Hiro's table, ripping them up and throwing them out.

Kei is such a bitch. I think "evil" does go a bit over, but very little. She has no right doing what she did, and I bet Hiro is going to go berserk after he finds out the consequences that action entails. No amount of feigning ignorance should be able to save her ass.

so... nice boat ending?
Now THAT would be an unexpected plot twist XD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Kei is such a bitch.

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I actually like Kei a lot. I think she makes for a very interesting character she's the generic childhood friend/secret crush character but with an attitude.

As interesting and fresh as she is, a bitch is a bitch.

I wonder if they are already running out of money or if this was just purely going according to their artistic vision. I didn't really like this episode, and no doubt the even weirder than usual graphics were a part of the reason. And the repetitive nature prevalent throughout the episode.

It looks like Asou is only now starting to really understand that simple friendship aside a relationship with Chihiro would be a painful thing. He looked as broken in this ep as Chihiro normally does.

Miyako had her reasons, it seems, and I suppose I can forgive her a little due to that, especially considering Kei, who had previously my sympathies, indeed looks like she thinks she has the right to control every part of Hiro's life. And I was erraneously thinking she was just going overboard thinking what was best for him.

Still, you can't say Hiro wasn't to blame as well. He should have at least send a text message to Miyako telling he can't make it. But I guess he's a forgetful artist, after all, unable to really take care of himself with the exception of his work.

DO NOT download the "special" released by Ayako. It's just the opening sung by the gayest voice you'll ever hear.

I'm not sure if it's a troll or not.

Episode 7 was either the result of extreme lack of money or to much LSD because that was just a really strange episodes.

Also side note Nuke gave up on this series with episode 6 so don't be expecting more releases from them.

I really loved episode 7, though I would understand how those looking for more mainstream stuff would get turned off by it.Im pretty sure its not a money issue, since from the beginning it has been aiming for such a feel and style.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

Im pretty sure its not a money issue, since from the beginning it has been aiming for such a feel and style.

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Since the beginning the series has had its artistic gimmicks but nowhere near anything like this episode had. It's as if they suddenly floored the accelerator with no worries.

I agree with that, just that it had the opposite effect for me.

The art and feel to this anime will be what'll make it memorable to me. I found Miyako's mental degradation a little drawn out, but that was probably because I was tired. The artistic style went well I thought. Just want to see the next ep now...

Episode 8 - H264

GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO

I actually thought Miyako would crack a lot more than she did, not that I'm unhappy that she's going uphill again. This time, it was Chihiro. Camera and art during her scene was more conservative than last time, but no less effective. I sensed jealousy in Himura as he took her diary.Chihiro as she woke up was a complete shock to me, as it was to Renji. Very dramatic, especially the eye part.

Can't wait for ep 9: Forget me not.

Yeah, the waking up scene was a real shocker for me. I thought she at least remembered her accident and understood her memory problem. It turns out her character is completely fake and she's still just a 12-year-old. She has to start from square one and age a few years in a few hours every morning.

That's pretty hard to swallow.

Not every morning. She only has to remake the personality if she slept for more than 13 hours, which is the said time limit. Otherwise, she still retains some memory of what she was as long as it is covered by her 13 hour memory.

I wouldn't describe her character as fake. It's more the cultured side of her. The her after she's put together everything that's happened, and really, not panicking. Everybody becomes someone else sometimes when they're caught completely off guard. I guess this would have been a normal thing for her before she met Renji. That girl who was in the church, the one that keeps helping Miyako, where does she come from, and what's she there for though. Not that we're past the halfway point of the series, I doubt that she'll be someone significant, but I'm still left wondering who she is. Before, her arrival and departure were associated with a paper plane, but now she appears out of nowhere, and seem to just give advice. Is she the person Himura says he's always waiting for? Is he only waiting for Chihiro? Or is he waiting for the return of the normal, cured Chihiro?

I think it takes her much more than a day to "remake" her personality. It might take her a week or a month or maybe more. As long as she doesnt go over the 13 hour limit, she should be able to maintain and build on her personality. In that sense, it isnt fake at all. Its not like she pretends to be something she isnt, but is merely forced to accept cruel facts to keep on living.

I dont think this event is such a common thing. It might have happened once or twice before, but not more than that. I doubt Chihiro herself would want to go through something that terrible again. Unfortunately, because of her love for Renji, she overworked and fainted. Its is incredibly ironic how her desire to keep her memories and feelings is what caused her to lose them.

Although I think Renji did begin to realise the full deepness of the situation in the previous episodes, still this must have been a very bad shock to him. One might say almost as bad as it was to Chihiro herself, who, at the very least, doesn't remember what she lost even if she had to face such an oblivion the first thing in the morning. I wonder if Renji has what it takes to start everything from the beginning with her - knowing the same might happen again one day. Although who knows if it's even possible. Now that Chihiro doesn't remember Renji anymore at all, she might feel uncomfortable reading the diary yet not feeling anything.

I bet you Renji will come back and start again. He's become too attached to Chihiro to leave her alone. I'm wondering if Himura will intervene though. Chihiro'll read the diary perfectly fine, I think. The problem comes when she then confronts Renji. She'll know about him, but not feel anything for him. But as we've seen, it doesn't take long for that to happen either. This show almost feels like it's hit the climax already, so I'm dying to find out what the last 4 eps or so is about. Have see seen any connection between Renji and Kyuosasuke or Hiro? He and Chihiro seem to be detached from their stories, though that's pretty natural.

Episode 9 (H264) - Menclave/Condoi

GOOGOGO

So...I started this series up a few days ago for a couple of reasons.
1) I had nothing else to watch in the beginning of the week.
2) I figured Chihiro would be able to satisfy the mild eye patch fetish I developed from watching anime all these years.

Holy. Shit.

Episodes 7, 8 and 9 have been amazing. I was not a fan of this art style when it appeared years back in Tsukiyomi Moonphase. The abstraction got a bit out of control and ruined the feel in that section of the series. Pani Poni Dash was weird enough already, so it fit in well enough. Here, it is woven masterfully into the story to truly become art. The phone call scene in 7 was heartbreaking, and brought me to tears. Equally painful was Chihiro's scene at the end of 8, even though I knew it was coming.

What's really great is that every time I hope that the focus won't switch to the other twin's story, the other side immediately catches my full attention.

One the one side, we have Chihiro and Renji, who appears to finally be living up to his dream in the first episode. He's become her knight. The things that would hurt her (her own sorrowful thoughts of isolation and worthlessness) bring him pain. It's grown into a very endearing storyline.

Then we've got the Kei/Miyako side. I'm sure you've been over this, but Kei's possessiveness is obviously the cause of all the pain in this series. From the tragic accident years ago to Miyako's breakdown. She clings to things so hard that she hurts herself. Very much a case of, "The harder you squeeze, the more easily sand slips through your fingers."

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As for this episode, it kept me on the figurative edge of my seat, wondering if Renji would step up. I kinda figured he would, and he's made a lot of progress that Himura didn't seem to expect out of him. As Chihiro's novel comes to a close, there is a definite sensation that the worst is yet to come. She's recovered from the slip, and rediscovered her love for him, but there's this underlying sense of dread I can't shake.

Concerning the Kei/Miyako side, Kei totally deserved what happened at the end of this episode after what she did before. She simply squeezed too hard. Though, I can't really blame her though, and I don't really hate her for what she did to Miyako. She said it at the beginning. She couldn't understand what it felt like to be alone. She and Chihiro picked up Hirono, but I don't think she ever developed a concept of what it is like to be together. She always had Chihiro all to herself. When she wanted Hirono then, she wanted him all to herself. So she lost Chihiro as a result of her possessiveness. Leaving only Hirono to cling to. Not wanting to lose him, she simply held on too hard and lost him to Miyako.

It's kind of tragic, even if she brought it on herself.

"I was afraid that the old me died."

That was probably one of the most provocative lines in the episode. It is no wonder Renji was brought to tears. It is something he knew deep inside, but kept denying it. If there is any dread to be felt, it is probably from the consequences of this line.

It pisses me off that Kei automatically has a rebound guy, or even a pair. She definitely doesnt deserve one.

EDIT: and about the art, I believe the reason it works so well is because the art style itself supportsd the underlying and sometimes explicit scenes, either by giving more emotional weight, or by creating metaphorical images. Either way, the stylistic presentation has a definite purpose, which it completes masterfully, unlike Moon phase or pani poni, heck even gankutsuoh, where it is merely added for variation. (dont get me wrong, I think these anime are quite good)

"I can't come up with lines without drawing paper."

"Then take me to a place with drawing paper..."

That whole scene was, to memory, the best scene I've seen of it's type, in all aspects. Now that Miyako/Hirono is pretty much wrapped up, and Kei/Kyosuke is sort of predictable, I'm left hanging for what's going to happen to Chihiro/Renji. Agreed with Ryllharu, there's more to come. Did Renji really understand Himura's hint to take her story seriously?

Another beautiful episode. The only fault I can find isn't even ef's: four years--> four yours error @ 17:20.)

edit: In regards to art, I think one of the best, and most difficult things the artist has done is the black and white words indicating the theme or ideas of the coming scene. I can imagine how badly it'd turn out in other animes if "death" or "happiness" kept popping up, but in this case, it enhances it if anything. I'm a little sad that it's only a half season anime, but rather than drawing it out, making it short and ending with a bang like I think it will make it one of my favourites this year.

Episode 9 was really good. The way the art was used in this episode was fantastic and this show has been doing nothing but growing on me after the slight hurdle of the overblown art in episode 7.

Miyako/Hirono ending up in bed like that was a very satisfying progression of the story and the kind you don't often get in this sort of story. Its just very nice to see how adult this story has become and how nicely its distanced itself from a bland high school harem/slice of life anime. Kei got what she deserved without question but we will still see her and Hirono have a confrontation about it in the future anyway although she's more then likely to end up with whatever video guys name is. I would be more satisfied with her ending up alone though as she really has a lot of growing up to do.

Chihiro/Renji are still the real stars of this though its nice to see Renji constantly trying to step up and do the right thing being he's clearly in such a difficult position. Despite his terrible hairdue its quite a compelling part of the story and I'm interested to see if they will resolve Chihiro's memory at some point or Renji will just gain enough resolve to stick with her until the end no matter what it takes.

From what Himura pointed out in eps 8 and 9, Chihiro falling apart like she did, reverting all the way back to 12 is inevitable. It'll always happen sooner or later. The only reason she's able to function at all is that she thinks of as much as possible right before she goes to sleep. There's no other way for her to remain connected to the present.

There was one moment where I thought she had remembered something, but it turned out to just be Chihiro overworking herself. That of course lead to the breakdown that Renji witnessed.

If Renji has the patience to stay with her, that Himura didn't believe he had, there can be a happy ending for them. He's already shown that he can by not running away.

I really love the lines where she says she's a different person every day. It's true. All your beliefs, goals, opinions, and feelings are all based on what you've experienced. If you think back to who you were and how you acted just two years ago, you wouldn't recognize the image in the mirror. In Chihiro, the effect is magnified. She really is inheriting the thoughts of a different person every day. She's gotten so good at description through the diary entries that she is still largely the same each day. Being able to stay with her makes Renji a really admirable character.


I totally agree on Kei, she got what she deserved. But like I said above, I've never been able to bring myself to hate her. Kei simply has never known better. She does have a lot of growing up to do, but that's largely due to her childhood with Chihiro. They were always together, and she never learned the idea of being "alone." When her possessiveness (it's not selfishness) lost her Chihiro, she simply latched on to Hirono. He isn't a replacement for a childhood twin. He needed to go his own path, molded as it was by interacting with Chihiro and Kei.

That is of course why Miyako and Hirono fit so much better together. They've suffered, they've been truly "alone." The two of them are able to cherish the concept of togetherness, whereas Kei always left it for granted.

Not to mention the fact that they both hide really deep wounds underneath their seemingly cheerful and strong exteriors. Truly a great pair. If Kei even tries to do anything to break them up, I will school days her to hell.

WOW is all I can say. I never expected this show to be this interesting. It got me hooked around episode 3 :). Well, I'm glad Hirono got together with Miyako. Not that I hate Kei or anything, they matched one another.

And Renji is a good guy @_@. Chihiro had been writing in her diary everyday.. and for every new day she had to read an extra page o_O

[Menclave] ef - a tale of memories eps 10 (h264)

Two amazing scenes in this episodes.

[content follows]



First the scene with Kei behind the door, and Hirono talking about the relationship they always had in the past, one of brother and sister. All the fun they had, and Kei, tortured by the thin separation and affirmation that he can't love her the way she's grown to love him (or apparently always had). Then her obviously pained confession. It was just extremely well done.

Then Miyako's final phone call. The seconds on the phone card ticking away, slowly, slowly as she tells him everything she's felt. Hirono explodes at her over the phone, and the dynamics of the scene change so quickly, even as the phone continues to tick down. We all knew the phone call would cut off at that key point in their conversation, but it still seems to come so abruptly. Miyako then falls into despair as her world is once again filled with silence, and color fades from her world. She begins to retreat, and then Hirono shows up, just as it all begins to go black.

Fantastically done.


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I haven't been this impressed by cinematography combined with the acting since I watched Paprika a while back, and anything by Makoto Shinkai.

I guess that is the end of the Hirono section. I wonder how renji and chihiro will fare?

I'm glad the Hirono section is over.. Now the show can finally focus on Chihiro and Renji. For me their story is much more interesting.

Man, episodes this last month have been awesome. Since they've devoted the entire ep to Kei-Miyako-Hirono (maybe a bit of kyosuke), they'll be spending much of the next one on
Renji and Chihiro. I wonder if they'll really develop the Kei-Kyosuke relationship any further, or just leave it as if they've just sorta started.

I hope not. It's the typical rebound guy anyway. Is this a 13 episode anime?

Speaking of which, I really hate that Kyousuke bastard. Reminds me of fucking Suzaku way too much. I mean, I get his concern for his friends, but punching him twice? He could have just talked some sense into Hirono, but since he was so pissed at seeing that Kei doesnt give a shit about him and only cares about Hirono, he justifies his desire to punch the lights out of him with his own "sense of right". If he is pissed at him for his own personal reasons, he shouldnt make it sound like he is doing the right thing.

Since people might object to this, I will clarify it a bit. Kyosuke acted out of his own selfishness, since if it was his concern for Hirono, he wouldnt have hit him (it just wouldnt make sense, since what Hirono did is perfectly normal, just that it hurt Kei but that is her own issue). It might be his affection for Kei, but that doesnt give him ANY right to barrage Hirono with punches or his stupid kiddy sermon. It was Hirono who introduced them in the first place. If he did all that and admitted it was because he liked Kei, I wouldnt have cared, maybe even approved of it a bit. But masking his selfish actions underneath a seemingly righteous facade really ticks me off. Damn hypocrite.

I think he blames Hirono for not noticing Kei's feelings. Which is stupid because what you said is true that What Hirono's attitude and relationship towards Kei is pretty normal. I guess he was just frustrated and jealous of how Kei thought of Hirono.

Now, more of the beautiful ef.

ef- episode 11

edit: First half was nice and cruisy. Good contrast to the episodes we've been having of late, but it's fitting of the pace that Renji and Chihiro are living in. Never thought they'd do that on the rooftop. 0.0. But the last half, I'm lost for words. Heart was pounding since the novel finished. Who else was thinking Chihiro was gonna jump?

Hmmm what an episode.. The first half was like a preparation for the sadness later on. And yeah I never though they will do that in the rooftop. Well backpains are nothing compared to what they have done Lol.... I don't think chihiro jumped. The entire note she have was her full memory of Renji. She was just saying good bye. No sense killing herself. There is really a big similarity with the farewell scene of Ef and My 50's date. Remember when Drew also wanted to erase Adam Sandler and she burns all the notes regarding him. It's the same buy Ef's execution was definitely better. It was just so sad... T_T

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oyabin

I don't think chihiro jumped. The entire note she have was her full memory of Renji. She was just saying good bye. No sense killing herself.

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Yeah, I figured that at the end. I was thinking that after Renji read the story. It goes, the girl burned all the paintings, the castle and structure, all her memories and jumps...and Chihiro happens to be on the rooftop....SHIT...run Renji run.... But atleast she didn't jump. Now a happy ending is atleast possible. Yeah, I was thinking 50 first dates at the start of the series, but then that went away with all the tension and all. Now the similarity's back. If the similarities continue, I see a happy finale.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oyabin

Well backpains are nothing compared to what they have done Lol....

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Don't forget the wind chill

I knew she was going to toss away the notebook, but I did expect her to burn it like the girl in the story did the painting, and then jump too.

It's tragic that Chihiro believes she doesn't deserves happiness. She always thinks she's hurting everyone. She apparently drove Kei off too long ago. Or at least forceably separated herself from her. She doesn't see that Renji has already seen the worst of it (one of her total collapses), has already felt terrible about it, and already been tortured by her when he flipped out at the sand castle. The difference is that Renji is hurt by how unfair life has been to Chihiro. He wants to bring her happiness, and he already came back for her. He's willing to endure the pain and suffering in order to make her happy, and be happy with her. In the light of her happiness, the pain means nothing to him.

I suppose if there is to be a happy ending, Renji will have to spend the next episode making her realize that.

or they can start again, and this time make her not want to forget about him.

I'm wondering how they'll manage to wrap this all up in one final episode. We have Renji and Chihiro to fix up, they've at least got to spend some time on Hiro, Miyako, Kei and Kyosuke, and this ep they furthered the story about who Himura is waiting for, something they haven't touched on since like episode 1 or 2. Is that gurl a phantom or something though, she seems to appear and go out of nowhere. Seems human enough though.

Episode 12 - Conclave-Mendoi

So err, what does everyone think?

I thought: great episode, great ending, great series. I can imagine for some the whole page gathering, memory unlocking and miracle thing could be a bit far fetched, but I thought it was well done. Everybody's recovery/progress slotted in nicely without feeling cramped. They didn't develop a lot on Yuko/Himura, but they were always a mystery. I don't quite remember the details of ep 1-6, but from memory, they provided the necessary background stuff for the things to come. This series started off with it's own theme, music and art style, continued to develop them throughout the 12 episodes and brings it all together in the finale. Probably not your typical action/mecha fan's cup ot tea, but for those wanting some drama, unique yet beautiful art and emotionally gripping music, ef is a must.

Well, it's not like we didn't expect this kind of resolution on the Chihiro x Renji story, but that doesn't make it any less wonderful.

Two really heartwrenching scenes in this episode for me. One being the slightly cheesy scene where Chihiro admits she couldn't stop thinking about him at least once every thirteen hours (a much better plot device then pulling, say, a 50 First Dates on the audience). As Kuze said, if you give it enough effort to overcome those accidents and make your dream into an inevitability, it's not so tough. Renji running around the city in a fury was moving, but so was Chihiro breaking down and admitting she couldn't help it. She even tried to fake it, and pretend she didn't quite recognize him. No miracles here, just effort.

The second, far more powerful scene was showing Chihiro's final words to herself, and ripping the pages out. We don't even need to call it allegorical, since the diaries represent her real memory. I love the way they animated Chihiro grabbing it, hesitating just a second, then grab in real deep and quite literally rip her own heart out. Beautifully done.

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Even though the series pretty much laid out how the happy outcomes were going to be from the start, the writers, creators, director and animators did a fantastic job of providing some really moving content. From the music to the pretty visuals, the oddly drawn scenes to increase emotional impact, the amazing phone scene with Miyako back in episode 7, the highly detailed sky in every scene usually uncharacteristic for anime, and the superb performances by all the cast. I wouldn't hesitate to call this a masterpiece, but if the story had been crafted to keep us guessing it might possibly have been better. Even then, they wouldn't have been able to create as artistic a series.

The lesson to be learned was that miracles don't exist. You can say effort can create miracles, but even that is far fetched for what they did here. Pretty strange for an anime, especially of this genre. Not one character's problem was solved by mysterious influences. Hirono had to tell Kei to her face that he loved her only as a sister, and she had to learn to accept that. Miyako had to stop running away. Hirono then had to drive to every payphone in the city to find her. Renji had to run around collecting the papers, and then still turn around and face her, knowing how painful the relationship can be at times. Chihiro had to stop hating herself, stop shoving pain on to others under the guise of trying not to hurt them, and solved her memory issue not with a miracle, but with the accident of thinking about him every few hours.

I wont hesitate to call it a masterpiece at all. It would be extremely unfair to not do so simply because it follows a school romance stereotype or that it ends happily, (probably the only reasons for anyone to hesitate)

It was well done in all aspects. It did numerous new things while keeping the anime romance feel. It managed to move the viewers not only with the story but with its art and music. Unlike many good anime series out there, ef could not have been done in any other mode of presentation (ie novel, manga, live-action) without it losing its beauty and uniqueness.

This series IS a masterpiece.

It truly is.. Just a little annoyed with Kei and her rebound guy.

Well, just finished it, and even though the game spoiled most of it for me :/ it was still amazing. Quite frankly, I'm speechless.
Did anyone else thought of Kingdom Hearts when Renji was collecting the missing pages? :p or any other RPG that has you going around collecting random stuff from all over the place.
And lastly, I was hoping the anime would develop Himura and Yuuko a bit more, as they are quite interesting characters, even when compared to the rest of the cast.
Well, now all that's left is wait for Minori to release ef - the latter tale. Which is scheduled for May 30th, 2008, not cool <_<

Oh yeah, almost forgot, WHERE'S MY EF OST?!?!?!? >:O

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Church

Oh yeah, almost forgot, WHERE'S MY EF OST?!?!?!? >:O

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unfortunately, not till Feb, according to Nipponsei. Are you playing the game in english?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

They didn't develop a lot on Yuko/Himura, but they were always a mystery.

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What was Yuko anyway? Her appearances during the show made her seem like a ghost. Like someone Himura lost and thus he is so troubled and spending time at the church. The other option I could think of is that she's a woman he was interested in, but he intended to let her go because he decided he must take care of Chihiro, who can't remember anyone else, aside from the sister Kei, and thus he can't get involved with anybody else and leave Chihiro alone.

I don't know if she's human or ghost, but when they met, Himura said sorry to make you wait, and Yuko said earlier in the series about wishing that either Chihiro or Miyako could fulfil her dream or something. I'm guessing that HiImura didn't believe in miracles, while Yuko did, and she set out to either prove that to him, or just to simply make it come true. It may be coincidence, but Himura may have changed his way of thinking after seeing Chihiro's recovery, and hence saw Yuko. In the first episode, we've seen them both before at the church, and they both say they're waiting for someone. If Himura was waiting for Yuko to come back realizing his belief was correct, and vice versa, then it makes sense that Himura comes back saying "sorry I've kept you waiting."

A total guess though. Maybe Church can enlighten us a little without spoiling the game too much? :)

It's finally here!!! I don't know if I ever epected a better soundtrack.

[Nipponsei] ef - a tale of memories Original Soundtrack ~espressivo~.zip.torrent

edit: well, it's definitely a beautiful soundtrack. I guess I was looking for all the really dramatic music, whereas this one was more the light hearted mix. OST II is coming in April, so I'll be on the lookout for that.

I enjoyed this series quite a lot.

And Ep7 phone scene was deeply related to similar events I lived.
I know how it is to think that way. Although I never was to make a lot of phone calls like that, brain running while and imagining every possible worst case scenario... blended with a touch of paranoia is totally possible. It"s very hard to cool down when it happens, reason being weakened quite a lot. Reason kicks in now and then, but can't cope with an explosion of thoughts all coming from the fear of losing affection and love, it causes so much pain at that stage.

They are all a tad young, but I like it it wasn"t like other shows where sex is totally cut from the story. And I also liked it wasn't ecchi or funny around sex. Sex was just part of the relationships beetween lovers. No more, no less.

Regarding Chihiro, the scene when she wakes-up totally clueless about what happened is clearly a deep schock from Renji-'s lover perspective.
Chihiro's schock is totaly plausible too from an individual perspective.
It may happen sometimes when you just woke-up, still sleeping a little bit, then your image in the mirror is different from the you in the dream you're leaving.

Then there's the "sheets thrown in the wind" scene.
No one really pointed out that it's in fact a "lovers suicide"
When she throws the sheets, she anihilates who she was when living those things and aimes at anihilating Renji the one loving Chihiro. It's that violent when you think about it.

Hopefully, this act can be repaired as we've seen. But at the time she does this, it's as if she had jumped, The Chihiro that is still able to say "I love you" to Renji.

Then there's the OP, I like the 10 first seconds. There's something about the music and voice that goes deep inside. Then it looses a bit of punch, and then the melody catches up.
I've listened to the original song and I know this op is a different cut, since this first phrase is at the end of the original song. Yet it is nice.

Thanks for letting me know so much about this show and give me the will to try it.

Second OST for ef is finally released. Titled ~fortissimo~, I'll be expecting some of the rich and heavy music that was missing in the first installment ~expressivo~

Enjoy.

[Nipponsei] ef - a tale of memories Original Soundtrack 2 ~fortissimo~.zip

Froth-Bite released an SD version of this a long time ago. I stumbled across the HD version tonight and decided to crop out only the good stuff (ie. the incredible animation). For those who don't know, this sequence was done by the great Makoto Shinkai, and the style is very reminiscent of his other works.

[LOLWUT] ef - The First Tale Game OP

Video source from NNL. Cropped, trimmed and re-encoded by me. I can put up a smaller filesize version if you guys want. This one is encoded in an extremely (and excessively) high bitrate. It would probably look just as good at half the size.

How long is this OP? It's big enough for a good 7 mins of anime.

Original is a bit over 3 minutes, but the actual song portion is 2:11. That's why I said it's excessively large. I guess I'll put up a smaller one. Maybe around 40 MB.

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Here's the new version at roughly half the size. I did a frame by frame comparison and the quality is near identical.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/mqjz6v

:eek: I can't say I've seen HD look so good in ages.

The animation...
The detail.....
The music.....

Now I want ef in HD. Thanks for sharing that Boc, it was a treat.:D