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| Seems okay so far.... not really my type of character design, but I think I'll live. Besides that, the art looks great. As far as the storyline goes, I don't know much about it yet, but it seems like the relationships are a little anime-cliche. I'll have to keep watching to see if I'm proven wrong. |
 "It's just...a bad dream! Wake up, wake up...!" |
| WELL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED? |
| Even when I was in crowd, I was always alone |
| Jesus, the anime moves fast. Its as if I'm playing the VN at 5x speed while on crack. |
| Interesting first episode, was a bit confused in the middle of the episode bcs of the change of character but in the end it seems the story will be concerning 3 main male characters. Most of the characters where quite nice especially the girl with the eye patch seemed interesting but having something mysterious around her. Quite interesting if you ask me! Well lets see what it will give us in the end! |
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| This style of anime reminded me of Bakemonogatari |
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| I'm confused. Who is the main character? |
| I like Hentai, you like real life. Instead of complaining about my tastes, be grateful you now don't have to compete against me. |
| i am okay with how this show started i am not sure if i want to watch the second episode yet but who knows i am watching the dubbed version n not bad but quite a few of Clannad voice actors r also in this one so that is cool |
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| Did anyone else notice that Chihiro and Hiro are Like the movie 50 First Dates |
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| I love what this first episode did. It introduced many of the characters right away and hinted at the fact that even though they are separated right now, they are related in some way (friend, brother, etc.). This also built up some nice mystery especially with those two who were waiting for someone in the church. The exchange between Renji and Chihiro was soo sweet. I think I'm gonna end up liking them a lot. All of the characters were well introduced. That couple in the beginning (guy and girl filming) is an example. Their little banter about him checking out another girl shows that they're pretty close - also the fact that they sleep together. All this in beautiful 1080p. I'm so excited for this! |
| -Nothing can stay unchanged. Even so, can you still keep on loving this place? -Be still my soul; when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last. |
| first episode.. and I have got favorite girl.. it is chihiro XD but I still dont understand the story yet.. but it is promising so I'm gonna watch it! XD |
| First episode captured me with its beautiful visual style (which continued thorughout the series and sequel). Also a fine job introducing both storylines. |
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UnbornMVs said: Me too. Probably because SHAFT has something to do with both.This style of anime reminded me of Bakemonogatari |
| What's the point of all this? // There's no point. I'm doing it because I can. That's all there is to it. // What will be left behind after this? // Nothing at all. She'll die and I'll burn out. The end. That's all. (Requiem for the Phantom) |
| I'm not sure what I've seen so far, but it wasn't bad. I liked Miyako's and Hiro's part more so far. I'm already liking Miyako :D I'm kind of sensing a love triangle already which I really don't like :( Asou's seiyuu is horrible, I hated him in Shinsekai Yori as well... The art style is pretty good. |
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| I don't have a clue of what happened... So I read the synopsis and now it all make sense :P But now I feel a bit spoiled at the same time xD I always love Shaft art style, it's always original. Though, I must say that I'm not really fan of this character design, look a bit too much realistic forced. I thought at the beginning that Hiro was Kei brother, I think I misunderpreted. |
| «Time is passing so quickly. Right now, I feel like complaining to Einstein. Whether time is slow or fast depends on perception. Relativity theory is so romantic. And so sad.» - Kurisu Makise a.k.a. The Zombie |
| This first episode gave me the greatest impression ever! Have a feeling that I'm really gonna like this anime! Wondering if Chihiro has some sort of memory loss! |
| well I can def tell it's done by shaft <3 |
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| Shafted! Well I liked the visuals , but I'm not particularly interested in any of the characters or their interactions. Pretty much it was a boring episode, but that's to be expected since it's the first one and they just introduced characters. |
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| Well the Shaft is strong with this one! I already have absolutely no clue what's going on... Can't wait to find out though :) |
| When I tried begin to watch Bakemonogatari I couldn't go past episode 3 because of Shaft's way of animate things, with their fast screenshots and all, so everytime I start watch a Shaft anime I always carry with me a head painkiller, but more time passes and more I see that Bakemongatari was were they went more at breakneck speed, because every other anime of their were quite easy to follow. This first episode of Ef-A Tale of Memories was one of them, fortunately. I have to say that this show really intrigues me, even though I felt that those final sentimental parts were in some ways forced. Maybe exagerated. By the way one big point imho is the mechanic of it. With me those stories where multiple ones are involved in a bigger plot is always a safe bet. The episode was all backgrounded by a very good soundtrack and the art seems nice. I am most intrigued by the 2 people of the church, I feel that their will be a good story. |
| I like the art. Following 2 stories at the same time might be hard but I'll find out. That Renji looks and sounds like a fag. Annoying. That girl is stereotypical too. Seems like a boring pairing. Anyways it might be an interesting series. Meh OP and ED , good OST. |
| 17 384 |
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Sobzob said: cyruz said: Did anyone else think of Lucky Star's Konata and Akira viewing this: ? That's what I meant with Touhou. =( Touhou and Lucky Star in one, whoo~ I couldn't be bothered to take a screen myself, so I just googled. Thought I saw Kona-chan at the window too This was mentioned in one of the earlier posts but the image is dead so here it is Aside from the dating sim logic, everything else is set up pretty nicely. Also that miyamiya looks like a clone of Nemu from D.C. 6/10 for now, will see how everything rolls out |
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| Wow, this was kinda interesting. The animation sure is, but these stories... Idk, I hope they'll develop into something special x) |
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| The visual presentation was interesting and kept me paying close attention to what was happening, which is a good thing considering that we basically had four concurrent stories taking place. To keep each group separate yet tie them together so smoothly was impressive, frankly. In many series there's little to be said about each episode, but there definitely wasn't any time wasted in this episode; every scene seemed relevant, if not altogether important. The grouping I'll address first is Hirono Hiro and Miyamura Miyako. Hiro was the artist at the start of the episode who was (slowly) going to his sister's party until his bike got stolen by Miyako. He was apparently going to the church so he could picture it in his mind better for his drawings. (By the way, it looks like the OP consists of Hiro's drawings.) We don't have a lot to go on concerning his personality other than him being a bit snarky with his sister, but his encounter with Miyako was certainly interesting. I think it was heavily implied that Miyako is colorblind; every time it showed Hiro or the scenery through her eyes, the art was in grayscale. Her aloofness grew to seem more coy than anything over the course of their interactions. Why is she acting that way around a stranger? Unless she's just a romantic (not talking about love) triggered by the snow, which I can somewhat relate to, her actions definitely need some background to understand. Next is Asou Renji and Shindou Chihiro. Asou is the dreamer who's grown up and is starting to feel the pressures of society to peg him into a specific role. The pressure to pursue a career don't seem to fit his freer spirit, making him unsure of what to do. More than anything, his desire to be important in general, and needed by someone in specific seems to be what drives him; he just doesn't know how to go about it. In this sense, his meeting with Chihiro couldn't have been any more perfect. (Chihiro's character design is lovely, by the way.) Note the colorful but sketchy artstyle changes that take place briefly after their introduction to each other, almost as if to draw attention to the fact that the image was drawn or recorded in some manner. I think this ties into Chihiro's uncertainty of Asou's identity the next day. That is, for some reason she was unable to remember their meeting on her own, and she had to write what happened in that notebook to remember. If she loses her memories regularly, what would have otherwise been an exaggerated, even melodramatic reaction (running up and hugging Asou - note again the sketchy style change) becomes endearing and understandable: Becoming friends with someone would be very difficult for her, making Asou's entrance into her life something of a God-send. However, she's self-conscious about getting to know him thanks to her memories, even to the point of feeling somewhat guilty about continuing to interact with him knowing that such a friendship would be hard to maintain. That's why she was so quick to try to cut off further interaction at first, and that's why she was so startled when she realized that Asou actually meant that he intended to see her again by saying "see you", rather than using it as a mere farewell remark (this is why she apologizes afterwards, which Asou misinterprets). You see, Chihiro is trying to shield herself from what she believes will inevitably become either a rejection of her or a burden to Asou. However, that's also what makes them such a potentially perfect pairing. Asou is a man who wants to be a knight in shining armor, while Chihiro just wants someone who's willing to put in the effort to be around her on a regular basis. Tying these two groups together are the two people in the church. They both say they are waiting for someone (presumably one another), and they each have the acquaintance of one of the above protagonists. My initial impression is that they both seem wiser than the other groups, though that just makes their actions all the more curious. While the woman merely exchanged pleasantries with Hiro, the man advised Asou to become a writer. Also, this might be a strange observation, but the woman's presence almost seemed ethereal (note some shots where she's surrounded by a rainbow-like outline, as well as the odd color of the candle flames in some shots). In any case, I'm looking forward to finding out more about these two. The last grouping is Kyousuke, the guy recording near the beginning of the episode, along with his girlfriend. We don't know much about him other than that he was trying to catch Kei, Hiro's sister, on camera. And, speaking of whom, Kei is the one person who ties all three groups together. In addition to being Hiro's sister and getting noticed by Kyousuke, she apparently is friends or at least acquaintances with Chihiro (seeing that they text one another). How that will develop in the future, I can only wonder. Also worthy of note are the title cards separating different sections of the episode concerning Asou and Chihiro. The first has a cause and effort relationship, while the second has an antagonistic relationship. The former larger word is the source or the prevailing factor, while the latter smaller word is the consequence or the desired factor. Thus, we have Sky::Feeling (cause/effect) and Tomorrow::Wish (antagonistic, similar to reality vs. dreams). There is potentially even more that I can't understand on a first watch as well, although some of it may just be stylistic choices. For example, in many scenes the positive space (the surroundings) are blacked out while the negative space (the object blocking the surroundings, a character in every case) is colored with some other feature like that of the sky or snow. I picked up on some potential symbols when Asou first saw Chihiro (a wing and feathers) and when Kyousuke first saw Kei (a basketball) too. Whether anything can be interpreted from these elements remains to be seen. Furthermore, I enjoyed the contrast between the three non-church men. They're all potential artists, yet they all have rather different personalities. Hiro draws; Asou reads and writes, and Kyousuke films. Hiro is confident and snarky; Asou is dreamy and kind; and Kyousuke is apathetic (in his relationship) yet pensive (in general). Their relationships are likewise contrast-worthy. Hiro and Miyako's interactions are upbeat and full of energy; Asou and Chihiro's are shy yet hopeful; and Kyousuke and girlfriend's are familiar (with one another) yet one-sided. To top everything off, there were references too. I don't know the context for the "nice boat" one, but I did catch the touhou reference. I think the primary idea present here is "romance", and I don't just mean the love sort of romance either. From the snow falling on Christmas, to Asou's view of the world, to the seemingly fated meeting at the railway, to the continual waiting of the two at the church, everything that happened so far in the story is like a literal embodiment of romantic idealism. To call these occurrences "wish-fulfillment" (which is a bad habit I nearly fell into) would be completely missing the point in this case, I think. I don't believe this story is meant to paint a picture of a world without hardship or pain. Rather, I believe it is meant to paint a picture of a world where good things can happen even if hardship is present, and it is this perspective that I will be taking moving forward unless the narrative does something to sufficiently contradict said viewpoint. Let it suffice to say that I love when shows take their viewers seriously. This episode was truly a directing masterpiece. I can only begin to hope that the story will live up to such an incredible introduction. This is easily one of the greatest starts (if not the greatest start) I've ever seen in an anime. Wow. Just wow. That was absolutely marvelous. |
| I have a feeling this is going to be so depressed...the blur in the picture the guy took it's a sign! |
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| Don't quite understand what's going on yet. Hopefully things will start coming together next episode. |
| I dont understand what happened in this episode and I really dont care whats happening. The part that I dont understand is mystery itself. 3.2/5 |
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| Hmmm. I liked this but something just seems off with these two stories. Oh well I'm sure it will reveal itself in time. |
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| Without actually looking up who made this, I knew it was Shaft because of the transition and some other frames. Though my first impression is really "meh...." like I don't know what the hell is going on and how there's a three non connected romance arc. The only thing that connects them is when the patched eye girl called Kei's name, which I believe is the girl during the birthday party. |
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| im outta comenting in one topic which was created in 2007_08s xxx best wishes to al of those first MAL commenters, I feel like im traveling to golden anime era and ofeec it can be lead with watching SHAFT animes pretty well. I started it right now, before going to my classes and expecting to have a normal busted day. nicest think I will prob have or do today, regards. Nice first episode, fine art, oldie, classic and probs emotive. Watching. |
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| Looks like a okay episode.Hope shaft realizes that nice animation is not everything. Not hyped for the next episode. Also, there are too many MCs for this story. |
 Without change,we end up becoming the very person we hate. I was dead until the moment I met you. I was a powerless corpse pretending to be alive. Living without power, without the ability to change my course, was bound to lead me to a slow death. |
Sobzob said: THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- After watching the first episode this show seems really promising to me! I thought it was great. I really liked the character designs, especially Chihiro. Going to be interesting to see how it will develop. Oh and did I see Touhou?! Me too! We'll hope for a good story! |
Rod_RussSep 28, 2018 11:30 AM
| I like seeing Shaft in somewhat different fashion than usual, it's just refreshing. However, I always disliked those visual novel-ish character design which is atrocious in a way (Clannad also suffers from this). |
| I have a feeling that I will enjoy it, and poor girl she forgets everyday that she goes through. |
| The first episode was very promising! I really like how the show looks, the camera shots and angles are very cool, and how we saw Miya Miya on the swing for example looked great. I like the characters too, so it'll be interesting to see how this will develop! |
| The art feels very distinct. I hope they keep this up |
 _______I like rocks__  |
| A great atmosphere, an art direction that feels like a mix between Clannad and Bakemonogatari, likable characters... Looks like I'm gonna like this show ! It has a big charm, and the stories seem to be promising, in a touching way. My only complaint for now would be the shift between the different characters, it's a bit confusing, but I'll get used to it. For the rest, it's all good for now. I'm especially interested in Chihiro's story (speaking of which, is it me or does she not only look but also sound a lot like Rikka Takanashi ?), but each character seems to have something to offer and that's great, I can't wait to see all that. |
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| After years of procrastination, I'm finally getting around to watching ef: A Tale of Memories. This felt like watching two or three different shows in one, where the multiple ongoing plots jumped back and forth. However, I see the intertwining plot threads, where the characters' lives intersect with one another at moments in time. This doesn't make following the story easier though, as the multiple characters introduced in rapid succession makes it difficult to follow at times. Plus, with the rapid acceleration and deceleration of sudden inter-character relationship building, the episode felt more akin to a short film, trying to cram as much story into a limited timespan. Despite this, A Tale of Memories runs for 13 episodes, so I'm guessing there wasn't an exact expectation of its sequel to be produced. The visuals and characters radiates the aura of mid-2000s visual novels, so I wonder how well it aged. |
| ngl I love the piano soundtracks. Because of them I get a wave nostalgia haha. As for the show I have no clue wtf is going on but Shaft being Shaft it's really fun to look at The way the multiple narratives are shown is interesting too (especially since I just watched Durarara before this lol) |
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| Interesting start, clearly there's something up with Chihiro, memory loss probably with the way she talks and has to ask the same questions the following day. Cool visuals, some interesting stuff with the shots they used. |
PrOxAntoSep 15, 2022 2:52 PM
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