Sep 13, 2010
Being my first review, I first want everyone to know how I view what an anime should be like so that when I state that something is good it won't coincide with anyone else's opinion of good. (Skip the next paragraph if you just want to get to the review)
A really good anime should have a story full of plot-twists, suspense, and at least be a bit more creative that its predecessors. The story then must be fluidly combined with beautiful art and passionate music. Character animation mustn't be like something made overnight, yet the character design itself must portray the roundness or flatness of
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the character to a T so as to avoid the confusion as to the purpose of the character. With all these elements combined together, enjoyment will eventually ensue.
What "ef- a tale of memories" did was exactly just that.
The story was unique in almost every way. The portrayal of not just one but two main love stories occurring at the same time is a challenge, yet the way both didn't hinder your perception of the other but instead complimented the other story really made the anime score top marks on the story category. It may have started off on a sprint and came at you at random directions at first causing you to get a bit lost, but your patience will be rewarded as those beginning pieces of the puzzle start to fit in and the whole story gets unraveled. Only few rival to the such creative story telling as "ef-a tale of memories" some you may have already seen before like "Clannad (After Story)" or "Angel Beats".
So for plot I give it a 10/10.
Now when moving onto the art, it was something that I at first didn't like yet I eventually grew to appreciate. First off you got to remember that this is 2007 so don't be expecting anything that just felt like it was produced last week. There were at times when the quality may have lacked a bit like during flashback scenes which I believe could've been drawn better than rough sketches in a white background, but the rest of the anime art was great. The scenery, the detail in the background, and the overall attentiveness the creators put into the art with 3 year old tech really makes this story score high marks in the art category.
So for art I give it a 9/10.
Now the anime offered a wide variety of different kinds of music. Openings were usually predominated by rock and band typed music, while those "hold-your-breath" moments were the usual piano, yet I found it delightful that they added some violin in there to change things up a bit. The openings were catchy, and the time synchronization of the pianolin music with the situation was perfect. The music was a great factor in doubling the emotions the anime creators wanted you to feel, and I believe they did a great job doing it.
So for music I gave it a 10/10
Now for character, I just have to say that character design wasn't something I liked all that much though I didn't necessarily hate it either. I like moe, but I think they over did it a bit here. The female characters were in the "Kawaii!!!" with three exclamation points category instead of the normal, one exclamation mark. Because of the over-moed characters, it was hard for me to relate myself to the story a bit, but it didn't stop me there. Character development was what pulled this category up. Everyone changes in the story. Usually only one or two character changes majorly in any anime but I needed an extra hand or two to count the major character development changes here! I loved it! It kept the story fresh, bold, alive! I score high marks here as well!
So for character I gave it a 9/10
With this down, enjoyment is all that's left and judging from my past scores it's not that hard to say that I give enjoyment a 10/10?
This anime is unique in ways that it challenges past techniques of portraying the plot where instead of just one plot, you have two simultaneous ones together that compliment and support each other. The mood and suspense of one section is usually carried onto the next section which also increases suspense. The art, the story, the wonderful music just makes it a great watch for all you drama, romance lovers out there. Just to warn you there might be some suggestive scenes (coff* coff*) but it's PG-13 so suck it up. It might've done well to just cut out those suggestive ideas out but hey, the anime is so good, a small flaw like that wouldn't even be registered on it's polished surface.
So overall this anime is definitely a 10/10 masterpiece.
Any feedback good or bad is helpful peeps!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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