A. After you watch all four episodes, of this "4 paneled painting", the work becomes a reference point from which all other anime are compared. This is, in all my years of viewing, the single most polished, elaborate, and well constructed plot thread I have ever seen- and unfortunately a bitter aftertaste for not being able to find a production of the same caliber along mainstream anime. Although there are many good anime out there, none come as close in continuity and consistency in quality, as wel las harmony of all its separate elements-sound/art/story/ etc
B. To fully appreciate the ova, the character development, references and appereances, one should have seen the series. Black and White contrast in terms of theme and tone. The ova should not in all intents and purposes be seen as a stand alone, the viewer just misses out on too much. Part of the its appeal relies on the space created between the series and the ova.
Brilliant use of (a)chronology, backflashes, dreams and foreshadowing.
The scene segways are extremely subtle and absolutely enlightening when you catch them. And something which is very often omitted- the voice acting is definetely noteworthy and deserves a standing ovation. The japanese voice acting helped carry a lot of the weight for the characters and really added depth and exposure to each one´s particular reaction to the scenes. The use of negative space and time to enhance emotion and suspense.
Plausibility, Cohesion, and Dedication, one can´t fail to see the care and time that was put into making this perhaps the greatest work in anime.
NOTE:
There are two subbed versions as far as I know. The oldest one which I was lucky enough to watch when it first came out was far more accurate in terms of translation and really captured the essence of the train of thought of the characters in thel dialogues- if you can, watch that one!
