Manga/Novels: Victorian Romance Emma began as a manga by self-professed Anglophile Kaori Mori, and ran in Monthly Comic Beam from August 30th, 2002 to April 12th, 2006. The manga won an Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2005. CMX has licensed the manga Stateside, and the fourth of eight volumes was released June 20th of this year. The manga has ended its run in Japan, but Kaoru Mori continues to publish side stories (known as Emma Bangaihen), and is set at eleven side stories, the ninth of which was released recently. The manga is known to have something of a cult following and apparently has an Emma-inspired/themed café in Shibuya to it's name.
Saori Kumi has also done novel adaptations of the manga, and two volumes were released in 2005.
The anime was done by Studio Perrot (famous for Bleach, Midori no Hibi and Blood+) and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (who also directed The Twelve Kingdoms), and ran on TV from April 2nd, 2005 to June 18th, 2005. The Right Stuf International announced its Stateside licensing of Emma and it's second season (Victorian Romance Emma: The Second Act, which is not covered in this review) on June 30th, and plans to release it solely with subs and in a box set; a release date has not been announced at this time.
Story: The story kicks off with William Jones, a member of the gentry, visiting his old governess unexpectedly. Because he stands almost right in front of the door, he gets knocked off his feet (literally and figuratively) by the governess' maid, Emma, when she opens the door. And I'm betting that you can probably guess what happens based on the series' title, albeit with some added angles.
But one of the many things that makes this series stand out is the slow pacing of the romance. For some, it's going to be agonizingly slow (it takes William half the series to offer to take her out somewhere, and just over that for him to actually do so and kiss her while he's at it, which, at that point, is considered leaps and bounds), but for me, it's just right, especially with the sweetness and fluffiness of it all. I guarantee that you will be grinning like an idiot as you watch it develop.
With regards to faithfulness to its manga source: I've only got the first volume of the series to my name at this point in time, but from what I saw, the series was extremely faithful to the source, down to the angles of certain scenes.
Another thing that makes me absolutely adore this series is the way that the series invests you in every single one of the characters. It's a rare series that actually makes you feel - really, honestly care -- for characters that are clearly supposed to be "in the way". One of the best examples of this is Elanor, a girl of the gentry who is clearly meant to be "the other woman", and one of the the odd ones out in the triangle... square... thingy. But you honestly feel sorry for her, because she's just as much in love with William as he and Emma are with each other, and it's her first love, and it just absolutely sucks that it's unrequited on her end, and that she's clearly wasting her time with William. And the way that it does Emma's past would have seemed Sue-ish and annoying in any other show, but doesn't here.
But the thing that makes this series absolutely shine is the historical accuracy. Apparently, Kaoru Mori hired a historical consultant (Rico Murakami) from the third volume of the manga on to ensure accuracy; Murakami was also hired for the anime, and it shows. The subs I watched also included little historical notes at the end of each episode to explain unfamiliar/obscure things to the average viewer. Murakami and Mori released a companion guide (Emma Victorian Guide) that does the same thing.
And this historical accuracy holds, even in the resolution of the show. Shoujo diehards are probably going to absolutely hate the ending (don't worry; there's the second season if you dislike the ending that much), because it doesn't hold to shoujo standards. But you know what? After how historically accurate the series was, it wouldn't have seemed right for things to turn out any other way.
Art: This is one of the places where faithfulness to the manga holds. Pierrot's animation, which is beautiful in and of itself, is barely different at all from the art style that Kaoru Mori used in the manga. As such, it's just like watching the manga come to life in front of your eyes. Even details down to the angle of certain scenes from the manga hold, which makes seeing your favorite scenes from the manga that much more awesome.
Music: Emma has a unique OP and ED, in that none of them have any vocals to them; it's all just instrumentals. But the thing is that they're still very memorable, even without lyrics. I prefer the OP (which is so calming that I've been using to get to sleep lately) over the ED (which sounds fairly circus-y).
The music for the series itself consists of a lot of variations on the OP and ED, but has its share of original music, too. And every bit of it is beautiful, especially in the way that it uses strings and piano. And I'd be willing to bet that every bit of it could easily fit in the Victorian Period.
Seiyuu: There aren't any particular standout roles in this series, but on the other hand, there aren't any that suck terribly. Just a fairly standard set of voices. No problems on my end.
Dub: N/A
Length: Twelve episodes seems like a perfect length for this series. There's not any push to rush the series along, and it doesn't plod along, even though the story goes at a slower pace than most series. It's at just the right pace.
For those who didn't like the ending, or want more Emma, there is the second season that I've mentioned throughout this review (Victorian Romance Emma: The Second Act). However, know going into it that subs only go up to the ninth episode, because of its licensing.
Overall: This is far from your standard shoujo series. The historical accuracy, which adds in a defiance of typical shoujo standards, and the way it invests you in every one of its characters make it shine. The slower pacing of the episodes and the romance feels just right, and the faithfulness to the manga source in story and art style are a real treat. The music and seiyuu add the icing on the cake.
This is one of my top five recommended series. See it. NOW.
Story: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Music: 9/10
Seiyuu: 8/10
Length: 10/10
Overall: 47/50; 94% (A)
(l to r) Hakim, Emma, William, Elanor
