ef -a Tale of Memories 7-9
When I dropped in a comment in an earlier post about how SHAFT are the new Gainax I didn’t realise what a strong feeling that was. The breakdown scene in which Miyako is desparately trying to reach Hirono on her cellphone is just the sort of thing that Anno excelled at in terms of portraying extreme emotions in a radical way. Never mind the distinctive imagery, it was powerful stuff that gave me a feeling of unease; I can only describe it as painful to watch. The tension and anxiety is drawn out to the point at which I was feeling the impatience and panic along with her - after Miyako came across as a loudmouth and really quite annoying in earlier episodes, having her background explained made me feel really sorry for her instead. For all the minor criticisms I can level at His and Her 5cm ef -a tale of memories, it has an almost overwhelming capacity to hammer the ideas home.
The way in which Miyako’s traumatic childhood is portrayed in restful pencil/watercolour that’s pleasant to the eye but at the same time gives it a simplistic ‘child’s eye view’ of very serious events puts her current demeanour into context and shows her carefree persona as the façade that it is. Obviously everyone keeps things in their past at the back of their minds like this but in the case of characters such as Miyako this is much more of a contrast; as a result her obsessive phoning and texting are the actions of a desparate individual trying to stay in the heart and mind of someone close to her, as opposed to a creepy stalker type of personality.
This all-important background is absent in the case of Kei so I ended up feeling disgusted at her below-the-belt moves at trying to keep Miyako and Hirono apart. Like the characters of a soap opera who are so repugnant on every level that I cant bring myself to care for any of them, I just felt angry at the way she was behaving. Because I don’t see even her childhood friend status as an excuse I was inwardly shouting “How dare you interfere in his life like that, you bitch!” at several points. Because of this perhaps I was really happy for Hirono and Miyako by the end of ep 9, even if it did leave a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end. I found Miyako’s distinction between true freedom and the lack of ties that’s born from loneliness particularly profound though - what’s good about being free when you have nobody to share it with?
Background is something that Renji’s missing out on too, which means he still seems disappointingly two-dimensional. It’s the other source of uncomfortable, painful realisation that the series dishes out at this stage: he’s only just realised the true extent of his responsibility towards Chihiro now that he’s so devoted to spending time with her. Hiramura’s attitude is another that is now understandable given the motives behind it - that scene in which Chihiro’s mind ‘resets’ was just plain harsh. I don’t mean that in a bad way…it’s a very gripping and well-executed kind of harshness that makes you really feel for the characters involved.
The novel she’s writing is shaping up to be another case of art imitating life - my best guess is that, when the ideas and feelings are taken out of the context of her diary, they really do feel like a fictional story that’s happening to someone else. My worry is that the way in which the heroine of the novel is gradually going insane from loneliness is somehow representative of Chihiro’s own emotional state, which could make viewing almost unbearable if these episodes are anything to go by. There was an interesting exchange between them that goes pretty deeply into the true meaning and formation of memories, which is a bit of an obvious choice of conversation give their situation but nevertheless addresses one of the show’s key themes. After all, being with Renji has given Chihiro a reason to live of sorts.
Now that ef -a tale of memories is into its second half with what appears to be only three more episodes to go it looks like this will be my penultimate review for the show. I’m actually not looking forward to seeing it end so soon because it adds a lot to the standard romantic drama formula, besides the gloriously opinion-dividing visuals. Other little details, such as the title for ep 7 (”I” can be taken as “oneself”, or, without the written form stating it as being in katakana or hiragana, Japanese audiences may also hear it as “love”), are left to one side in a rush to declare it to be either revolutionary or gimmicky. My own stance sees certain elements as irritating - namely the character designs - but otherwise it’s conveying familiar ideas in a new way, which almost makes me feel like I’m discovering the romantic anime genre all over again. I’m finding it to be something to think over and dwell on at length as well as sitting back and commenting on how pretty it all looks.
Posted on December 9th, 2007 @ 11:23 pm
Eh . . . it’s entries like this which make me wish I kept up with more currently showing series. Still, there’s a kind of wierd enjoyment to following something like this at several removes, via the blogging of others.
If SHAFT are the new GAINAX then I hope they don’t suffer similar budgeting hiccups.
Posted on December 10th, 2007 @ 3:06 am
If SHAFT are the new GAINAX then I hope they don’t suffer similar budgeting hiccups.
One thing SHAFT excels at is making good-looking anime on a shoestring. They know how to make a simple, stationary (or nearly so) image look good and be interesting.
I admire your ability to write so much about this series. I am impressed but find myself unable to put my feelings and reactions into words. This series is astounding.
Posted on December 10th, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
@IKnight: there’s no obvious signs of cost-cutting in this show. It’s actually got me thinking about doing a blog post outlining my favourite Anno-isms, but that might have to wait for an NGE/Gunbuster/Kare Kano rewatch!
@dm: Agreed on SHAFT…they’re rapidly becoming one of the most innovative and interesting studios working right now…it’s funny but I never really heard of them until recently. There is a lot of stuff in the show that impossible to put into words too - the best I can do is pick a couple of screencaps and post them up…writing about moving pictures really is tough at times so thanks for your kind words!