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[Categories: OAVs, Movies and Full Series]

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette: sad girls in wine glasses

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Akayuki Shinbo, arthouse]

I’ve become an avid admirer of Akayuki Shinbo’s work in recent months for his ability to make entertainment artistic. This train of thought led me back to that old ABC project in regards to the deepness/entertainment debate in that it made me realise why my answer was unsatisfactory: I was asking the wrong question in the first place. I shouldn’t have tried judging a medium such as animation as ‘deep’ in that sense because that might wrongly imply that it is somehow less valid if it were otherwise; it can however be worthwhile art and/or entertainment. Doing both well, without one interfering with the effectiveness of the other, is difficult; in terms of where Le Portrait de Petit Cossette sits in the spectrum, I think it’s right out there at the Arthouse end.

I was expecting a feature that combines the classic horror aspects of Edgar Allan Poe with the romantic prettiness often associated with CLAMP - it isn’t directly influenced by either as far as I’m aware but it is definitely a Poe-esque tale with really pretty CLAMP-style visuals so this expectation was at least fulfilled. The method Le Portrait de Petit Cossette uses in storytelling involves a gloomy premise, a fairly cryptic narrative and some quite brutal scenes of bloodshed into the bargain. While I can proclaim this to be utterly spectacular as a work of art, its entertainment value is therefore more questionable.

The story is actually quite a simple one. An art student named Eiri, working in an antique shop part-time, sees visions of a beautiful girl inside a Venetian wine glass. Bound to her spirit by fate, Eiri becomes fixated on this mesmerising image, and sinks into obsession. The truth behind Cossette’s tragic demise and the nature of Eiri’s feelings for her are, I suspect, easily explained across the three episodes but the storyline seems to go out of its way to make these simple and straightforward ideas anything but simple and straightforward. It’s not deep in a thematic sense but it’s very artistic; hence my renouncing of the argument I mentioned earlier. Artsy-ness is a better category than depth to describe this sort of thing.

It is deliberately and, to my mind, unnecessarily hard to understand; it also dwells in dark territory and there are some harrowing scenes of bloody violence that relate to the curse that binds Cossette’s spirit, and Eiri to her. Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is certainly not a tale that makes for light entertainment. On the other hand I appreciated this series, if not enjoyed it in the ‘sit back and be entertained’ sense, because it is a work of art; and a downright stunning one at that. The animation is, as you’d expect from an OAV, fluid and natural, and it feels suitably bitterwseet with occasionally disturbing moments. Because it’s centred on a 250-year old aristocratic French girl, the whole piece has a gothic-lolita atmosphere too. Now, I’m a big fan of gothic horror and drama but I also think the gothic-lolita thing is particularly appealing: it seems to project a sense of beauty and elegance without coming across as overly sexual or unsubtle. Suffice to say I absolutely loved the aesthetic of this series in conveying the goth-loli aura surrounding the heroine (who, appropriately enough, looks as much like a porcelain doll as a real person) and the tragic drama that grips both Cossette and her admirer.

Those of us who have seen Shinbo’s directorial skills in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, or noticed his influence bleed through into ef-a tale of memories will immediately recognise his trademark ‘Shinbo-isms’ here. The camera angles are sophisticated and cinematic, the colour palette is gorgeous and a myriad of filters were used to add texture and atmosphere, which is often used to carry the affair when the story and characterisation regarding the supporting cast seem lacking. It’s not that the story or characterisation ARE lacking; it’s just that the visuals and music often relegate them to secondary importance. More so than ef in fact since the filters, kaleidoscopic colours and symbolism in that series heightened the events on-screen and injected fresh life into its tired romance premise and dating sim roots. Here, the substance itself is often the style and is even more overwhelming in its ability to mesmerise, confuse and immerse the viewer in its own unique worldview.

The music by the way is perfectly suited to the art and animation - it’s emotionally-charged and hypnotic, with excellent use of strings and piano that are blended with more modern instrumentation. After watching this and the first couple of episodes of .Hack//Sign, I’ve come to realise how Yuki Kajiura is second only to Yoko Kanno in this particular array of styles. Combining the electronic with the orchestral is a fusion that reflects the collision between the contemporary of Eiri’s world and the historic world of Cossette’s; I loved the closing theme, especially because of Marina Inoue’s voice (it’s hard to believe this was her debut feature) - she is clearly very talented and versatile as both a vocalist and VA.

In Summary

I can think of a number of reasons why Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is a niche production: its lofty aims concern themselves with artistic merit over entertainment value and the moody atmospherics take precedence over the characterisation. It’s a deliberately dark, heavy and atmospheric piece but I’d heartily recommend it to Shinbo aficionados or simply those of us who dig the gothic aesthetic and appreciate the beauty in dramatic but occasionally shocking visuals. Although I found it hard to work out what was going on at times it was nevertheless a startling, immersive and extraordinary experience.

[Filed under OAVs, Movies and Full Series]  [Tags: Akayuki Shinbo, arthouse]

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