Subculture Anime Blog

OP: “ebullient future” by ELISA – Beautiful…Fascinating. Shaft, if I had a soul, I would totally donate it to you. It’s also worth noting that this appears around half way through the episode. Elisa has done great work for this series from the start, and this is no exception.

Summary:

In the past, Himura Yuu found a paper airplane thrown by Amamiya Yuuko from the roof of a nearby building. Yuu had gone up to tell Yuuko how dangerous it was to stand there, but after revealing that she knew who he was, she only insisted that they could make the instance as if it never happened if they wanted to. Passing Yuu, Yuuko stated that she has continued to hate him even then. Kuze Shuichi meets Yuu in the present, realizing that he has been thinking about the past again. Kuze eventually asks for Yuu to attend a performance with him and a certain other person, as it will be a fairly important event. The conversation moves to Renji, who seems to have had a girl at his house recently. This makes Kuze begin to mention the many kinds of situations that can happen when multiple girls are involved with a man. When Yuu suggests that Kuze has not changed at all, he confirms this by saying that it is not easy for humans to change so easily. Kuze suggests that Yuu is the same, and he agrees by guessing that he may not have changed since the past.

One day back in Yuu’s school days, he had passed Kuze who wanted him to go to the free market with him. Yuu had things to do though, and when Kuze learned that this dealt with the meeting of a certain girl, he allowed him to carry on. Traveling to a different floor of school, Yuu ran into a teacher named Amamiya Akira. Akira began suggesting that Yuu join the art club, but he denied his interest in drawings. Before letting Yuu leave, Akira mentioned the powers of involvement that art deals with. When Akira reached the art room, he met Hirono Nagi as usual. However, as she was drawing herself in the nude, he could only force her to put on some clothing. After purchasing some things later, Nagi attempted to give Yuu a gift in the form of a sketchbook. Interrupting this conversation was Yuuko, who Nagi realized had been following them for quite some time. Nagi wondered if Yuuko was an acquaintance of Yuu, but Yuuko denied that he remembered her. This only annoyed Nagi further, causing her to leave after throwing her sketchbook at Yuu.

Alone with him later, Yuuko asked if Yuu was dating Nagi. He denied this, and after getting to the point, Yuuko wondered if Yuu had really forgotten about her. Yuu stated that he did remember, making the two realize how long ago 10 years was. Yuuko had mentioned that she was now living with someone else, and when she called Yuu her older brother, he quickly told her to stop. Putting on a serious face, he told her that he did not wish to remember that time of the past.

Back in the present, Aso Renji wakes Hayama Mizuki in his house. Mizuki asks why she is at Renji’s house, but he makes her remember that she was the one who had come to play. When Renji’s mother Sumire sees the two getting along, she wonders if she should relay this to Shindo Chihiro. However, Renji attempts to convince his mother that she is mistaken about the situation. Mizuki then wonders why she is holding onto Renji’s arm, making him remember that it appeared as if Mizuki was having a bad dream. With this, Mizuki mentions that she always has the same dream; one that deals with beautiful flowers. Afterwards, Renji is forced to run out of the room while Mizuki changes. Having a meal with the Aso family afterwards, Mizuki recalls the beautiful sounds of violin that she had heard nearby. Renji realizes that this was Kuze’s doing, as he is a renown violinist. Mizuki insists on her want to meet Kuze, and despite Renji’s attempt to prevent her from doing so, Sumire agrees to help Mizuki meet him.

Sumire is able to get Kuze’s attention after a short time at his door, then introducing him to Mizuki. When Sumire wonders if she can leave Mizuki to Kuze for awhile, he gladly agrees to. Spending some time looking through Kuze’s house afterwards, Mizuki notices that it is quite empty. Kuze denies that he has just moved in, instead stating that he recently cleared the room for a change of pace, and then offers to let Mizuki come over whenever she would like. Kuze almost prevents Mizuki from going into one room later, but she soon opens it to find a large collection of girls’ outfits. Mizuki ends up putting on one, and despite her enthusiasm, something about it bothers Kuze. Mizuki further wonders if Kuze would play the violin for her, but after a bit of secret negativity in his mind, he denies with the excuse that the violin in his house is broken. Kuze ends up giving Mizuki a CD instead, and when an alarm goes off to the two’s attention, he distracts Mizuki by offering her a drink.

Mizuki later mentions how wonderful Kuze’s room is, then laying in the floor with him. She mentions that things can be wonderful despite having nothing, but this again makes Kuze remember something from the past. When Mizuki brings up the masks in the room, Kuze states the common belief that all people wear masks. The more roles that are brought up for a person, the more masks will appear. Mizuki mentions her belief that Kuze is best without a mask, asking for him to be honest when she is around. When Mizuki leaves, she bids farewell to Kuze with the promise to see him the next day. With a bit of effort, Kuze promises her the same. Alone in his empty room afterwards, Kuze feels a pain inside of him.

Impression:

Shaft, why do I love you so much? Oh yea, because you’re awesome. Let’s skip past the series introduction stuff for this episode and get down to the usual analysis, because If you were wondering if I will be covering this, you obviously don’t know me well enough (….at all….and I’m going to have to beat you with a stick). Visual-wise, this was as beautiful as several of the first season’s episodes. One of the things Shaft manages to do so well is present things that can only be accomplished with animation; just one of the aspects of the studio that have made them my favorite for so long. The OP is worth watching multiple times over in itself, with its spectacular use of typography, fluid animation, and symbolism. Watching those feathers burst from the black silhouettes is such an eye opener, and something that makes my artistic senses go wild. There are also the imitations of film techniques used throughout the episode, such as transparency and lens effects, which is another common touch from the studio.

The first episode basically established the main cast for the season. I am glad to see hints that Renji, Chihiro, and the other previous characters will be making appearances, but one of the things that the first season lacked after its ending was development for the other half of the cast (who obviously had major roles of their own). It was interesting to see a younger Yuu and Yuuko, because they were two of the most mysterious characters from the first season. Though it was easy to guess that they were involved quite a bit with each other, it looks like we will finally find out exactly how this time. I’ve already taken a liking to the new character, Nagi, simply because she says “boku” is a traditional artist. She also seems to be a pretty outgoing character. I am an aspiring artist myself, but despite figure drawing almost every day, seeing a girl draw herself in the nude like Nagi did in this episode would be awkward for anyone. It is also worth noting that Nagi is played by Shizuka Itou, one of my favorite voice actresses. Somewhat mirroring the first season, it looks like Yuu, Nagi, and Yuuko will take care of the love triangle aspect that Hiro, Miyako, and Kei filled previously. Though, I already expect a bad end for Nagi. (She wasn’t in the first season, now was she?)

Though an unexpected pairing, Mizuki and Kuze are just as intriguing. Mizuki’s upbeat nature was pretty refreshing in the first season, but after the single mention of dreams in this episode, it looks like she is not that simple of a character. Kuze fascinated me even more, with his several attempts to hide things from Mizuki in his empty house. The theme of people wearing masks is something that I’ve always been obsessed with. Obviously, everyone in society does wear a mask. This is a mask that allows us to get respect in the workplace, love in the household and with close friends, or even to simply keep people from believing that we are truly insane on the inside. Kuze clearly has a lot to hide after seeing his actions in this episode, and I am very interested to see what kind of past has made him so secretive.

Being titled ef – a tale of melodies, I can only wonder if things such as Kuze’s violin playing will have more of a focus this season. The artistic aspects of Kyosuke’s film making and Hiro’s drawing, as well as Kei’s finally gaining new vision thanks to Kyosuke’s videos, were things that attracted me a lot last season. As the first season did, this season of ef also continues to have an excellent way with words. Seemingly idle talk throughout the episode suggest so much insight to various things in life, which always inspires me to call this series a piece of art. The directing, by Shin Oonuma (and supervising by my favorite director Akiyuki Shinbo), is done in a way that always makes us wonder what to expect next. I am confident that the second season of ef will be as fascinating as the first, so I am already getting ready for shocks, tears, and inspiration. Until next week, this resident Shaft fanboy is OUT.