Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Ef: A Tale of Memories - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Memories, pressed between the pages of their minds.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 5, 2012

When Love Story swept the publishing and then the film worlds in the late sixties and early seventies, it seemed like a breath of fresh air, a callback to a simpler time when boy met girl, girl got fatal disease, and lots and lots of Kleenex were gone through. After the turmoil of the sixties, something that certainly spilled over into movies of that era, Love Story was a rather odd property to become the flavor du jour, but perhaps its very oddity—not to mention its very basic simplicity— helped to make it the cultural phenomenon it became. While Ef: A Tale of Memories might not have the same cultural cachet that Love Story did (at least in its heyday), it’s another interesting property that seems to eschew a lot of current trends in anime and instead concentrates on an ostensibly simpler idea of boy(s) meet girl(s), with attendant problems and at least a bit of a resolution here and there. The series is culled from a popular visual novel franchise from software house Minori. It might seem like a bit of strange bedfellows to realize that outré anime production company Shaft optioned the franchise and adapted it for anime, as Shaft is better known for an over the top visual style (not to mention specializing more on the comedically weird side of the animation spectrum) that might not seem especially well suited to the quieter, gentler world of teenage love and angst. And it can’t really be argued that there’s a certain disconnect between the actual content of Ef: A Tale of Memories and its spectacular design aesthetic. Story wise, Ef: A Tale of Memories is really rather slight, positing two couples who have some tangential interrelationships (interrelationships which, while there, aren’t really focused on in the series itself), couples who meet and haltingly get to know each other, with some attendant melodrama popping up with fair regularity. Visually, Ef: A Tale of Memories is a riot of invention, with innovative graphical elements and an almost nonstop onslaught of intriguing designs and coloring elements that make the show a wonder to behold, if not to actually get involved in.

The link between the two couples comes due to the sibling relationship between the two main female characters, Chihiro Shindo and Kei Shindo, are supposedly twins, despite the fact that they don’t look particularly alike. While Chihiro is the romantic interest in her part of the story, becoming the object of affection of Renji Aso, Kei on the other hand is kind of the third wheel in her side of the story, watching helplessly (if sometimes with a certain avenging fury) as a boy she loves, Hiro Hirono, instead falls head over heels in love with Miyako Miyamura. The Chihiro-Renji plotline becomes fairly convoluted, and may end up reminding some of the great Christopher Nolan film Memento, when Renjo discovers that due to a long ago accident, Chihiro is not able to retain memories for longer than thirteen hours.

The Hiro-Miyako-Kei triangle, on the other hand, plays out in slightly more melodramatic terms, as Kei becomes increasingly more stressed as she sees the relationship between Hiro and Miyako slowly developing. In both of these stories, however, there isn’t a huge amount of momentum. Ef: A Tale of Memories is instead a quieter, more ruminative piece, one that affects mostly by implication rather than by outright depiction. In fact, when the series does get down to brass tacks, it can often seem ludicrously over the top, especially with regard to the females’ near nervous breakdowns in several episodes when relatively small things (like their boyfriend not picking up the phone) occur.

While the stories themselves may not be exactly compelling (though the memory angle in Chihiro’s story is at least intriguing), the series nonetheless manages to reach out and grab the viewer due to Shaft’s incredible visual panache. While character designs are fairly standard in this show, the backgrounds are incredible, with a recurring motif of an elegant sky with high cumulus clouds drifting by repeatedly appearing in a variety of weird but wonderful colors. And the animators again and again resort to really brilliant graphical elements. The episode mentioned above where Miyako is leaving message after message on Hiro’s answering machine is a great example. As we hear the endless panicked messages being left (with the attendant answering machine beeps), the screen slowly fills with the Japanese characters of what Miyako is blurting out, huge ideographic symbols that march across the screen until the entire image is literally obliterated in a sea of black.

Ef: A Tale of Memories is kind of slow moving most of the time, and that may put off those who expect their animes to be brisk and in their face. But the show has a perhaps unexpected charm as well, probably due to that very languid pace. Not much really happens in Ef: A Tale of Memories, despite the amped up emotional aspect when any number of small obstacles crop up, but the show is so visually stimulating that few will probably care. There is some substance here, make no mistake, but Ef: A Tale of Memories is definitely a case of style over substance. And the good news is the style here is incredibly bracing and brilliant. You might not care one whit about either love story which plays out here, but chances are you’ll enjoy watching this series nonetheless.

Ef: A Tale of Memories - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ef: A Tale of Memories is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is one of the most immaculate high definition anime presentations in recent memory. The design aesthetic of the series is made for high def, and this Blu-ray pops magnificently throughout the first season's twelve episodes. Colors are incredibly vivid and variegated, and the series' really cool graphical elements—where things like characters are displayed in "negative" or with their faces bifurcated with two different animation styles—are presented with crystal clear line detail and impeccable sharpness and clarity. The "special effects" (for want of a better word) on display throughout the series also look fantastic, with special kudos due to the really beautiful renderings of the environment, especially the sky, which recurs throughout the series in a variety of gorgeous (if often unusual) hues.

Ef: A Tale of Memories - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ef: A Tale of Memories has two lossless audio tracks, both DTS-HD Master 2.0 stereo mixes, one in the original Japanese and the other a quite good English dub. Purists will probably want to opt for the original Japanese track, as it evidently offers some of the original voice actors from the visual novel series, but those who prefer not to read subtitles won't have a lot to complain about with the English voice cast, as the styles and even timbres of the English language cast is really surprisingly similar to the original Japanese cast. Both tracks offer excellent fidelity, though a surround track could have opened up the nice underscore somewhat. There really isn't a wealth of LFE on either track; Ef: A Tale of Memories is a much quieter, gentler piece overall, without a lot of sonic bombast. But what's here is clear, precise and elegantly presented and audiophiles should enjoy either of the excellent choices offered here.

Ef: A Tale of Memories - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: While the titles for the supplements are in the singular (i.e., Animation), each supplement actually contains at least two items, hence the longer running times.

• Clean Opening Animation (HD; 3:04)
• Clean Closing Animation (HD; 13:49)

Ef: A Tale of Memories - Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sometimes there's nothing "there" there and a show must make its mark by other means, if it's able to make its mark at all. Ef: A Tale of Memories actually does make its mark, despite the plot line being simultaneously slow and also over the top. Young love has always been the stuff of angst and amped up emotions, and that's certainly the case with Ef: A Tale of Memories, but if that sounds like a turn off, don't let it be--Ef is actually more than this one element. The show offers such an incredible visual style that even if you couldn't care less about either love story (or in fact both of them), there is more than enough here to hold the interest of most viewers. While this Blu-ray is a little light on the supplements side, the pristine visuals and nicely rendered soundtrack help to make up for that paucity, and Ef: A Tale of Memories comes Recommended.