Ef – a Tale of Melodies is the sequel to ‘a Tale of Memories,’ another 12 episode season of drama romance anime with aspects of psychological, based upon a VN game, which also had a light novel that doesn’t appear to be in English. Like its predecessor, it maintains a beautiful and unique artistic atmosphere and retains the ability to make the viewer both think and feel. Instead of merely continuing the story, this sequel starts to explain certain things and focuses on the more mysterious characters. Since I thoroughly enjoyed the original, I’ve been looking forward to this and I’m watching it slowly, an episode a day, much like Clannad: After Story before it (can’t upload my review of that one due to issues with character limit). Thus, I may be biased (and score it high), so readers of this review must account for this. As always, I disclose my sincere dislike for ecchi, harem, love-triangles and pointless fan-service in anime.
Animation
The animation remains stunning as always, here’s a quote from my review of ‘tale of Memories’:
“… The quality of the animation felt like it was years ahead of its time. Watching it in no less than 1080p, I felt the quality of animation was comparable to more modern anime such as Another and … Angel Beats. … for a 12 episode series, the quality was on point.”
The immaculate quality was backed up by the style, while it maintains the standard looking character designs, the overall scene animation is very imaginative and unique. It’s much similar to refined animation style in anime like Kare Kano, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Kara no Kyoukai (incidentally the last anime I watched). The intro is a great example of this and there’s much more such as a character’s eyes being depicted alone in a black background, or the purposeful translucence of a character’s hair. The lines from a novel are there, though this time it seems to be one written in German rather than English, I’m still sad there’s no English light novel version of this.
A further quote about the mature themes:
“I’m happy to announce, zero fan-service or ecchi crap. … It’s as it sounds, sensible camera angles and well within context for justification.
…this anime still maintains prudence, … the adult scenes are dealt with very reasonably. If it wasn’t, then I’d be the one ranting about it and complaining about it, just see my Elfen Lied review. There is a fine line when it comes to depicting this stuff and most anime fail miserably, but this is one of the few that manage it perfectly. The beautiful animation style even continues, it’s still very artistic in the way it is depicted.”
There technically is nudity, but it’s not explicit, due the use of camera angles and the mannequin effect (not detailing the body, keeping only the outline as if it were a distant or a mannequin). While it doesn’t make sense why it’s there and the characters are realistic with it, I’ve got no complaints due it being portrayed well. However, there are more uncomfortable things that are also depicted sensibly.
Sound
Right off the bat, this time we start with a beautiful intro sequence. Though in a few episodes, the outro sequence is missing, much like the original was initially missing intros. I believe that the songs are still done by the Japanese voice actors, a good choice made with them then. Music is even more important here, since Shuichi plays the violin and it is beautiful. For the rest, here’s what I said in my review of the previous season:
“The music from the anime itself, was used suitably. The usual high standard of background music, comedy tunes for the funny bits, serious music for the serious bits and sad stuff for the sad bits. Mostly beautiful instrumentals, like piano. Which is dynamic in the mood, it changes as the scene changes. And of course, some moments had no music at all, which was done purposefully. I felt like the music on its own could portray the atmosphere and emotion, independent of the animation and dialogue. With music so beautiful, I did get the soundtrack…”
And I still have that soundtrack, I’m listening to it as I write this review. It’s that good.
As before Anime-Planet doesn’t list English voice actors, but this anime is available in a very good English dub in addition to the original Japanese. Sure they might occasionally mispronounce a Japanese name, but the choice of actors and their performance here is good. It also kinda makes sense since this anime is partially set in Australia where the main spoken language is… you guessed it: English. What struck me about the voice acting most of all was the sheer quality and effort put into the dialogue, the lines are very poetic and deep. The one bit where it didn’t work though, was David Matranga also voicing child Yu Himura, it sounded like he really struggled to pull off a high voice and it was obvious he was trying to do something outside his vocal range, it didn’t sound right. I may be biased because these guys have voiced characters from my favourite anime. All the roles are reprised.
Mizuki Hayama is voiced by Hilary Haag, voice of Yui in Angel Beats, Fuuko in Clannad, Mio Aoyama/Shiori Shiyomiya in The World God Only Knows and Merry in Yumekui (Dream Eater) Merry. Yuu Himura could be recognised as David Matranga, also the voice of Takaki Tohno in 5 Centimeters per second, Mr Kubodera in Another and Tomoya Okazaki in Clannad. Yuko Amamiya’s voice was recognised as Carli Mosier, voice of Sanae Mizuno in Another, Akira Yoshii in Baka to Test and Wilhelmina Carmel in Shakugan no Shana. Shuichi Kuze is voiced by Illich Guardiola, the voice of Katsumi Matsunaga in Another, Yusuke Yoshino in Clannad, Masaru Kato in Gantz and Masato Kaibara in Ghost Hound. Nagi Hirono is voiced by Allison Keith-Shipp, she voiced Leone in Akame Ga Kill and Katsuragi in both Evangelion and its remake. New character Akira Amamiya is voiced by Josh Grelle. The previous main characters are still around and are voice acted by the same folks. Miyako Miyamura is voiced by Luci Christian, Kei Shindo is voiced by Brittney Karbowski, Chihirto Shindo is voiced by Monica Rial, Hiro Hirono is voiced by Greg Ayres, Kyousuke Tsutumi is voiced by Chris Patton, Renji Asou is voiced by Clint Bickham and Sumire Asou is voiced by Tiffany Grant. If you want to know what other anime these folk have voiced in (and why I like this cast so much), then click here.
Characters
The cast has shuffled around a bit, previous main characters are now secondary characters and previous secondary characters are no main characters. For info on the characters I won’t go into much detail on, it would be best to consult my review of the original series.
Yu Himura is a single man and the adoptive parent of Chihiro Shindou, who has moved to Otowa, Australia. He lives in a Church, even though he is atheist and has been the legal guardian of Chihiro since her accident. He is troubled by his past, especially concerning Yuko Amamiya, a girl who was in love with him. He wears glasses and is often found drinking at a café. He was orphaned as a child and lost his sister to a house fire (likely his parents too) during an earthquake. He keeps a broken watch to remember her by. He was raised in an orphanage at a church, where he met Yuko. He used to draw sketches and he was very good at them. Once Yuko was adopted by relatives he was on his own again and nobody adopted him after that. He eventually got into the Otobane Academy (high school) which would be attended by Hiro, Miya, Kei and Mizuki in the first season. He was a special circumstance and he worked to be independent. It was his belief that he needed to be strong and independent, he couldn’t let himself rely on anyone else, especially since he never had the chance to. He gave up his drawing in high-school and was reunited with Yuko. He was also friends with Shuichi and Nagi. He’s a cynical guy who believes in leaving things as they are, the world won’t change.
Yuko Amamiya is a girl from Yu’s past, younger than him by about a year or so. Of course, they met in the orphanage. Yuko was also trying to play with Yu and called him big brother, which upset him especially due to the loss of his sister. She liked his drawings and even wanted him to draw a picture of herself, which Yu was too embarrassed to do. Of course they reunited in high school where Yu was cold to her. She always remained positive and as before, tried her best to get along with him, despite Yu’s desires to distance himself from her so that he wouldn’t be reminded of his past. A kind and gentle soul, she got along with everyone and even though Yu may have been cold to her, she didn’t give up trying to reignite their old relationship. She’s always positive, even though she is getting bullied, she seems to somehow not let it get to her. It turns out that Yu was her first love and one she never gave up on. The teacher Akira Amamiya shares the same surname and is actually her relative, a brother in the family who adopted her. There’s a lot to discover about this character, some of which may be daunting.
Shuichi Kuze is a professional violinist who is Yu’s old friend from high school and the next door neighbour to the Asou family. He smokes and has always been a perverted womaniser, juggling multiple girlfriends at once with horrible ideas. He’s always flirting with Renji’s mother, which Renji absolutely doesn’t appreciate and always sweet-talks women. There’s no way to know whether he is being genuinely nice or if he’s flirting. He also has a collection of women’s outfits, which his various lovers wear to please him. He sounds like a jerk right? Actually he’s more human than that. While he has released many CDs and albums of his songs, he is no longer able to play or perform with his violin. He keeps his apartment sterile and empty, he sold all of his furniture and is currently doing everything he can to discard his links with the world, breaking up with all of his girlfriends and is effectively cleaning his slate. His last violin performance would be a tribute to his friends Yu and Yuko. He seems to have some history with Nagi Hirono, which he doesn’t want to be reminded about. Finally he seems to suffer from an illness, he is often dizzy and collapses and has nightmares which give him trouble sleeping and he often mentions he is running out of time. He’s been spending time with Mizuki as a request by the Asou’s since Renji has exams to study for. But he still keeps his distance from her, since he doesn’t want to cause anyone grief.
Mizuki Hayama is Kei Shindou’s best friend who has moved from Otowa, Japan to Otowa, Australia. She happens to be related to the Asou’s, Renji is her cousin. Thus she’s moved into their house in the midst of a holiday so she can prepare to attend Renji’s school. She often teases and annoys Renji, heck she even seems to flirt with him. But unfortunately for her, Renji can’t keep her company due to his end of high-school exams and his girl-friend Chihiro. Thus her aunt has recommended she hang out with their neighbour, Shuichi Kuze. She gets along well with him and seems to like him. Mizuki is an energetic and fun individual, her character is usually the comic relief type who over-reacts to things. She looks after Shuichi and finds his music sexy. But what’s more is that she actually develops feelings of love (the romantic sort) for this man roughly twice her age. Mizuki has a very interesting backstory, all I’ll say is that she was orphaned at a young age.
Nagi Hirono is a girl who attends the same high school as Yu, Yuko and Shuichi. When I first heard the surname Hirono, I immediately thought of Hiro. But it made no sense, why would Hiro be attending school with Yu Himura, isn’t he supposed to be so much younger than Yu? My question was answered as the person called Hirono was revealed to be a quirky art student girl called Nagi, often seen drawing a self-portrait in the nude. Yu criticizes her for this, but she doesn’t seem to care. She is as immersed into her art as Hiro would be, but she seems to struggle with herself. She’s good friends with Yu and Shuichi. She doesn’t see, to have any other friends, but she doesn’t get upset easily and likes to tease and mess with Yu. She is less lively and more cynical character compared to Mizuki, but she’s that type of funny character all the same. At one point she pronounces Yuko’s name as ‘Yuck-o,’ arguing that she can’t be bothered with names that have more than 2 syllables (Yuko is 3 kana syllables in Japanese). So how is this person related to Hiro? He never mentioned an older sister, parents or even relatives in the first season. Well… okay, I’ll admit it. Nagi is Hiro’s older sister. I originally thought she was his mother as I incorrectly estimated the timeframe and ages of certain characters. It does kill off my theory that Hiro lives alone due to lack of close family. She initially seems to be harsh, selfish and intrudes on other’s problems, knowing that she has no place. But as the anime progresses, we learn what she is really like. Whereas her younger brother can be rather considerate, Nagi is less so. Most of all, this girl has her own issues, besides getting artist’s block, she constantly feels like a third wheel and has a hard time accepting it.
Akira Amamiya is a man in the family that adopted Yuko, he is effectively her step-brother. Like Yu, he also lost his sister to an earthquake and is a painter. He is a teacher running the art club and wants Yu to join, since he feels Yu’s talents are being wasted. He’s is often trying to convince Yu and because of this, Yu doesn’t seem to like him. He smokes and doesn’t appear to know about Yuko being bullied. He may seem like just a minor character, but in reality there is more to him, he is quite important in the plot.
The other characters return of course, but since their story has already been shown in A Tale of Memories, they take a back-seat here. The one character that appears the most out of these original characters is Renji Asou, after all he lives in the house Mizuki has moved into. Mizuki jokes that he’s bad for Chihiro, but Chihiro is modest about their relationship and claims that she is the burden on him. I’m glad to see those two are still together. It turns out that the music Hiro is always listening to is Shuichi’s violin albums, he can really appreciate it as a fellow artist. Mizuki also mentions that Kei also has a man in her life, but we all know she lost Hiro. Thus I’m left wondering who this guy is. And then it hit me. Could it be… she got with Kyousuke? Damn… happily ever after for all of the old characters it seems.
Story
After the rather complete plot from Tale of Memories, how could Tale of Melodies even be a thing? Most of the questions were answered weren’t they? Well we did have the mystery of Yuko Amamiya, Hiro Hirono living on his own without parents, the two locations which are both Otowa yet the characters don’t seem to meet each other and Yu Himura’s moodiness. Well it’s all explained here, as the story moves on from the characters of the first season onto those who were secondary characters back then. Now the likes of Yu Himura and Shiuchi Kuze come into the fore and we find their story. Like before, the story occurs in two different places, but here it occurs at two different times too. However, unlike the first story, this anime goes into topics and themes that you’d never expect it to. It builds upon a layer of uneasiness on top of what was already there with the first season.
One front of the narrative occurs after the events in the first season in Otowa, Australia, while the other branch occurs in the past at Otobane Academy in Otowa, Japan. Yes that’s right, the story has always been set in two different place, both called Otowa, which is why Hiro & co never met Renji & co. The past events focus on Yu and Yuko, while the current events focus on Shuichi and Mizuki, despite both Yu and Shuichi being involved in both parts of the story. Of course, there are small things linking the two, both Yu and Shuichi moved to the Otowa in Australia and so did Mizuki in between the events of the first season and this one. At a loater point, this anime alsmost feels like a regular story, with a protagonist’s struggle against an antagonist, I was pleasantly surprised with how this drama anime was capable of such a feat.
One would think that this being a drama romance anime, that the plot would be fairly simple. Oh how wrong one would be, this anime has a good pace of progression through the narrative, which itself is actually more deep than one might think. The story twists and turns, there are mysteries and revelations to intrigue the viewer. It might be difficult to grasp at times, but that’s because of how artistic it is.
I’ll quickly explain the time. I originally thought that the past events took place 15-20 years before a Tale of Memories. Turns out I was wrong, they likely take place 5-10 years before those events. Romance is once again a key element to this anime. While the romance in the previous season has concluded, resulting in 3 couples, we see the resurgence of one romance which was never originally brought to light and a new one. On the one side we see an interesting clash of personalities between the ever positive Yuko and the moody Yu. On the other hand we have a potentially immoral, but actually sad/emotional romance between Mizuki and Shuichi.
Why potentially immoral? Because of the age difference. I initially thought that Shuichi was twice Mizuki’s age making it very uncomfortable, but he actually can’t be much more than about 10 years older than her. And even if it was double the age, this would be a surprising exception where I wouldn’t have a problem with it. They depict this so well, such that I couldn’t get mad. And there’s the cold hard truth that things like age and gender don’t matter when it comes to love. However, I still feel it's wrong for a man of significant age to be with a very young girl. Rewind into the past a bit and it would be paedophilia, which I believe is where the dislike for big age gaps in relationships arises from. Of course, Mizuki’s relationship with Shuichi isn't so simple. You’ll have to watch the anime to find out how complex it truly is. Of course the other relationship between Yu and Yuko is even more complex.
Of course, this anime delves into the psychological, something I enjoy. But not the pleasant sort, which surprised me. This anime has some very serious themes of abuse, torture, rape, murder suicide and even juggles with the concept of death. It’s interesting for this anime to delve into the minds of its troubled characters and the experience feels almost psychedelic. Whereas the first Ef was capable of making the viewer feel certain emotions, this one is able to invoke an even bigger range. I never thought this could make me feel fear and discomfort, but it does. Yu’s old words remain: there are no miracles, only the inevitable, the accidental and what we do. This holds true to real life. This sequel shouldn’t be taken lightly, the topics here are more difficult to understand and even to tolerate.
Conclusion
Of course I did enjoy this sequel, even if it contained upsetting themes and topics. I would recommend this anime to those who enjoyed the first, but beware the increased severity and additional difficult subjects. It's not for everyone though, the appeal can be limited. It’s a good romance, it actually has a plot. But it’s now also capable of being a psychological anime, something which can be enjoyed by those who liked Evangelion, Kara no Kyoukai or even Elfen Lied. Because of this surprising addition to the complexity, it surpasses the original, even if it troubled me at times. That was something the original wasn’t able to do to me. I can’t think of anything to fault this anime on.
Family-friendliness Rating: 5/5 Contains disturbing themes and references (lower is better)
Overall Rating: 10/10 (higher is better)