ef - a tale of melodies - Episode 7

It usually takes a lot to really shock me or shake me up when it comes to indulging in any form of media, but I have to admit that the previous instalment of ef - a tale of melodies managed to do exactly that - Not in the sense of any kind of physical shock like, say, the end of School Days (which left me physically trembling on account of its brutality), but rather the kind of thing that can leave you in a mentally shaken state.

Having come away from the ending of that last episode both impressed and feeling almost violated by its intensity, I wasn't really expecting episode seven to be able to carry on along those lines. However, while it didn't manage to hit those heights, large swathes of this episode did manage to retain that claustrophobic, schizophrenic sense of panic and despair which episode six had clearly aimed for.


If there's one thing I came away from this episode with, it's the feeling that at least three of the main characters - Yuuko, Yu and Kuze - are mentally utterly broken characters. Yuuko's plight is an obvious one after years of abuse which have left her with conflicting feelings towards Yu - She hates him utterly, wants revenge, for him to feel just a slither of the pain she bears, yet still at a deeper level she does indeed have feelings with her. Yu's predicament is far simpler - He lost his sister in the earthquake, unable to protect her, and now he feels that he has lost Yuuko in much the same way, a thought that drives this normally ice cold guy to screaming insanity and even to contemplate killing another. Finally, fast forwarding to the present, we have Kuze, whose fear of his own mortality and conflicting feelings around that (does he want to be alone for his dying days, or does he want to love and be loved?) are gradually tearing him apart, both physically and mentally.

After such a slow start, I have to confess that thanks to these past couple of episodes ef - a tale of melodies has become absolutely fascinating. While I'm still not entirely convinced by the Kuze and Mizuki relationship on any level, this side of the story has at least entered more thought-provoking territory, while the Yu and Yuuko arc has proved itself to be more dark and disturbing than I ever would have predicted a few short weeks ago, making for an uneasy but ultimately gripping piece of drama to watch. All of this is backed up by those sumptuous visuals, which seemed so pretentious before but now fit what we're seeing, hearing and feeling perfectly, complementing the unhinged and mentally unbalanced state of the main characters with both artistry and imagery that are rarely matched in any other anime I've seen.

This blend of drama and aesthetics is becoming unlike anything else I've seen at an incredible pace and episode seven has, just like the previous instalment, finished leaving me needing to take a deep breath and find time to clear my head before I can return to the real world, away from the mental imbalances I've just felt and witnessed. If you ask me, that's the sign of quality narrative and true artistry.