Oct 26, 2021
Pain. Sadness. Grieving. Healing. Memories.
Losing a loved one is painful, and all of us will experience it at some point or another, finding our own ways to cope and move on from the sadness left behind in our hearts. Refrain Blue takes us on a short little journey of emotional healing with our two heartbroken main characters and a mysterious young girl at the beach.
The story is rather good, albeit short. It doesn't feel too rushed, thankfully, as it still tells a complete story. The anime is an adaptation of a Visual Novel that came out a year prior, so it's not a
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surprise that there's inevitably going to be some story cuts to condense it into a 3 episode OVA series.
The art is classic late 90s - early 2000s style. If you have a soft spot for that older look, you'll definitely enjoy it. I did not notice any art inconsistencies when I watched it.
Sound is easily the biggest highlight of this series. If you've ever watched the Clannad series, you'll know exactly what kind of soundtrack you're in for. It's very calm, emotional, which ramps up a little during dramatic moments. It's almost worth watching it for the soundtrack alone!
The characters, while are the main focus of the series, are also a bit on the weaker side. This is mostly attributed to the short length of the series, the characters aren't quite as fleshed out as you'd like, especially when the big focus of the series is their emotional struggles. Side characters don't add much to the main story, outside of one character's actions, but I suppose they play larger roles in the VN (This is designed to get you to pick up the VN, after all).
I ended up really enjoying this short series. I was a little worried because of the low score, but it really doesn't deserve that in my opinion. It's an enjoyable hour long emotional healing series that doesn't try to play off the emotional moments with corny jokes. However, keep in mind it does have ecchi scenes.
Overall though, it's a very enjoyable series that is worth picking up if you want a bit of an emotional story. It doesn't take too much of your time, after all.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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