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| Wow this was an intense episode. Well done Shaft |
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| This ep was amazingly directed, I loved it. Even felt bad for Miyako, a char I didn't even care about until now. Kei is still best girl, even if deleting the messages was a horrible act. |
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| For real first half was intense but the next half was just insanely good, I was voting for Kei but after that I can't forgive her for doing that, my heart is broken into little shards after that delete button, and the fact that no one knows that except Kei and viewers ;-; |
| Best episode so far. Both of the two arcs had a major shake-up. Renji's breakdown was something to be expected as he got close to Chihiro, that even though her memory loss is the cause he refuses to say Chihiro is at fault. Superb visuals, with the TV static into when she said the same things before and the darkening of the background as she continued talking. But the second half? Wow. With minimalist visuals and pastel colours, I love the visualisation that she feels seperate from the world she inhabits, the realisation as to why Hirono was always in Black and White from her perspective and gradually gained colour. The messages she left on the phone, though, I have no words to describe that entire scene. And then- Kei deletes the messages as if it was nothing... I see a lot of hate on Kei and Hirono for how they've acted, but there's no way they would've known that their actions would have led to hugely disasterous consequences. From Kei's perspective, Miyako is just a bad influence on Hirono's attendance. She doesn't know the trauma Miyako went through. From Hirono's perspective, he's had an issue with connecting with others since childhood, so when he stood her down, he didn't realise the imporance he had on Miyako's life. He doesn't know the trauma Hirono went through. I didn't quite expect to write a few paragraphs on just this episode but damn, this episode alone raised the anime up to a 9/10 for me. |
| Kei, you piece of shit |
| All you can hope for in your worldview is consistency |
| the chihoro and renji segment was retarded and i'm surprised to say i like the other romance plot more than chihoro and renji's. miyako's phone call to hirono was obviously great but the melodrama for this episode when it came to renji was almost laughable |
| Well, shit got real with the phone call segment, was not expecting anything like that. |
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| In other words, Hirono is between 2 emotional instable and possessive girls. Miyako reaction was very disturbed for any person, who, in a situation like this, simply would try to contact the person by other way, or going to see him at his home to know if something bad happened. ---- Renji was very imature and he revealed that even after the long time he and Chihiro are togheter, he still had not understand that for her, he ALWAYS will be a stranger she just was presented in the same day. That is why she is unable the devenlop honest deep feelings for him, just in 1 day. |
Rob7Nov 3, 2019 9:00 AM
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| At this point in the series, this has been by far the best episode 5/5 |
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| Wow, this episode was chilling. Shaft was killing it even back in 2007 huh. |
| What the hell, how did this take such a sudden, dark and disturbing turn Hirono is an asshole flaking like that. Miyamura should kill his ass like school days Renji is a wimp, i want him to die too now |
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| seeing people shit on kei is interesting that ending sequence though, wow, really well done. right when think it just might be over, another line...another line...another line... ia cycle of optimism, anger, a cry of help, selfless concern, and self-blame |
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| The phone call scene physically hurt to watch. Emotional shit. |
| Definitely one of the more out there episodes. Loved the directing of this one. |
 _______I like rocks__  |
| Ow. That was hard to watch. That was very, very hard to watch. I could feel Miyako's panic, so strongly... It's been a while since a show managed to make me feel such a feeling of anxiety. I don't even know what to say actually, it felt so real, so close to home, I'm legit shaking right now. Welp, I don't think I'll be able to sleep either now. |
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| OH MY GOD , THIS WAS SO POWERFUL AND UNCOMFORTABLE |
| I hate everyone equally |
| the phone call was really stressful to listen, damn... |
| That was a fantastic episode. Normally we've have a straight-faced showing of people being driven into madness with little to no subtlety, but ef, with great assistance from being a Shaft anime, manages to portray normalized civility breaking slowly by internal corruption through stark, brutal, and creative visuals. My favorite moment was Miyako's phone calls, where we're unable to see her face, but we can only see her figure slowly disappear into the white background, get covered up by black text, then get completely wiped away by the black screen transition. We can only hear her cute one-sided bantering turn into confusion, anger, depression, and finally full on desperation. I was unsure of what to expect from ef going in, but rather than being just about multiple intertwined lives experiencing friction with one another, it's also about internalized and externalized struggles trying to cope with one's identities and purpose in life, primarily through their memories. Some of the characters have painful memories, some are struggling to create memories, and we even have Chihiro who has no memories to speak of. The theme runs deep, and while I've seen hints of it being built up the past few episodes, I think the previous episodes were somewhat bogged down by introductions and establishing character relationships. If anything, I think this episode is where the anime truly began pushing the limits of its cast. Okay, now I'm paying attention. |
| ok I completely changed my mind about Kei. What a bitch but I should have expected that :( I never expected Miyano to be this clingy though |
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| Well fck, that was disturbing, for both stories. But the phone call segment especially, super intense, definitely seeing the Shaft signature in this episode, fantastic directing. Feels like we're heading into "Doki Doki Lterature Club" vibe. |
PrOxAntoSep 16, 2022 2:34 PM
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| The episode ends in a really dramatic way! Shaft always hit with their animation! Love it! |
| “I won’t rely on anyone anymore. I don’t care if no one understands.” – Homura Akemi |
| it's funny to see old posts talking about this vs clannad, before people knew what after story would end up doing to the anime world. |
| Aaaamm... Perfect episode, there is no mistake no matter how much I see it, I don't know how I thought of dropping the anime at the beginning. Renji's situation, how he is insecure about taking a step with Chihiro, since as the days go by he realizes how hard it would be to be with her if he keeps getting closer and thinking about what she wants to represent the characters in his novel regarding what the priest told him once And the great interpretation of Miyako's Seiyuu, combined with the soundtrack set in each situation of the chapter, which only required a blank screen writing the dialogue over and over again until everything was overwritten and it was impossible to read. I am not a person who knows how to make opinions, since I never write everything I want to say or imply something different, but surely there is a very well structured opinion somewhere. But let it be clear, that this episode seemed perfect, incredible. I know that for some it is difficult to hate Kei for what happened to his sister when they were children, since they were only children. But not now, so now I can justify myself for her attitude towards Miyako |
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| HOLY SHIT!!! that phone call scene was INSANE!! Getting some serious yandere vibe there..... |
Rinatsu said: Strangely enough, I found myself comparing ef to the later episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion (and The End of Evangelion). As for what I think of the ef series so far/this episode: Wow. Wow, i think so too. I always compare this to Evangelion in the beginning of the series |
| Looks like Renji finally realized what it means to be together with someone with Chihiro's illness. The Miyako phone call scene got progressively more uneasy was something else. I know Kei's had it rough lately but that move was cold af. |
| Dammit dude, this episode was so real. I have no words. 5/5 |
| Wow, wow, wow... What can I say!? So, this episode single-handedly just lifted this anime to roughly the same heights as Clannad and Kanon. The abstractness and inner turmoil of the characters really reminds me of Neon Genesis Evangelion also. I just can't believe that this is the same anime from Episode 1. The anime suddenly feels different - which I'm not sure if that's a deliberate contrast with how Chihiro is like a different person every day due to her memory defect. Am I reaching, or is that just some genius juxtaposition? Renji seemingly having an existential nightmare over Chihiro's feelings for him were very, very well directed. You suddenly felt his confusion and ambivalence over whether to kiss Chihiro. Is it a genuine relationship, or is he just merely performing some part of Chihiro's novel. Very conflicting sentiment, and you gotta feel for him. On the subject of Miyako... This is a character that I haven't had a ton of liking for, but I have to hand it to the writers in this episode. I felt really, really bad for Miyako, and seeing her mental breakdown slowly evolve on-screen in the form of words was a hard watch. It has put Hiro's decision to stand her up into perspective. It was a shitty thing to do on his part, but of course Hiro had no idea about Miyako's background. People seem to almost be universally condemning Kei for deleting the messages from Miyako. I understand why. I am a Kei/Hiro shipper at this point, so I do feel a ton of conflict inside. One part of me is really uncomfortable with the idea of someone trying to erase their rival from their love interest's life, and the other part of me is trying to justify it under the pretense that the erasure of the messages is probably what Miyako would have wanted when she starts to become rational again...? I don't know. This could just be the start of Kei's downfall. In which case, I'd initially be disappointed, but it can be justified narratively if the writers go down that route. 5/5 - perfect episode. Excited to see what happens. |
| God, Miyako's breakdown was equally heartbreaking and disturbing at the same time, all the while being hard to watch. Seriously a well done sequence, god damn it Kei, why must you torture poor Miyako? |
| I also can't believe people were comparing Clannad and Ef back in the day, but I see why since both are kind of similar, both are from Visual Novels, and both came out around the same time. While this anime has delivered a very unique art style that only SHAFT could deliver, and offers a very unique way of expressing how the characters are feeling through this style, this just doesn't top Clannad for me. I think the main thing that holds this one back, which is for the better since this particular story likely couldn't go for 24 episodes, is just the fact that Clannad had more time to develop its characters over the course of ~48 episodes verses this series 12 (not including the second season which I have not watched yet), not to mention, Kei is a BITCH and it's gonna take a lot for me to like her again, and I never experienced anything like this when watching Clannad |
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