All righty, let's give this a go...
Jan. 7th, 2008 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
candylandOver the break I spent some time acquiring some new series. These were ones that I'd seen in various places or heard about or had recommended to me by different people. bishonen_girl might recall me actually texting myself titles while we were looking at the DVDs at Best Buy. I rarely buy without doing some research first, unless I have it on good authority that I'll like it.
Granted, "good authority" isn't always right *glares at The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya* I might need to give that one another try, but the first go-around...not impressed.
But anyway, yesterday I sat down to watch Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. It's a three-episode OVA series, based on a two-volume manga by Asuka Katsura. It took me about two hours to watch the whole thing, from start to finish.
...have you ever watched a series where you're still sort of scratching your head an hour later? That's what this did to me. I haven't felt like that about an anime since the first time I watched Beautiful Dreamer back in high school. And I had to sit there and really think--did I like this anime?
Basic Idea
Eiri is an art student. He finds a glass chalice and a portrait of a pretty blonde girl. Soon he starts having visions of the girl--Cossette. Hence, the title. Yes, I am Captain Obvious in disguise. Anyway, turns out she was killed by the guy who painted her portrait--and for the record, that's not a spoiler. You find that out REALLY quickly. So Eiri falls head over heels for her and wants to help her.
The Things I Liked
- The visuals. You hear people say something was a "feast for the eyes"? This WAS. It was beautiful to look at. The animation was clean and well-drawn. The cinematography was innovative, and they did a lot of amazing things with the camera pans, the way things were drawn, the coloring...all of it. I'm well aware that pretty packaging does not a good show make, but let it be known that the packaging was VERY pretty.
- The story. The little summary I gave up there isn't much, but I thought the story was fairly fresh. The story of a boy chasing a ghost-girl isn't exactly new, but this...it's different. I can't say too much without going ZOMG SPOILERS, but it's not a run-of-the-mill romance story. If anything, some parts of it are downright horrifying.
- The music. I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE MUSIC. Most of you who frequent this LJ know that I am a big music nerd--I teach it for a living. I'm the one who walks out of movies and comments on the background music. I'm the one who actually stated that after seeing the second Pirates of the Caribbean fic, I liked the score from the first one better. And as I watched this, I actually was skipping back to re-listen to parts of the score. It was beautiful. So haunting...it'll stay with you for a long time.
The Things I Didn't Like So Much
- There was a small cast of secondary characters. A couple of them showed real potential, and seemed like they could be very interesting...but there was no time to develop them. I know that a three-episode format isn't much time for such things, but I really wanted to see more from the psychic and the next door neighbor/potential love interest.
- A couple of parts were REALLY gory. Like...blood sprays a la Kill Bill. Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out.
- The way they told the story...this is really the big thing that had me debating about whether or not I liked it. And that's mostly because I can't decide if I thought the story-telling was effective or not. It bounces around a lot, and some things aren't explained fully, leaving room for speculation. This is effective...and also frustrating.
The Things I'm Still Going WTF Over
- Oh, pretty much THE WHOLE DAMN THING. Especially the ending. I was going along, fine and dandy, I was more or less following it, and then all of a sudden I felt blindsided. And I sat there and wondered exactly what just happened. It was a decent ending. But...still sort of on the weird side of Sears.
I don't know if any of you have seen or read this series. I would recommend it, even if only for the visuals and the soundtrack. The story is interesting and original, and the execution is very interesting. It's different from a lot of anime that I've seen.
The reason I waited a full day to write this review was to scratch my head and ponder and let it sink in, and because it has genuinely taken me this long to figure out what I thought of the series. And ultimately...I think I liked it.
I also think it warrants a re-watch, just to see if it makes more sense the second time around (again, I refer you to Beautiful Dreamer, which I have watched dozens of times, and yet I still manage to find something new almost every time I watch it). I'm also thinking I might pick up the manga for this one and give it a look--I understand that it's fairly different from the anime, and no place seems to have it scanlated, but I think I can spare the fifteen bucks for the two volumes ^_~
As always, this is my opinion, and I invite anyone and everyone to disagree with me if you've seen/read it and feel differently. I enjoy such discussions. And feel free to check out the series and decide for yourself ^_~
...and like the whore that I am, I have about half a dozen ficlet ideas bouncing around in my head for it XD
bishonen_girl might recall me actually texting myself titles while we were looking at the DVDs at Best Buy. I rarely buy without doing some research first, unless I have it on good authority that I'll like it.Granted, "good authority" isn't always right *glares at The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya* I might need to give that one another try, but the first go-around...not impressed.
But anyway, yesterday I sat down to watch Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. It's a three-episode OVA series, based on a two-volume manga by Asuka Katsura. It took me about two hours to watch the whole thing, from start to finish.
...have you ever watched a series where you're still sort of scratching your head an hour later? That's what this did to me. I haven't felt like that about an anime since the first time I watched Beautiful Dreamer back in high school. And I had to sit there and really think--did I like this anime?
Eiri is an art student. He finds a glass chalice and a portrait of a pretty blonde girl. Soon he starts having visions of the girl--Cossette. Hence, the title. Yes, I am Captain Obvious in disguise. Anyway, turns out she was killed by the guy who painted her portrait--and for the record, that's not a spoiler. You find that out REALLY quickly. So Eiri falls head over heels for her and wants to help her.
- The visuals. You hear people say something was a "feast for the eyes"? This WAS. It was beautiful to look at. The animation was clean and well-drawn. The cinematography was innovative, and they did a lot of amazing things with the camera pans, the way things were drawn, the coloring...all of it. I'm well aware that pretty packaging does not a good show make, but let it be known that the packaging was VERY pretty.
- The story. The little summary I gave up there isn't much, but I thought the story was fairly fresh. The story of a boy chasing a ghost-girl isn't exactly new, but this...it's different. I can't say too much without going ZOMG SPOILERS, but it's not a run-of-the-mill romance story. If anything, some parts of it are downright horrifying.
- The music. I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE MUSIC. Most of you who frequent this LJ know that I am a big music nerd--I teach it for a living. I'm the one who walks out of movies and comments on the background music. I'm the one who actually stated that after seeing the second Pirates of the Caribbean fic, I liked the score from the first one better. And as I watched this, I actually was skipping back to re-listen to parts of the score. It was beautiful. So haunting...it'll stay with you for a long time.
- There was a small cast of secondary characters. A couple of them showed real potential, and seemed like they could be very interesting...but there was no time to develop them. I know that a three-episode format isn't much time for such things, but I really wanted to see more from the psychic and the next door neighbor/potential love interest.
- A couple of parts were REALLY gory. Like...blood sprays a la Kill Bill. Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out.
- The way they told the story...this is really the big thing that had me debating about whether or not I liked it. And that's mostly because I can't decide if I thought the story-telling was effective or not. It bounces around a lot, and some things aren't explained fully, leaving room for speculation. This is effective...and also frustrating.
- Oh, pretty much THE WHOLE DAMN THING. Especially the ending. I was going along, fine and dandy, I was more or less following it, and then all of a sudden I felt blindsided. And I sat there and wondered exactly what just happened. It was a decent ending. But...still sort of on the weird side of Sears.
I don't know if any of you have seen or read this series. I would recommend it, even if only for the visuals and the soundtrack. The story is interesting and original, and the execution is very interesting. It's different from a lot of anime that I've seen.
The reason I waited a full day to write this review was to scratch my head and ponder and let it sink in, and because it has genuinely taken me this long to figure out what I thought of the series. And ultimately...I think I liked it.
I also think it warrants a re-watch, just to see if it makes more sense the second time around (again, I refer you to Beautiful Dreamer, which I have watched dozens of times, and yet I still manage to find something new almost every time I watch it). I'm also thinking I might pick up the manga for this one and give it a look--I understand that it's fairly different from the anime, and no place seems to have it scanlated, but I think I can spare the fifteen bucks for the two volumes ^_~
As always, this is my opinion, and I invite anyone and everyone to disagree with me if you've seen/read it and feel differently. I enjoy such discussions. And feel free to check out the series and decide for yourself ^_~
...and like the whore that I am, I have about half a dozen ficlet ideas bouncing around in my head for it XD