Mixed feelings when you hear 'Emma, Victorian romance' soundtrack, composed to be a traditional English melody, in 'Dining with the chef', a program dedicated to Japanese cuisine...

Tegamibachi music collection incomplete ~ trying to do something with that

as I have said, there are a few unreleased themes in Tegamibachi. some of them are like 'friendship', pieces by Ryou-san left out of the OST album, but some of them are real ones

I cannot list all of them, but at least I could try to name those I remember - while I still remember

two of them is Aria's violin bit hits. they are mentioned, for example, here and are Bach's works. the first is Air in D Major from Orchestral Suite No. 3 - used not only by Aria, but also as a background. I can remember hearing it in ep. 3 of Reverse in the end of the episodes when Kimidori's memories are shown, and in ep. 9 when Lag speaks to the elder daughter of Maka in the end of the episode, and dozens of times more

the second is Sonata for Solo Violin No. 1 in G Minor

let me be honest, I do not remember the latter being used, but meseems it must be Aria's shindan in ep. 13 of Reverse, simply because she announced her attack as 'Sonata No.1 in g minor for solo violin'

BTW just right after 'Air in D' in ep. 3 goes a frequently used instrumental which I suppose belongs to Ryou-san

in ep. 4 memories of the old man are accompanied by a very good instrumental which is, again, unknown to me 

ep. 10 has a nice cute instrumental in the middle, when Sunny asks the Bees what they want in Lament

ep. 11 has a strange melody played by strings (?) while Roda, Lag and Connor have a short confrontation, but more importantly - one of my favourites, the piano solo used as a background for Sunny's memories

ep. 9 of Reverse has an organ instrumental, but since 'tis too slow I could not understand what 'tis

one of the biggest inspirations, I believe, is Chopin's Nocturne #20 in c sharp-minor, which gave its name to Gauche's heart bullet gun

and Garrard's gun is called Partita #3 named after Bach's work I guess

to be continued

my humble opinion on 'Letter Bee' ~ a sad shounen

the more I think of my 'reviews', the less I understand whether they are for people who have already watched the anime or for those who have not. if for the former, then why do I write recommendations in the conclusion? if for the latter, then why do I insert so much spoilers? the answer seems to be simple - being the egocentric person I am, I write in order to put my own head in order, and therefore, no practical sense is t be found in my posts like this, moreover they are unnecessarily long

plot and characters 
first of all, I do not separate the OVA 'Light and Shadow' from the rest, since the OVA was remade into ep. 17. both OVA and episode are good, thought there are a few differences, but from now I am going to speak about the TV

Tegamibachi starts as a typical shounen. naive - perhaps this is what many would think of it at first. yeah, 7-year old Lag is behaving like a teenager, 12-year old Lag is almost a young man, 14-year old Zazzie is as if he were a grown-up - and we are supposed to believe this is all right, and also believe all of them are for real. and this line of Niche

made me worry whether she would turn out to be just one more capricious main heroine who is constantly getting angry with the main character shouting '... no bakaaa!', especially when Niche's seiyuu is Fujimura-san, who voiced such girls several times
I almost see how people throw tomatoes at this anime and shout - 'cliches! stereotypes!', and they would be right sometimes. who else but a person with a Russian surname could be the mayor of the city in the North covered in ice...

but very soon after the beginning I realised I need not have worried. seemingly grown-up main characters still stay children

the general image of the world where the events are taking place is deliberate and even sophisticated. actually I decided to watch Tegamibachi because I read that the world reminds of XIX-XX century Europe and this is true to some extent

but I must say honestly we do not get to see much of that XX-century-Europe-ish design
as for characters, I found myself torn apart by thinking who is the character I sympathize with the most, as my usual strategy is to find one or a couple of favourite characters and pay attention only to their story. this strategy failed, and I felt huge sympathy and/or respect towards absolutely all the characters. probably, this is mostly the mangaka's achievement, though

the story development has a nice pace which doesn't make you feel the anime is hurrying towards its end, and doesn't make you feel bored, either. so-called 'fillers' like season 1 ep. 19 'Ill Letter Bee and the girls' were not looking like fillers but rather contributed to the general flow of the story and even if we can use the word 'filler' then it will have positive connotation, because this 'filling' was necessary - there must be peaceful days, too, do you not think so?
another important point is that all peripeteias and twists and turns of the story were properly designed. they do not create the feeling that I hate the most in any fiction - when you see clearly that this or that episode or moment is dictated not by the logic of the story, but by the author's whim. for example in season 1 ep. 15 while the long talk between Frank, the elopers and Lag was taking place, I was afraid I might have the usual question all the spectators have in such cases - why don't they do something but just stand and listen? however, I notice a wise move on the part of screenplay writers - Niche couldn't interfere because she was busy with collecting Lag's bag which fell from the rock. the fact that it fell may also be considered as necessary to move Niche away and make her unable to help, but the falling itself is not unrealistic, while her standing near and doing nothing would undoubtedly be
I would also note the wise use of all the characters. in other words - nothing and nobody odd. Maka helping in the battle with Cabernet is good. Vincent Alcott who was thought to be an untalented writer takes notes of everything that happened during the battle and creates a bestseller which Lloyd reads in the last minutes of the last episodes. brothers Signal and Signales turn to be more than simple gatekeepers. and Lloyd himself exceeds the 'understanding boss' and shows a great deal of courage and involvement
being so full and detailed, the story is interesting. yeah, really interesting and intriguing. this is a rare thing. Tegamibachi is an adventure which appeals to your heart and your brain equally, making you both think of your own life and the world we live in, and also - sympathize with and worry about the characters, who have been dear to you right from the start. Tegamibachi is the case when you just cannot stop watching because you long to know what comes next. nowadays people often say 'this anime's attraction is not that it makes you want to watch the following episodes one by one, but the one that slowly gives you graduated pleasure' and consider it to be the right kind of charm, but I do think thrilling, breathtaking story is no less wonderful
and this story is flavoured with humour. this humour is actually a dangerous thing making you feel relaxed and sure that everything would be the same throughout all the episodes

and special moments like coming to a very strange forest

or Connor making a delivery of erotic magazines

 and special episodes

and themes embracing the whole story in the person of, for example, Niche

and Steak, and some others

and praiseworthy is that the authors understand that some ideas may seem ridiculous

but do not get washed away by the funny episodes. they become more and more rare as the story continues. I said, the characters become dear and make you worry, and this does not apply exclusively to the main ones. if you didn't cry in moments like this

then you are probably made of stone...
actually, being the crybaby I am, together with Lag and Sylvette, I spent most sad and touching moments exactly like this

and finally, Tegamibachi is not a typical shounen because 'tis... too serious, especially when you do not expect it

what I went through emotionally while watching the series is hard to describe with words. how many times I cried is impossible to count. how painful 'twas to watch the last episodes is something I would not wish even my worst enemy to understand
you know what? I sincerely believed in an absolute happy end with 'happily ever after' until the last several moments before the last episode ending 'Perseus' started. I believed Gauche's heart would come back. then I believed he would throw away everything and live with his family and friends. then I thought even if he would not 'throw away everything' he and the other 'unable to become spirits' would stay in Yuusari. I believed Lag would get to Akatsuki and change the world. or something like that. I was waiting for a relief but all that I have left is hope. I expected to see shounen adventure, but I got drama
Tegamibachi exceeds the level of typical shounen, but is it an entirely good thing? I doubt. if I am to accept the anime as 'tis, taking its ending as the end, and ignoring the fact that the manga is not finished, then the anime's ending is not even in the least satisfactory, as it leaves too many things unexplained, from not-so-important matters, such as the photo of Jacob and Sandra Gobeni's photo with a child, to urgent problems, such as prof. Thunderland's experiment on returning the lost hearts back, and up to global ones, such as what was the meaning of the Day of Flicker, and why the guy on the airship heard a lot of voices crying 'mother, mother' when the flicker happened, and why Lag's mother was taken to the sun, and how did Gauche get to see her, and in the end - what is Lag, if he is not human. to some extent we can guess and speculate, but proper explanation was never provided. and of course, the greatest disappointment is that we do not get to see how the characters live after that, because we are not that dumb to believe that Lag is going to continue cheerfully his Letter Bee duties, Connor - bring up his child(ren) with Sunny, Zazzie - take care of local cats, and Aria - do the paperwork at Bee Hive as if nothing had happened. this incompleteness almost breaks me now that I finished watching the series today at 2 o'clock in the night, and all that I was thinking about while going to sleep, waking up in the night, getting up in the morning, having breakfast, washing the dishes, drinking tea - was Tegamibachi, more precisely, I was trying to deal somehow with what is called 'cognitive dissonance' scientifically, but in reality is a pain somewhere inside that makes you feel empty and unable to do anything else but to try to get rid of it

music

I could not actually believe 'twas really Ryou Kunihiko-san who made the OST until in ep. 2 short harpsichord and flute melody played in the background while Lag and Gauche were trying to catch a lizard. then I listened attentively and recognised his perfect style. at first one might think - if he is familiar with 'Emma' OST - that Ryou-san is cut for composing music reminding of classics and suitable for arranging a 19-century-Europe-like setting, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear he wrote some very memorable and unusual tracks. some of them reminded me of Scudelia Electro greatly, because there are not - well at least I do not know - many composers able to use electro in such a masterly fashion. especially Scudelish are 'Heavy-Metal Enemy', 'MA-KA', 'Attack', but my favourite electro here is of course 'Lightning'
the only frustrating thing is that again - like in 'Emma' - not all of the melodies used as background in the series are released as soundtrack. for example, 'Lightning' has a very dark, somewhat ambient arrangement used several times in the second season during scenes about Reverse, like when memories of Jeel are shown in ep. 19. also, several very sad instrumentals (for example, the one playing at the background of Lament when Lag came to pick up Connor and Sunny) along with classical pieces (like that Aria was playing on her violin) were not released at all. the only  good news is that a track called 'friendship' which was used in ep. 15 of Reverse (when Lag and Gauche went together for a delivery) was recently uploaded onto Ryou-san's official website, and though 'tis not meant for downloading, it can be downloaded easily with the help of some application (I personally use Firefox plugin called download helper)
OPEDs are not too impressive, I must confess, but on the other hands - they are all slightly above average. should they have been just a bit more plain I would call them worthless, but surely all of the songs are not mediocre ones, and apparently the best songs of respective artists were chosen as OPEDs, because Suga Shikao's and HIMEKA's discographies didn't impress me that much, and surely absolutely mainstream Stereopony is not a unique band famous for their original style. however, as OPEDs the songs are good, and I watched OPEDs without skipping them several times, which is unusual for me. in other words, the atmosphere was respected

OPEDs
I would also praise most of the OPEDs in terms of how they were directed and designed. note how all the songs were chosen to fit the ideas and story of Tegamibachi
'Hajimari no Hi' - 'The day of beginning' - has lines like 'I wanted to run out of this town' which reminds of Lag leaving Campbell, and 'without knowing where to head so that we find our future, we were running together with you' and other lines hinting on Lag and Niche's travelling together
'Hatenaki Michi' - 'Endless Road' - is just centered on the theme of journey and finding someone who is dear with lines like '
'raburetaa no kawari ni kono uta o.' means 'Instead of a love letter, this verses' - even though this songs is likely to be just an average love song by an average j-pop young girl, it can be viewed differently if applied to Tegamibachi. allusion to letters conveying feelings is obvious, such as the first line - 'I wonder if you'll understand if I write it in a paper, I wonder if you'll see it if I make it into words' which describes brilliantly Lag's anxiousness when he was trying to write his message to Gauche to put it into the red message bullet. the chorus part starts with 'Even if I call your name again and again, my voice wouldn't reach you, but now that I recall your turning around to me, smiling, your face was so bright that I cast down my eyes'. and what stroke me most was the last line of this opening - 君がいないんだ - which originally would be translated as 'you are not here', but taken separately from the rest of the text can also mean 'you do not exist'. and those words are sung exactly when the opening animation ends in this frame↓

'Hikari no Kioku' which means 'Memories of Light' already hints on the other central theme of this work - light and memories. the most touching lines for me are 'even if you lose the sight of tomorrow in the times of change, even if your heart is taken from you, I want my feelings to reach you, that I want your memories of chasing that while light not to be broken and stay as they were on that day' - is it not the cry from Lag and others to Gauche?'A little magic' or 'chiisa na mahou' says 'gathering all the words I want to say to you, I use some magic and send them to where you are'
'wasurenagusa'  means 'forget-me-not' and this is already enough for making it a perfectly fitting song which breaks my heart every time I listen to it - 'because we met I feel this pain, because we met I see this dream. if we never met, I would never love this much. please do not forget me ever. this forget-me-not blooms for you', and the second chorus - 'because we met I cry this much, because we met I see this sky. if we never met, I would not be who I am now. I will never forget you. in my heart forget-me-not blooms'
the only time I felt uncomfortable was when 'yakusoku' OP began in season 2 and I was thinking 'hey, what's with this OP? the picture seems to be all wrong and fails to fit the song absolutely!' - however, starting with ep. 18 the picture changed and WHAT CHANGE 'TWAS!!! one of the most beautiful opening videos I have ever seen, following the song's tempo and rhythm and providing all kind of pictures, wisely made OP
'one-sided feelings...

 ...a wish that is ready to disappear...

 ...surely become a promise binding me and you, it seems so to me'

and the last ending... you can read the translation if you need


graphics
there seems to be a problem in Studio Pierrot - they make beautiful scenery

and pay attention to the colouring

and draw beautiful close-up freeze-frames, or frames where only a few objects are moving

and sometimes use the manga-like graphics

but they make mistakes in drawing smaller objects - why does not Gauche's scarf here fall down by the force of gravitation but makes this strange curve?

finally, seiyuus
this paragraph I write the last because there is not much to say. all the seiyuus were good, including both the main characters and the minor ones. Fukuyama was predictable but credible. Sawashiro-chan really surprised me with the high level of her skills of voicing a boy. Fujimura-chan surprised me that her Niche was not like Misaki from 'Maid-sama' or Ayano from 'Kaze no stigma'. that Koshimizu-san is good I already know, but this time she created with her voice a very calm woman, which was an image different from what I have heard so far. Kishio Daisuke as Zazzie and Suganuma Hisayoshi as Connor seemed good but not outstanding to me until I suddenly realised - 'twas during the scene when the Bees were having dinner at Sylvette's home - what great work and skill it takes to create such realistic characters with realistic behaviour and intonations. even Nana Mizuki whom I do not like very much did a good job. I also noticed a number of experienced seiyuus with pleasant voices such as Largo Lloyd's Konishi Katsuyuki, Sandra's Yamashita Ayaka, Niche's elder sister's Koyama Mami, Jiggy's Nakai Kazuya, Hunt's Chiba Susumu, Sarah's Komatsu Yuka and many others

conclusion
the beginning and the last episodes are as if from different worlds. probably, most stories are like this, if only they are not stories for little children or meaningless merciless shoujo for drooling
by the end of the day the sadness and dissatisfaction with the anime ending that were tearing my chest apart are slightly subsiding and I with a cooler head I can make a conclusion
one must bear in mind that if he decides to watch the anime, he will watch a screen version of several volumes of manga for a while, but considerable difference is reported to be noticed approximately in the middle. and since there seems to be no plans for season 3, 'Tegamibachi' anime as 'tis now can be considered only as a very-big-slice-of-the-characters'-life ending in nothing, which does not allow to name it a 'full-fledged' story
if this is ok with you and you can ignore this aspect, all the other aspects would bring you enormous amount of pleasure. they make Tegamibachi an example that many others must follow. as you see, I cannot, so this pleasure is almost crossed by the void that the ending left

My humble opinion on 'Victorian Romance Emma' ~ almost 21 years old me

many recent shoujo works I saw/read are all too sweet and... false? imposters? I almost forgot that the genre is not guilty for this fact. 'twas Izumi-san's 'Himegimi no Tsukurikata' described when someone said - 'this is a shoujo manga, but there is no romance in the traditional understanding'. there was no romantic relationship at all in that manga, and this time we do have a romance, but again - not a traditional one. it has all the attributes of a usual shoujo romance - characters loving each other have obstacles, doubt themselves, sacrifice themselves, and so on and so on, but after many days of constant thinking of how to call this work I finally found a good word. 'Emma' is straightforward. sincere and straightforward. yes.

Plot and characters
There are two seasons in this work. And there is a reason why there are two seasons, not one long series. The first one has a bit different feeling from the second one. The first is SLOW, as 'twas created for admiration - of the scenery, of London, of Englishmen of the late 19th century. And one should be prepared before he starts watching it. Well, not he - she, of course. I highly doubt any guy would be happy to watch this work. Still, this is not a shoujo.
The second season is much faster and portrays much more personalities, deepening the ones who were already present in season 1 and introducing new ones. One should be aware of this change. She, not he - and still this is not a shoujo.
If I am in any position to compare, then I know what I want to describe.
Fortunately I was brought up in a family where reading was encouraged. My parents had nice bookshelves full of nice books. Still those were not enough. They purchased a series of books entitled - 'collection for young princesses' or something like this. Among them are books you have hardly ever heard of, but some world-famous masterpieces also - such as 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott, 'A Little Princess' and 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and many others. Well, I could recall reading 'Jane Eyre' as well. The same historical period means the same setting, but also - the same type of the story. 'Emma', being close to the books I mentioned and the likes, is not a 'romance novel for women', 'tis for much younger girls. Why? Well, for me - novels for women contain more of an emphasis on the characters' inner feelings in terms of doubting, mistrust, constant quarrels between the lovers or endless row of misfortunes, and usually the plot never sways from the main 2 characters, as their romance is the most important thing, if not the only reason for the novel to exist. 'Emma' is different, as the other books I mentioned are, it describes the epoch, it describes people and places, and it never crosses the line between the subtle and the vulgar. In the end, I was almost unhappy with the fact that 'Emma' resembles Western books more than a Japanese anime. however, there is no point for been upset. there is a very Japanese idea in it - as long as you do whatever you can, as long as you do your best, with all your might, until the end - there will be people who believe in you, help you and even save you, and those who doubted you can change their mind, and those who wish you evil will be defeated. look how William's brother gave him the list of people to appeal to, how Hakim persuaded a rich gentleman to participate in the project, look how Mrs Molders who had nothing else to wish for in her life listened to Emma when she was too straightforward, notice how the maids and other servants who first disliked Emma finally understood her feelings - 'you have to go, don't you?' says Mrs Wieck, the strict house keeper in the last episode and Nanette adds 'we will cope here, go'
oh, since I mentioned Nanette, there is another important thing. look how everyone is brilliantly portrayed - the servants in Molders estate, every one of them having his special features of character - caring Hans, having an unrequited love Nanette, feeling suspicion and being a bit egoistic Polly, loving Emma with no doubts clumsy Tasha, cold blooded and experienced Adele, young and free boys
Eleanor - an example of a usual 'maiden in love' who dedicates herself completely to the man she chose but who is mistaken in her feeling - she is not forgotten in the end and is hinted to have a chance of finding a person who would truly love her in the future. her maid, who understands everything and understands as well that she cannot do anything but to serve faithfully as before. and Monica, a character with typical features of a comic role, but so very real. her love for her sister never seems hypocritical, and at the same time she is a wayward capricious woman - momentarily fascinated by Hakim's look and starts wearing Indian clothes and smoking hookah. notice how her husband comes to get her home during the last row of images in the last episode - I LOLed
Hakim himself - though not the main character, the story would never be the same without him, combining serious moments with entertaining ones. and of course, his 4 companions - they 'made my day' every day I watched 'Emma' ^.^ I loved them, even though they never uttered a word

remember Al, so supporting and understanding. and of course, Mrs Stownar, strict but caring about Emma and William almost as if they were her own children
William was also an example of combining English with Japanese. while he was a true English gentleman - hard-working, determined and considerate about his nearest and dearest, he didn't fail to reveal what so special there was about him - a thing that most shoujo really lack, where the main heroine's love interest often goes no farther than being attractive and strong. Emma answers properly why she prefers him to anyone else - 'He is not asking me simply 'yes' or 'no' like others do, he only enjoys talking to me'. William is, on the other hand, not a fragile young guy, he never hesitated to take the basket with vegetables out of Emma's hands and walk her home. he never hesitated to stand in front of Emma to protect her when his father approached them hugging and then try to follow her when she run away. his problem was that he stopped every time in the last moment - and that is what Hakim blamed him for, absolutely fair thing. another noticeable thing is that instead of a shy sullen guy with a 'childhood trauma' William is a positive and nice young man, though a bit straightforward. 'I will buy you new spectacles! because, birds are flying, flowers are blooming... and children are falling, isn't that so!'
Emma herself - reserved and emotionless outwardly but sensitive inside, able to have deep feelings, loyal to people who are kind to her, helping and understanding. when she spoke for Nanette asking Mrs Molders to let her stay I was not surprised, but when she rushed after Nanette and saved her I was deeply moved. not that the others didn't care about Nanette, but only Emma was able to feel that Nanette was capable of committing suicide

seiyuus
I don't want to make this post even longer. the seiyuus are all brilliant. this is the case when the seiyuus work not only suits the anime perfectly, but also enchants you so that you cannot tear yourself off the screen and want to hear more lines of that character, and that, and that one too...
probably the middle of 00s was such a wonderful period when the 'elder' seiyuus were still active and the young ones were less simple and more hard-working (than they seem to me nowadays) to make this anime superb

music
the main themes like 'Emma', 'Menuet for Emma', 'Silhouette of a Breeze', 'Rondo of Lilybell' which were used as OPEDs and insert instrumentals are unforgettable, of course, but even minor melodies that weren't constantly repeated are of astonishing good quality. my favourites are 'love at first sight', 'Separation', 'Repose' and 'Purity'. all the melodies are both English and 19-century-ish. a perfect OST which I can name an example of what an anime OST should be. not only it suits the anime itself, 'tis also great to listen separately. one can hardly imagine what it feels like - sitting near the sea and listening to the sounds composed by Kunihiko Ryou-san while looking onto the blue waves and blue summer sky, or sitting near the country house inhaling fresh air and drinking hot tea

graphics
let me be honest, I am not really fond of the way the faces are drawn. on the other hand, I got used to this eventually. the setting is pretty good, buildings and streets are all admirable. the creators really loved what they were doing
my favourite place was, of course, the Crystal Palace. I really admired it, and who wouldn't? not only we see William and Emma enjoying their 'date', but also get to know pretty much about the place, as William tells Emma about it

conclusion
only a week and a half have passed since I finished watching the anime, but it has already stable and 'unerasable' image in my mind. this summer became memorable, not without several animes I watched, and 'Emma' is an essential part of it