Jex
Member
[Emma - 1]
Emma, for those who don't know, is a TV series directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi based off a manga. As the DVD cover so helpfully points out, it's a Victorian romance featuring a maid. This sounds like the kind of premise that could go rather awry in the wrong hands, but luckily the this show (and the source material that it was based of off) is extremely classy. I imagine some might even find it a little too quaint but I find that it makes a nice change of pace from the usual shows that I watch.
That pace that I mentioned earlier seems to be rather sedate and laid back, which gives the impression that the characters aren't struggling any under hardships or any rush to get anywhere. But what else did I expect from idealized Anglophile porn?
This opening episode simply introduces what I assume to be the major protagonists, William and Emma. It's extremely obvious that they are attracted to each other but this comes up in different ways for the different characters. William displays it through overt and clumsy gestures, such as buying gifts, where as Emma is not overt at all. We learn about her interests later on, when she is alone and has time to reflect on her thoughts.
This brings up an important point about how the story is being told in this episode. It's not just characters talking to each other and delivering exposition, there's a large focus on characters faces and what that tells the audience about them visually. For example, when William and Kelly were catching up over tea William was talking about old times, but all his actual attention was clearly focused on Emma as we learnt through watching his eyes and the use of POV shots -
It was very refreshing to not see characters simply explain everything that they were thinking and feeling verbally, instead the show treats the audience like intelligent people who can work out what characters are thinking. Kelly certainly has a knowing smile:
It's a good thing that the show is going to tell it's story through visuals because Emma herself isn't very talkative, to say the least. She has also got an unfortunate case of anime blush:
There's nothing particularly exciting about the cinematography in the episode, it's extremely serviceable and rather traditional which fits the shows tone. I like the character designs and art as well, but the whole thing looks far too 'clean', there's not enough grit and detail in this background art. London was not quite that, er, perfectly groomed.
I wasn't a big fan of the way music was used either - it seemed to be too loud and obvious during important scenes and it would noticeably start/stop when certain things were going on.
Also, I hate to point this out but British doors do not open outwards, they open inwards:
It was an extremely solid first episode and I look forward to watching more.
Emma, for those who don't know, is a TV series directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi based off a manga. As the DVD cover so helpfully points out, it's a Victorian romance featuring a maid. This sounds like the kind of premise that could go rather awry in the wrong hands, but luckily the this show (and the source material that it was based of off) is extremely classy. I imagine some might even find it a little too quaint but I find that it makes a nice change of pace from the usual shows that I watch.
That pace that I mentioned earlier seems to be rather sedate and laid back, which gives the impression that the characters aren't struggling any under hardships or any rush to get anywhere. But what else did I expect from idealized Anglophile porn?
This opening episode simply introduces what I assume to be the major protagonists, William and Emma. It's extremely obvious that they are attracted to each other but this comes up in different ways for the different characters. William displays it through overt and clumsy gestures, such as buying gifts, where as Emma is not overt at all. We learn about her interests later on, when she is alone and has time to reflect on her thoughts.
This brings up an important point about how the story is being told in this episode. It's not just characters talking to each other and delivering exposition, there's a large focus on characters faces and what that tells the audience about them visually. For example, when William and Kelly were catching up over tea William was talking about old times, but all his actual attention was clearly focused on Emma as we learnt through watching his eyes and the use of POV shots -
It was very refreshing to not see characters simply explain everything that they were thinking and feeling verbally, instead the show treats the audience like intelligent people who can work out what characters are thinking. Kelly certainly has a knowing smile:
It's a good thing that the show is going to tell it's story through visuals because Emma herself isn't very talkative, to say the least. She has also got an unfortunate case of anime blush:
There's nothing particularly exciting about the cinematography in the episode, it's extremely serviceable and rather traditional which fits the shows tone. I like the character designs and art as well, but the whole thing looks far too 'clean', there's not enough grit and detail in this background art. London was not quite that, er, perfectly groomed.
I wasn't a big fan of the way music was used either - it seemed to be too loud and obvious during important scenes and it would noticeably start/stop when certain things were going on.
Also, I hate to point this out but British doors do not open outwards, they open inwards:
It was an extremely solid first episode and I look forward to watching more.
