IKnight: ef certainly has gotten a lot of blogging attention, so I could see how you could experience the show through other posts – but somehow I can’t picture myself doing it. It just doesn’t seem like it would have the same feel, the same impact, although you may gain more out of the many bloggers’ interpretations of the events.

I usually do the opposite and go into a blogging lockdown once I find a show that interests me, just to avoid spoilers.

I’m still on the fence about ef at episode 9 – I’m not hating it nor loving it; there are some points where it’s utter brilliance, where it just works, and other points where you can really see the cheesy, semi-escapist roots of it. It’s the visual novel genre at its best and worst.

Of course, seeing both sides of a thing and taking it for what it is may mean more than just blinding adoring it as perfection. It’s a different kind of love, or something. Time will tell whether I can accept ef’s flaws though.

omo: Yeah, I think it’s really hard to judge a lot of anime objectively, especially shows like this that want to mess with your emotions.

I think ef does do a lot for the viewer in reminding them that they are watching a work of fiction, though, with all the Shaft animation tricks and whatnot, it’s almost like they’re putting a barrier between the viewer and the show. What results from that, is up to us.

That’s exactly what’s wrong with ef. But is that something wrong with ef or something wrong with us?

Overall I agree with you, but at the same time reviewing a show like that exposes our biases more than it does for the show IMO.

You’re not joining the collective ef blogasm, then?