great review.. iv'e watched this ova four times, the last time was with a friend of mine.
It's my favourite, and my friend was pretty impressed too.
I would also recommend this ova to anyone who is into anime. :p
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette tv Review
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette takes place in present time. Eiri Kurahashi is your average high school student that has a talent for drawing and very little talent for love. One day, he finds an old Venetian glass in the store's collection. However, this is no ordinary glass. Through it, he is able to the life of a beautiful young girl. Eiri is the only person that can see these visions, so he almost believes he is going insane. Oddly enough, he allows his life to be consumed by the girl in the glass and falls in love with her.
One day, the images leave the glass and pull Eiri into the other world. The girl introduces herself as Cossette d'Auvergne and she's chosen Eiri to bear the vengeance of the objects that witnessed her murder. Eiri agrees, despite the pain and suffering he will have to endure.
Description: kawaiiguy
Story & Characters
Le Portriat de Petit Cossette takes place in present time. Kurahashi Eiri is your average high school student that has a talent for drawing and very little talent for love. One day, he finds an old Venetian glass in the store's collection. However, this is no ordinary glass. Through it, he is able to the life of a beautiful young girl. Eiri is the only person that can see these visions, so he almost believes he is going insane. Oddly enough, he allows his life to be consumed by the girl in the glass and falls in love with the girl. One day, the images leave the glass and pull Eiri into the other world. The girl is Cossette d'Auvergne. She's chosen Eiri to bear the vengeance of the objects that witnessed her murder. Eiri agrees, despite the pain and suffering he will have to endure.
The plot of Cossette is beautifully woven throughout three episodes. The first time I went through the series, I was somewhat confused about the sequence of events (that was probably due to some of the other factors) but after a few goes, I managed to get the story down. For such a short series, it manages to get through a great deal of story. It also does a good job keeping a well defined beginning and end. Loose threads are wrapped up but a hint of mystery still remains. Enough is said so that the user does not wonder about the ending and yet there is not enough room for a sequel.
Rating:
Art
In general, my standards for an OVA are higher when compared to a standard television airing. Cossette definitely met my expectations in terms of artwork. The colors are well thought out and definitely adds to the mood of the series. At certain points, quick color changes keep the user on edge and quickly change the feeling of the scene. Lots of crimsons, deep blues, and drab grays are used depending on the scene. Also, I consider Cossette to have some of the best use of CG I've ever seen (besides the "realistic" types, i.e. Ghost in the Shell, Macross Zero). It does not detract at all from the rest of the series, but instead adds a great deal.
Overall, I consider the visuals as an artistic masterpiece. Some backgrounds are surreal (and somewhat gothic) in style, like an animated Salvador Dali painting. It isn't grossly overdone, but it does give the brain a good amount to comprehend.
Rating:
Sound
The music in the series is composed by Kajiura Yuki (.Hack, Noir, Mai-HiME) with vocals performed by Inoue Marina (both the ED and an interlude). Kajiura Yuki definitely outdoes herself with the Cossette score. It's like a combination of the darker Noir pieces, the high energy (but not uplifting) pieces from Mai-HiME, with a touch of world influence. The background music ties in extremely well with the visuals and is probably one of the best combinations of audio and video I've ever experienced. It's extremely expressionistic, vibrant, subtle, emotional, and in full 5.1 directional audio (depending on the copy). Listening to the soundtrack is an experience in upon itself and definitely conjures up images of the series visuals.
UPDATE: I picked up the domestic release of this DVD when it came out back in September. The audio options were very
impressive, in my opinion. The disk contained the following options for audio:
5.1 Dolby Digital Japanese
5.1 Dolby Digital English
5.1 DTS Japanese
That's right, Geneon included the Japanese DTS audio track. It sounds phenominal on a good sound system and just blew me out of the water when I first watched it. I highly recommend it. :)
Rating:
Presentation
All in all, Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is an artistic masterpiece with a story to match. The entire series fits in so well with itself. One caveat of the series is that it has the potential to overwhelm the viewer the first time through. Imagine the amount of brain-hurting in the final two episodes of Evangelion. Now cram that into one 35 minute episode. Now watch it three times. Now stop shaking violently.
If there were any benchmark for how much I enjoyed a series, it would be my purchase of a series. I've been extremely tempted to order the R2 DVDs along with the special edition of the soundtrack (which comes with a box to hold the three disks). Geneon already has the US license for distribution and I'm already making plans to add this series to my collection.
I highly recommend that everyone watch this lesser known OVA, especially if you like candy for all the senses. For those that are feint of heart or have a low threshold for sensory overload, I would take this series slowly. I would also suggest enjoying a nice glass of fine wine alongside Cossette, preferably in a Venetian glass (if available).
Rating:
Final Verdict
9.0000 (very good)
Reviewed by kawaiiguy, Jun 03, 2005
Comments
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zefiroN Jun 03, 2005
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hibiemi Jun 05, 2005
Oooh!! Petit Cossette!! I want to watch this ova... Thank you very much for the information about it... Someday, I ought to go hunting for this ova... Sweet, sweet Cossette~
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g477s Jun 17, 2006
I loved this series!
Its VERYY! GOooooddd!
i really liked it... if you didn't watched... make sure you do! XD
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limes-eye Dec 19, 2007
It's good, but still very very disturbing.....
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guessjeans Feb 08, 2008
Cossette only wants to be saved that's all, but do that she has to make Eiri the reincarnation of Marcelo to feel the emotional and physical pain and make him suffer.
merged: 02-08-2008 ~ 10:41am
I watch the anime when it was on fuse it was great man it's only just want everyone to see an old lover getting the pain he deserves for killing his fiancee. -
Schindler Mar 03, 2009
Without a doubt one of the best anime stories, very original. The scenary fits very well the anime, as well as the song and everything else. Very nice revision.
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