About
ef Opening Parodies (Japanese: ef-OPパロ) refer to a series of parody video remixes for opening credit movies in the anime adaptations of an adult visual novel game ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two. released by a Japanese video game developer Minori.[1] Highly-motivated amateur illustrators/animators have been challenging reproducing these well-made animations with their own hands on the Japanese video sharing service Nico Nico Douga (NND) since 2008.
Origin
The TV anime series for ef was produced by Japanese anime studio Shaft. Its 1st seasn ef – a tale of memories. and 2nd season ef – a tale of melodies. were aired in the fall season of 2007 and 2008 in each. The opening movies are known for its impressive rendition that slightly change its visuals and the song’s lyrics along with the stories progress. Each season’s opening theme song “euphoric field” and “ebullient future” is sung by Japanese pop singer Elisa[2] in both English and Japanese.
Left: 1st Season | Right: 2nd Season
Spread
Fan-made remake videos inspired by these opening credit movies began to be uploaded to NND during the 1st season. The first hit video is a hand-drawn animation reproducing the last episode’s version by the characters from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It was posted on February 27th, 2008.
Inspired by pioneering challenges by motivated users like this, this hand-drawn animated video meme finally took off around the end of the 2nd season, and it has been continuing modestly even after the anime ended.[3] Because of this, almost all videos in this series are made by reference to the 2nd season’s one.
Various Examples
Niconico [手書きでんおう]euphoric fieldに合わせて好き勝手カオス【完成】Niconico 【手描きMAD】ＫＹ學園紀【ef最終話ver.】
Left: Kamen Rider Den-O | Right: Kuron Yoma Gakuenki
Niconico 【手書きルパン】 ルパン三世でef二期OP 【完成版】Niconico 【トレス】東方キャラでef-OP【2期・最終回ｖｅｒ】
Left: Lupin the Third | Right: Touhou Project
Left: CLANNAD[4] | Right: Puella Magi Madoka Magica[5]
Search Interest
[Not Available]
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos/illustrations listed in this section.
[1]Wikipedia – Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.
[2]Wikipedia – Elisa (Japanese singer)
[3]niconico Douga – Search results for the tag ef-OPパロ
[4]zoome – 【MAD】CLANNAD – a town of melodies. : Last-Score Risin / Posted on 12-24-2009 (Defunct)
[5]niconico Douga – 魔法少女まどか☆マギカでef二期OP【手描き】 / Posted on 10-28-2011