Review of Emma: A Victorian Romance (2005-2007)

Review of Emma: A Victorian Romance (2005-2007)

Hey, everyone. It's time for a new review.

Two days ago I finished the second season of Emma: A Victorian Romance. Even though they are classified as two separate entries, I will compose a single review for both.

If I had to pick one word to describe this anime, that word would be beautiful. The story is beautiful along with the art, the music, and the characters (I found only two unlikable characters in the whole series). Overall I found it enjoyable.

Story:

The story follows Emma, a polite maid in Victorian era, London, England. Kelly Stownar, the elderly woman Emma works for is a retired governess. One day they are visited by William Jones, a former student of Stownar's. William and Emma meet and eventually fall in love.

Everything seems wonderful, right? No. Both William's family and most of society are against them because William is of the gentry class, and Emma is a commoner. That and William's father has already arranged for William to court Eleanor Campbell, the daughter of a viscount.

Through many events, other characters, and hardships both Emma and William work for a way to their happy ending.

It should be warned that this anime is slow paced. While it may seem dragging at times, I feel that the slower pace works better for this kind of story. For one, it gives the audience time to get to know the characters, and two, it makes the romance more believable when it takes time, Since this anime is supposed to be a historical slice of life, I like that it does take time for the story to get there, rather than having it happen too quick.

Also, I think it's fair to say that I find this anime to be more character focused than plot driven.

Characters:

This is my favorite part of the anime. I just love most of the characters in the series. There are only two I shook my head at, but everyone else is amazing. For the sake of time, I'm only going to touch on a few of the major ones.

To begin with: Emma. She is probably one of my favorite anime protagonists (and that's not something I can say often). Emma is kind, humble, polite, hard-working, and never once complains. Several times we see the other servants mumble a complaint, but Emma mostly keeps a cheery outlook. She stands firmly by what she believes. She is also considerate of others' feelings, as seen in the first episode of the second season by the incident with Nanette--it took a lot of kindness to do what she did when anybody else would have done the exact opposite.

Next up is the lead male: William Jones. He is the kind of guy who thinks with his heart rather than his brain. While that may be excellent several times, especially when it comes to Emma, resulting in romantic delights, other times it was shown to have caused him trouble (mostly with Eleanor). I have to admit, despite how kind William is, for the most part I found him to be immature and selfish; it wasn't until the last fourth of the second season, when he undergoes serious character development that I was able to truly respect him.

On that note, I had the same opinion about Richard Jones (William's father). At first he comes across as traditional and austere, but he too had some growth in the last few episodes of the second season. What he says to Viscount Campbell in that last episode has to be one of my favorite comebacks ever.

Now onto Eleanor Campbell. While she may be the antagonist, as both she and Emma are interested in the same man, she is not a villain. I want to thank the anime for not portraying her as such. In fact there are no villains in this story, just people. Eleanor is shown as being a nice girl who never has anything mean to say about anyone. She is seen as being kind to her maid, is well-mannered, and is trying her hardest to make her relationship with William work. I found her to be a likable character.

Of course the person to thank for the story all together is Kelly Stownar. Were it not for her, William and Emma would have never been introduced. She is a kind woman who practically took Emma in. She views Emma as family rather than a subordinate. Episode eleven shows in detail why Emma loves her so much. Even though the primary focus of the story is on the romance, I also liked watching Emma and Kelly's interactions throughout.

Now onto minor characters that I will give a brief mention. First is Hakim, an Indian prince and friend to William. He acts as William's confidant, and beyond the party boy he may seem to be, he proves himself to be a good friend and offers sound advice to William throughout the series. Next is Hans, a servant who is introduced in the second season, and the competition for Emma's affection. He may seem grumpy at first, but it's interesting to watch how he shows his love for Emma, and how much it differs from William's. And lastly is Grace Jones, the eldest Jones sister. She acts as a mother figure to her younger siblings. She is given a fair amount of screen time, and is my favorite of the Jones children.

While most of the characters are likable, there are two I just couldn't. The lesser of the two is William's kid sister Vivian. She is a spoiled brat who expects the world to bow to her. She is also extremely rude, especially for a girl of that time period. She is particularly rude to Emma when the latter comes to visit. Vivian also runs off at the mouth way too much. They worry too much about William embarrassing the family, when they should be focused on Vivian's mouth as the source of family humiliation. The second is the Viscount Campbell. He despises anyone beneath him. He has such a condescending personality, such as throwing away the glove that he used to shake hands with Richard, or blaming Eleanor for something awful that may ruin their family's reputation, that wasn't her fault. His older daughter, Monica, is obviously aware of her father's character, and loathes him for it. I just found him difficult to like.

I spent a lot of time on the characters and there are so many more who deserve a mention, but for the sake of the review I need to move on. In short, I love the characters in this anime.

Art:

The art is beautiful. The character designs are pretty, the backgrounds are gorgeous, the colors and lighting look nice.

First of all, the character designs here are different from your typical anime. For one the people are designed to look like real people while still keeping an anime charm. There are no bold hair colors, exaggerated facial expressions, chibis, random changes in animation, moeness, or anything else often seen in many anime series. The facial expressions match what you would see in real life. The faces themselves may look a little odd at first, mainly because it's different from what I'm used to.

This is later Victorian, so the fashion is not exactly my favorite from the era, but it's still pretty. There is a flashback scene to an earlier decade, so I did get to see a more preferred style of clothing for a brief moment. To be honest, I'm glad that the creators were careful to make it as accurate as possible. I will get to that topic a little later.

The locations are beautiful. I like the details of London streets: the market, the carriages, etc, especially when compared to the countryside later in the series. The houses are ornate and fun to look at. Even the shop that William frequents has its own unique atmosphere, All the details makes it feel like you're there in that time period with the characters.

The animation, however, is not the best. At times it feels like there could be more. Of course this could go back to the pace of the show. As for the faces, I would have liked to see more display of emotions from the characters. The voice acting is superb, but sometimes the animation itself feels like its lacking, due to want of movement.

Historical Accuracy:

The historical accuracy is another plus this anime had. This is the second anime I have watched that takes place in the Victorian Era. The first was Black Butler, so there are some obvious comparisons between the two. It's no stretch to say Emma: A Victorian Romance is much closer to the time period compared to something like Black Butler, which is more of a fantasy, While Black Butler had several anachronisms, Emma: A Victorian Romance is a good representation of the time presented.

I like that the characters are limited by whatever technology they had at the time. For instance, all correspondence was done via letter. Also, other than Hakim, they don't have the luxury of cars and have to get by with a carriage (if the character can afford it [one of the coolest scenes was watching Emma chase after and jump on a horse-drawn bus]), a train, or on foot. It's also interesting to get a glimpse at how firetrucks worked during that time.

There are also the social formalities of the time presented here, such as when Richard scolds William for blowing off a meeting with a client. There is also an episode that shows how having to attend all these functions to uphold society took its toll on a more introverted character. In addition, all the characters are referred to by title, and while that is something that is common in subbed anime, it's especially important for this setting.

I also like how important the Crystal Palace, an actual building that was constructed during the Victorian era, is to the story. It was a place where everybody gathered, so I like how it is crucial to four major plot points in this anime.

I already mentioned how accurate the clothing is during the art portion of this review, but I want to touch a little more on that one. The clothes worn in this anime look like replicas of actual Victorian clothing, not just stylized ones that might be seen in Black Butler. I also like the depictions of costume for the different classes. Even when the servants dress up for outings, or parties their clothes are still less elaborate than the ones worn by the wealthier families.

Since the Victorian era was a time of prized propriety, as portrayed when Eleanor complains of how exposed she feels in a modest bathing suit, this anime includes very little fan service, something I'm happy about. In fact, the first season had none (unless you count the corset tightening scene). However, there are two very short scenes in the second season with a bit of nudity, but it's not excessive, or detracting from the plot, so I'm not annoyed with it. While there may be a few underwear shots in the second season, it's only their undress, so you'll only see the character in a corset and petticoat.

Another thing I wish to mention is that there is no break from the time period. There are no pop culture references, or anything done that takes this story out of its setting for an attempt at humor, or to wink at the audience. Everything feels like it is in place. Even though William wants to do something that is unheard of in their social standing, he still has to work around the obstacles of his time, along with adhering to the potential consequences dangling above him (such as his family possibly being tossed out of society).

In all, it looks like the creators put in extra effort to make this story as accurate to the time period as possible. Even in the credits, there is someone whose entire job is historical accuracy. For me, it makes it more enjoyable to watch a period piece without having to worry about ridiculous attempts at modernizing something.

Music:

The opening and ending songs to this anime are beautiful. Something special about the songs used here is that there are no lyrics. Each opening and ending is strictly instrumental. The opening song is the same in both seasons, but a different version of the song is played in the second one. I do like the first ending better with the playful, upbeat song that sounds like something you would hear on a Victorian street, carnival, or marketplace.

In addition, lovely instrumental pieces are played throughout the show. It makes sense as there were no catchy pop songs at the time, once again adding to the overall experience of this series. Even Tasha's song, the only piece of vocal music in this anime is a traditional rhyme set to a melody.

Conclusion:

This is one of my favorite anime series thus far. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. The series is clean: I think there is only one swear word in the whole twenty four episodes, and the art is beautiful to look at. However, due to its slow pace and some complicated social structure, it may not be best suited for kids, but I think teenagers or older might enjoy it.

If you want an animated look at the Victorian era, this is a good choice. If you want a sweet, realistic romance, this is a good one to check out. If you just want something that's different from most anime, this is a good recommendation.

Emma: A Victorian Romance: 8/10
Emma: A Victorian Romance Second Act: 9/10

Music: Whitney Houston
Beverage: Fruit Water Black Raspberry