Cinnamon Ass - Reborn Like a Zombie

Emma Episode 2 - Two Worlds

William meets Emma in town again, but his overeager attempts to impress her with presents seem too much - it doesn't stop her thinking about him, though. When he heads home, his siblings return from a visit to Lyme Regis, and his father berates him for turning down all the ladies who admire him. That night, William is forced to stand on ceremony at a party, where he dances with the bashful Eleanor Campbell. A misunderstanding involving Eleanor and an umbrella momentarily places another wedge between Emma and William, but everything is eventually set right.

While this episode is anime-only filler, it's rather nicely executed to give us an effective contrast between the "two worlds" of the title - while of course it's fairly obvious that William and Emma are from completely different backgrounds, it was still nicely stated here.

I think my fears about Emma becoming too "boring" are probably unfounded. In an episode where very little actually happened, the strength of character and attention to detail really makes the show worthwhile - while I have (as suspected) seen criticisms of Emma as being too boring and banal, the dialogue really captures the air of a costume drama, and the splashes of humour are most welcome and much more dry and, well, British than most anime. There's definitely been a decent amount of research into London and the period done for this anime - not only is there a distinct lack of Engrish, but even (relatively small) details, like William taking off his hat to greet people or the chimes of Big Ben, are paid attention. Plus you have to love the stray cat that keeps pestering Emma.

I'm definitely enjoying Emma a lot at this point, and next episode looks even better, with the rather implausible arrival of elephants in London! Looks like I've got another series I'll be keeping a close eye on here.