Eiri is a budding young artist who works in an antique shop in his spare time. Now one particular item in the shop calls out to him -- an elegant Venetian
goblet on which he sees images of a pretty blonde girl.
Eiri later finds out that she is Cossette d'Auvergne, the daughter of a
wealthy French family from more than two centuries ago.
Scenes from Cossette's life keep playing out before Eiri's eyes, up to the
time she is murdered by her lover.
Soon Eiri becomes obsessed with Cossette... but Cossette will never truly be
free unless someone sacrifices his life for her.
Review: Cossette no Shouzou
I was intrigued by Cossette no Shouzou. The cover artwork was striking, the
description interesting, and best of all of the episodes are on a single DVD.
It was a winning combination, or so it seemed.
Cossette no Shouzou actually has a very simple plot. A young man named Eiri is haunted by images of a prepubescent blonde girl who
by all merits is a full-fledged gothic lolita. Her name is Cossette, and Eiri sees her every time he looks at an antique
Venetian goblet.
The line between what's real and what's imagined blurs from here on, since
Eiri can now be seen in the same room with Cossette, holding conversations
with her as if she were just the girl next door.
After much riddling talk and baffling imagery, we find out that Eiri is sort
of like the reincarnation of Marcelo -- a talented artist who was both
Cossette's lover and murderer. Cossette wants revenge and redemption, and Eiri is prepared to suffer through
anything for her sake.
What I despised about Cossette no Shouzou was its excruciatingly slow pace and
messed-up storytelling style.
Short of slapping myself, I really had to struggle to stay awake in order to
finish an episode. It took me more than two weeks to watch all three episodes
because it was so tedious.
I would later find out that Cossette no Shouzou is from the people who created
The Soultaker, which is quite possibly one of the most torturously presented
anime series of all time. Soultaker's exaggerated use of shadows, shapes, colors, and religious
symbolisms are evident in Cossette.
Thank goodness though that Cossette is somewhat easier to understand, albeit
you can count on the Soultaker people to make it as convoluted as possible
just so we all have a hell of a time making sense of what happened.
The art and animation are superb. Character designs are perfect, and I really liked the attention paid to detail
in terms of the settings.
The alley wherein the antique shop is located seemed so real that I could've
sworn I passed by such a place when I was in Tokyo.
The music also enhanced the series' overall ambience nicely. The English dubbing is excellent to boot.
Even after all the negative points I brought up regarding Cossette no Shouzou,
I still feel rather regretful about giving it a lower-than-average rating.
The series' premise was outright intriguing, and the characters had enough
substance to make you want to know what was going to happen to them next.
Perhaps if the project was given to another group instead of the Soultaker
staff, perhaps we'd have a more evenly paced, down-to-earth, and
comprehensible piece that's easier to appreciate. I just hate anime that try too hard to be profound.
Miscellanies: Cossette no Shouzou
Cossette no Shouzou is made up of three episodes.
Cossette no Shouzou (Le Portrait de Petit Cossette) | |
| Genre | Drama, Horror, Romance, Supernatural |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 3 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | Aniplex, Studio Hibari |
| Producers | Bandai |
| Studio | Daume |
| Rating | R - 17+ (violence & profanity) |
| Themes | Gore, Psychological, Visual Arts |
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