Ef – A Tale of Melodies is the sequel series to Ef – A Tale of Memories.  Much like the previous series this show is made up of two romance stories normally taking up half a show each but towards the end each story gets their own full episode. The first story takes place in the present where Mizuki Hayama is staying in Australia (doesn't say where but from the looks of location it's based in Sydney, New South Wales) and for some reason she decides to go visit her neighbor Shuichi Kuze. Mizuki starts to fall for him but Shuichi has a rare disease and is trying to ward her off so she won't feel bad for him when he passes away. However this doesn't stop Mizuki from trying her best to get together with Shuichi. This portion of the show also follow-up on all the characters that found love in the first season. (Click "Read More" for the rest of the review).

Second story is set in the past back when Yu ( Chihiro Shindou's guardian from season one) was in high school. This origin story shows the lead up to why he was waiting at the church and who he was waiting for.  It all starts when he is re-united with a childhood friend named Yuko who still loves him despite being away for a such a long time.  Yu becomes very protective of Yuko pretty quickly and gets really mad when he finds out she is getting bullied... or so it seems as there's a word going around that something much darker is happening to her and believe me it does get pretty hard to watch and this is coming from someone who watches stuff like "Oldboy" and "Toxic Avenger".  It's nothing gory but you'll see what I mean as I don't want to spoil what it is.

Most the problems I had with the first season (check out the harsh review of season to find out why) are not to be seen in this season. The show is far less boring and tedious but there is still a scene or two that makes you facepalm but is nothing compared to the first season. The characters are really loveable and some of the stuff that they go though is very heavy to the point of shedding tears. However I do find it weird that some episodes play the opening credits fifteen minutes into the show when there is only five minutes left of the show (three if you exclude the closing credits and episode preview).

Very mixed with the art and animation as sometimes it is very beautifully done but other times it looks very average. English dub is pretty good but there are some characters that are done really bad that it will hurt your ears. The music in the first half of the series was weird as it sounded like something you would hear in a cheap hentai but it gets better in the second half of the show.

Special features are pretty basic with text-less opening and closing credit sequences. I still have the same complaints with the maim menu as I did with the first season so you if you want to watch it with the Japanese dub and English subtitles you are best to do it while the episodes are playing. This set also comes with four post-card sized art cards that feature the main characters and are very nice to look at*. Overall this season is a huge improvement over the first one and it's such a pity that you'll have to sit through the first season to get to this masterpiece of a season. I really recommended checking out this season of the show.

*Note: This info is for the Australian release and may not be available in other countries.