Review by DreadAle

Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is a horror/romance OVA stretching 3 episodes of 40 minutes length. As the title hints with its sophisticated associations, in comparison to the average anime title at least, this is by no means your average anime. The (visual) character design is done by the same guy who did Naruto’s, which must mean he has some talent, as I would never have guessed that was the case.

The story and the theme makes it easier to compare Le Portrait de Petit Cossette to European romance works like The count of Monte Cristo or even Shakespeare, than any anime – it’s too classical, too thoroughly romantic and too unique. Indeed it is the presentation alone which nails this thoroughly to the moniker of anime. I am very reluctant in even giving the slightest of hints about the story, even though I wouldn’t really recommend Cossette to anyone based on the story. As I mentioned, the story is romantic and quite classical, but it is also sparse and, as I concluded during the third time I watched it before writing this review, it is not equally good all the way through.

As it was the case with the story, the characters also do not carry a lot of weight for the anime – after all, we are talking about 2 hours of anime here, which is hardly a lot to build characters in. The protagonist as well as every other significant character in the anime act like your default human being most of the time, which makes for some very modest interest in them from my part — I have trouble remembering all but two names only 30 minutes from watching the show.

The sound and the visuals are the real reason to watch Le Portrait de Petit Cossette. The artistic and nearly always somehow symbolical imagery and the atmospheric and extremely well utilized sound makes for a unique experience. The musical theme is excellent and very reminiscent of .Hack//SiGN at times– a kind of eerie and intimate ambience – although there are more dark and creepy undertones embedded here than in .Hack. The result of all this is to my mind akin to having a modestly good story told to you by a genius storyteller – the experience of how the story is told becomes more important than the story itself.

Comparing Cossette to some of what I consider the hallmarks of anime – Ghost in the Shell, Neon Genesis Evangelion or .Hack//SiGN – it is clear that Cossettes rough edges are too many, although the show it reminds me the strongest of is .hack//SiGN. In reality Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is 2 hours of intimate, gripping storytelling that anyone with a shred of interest in romantic or well presented anime should give a shot.