this show was an artform, in and of itself. the way it showed these scenes of deep meaning and dark nature with such simplicity- from Haoren's repeated assaults as a part of a prostitute agency to Maya's suicide- not a single scene was shown to be exaggerated nor normalised. it was shown as the characters' perceived it- horrifying but with no luxury to linger.
i have such deep respect for both the actors of Chihiro and Haoren. their performance was, hands down, one of the best acting performances there have ever existed. the amount of grace, light heartedness, breeze, depth, angst, longing, confusion and brutality they display in the span of 8 very short episodes is exemplary to say the least.
2 more things that i loved about this show are the color coding and the music.
the color coding is done with such care for the characters- chihiro's transition from brights to neutrals to semi darks and then brights again shows how he is never lost at hope. how he may not know anything except that there is still hope. on the other hand, haoren's dark normalcy taking a break after he returns from jail- a sign that for the first time in his life, he can hope for a better sunrise tomorrow, such such beauty. he returns to his dark colors when he revists what he thinks is his past- chihiro. a past that only had one light, a light that only chihiro could be. i believe that in their life from beyond where we saw is them existing bright and each others'.
now coming to the music- it is eery, it is indie, it is slightly up-beat, it bleeds from normalcy to brutality with ease and no wonder. it doesn't intensify to add value to the scene because this is their life, this is their horrifying reality and they dont get to change their music. it is so painful, it is so beautiful. thank you to the creatives behind this show- you have made a masterpiece of a lifetime.