This three-episode OVA will be unlike most films you've seen. While it starts out as a normal daily-life conversation between a group of friends, it quickly escalates into a beautiful - and tragic - love story between an 18th-century noble girl, the titular Cossette, and the modern-day art student Eiri. Back in the day, Cossette was killed by a man, Marcello, who loved her, though the man's portraits of her survive to this day. One of these was found by Eiri, kindling in Eiri's heart an obsession with Cossette. Soon he begins to find Cossette in what appears to be an alternative dimension, but Cossette - or whoever it was that created the alternative dimension - had other plans for him.

The strongest point of the OVA is, without a shadow of doubt, its visuals. Other reviews you can find on the Internet, no doubt more informed in art history than I am, go into the art with more detail than I can ever manage, so I will be brief about this. From surrealist scenes like the one with eyes and bones floating all about, to the beautiful nature scenes, to the dream world where Cossette and Eiri were going to stay forever, there is hardly a background isn't masterfully crafted and incredibly pleasing to the eye. Along with the music, which artfully accompanies the visuals by contributing immensely to the mood, the OVA is truly a feast for both the eyes and the ears. Even if you're a fan of the more bombastic sort of horror with blood and guys exploding all over - I am too! - I'm sure you'll won't regret this venture into this more restrained type, where blood slowly seeps out of the protagonist's chest instead.*

Though the art isn't the only place where the OVA shines. It also has a very strong and memorable central message, also closely related to art. Though it was hinted at fairly early in the story, it is not until the plot twist in the third episode that the audience realises its importance. Depending on how you interpret the story, the message was brought about either by the protagonist's character development or by the protagonist's victory against the antagonist.

Because of the often surreal and abstract nature of the OVA, you're almost sure to find some parts baffling or at least ambiguous. If this is not your cup of tea, you may find it pretentious, but personally I enjoyed watching the scenes, trying to decode them, even if I don't always succeed in understanding everything. In any case, though the details may confuse you, the main plot, major characters are central message should be quite transparent to the viewer. Thus, even if you don't always enjoy over-the-top abstract, mind-screwy experiences, I wholeheartedly recommend this series.

*Okay, well, actually, there was a scene where a giant stream of blood gushed out rapidly as well, but details, details :P

IMDB link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493227/