Anime Tales of the Abyss

[Sangome]

[SIZE="1"]This thread is going to be covering the Tales of the Abyss [b]anime[/b], therefore, the discussion should be anime related. If you want to compare the anime to the game and note any changes, this is fine, but asking stuff like "I DUNNO HOW TO GET INDIGNATION" or "HOW DO I SHOT WEB" needs to go into some sort of Tales thread in the Arcade. Comprende?

Anyways, now that my disclaimer is outta the way...

Tales of the Abyss is the anime adaptation of the Namco game of the same name. The game [and consequently, the anime] follows Luke fon Fabre, a spoiled brat that lived a sheltered life [he was not allowed to leave his home due to an abduction seven years prior]. Then one day, while sparring with his mentor, Van Grants, a young woman named Tear appears and clashes with Van. In an attempt to break up the fight, Luke intervenes, but causes a "hyperrsonance" , teleporting Luke and Tear to the outside world. Now left to get Luke back to his home city of Baticul, Luke and Tear begin their journey, but it doesn't take long for them to get severely side tracked...

When I first heard the rumor of a TotA anime, I squealed, but was apprehensive. When I heard it was legit, I nearly peed myself from happiness. TotA is one of my favorite games ever, and seeing everyone animated fully [outside of the few cutscenes we got in the game] was more than welcome. Keeping Karma as the OP was a smart move, and the ending theme is quite lovely.

I'm currently on episode two, eagerly awaiting episode three, and so far, it's been pretty faithful to its original source material, outside of [spoiler]Natalia appearing right from the get-go[/spoiler] [spoilers, for safety]. Anyone else keeping track of it?[/SIZE]

[Meggido]

I actually love the tales games to bits, and go out of my way to check out the related anime. I loved the short anime adaptations of Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia and so far Tales of the Abyss is no different. I'm also playing the game currently and it's amazing how accurately portrayed it is in the anime. Even the short symphonia one (god may we please get a sequel) had to change stuff around to fit it's short time span.

[Sangome]

[quote name='Meggido']Even the short symphonia one (god may we please get a sequel) had to change stuff around to fit it's short time span.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]You'll be pleased to know that four more episodes have been greenlit.

[url]http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-09-24/tales-of-symphonia-anime-sequel-project-green-lit[/url][/SIZE]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]You know what? This needs a thread. It's not a game adaptation anymore, it's got enough else going on that it warrants discussion even though at least half the people watching already know what's up.

Before we begin, I think this is how we should handle spoilers: Episodes that have aired require no tags. I warned in the title, so boo to you if you come crying to me about it. However, I think it is fair that anything that hasn't happened in the anime yet be tagged. That way we can all enjoy the thread however the heck much we want. Think of the game as weekly chapter spoilers.[/font]

[color=#4B0082][size=1]But then anyone who hasn't been following the series from the start is screwed. So, spoiler tags added. - [i]Desbreko[/i][/size][/color]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Anyway, Let's see. What can I say about TotA? Besides the fact that the previous sentence rhymed? Plenty, but I'll try to cut it short. Tales of the Abyss is the story of Luke fon Fabre, a shut-in aristocrat with an ego the size of Mercury and an attitude that is appropriately disgusting, and his band of merry-making world savers. The first few episodes are basically boy meets girl; girl attempts to assassinate boy's sword instructor; boy and girl get warped halfway across the globe after creating a hyperresonance (is that what they're calling it nowadays? dur hur,) boy and girl meet boy who looks like girl; and boy, girl and hermaphrodite priest go on a wildlife rescue only to be arrested by a snarky, cynical military officer and recruited into a secret peacemaking operation.

Simple stuff.

After that, the real fun begins.

As of episode 19, things are really starting to pick up again. [spoiler]Ion has died[/spoiler], leaving only a cryptic Score verse and the cure to [spoiler]Tear's Seventh Fonon contamination[/spoiler]. Anise is [spoiler]revealed to be a spy for Mohs, but only did it because her parents were being threatened and is now forced to deal with having the blood of her beloved superior and friend on her hands[/spoiler]. Luke tries to console her, and meanwhile Van is still presumably [spoiler]running around screwing with everyone's crap. Even though he's dead(?)[/spoiler]. Also, [spoiler]replicas of familiar faces are popping up and the Planet Storm is getting stronger[/spoiler].

I'll call it a bit rushed, just because they didn't have to go pick up Jade and Guy like in the game. This took away a chance at some Emperor Peony epicness, but ultimately managed to make the story flow better anyway. No real complaints here. One thing I'm looking forward to based on the previews is more backstory for Arietta, which will apparently detail her relationship with [spoiler]the original[/spoiler] Fon Master Ion. That was not present in the game, folks. Count yerselves lucky.

On that note, however, I did find myself wondering exactly how much Arietta knew about the Fon Master situation. It was revealed earlier that she didn't know [spoiler]the current Ion was a replica[/spoiler], but I'm wondering if she knew about Sync. It seems like most of the God-Generals would at least be allowed to know anything suspect about each other, in case of betrayal (yeah yeah, hasn't stopped Dist.) It seems like his existence could have easily been written off as [spoiler]a "backup copy" or an experiment on how powerful a replica can be[/spoiler]. No need to reveal that [spoiler]the original is dead[/spoiler].

Lastly, my thoughts on Anise. A lot of people seem to hate her for the events around this section of the story. Personally, I think her actions fit. She's been in this situation since she was five or six years old, I'd say, which means she's spent the last seven years of her life watching out for her gullible parents and [spoiler]keeping Mohs happy[/spoiler]. On top of that, she's currently 13 years old, which is still way too young to deal with this kind of thing, and she's shown that she genuinely regrets all of it, especially the [spoiler]death of Ion[/spoiler]. Seems to me like she's got at least a little more justification for being how she is than Luke did for being a general pain in the tuccas for the entire first part.

Then again, I may be a bit biased. I play as her a lot in the game, see. She's epic win on the battlefield, gameplay-wise.[/FONT]

[Sangome]

[SIZE="1"]Don't mean to rain on your parade, Ace, buuut... [U][URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=59671"]I'll just leave this here...[/URL][/U] [Perhaps someone can merge?]

Anyway, Anise gets the short end of the stick far too much. I genuinely don't see WHY so many people hate her -- she's always been my favorite female. As you said, her actions are justified, and in a series in which pretty much EVERYONE has something to hide or is effed up in the head, it's wrong to persecute one without persecuting everyone else. [Except for Luke. But I'll leave it at that for now :P].[/SIZE]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[quote name='Sangome'][SIZE="1"]Don't mean to rain on your parade, Ace, buuut... [U][URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=59671"]I'll just leave this here...[/URL][/U] [Perhaps someone can merge?][/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Ah, crap. Yeah, merge please.

No idea why I didn't bother to check. Usually I would.[/FONT]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="DarkGreen"][FONT="Tahoma"][quote name='Ace][FONT="Comic Sans MS"']Before we begin, I think this is how we should handle spoilers: Episodes that have aired require no tags. I warned in the title, so boo to you if you come crying to me about it. However, I think it is fair that anything that hasn't happened in the anime yet be tagged. That way we can all enjoy the thread however the heck much we want. Think of the game as weekly chapter spoilers.[/FONT][/quote]I'm going to ask about that because right now... the policy is to use spoilers. There are a few exceptions, but until I hear other wise... Use those tags!

[I]*shoots Ace*[/I][QUOTE=Ace][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Ah, crap. Yeah, merge please.

No idea why I didn't bother to check. Usually I would.[/FONT][/QUOTE]Well it is in the thread directory... at least it is now that I just added it after merging the threads together. >_> Still a search would have brought it up so... I'm [I]soooo[/I] justified in shooting you. =P[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Magus]

Oh dear, putting up with the torture that is Luke again, haha. Actually, it's been pretty decent so far, even though I've only made it to episode 5. I'm really surprised at the rate it's going.

It's been a while since I've played the game, so I don't remember the events too much. But I don't remember[spoiler]Van traveling with Luke and gang[/spoiler] so early. In some ways I do want to say I remember, but I can't really place him there at the moment. [spoiler]I remember him being on the ship, but I don't recall him blasting Dist away.[/spoiler]

The fighting sorta reminds me of Scrapped Princess's fighting. Nice and fluid, but too short for me to be all that satisfied.

One things for certain though. Seeing this kind of makes me want to play the game again. (too bad I traded it in. heh)