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EP. REVIEW: Tales of Zestiria the X


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:13 pm Reply with quote
I definitely agree about the visual front as the production quality looks gorgeous, as expected of ufotable. So far, the second and third episodes are very similar to the OVA special while the first episode seems to be a way to set up the story.

Haven't played the game myself yet and I heard the series will follow an anime original route.
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Cetais



Joined: 02 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:47 pm Reply with quote
According to the official numbering, it's episode 0 to 2.
It seems even Sorey's voice actor have trouble with the numbering.
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Alkeia



Joined: 08 Nov 2010
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:47 pm Reply with quote
Small correction, the word they use is 憑魔 "hyouma" in Japanese, not "yoma" which is a specific type of demon. Hyouma doesn't really mean anything, but the two kanji mean "posession" and "demon/evil spirit" on their own.
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Tenebrae



Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 485
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:33 pm Reply with quote
Stark700 wrote:
Haven't played the game myself yet and I heard the series will follow an anime original route.

Well I finished the game recently. So far, episodes 1 and 2 have hit all the major points of the game's plot, except that spoiler[Mason didn't survive the hellion attack]. Episode 0 is an anime-original prequel with persons and places not seen or mentioned in the game.

If they're going another route, that might mean (GAME SPOILERS) spoiler[Alisha stays in Sorey's party instead of going back to full NPC, or perhaps Sorey will not be assumed dead by his friends after they defeat the Lord of Calamity. Edit - or perhaps it has something to do with Velvet (the MC of next Tales game) being in the OP].
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Sahmbahdeh



Joined: 05 May 2015
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:51 pm Reply with quote
I'm really enjoying this so far. The production is incredibly polished, the character designs are attractive, and the characters are already endearing. I appreciate the somewhat slow start as well, as it gives us time to get a feel for the characters and world, which should help with emotional investment down the road. My only real issue so far is the somewhat heavy handed music, which I find to be excessively triumphant or "epic" at times when it's not really called for. However, even in episode 3 there were signs of improvement on this front, so I have some hopes for the future.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:15 pm Reply with quote
I wouldn't worry too much about the pacing being slow. If anything it'll became pretty fast later on when the dungeon hopping starts. The Tales of the Abyss anime was like that, with characters heading off to a dungeon and in the next scene they're already at the boss fight.
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Key
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:41 pm Reply with quote
Haven't played the game, either, but I've already taken a strong liking to this series and think I'll like it even more once they're beyond the OVA's territory (which should start next episode). For me, the quality of the artistry and what Rebecca says about the character interactions are easily balancing out the not-that-fresh story concept.

With Re: Zero also airing on the same day, looks like Sunday is going to be my premiere day of the week for anime viewing this season.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:52 pm Reply with quote
Zestiria the X is thus far proving to be the best-case scenario for a game adaptation. Episode 0 uses original material to expand on a ton of details that are only ever barely addressed in the game, somehow finding time to squeeze in a couple early cameos that will completely change the tone of key events later on. The switch to a third-person perspective has thus far been used fantastically, letting us see Jiji react to Alicia's intrusion and call down lightning in parallel with the action in the ruins, instead of getting an expositional "Oh, that was me," after the fact. If they keep this up, I might have to recommend this as a starting point for people interested in the game, simply for how much easier it is to process the little details.

Even if the official subs sometimes trip over the jargon. I know how hard translation can be under pressure, but hearing kagoryouiki 加護領域 (protected domain) mistranslated as kagoryouiki 輿領域 ("palanquin route"?) actually had me applauding the expanded world-building of the anime until I listened again and realized, no, they did use that word in the original and it meant something else entirely.
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Clarste



Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:22 pm Reply with quote
For the record, despite all the imagery used, the story is actually deeply grounded in Shinto beliefs, to the point where some people have complained that the game doesn't even make narrative sense without a broad understanding of them. Just think of Seraphim as "kami" in the animistic sense of nature spirits. (I know they're not actually called kami in the dialog, but that's how they play out).

In particular, the concept of Malevolence (kegare) is a very Shinto thing which is dealt with in a perhaps unintuitively Shinto manner.
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Agent355



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 9:57 pm Reply with quote
Tenebrae wrote:
So far, episodes 1 and 2 have hit all the major points of the game's plot, except that spoiler[Mason didn't survive the hellion attack]. Episode 0 is an anime-original prequel with persons and places not seen or mentioned in the game.


I was actually really confused about why they didn't kill off anyone in ep 2, when so many characters were slaughtered in ep 0. Now I'm even more confused. Hey, show, are you child friendly or not?

My main criticism about the show so far is the pacing. I haven't played the game, but they are making it extremely obvious that Sorey is the Shepherd of Legend. Why are they stretching it out? The first half of ep2 was really, really slow. They could have had Sorey choose to go after Alisha by the midpoint.
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redcar



Joined: 04 Jun 2009
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 10:45 pm Reply with quote
Vaisaga wrote:
The Tales of the Abyss anime was like that, with characters heading off to a dungeon and in the next scene they're already at the boss fight.

Hmm...I just really hope they don't gloss over the dungeons too much. I'm fine with the generic ruins being tossed, but the spoiler[shrine music] was the best part of the game and it'd be a crying shame to not get it in the anime somehow.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:13 pm Reply with quote
So far the world-building is working quite well, and the plot moves at a nice pace. Looks like next episode the journey will take the characters to an interesting place.
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Dessa



Joined: 14 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:00 am Reply with quote
redcar wrote:
Hmm...I just really hope they don't gloss over the dungeons too much. I'm fine with the generic ruins being tossed, but the spoiler[shrine music] was the best part of the game and it'd be a crying shame to not get it in the anime somehow.


I've been trying to figure it out, and while I do think that spoiler[the shrines] will be shorter, they should be able to include them, and likely this cour.


Last edited by Dessa on Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Tenebrae



Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 485
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:05 am Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
My main criticism about the show so far is the pacing. I haven't played the game, but they are making it extremely obvious that Sorey is the Shepherd of Legend. Why are they stretching it out?

The show's sticking to the game's pace here. As we've seen by now, Sorey has never been outside the village, and he's never had an aspiration of becoming a hero. They're building towards his decision of becoming a shepherd which is, to paraphrase Lailah's thoughts on it, not something to be made easily or on a whim.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 6:13 am Reply with quote
Alkeia wrote:
Small correction, the word they use is 憑魔 "hyouma" in Japanese, not "yoma" which is a specific type of demon. Hyouma doesn't really mean anything, but the two kanji mean "posession" and "demon/evil spirit" on their own.


Thanks! I should have said "sounds like yoma;" I didn't account for in-world terminology. (Probably that whole not-played-the-game thing.)

@Clarste

I don't doubt that the imagery will be primarily Shinto, but the Arthurian parallels help to make it feel more fantasy than straight-up based on a singular mythology. That's one of the things I love about fantasy, when it's done right. (I still haven't quite gotten over Tamora Pierce and her "Yamani" - just a wholesale importation of Japanese culture into her fantasy world with a slight name change. Confused )
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