テイルズ オブ ジ アビス

Alright! I’m going to start blogging this anime. I can say right away that this won’t be mere reports of what happened, because I have played the full game and remember most of it by heart (I’m a huge fan of it.)

I’m going to do my best to point out similarities and differences between the game and the anime, which hopefully will make this a bit more of an interesting read.

This post will be split up into two segments as it will contain two episodes. I haven’t seen episode 3 just yet (I’ll be quicker next week ^^; ) so it’ll be in a new post~

Episode 1

First of all, I have to comment on the Intro video:

I’m really glad they’re using Karma again because that song definitely can’t be played too much. It seems to me like they’re giving homage to a few too many big spoilers in it, but that might just be because I already know what’s going to happen. It definitely wouldn’t have hurt for them to use more of the Game OP for inspiration though. They even cut out the awesome bridge fight =<

Oh and the lyrics? They basically spoil the outcome of the entire game ^^ I advise you to not analyze them too deeply ;P

Moving on to the episode itself, I must say I’m happily surprised. My main gripe is the art-style, but that’s just because the game itself contained anime-cutscenes with a slimmer character-style. It feels kinda odd to see them like this (especially since Tear looks a bit more manly than I’m used to.)

Anyway, the episode itself is all great. They summarized the basics of Luke’s past and the Order of Lorelei pretty well, though it definitely appeared more awkward than the game. They had to squeeze in twenty minutes of explanation into a few minutes though, so I don’t blame them.

"We have all been aware of this for seven years, but I’m going to mention your kidnapping and lost memories one more time just in case anyone of us forget it. It’s not like we have been feeling bad about it for all these years or anything." - Uhh…Yeah. It could have been worse though. They could have used a narrator for it, thus leaving poor Luke in the dark~

The most notable change from the game’s turn of events is Luke’s trip into the forest on the mansion grounds. In the game that didn’t happen, Natalia wasn’t introduced and Luke’s headache came when he was going to leave his room in the morning. Guy showed up right after that too.

All in all though, I feel they managed to capture the game pretty well. It definitely made me anticipate the next episode.

What’s on my mind: I wonder if they’re going to do away with the scene in the game where Guy’s girl-phobia was revealed. I hope they don’t, because it’s a pretty cute scene :3

Episode 2

Moving on to episode two then. I must say I appreciate the way they transfer into the Opening. Those first few seconds of the game OP were almost annoyingly pointless xD

Ahem, time to talk about the episode then.

Again, they’re doing a good job of telling the story. Most notable is that they’re properly conveying the most important part: Luke is a spoiled asshole. You remember how he talked about getting his shoes dirty? He really meant it, ok? More on this in future episodes.

The biggest differences between the game and the anime are, well…It’s almost entirely the same. Sure, you walked around a bit in Engave and sure, Jade joined you in that fight utilizing his full arsenal of spells rather than using Indignation. Those are only really minor things though. I really hope many more episodes are going to be like this, because then this would easily get on my top list of anime (The game is competing for the title of my favorite game after all.)

I only wonder why they had to give Mieu those eyes. God, those horrible eyes. THEY HAUNT MY NIGHTMARES AT NIGHT! (Because yes, one clearly does not dream nightmares during the day. That would be a daymare or something…I wonder if that would be a good word to describe 4-hour classes?)

We got to see a little bit more of the action here too and it’s looking good. I’m very glad they kept in the over-the-top jumping ability and power that Luke possess. They had better include the meaning of birth fight in this game and it better cover the entire song ;P More on that sometime around episode 22 or 23.

What’s on my mind: OH GOD, THE EYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

 …At least the "mieu mieu!"-spam was in there…