(L) Tales of Zestiria the Cross

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Yamada II

The council wants to take care of things before they get out of hand which is why they want custody of the Shepherd.

Nah, they want it to gain more political power. They're obviously corrupted. Why do you think they wanted to kill Alisha? She's probably the only official who isn't corrupted.

[xeviouses]

^In addition the council only sees Sorey as a weapon in the war, to Alisha he's the savior she's been hoping for.

[Triple_R]

One thing I definitely wouldn't count on with a "Tales of" story is moral complexity. Based on my experiences with a couple of the older games, they tend to paint in pretty broad strokes and not with a great deal of subtlety.

I doubt it's different here - The Council is corrupt, and Alisha's hardcore pacifism will continue to be shown in an entirely positive light, chances are.

I kinda wish it was a little more morally ambiguous, because there are decent arguments that could be made against Alisha's pacifism, but the "Tales of" series just isn't the place to provide this sort of moral ambiguity. Don't get me wrong, I like Alisha a lot and I think she's a very good and endearing character, but there is a certain idealism to her pacifism that I would like to see challenged by someone with decent moral authority to challenge it.


Anyway, Episode 5 did a good job of pushing the plot forward, and further developing interpersonal character relationships. Very good cliffhanger as well.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I kinda wish it was a little more morally ambiguous, because there are decent arguments that could be made against Alisha's pacifism, but the "Tales of" series just isn't the place to provide this sort of moral ambiguity. Don't get me wrong, I like Alisha a lot and I think she's a very good and endearing character, but there is a certain idealism to her pacifism that I would like to see challenged by someone with decent moral authority to challenge it.

Trying to provide some moral ambiguity to Alisha's pacifism would run the risk of validating the assassination attempt on her. I don't think that would fit this series.

So in this particular case, I think Alisha is fine as a symbol of goodness in an otherwise pretty fucked up world, if all this malevolence going around is any indication.

[Alf]

The political landscape doesn't indicate a lot moral ambiguity as well, so perhaps the story will be having more clear cut approach. On the other hand, it seems Sorey's trial as the Shepherd will involve a lot of focus on the morally difficult decisions. If we take the crossover with Berseria into consideration that Velvet is clearly revenge driven, against perhaps the Shepherd of the time, that would provide some moral ambiguity. Perhaps we'll learn more next week.

Sorey's quest to find his own answer is giving the story a better direction than just to fight his way out. This reminds me of the game that introduced morality into the RPG genre - Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, which involve karma system, quests of particular virtues to give the player character growth both in strength and as the Avatar, and grant access to the last dungeon. Zestiria anime sounds somewhat similar right now, as Sorey's need to grow as a Shepherd doesn't sounds like simple powerup. Perhaps we can expect some quests that involves maturity as a Shepherd rather than just fighting......

Well, that's just my wishful thinking It's good to see it spent an entire episode to present the direction of the story: A faint hope of having a world where Seraphs and human lives together, by travelling to ruins around the world to grow as the Shepherd; and finally confront the Lord of Calamity. Though structure-wise it might be a bit slow to show direction in episode 4(and techically the 5th episode).

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

One thing I definitely wouldn't count on with a "Tales of" story is moral complexity. Based on my experiences with a couple of the older games, they tend to paint in pretty broad strokes and not with a great deal of subtlety.

I doubt it's different here - The Council is corrupt, and Alisha's hardcore pacifism will continue to be shown in an entirely positive light, chances are.

I kinda wish it was a little more morally ambiguous, because there are decent arguments that could be made against Alisha's pacifism, but the "Tales of" series just isn't the place to provide this sort of moral ambiguity. Don't get me wrong, I like Alisha a lot and I think she's a very good and endearing character, but there is a certain idealism to her pacifism that I would like to see challenged by someone with decent moral authority to challenge it.


Anyway, Episode 5 did a good job of pushing the plot forward, and further developing interpersonal character relationships. Very good cliffhanger as well.

Well, war breeds unhappiness in large quantities, which itself generates malevolence, which creates invisible monsters powerful enough to create tornadoes and earthquake, and evil enough to aim them at population centers. You'd think pacifism would be a matter of simple practicality.

Besides, Alisha isn't completely pacifistic. She's a knight, she'll fight if she has to. She'd just like to try diplomacy first.

[Harbinger]

The Council: War is a tool to replenish their resource. Stealing from your enemies is totally okay.

Alisha: War is a last resort tool. Pillaging your enemies is not okay. War must be avoided.

Council = Your typical evil politician throwing away lives for their own ambition.
Alisha = Her downfall is the non-aggressive defense. I understand that you don't want war, but waiting for your enemy to strike first is a bit crazy too. Your territory must be protected.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Well, war breeds unhappiness in large quantities, which itself generates malevolence, which creates invisible monsters powerful enough to create tornadoes and earthquake, and evil enough to aim them at population centers. You'd think pacifism would be a matter of simple practicality.

Besides, Alisha isn't completely pacifistic. She's a knight, she'll fight if she has to. She'd just like to try diplomacy first.

The speech Alisha gave in Episode 4 could have been more reassuring. It's good for her to take the stance of "we won't start any wars", but she could have also stressed that any unprovoked attack against her people will not go unpunished and that she does not take lightly her responsibility for her people's safety.

It should be noted that the gathered crowd, and not just the Council, appeared dissatisfied with Alisha's Episode 4 speech. And it was hinted that this dissatisfaction itself was generating malevolence.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

It should be noted that the gathered crowd, and not just the Council, appeared dissatisfied with Alisha's Episode 4 speech. And it was hinted that this dissatisfaction itself was generating malevolence.

Not really dissatisfied. Just confused and afraid, which is normal because not matter her stand, Alisha is acknowledging the political situation is frail and a war is a possibility. That alone would unsettle anyone.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

The speech Alisha gave in Episode 4 could have been more reassuring. It's good for her to take the stance of "we won't start any wars", but she could have also stressed that any unprovoked attack against her people will not go unpunished and that she does not take lightly her responsibility for her people's safety.

It should be noted that the gathered crowd, and not just the Council, appeared dissatisfied with Alisha's Episode 4 speech. And it was hinted that this dissatisfaction itself was generating malevolence.

Well, there are arguments against her political efficiency (or lack thereof), but her moral stance of treating war as a last resort? That's pretty unassailable.

[refrain]

Episode 5&6 spoiler images

Spoiler for Episode 5&6:

[Haruyasha]

If only the game was even a quarter as good as this anime..

Maybe when they stop using RPG Maker 3 on the PS2 to develop their games.

[ninjastarforcex]

that flat chest mage is just too sexy for some reason

[Shinji103]

Originally Posted by ninjastarforcex

that flat chest mage is just too sexy for some reason

My thoughts exactly. Velvet is dang hawt, but I just love characters like Magilou. These two Berseria episodes could be the best of the whole series, depending on how later episodes of the Zestiria side play out.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by ninjastarforcex

that flat chest mage is just too sexy for some reason

Not as hot as the kind of gothish-looking seraphim(?) that was playing around in the storm in episode 0. Rowr...

[Stark700]

This week...

I gotta say, this was one hell of an episode.

Velvet...making her debut in Tales of Zestiria the X? Nice. I like how tough she is especially with her goal to defeat Arturious. It's really interesting to see her also team up with that other prison breaker and Seres. The animation and soundtrack were really great thanks to ufotable. This episode honestly felt like watching a mini movie tbh.

[Diluc]

I don't understand why Ufotable changed the op to Zestiria game op in this episode
really, one hell episode. It's hard to comprehend the whole story because seem Ufotable just screened the important part rather description part,i wonder what Beseria relation to Zestiria will be later.
will our heroines will meet our heroes in the future

[xeviouses]

As interesting as this episode is about Velvet and her party, I really prefer if we get closure to that cliffhanger last week.

[Jaden]

Haha, the people who are just watching the anime without any context are gonna be hella confused by this episode. I'm not complaining though, that was some good hype for the next game. Too bad the western release will be in 2017.

[Maverick05]

I agree I am confused. Great Episode eventhough I feel I am watching a different series.