(L) Tears to Tiara (TV anime)

[Kaoru Chujo]

This is not a genre I normally follow, but I thought ep1 was enjoyable. The look and storyboarding were decent, at least to someone with no preconceptions. The illogicalities were normal for these situations. And the emotional effects worked on me.

I liked hearing Gotou Yuuko (Rhiannon) do this voice and this character. (Here is why I like the spelling with "rh.")

The director did Utawarerumono, which seems a fit. The writer (Douko Machida) did comedies Lucky Star and Ramen Fighter Miki, which were both good, but a whole different thing; and she did Allison and Lillia, which may be a closer fit, but which I found disappointing.

Spoiler for ep1:

Cliffhanger, much? This may be the most classic cliffhanger I can remember.

[xizro345]

The official spelling is "Riannon" (source: official artbook packaged with the PS3 game). It may related to that (and certainly is, given the copious Arthurian references as well), but that's the spelling chosen by Aquaplus.

[Ashlotte]

Not much to say seeing as I've played the games before...Wonder if its gonna be a straight up translation or will get thrown a few curveballs.

Guess the only real thing to objectively comment on is technical and I'd say the first episode was pretty ace in that regard.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by xizro345

The official spelling is "Riannon" (source: official artbook packaged with the PS3 game). It may related to that (and certainly is, given the copious Arthurian references as well), but that's the spelling chosen by Aquaplus.

Yes, of course you're right, and I'll try to stick with their spelling in future. But I still "like" the other spelling, lol. The spelling they've chosen just seems too Engrish to me, as if someone spelled "Arthur" as "Arther."

[Xellos-_^]

since there is no game thread i am going to ask here

i am in albion island, what am i suppose to be doing right now?

[izmosmolnar]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

since there is no game thread i am going to ask here

i am in albion island, what am i suppose to be doing right now?

Spoiler for gamespoiler:

If we are talking about the PC version, and if I remember correctly, at the first time the map appears, you have to go to hunt crabs with everyone on the beach, followed by the "*something* plains" (it's possible you have to go back to town once more before that).
There used to be a huge " ! " over the icon of those areas, where the plot would advance (it's advantageous to beef up a few level before visiting them though, but that of course depends on the choosen difficulty).

[LKK]

Wow. Now that's the way to start a series. If they can deliver on what they promised in episode 1, then I'm definitely going to stick with this show. Color me very pleased.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

since there is no game thread i am going to ask here

i am in albion island, what am i suppose to be doing right now?

The game is a rather old school adventure style in this regard of gameplay. Essentially "pick all options that look new" is the solution usually, sometimes you'll need to talk to certain NPC, or get "War council" or similar option in the capital to progress the main plot.

It's fairly intuitive with the exclamation mark pointing you in the direction of the zone you need to go to next most of the time though. In case of first visit to capitol, after you're done with the capture, you need to go to the beach for crab hunting.

Originally Posted by xizro345

That's because Sony doesn't allow H Games. And I'm glad they did it like that, I wouldn't have even dreamed of playing the game if it were for the PC version alone. Save some minor differences I'd say we're going the PS3 route for the anime, which has some different story elements.

You missed the point by a mile here. The actual hint to her sexual preferences is her tied-up state - which is clearly present in PS3 version despite the lack of pornographic content in general. The food was actually the mischievous comic relief part of setting the atmosphere. And that's what is clearly missing in PS3 version.

It's as if PS3 version is trying to compensate for the lack of the actual pornography by making some suggestive scenes more "harsh", putting a whole lot more emphasis on sex then PC version did for non-pornographic scenes. They're doing this not by making the scene more pornographic per se, but by reducing the amount of non-sexual references in them to ramp up the contrast. And imho it loses some rather important parts of atmosphere (and by extension the awesome if slight over-the-top humor that was present in the PC version) by doing so.

Though I can understand why. Sex parts really were rather important to TtT's atmosphere, and if you take them out completely, you're going to have to emphasize the "behind the scenes" sex in much stronger ways.


But that's just me. I could be over-analyzing it.

[itisjustme]

Just seen the first episode. Um... I liked the art and designs, very clean. Animation was decent, they took shortcuts for fights but then again I wasn't expecting I.G. fighting sequences so. First half was rather low energy for what it was, but the directing in the second half added good dramatic intensity.

Now the bad: the dialogue, ugh. I'm guessing it'll never reach poetic heights but come on, I hate it when they use unrealistic dialogue for sole expository purposes. "Oh you're the oracle priestess of blah, you are the successor of blah, you have the blood of blah elf king, blah blah blah, oh and by the way two centuries ago the demon king yada yada yada" Seriously, does she looks like she needs to be told who she is? Speaking of which, exposition in the first ten minutes? Double ugh.

I'll be following this though if they inject some life in the dialogue, if only because I like the fantasy genre, even if stereotypical. Hopefully the plot and characterization will be up to scratch.

Does anyone have a clue how long this will be by the way? A bit wary of all the 13 episodes (or less, coughmuntocough) money making stuff with not enough substance now.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by golthin

yeah, really what was that girl thinking. She was going to give her life to save the world , but she is going to destroy the world to save to kids for a while. I guess that she believes that as long as there is life there is hope.

She's probably the type that's too afraid to see people die in front of her.
I was amazed by the first episode. It was really interesting, and it seemed short when it was over because I was so entranced watching it. It was also interesting that the main character didn't mind killing other people, which obviously is something different from other anime.

Wow, I can't believe I'm praising something this much. This is an interesting season.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

She's probably the type that's too afraid to see people die in front of her.
I was amazed by the first episode. It was really interesting, and it seemed short when it was over because I was so entranced watching it. It was also interesting that the main character didn't mind killing other people, which obviously is something different from other anime.

Wow, I can't believe I'm praising something this much. This is an interesting season.

Well that's probably how it is. A bit easier to condemn yourself to death than to condemn a couple of kids to a brutal killing infront of you. Besides if she was that resolute about dying herself she would have done it and not try to threaten the guy with it. Think she was pulling for the scenario by which he gives up and goes home .

Gotta give the Arthur guy credit. Guy was just taking out soldiers in a mad dash to help his sister out. Of course he didn't quite make it, but its not like he didn't try.

[xizro345]

Originally Posted by Lucky

You missed the point by a mile here. The actual hint to her sexual preferences is her tied-up state - which is clearly present in PS3 version despite the lack of pornographic content in general.

Actually, that makes no sense, and I'm glad they toned that down. I don't like H games in general. And I don't think the PS3 version suffers from that. And I highly doubt the "sex themes" were an important part of the plot. Nevertheless, the anime is based on the PS3 version, so the PC version comparisons are kind out of the place.

[Thinker]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I liked hearing Gotou Yuuko (Rhiannon) do this voice and this character. (Here is why I like the spelling with "rh.")

Haha, another purist.

The original Japanese games left out the "h" in Rhiannon, so nothing much anyone else can do about it. Wondering how Animax is going to handle names like Tir na nOg later on.

Looks like they've fixed the subtitles in hong kong now.

[ZODDGUTS]

Thought the first episode was good enough for me want to see the next episode. The animation wasn't bad at all much better then I expected for a series like this to have.

[Thinker]

Originally Posted by alu546

Lyrr (sp?) and Octavia, glad to see you girls animated.

Lyrr = <3 1a
Octavia = <3 1b

oh and im glad girl-whose-name-maybe-a-spoiler-i-forgot is getting alot of screentime in the opening and ending, since she can be considered the beginning of everything in the story, and they didnt show her alot in the game atleast.

Does anyone know if Lyrr underwent a personality change from PC to PS3 versions, Id hate to see a different her in the anime.

Llyr, actually. There's a preview of the anime after you clear the PS3 game, so I suspect the anime will follow the PS3 version for characters and game.

Can't imagine them dropping her famous "woe is me!" line. :P

[Thinker]

Originally Posted by ZODDGUTS

Thought the first episode was good enough for me want to see the next episode. The animation wasn't bad at all much better then I expected for a series like this to have.

The opening was higher than a lot of other titles I've seen.

[Oxtail]

Why did they have to use the stupidest plot device ever? OK, I'll help you unleash ultimate evil into this world if you let those 2 kids go! And of course the villain who was going to set the whole village on fire in the first place does let them go. I always find this device so cheap and thoughtless.

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Oxtail

Why did they have to use the stupidest plot device ever? OK, I'll help you unleash ultimate evil into this world if you let those 2 kids go! And of course the villain who was going to set the whole village on fire in the first place does let them go. I always find this device so cheap and thoughtless.

He didn't care about the village, nor the kids. I think it was pretty clear he was after the oracle priestess, even if he didn't know first hand how she looked. If she falls in his hands regardless, why would he waste time burning the village or eating babies (Which were just means to an end) - he has an agenda to fulfill after all

[qmeister]

I was very surprised by ep 1, having watched it on a whim, but it looks to be one of the better shows this season. Reminded me somewhat of Scrapped Princess (which was pretty damn awesome). Looks like there's a fairly large cast of characters, which should be interesting. The fight scenes were well done.

Spoiler for ep 1:

The boar hunting scene near the beginning

also reminded me of Mononoke-hime, but just vaguely.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

It was also interesting that the main character didn't mind killing other people, which obviously is something different from other anime.

*in my horrible imitation of John Stewart doing the whispering*

*psst* he's not the protagonist, the cooler dude is.