Tales of the Abyss generic anime discussion

[SuperKnuckles]

I thought the sounds were a bit too similar to Vesperia's myself. No wonder they used the same BGM. Even some storylines were VERY similar to the conventions Vesperia explored.

I haven't played Abyss yet (waiting until prices reach rock bottom), but I guess I'm spoiling myself silly now.

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

I thought the sounds were a bit too similar to Vesperia's myself. No wonder they used the same BGM. Even some storylines were VERY similar to the conventions Vesperia explored.

I haven't played Abyss yet (waiting until prices reach rock bottom), but I guess I'm spoiling myself silly now.

Tales games, while often exploring different themes as far they claim in what moves the characters to their journeys of self-discovery, (( which is why the taglines that come with each Tales games, like ~To Find Meaning of Birth RPG~ for ToA and ~To Enforce One's Justice RPG~ for TOV. )) share many conventions of how their story and structures are approached.

One famous example is the 'half-way' point for every Tales games, to the point where some say that all Tales games are essentially 2 mini-RPGs in one.

Spoiler for extremely minor spoiler that of the famed theme of Tales for those who never ever heard of Tales before:

And well... racism and the conflict between 2 races being another.

And yes, Abyss and Vesperia share much similarity in how their soundtrack are made. A little bit of laziness on Sakuraba's part though.

[SuperKnuckles]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

Tales games, while often exploring different themes as far they claim in what moves the characters to their journeys of self-discovery, (( which is why the taglines that come with each Tales games, like ~To Find Meaning of Birth RPG~ for ToA and ~To Enforce One's Justice RPG~ for TOV. )) share many conventions of how their story and structures are approached.

Yep. I also noticed that they mix and match character classes, which ones have the long hair and which doesn't, which one is the spoiled brat prince/princess to which ones have the dark past, etc. It's like anime conventions 101. Mix and match!

One famous example is the 'half-way' point for every Tales games, to the point where some say that all Tales games are essentially 2 mini-RPGs in one.

And yes, Abyss and Vesperia share much similarity in how their soundtrack are made. A little bit of laziness on Sakuraba's part though.

I have been hearing about that and since I'm a Tales newbie, I definitely understand what you mean. I got through the 'half' in Vesperia a few days ago.

As for the music, I guess you can't blame the composer. I don't think Sakuraba is really known for variety anyway. Also most of his music tends to be rather tame and sorta forgettable except for the few main pieces. Hell, I'm a major Star Ocean fan and know that to be very true of his works on those games as well (ironic since Star Ocean nowadays plays EXACTLY like Tales games do).

[Bobu44]

@mystearica (this goes back a couple of pages) thanks for your kind words

Unfortunately for me and the only other member of Gaku, we're still full time University students, so you'll be expecting a stretch in replies if it's in this forum. If you want to get in direct contact there are always private messages available between forum users. I'll be happy to drop my email in a PM if anyone wants to discuss anything off topic or to do with Gaku.

I'd just like to re-iterate from my first post, which is now buried in 5 or so pages, but Gaku does lack a proper distro, official raws provider and anyone with intimate knowledge of encoding/muxing.

I've already decided to dedicate time to at least get the translations done, the process of which is very enjoyable and educational.

Just to get back on topic, Tales of the Abyss was a lot of fun. It's been a couple of years since I played the game so this is the perfect way of re-enjoying the story and most importantly the characters. The game does offer a nice edge in adding to the character design through nice fighting moves, spells and general in game nuances (like Guy being the speed demon in battle) so I still highly recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on a copy.

On the subject of original Japanese names/pronouns, it seems to me that apart from a very small handful of terms, such as Fonons and Military titles, having an official english translate adds to the immersion, especially where keeping it in Japanese just for the sake of it may lead to simply having things in romaji, Nataria, Gai, Ruku just to exaggerate this point a bit

If you're used to the original Japanese terms but don't mind spicing things up, having the official english terms there in the subtitles could prove to be a little interesting. After all you could still hear everything in it's original language.

So far though I'm very happy with the pacing of the series, if they keep completing dungeons in 1 episode then they just may make it to the end without rushing things

I'm wishing that this 26 episode package will turn out great all things considered.

P.S SuperKnuckles I'm jealous , I don't own a 360 but really want to play Vesperia

I appreciate all constructive comments to do with what we've done, it's part of the improving process, hopefully our quality of work keeps improving over time, can't wait until episode 3

[TrueKnight]

off topic...

For Vesperia,

Spoiler:

Vesperia's music pales in comparison with Abyss in my opinion, its where Sakuraba being lazy.... As for story imo Abyss > Vesperia. As for characters only the male lead had the edge over Abyss because Yuri = Badass > Pansyboy Luke.

Other than that Vesperia wins hands down with superior battlesystem, graphic and gameplay.

and yes rascism is somewhat a trademark of the Tale series...

[Natsuki Hyuga]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

As for the music, I guess you can't blame the composer. I don't think Sakuraba is really known for variety anyway. Also most of his music tends to be rather tame and sorta forgettable except for the few main pieces. Hell, I'm a major Star Ocean fan and know that to be very true of his works on those games as well (ironic since Star Ocean nowadays plays EXACTLY like Tales games do).

Motoi Sakuraba is more well known as a generic RPG composer, so while he tends to compose a lot of game soundtracks (especially Tales and SO Series), you have to admit that most of the theme song/BGM is too way standard for your ears. (Trusty Bell is an exception though-I think he manages to create quite a musical piece for it)

And as for Star Ocean, the basic Gameplay (since 2 admittedly-not sure about the 1st one, still in the waiting list to play) is like Tales Series but this is understandable since Tri-Ace has their hands working in it.

@TrueKnight
OT
I don't think Abyss Story>Vesperia's Story. Abyss is more attractive, but all in all, the story can be said to have the same roots, albeit Vesperia may dig the character deeper than Abyss. That is just me though.

[Ryusiangel]

I am loving this series unlike the other oavs of other tales of series this is promising. I hope they cover the whole game story because before the subs came i saw the raw i almost could understand it. if there is a dub versioin later one i'd pray the original voice cast from the game does the voice acting i like lukes english dub voice from the game

[Asamidori]

Originally Posted by Sterling01

They use some of the game's bgm

It's more like new BGMs mixed with in-game ones in it. Engave uses a new BGM, but you can tell it's Sakuraba's music right away. Cheagle Forest's BGM is different, but I believe I heard the original BGM for the forest around the point when they found their nest(?).

...Anyone else who played the (JP) game got surprised by the fact that the elder talks WAY faster now? And the fact that you actually got to see his/her eyes? >_>

Originally Posted by Bobu44

On the subject of original Japanese names/pronouns, it seems to me that apart from a very small handful of terms, such as Fonons and Military titles, having an official english translate adds to the immersion, especially where keeping it in Japanese just for the sake of it may lead to simply having things in romaji, Nataria, Gai, Ruku just to exaggerate this point a bit

I believe it's mostly just about the whole Fonim/Fonon thing (well, and Regret, and Synch). The English names to the major characters are also listed on the JP site's character pages, so translating them to Nataria and Gai are just silly.

[Bobu44]

Yea, I was just making an example of outright romaji using those names, I'm certain most people would think using them to be silly

I actually thought the music in game was very well done. At least making Bump of Chicken their cover was the right idea

I loved the Meaning of Birth track which covered Karma really well

[vspirit]

Speaking of the OST, I really dig Crimson Pride (the BGM that plays during your trek in Eldrant). To me, the oomph! factor in that one is very high. I wonder if they'll import it over to the anime. *hopeful*

Originally Posted by TrueKnight

off topic...

Spoiler:

Yuri = Badass > Pansyboy Luke.

Spoiler for middle of game (slight) and endgame (MAJOR--so you do NOT want to read this if you haven't finished the game or played it at all):

Never played Vesperia so I'll hold off on commenting about Yuri but Luke wasn't a wimp all throughout. In fact, he rapidly stopped being one post Akzeriuth, after getting shunned by most everyone. In the end, he pulled a Lelouch, even (technically anyway, more or less).

[*reira*]

Originally Posted by Asamidori

...Anyone else who played the (JP) game got surprised by the fact that the elder talks WAY faster now? And the fact that you actually got to see his/her eyes? >_>

Yep. Seeing his (her?) eyes creeped me out considerably, I wasn't expecting it at all ^^'', although on second view he did look cute (LOL). Maybe all Cheagles grow funny eyebrows as they get older?

[vspirit]

^They grow another set of ears, albeit inverted, on their brow, it seems.

[Daniel E.]

Haven't done animated avies in a while, so here's one for old times sake......

[Eps~]

Just watched the first episode. Was expecting a mediocre series, but it's pretty good

[Synria_]

Just watched the first ep, and obviously having not played the game, am I going to stay lost throughout the whole series? Their talking about fonons, and the two people reacting and going somewhere is just baffling me right now. Will this be explained or am I suppose to go to wikipedia and read an introduction into the specific plot elements. (or if you can direct me to one)

[Xevious451]

Originally Posted by Synria_

Just watched the first ep, and obviously having not played the game, am I going to stay lost throughout the whole series? Their talking about fonons, and the two people reacting and going somewhere is just baffling me right now. Will this be explained or am I suppose to go to wikipedia and read an introduction into the specific plot elements. (or if you can direct me to one)

It'll be explained in the series... just like in the game. Luke (as well as the viewer/player) are clueless at start. In that sense, this adaptation is very true to the game. Just stick with it. You're in for a great ride.

[Synria_]

It does seem pretty good so far.

I am curious if this is related to the other "Tales of..." games that I see. (Never played a single one of them.)

Also, is Tear's voice the one who did CC in Code Geass?? Lovely voice that is...

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by Synria_

Just watched the first ep, and obviously having not played the game, am I going to stay lost throughout the whole series? Their talking about fonons, and the two people reacting and going somewhere is just baffling me right now. Will this be explained or am I suppose to go to wikipedia and read an introduction into the specific plot elements. (or if you can direct me to one)

I don't think talking about fonons, at least in a basic manner, would spoil much of the plot.

Spoiler for just in case; fonon:

If you're wondering about what fonons are, they're basically particles of sound. (The original Japanese term, "fonim" is derived from "phoneme," a sound unit of speech.) Each fonon represents an element (fire, water, etc.). It's your standard spell system in the game, and constitutes much of the story's science and magic.

And yes, Tear is voiced by Yukana, the same voice actress for C.C.

[Bobu44]

Most Tales games aren't directly related, unless of course they share the same title like Tales of Destiny I and II (not to be confused with the US release of Tales of Eternia - which ended up being labelled as Tales of Destiny II as a marketing decision) and If I recall correctly, Tales of Symphonia I and II. Much like Final Fantasy RPG entries, each Tales game is connected through their common "real time" battle concept and consequently feature carry over techniques/spells, some monster, and sometimes a re-occuring theme or minor character (Like the Dark Wings).

Main point being that unless it's labelled as a sequel to any titles or based off the sequel then as a full 26 episode series, and based on what they've released so far, it should be okay to watch without needing to play the game or read anything external. I highly recommend not to dive too deep into any plot synopsis or character blurbs, I just recently read over the wiki's blurb of Van's character and it's super spoiler-ific.

It's great that they stayed faithful to the game, with of course, just some differences in the presentation.

It'll be something fun to enjoy week by week, since the pacing so far is good, and I'm guessing they're going to make a habit of ending at cliff hangers.

[iceyfw]

It's pretty good for an anime adaption from a game. I wasn't expecting much until I finished watching the first episode. And should we expect any sort of romance as the story progresses?