Tales of Zestiria the X – 05
Umm, excuse me, but who are you again?
I wish this review could have been longer, but I seem to have fallen into a completely different story. There was supposed to be seraphims and swords in stones, with a chosen one Shepherd? Why are we now in Resident Evil: Archaic Edition?
Well, let’s meet our other protagonist and friends
I mean, we went from humans, seraphim, and hellions, to demons, exorcists, and man-eating dragons. Did we miss a reel? We went from the ultra naive, happy-go-lucky boy scout Sorey, to the ultra grim, emo, escaped prisoner, Velvet?
Excuse me but writers, how the heck did we get here? We were in Hyland dealing with Alisha, Sorey, and the incoming Malevolence, and now we’re in the middle of the ocean in not!Alcatraz, with Princess Emo Grunge, and her Hot Topic associates endeavoring to reap her revenge on some guy named Artorius, who sacrificed a little boy in order to open the gates of Hell and take over the world?
Meet Velvet Crowe: Grunge Extraordinaire
How exactly is this in any way related to all 4+ episodes that came before it? Is this the far future and Sorey has let the power get to his head and become a megalomaniac ruler named Artorius? I mean, they have been laying the Arthur legend tones on pretty thick, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he took on that name! But if that’s true who exactly are we supposed to vote for here? Our young hero who we started with, or the young heroine who wants to avenge her brother and get payback for her false imprisonment?
And why the heck haven’t we gotten any freaking transitions?!!
Crawling out from the gutter for retribution
I can already hear a lot of you typing away in the comments and believe me I know all of what you are about to say. Yes, the characters we are seeing are from the Tales Series’ most recent addition: Tales of Berseria. Yes, I know that this is actually a prequel and not a sequel to Zestiria, taking place about a 1000 years prior to recent events, and the main character is an anti-heroine named Velvet Crowe. Yes, I do have enough information to be able to sorta, kinda, maybe understand the basic premise of what’s going on in this episode. The problem however, is that the only reason I know any of that–is from reading the comment section and getting the rundown from game players, news articles, or other supplementary sources. And for me, that is this episode’s ultimate sin.
I should NOT have to have played a single second of any of the games in order to follow and understand this story. I should be able to follow each episode without having to go to secondary and tertiary sources in order to understand what’s going on.
The new sidekicks
I have nothing against adding new characters and having a secondary storyline, and in fact, this kind of storyline would work in a novel where you can follow multiple characters and you can have one chapter be devoted to one character and their storyline, and the next, change to another different character and their storyline. However, even then, the reader is usually aware of some point, no matter how vague, of how the characters’ plotlines intersect. There’s a reason that the two plots are being told side by side.
And while this works for novels, it doesn’t work as well for a television series which has to be adapted differently for the change in medium. Especially with one whose two stories of so different in tone, characters, dialogue and with no transition at all, that the shift feels like whiplash.
But! Disregarding all that, how was the episode itself?
Actually–it was great.
In fact, I just what to ask, why the heck didn’t they just make the series about Berseria?! It’s already infinitely more interesting!
Why, do you ask? I mean, Velvet is pretty much the equivalent of Sorey, just that she’s on the other extreme end of the spectrum. She’s stoic, grim, experienced, and is consumed by her hatred, while Sorey is all naive, adventurous, friendly, and doesn’t really have a hateful bone in his body. Both of them have otherworldly magic companions in Mikleo and Seras. And both of their plotlines, they have action breaks that feel like animated battle video game sequences. Both protagonists carry supernatural weapons, with Sorey and his Excalibur, and Velvet and her demon eating arm. So, with all these similarities, why in one episode, was Berseria better than all the Zestiria episodes previous?
Fighting the odds and injustice
Plot.
It’s as simple as that. The plot is already way better. Rather than some vague journey for some chosen one kid to help two peoples vaguely reconnect and save the world from some vague evil presence caused by human strife, we get a more concise story of an evil megalomanic who took over the world by blood sacrificing a child for power, imprisoned the sister of said child for years, and now she’s out and looking for revenge, and perhaps will save the world from an evil tyrant along the way with the help of her many allies that decide to join up with her. I honestly wish we could have started here, and just followed Velvet along on her quest, in sort of like the more violent, swords-and-sorcery, female version of the Count of Monte Cristo (Countess?). While Sorey and his group are nice and all, I think that their plot line is only okay. It has it’s ups and down and great animation, but if we could have great animation and an even better story? Why not?
_____________________________
All in all, it was a very good episode, but it commits a horrible sin in that it has zero setup and zero indications of how it connects to the overall narrative. It also requires you to know supplementary information from outside of the series itself, to even make sense of why it was added and what is going on. To me, that is a big no-no. Any adaptation needs to be able to stand on its own without any need for the audience to consult the source or other resources. If a person was to watch this on their own without knowing anything, they could very well end up lost. Why did they introduce the episode at this particular point in the story? If you want it to connect to the release of the new game, that’s great, but then set it up well enough in the story of why we are suddenly leaving one plot, and entering a completely different one without warning. I really hope that they in the coming episode do more to tie this to where we left off with Sorey and the twirly vortex of doom. Though honestly, if we were to just forget about Zestiria all together and just follow Velvet and friends, I wouldn’t be too broken up either. (It would be extremely horrible writing and staging, but hey, I’ve seen worse. 😉 )
About IreneSharda
A Chicagoan biochemist, teacher, and an aspiring virologist, with a love for science only rivaled by my love for movies, animation, and anime. Both a lover of action/adventure and romance, I'm a girl who walks the entire spectrum. Mecha, Sci-Fi, Psychological Thriller, Romantic Period Piece, if it's has a good story, I'm there.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I have to agree, this isn’t
rippingoffriffing on the Arthurian stuffs and is therefor a much better meal.Like you point out, it’s HOT TOPIC as all get out, and is actually so funny it’s distracting. Velvet Crowe? With an E at the end? If she has a faerie friend named Gossamer Winge or Silky Smoothe, Imma buying the game, right?
But as always
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 22 comments
Honestly, I think you are biasing yourself by immediately thinking (or fearing) that this is a Berseria ad. Use of sudden transitions that don’t immediately make much sense is nothing new, and their existence is supposed to make sense later on, while until then it makes the audience look for every trace of how it might connect to main storyline (that is, they want to make them ask questions rather than sit and just enjoy the play). Every trope has its own purpose.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Technically this IS an ad for Berseria, since the game comes out in Japan after Ep 6 airs next week. Now if Zestiria’s anime incorporates Berseria’s plot elements into the story, that should be OK. If they don’t, well…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Why did they introduce the episode at this particular point in the story? If you want it to connect to the release of the new game, that’s great, but then set it up well enough in the story of why we are suddenly leaving one plot.
Tales of Berseria will be released in Japan this Aug 18th, right after Ep 6 airs. Which (to Namco-Bandai’s marketing department) is now the best time for them to create hype amongst the local Tales fanbase for the next game instalment. No doubt Berseria’s plotline will contain all the necessary tie-ins to Zestiria’s plot, which I’m sure Japanese-fluent gamers will spoil for us in due time (and which yours truly shall dig up for Metanorn). If the anime choses to incorporate Berseria’s plot elements into its story then that’s even better.
That said, the impression I get is the anime’s strongly focusing to appeal to the established fanbase over filthy casuals, something like how the plot of the recent Warcraft movie was tailored to appeal to existing Warcraft fans (Highway brought this up in last week’s post IIRC).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
If so, it will be a tricky effort since the series is already a confirmed single cour according to previous news articles.
That’s the same as manga fans being more into an adaptation of what they read than anime-only viewers who are new to the exposure and don’t understand the appeal. Akatsuki no Yona, Boku no Hero Academia, Seraph of the End, Assassination Classroom, Hataraku Maou-sama!, No Game No Life, Noragami. All mentioned names were mangas/LNs that received adaptations and the readers/fans loved them exceedingly more than the anime-only crowd.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’ve been wondering for some time, so… Can someone please define what’s a “filthy casual”?
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=filthy%20casual
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So basically it’s a label term for anyone who is not a fan of whatever franchise/medium. I see…
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
Nope its a label term for those who aren’t heavily invested in the game. Its exactly what it sounds like it is…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, if “what it sounds like” is a usually sad attempt to put other people down for not being as invested in something and make the speaker feel better. Some people might say they’re saying it ironically, but they’re usually fooling themselves.
I would encourage never having a mindset that would lead to saying a phrase like that.
POWUH: 500-599 with 540 comments
HAHAHA well its what comes out of the gaming community. They can be quite toxic.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
A warning was issued beforehand. The preview from the last episode should have been heeded and paid closer attention to. Sorey and Mikleo said they were getting a break the following week, just that the statement itself was vague. Then there was an inquiry Mikleo made: “Now I’m getting nervous. Sorey, what if we’re written out of the story?!”. After Lailah named the following episode’s title, Mikleo asked “I wonder who’s in it?”.
For me, it looks like Tales is trying the same approach as Danganronpa 3 playing two arcs simultaneously. One as the main story and the other a prequel (Mirai-hen/Future Arc and Zetsubou-hen/Despair Arc). Though the advantage Danganronpa 3 has is that both its arcs are full single cours on their own and not sharing one.
That aside, it was a good episode. A surprise, yes, but not one in a way that would deter and rub me the wrong way. Like I mentioned before, I’ve never played any of the games. Also, I’m not the type that’s against absorbing extra information from an external source. Mainly because it’s unrealistic to expect everything to be included in an adaptation given time constraints. If anything, it fills in possible blanks. Plus, I’ve already taken a liking to the main girl as her strong personality falls within my preferences. Excluding her demonic devouring arm, by look and feel, Velvet feels inhuman. Not necessarily a bad thing.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments