Being a huge fan of the PS2 science fantasy RPG upon which this anime is based, I was apprehensive about the Tales of the Abyss adaptation, thinking it could well suffer a mediocre remake. However, I am delighted to say the anime is already shaping up to be one of astonishing quality.
Firstly, as you can see from these gorgeous screens provided here, the level of visual quality is absolutely faultless, with animation also being excellent, incorporating CG elements to impressive effect as well as being accomplished in the more traditional areas.
There is supposed to be a Blu-ray version due, which should be interesting…
The scenes from the game were generally stunning, so seeing them reproduced both faithfully and in even greater fidelity is a delight.
Unsurprisingly for a Tales title, Tales of the Abyss follows the usual science fantasy pattern, with this title in particular title having some very interesting sound based technology and some very SF elements. I can’t wait to see if they include the incomplete space elevator…
The characters and overarching story are taken straight from the game, which, as anyone having played it will tell you, is superb in both respects.
The seiyuu from the game also reprise their roles, so a practiced and well cast performance is guaranteed, although likely the anime will have difficulty matching the countless hours of entertaining dialogue and skits in the game and drama CDs.
Lovely Tear and Natalia featured in this episode. Gorgeous loli-shota combo Anise and Ion come in next episode. Something to look forward to.
I can’t help but think that if it is consistently of this quality, the anime will easily surpass the magnificent game in many respects; enjoyable as the actual game part was, I frequently found myself playing just to advance the story, and the anime promises nothing but story.
Going through the game again solely to re-experience the story may be unappealing, so I think even those having completed the game will find things rather interesting.
Assuming the anime can keep this up, it will surely be a classic, and certainly one of the best RPG to anime adaptations. Surely, no one would be ill served by giving the first episode a shot.
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Where can I watch this anime?
I missed this post unfortunately. I’m going to start watching it right away. After watching “World Destruction”, I was hesitant, but this looks excellent.
The art looks fantastic. I wonder how they have the budget for it.
If it ever gets dubbed I’m buying it the second it comes out. The game alone impressed me so much I was shocked to find out how much I missed from all the previous Tales games and anime. They deserve a lot more credit and fame than they get.
I still prefer Tear. She’s just too yummilicious.
I think the reason Abyss gets a full TV series and Symphonia only got an OVA was because Jade tops the Tales fans’ all-time fave character list by a pretty sizable margin (Zelos in 2nd place, I believe). That, and let’s face it: Jade and Anise CAN carry this franchise by themselves.
Jade certainly is one of the more charismatic characters in the Tales series, along with Luke’s alter ego.
Still looking forward to Anise…