Ar Tonelico: Sekai no Owari de Utai Tsuzukeru Shoujo

Note: I'm using the characters' names from the American release of the video game in this review.

This one-episode OVA is an introduction to the world of the PS2 RPG that goes by the same name. I liked the game and played it before watching this, therefore I fully realized the incoherence of the story and the plain worthlessness of this anime.

Ar Tonelico is a massive tower, reaching from the bottomless depths below the continent known as the Wings of Horus up into the skies high above. Lyner Barsett is out on a mission in his airship, but the electromagnetical disturbances around the tower, known as ... the Blastline, causes the machinery to go haywire and he crashes on the Wings of Horus, a world previously unknown to him.

Soon he encounters the Reyvateil (a female capable of crafting songs and use them like magic) Aurica Nestmile and together they visit various areas of the world, ultimately trying to fix Lyner's airship so that he can go back to where he came from. After about ten minutes, someone pressed the fast forward button, and suddenly Aurica had fallen in love with Lyner and they were, together with the mechanic Krushe, riding in the airship towards the top of the tower. Randomly tossing in scenes from the latter half of the game isn't a very clever thing to do.

You don't really get any information at all about the characters' backgrunds, feelings et cetera. So if you don't know their personalities from playing the game, you will probably find them, simply put, uninteresting and boring.

Sure, the aesthetics are fair and the music as well, but it doesn't save Ar Tonelico from being a selection of scenes from a video game rather than a real anime. It's purpose - to make people buy the game - fails as well, because of the dumb execution. If correctly made, it would contain more thourough character introductions, be a bit longer and above all have a coherent storyline, preferrably consisting of the first maybe 40 minutes of the game.

If I hadn't played the game before watching this, I would have enjoyed it even less than I did. This anime adaption of Ar Tonelico is nothing but a badly made commercial, honestly.

Ar Tonelico OVA is based on the PS2 video game of the same name. I've played the game itself before watching this OVA.
The animation itself is on par. What I like is that they used some of anime scenes from the game (only modified a bit).
The story itself is not good but not bad either. After watching this, I thought that this was made to show how the magics are done and show in depth one of the places found in the game. Just my thoughts. Really.
I do like the characters a lot. Sadly, only some characters appeared but managed to retain some of its ... traits and behaviour.
I'm happy that they used some of BGM from the game and retain the characters' seiyuus. The hymns frequently used in Ar Tonelico games is certainly unforgettable.
I recommend this to anyone who either have played the game or not. Poor thing that this is only a one-episode OVA. If it turns into an anime series, it would be a hit.

How would I describe this? It can be factually described as a promotional piece for a video game, but also conceptually as the first episode in a longer series that never got produced.

It sets up an imaginative setting with rich content and an interesting background. The story promises to be engaging and rich and the characters show a lot of potential. And of course, the music is great. But there is one small flaw that takes everything down a few notches and actually places the overall score lower than the individual scores.

This is the only episode.

There is so much promise here. Yes, it's meant to ... promote a video game, but that is also a part of its problem. Even though I happen to own a PS2, I never played Ar Tonelico and I would wager I'm not the only one to watch this and not play the game. That's why I have to review it as it is, without the game. And that's why it falls short.

Should you watch it? Well, it's not a long watch and it is good, but there is a lingering disappointment waiting at the end since everything is set up, but nothing gets resolved or developed during the show.

Somehow, it might actually have been better for it to not be so good.

I started watching this OVA without even knowing the premise, so my expectations for this one was quite low. From the first few minutes of the anime, I immediately thought that this one is a game adaptation. The atmosphere and the graphics gave it away. The 3D look of the airship reminds me alot of the video games I use to play when I was young. It was definitely nostalgic.

From the first 10 minutes of the anime, I wasn’t hooked at all. There was no world building, no explanation about WTF was going on. All I see was a guy in a failing airship, a ... tank guy with his mage fighting against a monster, and a pessimistic girl who only thinks of negative things. That’s all. I do appreciate the fansubbers of this OVA, they tried to explain some stuff that the story didn’t even bother to explain. Thanks to them, I kinda get a little bit about WTF was going on.

The first meeting of the main characters was definitely generic at the same time, kinda unique. There interaction with each other was definitely understandable. The guy was bright and kind, and the girl was very pessimistic and kinda rude. I just don’t understand how in the world they got into a position like the picture above. Anime physics still amazes me everytime.

Moving on, the story slowly unfolds itself. I mean….tries to unfold itself…..and its very very slow. We were then introduced to a new character that seems to be very relevant later on. Then, the OVa turn upside down. Out of nowhere, a huge monster attacked the town and of course, the main guy character tries to be a hero and wants to save the day.

The fight was so underwhelming. He hits the monster once, then he gets injured. Lol, that was fast. Then, he felt down, thinking of negative thoughts. Then boom! The pessimistic girl, after reminiscing the kindness of the main guy, she then got the courage to help him. Through her ‘hymn’, the main guy defeated the monster…..in ONE FREAKING BLOW.

Uuuuuhhhhhhhhh…..thats it?!?!?!?!?

wut?

The OVA then ends with the main characters going to an ‘adventure’ to go above and be able to save the ‘world’. Uhhhhh… thats my understanding of the ending.

Overall, this OVA is definitely a downer. It had potential to be great, but nah. Its quite clear this anime was used to promote the game. I kinda like how the development of the main girl all through out the OVA. Even though it was short and unrealistic, you can still get the moral out of it.

I wouldn’t recommend this OVA to you. This is a waste of time. I promise.

Anyway, that is all.

Thanks for reading!