Tales of the Abyss

The world of Auldrant is bound by the Score, a series of prophecies from centuries past that dictate the world's future. It is considered an absolute fate that everyone lives by—even people whose actions lead to bloodshed and tears. Using magical abilities known as the Fonic Arts, a war between the nation of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and the Malkuth Empire is waged in hopes of bringing the Score's foreseen utopia to life.

Tales of the Abyss follows Luke von Fabre, who spends his days locked away in his manor after being kidnapped and losing memories as a child. One day, while honing his swordsmanship, a woman named Tear attempts to assassinate his master. Luke defends him, but the clash results in the two being teleported to a distant land. Luke and Tear’s journey back quickly escalates into a quest that will either free the world from the Score's chains or destroy it completely.

Fon Fabre, Luke Main

Suzuki, Chihiro Japanese

Curtiss, Jade Main

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Grants, Tear Main

Yukana Japanese

Asch Main

Suzuki, Chihiro Japanese

Cecil, Guy Main

Matsumoto, Yasunori Japanese

Ion Main

Kobayashi, Yumiko Japanese

Tatlin, Anise Main

Momoi, Haruko Japanese

Luzu Kimlasca Lanvaldear, Natalia Main

Neya, Michiko Japanese

Sync Supporting

Kobayashi, Yumiko Japanese

Arietta Supporting

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Ogata, Naohiro Producer

Kodama, Kenji Director

Kimura, Eriko Sound Director

Reviews

Jul 18, 2009

Goldeneyeuro

Recommended

Now, I should mention first that I have not played the Tales of the Abyss video game on which this anime is based. Despite that, I found it a great series to watch, with excellent characters and character development, brilliantly animated scenes, spectacular artwork, and a well-paced excellent story.

The story starts out slowly, but each character gives the viewer an immediate impression when introduced and one quickly develops feelings towards him or her, whether good or bad. Each character is developed to the fullest extent, with detailed backstories, distinct personalities, personal motivation and conflicts, and excellent designs. You can truly feel the ... conflicts they experience, and the depth they get into is truly spectacular. The antagonists are as well-developed as the protagonists, and since their development is on the same level, when conflict does arise, it’s felt much more forcefully since you don’t know which side has more willpower to win the ensuring battles. The development is especially strong for Luke, and just seeing him undergo his transformation throughout the series is breathtaking. Also, all the characters just mesh in with each other extremely well, and the chemistry amongst everyone is well-done, again, both protagonists, secondary characters, and antagonists.

The animation, like the characters, is wonderful, with fluid movements and flashy attacks. Pair that up with colorful drawings and excellent backgrounds and scenes, and scenes exceed my expectations. It even gives the .hack series a run for the money in this aspect. The pacing helps get the animation and drawings noticed, since there are moments where it’s slow enough to admire the drawings and detail work woven into the scenes, but it’s not too slow so that you get bored and drift off. There is enough action mixed into each mission to keep the pace up, plus good dialogue amongst the characters.

Unfortunately, there is a flaw in the dialogue in that the vocabulary often used is difficult to comprehend, and many references are made to these words. Explanations are given for the vocabulary and what the world is like, but having not played the games is a bit disadvantageous, since the explanations are long and require pausing, rewatching, and analysis before one understands it. What’s offered in the anime is just a fast-placed blurb and a quick picture where you have about 5 seconds to absorb all the information. Thus, without pausing, it limits the viewer’s degree of plot comprehension. I’m sure those who have played the games will be able to enjoy and understand the series without pausing and thinking for this kind of comprehension.

Despite having to take a little more time to understand some of the terminology in Tales of the Abyss, I do think the series is well worth the time. Even if you haven’t played the games, the series is very enjoyable. Great characters, good plotline, fantastic drawings and animations await those who watch Tales.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 29, 2009

D5

Mixed Feelings

Overall, this anime would fit the bill as "mediocre". False hope, plus the excellent experiences with the Tales of xxx franchise (e.g. Tales of Phantasia fan-translations on SNES and PlayStation) kept me interested... but the operative word was "false".

I won't summarize the story, or explain why it was "dreadful" for me. Rather, I'll tell you why I hate this: there was potential for greatness, but from the very beginning, major details ruined it.

Annoying characters, huge plot holes, directing which seemed to not take itself seriously, personalities which are easily interchangeable, and no sense of "suspended disbelief".

Nothing in this anime was worth the time ... it took to make it. Somewhere, early in the design process, a competent director and editor were misplaced with writers who previously only wrote fanfics and a commitee who designed the storyboards.

As as result, even with competent animation and enthusiastic efforts by the music and character design staff, the end result is much less than the sum of its parts.

Please give me back the nearly 13 hours of my life that I wasted on this!

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 2, 2017

ElohimCrimson

Not Recommended

I want to make a brief review of this anime as to not spoil others


Plot: The main plot is mediocre but it has some twist that separate it from others. The ending is not the best but it is executed well.

Art: The art is good, that's the only thing I won't deny. The characters are not unique in appearance but at least they're not hurting my eyes.

Sound: The worst. There are times when I literally mute it. The MC's voice is annoying, really. He literally does nothing but SCREAM, SCREAM and SCREAM. The voice actors don't seem to understand their roles as well. Not only ... the MC but also his friends as well.

Characters: Poor and inconsistent. The characters would change at times but they would revert back over and over and over again. It's really bad. The MC is annoying as fuck, not because he's childish but because almost the entire series, he's shouting and shouting and shouting. I understand he's still a child since he's only 7 years old but still... Gosh, I'm cringing. His friends are pretty awful as well, they left him when he needed them most. I understand their sentiments but it's not like the MC is all to blame. Some of them know that he's 7 years old and pretty much ignorant of the world but they don't fill he's ignorance and ignore his will to learn. They all know that he doesn't understand anything but all of them did not bother to explain. Then, how do you expect him to make logical decisions? Gosh... it's really annoying. To add salt to the injury, after all that, it seemed like nothing happened. Their words contradict their actions.

Enjoyment: I almost dropped this anime but I don't because I promised to myself that when I start a series I have to see it through the end. If not for that, I would have probably dropped it. At the start of 14th episode, I even needed to play it at 1.3x just so I could finish the series. Gosh, this anime has zero re-watch value.

All in all, this is anime is bad and pretty much overrated.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Tales of the Abyss Episode 25 Discussion MaxCrazy7 - Mar 30, 2009	36 replies	by Stormy_77 »» Jun 18, 11:38 PM
	Poll: Tales of the Abyss Episode 23 Discussion lovely-sasusaku - Mar 22, 2009	21 replies	by Stormy_77 »» Jun 18, 11:07 PM
	Poll: Tales of the Abyss Episode 20 Discussion Fabienne - Mar 28, 2009	20 replies	by Stormy_77 »» Jun 18, 10:24 PM
	I'm on ep 6, and I REALLY want to drop this now... Kirukato05 - Jun 19, 2022	7 replies	by Sir-C »» Feb 26, 9:34 AM
	Differences between the anime and the game? FactualTakes12 - Apr 18, 2023	3 replies	by FactualTakes12 »» Apr 21, 2023 11:30 AM

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