Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike

Ten years after the Great War against the demon-beasts, the empire rules over the world and prosperity relies on the massive use of aer.

Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo are two young men who have just enrolled the ranks of the prestigious Imperial Knights. One day, they are sent to the town of Ceazontania, where abnormal aer activity has reportedly caused the proliferation of horribly mutated beasts, with serious threat for the whole region.

Meanwhile, the Knights Supreme Commander Alexei Denoia and the naive Princess Estellise are involved in a behind-the-curtains struggle for power in the capital. The situation in Ceazontania deteriorates as the garrison of Imperial Knights finds that they cannot expect any immediate support from the capital.

Then, Niren Fedrok, commander of the Imperial Knights in Ceazontania, takes an unexpected decision that is going to change Yuri and Flynn's destiny forever.

What are the secrets behind the extraordinary events that are happening around Yuri and Flynn? Will they be able to defend the innocent people of Ceazontania and stay true to their beliefs?

(Source: Funimation)

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Adaptation:	Tales of Vesperia
Character:	Tales of Gekijou, Tales of HR

Kosugi, Juurouta
Japanese

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Staff

Saitou, Shigeru

Producer

Kamei, Kanta

Director

Wakabayashi, Kazuhiro

Sound Director

Yoshida, Reiko

Script, Screenplay

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Opening Theme

"Kane wo Narashite (鐘を鳴らして)" by BONNIE PINK

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Ending Theme

"Kane wo Narashite" by Bonnie Pink

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Jun 10, 2010

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

Archaeon (All reviews)

170 people found this review helpful

In recent years video games, be they console or PC based, have moved to the forefront of popular entertainment. One of the upshots of this trend has been the a marked increase in the number of adaptations and spinoffs that can be found in manga and anime (and that's without including the doujin market). The major problem though, is that studios, production companies and storytellers are doing nothing more than recycling an existing concept, and while the adaptation may actually be pretty decent in some cases (Tears to Tiara for example), more often than not one is served a big plate of mediocrity (I'm looking read more

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Jun 20, 2010

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

BlondeAssassin (All reviews)

72 people found this review helpful

SPOILER FREE

What amazing luck. I happen to complete the game the same week the movie comes out. This caught me completely by surprise, but I was extremely excited. When I initially started the game, I thought it was a bit corny and maybe even childish, but a few hours in and there was incredible character development and storyline threads stretching across, to the point where I even cared for the villains. Truly an exceptional experience from the game.

If you are a fan of the game, then there's no doubt you will love this movie. I went in with no expectations, except knowing that read more

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Mar 7, 2020

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

NotCat (All reviews)

8 people found this review helpful

The following review focuses on both the game and the movie, you cannot assess the series without the game. Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike is a 2009 Japanese animated film by Production I.G. It is directed by Kanta Kamei and written by Reiko Yoshida. The film is the prequel to the Namco’s ‘Tales of Vesperia RPG and the first animated feature film in the Tales series.

Tales of Vesperia focuses on the world, called Terca Lumireis, which uses an energy source called blastia for all its needs, including creating protective barriers around its cities. The story focuses on Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo, two knights who have just joined the Niren Corps, together with two of their senior knights and fellow Corps members. They are sent on a mission to investigate an abnormal activity of aer in the area and to protect its citizens.

Well, this one is quite a challenge to assess. If you forget about the game, which is the direct continuation to this movie and to have a full understanding of the world of Tales Of Vesperia, you will have to play it, Tales of Vesperia ~The First Strike~ is just a beautiful movie, with a likeable cast that gets enough development for one movie, but not as enough as it should be, great OST, with many famous Japanese voice actors, which also has an amazingly heartbreaking storyline. However, if you assess this movie together with the game, Tales of Vesperia is something worthy of being called a masterpiece. While the movie does have a somewhat slow start: where many characters still have not been introduced and you have 0 clue of what is happening, or how this all will end, after having played the game you will understand how beautiful and dramatic Tales of Vesperia really is.

While the main characters both in the game and in the movie do get quite a good development, which is nothing special, to be honest, the supporting cast gets as much development as the main cast. And this is something amazing, Tales of Vesperia has such a big world, with so many heroes and antiheroes and they all have a story to tell. On top of that, you never get tired of them, because they all are so different and this makes your Tales of Vesperia journey even more fun to undertake.

OST and animation wise, taking into consideration the fact that both the game and the movie were made quite some time ago, they have a very enjoyable animation: a very likeable character design and stunningly detailed background, just an eye candy. OST wise, Tales of Vesperia has an amazing OST, which helps you appreciate the series, as well as the game even more. What is more, many characters of Tales of Vesperia were voiced by famous Japanese voice actors: such as Kousuke Toriumi, Mamoru Miyano, Mai Nakahara, Rika Morinaga, and Eiji Takemoto. Yet, both the game and the movie also have quite a good English dub, so it is up to you, which version you would like to check.

With the game: Tales of Vesperia (The Movie) is a prequel, which plays a very important role for the world of Tales of Vesperia and absolutely no doubt about it, it is a pure masterpiece I cannot give anything less than 10/10;
Supposing I had never played the game, Tales of Vesperia (The Movie) is a very weak 8/10.

All in all, it is up to you, if you want to play the game, or not. But this will be worth your while. Do try to find the time for both the movie and the game.

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May 25, 2015

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Hgjgtdc (All reviews)

11 people found this review helpful

*Review is biased since I played the game*
As a Tales of fan, I knew exactly what to expect watching this movie, and I got what I was expecting. Since Tales of Vesperia is one of favorite games, I was quite excited, and my expectations were ultimately met, with only a bit of expected disappointment. Fans of TOV will be happy to learn more of the back story of Yuri, Flynn, and Repede, while newcomers will be amazed by the greatness of the Tales of series.

To be fair, The story was cliche, with some points that adds more flair, however, the art, animation, and music were absolutely fantastic, which completely masked this factor.

The story revolves around Yuri Lowell, a few years before the events of TOV, his best friend Flynn Scifo, and his platoon. The world, Terca Lumireis has a substance called aer, which a tool called blastia can harness. However, recently, the aer has been becoming dense, causing monsters and strange beings to begin attacking the already weakening barrier blastia that defends a town. To solve the problem, Yuri and his imperial knights platoon try find the cause of increasing aer density, and solve it.

The story is carried out by the simple, "there is a major problem, and we fix it format," and is forgettable with a few exceptions, but the other features of the movie makes you completely forget it. The fight scenes are done incredibly well (but also realistically), and the music is majestic, and fits the world and movie quite well. And of course, the movie carries the badass and arrogant Yuri Lowell and the righteous and heroic Flynn from the game, adding lots of spice to the movie.

*Spoilers, Gamer's Rant*
Although The First Strike was done incredibly well, from someone who had high hopes from the game, I was disappointed. You will not be seeing any azure edges (I like to think of them as demon fangs), tiger blades, first aids, or any artes for that matter. One main feature from the game is nearly completely removed, and the movie is primarily based on melee combat without magic or artes, making the fight scenes not as dynamic as the could be. I guess this is because the producers wanted the movie to be more true to the world since blastia were said to be rare, but come on. Basically the only named arte I got to see was force field. Another disappointment was that some characters from TOV were added just to make the fans happy, and were more of breif cameos than anything else. Estelle, Raven, and Rita all appeared and their roles were nearly insignificant (except for Rita, and not by much). Although I am happy that I got to see Repede's history with Yuri.

All in all, Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, is a great movie, with amazing battle scenes, art, and music. Although the plot is a bit cliche, you will forgive that factor, as the good points will be overwhelming. And honestly, I recommend that you should watch this before playing the game, as it guarantees that you will not be disappointed.

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	Poll: Tales of Vesperia ~The First Strike~ Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) tsubasalover - May 31, 2010	112 replies	by Chikipichi »» Aug 2, 2020 9:11 AM
	Is this a standalone film? StevenHu - Dec 28, 2013	2 replies	by StevenHu »» Apr 7, 2014 1:16 PM

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