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Nov 24, 2008 2:50 PM

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Aug 2008
2537
Luke is so pathetic, it well that deserved to die for the hands of Ashe!
Nov 25, 2008 3:35 PM

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May 2007
4558
Man, I don't know. The destruction of Akzeriuth definitely felt more epic and tragic in the game than the anime. I felt they rushed the scene a bit too quickly. Even everyone's hatred towards Luke gave me a bigger feeling than what they did here. Oh well, still a decent episode in its own right.
Nov 27, 2008 4:56 PM

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Nov 2007
3017
Woah that was intense O_O, I guess some parts of the plot were hinted at constantly but to actually see it all confirmed is another matter all together =O
Nov 28, 2008 11:49 PM

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Jan 2008
6961
Great episode, good that Guy and Tear are supporting Luke :3
Dec 1, 2008 10:25 AM

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Feb 2008
712
With this episode the show gets 9/10 for me!

Its seldom that you can see such a twist in anime. The hero becoming the most annoying/stupid character and the villian actually being the hero. Nicely done!

Im also interested in the other characters. They are more threedimensional in this show and not only the exchangable supporting bystanders.

Kuisanagi said:

...
As this series has been doing so far, the anime basically did a neat and complete adaption, though a couple of scenes were still skipped [like the part where the party is unable to save the sinking child]...


ccnavi said:


anyways, i thought this episode was well done compared to the game, however... (surprise surprise) im bummed they didnt add the little boy floating in the miasma, slowly dying, pleading for his parents, just to slip under...

was a really painful scene and I think it did a better job driving the emotion home then the dead soldiers littering the Tartarous.


Wow. That would have been a really great and intense scene. What a shame that they did not bring it in....
Dec 4, 2008 6:06 AM

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Jun 2008
2014
Awhs Luke. You'z a CLONE.

Asche is incredibely hawt. I love Tear and, well not much to say. Next episode looks interesting~! Yayyy.
Dec 10, 2008 6:43 AM

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Nov 2007
946
this episode makes me want to use my ps2 again to play this game.
Dec 10, 2008 10:09 AM

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Nov 2008
463
Luke was punished for his vanity and egoism. If you watch the series from the diretor's point of view, you'll see that this was also made for the development of this character, for a spoilt child acting as a prince to learn his place in the human world, to learn friendship and mutualism. That's how I see it.

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Dec 15, 2008 4:11 PM

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Jun 2008
520
urgh..buying the game now..

good ep. he deserved punishment as above user states. perhaps he stops being such a prick now.
Dec 20, 2008 12:44 AM

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Nov 2007
1735
luke is the whinniest baby alive. he truly deserves to die, i dont care if he is a main character. how childish can he be, let alone dumb.
Nov 19, 2010 9:37 PM

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Apr 2007
5407
Is Luke finally going to become likable? It's understandable why he has that attitude and I was able to tolerate it for a bit, but boy has he been extra annoying in the past 2 episodes. "sensei, sensei, sensei" FFFFFFFFFFF-

Anyway Luke being the clone didn't surprise me since I guessed he was before it was revealed, but their homeland being in the sky instead of on the planet's surface blew me away. So cool.
Jun 15, 2011 11:02 AM
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Apr 2011
357
Finally, Akzeriuth. Adapted really well.

All that was missing was, after the destruction and they're just lying there, this boy was lying on this small floating piece of land that was apart from the others, sinking into the miasma, asking for his mom to help. That would've given me chills here.

And the soundtrack didn't have that awesome eerie-dark-ambient track the game had for both the Qliphoth and Yulia City. But everything else was done well, beggars can't be choosers and every detail would be tough to bring back.

Also, the thing about the Outer Lands, Sephiroth Trees, and Qliphoth was explained very well. The video game's explanation took me a while to get, the anime's explanation was more clearer.

And now Luke becomes awesome. In an episode or two.
Jul 18, 2011 3:17 AM

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Jul 2007
6145
and finally it happens. The moment everyone has been waiting for The destruction of akzurieth at the hands of luke him self. And then van is a traitor and was playing him for a fool the entire time. This was definitely one of the biggest plot points in the story. We finally understand the truth bout luke, in fact asche is the real character taken to baticul by van and luke is just a replica.

We also learn the true history of the world and how the entire lands above were merely the outer lands and actually isn't the real world. But the qliphof was originally the real world, but it fell into ruin and yulie created the sephiroth trees to rise the land up by the use of fonic rings.

Now the title makes sense lol "tales of abyss" Because the abyss is the under world, the real world before the huge war took place. Most of the characters already knew this, such as tear and ion, but they left in the dark.

The next episode is another one of my real favorites. Everyone is going to love it.
ArtimesGamerJul 18, 2011 3:26 AM



Jul 18, 2011 3:22 AM

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Jul 2007
6145
Monochrome said:
Is Luke finally going to become likable? It's understandable why he has that attitude and I was able to tolerate it for a bit, but boy has he been extra annoying in the past 2 episodes. "sensei, sensei, sensei" FFFFFFFFFFF-

Anyway Luke being the clone didn't surprise me since I guessed he was before it was revealed, but their homeland being in the sky instead of on the planet's surface blew me away. So cool.


Well now you know why they stressed his aragent attitude to the brink in the last few episodes it was specifically for this event. Just think if they made him less annoying, and more like guy, it wouldn't have nearly a big impact, you see what im saying? There is always a purpose behind this, in fact some people dropped this show lol, early on because of luke's character. Shame. Cause it really does get alot better.



Aug 11, 2011 1:25 AM

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Sep 2010
9801
Nicely done.
Aug 30, 2011 12:09 AM

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Aug 2011
2514
Looks like Luke needs a haircut ^__^
Sep 4, 2012 6:32 AM
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Mar 2012
1802
luke is having his period
in all honesty, I've never seen a mc that fails so much, in all shows that I've watched
ShadugeSep 4, 2012 7:06 AM
Feb 3, 2013 3:48 PM

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Nov 2011
129151
Mar 28, 2013 9:52 PM

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Nov 2012
474
Although I know it wont happen, I so with Asch would kill Luke. Seriously, Luke is the worst MC i have seen to date, especially so since this is only episode 8/26! The big "shocker" was reveled this episode, so I guess Luke can only get better, but really, it feels like he would need a full 26 episode from this point on to even moderately redeem himself.

Is it weird to keep watching because you hate the MC so much?
niaxatoMar 28, 2013 9:59 PM
Sep 13, 2013 5:29 PM

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Jul 2013
1760
Well I could already tell that Van will betrayed at one point since it is hinted on the first episode when Tear attacks him, and seeing Luke as a Replica for his cause. Damn Akzurieth being annihilated, at least the main characters survived but not the people around them. Huh, Qlipoth a dark place to be but it is off to see Yulia City for shelter.

Asch came by to see the truth of his Replica.

May 24, 2014 8:26 PM

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Jan 2010
7191
I haven't played the game, so I don't know if Luke's characterization and decisions are all correct, but was it seriously all done just so he could get punked by Van?
Oct 10, 2014 2:01 PM

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Jul 2012
157
Shocked said:
I haven't played the game, so I don't know if Luke's characterization and decisions are all correct, but was it seriously all done just so he could get punked by Van?


The anime adaptation did a pretty good job in the faithfulness department, including with Luke's characterization. I'm actually in the middle of replaying the game, and am immediately after this point in the story, so it's really fresh in my mind.

Anyways, the answer is essentially "yes", with his character being set up the way it was just for the revelations about him and about Van, and also for his turnaround. Replaying the game after so long, and remembering what I thought of it initially, I think the whole "Luke destroyed Akzeriuth; it's entirely his fault" thing could have been done quite a bit better.

For one, it's hardly entirely his fault. Yes, he does carry the majority of the blame because he was the one who let himself be used and who didn't think for himself very much, but several other characters also carry blame. First, there's Van, who carries a lot of the blame as well because he's the one who orchestrated the whole thing. Then there are Guy and Natalia, who share some of the blame, along with Luke's parents, for essentially raising Luke the way they did, coddling his ignorance. Then there's Tear, who actually doesn't have a whole lot of the blame because she's one of the few characters (especially after learning the full extent of Luke's "memory loss") who takes the time to properly explain things to Luke when he doesn't know them, whereas the other characters are more dismissive about it (I think Guy and Ion are the other notable exceptions, but Ion's role in explaining things to Luke is pretty minor).

Finally, there's Jade who, in my opinion, carries quite a lot of the blame (second only to Luke and Van). Jade carries so much blame because he's essentially at the center of the plot device. The plot device is "keep Luke in the dark just so his ignorance, combined with aspects of his personality, can be used as fodder for his actions and subsequent turnaround". I hate that plot device because it usually feels really forced, like in this case. As much as Jade says he's not sure about whether Luke is a replica, he honestly seems pretty certain, especially after seeing Asch's face. The only thing keeping him from saying anything seems to be his hesitation to bring up his own involvement with fomicry. But as we see not long after, he has no problem stating his involvement (this is during the group's first encounter with Spinoza in Belkend, when they're traveling with Asch).

The whole thing is really frustrating, and I honestly sympathize rather strongly with Luke, despite what he did. What he says about Van being the only one who ever took him seriously (as in, didn't just pity him, and met him at his level when explaining things he didn't know) is actually pretty true, despite Van's ulterior motives. Really only Tear and Guy come anywhere close to that.

Really, the way Luke's character is established, perpetuated, and then completely turned around is pretty contrived. Yeah, he changed a lot, but that's because the writing forced him really far to one side of the spectrum just so it could be a really big change when he goes to the other side of the spectrum. It's not absolutely terrible, but it's certainly not the great, well-handled character development I remembered it as. This goes for both the video game and the anime, which handle it pretty much the same.
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Jan 25, 2016 9:50 AM

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Aug 2013
4150
Well realistically I find it normal to be mad at the loss of thousands of lives.
But being mad at his arrogant self is a little pitiful.. he's just a toy to all of them from the start.
The one he provide him education and teach him is only Natalia and his self proclaimed sensei lol.
Let's see the change in Luke after this.
Apr 27, 2020 8:47 PM
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Jul 2018
564067
While Luke is largely to blame for this tragic, unfortunate turn of events, the others aren't exactly exempt from it either. How is Luke supposed to know anything if you don't explain things clearly to him? It was already established and well-known how sheltered Luke is. Of course, he won't come out and magically be a genius at how the world works. Besides, Ion, regardless of his gentle nature, did unknowingly help by releasing the Daathic seal, yet, no one seemed to notice. Oh well, what happened, happened, time for some needed and necessary character development for Luke.
Jul 29, 2020 4:06 AM

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Nov 2016
502
The episode would've been a 5 out 5 but Ion not realizing sooner what Van's plans were really ruined it for me 4/5
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Oct 29, 2020 10:05 PM
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May 2013
3
I feel myself sympathizing more with Luke even though he was acting like a brat the last few episodes. He was obviously mind-controlled by Van and clearly is not entirely to blame for all the deaths. What does blaming him at this point even accomplish at this point? Agree with a previous poster that Ion is just as much to blame as Luke and Van but everyone conveniently forgets that. I would even argue that Ion is the one solely to blame for the tragedy as he opened the gate knowing the significance of what was within.

Also find it pretty hypocritical of Jade to blame Luke of keeping the party in the dark when in the last episode, when Luke demands an explanation after the encounter with gun-chick, everyone ignores him.
Jun 7, 2021 2:22 PM

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Dec 2010
715
Yeah right, let's put all the blame on the guy that's mentally a 7-year old clone that was created to be used as a puppet, who was essentially brainwashed since his birth to obey his "Master". Let's also not forget how everyone was treating him like shit, never explaining anything to him even when he was willing to learn, but then getting angry at him for not knowing anything.
Some people have said they don't put all the blame on Luke and that the others are also at fault to some degree, but I'll go one step further and say that Luke isn't to blame at all.
Van is the one most at fault for orchestrating the entire thing and raising Luke to be his puppet, with Jade in second for keeping Luke in the shadows about literally everything. He was well aware that Luke was a replica but didn't do anything, ignoring all signs of danger he should've been able to pick up. And then there is Ion who was well aware of what was going on yet was still deceived by Van.
Also, the hell is with Asch, all he does is running around calling Luke "trash" while creating the perfect image of a villain instead of, uhm, explaining to them what the hell Van is trying to accomplish? Jeez...
But pushing the blame onto that one guy sure is easy for your own conscience.

It seems to me like the writers were really trying to force this guilt and burden onto Luke to create a "cool" transformation of a loser into a hero. Needless to say they failed hard in my book.
Sep 28, 2021 12:50 PM

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Mar 2018
449
At this point it would be better if Asch just killed Luke and took his place as MC.
Jan 24, 2023 11:44 AM
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Jan 2017
6
This was a really good episode. Best of the series so far.
The writers really were able to convey the emotion and the unfolding of the main event.
Hopefully the series gets even better from here on, just like in the game.
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