Tales of the Abyss [Archive]

Kraco

Mon, 10-06-2008, 01:52 AM

http://forums.gotwoot.net/gallery/files/9/7/6/2/abysstale.jpg

"Luke fon Fabre, the son of Duke Fabre of the Kimlasca Kingdom, is 17 years old. He is the Light of the Sacred Flame who is destined to bring prosperity to Kimlasca. But since being kidnapped seven years ago by the Malkuth empire, he has been kept confined to the Fabre family mansion. The shock of the kidnapping erased all of Luke's memories prior to the event. But one fateful day, a mysterious woman breaks into the mansion and sets off a chain of events that will change the world forever...

Based on the video game of the same name." -AniDB

Official (http://www.tv-toa.jp/)
AniDB (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=6040)
ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10149)

Episode 1 - Weib (http://www.datorrents.com/download/40070--weib-tales-of-the-abyss-01-720p-x264-aac-2-0-10fed110-mkv/)
Episode 1 - Osu! (http://datorrents.com/download/40091--osu-tales-of-the-abyss-01-h264-1280x720-1c38c9dd-/)

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I haven't played the game, but this series looked promising. Adventure is one of my favorite genres and this seems to fit into that category nicely. Throw in fantasy, sword and sorcery, and I couldn't even ask for much more. There was quite a bit of lecturing in the beginning and middle of this episode, which I didn't pay too much attention to, but otherwise it was a nicely dynamic episode and certainly it didn't take too long for things to start to happen. I'll keep watching.

Dark Dragon

Mon, 10-06-2008, 02:50 AM

Gorgeous animation as expected from Sunrise (between this and Vesperia, the Tales franchise has been pure eye candy lately) and a very solid first episode.

I'm happy that they finally decided to a 26 episodes long series for Tales since that mean it will have enough time to present a solid story line without ending prematurely.

From the look of the episode, OP and preview for next episodes it looks like they will be following the game story quite closely but there is always the possiblity of them branching off into a brand new anime only storyline, while that would be interesting to see i'd personally prefer to watch the game excellent storyline unfold in gorgeous HD animation.

NeoBear

Mon, 10-06-2008, 04:37 AM

yeah honestly this show makes an awsome first impression every thing about this has a very clean and fresh look. and no ( I hate that guy) characters yet. I don't think they can keep craming so much action in each episode but if they can all the better.

i guess ill have to watch the Osu subs because the Weib subs would not keep up with audio guess my comps starting to show its age =/

Kraco

Mon, 10-06-2008, 06:26 AM

There seems to be also a Episode 1 SD - Weib (http://www.datorrents.com/download/40083--weib-tales-of-the-abyss-01-400p-x264-aac-2-0-7ebba755-mkv/) version if you prefer one with less pixels.

KrayZ33

Mon, 10-06-2008, 08:59 AM

I've never heard of "Weib" and "Osu!"

which one would you prefer? or is at least known somewhere Oo?

Kraco

Mon, 10-06-2008, 09:26 AM

I'll need to check out Osu!. I have heard of the group before but I don't rememeber if I've watched any subs of theirs. Weib, however, didn't much impress with their quality.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 10-06-2008, 09:58 AM

I've never heard of "Weib" and "Osu!"

which one would you prefer? or is at least known somewhere Oo?

Osu! did some subs for World Destruction, which I watched. Subs are pretty decent. No errors stick out like sore toes. I'm pretty sure Weib did a joint with Musubi on Sekirei as well. I liked their subs, but jumped to Titanium because their fonts were ugly.

Back on topic, I'm still downloading....

Dark Dragon

Mon, 10-06-2008, 10:09 AM

Osu! is the group that subbed ZoT 3rd season and Special A (i think they did a few more series but those are the ones i know for sure).

Weib impression:
No translation for OP and ED song (shame since Karma is an awesome song)
I didn't notice any spelling errors and most of the translation didn't seem too awkward but some part just didn't flow too well.
they did spelled Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (official spelling in the game) as Kimlasca-Labrodia (i don't really mind but it's good to know if you are the kind to be bothered by that sort of thing).

Osu! impression:
Translation and Karaoke for OP and ED
No spelling errors and the translation seems to fit better than Weib version.
Spelling for names of places and peoples seems to match the game version.

I thought Osu! did a pretty good job, definitely a good choice for archiving unless a much better group come along.

animus

Mon, 10-06-2008, 11:27 AM

Is the Osu version in 720p?

masamuneehs

Mon, 10-06-2008, 01:18 PM

watched the Osu! sub. karaoke and the translation was pretty good. was pretty sleepy watching this one, and nothing really jumped out at me. the characters are alright but so far nothing special at all. animation is pretty, story feels familar.

a big 'meh' for me

Xelbair

Mon, 10-06-2008, 01:42 PM

On my download list. I don't own ps2(only ps3 without backward compatibility -.-) so i cant play a lot of games i want to - especialy Tales of... series. I really enjoyed other tales OVA, but can't wait to watch this full season anime
Osu! did a good job on Zero no Tsukaima while Eclipse was lazy.

David75

Mon, 10-06-2008, 01:46 PM

At least they tried their best using HD space and image depth.
Character design isn't too bad either.

So the main power in their world is through mastering resonance, thus sound.

And the main protagonist having a HyperResonnance with Tear... what a lucky guy.

It's nice having more and more shows trying to get the most of HD space.
Like Macross Frontier and eyegasmic scenes (though chara design was left behind).

I hope the show gets a strong plot quickly.

animus

Mon, 10-06-2008, 03:08 PM

Good episode, didn't stray far from the source material. Glad they re-used Karma, awesome song.

Enjoyed Production I.G.'s intro sequence more, however. Also, not liking the way they drew the person fighting Luke with red hair (not gonna say the name due to spoilers). Not really enjoying Luke's VA either, not a voice I'd use for him honestly.

Ryllharu

Mon, 10-06-2008, 04:45 PM

Much like the Ar Tonelico OVA before it, this came off as a series one can only really enjoy if they've played the game.

While I liked most of the side characters, I couldn't stand the protagonist. He whined like a 12 year old, "But who's going to spar with me!?" *stamps feet* Luke got even more annoying when he got excited.

The entire first half of the episode was all really poorly paced, rapid fire introductory material. Something like the first hour of an rpg compressed to 11 minutes. I'm sure someone more familiar with the material enjoyed it more, but from a purely anime standpoint, the layout of the episode was horrible.

The animation was really fluid and nice. As much as I am interested, I don't think I'll be picking up this series. However, it does make me at least a little more likely to see if I can scrounge up a copy of the game.

Note: Tear's outfit reminds me of Dark Sakura from F/SN.

animus

Mon, 10-06-2008, 05:14 PM

I had to strain myself a little to realize that Tear was actually being voiced by Yukana. Perfect role for her, imo.

Yukimura

Mon, 10-06-2008, 08:30 PM

Tales of the Abyss - 02 (h264) - [Shinsen] (http://a.scarywater.net/shs/%5BShinsen-Subs%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_02_%5BH.264%5D%5B98FC12E8%5D.mkv.torrent)

Tales of the Abyss - 02 (XviD) - [Shinsen] (http://a.scarywater.net/shs/%5BShinsen-Subs%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_02_%5BB3F79F43%5D.avi.torrent)

Tales of the Abyss - 02 (1280x720 h264) - [Gaku] (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=35213)

masamuneehs

Tue, 10-07-2008, 09:04 AM

so you know in an RPG where you have to do a totally annoying starting quest early on in the game? like deliver some bread to some guy or kill some monster that's pestering the inhabitants of who cares where? maybe you get some stupid party member to join up (so your party isn't so small anymore) who you never really wanted and who will annoy you for most of the game with crappy cliched stereotype dialouge until he gets to high levels and gets a super special ability? maybe you get a completely unbelievable coincidental twist about an aforementioned important character who would never be around where you're doing your shitty noob quest and meet up with him/her?

that's what this episode is. and it's as unenjoyable as every time you start a new RPG and have to play through that crap.

hey, at least the Colonel character seems alright. although it feels like I've seen him as the intellectual, clever, somewhat underhanded guy with glasses in everything since Xenogears.

really, this second episode was so mainstream it really leaves a bad taste.

don't know if i'll stick around for this one aside for some uninterested eye candy and dork fun.

Buffalobiian

Tue, 10-07-2008, 10:38 AM

Guess who joined the bandwagon?

Tales of the Abyss - 01 gg Fansubs (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_01_%5B38624B74%5D.mkv.torrent)

animus

Tue, 10-07-2008, 09:05 PM

I always like to see tsundere's or overtly serious female characters blush over cute things.

When I was picturing voice actors for Jade, the only person that I thought was perfect was probably Miki Shinichiro (Urahara from Bleach, Lockon Stratos from Gundam 00, Takumi from Initial D).

oyabun

Wed, 10-08-2008, 01:24 AM

Tear with extra fanservice qualities are a +++ for me. I'm even thinking about playing the game again. I just have to search for that old game.

KrayZ33

Wed, 10-08-2008, 12:36 PM

Wow... this is some great stuff (it feels like it has everything I missed in Tower of Druaga)

I never heard of the "Tales of ..... " series before Oo

were the other series also good? and did they have the same characters?
For some reason I'm pretty sure I've seen "Tear" before .. could have been some artwork were I saw her though

minneyar

Wed, 10-08-2008, 12:50 PM

All of the "Tales of" anime series are based on games of the same name. They all have different worlds and characters, except for the ones that are obviously direct sequels (Tales of Destiny and Tales of Destiny 2, for example).

In my opinion, Tales of the Abyss has the best story of any of the games (and I've played all of the ones that have been released in the US), although the others are pretty good, too. If you like TotA, you'll probably also like Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia. There was an OVA based on ToS that is pretty decent, but it might be hard to follow if you're not familiar with the game.

Anyway, so far I think the anime's off to a pretty good start... I've heard some people complain that it seems to much like a generic fantasy anime, and I have to admit that it starts off pretty generically, but give it a chance, it will get much better. The second episode introduces Jade, who is basically the best character ever, period.

Also, yes, Luke is a dick. Don't worry, he'll get better. Luke is going to go through a lot of character development.

Kraco

Wed, 10-08-2008, 12:58 PM

I don't even dislike Luke that much yet for a couple of reasons: He's royalty and as such it's no surprise he's a dick, especially since he has been apparently locked into the palace with few responsibilities that would have developed him or make him interact with people of many social classes and circumstances. And secondly unlike in some static high-school setting in this current ever changing one his foolishness is a source of dynamism and unpredictability.

KrayZ33

Wed, 10-08-2008, 01:16 PM

I can't say whether it's a generic fantasy anime or not but I think all the "we have seen something like that with different characters" complaining I've seen on other threads and forums for a while are stupid...
It's normal... and it happens in real movies and *especially* in games, too.

@

Luke is a dick. Don't worry, he'll get better. Luke is going to go through a lot of character development.

Well Luke didn't make me worry at all...he doesn't feel like a bad person like some other characters from other animes... like Shinji from FSN for example

Ryllharu

Wed, 10-08-2008, 03:11 PM

I think it is safe to say this is officially the most oversubbed series this season.

KrayZ33

Wed, 10-08-2008, 05:23 PM

I'll just leave this here

GG - Tales of the Abyss 02 (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_02_%5B5540AAE6%5D.mkv.torrent)

really, this second episode was so mainstream it really leaves a bad taste.
sry but for me it sounds like you would complain about that the boy gets the girl in a romance-anime

Isn't doing quests and getting a bigger party sooner or later what RPG and RPG-animes are all about?
and isn't that exactly what you expect and *want* to see while watching an anime like this one?

It's not really uninteresting as you say, I believe that you just don't like the whole genre ^^
I guess you have to like this kind of thing and it's not impossible to overlook that you've heard a similiar story before... let's take final fantasy for example, the basic is always the same... you start alone or with 2.. then 3 and you will probably end with 6 party-members or more, defeat a few bad guys and so on, yet they made ~13 "episodes" with always the same stuff :)

Ryllharu

Wed, 10-08-2008, 05:58 PM

For the most part, RPG anime series are not about doing quests and such, with notable exceptions. The Tower of Druaga was intentionally being as much of an RPG as possible, so it indeed had all the trappings of an RPG, from gear to victory loot, formalized parties and all of that. Similar to the way .hack and Ragnarok were.

However, the proper adaptation of an RPG anime is to just take the story out and present it. There isn't any need for lame side quests, grinding experience, getting loot, or slowly building one's party person by person over hours. They just need the story and good action sequences to cover for all the battles. The average rpg clocks in at vaguely 40-80 hours, though more recent ones have shortened to 20. All the side quests that serve only to get your party really nice gear, all the random battles and what have you send the time up to that limit.

On the other hand, even given a full 26 episode season of anime (or double-season of 13 each depending on your preference) that only clocks in at a measley 10 hours. When adapating a longer rpg, there really isn't all that much time to waste.

While Druaga and series like it are fun, I'm not here to watch an rpg play itself out. I'm here for the story. I've seen rpg series done well, it's very possible. Arc the Lad only used the game characters as cameos and the foundation of the latter half of the plot, the rest was mostly original story. Hell, even IdolMaster managed to pull a decent mecha series and plot out of a game where you molest young starlets on their way to fame (seriously...check youtube).

The Tales series of games have plenty of story in them. With how many details they crammed into the first episode as they rushed through, I'm wondering why they are wasting time here.

animus

Wed, 10-08-2008, 06:04 PM

To be honest, the stories in the Tales series have never been their strong suit, or strongest suit even. There's never really dark, or deep plot twists to speak of. Or overtly complex or deep nuances. And that's not to say all the random names they make up for basically the same thing (blastia, fonic artes, entelexia, blah blah)

The Tales series usually boils down to a very similiar amount of archetypes, they usually fall under the boy matures into a man, or the man matures into a human being. And nine out of ten, it's about some friendship mumbo jumbo. Though it's not to say the stories in the Tales series aren't consistent, and on average enjoyable.

Yukimura

Wed, 10-08-2008, 06:08 PM

weib, osu, shinsen, gg, a.s.s, abyssalchronicles, yuurisan, and now Aero

Thats 8 (yes 8) different fansub groups, 5 of which are established all subbing this show (and I'm sure I missed a few). Such as the anonymous submitted gg+Osu subs muxed with Weib's video.

Why are so many people subbing this show? Does the game come with a free 8 ball or something to make everyone obsessed with the anime incarnation in hopes of getting some sort of contact high? I can't think of anything more generic (not that that's a bad thing) than a fantasy adventure about a random member of royalty with a prophecy about him. Where are the Kamen no Maid-guy subbers? Where are the Zettai Karen Children subbers? Why do only generic shows ever seem to get subbed by everyone all at once. This seems to be a massive waste of effort (not that tales shouldn't be subbed by anyone, just not 8+ groups).

/rant

Okay I've actually watched the ep, other than the fact that Tear likes cute things and looks cute herself there wasn't too much here that I found interesting, still it was engaging enough and flowed well enough that I didn't feel bored through most of it. That said I don't think I've ever been so cognizant of RPG elements in an anime before. The whole thing with the furry woodland creatures and the potential for Lawful/Chaotic alignment shifts just screamed RPG side quest. I could almost hear the music that should have played when Fon joined the party though.

masamuneehs

Wed, 10-08-2008, 08:49 PM

Ryl was right on the money, and that was my complaint about episode 2. They introduced a bunch of new characters, and I'm assuming that was how it was done in the game as well, but the feel for most of the episode was "Ho~hum~"

I love RPGs and fantasy adventure, but the annoying "build yourself up" crap at the beginning has always been one of my least favorite elements (part of the reason I enjoyed FF7, FF6 and Chrono Trigger so much, as they're "starting quests" are pretty freaking epic, relate to the overall story, introduce the characters, and are actually stuff you feel like doing. FFXII? Not so much)

it's an adaptation, it's not the game with the player interaction gutted. the same thing happens with books. monolouges that would take 5+ minutes are removed, pages of characters reflecting silently to themselves are often squashed into a sheer moment or two. being based on a game is no reason that it should blindly take everything from the game (especially lame shit like 'save the cute forest animal' beginner quests) and put it into the anime.

How would you like it if the two episodes right before the final episode was the characters running around some forest/dungeon and fighting the same five monsters over and over again to build levels? I'm pretty sure even "fans of the RPG/adventure genre" would say that makes for bad television.

besides, i despise the "ah~~~ kawaii~~~!" non-human character, since it's almost always the same personality recipe of super nice, cute, powerless until cornered and dumbly loyal. God bless Mog!

oversubbing. i'm surprised people even blink at it. sure, it's frustrating that lots of shows go unfansubbed because everyone is cluster fucking around one or two shows, but would you really want some of these guys working on the show you really like? Seeing as how more and more people are involved in online communities and such these days, don't seem to be getting much smarter as a whole, I'd expect we'll have more and more oversubbing in the future.

KrayZ33

Thu, 10-09-2008, 08:02 AM

Hmmm.. I still think that the "side" quest was well done and it introduced 3 (if we count in that cheagle 4) new characters and it showed us a bit more of what Luke is thinking

other animes would need like 4-5 episode for that :/
so I'm fine with this little "marching into the world"-quest. It was also a great way to introduce the 2 Realms and the whole world.

This anime has some great fighting animation, but I don't know wheter it is normal or not since all I've seen was Ragnarok (sucks) Tower of Druaga (it was "ok") before. The game isn't avaible for PC is it?

Btw I think the characters are animated really well, I havn't seen such good animation in a TV show for a long time, at least not in a TV show with more than 13 episodes.
Tear is my favorite so far (and not only in this show but also in general), she looks really good ^^.
Finally a good looking character without eyes as big as footballs and a good "overall" appearance

and even though it might sound a bit funny, but I'm really glad they decided to draw both eyes now and then and didn't block her right eye with hair for the whole time like in other animes (for example Ino in Naruto comes into my mind right now, but there are others too).
At least for me, such minor details are actually very important. It makes the whole thing look a lot more realistic. (I'm talking about small details in general, not only that "hair in front of the eye"-thingy :P)

Kraco

Sun, 10-12-2008, 05:28 AM

KrayZ33

Sun, 10-12-2008, 06:47 AM

Goddamn bloody hell. I'm ready to drop this series. And to think I considered this one of the more promising series of this season. And then came this third episode and apparently the script writer ate a load of bad mushrooms and suddenly rewrote the hotheaded Luke into a whimpering coward running away from every fight and rather wanting to die than defend himself. What the fuck is that? I skipped a third of this episode because I couldn't bear to watch it. I honestly don't know if I want to watch the next episode anymore.

I think this is what people call "overreacting" don't you think so kraco?

let's see....

1. This is the first time that Luke is away from his "safe-house"
2. He nearly got killed by a Liger in the forest
3. A horde of these things is attacking the ship all of a sudden
4. He trained his swordmanship because he was probably extremely bored and did it for fun
5. He never killed a man before, but I guess in the anime world, everyone has to be a ruthless killer who enjoys hurting other people.

and
6. when did we see him being "hotheaded"

the first time he fought against a monster, he was extremely scared and you could see that he isn't used to stuff like this at all... he was breathing like he just ran a marathon, while Tear was just being "normal"

Right now Luke can do nothing but bragging about his royality, which comes to point 7:

He is a spoiled kid, who doesn't know a thing about whats going on right now, because he is not used to the whole situation

His attitude makes perfekt sense at the moment

@ episode 3:

pretty good ep, even though I'll never understand why tear was moving in between the soldier and luke, instead of stabbing or at least parrying the swing with her spear which is like 1 and a half metres long

edit: oh and you can see in the preview that Luke has a lot less problems with killing monsters :P

Dark Dragon

Sun, 10-12-2008, 12:22 PM

Episode 3 - gg (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_03_%5B311D7C3C%5D.mkv.torrent)

- - - - - - -

Goddamn bloody hell. I'm ready to drop this series. And to think I considered this one of the more promising series of this season. And then came this third episode and apparently the script writer ate a load of bad mushrooms and suddenly rewrote the hotheaded Luke into a whimpering coward running away from every fight and rather wanting to die than defend himself. What the fuck is that? I skipped a third of this episode because I couldn't bear to watch it. I honestly don't know if I want to watch the next episode anymore.

This event happened the same way in the game. Luke has not once left his house in the past 7 years, the only thing combat related that he had to deal with was sword training with his teacher.

Luke has the mentality of a child because of the way he was brought up, plus he only has his memories from the time he was locked up in his house and nothing else. This was also the first time he fought a human being, i'm pretty sure that killing a monster is drastically different than killing another human being especially for some kid who knows almost nothing about the world.

Most of the earlier episode will deal with how Luke handle the various situation that arise and how it will change him as a person. I think if this kind of things annoy you to the point that you are willing to drop the series then you should not follow this show every week. It would be best to wait for more episodes to come out and then skip through the annoying part concerning Luke.

Ryllharu

Sun, 10-12-2008, 12:29 PM

Dark Dragon

Sun, 10-12-2008, 12:38 PM

...or we could just wonder why so many subbers (three of them quality) have chosen to focus their efforts on this series that has yet to really display why it should be subbed this extensively.

I'm sure the game is great, but the anime has been a very large disappointment for me.

Yeah i find that to be ridiculous especially since Skip Beat! and Macademi Wasshoi are still not subbed yet.

Looking back at the game story line (which they seem to be following), there are a lot of events for them to cover, so they combine some scene like they did in this episode which completely killed the pacing.

They do have a lot of episodes left though, i'm wondering if they are simply condensing the earlier contents so they have more room for the juicy stuff at the end of the game.

Kraco

Sun, 10-12-2008, 01:00 PM

David75

Sun, 10-12-2008, 03:28 PM

Oh, well. I admit I might have overreacted, but that's only because previously I wasn't annoyed by Luke at all, despite his obvious naivete. That's because he seemed to happily enough slice to pieces the beasts when they were attacked almost immediately upon arrival at the continent and later he happily went to hunt for the apple thieves and attacked the huge liger in the forest without that much hesitation. And he has been constantly mouthing off to all manner of people so far, showing no social cowardice.

Yet now the first thing he wanted to do was to flee before even seeing the enemy and then he would have rather died than even raised his sword to block an attack (when the beard man pinned him to the wall). But I only started the skipping when he became a total and complete shocked wuss and a different character altogether after killing (by accident due to his good training) the lone soldier.

There are people who rather die meekly than ever raise a hand to defend themselves, but this dude clearly wasn't one of them in the beginning when he risked his life to defend his teacher in the first ep. That's why I said his character got suddenly and unrealistically changed in this episode, and that pissed me off immensely.

Fighting beasts can be considered different than fighting people. But maybe it's only BS.

Or is there a relationship with him being brainwashed?

oyabun

Mon, 10-13-2008, 11:15 AM

Oh, well. I admit I might have overreacted, but that's only because previously I wasn't annoyed by Luke at all, despite his obvious naivete. That's because he seemed to happily enough slice to pieces the beasts when they were attacked almost immediately upon arrival at the continent and later he happily went to hunt for the apple thieves and attacked the huge liger in the forest without that much hesitation. And he has been constantly mouthing off to all manner of people so far, showing no social cowardice.

Yet now the first thing he wanted to do was to flee before even seeing the enemy and then he would have rather died than even raised his sword to block an attack (when the beard man pinned him to the wall). But I only started the skipping when he became a total and complete shocked wuss and a different character altogether after killing (by accident due to his good training) the lone soldier.

There are people who rather die meekly than ever raise a hand to defend themselves, but this dude clearly wasn't one of them in the beginning when he risked his life to defend his teacher in the first ep. That's why I said his character got suddenly and unrealistically changed in this episode, and that pissed me off immensely.

I think Luke's reaction when he killed the a human for the first time is justified. Having a 7 year old child brain and being spoiled for most of his life(7 years) and then you suddenly killed a person? His fear is really realistic. And his character didn't change at all, remember when he first fought monsters with tear in the forest? Luke was scared shitless. It's just he adapted with the help of tear with her lessons in the world. Its too early to judge Luke's character or his character development in this early part of the series. Just watch the coming episodes and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. :D

masamuneehs

Mon, 10-13-2008, 08:12 PM

i actually really enjoyed this episode, despite a few head scratchers like not posting any guards to a prison block housing the captured commander of the ship you just stole, underlings throwing down weapons for a superior officer being held hostage, then the superior officer throwing down her weapons for her underlings taken hostage, then all of them sitting quietly and sending a fistful of faceless grunts to give chase once all hostages have been let go...

but Jade is cool, and I thought Luke's freak-out was done well enough. they usually don't spend enough time on the first kill, on the prospect of future killing. i like how Jade and Tear just sort of said "that's how it is". truth hurts.

I despise Miew

watching episode 1, i got these ridiculous inneundo vibes from a few scenes with Guy and Luke, and at first I was scratching my head and thinking, "is this just me? or is this as gay as it seems?" This episode set my doubts to rest. But where the fuck did he come from so quickly? Silly.

animus

Mon, 10-13-2008, 09:17 PM

Don't doubt him, he's the Magnificent Guy.

KitKat

Thu, 10-16-2008, 01:28 PM

I think this is a series that is better if you don't take it too seriously. I was pretty amused at seeing all the video game elements in the story even having never played the game, and when Luke was fighting Van, I could hear in my mind "Press X to attack, Press O to block", and the diary looks exactly like a convenient way to Save Progress.

Although, I'm with you masa on your hatred of Meiu. Maybe when the party size increases, there will be an opportunity to leave it behind.

saman

Fri, 10-17-2008, 12:50 PM

This is actually spoiling. Removed

i think the biggest fans of this show would be people who are fans of the video game. i personally went berserk when i discovered they were making this into an anime, because abyss is my favourite tales game. however, the major reason for that is because the gameplay and fighting system of the game is amazing. when you take that out and leave only the storyline, it really does become a generic RPG. one that i will watch anyway, for the heck of it, but i would get it if people who haven't played the video game aren't too impressed.

animus

Fri, 10-17-2008, 08:04 PM

I wish I was Mieu. I'd have Tear all over me.

Munsu

Sat, 10-18-2008, 12:02 AM

Just watched the first 3 episodes...

I think this is pretty good. I like the action scenes, and I have a feeling this can get pretty dark and soon.

No problems with Luke, he's lived a ridiculously sheltered life until now... this will probably last a couple of more episodes until he gets the gist of things.

I like that there are various factions around with their own motives, so it's not as simple as good and bad. Things can get a bit messy.

masamuneehs

Sun, 10-19-2008, 04:51 AM

gg - Tales of the Abyss - Episode 04 -mkv (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_04_%5B9C51C12F%5D.mkv.torrent)

It has been a long time since I've made a thread...

I'm really pretty 'meh' about this entire series, but will see how it goes...

Kraco

Sun, 10-19-2008, 06:13 AM

Luke is still an uber loser. In fact I think sucking is his prime skill.

I wish somebody would kick his ass so hard that he would make a turn for better. But since he's such a precious prince, nobody will.

masamuneehs

Sun, 10-19-2008, 06:39 AM

the episode felt very rushed. I can see how it would have been better to have a few dungeons (river, monster attack on the port, to Choral Castle, Choral Castle itself) between all of it...

lol'd at Tear just healing herself. Man, don't these guys know that the Healer/Bard should always be in the back row?

It's so obvious that Van left them alone after saying "Don't go to Choral Castle" so that they'd be able to slip off and do just that. He's so in with the bad guys it's not even funny.

I'm going to go out on a not so wild limb and guess that the masked kid who had to run when Jade and Ion entered is Ion's not so trappish, evil brother.

They really shouldn't be putting scenes from the episode in the OP. Seriously, this show is not low budget, and there's no reason they should need to use the animation from the episode as part of the OP. It gives away way too much.

Jade is still the man. I was hoping he'd put a fork in Angstietta, but trap priest had to interfere... I think Anise is pretty funny.

anyone else think that it's a little weird that of the six so called "God Generals", three of them have already been defeated, rather easily too? Angstietta lost twice (once to Jade and once to a combo of Guy and Anise), Largo got taken out by a severely nerfed Jade (but also due to being caught by Tear's Stop spell) and "whatever her name 'the Quick' was taken down super quickly by a still weakened Jade. The guy's a colonel, but he's pwning God Generals left and right. Did they just arbitrarily hand out military ranks when they made this show?

animus

Sun, 10-19-2008, 08:44 AM

Jade and the God Generals are from different factions. Jade is part of the Malkuth empire. And the God Generals are part of the Oracle Knights, which is basically the religious army.

KrayZ33

Mon, 10-20-2008, 06:53 AM

Good episode.. I like Luke's fighting style, his swings are filled with strength and are very rough, unlike Guy's, who is very quick and accurate with the blade.

lol'd at Tear just healing herself. Man, don't these guys know that the Healer/Bard should always be in the back row?

never played warhammer eh :P?
I don't think tear would be happy standing behind, screaming: "pleaz protect me from the bad monsters, kyaaaaa"
I prefer it if she fights AND supports her group... and it's not like she is not able to fight, so why should she stand in the back

Munsu

Mon, 10-20-2008, 07:38 AM

I have no problems with this God Generals being defeated, mainly because they've been defeated by people that seem to be their equals. Also, they've been defeated in numbers.

It also means that more badass villians will be introduced later.

At the moment I'm interested in this Asch character. I wonder what his relation to Luke is and if they're related at all. They look similar.

I also wonder about the "perfect creation" aspect. Was look created? Were his memories simply manipulated? Would it be possible for the real Luke to be somewhere else, and this current Luke is simply an impostor?

masamuneehs

Tue, 10-21-2008, 07:33 AM

Bud's post really brings up a good theory. Since I saw the OP and got the 'Luke was kidnapped by Malkuth and found without memories afterwards" it was painfully clear that he and Asch were related some how.

But I always thought that Asch would be some kind of evil clone/twin. But it makes a lot more sense for Malkuth to kidnap the kid in the Prophecy, make a clone out of him, then dump the clone for the other guys to find so they give up searching, leaving Malkuth alone to raise Asch as they see fit. Hell, from the conversation in this episode, it looks like they might have even designed Luke to gather intel or something... And it sure explains why he has no memories from befor the abduction... he simply wasn't alive before that!

Munsu

Tue, 10-21-2008, 07:50 AM

Which begs the question... why is Luke a fragment of XXXX (forgot the name, the voice that is heard when he manifests his magic... actually don't know if the name has been revealed)? Is it a consequence of being created from a fragment of some other person? If not, does it mean that he's legit since I doubt this would happen to some random created individual? Or is it simply something that can be implanted?

One curious thing is that when him and Tear reacted and arrived near the ocean, the setting looked very similar to the place where "he" confessed to the princess... it would've been very typical for this setting to make him remember. That he didn't react at all to the setting might be telling us something.

You also have to wonder why he has been so sheltered... was this merely a protective measure? Or is there more to this, and his family didn't want him wandering around and learning. Was there an ulterior motive here to keep him from leaving his mansion?

Dark Dragon

Tue, 10-21-2008, 10:26 AM

Damn, you guys are really good at coming up with theories base on a few simple observations.

I can't confirm or deny anything yet but i promise that the story will get interesting at the very least so stick with it.

Alhuin

Tue, 10-21-2008, 07:26 PM

After watching this episode I really wanted to start playing an RPG. Which brings me to question, should I play ToA now, or wait until after the anime is finished.

Munsu

Tue, 10-21-2008, 07:30 PM

Wait till after the anime is finished.

saman

Wed, 10-22-2008, 11:07 PM

you can start playing now if you like. getting to choral castle alone takes 10 or so hours to do depending on whether you like to explore and get extra things. it's a long game. actually, maybe i'll start playing it again too.

the anime does a much better job of explaining the fonstones as opposed to the game. though there is still a fair bit i don't get about fonons and fon slots. i hope they'll touch on that more later.

Idealistic

Thu, 10-23-2008, 12:49 AM

Not about ToA, but Tales of Eternia. Was this anime adaption any good?

Munsu

Thu, 10-23-2008, 04:50 PM

Not about ToA, but Tales of Eternia. Was this anime adaption any good?
I can't say myself, but I just downloaded all of it. It's a fairly small torrent, about 2 GB's worth, so don't fret too much over it. It'll probably be somewhat decent.

As for Tales of the Abyss, I don't know why but I have a feeling that it could get quite dark soon. I'm waiting for the shit to hit the fan.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 10-25-2008, 11:47 AM

I downloaded both Tales of the Abyss and Ga Rei Zero, intending to drop one of them.

After watching both, I think I'll drop something else :D

Kraco

Sun, 10-26-2008, 05:17 AM

I wanna be a hero! A hero! Oh yeah!

Episode 5 - gg (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_05_%5B52F128B2%5D.mkv.torrent)

Death BOO Z

Sun, 10-26-2008, 07:14 AM

watched 4 episodes in a row now.

I have no luck picking anime.

it's becoming painfully clear that (at least) one of the things Bud said is true, I don't really care which one.
and that's the 2nd point of objection... there are so many characters around... Luke, Tear, Jade, Ion, Guy, Anise, Van, six god-generals. crazy scientist, ninja-kid, the Mohl guy, the princess, Luke's father.
that's almost twenty of them, in four episodes! and we still didn't get any real explanation about how they got to the other kingdom, or why is Guy there? or why is tear trying to kill van?
Also, I don't think we've seen any two characters exchanging more than two sentences with each other before someone interrupts them...

the rest is the usual complaints about Luke being an horrible character, the cat thing being obnoxious and that nothing makes sense ("hey, this guy stole an apple in front of our faces! he must also be the one who sneaks around to the warehouse and steals all the apples!"). and other users already said what had to be said.

Munsu

Sun, 10-26-2008, 08:02 AM

Death BOO Z

Sun, 10-26-2008, 08:23 AM

Munsu

Sun, 10-26-2008, 08:30 AM

nope.
there's a difference between question the viewers should ask (luke's memory, Guy's dead girlfriend, all the other crap) which can answered at some future point in the end of the plot.
but if the characters ask it, then it should be answered. Don't Luke and Tear care they have been blasted through half a continent? doesn't anybody question Guy being there? (he's a top ranked servant of the royal family,and he goes traveling while the heir is missing?) didn't Luke want to know why tear is trying to kill Van?

those are questions they asked already, inside the series, and then decided not to give out any answer at all (seriously, I'd be satisfied with "I don't know"\"It's a secret" but don't ignore it all together!).
and in a few episodes, they'll start talking about it, but by then, it will be stupid, since they have ignored the obvious for so long already, so why start asking now?

also, they got DVD-burning rom. voice activated magical earth airships (which they use to chase petty criminals?), what the hell?
That's because you're not grasping all the information they have given you. Tear doesn't have to question WHY they were blasted across the continent, she already knows, and she mentioned it in the first episode. She might not have the detailed specifics yet, but she knows pretty much why. She explained it to Luke, but Luke is a complete idiot ignorant to the world.

They already questioned Guy, and he gave a BS answer. By the way he delivered his BS answer you can tell he's hiding something that will be addressed later on.

The reason why Tear wants to kill Van has already been explained too. They haven't gone to full detail about it, but they already made mention of it. It was apparently a "misunderstanding" because some people went and destroyed or attacked her village, people that are supposed to be under his command... but apparently they went there under someone else's orders.

With all that said, all those concerns should be addressed through the series. If they fail to do so, then yeah, it would be complete suckage, but you're simply bringing crappy reasons to rationalize your apparent dislike to the series.

I get that you might not like the plot or the characters or the character interaction... but I think all your other complaints are pure crap.

Death BOO Z

Sun, 10-26-2008, 08:47 AM

right, she said "it was magic", he said "what?" and then they kept going.
but anway, we've been through this in the dragonball thread, so I'm stopping now. it's not going anywhere.

more points to rationalize my dislike:
it's generic. right to the core. even the OP song is generic, down to the angle that Jade puts on his glasses before blasting monsters.and the earth crushing down under the guy who crossing swords with Luke.

most animes keep the generic formula to the 2nd episode, and the first episode is filled with something original.

Munsu

Sun, 10-26-2008, 08:52 AM

I guess she mentioning that an hyperresonance occurred and then calling him a Seventh Fonist is no big deal. As I said, she knows why it occurred. And Luke has been shown to be an ignorant character, a result of his sheltered life. This has nothing to do with the series not giving answers to some of the questions posted, especially in the beginning of a series. Who cares about being accurate, right?

But yeah, I guess we can leave it at that.

Munsu

Sun, 10-26-2008, 09:41 AM

A lot of background info on this one... it's hard to distinguish friends from foes and Luke is being manipulated left and right. He's completely gullible at the moment. I'd like to see his reaction when he causes a mass catastrophe, I don't know if he can get any more pathetic than he currently is. Or maybe that might cause him to grow some balls.

Kraco

Sun, 10-26-2008, 10:16 AM

I agree. It's due to Luke's infant state of mind that it's hard to judge who are the bad guys, who the good ones. He pretty much believe's everything he hears - if he somehow manages to understand it. Rarely have I seen an anime with a more stupid main character. Before his cowardice became more than evident I actually liked his straight-forwardness, but that was only before he was proven a complete idiot.

Waiting for him to cause a catastrophe due to his lack of wits is indeed a big part of why I keep watching this series anymore. It's really too bad because otherwise there are some nice characters and settings.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 10-26-2008, 07:36 PM

I understand why people would hate a character who is naive and gutless, but those qualities are quite acceptable when one understands Luke's situation. He really does have an infant state of mind, meaning he only has memories of the past 7 years, and lost not only memories of his past experiences, but everything he knew, including how to talk (as he said so himself), maybe even eat solid food and the like. I really can't dislike a child for acting like one, simply because they can't really help it (much like how Tear started being nicer to Luke in this episode).

Van is obviously more of a father figure to Luke than anyone, and it would be more absurd to suggest that he should distrust and disobey a role model considering his situation.

I just wish there is more of tear in this show.

Death BOO Z

Mon, 10-27-2008, 04:24 AM

I could almost go through with it... until the final scene.

yes, after being told that Luke had to learn everything, including speaking (and probably control his exits, eating solid food, dressing himself up) his inexplainable stupidness became explainable (which of course, doesn't explain why everyone else is an idiot). I could even ignore the fact that his goddamn window in his room doesn't have steel bars ot a lock (you'd expect them to do this confinement thing in a not half-assed way).
my anger from the previous episdoes vented away, to what seemed like a smooth sail of a series about a boy finding his super abilities and saves half the world by destroying it with a girl.

but then...
"Yes, I'm the one who kidnapped you and traumatized you enough you'd forget how to speak... will you follow my advice from now on?"
Luke is a big, fuckin', amazingly naive stupid idiot.
it's not even funny anymore.

this goes beyond the level of 'regular' idioticy and blocked memories, it practically counts as physical brain-damage, he should be put in a strait jacket and kept in isolation. (yes, I know that they tried it before, but they didn't really put their hearts into it).

also, they got DVDs... why?

David75

Mon, 10-27-2008, 06:00 AM

also, they got DVDs... why?

Easy:
It's not everyday you get to catch such an idiot. Having him on a DVD is a way to spread mass laughs in ToA world. There's no reason only a few people should laugh their heart out alone.

I'm still waiting for this show to be interresting. Designs, base story, quality is ok. But it's quite boring as it is.

Munsu

Mon, 10-27-2008, 10:29 AM

"Yes, I'm the one who kidnapped you and traumatized you enough you'd forget how to speak... will you follow my advice from now on?"
Luke is a big, fuckin', amazingly naive stupid idiot.
it's not even funny anymore.

You can parallel it to kidnapped children, who start thinking of their kidnappers as parents. The Stockholm syndrome if not mistaken.

With the big reveal, he used words as "want", "need", "help", "I'm the only one", "save you". "trust", etc. etc. to manipulate him. I think it has more to do with what has been done to his brain, and how Van has surely invested a ton of time influencing Luke's thought process than simply Luke's naiveness.

Then you have to consider that he was the only one to bring up the lines that were unsaid about the prophecy, he was showing that he had nothing to hide, that he was the only one being truthful... he even risked his relationship by coming clean about the kidnapping (which he turned into a rescue attempt)... it's all a ploy. And you'd be surprised how many times this works; I know I've used it a couple of times to get what I want by confessing something voluntarily in a way that it doesn't seem as bad as it was, in order to gain someone's trust. It's quite easy. Welcome to Con 101.

I'm still waiting for this show to be interresting. Designs, base story, quality is ok. But it's quite boring as it is.

I'm waiting for the show to become interesting myself... I see the potential, but they haven't followed through yet. At least they've invested enough time on the characters so far so that they won't have to waste much time on it when the shit hits the fan. I just hope the shit hits rather soon, and the next episode looks like it'll be it. Allies all seem to be choosing sides, and that should cause trouble especially with the looming war.

Dark Dragon

Mon, 10-27-2008, 10:44 AM

I could even ignore the fact that his goddamn window in his room doesn't have steel bars ot a lock (you'd expect them to do this confinement thing in a not half-assed way).

They decided not to animate a minor scene that explain why they didn't need to try very hard to keep Luke locked in. The layout of Baticul city is like one giant mountain that is divided into several floors. The only way to move from one floor to the next is by using 2 main elevators that is guarded at all time. In the game, when you first arrive at Baticul, Luke made a comment "So this is what Baticul looks like" implying that he had never once visited the lower areas since all of the noble live on the top floor along with the king.

I think this kind of confusion will happen very often, especially since at certain point they are combining several scenes into one and therefore change the location of where certain things happened.

The more episodes of this anime i watch, the more I'm convinced that this anime is made as fan service for fans of the game. They are skipping a lot of minor details that make the main plot points less confusing or annoying. I also do not see any chance for the skits (the main source of the game humor) to get animated, especially since they are trying extremely hard to keep the main content packed as tightly as possible.

Buffalobiian

Mon, 10-27-2008, 11:27 PM

Well, having not heard of Tales of the Abyss until this anime, I have to say the minor details don't seem to matter that much regarding the overall story. Maybe I'd feel differently had I played the game.

As stated, quite a bit of background info this episode. Enough to start me speculating. Seeing both parents again, you'd notice his hair is a completely different shade of red, while the entire family is almost universally maroon. We've only seen one other character with hair like that: Asch the Bloody.

Add that to the fact that Luke has no memory of anything. Normally, memory loss happens to things like people's faces, past friends, or blackouts between certain time periods. Language loss, much like forgetting how to walk, is rare, if not almost impossible. (Technically, your brain establishes new synaptic connects between neurons when you learn to walk or drive. Such physical connections are very hard to unlearn.

What am I thinking? I'm thinking Luke never had these memories in the first place.

Then, the new information about these things called isofons- imitations that emit the same frequency as the original. Same fingerprint. However, current attempts have been unsuccessful. Supposedly. That voice (which really sounds like Asch) doesn't think so, however. "You who have the same power as me. Show me!"

Then you have the intent. Why would anyone want to clone someone else? Van just told us. Luke is able to hyperresonante by himself, making him powerful. A weapon. Now if you can steal that weapon, and replace it with a replica, what does that make you? Powerful.

Pure speculation based on a few clues, but the pieces do fall in place. Hopefully, the LukexAsch meeting next week will give us more to work on.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Edit: masa said something similar before

But I always thought that Asch would be some kind of evil clone/twin. But it makes a lot more sense for Malkuth to kidnap the kid in the Prophecy, make a clone out of him, then dump the clone for the other guys to find so they give up searching, leaving Malkuth alone to raise Asch as they see fit. Hell, from the conversation in this episode, it looks like they might have even designed Luke to gather intel or something... And it sure explains why he has no memories from befor the abduction... he simply wasn't alive before that!

masamuneehs

Tue, 10-28-2008, 11:44 AM

this show has an excellent plot (i think). but it's buried under sparkly animation and herky-jerky battles and scene pacing. i love that there's so much going on, and that things will get even more crazy soon enough, it seems. i like the deception going on, because it seems there are only a few people you can count on to tell it like it is.

but the whole show is a constant "ho-hum" for me. it's not interesting, somehow.

i think i'm going to simply shut down on this one, wait a few months until I get home, and then play the game. I think that'll be much better. In fact, yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do. See yas

Munsu

Tue, 10-28-2008, 12:55 PM

KitKat

Thu, 10-30-2008, 10:57 PM

Huzzah, very little Meiu in this episode! Lots to think about. I was completely taken aback by Van's confession of kidnapping Luke. It does shed some light on why Tear might be trying to kill him though. I feel like Tear is a fairly straightforward character, and will fight for what she believes is right with all of her energy. Van on the other hand seems to have hidden motives and agendas. I wonder who would win in a full-out battle between them, as might have happened in the beginning if Luke hadn't interfered.

The clone theory seems plausible. The only other explanation is that someone deliberately destroyed all of Luke's memory, essentially wiping his brain clean of everything. Normal amnesia due to trauma can't account for what happened to him. It's hard to say what's possible with their level of magic and technology, since we've only seen a few instances of it in battle.

shinta|hikari

Fri, 10-31-2008, 10:38 AM

Isn't the outcome of a Tear vs Van battle obvious when Van obliterated an enemy with just one gesture (and lots of fancy effects)?

Buffalobiian

Fri, 10-31-2008, 07:19 PM

Isn't the outcome of a Tear vs Van battle obvious when Van obliterated an enemy with just one gesture (and lots of fancy effects)?
But back then, Van would have died since he was paralyzed by Tear's song. It could happen again.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 11-02-2008, 02:35 PM

[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_06_[5DCC4205].mkv.torrent (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_06_%5B5DCC4205%5D.mkv.torrent)

David75

Sun, 11-02-2008, 03:13 PM

Humm, not much to discover or enjoy yet.
Everything is so slow and said/shown well before it happens.

I wonder what should be the things to be enjoyed next.
Is that fight scenes? Because we've had that and it was meh.

So what should we be waiting for that is of interrest?

Idealistic

Mon, 11-03-2008, 02:38 AM

I'm assuming Van is either a bad guy, or he interpreted the scores wrong. I believe it said the guy with red hair or whatever will bring war, but maybe it's referring to Asch. And it seems Asch and Luke do look alike. Either one's a clone or they are twins. Maybe they got swapped during the kidnap.

Anyways, nothing really happened here, except walking through the factory. What sucks about these RPG-turned-anime is the fights. There's always gotta be these random enemies that pop out just to show a fight and they really aren't anything special.

At least the interaction between the characters in this episode was entertaining. Especially Tear being scared of ghosts.

masamuneehs

Mon, 11-03-2008, 05:06 AM

after declaring my intent to drop this show so that maybe, one day I'll enjoy the story in the video game form, I went back on that decision in light of an entreaty to do so. However, if there was ever to be an episode to change someone's sentiments about this show, it was surely not this one.

We get a little bit of backstory, a lot of comedic relief (mostly rehashed from previous episodes), to fill the time as they proceed through a dungeon up until they can spend three seconds fighting "the dungeon master" and then launch right into an explanatory tutorial about how to use Jade's abilities. And then the standard brief confrontation between hero and villain to showcase the temporary superiority of the bad guy.

I feel like this entire viewing experience can be wrapped up in a brief quote of dialouge from this episode. After they spend yet more time yammering up the silly competition triangle for Luke's affection, Jade remarks:
"Everybody's having so much fun..."
To which Guy gives a heavy sigh and says, "Who is?"

And, a little while later, from the main character himself, "BOOOORING!"
My sentiments exactly.

Yukimura

Mon, 11-03-2008, 11:47 AM

Kraco

Tue, 11-04-2008, 03:22 PM

Luke's total and heedless obnoxiousness amused me again in this episode. If only he was like that and could actually back up that attitude with ability. But it's impossibly tiresome how he's such a loser every time things turn tough or if there's a decision to be made. Those times the: "Shut up! Follow me!" attitude mysteriously disappears into some black hole as if it never existed. Only to resurface when things have turned boring again. Somebody really would need to kick his ass. I hope Ash will break a couple of his limbs to teach him a lesson.

Speaking of the RPG traits what amused me is how they were travelling with no other visible equipment or provisions than their weapons. Even through the sand desert. Just like in games where you see nothing but your armor, shield, and the weapon that happens to be currently active.

KitKat

Tue, 11-04-2008, 06:02 PM

If Ash isn't the real Luke and Luke a Fon clone created to double your magical hax I'll eat my hypothetical hat.

Anyway this show is starting to bore me as well, they way everything feels so like it was just ripped out of an RPG is starting to get on my nerves. The story itself seems interesting, but I think the RPG story without the RPG interactivity is what's putting me off.

Hehe, in video games there isn't usually much subtlety in the story. If only Asch was the main character, this would be a much more interesting show. He also has much better fashion sense than Luke (what the heck is with the belly shirt? It's ridiculous...) And his hair colour seems more consistent with that of Luke's parents, although maybe that's just a light vs. dark distinction on the part of the character design to let you know who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. I wonder if Van plans to use Luke as a weapon to fight against Asch.

I'm really curious to play this game though. Every so often in the anime I catch myself thinking, "Maybe this cutscene will end soon so I can explore the town!"

Alhuin

Tue, 11-04-2008, 08:37 PM

I'm glad they finally had Ashe and Luke at least square off, so they could stop "shadowing" his face everytime he was on screen. That was really annoying... especially considering it's very clearly visible in the OP.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 11-08-2008, 08:23 PM

Only thing interesting this episode was "revealing" Ion's an isofon of the duckbill fellow. That's about it.

RyougaZell

Sun, 11-09-2008, 10:16 PM

Marik

Mon, 11-10-2008, 12:09 AM

[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_07_[C1BDD14D].mkv (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_07_%5BC1BDD14D%5D.mkv.torrent)

Kraco

Mon, 11-10-2008, 03:29 PM

Munsu

Mon, 11-10-2008, 04:42 PM

Well, seems like our theories about Asch and Luke were in the right direction.

I thought it was an enjoyable episode, still quite slow in its development with the whole passage thing. Some good background info though, and the final scene were interesting. Still expected this to be a better episode... an episode where all hell would break loose.

Munsu

Tue, 11-11-2008, 08:09 AM

It was about the time Tear or anybody else told Luke what a fool he is. Not that he would listen but still. Maybe we will get to see Van thrust his sword through Luke's guts à la Bleach...

Yet, it still amuses me half the time how big and vulgar an idiot the dude is. If only he was lecherous as well... That would be awesome.
Yep, it was about time... people sympathized with his situation at first so they let it be, but after a time it gets tiring. The show is aware of how annoying of a character Luke is, and this is their way of telling us.

Overall I thought it was a nice episode... I wonder what that commander's relationship with Natalia is, and who Sync is with the whole Fon Master angle.

I thought it was great how everyone ignored Luke at the end... he was really getting on my nerves.

Death BOO Z

Tue, 11-11-2008, 06:21 PM

meh...
I only now watched the episode. it wasn't terrible like the first few, it was just mediocre.
Tear is afraid of ghosts, wow, so amazing, we've never seen a (seemingly) strong female characters suddenly being terrified of a relatively insignificant creature. it's got to be a world record!

seriously, they try so hard to make tear seem like a strong, empowered woman character, and then they ruin it for the sake of cliche's...

I don't mind Luke being a dick, but he really needs to pace himself... he can't go from arrogant jerk to wimpy cunt more than twice a scene, and luke switches around every sentence...

Asch, and Ninjaboy Fon... I don't care. I'd even rather not care, since there's no chance in seven hells that we'll see their side of the story (which is probably much more awesome than the side of the story we see), so why bother?

Nattalia and the Dungeon crawling... as you guys said before, the giant spider came out of nowhere, had a horrible fight, and made no sense, other than to prove again (see tear's case) that women can't do anything without the help of men.
also, I can live with swords in this robot\computers\dvd\airships setting, since sword draw on the magic strength of the wielder. but wooden arrows? she plans to charge the sand-roller with plain wooden arrows? bitch is crazy.

Kraco

Wed, 11-12-2008, 02:38 AM

also, I can live with swords in this robot\computers\dvd\airships setting, since sword draw on the magic strength of the wielder. but wooden arrows? she plans to charge the sand-roller with plain wooden arrows? bitch is crazy.

Actually that's pretty realistic. The girl belongs to the nobility, and nobility close to the royals, no less. It would be pretty unseemly for her to be seen practicing any close contact martial arts. Archery, however, can be pretty stylish and ceremonial (the Japanese know this better than anyone...). Of course it makes her useless against most opponents, but it can't be helped: She can't leave Luke alone with beauties like Tear (though only god knows why anybody would be interested in a fool like Luke, unless for political reasons).

Munsu

Thu, 11-13-2008, 08:39 PM

Another thing... do any of you guys have an idea on why Asch told Luke his location? What was his intention? And do you guys think that the other Generals knew that he had told Luke his location?

I find it awkward that he told him where he was, just to get pissed at him when he arrived and then have all of them fight.

Munsu

Mon, 11-17-2008, 07:42 AM

By gg:
http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_08_[34FD8C6A].mkv.torrent

And here's a patch to convert it to v2:
http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_08v2_Patch.rar.torrent

INSTRUCTIONS

No translation changes were made in this patch, it just fixes some Engrish errors
that QC didn't catch. TotA - 08v2.ass is the updated script for those who don't use
Windows.

To patch the file, dump the contents of this zip archive to the same folder
that the original video is in, then execute [gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_08v2_Patch.bat.
When it says "press any key to continue", you are finished patching.

I thought this was a great episode, and Luke was awesomely idiotic.

Kraco

Mon, 11-17-2008, 12:52 PM

It was such a pleasure to watch how Luke in his infinite idiocy first killed thousands and then when he, honouring his old habits, tried to deny responsibility, got rejected by everybody - except the flying creature that sympathised with him, being also guilty of a somewhat similar deed. And moments later it was almost as funny to watch how Asch could evade all his attacks without even drawing his sword, and when he finally did, Luke was defeated instantly.

Actually it would be beyond sweet if Asch actually skewered Luke and became the new main character. But I guess such an unorthodox thing is impossible.

Yukimura

Mon, 11-17-2008, 07:14 PM

Lol @Kraco the main reason was even going to post on this ep was to say what you suggested.

Not only would Asch would make a much less annoying, worthless, retarded main character, he's also just awesome with his massive shoulder chip and goofy boots. Sure he's kind of a dick (at least has a decent reason) but that means his 'Heroic Growth' could be to become less of a dick while seeking justice for what was done to him. But instead of that we'll have to suffer through probably 18 more eps of a retard trying to accomplish things that a non-retarded person should have ever been asked to or even allowed to attempt doing.

I'm usually not one to hate main characters but I don't think I've got much choice with the way fake-Luke (it's disrespectful to the real Luke aka Asch to associate his name with that 'dreck') is portrayed. Maybe by the time he's finished his Heroic Journey I'll find him less abhorrent but somehow I don't think his personality is going to get that much better even if he learns to use his brain for more than seeking praise and acclaim for doing jack shit.

Munsu

Mon, 11-17-2008, 07:26 PM

I really don't have a problem with Luke being an idiot since the show itself knows he's an idiot. Problem is when a show has an idiot for a main character, and the show thinks the character is cool. Kinda like the main Gundam SEED characters.

Show knows Luke is an idiot, they'll develop him. This is why it's a bit tough in the entertainment business. It's very hard to develop a character outside the usual mold (the cool guy). There's a reason for it, they are usually annoying. In my opinion it's fine. It's not the usual main character we encounter in these kind of series, and as long as the show itself knows how moronic the character is, and develops the story accordingly it should be fine. And for the last couple of episodes, I think they have done a great job with Luke (mainly in how the characters around him are interacting with him).

But whatever, to each his own. We don't have to like them all. But, it's not that I like Luke, in fact I hate him... but I don't think he's a bad main character. Is it really necessary for us to like the main character? Wouldn't it be possible for once to enjoy a show that has a character we're supposed to dislike?

RyougaZell

Mon, 11-17-2008, 07:54 PM

I really don't have a problem with Luke being an idiot since the show itself knows he's an idiot. Problem is when a show has an idiot for a main character, and the show thinks the character is cool. Kinda like the main Gundam SEED characters.

I can name a few more... Naruto, Index, Goku, etc.

The main story in Tales of the Abyss isn't all the situations that have happened until now... but the reasons behind why Luke is like this. Luke is definitely an idiot... but was it his fault? He was always shielded from the world thanks to the damn Score, and he grew being a dick. Blame overprotective kingdom and the Score. Now we have an event to break him, naming him a Replica.

M;y issue with not finishing the game was not the story... which is excellent... it was because the game suffered from severe loading times it got ridiculous. I think I'll try to finish it before the series ends.

Dark Dragon

Mon, 11-17-2008, 07:56 PM

I agree with what bud is saying.

We're also only 8 episodes into the series, it is way too early to conclude how Luke character will turn out. In most series of these type, what you usually get is a main character with an unresolved past or emotional trauma etc etc. Luke doesn't have any of that, his character development is for him to stop being a complete dick and maybe turn into a main character that people can like.

shinta|hikari

Mon, 11-17-2008, 07:56 PM

Alhuin

Tue, 11-18-2008, 02:08 AM

LOL at Luke in this episode, is all I have to say. He deserves every bit of pain he's going through right now (though, thousands of people dying by his hand isn't really Just for them). And it's about time they "revealed" that Luke was a replica. We didn't see that one coming... nope...

Other than that... this episode was pretty good. As others have stated, it's fine to have a defect character like Luke for now, because he can either redeem himself and become "cool", or... well, he's already at rock bottom now, so he can't really get much worse. But my guess is he'll pull himself up somehow.

Yukimura

Tue, 11-18-2008, 02:57 AM

Despite fake-Luke being extremely lame now he's inevitably going to become a cool Action/Shounen Hero by the end of the show (or die). It's mainly Instant Gratification Syndrome which demands that he be snarked every step of the way on his journey since he's surrounded by so many other awesome characters.

I think almost all the other party members in the show are interesting and made more endearing because of whatever flaws or shortcomings they have. None of them fosters the urge to jump through the monitor with a machete like fake-Luke does for me at the moment.

Kraco

Tue, 11-18-2008, 03:12 AM

I absolutely agree. Character development has been severely lacking in many series as of recent, particularly because they usually start out "cool" or "likeable" already making it risky to change them due to the possibility of irking many fans.

A main character needs to be something like Kazuma Yagami or Lelouch before I really think him cool. 99% of shows have something else, and the bulk of those have what you'd call a gray main character lacking enough traits to make him acceptable to most but really liked by none (none with any taste, at least).

However, I don't actually hate Luke being the main character that much. I do dislike the dude but like I've said in a couple of earlier episode threads, I'm actually enjoying the completely out of the line attitude he has and the moronic comments he heedlessly throws around, and even more I'm enjoying when he gets his ass kicked due to his incompetence. That, as such, is pretty novel, like you said.

Following that line of thought, when I said I hoped Asch would kill Luke it's not because I'd absolutely want Luke replaced as the main character but because in how many shounen series the clear main character is suddenly killed for good in episode 8? That would be pretty unique.

shinta|hikari

Tue, 11-18-2008, 04:15 AM

You should consider the intended main audience for the shows you are referring to. Those are probably harem or love-comedy series that usually have a bland and ordinary main character, which I suppose is chosen because the creators believe the viewers (who lack a social life perhaps?) can relate to them.

Other than these shows, the general trend is for there to be a likeable main character, since people watch shows with characters they like, even if just one.

Munsu

Tue, 11-18-2008, 12:53 PM

I know what you guys are waiting for. You guys are waiting for the Sakura-style hair cutting scene.

Death BOO Z

Tue, 11-18-2008, 06:17 PM

shinsen finally came out today.. so I'm back to being one episode behind.
It's good that someone finally told Luke how idiotic he is. too bad that he has gone emo about it and says nobody 'gets' him like van does. so annoyingly pathetic.

I really hate it when everybody in the series knows something really important (but also, somewhat basic), and no one cares to tell us. it's practically established that either Luke or Asch is a clone of the other, so someone should spill the beans and put it out on the open. they don't have many chances for it to be a surprise (to the watchers, and to the characters).

ahh, well, at least Luke was consistent with himself the entire episode, all around jerk, all the time.
next chapter, or the one after that, Guy is probably going to be mind controlled and forced to fight Luke (or Natallia) and nobody will remember to ask Fon why he didn't warn them of this happening (seriously, someone, take away his sword and throw it back to him if there's a battle going on, don't wait for him to go pyshco!)

shinta|hikari

Tue, 11-18-2008, 06:52 PM

A bit off-topic, which Sakura are you referring to?

RyougaZell

Tue, 11-18-2008, 07:02 PM

Naruto's.

*sigh*
Its sad that whenever people say 'Sakura' nowadays they do so to refer to Haruno Sakura,when there are tons of better Sakura's out there... like the one from Fate/Stay Night... or Sakura Wars... not to mention the CLAMP Goddess of Card Captor Sakura / Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLEs

Munsu

Tue, 11-18-2008, 07:28 PM

Sakura Sakurada

KrayZ33

Sun, 11-23-2008, 06:01 PM

Following that line of thought, when I said I hoped Asch would kill Luke it's not because I'd absolutely want Luke replaced as the main character but because in how many shounen series the clear main character is suddenly killed for good in episode 8? That would be pretty unique.

Ya I was thinking like that too when I watched the episode.

I was hoping for Luke to say something like "please kill me, a lowly replica like me isn't even worth breathing the same air " etc.

Or after he was betrayed by Van, I wished for him to suddently disappear and come again at some point later near the end, when Tear, Guy and the others have some huge problems when they fight against Van or his companions... totally trained because he was driven by reveng.... retribution.... vengeance and with a new set of cool looking armor like "Asch" (Luke) has at the moment maybe dying in the end, in tears arms, because he suffered a heavy wound from protecting them... saying something like
"Even if I'm just a mere copy of someone else... I was still able to become a hero in the end... right *coughs blood* Tear?" dying with a satisfied smile in the end

cliché? who cares it would be awesome ^^

but then again, I would feel bad for Tear :(

to Tales of the Abyss in general:

I was starting to lose a bit interest in the show, but I think 08 was really good... it revealed a lot and many things happened (ok I knew most things before anyway because it wasn't difficult to guess but at least the characters know it too now...).
I wonder what will happen if the others know that Luke is just a copy of Asch when they meet him... will they totally lose interest in him? I wonder what Guy will do.. I'm pretty sure that the Princess will run for Asch, but I'm not so sure what Guy will do..

And why did Asch and the others want to open that Sepiroth thingy too? I have problems with making out the sides, it seems there are 3 sides but I don't really know who's with who.

Even though everyone knows how stupid Replica-Luke is they still blamed him.
It's fine, everyone will say that he deserves to be treated like this and I agree partly on that too, but I think ALL of them were stupid... there wasn't even 1 person (maybe except for Tear) to talk some sense into him. Everyone was blaming him even though he tried to help the people.
I think it's not his fault alone, but everyones fault... I don't know why exactly but I think they made him do that too..

It's like I'm telling someone to go to X so he can meet me there and complain to him later that we weren't able to meet because I was at Y
it made me a bit angry and I felt pity for Luke...
maybe it's also because I always feel pity for the "you are just a clone"-characters, it doesn't even matter how stupid he acts
I always wondered how I would feel if I get to know that I'm created artificial, that no one really loves me.... that I'm just the creation of some weird people, that I'm nothing more than a tool for them.

It's a bit like in the movie Truman-show,not completely but I believe it comes pretty close to that. I guess you can say I have a soft spot for guys like "fake"-Luke or Truman

Munsu

Thu, 11-27-2008, 02:09 AM

http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_09_[198A5E2D].mkv.torrent

Alhuin

Thu, 11-27-2008, 03:37 AM

Props to whoever called the "Sakura hair-cutting scene". That was actually kind-of emotional.

I still don't expect much out of him though.

So we learn that Jade is the founder of fomicry technology. That was out of the blue... but I'm guessing that's why they call him Jade the Necromancer. Well, it's a long shot... but I guess you can consider replicating someone (that's dead) a form of necromancy. Or maybe there's another reason.

Looking forward to more Tear action soon. Maybe she'll pick up Van's old task of training Luke, instead of letting him try to change on his own.

Xelbair

Thu, 11-27-2008, 11:48 AM

I tried to play game at same time as i watch anime... but with my friend(game offers Co-op) we got to like 5+ episodes ahead in 2 days.
Hair-cutting scene was climatic in game too. If you want more info why Jade is called the necromancer, pm me :]

Munsu

Fri, 11-28-2008, 04:07 AM

Well, this was more of a transitional episode so I didn't think much of it... next one seems like it'll have some good action on it. Let's see how a "changed" Luke develops.

Jade being the Father of Fomicry and founder? Doesn't he seem too young to be that? Is there a possibility that Jade is older than he looks, and he simply keeps making replicas of himself or something along those lines? I'm assuming that this Fomicry business is nothing new.

Kraco

Fri, 11-28-2008, 04:56 AM

Either that or he simply rediscovered it. The ethical problems are readily apparent, so even though it has been likely researched before (their talks certainly suggested some past civilizations had been advanced), it might have been deemed inappropriate just like it seems to be now as well, with even Jade himself forbidding it (assuming his stance was genuine).

Asch is a pretty cool no-nonsense guy. I hope we will see some of him still in the future and not only bonehead Luke. Even if he tries to change, he's still a dreck. I was also getting the impression the helpless princess is (re)falling for Asch (the original Luke), and that might leave the dreck Luke for Tear.

Xelbair

Fri, 11-28-2008, 07:04 AM

Jade is in his thirties, so he does look younger.
In Yulian Ages there were much more advanced technology(for example Fonic Flight Engines)

David75

Sat, 11-29-2008, 04:40 AM

Oh they insisted on how Luke is was a perfect copy of Asch, down to the last details.
They kept repeating it.

However they're wrong.
He's not a perfect copy:
-He didn't possess anything from Asch personality or memories
-He may have a dark future if his formicry transformation fails as in the first "tryouts" meaning the copy has a defect somewhere, meaning he's not a perfect copy.

So at the time Asch was copied Luke was already different, and the difference grow stronger as time passes.

Animation quality really did drop this ep. Nothing interresting too.

Dark Dragon

Sat, 11-29-2008, 01:14 PM

Oh they insisted on how Luke is was a perfect copy of Asch, down to the last details.
They kept repeating it.

However they're wrong.
He's not a perfect copy:
-He didn't possess anything from Asch personality or memories
-He may have a dark future if his formicry transformation fails as in the first "tryouts" meaning the copy has a defect somewhere, meaning he's not a perfect copy.

I think you misunderstood what they meant by "perfect replica". Luke is a perfect replication of Asch in a cloning sense, they didn't literally just copy Acsh down to his personality. Luke genetic makeup and fonon (which is similar to a finger print) matches Asch perfectly but things like personalities and memories that resulted from upbringing and not genetic are not carried over.

digitalrurouni

Sat, 11-29-2008, 01:17 PM

I thought it was a good episode. Enjoyed it. There is hope for that Luke. Though Asch does rock lol

Xelbair

Sat, 11-29-2008, 06:07 PM

Lower graphic quality, especialy at hair-cutting scene is due using scene from game(it was animated there too) i think, they look nearly identical, also it could be encoding problem.
Also in game Asch had something that made most people hate him when they were playing as him.

Marik

Sun, 11-30-2008, 04:12 AM

[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 10 [E3F506A4].mkv (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_10_%5BE3F506A4%5D.mkv.torrent)

Kraco

Sun, 11-30-2008, 05:10 PM

First Luke was a jerk and then he became a pussy when he wanted to change. Gee... Couldn't they possibly have come up with something positive for a change, eh? I actually liked his former self better than this new one, although I admit this new one has more room for development, as I have a feeling he will build a more solid character once people start to believe in him. Though normally people believe easier in people who already believe in themselves.

KrayZ33

Sun, 11-30-2008, 08:49 PM

Hmmm, how do I say this... I believe the "change" was done a lot too fast.

It felt a bit like Luke: "Hey I'm changing my attitude now, ok?" , Tear: "Alright I still think you are stupid, yet I like you.. lets get it on!"
I was really confused about how everyone changed their minds and what not.
It wasn't well done.. the last 2 epsiode had a horrible feeling to them in the background.
I don't have problems with the story itself, but the way it's shown is just stupid.

and isn't it a bit ironical:

Scene 1
"Ion got kidnapped! we must help him!" - Old Luke:" I don't give a crap about him, he's not important, I must see Van!"

My opinion: "Man, Luke is arrogant, stupid and childish."

Scene2
"Ion got kidnapped again! we must help him!" - New Luke: "We must help him, let us be quick!"

My opinion:" Oh man, fuck that Ion... how stupid is he to get kidnapped so often?"

And the more the group runs from place to place, the more I think they are on a quest full of nonsense.
To be honest, the whole "it has been foretold" thing in the middle of everything is making me brood too.

As I said, I've got some problems in pointing out the problems I've got with the show at the moment... in general: everything feels odd... all the mini-quests on their journey are extremely pointless, at least they make it look like that, which is probably the biggest problem for me

I expected a lot more from the second "let's rescue Ion and the princess" scene, but they just went in... Luke killed a guard (which wasn't really unimportant itself but it wasn't done "epic" enough) and went out again and I was left staring at the screen wondering "what did they just do there and what was the point of showing it to me (;o_o)"

I know now, that Luke is able to kill someone if he has to, he knows that will always be hated by someone and it's impossible for him to be liked by the whole world and seems to accept it.

but it was made so lousy imho...

Yet the funny thing is that I'm still interested in the ending of the show.. I wonder how everything will solve out, how Luke will turn out and what the story wants to "tell" me.

KitKat

Sun, 11-30-2008, 11:37 PM

Ah drat. And here I was hoping that we'd get to have Asch as a main character for a little bit longer. I like that little sentimental moment he had with the princess last episode, even if it only was a split-second. It shows our hard and calloused Asch still cares, and that his past is important to him still.

I'm not sure about this new Luke either, but now he's a person who is teachable and willing to listen and grow, so hopefully we'll be seeing some more positive changes in his character. And, occasionally, for the briefest moments, I find myself forgetting to loathe Mieu and thinking that he is cute.

shinta|hikari

Wed, 12-03-2008, 06:51 PM

I played the game but I forgot what that is. Can you pm it to me? The Asch thing I mean.

Everon

Fri, 12-05-2008, 04:01 AM

@Kray: This is based on a game. Imagine a 2 to 3 hour long mindless monster and oracle guard fighting between each environmental change. :P

All this commentary about Luke's personality change is odd to me. He's got the mind of a seven year old. A seven year old who's realized he's killed thousands of people. I'd say he's in a fairly fucked up predicament and I don't expect him to handle things with grace and ease.

Kraco

Fri, 12-05-2008, 06:20 AM

He doesn't have a mind of a seven years old. There are plenty of physiological, and endocrinological, changes that alone would make him quite different compared to a real seven years old. Plus even if he was sheltered and spoiled, he surely wasn't treated like a real seven years old but like a young man who went through something catastrophic and thus a lot would be forgiven. Not to mention he didn't even act like a real seven years old but like a completely spoiled brat his age with no responsibilities and few expectations would behave anyway.

Really, if you had military experience (though I'm sure quite a few of you are bored of me referring to it), you'd see at the age of 18-19, under abnormal circumstances like the military, some guys can still be totally like kids while some are almost like regular adults. So, the absolute age only plays a partial role in defining how mature you ultimately are. If fake-Luke had been raised strictly and properly like a noble's son should have been, he would be like Asch without the bitter edge. Instead, he had parents obviously not suited for nobility.

shinta|hikari

Fri, 12-05-2008, 01:06 PM

Indeed the absolute age only plays a partial role in defining maturity, but it is a big role nonetheless. Having only seven years worth of experience, most of which you spend learning how to talk and walk like a child does, is a big handicap in becoming more mature. While some do it faster than others, it does not change the fact that you need time to do it, and the more you have, the better the chances of growing up mentally.

Kraco

Fri, 12-05-2008, 02:09 PM

Yeah, I'm not denying that. But I believe you can compress the first seven years worth of learning in much less years later on. Well, I admit I exaggerated and he probably couldn't be as mentally mature as Asch no matter what, but surely a lot better than now if he had been raised properly. The situation now, though, is that his own parents pitied him so much that they apparently decided not to raise him at all.

shinta|hikari

Fri, 12-05-2008, 08:53 PM

Now that you have clarified it, I agree with you completely. It is for that same reason that I dislike the princess. Like Guy said, she was part of the reason Luke turned out to be a spoiled brat, yet she does not seem to realize it. In fact, now she is treating Luke cruelly for all the wrong reasons. She should hate him for naively following Van and killing all those people, but instead, she looks at him with disappointment because he is not the real Luke and is merely a clone. Even the other characters (except Asch for the obvious reaosns) have not discriminated against him as such.

Everon

Sat, 12-06-2008, 03:04 AM

Go back to the scene where Natalie looks away from Luke. Its not dissapointment in him, she's just doesn't know how to apologize for everything.

Guy and Natalie already had a conversation about their responsibility last episode. They know they raised Luke with certain expectations. She seem a good enough person to know she messed up.

On top of that, there's probably some emotional confusion. She spent years caring for Luke. Its not like she can suddenly pretend it never happened. Or be angry at him for not being the original.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 12-07-2008, 04:39 AM

She felt disappointed, and then felt guilty that she thought of Luke that way, so she looked away.

Idealistic

Sun, 12-07-2008, 10:11 PM

I don't care if Luke's "change" was a bit fast. I'm just glad it happened now. It was getting to the point where I wanted to drop this show simply because I can't stand the main character.

Munsu

Tue, 12-09-2008, 06:19 AM

11 by gg:
http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_11_[8FB23914].mkv.torrent

Kraco

Tue, 12-09-2008, 12:45 PM

Munsu

Tue, 12-09-2008, 01:46 PM

Luke certainly became a nice guy suddenly. Only one or two of very short glimpses of his past personality in this episode. He even treats the Mieu creature well. Unless his the old personality was all acting, it would be almost unrealistic if he doesn't crack every now and then. The stress from suddenly acting so polite and meek all the time must be enourmous.

Not much else to say about this episode except that the Necromancer's past was quite interesting.
Yep... I like how the show itself criticizes Luke's change of personality. It's like they know what we as viewers must be thinking seeing this development. For some reason I always enjoy when shows do this.

Munsu

Sun, 12-14-2008, 09:11 AM

gg 12:
http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_12_[A12883D0].mkv.torrent

digitalrurouni

Sun, 12-14-2008, 08:54 PM

Was a good episode. Things are hotting up as they would say :)

Kraco

Wed, 12-17-2008, 07:46 AM

The warmongers will have a lot to explain when "dead" people show up and explain how things really are. But of course by then it might be too late already, judging by the preview. Still, the preview showed kind of wrong people behind the bars. I guess everybody wanted a war, after all.

Munsu

Wed, 12-24-2008, 11:48 AM

gg 13:
http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_13_[36F3AB1F].mkv.torrent

Looks like there's not much discussion for this series any longer. Hopefully the war that is about to start will bring more discussion. Else, I think I'm going to remove the series from this section and prepare for the Winter season series,

Xelbair

Thu, 12-25-2008, 05:59 PM

Interesting episode, sorry for lack of disscusion on mine side Munsu - i were playing game up till now. War, finding that Natalia is fake princess, Asch double betreyal. Overall - great episone with plot-twists.

Munsu

Wed, 12-31-2008, 07:38 AM

Not a surprise here, but this will no longer be a "En Fuego Series".

Here's 14 by gg while we're at it:
http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/[gg]_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_14_[8BA0074B].mkv.torrent

Marik

Sun, 01-11-2009, 07:48 AM

[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 15 [770068FC].mkv (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_15_%5B770068FC%5D.mkv.torrent)

New episode.

digitalrurouni

Sun, 01-11-2009, 01:04 PM

Dloading...this show is fun to watch. Doesnt take itself too seriously and is visually good looking. Hope THORA picks it up :)

Kraco

Sun, 01-11-2009, 01:40 PM

This episode certainly was strenghtening the image that Natalia and Asch are a pair, and Luke and Tear the other.

Munsu

Sun, 01-11-2009, 05:11 PM

digitalrurouni

Sun, 01-11-2009, 06:09 PM

Just caught up to episode 15. Last couple of episodes have been fairly good, story wise with all the background info and betrayals. I really dislike the fact that one second they're in one country and the next second they're in the other side of the world in another. There's a lack of adventure in this series that I was expecting, and at the moment it seems like random scenes pasted together to form a story... so there's no real natural progression to what's going on and how things are coming about. It's been a while since our main characters were involved in a decent battle/action scene... want to see Luke and his new self-rightous crap self do something.

Yeah I agree with you but I guess they are setting up for some epic fights in the future. Also I think this game is very tightly based on the rpg version, and so I guess in the game they do run around a lot but they have not bothered with or figured out a way to transition between the places...like going to from Ingobert's palace to Peony's and then down to Yulia City...

Kraco

Sun, 01-11-2009, 06:44 PM

Now that they have the airplane it's a little questionable what could happen during the travels anyway... Seagulls getting drawn into the engines and the plane crashing? They probably can travel anywhere in the world in half a day at most. The plane has seriously overpowered engines, if you paid attention: They took in lots and lots of people in the sinking city, and the thing had no troubles whatsoever taking off and zooming away. So, with only their usual company on, it probably travels at mach 2 or something...

Munsu

Sun, 01-11-2009, 06:53 PM

They should just shoot down the plane.

shinta|hikari

Sun, 01-11-2009, 06:56 PM

Being able to support huge loads does not make it travel proportionately fast without it. Think transport ships.

Mhalador

Sun, 01-11-2009, 07:59 PM

I chuckled after the big reveal about Van and Luke was flipped upside down. Those kind of shots are always like, did they seriously do that?

Kraco

Mon, 01-12-2009, 02:40 AM

Being able to support huge loads does not make it travel proportionately fast without it. Think transport ships.

We aren't talking about ships here. A ship expends energy on nothing but beating the friction against water (and air to a much lesser extent). However, this is a plane that can do even vertical take offs. Still, you are correct in the sense that going mach speeds has requirements for the general shape of the plane and I'm sure there are also other stuff to consider of which I know nothing of. But good engines is one factor I can name, and nobody can say this airplane doesn't have those.

Kraco

Tue, 01-20-2009, 02:44 PM

digitalrurouni

Tue, 01-20-2009, 07:13 PM

Dloading....

If you want to post, make the post after watching the episode and fill it with your opinions of the episode/series. This post goes against the rule no. 14: No useless low content posts.
-Kraco

David75

Wed, 01-21-2009, 11:18 AM

Into the abyss

Episode 16 - gg (http://ggkthx.org/Torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_16_%5B349ADA22%5D.mkv.torrent)

- - - - - -

What this series is lacking is determination. It's starting to piss me off the good guys don't kill the bad guys yet the bad guys (obviously) won't hesitate to do that to the good guys. Like this episode had ridiculous deaths. They would have spared both lives and time if they had slaughtered the pistol bitch and her escort of sorry soldiers, but nah, they left her to kill their benefactors instead. Not much different with Van. They didn't even try to fight.

It's made all the more strange by the fact Luke should have this annihilation power, which is the very fact that made him useful to Van. Why doesn't he use it? He could likely defeat anything with it, unlike with his pitiful sword skills. Seriously, the dude sucks just as long noodles after his change as before, just from the other end.

Jade is an exception in that group, at least one we know.
It's true however that everytime I watch an ep, I wonder if it was good or not, if I'm entertained or not. It's a bit like I was losing my time.
Sure there are some flashy effects at times, and other very badly done effects...
But all in all, I start hesitating downloading, and then tend to place the ep at the end of my "to watch" list, instead of jumping on it like I do for other shows.

digitalrurouni

Wed, 01-21-2009, 08:07 PM

I hope the series IS setting us up for some epic fights in the near future because every time it seems things are going to get really actiony (not a word I know :)) everybody just runs away...the sword fights at the beginning of this series was quite good...bring some fights!!

Munsu

Wed, 01-21-2009, 09:31 PM

I really hated this episode, though I liked that the old people got "killed". What I really hate in animes is when a party is obviously trying to escape, but the enemies just stand around acting dumb instead of going after them. They were like two steps away and did absolutely nothing...

I really dislike the "new" Luke.

Marik

Mon, 01-26-2009, 01:36 AM

[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 17 [7BAC789D].mkv (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_17_%5B7BAC789D%5D.mkv.torrent)

digitalrurouni

Mon, 01-26-2009, 09:33 PM

Good episode. More action than there was. Asch is a badass but I think that has been mentioned already! ;)

Marik

Sat, 02-07-2009, 07:59 AM

[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 18 [7DCA68F3].mkv (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_18_%5B7DCA68F3%5D.mkv.torrent)
[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 19 [A2D9F088].mkv (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_19_%5BA2D9F088%5D.mkv.torrent)

digitalrurouni

Sat, 02-21-2009, 04:16 PM

Tales of the Abyss - 20 (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_20_%5B9F1F0032%5D.mkv.torrent)

Marik

Wed, 03-04-2009, 03:24 PM

[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 21 [A28297CD].mkv (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_21_%5BA28297CD%5D.mkv.torrent)
[gg] Tales of the Abyss - 22 [2E455F10].mkv (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_Tales_of_the_Abyss_-_22_%5B2E455F10%5D.mkv.torrent)

Nadouku

Wed, 03-04-2009, 11:22 PM

Nice episodes.

That misama in the beginning was literally just killing everything it came into contact with; those poor animals. Hyperrensonance can destroy atomic particles? That's something.

Emotional episode 22, but it came with a weird outcome. Poor Dirt didn't get a chance to do anything flashy before Jade decided to whomp his ass.

Xelbair

Thu, 03-05-2009, 08:45 AM

it was stated that it can break them on atomic level, so just mass of protons(hydrogen)/neutrons/electrons floating around instead of miasma.

digitalrurouni

Thu, 03-05-2009, 09:08 PM

I was surprised Jade was that powerful. The last few episodes have been good. Thanks for the links :) Its kinda interesting how I could not stand Luke at the beginning of the series and how hes totally awesome!

Yukimura

Fri, 03-06-2009, 04:00 PM

I also find myself comparing the pre-Akuzerith Luke to the Luke we have now, it's like he's a completely different character. Tear was pretty harsh this ep though, I think she was saying that stuff she said to try to guilt him into not sacrificing himself so she could keep him around. Undoubtedly selfish, but at least she was pretty overt about it. Of course, Luke, being a blockhead, wouldn't have noticed anyway. I was worried that there would be no consequences at all for Luke since main characters aren't allowed to die except in final episodes but I suppose this outcome works too.

I was glad to finally see Jade be Jade again though. Back when they started talking about Fon Slot Seals I immediately got the impression that it was a plot device used in the game to lower Jade's level to be on par with the rest of the party since he initially struck me as a level 100 badass char. I figure as the characters leveled by gaining exp Jade's leveling was just unraveling more and more of the seal to get back to his previous level of awesome. His "How long ago tdo you think that was was pretty sweet".

Xelbair

Fri, 03-06-2009, 05:07 PM

Well, it was plot device to lower his level in game. Also did you notice that they use sometimes scenes from the game? when quality drops it is scene from the game - look closely to the character's hair.

Kraco

Thu, 03-12-2009, 09:14 AM

Tear was pretty harsh this ep though, I think she was saying that stuff she said to try to guilt him into not sacrificing himself so she could keep him around. Undoubtedly selfish, but at least she was pretty overt about it. Of course, Luke, being a blockhead, wouldn't have noticed anyway.

I'm not so sure about that. Tear is the kind of person who was/is ready to sacrifice herself, as well. I think she was just being very honest there, deciding to speak frankly. What she basically said is that she won't stop Luke but his sacrifice won't make her happy at all. Like we saw later, the others were thinking likewise since none made a serious effort to stop him.

Quite a cool guy act at the end, telling everything's just fine. I don't still particularly like his character, but it's for sure better than it was before the change, albeit not as amusing.

digitalrurouni

Thu, 03-12-2009, 09:56 PM

Hmm looks like Tales of the Abyss is possibly dropped by gg according to their site?

Yukimura

Mon, 03-16-2009, 04:42 PM

AbyssalChronicles has caught up as of the 10th and will probably continue. They are medium to medium-high quality in terms of picture with a smaller file size than gg. I don't care that much for this series so I had been archiving AC's releases anyway for the size benefits without looking too much into the dialogue or typesetting but from what I did watch they seemed decent enough.

digitalrurouni

Mon, 03-16-2009, 07:02 PM

Its a bummer as to why gg dropped this show...they were so close to being done!

Marik

Sun, 03-22-2009, 10:59 AM

[AbyssalChronicles] Tales of the Abyss 23 [1280x720][H264_AAC][B53C3172].mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=55429)
[AbyssalChronicles] Tales of the Abyss 23 [704x400][XVID][280598E3].avi (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=55428)

[AbyssalChronicles] Tales of the Abyss 24 [1280x720][H264_AAC][396DD858].mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=55593)
[AbyssalChronicles] Tales of the Abyss 24 [704x400][XVID][A3FB99DD].avi (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=55592)

Marik

Mon, 03-30-2009, 06:21 PM

[AbyssalChronicles] Tales of the Abyss 25 - HD (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=56634) - SD (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=56633)

Xelbair

Wed, 04-08-2009, 03:59 PM

http://www.mininova.org/tor/2464957
ep 26

Kraco

Wed, 04-08-2009, 04:42 PM

I suppose it was the ending to be expected. As I saw it, Luke basically took over Asch's body (and took two years to learn to walk again, or something). Well, I'm just happy that now Luke and Tear can live happily ever after and sing fonic lullabies to their offspring.

The last fight wasn't really as good as it could have been. There wasn't as much emotion as I hoped, though I didn't really expect that since I was already 24 episodes ago sick of Luke's "Van-sensei!" line. I'm glad he killed the man unambiguously, at least. Also, the action wasn't really intensive. Probably because the good guys were so many, so their attacks had to be ineffective for there to be any fight in the first place.

It wasn't such a bad series in retrospect.

Death BOO Z

Thu, 05-28-2009, 06:47 PM

well, it wasn't a good series either.

I knew it back when I watched the first episodes, and I still kept on going.

it's amazing how the managed to ruin each episode by putting spoilers in the opening theme. this method of shooting your own leg deserves a reward.

the action was sub-par. we hardly got any action scenes, and when we got one, it was horribly directed (which is somewhat funny, since the games are based on having battles that aren't text crawling and more based on the players skill, and the anime was mostly character X does Y).

the story itself was flawed, half the time they were flying around to fix something which went wrong (though, when they got there, the only had to flip a switch or something not-heroic like that), and then not-fight-to-the-death with someone who they outnumbered and overwhelmed ten episodes ago (seriously, if they would have taken the time to kill the villains when they had them imprisoned on the land ship that was mysteriously dumped in the middle of the show, they wouldn't have had all the problems).

Actually, that deserves an entire paragraph, not only a bracelets remark.
they had about two opportunities to kill each of them baddies before they actually killed them. they even had a incident when all of the good guys (including Asch) were facing Van (who was injured by some plot magic) and they let him escape. and why was the bad priest allowed to continue with his evil meddling? the kid priest knew he was evil, couldn't he have ordered Moth to be stripped from his rank and access to the army?
and of course, the baddies were mostly useless. I'm not talking about being able to take on all of the party by themselves, but most of them were too weak to even fight one guy. most notably, the guy in the chair.

speaking of him. the colonel was not only grossly overpowered (to the point it made everything so stupid), he also had so much insight (which in turn, robbed every other character from the chance to shine), and he had the right science solution to everything. in gaming lingo, it was like playing the entire game in a 'tutorial' mode.

also, I don't even remember why we suddenly saw the new cast of characters in the middle (the two pilots, and all the old, boring scientists, including the two evil ones who had jewish names), what point did the serve to the story?
the moment the party got the flying machine (even before, but it wasn't so notable), the were able to go everywhere, except the places they needed to reach. if they couldn't land on the tower of clones and time was so chasing, how did they fly off to meet the kings (both of them) and come back without the tedious process of slaughtering their way into the tower?

another point: "you seem to be ill, you've got a high amount of bad fonnons,and a very low amount of good fonnons. I recommend a diet of a low fat foods and regular physical activity . and you should meet a fonnon-dietitian and maybe get a fonnon rejuvenation treatment. now I must go, to watch my soap operas on high fonnon definition fonnon TV"

I get it that the want to use a different word than magic\energy\chackra. but it was getting ridiculous, fonnon magic, fonnon science, fonnon engineering, fonnon botanicks, fonnon cooking, fonnon song making, fonnon this, fonnon that.

despite being based on a 40 hours long game, it would have been a much better series if it only had 13 episodes, and far less characters.