Tales of Zestiria the X

[Kraco]

Episode 8 - HS



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Adding a kuudere to the harem works every time.

Not a bad dragon fight. Almost reminds me of fighting a dragon for the first time in Skyrim. It's a good thing this dragon is so tough and couldn't be defeated by a n00b Sorey.

While it's good it's not a pure one dude plus lots of girls harem, somehow Mikleo is only getting more and more bland. His adventure alone feels like a bore already. He works better in Sorey's company in a straight man role as Sorey is sort of reckless and naive.

[NeoCybercoin]

Pretty sure he's coming back to Sorey now. He just wanted to be on somewhat equal grounds with him. Now he can.

[Kraco]

Episode 9 - HS




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The good effects really help this story. I don't mind the CGI either; serpent vs drake fight, as short as it was, looked pretty badass. The game mechanics are kind of iffy, with Sorey combining with the different seraphim depending on the situation, which is natural in a game (regardless of if it suits players' personal preferences), but it's kind of strange in a TV show because it downplays individual characters, making them accessories. Fortunately they are still given enough lines, opinions, and such to alleviate the effect.

Sorey is powering up quite fast. The princess needs to find something she can do if she intends to stay relevant. At least she learned to hear the voices. No doubt she's already dreaming of seeing the seraphim.

[shinta|hikari]

Isn't she just there to make Sorey look good, much like everyone else is?

Shepherd this, Shepherd that. Baaa... Baaaa.... Baaaaaaa...

They all sound like sheep.

Edna is the only exception and makes this story good. Notice how one of the straps on her shoulders are always slipping down her arm? That can't be an accident on her part.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm more a fan of Alisha's hot pants and fabulous hair.

[Kraco]

While I do think Edna is a jolly good addition to the cast and her personality made the biggest impact, I'm an Alisha fan. Hard to specify why, but I simply like her a lot as a character.

[shinta|hikari]

Well Alisha does look good.

What I really don't like is the red spirit girl. She always looks so happy, like a friggin clown. And well all know everyone likes clowns.

[Kraco]

Episode 10 - HS


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I suppose Shepherd should be impartial what comes to countries and peoples, but on the other hand if war breeds lots of malevolence, he can hardly stay out of it. His goal has to be then the same as Alisha's: preventing the battles. Not that the reality ought to be so simple that would be easier done than said.

I keep liking Alisha. She has a really sturdy backbone. At least so far. Normally I don't much like characters spouting idealistic bullshit, but she's somehow making it work. At least so far. Perhaps one reason is that while she has that idealism and spent lots of time dreaming of the Shepherd and seraphim, and other things normal people laughed at, she's still at the same time very practical and gets things done. She's fluent at ordering the knights and soldiers around, arranging and managing things, making decisions, not to mention fighting. That's pretty nice dualism. Those aspects should conflict with each other somewhat, but instead they just build her personality.

I feel like Sorey's character started to get some much needed growth by encountering the human hellion and the meaning behind it.

[Kraco]

Episode 11 - HS




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As much as I like Alisha, she should have had a couple of contingency plans. Even she can't be so naive she would think those lords hating her anti-war stance would always perfectly obey her and back down whenever she catches them planning or performing something wicked. Launching an open war is such a drastic deed already that she should have foreseen they would be ready to get rid of her for good if she tried to interfere. While, exceptionally, I actually did agree on being unable to hurt the soldiers too much while still insisting they can't wage a war, it was thus especially stupid to storm the HQ all alone. If she had had an equal number of soldiers with her, those grunts would have thought twice about attacking.

That being said, she can't let that general live. A monarchy is worth nothing if subjects go unpunished after trying to murder the ruler. It's not even about her personal safety but the stability of the whole kingdom.

It was pretty funny how Sorey started to celebrate successfully stopping the war, only to realise he merely stopped a single battle, which wasn't even the largest one.

Looks like the next ep will be the last for now, but a continuation is already established for 2017.

[Munsu]

As Kraco mentioned, season 2 has been greenlit for 2017:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...n-2017/.106610

[shinta|hikari]

The translation for this episode was terrible.

(Doushi da = Yes, the Shepherd) became (Doushita = What is it?). Alisha wasn't even asking a fucking question.

And "kusarikatabira" is chain mail, not chain armor. Sure, it sorta means the same thing, but when you pay a pro to do translations, you expect a better product.

And somehow, "Arrow Rain," which was said in English, became "Arrow Squall" in the subs. Why change actual English text to something else?

And (Suru ka! [in context] = "As if!") was translated as "Yeah, sure!" in the post ED scene. WTF.

[David75]

Even I did notice some problems... When I'm not even learning the language actively.

Regarding quality: time and price.
They want fast subs to simulcast.
They need many translators available at the right time.
If they want quality, well that means money, provided you have enough quality and fast subbers available in the first place.

For the mistakes here, some QC probably would have been enough.

Also, I'm wondering if they improve the subs over time.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm no pro and I caught those issues in my first viewing. They must've been really cutting costs for this to happen.

[Kraco]

To be honest I'm more bothered by how a character calling another character by their title is instead subbed into the other person's name. I'd like translators to be objective, not deem themselves superior to the original author, script writer, and director. Combined with what you pointed out, Shinta, these translators are not only unskilled but also arrogant.

I'd be pissed off if I actually paid anything for watching this. I would file a complaint. Now I hardly have a right to say anything.

[Kraco]

Episode 12 - HS




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This felt annoyingly abridged. That squire contract came out of nowhere. The dude following Rose could have used a more solid entrance instead of simply joining the group with nobody asking any questions. Why or how was Alisha healed despite it looking like she was actually dying. That had to happen before the contract. This still has a long way to go to fall to the level of the UBW movie, but things like this will make this feel more like fanservice for those who already played the game.

Still, I didn't dislike the contract itself. It certainly was a jolly good and atmospheric scene where Alisha finally got to see the seraphim. If she can see the malevolence and hellions as well, despite not being able to do anything about it, she will face some extra stress, though.

[lelouch]

It's honestly a real shame that the incredible resources and talent of the animation/graphics team is being put toward a storyline as subpar as this. They should have went straight for animating Heaven's Feel and not spent any time on this, or at least come up with a more intriguing story.

[shinta|hikari]

The story is only starting. We'll see if it's indeed subpar in the next season. This plot was clearly designed for the long haul (being a game story).

The characters made this worthwhile to me, typical of a Tales story. Hopefully this will rake in enough cash to fund other Ufotable projects.

[Shadow Skill]

As much as I would love to spoil this since I am playing the game. Yes still at it 2 months later. I have to farm end game weapon and amour to fuse 1000x or 1x99 for 10x each. The video I watched said it wont take long. I get like one drop every 10 fights and that's with the so-called rule of using Mystic Artes to finish the area of enemies.

When Seasons 2 starts and ends this story I don't think Sorey will be going through this grind fest to fight the last boss. BTW I am playing on Choas mode. :/

[shinta|hikari]

So basically you're complaining that you need to grind for post-story level stuff?

Can you at least tell us if the rest of the story is any good?

[Shadow Skill]

So basically you're complaining that you need to grind for post-story level stuff?

Can you at least tell us if the rest of the story is any good?

I like the story and characters. The story is what is keeping me playing. The list of not introduced characters yet. All good IMO. Some Yandere and MOE moments, but all good.