Lots of lost ruins and a lost girl meets her would-be savior.
What They Say:
Episode #1: “Capital of Seraphim”
Alisha, now alone and without hope, wanders into a ruin. Meanwhile, two young men, Sorey and Mikleo, stumble across a ruin as well.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The show called the first episode “zero.” Since that would be confusing for our site numbering system I’m going by Funimation’s numbering and calling this episode #2. However, I can understand where they’re coming from. The last episode was technically a prolog to what happens in the game, which left everyone a bit confused but at least explained how Alisha found her way into the ruins alone for game fans.
Alisha is still being pursued. It’s now abundantly clear that she’s being targeted, but by what and why is a mystery. Wandering into the forest she takes shelter in an old ruin for the night. Upon waking in the morning she is attacked by a swarm of cockroaches and is protected only by the efforts of a cute cat-like being that she can’t even see. Stumbling through the ruins she falls deeper inside, adding injury on top of injury, and eventually emerging onto a field of flowers on the opposite side. She knows the ruins she has found herself in have something to do with the legend of the Sheperd, so she pushes onward well past her breaking point, only to once again come under attack by lightning. It is like the universe is out to get her. The girl can’t catch a break.
Elsewhere, we’re introduced to Sorey and Mikleo. Both young men are exploring the same set of ruins before being stopped by a man they refer to as grandfather. (Insert fangirl squealing over Sorey and Mikleo’s bromance here, which the animation staff is happy to very carefully entertain.) Ignoring the warning to stay out of that particular set of ruins the boys head back there, turning it into a competition. Sorey is equally interested in the story of the Sheperd, but for him the tale is a bit more personal than a myth or religion. Upon spotting the unconscious Alisha, Sorey determines he has to help her. When they reach the girl she awakens to Sorey’s smile and Alisha can’t help but wonder if he’s the Sheperd.
The animation in this episode is just as great looking as the first. Especially when it comes to the scenery. There is some awkward compositing and movement when they try to pan the CG backgrounds and characters moving across them, but otherwise everything looks very nice. The ruins and the invisible bridge all look identical to the way they were portrayed in the game, which is extremely eerie to watch. (I think I could find my way around those ruins.)
I’m only concern at the moment is how they plan on covering the entire game. Right now the anime is only set for 13 episodes, and while Tales games aren’t particularly long, it’s still an RPG and right now this anime is moving pretty slow. I know they’ll be changing up a bunch of the story, and I’m not going to be surprised if they just keep Alisha in the entire plot this time. How does Velvet from Berseria fit in? Where are they going with this? So many questions with no answers at this point.
I really like what they’ve done for the ending theme of this episode. The animation is done up to look like stills, as if they were watercolor snapshots of a nice afternoon with friends. However…. oh man, the next episode preview is done up exactly like a skit from the game, complete with music from the over-world map. Nice touch!
In Summary:
After the breakneck pace of the first episode the plot slows down… way down. The worst day of Alisha’s life continues as she flees straight into ancient and potentially sacred ruins. We’re introduced to the hero of the story and his best friend, but I fear that those that never played the game might still be a bit lost. Then again, I don’t remember the game really going to great lengths to explain all of the sociopolitical and mythology stuff this early either. The animation alone makes this worth watching. I’m just worried about how they’ll fit the entire plot from the game into 13 episodes.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Funimation
