|
Post by Red Hairdo on Oct 7, 2008 11:58:14 GMT -5
It's out. You know how to... "access" it. Anyway! TotA ANIME! 26 EPISODES Insta-translated! Hooray fansubs!!!! =DDDDD As if the manga wasn't good enough. And I must say, it seems to be pretty loyal to the game, considering how anime adaptation of most games tend to enormously lack too much significant things. The animation is pretty good too, it is awesome. And thanks God they didn't make OVAs, movies or a 12-episode TV series, as this game has too many things to be adapted. It wouldn't work out if it was to be that short. Every episode is aired on every Thuesday in Japan. The fansubs translate every episode "instantly". GO! ENJOY! =)
|
|
|
Post by Lumi on Oct 7, 2008 18:36:10 GMT -5
I snagged the untranslated episode the day of to watch and screencap for icon making-- but I'm holding out on getting a sub until a particular group finishes their fansub of it. Edit: Ooh, they're done! XD YAY! So far though, it makes me HAPPY. XD I'm a little sad that Production I.G. isn't responsible for the animation, since they've done the OAVs of the other mothership titles and do pretty much all the in-game anime sequences/art... but Sunrise doesn't seem to be doing too bad. My one pet peeve: The color palette seems a bit dark compared to the original designs. It seems like they opted to use the coloration present on the actual game models for some odd reason... Oh well, just a minor nit to pick, I guess. Speaking of screen capping the episode... I need to do that. Now. XD
|
|
|
Post by Yakra on Oct 8, 2008 2:54:51 GMT -5
I had forgotten that this was out already! So thanks to your thread I just went and grabbed the first two episodes yesterday. (Yay! I see they're done! I love fast torrents! ) Hrm~! From my little checkings, it looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm still worried though how badly they'll butcher the story and the characters. Even 26 episodes can't be enough to fully grab the whole feeling of the game, the peculiarities of the characters and the little little details that made the game so amazing. Still...! ...I wonder if the ending is more resolved in this. I want proper closure! (Has the manga serialization finished?)
|
|
|
Post by psybuster on Oct 8, 2008 14:11:01 GMT -5
Without any intentions of ever playing the game, should I bother picking this up?
|
|
|
Post by Lumi on Oct 8, 2008 15:44:46 GMT -5
They're following the game's storyline pretty much to the letter so far. So sure, go for it. You shouldn't be confused or missing anything.
ALSO! I have screencapped the heck out of episode one. Anybody interested in pics?
|
|
|
Post by Nalacakes on Oct 8, 2008 18:01:54 GMT -5
Wow, super-cool, I didn't even realise they were making an anime of Tales of the Abyss~! Thank you for the heads-up, Red Hairdo. ^^; I just finished the game last month, and it really surprised me. I like the Tales series, but it has a tendency to churn out games that are 'nice but just nice' in my mind. ^_^ As much as I've enjoyed every installment I've played, I've found them all totally forgettable.
Tales of the Abyss, though, was a game I'll never forget. ^_^ I loved the whole cast, got really sucked into the story and setting, and found the battle system just as stupidly addictive as ever, broken free run and all. ^^; Outside of a little too much filler towards the end of the game (which I didn't really mind anyway, as I liked the characters and wanted to spend more time with them ^_^), and a few technical issues, there's really nothing whatsoever about it that I could complain about. It's absolutely my favourite game in the series, and one of my favourites on the PS2, I think~ So I'll definitely be watching this, especially if it's as faithful an interpretation as everyone is saying. ^_^;
But...ee, it dawned on me for the first time just how old my computer is when I downloaded an encode of the first episode that was too high quality, and found that I couldn't even play it. ;__; I guess it might finally be time to upgrade soon. ^_^; I found a lower quality one, so I guess it's okay for now~ But still, I feel so outdated. ;__;
|
|
|
Post by Red Hairdo on Oct 8, 2008 20:49:31 GMT -5
Hrm~! From my little checkings, it looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm still worried though how badly they'll butcher the story and the characters. Even 26 episodes can't be enough to fully grab the whole feeling of the game, the peculiarities of the characters and the little little details that made the game so amazing. Still...! Yup, there's no way they will fill the anime with all the side-stories, side-quests and other details. xD But still, I never expected they would do a 26-episode TV series... so it was better than I expected already. ...I wonder if the ending is more resolved in this. I want proper closure! (Has the manga serialization finished?) That ending indeed didn't make things, you know, crystal-clear. xD At the time I saw it, I was really unsatisfied with it. I still would like to know the details better, but doing profound thinking and revision, I came up with a few conclusions that already made me satisfied with it. xD But I hope the anime clear things up a bit more. And no, the manga is still being published. I have even preordered the next volume, I think it's on the 5th volume right now, or maybe the 6th. I also hope the manga can throw in some light about the ending. ^^' ALSO! I have screencapped the heck out of episode one. Anybody interested in pics? I am. XD Wow, super-cool, I didn't even realise they were making an anime of Tales of the Abyss~! Thank you for the heads-up, Red Hairdo. ^^; I just finished the game last month, and it really surprised me. I like the Tales series, but it has a tendency to churn out games that are 'nice but just nice' in my mind. ^_^ As much as I've enjoyed every installment I've played, I've found them all totally forgettable. Tales of the Abyss, though, was a game I'll never forget. ^_^ I loved the whole cast, got really sucked into the story and setting, and found the battle system just as stupidly addictive as ever, broken free run and all. ^^; Outside of a little too much filler towards the end of the game (which I didn't really mind anyway, as I liked the characters and wanted to spend more time with them ^_^), and a few technical issues, there's really nothing whatsoever about it that I could complain about. It's absolutely my favourite game in the series, and one of my favourites on the PS2, I think~ So I'll definitely be watching this, especially if it's as faithful an interpretation as everyone is saying. ^_^; But...ee, it dawned on me for the first time just how old my computer is when I downloaded an encode of the first episode that was too high quality, and found that I couldn't even play it. ;__; I guess it might finally be time to upgrade soon. ^_^; I found a lower quality one, so I guess it's okay for now~ But still, I feel so outdated. ;__; To be honest, I never could bring myself to enjoy any Tales Of game. Then about an year ago a friend recomended me TotA. I gave it a try, and while I disliked it at the beginning... it turned to be one of the best PS2 games I have ever played, and one of the best RPGs I have ever experienced as well. I LOVE it. xD I never expected I'd like a Tales Of game this much. Because of it, I have decided to give a serious try to many other Tales Of games. Oh, also I suffer from that same video problem. xD More exactly, I can't run these .mkv files (although certain .mkv files from other fansubs work perfectly fine for me). I'm downloading every episode in every format! XD I'll think later which one I'll stick up with.
|
|
|
Post by Lumi on Oct 8, 2008 23:25:28 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Incog Neato on Oct 9, 2008 8:33:53 GMT -5
Hey, did anyone think Asch was annoying? (Talking about the game here.) The guy seemed eternally pissed off even when he was talking to .... what's her name. The princess. I suddenly can't think of it. Oh -- Natalia, was it?
I'd take obnoxious Luke over broody, rageful Asch any day!!!
|
|
|
Post by Nalacakes on Oct 9, 2008 9:55:53 GMT -5
I really hated Asch for half of the game. He just seemed, like you said, broody for no especially good reason. And with his handsome appearance, manly voice, and 'cool' attitude, he felt kind of like he had been written just to appeal to the angsty 'Y'arr, I'm such an anti-hero!' teenage boy crowd. Or to the equally angsty 'OMG he's such a tortured soul, and he'd understand the way I feel! ;__;' teenage girl crowd. ^_^ Yes, you eventually learned that he hadn't led such a happy life, but...gawd, half the time I just felt like slapping him to knock some sense into him. No amount of unhappiness excuses treating people like that. ^_^;
By the end, though, after I understood his motivations and character a bit better, he won me over a lot more. I still think they could've turned down the broodiness by several notches, and he was still my least favourite of the central characters. But I actually kind of liked him by the end. I even remember quite a few awkward but sweet moments between him and Luke in the latter part of the game that got an 'aww' out of me. ^_^
And Luke vs Asch accompanied by the arranged version of Karma was so cool. ^_^
Anyway, I watched the first episode. I normally avoid game-anime or anime-game type things, as they tend not to turn out so well. But it seems like a nice adaptation. ^_^ Hopefully they pace things correctly so they're not trying to cram in too much at the end~ I got a giggle out of the battle transition effect and the save point from the game appearing in the closing credits. Yay silly references~
|
|
|
Post by Yakra on Oct 9, 2008 12:04:47 GMT -5
I didn't quite hate Asch right off the start. I just pretty much... ignored him. As he forcibly pushed his way to the forefront later on though, I grew to dislike him a lot. I could actually sympathize with the poor guy and understood why he did have a lot of reasons to be sulky with Luke till the end, but... that didn't make me stop getting irritated by him. Since I actually liked the 'reformed'-Luke far more than the 'obnoxious'-Luke, Asch's continued mean-ness to the poor guy, especially when he was trying so hard to be nice, was like seeing him kicking a poor little innocent puppy or something. X( ...I did feel a bit of sadness for Asch in the end though sooo... I guess I didn't hate him THAT much. And on my second play-through I actually grew to like him! :'D That ending indeed didn't make things, you know, crystal-clear. xD At the time I saw it, I was really unsatisfied with it. I still would like to know the details better, but doing profound thinking and revision, I came up with a few conclusions that already made me satisfied with it. xD But I hope the anime clear things up a bit more. And no, the manga is still being published. I have even preordered the next volume, I think it's on the 5th volume right now, or maybe the 6th. I also hope the manga can throw in some light about the ending. ^^' I think... I feel somewhat the same way now too? But probably only because its been quite a while since I last finished the game. Back when I played it through the first time, the ending drove me insane! And I pretty much ran through every piece of info trying to find some sort of clue to... what exactly happened. X'D I'm starting to feel the same way again, with this anime popping up!
|
|
|
Post by Red Hairdo on Oct 9, 2008 13:04:24 GMT -5
To be honest the only character I really got way too sick of was Anise, since from the very beginning until almost at of the game's final dungeons. I kinda liked Luke at how he behaved in the beginning, but sometimes he would be way too rude and stupid etc., which kind of pissed me off a bit too. Although his change in personality and attitude... heh, well, if it wasn't for that I never would have put him in my AnK signature. He became very kind and way too honorable, things I really like in a character. For me, this game has the best character development in any game, ever. I'm eager to see how the anime will adapt all that transition from long-haired Luke to short-haired. Back when I played it through the first time, the ending drove me insane! And I pretty much ran through every piece of info trying to find some sort of clue to... what exactly happened. X'D XD The VERY same thing happened to me too! XDDD Yeah, I even wrote down the site link shown in the credits and checked the boards to try to find out what exactly happened in the ending. I was trying to find out if that Luke in the ending was "Luke", "Asch" or a mixture of both. xD I... would rather not talk about the ending here, because it would be something that would go far and... the focus of the thread is the anime. xD But if needed we can create a TotA (game) thread anytime. ^^ But basically, I'm inclined to believe he is Luke mentally, on a Luke-Asch body. He's still left-handed. And he said "[...]and I promised someone."; the one who promised he would return was Luke himself, to Tear, before he used the Key/Sword of Lorelei. Not Asch. So, even if even mentally he's a Luke-Asch, his "Luke side" prevails or is in control or... something of that nature. Although the most important part of this all is only one thing: he survived. I guess that's what matters the most. xD (Eh, I'm an hypocrite... I'm talking about the ending already. XD)
|
|
|
Post by Incog Neato on Oct 9, 2008 19:24:24 GMT -5
UGH. NO! Not spoilers! I just got past the part at the Absorption Gate! I have two more characters to shove back into the party.
Man, I ... I actually don't know who the final boss would be in this game. I already knew that d00de wouldn't be it cuz Tales games are always in "3 acts" so if the game continues after you beat up a supposed big buy guy/gal then something's up. :B
Gods, Tear is so clueless about people talking about her "not changing". :P
Sigh. It's side-quest season now. I think I'll just do the hot springs(???) one and beat the last Sword Dancer and then go straight to the end. :E
|
|
|
Post by psybuster on Oct 10, 2008 0:31:44 GMT -5
Okay there's like half a dozen teams working on this apparently, anyone want to recommend a specific group? I'm kind of out of the loop on anime subs
|
|
|
Post by Incog Neato on Oct 10, 2008 8:07:46 GMT -5
Okay there's like half a dozen teams working on this apparently, anyone want to recommend a specific group? I'm kind of out of the loop on anime subs :( Checking mininova right now and the only group I recognize is Shisen-Subs (cuz, like you, I'm out of the loop on these things). I THINK they're okei. (Not totally sure. ^^) I know I've downloaded stuff from them before. I would think Tales translations would be okei too since, judging by their name, they know what's going on in the Tales universe. :P Thing is, the way I choose subs is good translations and decent FONTS. I don't like ambitious groups that use swirly. curvy fonts or do everything without drop-shadow or borders around the letters cuz it gets brutally hard to read. I know they say that people shouldn't complain cuz the subbers are doing it for free and spending their own precious time but geezus, you're doing it for OTHER PEOPLE not for yourselves so it'd be nice if you made it so that OTHER PEOPLE could read your damn work. And proofread the shit while you're at it too. Anyway, oh wow. Everything is in mp4 or mkv.
|
|
|
Post by Yakra on Oct 10, 2008 9:02:58 GMT -5
I've gone for Shinsen-Subs. I was watching their .hack//Roots subs before this and they did a good job with that soooo... And they've done even better with this. Names and stuff are pretty accurate as far as I can see (Though... I have a very bad memory with stuffs so perhaps I remember some names incorrectly or something?). But basically, I'm inclined to believe he is Luke mentally, on a Luke-Asch body. He's still left-handed. And he said "[...]and I promised someone."; the one who promised he would return was Luke himself, to Tear, before he used the Key/Sword of Lorelei. Not Asch. So, even if even mentally he's a Luke-Asch, his "Luke side" prevails or is in control or... something of that nature. Although the most important part of this all is only one thing: he survived. I guess that's what matters the most. xD Since I tend to be a gigantic blabber-mouth and just (accidentally) blurt all the spoiler-ish details, I'll just de-colour, spoiler-mark this all to be safe: That pretty much sounds like what I liked to believe. X'D Or rather, I think it might be Luke in Asch's body? (I'm forgetting loads now buuut... there was something about Dist's experiments that showed that in two perfect isophones... the replica disappeared, right? So if Asch died before Luke, perhaps Luke's mind took over? [Gah! I've forgotten everything now! I ought to replay!]) Ofcourse, I'm probably just thinking this way because I preferred Luke over Asch and Tear's er... teary goodbye brought out the total sap in me. So I kind of really wanted Luke to be the one who lived.Sigh. It's side-quest season now. I think I'll just do the hot springs( ) one and beat the last Sword Dancer and then go straight to the end. :E No ho! Do each and every side quest! They were all so fun! (I don't even remember what all they were but... every little secret thing discovered was so much fun! X'D [Like the Jozette Cecille (or however one spelt her name) side quest! It takes place waaaay after the absorbtion gate, ne?]
|
|
|
Post by Lumi on Oct 10, 2008 16:01:48 GMT -5
Sub group I chose? Abyssal Chronicles. They run a site for the entire Tales franchise, so I figure they're a safe bet to do the series justice. But Shinsen's a generally good anime subbing group too. And Zuu~nuuuu~~~ XD Seriously, every side quest in the game is worth doing. You get story goodies all the damn time~! I'll throw in my two cents about the ending by noting that there's an interview around with one of the producers in which he pretty much states that they made it ambiguous on purpose. The answer to the end question (whee, spoiler dodging...sorta.) is basically.... whoever you think it is. That in mind, if Sunrise wants to honor Namco's work appropriately, they should keep the ambiguous ending in tact too. Now, for my PERSONAL view on the matter... bear in mind what happened with the little cheagles found in Ortion Cavern in the game. ^.^ I took my cues from that. And before this devolves into a game thread in the wrong forum, I guess I'll go make a TotA game topic where it belongs! XD EDIT: There. Thread made. Go talk about the game, yo.
|
|
|
Post by Incog Neato on Oct 13, 2008 7:41:54 GMT -5
BULAAAAAAAAAAARGGGH.
I watched most of episode 1 this morning (before heading to work even though it's a stat holiday here :/), and so far, aside from the visit from Natalia, it's on cue with the game as everyone else said.
I don't really like Luke's Japanese voice though. :B I take it the VAs from the game all reprised their roles for the anime? ~~~ Just like the VAs for the ToP OVA series~! Aaaah~ Inoue Kazuhiko~~~ :D~~~~~~
I'm watching the Shisen subs and I really like the font they chose for the subtitles. :D It's very easy on the eyes and it's pretty to boot!
One beef is that Pere's name was translated as Pele. I wonder if that was Namco's translation of it though cuz I know some folks tend to stick to the original "official" translations. ~.~ Or maybe there's a story behind the name (like it means something~)?
Oh, Luke's dialogue needs to sound more whiny and needy and me-me-me though. :( Let's see if he's more obnoxious in the second episode! XD
Oh #2 => I'm sure he'll be at the peak of annoyance at Akzurieth (however you spell it). I really found that part in the game a pain to sit through.
"I'M GONNA BE A HERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Dur hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Shut up, Luke.
Ah~~~! Just watched episode 2. The cheagles are sooooooooooooo cute. Mieu is adorable desu no. *__* And I like Tear more in the anime since she has emotions!
Desu no~
|
|
|
Post by Lumi on Oct 13, 2008 22:26:06 GMT -5
I don't really like Luke's Japanese voice though. :B I take it the VAs from the game all reprised their roles for the anime? ~~~ Just like the VAs for the ToP OVA series~! Aaaah~ Inoue Kazuhiko~~~ :D~~~~~~ One beef is that Pere's name was translated as Pele. I wonder if that was Namco's translation of it though cuz I know some folks tend to stick to the original "official" translations. ~.~ Or maybe there's a story behind the name (like it means something~)? Ah~~~! Just watched episode 2. The cheagles are sooooooooooooo cute. Mieu is adorable desu no. *__* And I like Tear more in the anime since she has emotions! Desu no~ Yep, the Japanese game seiyuu reprised their roles for the anime. I *think* the only one who might have gotten a new VA is Ion. (And a certain other spoilery character lalalalala~~) I don't mind Luke's seiyuu, but there's really just no topping Yuri Lowenthal's interpretation of him. ^^; He totally nailed the character for me. So yes, English Luke > Japanese Luke, uh huh. (Guy is another character like this for me. I don't dislike Yasunori Matsumoto, but Johnny Yong Bosch freaking IS Guy. That's just all there is to it. XD) Now if only it were that way with Tear.... *SIGH!* But hey, her Japanese voice is nice. Emotions and stuff~! Sounds like the Pere/Pele thing was just someone not paying attention to the game's canon translations in the US... oh well. He's a minor character anyway. XD Episode 2 was yay. I have the raw of 3 but I haven't watched it yet... and been too lazy to screencap 2 so far. Soon~ Maybe. Yeah. XD
|
|
|
Post by psybuster on Oct 14, 2008 14:06:01 GMT -5
Seems decent so far. I'm liking the fact that practically everything is hitting Luke like a trainwreck lol
|
|