Valerie's Writings

I cannot believe how amazing this “new” Tales of Symphonia animation is. My God, words cannot describe the surge of emotions running through me now and for the past few hours as I watched the first two OVAs (hours that seemed like endless, eternal, unconditional bliss).

At first it seemed there were some cringe-inducing moments, and I even felt the anime producers didn’t really understand the characters or the heart of the story. Some parts didn’t make much sense. Others were awkward – especially the transitions between scenes. Very jolting, not much indication of passage of time or what just happened between then and now. The animation, while good, was used a bit too sparingly for my tastes. The voices didn’t seem up to par (I honestly thought it was Raine reading out the bit on the ancient war in the beginning!). The anime seemed too simplistic.

But my God how my view changed within the first fifteen minutes. I realized this animation, like the game before it, meant serious business. This wasn’t just some cutesy little foray into the ToS world for the benefit of the fans and the wallets of the producers – this was just as skillfully implemented and lovely and breathtaking as the original game.

Perhaps the anime adapters didn’t have too much of a job to do, since the story in the original game was already so good. But I may even venture to say the first two OAVs were better than the equivalent parts in the game. They effectively skipped through all the boring “Seal” parts and portrayed all the characters adeptly in a minimal amount of screen time. I especially like their portrayal of Genis and, surprisingly, of Colette (compared to the original, anyway). It was a very good idea to start off with the weakest character (Colette) and develop her personality a bit right off the bat. So that we didn’t have to cringe whenever she spoke or appeared on screen for the next few hours. I really got a good sense of what she was thinking and feeling at all times, and I even sympathized with her (something that just didn’t really happen in the original).

Genis is another matter. Somehow, they’ve made his character even better and more stand-out than the original. The original was a good character, interesting enough, and amply supportive of the main cast – but he lacked any real substance or purpose (at least for a good portion of the game, before you discover his past and so on). It was literally as if he’d been planted in the role of “Lloyd’s sidekick” and/or “Raine’s substitute child/beat-up doll.” In the anime, however, I thought his personality and true motives shone through much, much better, more clearly. It was immediately obvious to me (and I hope to anyone watching it, even if this is their first experience of ToS) that Genis’s personality hinged very much on getting approval from those around him. His standing by his sister, his tacit obedience, even his admiring glances at the immensely powerful Kratos, showed exactly how much it meant to him that he was liked and accepted. Also, I liked how they toned down the brattiness and braggart side of Genis, making him more like the insecure, unconfident, often self-deprecating person he really is inside.

Lloyd was nicely portrayed in all his scenes: there was less idle “save-the-world” chatter, he seemed more serious and as mature as a 17-year old should be, and his relationship with his “Dad” seemed more fleshed out and poignant than in the original. Having him cry when he received his gift of two swords from Dirk, and then almost simultaneously bursting into a spontaneous grin of complete satisfaction afterwards, did wonders for my sympathy/respect towards him as a real, living, breathing human being.

Raine didn’t get much screentime in the first episode, and neither did Kratos, but I could sense their personalities clearly enough that it didn’t really matter. (I still am troubled by Kratos’s deep old man’s voice, though, even now. I mean, he’s friggin’ 28, for cryin’ out loud! By the standards of our society, that means he’s still a young man. And yet in the Japanese he sounds like he’s about sixty!)

The second episode was far, far superior to the first and absolutely thrilling to watch. Not only was the fight scene between Sheena and Kratos wonderfully done, but every little touch in the dialogue or in the characters’ expressions showed careful planning, thought, and clear understanding of everyone’s motivations. Sheena’s appearance was awesome, to say the least. Although it was a bit confusing during that part she hesitated in killing Colette, the later scenes with her were amazingly good. I loved her mysterious silence and her deadly determination. They made her (and Kratos, I noticed!) into a far more stoic, reticent, self-involved person than she seemed in the game. She went to the point of being antisocial and arrogant, whereas in the game she came across as just “desperate and naïve.” The part where she lost the battle to Kratos and was panting and sweating in a panic, realizing she had truly been defeated and obviously thinking “What the hell have I gotten myself into!” was very good. I don’t remember ever being so impressed with Sheena’s personality.

Every interaction between the characters shows perfect knowledge of everyone’s quirks, as well as a love for the characters and a sensitivity towards the behaviors of real humans. The anime writers realized that cliché dialogue has no place in such a high-quality story, and cut away exactly all the redundant parts from the original story. They also realized that one doesn’t necessarily express oneself through open words, open actions, and such: a concerned glance at a friend speaks a thousand words, and a stony, impassive silence indicates much more than just quietness. One narrowing of the eyes was enough to give Kratos all the personality he needed for an entire scene. One hand on Colette’s shoulder was all Raine needed to reveal the kind, caring heart inside her. One anxious look at his sister was all we needed to understand why Genis wasn’t speaking like he wanted to. One nudge of her face against Sheena’s was all Corrine needed to show how close the two were.

One short 10-second segment of the second OAV particularly surprised me. At first I didn’t understand what in the hell was happening. Then, as I paused to think about it, it dawned on me how clever it was and how wonderful that they actually thought to put this segment in! It was when (with audio overlaid on top so there is no dialogue) they showed a short clip of Genis devouring a slightly burnt-looking fish with a huge manical grin on his face, while Lloyd and Colette looked on in some surprise and dismay. “Huh?” I thought. “They’re trying to characterise Genis as a big eater? Okay, that’s a surprise….” I didn’t understand what the other two’s reactions could mean. Then Raine came into the picture, bearing a bowl of some other disaster she had made, and all three of the kids cringed in reaction to it. Then I understood: they were showing that Genis had been conditioned to eat his sister’s horrible cooking with no complaint, making a show of how much he liked it in order to avoid upsetting her, while Lloyd and Colette were staring on in disbelief that he could actually touch something like that!

The little plasticine (or whatever) stop-motion scenes at the very end are a nice bonus and very, very cute. At first I thought, “Are they making fun of Tales of Symphonia? It is not some simple, average game!” Then I realized the creators had done it purely out of love for the characters, out of their own passion for the story. I felt tears mist my eyes when I realized that. When I thought about how much this little game could mean to some people… how much it meant to me so many years ago, how much it still meant to me even now. How I want to live in that time again, when Tales of Symphonia was fresh and new and exciting, and I fell in love with it, and it changed my life forever. Oh, how I want to be 14 all over again, even if it comes with all those follies, embarrassments, mistakes, ignorance….