Tales of Zestiria: The X - Reviews

Tales of Zestiria: The X (2016) - A Mixed Fantasy Adaptation

Story (6/10): "Tales of Zestiria: The X" is an anime adaptation of the popular "Tales of Zestiria" video game, and it attempts to bring the game's expansive narrative to life. The story follows Sorey, a young man who becomes the Shepherd, a chosen one destined to save the world from malevolent forces.

The anime's storytelling has its moments, particularly in the world-building and character interactions. However, it struggles with pacing issues and adapting the complexities of the game's plot into a concise series. The narrative sometimes feels disjointed and rushed, making it challenging for viewers unfamiliar with the game to fully grasp the lore.

Animation (7/10): The animation quality of "Tales of Zestiria: The X" is a mixed bag. The action scenes and battles are well-animated, showcasing the series' signature "Tales of" combat style. The character designs stay faithful to the game, and the fantasy world is brought to life with vibrant visuals. However, there are instances of CGI that can be jarring and detract from the overall experience.

Sound (6/10): The soundtrack features music by Go Shiina, which includes epic orchestral compositions that suit the fantasy genre. While the music enhances certain scenes, it doesn't always reach the emotional depth one might expect. Voice acting is competent in both the Japanese and English dubs, but it doesn't stand out as exceptional.

Characters (5/10): The characters in "Tales of Zestiria: The X" are based on the game's cast, and they each have unique personalities and backstories. Sorey, the protagonist, is a well-intentioned hero, but his character development can be overshadowed by the ensemble cast. Some characters receive more attention and development than others, which can leave certain character arcs feeling incomplete.

Overall (5/10): "Tales of Zestiria: The X" is a mixed bag of fantasy adventure. While it attempts to adapt the game's expansive world and lore, it struggles with pacing issues and an occasionally disjointed narrative. The animation and sound are decent, but not groundbreaking, and the character development varies from one character to another.

Compared to the manga and novel adaptations, the anime provides a more visual and action-oriented experience but may sacrifice some of the depth found in those formats due to time constraints.

My overall score of 5/10 reflects my lukewarm feelings toward this adaptation. It has its moments, especially for fans of the game, but it falls short in delivering a consistently engaging and well-paced narrative.

Hello Guys! Let's talk about Tales of Zestiria: The X ! an Anime airing right now by the studio Ufotable best known for it's work of the Fate/Stay series that has gorgeous animation!

Story :

As of writting this review i am currently at episode 4 of the serie! And oh boy has it been a ride, without giving too much information to spoil some of you of this beauty that you have to see (at least for now) A princess is looking for someone to save her kingdom from impending darkness and death! But she isn't looking for just anyone she is looking for King Arthur! Well actually she is looking for someone that can pull a special sword from a stone! she is looking for the Shepherd! 

Animation & Sound :

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L is it absolutely gorgeous! the special effects, the sound, everything just blends in together so well! let's also not forget that they are the ones who made the Fate/stay serie! that alone should be enough to justify!

Characters :

As of now we don't have much informations concerning the characters, althought we see some nice transition of the characters! will be updated when more episode are out!

Positive

*Since this was my first Ufotable anime, there is only one subject with which I can start this review: the animation. Ufotable is known for making some of the best animation out there. Every frame looks like it cost an entire budget to make. And I must say that I really liked the animation in the action scenes. I am not the biggest fan of using only 3D animation like in ToZ but these action scenes were beautifully animated. Such sharp animation I had only seen that before in anime’s made by KyoAni so Ufotable definitely deserves its fame.

For a video review, check out my Youtube channel. Link on my profile page. 

*Next positive point was the medieval setting. I like anime’s that use this medieval setting and there aren’t many anime’s that do use it. I remember that I also mentioned this in my review of the original Berserk anime. This setting is something different than the usual modern, school setting.

*And my final but most important positive point was that ToZ made me remember my favorite series of all times. I'm planning a special review of set series soon (coming soon on my channel). But if you think about how some of the characters in ToZ were able to use the elements like Mikleo who uses water or Lailah who uses fire, you should already get a pretty good idea of what my favorite series of all times is.

Negative

*Something that I found bothersome at the start of the anime was that there was no introduction to the setting of the story. Probably the cause of this is the anime being an adaptation from the VN. In episode 1, or 0 if you watch that one first like I did, you get thrown straight into a story without any introduction to the world where it’s going to take place. Let’s take for instance SAO, there the entire world of SAO gets explained very soon and it allows the viewers to make a better mental picture of the entire situation where the story is going to take place. Also the characters have no introduction in ToZ, we even don’t know Alisha’s name till the second or third episode. More of an introduction would have been nice.

*Next thing was that I found that the entire story of Sorey becoming the shepherd was too big for this anime. Such a story where the future “savior” has to learn to master his skills and many different skills like here asks time. And that didn’t happen in ToZ, this entire story had to be resolved in 13 episodes or less so there was little time for development. A shame cause this is a theme for a long adventure anime like also my favorite series was.

*And a final negatieve point was that the 2 episodes halfway revolving around Velvet Crowe were pretty pointless for this season. That character comes from a different VN called Tales of Berseria. Now this might be resolved in the second season of ToZ that has been confirmed, maybe there she does make a reappearance and plays a roll. But for this season, the sudden intermezzo was pointless and if she does reappear in the season 2 than still her introduction here was sudden and short-lived.

Conclusion

So as a conclusion, I’m going to be honest and say that this wasn’t my thing. Fans of the VN, fans of Ufotable or fans of this kind of action-adventure anime will like this anime but it just wasn’t my thing. And that’s why I am going to rate Tales of Zestria: The X at 2,5 stars. Not a bad anime for those who like the genre but not my cup of tea.

Before starting on this season, make sure you go watch the Age of Chaos Episode or it may be titled as "Episode 0" on some sites. The art and graphics are so amazing that it is worthwhile to watch just for that. Simply beautiful and fantastic. Also stick around for after the credits of most episodes for some video game style dialogue that is intended to be funny. I would very highly recommend watching this for anyone because of the emphasized strengths which will be pointed out further in.

I recommend playing the game the first 15 hours or so before watching the anime if you were planning to play it as the anime follows the storyline of the game pretty well.

I have always been a tales of fan and Zestiria was a really fun game with great characters and artwork, combined with comedy, action, and adventure. The anime is no exception and it does a really good job, with the emphasis on graphics. The Dubbed voices are all the same from the game too which is great. There was only 1 major and 1 minor issue, the minor one being the Dubbed voice for Mikleo in Ep 9 is a totally different person. The only major issue that may bother some is that this anime is far from being complete. It will take several seasons to reach the ending of the story based on the current pace. There is also the potential for some dungeon crawling based episodes in future seasons. Unfortunately this component did not make it into the current season, but it could be something to look forward to and expect to some extent. For now the foundation of the anime is presented so the story doesn't reach the true potential that Tales of Zestiria is, but what was presented was still amazing and a a good point was picked to leave off, the best possible spot actually before the story really gets in depth and a lot more about the characters are revealed, along with plenty of funny dialogue.

The story concept is simple enough, light (Shepard and Seraphim) vs dark (Calamity and Malevolence). The Shepard goes around and befriends the Seraphim in order to help him fight off the Malevolence with their help and transformation capabilities and purify the world. The transformations are a really cool aspect and make for some action filled combat that is anything but boring. While the story for this season focuses on the princess and castle kingdom aspects with all its politics, this season ends where the adventure into the open world begins, and it will be quite the adventure. Those who have played the game will find everything very familiar and well done, nothing super new but it is cool to watch.

The characters are the huge heart and soul of this anime, besides the artwork of course. They are all filled with personality and make for a funny adventure. Edna is the fan favorite because of her blunt and intellectual nature, and for always teasing Mikleo. She will get a lot more funny dialogue down the road, but for now we only get a small glimpse of what to expect. Her outfit, hair, and general character design are also just too adorable combined with that umbrella and the Normin hanging from it. Speaking of Normin's, they add an adorable element and are the mascots essentially.

As mentioned many times, the artwork here must be heavily emphasized. This is the other component that makes Tales of Zestiria really stand out and worth watching. They are even better than the game.

Overall this season was beautiful. A nice blend of characters, artwork, adventure, and comedy. Consider this the intro season as there isn't too much advancement into the main story. As mentioned earlier, essentially the foundation laid out here as we become familiar with all the characters and what the story will revolve around, nothing more, nothing less. The evil characters will have a lot more screen time down the road, along with many more characters and twists should the anime follow the story of the game. 

If you can get past the fact that this will take more seasons to progress through the story, it will be a very rewarding experience.

Review of Season 2 ; Scored 10

Actually I liked this anime more than I thought I would. It had a gorgeous animation, with amazing sound and the characters were actually very likeable. The story is interesting, but it does not reach an excellent score because it is a bit slow. Overall, this is a really good anime and more if you're interested on magic, fantasy and adventure.