Tales of the Abyss Rating on a Scale of 1-5 Sephiroths
Characters(Heroic)
In the world of Tales of the Abyss, every character in the main party has something haunting them. It’s easy to just put them into simple to define areas like “Red-headed protagonist” and “Love interest” but it’s because of those darker areas in their past that they become real.
Luke: The fact that he is a replica is never swept under the carpet. It becomes a quest in his life after Akzeurith to find meaning aside from being a perfect match to someone else.
Tear: She knows her brother has turned against everything they held dear, and struggles until the very end with the decision to end his life. It’s a tough place to be put in, but she has her friends to help her recover from the pain.
Jade: A fonic prodigy and a career military man, Jade’s bleak past involves the manslaughter of and subsequent attempts to ressurect his beloved teacher. He’s ultimately responsible for creating the technology that throws the Score out of balance. However, what he also provides for Luke is a father figure that knows how to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes.
Anise: The youngest member of the cast, she’s walking in the shadow of giants. Tasked with protecting Ion and reporting on the movements of the party to Mohs, she’s frequently torn in her loyalties. However, when her treachery is revealed, it takes away the most important person in her life. And in that moment, she decides to rise above her past and change the world for the best.
Guy: A survivor of an apocalyptic event that was done to appease the Score, and unfortunately traumatized as a result, his early scenes in the episode are split between caring for luke and avoiding women almost as a joke. But there’s no joke here. Like everyone else, Guy has to decide that the trauma of the past is not going to rule his future.
Ion: Ion’s constantly being used in the series. He’s pushed around by the God Generals into opening the Sephiroths, forced to read the Score even when he starts thinking it’s only one possibility. Through it all, he forms a bond with the rest of the party, and helps them overcome their own issues. It doesn’t matter that the Ion everyone knew was a replica. To them, he was real.
Natalia: She is loved by her people, and is considered a hero, despite the circumstances of her birth. She might not have been born royal, but she earned it along the way. When the people of the city are urged to cover her escape, she knows she’s made the right choices. She’s tormented over the two Fon Fabre men in her life, knowing that there was one to start.
Rating: 5 Sephiroths
Characters(Villainous)
As far as villains go, they’re all over the place. At the core, they’re all out for revenge, but I really have no feelings for Sync, Dist and Largo. I have a better time sympathizing with Van’s hatred of the Score, Legretta’s loyalty to Van and Arietta’s desire for family.
Mohs is also entirely pointless in the grand scheme. For somebody in a position of power in the Order, he needs a god general to give him extra power.
Rating: 2.8 Sephiroths
Characters(Supporting)
This is a major failing of the series. There’s almost no reason to get involved with the supporting cast. Luke’s parents are only there occasionally. The Dark Wings are just there if there’s a need for a break in the art style. Mieu is ultimately only good for breaking through Tear’s iron facade by being cute. Noelle is only important when the party needs to get somewhere fast. The two classes of senior citizens in Belkend have a rivalry and have to die to motivate the cast.
There are some members of the supporting cast that are interesting, however.
Asch as the original Luke. I mark him as a supporting cast member because his actions only aid and augment the actions of the main cast. Asch is a very interesting character. Trying to recover from having the man you respected kidnap you, and to lose everything to a replica, Asch forges his own personality. When Luke brings him home, he almost breaks down. These are his parents, that he hasn’t seen for seven years, and they’re welcoming him back with open arms.
Also interesting is Emperor Peony IX. I really like this guy. He wears comfortable clothes, raises pigs in his royal quarters and is always willing to listen to reason. The fact that he was a schoolmate of Jade and Dist is also solid, because it was Peony who snapped Jade out of his self-destructive need to bring back their teacher.
Sadly, it really is just Asch and Peony as interesting supporting characters.
Rating: 2 Sephiroths
Storywriting
We have 26 episodes, and 3 of those are used on setup to understand the characters. However, the story is well-constructed once you get past the first three episodes. In these episodes we get character arcs that deal with fate vs free will, loss of identity, the ethics of cloning, and how even the noblest of goals can be twisted around. While I do find certain sections of the plot rushed for time, it is overall a good story.
Rating 4 Sephiroths
Worldbuilding
The world of Auldrant is rich, and there is enough difference in the locations for someone to be able to tell them apart. The places where the worldbuilding really shines is in the cities and sephiroths.
Consider the major centers of the world. Kimlasca’s capital Baticul is a multi-tiered city like Minas Tirith, with the wealthiest at the top and the slums at the base. However, no matter how many times I see it, it still takes my breath away.
The capital of Grand Chokmah in Malkuth is amazing. Waterfalls, terraces, Aqueducts. I would want to live there.
Then we have Daath, though we don’t see it very often. It’s an area of supposed neutrality, and deep religious significance. That shouldn’t be apparent just from looking at a massive stained glass window, but they do it well here.
The sephiroths, passage rings and even the Qlipoth are all interesting choices to make in world-building. The idea that the world is floating above clouds of miasma and seas of poisonous mud is pretty impressive.
If there is one failing in the world building, it’s the technology level. On the one side, you see the development of airships as something new and original. However, in one episode, there is a horse-drawn carriage, a 1950’s car and a fonpunk landship all in the same frame. I do wish they’d find a reasonable middle ground for the technology level. I don’t want everyone to be driving around in knockoffs of the Tartarus, but I would at least like to see more of those cars.
Rating: 4 Sephiroths
Animation
Animation is sadly nothing to write home about. The only times that there’s bursts of impressive quality is when we’re dealing with fon machines or fonic artes.
Rating: 2.5 Sephiroths
Character Design
I’m kind of torn on these. I’d be able to pick out the characters of Tales of the Abyss from any anime character line up, but there’s precious little that really stands out to me. They make Van more imposing by giving him an armor with spikes, Sync seem more threatening by adding swooshes to his outfit. Luke’s outfit is not that impressive. These are just middle of the road things. Not great, but not terrible.
There are some terrible character designs in this series. Demon Mohs is just a repainted Jabba the Hutt. Dist comes off less threatening and more clownish, especially because of the really obnxious animation decision to only make one lens of his glasses give off glare in any light. The Black Wings are supposed to be professional mercenaries, but they look like they escaped from the circus.
The real winners for me in Character Design are Anise, Asch and Ion. I appreciate Ion’s economy of design. No overly complex headpieces, no extra adornments on the staff, and robes that look like they fit. Anise is definitely what will come to mind the next time I think of a highly skilled young girl. Asch settles into the thematic black of abandonment, but he makes it work for some reason.
Rating: 2.5 Sephiroths.
Music
The Seventh Fonon is based on Sound. The Order of Lorelei is a music-based religion. However, through this whole thing, there’s only two bits of music that really stand out. There’s the ominous pipe organ that plays whenever Van is about to chew scenery, and there’s Tear’s Fonic Hymns.
Those Hymns are an integral part of the story, and hearing them sends chills down my spine.
I’m honestly not a fan of the opening of the series, and while the ending is a bit more laid-back, it doesn’t really grab me either.
Rating: 2.5 Sephiroths
Final Rating: 3.2 Sephiroths.
Reviewer Recommendation: This series is pretty good. It has a lot of flaws in the art department, but the story makes up for it. It balances neatly between good and bad at all times. I would recommend you either watch the series or play the game, but it’s not imperative that you do.
