March 2, 2006

Tales of Phantasia - 03


Whoa… this anime seriously kicks ass. The story’s awesome. This episode, out heroes travel another 50 years to the furure, in order to stop Dhaos. In there, they head for the elves, in order to form a pact with the master of all summn spirits: Origin. I just loved the stubbornness of the elves. Suzu also looks awesome. But I think that’s the fact with every character in this anime. Every single character design is one of the most unique and memorable I’ve ever seen. And I may be wrong, but the CG in Tales of Phantasia has been done in some of the best ways ever, while still keeping balance with the normal drawings.

As this is an anime based on an RPG, you would expect the majority of the screentime to be filled with fighting. Well, it’s everything but that. This anime focuses mostly on drama and adventure, with a bit of fighting to back it up. The results are awesome.

When you compare this to the game “Tales of Symphonia”, you’ll be able to see a lot of similarities. The elven village, for example. We see a lot of names returning. The summon spirits are in both as well. In most cases, their designs differ on most parts, but in essence their designs are the same. The only exception is Origin, who seems to have got a total restyle.

Anyway, enough of me trying to look for words, I seriously recommend you to check this out. This really is the proof that video-game-based anime doesn’t neccesarily mean a bad series.

Mushishi - 13


Another beauty of a story. This will probably entertain a huge load of romance-fans. We have this guy. The girl he loved died about three years ago, but because of some mushi, she remained in a pseudo-living state. But the guy just couldn’t convince himself that she was dead.

Again, the story is told as calmly as ever, but the atmosphere was so amazing. This really was another outstanding Mushishi episode. I also loved Ginko’s cynical side.