Tales of the Abyss Ep. 25 + 26

With this, I finally close Tales of the Abyss. I haven’t gotten around to 25 and 26 for a while, and that’s mostly because…well, didn’t really want to watch it much, really. Got REALLY hard after I started watching other series, too.  Higashi no Eden and K-On are so ridiculous they’re actually interesting to me.  Other things to worry about too.

In a nutshell, Abyss is one of the better adventures series to come out in recent years, but I don’t think I’ll be rewatching it anytime soon. Not while the game is sitting on my desk, at least.

Short summaries and final impressions following the break.

Wagering your Existence

With the Albiore III in pieces, Asch rushes in, leaving Ginji behind.  Soon enough, Noelle lands properly, and Luke and company leave her to tend to her brother as they rush in to catch up with Asch.  They quickly catch up with Asch, and sure enough, a hole in the floor separates them from the rest of the party.  Tear / Guy / Anise / Jade fend off Sync and Legretta, Tear’s former teacher.  Of course, Tear has to question Legretta first before starting the fight, and learns that Legretta is supporting Van purely out of gratitude.  Angered at her lack of free will, Tear attacks Legretta, the Oracle Knight she once admire.  Anise has her own personal duel with Sync, aka Ion, who taunts her about having to kill someone twice over.  Anise, however, is steadfast in her ideals and rushes Sync.  Down below, Asch and Luke have at it, “wagering their existence” to determine who deserves to live.

Suffice it to say that much chattering and battling occurs, and Jade eventually joins in Tear’s fight, citing that although he isn’t a fan of the Score, he didn’t come up with fomicry for it to be abused.  With Tear finally casting her artes, and backed up by Jade, Legretta eventually falls.  On the other side, Anise successfully defeats Sync (also with a little bit of support), and the group marches on.  Meanwhile, Luke and Asch are done with their personal duel, with Luke outplaying his true self.  Asch stays behind to delay the Oracle Knights’ advances as long as he can.  However, even a God General can only take so much, and Asch eventually falls.  Luke realizes this, but presses on with his friends to the final boss: Van.

A New World

At the top level of Eldrant is Van.  The team approaches cautiously, then decides to unleash everything on him.  However, Van is nearly indestructible to all of their attacks, until Tear starts singing her fonic hymns.  With the fonons around Van disrupted, Luke combines the Key and Jewel of Lorelei and pierces his heart.  Van disappears, and Eldrant begins to fall apart.  In classic hero fashion, Luke stays behind to deal with the ramifications of his actions, and the others say their goodbyes.  Luke promises that he’ll return someday.  Tear, unable to say it directly, whispers that she loves him before running.  The Key drops, Luke and Asch are reunited again, and the fight is over.

Years later, Tear returns to the outlook where everything started for her.  The others also look on, but eventually turn back.  Tear is surprised, however, to see a red-headed man with the Key of Lorelei walking towards her..

Impressions:

• If you haven’t noticed, I lost interest.  I’m bemused by the slavish adherence to the game’s storyline.  As noted elsewhere, the end sequence probably could’ve been lifted from the game itself, and we would’ve been none the wiser.   A note to other game -> anime producers: INJECT SOMETHING NEW INTO IT.  At least twist something!  26 episodes and all I did was “yep, yep…did that..uh huh.”
• Something that really cheapens the series a lot is the fact that when people die, nobody had more than…15 seconds of on-screen regret.  You’d think it’d be kind of rough, but nope, not in the Abyss world.
• I know Van is the final boss, but whoever decided to use the organ needs to be shot.
• Final opinion: watch it if you’ve never played the game, ignore otherwise.
• Hey I finished a series!  Sort of.  XD