Tales of the Abyss: Where this probably makes sense but I forgot why....
No, seriously thank you. I can finally blog it and move on with my life. XD I watched the show up to this point so I wanted to see how it ended and where the body count ended up. I thought maybe the series could redeem itself a little bit and end on a high note.
But...yeah. It is what is it. Tales of the Abyss has been very consistent. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up to the individual. I wouldn't say it was the best anime out there but it's not the worst. It just...is. So if you still care about this series about this point or want to know why I am so dramatic click the read more and find out. Happy reading!
Minor characters need to LEARN THEIR PLACE!
Our heroes get to the Eldrant and find Noelle’s brother all injured and pitiful. He says that Asch has run off by himself and begs the others to go save him. Our heroes tell Noelle to take care of her brother and if things get dangerous that she should just leave. Asch is slashing up soldiers when everyone catches up to him. As Luke runs towards him the floor collapses and sends Luke and Asch who knows where. Before everyone can freak out Sync and Legretta show up and declare it is boss battle time. Tear boohoos to Legretta for a while about how Legretta was her teacher and that they shouldn’t be fighting at all! Legretta explains her bull crap reason for wanting to destroy the world and it is battle time. Sync has just gone insane and really doesn’t have a reason to fight. INSERT BIG SPELLS HERE MOG! Elsewhere Asch and Luke have woken up and Asch has decided they need to have a boss battle too. Because only ONE of them can have honor to kill Van. So those two nimrods go at it for a little while. Back at the battle that makes more sense everyone is pulling out all the cool spells and actually trying to do damage. Sync picks on Anise about killing Ion but reveals he regrets ever existing. Anise feels bad for him, there are tears BOO HOO! Tears gets a massively awesome PLAN but needs everyone to keep concentrating on using their bestest spells to do so. This massive awesome plan turns out to be her singing again and this time FREEZING all the enemies from moving. That allows for our heroes to slay everyone (without blood of course). Sync hates his existence to the very end and Tear boo hoos all over Legretta’s body.
A plague on BOTH your houses!
Back at the fight that doesn’t make any sense both Luke and Asch think about what kind of person they are and what they are fighting for. Asch cries about how his entire life was stolen from him. Luke says that Asch is Asch and Luke is his own person now so BACK OFF. Luke wins the battle leaving Asch shocked. Asch says that Luke has to go release Lorelei and defeat Van while he holds off the new batch of soldiers. Luke makes Asch promise that Asch will come back alive as he runs off. Asch muses he won’t be able to keep that promise as he starts hacking away at the baddies. The rest of our heroes have come across the replicated ruins of Hod/Guy’s old house. Guy mans up and decides that it doesn’t bother him seeing all this stuff. Luke runs by and everyone is happy to see him because it has been SO LONG. He explains that Asch decided to stay behind and Natalia boo hoos a little. Asch is having a rough time against all the baddies and thinks back to how he was told…his body was breaking down due to the fact he was cloned and Luke is the perfect FonReplica something. He gets a headache pain of doom at the wrong time and gets stabbed three times. He finishes off the baddies but let’s Luke know he is toast and his remaining energy is going to be given to Luke. Luke gets all sparkly and informs the others Asch is dead. Natalia decides to fall on the ground and be dramatically upset. Jade tells Natalia to man up because it is TIME TO SAVE THE WORLD!
Our group gets to the top of the tower where they see Van…and his specialness. His arms are growing rocks out of them now and he generally looks like a freak. Van asks Luke to join him in the destruction of the planet and SURPRISE Luke refuses. Luke says that all he wanted was Van to acknowledge him as a real person and Van does….because part of Asch has made him human. Everyone takes turns telling Van that his plan is made of fail and maybe telling him for the fifteenth time WILL WORK! But Van decides that the future is set (even the future with him destroying the world) and unleashes his awesome power…which is Lorelei herself (itself?). Everyone tries to unleash their cool new awesome spells but it is no match against Van and his mighty arms of…rock. Tear gets another AWESOME PLAN so everyone has to keep Van busy while Tear is working out this awesome plan. Guess what it is?! Yes, it is Tear singing again. But this time it is a different song and one that will affect Lorelei that is in Van. Van and his rocks for arms are disabled and everyone gets their hits in on Van. Luke does the killing blow and Van mutters a few lame words and dies. Tear takes a few minutes to boo hoo and everyone looks a little sad.
One last sparkle for the road!
But there is not a whole lot of time for crying since Eldrant is about to collapse. Luke says he has to stay and free Lorelei while everyone else escapes. The rest of our heroes have to say more dramatic goodbyes to Luke and do their own version of YOU BETTER COME BACK. Tear whispers that she loves Luke as she runs off to the nonexistent ship since Noelle and her brother flew off like 10 minutes ago. Luke dramatically stabs the ground (at random) and it is sparkly time as the entire place falls apart. Luke takes a ride in a sparkle bubble and catches Asch’s body as the place falls apart. Lorelei kinda takes human form (as a DUDE) or maybe it is Yulia…in any event they thank Luke for stopping the score because that is what they wanted all along. Luke glows and Asch’s hand moves a little bit. A huge light fills the sky and our heroes worry. Tear especially looks defeated. Fast forward two years and our heroes have all gathered together to celebrate Luke’s coming of age party..minus Luke. Because he never came back that day. Tear believes he will return because he said he was going to. Someone requests that Tear sing her song so she does. As she sings we see the remaining characters go about their lives or mourn for Luke at his little ceremony. At the end of the song someone walks up. The clothing is neither Luke or Asch and the hair is a combination of Luke and Asch. But everyone casually walks up to this person as he talks and Tear cries…so it is probably Luke. Everyone looks happy so…THE END!
Dramatic back scene...and THE END!
And it’s over. I was waiting for the last episode to get subbed not because I was SO looking forward to the ending..but because I wanted it to be done and over with. Yeah, I could just skip blogging in and move on with my life…but that is not how I roll!
Yay for piggies?!
And really the ending was so boring and happy and cheesy it made me barf. And I am the one who wants happy endings and all the main characters to live. I get what I want and then I think it fails. Either I am hard to please or Tales of the Abyss failed at making me want that happy ending.
But they're happy tears!
All of the bad guys died. In most cases yes bad guys should die. But some of these “bad guys” just seemed confused rather than truly evil. Before today (this episode) Sync was a confused kid who was being used by Van. Granted he turned into a crazy psychopath at the end…but I think there was potential to save him. He wasn’t really evil nor did he care one way or another about which side won. I think he was redeemable and it is a shame he was just killed off AGAIN so easily.
I had hope for you confused little replica!
Legretta didn’t get a lot of screen time during this series so her survival could have gone one way or another with me. But since Tear started off her conversation with Legretta full of tears and begging her to change her ways…I figured Legretta was dead meat. I hate that they made her be in love with Van to explain her reasoning for following him. Again this seemed weak and expected. But I guess if you are going to follow someone who is bat shit crazy... love might be the only reason you stick with them.
Why not injury these people? Seriously, don't kill them if you love them that much!
Asch and Luke’s battle who has the biggest balls…..was lame. They both could have fought off the weak baddies and they both could have gone and fought Van. Strength in numbers and all that jazz. Asch has been dying for like 15 episodes now so I am sure he could have recovered from that minor headache and helped out at the final battle. But no…Luke had to prove AGAIN that he is a real person and everyone needs to know it. Asch had to prove AGAIN that he is stubborn and this time it killed him.
I thought
We are MEN! We need to fight over stupid things...and drink beer...and pee in the snow!
that Asch was actually going to live but only because of the dramatics surrounding his impending doom. That he and Luke were going to both survive this and had to find their own place in the world. Well, Asch’s place being in the mountains and all emo alone with Natalia pinning over him while Tear and Luke made cute TearLuke babies but still. I think that Asch went through a LOT during this series and him being taken by lackeys was lame. He deserved at least a special spell attack to take him out or something. But he is gone and we all must move on and save the world right?
Down the rabbit hole we go!!!!
Oh wait, we all must wait for Natalia to pick herself off the ground and stop crying. Because everything is about Natalia. Asch being dead is the worst thing that ever happened to Natalia. I mean, someone being dead is sad and all….but a ton of people have died since this journey has happened. She killed her father after all. She acted like she and Asch were these destined lovers who knew each other for such a long time. In reality, she only knew Asch for 7 years and she was just in love with the little boy he was. She never got to know him as an adult and was just clinging to an idea of him. Bleh….if you don’t hurry up and stop Van you are going to be dead too. So stop crying and move on! Those who stop to cry about the dead DIE in sci movies.
You man up too Anise!
So after peeling Natalia off the ground and watching Luke sparkle with remaining Asch dust on our crew goes. Van’s new look was not a good one. I am not sure where these villains are shopping for their final battle looks but they need refunds. Or maybe housing Lorelei in his own body transformed him into RockMan? Either way…yeah, he was looking gross…and dare I say wimpier than usual?
Seriously, what is that?!
They did pick up the battling within these two episodes. I am sure the spells and attacks looked much cooler in the game but whatever. I like how they showed the girls healing people because you know…girls are only useful as healers and buffers in game DUH!
AUTO HEAL NOW!
But the battles ended up being anticlimactic as Tear used the same each technique each time. She sings and she WINS! I mean, people are allowed to have ultimate spells and rock but did she need to win BOTH TIMES? Wasn’t that whole Luke and Asch fighting deal supposed to determine who killed Van? Now it was just Luke reaching Van last and stabbing him (with no blood of course). Bleh, I was actually expecting a fight and I got this.
Very convenient indeed.
I must have missed something really big. I mean I thought Lorelei was in Van. And Van died into sparkly dust. So…why does Luke have to dramatically stay behind and save her? Didn’t we already do the whole sad goodbye to Luke because he is about to die? So…yeah not understanding that whole issue but maybe it is my fault. But I doubt it.
Why doesn't that free Lorelei?
Two years later and Tear still is wearing the same old clothes? PLEASE! Oh and she has to sing again. At least when she was singing we got to see what the other characters in the show were up to. And Emperor Hottie got to live with his cute little piggies. I notice that the new Ion whatever his name was not featured AT ALL! Guess Anise got him killed too.
Wait for Luke...waiting for Luke....
And then Luke walks up and everything is perfect. Because he has been gone for two whole years but happens to come back on the day where everyone was gathering and waiting for him to return. IT IS MAGICAL! We don’t need any explanation on where he has been for the past two years nor….is it necessary to run up to him because they missed him. Weirdest reunion scene in any anime I have ever seen.
DON'T YOU WANT HIM HERE?!
Apparently in the game and the anime it is supposed to be left up to the viewer/player who actually comes back. I don’t see how it could be anyone but Luke. Granted I do think that Luke’s body became toast and he was reborn in Asch’s but it is still Luke’s soul. There might be a combination of spirits since Luke did gain Asch’s feeling and all that jazz…but I think it was Luke. Natalia wasn’t falling on ground CRYING to see him and well…Tear was. It was Luke, just slightly different.
Looks like Luke to me!
Now that I think about it the ending is going to bother me. Where the hell was he for all that time?! Is that really Asch’s body Luke is in? WHY WEREN’T THEY HAPPIER TO SEE HIM?! Was he spending that time putting his body back together and healing from that entire trauma? Just bleh…I know not every show will end with all the answers….but it should leave me feeling happy the main character lived?!
MORE HAPPY PLEASE!
While I think about how the ending made my head exploded, let’s travel back to the beginning of the show and how we got where we are today….unsatisfied.
Who are you again?
Luke as a main character…..le sigh. He came off so one sided in the beginning. His spoiled attitude felt FORCED at times. It is hard to explain, but I don’t think he truly was such an asshole. He did such outlandish asshole things but I don’t think he was one. There is a way to be a natural asshole and then there is doing some SO stupid and rude you know that person KNOWS it is rude. He couldn’t have been if his transformation happened so fast.
Am I an asshole?!
If I had to hear one more time about how he accidentally killed 10,000 people I was going to shoot him. But he would probably want that so he could feel justice being done. It is nice that he felt he had to make up for what he had done (what he was FORCED to do) but I didn’t need to hear about it every single episode. To me it doesn’t represent him moving on from mistakes. He is still living in the past and isn’t finding his way.
Oppies!?
There was never ending drama with Luke. First he was the jerk. Then he was the guy who killed so many people. Then he was the replica trying to find his place in the world. At times it felt as if he was just saying the right thing or the thing he was supposed to feel. At the end I did believe that he really thought he was a real person and that it was coming from his own heart. Not Asch and his…helpful words. Not Tear and her special words of encouragement. But Luke and his own thoughts decided he was a real person. In a sense the anime is successful as Luke grew as a person and is no longer an assface prince. So…I guess Luke became okay in my eyes. I guess.
I shall cut off all my hair and make it better!
The whole Tear and Luke romance came out of left field but not really. You expected it so when it did happened it made sense. But in the show they barely showed them interacting at all. Most of the time Tear was screaming at Luke to be a better person and Luke being sad in the dirt. It would have been nice if they did more almost couple things like watching each other’s backs in battles, exchanged blushy glances, and of course the MOG I almost saw you naked scene. They are cute together but I feel as if they were relying too much on the viewers placing them together rather than them becoming a couple based solely on their actions and feelings.
Only time it was ever said in the whole series...
I wanted to really like Tear in this series…but she really got annoying at times. Like when she was crying over people who did not need to be cried over. She cried over Mohs? The person who caused most of this mess? The person who is a big purple monster trying to eat you? That Mohs? And Tear started off this series wanting to kill her brother so bad…..but then she started to wavier all the time. I wish she just stuck to her guns and was bad ass all the time. Crying afterwards is fine but think of the world. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Where did that Tear go?!
Anise can dieinafire. I hate her. I usually don’t like seeing cute little anime kids die…but Anise can die and I would be fine with it. She killed my Ion. She lied to her companions the entire time. She killed my Ion. She wanted to use Luke because of his money…but then dumped him like a rock when he was used against his will. AND SHE KILLED MY ION! She did something far worse than Luke ever did and she never got screamed at or dirty looks. Instead she was given a brand new Ion to kill. Thank you Anise for being useless.
No hugs for murderers!
ION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved you, despite that you held the group back, you were useless in a battle, and well…you didn’t do much. BUT I LOVED YOU ANYWAY! Most of the time you were the only one not giving Luke such a hard time and you were super nice to everyone. Granted it was that personality trait that got you killed…but whatever. Next time just tell the group that Anise is out to get them all and save yourself. Save yourself and poor misunderstood Sync.
But he tried his hardest! That's all that matters!
Natalia was a waste of space. XD I was hoping she was going to die during the series but I knew deep down she wasn’t going to. She was cute, blond, and a princess. Clearly she had to live. I found her to be more arrogant that Luke and she really thought she was better than everyone else. She had legitimate crap happen to her but how she handled it made me care less about her. She treated Luke so poorly when she found out who he really was and suddenly her love switched from Luke to Asch? Yeah, I don’t like flip floppers much. She required too much attention from the other members of the team and she sucked. The end.
Lame promise are lame.
At times it felt like the GUY SHOW! Everything was about him and he had more twists and turns than Luke did. He is from the rival country, oh he is a noble from another country, OH Luke’s family killed your family, OH you want revenge by killing Luke, and OH MY you and Van were tight before you knew Luke. Yes, lots of MOG moments with Guy. But he was still likable and even though he was firm with Luke a few times he generally stood by his stupid friend. That is what true friends do anyway.
No yaoi for me.
Jade was Jade. He acted like he knew all along what was going on but he never felt the need to share said information with the group. He acted like he was better than everyone else but he probably was. I didn’t really find his back story very redeeming as he is the cause of all this drama. I also wondered why more people didn’t blame him for the deaths of all these people but…this show isn’t about making sense. So…I guess Jade was okay.
I see everythingggggggggg.
Most of the generals got lousy explanations and lousy deaths. Except Sync. Apparently he was crappy enough what with his cloned and unloved self he deserved to die TWICE. I am really not sure why they thought their way of saving the world was the correct one. I mean, I can see be blinded to one way of thinking and not being able to see your way out of the box but when another option becomes available, one that doesn’t involve killing the entire planet…I would think you would take it. But clearly not.
Don't do it!
Van was a jack ass. I understand not wanting to follow fate and being responsible for your own lives. I GET THAT. But…why was he trying to destroy the world by following the words of the score? Is he missing the irony here? Let’s have Luke blow up all them people (in case you missed it, Luke blew up an entire town) and fulfill the score? That the only way to free people is to erase everything the score ever touched? Not buying such a crazy reasoning…but usually villains ARE villains because they are insane. So….yeah I will just stop.
Behold! Tear was right all along!
There were WAAAAAAAAAY too many side characters for me to care about. And the only ones they got rid of were all the old people and the hunk Fringe. UNFAIR I SAY!
Poor dead Fringe.
The battle scenes…were few and far between. Or rather the transition from game play to anime was not really great and left a lot to be desired. The first few episodes showed our heroes “leveling up on monsters” but then scenes like that never happened again. Most of the series was dedicated to discussing what place to go to next and how to get there. Bleh.
You have found 23 gold and one ether. Tear learns Cure 2!
What else is there to say? Have I reached 3,600 words (Gosh I go on…) without saying anything about FONS?! FONS FONS FONS! Granted they did tone down that fon business after episode 11…but still. Everything was FON, nothing was explained well, and my brain felt like exploding. And yes, Tales of the Abyss was FONtastic.
No one does Luke. NO ONE!
Since I have reached over 3,600 words I think I shall call it a night. I really need to learn how wrap things up better. Overall I guess the series was alright. It felt like they were just going through a check list of things to covered and they didn’t care how well things flowed. It wasn’t ALL BAD or I wouldn’t have watched the entire series…..or I am lying. But I will miss making fun of this show. AND MY ION!
And they all lived happily ever after?
Read more!
Ren hates roaches. And giant chickens.
Ren is depressed in his luscious apartment as he drinks and watches the original Dark Moon. He thinks back to how he failed on set and how Lory warned him not to take this part. Yashiro tries to get a hold of Ren but can only leave an angry message into about not being late to his other job. On set Ogata is talking with Kyoko with how he feels like a useless failure and is the worst director on the face of the planet. Insert Ogata having a massive Kyoko cry attack. Between mental breakdowns Ogata talks about how he told Ren to leave the set and gather himself while he finds his inner character. Ogata is worried about how long they can film other scenes and not use one of the two main characters. Then he goes back to crying for not being to inspire Ren and failing at life. Kyoko tries to tell Ogata that she also thinks Ren needed a break and that it devastated her watching Ren falter. But Kyoko is depressed for a different reason. She wants to be able to help Ren as a fellow actress…but feels since she new to the business it’s not her place to give his advice.
Drowning in a sea of melodramatics.
At the other agency Sho has finished up his music video (or at least part of it). He seems in high spirits as he bothers his mangers and acts like a kid. She is worried or at least suspicious of his behavior as she thought he would react pretty badly to finding out Kyoko and Ren were staring in show together. But as soon as she leaves the room…Sho loses his mind. He tosses around a table as he thinks of Kyoko making Ren a romantic lunch. He tries to convince himself that he is not jealous because he deserves to have the top girl out there…but images of Kyoko and Ren fill his mind. His screams scares random people in the hallway.
Kyoko finishes her job up as Bo the chicken and is returning her costume. She finds Ren in the hallway and panics away. She stops when she realizes that Ren often opens up better to Bo than other people. Ren is thinking about how he was talked to by Ogata and how he is unable to portray a love scene when Bo appears. On set Lory has surprised the crew with an elaborate party. Problem is…they are still working. Lory forces Ogata to tell him where Ren is…and tries to not to do the I told you so dance. Lory tells Ogata to give Ren a few more days….then cut him loose. Ogata thinks that’s a little harsh but Lory says Ogata has to obtain his own goals of surpassing his father and to do so sometimes people have to be cut. After having begged Ren for the truth and accidentally not listening to what he was saying, Kyoko finally learns that Ren has never been in love. His lack of love in his life is finally affecting him as an actor and Kyoko panics. She has no idea how to fix this kind of problem as it stems from something she can’t help (it also doesn’t help she keeps driving home the point that Ren should have experienced love at his age…) Ren begins to spill his guts about more personal issues but becomes upset when Kyoko starts squashing the Sho roach in her life instead of listening to him. Ren gets so mad he starts pulling at Bo’s head..and rips the hat off. Kyoko is all dramatic about the situation…but then Ren starts to laugh. Kyoko is happy that Ren is in a better mood but is sad she can’t help him out with his problems. Ren starts talking about how there should be a book on love so it can be explained to him. Kyoko tries to ask Ren if he has ever felt anything small, a tiny spark that maybe was love. She lists several things that could mean you are in love and asks if they apply. Ren is in shock as he thinks of Kyoko and how she makes him feel. Kyoko takes his shocked expression as a victory not knowing..she is Ren’s love interest.
Must find love!
It’s hard to believe there is only one more episode left! But before I get too sad about the impending end of this series I shall focus on this special episode.
It's not time to party!!!!
I will start with Sho because….watching him suffer is always fun. I know I said that with Ren too…but I do feel bad for Ren at times. I never feel bad for Sho. Sho gets everything he deserves and then some. Even if he is hit by a bus and his entire personality changes I would want him to suffer.
She rather have someone awesome ANYWAY!
And also the fact that he STILL doesn’t get it. He tries to make himself feel better by thinking he is above Kyoko (as seen in his imagination that Kyoko is only worthy to be a janitor). He is too full of himself to admit his feelings so he puts down Kyoko instead and I hate him for that. His guilty is eating away at him…but not fast enough. So keep on throwing chairs Sho. Suffer and become a bigger loser than you already are.
Suffer and DIE!
Ogata needs to be careful. I am already mad that people are trying to take Touma’s epic speeches but now people are trying to take Kyoko awesome melt downs? I DO NOT THINK SO! Only Kyoko can freak and be that over the top. NO ONE ELSE! And that means you little director. And one would argue that Ren feeling like a loser would give him the only spaz pass. You are not suffering as much as he is by merely WATCHING him fail. So you suck in those tears and take off that frog costume. YOU ARE NOT KYOKO!
Only Kyoko can dress up as a cute innocent frog!
*sigh* Ren Ren Ren….you almost were over dramatic when I saw you with your booze and the DVDs sprawled out all over the floor. It would have been better if the DVD’s had been beers…but I guess I shouldn’t pick on you SO much. You are going through a rough time and you are trying to improve your acting skills.
Must drown problems....
HOWEVER…just because you haven’t been in love doesn’t mean you can’t pretend to be in love. Because…I am sure you are not half the things you paid to portrayed. That is what being an actor IS! Of course this show is all about drawing in personal experiences and not imagining how the character would feel. So in terms of the show…I guess Ran needs to know what love is to portray is. It is not flying in real life though.
Figure out your life before more people suffer!
:( Poor Kyoko. She feels trapped in society’s view of seniority. Kyoko can’t approach Ren with this problem because she is NEW to the business…and that she is younger than him. Kyoko has been raised with old fashion beliefs to begin with…so she is really stuck on what to do! But it is really sweet to see her care so much.
And then she loses her hat!
BO TO THE RESCUE! Anytime Ren has a problem he automatically goes to that seat. Because he is waiting for Bo to make him feel better (or that is what I am going to pretend anyway). I am not sure WHY Ren would open up to an giant chicken but…he is human and he doesn’t want to feel vulnerable. Maybe it is easier to tell your problems when you can pretend the person is anyone in the world and you can’t see their reactions.
Ren always means serious business.
But yes…yes to the irony of the entire situation! Kyoko telling Ren to think of the one person who gives him the warm and fuzzy feelings and Ren realizing it is Kyoko. Kyoko is advising Ren to fall in love with herself! Ren is taking advice from Kyoko that in fact is in love with Kyoko! No matter how you spin the situation…it is amazing. I can’t wait for the day when Ren and Kyoko look back at this situation and enter extreme blushy land. Oh…that was the best part of the entire episode!
Oh...oh the irony...
:( With only one episode left I am pretty sad…and concerned. I don’t know how they are going to wrap up Ren’s problem and have a happy resolution for this SEASON! Because we can’t just leave it hanging (in case there isn’t a second season for a while). It seems like a lot of material to cover just in Ren’s situation alone…let alone making sure Kyoko is happy and dancing. CAN THEY DO IT?! Find out next time on the conclusion to DRAG…err SKIP BEAT!
Goku should live in fear.