Anime: Tales of Zestiria the Cross

The world is in chaos; malevolence seeps out of the Earth itself and engulfs all in despair. But fear not, for you, who can see and speak with the Seraphim deity shall herald a new era as the legendary shepherd. The decisions you make and the relationships you forge shall shape the future of humanity. Tales of Zestiria the X is the anime adaption of the successful RPG franchise, and ufotable sure did a great job retaining the RPG-like feel.

If you're like me and have never set foot in Zestiria land, fear not for the story gently eases you into this deep and rich world full of elemental magic and unspoken horrors. If you like good stories in the medieval-based fantasy genre, this should be right up your alley. Though I had my doubts coming in, ufotable has given us a great addition to the medieval fantasy genre.

Animation:
Though the animation isn't exactly always up to my expectations for ufotable, the overall quality is still many levels above your average show. Expect lots of lush scenery with great detailing along with superb lighting and shading. Whether in Tomb Raider like crypts or bustling street markets, the atmosphere is well presented. Some of the overlook vistas are particularly impressive with rich backgrounds and detailed clouds. I'm a bit more mixed from the 3D CGI perspective. Mob villagers and carriages are fairly drawn overall but you can still tell that they move differently than the protagonists in the foreground. Water and fire effects are brilliantly done, literally approaching realistic levels. Monsters... not so much. The dragons and other creatures look fake and have unnatural movements. The characters are well drawn in a unique style; the coloring is rather flat with minimal shading. This style contrasts sharply with the highly detailed, variably lit backgrounds; it takes a bit to get used to but isn't particularly distracting or annoying. I will say that one aspect I wasn't particularly sold on is character expressions; the still sprites in the post credit previews are about as exciting expression-wise as you're going to see in the show. Sorey's shepherd outfit, along with those ear clips, also gives him a bit of a Native American flair.

Expect a good deal of action in this show along with a fair amount of blood and occasional death. The action is high intensity and the show is blessed with very good choreography and excellent effects. Though "purifications" aren't as special as say the equivalent in God Eater, there are plenty of varied fights. Velvet Crowe is rather scantily clad I guess but otherwise this isn't an ecchi-based work.

Sound:
Though appropriate for the genre, I wouldn't consider the sound package anything special. The OP is a rather refreshing light rock piece with a good melody and unique wind instrumentation. The ED is a slow piece with some nice instrumentation but could use a more definitive melody. The BGM is pretty airy with some uplifting, exploration/adventure themed choral tracks. The other pieces are more ordinary and rather forgettable.

The VA cast for this series is incredible; listing the notable, veteran VAs from here would literally take a paragraph. Let's just say the main cast is all pretty strong, though I particularly liked Mikako Komatsu, Noriko Shitaya, and Ai Kayano's performance. For the Berseria arc, Rina Satou shines in the main role and we also get to hear Satomi Arai voice a non-loli for once. This is definitely one show that's not short on talent.

Story:
Zestiria starts off with a very bleak and saddening starting chapter; this truly is a very unforgiving world. However, from then on, it plays out literally like an RPG in video form; i.e. you meet the protagonist, learn whom the final boss is, and start hacking away at quests, and meeting important NPCs er... supporting characters along the way. I wouldn't call the setting particularly original, obviously it borrows the sword in the stone concept from King Arthur and fusion abilities from numerous other anime shows, but the seraphim were a pretty interesting touch, and the norin (though still partially a mystery) are rather cute.

The actual story consists of one single central plot with various character introductions along the way, each of which has subplots (i.e. quests). There are a few cliffhangers, one of which is oddly prolonged by a random two-episode introduction to Tales of Berseria. The story builds to an eventual climax where Sorey gets his chance at being Kira Yamato. This climax and the resolution are pretty good but also rather predictable. This really is just one arc in one giant story, and they sure go out of their way to announce that a sequel is already in the works.

The show has a decent mix of comedy, adventurous exploration, and battle. There's a fair amount of talk time and a decent amount of political dealings in the background, especially around our princess. There isn't a consistent mood in this show however; it ranges wildly from utterly hopeless to jubilant celebration. In general, despite some bleak scenes, I'd say the show is rather optimistic.

Character:
Surprisingly, there's a lot of characters that I don't particularly like in this show. Our protagonist Sorey is painfully naive. This enables him to have rather grand goals in life but also makes him ridiculously defenseless against guile and women. Though quite powerful as a warrior, he just isn't relatable at all. Sorey is almost always shadowed by his Seraphim friend, Mikleo, who I have no doubt is the target of multiple yaoi doujinshi. We also have a princess in this show, who reminds me of her counterpart in Aldnoah Zero; she does a lot of grunt work on the front lines but never seems to be taken seriously by the politicians. Her selflessness is admirable though, combined with her personality, makes her feel reserved and distant. Honestly, Lailah and Rose are really the only redeeming feature in terms of personality for this show, and even they are rather static characters.

There is a huge secondary cast with numerous names, allegiances, and abilities to keep track of. What really got me confused was how so many of the characters seemed to already know each other (protagonist not included). Really, many of the characters were just barebones, just enough to further the plot. Honestly, this is not the strongest section for this show.

Value:
This is a rich world full of creatures, abilities, and yet to be solved mysteries. It is a bleak world, but one that has one hope, and that is our protagonist Sorey; how he has not amassed a harem of followers yet I do not know. Zestiria's story is deep and involved, and full of elements still to be explained. It's an interesting, and engaging watch, though unfortunately the characters aren't as deep as I had hoped. Nevertheless, with ufotable's production and a huge cast of VA veterans on board, this is still a show you shouldn't miss.