tales of vesperia : the first strike ( japanese : テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア 〜 the first strike 〜 hepburn : teiruzu obu vesuperia ~ the first strike ~ ) is a 2009 japanese animated film by production i.g .

it is directed by kanta kamei and written by reiko yoshida , featuring the voice talents of kōsuke toriumi , mamoru miyano , mai nakahara , rika morinaga , and eiji takemoto .

the film is the prequel to the namco tales studio 's role-playing game tales of vesperia and the first animated feature film in the tales series .

tales of vesperia : the first strike revolves around the two knights , yuri lowell and flynn scifo , from the niren corps as they protect a town from monsters with their allies .

the project was led by kenta kamei who previously worked on the animated cutscenes from the tales games .

he expressed pressure due to first strike being his debut as a director and also elaborated on how difficult was creating the storyboard .

yoshida was given the role of screenwriter in order to appeal to the female fanbase the series has always had .

it was released in japan on october 3 , 2009 , as a result of delays in production .

kadokawa pictures distributed the film .

it was released in north america on june 26 , 2012 , by funimation entertainment and in the united kingdom on december 3 , 2012 , on dvd and blu-ray by u.k. anime industry .

the film grossed a total of us$ 941,610 in japan .

its home media release had positive sales in japan , with the blu-ray being one of the bestselling from the year it was released .

critical reception of the film has been generally positive for its accessibility to the non-gamers of tales of vesperia as well as the appeal of the main cast and the production value .

nevertheless , it has also attracted criticism for its slow pace .

tales of vesperia : the first strike

tales of vesperia : the first strike <EOT> tales of vesperia - first strike - on bd / dvd combo 6 . 26 . 12 - clip 1

tales of vesperia : the first strike - movie available on bd / dvd combo 6 . 26 . 12 - clip 3

urltoken " tales of vesperia : the first strike , the movie prequel to the xbox 360 / ps3 game ' tales of vesperia ' , will be released on june 26 , 2012 in the us . "

won ' t be the only country enjoying the tov movie . expect an english version of tales of vesperia ~ the first strike ~ movie , the prequel to the main game tales of vesperia , to be released next year courtesy of funimation .

market - based title : the 2018 updated rerelease for current platforms is known as tales of vesperia remaster in japan and tales of vesperia : definite edition internationally .

tales of vesperia film , new jinki manga titled . dated ( apr 7 , 2009 )

there is also a prequel movie — tales of vesperia : the first strike — which focuses on the brief period of time that both yuri and flynn were members of the same imperial knights brigade , the nylen corps .

tales of vesperia : the first strike ( bd + dvd ) studio : production i . g licensed by : funimation release date : june 26 , 2012 msrp : $ 26 . 24

however , while outright adaptations are rife , prequels and sequels to games are actually quite rare , and it ' s here where tales of vesperia ~ the first strike ~ separates itself from the horde .

what is it ? first things first what is tales of vesperia : the first strike . well simply put its the prequel to the xbox 360 game tales of vesperia from the long running tales of franchise however more specifically its actually the prequel to the japanese exclusive ps3 version of the game which featured heavy tie ins with various members o the cast . that being said missing out on the ps3 version doesn’t actually influence ones enjoyment of the movie what so ever as much of the tie in content is secondary to the story anyways .

tales of vesperia : the first strike is the official name for the anime adaptation of tales of vesperia , which was released as an animated feature film in japan in autumn 2009 . it is the same season in which the playstation 3 port was released . the movie is a prequel to the game , depicting yuri ' s time as an imperial knight .

tales of vesperia : the first strike will be released on june 26 , 2012 . it ' s currently up for pre - order at the right stuf for $ 20 , though the retail price is around $ 35 .

we reported last year that funimation will be releasing the english version of tales of vesperia : the first strike sometime this year in the form of a dvd / blu - ray combo release . the official release date for it has finally been confirmed today .

the other darrin : the dub of the first strike keeps the actors for the main duo but replaces the ones for everyone else that appears in the game .

there is also a prequel movie - - tales of vesperia : the first strike - - which focuses on the brief period of time that both yuri and flynn were members of the same imperial knights brigade , the nylen corps . this has recently been licensed by funimation .

two of the fell arms , abyssion and nebilim , are named after the equivalent bonus bosses in tales of symphonia and tales of the abyss , respectively .

: brave vesperia refers to the legend of the cataclysm and of how it was defeated .

estelle christens the newborn guild of yuri , karol , and judith brave vesperia , one of the few times the tales series has pulled this trope .

it goes without saying then that i was excited to catch the animated prequel tales of vesperia : the first strike . i wasn ' t expecting much beyond some tov fanservice , but what i ended up finding was a fantastic edition to the vesperia lore and a great stand alone film in its own right .

title drop : unique among the tales series games , their guild name lets the title " vesperia " be dropped repeatedly .

true blue femininity : in her introduction in the game , as well as in the first strike , she ' s wearing blue .

shock and awe : havoc thunder spikes the ground with a ligthning enhanced strike .

pick this one up if you ' re a serious tales of vesperia fan or you just a dig a good fantasy romp .

content : ( please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers ) based off one of the games in the long running “tales” videogame franchise , tales of vesperia : the first strike is an animated feature that is set in the time before the vesperia game and which serves as a prologue to many of the characters who feature prominently in that game as it examines the life yuri lowell lead and his connection to flynn before the events depicted in the video game .

perhaps the most surprising thing about the first strike is how accessible it is to viewers who have never played tales of vesperia . both yuri and flynn receive full arcs of development that get them to where they need to be by the start of the game . the film doesn ' t assume you know who either of these two men are and does an impressive job of defining their relationship and opposing views of the imperial guard . estelle , rita and raven from tales of vesperia all make brief cameos but they ' re not intrusive , serving as painless fanservice for veterans of the game . the end credits are also a neat bit of fanservice that actually made me want to go back to my ps3 copy of tales of vesperia . the first strike tells a simple but effective story , only really stumbling in its climactic battle which feels somewhat like an afterthought .

: teaches himself how to do a fatal strike after seeing clint do it .

screw my life . i thought this was a , " tales of vesperia comes to ps3 in america " article . i almost had a heart attack of epic proportions . tales of graces f is amazing ; we need xillia !

the original tales of vesperia , released in 2008 on the xbox 360 , was something of a break through for the current generation . in many ways one of the first big jrpgs to hit an hd console , vesperia got a lot of things correct . despite being the first hd tales game , it has yet to be visually surpassed within its own series . the main character , yuri , was also something of a revelation . at 21 , he was one of the older tales main characters and far more mature than most jrpg fans are probably used to .

tales of vesperia : the first strike is a great looking film . kousuke fujima ' s character designs shine through on the big screen , with the background art also providing plenty of eye candy . there are brief moments where the animation quality falters , but on the whole this is a consistently beautiful movie and not some rushed effort .

the issue with first strike is just how irrelevant and pointless it really feels , those of you reading this who ' ve not played the game should know that the events of first strike are never even remotely alluded to in the game , at all - those of you who have played it should already know that , hence my frustration . if there was even some mention of the events that happened in first strike at any point in the game , i would have understood why it is that it was made and why the events happened the way they did , but it isn ' t , and first strike doesn ' t just come across as one , but really does feel like a lame cash grab for namco bandai to cash in on the success of vesperia .

notably rita ' s indignation ; you unlock it by basically reenacting the opening of tales of phantasia .

take over the world : his ultimate goal—the guilds first , then the empire .

spiritual successor : obviously it is the literal successor to all previous tales series games , but more specifically it is the third ' team symphonia ' game , developed by the same staff and in much the same style as tales of symphonia and tales of the abyss .

i found tales of vesperia rather dull . didn ' t help it that i haven ' t played the games and didn ' t really care for any of the characters by the end .

tales of the rays jp : producer ' s note vol . 16 ( july 2018 )

from the first strike we learn that he had to kill repede ' s dad in self - defense due to a case of demonic possession . he , of course , takes care of repede from then on

tales of vesperia is the first hd game of the tales ( series ) . it was first released in 2008 as an " exclusive " for the xbox 360 , which led to the system selling out . . . in japan . seriously . in april 2011 , to address the extremely rare amount of physical copies of the game in circulation , it was released on the xbox live marketplace as a game on demand for only $ 20 . 00 .

it ' s the same , now it sucks : a frequent criticism tossed at vesperia was how it ' s too similar to previous tales series entries , particularly borrowing quite a number of elements from the last mothership game released in america , tales of the abyss .

also , dhaos , the the time traveling big bad from tales of phantasia , makes a cameo .

tales of vesperia : definitive edition revealed for xbox one , coming this winter siliconera ( 2018 - 06 - 10 ) retrieved on 2018 - 06 - 10 .

take up my sword : yuri ' s bodhi blastia , flynn ' s sense of morality , and repede ' s pipe are all inherited from captain nylen from the first strike .

take up my sword - yuri ' s bodhi blastia , flynn ' s sense of morality , and repede ' s pipe are all inherited from captain nylen from the first strike .

. it is the first game in the series to support high - definition .

the heavy : in the first act , as he works primarily for ragou .

as a tales of fan , i knew exactly what to expect watching this movie , and i got what i was expecting . since tales of vesperia is one of favorite games , i was quite excited , and my expectations were ultimately met , with only a bit of expected disappointment . fans of tov will be happy to learn more of the back story of yuri , flynn , and repede , while newcomers will be amazed by the greatness of the tales of series .

if you enjoyed the tales of vesperia videogame , you will like this movie . it is a prequel to the game , and shows some of what happened in yuri and flynn ' s lives prior to the start of the game .

he gives up his sword to form vesperia no . 2 to defeat the adephagos .

tales of vesperia : the first strike takes place a few years after the end of the great war before the events in tales of vesperia . the previous emperor had just died and his position remains vacant with no heir appointed before his death , however the world seemingly remains in a state of peace . utilizing the power of a powerful substance known as aer the people of the planet terca lumireis are in an age of discovery and prosperity . the crystallized form of aer which is known as apatheia , is considered to be a very powerful energy source as it is essential to human life . in order to protect towns from attacks by monsters large amounts of apatheia are being produced to create barriers around towns .

" new tales of vesperia movie scans - info on new characters " / abyssal chronicles / ( 2009 - 07 - 09 ) retrieved on 2009 - 08 - 25 .

" [ first operations - tales o . . . " the youtube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third - party notifications of copyright infringement .

the twin knight sisters in the first strike , hisca and chastel , are this way as well in terms of personalities , although they ' re physically identical . . . aside from chastel being much larger .

series . the film was officially announced on february 9 , 2009 . the film is the first

" funimation picks up north american rights to vesperia movie " / tales union / ( 2011 - 04 - 02 ) retrieved on 2011 - 07 - 23 .

and only come back together when he returns . considering he ' s the first

all in all , tales of vesperia : the first strike , is a great movie , with amazing battle scenes , art , and music . although the plot is a bit cliche , you will forgive that factor , as the good points will be overwhelming . and honestly , i recommend that you should watch this before playing the game , as it guarantees that you will not be disappointed .

i bought this because i love , love , love , the tales of vesperia video game . there are parts of this film that don ' t really jive with what happened in the video game . however , that didn ' t bother me so much as the combination of good voice actors being replaced by less good voice actors , and complete lack of plot . that said , i ' d totally buy a tales of vesperia 2 video game .

crappy old ass wii game ? rofl the game is newer than your blurry sub hd vesperia . you ' re just hung up on the wii origins part . vesperia is a chore beyond the 50 % mark , and it ' s challenge is mostly chain comboing with yuri given how easy the game is . i ' ll go further than the post above and say that vesperia is a tales of the abyss for the noobs . anyway graces ps3 version added ton of contents as usual with namco and their tales ports ( juste like vesperia ) , so it ' s price tag is justified enough .

animation wise , first strike is handled by production i . g , who also did the anime cut - scenes for the game , which means that the standard that is used in the game itself is used here .

one point i should mention about the music is the surprising , and pleasing , choice of theme song . like the original game , the tales of vesperia movie has " ring a bell " by bonnie pink as the title track , a fact which may please fans of the game .

daddy issues : in the first strike the death of his father , as well as feeling like he died a useless death , weighs heavily on flynn . by the end of the movie , he realizes otherwise and instead takes inspiration from his father from then on .

the big guy : judith ; graduated from being the sixth ranger when she first joins the party , to being the muscle of the guild .

alternate character reading : " vesperia " is written as " tomorrow star " in kanji .

gauche : ( calmly ) " brave vesperia . . . yeager ' s killers . "

alternate character reading - " vesperia " is written as " tomorrow star " in kanji .

despite the fact that it was released later on the playstation 3 in japan , tales of vesperia is the only installment of the series released exclusively on the xbox 360 in north america and europe , and it is the only game in the series to be released on a microsoft console .

he backs away from estelle in aversion—innocuous at first , but foreboding in hindsight .

inspector javert : very determined to pursue yuri for a good chunk of the first act , which he lampshades .

bandai namco stated the cg scenes will set records for the tales series , using more cell - shaded characters , appearing less rough like in tales of the abyss and more anime - like . additionally , the main theme , " ring a bell " , will be sung by bonnie pink in both japan and north america . for the second time in the main games of the series , the skits are fully voiced in north america ; tales of legendia was the first to offer this feature .

: he ' s mentioned a few times and makes brief appearances during the first arc .

walking spoiler : pretty much everything about him beyond his minor role in the first act .

big damn heroes : shows up at the end of the first arc to disable barbos ' s special blastia powered weapon .

the “tales” series has spawned an impressive number of games and not a few anime adaptations , of which this is the third to get an english language release . unlike the previous tales animations , however , tales of vesperia ' s anime is not an adaptation , but rather a prequel to the video game . if you ' ve played the game , you will doubtless appreciate this more on an immediate level , but those unfamiliar with it can still find plenty to enjoy .

tales of vesperia : the first strike introduces a number of new characters who were not originally shown in the original game , as well as returning ones . the film introduces the main protagonist , yuri lowell , as an imperial knight ; as well as a younger version of flynn scifo , yuri ' s childhood friend and imperial knight . many other characters from the original game will also be returning such as repede when he was a puppy , rita mordio , estelle , raven and imperial commandant alexei .

in the end if i seem harsh on the film its because tales of vesperia is just so good and the first strike unfortunately doesn’t reach its highs for a variety of reason i have set out and that is kinda disappointing to a fan such as myself . however that does not mean its not enjoyable its actually a good action adventure story that just happens to work into a games story . also as a companion to the game the film works very well with numerous winks and hat tips to the source that many fans would enjoy but doesn’t actually take away from the enjoyment of the crowd if one is not in on the joke , what i’m getting at is the film isn’t like a pair of obnoxious friends who save all the fun for themselves with their in jokes . the film can be enjoyed by anyone due to its inviting atmosphere but without any doubt it’ll be best enjoyed by fans of the game . in short if you wish to watch tales of vesperia : the last strike play tales of vesperia first it’ll really enhance you understanding and enjoyment of the film and hey its an amazing game but don’t feel limited by that either if you really want to check out the film there are worse ways to spend a couple hours of your time certainly . as always thanks for reading and sound off in the comments .

@ bandainamcoeu . " tales of vesperia definitive edition is coming to ps4 , xb1 , pc and switch this year ! including the content of the ps3 version for the first time in europe , embark on an amazing adventure with yuri featuring both jp and en voice overs ! # talesofvesperia " twitter , 10 jun 2018 , 4 : 00 pm .

at the end of the first act , he is soundly defeated by yuri and company . he dies after throwing himself from off the top of ghasfarost tower .

was released in europe making it the second console game in the tales series to be released there . the game ' s

moving away from the pure art direction . the technical merits of the film are evident in the battles scenes . as each scenes conveys its unique circumstances and threats quite well in superbly animated and fluid battles that are truly a feast for the eyes . unlike many anime where the quality dips and takes one out of the moment this does not happen in the first strike and is all the better for it . in short from an anime fans perspective the first strike is a vibrant and gorgeous display of technical achievement that is very easy to be admired even as the film grows longer in the tooth by the day .

back story : unusually for a tales game , he stands out as being the only vesperia party member to get a fully fleshed out backstory . a large chunk of it is only all there in the manual through bonus materials though .

imo they shouldve localized vesperia , xillia instead of graces f . atleast namco is localizing ninokuni and hopefully one piece aswell .

the pirate aifreed is a recurring element in the tales series games , either as an non - player character or a person of legend . as patty is aifreed , this makes it the first time an aifreed is a player character .

like the other tales games , the player can invoke this by putting silly costumes and visible accessories on characters , destroying the seriousness of some scenes .

though tales of vesperia is the first main game to have online content , it does not do too much with the capabilities . it features only worldwide rankings on minigames , hit count , and completion time . additionally , useful rare items can be bought , though nothing that can not be acquired in the game is available for download .

yeah man , vesperia is one of the best games in the tales series but we get the crap one for ps3 . a crappy old ass wii game for 60 bucks . seriously , is a miracle that bandai hasn ' t gone bankrupt yet .

which she proves later when she leads a big damn heroes after brave vesperia is incapacitated by the big bad .

knight of cerebus : vesperia is an inversion for the entire series . from this point on , the games stopped focusing on serious issues like cloning blues , fantastic racism and free will and instead focusing on more traditional jrpg themes of green aesops and the power of friendship . ironically , the vigilante killings give vesperia some of the series ' darker moments .

when he rescues the rest of the party in the blade drifts of zophier .

also , i ' ve had tales of vesperia for a while and have only seen the cover and i was positive that yuri was a girl . i swear when yuri spoke in that really deep manly voice i was like wat .

i ' ll cover the second point later on , but first and foremost , my first point : first strike is supposed to be a prequel to the game , right ? now , a prequel , in most cases anyway , is supposed to be used to set up events for whatever comes next in the series - first strike doesn ' t do that at all . when i went to watch this movie , i thought i would have a better understanding of yuri ' s deep - seated hatred for the knights , why it is that he chose to leave them , why flynn decided to stay and why it is he believes that he could change the knights by using the system , i got none of that whatsoever .

on the whole , tales of vesperia ~ the first strike ~ is one of those movies that you can ' t fully appreciate unless you know the full story , and that ' s its biggest flaw . people don ' t really want to be burdened with having to complete a game that they may not even be interested in just to find out what happens next , which plays a major part in whether one can enjoy this movie or not . the more rlaxed viewer may not be overly concerned with the lack of a true ending , and the movie does have a good degree of entertainment value in its own right , but in all honesty , this is one for fans of the game and the tales franchise .

: when they form the guild " brave vesperia " estelle later explains to yuri the origin of the name : the story of how a sister and brother who fought and defeated a great cataclysm .

breather boss : the first yeager boss battle . he doesn ' t even have a secret mission !

one of the entelexeia , several of which you have killed by this point of the game .

the dev team thinks of everything : similar to tales of the abyss , the final boss has a conversation with the party leader . and yes , this even happens if repede is the party leader .

early - bird cameo : there is a series of optional scenes featuring him . the first couple of these are triggered before he is formally introduced to the player .

the lancer : qualifies for this trope in terms of the story due to his personality differences with yuri and the fact that he ' s always either the first the one to back him up , or the first one to disagree with him . combat - wise , he ' s more of the big guy .

friendly fandoms : a lot of fans of this game are also fans of the blaz blue series since the first installment came out internationally not too long after this game ' s international release .

hold the line : the safest option to take in the first round of the fight against the baitojoh . attacking it can potentially end the fight faster , but offers no additional reward .

hold the line - the safest option to take in the first round of the fight against the baitojoh . attacking it can potentially end the fight faster , but offers no additional reward .

marshmallow hell : a light example in first strike where chastel accidentally ( but persistently ) pulls flynn ' s face into her assets as she ' s trying to heal him . chastel doesn ' t notice , but flynn does .

friend to all children : downplayed but yuri is actually rather good with kids , from the likes of ted to karol and even patty . this is probably because he doesn ' t talk down to them . first strike shows him rescuing and befriending a little girl .

the castle ' s background music is more tense and dramatic than the situation and its status as the first dungeon calls for .

inspector javert : to the party in the first act . downplayed as he lets them get away with more than the usual .

graces is anything but crappy . . you ' re not a tales of fan . . . as graces f is the pinacle of team destiny design . . .

she spends the first half of the second part hiding her conflict between keeping her life ' s mission a secret and her newfound friendship to the party .

dishing out dirt : both his first arte and his first mystic arte have a definitive " earth " theme to them . much like presea , another team symphonia under - age mighty glacier .

fanon discontinuity : many fans claim this towards the first strike movie due to its arguably odd approaches to characterization and its many inconsistencies with the game . one of many examples regards rita being knowledgeable about aer krenes , when in the game , she never knew what one was until the visit to keiv moc .

well , in the voice tracks of tales of magic carta , yuri states that he can ` t see its shape clearly given the fact that he ` s right under it .

" [ blastia - tales of vesperi . . . " the youtube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third - party notifications of copyright infringement .

the adephagos pushes him over the edge , however . he then saves the day , like shizel did in tales of eternia , but unlike shizel , he survived the final batttle .

cutscene power to the max : remember gattuso , the infuriatingly difficult boss of ehmead hill ? clint ' s first appearance has him one shot it .

lost technology : vesperia is a deconstruction of this trope : blastia are widespread , well researched and the solution to the party ' s problems is not using them .

lost technology - vesperia is a deconstruction of this trope : blastia are widespread , well researched and the solution to the party ' s problems is not using them .

sadly , when the camera pulls away from the characters , the quality seems to drop - there was one moment in particular that the characters just completely lost their faces even though there was dialogue going on , but aside from this , first strike does what it needs to do in the animation department .

thankfully it ends up being subverted , as yuri is at least willing to hear her reasoning first .

four over limit gauges can be stocked , which can be used on one character or shared with the party . each over limit level stacks the bonuses of the previous ones . four additional over limit gauges were added for the enhanced playstation 3 port of tales of vesperia . although the over limit gauge can go up to eight , the same character can only use four at once :

i don ' t see what the big deal is . that was clearly the king of town making a surprise cameo . he ' s there to cross promote the new game tales of strong badia .

tales of vesperia was ported to the playstation 3 and released on september 17 , 2009 . the playstation 3 version of the game features full - voice acting , which is nearly double the size of the script in the original xbox 360 version . the game also features various new characters such as flynn as a fully customizable , permanent playable character , and patty fleur , a young girl with blond hair , who is an entirely new playable character . the game also features several unplayable characters from tales of vesperia : the first strike , which the game ties - in with . in addition , repede , flynn , and patty become selectable as on - screen avatars with new mini - games such as a racing mini - game for repede , new subplots , skits , and main game quests , and sidequests . the game also has new songs added to the game ' s soundtrack together with remodeled towns and new towns and dungeons . the game also includes new bosses such as the sword dancer from previous tales games , don whitehorse , and clint of the hunting blades . players are also able to replay boss fights at nam cobanda isle .

- rare for a tales game , vesperia doesn ' t focus much on any romance , barring a line of dialogue here or there that hints one character may like another . despite the two main characters being male and female , they don ' t very much resemble an

but it didn ' t , and i am left feeling really angry and annoyed at how irrelevant it is to the entire story of vesperia as a whole .

a pirate named aifreed appears in most tales games as some notable historical figure , or rarely an npc . as patty ' s true identity is aifreed , it marks the first and only time an aifreed is a playable character .

also notable as a call back joke to lloyd ' s wanted posters in tales of symphonia , which themselves are referenced in the denebola inn in halure .

also when he first learns his mystic arte — he gets it in a sidequest where he trains using the sword of his hero . the sidequest comes shortly after

ragtag band of misfits : and how . may be the most prominent example in tales history . each of the party members came from such different backgrounds that none of them knew each other prior to the beginning of the story ( unless you count repede and / or flynn ) .

( ac ) is fan - run website for the tales of series . this site is online for entertainment and informative purposes only and is not directly associated with the game company . the tales of series belongs to bandai namco games , incorporated . best viewed on chrome or firefox . the site is also optimized for tablet and mobile viewing .

in summary : tales of vesperia : the first strike is a fantastically animated feature that may also be one of the best adaptations of an rpg world that has been created in a different medium . the production team takes care to explain the mechanics of the world in a way that it adds a dimension to the characters that dwell there while not losing site that the world is merely the background for both where and how events happen . to fully utilize this world , the producers create some fabulous characters , particularly in the case of a pair of characters who are opposites in most ways , which allows for an exploration of different motivations which leads to a deeper understanding of the characters as well as an appreciation for the different philosophies that can spring from a single event . that the film then balances all of this with a superb pacing helps to create a rather stunning work in the final measure that doesn’t have to hide in the shadow of its game franchise and which tells a compelling story of its own .

smug snake : he seems like one at first , but we soon learn he ' s much worse .

: has turned down rewards for several of brave vesperia ' s jobs , much to the rest of the guild ' s economic despair . also doesn ' t mind when people attribute his heroics to flynn ,

a more subtle comes in the form of how much stronger monsters and particularly bosses are compared to other tales series games are like . in universe , the survival of humans depends on the barriers to keep out the monsters within the world .

those two guys : adeccor and boccos . the first moment you see them , you immediately know their only purpose in the game .

the european namco bandai twitter back in 2015 told fans they were listening to them about localizing more games . in response , people suggested vesperia , to which they stated " yeah not that one " . when the hd remaster was announced , the tales of twitter responded to the original tweet with the response , quickly becoming a meme .

tales of vesperia , the game that is , happens to be a very special game to me - sure , its story isn ' t its highest selling point and the game really drags towards the end , but overall , i had a blast experiencing the world of terca lumiries - especially the characters , vesperia has one of my favourite video game casts ever , particularly rita mordio - who i have a great adoration for , being my favourite female character in any form of media to date . however , until necessary , i won ' t let

with all this in mind , i should have loved the tales of vesperia movie , if not loved at least thought it was pretty good , but i didn ' t and there is a very good reason for that - wait , scratch that , two very good reasons . the first being that , this movie is really pointless . the second is that they completely undermined everything that makes yuri lowell the character that he is .

yeah it was a good movie . i wish they would bring it over to ps3 even if its just subs i wouldnt mind . the movie made me want the game more . then again most tales series , ovas , or movies are pretty damn good . i like tales of symphonia the most .

up to pushing him out of a trap that got the rest of the party .

karol finally comes to a decision and gives a speech in that regard . it ' s one of his first real big steps forward in

a good example comes early on during the first visit to deidon hold : when the lord of the plains and a hoard of monsters attack , who is the first one to jump in to help people ? it ' s not estelle , it ' s yuri . he even goes back for a little girl ' s doll .

tales of vesperia : the first strike takes place before the events of the xbox 360 game , detailing yuri ' s time spent in the imperial guard . young and sporting a devil may care attitude , yuri often disobeys orders in favor of following his heart . this greatly frustrated his childhood friend and roommate flynn , who is a stickler for the rules . deployed to a small town called shizontania , the two men join a squad led by niren fedrok . jovial and well loved by the people he fights to protect , niren is a commanding officer who values the people directly in front of him rather than the orders of those above . one day , the forests surrounding the town begin to whither and monsters have been seen approaching the city more and more often . with the situation growing increasingly more dangerous and no support from the empire , it ' s up to yuri , flynn and the rest of the niren corps to protect the people of shizontania .

hermes , the inventor of the aer - guzzling blastia of the same name , was a krityan .

a particularly memorable callback , especially to tales of eternia and tales of phantasia , in the ps3 version : rita unlocks her second mystic arte ( indignation ) by re - enacting the opening to tales of phantasia in the 200 - man melee against dhaos . if she gets dhaos to under half his hp and casts thunder blade in overlimit 4 or higher , she ' ll cast indignation instead . dhaos will utter " sonna . . . sonna bakana ! ! " , and the spell will instantly kill him .

i actually expect funimation to have dubs for the movie , unlike what bandai entertainment did with the tales of the abyss anime ( subs only ) . let ' s just hope they manage to get the same voice actors in the game for some of the characters .

ship tease : rare for a tales game , vesperia doesn ' t focus much on any romance , barring a line of dialogue here or there that hints one character may like another . despite the two main characters being male and female , they don ' t very much resemble an official couple .

this animated movie is a prequel to the tales of vesperia video game . having played the game , i knew this going into the film . as such , i expected it to be a short film with decent animation , several cameos of characters from the game , and a passable story that relies on knowledge of the video game ' s plot and world to know what ' s going on . what i got was a much better film than i would have guessed ! instead of mildly entertaining film that relies on nostalgia , tales of vesperia : first strike is an excellent movie that stands strongly on it ' s own merits ! the film is well animated and full of excellent action scenes . the story is fluid , thought out , and character driven . the characters are well realized , well acted , and instantly lovable . careful consideration for the audience is given for this film : you don ' t need to have played the game to understand what ' s going on in the film , but those who have played the game will find a lot to enjoy ! every thing about this film is solid ! highly recommended !

blood knight : flynn tries to keep a lid on it ( such behavior is unbecoming of a knight , after all ) , but he enjoys a good fight just as much as yuri . best shown in the first strike when yuri instigates a bar fight . annoyed , he tries to stay out of it until one of the brawlers punches him in the face . a second later he returns the favor then charges into the fray himself .

twin red heads hisca and chastel are also introduced into the canon but aren ' t utilized as much as i would have liked . some of my favorite scenes in the film centered around their banter with the two male leads and i ' m sad there wasn ' t more of it . these two characters are never mentioned in the original tales of vesperia , but they both make appearances in the updated ps3 version .

the radiant winged one ' s second mystic arte , brave vesperia , combines parts of all the party ' s mystic artes into something that can cause a total party wipe instead of just hp to one like big bang .

: they take it personally when brave vesperia kills yeager . gauche calls them out for it , just before their boss battle begins :

brave vesperia receives the blessing of the world ' s leaders to carry out their plan . however , duke pantarei , a veteran of the great war who has lost his faith in humanity , has revived an ancient weapon called tarqaron with the intention of sacrificing the lives of every human in the world in order to power the weapon and destroy the adephagos . brave vesperia confronts him at the peak of tarqaron , but neither can stand down due to their shared desire to save the world in their own ways . duke and brave vesperia fight to resolve their conflict of beliefs , and yuri manages to convince duke that humanity is willing to give up their blastia to save the world . with the aid of duke and power of every blastia core summon spirit in the world , yuri forms a giant sword that allows him to cleave the adephagos in two , converting it into hundreds of thousands of spirits itself , revitalizing the world .

in this prequel to the tales of vesperia xbox 360 game , flynn and yuri are young knights under the command of niren fedrock in a remote outpost town . something strange is happening in the surrounding countryside that is endangering the people niren ' s squadron is charged to protect , a bizarre mutation of the power known as “aer . ” as niren works to figure out what is going on , flynn and yuri must come to terms with their pasts and their reasons for becoming knights in the first place , as well as what it is they want for the future .

deconstructor fleet : vesperia takes aim at protagonist - centered morality . what gives a hero the right to completely and utterly change the world based on their own individual view of morality , completely discarding the opinions of the millions that also live in their world ?

the pop quiz in nam cobanda tests your knowledge of the tales series . in a nice touch , the american and european releases removed questions on games that had not been released in their respective regions .

flynn shoves yuri out of the way of a laser beam fired by alexei .

at the beginning of the two halves of the fight . it ' s taken directly from the japanese version , where he pronounces the words

first , if you collected all the fell arms it will unlock their true power . second , duke uses it to give the very last drop of energy they need to take down the adephagos .

thankfully first time director kamei kanta and writer yoshida reiko have kept things simple and direct , and because of this tales of vesperia actually manages to become interesting to a degree , enough to at least enjoy the movie and maybe consider buying the game ( more on this in a bit ) . the one thing that most surprised me though , is how very different the feel and tone is from the game , and while both have lighter and darker moments throughout their respective stories , there is a certain brevity inherent in the movie that the game lacks , partly due to the rpg nature of the latter , and partly because of the need to wrap the story up within 110 minutes .

capital city - zaphias , capital of the empire , and dahngrest , capital of the union .

improbable aiming skills : downplayed , but when he first joins the party in keiv moc , raven shows off some pretty impressive archery skills .

animated films and tv series based off of video game properties rarely do a good job of representing their source material . either the production focuses too hard on the fanservice or it tells a story too unrelated for fans to identify with the characters and universe . the first strike hits the sweet spot in that it dives into the past of two of the most beloved characters from the game , telling a smaller , more personal tale . in doing so , director kanta kamei and his crew have created a film that fans and non - fans alike can enjoy .

a few new characters are introduced into the lore as well but aren ' t quite as fleshed out as the two leads . niren fedrok is the most important of the bunch , directly effecting the growth of both yuri and flynn . it ' s his leadership and belief in the people that drive yuri to eventually become the man he is in tales of vesperia . similarly , niren plants the seeds in flynn that help him find a balance between obeying orders and following one ' s own heart .

it later received an updated rerelease for the playstation 3 , which in turn led to an extreme amount of outrage from people who had bought an xbox 360 specifically for vesperia . debate rages on whether or not namco bandai released a deliberately unfinished game ( or dummied out parts ) with the intention of releasing the " complete " version for the playstation 3 , where it was expected to make the majority of sales . a fan translation of the playstation 3 version is also in progress here , by the same team behind the ill - fated tales of graces fan translation .


tsuchi ( 土 ) , or earth , is a 1939 film directed by tomu uchida .

it won the 1940 kinema junpo award for best film .

a seriously compromised print of earth was discovered in germany in 1968 .

it suffers from nitrate damage and includes german subtitles .

it is missing its first and last reel .

the original film was 142 minutes long ; this version runs 93 minutes .

a 119-minute version of the film , with subtitles in russian , was discovered in russia around the turn of the millennium .

it too is missing the last reel .

tsuchi ( film )

tsuchi ( film ) <EOT> tsuchi ( earth ) . 1939 . japan . directed by tomu uchida . courtesy national film center , tokyo

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future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .

notebook is a daily , international film publication . our mission is to guide film lovers searching , lost or adrift in an overwhelming sea of content . we offer text , images , sounds and video as critical maps , passways and illuminations to the worlds of contemporary and classic film . notebook is a mubi publication .

filmmaker , archivist , lgbt film historian and online pioneer jenni olson offers recommendations for excellent examples of landscape cinema .

tsuchi ( earth ) . 1939 . japan . directed by tomu uchida . screenplay by yasutaro yagi , tsutomu kitamura . with isamu kosugi , akiko kazami , kaichi yamamoto . in japanese ; english subtitles . 115 min .

uchida’s most famous prewar film and a masterpiece of realism , earth is an epic portrait of the lives of peasant farmers in northern japan’s tohoku region , filmed secretly over the course of a year against the nikkatsu film studio’s wishes . ( legend has it the studio never officially approved the project until its completion . ) the film juxtaposes the story of one peasant’s hardships with documentary - like shots of farmers toiling in the rice fields . for many years this early sound film survived only in a cut - and - battered german print . this version , still incomplete but considerably longer , is a 2006 restoration incorporating elements from a print discovered in moscow’s gosfilmofond archive in 1999 .

uchida designed a fugitive from the past with virtuosic , geographical symmetry : the original title is in fact straits of hunger . this is where the film begins and comes to an abrupt end , leaving essential aspects of the resolution unspoken . various stylistic experiments , including the use of negative images and an emphasis on shamanistic elements , intensify the impression of the work ' s supernatural force , while in the center of the film , a concrete , historical void is left wide open : ten years go by between inaki ' s escape in 1947 and the resuming of the action in tokyo . on top of the film ' s implicit subject of japan ' s immediate post - war history , there lies an explicit subject—inaki ' s struggle for survival , concrete and spiritual , and above all : at any price . the film ' s entire critical / historical dimension only develops through the combination of both levels .

film history is full of holes , but some are filled in more reluctantly than others . consider , for example , the strange case of tomu uchida ( 1898 - 1970 ) . in his home country japan , he is considered a canonized master . in the west , he was mostly a name without any practical meaning , at least until a ( still slimmed - down ) touring series in the wake of tokyo filmex’s 2004 13 - film - retrospective made the rounds for a few years , e . g . to international film festival rotterdam in 2005 and new york’s bamcinématek in 2008 , allowing for the first time the appreciation of a sizable selection from uchida’s rich and diverse body of work , with emphasis on his fascinating post - war period .

originally written in 2005 for the german newspaper taz on the occasion of the touring retrospective . the final sentence now strikes me as a bit too optimistic—possibly uchida’s major films would have to be released in digital home formats to gain more traction in today’s culture , and this still hasn’t happened . their full aesthetic splendor needs to be experienced on film prints , anyway . at least for some lucky few , there are second chances : moma will present an uchida retrospective in october / november 2016 .

this original compositional form can be understood as the key to uchida ' s work : gaps and breaks are for him not only essential , aesthetic tools , they have a biographical correlation as well . in the middle of his filmography there is a nearly one and a half decade gap : after the outbreak of the war in the 1940s , uchida went to occupied manchuria , likely because he hoped for better working conditions far from the war - incited rationing at home . only repatriated in 1953 , he directed his first post - war film two years later . we learn in his autobiography ( and not only there ) almost nothing about the time in between .

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go behind the scenes of the mission : impossible movies , check out the latest videos and trailers , and see which spy movies topped the box office in our mission : impossible guide .

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during world war ii , a japanese soldier finds himself assigned to a kamikaze mission against a u . s . battleship .

a prosecutor , policemen and teacher bring the students vuica and nicu to a restaurant to re - enact their drunken brawl there , and have it filmed to show the effects of alcoholism .

detectives investigate the murder of an old man found in a tokyo rail yard .

a five - person team of gold prospectors in the yukon has just begun to enjoy great success when one of the members snaps , and suddenly kills two of the others . the two survivors , a husband . . . see full summary »

a samurai travels to edo with his two servants . on their way , they meet many people and encounter great injustice .

three thieves escape from a heist , one of them killing the other two . he is sheltered by a prostitute and sought after by the police , but only after ten years his true motivation unravels .

an evil millionaire named artigas plans to use a super - explosive device to conquer the world from his headquarters inside an enormous volcano .

the print found in east germany in 1968 was missing its first and last reels . another print found at gosfilmfond ussr in 2001 , has a first reel .

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enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with prime video .

teruo is an adopted son of an old samurai family that returns to japan after living in germany and is expected to marry mitsuko . but he ' s struggling to readjust to japan and intends to marry an aryan woman .

lakeith stanfield and his sorry to bother you crew reveal their most soul - crushing jobs in our freewheeling interview .

after his gang disbands , a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him .

feeling the position to be beneath him , a college graduate turns down a receptionist job , but soon finds it necessary to fool his mother and fiancé into thinking that he is employed .

a small - time hood wants to go straight for a good girl but finds that starting over isn ' t as simple as it sounds .

unemployed kihachi and his two sons struggle to make ends meet . but that doesn ' t keep kihachi from wooing single mother otaka .

footage shot in and around the sahara desert , accompanied only by a spoken creation myth and the songs of leonard cohen .

after japan ' s loss in the war , the wealthy , cultured , liberal anjo family have to give up their mansion and their way of life . they hold one last ball at the house before leaving . the . . . see full summary »

a simple story of two friends who live together in a poor tenement and who share about everything in life , until they gallantly rescue a woman injured in a road accident .

with jurassic world : fallen kingdom now in cinemas , we take a look at how imdb users rated the films of the franchise . plus , browse exclusive lego® jurassic world playsets , presented by lego .

" hiroshima b4 bomb 1937 - se . . . " the youtube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third - party notifications of copyright infringement .

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adaptation of nagatsuka ' s novel about the lives of poor peasants in japan at the beginning of the century .

a japanese master canonized at home but unknown in the west gets a major retrospective at the museum of modern art .

these years were the culminating point of a permanent irritation that perhaps explains why uchida has been so long ignored in the west : he is as hard to categorize politically as aesthetically . he is obviously a virtuosic stylist , yet without a consistent style . it is even more complicated ideologically : born in a well - off family , uchida apparently grew up with progressive / idealistic tendencies—his pronounced love for all things from the west is expressed not the least in his choice of the pen name tomu , a translation of his western nickname tom , which he chose to write in kanji characters meaning “to spit out dreams . ”

still , the study of uchida , one of japanese cinema ' s most exciting figures , is now finally possible .

alexander zeldovich’s bracing philosophical epic runs the gamut from holographic sci - fi to flaky satire to sober meditation .

" ' sun song ' is my love letter to the mystic / musician / philosopher sun ra . . . "

if you ' re interested in contributing to notebook send us a sample of your work . for all other enquiries , contact daniel kasman .

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