Let's move our discussions of the Tales series here, so that we don't always have to go out of topic at the Squaresoft/Square-Enix thread.

I had just seen the opening of Tales of Symphonia (I can't believe it took me this long before watching it!). There sure were a lot of scenes that reminded me of Tales of Phantasia, such as Lloyd and Colette talking in the snow, and this huge burst of magic coming out of a tower. In ToP, that kind of magic was also used in an effort to thwart the enemy, plus the scene of Cless and Mint having a heart-to-heart talk in the snow was probably my most favorite scene in the game...

Kase, any idea if there are any other similarities between ToP and ToS?

I am truly ashamed to say this, but Tales of Symphonia's my first ever Tales game. Yes, yes I'm hitting myself over the head right now. But now I'm really interested in the past Tales games. ^__^ I heard other players state similarities between ToS and previous games: like, there's this Tree that you need to recover the mana and I heard there was also a Tree named... Yggdrasil in another game. I didn't get the joke, because of this. -___- But now I know! ^__^ So I'm happy.

In any case, I'd love to get the previous games... Um, are they all a bit like ToS? Graphically speaking? Um, they aren't Gameboy-ish, right? ^__^;; I've got a dislike of Gameboy-like games, don't know where it came from...

Hmmm, one thing I've got to say about the intro... Since I've got both the Japanese and American one, I immediately heard the differences and... >__< I hate the Americans for what they did to the beautiful Japanese intro! I don't know which one you saw, though... The American's got an all song, no vocals symphonia kinda soundtrack, while the Japanese got a beau-ti-ful (vocal) song~ *__* It fit so perfectly, but than the American version had to disappoint me so thoroughly. >__<

So~ you're interested in buying it now?

As soon as the PS2 version comes out, I'm definitely buying! That, or I'll have to see if I can buy myself a Gamecube when I go to Singapore.

You mean ToS also had a tree? That came from ToP, too! And yep, the tree's name in ToP is Yggdrassil. (ToP has a lot of reference to Norse Mythology)

There sure are an awful lot of similarities. I sure hope ToS has some unique stuff, too...

Graphically speaking, ToS is the Tales series' first foray into the cell-shaded, 3d world. Previous Tales games are 2d, but that's not to say that their graphics isn't nice. They're quite good, in fact. Battle system is also in 2d and not 3d, but just imagine that you're playing a 2d fighting game instead.

Only ToP can be found on the GBA. Actually, it's one of the most ported games in RPG history. It first came out on the SNES, and is probably the only SNES game to ever have its vocal theme song actually sung at the opening. Then the entire game got rehauled and ported over to the PSX. When the GBA came out, it also got ported there as well.

ToP is still my favorite game in the series. The only bad thing about it is that it had never been translated into English. You may, however, download the ROM of the game online containing a fan-made English patch, and play it on an emulator. My only qualms is the way the translators made my favorite character (Arche) turn out.

The next two games, Tales of Destiny and Tales of Eternia (known as Tales of Destiny II in the US), are for the PSX. There's also the real Tales of Destiny II, but that one also only came out in Japanese. I think that one is for the PS2. ToD is funny. ToE... let's just say that I never finished that game.

I really recommend that you at least play ToP and ToD.

With regards to the opening, I think I saw the American version then. I didn't hear any vocals in the opening I saw...

Wow, you know a lot about these games, MJ. ...you don't mind me calling you MJ, right? ^__^;; Well, thanks for the info!

And between us *sits closer by the compie so that her mom doesn't hear* I would wait for the PS2 version. It's got more anime cutscenes. ^__~ Aherm. *straightens and acts normal* The only animated cutscenes you see in the Gamecube version are the opening, some at the end of disc 1 (I think) and a big one at the end. *sigh* I'd like to get the PS2 version, but than my mom won't help me pay... That includes shipping. *deflates as she sees her precious money go down the drain* Ah well...

Hehe, now I'm curious about the plots of the previous Tales games! Spill, please~ ^__^

Is okay. I don't mind at all!

Hehe... I can't help but think, if Kosuke Fujishima hadn't been the character designer for ToP, I probably wouldn't have paid attention to this series until I finally got a PSX of my own (which had only been around a year and a half ago).

ToP centers mostly around time travel, somewhat like Chrono Trigger. Only here, you don't exactly get to decide which era you go - the game takes you there as required. The game opens with a very good quote:

"Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lies within the heart of mankind."
~ Edward D. Morrison

To make a long story short, somebody planned to revive a wizard which had been sealed by four heroes ten years ago. You take control of Cless (swordsman), the son of two of these heroes. Together with Chester (archer), his best friend, and Mint (healer), the daughter of another one of the heroes, they try to prevent the wizard's awakening from taking place (and to avenge their parents' deaths as well). Along the way, they travel to the past due to necessity, where they meet Arche (magic user), a spunky half-elf, and Klarth (summoner), a scholar. They would also need to travel to the future near the end, to defeat the wizard once and for all.

In ToD, you take the role of Stahn, a cowardly country boy who finds himself becoming the bearer of a sentinent sword named Dymlos after the airship he had hitched a ride on got attacked by monsters. Eventually, Stahn will meet people who also bear sentinent swords similar to Dymlos, all of which were once people involved in a war that took place a long time ago. A lot of things will happen, but their primary goal in the end is to make sure that this big crust of land floating above and surrounding the planet doesn't fall down.

As for ToE, you play childhood friends Reid and Farah, who stumbled upon a spaceship containing a girl named Meredy who speaks a language different from theirs. She came from the land of Celestia... which is actually a whole world lying opposite and directly on top of Infernia, where Reid and Farah live (they must be living in a pretty cubic world... I wonder what's located at the sides?). In this game, the two worlds are slowly falling towards each other, and if they don't do something, the two lands will collide, and everyone will get crushed in between.

That should be the general plot for the first three Tales games.

OK, some very familiar tidbits of info. Thanks!

Have you already read a summary of the game? I'd like to try my hand at summarizing and returning the favor, but only if you don't have any objections.

In any case, yep, yep ToS is just one big mix of the three previous games, though it still has some original ideas interwoven into the plot. Very very mind-boggling once you get to the end. @__@ Not to mention the way you interact with others will affect the end. You got two ends, btw. Don't know if I already told you. Is this the same with the other Tales games? And how many characters can you add to your party? It's 9 in ToS, though you can only have 8 in your party at all times. And are the monsters and bosses hard? (I didn't really have any trouble in ToS... than again, I played it in Easy mode o__O)

=^__^= I'm way too curious for my own good.

You can only have up to 4 members in your party from previous Tales games. ToP for the SNES originally had 5 characters to chose from, but they made a previous guest character into a playable one in the later versions. In ToD, the number of playable characters increased. Not sure about ToE...

And I believe the previous Tales games only had one ending, so having two endings for ToS is pretty good news.

Battle system is a little tough, depending on who your enemy is. But I never actually had any real problems (my technique is run towards enemy, stab/slash, run away from enemy). In ToP for the SNES, Namco was so proud of its unique battle system (at that time) that the enemy encounter rate is horrendously high (although for someone like me who loved to level up, I didn't mind at all). When they re-did it, the problem now became that enemy encounters are so rare, it's hard to level up (you just can't please everyone, can't you?). In the meantime, encounter rate for the other Tales games are just right. At least, I don't hear anybody complaining about them.

I've read some amount of summaries for the game, but I wouldn't mind hearing one more summary, especially if it came from someone I know who actually played the game. So please, feel free to tell me what happened! I would love to hear it!

Oooh, monster encounter rate - many people complained about te monsters in ToS. Well not regarding the encounter rate, but because of the monsters' appearance. They're actually big blobs of black cwalking around the field, chasing you, crossing your path. They're easy to avoid, though. ^__^ Personally I don't see anything wrong with it, but yeah... I'm pretty... how do you call it.. I'm quick to be pleased with something.

*__* Ah, a fellow lover of leveling up~ Me, too! Me, too! It's one of the things I enjoy most about a game. The chance to level up. To grow strong and be all-powerful~ XD Muwahaha~ Not to mention you can win titles with it that enhances Hp, Tp, Def, Eva, etc. etc. Handy, if I do say so myself. ^__~

OK, onto the summary! *crosses fingers* The story focuses on the Chosen of mana and the Journey to rejuvenate a dying world. A legend that's been passed down from generation to generation has it that to safe the World of Sylvarant, one must wake up the Godess Martel. Lloyd (main character) and life-long buddy Genis (a half-elf) accompany Colette, the Chosen, on her journey and together they meet interesting people who'll tag along, betray you, deceive you, make friends with you... ^__^;; Really nothing and no one is as it/they seem at first glance. In any case, during their Journey they discover that there's actually another world, running parallel to Sylvarant: Tethe'ella. They find out that both Sylvarant and Tethe'ella are fighting over the small amount of mana (always a mana problem, isn't it?), but if things stay the way they are one of the worlds is bound to die. So it's up to Lloyd and co. to find a solution to the problem.

Tethe'ella *__* That's where my honey, Zelos Wilder comes from. *sigh*

Btw. I found a few pictures of ToP, but it says vol. 2... You've got a manga of these games or something? *__* They look adorable! Check it out~ And to add to that I found a few in-game scenes from ToS for you: if you wanna check it out too, be my guest!

It's a wonderful site, so if you wanna find out more in-depth info just cruise around to your heart's content. ^__^ Well... That's it for now.

There was a manga?! I didn't know! I knew there was a 4-episode ToP anime (that nobody ever fan-subbed, or even got the raw of, for some reason. ARGH!), but I didn't know there was a manga!

Thanks for the summary! And thanks for the screenshots and video clips!! I'm now on my way to get spoiled! Hehehe...



Yep, I enjoy being very strong and beating the enemy boss to pulp, too! My history with leveling up came from the first RPG I ever played - Sailormoon Another Story RPG. I had been playing it in Japanese for a time, and I was such a newbie on RPGs, so I didn't know you can equip and buy stuff that can help you. The only thing I noticed was that every time I leveled up, my health gets replenished. By the time I finally found out about equipments and stuff, my level had been so high, when I faced a boss (which I once had problems with) wearing the proper equipment, I took it down in one hit! I've become addicted to leveling up since then.

Hmm... I'm trying to find a place where you can download the OP of ToP (I got mine a long, long time ago. Hehe...). Are you okay with torrents, if ever I run into one?

While I'm searching, you can visit this site for some official art.

Defeating a Boss in one hit? Aaw, that's never happened to me before! XD Now I gotta try this! *sets eyes on Sephiroth* You're sooo going down next time we meet, boy.

O__O *dives for the site so you'll probably won't hear from me for a few hours XD* Thank you~!!

Found it!! Opening for ToP, ToD (US ver), ToE, and Valkyrie Profile (how'd that get there? That's an Enix game! ), zipped. It's located at Tales of Tri-Ace. Look for the date "12/17/00" at the main page - the links are provided there.

Thank you so much! ....damn, now I'll have to wait 'till my parents are out of the room. <__< They're watching t.v. so I can't play them... <__< I'm not really a patient person either...

You're welcome! Sorry I couldn't provide you with a better copy. The one I had downloaded years back had been clearer than the one in this page...

Had it sparked your interest, at least?

Well, finally got around to see them and my answer's gotta be: Definitely! Aw man, what am I saying~? I'll bet I'll get obsessed with it like with ToS and nothing will stop me from surfing the net for an online gamestore that still has the Tales series available~ T__T Being impulsive sucks. *plays the newly aquiered files yet again* XD I love 'em~!!

I suggest that you look for the SNES ROM of ToP, since it's the only one you can find in English (fan-made, but good enough). The graphics aren't as good as its PSX version, but at least you can understand it. (Besides, for an SNES game, the graphics is still admirable) You can try playing the PSX version afterwards.

Thanks, I will! Fan-made has always been welcomed with open arms, so that's not a problem. Aaww, they haven't translated it to English? For the console, I mean. I like playing on a console better since than I have the chance to sit back, relaxed, on the couch. Not to mention we got a wide-screen television. XD Playing is a luxury I've also grown used to. Wouldn't know what to do without it ^__^;;

....ah darn. I gotta go do the dishes... v__v Dishes are evil, a plate tried to slip from my fingers the day before. If it had broken, my wallet would have suffered. <__< Grrr...

Nope, Namco had never translated ToP in English, even though I had been praying for years and years... However, there is another ToP fan group who are trying to translate it for the PSX (they translate the game, and create an image file of it for you to download and play on your PSX). I'm just not sure if they've continued the project, or if they gave up.

I agree - dishes are evil. Especially if they're expensive! I just broke a small platter a few weeks ago... mom hasn't noticed yet though. I hope she doesn't! Hehe.

Wow, you actually have a group that subs games? Well, I'm certainly gonna cross my fingers for them while playing the ROM version. XD Gah, I'm evil.



Aw, you're lucky! My Mom would be able to find out rather quick because we've got - like what? 15 plates. If you don't count the ones with a deep bottom and the little sandwich plates. We have 50 total. While Mom isn't a Math-wizard she can count.

Well, I have a link to the group's website, if that's what you mean. Actually, is it still here...? (checks bookmarks) Ah! Here it is! Whew! Looks like the project is still going on!

I'm just lucky because my mom doesn't live here with me, so she doesn't notice much, except for the mess that I usually make out of the room.

Oh, yeah, going back...



Would you believe that playing for me had never been a luxury? Even watching television. Since grade school, my parents forbade me to watch television or play video games from Sunday to Thursday, just so I would concentrate on my studies. I didn't even have a television in my dorm back when I was in college, and if ever I did, it was because my roommate brought it with her. But now that I've finally graduated, I'm watching TV and playing video games with vengeance!

Sorry to say this, but I don't envy your childhood. Mom once said: "All work but no play? Where's the fun in that!" Though I'm sure all that studying has bared (????) it's fruits, huh? A good job, your own house~

.......I'm the worst. I keep side-tracking!

So do I!

You don't envy me, but I envy you, and all the other kids who actually *enjoyed* their childhood!

Edit: All this talk about the Tales series makes me want to play them again... maybe I should give Eternia another chance? (looks for CD but comes up with Phantasia instead) Oh well. (shrugs and pops it in her PS2)

About Edit: I know what you mean. @__@ I need to finish ToS, 2nd ending, so many sidequests still left... *looks at little brother watching tv* -___-;; Darnit. Now I envy you!

I used to have the same problem of arguing with other people about who gets to use the television. With me only having two days to play back when I was a kid, my time with the TV is precious, but so is it for the other members of my household!

Problem solved when I moved to my condo, though. Dad bought me a television of my very own, so the TV is mine, MINE, MINE!!! Well... until my big sister comes because she wants to watch DVD on it... (since, as our parents' rules dictates, she doesn't have a TV of her own in her dorm - she's still studying, btw).

The TV argument at home was also solved when the oldest TV in the house was finally designated the title "for gaming only" when a newer TV replaced its old position. Now my only competition for the game TV when I'm at home is my little sister, who I got addicted to RPGs.

You've got it made~ *___* A condo, no kidding. I don't even own a car. Though I'm saving for one!

Well... not exactly my condo. It's still my parents'. They bought it when I began working here in Manila since our home province is so far away. But most of the utilities here (i.e. electricity, phone, cable, internet) are under my name, and I pay for everything. Most of the stuff is mine, too (TV, DVD player, computer). So I suppose you can say that I'm the caretaker.

Haha, well being a caretaker is almost as good as being the owner, in my eyes. Hee, I'd love to see pictures of your condo. I bet it's puretty roomy. But I guess compared to my own house anything's roomy. Especially if I compare it with my bedroom (read: attic). Don't get me wrong: I love my bedroom it's got all my important stuff: pc, collection of manga/anime/dvds, books, games, dvd-player etc. etc. And of course my pet-fluffy-cushion. =^-^= Me and my Mom made it together when I was little. Mom's a whiz when it comes to making stuff. Currently, it's got Garfield on it, but I thought about making another with Zelos on it. *__*

...I'm attached to a cushion, how weird is that? (I call those mini-sized pillows, cushions so I don't get confused. If that isn't correct... well, don't mind me )

Well, when I first saw the condo bare, I thought it was roomy... I mean, compared to other condos that I've been in. But then mom added all this stuff in it, and now it barely has enough space for 3-4 people, let alone my family of 6. And the lack of space means lack of bookshelves, so now most of my mangas and anime VHS are stuck at home. I do have my DVDs and VCDs here with me, though. Mom bought this huge cabinet (which is actually sucking up all the space) where I can place the TV and PS2 and my other gadgets, and where I can also store the CDs. She didn't think I'd be able to fill them up I proved her wrong on the same day the cabinet got brought in.

Heh... I don't want to take pictures of the condo right now for you, because it's an absolute mess!!

Yeah, I believe they're called cushions. So, they're like a security blanket for you?

Wah! You're a messy person too?! I'm really messy, though I don't intend to! I always like to have a clean room, have my stuff organized and neat and everything at it's rightful place. But than... I dunno what really happens, how it happens or when it happens, but one second it's all nice and neat, the next it's a complete and utter chaos.

And yeah, I think you could call it a security blanket. That reminds me of my REAL security blanket I had so many years ago. It was all blue and soft and always smelt nice. I loved that blanket. T__T Mom gave it away, though.

I'm the same. If you had seen my answer at the "Fetish and Obsessions" thread, you'd realize that I'm obsessed with organizing and properly labeling my stuff. However, everything in my room would still end up haphazard anyway.

We've completely dominated this thread, didn't we? (sweatdrop)

Hehe, now that you mention it. This thread's beyond dominated. Maybe you should drag Viki into the Tales fandom as well. And we've strayed from the topic yet again. We're bad~ bad girls.

True!!

About Viki, she already plays the Tales series (I believe she even got to finish Eternia), and had even copied Phantasia from me the other day. I just don't know why she isn't here.

Ooooi~~, Viki!!! Come over here and say something!!!

Going back on topic, so far, based on the OPs you've seen, who's your favorite artist in the Tales series? There's only two of 'em - Kosuke Fujishima (Phantasia, Symphonia) and Mutsumi Inomata (Destiny, Eternia, Rebirth). Mine is the former, but I'm being biased because he really is my favorite artist.

I have to admit though... Lloyd looks too much like Oogami Ichiro from Sakura Taisen for comfort.

Oh, she played them all too? Viki~!! Come in here and say something~!!

About my favorite OP/ED: wait wait wait - I'll have to see them all again to compare. *___* Don't think I mind, though. Hehehehehe~

Aaw, I've never heard of Sakura Taisen. It's also from NAMCO?

Ah, no, Sakura Taisen is made by Sega. It came out at the same time as FF7 did, and is actually the only game that defeated FF7 in terms of popularity in Japan. Currently, it has four installments, discounting the GBA games and all the other side games. The first two appeared at the Saturn. They got ported over to the Dreamcast, along with the remaining other two. Then the first game got completely rehauled and ported over to the PS2, and the third game is on its way there too. Why they skipped the 2nd game - said to be the best in the series - is beyond me. Fifth game is on its way, also for the PS2.

In terms of gameplay, Sakura Taisen (a.k.a. "Sakura Wars") is a dating sim/turn-based battle game, although with this one, you can't just ignore all the girls because their strength in battles rely on the level of their trust in you (good luck playing the battle parts of the stage with all the girls mad at you - you'll need it!!). It has a really good story - although I still can't get over the cheesiness of the 1st game's ending. Story is divided into several episodes, complete with previews!

It also has several animes. The OVA series further explores the game's story, where as the TV series made one of its own (and I tend to pretend that the TV series didn't exist due to the huge changes). It also has a movie, but you need to know the story of the game as it takes off from there, and *not* the TV series.

Character designer of all games is... Kosuke Fujishima. But as my curse usually dictates, I'm not fated to play any game whose characters are designed by him in English (officially, at least).

There are two fighting units created during the course of the four games, but I prefer the original group. Here's a picture of them. If you see one male in that picture that reminds you of Lloyd, that's Oogami.

Waaah, we've got both OVA series~ *__* And yes, now that you mention it Oogami does look a lot like Lloyd. Just change his hair colour and they'd be twins! Hehe, I never knew the OVA was really based on the game. I did wonder why the events were spaced apart like that. Felt like I was missing something huge.

*__* I wanna play those games now too. I really loved all characters (yes, you heard me right. All characters) so it shouldn't be a problem for me to get them to like me. XD Especially my beloved Russian. She's so cool with a great personality and adoring accent. *___* He and Oogami are my faves.

Shoot. I forgot to watch the OP/ED of the Tales games!! Brother's computer crashed just a while ago. T__T His is the only computer with a Windows Media Player. Waaaah~ It sucks to rely on others! Well, not all the time but this time it does~

That's probably why some people who review the OVA series hated it. You have to know the game in order to be able to follow the story, and this, for some people, is totally unacceptable. I do remember watching the first OVA first before I was able to get my hands on the game - I had been confused during that first time. But the second time's a charm.

Well... you can read the fan-made translation of the games if you can't get your hands on them. You can find the translations here. The site isn't as good as it used to look like though... the author had indefinitely suspended the project.

Personally, I've played the first game on the Saturn and the PS1, had seen the 3rd game, and had finished the 4th for the Dreamcast. I've read the translation of the 2nd game, but I couldn't get my hands on it!! I've tried looking for it online everywhere, but all of them are out of stock! I've now come to believe that the moment I ever get my hands on Sakura Taisen 2, the world will end.



Let me guess... his computer's OS is Windows?

Edit:
Unofficial release date of Tales of Rebirth in Japan is on December 1.

Second Edit:
Namco will be releasing Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3. Characters appearing in this installment of Narikiri Dungeon are those from Eternia and Symphonia. Although I do believe seeing some characters from Phantasia in the screenshots...

Oh man, they're on a roll! Not that I mind, of course~ I still wanna play the prequels first though. Yeah, I know it's going to be tough, considering.

Ah well~ *___* Now I've got even more things to look forward to. Hehe, wonder how they're going to pull this off, though. Characters meeting other Tales characters? Seems like a Kingdom Hearts plot to me.

Although the first Narikiri Dungeon game came way before KH did.

It's for the GBA, though, so you may not like it.

Here's some screenshots from The Magic Box.

Looks like the characters from the real Destiny II are also there. It seems the only Tales game missing is the original cast of Destiny.

Aaaaaw, GBA-only? No hopes for PS2 releases or Gamecube releases? T___T

Ah well, it still looks fun to me. Especially cuz there are characters I'm familiar with. Although... it looks a bit amateuristic. ^__^;; Some of the character images are dark while others are light. I don't know what's up with that... is it intentional? And the dialogue boxes are a bit... I dunno, they lack "something" but I don't know what that something is.

*blush* Look at me criticizing a game, while I don't know the first thing about it! *slaps self* In any case, it looks like fun, so I might try it out! Hehe, it's not the first GBA game I've played. If it's half as good as Golden Sun (<__< although they were very takative - maybe a bit over the top), I see no problem with it.

*___* Those character designs are beautiful... T__T I wanna see them in 3-D~

I think so. I believe the character that is lighted up signifies that that character is speaking, or is the subject in focus.

With regards to Destiny II, I just browsed through Gamefaqs' synopsis of the story. Looks like another Tales story related to time travel. On the screenshots I found, the graphics are a little similar to the screenshots I saw for Symphonia, so you might feel more at home for this game, if you can bear playing it in Japanese.

uhm... hello? ^^;;;

sorry, i just can't keep up with you guys... my eyes water and my brain starts to crash just by reading a page of your discussions... brain needs to reboot.. reboot in 5 seconds... ~_~

Your brain must have ME-tan for its OS.

Has it rebooted now?

Here's a rundown on this thread, minus the typical out-of-topic discussions:

Kase and I were just discussing about the various Tales series - i.e. she gave me a rundown on the story of Symphonia, where as I gave her a rundown of the earlier Tales series (although I admittedly don't know too much about Eternia as I haven't finished it - you know more about it than I do. Hehe...). I also looked for the various OP movies of the previous Tales games for Kase to see. Latest discussion is about GB's Narikiri Dungeon. It's basically a spin-off of the Tales series, where the characters from the different games mingle and such.

In terms of preferences, last question I asked was, which artist do you prefer more? Kosuke Fujishima (Phantasia, Symphonia), or Mutsumi Inomata (Destiny, Eternia, Rebirth)? You know what my answer is!

ah...

~_~ *still doesn't get it*

i'm not familiar with the other series, you see. only tales of destiny and tales of eternia so i'm left behind ^^;;

Oooh, Viki joined the thread~

Btw. I think I like the Destiny slightly better, but it's really hard to choose! They're both gorgeous. And ToS seems so kiddy compared to these. @__@ Y'know I actually thought that red-haired woman from the Destiny intro was a man.



Yes! I was delighted to see Zelos~!! *___* And than all the others popped up too, even Noishe I think (the green-ish dog creature). It's really great, if only there were translations... Big Sigh.

Kase is only familiar with the Symphonia game.



I once thought that Kanna from Sakura Taisen was a man, too. But I had very good reasons!! And I was seriously surprised when I found out I was wrong!



We can always hope for fan-translations! (crosses fingers) Which reminds me... I haven't checked if the earlier installments of Narikiri Dungeon had any...

You too? Something's up with masculine red-heads.

*___* Fan-translations. You and Viki never considered doing that yourselves? From what I can pick up, you two've got the means and "gifts" to do it.

Yeah!! At the opening credits, I thought that she was a guy. But when the episode began, and I saw that she had "assets", I was like, WHAAAAT?!

And then... in Eternia, I thought that the red-headed lead male was a girl when I first saw the opening credits...

You're right... there must be something about red heads that make us confuse their genders... (sweatdrop)



Well... couple of things hinder us to do so. The biggest one is that, although we did had formal Japanese education, they were pretty basic. I was supposed to take advanced classes, but it's been a year, and no classes had been scheduled yet. Plus, since we hardly practice it, I can't even remember most of what I had learned... (sweatdrop)

The next one is, although we do know hiragana and katakana, our knowledge of kanji is practically next to none. We recognize the most common ones (like "ai", "yume", "miru", and "ko"), but if we go beyond than the common, we get very, very lost.

And lastly, we don't have the time. I would have loved to translate all my Japanese manga into English myself, but I don't have the time to dedicate to translating.

So that's why we never considered doing our own fan translations and leech someone else's instead. Hehe...

Edit: I almost forgot! Tales of Symphonia for the PS2 is out today! And the release date of Tales of Rebirth had been announced - it's out in Japan on December 16! Wheeee!

About the redheads: I also noticed the masculine ones are dark-skinned. I mean, Kana and Sumare... I can't think of anyone else, but it's there, honest!

Aaaww, so if you guys had the time and more schooling... Such a shame.

*__* Give me a moment to go all hyper and cheer over the GREAT NEWS!!! *goes all hyper and cheery~~!!!* THANK YOU!!

Hmm... I can't remember any other red-haired masculine girls either, after those we had just mentioned. Maybe I can wrack up my brains and remember one other in the future. Hehe...



Yeah. I do hope I'll eventually get to implement what I had learned though. Someday. What I would give to be able to befriend my next-door Japanese neighbor. I've seen her a couple of times. I've even talked to her once (she forgot her keys outside, and I rang her door and gave it back to her). But I never got the courage to introduce myself. (sweatdrop) I wonder what she's thinking every time I watch anime or listen to Japanese music here at the condo...?

I wish I could get a copy of Tales of Symphonia soooon!!!!

You've got a Japanese next-door neighbour? That's cool! (sorry for sounding immature ^__^;;;) Hmmm, maybe you should invite her over sometime? Although... maybe she doesn't even like anime/manga. Ah, this things can always be so complicated. I'm shy myself so I would never have the courage to invite someone over like that. ;; It's scary! (immature again -___- but that's how I feel)

I want the artbook that came with the pre-ordered game! -____- I wasn't fast enough to get it. *big sigh*

Yeah... I'm just too incredibly shy... I can't even knock on her door and introduce myself! Her forgetting her key had been my only chance, and I blew it.

Then again, I *did* had another chance, just a few days ago (Monday, I believe). I was on my way to the gym, and just as I was locking my door, she came and began unlocking her door. She said "Hello!" (in your typical Japanese accent, i.e. it became "herro!"), and I said "hello!" back, before I left. Now I'm kind of wishing that I said "Konban wa!" instead... maybe that could have gotten some sort of conversation rolling somehow. Once again, I blew it! Argh!!

An artbook would along if you pre-ordered the game?!!! WAAAAH!!! I want it!!! Kosuke Fujishima artbooks are so hard to come across!!! The bad thing is, I can't order anything online! More so because, aside from being broke, I won't be around here at my place for the next few weeks to receive the package.