Tales of the Abyss - 04

Impressions
I was really disappointed with this episode. The problem wasn't the characters (even though Luke's arrogant cowardice is really annoying) or the plot. The problem was the way they put everything together. Their transitions are too rough and sudden and break the flow of the episode.

For example, one moment they are reading a letter from Anise about her journey and the next moment they are off on the road fighting monsters. It makes sense that they'd fight monsters on their way to Anise but it was so sudden that it felt random. At the very least, they could have shown them walking or say something like "let's get on our way." They left me thinking there would be more dialogue about the brother and then they cut us off at the last minute. I felt like I was being blue balled.

The series lacks a strong frame of reality and so many times I'm reminded that I'm not in the anime but a person watching it from a computer. That's a serious flaw in my opinion; especially since this is supposed to be a fantasy anime that draws people into the world.

Another problem they need to fix is the way they explain everything in the series. Most of the dialogue in this episode came from explaining everything to Luke. I get that he's had a sheltered life but I hate being spoon-fed all this information. It's a very boring way of catching everyone up.

Despite these problems, I really like Tear and the way her and Luke interact. They look cute together. Tear's character is drawn so well and she just screams C.C. any way you look at her. However, I have to say Luke's outfit makes him look pretty gay.

I was also a fan of Anise's mood swings. She reminded me of Maki from Seto no Hanayome. Hopefully, we get to see more of that angry side of her in future episodes for comedic relief. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing her kick Luke's ass.

I still like this series so I'm hoping the next episodes will be more like they were in the first three episodes. Luke is going home next week but I hope their journey will last more than 2 seconds this time.