「それぞれの哲学」 (Sorezore no tetsugaku)
“Each Philosophy”

Well apparently I’m dumb. Last week’s malevolent calamity was all Dezel’s handiwork, brought about by that commitment to eliminate Rose’s enemies in Lastonbell. Hard figuring out how I messed that one up, but at least the fight sequence proved its worth, with Lailah throwing around hefty fireballs and city walls satisfyingly crumbling. Beyond these first few minutes, however, Zestiria apparently is still in buildup mode, as a largely transitory episode fills in some blanks and establishes the next sequence of events.

The important expositions this week fleshed out the running theme of moral ambiguity, where Sorey, Rose, and Alisha—who finally appears—each come to terms with a world of hazy greys. Sorey was the surprise for me, what with his talk concerning the true role of the Shepherd and properly understanding Malevolence. I honestly wasn’t expecting Sorey to actively think about this, I was rather anticipating him coming to the dilemma through personal loss and/or shock. For me having Sorey already contemplate the meaning of Michael’s tainted heart comment certainly extinguishes a good degree of the naivety Sorey possessed in the first season. Might also help that Sorey’s introspection has seriously impressed Lailah.

While Sorey is uncommitted to a moral path, it’s pretty clear where Rose stands—wholly committed to her form of justice, supported by an ever reliable Dezel. At least we finally know how Rose and Dezel are related, and how Rose ended up leading a band of assassins. Although I also wound up wrong on Rose being able to see Dezel—she can at best feel his presence currently—the girl is quickly attuning to the presence of Seraphim, detecting Sorey’s Seraphim companions for the first time. Probably won’t be long until Rose can also properly perceive Dezel and the rest. What also likely isn’t far away is Sorey learning of Rose’s moonlighting job. Given the curiosity instilled in Sorey by Dezel’s attempted sanctuary destruction, Rose will have an increasingly hard time keeping her most important secret hidden.

Not to be left out of the fun is Alisha, who also has her own moral conflicts to deal with. Seeing your own people die twice certainly has the tendency to do that, especially when your greatest hater successfully manages to ostracize you. This is an intriguing development for Alisha, for like Sorey she now finds herself in a position where there is no clear answer and adhering to ideals may invite further suffering. I’m really curious seeing how this side of the story plays out, especially given Alisha’s desire to strong arm success by acquiring power. In a way Alisha’s temperament makes her more similar to Rose than Sorey, which in part may explain why Sorey cannot hear Alisha’s voice. I’m betting that simply becoming “more” of a Shepherd isn’t enough to turn just anyone into a good Squire.

With even more discussion out of the way, next week looks like the first real plot shift in Zestiria. Sorey finally leaves Lastonbell for Rolance’s capital, while Alisha heads back home to retake control of Hyland’s official residence. Hopefully we get something tangible beyond dialogue this time, because for all that I like the background information here, even I want some proper battles and climactic events soon. Will Zestiria answer the call? Just have to wait and see.

 

Preview

24 Comments

      1. That’s not the case. Military bayonets have saws in the back meant to cut wood and other materials. Rose’s daggers are sword breakers. Those teeth are meant to catch swords and disarm.

        FlayvorOfEvil
  1. There’s some switching around events, like introducing Rose’s background although I’m sure you never actually see Brad in the game. Keep in mind that at this point, Dezel and Rose are already fully implemented into the party so they’re doing a good job of moving the general plot along while also building up the characters instead of stop, dungeon, go, stop, etc.

    The Alisha stuff is all new. I mentioned it last season, but once she leaves Mariland, you never see her again until the last quarter of the game which is still a dozen hours from this point in the story.

    Rae
  2. Bartlow is more like Alisha’s second biggest hater. There’s someone else in Hyland who loathes her way more.

    The show hasn’t really emphasized it, but Sorey was always someone who listened to others and considered what they say as he goes about doing what he feels is right. He’s also not wrong, though it’s not mentioned in the game, but going around purifying Hellions doesn’t solve anything.

    TheVoid
    1. Heh that probably explains my surprise at his capacity for thinking, there were few moments featuring it in the show before. Having Sorey recognize purification is not the end all be all is pretty damn amazing by itself just for the opportunities it presents. There is a good amount of room for a sort of pyrrhic victory, where Sorey could defeat the Lord of Calamity, but at great cost to him/those around him. Having something like that here would actually impress me considering what season one was like.

  3. I hate to admit, but this series is starting to get boring. Zestiria’s anime has always been “run of the mill” but now it’s really just dragging its feet and not accomplishing much through that. It’s exposition is some of the most inorganic ive seen in a series (at least make it interesting to watch) and it’s hard to feel any emotional payoff to some of these moral quandaries being built up. As i said previously, rose’s dilemma is the only thing that is slightly interesting but even so it’s not enough. I know im coming off as very pessimistic but i gotta call the show out on its storytelling. Zestiria was kinda bland as well but there were significant bright spots and moments of fun and personality. why the anime has almost all that away is beyond me

    sonicsenryaku
    1. well, i love it.. so im on the opposite site. You should perhaps see the Game storyline and then you get the great improvement in the Anime here. Tales of Zestiria do not invent the wheel a new. it is the Way that counts.

      Worldwidedepp
    2. Yeah it’s my main concern right now. Two buildup episodes are tolerable, but three are pushing the limits, especially for a single cour show. I really hope next episode shifts this focus because there’s only so much one can do for the emphasized morality theme without any actual conflict–character introspection can only get one so far.

      Personally I’m still optimistic Zestiria can turn things around, but the show cannot take forever doing it.

      1. I meant “zestiria’s game was kinda bland as well” and “why the anime has almost STRIPPED all that away is beyond me”….. uuugh i really need to proof read my shit

        sonicsenryaku
  4. Glad to see Alisha again. Pleasently surprised seeing some of the soldiers survived the ambush. I thought anyone hanging around Alisha will die. Those soldier uniforms are starting to look like red shirts.

    The question now is, will Alisha try to gain political power or military power? Rose has political power, she’s got loads of connections and most of them have a favourable view of her. While Sorey is a one man (+ three Seraphim) army. Both are what Alisha really lacks, especially after what just happened.

    theirs
  5. Did you notice the “heat wave” explosion?
    this Scene between
    https://randomc.net/image/Tales%20of%20Zestiria%20the%20X/Tales%20of%20Zestiria%20the%20X%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    and
    https://randomc.net/image/Tales%20of%20Zestiria%20the%20X/Tales%20of%20Zestiria%20the%20X%20-%2015%20-%20Large%2008.jpg

    that trow out these bricks of the Wall? This scene is well know to demonstrate the “shock wave” of some “special bomb”.. when i saw this little seconds, i was surprised that they used it

    Worldwidedepp
  6. Ep 16:

    I like the path they choose, and they really learned to use their cliffhangers. Also i like it when they build in some Game Story in this Episode. When you watch it, you will see it

    Worldwidedepp

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