Tales of Zestiria the X

**Tales of Zestiria the X** (テイルズ オブ ゼスティリア ザ クロス, *Teiruzu obu Zesutiria za kurosu*?, pronounced "Tales of Zestiria the Cross"), is an anime adaption of the *Tales of Zestiria* game from the *Tales of* series. It was announced during the June 6, Tales of Festival 2015 along with *Tales of Berseria*, which is the pre-sequel to the *Zestiria* game. It features an alternate and original story from that of the game, with reference from *Tales of Berseria*. It is adapted by incorporate studio, Ufotable, directed by Haruo Sotozaki. Akira Matsushima is adapting the original character designs for the animation, while the art director is Minji Kim. The music is composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Go Shiina.The air date was set for summer 2016. The first half premiered on July 3, 2016 and finished airing on September 25, 2016, and the second half premiered on January 8, 2017 and finished airing on April 29, 2017.

The opening theme song for the first half is "Kaze no Uta" by FLOW, who also composed the opening theme song for *Tales of Berseria*. The ending theme for the first half, "Calling", is composed by fhána. The opening theme for the second half is "Illuminate" by Minami Kuribayashi. The ending theme for the second half is "Innosense" by FLOW.

The main voice actors will reprise their respective roles, except for Miyu Matsuki, the voice of Lailah, who had passed away a while after the western release date (October 2015) for the game. Her replacement voice actress is Noriko Shitaya.

## Story Plot

The story is said to take place in a parallel world where the events parallel the game but with a different outcome.The beginning of the story takes place just before the events of the *Tales of Zestiria* game. It features Alisha Diphda on her discoveries of the ancient ruins and one days becoming lost, finding a hidden passage to the ancient seraphim capital, Elysia.

The adaption also accounts the beginning of the *Tales of Berseria* story and how the lead characters of the two timelines cross. The objective of the story remains the same, quelling the Lord of Calamity, but overall is parallel to the game story and the meeting of the distant timelines; hence the "X" meaning "Cross".

The game begins with a young human called Sorey and his friend Mikleo, a Seraph of water exploring some nearby ruins when they rescue a human girl, Alisha, and bring her back home in the village of Elysia. Once Alisha departs back home, Sorey and Mikleo have a short clash with a Hellion called Lunarre and fearing for her safety, they decide to leave the village in search for her. While looking for Alisha's whereabouts, Sorey has an encounter with Lailah, a Seraph of fire known as the Lady of the Lake, who makes a pact as his Prime Lord, granting him the power to purify the Hellions and making him a Shepherd. After Sorey reunites with Alisha, who is revealed to be a princess to the Hyland Kingdom, she becomes his "Squire" to fight the Hellions by his side, and the party starts traveling the continent purifying the Hellions and searching for the main source of the malevolence that plagues the land into an Era of Chaos, the individual known as the "Lord of Calamity". During their travels Sorey and the others have a short encounter with Zaveid, a rogue Seraph of wind who hunts down Hellions on his own accord, and befriend Edna, an earth Seraph who also joins the party. However, Alisha's low resonance with the Seraphim takes a toll on Sorey's body and she is forced to leave the group.

When a war between Hyland and the neighboring Rolance Empire breaks out, Alisha is used by Hyland's military as a leverage to force Sorey and his friends to take part in a battle. During the skirmish, Heldalf, the Lord of Calamity himself, appears before Sorey and he is almost killed, being rescued in the nick of time by an assassin called Rose. After recovering, Sorey learns that there are four shrines with trials that a Shepherd must accomplish in order to become stronger and decides that he must clear them first before challenging Heldalf again. During his journeys, it is discovered that Rose has a high level of resonance and she becomes Sorey's Squire, joining the party along Dezel, a Seraph of wind who was guarding Rose as part of a secret agenda. After the party completes the four trials, they fall into a trap by Symonne, a fallen Seraph who works under Heldalf. It is then revealed that Dezel's true objective was to enact revenge on Symonne for causing the death of his friend and disgracing Rose's guild. Rose is severely wounded during the battle, forcing Dezel to sacrifice himself in order to protect her, and Zaveid joins the party afterwards.

Sorey and his friends then confront Heldalf again, but figure out that something is amiss as he does not show any intention to kill them immediately, as after failing to provoke Sorey, Heldalf attempts to convince him to join his side: this prompts the party to retreat and look for the true reason behind his motives before their final confrontation. It is revealed that the Era of Chaos was initiated when the previous Shepherd turned Heldalf, a Rolance military general at a time, into a cursed immortal being by infusing him with the fallen Seraph Maotelus when he refused to provide aid to his village when it was invaded: this filled his life with hatred and turned him into the Lord of Calamity. It was also revealed that two infants from the village, Sorey and Mikleo, were saved and taken in to be raised with the Seraphim. With the truth revealed and understood, the Shepherd and his comrades take on Heldalf once again and defeat him once and for all. Sorey seals Heldalf along with himself until Sorey is able to purge Heldalf's malevolence. Rose and Alishia realize that, since they are not dead, Sorey must still be alive as well. In a post-credits sequence, Alisha and Rose can be seen cooking together and a future Mikleo is shown reuniting with a reawakened Sorey.

## Gallery

**Tales of Zestiria the X** Logo**Tales of Zestiria the X** (Transparent) LogoThe reveal poster for the 20th Anniversary animation
## Trivia

* The X, "The Cross", is a reference to the cross between times due to the ley lines.
* The adaption was originally meant to be about *Tales of Berseria*, hence the involvement of their characters. This was changed in order to make both titles gain an increase in popularity, before *Berseria*'s sales and a hope to increase *Zestiria*'s sales.

## External Website Links

* **[JP]** Tales of Zestiria the X (Official Website)
* **[JP]** Tales of Zestiria (Game)