Tales of Zestiria the X

Tales of Zestiria the X (pronounced "Tales of Zestiria the Cross") is a Japanese anime television series based on both Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria video games developed by Bandai Namco Studios and tri-Crescendo, and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is produced by Ufotable, Warner Bros. Animation, Amblin Television, RatPac Television, Icon Productions, The Donners' Company and Bandai Visual and distributed by Warner Bros. Television. The TV series was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff except episodes 5-6 which was directed by Mel Gibson and Richard Donner with Chris Buck co-directed it and screenplay written by Stephen Chbosky, Evan Spiliotopoulos and Irene Mecchi with the story by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Roger Allers except episodes 5-6 for the story by Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg and Dan Harris with screenplay written by Simon Kinberg, Jennifer Lee and David Henry Hwang, featuring character designs by Akira Matsushima.

The original score was composed and conducted by Harry Gregson-Williams except episodes from "Tales of Berseria" which the score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal. The anime series is split into two halves: the first half premiered on July 3, 2016 and finished airing on September 25, 2016. The second half premiered on January 8, 2017 and finished airing on April 29, 2017.

Plot
Tales of Zestiria the X takes place in a world where there are beings called Seraphim. Humans and Seraphim used to live together in harmony thousands of years ago. The humans prayed to the Seraphim, and in return the Seraphim blessed them. The Seraphim have magical powers and their own element to control. Earth, wind, water, or fire. There were thousands of Seraphim, but mankind was awash with terrible emotions, and could easily be overcome and turn into monsters. When Seraphim became too connected to a human, seeing their friend physically and mentally turn into a monster caused them to despair and their ephemeral forms were quickly turned into monsters as well. The monsters were created when an area was thick with negative emotions that created a dangerous byproduct called malevolence. Malevolence turns any weak or negative living creature into a monster. While Seraphim are turned into powerful dragons, all other living creatures are turned into monsters called Hellions when they are taken over by malevolence.

The Seraphim kept nature running smoothly and in balance, while a person called the Shepherd kept the malevolence at bay. The Shepherd is a regular person until they are able to pull a sacred sword from a stone. Then they become a living legend with the power to purify all Hellions. They can form contracts with Seraphim and combine their bodies so they can use their elemental powers to purify dangerous creatures. They can also form contracts with humans, who help carry the burden of malevolence. While forming contracts with Seraphim has no adverse consequences, humans are a different story. Should the Shepherd die, so will the humans that have a contract with him or her. Also, the more humans the Shepard has contracts with, the heavier the burden on the Shepherd. They can weigh him or her down and cause problems if there are too many.

All of this is a simple legend, of course, no one's seen a Shepherd or Seraphim in hundreds of years. The legend says, humans became too self-absorbed and malevolent and therefore lost the ability to see a Seraphim's ephemeral form. That all changes when a certain princess stumbles across a young man who's lived in a Seraphim village his entire life and can see, touch and talk to them just as easily as he does humans. He has a dream to create a world in which Seraphim and humans can coexist again, but he doesn't have the power to act on his desires. The world is falling into darkness and the malevolence that the humans are blissfully unaware of is dangerously close to destroying everyone. How will the princess and her new optimistic friend fair in this world of monsters and mayhem?

Zestiria Characters

 * See also: Tales of Zestiria § Main characters


 * Sorey
 * Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura (Japanese); Chris O'Donnell (English)


 * Mikleo
 * Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka (Japanese); Mikey Kelley / Patton Oswalt (English)


 * Alisha Diphda
 * Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese); Bella Thorne (English)


 * Lailah
 * Voiced by: Noriko Shitaya (Japanese); Daisy Ridley (English)


 * Rose
 * Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (Japanese); Kari Wahlgren (English)


 * Edna
 * Voiced by: Misato Fukuen (Japanese); Kira Buckland (English)


 * Dezel
 * Voiced by: Daisuke Ono (Japanese); Rob Lowe (English)


 * Zaveid (pronounced "Zaveed")
 * Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese); Jerry O'Connell (English)

Berseria Characters

 * See also: Tales of Berseria § Characters


 * Velvet Crowe
 * Voiced by: Rina Satō (Japanese); Brittany Snow (Adult) / Mae Whitman (Young) (English)


 * Rokurou Rangetsu
 * Voiced by: Daisuke Kishio (Japanese); Crispin Freeman (English)


 * Magilou
 * Voiced by: Satomi Satō (Japanese); Elle Fanning (English)


 * Oscar Dragonia
 * Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (Japanese); Brendan Fraser (English)


 * Seres
 * Voiced by: Satomi Arai (Japanese); Helena Bonham Carter (English)

Production and release
An anime television series adaptation of the video game, titled Tales of Zestiria the X, which is animated by Ufotable, was announced at the Tales of Festival 2015. The original plans for the anime was about Tales of Berseria and its promotion before its release, hence the reason why the game makes an adapted appearance. The series is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff except episodes 6-7 which was also directed by Mel Gibson and Richard Donner with Chris Buck co-directed it, screenplay written by Stephen Chbosky, Evan Spiliotopoulos and Irene Mecchi with story written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Roger Allers except episodes 6-7 with story written by Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg and Dan Harris with screenplay written by Simon Kinberg, Jennifer Lee and David Henry Hwang. Akira Matsushima is adapting the original character designs for the anime, while the art director is Minji Kim.

The original score was composed and conducted by Harry Gregson-Williams except episodes from "Tales of Berseria" which the score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal. The main voice actors from the game will reprise their roles in the series except for Lailah's voice actress Miyu Matsuki, who died in 2015 and was replaced by Noriko Shitaya. The series was originally announced for broadcast sometime in July 2016.

The first half of the anime television series adaptation aired from July 3, 2016 to September 25, 2016. The opening theme song for the first half was "Kaze no Uta" by Flow, while the ending theme was "Calling" by Fhána. The second half began airing on January 8, 2017; the opening theme for the second half is "Illuminate" by Minami Kuribayashi and the ending theme is "Innosense" by Flow.

The anime has been licensed by Funimation, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, RatPac Television, Icon Television and The Donners' Company and by Madman Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for streaming.