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celosiaTime for the brief special interview in this little guide. It's with the game's producer, Makoto Yoshizumi. It's the last thing in this tiny guide that serves any particular function outside of just being a guide for a video game, but that's okay. I still have the other guides. Plus, I've acquired a book that has Mutsumi Inomata's comments about the Rebirth designs, so I no longer have any complaints. But it's still nice to get stuff like this translated, too, you know? And I mean, it's Rebirth! There's only three or four Tales games I like more than this one. But even then, this one's memes are second to none, and did I mention I refuse to believe it's possible that this game was not inspired by Turn A Gundam? Because I do.
Anyway, here's today's little interview with Makoto Yoshizumi. FYI, the asterisk/parenthetical notes are not mine, they're from the interview itself. I'm not silly enough to think I'm hiding those Hilda plot points with everything they ARE saying about it.
First, let's talk about Tales of Rebirth's theme. What did you think about when first deciding what to emphasize in the story?
The Tales of series has always depicted conflicts across different places in time and space, between multiple powers with different goals and ideologies. Within those conflicts, good and evil don't exist. There is only the difference in their respective ways of thinking that ultimately become the source of the conflict. The series shows what kind of answer the party members come up with to those types of "questions with no answer." This time, we thought to center it on a conflict within just one world and time period. You could say that the theme we thought to depict was an unstable world where two different races, standing on the same earth, beneath the same sky, are aiming to coexist, but things don't exactly go well.
Next, I'd like to ask about the thoughts that went into the main characters, as well as behind the scenes information on their creation. First, let's start with Veigue, whose personality clearly differentiates him from the protagonists the series has seen up until this point. Mao and other characters frequently describe him using such words as "gloomy, scary, angry."
Well, it's not like we thought "Let's go with a personality like this!" and decided how Veigue would be that way. On the contrary, we were actually trying to depict with some realism the sort of young man of 18 years old who was calm and cool one could find their own daily lives. But he ended up being a little gloomier, huh? (laughs) The character kind of ended up taking on a life of his own, you could say.
Next is Claire. She, like Veigue, is a first for the series, in that she is a heroine who does not become playable. What was your goal with her?
She had the role of being the personification of the theme we wanted to depict in the game's story, so it was necessary for the story that she be a noncombatant. Even if she were to fight, it doesn't seem like she would be very strong, in any case. In some sense, her willingness to accept sacrifice is one way we portrayed a sort of conscience in the world.
The cool and refined Eugene, having a form similar to an animal, is quite a novel character for the series.
To properly express the antagonism between the two races, we absolutely wanted there to be a visual difference between them. That's the reason for the appearance of Gajuma characters such as Eugene. Plus, although it was a bit of an excuse after the fact, we also wanted to see what a "beast man" drawn by Ms. Inomata would look like. In any case, something we wanted to make sure of was that we avoided just sticking animal heads onto human bodies. We didn't want to lose the animal characteristics, after all. Just like humans evolved from primates in the real world, we wanted there to be people who evolved from different kinds of animals in parallel.
Annie is a symbol of the antagonistic relationship between the races, being a Huma character who hates Gajuma. Was she a character who was created specifically for that purpose?
Yes. Although there are many political causes for racial antagonism, if you think about it on an individual level, there would also be causes related to events that happen around you. It's not easy to just shake off things that happen to you personally. Even if you come to an understanding logically, it's very difficult to reach that kind of understanding from the heart. Annie was put into the story to bring that perspective on Tales of Rebirth's theme.
In terms of appearance, Annie stands in stark contrast to Tales of Symphonia's Sheena*. Was this decided by the producer, or did Ms. Inomata's design come first?
In terms of her proportions, well, it wasn't that we were thinking to contrast her with Sheena. But since she's a 15 year old girl and slim, that's how she ended up. Of course, we did request that of Ms. Inomata, but it was all part of the established facts of the character.
* (Sheena from Tales of Symphonia is a female assassin who joins the protagonist Lloyd's party and boasts some of the most voluptuous body proportions in the series.)
Moving on, the secret regarding Hilda's birth** is representative of another issue between the two races that is different from the ones Annie represents. Was Hilda, like Annie, created in order to explore that issue?
Yes, she was indeed another character created specifically to explore an aspect of the story's theme. If Annie is the symbol of emotional antagonism between the races, then Hilda symbolizes harmony between them. However, since she's a rare kind of existence, we thought to give her a lot of difficult experiences for her background story. Also, since we wanted to create a sort of microcosm of the world within the party members, we wanted to have Huma, Gajuma, and also _____*** in the party.
** (This secret regarding Hilda's birth is brought to light around the time she first appears in the story. However, we will not be revealing it so as to avoid spoiling players who have not reached that part of the game.)
*** (This is also a secret related to Hilda's birth, so players who have yet to meet her should keep playing and look forward to it!)
Now, let's talk about Mao. Since the protagonist is quiet, Mao is a cheerful character who takes on the role of steering the party through the story. But there is also a mystery behind him having no memories.
Having characters with amnesia in the setting seems like it fits right in with the Korean wave,**** doesn't it? (laughs) In any case, it's a trend right now. His origin kind of has that feeling, but we also tried to have him be a sort of reflection of the hopes of the world.
**** (The "Korean wave" was a trend that was started by certain South Korean films and TV shows that surged up all at once in popularity. Originally it was a phenomenon that took place in Asian countries. It's unexpected that Mao would have been influenced by it... As for the "amnesia" aspect of Mao's story, it seems it will be touched on in the game's second half. Producer Yoshizumi's comments also hint at it.)
Tytree, who is talkative just like Mao, is already fired up in his very first scene in the game. Is this kind of character viewed as indispensable among the player characters?
Tytree has the role of putting out the most power of all the party members. To use a car analogy, he would be the "engine." Until now, the protagonists in the series have filled that role. However, with Veigue being how he is, he couldn't do it. Basically, the role requires a forceful, hot-blooded type of guy. However, we also weren't looking to make him a playboy type, like Zelos***** from Tales of Symphonia, so he feels like a different kind of character.
***** (Zelos is a red-haired pretty boy swordsman who joins the party in Tales of Symphonia. He's cheerful and talks a lot, similar to Tytree. However, in Zelos's case, he has a habit of hitting on every girl he sees.)
By the half way point of the game, the character Agarte has made quite an impression just by giving an order to forcefully gather up beautiful Huma girls... What purpose does her story serve? By that point, it seems the complexes she has regarding her own appearance have begun to come out.
What's considered to be the most precious thing varies from person to person. In her case, it's something related to her physical appearance. She thought that it was the most important thing, even if it were to become a threat to the world itself. It was by no means foolish: from her perspective, it was something that had to be done. Furthermore, she possessed the power to carry it out. We wanted to depict the drama that would be born from that situation. I want to leave it to the players to decide what the takeaway is from Agarte's actions.
I promise this is the final question, but could you give us a word about the next entry in the Tales of series?
Weeell, there's a lot of things, you know, but... "Secret."
You really gave us just one word. I would have liked to hear a lot more, but alas. Thank you so much for talking with us today.
(Date of interview: last day of November, 2004.)
Anyway, here's today's little interview with Makoto Yoshizumi. FYI, the asterisk/parenthetical notes are not mine, they're from the interview itself. I'm not silly enough to think I'm hiding those Hilda plot points with everything they ARE saying about it.
First, let's talk about Tales of Rebirth's theme. What did you think about when first deciding what to emphasize in the story?
The Tales of series has always depicted conflicts across different places in time and space, between multiple powers with different goals and ideologies. Within those conflicts, good and evil don't exist. There is only the difference in their respective ways of thinking that ultimately become the source of the conflict. The series shows what kind of answer the party members come up with to those types of "questions with no answer." This time, we thought to center it on a conflict within just one world and time period. You could say that the theme we thought to depict was an unstable world where two different races, standing on the same earth, beneath the same sky, are aiming to coexist, but things don't exactly go well.
Next, I'd like to ask about the thoughts that went into the main characters, as well as behind the scenes information on their creation. First, let's start with Veigue, whose personality clearly differentiates him from the protagonists the series has seen up until this point. Mao and other characters frequently describe him using such words as "gloomy, scary, angry."
Well, it's not like we thought "Let's go with a personality like this!" and decided how Veigue would be that way. On the contrary, we were actually trying to depict with some realism the sort of young man of 18 years old who was calm and cool one could find their own daily lives. But he ended up being a little gloomier, huh? (laughs) The character kind of ended up taking on a life of his own, you could say.
Next is Claire. She, like Veigue, is a first for the series, in that she is a heroine who does not become playable. What was your goal with her?
She had the role of being the personification of the theme we wanted to depict in the game's story, so it was necessary for the story that she be a noncombatant. Even if she were to fight, it doesn't seem like she would be very strong, in any case. In some sense, her willingness to accept sacrifice is one way we portrayed a sort of conscience in the world.
The cool and refined Eugene, having a form similar to an animal, is quite a novel character for the series.
To properly express the antagonism between the two races, we absolutely wanted there to be a visual difference between them. That's the reason for the appearance of Gajuma characters such as Eugene. Plus, although it was a bit of an excuse after the fact, we also wanted to see what a "beast man" drawn by Ms. Inomata would look like. In any case, something we wanted to make sure of was that we avoided just sticking animal heads onto human bodies. We didn't want to lose the animal characteristics, after all. Just like humans evolved from primates in the real world, we wanted there to be people who evolved from different kinds of animals in parallel.
Annie is a symbol of the antagonistic relationship between the races, being a Huma character who hates Gajuma. Was she a character who was created specifically for that purpose?
Yes. Although there are many political causes for racial antagonism, if you think about it on an individual level, there would also be causes related to events that happen around you. It's not easy to just shake off things that happen to you personally. Even if you come to an understanding logically, it's very difficult to reach that kind of understanding from the heart. Annie was put into the story to bring that perspective on Tales of Rebirth's theme.
In terms of appearance, Annie stands in stark contrast to Tales of Symphonia's Sheena*. Was this decided by the producer, or did Ms. Inomata's design come first?
In terms of her proportions, well, it wasn't that we were thinking to contrast her with Sheena. But since she's a 15 year old girl and slim, that's how she ended up. Of course, we did request that of Ms. Inomata, but it was all part of the established facts of the character.
* (Sheena from Tales of Symphonia is a female assassin who joins the protagonist Lloyd's party and boasts some of the most voluptuous body proportions in the series.)
Moving on, the secret regarding Hilda's birth** is representative of another issue between the two races that is different from the ones Annie represents. Was Hilda, like Annie, created in order to explore that issue?
Yes, she was indeed another character created specifically to explore an aspect of the story's theme. If Annie is the symbol of emotional antagonism between the races, then Hilda symbolizes harmony between them. However, since she's a rare kind of existence, we thought to give her a lot of difficult experiences for her background story. Also, since we wanted to create a sort of microcosm of the world within the party members, we wanted to have Huma, Gajuma, and also _____*** in the party.
** (This secret regarding Hilda's birth is brought to light around the time she first appears in the story. However, we will not be revealing it so as to avoid spoiling players who have not reached that part of the game.)
*** (This is also a secret related to Hilda's birth, so players who have yet to meet her should keep playing and look forward to it!)
Now, let's talk about Mao. Since the protagonist is quiet, Mao is a cheerful character who takes on the role of steering the party through the story. But there is also a mystery behind him having no memories.
Having characters with amnesia in the setting seems like it fits right in with the Korean wave,**** doesn't it? (laughs) In any case, it's a trend right now. His origin kind of has that feeling, but we also tried to have him be a sort of reflection of the hopes of the world.
**** (The "Korean wave" was a trend that was started by certain South Korean films and TV shows that surged up all at once in popularity. Originally it was a phenomenon that took place in Asian countries. It's unexpected that Mao would have been influenced by it... As for the "amnesia" aspect of Mao's story, it seems it will be touched on in the game's second half. Producer Yoshizumi's comments also hint at it.)
Tytree, who is talkative just like Mao, is already fired up in his very first scene in the game. Is this kind of character viewed as indispensable among the player characters?
Tytree has the role of putting out the most power of all the party members. To use a car analogy, he would be the "engine." Until now, the protagonists in the series have filled that role. However, with Veigue being how he is, he couldn't do it. Basically, the role requires a forceful, hot-blooded type of guy. However, we also weren't looking to make him a playboy type, like Zelos***** from Tales of Symphonia, so he feels like a different kind of character.
***** (Zelos is a red-haired pretty boy swordsman who joins the party in Tales of Symphonia. He's cheerful and talks a lot, similar to Tytree. However, in Zelos's case, he has a habit of hitting on every girl he sees.)
By the half way point of the game, the character Agarte has made quite an impression just by giving an order to forcefully gather up beautiful Huma girls... What purpose does her story serve? By that point, it seems the complexes she has regarding her own appearance have begun to come out.
What's considered to be the most precious thing varies from person to person. In her case, it's something related to her physical appearance. She thought that it was the most important thing, even if it were to become a threat to the world itself. It was by no means foolish: from her perspective, it was something that had to be done. Furthermore, she possessed the power to carry it out. We wanted to depict the drama that would be born from that situation. I want to leave it to the players to decide what the takeaway is from Agarte's actions.
I promise this is the final question, but could you give us a word about the next entry in the Tales of series?
Weeell, there's a lot of things, you know, but... "Secret."
You really gave us just one word. I would have liked to hear a lot more, but alas. Thank you so much for talking with us today.
(Date of interview: last day of November, 2004.)
