Tales of Symphonia (the animation) is, first and foremost, derived from the 2003/2004 Gamecube exclusive (and later, multi-platform) JRPG of the same title. I say that because it’s important to keep in mind that this eleven-episode series is a video game adaptation first, and an original story second. Yet I found that those aren’t mutually exclusive during my viewing of Tales of Symphonia, which is finally available legally for the first time on Crunchryoll.
The show, much like its source material, is divided up into arcs: the Sylvarant Arc, the Tethe’alla Arc, and the United World Arc. These arcs get spread out across eleven episodes, telling a compressed version of the 80+ hour JRPG’s plot with some pacing adjustments and original elements blended in. Our story first begins in Sylvarant with protagonist Lloyd Irving, who, at first glance, appears to be your typical hot-headed…
