I had a tiny exchange with Miyajima-sensei (the main scenario writer for Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss), springing from her Mother’s Day tweet about the Symphonia (plus the Ratatosk cast) and the Abyss cast, the former of which doesn’t really have much mothers to bond with, considering how most of the mothers of the cast are either dead or whose current status or whereabouts are unknown. The latter, however, still have mothers they could deepen their bonds with, the named characters being Luke & Asch, Jade, and Anise.
I asked her to clarify if she meant Jade’s adoptive mother or his biological mother (since he was adopted into the Curtiss family as a matter of succession rather than actually losing his parents at a young age), as the former was mentioned in some official material that came with an old issue of the Viva Tales of Magazine. In any case, she clarified that Jade’s biological mother and adoptive mother are both alive. Apparently, there’s an external source that mentions this too.
I hope this clarifies matters anyhow! There seems to be a good bit of confusion around the circumstances of Jade’s adoption and there’s very little we know about his parents, both biological and adoptive, so it’s nice to get some confirmation from who’s essentially Word of God when it comes to these types of matters.
As established in this post, Jade’s eyes are red due to the fonic sight arte he applied when he was a child. However, as pointed out by various fans, in the anime’s ending, Jade’s eyes seem to have turned back to brown.
This is in fact the case. In the May 2014 issue of the Viva☆Tales of Magazine, it has been confirmed by Takumi Miyajima herself (the main scenario writer for TOA) that this is a visual cue for the character development that Jade underwent. According to her, his eye color reverting back to its original color is a result of him nullifying the arte he placed on his eyes--a sign that his feelings have gradually changed after the main story.
It is hard to say if this change is similarly present in the game itself, but at the very least, this holds true for the anime.
As it says on the tin, this is an expanded version of this post. Most of the information here comes from the related sidequest where you acquire the "Soft Meanie" title, and is supplemented with other official material.
- What is fonic sight?
Fonic sight is a forbidden arte that amplifies a fonist’s ablities. By applying fonic glyphs to one’s eyes–the greatest fon slot in the human body–a fonist is able to gather fonons at three times the normal rate and increase the strength of his fonic artes as well.
- Who created it?
According to the TOA Perfect Guide, Jade created fonic sight at the tender age of eight. This is also confirmed in Shiro no Ashita.
- What kind of preparations are needed in order to perform this arte?
It isn't mentioned specifically what kind of prerequisites are needed, but Jade does say it requires careful preparation and expertise. There is a brief expansion on the latter by Anise, who comments that Jade is able to pull it off because he's able to control six fonons with just his own power.
- What type of fonic glyph is to be applied to the eyes?
The specific type is not mentioned (only the fact that inscriptions are to be applied), but it is perhaps worth noting that the arte Dist applied on Mohs to strengthen his fonic artes is similar in nature as the one Jade used on his eyes.
- What are the side effects if one is successful in applying the arte?
In Jade's case, his eye color changed to red. Originally, his eye color was hazel, as mentioned in the TOA Official Scenario Book. In Shiro no Ashita, it is mentioned by a ten-year-old Jade that he could have prevented this eye color change and suppressed the related pain more effectively given his current ability.
In addition to the above, the arte still has a potential to go out of control, so a limiter is needed to prevent that, i.e. Jade's glasses, which are actually fontech. Jade doesn't actually use them for correcting eyesight, as his visual acuity happens to be actually 20/10 for both eyes.
- What happens if you fail in applying the arte?
If an inexperienced fonist (i.e. someone who is hardly able to use fonic artes) like Casim in the sidequest applies it, they could end up blind, or worse, dead. In Casim's case, the arte goes out of control and he starts undergoing fonon separation, which is stopped by Tear's fonic hymns and is undone by Jade during that time.
I was wondering if you could clear this one TotA thing up for me. It's one of the few unanswered questions I've had over the years. The wiki claims the game takes place over 3 years and I always assumed it took place a little of one year. I mean, no one ages, at all by endgame. Anise is the biggest sign of this. On top of that, 3 Auldrantian years is 6 human years. That's a lot of plot time to burn. I was wondering if you'd know and have any sources?
Hmm, wikis aren't usually a reliable source of information for these things... Well, at least the one I'm thinking of at the moment.
The game proper (from Luke and Tear ending up in Tataroo Valley to the siege at Eldrant) covers a period that's a little less than a year at Auldrant (the whole of ND 2018). Though if you want to get technical about it and include the epilogue cutscene at Tataroo Valley in your count, it technically takes place in a span of three years (beginning of ND 2018 to the end of ND 2020, very much approaching ND 2021).
As for the fact that no one seems to age, it's either people in Auldrant age differently compared to Earthlings (I am looking at the Keterderps, who must've stumbled upon the fountain of eternal youth during their stay at Keterburg, and on the flip side, Arietta and Tear, with the latter being younger than the former) or it's just artistic license on part of those behind the characters.
Regarding my sources, that's what I recall from Yume's TOA timeline, which is sourced from various official material. And I have more or less committed this tidbit to memory in the name of fanfic research.
Auldrant's Calendar (ND 2009) from the 3DS TOA Perfect Guide
Some equivalents worth noting:
1 hour = 60 minutes 60 seconds (I'm not sure if this is just some typographical error or this implies that one minute over there is not equivalent to 60 seconds)
I've been leafing through my copy of the 3DS TOA Perfect Guide, and there was a list of personal pronouns used in the character profiles present in the Extras section. I find these things quite fascinating, so I've drawn up a list of the pronoun preferences listed in the guide:
Luke: 俺 (ore)
Tear: わたし (watashi)
Jade: 私 (watashi)
Anise: あたし/私 (atashi/watashi)
Guy: 俺 (ore)
Natalia: 私 (わたくし) (watakushi)
Ion: 僕 (boku)
Asch: 俺 (ore)
Van: 私 (watashi)
Legretta: 私/自分 (watashi/jibun)
Arietta: アリエッタ (arietta)
Dist: 私 (watashi)
Sync: 僕 (boku)
Largo: 俺 (ore)
Peony: 俺 (ore)
Frings: 私 (watashi)
Jozette: 私 (watashi)
Notes regarding the pronouns and a semi-analysis under the cut.
A quick crash course on what the pronouns mean:
☆ 私 (watashi) - a generic way of referring to yourself, counted under polite language. In formal language, this is seen as gender-neutral, though in an informal setting, this is often seen as feminine.
☆ 私 (watakushi) - is a very formal version of "watashi", counted under polite language. It rarely sees any use in daily conversation (unless you are some important authority figure, so I suppose its usage in Natalia's speech emphasizes her formality in speech (which makes sense, considering her upbringing as royalty).
☆ あたし (atashi) - slang version of "watashi", counted under informal language. More feminine than "watashi", and has a cutesy and girly ring to it.
☆ 僕 (boku) - a boyish way of referring to oneself, counted under informal language. Commonly used by young boys, more polite than "ore".
☆ 俺 (ore) - a masculine way of referring to oneself, counted under informal language. Has connotations of emphasizing one's masculinity and/or superiority.
☆ 自分 (jibun) - a reflexive pronoun used to refer to oneself, sometimes used as a first-person pronoun. Used by military personnel at times.
☆ アリエッタ (arietta) - Arietta's name. She refers to herself in third person in the original Japanese.
Other notes:
☆ As mentioned in a drama CD (though I believe it was either implied in-game or stated in a skit), Luke picked up his manner of speech from Guy, who basically raised him. It's probable that his tutors tried to teach him the proper way a noble should speak, but considering how he needed to learn basic things like walking and talking all over again, I'm supposing it wasn't a high priority and Luke was mostly left to his own devices.
☆ On the other hand, Asch probably dropped whatever formal speech he learned in an effort to fit in with the Oracle Knights.
☆ Legretta's usage of "jibun" emphasizes her involvement with the military.
☆ Arietta's choice of "pronoun" denotes her childish way of talking, which is to be expected, considering she was raised by monsters.
☆ I'm not sure why Tear's pronoun was spelled out in hiragana with no accompanying kanji, but perhaps it's to emphasize her informality when using it.
☆ Regarding Jade's pronoun, it's interesting to note that as a child, he used "boku" to refer to himself, and promptly changed pronouns after he entered the military. It was not an easy transition for him, judging by how he had to make a conscious effort to keep it up, but he managed to do so and was able to change his speaking style from something resembling Luke's to something definitely more formal. (Eirlys went into detail regarding this in a previous essay I posted. The link is somewhat out of place in this particular writeup, but if you want to read it, a little digging around my analysis tag should yield you the desired result.)
☆ On Peony's end, his use of "ore" rather than some formal version of 私 highlights his tone of informality with his guests.
I had a post with a whole bunch of symbolism behind different aspects of Saphir's name but I can't remember where it is. Three things I remember though is that in some accounts in the bible, God is said to sit on a throne of sapphire in the heavens, sapphires (and by extension rubies, as they share the same ionic structure) are a 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness for precious stones, and sapphires are a jewel used by necromancers to communicate with the dead.
Also probably the reason Dist names his robots "Kaiser Dist" is because "Kaiser" is German for Emperor/Caesar and "saphir" in a lot of germanic languages (including German) translates as "sapphire". And all of this basically means he is mad jealous of Peony.
TL;DR: Saphir was really meant to be used by Jade and he has a bit of a God-complex.
Thanks for sharing this! I find it really fascinating, in any case.
