'Tales of Vesperia' Anime Film on DVD/Blu-ray Disc

Flynn and Yuri have known each other since they were kids, but their motivations for joining knighthood in service to the kingdom differ greatly. Although on good terms, relatively speaking, the two young men are constantly at each other's throats, bickering and fighting, sometimes side-by-side, but usually face-to-face. In the anime film Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, Flynn Scifo and Yuri Lowell are rookie knights assigned to their first mission, but it appears that the two will need more than well-honed sword fighting skills and boyhood ambition to overcome what lies in their path.

Acquired for U.S. home video release more than a year ago, Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike finally makes its way to DVD and Blu-ray Disc this week courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment. The anime film is part of a larger, multimedia franchise tentpoled by more than a dozen RPGs that have crisscrossed generations of gaming consoles. Merging a bit of magical fantasy, medieval swordsmanship, and old school questing, Tales of Vesperia, the film, fits right in. The anime requires no further knowledge of the franchise, and so follows Flynn and Yuri who are coincidentally assigned to the same garrison out in the rough country. The two young men have conflicting senses of duty, and proceed to resolve a growing threat against a rural town with their own brand of bravery.

Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, originally released in 2009, is the work of Production I.G (Eden of the East, Bunny Drop, Kimi ni Todoke), and is now available as a single, DVD/Blu-ray combination release ($34.98). The film is directed by Kanta Kamei. Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike perches viewers on the shoulders of Flynn and Yuri, who must work with fellow knights to protect a rural outpost from an encroaching threat.

Reported attacks of monsters, closer and closer to the barrier surrounding the city, are beginning to worry the townspeople. The mysterious discovery of a red-colored aer, an ancient but powerful form of energy, seems unnatural to the area -- this to which worries the garrison captain. Perhaps the two occurrences are connected. The only way to know for sure is to brandish a sword, go into the forest, and find out.

Flynn is the more straight-laced of the two boys. His late father served the empire as a knight, and now he is doing the same. Flynn is tactical and knows when to keep quiet. His longtime friend Yuri, however, is a shade different. It remains to be seen why Yuri enlisted as a knight, but the young man's flair for controlled violence may provide some insight. Yuri, with long hair and wide feminine eyes, is actually quite brutish. Fortunately, just like his buddy, Yuri's desire to protect the innocent is never in question.

In Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, the boys' brigade is assigned to quell the unrest in a nearby forest, whose contaminated aer is forcing animal and plant life to die off (in addition to other dangerous side effects). Aer is a natural source of energy used to power all different kinds of technology, but if tainted, aer can just as well cause terrible destruction. Allied with a brave and uncompromising captain, a pair of twin girls with healing talents, and their own swords and shields, Flynn and Yuri follow orders, disobey orders, protect the innocent, protect one another, and struggle against the shifting void of the night in an effort to unravel a fantastic mystery.

The film was originally written as the prequel to the videogame of the same name, the game of which was released but weeks apart from the anime. Flynn and Yuri both struggle to claim what is best for the townspeople they've sworn to protect. Violence surrounds them, however, and this mission, their first mission, is bound to leave a mark.