|
is a multimedia project series made in collaboration by Gust Corporation and Banpresto (currently subsidiaries of Tecmo Koei and Namco Bandai Games respectively) consisting of video games, manga, and an OVA. The name of the series is also the name of the amplification complex composed by three monumental towers that appear in the aforementioned works. Throughout the life of the series, it was directed by Akira Tsuchiya (Gust) and produced by Atsunori Kawachi (Banpresto). The main theme songs for all of the games were sung by Akiko Shikata. Recently, it was succeeded by the ''Surge Concerto'' series. The core part of the series is formed by three console role playing games, which are listed below in chronological order: #''Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia'' #''Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica'' #''Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel'' The present article aims to be a general summary of the series, as well as describe the elements that are common to the world setting in all of its works. ==Summary== The ''Ar tonelico'' series is set in a planet called Ar Ciel, which lost its land in a great man-made catastrophe a long time ago, and it is a work of SF Fantasy that depicts the interaction between the protagonist and the heroines, the latter generally being members of a race called ''Revatail'' (romanized as Reyvateil in the English-localized versions of the games and related material), which can use a special ability known as Song Magic. During the course of the trilogy of games, the people were forced to live on three gigantic structures they made after the land was lost, and due to the loss of communication between the regions that form Ar Ciel, the people eventually came to believe that the region where they lived was the entirety of the "world" that existed. A constructed language known as the Hymmnos Language (called Hymnos in English-language releases) is also present throughout the materials that form the series, used as part of the dialogue in the games as well as part of the lyrics of the songs heard in most audio releases related to the series, and used as a decorative element in parts of the interface, visual effects and backgrounds. The meaning to these multiple messages isn't apparent in the works themselves, but the Hymmnos language has a detailed vocabulary and set of grammar rules that can be read in detail over at the official site, which can be used as a guide to translate all phrases written in said language to Japanese. And while it hasn't received an official translation, all of this information has been translated for English-speaking audiences by enthusiastic fans of the series. Therefore, the players can discover hidden meanings and the feelings the characters singing the songs have hidden in its lyrics upon translating them. The first chapter in the series, released as a game for the Sony PlayStation 2, gathered quite an appreciation due to its depictions of several topics, beginning with the usage of the Hymmnos Language for its songs, followed by the union of an elaborate world setting with a charming cast of characters and even managing to barely explain to reasons for the scenes that presented sexual overtones. The following games introduced new ideas to the formula while continuing with the established basis for the series, as well as also receiving expansions into multimedia territory with the release of material such as manga and Drama CDs, which having songs and music as their core, further expanded the already complex world setting. Therefore, several products such as CDs compiling the songs found in the games and books explaining the intricacies of the game's world were released.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ar Tonelico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|