Xenosaga: The Animation

Xenosaga: The Animation
Runtime	January 5th, 2005 - March 23th, 2005
Episodes	12
Producers	Toei Animation

Xenosaga: The Animation is a twelve-episode anime series developed by Toei Animation which premiered on TV Asahi in Japan on January 5th, 2005 and on Anime Network in the United States August 30th, 2007. The anime is based off the events of Xenosaga Episode I, although there are differences.

Episodes

1. Awakening
2. Imminent Defeat
3. Chance Encounter
4. Jaws of Death
5. Heteromorphic
6. Anchorage
7. Encephalon
8. Memories
9. The Song
10. The Weapon
11. Delusion
12. KOS-MOS

Characters

• Shion Uzuki
• KOS-MOS
• Gaignun Kukai Jr.
• Ziggy
• MOMO
• chaos
• Albedo Piazzolla
• Margulis
• Kirsch
• Luis Virgil
• Shelley Godwin
• Mary Godwin
• Allen Ridgeley
• Wilhelm
• Red Testament
• Blue Testament
• Black Testament
• Vanderkam
• Jin Uzuki
• Gaignun Kukai
• Kevin Winnicot
• Tony
• Matthews
• Hammer
• Andrew Cherenkov
• Pellegri
• Nephilim
• Juli Mizrahi
• Joachim Mizrahi
• Sakura Mizrahi
• Helmer
• Canaan
• Febronia
• Lapis Roman
• Kazuichi Moriyama
• Caspase
• Togashi Yukihira
• Calx

Development

During the early stages of the Xenosaga franchise (late 2001 – early 2003), there were no plans to create an anime adaptation. However, the major success of Xenosaga Episode I in both Japan and North America led to the idea of adapting the game into an animated series.

In a May 2003 interview about Xenosaga Episode II, Tetsuya Takahashi stated that he wanted to expand the Xenosaga franchise into other forms of media beyond video games, expressing his interest in creating a novel and an anime series. In July 2003, during a conference, Monolith Soft revealed its plans to produce both a novel adaptation and an anime series in the future.

Sometime after the release of Xenosaga Episode II (around summer 2004), the project to create an anime adaptation of Xenosaga Episode I began as one of Monolith Soft's side projects. As a result, the budget was not particularly high. The main goals of this adaptation were to present Xenosaga's dense narrative to a broader audience while preserving the core elements of the game, as well as to serve as an entry point for new players and to promote future installments of the series.

Monolith Soft and Tetsuya Takahashi had little involvement in the production of The Animation. Monolith Soft allowed Namco to take the lead on the project, and Namco selected Toei Animation as the producer. The team then began searching for a scenario writer with "a strong background in sci-fi and mecha who also enjoys video games." They ultimately chose Yuichiro Takeda as the ideal candidate. When Takeda began working on the storyboard, Takahashi approached him with the intention of hiring him as the scenario writer for Xenosaga I & II. However, upon realizing Takeda was already occupied, Takahashi decided to put the development of that title on hold. Takeda continued working on The Animation for approximately six months, visiting Namco's headquarters once a week. According to Takeda himself during a Xenosaga I & II interview, he found it challenging to condense a large RPG into twelve 20-minute episodes. At times, he would literally time scenes with a stopwatch and calculator to determine what could be shortened or removed.

Due to the limited budget and short development period of roughly six months, the animation quality was at times noticeably poor —particularly during the middle episodes.

On November 10, 2004, Xenosaga: The Animation was officially announced, with its premiere set for January 2005 on TV Asahi. Japanese dubbing began in December 2004, and according to Ai Maeda herself, re-voicing the events of Episode I was a deeply nostalgic experience. The first episode premiered on January 5, 2005, with new episodes airing every Wednesday until the twelfth and final episode on March 23, 2005.

After the television broadcast concluded, the series was released across six DVD volumes between April 29 and September 23, 2005. Each DVD contained two episodes and was priced at ¥6,090. Additionally, two DVD box sets were released: the first on April 29, 2005, containing the first six episodes for ¥18,270, and the second on July 29, 2005, containing the final six episodes for the same price. An art book featuring production artwork and staff interviews was also released on May 28, 2005, priced at ¥2,500.

The anime was dubbed for North America by A.D. Vision in Texas in 2007. The Western version of The Animation premiered on Anime Network on August 30, 2007. The rights were later acquired by Funimation Entertainment in 2008. The series was made available in both dubbed and subtitled formats through Funimation's website between November and December 2009. All episodes were later released on DVD as Xenosaga: The Complete Series S.A.V.E. on September 13, 2011, for US$19.98.

Music

Main article: Music of Xenosaga: The Animation

The music of Xenosaga: The Animation is entirely original to the anime, with no melodic motifs used from elsewhere in Xenosaga. All such music was composed by Kousuke Yamashita, and much of it was released on the 23rd of March, 2005 as the Xenosaga THE ANIMATION Original Soundtrack.

Story differences

The story of The Animation has many differences to that of Xenosaga Episode I.

General differences

• Miyuki Itsumi is completely omitted, her role being filled in by Togashi Yukihira.
• Virgil survives the events of the Woglinde and accompanies the main characters for much of the story.
• The entire Kirschwasser race is absent, their roles replaced by a single Kirschwasser, Kirsch. Kirsch plays a significant role in the story as an underling of Albedo.
• Pellegri has a more expanded role than she does in the game. Her E.S. unit, Issachar, also makes an appearance despite debuting in Episode II.
• Jin Uzuki has a slightly more expanded role than he does in the game.

Episode 1

• The excavation of the Zohar at Lake Turkana is omitted.
• KOS-MOS is encased in a bulky suit of armor, rather than having her visor down.
• Vanderkam is seen making his subordinates do pushups as punishment for mishandling the Zohar Emulator.
• Shion befriends the Realian Kirsch, who is posing as a 100-Series Observational Unit aboard the Woglinde.

Episode 2

• Virgil survives the events on the Woglinde, taking the place of Andrew Cherenkov who is killed by a Gnosis.
• Albedo appears on the Woglinde to retrieve Kirsch by threatening Shion's life if she doesn't comply, something that doesn't happen in the game.
• Shion is nearly whitened by a Goblin Gnosis in a hallway, rather than a Golem in the Realian maintenance center.

Episode 3

• The infiltration of Pleroma is omitted as both Ziggy and MOMO are aleady on board the Elsa when Shion, Allen and Virgil were rescued.
• KOS-MOS gets into a fight with Ziggy, only for her to be stopped by MOMO.

Episode 4

• The Cathedral Ship section is omitted.
• The Elsa gates out of hyperspace into a pack of Gnosis because KOS-MOS deliberately damages it.

Episode 6

• During the party's stay at the Kukai Foundation, Jr. buys a life-sized Bunnie plush for MOMO.
• Allen befriends Scott at the Ironman Bar.

Episode 7

• Virgil is among those arrested by the Federation after the Kukai Foundation is framed by the U-TIC Organization.
• The party enlists the help of the Professor and Scott to dive into the Encephalon in order to access KOS-MOS's data.
• The start of the Encephalon sequence features a mock battle against macrophages in which the party members use the Tech Attacks they use in-game.

Episode 8

• chaos makes a transmission to Jin Uzuki at his house while the party is in the Encephalon in an effort to clear their names.
• Pellegri finds the party within the Encephalon as they enter the door to KOS-MOS's data, but she is forced to log out by Jin and chaos.
• Meanwhile, Virgil fights Pellegri's E.S. Issachar in real space.

Episode 9

• Virgil dies to KOS-MOS's X-BUSTER attack during the Gnosis invasion of the Kukai Foundation.

Episode 10

• Albedo kidnaps MOMO while piloting the E.S. Simeon, and uses her as a human shield against Jr..
• A flashback scene involving Rubedo and Sakura is added.
• Kirsch witnesses MOMO's birth within her test tube alongside Joachim Mizrahi.
• The "Ma Belle Peche" scene is altered drastically: Kirsch is present and abused by Albedo, and Albedo uses a gun to frighten MOMO and shoot his head off, replacing the knife he wields in the Japanese release of the original game.

Episode 11

• The Song of Nephilim section and the Proto Merkabah section are merged.
• Sophie Peithos is replaced by a transformed Simeon.

Episode 12

• Canaan makes a non-speaking appearance.
• Kirsch takes KOS-MOS's place in detaching Proto Merkabah's sub-compartments and dies with it.
• Abel is not shown.
• The Black and Blue Testaments appear alongside the Red Testament in the epilogue.

Trivia

• The Zohar Emulators in the title card in each episode contains a Hebrew numeral which denotes the episode's number.

Gallery

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  Cover art for Vol. 1.

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  Cover art for Vol. 2.

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  Cover art for Vol. 3.

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  Cover art for Vol. 4.

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  Cover art for Vol. 5.

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  Cover art for Vol. 6.

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  Cover art for DVD Box 1.

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  Cover art for DVD Box 2.