Tales of Symphonia THE ANIMATION OVA TETHE’ALLA Hen ED Single – Inori no Kanata [Shikata Akiko] Review:

Original release date: April 28^th 2010

Hello readers, this is my first single review and I thought I should start with a nice, short one. Tales of Symphonia The Animation: Teth’alla Hen is the second OVA based of the RPG, Tales of Symphonia. I adore all the tracks on this ending single so I have nothing negative to report. Vocalist Shikata Akiko sings in three of these lovely tracks.

The album artwork as you can see on top is quite angelic and pictures the female lead, Collette. She has a smile on her face despite her tragic condition in the OVA.

So without further ado here are my thoughts on the single.

Tracklist:

TETHE'ALLA ~Tai no Kodomotachi~ (2:46)

Inori no Kanata (4:19)

Akikakushi (4:55)

Inori no Kanata ~Instrumental~ (4:02)

TETHE'ALLA ~Tai no Kodomotachi~:

The first track starts out very strong and then following a choir of angelic voices. Shikata’s voice gracefully blends with the choir giving this song a powerful feeling. It really isn’t a track you would find on a regular ending single because its more like background music. I like to picture a battle going on between the heroes of Symphonia and the villains much like the game playing out in my head while listening to it.


Inori no Kanata:

Defiantly at this time my favourite ending song from any Tales animation next to the Tales of the Abyss’s anime ending theme. Inori no Kanata translated into English means The Other Side of a Prayer. The melody is very ethereal and medieval sounding. I can easily see this song being sung by Collette or even the Goddess Martell. (main greater deity of the game) When this plays at the end of episode one, an adorable animation plays. Watch it and see how special it really is.

* Skip to 0:31 to avoid spoilers*

Akikakushi:

The third melody in the single is very dramatic and during certain parts it becomes quite calming. I love the use of stringed instruments though. It gives a sort of marching band feel to it.

Inori no Kanata ~Instrumental~:

As the title of the track says this is the instrumental version of Inori no Kanata. Unlike most instrumental songs that only remove the vocals this is an entirely different take on it. The use of bagpipes really stands out and gives it more of an old folk song aura.

All in all, this ending single is beautifully done and tons of great talent was put into it. It is very memorable. I give it a 4.5/5 for amazing style and grace.