Sorey x Mikleo Canon?

[Balaneo]

Does anyone else get the feeling that Sorey and Mikleo being gay for each other is totally canon? I mean it's hinted at non-stop throughout the story. Thoughts?

[Bobo]

Meebo is worst girl.

[Zunnoab #931]

Plerr の投稿を引用：

Before I played this game I heard a lot of Sorey x Mikleo rumors so I was curious to see for myself... however, after beating the game I can say that there was nothing at all suggesting the two as a couple. Some folks have a wiiiiild imagination.

In my opinion, Mikleo MIGHT be gay, something that seems to be further implied in the extra skits (not to mention "dat hair" in a certain scene, not to judge on stereotypes or anything)... but Sorey just doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥ about sexuality one way or the other it seems. He's a pure-hearted chaste shepard boy who just wants his dreams to be realized. He shows zero interest in love/romance/attraction/etc throughout the game. Just because he isn't displaying an obvious attraction to girls and lacks a designated waifu like other male leads in Tales games, it doesn't make him into boys by default.

His relationship with Mikleo is more akin to nerdy bros who geek out at every opprotunity. Yknow, like friends do.

TL;DR: Sorey isn't attracted to any gender, imo. It's part of what makes his heart so pure.

What on earth does sexual attraction have to do with having a "pure" heart?? This is like some weird regression into "sexual stuff is shameful always" 'morality.'

Just because people aren't overtly sexual does not mean they are asexual. That said I'm not arguing that Sorey is interested in a romantic relationship with anyone in the cast, but the notion that he's asexual and 'pure' is a tad unrealistic in my opinion. He's a young adult human. Aside from rare exceptions, they are hard-wired to have physical attractions one way or another.

Again I see no evidence of a relationship or crush on Mikleo though so I agree on that front so far. They seem like friends that clown around to me thus far, and yes geek out together. The fact not a single person can produce a shred of evidence for the alleged tweets is solidifying my suspicion they are nothing but hearsay.

[Gyson]

Zunnoab #931 の投稿を引用：

Plerr の投稿を引用：

Before I played this game I heard a lot of Sorey x Mikleo rumors so I was curious to see for myself... however, after beating the game I can say that there was nothing at all suggesting the two as a couple. Some folks have a wiiiiild imagination.

In my opinion, Mikleo MIGHT be gay, something that seems to be further implied in the extra skits (not to mention "dat hair" in a certain scene, not to judge on stereotypes or anything)... but Sorey just doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥ about sexuality one way or the other it seems. He's a pure-hearted chaste shepard boy who just wants his dreams to be realized. He shows zero interest in love/romance/attraction/etc throughout the game. Just because he isn't displaying an obvious attraction to girls and lacks a designated waifu like other male leads in Tales games, it doesn't make him into boys by default.

His relationship with Mikleo is more akin to nerdy bros who geek out at every opprotunity. Yknow, like friends do.

TL;DR: Sorey isn't attracted to any gender, imo. It's part of what makes his heart so pure.

What on earth does sexual attraction have to do with having a "pure" heart?? This is like some weird regression into "sexual stuff is shameful always" 'morality.'

Just because people aren't overtly sexual does not mean they are asexual. That said I'm not arguing that Sorey is interested in a romantic relationship with anyone in the cast, but the notion that he's asexual and 'pure' is a tad unrealistic in my opinion. He's a young adult human. Aside from rare exceptions, they are hard-wired to have physical attractions one way or another.

Again I see no evidence of a relationship or crush on Mikleo though so I agree on that front so far. They seem like friends that clown around to me thus far, and yes geek out together. The fact not a single person can produce a shred of evidence for the alleged tweets is solidifying my suspicion they are nothing but hearsay.

I don't think the argument there is that he's asexual, or that "sexual stuff is shameful" (as you put it). More like Sorey has more important things on his mind (like improving the world) and is spending precisely zero thought or energy into hitching up with someone.

Sure, some of the players may be waiting for that character to develop a romantic relationship with someone because that's how JRPGs roll, but in the game that idea is clearly the furthest thing from Sorey's mind at the moment. He is motivated by something more grand in scale, more far reaching, and far less selfish and distracting than the joys of romance. That's how I feel the developers have tried to portray him, at any rate. Not as gay, or straight, or whatever, but as driven and selfless.

[Plerr]

Gyson の投稿を引用：

Zunnoab #931 の投稿を引用：

What on earth does sexual attraction have to do with having a "pure" heart?? This is like some weird regression into "sexual stuff is shameful always" 'morality.'

Just because people aren't overtly sexual does not mean they are asexual. That said I'm not arguing that Sorey is interested in a romantic relationship with anyone in the cast, but the notion that he's asexual and 'pure' is a tad unrealistic in my opinion. He's a young adult human. Aside from rare exceptions, they are hard-wired to have physical attractions one way or another.

Again I see no evidence of a relationship or crush on Mikleo though so I agree on that front so far. They seem like friends that clown around to me thus far, and yes geek out together. The fact not a single person can produce a shred of evidence for the alleged tweets is solidifying my suspicion they are nothing but hearsay.

I don't think the argument there is that he's asexual, or that "sexual stuff is shameful" (as you put it). More like Sorey has more important things on his mind (like improving the world) and is spending precisely zero thought or energy into hitching up with someone.

Sure, some of the players may be waiting for that character to develop a romantic relationship with someone because that's how JRPGs roll, but in the game that idea is clearly the furthest thing from Sorey's mind at the moment. He is motivated by something more grand in scale, more far reaching, and far less selfish and distracting than the joys of romance. That's how I feel the developers have tried to portray him, at any rate. Not as gay, or straight, or whatever, but as driven and selfless.

Yeah, that was the point I wanted to get across. Thank you for explaining it better than I could.


...Also I feel the need to clarify that the first bit about Mikleo that was in my original post was just wild speculation largely based of skits that aren't even canon so just ignore that altogether. It's completely invalid and unimportant.

[Ekabolio]

Again: "The amount of bigotry on display from those deliberately playing victim and accusing others of accusing them of bigotry (when they are not at all accusing them of bigotry) is both off the charts and incredibly ironic.".

Also, again: "And it's not the end of the world eitherway to be perfectly honest, geez. You people are so damn desperate to argue against (the possibility of) a homosexual relationship in a video game. It's pretty sad, really. And quite telling of where your weird-♥♥♥ priorities lie."

Pointing out what I actually posted because you pathetic ♥♥♥♥♥ really seem to lack all kinds of reading comprehension and are incredibly desperate to claim I and many others have said that Sorey x Mikleo have sex on screen and other moronic stuff no one here has said in your efforts to defend your "we're totally not bigots, stop calling us that even though none of you have, *insert bigoted thing here*" talking points that have nothing to do with anything anyone here has said.

Do yourselves a favor and actually address what people state rather than make up a fake argument you claim they said whilst at the same time accusing them of insults they never made. All doing that does is show off your own incredibly weird insecurities and desire to victimize yourself. No one threw around the bigot card except you people who are frankly acting quite bigoted in response to people simply throwing out the idea of a homosexual relationship in a video game of all things. Do you not see how pathetic that is? Seriously. "Oh no, gay characters in my video gaems, it's the end of the world as we know it and I gotta have a heart-attack!" Feeling like a bunch of Gaters up in this topic with the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ways some of you are arguing.

[Shiron.sama]

Man, the discussion here is so funny. I seriously dont know why it got too heated.
You want my opinion: Is it canon so far? no. Is it possible? yes. Is it hinted? maybe, i can see the hints, but hints are just hints, open for interpretation. Will we ever find out the truth? Maybe never.
These argument reminds me of Korra x Asami. Had there no intensely gaze and holding hand at the end of Korra series and the word of the creator saying Yup! then no matter how much hints are dropped within the series, its noncanon.
When comparing Korra and Asami to Sorey and Mikleo (minus the final hint in Korra) I have to say Sorey and Mikleo have stronger hints. Am I wrong? maybe, only baba knows.
Other disagree? Okay. so what? each has their own opinion. If opinion can be easily swayed, then politics wouldnt get messy as it has always been.

[Zunnoab #931]

Just a couple hours further in and it still doesn't seem likely to me. Now they do make some comments that can be taken the wrong way now and then (and I think it is written that way on purpose) but I think that's more poking fun at people pairing characters up than real hinting.

[mirphelia]

Bob Lawblah の投稿を引用：

why does 2 guys being friends always have to end up being gay in anime? stop projecting your desires onto other people :)

why do u find it so strange for ppl to think that 2 guys with a close and caring relationship might possibly have feelings for each other? i think u might be projecting ur straight desires onto other people lol :)

[Zunnoab #931]

Holy necro!

In hindsight I do not think this is canon though, unless there's a lot more evidence than was discussed.

[RegalStar]

Zunnoab #931 の投稿を引用：

Holy necro!

In hindsight I do not think this is canon though, unless there's a lot more evidence than was discussed.

I found a pixiv dictionary entry on the pairing, and none of the hints listed there look canonically decisive in any means (in fact, it looks like a typical Bulbapedia shipping page). Also the alleged Baba tweet is conspicuously missing amongst a few that were listed. I'm very convinced right now that this supposed confirmation either came out of nowhere or were severely misinterpreted.

EDIT: ok, it finally hit me that the Japanese wording for that "one and only" is the same as Mikleo's "one of a kind" title, and a little google search yielded that yes, Baba did mention that - not as a tweet, but as part of a web radio interview about a year before Zestiria's release in Japan, as part of a series of introductions to the characters in the start of the game. This is what he has to say:

ミクリオは、イズチでスレイと一緒に育ってきた幼なじみです。スレイにとって、唯一無二の存在です。 (Mikleo is Sorey's childhood friend, and grew up together with him in Elysia. To Sorey, Mikleo is an irreplaceable presence.)

[KyleeX7]

Bandai Namco wouldn't confirm a gay relationship as canon in a game meant for the general public as Japanese culture is still relatively against open gay relationships (though it's getting better). But from what I understand of the Japanese fandom is that they don't care about what is canon as must as Western fans do. I cannot find the source, but Bamco once stated that their most loyal [Japanese] fans of the tales games are females, and female fans tend to buy more merchandise and more female fans go to the Tales festivals. And I'm sure the company is aware of all the shipping. So it looks like the Sorey/Mikleo relationship is more intense than compared to those in previous games to give more material to the shippers, but it is still open to interpretation as to what their relationship is so not to alienate the general audience.

[Kaldaien]

Except for teenage girls. They seem to have as much an obsession with gay men as American males have with lesbian women.

Either way, I wouldn't read too much into any of this. You're always going to find something weird to obsess over if you squint (and no, that was not intended racially).

[Bergie]

Agreed Kalaien.

You know, I played the game a lot, and I never thought about Sorey and Mikleo being in love for eachother until I surfed the web. Basically what I'm trying to say is...no I didn't see anything indicative of it, myself.

[S̷e̸p̀ưlch͡ŕąl҉]

andros_1x の投稿を引用：

I never got any sort of "gay feeling" between them; despite the fact that Mikleo is continuously inside of Sorey.

I think it's intentionally left openly ambiguous to appeal to a wider audience of players. Leaving the sexuality up to personal interpretation. Most of the Tales games don't really show any overt romance. Having said that, there were a few scenes that seemed to blur the lines a bit.

Sauna skit: Zaveid, Sorey and Meebo. Sorey considered Meebo as a "babe".
Hair skit: Sorey admits that Meebo is the one who cuts his hair.
Unconscious skit: Meebo caught lying about why he stayed next to Sorey's side for three days straight.
Tickle scene: Between Sorey and Meebo (wouldn't be off if they were significantly younger).
Meebo's title: One and Only - read the description..
At the end of the game Sorey and Meebo promise to return to one another someday, and that they will spend eternity together.

[Blu Ray]

Sepulchral の投稿を引用：

I think it's intentionally left openly ambiguous to appeal to a wider audience of players. Leaving the sexuality up to personal interpretation. Most of the Tales games don't really show any overt romance. Having said that, there were a few scenes that seemed to blur the lines a bit.

Sauna skit: Zaveid, Sorey and Meebo. Sorey considered Meebo as a "babe".
Hair skit: Sorey admits that Meebo is the one who cuts his hair.
Unconscious skit: Meebo caught lying about why he stayed next to Sorey's side for three days straight.
Tickle scene: Between Sorey and Meebo (wouldn't be off if they were significantly younger).
Meebo's title: One and Only - read the description..
At the end of the game Sorey and Meebo promise to return to one another someday, and that they will spend eternity together.

On the sauna skit I'm pretty sure Sorey was referencing the thing about red cheeks and trickling sweat Zaveid was talking about, came off more as sexual innocence to me. The gayest thing on the sauna skit is Zaveid telling Sorey to have a naked relationship with him, lol.

You have to do some serious mental gymnastics to interpret Mikleo cutting his hair and the friendly fights between Sorey and Mikleo as a sign of homosexuality between them.

Mikleo has a tsundere-ish personality, he didn't want to show his dere side.

The other two are more coherent to be interpreted that way, but with all things considered, both simply being close friends seems to fit in better to me.

http://kiraleshoot.tumblr.com/post/132078427863/interview-just-a-part-of-it-translation
The translated interview from a scriptwriter indicates Sorey is asexual:

We want Sorey to be a character who grew up pure, chasing his dreams about history and ruins. If we put a prurient man-woman relationship in there, it might just upset the direction we want to go with him.

The guy who translated it has some serious confirmation bias and managed to interpret that as an indication of Sorey homosexuality, but I think you can agree with me that a man-man relationship wouldn't be any less prurient than a man-woman relationship, the scripwriter likely only though about man-women relationship when asked about romance which is why he/she didn't also flat out deny man-man.