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Edit: M o r o n = blocked word on steam..
And for the record, I tried to see it in this case and did not, but I got distracted by other games about 1/3 into the game so I didn't see the whole thing. As others said the only evidence that pops up can't be sourced which suggests it's a false rumor based on something incorrectly translated or taken out of context.
I think the strongest I've felt in seeing a relationship like this was Fang/Vanille in FFXIII. If they aren't a couple they are insanely close friends.
Let's review the some of the dialog that I was talking about.
[...]
Zaveid: "The trickling sweat, the flushed red cheeks... there is a healthy, sublime beauty in this closed space we call a sauna!"
Zaveid: "Sorey...Let's go hunting for babes"
A wild Meebo appears with his hand running through his hair and his jacket partially still left open.
Meebo: "Whew, that sure was therapeutic! Why don't you guys step in as well?"
Sorey: "You mean like this?"
Zaveid's imagery changes to a shocked expression.
Zaveid: "That's not the kind of babe hunting I'm talking about!"
Meebo: "Huh?"
End scene.
I was specifically referring to Sorey's associating Meebo as a "Babe". Keep in mind this is after the fact that Zaveid had just described what he was talking about..
We'll have to agree to disagree on that. How many older teen/young adult male (17+) friends do you know of that tickle one another and give each other haircuts?
I had to google that term.
Correct, as it could be just friendship. Which is why I mentioned that it is fairly ambiguous since Sorey does not overtly show any romantic/sexual feelings towards the party members.
Hm, interesting. I don't have anything vested in Sorey's sexuality. I just found a few things that seemed odd with Sorey's character.
IT DOESN'T MATTER.
LET PEOPLE INTERPRET THINGS HOW THEY WANT TO, AND DO WHAT MAKES THEM ENJOY THE GAME MORE. CHILL. IF YOU THINK IT'S ROMANTIC GREAT, IF YOU THINK IT'S PLATONIC GREAT. BOTH HAVE EVIDENCE AND BOTH ARE VALID, SO JUST ENJOY PLAYING THE GAME.
Time to add to it. Fair warning: SPOILERS.
I'll be honest: Tales of Zestiria is the first Tales Of game i ever played, so I don't have a lot of personal experience with the franchise (I'm still working through ToAbyss). But I did play it through with two friends of mine who are well-versed in the Tales Of games and all their tropes, as well as with my brother (who has zero experience with Tales Of, and even less so in Fan culture and shipping and other stuff he calls "silly" and "nonsense".)
All three of them decided, independently of one another, that Sorey and Mikleo were dating. Or at least romantically attracted to each other. My brother, true to fashion, spent about five minutes watching us trigger skits and then asked me, "Are they dating?" When Mikleo came back after leaving the party because he and Sorey had fought, the bit where Mikleo steps into Sorey's space and says, "But there's something that you don't understand!" made both of us ask, pretty much in unison, "Were they going to kiss?"
Seriously, that scene about did it for me. The camera?? Focuses on their feet while they step in unison??? That's such a textbook precursor to two characters kissing, I was honestly surprised when they didn't go that route.
I have since learned that Tales games, as "children's games", are incredibly chaste. Someone earlier in this forum said that there are only about two or three canon couples in the whole series, and while i'm fairly sure that's true for formally acknowledged couples (e.g. couples who kiss on screen/say "i love you/etc.) the Tales Of franchise treats most hero/heroine pairs like official couples, whether in advertising, in spin-off games, in DLCs, whatever. And, for all intents and purposes, Mikleo is treated like the heroine by Bandai namco.
(As a side note: someone on tumblr is making a list of tropes from TVtropes that apply to this pairing. They're at 39 as of writing this post. post [talesofsymphoniac.tumblr.com] )
There are loads of little moments in skits and the like, but the big cutscenes are most fresh in my mind, and there are four that stand out to me as being potentially romantically charged: the two bookending Sorey and Mikleo's fight (which, even if they aren't canon, is one of the healthiest and well-portrayed fights between characters I have ever seen), the scene where Sorey and Rose pretend to be married in order to get into Lastonbell (Which... was also the most awkward...), and the night before conversation between Sorey and Mikleo.
The night before conversation almost always takes place between the main character and the love interest. I think there are a handful of exceptions, but this is generally a hard-and-fast rule in the Tales Of series, especially the flagship titles. There are also a lot of romantic undertones to the whole conversation between Sorey and Mikleo, which can be found here post
I could continue on, but honestly, this is sufficient evidence for me. A big part of solidifying this as canon for me was Mikleo's body language, which was particularly open with Sorey and Sorey only, but I'm tired and don't want to spend all night backing this up with evidence, so I'll just say good on you ufotable for getting that right and continuing to do so in the anime.
It makes plausible sense to me that Sorey and Mikleo's relationship wouldn't be overt, either, especially when the current viewpoints towards homosexuality in Japan being as they are, and as a writer myself hiding such a relationship in plain sight would feel like the perfect revenge. Additionally, they act in several ways that I would not unless I was in a romantic relationship with the other person (tickle fights? maybe that's just a me-thing), and I have several very close, completely platonic relationships of the "let's take a shower together and wash each other's backs", "Clothing is optional when among friends" kind of way.
In the end, it really is up to you to decide whether they're dating or not, and I honestly encourage you to put some thought into it as I have since I first played it.
Mikleo's character description ends with: "The creators of Zestiria have even made the claim that Mikleo is Sorey’s “only one.” So take that anyway you’d like!"
Take that however you would like. Meaning, for those who are still so insistent that those who DO see Sorey and Mikleo as romantic are delusional perverts, that people who view their relationship as romantic or potentially romantic, and those who view them as strictly platonic, BOTH. ARE. CORRECT.
Literally, all of you who are whining about 'people don't understand relationships' just sound insecure and defensive, seeing as the actual producers and creators are saying 'take this relationship however you like!'
Also, I think it's really funny that some of you are trying to discredit the opinions of those who use tumblr as if you being on a steam forum makes you all the more credible? From what I've seen, tumblr isn't the greatest place, but people are far more open minded to the possibility of alternative sexuality, which exists in the real world in case you all weren't aware seeing as this forum has branded anything but straight as something 'perverted' or a 'homoerotic fantasy'. Like...are you all in grade school? "Gay things are perverted" I'm sorry but you've immediately lost your argument when you've failed to properly define and understand what 'gay', by definition, actually means.
Plus, tumblr actually provides places to source the material where as here? I've seen virtually zero source material and a lot of opinions being barked back and forth.
Also, just to further educate, this isn't black and white. There's a whole sexual spectrum, you know. There's straight, bi, pan, demi, ace, gay, queer, fluid, etc. Sorey and/or Mikleo could be any of these aside from straight and it would still act in accordance to the possibility of them being a couple. So whining that neither of them are gay is like...okay, that may be true, but they could be a whole lot of other things and it still would work???
Not that I feel I need to elaborate further on Sorey and Mikleo's relationship being up for interpretation, one: because the creators and producers said as such and two, I feel like the lot of you will still ignore and dismiss it because you're internally homophobic (and this isn't me being discriminatory or accusatory; that is literally what homophobia is, I'm just calling a spade a spade) but just to provide further evidence since, from what I've read, you need it nearly smacking you in the face to acknowledge it's there:
Sorey acknowledges Mikleo as someone who is beautiful. Whether or not you want to perceive that as romantic is up to you, but from my experience, you don't usually do that with your 'bros'
here[talesofsymphoniac.tumblr.com] which comes from the link below
here[doushinojikan.tumblr.com]
Mikleo's titles in game become more elaborate and more suggestive toward the intimate relationship he has with Sorey
Titles[luzloshiv-lelei.tumblr.com]
Also, as is shown in both the game as well as the anime, Sorey already knows Mikleo's true name which is already hinted at being something very personal, but is further elaborated on in Tales of Berseria (a confirmed prequel to TOZ) which I'll elaborate on afterward.
Video
image1[66.media.tumblr.com]
image2[66.media.tumblr.com]
image3[67.media.tumblr.com]
There is a skit in Berseria where Velvet asks Laphicet what his true name is. Laphicet runs off embarrassed, stating he doesn't want to tell her. Velvet, confused, is told by Magilou and Rokurou that a Malakim (an old name for Seraphim) only provide their true name in contract or oath, and giving their true name before such things is similar to a love confession. Hence Lailah's reaction "oh my!" when Sorey admits that he already knows Mikleo's true name
Sorey and Mikleo are also very physically affectionate in ways they aren't with others, and in ways I don't imagine many people are with those they are just friends with.
If you don't feel like watching the beginning of the video, you can skip to 4:00 in
video
video2[babymilliam.tumblr.com]
image[66.media.tumblr.com]
image2[66.media.tumblr.com]
image3[66.media.tumblr.com]
image4[68.media.tumblr.com]
image5[66.media.tumblr.com]
image6[67.media.tumblr.com]
image7[66.media.tumblr.com]
image8[68.media.tumblr.com]
image9[66.media.tumblr.com]
And lastly, a sort of master post of all the paraphernalia and other trinkets and promotional items that are advertised with them. here[lendra-chan.tumblr.com]
So, to sum up everything, Sorey and Mikleo being potentially romantic on top of being platonic is ultimately up for interpretation. However, those who perceive them as romantic are not wrong, as is stated by the actual producers and developers, but also because there is mountainous evidence that suggest they are romantic if you wish to perceive them as such.
Take it or leave it; just don't be a jerk and call those who take it 'perverted' or 'delusional' or people who 'don't have friends'. You look like a defensive, fragile, narrow minded troglodyte otherwise.
EDIT-
Forgot to add that the localization team takes great pleasure in making innuendos concerning Sorey and Mikleo's water armatization here[soymilkheaven.tumblr.com]
I've been in plenty of fandoms over the years, and I've seen plenty of fangirls insist two straight male characters not in a relationship are "clearly" canon. I've seen them fight tooth and nail over this, and it grates on the nerves easily. It grates on even more nerves when these fangirls insist the other person is homophobic for disagreeing. That's where people get comments like "why does 2 guys being friends always have to end up being gay in anime? stop projecting your desires onto other people :)" come from. It's not about homophobia, it's about morons like these fangirls trying to project their fantasies in reality.
It's not homophobia. It's not a case of "But if it was male/female, I'd ship it!" It's not a double standard. If anything, the people in this thread arguing for Sorey/Mikleo are the ones with the double standards because they're only fighting for this because it'd be a gay pairing. As I said, many fangirls fight tooth and nail to "prove" their non-canon pairing is canon just because both characters are male, and many people don't like that. They don't like that not because it's a gay pairing, it's that they don't like it when these fangirls fight tooth and nail, tooth and nail, tooth and nail to prove the characters are gay and resort to homophobic accusations when they realize the other side won't relent and admit it's canon. Personally, if you have to resort to accusing others of being homophobic and not liking something because it's "gay" on a thread that's politely debating whether or not the couple is canon and leaning towards not canon, you're the one with issues, not them.
There is nothing explicit in canon that says Sorey and Mikleo have feelings for each other or are in a relationship. At the very BEST, you could leave it up to interpretation, but that's at the very best. You don't know if they're gay any more than you do if they're straight, and even if they were both gay, you have no clear cut clues they're into each other. Contrary to your belief, being gay doesn't mean you're automatically attracted to every other (especially gay) guy around. If you want to ship something, that's fine, but to declare it canon just because you interpreted it that way and accuse others who only see it as friendship as being homophobic, internally homophobic and/or against gay pairings at all? Honey, you need a therapist.
(Oh, and I wouldn't call Tumblr "open" and blah blah blah when those Tumblrinas are the same people who are regularly biphobic, love to treat transgenderism as a trend and fad, and tell r-a pe victims who don't agree with their views they weren't r-a ped. - *Why does that word need censored?*)
Oh, and because I'm going to get accused of homophobia and internalized homophobia and other nonsense for this, I'm a self-accepting bisexual who plans on creating her own multitude of series with canon same-sex pairings. Still doesn't mean Sorey/Mikleo is canon or that anyone else here is homophobic for not liking the brats who insist gay = canon or else you're a mean homophobe who doesn't want gay pairings to EVER exist~!