neko's thinkbox

Ar Tonelico II Vol. 1 cover

Ah, what a grand relief and enjoyment reading this manga.

In my Ar Tonelico ~arpeggio~ review, I found fault with the relatively messy/chaotic design and amateurish compositions. But in Ar Tonelico II, it feels so much cleaner, clearer, crisper – simply better. A LOT better.

Well, apart from my bad scanning, it looks great, doesn't it?

Well, apart from my bad scanning, it looks great, doesn’t it?

There’s no doujinshi feel to it anymore, it feels like a full-fledged manga. Almost as if it had been drawn by a different mangaka; but it’s still the same Aya Megumu from ~arpeggio~! I am happy to see how much her design has improved overall, and especially the character design is very pleasant, because not only do the characters look good, it is almost exactly as if Nagi (the original character designer) had drawn them.

However, it is hard, if not impossible to compare the originality of Ar Tonelico II to its predecessor, because while ~arpeggio~ is a spinoff with an original story, ATII is more like a remake of Ar Tonelico 2. As such, we encounter all the main characters from the game.
The plot – in the first volume at least – remains basically the same: The Divine Army hijacks the Grand Bell’s celebration for the Holy Maiden’s (Cloche’s) birthday to reveal the true Holy Maiden, Luca. However, the storyline leading up to this point is quite different from what we have seen in the game.

Was ki ga chs lusye ar hymmnos, en grandus yor.

Was ki ga chs lusye ar hymmnos, en grandus yor. – Very concentrated, I shall turn this song into light, and protect you. (My guess?)

Cloche is attacked by the Divine Army in her own room, and Croix and Cocona protect her. While Leglius is warding off the enemy soldiers, Croix & co flee from Pastalia to reach Rakshek, where they meet Amarie and Soope. She leads them around, hiding from the watchful eyes of the Divine Army. Eventually, they bump into Luca who is singing a song, alone, and of course she joins the team, without recognizing the Holy Maiden, Cloche, though. They all manage to reach a safe place, but then, Cocona’s I.P.D. outbreak happens… and so on. I won’t tell you all of it, you’ll have to read it for yourself. (Better, just buy the manga.) :P

Further differences involve the personalities of the characters. There is a greater emphasis on the past friendship between Targana and Croix, and Croix in particular is very mindful of it. He seems a little less confident as usual, though. Especially after Cocona’s outbreak, he felt unusually cast down and defeatist. I noticed another noticeable personality change in Cloche, too. In the game, she emanated these arrogant, stuck-up ojou tsundere vibes immediately from the first second, but here, she looks so passive, so submissive. In this version, it is a lot clearer that she is just a puppet of the Grand Bell, that she is not acting of her own free will. …while I like her less defiant side, it makes me feel sad for her, because she seems so weak and undetermined now.

Cloche addressing the people on her birthday.

Cloche addressing the people on her birthday. Yup, I like her a lot more than Luca now.

It is different, but it is just great. Rather than having an 1:1 copy of the story, we are offered a revisited version which is outright thrilling. We know how everything went in the game, and we might know the direction this is going, but how will it happen? That’s what kept me reading non-stop through this first volume, and even if it took me quite some time to decipher the Kanjis with the help of Furigana, it still went in a flash. There are also a couple of omake pages with 4komas at the end of the volume.
I can’t wait to read the second volume!
(Actually, I already read the first chapter of it, and… Pastalia Hymmnos! Replekia!! AWESOME!!!)