| Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kanta Kamei |
| Screenplay by | Reiko Yoshida |
| Story by | Namco Bandai Games |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Kazuhiro Yamada |
| Edited by | Junichi Uematsu |
| Music by | Akira Senju |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Kadokawa Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Box office | $941,610 |
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike (Japanese: テイルズ オブ ヴェスペリア 〜The First Strike〜, Hepburn: Teiruzu Obu Vesuperia ~The First Strike~) is a 2009 Japanese animated film by Production I.G. It is directed by Kanta Kamei and written by Reiko Yoshida, featuring the voice talents of Kōsuke Toriumi, Mamoru Miyano, Mai Nakahara, Rika Morinaga, and Eiji Takemoto. The film is the prequel to the Namco Tales Studio's role-playing game Tales of Vesperia and the first animated feature film in the Tales series. Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike revolves around the two knights, Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo, from the Niren Corps as they protect a town from monsters with their allies.
The project was led by Kenta Kamei who previously worked on the animated cutscenes from the Tales games. He expressed pressure due to First Strike being his debut as a director and also elaborated on how difficult was creating the storyboard. Yoshida was given the role of screenwriter in order to appeal to the female fanbase the series has always had. It was released in Japan on October 3, 2009, as a result of delays in production. Kadokawa Pictures distributed the film. It was released in North America on June 26, 2012, by Funimation Entertainment and in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2012, on DVD and Blu-ray by Manga Entertainment.
The film grossed a total of US$941,610 in Japan. Its home media release had positive sales in Japan, with the Blu-ray being one of the bestselling from the year it was released. Critical reception of the film has been generally positive for its accessibility to the non-gamers of Tales of Vesperia as well as the appeal of the main cast and the production value. Nevertheless, it has also attracted criticism for its slow pace.