Let's Watch: Persona 4!

[mechana2015]

I'm digging it so far, though the whole mystery deal seems to be coming up slowly while they get al the main characters their personas.

[MasterDias]

Ha ha, "I should have recorded that" was the best line in the episode.

[Nate]

So it looks like the ending is going to change whenever he gets a new Social Link, which I assume will be every episode. Great fights in this episode, plus some stuff that wasn't in the game which is always nice! And I also feel like considering how the anime is going, the "weapons scene" fits better here than it would have when it happened in the game. So that's good too.

BUT IS HE GOING TO JOIN THE BASKETBALL OR THE SOCCER CLUB?

[blkmage]

The posters seem to be indicating basketball and music.

I hope it's basketball.

[Nate]

Well Ayame was putting up the poster which sorta indicates that it might be music club, but I dunno. They might pull a Star Ocean EX somehow where every character who could possibly join did, despite the fact that in the game recruiting certain characters completely bars you from recruiting others.

I don't mean he'll join both clbus or anything but it might mean that he'll interact with Yumi AND Ayame despite joining only one of the clubs. The sports club is a little less important because you hang out with both Daisuke and Kou no matter which one you pick.

But I hope it's basketball too. This anime needs to have Kou proudly proclaim how much he loves them balls.

[ShiroiHikari]

So I think this show has actually improved a bit since the first couple of episodes. The pacing is slowing down some and the action in episode 4 was a lot better than in the previous episodes. So, hurray. I want to like this series.

[Nate]

I liked the focus on how Yukiko felt trapped and why she wanted to leave, as opposed to the game where they just kind of say that she does without really going into why. I mean yeah she sorta says it in the game, but the anime did the whole "show, don't tell" far better since it was able to show flashbacks of her working and feeling frustrated instead of Yukiko just saying "I feel frustrated!" ("You can't just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!") This had much greater impact because of that. I have a feeling this is going to be a recurring thing throughout the anime, we're going to learn the characters' backstories and motivations much better than we ever did in the game where they just talked about it.

Dunno how I feel about them beating people over the head with the symbolism of Shadow Yukiko's form by making Yukiko have had a bird in the past...but it's a bit of a minor complaint I suppose.

Oh man oh man. KANJI IS COMING UP SOON YOU GUYS IT'S GOING TO BE PRETTY AMAZING. Plus he's voiced by Toshihiko Seki which is awesome. AND OH MAN SHADOW KANJI'S FORM, THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT.

But looks like next episode is gonna focus on school Social Links! And from the preview, looks like it might be soccer club he's gonna join. And I guess Ai shows up too...I'm assuming that's supposed to be Ai, at least.

[ShiroiHikari]

Yeah I'm really looking forward to seeing Kanji.

Are you, me, and blkmage the only ones here that are still watching this?

[mechana2015]

I'm still watchin'

[blkmage]

[ShiroiHikari]

That's...kind of disturbing.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Is that guy behind Teddy or is he EMERGING FROM ITS INSIDES?!?

[Nate]

I'm disappointed. He ended up joining the basketball club but we got no "I LOOOOOOVE THEM BALLS." I call foul!

But still a pretty good episode. And Chie and Ai having that slap fight, oh man! Two Social Links for the price of one in this episode as well. But next week, Kanji FINALLY makes his appearance! It's gonna be awesome!

[blkmage]

GET BENT

Something I've realized in watching this show and the playthrough is that I'm way more interested in the social link shenanigans than the main story.

[Kung_Fu_Master]

Naoto, Kenji, and so many hijinks.

I'm loving' this series.

[Seto_Sora]

I'm following this series too. I love it so far... I mean its from the same people who gave us Catherine! So anyway, I thought the 5th episode was best so far... its also the only one they didn't go into the other world.
And am I the only one who thinks Yu Narukami's persona is totally epic!?

[Nate]

Kanji is introduced! And now I realize why Igor and Margaret are there despite them only serving a gameplay function...Margaret is one of the Social Links. I had forgotten all about that. If Margaret hadn't been in it, then they would have had to create an entirely new character for the Empress Arcana that probably wouldn't have been as good. And having Margaret kinda necessitates having Igor. So that explains why they're in this.

Anyway, Kanji is awesome as always. Though the running animation was pretty lousy. That can be forgiven though because the Aiya delivery bike thing was pretty great.

Shadow Kanji next week! DIS GON B GUD.

[Seto_Sora]

Interesting. So you've played the game then, eh Nate? I haven't had the pleasure. But I did have the delight of playing their other game Catherine. The story was so well written that I'd been dying to play the Persona games. But from what you're saying, it sounds like they are taking large deviations to tie things together in the game. Is that what's goin on then?
And, yes, Aiya delivery was hysterical!!! LOL

[MasterDias]

Yeah, the Aiya delivery gag was pretty funny.

The story was so well written that I'd been dying to play the Persona games. But from what you're saying, it sounds like they are taking large deviations to tie things together in the game. Is that what's goin on then?

Large deviations? Not really.
There are several minor changes/additions and the pacing is faster/condensed for obvious reasons, but it's otherwise really close to the game for better or for worse.

I wonder what they're going to do for the Hermit social link which doesn't really work outside of a game context.

[Nate]

But from what you're saying, it sounds like they are taking large deviations to tie things together in the game.

Not really large deviations, just a bit of compression. The game had a lot of days where nothing special was going on and you just spent them however you wanted, which was usually working on Social Links or grinding inside the TV if you really needed to. Since that stuff would be boring outside of the game, a lot of that is removed for the more important plot type scenes. There's also a lot of new and unique scenes to the anime that never happened in the game, such as the Chie/Ai fight from the previous episode, or the beginning of this one with Yu giving the little toy to Kanji.

Also notably, according to the ending, Yu now has access to the Priestess Arcana, which is Yukiko's Social Link (and is obtained in the game when you're talking to Yukiko as you watch the textile shop).

I wonder what they're going to do for the Hermit social link which doesn't really work outside of a game context.

I assume they'll just do what happens in the game, honestly. [SPOILER]He'll go to the shrine, meet Fox, get a request, go and fulfill it, and then return and tell the Fox, and he'll get the Social Link. Fox may or may not follow them into the TV in the anime though, but if he does I assume it'll be in the sense of them going "Man I'm really tired" during a visit inside the TV and Fox giving them a magic leef for all their yens which makes them go "I feel full of energy now!"[/SPOILER]

[Kung_Fu_Master]

PERSONA FUSION!!

Could have gone better in my opinion. How? Not sure, but could have been better.

Kanji still rocks though.

[blkmage]

That was amazing.

[KeybladeWarrior]

Episode 7 sped up the story, but the episode was still awesome. I especially liked it when Kanji took matters into his own hands at the end. The beginning of the episode was quite funny.

[blkmage]

The summer vacation episodes were glorious. This is how you do adaptations.

[Narnian]

Up to episode 12! I am loving this show! The characters, music, and art are great and the humor is hilarious. Honestly, I'm happy with the adaption as it is. I never fully played the game, but I watched my friends play and discuss it. I like that they shortened the slow parts in the game to better fit an anime and kept a similar feel of the amv animation in the anime. Overall, I am very pleased with it. I can't wait for the next episodes!

[Peanut]

So I just finished all of the episodes released on Hulu so far and I'm loving this show. This is just an awesome adaptation of Persona 4 and I'm honestly have to say its one of the best adaptations of anything that I've seen. The only thing I wish they would have done is make Yu a little more expressive (but I've been warming up to him as a character as of late so, can't really be as upset about that as I was at the start of the series). The thing though that impresses me the most is the sheer amount of details they've taken from the game and applied to the show as a whole. A lot of stuff that they included is things I would think they would have cut (like the rainy day beef bowl challenge). They also managed to make the King's Game scene more hilarious then it was in the game...and I just didn't think that was possible. So yeah, definitely going to be following this closely now.

[Neane]

Finished Persona 4. Game adaptations were never successful in capturing the mood of the original. They were always messing something up, like making the characters feel like robots, presenting events as dull as possible, or just stopping in the middle of nowhere. No matter how many times I tried to enjoy them, they felt like an Eternal Punishment.

“That’s sad-kuma.”

Yes Teddie, I agree, BEAR with it. But guess what, Persona 4 have broke the circle of bad karma and as an exception it looks GORGEOUS!



For me, this anime was the most enjoyable anime from 2011. The best of the year in the enjoyment department. Likable characters, fast pace, lots of colouring, lots of mystery, lots of fun. Pure win!


Definitely the best video game adaptation ever (excluding VN and such)! Great plot, great action, great soundtrack, great comedy, great everything!
I also consider this anime to be the most faithful videogame adaptation ever made. And by faithful I mean it LITERALLY! It’s like I am watching the cut scenes from the game with more variety in motions, camera angles, and the protagonist having a voice. They even use the same visual effects to depict emotions, which is a great treat for those who played the game. Heck, this is also the first time the soundtrack was left the same from the game instead of making a new one for the anime version. Which is both cool AND saves the makers time and money.


I will have this one being the best anime of 2011. Even the lovely Penguindum messed up in the last episodes

Now how about a decent Persona 2 or 3 adaptation?
*Insert sad panda here*