Persona 4 The Animation: Thoughts?

[neonsword13-ops]

The PS2's ground breaking, swan-song JRPG, Persona 4, has landed itself an anime on primetime television. (In Japan)

And it is absolutely fantastic.

Spoiler: Quick synopsis of Persona 4 for the newbies

Persona 4 is a game revolving around a group of highschoolers investigating a string of mysterious murders ocurring in their peaceful rural town. These highschoolers obtain the power of the Persona, a powerful being that represents the wielder. With these personas, the highschool students team up to fight in a giagantic world filled with fog inside of the television.

For those that have not yet seen it, there is a link of the first episode below. (WARNING: If you do not mind reading through rows and rows of english subtitling, enjoy the presentation.)

http://www.theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Persona-4/Watch

I was really surprised at how well the show followed the game. It skipped a few things like the "Critical hit to the nads" but other than that, solid .

Your thoughts, Escapists? Did you enjoy? Did you hate?

EDIT: There is a youtube copy of the video further down the page, courtesy of TakeyBOy2

 

[Rad Party God]

Well, considering how much this website loves Persona 4 and also Extra Credits talked so much about it and I don't have a PS2, I'll certainly give it a watch.

Also, I don't mind reading subtitles, they're very common in my country, also I'm a snob for hearing the original audio track and not some crappy dub version of it, but on the other hand, we have amazing voice actors and great translations in my country, but I still prefer watching it with the original voices.

Where was I?... oh!, yes, clicking that link.

EDIT: Damn it, I hate when my IP is blocked and I can't watch a video >.<'
Sadly, I still can't give my opinion.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

I'm a snob for hearing the original audio track and not some crappy dub version of it.

The english dub team did an amazing job on the voice acting. It brought some real emotion to the characters.

EDIT: Damn it, I hate when my IP is blocked and I can't watch a video >.<'
Sadly, I still can't give my opinion.

Sorry about that. It might take some time, but I think I could find another link.

 

[FaceFaceFace]

Is it really worth watching after already knowing the plot? I don't read manga or watch anime, so I don't really get the whole transfer one to the other (or in this case transfer video games to both) thing in Japan. That said, I played through Persona in a week and then watched an entire 100 hour Let's Play of it the next week (plus, my avatar), so suffice to say if it is worth it I will consume it.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Is it really worth watching after already knowing the plot? I don't read manga or watch anime, so I don't really get the whole transfer one to the other (or in this case transfer video games to both) thing in Japan. That said, I played through Persona in a week and then watched an entire 100 hour Let's Play of it the next week (plus, my avatar), so suffice to say if it is worth it I will consume it.

I thought it was amazing, and I've completed the game a couple times. I thought it was a good run, even after knowing the plot forward and backward.

The artwork is great and the animation is just... wow. Very fluid and beautiful. It was obvious a lot of love went into the transfer.

If you like the game, it's a good watch. A big recommendation from me.

 

[FaceFaceFace]

Is it really worth watching after already knowing the plot? I don't read manga or watch anime, so I don't really get the whole transfer one to the other (or in this case transfer video games to both) thing in Japan. That said, I played through Persona in a week and then watched an entire 100 hour Let's Play of it the next week (plus, my avatar), so suffice to say if it is worth it I will consume it.

I thought it was amazing, and I've completed the game a couple times. I thought it was a good run, even after knowing the plot forward and backward.

The artwork is great and the animation is just... wow. Very fluid and beautiful. It was obvious a lot of love went into the transfer.

If you like the game, it's a good watch. A big recommendation from me.

Just for reference, how do they compare to the animated cutscenes in the original game?

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Just for reference, how do they compare to the animated cutscenes in the original game?

The anime looks much better. The scene where the main character awakens his persona was breath taking. It just looks super and the battles are spectacular.

 

[FaceFaceFace]

In the game they were much smoother but this is due to them lasting maybe two minutes tops. That was 25 minutes of animation so not too much of a quality drop.

That was a trick question, because I hated the in-game cutscenes =P

The anime looks much better. The scene where the main character awakens his persona was breath taking. It just looks super and the battles are spectacular.

This is more encouraging. I also saw art from the show and it looks very clean from what I can see. I'll give it a go and add to the "thoughts" mentioned in the thread title.

 

[Asita]

Mmm...well offhand I definitely like Igor's dubbed voice better (I'm also not a fan of how they made him a gonk for the series), the calendar is going to get VERY annoying very quickly (it was useful for gameplay, but so much for an animated series), and I have to admit, I cracked up when I saw the stats chart.

On the upside, I really have to give them credit for just how meticulous they're being about keeping to the source material, and I can't argue with the animation quality. And of course, Moronoka is still a character you love to hate.

Of course, I think it's a bit early to pass judgement.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

I'll keep watching it, certainly. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Care to bring steak next time?

Sure, but all I have is Fu-Steak.

 

[TakeyB0y2]

The switch as to how and when Izanagi awakened was... Interesting o.o

Only thing is it skips quite a bit of information that you get from the game, but then again they kinda just compressed 2 hours into half an hour sooo, can't really blame them.

Oh, also, in case anyone's region blocked, the first episode was uploaded to youtube as well:

 

[Diablo2000]

I liked a lot, the ending with the main character first woken his persona and the fight that follow was awesome. I really want to see how they will explain the fact that the main character can change his persona, in Persona 3 it was part of the plot, but in Persona 4 the characters appears not noticing it.

With that said... I didn't like the pacing of it, started slow then it got real rushed by the end.

 

[Matrixbeast]

It was pretty good.
But the end was way too rushed. Came out of nowhere.
/Never played Persona

 

[Folksoul]

I'll wait for the dub.

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

Very fun! There are complaints I have for it, but most of them are nitpicks. Except for the fact the teacher is a sheer cartoon copout.

I'll be keeping my eye on this series right to its end.

 

[FaceFaceFace]

Sure, but all I have is Fu-Steak.

My new favorite picture.

Okay, I have to admit, I love this if only because it makes me remember the game. The same music, VERY good art, and the relative silence of the protagonist are all great. And it's cool to see scenes reinterpreted in real-time rather than occuring every time you press the button to reach the next line of dialogue. The plot is even rearranged a bit, which makes it more justifiable to actually watch. And if the beginning was this quick in the actual game, a lot of people who abandoned the game less than two hours in (ie before the actual game started) would've kept with it.

All that said, I don't know about the explicit game features like the calendar and especially the stats screen. Plus I just personally don't like listening to the Japanese, if only because I already have their voices set in my head, and these aren't them.

What's the status of this, by the way? Did it just come out?

 

[PureIrony]

That...wasn't bad. The animation was good and they seemed to be trying to stay faithful to the game and incorporate elements from it.

Its got a bit of the FMA: Brotherhood problem in that it seems to be very well aware that I and most of its audience have played persona 4 and know the story and characters inside and out, because it doesn't really give them as much of an introduction as the game.

Its also inevitable that it feels rushed, because they kind of needed to show in the first episode that they could nail the combat (which they pretty much did) and that means compressing 2 hours of cutscenes into one 25 minute episode.