I must say that Persona chose to go with a premise that is very easy to go wrong: its antagonists feed on angst. The most annoying part of the past episode, apart from that bear perhaps, are the speeches of “I am you! I’m actually not as perfect as you thought me to be!”, following by lots of denial. Again, it has to do with a rather annoying formula that isn’t just used by this series (if that were the case I could easily forgive it), but it’s the same kind of set-up that loads of other shows use.
I get what this series is trying to do: we all have our different sides. The lead characters all refuse to accept some of those sides, and those persona thingies will help them accept these sides. It’s a solid base, but I’m still missing something. That will be up for the rest of the series to fill in. Do some interesting stuff with this formula. These internal conflicts are great to give the characters background, but they don’t help in fleshing them out. The other selves are just too different from their usual personalities to the point where they nearly feel as different people.
The part in this episode that I liked was when the conflict was about to be resolved. For once the characters actually talk to each other to resolve their conflicts. These parts were quite charming. My big issue with this show is just that it depends on people’s ability to not think straight in order to create its antagonists.
Rating: (Enjoyable)]]>
Persona 4 The Animation – 04
Lol. if P4 didn’t win the vote, it wouldn’t be surprising if psgels bashed this series every episode before dropping it. He’s torturing himself now xD
It’s exactly because these other sides of the characters are so different that they manifest as shadows and change into persona once they are accepted. This franchise draws on Jungian theories rather precisely, so if you don’t like those concepts you can just as well dismiss the whole franchise for yourself.
As for the adaption aspect, I think this episode did a rather good job of adding details the fans did not already see in the game (even though the cage metaphor was a bit overused considering the outward appearance of the boss and the dialogue were already self-explanatory). However I do have to admit that it’s difficult to transfer enough content from a game into an anime and more often than not the latter is bound to lack some build-up.
This episode was…meh. But I saw it coming, because I really don’t care about Yukiko at all. I dunno why, I just never did in the game, and it didn’t change here. I just can’t wait for the other characters…
The episode was good, the way to deal with multiples personas was clever. And you can see a little development from the main character, he begins with almost no feelings, and this is changing.
About the “accept your other self”, well… This is from the game, so, it can’t be helped. Actually, they turn this part better.
“The most annoying part of the past episode, apart from that bear perhaps, are the speeches of “I am you! I’m actually not as perfect as you thought me to be!”, following by lots of denial.”
It has nothing to do with perfection at all. And what would you do if someone who looked exactly like you started revealing all of your inner secrets and the dark thoughts you have at the back of your mind in front of people you knew? Would you just stand there and accept that everything was true? No, you would probably deny it.
“The other selves are just too different from their usual personalities to the point where they nearly feel as different people.”
But, think about it. Aren’t the faces you show to the outside world and your true thoughts different things? Don’t you also have dark thoughts sometimes, things you would never ever show to other people?
Shadows are those dark thoughts. They’re heavily exaggerated when they manifest in the TV world, but the truth is that they all exist inside people. The TV world draws them out and turns them into lethal monsters that go berserk when their person denies them.
One of the best parts of Persona 4, in my eyes, is how they show that even stereotypical characters have their own underlying issues. I especially love how their situation reflects the Tarot card they’re assigned to, and their shadow represents the meaning of the Tarot card when it’s inversed.
The characters are fully developed through things in the game called Social Links, but it seems that the anime has skipped out on those so far.
I think Kanji’s story is probably my favorite one out of the bunch, and it’s been praised by game critics everywhere for facing a certain serious issue. Also, the story really takes off after the entire team is assembled.
It’s the repetition, it’s the repetition, its’ the repetition.
See it’s boring to read too.
Really could have been better presented. It feels lazy to use a formula. I use them in music all the time….yet I constantly strive to hide that fact with a bit of thought and hard work. It has to be interesting or it’s boring.
so it’s boring and it’s their own fault. I think the settings that characters are plenty good…..just lose the box please.
“The other selves are just too different from their usual personalities to the point where they nearly feel as different people.”
That’s kind of the point. It’s supposed to be literally the Shadow version of themselves. Their opposites. The parts they don’t let out.
the shadows make caricatures (no pun intended) of their true selves to make them say “you’re not me” and that’s because they take a hidden flaw of the character and run with it to the other side of the spectrum.
And of the inability to think straight, that’s from the game and still, that’s the whole point that the game ends deconstructing with the big bad. I belive that from this point on, the thing will get better (I hope)
Social Links, please.
They made this scene better than the game, at least ^^ It’s like showing the protagonist’s POV in the game and Yukiko’s in the anime.
Next episode = social links yay
Also, could the possible change in fluidity of the animation in this episode be related to the news we heard of the studio?
“This franchise draws on Jungian theories rather precisely, so if you don’t like those concepts you can just as well dismiss the whole franchise for yourself.”
Hahaha, what bullshit.
Do you even know what theories Jung had?
Persona 1 & 2’s plots were based on jungian theories. The other two have little to do with his theories unless youre proposing the suggestion that the TV world is some allegory to the collective unconciousness which is rather ridiculous all things considered.
Please do do your research next time.
Unfortunately, this only seems to be a 12 episode series (though I’m not certain of this). If that is the case, the series is probably not going to get much better.
The show is following the game VERY closely, and if I remember correctly there are 9 “Chapters” within the TV world before the finale. Presuming the typical anime formula of having 2 episodes for the finale, and of course your obligatory Onsen episode (calling it now, it’ll be episode 9) it’ll most likely be a bare bones story.
Problem with this is that the best stories in the game were the side stories. With the pacing required in a 12 episode run, these would be getting little more than shout outs throughout the series, such as the invitation to play basketball in the 3rd episode.
Unless this is actually a 2 season show, I’m thinking it’s best to keep expectations fairly low. Should be a fun show to watch through though.
@Jliltoe: Um no its confirmed to be 24 episodes long. Thank god because they could never crunch down the entire game into 12 episodes without stopping halfway through.
I think they’re doing just fine with the adaptation. Perhaps its because its an adaptation made to pander to video game fans rather then the newbies. Hence I highly suggest watching/playing the game first so you can appreciate how faithful the anime is.
@Wanderung Bunny
I know P4 and P3 in particular are not as obvious as P1 and P2 in this aspect but that does not change the fact that P4 also features shadows and personas and a phenomenon that symbolizes the abolisnment of borders between people so that their collective unconscious can surface and their minds can become one. I won’t say any more since we already spoiled too much for people who do not know the game, but as far as I remember, and I looked at the dialogue really thoroughly since I wrote a paper about this game and its take on national myths and a collective consciousness, the Japanese version made pretty clear tne franchise is still leaning on Jungian theories and I doubt ATLUS did not provide an appropriate English translation.