Posted by OP2 Sequence
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OP2: 「Next Chance to Move On」 by 平田志穂子 (Hirata Shihoko)
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「THE PERFECT PLAN」
or
“The Dokidoki Date Super Plan”
The story so far: Narukami Yu moves to a new town, jumps into a television, summons his Level 81 Pikachu, and whoops an arbitrarily large number of generic mooks.
This week: Nothing remotely like that.
True to its premise, Persona 4 The Golden ANIMATION is only really covering the additional material introduced in the Golden version of the Persona 4. This means more of the brand new character introduced last week: Marie. In fact, she integrates neatly with the rest of the Investigation Team and is physically present for the entire episode. They’re pushing her development very hard in what must be an attempt to promote her to main heroine status. On the flip side all non-Marie related activities have been deemed unimportant and to that end the plot has skipped half a month. With only 12 episodes P4GA has no time for orientation; it cares not to explain any developments. There can be no doubts that the audience of P4GA are presumed to have either played the game or at least watched the original anime. Otherwise, with the way new characters pop up and pretend they have always been there, this series is going to sound like the strained recitatives of a struggling soap opera.
The other possible problem with this Marie-centric approach is that there is very little in the way of action since she doesn’t actually participate in any of that card-crushing, demon-summoning goodness. For those seeking quasi-symbolic battles with Jungian psychic constructs, this episode is not for you. But fear not, gentle readers. In its place we get something even better. We get Social Links on motorbikes!
No, wait! It’s (even) better than it sounds. Yu biking with his mates is only half the story. The girls also want him to go shopping with them. Unable to choose between his bros and his…female friends, Yu decides that he must do the unthinkable. He double dates! And while having to be in multiple places at once to juggle an increasingly complex timetable is not exactly an original plot twist, especially not in anime, here the execution carries the day. The humour is generally whimsical and well timed, driven largely by Yu’s complete inability to pick up anybody despite his immense amounts of swag. Yes, that’s not original either but the sum is somewhat greater than its parts. There is at least a bit of schadenfreude to be had watching the confident, max-parameters Narukami Yu be brought low and destroyed. And they made fun of fat people. It’s a high class act.
Public Service Announcement: Obesity is a real disease suffered by more than 500 million adults around the world. Please, have a heart. Stick to making fun of short people.
Reading the cards.
It’s true that, from a plot perspective, nothing really happened this episode. The most we can take away is that Marie made some new friends. It is arguable, though, that character development is just as important as plot development for advancing a narrative. One would certainly not be too bold to guess that Marie will have an important part to play in the story at a later point, and it would hinge on her being a fleshed-out and relatable character. Slow episodes now are investments, and we shall see in the future whether they pay dividends. Again, those who enjoyed the original Persona 4 (in any of its forms) have an advantage here in that they will be expecting guaranteed returns and probably have more patience to enjoy the wait.
In any case, P4GA seems confident with what it’s doing because the previews for next week hint at much the same formula. It is possible that we are in for a rather long run of fluffy slice-of-life episodes before we get to the substantial meat. This is not necessarily a bad thing–I would not be the only one who considers Fumoffu superior to the original Full Metal Panic, for example–but it can certainly turn off a lot of viewers. After all, three episodes is about as long as an anime can get to impress its audience, and we’re fast approaching that cut-off. Maybe that’s why they’re breaking out the bikinis? Let’s see what comes out of them (No, not in that way. Get your mind out of the gutter.).
Epilogue:
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ED2 Sequence
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ED2: 「Dazzling Smile」 by 平田志穂子 (Hirata Shihoko)
Preview
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I hope they do the Valentine’s Breakup event.
This episode was hilarious. The comedy is certainly more present than in the previous anime.
Max stats confirmed in the new opening.
That’s the one thing I noticed about the opening as well.
Congrats on the first post.
i love the concept of golden, only the new parts, it would be worst if they redo all the series, and just add the marie parts, its a good series but not something to watch whitout seeing the first persona 4 anime
kinda relief they gone to this way of adapting rather than remake exact same things from 1st series!
Loved the opening. Not quite on par with the ones from the games or the first anime, but Shoji Meguro is always guaranteed to deliver. The Persona silhouettes was very elegant. Wonderfully animated, too.
Even with the swag of a thousand suns, absolute max parameters and the New Game + bonus, Narukami Yu is no match for double booking
Marie S.Link The Animation
and is awesome
No complaints there.Show Spoiler ▼
More +new game bonanza :3
@Passerby, I love your post. It’s clear, punctual, and superbly well written; it flows like butter. You my friend, have earned a
fanfollower.Oh god the Birth of Venus scene is coming XD, also nice first post Passerby, VERY well written and organized yet pleasing to read!
Learned a new word… schadenfreude!
Thanks Random Passerby!
this is how i learned schadenfreude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCQGQ5qBQTA
I’ve played P4G and watched P4 the animation and I’m glad they focused on maxed-out Yu and Marie’s social link instead of redoing everything. I liked Marie’s character in the game and the way P4GA brings out her character here makes her much more loveable. I like video game adaptations where they add more substance to a character and make him/her more endearing to the viewers. And that ED. Simply amazing.
Congrats on joining RC Passerby! And thanks for covering P4GA as your first show here. I look forward to reading more from you! 😀
In really enjoying this show. I’m a huge persona fan and am happy that they are pretty much doing everything new. And to anybody who plans on watching, best you get started on the original p4A or the game so you know how everyone connects
Loved this episode, OP/ED <3
Congrats on the 1st review on a great anime!
Probably not the best place to say this, but Passerby, there’s no need to force an overly unique writing style like the one you have here. I could be wrong. Maybe you come up with similes like “sound like the strained recitatives of a struggling soap opera” in dialogue, without thinking, in which case I congratulate you on your boundless imagination. But if not, you might be better off writing in your normal voice. It’d be a lot easier keeping that up than the hyperbolic style you currently employ through the months of blogging to come.
On a more related note, nice judgements on the episode.
Thanks for your concern, Mocha, but there’s no need to worry about me on that front. The crazy flows out of me naturally (like Arkham sewage). Even if it didn’t, who am I to blog ‘Persona’ if I can’t even maintain this one? 😉
I may switch things up as I go, just to keep things interesting. But baby steps, baby steps.
By the way, guys, we will all be happier people if we all resort to the downvote button more sparingly. Let us give Mocha the benefit of the doubt and accept his comment as genuine feedback. Writers live and grow on feedback. Let’s encourage it.
Great first post Passerby, please continue the amazing work!
CARDGAMES ON MOTORCY–Oh, wait…
You have to pick up those cards from the ground before getting on a motorcycle
Perfect Plan reminds me of Carnival Phantasm.
This is funny!
Just curious Passerby if you also played the Golden remake on the Vita. This just reminded of the time RC recruited Verdant to cover Persona 4 The Animation, specifically because he was familiar with the game at the time. If you’re covering this anime adaptation that’s great! On the episode itself:
– I guess as far as the anime goes, Chie and Ai really don’t get along. It think it’s only in the anime that I saw these two go at each others’ throats.
– Show Spoiler ▼
– Not really sure Hanako was made to make fun of obese people at all. From the way she acts in the game/anime, she’s pretty confident in herself, like here where she thinks Yosuke was hitting on her.Show Spoiler ▼
– Wishful thinking but since A-1 is taking some liberties by merging certain events,Show Spoiler ▼
I’m hoping that I wasn’t the Persona hire because while I’m familiar with Persona 4 I’m less so with Golden. There will certainly be some things that are going to be new to me.
The way I see Hanako is that she was designed specifically to be unpleasant, and thus the defining nature of her obesity (played for laughs though it is). Glorious will be the day an anime (or a movie, or a game) casts a female character who is ‘fat’, but also relevant and likeable. Only half points if she’s old.
No worries. If you’re new to the additions in the Golden remake, then enjoy the coming episodes. with what A-1 has done so far, I’m looking forward to how they’re gonna adapt the scenarios even if I already saw them before. On a fat female character, in case you haven’t watched/read Silver Spoon yet, check out Tamako from that series(though she might not count, based on your criteria).
She’s not a student of the school, so why would she?
Also, beach episode is the next episode…get your Marie fix there.
It’s good they’re not repeating the old scenes.
Much better than the first episode.
I love seeing Yu being so confident and hilarious, sadly, it didn’t end well for him this time! XD
The Super Date Plan was one of my favorite S. Links in the game. Although I am disappointed that they omitted one potential “pickup”, it was all in good fun to show Yu down in the dumps for double booking. I like how we got a Rikka wannabe though lol. Nevertheless, Hanako’s part in Operation Up Close and Personal was still there and what made me laugh for a while when I played through it. I’m glad I was able to relive that humor even though I knew it was coming, and even if it makes me realize how terrible of a human being I am…lol
Read the message in Yu’s planner on his phone. Now when he scrolls to the Nanako one, read the first letter of every line from top to bottom (In Japanese of course.). Let’s see if you guys figure it out.
nope , just give me the answer
I like Nanako?
I assume it’s “I love Nanako”, as I don’t actually know what kanji her name uses for the Na, but it otherwise fits.
菜々子大好き
Nanako daisuki.
Brilliant.
As with many others, I like the fact that they’re only covering the Golden material. Not only that but I love some of the new elements they’re adding to this Golden adaption, such as the double booking.
I know all too well how Narukami felt today. I actually had a triple booking with 3 girls once. Thankfully I somehow managed to pull off a Lelouch, timed it perfectly and got away with it.
Persona 4: Marie Route
So I might be the only person on Earth who still hasn’t picked up anything Persona related, but I loved the review! I won’t be watching P4G this season but I’ll definitely be dropping by each week to read your posts.
Wow this sure surpassed my expectations and I’m really loving it so far. I’m really glad they’re showing scenes exclusive in P4 Golden edition since I haven’t played it yet. This animation is making me want to go buy P4 Golden.
Kind of caught me by surprise that Yu Nurukami didn’t scoop any girls up. I was thinking the whole time that it’s gonna be a breeze for him as his game should have been up there, lol! I’ma throw an excuse for him by saying he had a lot on his plate, which probably threw him off, haha!
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