Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「Not a friend anymore」
I have never actually played Persona 4 Golden—only the original—so my familiarity with the game is limited. So I may be missing out of parts of the Persona 4 the Golden ANIMATION experience here, especially considering how this week’s episode is the most game-like one we’ve had for a while. We’re back to dungeons again! There’s even random encounters! Yay! But I suppose there’s also advantages to going into these episodes uninformed; the dungeon itself pleasantly surprised me. Let’s face it: once you get past the abstraction and the general metaphor Persona 4 dungeons are generally rather bland. I don’t know how much they spiced it up compared to the game, but I did enjoy the atmosphere and music, short though it was. There’s something to be said for a wistful dungeon crawling experience.
As for the story itself, I don’t know how it went originally in the game either; I’ll leave it to you guys to discuss in the comments. I wasn’t expecting Margaret to show up to play the super plot-device (and exposition machine). ‘I shouldn’t intervene directly,’ she says, while intervening directly. It’s all a bit convenient, really. Margaret even does a big spiel on Marie’s feelings and everything. We certainly didn’t need that. I’m a big proponent of ‘show, don’t tell’ and having a third party explain another character’s emotional state is essentially a cop-out. It’s artificial. And unnecessary. It’s not like it saved Marie from having to vent her spleen herself. Margaret’s monologues are transparently only for the sake of the viewer. It’s almost as if P4GA didn’t trust us to work things out ourselves, so it just gives us the answers before the test. That’s the thing about characters like Margaret: she’s a trap for writers to fall into. It’s far too easy to just parachute in a superpowered, all-knowing minor character to smooth over your plot for you. This is how we wander into the dangerous territories of deus ex machina.
So I suppose it’s a good thing that the fights at least weren’t so easy for the Investigation Team, even if it was a bit incongruous why. Normally I’m all for characters having to struggle—struggle is a sign of determination, after all—but we’ve just been shown in the very same episode (as well as Episode 01) how ridiculously powerful Yu is supposed to be. We got to see Yoshitsune still being OP and that’s great, but then why doesn’t Yu ever use it again? Was he just borrowing it from Margaret?
I suppose it’s not that big a deal in the grand scheme. Sleeper agent Marie did need to demonstrate her awesome godmode, and giving the Investigation Team a sound thrashing, even after they went full super sentai, is probably the only way to do it. Not like we actually know what she’s doing, though; Persona erasing is definitely a new trick. I would have said it was a pretty bold move for P4GA to suddenly throw up a Game Over screen, except that we know that it’s not because previews, so the effect is ruined. The fight itself, though, is probably not the important part. The entire Izanami/Izanaga metaphor is coming into fruition (which, I suppose, is why Yu is loathe to switch Personae). And, just like real mythology, gods act really immature. I don’t know about you, but for someone who’s supposed to be doing all this for the sake of her friends Marie sure is trying to kill the Investigation Team pretty hard. Yes, she’s not being herself etc. but still. It just goes to show: tsunderes are a pain to deal with in real life.
ED3 Sequence
 |
 |
 |
Preview
 |
 |
 |
lol @ that ending troll
True, I never expected Yu to lose…
https://randomc.net/image/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20The%20Golden%20ANIMATION%20-%20ED3%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
Honestly I don’t think anyone hasn’t played P4G will get much enjoyment out of this adaptation. Since I have played P4G, I have enjoyed it for the most part because of many of the expansions and alterations made to some of the scenes within the game. Such as the fight with Adachi, the Christmas eve episode or Rise’s dialogue with Marie during the band episode. Though the show has been plagued with terrible animation quality at times.
That being said, this episode was a little weak in my opinion. I wish they would have went with the game’s approach of having Margaret grab Chie and pull her and the rest of the party into the dungeon. It’s one of my favorite scenes because the rest of the party gets to interact with Margaret. I still have high hopes for the conclusion of this adaptation especially with the upcoming Izanami fight.
To say one must have played P4G to enjoy the anime is a troubling position, in my opinion, because that would mean that P4GA is less an adaptation and more just an addendum. To say that it cannot stand on its own feet may be selling it short, and if it’s true it’d be disappointing.
As I see, Marie is acting that way because her will is being overpowered by the fog’s power.
Well in case you want to know, Passerby, Show Spoiler ▼
Baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka, baka…
That’s… all I got from this episode XD
Loved the rest of team’s expressions when they were seen Yu and Marie arguing though XDD
https://randomc.net/image/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20The%20Golden%20ANIMATION%20-%2010%20-%2028.jpg
Is that a gunmen?
This was a scripted loss in the game. No matter how strong you are you die after a set number of turns.
One does not simply gets a game over, after getting a Yoshitsune XD
So after the Hollow Forest, will they cover the true ending route battle? I’m a bit confused as there’s only 12 episodes left and I’m not sure how they’ll cover it lol
Opps didn’t mean to say 12 episodes left, I simply meant there’s only 12 episodes in the series lol.
But I’ve just looked on Wikipedia it says 11 episodes + an OVA out in December? So I’m guessing the Marie stuff bookends the series.
Syoboi still lists an episode 12 at the appropriate time, so I’d assume that’s still going to happen.
Hey guys, do you think they’ll eventually adopt Persona 4 Arena into an anime as well?
Fighting games have traditionally been difficult to adapt well, because it’s hard to fit all the disparate routes into one coherent narrative. And the plot keeps interrupted by ‘now we must kung fu fight!’. But I guess there’s a manga already, and Atlus needs to milk their cash cow, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
” It’s far too easy to just parachute in a superpowered, all-knowing minor character to smooth over your plot for you. This is how we wander into the dangerous territories of deus ex machina.”
What?! You’re just using all these hard words because I’m not that smart!
(+1 cookie to whoever gets it)
Yeah, I think the downside to going the route of lost memories for the main cast was that Margaret’s involvement here seems really random. I do get the point. Make everyone have to work to realize something is wrong, having them split up initially to see Marie’s thoughts impacting this world she’s created, etc. But at least game wise, Margaret’s actions made sense and had clear work behind what she did here.
In the end we still had some entertaining moments. Maybe Yu feels he shouldn’t show off while his friends still have only their basic personas :). But the “stupid” yelling match with Yu and Marie really did feel like a silly lover’s spat.
Even if the game over was obviously a ploy I enjoyed them using it. Felt more like a nod to the game than actually trying to trick us into thinking the show was over.
That game over screen at the end was a play on the fact that this fight in the video game was scripted and unwinable, with a guaranteed party wipe.
Well played P4G anime, well played.