Miscellaneous

Hey all, I’m verdant and I’ll be the “main” writer who will be guest blogging Persona 4 the ANIMATION along with unlisted. Earlier this summer, he piqued my interest in the upcoming anime adaptation of Persona 4, so once classes finished, I decided to play both the Persona 3 and 4 games (a daunting task, but someone had to do it). Fortunately, my dedication paid off when a couple weeks later, unlisted tells me that Divine is looking for someone familiar with the game to cover Persona 4. Challenge accepted.

Compared to most people, my introduction to anime is probably quite unique since my dad was the one who introduced me. He would peruse the kids’ animation section of our local library and bring home shows like Fushigi Yûgi and Revolutionary Girl Utena, even though he never watched anime himself. Being young, I probably didn’t fully understand what I was watching, but nevertheless, what stood out was seeing the stories, themes, and action that couldn’t be found in my usual Western cartoons. I was starting to get hooked, and once I discovered Escaflowne on Fox, Dragon Ball Z on Toonami, and that my best friend also secretly liked anime, there was no looking back. We even dabbled in some drifting thanks to Initial D (please don’t try this at home).

It might be just nostalgia, but most of the anime that I watched early on are still some of my favorites to this day. Rurouni Kenshin, Trigun, and Cowboy Bebop are all anime that I grew up with and have shaped much of my tastes as well. Those shows are probably why I have a soft spot for shows with a bit of romance, historical settings, and/or swords these days. Overall though, I’m pretty open-minded about the shows I watch, and I count Spice and Wolf along with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as some more recent favorites.

I’m fairly new at blogging, but I plan to adhere to the style of writing that has kept me reading RandomC all this time. Having played through the entirety of Persona 4 recently, I also plan on bringing up some comparisons with the game and shedding a little light into the mythology and mysticism of the franchise as well. I find that the backgrounds of the Personas themselves and the symbolism and meaning behind various Tarot arcana cards are interesting and add to my appreciation of Persona, and I hope you will too. I’m also open to any suggestions and look forward to all your comments. Needless to say, I am excited for the opportunity to blog this show, and I hope I will be able to do both Persona fans and RandomC justice.

72 Comments

  2. I am sure that your experience with Persona4 will provide an excellent insight on the anime. Since I never played the game myself, your posts will be vital for my experience with the anime. Thanks for taking the challenge up!!

    Flappy
    Reply

      1. depending on how long he’s read RandomC it might just be a few more than the current bloggers. I think i started here around 05′ and there have been alot of great bloggers that have come and gone and i greatly enjoyed reading their posts

        Alcren
        Reply

  25. My worries have been put at ease if the one writing is someone familiar with the source. I just hope the blogging isn’t compromised mainly of comparisons since, after all, a 100+ hour game is being adapted into only 25 episodes.

    RyougaZell
    Reply

    1. Comparisons are definitely a concern but I think we’ll be expanding more on the anime than comparing it to the game. There is so much mythology behind the game as well as the plot itself. Also divine would never let that happen. I think he’d drop us like a bad habit first lol. I do have plenty of in-game caps to share though so you can expect some once in a while.

      unlisted
      Reply

      1. That sounds perfect Unlisted! I’m getting more pumped about reading both your impressions. Heck… I’m already signed up to buy the blurays after the reveal of the licensing a few days ago.

        RyougaZell
        Reply

  28. Wohoo, Persona 4! When you say “played through the entirety of Persona 4 recently”, have you also beaten the secret boss?
    Im really looking forward to this show, specially since i have also played the game. And good luck with the reviewing!

    Pearz
    Reply

    1. I’ve played P4 3 times… and I’ve never fought the secret bosses. I usually do all Social Links on the 1st game, so its very dull and annoying playing a 2nd time without them. I hope the secret bosses aren’t tied to the 2nd game on P4: Golden for Vita.

      RyougaZell
      Reply

  29. Yay! Spice and Wolf is my favorite. I love the time of trade and coin. It was a good time of togetherness and corruption. x3 Glad to have a new writer. I’m surprised that not one, but two writers were added to the template. (Divine always refuses. haha)

    Questions:
    Should I go out and purchase Persona 3 & 4 and do the same thing before watching this show? I don’t want to be out of the loop. I don’t want to rage either. (Anime-only watcher)

    Are you guys just going to be sticking with Persona 4 The Animation this season or do you plan on going into other seasons with your blogging skills? :]

    Shirt
    Reply

  33. Congrats to verdant and unlisted in joining the randomc blog. I do hope that p4a will show that new character (Hana kanazawa is voicing it 🙂 ) or at least the new events coming from p4 the golden.

    lcdsound
    Reply

  44. Nice! I’ve been playing Persona 3 pretty regularly for about 2 years now and am STILL not finished. A fantastic game, but if the length and depth of P3 are any indication of what’s ahead in P4, I guess my dreams of getting to that one before the anime version are not going to happen! I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts and comparisons on the two, and hopefully this series will just want me to play it even more. Good luck and see you in the Velvet Room.

    Sudachi
    Reply

  47. ah, i’m a big persona 4 fan ^_^”

    * re-played that game so many times…greatest ps2 game i own *

    really looking forward to your coverage of this anime !!

    the strength of heart required to face this anime has been made manifest…i will watch this anime to overcome life’s hardships !!

    break
    Reply

  55. I’m happy I didn’t played P4, did played P1 and P2:Eternal Punishment during the 90’s, Innocent Sin during 2002, P3 during 2009 (yes only in PSP), I’m glad it didn’t involved that much the P3 anime 10 years after during 2008.

    QB
    Reply

  56. Two people for covering a single show? How sad…
    Especially the way Divine gets people he probably never even knew for more than 5 seconds just so they can increase the site’s popularity by bloging that one show that everyone’s going to watch~
    Why dosen’t he just hire some hooker to pose for him so he could add a piece of porn for every review? I bet that’ll increase the popularity twice as fast~

    Oh well, at least you’ll try to explain the mysticism so I’ll be able to laugh at you when you get it wrong~
    It’ll be especially amusing if you’ll try to compare it to the digital devil story novels just because both use that silly Izanagi-Izanami themes.

    BTW, your new so I’ll be nice and give ya a warning; Im the jerk guy around here. To avoid a lot anger and furstration, it’s probably best for you to just ignore whatever I say~

    See Key
    Reply

  59. Looking forward to reading your posts ;D
    I think most Initial D fans were goaded into some form of drifting before realizing it’s not worth throwing away your life just to look cool 0_0

    Seishun Otoko
    Reply

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