Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「Shadow World」 by 平田志穂子 (Shihoko Hirata)
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Series Rundown
“I am art and thou art I.
“Familiar landscapes will reveal a different kind of beauty if you change your viewpoint. |
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「THE GOLDEN DAYS」The Persona 4 train keeps rolling on in the form of Persona 4 The Golden ANIMATION (to be abbreviated as P4GA from this point forward), and it’s a nostalgic re-entry into a much beloved franchise (in Japan at least). If you haven’t been keeping up, P4GA comes in as the second anime entry based off of the universe introduced in the PS2 JRPG, Persona 4. Released in Japan in 2008, the game was extremely well received, and it’s since spawned two fighting game sequels and a rhythm game to top things off. The US release later that same year was met with similar acclaim and Persona 4 Golden was released on the Vita in 2012 as an enhanced remake with new game features and a new character in Marie. The latter is ultimately what’s being adapted here, and it’s interesting to note the differences between this and the original Persona 4 the Animation. First thing’s first though, and that’s the story—which generally remains the same. Once again, the focus is on Narukami Yu, who arrives in the rural town of Inaba in time to witness a series of strange events, including a series of murders and rumors about Mayonaka TV, a midnight program that supposedly allows you to see your other self on a rainy day. Looking into the rumor drags Yu and his new friends Hanamura Yosuke and Satonaka Chie into an alternate TV world where monsters known as Shadows roam about, and that’s generally the introductory episode in a nutshell. There’s not much different in this context in comparison to the original P4Aand the cast + director here also carries over from its predecessor in P4A. There is a new co-director and new studio behind it all, but overall, P4GA ends up quite similar stylistically, and at times I found myself wondering if I didn’t accidentally watch P4A instead. That said, the addition of Marie does ultimately change the sequence of how things occur here, and it’s interesting to note how her arrival ends up speeding up the pacing of this episode somewhat. Gone are the early introductions to the characters—we’re thrown straight into a scene where Yu, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko are already friends with one another—and it makes me wonder if P4GA might not actually be intended for viewers with no prior familiarity with the universe. One can infer and connect things based on the introductions we receive in the opening (gotta love Shihoko Hirata’s themes by the way), but there’s clearly omissions made here, and although my previous familiarity with the series made this of no consequence, it may not bode true for first time viewers. In fact, it seems like this could very well be an adaptation based on a New Game+ where Narukami’s already achieved certain landmarks power-wise. At the very least though, Marie comes in as a new character that changes things up a bit, and as someone who didn’t get to play Persona 4 Golden, I find myself quite intrigued by her mysterious nature. The fact that the Narukami Yu we get here seems to be the more gung-ho type rather than the more reserved type we saw in P4A also bodes well in terms of general enjoyment, and it shows itself early on with his handshakes (of which no one is immune to). Ultimately, the jury’s still out on multiple angles here with P4GA. It’s a bit early to tell whether or not first time viewers would be better off having prior experience with Persona 4 in some way, but I’d recommend sticking with things for now until we see how things progress. There’s a quality story here to be had assuming they actually do a full adaptation rather than a partial New Game+ run, so we’ll have to see how things go. It has to be said however, that it doesn’t look like it’ll be much different stylistically from P4A, so depending on whether or not you liked that, it’s likely you’ll have the same overall opinion here before it’s all said and done. Looking Forward: I’ll continue to watch the series personally, but due to time constraints and the fact that no one else is familiar with the Persona series on the staff at the moment, it’s likely that P4GA will go uncovered. I apologize before hand if this does end up being the case, but do keep in mind that time-willing, I will try to at least do either a mid-season or end of season post about it in the future. |
Epilogue:
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ED Sequence
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ED: 「Next Chance to Move On」 by 平田志穂子 (Shihoko Hirata)
Preview
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OP sort of a drag. Should of kept it as Pursuing My True Self like they did with the first one.
Its the Vita version’s OP.
They used the opening song for Persona 4 Golden.. (the game)
I love the jazzy feel of the saxophone. nuff said.
I think Yu is already in new game plus with everything max out along with his lv 99 izanagi. and picking all the funny/badass option in the game
Unfortunately, That doesn’t happen in the game: You need to gain access to the compendium to retrieve your high-tier Persona at a certain point in the game.
When I saw the fight scene, I was thinking: Just how much did he leveled up in that fight??
True but at least his personal stats (Courage, Understanding, etc) are maxed out. He had more lines in this then in the entire first half of the original series.
True, but in persona 3 you can carry over your statistics to persona 3 Fes at the start of the game. So I guess somehow in the anime version Yu got the option to carry over his statistics the same way, then there you go he kinda did new game plus.
Also that izanagi must has to be maziodyne kill all of them in a single hit
It’s plausible that as money carries over, he imported a maxed out Izanagi into his new game plus scenario from the compendium and the anime went with that.
And as its anime, he just got the compendium from the start.
Was thinking the same thing. The moment I saw how much more sociable he was in comparison to the same scenes in the original run, I was thinking it was like some sort of new game+. It made it really enjoyable though, to watch the same scenes play out in a different manner like that.
My thought exactly. That could probably explain why they aren’t focusing much on the case and more on Marie.
Feels like New Game + to me.
I think this series is definitely for the fans. For someone who hasn’t played the game or watched P4A I could definitely see them having some fast pacing issues, but since I did I actually liked this quite a bit. Yu is a lot more outgoing and he said some new game+ dialogue options which were funny. I like him more than his P4A counterpart so far he has the swag that’s for sure and he is OP. I also really like Marie’s voice actor she is great. I will continue to watch this for sure. A little of topic I really really want P5 to be out the wait is killing me I hope it will be as good as Persona 4 or better.
No offense but not even this feels like P4A. The pacing was too felt incredibly fast. With only 12 episodes, it’s going to get quicker.
If you’re a newcomer to Persona, I would honestly drop this, or at least watch it alongside the original adaption for the Golden content. Luckily I’ve played all the games so story isn’t an issue to me as this is a clear cash grab for fans.
They stay True and Dedicated to the Game in P4: the animation.
Now that its in a sense a remake, they can go crazy with it with some homage to the game’s detail.
I love this. A New Game Plus Yuu is awesome.
My only regret is that they didn’t make Yuu Throw the Final Boss’ to the floor and Say “I’ll be back for you in a year”
He should have said hello again with a cocky smile on his face to that gas station attendant at the start.
This is more comedic than its predecessor though I understand why. Preview gave me a good laugh.
I’m convinced that Yu is of the New Game + material. That was most likely Mazio-class spell Izanagi used on those shadows. But really, the guy had an smug smile as he arrived to Inaba. It’s like he knows what’s going to happen, but since Marie showed up as well, things are gonna differently
Show Spoiler ▼
With Kanji already being introduced in the next episode, it’s very likely they’ll breeze through the plot and expect the viewers to be already familiar with the plot.
ZEPHYR PLS COVER THIS 12 EPISODES PLS PLS PLS
I definitely agree, it feels like a New Game+ version. I haven’t played P4 Golden myself so I’m looking forward to the changes. But wow, the pacing sure is fast. Kanji is already in the next episode preview.
I’m kind of hoping Yu would get a proper relationship with one of the girls (Rise preferably) but Marie seems really interesting as well but it’ll probably be a generic ending where all of them will go the friendship route.
lol he is a pimp YU so i am sure he will have a moment with mostly everyone , but the end game girl will still be Marie(as much as i like Chie and Naoto, it’s about Marie after all , don’t forget that)
P4 cast wearing Persona 3 uniforms? A more talkative Yu? Count me in!
Can we agree that yu’s swag level is over 9000
Definitely for fans of P4. Way too rushed and I doubt we will get much story coherency with the pacing and only one cour. But hey, if that means I’ll see Rise much sooner I’m all for it. And at least A-1 provides much better visuals than AIC ASTA did.
The Izanagi debut reminded of my own Golden New Game + where I spent an unnecessary amount of time pumping Izangai’s stats to 99 and loading him up with a ton of broken skills before saving him on the compendium. It made the second play through amusing to say the least.
Having actually played Golden, I’m quite interested on how they’ll implement Marie’s Social Link and they will most likely provide some time for OTHER new social link of the game. Not to mention the new events, like the Scooters, Haloween, and Ski Trip events.
Something that should be corrected: “Next Chance To Move On”, which will be the OP theme for this anime series, was the ED song for this episode. The song used as the OP this episode is “Shadow World”, the OP song for the Persona 4 Golden game on Vita.
Noticed the long-nosed gaffer and the loli. Not seen this yet, but I need to know if;
1. the geezer still goes “yoooookoso waga velvet room eh”?
2. little Loliko gets enough airtime?
I was expecting a more complete remake, but now I get the feeling this is going to end up 90% comedy and 10% Marie’s story. And it’s probably better this way.
The battle scene was AMAZING! My jaw literally dropped!
yu shake everyone hand and is so bad ass with his lv 99 golden izanagi , he is here for Marie , his true and only sweetheart
Mind Charge + Maragidyne= Pawnage
Huh… well that was certainly different then what I expected but I guess with 12 episodes they kind of have to rush things… Really odd there wasn’t one mention of anyone being killed in the first episode o_O
Personally I was hoping for a longer expanded anime that would go over the content of the game more as well as golden but thats not he case at all. Oh well maybe in another few years XD
They’re likely only covering key events while integrating Golden content into the series. I would imagine we’ll likely get at least 2 shadow battles before you know who at the end(I don’t want to spoil for anyone who hasn’t seen…). And then an episode covering Maries dungeon.
I want them to announce a Persona 4 Arena anime at the end of the final episode. General Teddie appearing on a screen will do for me.
I hope he goes for the harem end. I mean, almost everyone goes for the harem end at their NG+ run right?
“Once again, the focus is on Narukami Yu, …”
Uh, Narukami Yu is a girl?! I think your link might be a number off? XD
Marie reminds me so much of Ricchan.
PERSONAlly (see what I did there? Ok I’ll stop) I’d say if this is your first time watching the P4 then watch the first season first. Mainly because this won’t focus on the others as much as it will on the new character Marie. Also I feel you’ll find the most enjoyment out of P4GA if you know how Yu is in the first season and see the differences in this new one.
Sort of like how CLANNAD had the Another Story I feel you’d enjoy this more as it’s pretty much a “What if Yu was more of a bad ass and a new route with a cute girl comes into play?”, basically a newgame+. Also I think this is the first time an anime of a video game brings out a “2nd season” that is essentially a newgame+
Pimp Narukami is pimp. He wins over Nanako and Dojima instantly and the way the struts into combat is just too BA. Looking forward to more ridiculous stuff XD
I didnt watched persona in the past but able to 100% the game on vita i think this series will be enjoyable, its really like playing my second playthrough
Definitely my watchlist, and as always HanaKana voice is just so calming