First Impressions / Persona 4 the ANIMATION

「I’ll beat you, and beat you good」

After several weeks of Persona awakenings and social links, Yuu’s special investigation team finally resumes its focus on Inaba’s abductions and murders and they do it with style, shenanigans, and some beef bowls.

Freed from most of the formulaic constraints of prior episodes, this sixth episode managed to better capture the slower plot and character progression of the game itself by subtly developing the characters while elaborating on the central plot. Without a clear social link or awakening event, the way we learned about various characters’ personalities was more natural as a result. For other shows, this might be par for the course, but for Persona 4, the previous episodes’ character development felt somewhat forced because of the events practically demanded it. With the added possibility of a romance, I feel that the pacing and style of this episode is a step in the right direction for this series (and I’m not just saying that because I’m fond of Yukiko).

Although Yuu lives at his uncle Ryoutarou’s house, the person he actually interacts with the most there is his cousin Nanako, making it a treat to see the first half of the episode focused on her. I wouldn’t mind having a younger sister who is so mature for her age. Even though she’s sad having again been denied a holiday trip because of her busy detective father, Nanako doesn’t complain. Also witness how easily and calmly she handled telling the others that she didn’t have a mother – if that’s not preternaturally mature, I don’t know what is. Yuu’s understanding level is probably still too low to realize that Nanako is easy to please as well. All he needed to do was to take her to Junes once in a while to buy her food and a cute shirt. Speaking of food, I’m eagerly anticipating the Epic Omelet Rice Battle™ being animated – and see if Chie can really cook as well as she claims.

Funny how after all that the investigation team has gone through, Yukiko was the one who brought up the subject of the abductions and murders and the character keeping track of the cases’ details was the one person I thought was the least likely to. Some possible explanations are that the others didn’t want to bring up the abductions for fear of upsetting Yukiko, and because Yousuke has all the time in the world to think about the case since he doesn’t study or even take all of his midterms. In any case, I’m glad that the team has finally started to live up to its name and begun to try and connect the dots and even doing some detective work.

With the theory that a person’s appearance on Midnight TV is essentially a preview for their eventual abduction, the gang decides to investigate the latest person to appear on it, Tatsumi Kanji (Seki Tomokazu), by shadowing him all over town. Unfortunately for them – they’re not too great at playing spies and staying hidden. Fortunately for us though, their missteps are more than worth it, giving us a great dose of character insights along with humor. Chie? Her hunger knows no bounds, even in times when she wants to be the tragic hero (thanks to magically delivered beef bowls from Aiya). Yousuke? He may have honorable motivations for investigating the mystery, but he’s also a creepy pervert, no doubt about it. (Who calls a girl late at night to tell dirty jokes?) Yukiko? If you ask for her phone number in a group, you’ll get a cold rejection, but if you ask her privately, you’ll get not only the number, but some blushing too.

Most, if not all of the investigation team’s antics stem from either their ineptness or their various misunderstandings of Kanji’s actions. Seeing all the unexpected aspects of Kanji’s personality was quite enjoyable, from his pink rabbit keychain, to his flustered face when he realizes that a mysterious boy (voiced by Paku Romi) has taken interest in him. I hope that this series doesn’t shy away from expanding upon this mere blush as I feel that it is a unique and worthwhile personality aspect that deserves further development. And in judging from his second Midnight TV appearance, I probably won’t have to wait long to find out more.

* Full-length images: 25, 35.

 

Preview

69 Comments

  2. The Nanako half of the episode was adorable and filled with cute.

    There were a lot of funny Chie faces this time around too, I feel like between her and Yousuke, they’re probably going to be the ones who will provide the most comedy.

    Or at least until

    Show Spoiler ▼

    myman88
    Reply

  4. Yousuke annoyed me more in this episode than any of the previous episodes. Not at the level of some of the characters from recent anime yet, but at times it made me want to skip scenes with him in it.

    Kanji is one interesting guy. Can’t wait to know more about him.

    x
    Reply

  7. Not sure what I just watched. The spying scene came of as a bit too goofy for my taste. I preferred how the game showed it, especially when Chie and Yosuke start arguing. I did get a good laugh at the delivery scene at least. I guess Aika Nakamura’s role in the anime is for deadpan humor?

    fragb85
    Reply

  13. Thanks a lot for the review Verdant.

    The only differences I’ve noticed were:
    – You don’t, or “Yuu doesn’t” (take your pick), meet Kanji at school until after his case is resolved.
    – Kanji only chases Chie and Yosuke (or whoever are chosen to spy on Kanji) in-game and then they report what they’ve got to the other two. Here, he chases all 4 characters.
    – I don’t recall a food delivery being made during that segment either…

    The rest is pretty accurate, like the lunch with Nanako, the exam week and Naoto’s appearance… although at some points she’s awfully small compared to Kanji, while in other shots she’s about at shoulder-height from Kanji.

    JiCi
    Reply

    1. He chases all 4 in the game too. They meet up outside his shop, then he comes home and is like “you two again!? GTFO!”. But yeah, the food delivery thing was outta nowhere. Really wondering what they’re doing with that anime-original waitress girl.

      Aex
      Reply

      1. she might be used to replace one of the social links in the game.

        the hermit? since a fox would be difficult to add in, as it’s main purpose is to provide healing points in the dungeons. unless they adopt it as a pet, lol.

        saka
        Reply

      2. Oh gods, if Aika replaces Fox I’m gonna be pissed!! Fox is the man!… err, animal!!! Still I see what you mean by him being pretty difficult to put into the show. They couldn’t really cover more than like the very start and very end without taking a few minutes out of every-other episode.

        Aex
        Reply

    2. I’m thinking and if anybody wants to poll in, who do think Yuu’s love interest in the anime might be leaning towards to? well we haven’t seen Rise yet but chie is way too outgoing for yuu now, and amagi-yu moment seems to be a pretty decent foreshadow… hmm????

      n30nL16ht
      Reply

  15. Damn, Yuu’s courage wasn’t high enough to say he wanted Yukiko’s number for personal reasons besides the case 🙁 It might’ve been a while since they’ve discussed the case, but the time-frame is almost exactly dead-on with the game. I think the only difference was they talked longer about the case in their study-group. Don’t like how Yuu hasn’t been recognized as the “leader” yet, instead almost giving the feeling that Yosuke is the one in charge >.<

    Empress link… they did that so well! That little bit of flirting at the end was HHHHNNNNGGG!! Nanako and Yukiko were done great too. Glad to see they're putting some real effort into the important S. Links. Granted Empress isn't that important story-wise, but still… it's Margaret!! XD

    Aex
    Reply

    1. Yuu is more of a main player in the group than a leader. He seem to lack the “push” most leader possess…

      As for Yukiko, she definitely like Yuu. Thus, she gave him her number while shot down Yusuke. Then again, Chie like Yuu at first, too. She seem to not anymore.

      chaos
      Reply

  17. (i meant this to be a separate reply)

    I’m thinking and if anybody wants to poll in, who do think Yuu’s love interest in the anime might be leaning towards to? well we haven’t seen Rise yet but chie is way too outgoing for yuu now, and amagi-yu moment seems to be a pretty decent foreshadow… hmm????

    n30nL16ht
    Reply

    3. When playing the game, I preferred to just have him friends with all the girls…though that’s probably because I’m a girl, haha…still, it makes more sense to me personally if he doesn’t start a relationship with anyone. I know Yukiko is considered more “canon” than any of the others, but I just don’t see it.

      anna
      Reply

      1. Honestly, I’ve seen more arguments for Rise (because she’s the Lovers link and will always crush on Souji/Yuu even if you go friendship route) or Show Spoiler ▼

        Personally, while I can be satisfied if the anime friend-zones everyone with Yuu, I’d love it if they did Yuu/Naoto.

        Acerbus
        Reply

      2. I’d really love to know where all this Yukiko being ‘canon’ talk came from since

        Show Spoiler ▼

        RyougaZell
        Reply

      3. Yeah…when I said that I thought Yukiko was “considered more canon,” I guess I was thinking of the abundance of Yuu/Yukiko fanart and support that I remembered seeing shortly after the game came out. I didn’t care, but that seemed to be the popular opinion at the time, at least from what I saw… though now, yes, Show Spoiler ▼

        .

        anna
        Reply

      5. I’ve seen more fanart of Yu with Chie, Naoto, and Yosuke than I have seen of him and Yukiko, Anna.

        Especially after the anime began. Heck I’ve seen more Chie and Yukiko fanart than Yu and Yukiko.

        TheVoid
        Reply

    4. I can’t say for certain because we are missing the last girl in the group. Given the 2 now, Yukiko has a better shot than Chie. She seem to have lost an interest in Yuu as a lover and more of a friend now.

      chaos
      Reply

    5. I’m thinking he’ll end up with Yukiko or Rise, though Rise was put off from me once she joined the team ingame. As for why I think/hope he’d end up with Yukiko? Well Chie and Yosuke seem to have feelings for each other (at least that’s how I saw it) and Kanji like Show Spoiler ▼

      and even though that’s onesided I think the anime could expand it and make it a bit more less onesided. And, well, Rise just doesn’t seem liked she’d fit based on the dub of the game. Though the anime could change my mind. I’ll have to wait and see.

      Jason
      Reply

  26. I want Aika’s restaurant in my neighborhood. You can’t find that kind of top notch service anywhere!

    Nanako is so cute, I wish my neice was more like her. I wouldn’t mind baby sitting and treating her to ice cream and steak lunches and such!

    Azuma
    Reply

  29. I felt weird when I saw the MC standing in front of his television when he viewed the Midnight Channel. But isn’t the placement of his tv weird?
    Because when he viewed Yukiko’s show, he was sitting down behind his working table, and leaning back to the sofa behind him.
    He looked straight in front to view the tv.
    *I’m never going to forget his deadpan line then*
    My point is: Isn’t the MC supposed to stand in-between his working desk and tv?
    The working desk in that scene is too left. And if it was correctly placed in this scene, he wouldn’t be able to look straight into the tv when he viewed Yukiko’s show.
    Am I the only one who caught this?
    I caught this after I watched the episode three times. And rewatched the series two times, before confirming. Please reply!! Somebody!!

    reia
    Reply

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