Persona 4 The Animation– A First Impression of the Backside of the TV
It’s been a week since the anime adaptation of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 began airing on TV. This highly anticipated series has already experienced a small amount of controversy earlier this week. The second episode of Persona 4 The Animation was leaked with French subtitles on Wednesday, a day before it actually aired in Japan. Additionally, several animators have complained about not being properly paid by AIC A.S.T.A production studios for their work on the show. Two animators are rumored to have quit while working on episode three of Persona 4. Furthermore, the quality of the animation has supposedly gone downhill since episode one. Although the information was obtained from the Twitter accounts of two animators I’d advise against taking their tweets as absolute truth. For example, the animation quality of episode two is definitely an improvement over the pilot which directly contradicts their claims. Nevertheless, if the allegations about the lack of pay are true you can probably expect to hear more about this situation sooner than later. Controversy aside, the leaks and the alleged pay disputes have nothing to do with Sentai Film Works and P4 is still being simulcast without issue. Now, on to my actual first impressions.
Persona 4 The Animation begins exactly like events from the game. Yu Narukami wakes up in the Velvet Room with Igor and his assistant Margaret. Yu is warned of an impending disaster and a contract he must adhere to. As he returns to consciousness he is currently on the way to the town of Inaba via the train. The teenager sits silently and glumly recalls how his parents are always traveling abroad, constantly uprooting his life. Thanks to repeated moves he’s never had the chance to really settle down and make friends. For the next year Yu will live in Inaba with his uncle and younger cousin. Having lived in the city for most of his life the quiet teenager is expecting a relatively uneventful (if not boring) year in the countryside. Little does Yu know that his life will be turned upside down with a series of strange murders, the ability to enter TVs, his awakening to the power of “Persona” and the promise to help apprehend the true culprit behind the murders. A full plot synopsis can be found in the first few paragraphs of my Persona 4 game review.
The first two episodes of P4 The Animation really shines in their faithful adaptation to the game’s plot. Minor events and sequences were changed for the anime but only obsessive fans would take issue. For example the sequence about Yu’s previous schools was adapted from the manga instead of the game. No big deal, it helps flesh out our protagonist. Our hero is the silent type as he only make the occasional quip here and there. It’s a fitting transition from a character who was essentially silent in the game. There’s not much to his personality now but he’ll grow as the series continues. In the first episode the supporting characters had a quick introduction as the pace of the plot moved quickly. We didn’t get a glimpse of Chie’s tomboy nature, Yukiko’s unwillingness to trust others beyond Chie or Yosuke’s frustration with living in the countryside. Episode two introduced much of Yosuke’s insecurities and subsequent episodes are poised do the same with the other main characters.
Shoji Meguro’s compositions from the game can be heard throughout the
anime. Depending on how much you like P4’s music hearing old tunes from the game is either a real treat or a tired repeat. He’s also composed a few original pieces just for the series which fit perfectly into Persona 4’s overall soundtrack. Given how good the video game’s music was
its reuse in the anime certainly isn’t detrimental. That said, I would like to hear more of Meguro’s new work for the show. On the character animation side, Kazuma
Kaneko and Shigenori Soejima’s designs are faithfully reused. However, the
designs are a little too faithful to the game. The animators at AIC have settled on a Photoshop-like gradient for character faces that mimics the character portraits used in P4 and in SMT: Persona 3. While the style works for an in-game portrait it looks weird
when animated. To add to the strangeness of the decision the gradient
effect isn’t even used in the game’s anime cutscenes. The style isn’t a deal
breaker by any means but it certainly takes some getting used to.
The animation quality of the show has been inconsistent so far. The first episode had varying degrees of quality issues. Many of the characters lacked facial detail and appeared to be off-model at times. Fight scenes were choppy and an overall layer of polish seemed to be missing from the pilot episode. Where the episode excelled in terms of story and writing it fell far short in terms of actual animation quality. Thankfully, episode two was a major improvement over the pilot. The overall quality of the animation was much better, everyone stayed on-model and the fight scenes were fluidly animated. Other than the gradient effect I didn’t have any issues with episode two and I’m looking forward to episode 3.
Persona 4 The Animation has been everything a fan could ask for from an anime adaptation so far. AIC even went as far as to include eye catches, day to day transition scenes and other goodies directly from the game for fans. Yet, the anime is still accessible enough for viewers who don’t know anything about Persona 4 to follow it. If you’ve always been curious about Persona 4 but didn’t want to sink the time into the video game this anime is worth checking out. If you’re a fan of Persona 4 you’re probably already watching this show. Let’s just hope P4 The Animation doesn’t falter like so many other video game to anime adaptations have.
Persona 4 airs on Japanese TV every Thursday. The series is currently being simulcast in North America
via The Anime Network, Hulu and Anime News Network. While viewing is free you’ll still need to register with TAN if you want watch to watch P4 on the same day it airs in Japan.
Images were screen capped directly from the online stream. The additional high quality images I used are courtesy of Random Curiosity.
About The Author
Angela
Executive Editor | Angela has had an addiction to video games and cartoons since she was young and impressionable. She enjoys writing long articles about these subjects and whatever else catches her eye. Mastodon