Spring into 2018 Anime First Impressions Part 1- Persona 5

The spring 2018 anime season is one of the biggest seasons to come around in years. We have heavy hitters returning such as My Hero Academia, Food Wars!, Tokyo Ghoul, and Stein’s Gate. Series more than a decade old such as Full Metal Panic!, Fist of the North Star, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes are making a comeback as well. Finally, there are video game adaptations like The Caligula Effect and Persona 5. There’s so much worth writing about for 2018 anime that I’ve decided to take a dive into the series that I will be following this season and giving you my initial impressions.

First, I must apologize. This article was supposed to cover three series total, but I found I had so much to say about Persona 5 that I wrote a single article for brevity’s sake. Today is all about Persona. My next article will cover Legend of the Galactic Heroes and season three of My Hero Academia.

 

Persona 5 the Animation

Production Studio: A-1 Pictures | Director: Masashi Ishihama | Release Date: April 4, 2018

 

For Persona fans, Persona 5 the Animation is one of the most highly anticipated series of the season. Fans got a taste of a Persona 5 anime with the release of Persona 5 the Animation -The Day Breakers- in September 2016. The special only detailed a single minor plot point in the game itself. Nevertheless, A-1 Pictures set the template on how P5 the Animation could look when the game would inevitably receive an anime adaptation. For the full series, director Takaharu Ozaki was replaced with Masashi Ishiama (Azumanga Daioh, From the New World, Night Raid 1931), but the series composer, Shinichi Inotsume (Food Wars!, Gangsta, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure) remained for both projects. Additionally, with Persona 4 the Animation setting the bar for how a Persona animated adaptation could draw in new fans, while satisfying the original video game fans, P5A has a lot riding on its shoulders.

The world has fallen into ruin and only the appearance of a trickster can right this wrong. On the tail end of a casino heist, Joker, leader of the Phantom Thieves, has split away from the group as everyone figures out how to escape. Joker is captured in the process. In police detention he’s drugged, beat up, and forced to sign a confession revealing his name as Ren Amamiya. The harsh interrogation is interrupted by Sae Niijima, who’s been prosecuting the case all along. She demands to know everything and Ren starts from the beginning of his tale.

In April, he arrived in Tokyo accused of an assault and is forced to leave his hometown for a year while on probation. He settles in with his caretaker Sojiro Sakura, owner of LeBlanc, a small coffee shop. The night before Ren is to begin his first day at Shujin Academy as a second year transfer student, he has a strange dream where he meets Igor, the master of a place called the Velvet Room. In this room he’s literally a prisoner and is told he may yet avoid a ruin that awaits him in the future.

 

The next morning on the way to school a mysterious app reappears on Ren’s phone. Previously he deleted the app, but it keeps returning. Before he can try again, another second year student shows up named Ryuji Sakamoto, who begins talking about a teacher named Kamoshida. The app picks up on his words and silently begins to navigate them to a destination that alters reality.

The boys find themselves in front of a castle instead of Shujin Academy where they are quickly imprisoned by an oddly dressed Kamosida who refers to himself as king. They are to be executed, but before this can happen, Ren hears a voice that questions if his previous decision (the one that landed him on probation) was wrong. Ren declares he wasn’t wrong and awakens to the ability to summon Arséne, a demonic creature cloaked in blue flames.

Although P5A’s premier was interesting and moved the right pieces into place to eventually tell an exciting story, this episode felt emotionally lacking. Plot elements weren’t well explained, but there is a promise of payoff. As a fan of the game, I was naturally drawn to what changed and what remained the same. I can safely say that the anime largely does follow the same story beats, with minor omissions such as not have any battles take place in the casino, robbing Joker of his chance to show off his powers early.

 

However, the story seen from the eyes of someone new to the franchise can be frustrating. The story oozes potential, but again little was explained while too much plot was crammed into a 24 minute runtime. The pacing was too quick to grab onto any one character and develop an emotional connection. Well, save for Joker. This teen’s dissatisfaction with the bad hand he’s been given and his quiet, but determined nature manages to shine through his meek façade.

I don’t envy Ishiama. This director has the gargantuan task of translating a 100 hour game into a little over 12 hours of animation. Additionally, a major draw of Persona 5 was the gameplay, more so than the story—which was convoluted at times. Unfortunately, Ishiama seems a little too eager to speed the plot along and get to the meat of the series. For the sake of those who know little about the game, I hope the pace of subsequent episodes is slowed down, the world is expanded upon, the social wrongs the game covered as themes are given a serious look, and the supernatural elements are properly explained. Otherwise, Persona 5 the Animation will remain an adaptation only for fans of the game, tragically leaving everyone else behind.

That said, with 24 episodes total I’m confident P5A has the time it needs to tell its story and to continue the tradition set by Persona 4 the Animation as an adaptation that newcomers and fans of the game can both enjoy. (Opposed to Devil Survivor 2 the Animation which was far too short at only 12 episodes.) If you’re curious about Persona 5, but never played the game this adaptation could be a good starting point. If you’ve played the game and are a fan of anime, P5A is an automatic recommendation.

Bonus fun facts for P5 fans:

• In the casino the silhouette of Crow is the only member of the Phantom Thieves to be shown, aside from Joker. He shoots a chandelier down to distract security, but the shot just misses Joker’s head which is an interesting nod to Crow’s true nature.
• On Ren’s train ride to Tokyo, Goro Akechi’s fame as “The Second Coming of the Detective Prince” right after Naoto Shirogane is mentioned on a newscast.
• Tae Takemi can be seen walking by Ren as he tries wrongly stops at Sojiro’s residence (another early shout out scene) before arriving at LeBlanc.
• Sadayo Kawakami accidently drops a maid flyer as she’s handing Ren his student ID at Shujin.
• When Ren meets Ann for the first time in the rain, his long (and awkward) stare at her is replaced with her mentioning how she hates the rain while plucking a flower petal from his hair.
• Ren’s phone is Sony Xperia, which is an amusing bit of product placement, seeing how in most anime a nameless equivalent is usually substituted.

Persona 5 the Animation can be found streaming in North America on Crunchyroll and Hulu. Images courtesy of Random Curiosity.