Persona 5 the Animation

Unfortunately for game anime adaptations, they have a steep hill to climb to recapture the magic you get from playing through them.

Persona 5, another addition to the long time SMT/Persona series was a huge success in both the west and in Japan. It won 2017 Game Awards “RPG of the Year” And was ranked at was of the top games of the year by many gaming outlets. Even with that, the anime was considered a disappointment from the start. With its cheap animation, off-pacing at times, and generally its lack of what made the game special.

However, my expectations played a part in the viewing experience. ... It was clear from the start that this wasn’t going to be like the game at all, as most game adaptations never are. Persona 5’s stand alone story is not what made the game special, rather just one factor. I wasn’t coming into this expecting what I got from the game, and neither should you. As I do see where most the criticism comes from, the root of it is from people who compare to the game, this probably isn’t a fair way to look at it. The game was made by thousands of more people, have had years to develop, and is generally taken more serious. This was a direct result of poor animation, bad pacing, and cutting out parts of the game. The anime should be given some slack in that regard.

With all that being said, I am not trying to defend the bad parts of the P5 anime. They are noticeably apparent, and part of why it led to widespread hate of the P5 anime. The animation is sometimes shit. The CG usage was often bad, especially in the background characters walking around. The faraway faces are sometimes laughable. And although the pacing is considerably better in the second half of the show, the beginning is way too fast. Usually I wouldn’t give these issues a pass, but like I said since it was mainly being compared to the game I do. People who haven’t played the game probably won’t see that much of an issue in these.

In many cases however, what likely appealed to you in the game should transition into the anime. If you like the characters, they will translate nicely. And of course, the music does as well. Chances are you didn’t complete everything in the game unless you played it through multiple times, so some of what you will be seeing from the characters could be a new experience. The character development was taken from the ‘confidant’ system so if you didn’t complete everyone’s confidant or maybe just were not paying attention you could be seeing new content. That along with the actual anime exclusive scenes, like seeing some of the characters in new situations, or seeing them given more backstory like showing them as children, gives the anime merit to watch even if you have played the game, a common criticism.

There isn’t always something to say about P5TA. Largely because it is just doing what it was supposed to. There are both good and bad parts. If you want to experience the game but don’t want the time investment of playing through all of it, (and trust me, the game is huge) than this might be for you. If you are a fan of the game, than this might be for you. It doesn’t necessarily show everything the game has to offer, but doesn’t do anything too bad to diminish it either.

You shouldn’t think too hard about this one.

I immediately say that, I have not played the game, because I have only a PC and no consoles, but in good time back I already heard the sea a good comment about this game, most said that the game is worth it and the time went so fast that an animation about this game was already appearing and I decided to start watching this piece of work..... ok lets start with>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>-OP intro- 9/10- impressive and interesting created, I really liked it.

Story 7/10- For the moment everything is fine except for the main storyline- he has not yet appeared (although it was shown whose one ... of the main hero is in the interrogation room and he tells for some organization a story about own life= That could be fragment of the main story) but our heroes have enough working side missions so I can not understand what will happen next, for the moment I am satisfied with everything, YES there are things I would like to ask a question but I think the answers I will receive soon.

Art 7/10- I even like this kind of drawing, though the legs seem a little too long, but it satisfies me.... the fighting episodes could have been much better, because at the moment it looks like 5/10 but overall 7/10 I hope that in further episodes it will improve.

Sound 7/10- I've seen console gameplay in youtube and the sounds are taken from the game and music could also be.

Character 6/10- To date, there is too little information about each of the main characters for the moment I like just two of them (Morgana and Amamiya Ren) 24 episodes uhhhhhh..... I hope that it will be enough time to tell more about each other.

Enjoyment 10/10- I watched 6 episodes in 2 days, for the moment I feel good.

Overall 8/10- I have not played the game but I like- Persona 5 the Animation

Bonus- Maybe sometime in the future, I will buy a console and will play this masterpiece.

TL;DR: Works better as a companion to the game, anime original scenes or changes from the game are generally pretty good but the rest can be seen as average in terms of writing. Art is mediocre overall but gets better too late. Enjoyable if a Persona fan, just don't expect P4A 2.0

Persona 5 the Animation has been the subject of ridicule with the quality of the art and animation along with the rushing of a 100+ hour game into 26 episodes plus an unspecified amount of OVAs later on, and from this you would think that CloverWorks has somehow managed to make the worst anime ... of the year. As someone who loved the game and somewhat enjoyed the anime, I disagree.

Let me explain.

Story

The same as the game that's being adapted, a few changes to some major events that, in my mind, fix some areas of the game that I found a bit off (such as the existence of the betrayal being revealed in the first 15 minutes of the game and the Okumura arc). The rest of it is around or below average, especially near the beginning with the Kamoshida arc being horribly rushed, with a silver lining in that the writing seemed to improve as the series continued.

Art

Below average for the most part, with some standouts in the final few episodes. Poor animation (particularly All-Out Attacks and the use of CG outside of bosses) and art are everywhere in this adaptation, so the less said the better. The second set of visuals for both OPs and the final few episodes stand out as good art from this adaptation.

Sound

The game's soundtrack with sometimes weird timings and mixing along with a few anime original tracks, both instrumentals and ones with Lyn again providing vocals.


Character

Here's where things get interesting. On one hand, Ren Amamiya is quite a boring character compared to the Joker of the game, particularly if you liked to pick the joke options, and is a huge let down to me after the P4 and P3 animes' portrayals of their protagonists (he has a few moments but despite them there's no redeeming his writing). The other characters, however, get expanded upon and have anime original moments that are actually good. Goro Akechi's friendship/rivalry with Ren sees heavy expansion to the point that they can be considered as having a connection instead of one line and a confidant rank up like in the game. The entire party seems to interact with each other more too, like the anime's addition of Ann and Makoto's friendship after the Kaneshiro arc.

Overall

It's good I guess. I feel as if you'd have a much better time in watching this after completing the game as while the general quality of the series ranges from average to poor the new content, whether its original scenes or changes to the game's script, were generally the highlights of what could have been a massive dump on a great game

Persona 5 the Animation stole my heart!

Adaptions of video games to other mediums always present problems, and Persona 5 the Animation is no different. Taking inspiration from such an expansive game and condensing it makes the pacing of the show a little wonky, but overall it does a good job covering what transpires over the game.

The weakest point of this series is the art itself and frankly, it's just shite. Nothing looks good in motion, along with a lack of overall detail. The voice acting is the complete opposite, with the game VA's giving great performances that really add to the show.

Overall this is a ... relatively solid adaptation of Persona 5, minus the terrible art and weird creepy fan service. Major bonus points for including the best waifu/most beautiful girl Sae <3 and thankfully, the worst girl Kasumi (yuck) is not in this rendition.

8/10

I went into this anime expecting the worst as I had nightmares with the god-awful animation of the OVA but it was a pleasant surprise to see the animation was actually halfway decent (compared to the OVA) for what its worth. It's nothing groundbreaking but it works. The animation is a bit stiff to my liking but it must be because I'm coming straight off the heals of binging Violet Evergarden (I highly doubt it) but the aesthetics are right on point (I am in love with the look of the velvet room.). You won't get most of the character development as the story has ... to be condensed to 12 hours or so. The metaverse is not as good as I wanted it to be but I'm content with this adaptation. It's still very enjoyable if you're able to overlook most of the bad CG and shortcuts the animators took to make this possible. Can't wait for the next episode
P.S. #AkiraForever

I wonder if i am justifying the 8 rating i gave but please there be a season 2.

This review is coming from someone who has never played the game before or pretty much any game using the console. If i see this purely from an anime POV with no source material to fall back on, i would say its a fairly decent story with some average CG for action scenes The story is also well paced and it has some interesting premise. The ending was also unexpected.

Story: If i compare P5A with P4A, the former has at least a semblance of a plot while ... the latter was fragmented too much to the point that i lost coherence of the plot with each episode towards the later half of the season. On the bright side, it was fun watching this slice of life anime as it explored dark themes coupled with an interesting supernatural backstory.

Art: The character art has some justice done on them. But i cannot say the same for the animation. The CG for battle scenes alone were so out of place that even an amateur like me could see how the 3D effect was ruining the animation itself. I am not a fan of this style of graphics.

Character: I want to like Ren not only for his character design but also for his personality but he spoke so less and he just had not translated his inside-the-palace charisma onto his real life image. Like P4A before, the main players of the 'phantom thieves' are too docile to accept the persona and become a part of the team. I saw no resistance or betrayal of sorts that develop the characters. Ann who is vehement not be objectified invariably gets a persona which is the very definition of sexism.

Akechi: Sometimes i felt like i was watching a conversation between kira and L. Only that akechi's suspicion on Ren did not amount to a 3 percent chance he could be a phantom thief. I loved the ending though. While i did expect something along those lines, honestly i could not predict how the animators executed it though. So its obvious i am looking forward to a season 2.

Story: Similar to P4A the story style is same with the main chara entering a different dimension or metaverse. There is no point in trying to figure out anime logic. they can change the feelings without that person actually knowing that is heart has been invaded through some inexplicable means. The more confusing part is how they interact with desires itself which somehow is able to recognize ppl and situations. The explanations were of little to no help.In short this anime has created a series of NPCs of the characters as well. The story plays a lot by the ear. Everything is safe or if it was the animators' s idea to make it viewer friendly at the same time brushing against darker themes like abuse and such.

Overall: Loved the building up of suspense. i understand why this gets all the hate but for all the animus that ever stuck to the source material, this is no so bad. Without perceiving at P5A as an adaptation of a popular game i was easily kept entertained for the two days i spent binging on this. I dont mind recommending to those who have never played this game but want some near cool anime to watch for this season.

This is an updated review from ~episode 16

No, I didn't play the game, but I have watched a playthrough of the source material before. While I know what will happen in the main story I don't remember a lot of the finer details of the source material.

Story:
The main story is kind of simple as of episode 12, 3 palaces in. World building is finally complete, and the real plot is set in motion in episode 15. If there's a thing the anime does much better than the game itself it would be the confidant stories. The team does go out of their way ... to make them really funny.

On its whole, it does what the anime is intended to do: to try to sell the game for newcomers and to add on to the game for those who already know the story. Though, even non-blind, the story up to the end makes me not entirely sure whether to laugh, cry or get mad. Thankfully there's an OVA later this year.

Don't trust the ending lol, over here it already lists 26 episodes.

Art: A few mistakes here and there. A few questionable decisions with regards to the battle sequences. Action starts looking much better on episode 4 and then into palace 2. Definitely picks up so don't drop it after episode 3.

The art quality may not always be consistent but the artists definitely got better drawing Ren towards the end.

Sound:
uses the game soundtrack and the dancing spinoff soundtrack to great effect. I really enjoyed the use of Blooming Villain and the Life will Change remix. Whims of Fate got its time too.

Character:
I liked how Ren is portrayed. It felt very canon and logical. He definitely has sass and in general Ryuji and Mishima get the most of it. His progression is slow, but doesn't feel out of place.
Ryuji is more likable in the anime than the source material.
Morgana is cute.
Futaba's plight is kind of sad; I would not recommend watching that particular episode (16) at 12am, they did a good job on Wakaba.
Makoto and Sae's relationship has also been well highlighted.
Akechi's definitely the best improvement of them all. He's not just the random encounter like the game anymore.

Enjoyment:
well, if I were to rewatch this I would definitely skip 3 All Out Attacks. I still like what they have. It has its cute, funny and cool moments. It definitely gets better and better. At first I thought episode 1 was the best, then that changed to episode 4, and then that changed again and again. They did so well on the last arc I almost wish they could go back and redo some of the beginning episodes.

Overall, would recommend to friends. One, because I love the story, two, because I want to see those reactions on the finale. Generally if you are still interested after the 4th episode and make it past the 6th, you will probably continue watching it to the end.
I must say though, by the end of the anime and if you're watching it blind, you'll definitely be wanting the conclusion to the story so bad you might decide to spoil yourself. Don't do that. Either wait for the Dark Sun OVA or get/watch the game. From what I've seen so far, I have faith that the animators will do a better job than the game.

I preface this review with the source material is always by far superior. This is definitely true of P5tA. If you have played Persona 5 (or like me, played it twice within 2 months of its release), this show is a satisfactory reminder of the fantastic experience of playing the game. The music is all either true to the game or new but suitable. That in itself is a pleasant surprise - I found myself getting goosebumps when certain familiar songs started to play.

Much of the story is also pretty surprisingly true to the source. However, as with all past and present Persona animations, the ... art itself and the character development simply cannot live up to the source. As it stood, the art in the animated cutscenes in Persona 5 lacked soul - that is also true of this anime. It is also impossible to expect the anime to be able to relay the development of each character that you experience with each social link in the game in this type of medium.

This show serves an adequate function as a post-gameplay portrayal of the story of Persona 5. If you have not played the game, don't do yourself the disservice of watching this show. As a stand-alone, it does not hold up as anything more than mediocre. Watching this anime, you won't feel compelled to play this absolutely amazing game. But you should. You should play it, and then come back and allow this show to just help you reminisce on the amazing sights, sounds, and characters produced by one of the (if not THE) best Persona games in the series.

let me first state that my review of this anime is not based off the game because i have not played it. this is also the first of th persona franchise that i have watched.

that being said, i found this show to be a masterpiece from beginning to end. the plot progression, the twists and turns, character development, unique animation and not to mention some jazzy ass music; all fantastic. this anime was filled with a ton of action, themes of friends, a solid amount of humor and the perfect dose of heart warming moments. i have never felt compelled to go and write a ... review of an anime until now because i loved the show THAT MUCH!! my only wish was that the show was just a few episodes longer so that it couldve expanded upon a few of the story archs. im preparing to enter into that post anime depression and search the web for joker plushies. i cant recommend this show enough.

So... this is written from a perspective of someone who has never played the games.

I'm not a fan of those JRPGs that you have to play a brazillian times to get the true ending anyways, but anyway - it's just mentioned here to clarify that I'm not a salty Stan for the Game.


I liked the Story. I had fun watching it, the Animation looked great and I enjoyed the Music, especially the OP for some reason - and I usually skip openings.


The system with the "Palaces" was confusing at first, but once you ignore logic it turns out to be okay. Some ... of the Characters didn't have the depth behind them they probably have in the game, but I let that slide.



What I disliked was the way the story was told - It's the interrogation scene Opening. "Hey, You're finally awake. Explain everything." This works in Games, but I don't like it in Shows or movies since the usual suspects.

Another thing that was not great: You have to watch the movies for the Ending.

Apart from that: 7/10 wouldn't watch again but I don't regret having seen it.

P5A has two versions. Since the dub has several improvements over the original, I'm sticking with the higher score of the two. But, I'll be rating both sub and dub.

Original/sub: 4/10 overall
Story: 9/10 Condenses the game's 100+ hours very well for a 26 episode series.
Art: 3/10 The art is pretty bad. But it's comically bad - which isn't necessarily a detriment to the anime. The problem, though, is that the animation doesn't carry the same feeling of maturity as the game does.
Sound: 9/10 No complaints here. It's of high quality like the game.
Character: 5/10 Ren does not get enough lines. Ryuji carries the series because ... he's voiced by Mamoru Miyano, so any words or sounds he makes is pleasing to hear. Especially "Renren". And him calling out Akechi's name in a questionably sexual tone lmao.
Enjoyment: 8/10 The sub almost completely fails to deliver the weight of the game, but it makes up for that with fanservice and moments of hilariously bad animation, firmly establishing itself as a fun, campy anime. It's like Ex-Arm in that it's popularity as a bad anime actually makes it good.


Dub: 7/10 overall
Story: 9/10
Art: 5/10 A fair amount of scenes have been improved, and it feels more consistent and smooth. Some of the bad animation is still there.
Sound: 9/10
Character: 9/10 Ren has a lot more lines and expression. And the dub for the game was wonderful, so as expected the cast sounds great here.
Enjoyment: 8/10 Essentially, it's the Persona 5 experience with Medium graphics. It's carried over 4 out of 5 good qualities associated with the game. Art is still lacking but you won't be finishing the series thinking "hey, this was trash" like the sub.

What the anime adaptation does exceptionally well here is that it fleshes out Akechi's character, some of which would later be added in to Royal.

The Dark Sun OVAs are a step up in quality and tone, but it's set up to be considered more as a movie, and is not representative to the overall series.

I decided to watch this series after seeing a letsplay by Lost Pause for Persona5 and was curious at how well it would do compared to Persona4: the Animation. I have not played any of the Persona games, full disclaimer, so I can not compare whether this was a good adaptation of the game. Overall, this is a decent anime.

The story and characters have to be summarized for a project of this nature, so there is a sense that a lot of the minor characters are sort of shoved into the narrative. This is a bit sad considering that the Persona4: the Animation and Persona5 ... (from what I've seen), plays heavily on the idea of forming relationships with characters.

The animation seems to get a little spotty at points, but that is more the exception to rule. The music is catchy and I can see why the original game got a lot of praise for the soundtrack. Overall, this show has a decent story with decent pacing, though I am not a fan of cliffhangers that force me to watch the specials to get a satisfactory ending. I'm looking at you too, DVD release of Persona4: the Animation...

I would recommend this series to either a fan or a novice who wants a summary of the game rather than playing. It also works as a very long advertisement for the game, and perhaps I will edit my review once I play the game.

Until then, I hope you enjoy.

P.S. I finished my first run through of the game and am half way through a second run through. Of course the source material is far more detailed and comprehensive than an anime forced to condense 140 hours of gameplay to a 12 hour show. I stand by my anime review, but the game I bump up +1 to everything (except Sound) for an overall of 8. If you can play the game.

Hope you enjoy both.

For those who haven't played the PS3/4 game, the story is about the MC (Ren Amamiya) who was expelled for allegedly assaulting a man of high status and ends up having to move school as part of his one year probation period. One day, a strange app appears on his phone and he discovers he has the power to summon "Personas", spirits that dwell within people. He could enter the twisted hearts of others known as "Palaces" and steal the treasure from their Shadow that represent their inner dark desires that will give them a change of heart. As he does so, he soon meets ... others that possess the same power and forms the "Phantom Thieves", convinced they can make the corrupt world of adults a better place by hitting out at criminals that are out-of-reach from the law.

It's basically Atlus taking a stab at bringing about awareness of the problems in modern day society in Japan. The OVA "The Day Breakers" which acted as a prelude to the game didn't really impress me. Art was off compared to the game's cutscenes but fortunately the TV series gets off to a good start. Since the OVA, A-1 Pictures has branched out, rebranding one of their studios as CloverWorks in an effort to create a better brand and the art quality for this show is kind of better than the OVA efforts. Characters still look off sometimes like the quality suddenly drops and it's obvious the artists still aren't very good at using and blending 3D animation into their shows as you can see a lot of models walking around rigidly. As with the game Ann remains your main fan service character although they added some new scenes in while excluding some from the game so, you more or less have the same amount of fan service. Kawakami fans should be pleased. There's still your obligatory beach episode (or two) of course and the camera can be asset keen at times. Backgrounds on the other hand are a mixed bag because some such as Leblanc looks great but others such as the common shop you can see there was less effort.

The show stays faithful to the game with a few changes (particularly Futaba's story) and extra scenes added which I'm sure will make fans of the game grin - not just for Persona 5 fans but also for people who have played the other titles in the franchise. Some help clarify the story more too such as how the app records what they're saying before reaching the first Palace so it's good in this regard. There are brief side camera shots of the other characters so it feels less of the JRPG it was where you only focused on one character. That said, the show's not afraid to go back to its roots because there's so many scenes that will remind you of what made the game fun - negotiations with Shadows, transition scenes, mystery gear drops, confidants etc. They even put in the All Out Attack finishing screens but I don't quite get why they start out horrifically plain before they decided to use the game screens later on. Maybe Atlus stepped in. They also chose to skip most of the dungeon crawling but pick up the key parts that will probably make players who finished the game think, "Oh! I remember that part!" Boss battles are also play out the way they did in the game.

There are two OP theme songs like most series that end in the mid-20s but the first OP for the show actually has two animations, one for first two episodes and then one for episodes 4+ before it changes again at episode 14. The first OP animation actually uses an animated version of the artbook's cover too just like when they first teased the Anime. Third OP animation looks better quality than the others and the fourth one during the last episode is probably visually the best in terms of design. There's also a slightly different ED animation in episode 17. Episode previews are also stylish, done in a similar style to the game.

Most of the music is the same as the game too which is great because the game already had a really good OST. Hearing familiar tunes like "Beneath The Mask", "Layered Cake" or "Tokyo Daylight" playing is awesome. Voices are the same as the game. The show is so faithful to the game you have to wonder how many lines were from the game or if they actually re-recorded the show. As a bit of trivia, Ren's voice happens to be Jun Fukuyama who also plays Lelouch from Code Geass and Satsu-sensei from Assasination Classroom while Morgana is played by Ikue Ootani who also plays Chopper in One Piece. And of course, we have Mizuki Nana as Ann, best known as the first voice actress to top the weekly Japanese Oricon JPOP charts.

On it's own, I don't think Anime fans will enjoy it that much because it does show its roots from a video game where you're just jumping from boss to boss or, you might just enjoy it for the character driven stories as they overcome their troubles. For fans who enjoyed the game and want to re-live the experience through a different format it's worth a watch. Unfortunately, it does go the same route as the Persona 4 Anime where they don't air the true ending... Other than that, as a show for Persona 5 fans it's really well done despite the inconsistent art quality. It's fun watching the gang get together again and there's plenty of material in it that'll remind you of the game. Don't miss the extra scenes after the ending.

if you ove or hate this show it dosnt gonna hide that one is masterpiece definitely for me atleast or for many fans of persona or even shin megami tensei

i saw many ppl saying the anime is hella bad but frankly there is nothing wrong with the adaptation the team work behind the anime did a great job so hating anime not gonna change anything besides that it just so ridiclous how ppl want a show to give em some experience as the game did

i played all persona franchise im not a fanboy sont start throwing your shit on my ... face but what im trying to say ik the anime missed some stuff but it dosnt change the main plot in the hands the anime made great work to get over 100 hours in 26 ep they cut some scenes but that dosnt matter because the main story stay the same and dont forget the best opening and ending that ever make

They must've handed out some fine crack rocks to the sad souls this site features as "reviewers" cuz man their reviews suck.

Just like manga or LN anime, people who play the game gotta whine the anime didn't follow the 60 hour game line for line.

This is a solid anime. Really good adaptation. Not much else to say really. It perfectly blended the social links and even little gameplay elements like baton passing.
Just don't forget to watch the specials. Unlike most anime...they actually matter.

and remember to form your own damn opinions, never listen to reviews on this site. Srsly people. Most people on this site live ... to pointlessly hate. If you wanna listen to reviews, read the high scoring ones. See what people who liked the anime have to say. If what they liked fits what you like, check it out. No point checking a nag review. They have nothing useful to say.

People keep comparing this anime to the game. While I did not play the game. I should not be judging the anime from a game or the other way around. Persona 5 is a great anime to just sit down and watch. It is a great show the art style is very unique and the action scenes are well polished especially considering it is a 2018 anime.Souns is great works well with the action. Very good first impressions not as bad as it seems. Dub is surprisingly if not as good better than the sub. There may be troubles with pacing but the story ... telling explains out what you miss and and it is kind of a unique way of telling the story. There are so many questions in Persona 5 after getting the answer to one . You end up more curious about the anime.

P5A, is it worth the watch? Short answer: definitely. I will explain why in more details and give a bit of background as well for better justification and reasoning.

First of all, I will only write about the 26 episodes knowing there's a sequel. Also, I did not play the game, hence I'm no fanboy nor hater. But I did my share of reading and played other Atlus related games. Game elements will be used for explanations, not for comparison. You're in for a long read so bear with me if you can.

To begin with, I first had an interest in the Persona series from P3, ... but I didn't play the game, only watched the 4 movies. Then came P4A, which I skipped. In 2018, I watched P5A out of curiosity but honestly, I couldn't make much sense of everything, especially with the abrupt ending and even after watching the 2 specials for the ending. Then in 2020, I played P4 Golden. In 2021, I finished P5 Strikers. After that, I binge watched P5A 26+2 episodes to write this review. Everything makes sense now and is still fresh in my memory.

The story starts with a blast and a very stylish scene in a casino with a thief evading the police. Then he gets caught and there's a bad cop interrogation which will be the the main frame of the anime, where everything told by the arrested protagonist is actually the story. It's quite the neat setting but there's the issue of an "unreliable narrator" and it's difficult to judge from the start. Apart from that, the story is well played as you encounter more and more characters. This still requires some explanations even though the character Morgana explains everything well. In Persona 5, the heroes find the Palace of a Monarch by saying some keywords to a smartphone app at the correct location in the real world. The Monarch, is the "shadow" of an evildoer, usually a scumbag in society. In the Palace, you need to find the Treasure Room and then materialise the Treasure by sending a calling card to the scumbag in the real world. That person becomes particularly aware of their shadow with their wrongdoings listed on the calling card and the Treasure takes form. Then you go back into the Palace, find the Treasure Room with the Monarch defending his/her Treasure, battle, win and steal the Treasure. Rinse and repeat for all the scumbags encountered. This gives a whole meaning to "Phantom Thieves of the Heart", the group name for the heroes.

Chara development was on point in my opinion, the anime didn't spend too much time on the myriads of characters that are more or less important and this is good in my book knowing the 26+2 episodes format. In Persona, Tarot plays a huge part but it's quite oblivious in this anime and that's a drawback for me. Amamiya Ren (sweet name BTW), is the Fool Arcana as the protagonists in Persona 3 & 4. This Arcana is class 0 in Tarot card, the wild card, then you have "Chariot", "Lovers", "Emperor", "Magician"... If you watched Jojo Stardust Crusaders, you're familiar with them. In Persona, all the major Arcana are associated with a character which explains why you have so many minor characters like the classmate, the homeroom teacher, the fortune teller, the goth doctor and so on. Each time the protagonist interacts with them, he grows internally, which is part of his "rehabilitation" to live in society. Gotta say that I understood this only after playing the games though...

Some game elements that I didn't know at first as well, basically attack elements: Fire (Ann), Ice (Yusuke), Electricity (Ryuji), Wind (Morgana), Nuke (Makoto), Psi (Haru), Bless (???) and Curse (Ren with his first Persona). All-out attacks: when they all gang up on the enemies while the screen turns red and finish with a swag pose. This happened many times in the anime and I couldn't understand why until I played P4 but it's thanks to P5 Strikers that I know where all the stylish posing and catchphrases come from. Also the different Persona that Ren acquires, you know them if you play the game. As the Fool Arcana, Ren has more than one Persona and can fuse them to get more powerful ones.

Concerning the art, I am divided... On one hand the chara design is great, greater than the games. I find Haru more attractive in the anime than the game for example, and same goes for all characters. Stylish scenes and dialogue scenes are well drawn... But on the other hand, transition scenes, group scenes, battle scenes are not so great. It's either beautifully animated or sloppy, not much middle ground.

Sound: absolutely outstanding for many reasons. The voice acting is just great, all star cast and same as in-game I suppose. Music: I guess it's mostly from the game which received critical acclaim for that and I can totally understand why. Then you have 6 more songs by Meguro Shoji & Lyn: "Break in to break out", "Infinity", "Found a light", "Dark sun", "Autonomy" and lastly "It's too late". Music and insert songs for the battle scenes are just so well fitted, you feel so energised and ready for a fight.

So did I enjoy watching P5A? Not at first, truth be told. As someone who never played the game, many elements in the anime just slipped away from me. For example the many random characters interacting with Ren, I had no idea for what purpose and their respective Arcana was not even explicitly unveiled in the anime. I understood the battle mechanics but not the many gimmicks from the game like all-out attacks or even "baton pass". Attack elements were also absent which is not a problem but then you understand from the game why a fire Persona blasting a shadow is uneffective: because of element immunity... But there's no point to dwell on this and it wasn't that much of an obstacle for enjoyment. The ending was also abrupt and mindblowing for a first watch. The sequels did help though.

After listing most of the negative aspects I could think of, I still think P5A does a great job as an anime. Forget the game. Yes it's an adaptation, yes the content is not up to par with the game but that's beside the point. Persona games are rich with so much content, you can't cram a hundred plus hours of playing in an anime. So judging this as a standalone anime, I think P5A was well crafted and pacing was correct for the format, which means it was a bit fast. And it does a wonderful job to promote P5 the game or the Persona series. It's stylish, characters are great even though Ren is a bit faded (but I read that this was intentional) and the music is just too addictive. So yes, P5A is worth the watch. It's a success as promotional material for Atlus.

I hope this review helps you understand the anime or even get interested in the game. Personally I liked P5 Strikers and it made me want to rewatch this anime. And if it wasn't for P5A, I am not sure I would have played P4 Golden to get more involved in the Persona series to begin with.

I gave this a 10, but only because I played the game before watching this. My bf and I watched this together and then came here to give it a score. That is when we noticed the low scoring but we also understood why. It took us 157 hours to finish Persona 5 Royal, of course it could be less if it wasn't Royal. Therefore, cramming all of that content in anime would be impossible unless it becomes one of the long anime. This anime kept us watching and we were not bored. It gave us a further look about some events in it ... and it was a pleasant thing to see the characters move around and are not just voices and writing. Truly watch it after playing the game, so you understand it better.

A 6.4 rating for this anime is quite frankly ridiculous and such a spit on the face for what this is. I binged this anime in 3 days and it was incredibly enjoyable. What you're getting from most of these ratings are a bunch of stuck up gamers who expect perfection for an anime spinoff.

I truly enjoyed how each character was displayed and filled their own respective role in the group, each with their quirks but all required to get the job done. And Joker is just badass, straight up.

It starts strong, with a beginning reminiscent to how Steins;Gate started up, however it does become ... slightly boring after a little while. It picks up quickly and reaches an incredible peak at the end that will leave you wanting more, and good thing too since there's two 50 minute episodes waiting for you that explains everything.

Overall this anime is an 8/10. I don't agree with these reviews at all, and I have watched way too much anime. I haven't written a review before but this rating seemed too ridiculous to me.

Trust me, this show is definitely worth spending time to watch. P5 is so underrated, i mean that it's so goodddd. I've through many anime and Persona series some of the greatest in my heart.
The story is pretty interesting and the animation was good, they are cool to me. The main character isnt as fire as other mc but his personality hits well, he isnt smart and powerful as I expected but give it a try, why not?
Gotta say, stay calm and patient watching the whole show, some scene was boring af and they continue on every single episode but if you put your imagination ... into P5, it may turns out kinda amazing.
PERSONA 5 is AMAZING, GIVE IT A TRY I PRETTY RECOMMENT IT( and sorry for some of my grammar, Engligh is hard for me;)