Persona 4 In Trouble: Leaks and Strifes

According to the twitter of animator Arai Jun (the key animator of "Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto"), episode 2 of Persona 4 The Animation was leaked to video sharing sites with French subtitles before the TV airing in Japan. The OP sequence of the anime was also leaked yesterday prematurely. Arai Jun disclosed that the production studio AIC A.S.T.A. has been swindling the animators and his salary hasn't been paid even after the deadline. Animator Murata Toshiharu (the character designer of "Hellsing") agreed with Arai that there is something wrong with AIC studios. Two anonymous animators (@zouni and @bito) also tweeted that they quit the team of Persona 4 from episode 3 because of AIC's bad management.

Sources: Arai's twitter, Mutara's twitter

woah isn't this suppose to be like bad? =.='

I never asked for this.

Well, when you make over 15 anime series + a bunch of OVA in two years...you're bound to have financial issues.

People in the anime industry getting swindled? No surprise there.

hope this won't mean a cancelation of p4

P4 wasn't looking to be good anyway, so this news doesn't surprise me. That pilot episode was average at best. Oh, by the way, extremely crappy art-style is extremely crappy.

inb4 Persona 4 babies. Oh wait... too late.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

as long as Persona4 does'nt get canceled :/''' i mean that sucks but well it's what happens

That really sucks since I and alot other likes this anime. And that 2 of the animators of the Persona crew is really unfortunate and I hope that it doesn't get canceled

hope it doesn't to be canceled
i wanna get my fav RPG game to have an anime adaptation

wow =| hope the show does not get cancelled because of this =(

I hope the troubles in AIC ASTA don't spill into other branches of AIC. (Boku wa Tomodachi has been excellent!) Then again I don't even know how exactly the company handles all its branches. I find this pay dispute strange though, because I believe they've had successful series like Sora no Otoshimono, which recently had a movie released after two seasons.

So I watched the leak of episode 2 because of that animator saying that it wasn't worth watching and really bad in terms of animation and quality, but I didn't see anything that was worse than episode 1.
I was disappointed that it wasn't stick figure animation and production notes left everywhere. Hopefully episode 3 will be what I'm looking for.
I guess the arguments over pay does suck though. I'd hate to do a job like that only to get ripped off by my company.

It was never meant to be. ;_;

I kinda really liked the first episode it was really different to everything I've seen so far so i don't hope that this anime will be ending sooner than expected =/

Um..people are bitching about the first episode quality? Are you fucking joking? Must be ignorant people who haven't played the game.

I freaking loved the first episode. My girlfriend told me about all these company issues they were having, and I REALLY hope it doesn't get cancelled..I've been waiting all year for this Q_Q

well too bad it's not like it's the first time that has happened

Put this on hiatus, problems need to be sorted out first. I wonder if someone at AIC leaked the episode and OP.

If the tv series can only be liked by those who have played the game beforehand, it has already failed since:
1 - many people that know the game didn't like the episode at all
2 - this is a TV SERIES, hence it must function as one. It has to be something that can reach the public that basically knows nothing about the game. This isn't just a fanservice for you, you know

But now I'm really worried about Persona. It seems like it will be a big fail, and I really wasn't expecting that at all.

That sucks I actually really liked the first episode
I hope they can get things figured out and nothing happens to the anime

Geez I hope French anime companies get their rights taken away for a few months and get ridiculed nonstop over this, you know like what happened to the American companies, somehow I get the feeling France will be coddled, like with Fractale.

Oh and it sounds like AIC is a bunch of asses.

Since I´ve seen episode 1, I know exactly how the series will continue. They might as well cancel it then.

No seriously, that´s how some eople think around here.

Personally I thought episode 2 was an improvement...

And Kaze can't even blame pirating,it's someone on their staff that made a mistake and made the episode available too early.
Serves them right,when I see others like dybex that offer free sd streams or wakanim that offers DRM free 1080p downloads for shana III,kaze's offer just doesn't seem that good.

As long as Persona 4 don't get cancelled.

Fuckin' like button where.

This is why we can't have nice things. Get it together people, do you realize how much money you're set to make off this thing?


PS to people who haven't played this game: the anime is not made for you. It's made for the people who have played P4.


PPS: Why the hell are there still people who haven't played P4?

lol what how did that happen.

Should have been a Madhouse production

you damn right.. if who didn't play the game didn't like the anime and due to those damn problem they change shrunk the story or change it by anyway, I WILL DEFIANTLY HATE THE ANIME.. you can guess what ganna happen next.. Epic Fail >_<
I been waiting for long time for P4 but it doesn't matter any more.. if they screw the story then i'll prefer if the anime NEVER EXIST..........

HA. so THIS was the problem. I still feel sad for P4 even though the anime sucks so much.

This anime is for ones who play the game? NO. People who DO NOT play the game thinks this is a decent show.

Because adaptations can and should attract new public as well. I don't recall anyone from the ACTUAL staff claiming that this tv series is only for those acquainted with the game and those who are not should not even watch it to begin with.
But if the actual fans believe that only those who know the game will like it (just because they themselves liked it), than I can only laught at you. After all, the fandom has, for now, mixed feelings with the adaptation so it is not even a good fanservice for a great part of the fans. Stop trying to make excuses for the apparently negative feedback.

Oh really this sucks. This was my way into getting into the Persona series since I never played none of the games though I like the music of it. The first episode was okay, but I don't judge a anime by one episode just hope it gets better.

You guys seriously need to pay more attention to this anime. Yeah, I played the game and I really think the first two episodes were fantastic. The changes they made were necessary, and just fine. The music that they incorporated is great. I wouldn't want it any other way. The animation is great. I see no problems with it. But hey, if you think you could do a better job and draw your own anime, be my guest. I don't see you guys busting your asses off to animate this. Also, you don't need to play the game to enjoy it. I have pushed my friend to play the game, but she never did. I made her watch the first episode, and she loved it. Now, she wants to play the game because of the first episode.

Okay, onto the problems they are having. It comes to no surprise that someone must of leaked this. They will probably have to fire whoever did it, and they probably deserve it. Of course they are having financial issues, all of Japan will be having financial issues for the next ten years. I really hope they get passed this. I've been looking forward to this anime since the first trailer was put on Youtube. If it doesn't survive, think of all the people who will have no pay checks, when they were most expecting it. What are they going to do? It HAS to survive. Not for the fans. Not for the assholes who criticize it. But for the people who actually need their pay checks.

I really liked the first episode. The opening, the shift between the days and the music all felt like they were well imported from the game. The artstyle was good, too. As someone who played the game, I can't understand all the flame. I really hope it doesn't get cancelled.

Although I do agree another company should have done this anime but.....

Well this sucks.

I still take all of this with a grain of salt - episode 2 was supposed to be so bad it's unwatchable... yet it's better than the first.

I must agree with exia. If you need to play the game to enjoy the anime then as an anime it has failed.

lol persona 4 did not seem all that good to me to begin with. and now i can see why. i think someone is trying to stir something since that kind of leak has to come from some major insider.

Good.

Now someone competent can go and adapt Persona 3. You know, the stuff that was awesome and actually is waiting to be adapted into anime.

Oooh, now that one's heading straight towards a concrete wall.

People are really getting too worried about this. Its one of the best selling anime of the year so far... Aniplex will make sure that it gets done and in high quality. If it takes getting rid of some animators who are being a detriment to the team and replacing them with others that are just as good, they'll do that.

Plus, anyone who has watched the French broadcast can tell you that the whole "episode 2 is unwatchable!"stuff the animator was yelling about was just bullshit. He's just mad at Aniplex and was trying to sabotage it by telling people to not watch the show, and it seems like its worked by getting all of the people here all worried.

This.

I've got a good idea! Hand the production over to Gonzo. You know that'll go well :P

Looks like a lot of shit has been happening around lately and this news just is another example of it.

Something is up all around and it has to do with the economic crisis. Not paying up sure makes lots of people angry considering the job is already done.

If this gets cancelled


Somewhere, a puppy will cry.

My only question is if they cancel will Sentai get their money back? Cause they payed to get the streaming and distribution rights for it didn't they?

I haven't played the game so if P4 does get canceled it won't affect me much, but I feel sorry for the fans who have been waiting for it.

Its not even worth wondering since late night anime simply doesn't get canceled. They just hire new animators and move on with it. At worse we'll see QUALITY animation like Bakemonagatari that gets fixed on BD release.

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but... *ahem*

YES~!! [insert bellowing, maniacal laughter]