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Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV is a five episode short(special sixth episode limited to the special editions) that is supposed to be a treat for those like me who are anticipating the grand game. Now I have waited a decade for this beautiful game so seeing an animation short is pretty sweet. While I would like a full blown 25+ episode anime made for this game, I can see why this exists and its purpose. It's there to present the fans of the series who have been long anticipating this game to connect with the characters and build on them. The animation short does just that. It represents each character nicely. I find it to really deliver on that aspect. A prequel of sorts that tells the story from a more character-based perspective. This is really important as if we are going to be experiencing this game we would love to know more about these characters and who they are.

The four characters have an episode of their own and each episode also shows their connections with each other. In particular, the episodes dedicated to characters other than Noctis always come back to showing their connection with Noctis.

Story-wise, it does what it does. It tells the character's background story as an overhead of what is to come in the future. This requires them taking flashbacks to past moments in the lives of these characters, ultimately achieving the goal to present us with details on who they were before the present. And it is all done in a very sweet way. It certainly feels like "an anime." It's Final Fantasy XV in anime form. Characters all feel alive to me now after watching this.

The art is gloriously beautiful. Honestly, I prefer the art in this to any of the stuff we have coming from the more established anime titles now(anime like Sword Art Online and Shingeki no Kyojin). It's just magnificent. Colors and lighting are just so flexible and vibrant. The vast detail in the scenes(especially the fight scenes) is perhaps where the animation and art is the best.

Any music related to Square is an automatic 10/10. For anything related to Final Fantasy XV, it's beyond that. The music for this game was spectacular to begin with. Carrying over to the animated series just takes it even further. If there's one thing good about Final Fantasy XV, it's the music(although I love everything about it). The music is orchestrated divinely. Yoko Shimomura deserves a lot of credit for it.

Overall, I have to say I extremely enjoyed it, as I do with anything related to Final Fantasy XV. If you are someone anticipating this game or are a newcomer to the franchise I recommend checking this out because it really lets you know the characters are alive. They have personalities and we have information as to who they are. It's not something you would watch if you are treating it like some seasonal anime, it's more like something for the fans to watch and understand.

The characters won't have to be a worry for me while playing this beautiful game. The animated short, for me, did a really good job at actually getting to know Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio.

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As a person who started with Persona 1 on the Playstation One, I have been a major Shin Megami Tensei fan since. I hold it as a series dear to my heart. The series is a Japanese Role Playing game that follows its themes around demonic entities and mythology. Persona is a sub-series of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise that pretty much is just that but with a high school setting. In recent entries there have been the additions of social links and dating. The series has only recently gained a larger following as it's been very niche for quite some time until Persona 3 and Persona 4. It is still pretty niche but now with the advent of Persona 5 many newcomers are flocking to the series to experience the greatness of the Persona series for the first time. The series just keeps growing year by year.

Now the ride to Persona 5 has been a tough and almost excruciating one. The game has been delayed a plethora of times thus giving off many red flags. All you Persona fans were aware of some of the crazy stuff that was going on with the game's release date. That, however, is a completely separate topic. What I want to discuss today is the single episode 24 minute animated short for Persona 5. First things first, I'd like to state that the short is very good. Honestly it's not enough to keep you occupied until the game is released(especially for us who are waiting on the release outside of Japan) but what I love about it is that it gives Persona 5 a more "Shin Megami Tensei" feel. That is, the modern Persona games are generally more lighthearted than the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games. Persona 1 and Persona 2 play very similarly to the early Shin Megami Tensei games on the NES and SNES. Heck, Persona 1 and 2 are related to a game named Shin Megami Tensei: If which is a spin-off of the original Shin Megami Tensei games. The newer Persona games are more cheery and not as dark as the early Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games. So when I see this I get pumped because I did not want another Persona 4 clone. Persona 4 is my least favorite in the series. I love the game but the other entries are just better in my opinion. The mood and tone that the short gave off were the selling point for me. It felt darker and more gloomy. A feeling Persona 3 and 4 did not give me.

Now let's talk about the quality of the actual story and characters. It's very hard to say anything as this is just a 24 minute short and it's a standalone episode. The writing overall was done well. They really did a good job at trying to give fans an idea of what Persona 5 will be about. All perspectives for each character were earned rightfully. Plus Morgana is pretty cute... :D

The art and animation are very good. Very stylish approach and beautiful color palette. Honestly I give a lot of flack on the animation/art in newer anime and I have to say that is just gloriously animated. Everything about the animation is great. The battle scene in the short was also awesome and perhaps the peak of the animation. It was honestly the best looking piece of motion in the short.

This music is just... wonderful! Jazz on crack is what I would describe it as. Persona and SMT games generally have good music but this is just fantastic. Really fits the mood well, even the gloomy portions which is strange to say but they manage to balance it out quite evenly.

Overall, your enjoyment of this anime does not matter if you are a fan of the games or not. The animation, art style, and the music alone is just enough to sit down and watch this. It's just so jazzy and fashionable. And for those of you who are fans I highly recommend checking this out. This won't spoil for the game. If anything, it'll actually give you a glimpse of what the game will be like. September 15 for Japan and Valentine's Day for the Worldwide release. So if you are lonely and don't have a Valentine's you'll have this game to service you. :D

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