Reviews

Video game adaptations are very tricky to do well. You have to make sure you please both the people who are accustomed with the game and those who are not. The story must have a sensible flow of progression and the cast of characters must be faithful and if possible, better than the game. Nonetheless, there are so many cases where the adaptations are schlock for the sake of schlock, recently Assassin's Creed. But most of the time the best level the adaptations can reach are usually up to the level of guilty pleasure and badassery, which at least makes them enjoyable as a popcorn flick. But, animated adaptations are a whole other beast to tackle with. The people working in the adaptation do not have physical limits and games that would require years of production for a live-action film can be adapted with greater ease.

I have never played a Persona or Shin Megami Tenshei game in my life and before watching Persona 4 the animation, I had close to zero expectations. The only thing I knew is that it was a cool series. I started watching it and it was decent. But oh boy when I finished it, was I depressed. I really enjoyed this series more than I expected. The comedy was mostly hit with the exception of the bear puns... Teddie is the worst thing to be created after Yukiko, for whom I will talk later.

Let's start with the biggest plus in the series. The art and animation and the sound. The character design was very good in my opinion and Inaba looked like a very vibrant place. The TV world design was very cool since it changed depending on the person trapped in there, i.e. a hot spring, a laboratory and even a strip club. The fighting scenes kicked ass so much. And the animation definitely reinforced the comedy in the show. As for the sound, Shoji Meguro did his thing again. I got addicted to his Persona 5 ost and to be honest, I liked the ost for Persona 4 too. Except the second ending and very few standard tracks, the rest was kick-ass and nice to listen.

The characters mostly are very good. Even Yu felt more natural as the show went on since some time was given for him to get a character, instead of being the (insert personality here) character. Btw Naoto is best girl and your waifu sucks! The only complaints I have for the characters are for Yukiko and Teddie. Yukiko is your class president but without any sort of personality except from the one shown in her episode. Also, who can forget her cringe-worthy bursts of laughter that always happened out of the blue and are very unfunny. If you replaced her with a cupboard it would not make a difference. And now the bane of my existence...Teddie and his dumb, I-want-somebody-to-kill-me-now bear puns or if you watched the sub, his ear-bleeding "Kuma" in every sentence. How un-bear-able! He is an annoying, perverted thing that should close his mouth every once in a while and just not be there for a few episodes, but nope...his un-bear-ableness cannot do that!

Finally, the story which is the weakest part in the show. Although it has its faults such as the two last episodes who took the speed of the first three and multiplied it by 5 and the TV world thingy that does not make a lot of sense in its own way, it is a pretty fun story and even the slice-of-life parts were extremely enjoyable and good for character development. Plus, the way Yu became stronger did not look like an ass-pull but instead his bonds with his friends are what made his Personas stronger. The killer was actually predictable in the end if you have read or seen lots of mysteries.

Overall, Persona 4 The Animation is an underrated hidden gem that not many appreciate and it has a lower average than SAO, because..."it did not adapt fully the game". Definitely worth watching.