Game adaptations were never successful in capturing the mood of the original. They were always messing something up, like making the characters feel like robots, presenting events as dull as possible, or just stopping in the middle of nowhere. No matter how many times I tried to enjoy them, they felt like an Eternal Punishment.
“That’s sad-kuma.”
Yes Teddie, I agree, BEAR with it. But guess what, so far Persona 4 appears to have broken the circle of bad karma and as an exception it looks GORGEOUS!
“Hooray!”
The thing is, there have been lots of bad rumours considering the production of the show; something about someone stealing the original copy of an episode before it airs, the staff being unpaid for months, and many being ready to drop the project. All that made me have even lower expectations than normal, since an adaptation is by default bad and with such nasty things being said behind the scenes it should be completely horrible.
“Grizzly!”
And yet so far those rumours are BEARily true! Maybe this is a conspiracy by some villain who spreads rumours as means to alter reality if enough people believe in them. Who knows, maybe by tomorrow the show will magically be horrible and Hitler will be alive and have ruled the world with robotic knights.
“Don’t say that-kuma! It’s an unBEARable thought.”
Ok Teddie, I stop. Until that happens (IF it happens) I consider this anime to be the most faithful adaptation ever made. And by faithful I mean it LITERALLY! It’s like I am watching the cut scenes from the game with more variety in motions, camera angles, and the protagonist having a voice. They even use the same visual effects to depict emotions, which is a great treat for those who played the game. Heck, this is also the first time the soundtrack was left the same from the game instead of making a new one for the anime version. Which is both cool AND saves the makers time and money.
“You make it sound BEARy good so far-kuma.”
Indeed I do. But it’s not like I haven’t seen other anime where they tried to keep the cut scenes identical. The result was terrible as it felt like they were jumping from one scene to another without showing the in-between battles and the game engine generated dialogues. It felt very boring and dried up. But in this case, they are doing a fine job so far and I feel how the characters feel. They are so lively and I really like how they made them act so natural, without those stiff motions from the game. I mean do you remember how cold and distant they were in Trinity Soul where…
“I TOLD YOU NEVER TO MENTION THAT NAME AGAIN!”
Woops, I forgot. Can I call it an Innocent Sin and be spared the “ Dark Hour on a floor with Death” punishment?
“There is no Persona 3 anime-kuma.”
Right, and no Tsukihime one either. So let’s leave those BEARied and forgotten and go back to what I was talking about. The characters become easily likable and both visuals and soundtrack are extremely faithful to the original source. Of course there are those who complain the story is moving too fast or the characters feel a bit different but, come on, there were bound to be differences and you can’t possibly expect to have included EVERY SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE from the game.
“Well that makes sense-kuma. Does that have any significant BEARing on the series though?”
To be honest, up to episode 4 it does try to cram in as much plot as possible just so it will have a major battle with a Shadow boss in the last minutes and a character accepting his hidden personality. That makes it feel like a monster of the week type of show, which tends to feel repetitive and predictable. Rather TEDDIEus if you get what I mean.
“The story is not predictable! I will beat you up with my BEAR hands if you say that again.
Yes, I know, it is very complicating and has a very good concept around the feelings we hide inside and the role we are supposed to play in front of everybody else. I am just saying up to 4 it follows a pattern so far when all the juice of the story is the interactions amongst the various secondary characters. And in episode 5 we indeed got exactly that by presenting the people the protagonist forms Social Links in the game. No Shadow battles and just nice character colourization all the way.
“Yes, it was a polar BEAR opposite to the rest of them.”
That is enough to make most change their minds about the show being simple. Just wait to see their reactions when the truth about your real identity comes up. You know, the part where you are BEAR naked and…
“Hey, no spoilers! My BEARutiful self will be revealed in its proper time.”
Oh right, and I sure hope by then those rumours will not be as grave as they sound and we will get to enjoy you in your full TrEDDIE glory. Maybe they are just the voices of a few haters after all.
“VOICES VOICES!”
Oh you are such a JOKER Teddie. So, let’s celeBEARate, have a toast on a good start, and make cheers to keep up the great work.
“Sure thing, wait a second to bring my BEARy juice.”
Oh lol, such a joker. And such a good anime too.
“Close to BEARfect so far!”
