I know it is a little late to be complaining about this now, I'm going to do it regardless.

Gallery

The old designs were excellent. Simply yet elegant and stylish. The new ones look like the designers were trying to hard to make them look cool. It stands alongside the Persona 4 cast where the characters are more realistically dressed. They now look more like Arc characters then Persona ones. It makes me not very interested in trying them because of how dumb they now look.

They aren't that bad, also you have not looked at Arc characters lately if you think they look anywhere near as bad as them.

I think they look fine.

I admit that the designs throw me off- I'd absolutely hate to see the Persona 4 cast getting the same sort of makeover- but considering that Mitsuru and Akihiko are now members of a super-secret task force dealing with Persona and Shadow related issues, and they're going into an unknown and most likely hostile situation, I don't have a tremendous problem with them getting dressed up for combat before setting off.

Mitsuru's new look is... interesting, but what happened to Akihiko? I wonder if they're going to add story updates to explain this.

I think they both look badass. I mean, they're dressed up for combat(kinda) and they're like 3 years older from Persona 3?

It takes place 3 years later so it was highly unlikely that they would look the same. Plus, Akihiko's story explains why he appears that way. All half-naked with a cape 'n shit.

Mitsuru and Akihiko look like they're cosplaying as Black Widow and Rambo.

You are insane >:3 ... Mitsuru chan looks so awesome :3 and yep she is going to be my main character :D

They went full anime.

Never go full anime.

Too late now man!

I kinda like Akihiko but Mitsuru... not so much. Take away the fur and maybe it wouldn't be quite so bad.

I think Akihiko looks cool, and I never liked Mitsuru one ounce to begin with so they don't bother me.

@Animasta: You are right, they certainly don't look as bad as half the Blazblue cast. I just feel they would look more at home in Guilty Gear then Persona 4.

I think the designs in general are ok, them being attached to Mitsuru and Akihiko I have a problem with. The costumes don't match the characters to me. Maybe I will be totally fine with them once I play the game or see their narrative justification for it.

Write your congressman.

@ImmortalSaiyan: Akihiko is a boxer, he showed up to a fight tournament in a semi-boxing outfit so he'd be comfortable fighting. It's like Steve Fox in Tekken.

Besides it's 3 years after Persona 3 right? Those characters were more raw than Persona 4, and they more or less were all about fighting shadows.

There's got to be alternate costumes right?

@sawtooth said:

There's got to be alternate costumes right?

No. That would require redrawing all the sprites. That is my understanding of it anyway.

I like them, I still prefer the original design but it's not like they would be wearing their school uniforms 3 years after they graduated.

@ImmortalSaiyan: What? they fit perfectly find with who they are and you dont like the half Blazblue cast? D: !!!!! I just--- dont ... :´( im at a loss here

(then again Im a sucker for anime/arc system stuff/fighting games) :P ... oh well you dont like them but have you seen them in action ... I have seen some vids on youtube and they look awesome (as most of the cast ...cant wait for this game)

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@sawtooth said:

There's got to be alternate costumes right?

No. That would require redrawing all the sprites. That is my understanding of it anyway.

Bummer

In motion and in context, I think they look great. Besides I'm guessing there might be some explanation for the redesigns in Story Mode.

Considering they're not high schoolers any more it makes sense that they're not wearing the school uniform. I personally like the new designs.

I think their new looks are fine, though.

They look fine. And besides that, it would be silly for them to continue running around in their school duds when they're twenty.

Isn't it obvious? Akihiko went into the woods to fight bears, and Mitsuru is wearing Koromaru's coat (T-T). Honestly Mitsuru's is a bit weird for me, but Akihiko's eh I got used to it.

I like them personally, the new costumes hint at the shit that Mitsuru and Akihiko have been getting up to since the end of P3.

That Mitsuru knows how to work it so right.

I really like Mitsuru's new look, I think it fits really well. Akihiro's, not so much. I like the idea of making him look more like a boxer, but I don't really like the makeshift cape and the beat-up look.

I've noticed that Arc systems way of drawing the characters is a little more... muscular? The clothes look tighter around arms and legs and the muscles stands out more than in the slick design of the persona games. I've noticed it especially much on Kanji and Izanagi. I don't really mind it though, because it's so well animated and it dosen't look BAD, the game still look gorgeous, It just isn't as good as the original designs in my opinion. The way Mitsuru and Akihiko look is fine by me, Akihiko looks rougher and Mitsuru is a classy millionare-lady who fights with rapier. Maybe the fur coat would get in the way though, but I'm not that serious about it :P

Mixing up characters between games is just something heavily done in Japanese games. Expect it or be continually disappointed.

@Aleryn said:

Mixing up characters between games is just something heavily done in Japanese games. Expect it or be continually disappointed.

Mixing up characters?

I think Mitsuru looks amazing. 

I think Mitsuru looks good.

Big reason they're like this is to make them visually dissimilar to the kids in their school clothes. Even amongst the school clothes they have to draw attention to Yosuke's orange hair and headphones, Naoto's blue hat, Yu's silver hair otherwise it's a bunch of dudes in black.

It looks like the design is just a combination of the character and their persona (Akihiko's boots, gloves, and knife and Mitsuru's corset and sword). I think it is neat from that perspective, but I definitely hold their original designs close to heart.

I don't know about Akihiko, but combat catsuit and white fur is now my favorite combo ever.

3-4 years have past, they can't still be wearing school uniforms.

Besides, I like Mitsurus new coat, it's good to see Koromaru didn't go to waste.

Mitsuru's fine, but I see what you mean with Akihiko.

All this does is remind that I really need to play Persona 3.

Well Persona 4 arena takes place 2 months after the events of Persona 4 and Persona 4 takes place a few years after the events of Persona 3 and if you played persona 3 and beat it then you know that both Mitsuru and Akihiko graduate high school at the end of it. It make ssense that they would look different now. They are no longet in High School so they would no longer need to be in their school unifrorms.

Besides, I like Mitsurus new coat, it's good to see Koromaru didn't go to waste.

Wait, what? Akihiko's wearing a cape (which I'm beginning to suspect might be a torn-up sweatsuit top?) with a big knife and a canteen on his belt, but is still wearing padded gloves and big red boots. Did he go straight from punching bears in the woods to the tournament, or something? Mitsuru's outfit is kind of weird, but not quite as wildly incongruous as Akihiko's. I mean, the only thing separating Mitsuru's clothes from being an anime combat suit + sword is the fur stole, while almost every single item Akihiko's wearing is in conflict with something else. I mean, yeah, it completely makes sense that they're not in their school uniforms, but that still doesn't explain why his outfit is such a weird mish-mash of stuff.

@Petiew said:

Akihiko looks like he's killed a giant bear, that's awesome. Mitsuru looks good too.
I think it fits their characters too. Akihiko has always been a dude obsessed with fighting and getting stronger, while Mitsuru is a classy lady now with a classy dog coat and cyber looking suit.

@ImmortalSaiyan: How would you have preferred them to look?

That is hard to say, I'm not fully sure what I'd rather. I now understand they are decked out in combat gear for a reason so i've accepted that. It just look too styled and over the top in a way Persona never was. Everyone one in those game wears realistic outfits, these look more like anime designs. Something people in real life would not wear, that is where my problem stems from.

To fix it i'd say change the color on the blade of Mitsuru's sword and remove her flowing coat. For Akihoko, remove his cape and maybe his belt with the knife and canister on it. I'm not fond of the scarring or right leg bandaging either.

@ImmortalSaiyan: Its Mitsuru from the future, and Akihiko from the past.

Apparently Mitsuru time traveled to the future and Akihiko time traveled to the prehistoric past. They got dressed up, and then got stuck in the Midnight Chanel.

@Dagbiker said:

@ImmortalSaiyan: Its Mitsuru from the future, and Akihiko from the past.

Apparently Mitsuru time traveled to the future and Akihiko time traveled to the prehistoric past. They got dressed up, and then got stuck in the Midnight Chanel.

Wait, what? Are you serious?

Edit: After some quick thought, there is no way you are serious.

@ImmortalSaiyan: No I'm not serious. But It looks that way.

Looks like any other anime character to me.

@gale: The ridiculousness of his outfit is mentioned in the game. But pretty much, yes, he went from a year of secluded training in the wilderness directly to the airport.

@ImmortalSaiyan: Well, if the armor that you had equipped on most of the characters actually showed up on the models, I imagine that the cast of both games would have looked pretty outlandish by the time the final battle rolled around. The Persona 4 cast had the excuse of wearing all their weird combat gear under their school uniforms, but they still had all kinds of Talisman Capes and Black Stone Mails and Hard Boleros on. I figure that Mitsuru and Akihiko's outfits are just visual representations of the weirds sorts of stuff they end up wearing whenever they go on these crazy anti-Shadow adventures, and since their official jobs are to go after Shadows now, they don't really need to be too discreet- at least not on-the-job. I'm sure they don't wear anything nearly that crazy on a day-to-day basis.

@TooWalrus said:

Write your congressman.