Video game adoptions are almost always bad due to the studio taking their own twist on the story, taking shortcuts with the production, or just plainly getting things wrong. This applies with anime adopts of video games too. However, over the years some studios are able to get it right and make a show that is not only faithful to the source material but a great show in general. That is what studio AIC ASTA and Aniplex is trying to do with Persona 4 Animation, adoption of one of the best JRPGs from 2009 and still holds a place in most peoples hearts here in Giant bomb. There is a lot of things going for this adoption and I will cover each episode to see how it holds up.

The episode pretty much started off like the game with Yu Narukami (Charlie Tunoku) going about his day in Inaba, going to school, hanging out with Chie and Yosuke, and getting super powers. You know, the usual stuff. The interesting part about the anime when compare to the game is how it is paced. It skip past a lot of build up and heads straight to points in to the story that matter. At times it feels a bit rushed in places but overall its fitting for a series that will run for 25 minutes. Another interesting concept they used in the show was the transition from the game like the calendar and the TV screen. Not only does it remind fans of the game but also a smart way to move the show along and cut to commercial breaks (May be more apparent on Hulu where there are commercials). The last thing that does stick out to fans is the event that Yu gets his Persona, which is much early than in the game. However, it may just be a good idea for Yu to get it early due to the length of time in the episode and leaves us with a good end and set up.

Visually, the show looks glorious with lots of contrast, shading, lighting, and designs. Animation is pretty well done with lots of movements and expression from characters. Music is pretty the game music which are still good and placed in appropriate moments. While those who only listen to the English voices of the characters, it may be a bit hard to get use to the Japanese voices. However, they still do a good job. Yui Horie and Showtaro Morikubo give Chie and Yosuke lots of energy in their performance and while not having a lot of lines, Daisuke Namikawa does a good job as Yu and hopefully does talk a lot more. So far the anime is shaping up to be pretty good but there still more episodes to come and I will continue to cover it. Now if you excuse me, I'll be heading in to the meat dimension. Investigation Team, GO!

Highlights