Hmm watched it yesterday. I don't know what to think, it could have potential. It seems to stick a little TOO closely to the game script and I fear that the fight scenes will devolve into tacky nonsense like 90% of this type of anime. I really did enjoy the banter between the investigation team, that's about as well done as the game, so that's fine. Also Teddie's Japanese voice... owch. What's with japan and having characters who have a catchphrase at the end of every sentence anyway? This guys can't stop saying "Kuma" which seems to be his Japanese name too.

My final concern, which seems to apply so far, is the main character. They gave him as much personality as the video game, which is to say almost none at all. Yeah he has sentences, and they tend to be reactionary to the world around him, but jesus christ, he's like a grey haired soulless zombie in this anime. Less obvious in a game where you're used to that sort of thing.

@XII_Sniper: This may sound kind of weird, but the stat screen they show before and after commercials also has expression on it, which may indicate that his personality may evolve as the show goes on.

That's just my speculation though. :3

I'm not feeling the same charm the game has from the Anime. I'll give it a shot though they've only aired one episode so far.

@Cloudenvy said:

@XII_Sniper: This may sound kind of weird, but the stat screen they show before and after commercials also has expression on it, which may indicate that his personality may evolve as the show goes on.

That's just my speculation though. :3

I hope so, I can't possibly see them continuing like that. Also he better date Chie or this anime is automatic nonsense.

My fear is that it's just gonna be a giant fanservice thing, I mean the music's the same, the dialogue basically the same, the title cards and commercial break cards are like in-game menus. I dunno it feels like one big "Look! It's Persona 4, look how Persona 4 everything is. We think this game is cool too!". Reading further up this thread... well things aren't looking up.

@XII_Sniper said:

@Cloudenvy said:

@XII_Sniper: This may sound kind of weird, but the stat screen they show before and after commercials also has expression on it, which may indicate that his personality may evolve as the show goes on.

That's just my speculation though. :3

I hope so, I can't possibly see them continuing like that. Also he better date Chie or this anime is automatic nonsense.

My fear is that it's just gonna be a giant fanservice thing, I mean the music's the same, the dialogue basically the same, the title cards and commercial break cards are like in-game menus. I dunno it feels like one big "Look! It's Persona 4, look how Persona 4 everything is. We think this game is cool too!". Reading further up this thread... well things aren't looking up.

Some might say that's kind of the point though, this might be intended to be a giant fanservice project to please existing fans rather than introduce the story to a new audience.

It might even be an advertising stunt to gather more attention for Persona 4 The Golden, I am fully expecting the new character in The Golden to show up in this anime at some point. :3

My fear is that it's just gonna be a giant fanservice thing, I mean the music's the same, the dialogue basically the same, the title cards and commercial break cards are like in-game menus. I dunno it feels like one big "Look! It's Persona 4, look how Persona 4 everything is. We think this game is cool too!".

@Cloudenvy: I suppose that IS the point, but I guess I'm one of a few people who like the little differences in adaptations. That's what makes them fun, seeing what they change.

@XII_Sniper said: 

My fear is that it's just gonna be a giant fanservice thing, I mean the music's the same, the dialogue basically the same, the title cards and commercial break cards are like in-game menus. I dunno it feels like one big "Look! It's Persona 4, look how Persona 4 everything is. We think this game is cool too!".

That's the point. It isn't called "Persona 4: The Animation" for nothing.

@Cloudenvy: I suppose that IS the point, but I guess I'm one of a few people who like the little differences in adaptations. That's what makes them fun, seeing what they change.

@XII_Sniper said:

@Cloudenvy: I suppose that IS the point, but I guess I'm one of a few people who like the little differences in adaptations. That's what makes them fun, seeing what they change.

In all fairness, they did change how Yu got his Persona. ;3

Though I'm not expecting huge changes in the story, haha.

@asian_pride said:

I'm in love with Chie all over again.

Same here!

Is everyone in love with Chie? Was I the only soul attracted to Yukiko? She's the best.

Anyway, the show seems cool. I'm gonna catch it on Hulu whenever I'm not being swamped by school work.

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

@Cloudenvy said:

Guys, I think we have a potential problem here.

Persona 4 The Animation production details:

-Animators aren't getting paid.

-The Animation Directors are bullying the key animators.

-Episode 2 isn't even worth watching, says Jun Arai. He says that he gave up and told them to remove his name from the credit.

-Episode 3 will be even worse. More and more animators are giving up and leaving the project, he said.

http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-4457.html

EDIT: Already posted in here, well fuck.

...We had a good run people!

That's not a good sign, I'll wait to see the next episode before making any sweeping judgments though.

So episode 2 got leaked a day early it seems. The twitter post about the episode not even being worth watching? It's full of shit. Also Yu's stats are confirmed to be raising each episode, his stat boost from Episode 1 was + 1 to courage. So to tide you guys over till it's legally available, have the opening.

@AxleStukov: Came into this thread to post pretty much what you just did. Fucking bullshit twitter post coming from a bitter, angry laid off animator I bet. I thoroughly enjoyed the second episode and look forward to discussing it with everyone tomorrow.

@AxleStukov: I'll wait till the episode is release to see how it holds up. Also that OP!

 Checked it out, seemed like a fine opportunity to practice mah frence.
 -We were right about the Brotagonist! His courage stat was raised by one in the eyecatch thing and he was way more tolerable here then in ep.1(bonus point for knocking Yosuke on his ass!)
-The anime seems like its loosely following the manga. Its not boring as hell like the manga, though!
-Uh....yosuke is kind of a creep(keeps a picture of Saki on his phone) and awkward, but that's why I love my brosuke!
-The disparity in quality between animation on the characters and on the Personas is astounding.  The fight scenes look really great.
-.....That being said, the episode looked fine. Honestly, its probably better even than EP 1. Seems like it was just sour grapes on the part of the animator...of course, that being said, if he was right on the part where animators were getting bullied and payment was being handed out, I don't blame his anger.
 
I enjoyed this EP a lot. Still need to let it stew for a bit before I can think a little more critically about it, though.

And here's the ED!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZq1PlEuBM
 
Don't like it much. They really cheaped out on it.A buncha spinny cards and the song sucks.

New Character?

http://extrovertedotaku.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-character-in-persona-4.html

@AxleStukov: Came into this thread to post pretty much what you just did. Fucking bullshit twitter post coming from a bitter, angry laid off animator I bet. I thoroughly enjoyed the second episode and look forward to discussing it with everyone tomorrow.

@thehexeditor said:

@AxleStukov: Came into this thread to post pretty much what you just did. Fucking bullshit twitter post coming from a bitter, angry laid off animator I bet. I thoroughly enjoyed the second episode and look forward to discussing it with everyone tomorrow.

Yeah, I didn't really believe it, either. They've been working on the show for how long, and reports mysteriously come out right after the premiere that the quality of the second and third episodes would take a nosedive because of drama happening now?

@metalsnakezero said:

New Character?

http://extrovertedotaku.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-character-in-persona-4.html

This girl is excreting an abnormal amount of MOE.

I WANT TO

TO

PROTECT HER

OR SOMETHING

@thehexeditor: I wouldn't conceded her to be Moe but she'll have a voice for one,Yuuki Aoi (CV:悠木碧).

New Character?

http://extrovertedotaku.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-character-in-persona-4.html

@FluxWaveZ: I don't know, did Chie hug Yosuke after he and Charlie came out of the TV in the game or manga? Because...

Hm, I bet Aika will be an anime only social link that replaces like Young Mother or something (because I don't see them having Yu go to daycare in the anime ever), or it's a tie-in with P4 Golden where she's some sort of side-quest related character.

I watched the first episode, and I just can't watch it with the japanese voices. I spent so much time with the P4 cast in english that they just seem like total strangers in japanese. I'll wait for a dub.

@mutha3 said:

Don't like it much. They really cheaped out on it. A buncha spinny cards and the song sucks.

Yeah, it's... definitely an anime ED, I guess.

but dat op's so fuckin' sweet

@Valkyr said:

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

What's a tsundere?

Oh, never mind. I don't think that describes Chie really well, though.

@Gerhabio said:

@Valkyr said:

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

What's a tsundere?

Have I GOT THe lINK for YOU my friend:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere

@Valkyr said:

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

What's a tsundere?

@mutha3: Well, hopefully that means they're allocating their animation budget wisely, rather then just cheaping out.

@mutha3 said:

@Gerhabio said:

@Valkyr said:

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

What's a tsundere?

a very dumb anime cliche that doesn't apply to our lord and savior Chie

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Basically an anime girl that pretends she doesn't like or care at all for her love-interest, but secretly loves him. Characterized by the phrase "I...I ...didn't do it because I like you or anything!"Have you ever seen Hey Arnold? Remember Helga?

Basically, that.

I-it's not like I wanted you to explain that! Baka...

@thehexeditor said:

@mutha3 said:

@Gerhabio said:

@Valkyr said:

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

What's a tsundere?

a very dumb anime cliche that doesn't apply to our lord and savior Chie

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Basically an anime girl that pretends she doesn't like or care at all for her love-interest, but secretly loves him. Characterized by the phrase "I...I ...didn't do it because I like you or anything!"Have you ever seen Hey Arnold? Remember Helga?

Basically, that.

I-it's not like I wanted you to explain that! Baka...

Oh god, I love tsunderes so much. : (

So did Youske and Chie get their personas in this episode?

My temptation got the best of me and so I watched the leaked ep 2. It was pretty good and a nice structure compared to the game. Yu starting to develop a little more and now talking a little more, guess that slight courage boost helped. That battle scene was pretty good too. The pacing is a bit slower here so it help the development out. I like the OP and I'm ok with the ED. Again, I'll do a full impressions later.

@Starclopsofish said:

So did Youske and Chie get their personas in this episode?

Just Youske, Chie will get hers next week.

@Soren said:

@mutha3 said:

Don't like it much. They really cheaped out on it. A buncha spinny cards and the song sucks.

Yeah, it's... definitely an anime ED, I guess.

but dat op's so fuckin' sweet

I think all anime ED's look cheap after seeing, what I think is one of the best, Higashi no Eden's ED.

Oh god, I love tsunderes so much. : (

@atomic_dumpling said:

@Cloudenvy said:

Oh god, I love tsunderes so much. : (

I will never understand the need to label absolutely everything in Anime - moe, kawaii, tsundere, ecchi, sucky long time - who the fuck cares? You like what you see or you don't.

Because a ton of anime characters have become so stereotypical over the years that it's easier to brand them that way for some. : )

And ecchi is more or less a genre in itself at this point, so of course that's labelled.

@Cloudenvy said:

Oh god, I love tsunderes so much. : (

I will never understand the need to label absolutely everything in Anime - moe, kawaii, tsundere, ecchi, sucky long time - who the fuck cares? You like what you see or you don't.

@atomic_dumpling said:

@Cloudenvy said:

Oh god, I love tsunderes so much. : (

I will never understand the need to label absolutely everything in Anime - moe, kawaii, tsundere, ecchi, sucky long time - who the fuck cares? You like what you see or you don't.

You don't have to, it just people labeling characters for fun.

I love how much they are embracing the videogame - the way the days change, for example, is taken straight from the game and is really cool to watch. I especially like how the game music just breaks out randomly as well, far too loud and inappropriate. Nailed it.

The only thing I'm kinda worried about is how quickly they are getting through the content. They have covered the first 4 or 5 hours of the game in a single episode - missing out loads of Igor stuff, and Teddie, and basic background stuff too. They basically skipped all the character building stuff to get to the first fight scene. I kinda wish they would slow down!

@Gerhabio said:

@Valkyr said:

Chie keeps being the tsundere girl we all love and now is cuter in anime form, I think it was a pretty good episode and I hope it will make Japanese gamers love the Persona series a bit more instead of just attaching to the Dragon Quest nonsense which has crappy gameplay

What's a tsundere?

Oh, never mind. I don't think that describes Chie really well, though.

Yeah, that doesn't really seem like it. She's never openly hostile to the main character. She seems kinda hostile to the boys of the group in general though. Especially Yosuke.

I think I dug Chie because she was the most... realistic-ish teenager of the group. She seemed like a pretty normal american tomboy. Maybe that's outlandish in Japan, I dunno.

@mutha3: Thank you for giving it a watch. : )

@Sweep: But again we're 2 episodes in and they could had structured it in a way to work in a short amount of time. Give it time and see if their formula works for you or not.

I enjoyed episode 2, more so when boss fight music kicked in. Gave me chills, just like when the fight music kicked in in the first ep. I think this series is handling the game to anime transition pretty well. Then again, I'm not much of a critic when it comes to these things. I just know what I like, and I love this!

Also, yay for Courage increase and official OP/ED themes.

Just watched Episode 2. The pacing is better since they don't have to cram as much exposition in, and the show is really finding its legs. Overall, I enjoyed it.

@atomic_dumpling said:

@Cloudenvy said:

Oh god, I love tsunderes so much. : (

I will never understand the need to label absolutely everything in Anime - moe, kawaii, tsundere, ecchi, sucky long time - who the fuck cares? You like what you see or you don't.

The same reason tropes in anything get labels. Wander over to TV tropes sometime and you'll see ridiculous labels given to absolutely everything, whether it be anime, video games, live action television, films, novels, comic books. Hell, the site even catalogs trope appearances in fanfiction.