A filler episode was bond to show up but it's one that is nice to have.

What makes this episode interesting is the perspective we are watching it from. How do the other characters feel when they see Yu going around forming social links and what would they do about it. Its a nice break from the usual events of how the social link breaks down as Yu goes through them, which will be shown next week. Of course the main star of this filler episode was Nanako and dressing up as a Magical Detective Girl. It was mostly of her being all cute and stuff but it also shows her worries over what Yu and have her interact with old characters from pass episodes. There were some nice throw in cameos like the Shiroku Store Owner, Smith master and turning out to be a fire works person, Master Daidara, and F-ing Fox!

Since we are half way through the Persona 4 anime it is time for a change up of Opening and Ending (I assume it will change next week). The new opening, from both a visual and song aspect, are both well done and fitting with the series style. However, a few bits are of footage from the last opening but I assume that is due to lack of time to make some new animation and will most likely change later on or on the DVD/Blu-ray. This weeks ending is more specific to this episode featuring Nanako, some cute drawings, and a happy little song from Chie (No really, Chie (Horie Yui) was singing this).

After watching many filler episodes in my life time of animes, this one works out in the end since it keeps itself in the logic of the series and connects to the currents events as we see them from Yu's perspective next week.

Magical Detective Nanako, GO!

Hightlights

Wait, this was a filler episode? I couldn't really tell, although that's probably because I don't know how to judge anime outside "the first episode or two are bound to suck, at least in terms of the entire show."

People use the term filler episode like its a bad thing, unless its something like Naruto or DBZ, series that by my understanding are fairly notorious for it. I really enjoyed this episode, in fact I'd go as far to say that its probably my favorite so far.

@Video_Game_King: Filler refers to an episode that doesn't move on the main plot, its not a term that's necessarily indicative of the quality of the content itself. It refers more to the fact that its a side story; although it is often used disparagingly as mentioned above where its essentially used as a stalling tactic.

@WatanabeKazuma:

I know what the term means; I just don't find it easy to spot one. Is this something where I'd have to have played the game to understand that it's filler?

@Video_Game_King said:

@WatanabeKazuma: Is this something where I'd have to have played the game to understand that it's filler?

No, you'd just need to ask yourself if this episode served to advance the plot in any meaningful way.

@Video_Game_King said:

@WatanabeKazuma:

I know what the term means; I just don't find it easy to spot one. Is this something where I'd have to have played the game to understand that it's filler?

Ah, surely that would mean it would be easy to make the distinction though?

It helps, but yeah its fairly easy to highlight by the fact it was a completely peripheral episode. You could basically remove it and not affect the central story.

@FluxWaveZ: @WatanabeKazuma:

This kinda sounds like something you do in retrospect. Mitsuo got caught, so I have no idea what the remaining 13 episodes are gonna do.

@Video_Game_King: Yeah, maybe. The next episode is definitely another filler before the story kicks back in though.

Between this one and the previous one, I've really come around on this show.

@Video_Game_King: Not really. The story's obviously not finished and it's also obvious that the rest of the episodes wouldn't be filler.

Man, the lyrics to the intro song (and most of the songs in P4) feel like they're just crazy word salad spewing out of the mouth of a tourette syndrome victim. I love it, but it blows my mind that it ever came out of the mind of a human. It was pretty good, though after last weeks incredible episode, it didn't blow me away.

@FluxWaveZ:

Yea, but since I have no idea where the story's going, I can't really tell what is and is not filler. (Although if this episode was filler, then the next one definitely will be, given the two-parter thing and all.)

Why does Shoji Meguro insist on using English lyrics? On one side, the songs are funny and charming with the Engrish, but on the other hand I wonder if it would sound better and make more sense if it was in Japanese.

@FluxWaveZ: From my experience with Anime (however limited that is) I found that most songs are mostly nonsense anyway, even with the Meguro brand of Engrish peppered in. Mostly melodramatic descriptors that don't really make sense, and have some loose connection to love in some form.

It would be odd to make the switch now, its oddly charming like you said.

@Video_Game_King said:

@FluxWaveZ: Yea, but since I have no idea where the story's going, I can't really tell what is and is not filler. (Although if this episode was filler, then the next one definitely will be, given the two-parter thing and all.)

No, the next episode will definitely not be filler as the whole point of this episode was to set up the next one.

@FluxWaveZ:

I'm now confused enough to post an anime emoticon: 0_o

Oh, and on the song thing: I don't think the song being in Japanese would help. It's more like he turned off the parts of his brain that understand how language works. It would probably be the same thing in Japanese: something that grammatically makes sense, but is balls hard to figure out. Oh, and you'd listen to it about twenty times a day.

This episode was pretty niiice. I'm digging the musical selection (taking songs from the reincarnation soundtrack) and the pace that this show is going. Even if it is "filler", the various social links getting some attention is a good thing, especially when they lead to some humorous moments. Now that we're past the halfway point, I look forward to see how they treat the last couple months of the game.

@Video_Game_King said:

@FluxWaveZ:

It would probably be the same thing in Japanese: something that grammatically makes sense, but is balls hard to figure out. Oh, and you'd listen to it about twenty times a day.

Which is the point I was trying to make, a lot of Anime songs make little sense regardless. But probably for that reason they are catchy as hell.

This episode was pretty great. Filler or not it didn't matter, since it didn't feel like filler and it brought in some original content.

I actually really like the new opening. That guitar is catchy as hell.

@WatanabeKazuma said:

@Video_Game_King said:

@FluxWaveZ:

It would probably be the same thing in Japanese: something that grammatically makes sense, but is balls hard to figure out. Oh, and you'd listen to it about twenty times a day.

Which is the point I was trying to make, a lot of Anime songs make little sense regardless. But probably for that reason they are catchy as hell.

It's hard to say what makes sense and what doesn't though, translating Japanese lyrics is a clusterfuck because every body has wildly different interpretations, it's such a context based language and when translating lyrics you are missing that context, unless the artist specifically releases their lyrics you can almost guarantee any other translations are going to vary. You can get the jist of what is meant but any more than that is open to interpretation and guess work.

@SilvarusLupus said:

This episode was pretty great. Filler or not it didn't matter, since it didn't feel like filler and it brought in some original content.

Ditto, it how it presents itself that matters the most.

@TooWalrus: @FluxWaveZ:

Its a stylistic choice. Meguro mentioned that he is aware how it sounds to foreign audiences.

I really enjoyed Naoto's cameo and I got a lot out of the episode as a whole, but I'm not too excited to see the same thing from Yu's point of view.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@Video_Game_King said:

@FluxWaveZ: Yea, but since I have no idea where the story's going, I can't really tell what is and is not filler. (Although if this episode was filler, then the next one definitely will be, given the two-parter thing and all.)

No, the next episode will definitely not be filler as the whole point of this episode was to set up the next one.

Yeah, at the end of the episode it pretty much shows that part two will be Charlie basically explaining all the social link stories via flashback(with how charlie goes "welll.."). Hell, if i didnt know how long the episode was, i would be waiting for the ripple effect. I was wondering how they were going to cram a lot of the sideline social link stories into the Anime. It was a pretty good idea to show it from the other characters perspective in one episode of a two-parter and have the 2nd part be the character explaining all the things that went down.

Kanji sprinkling something onto his watermelon wasn't worth a highlight?  What is wrong with you.

@Turambar said:

Kanji sprinkling something onto his watermelon wasn't worth a highlight? What is wrong with you.

Its not me, its the place where I get these screenshots.

@Turambar said:

Kanji sprinkling something onto his watermelon wasn't worth a highlight? What is wrong with you.