Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 THE MOVIE #1 Spring of Birth

(Included in both Collector's Edition & Standard Edition)

• Original Theatrical Version (90min)
• Trailers
• Commercials
• Audio CommentaryCollector's Edition Exclusive Bonus Materials■Original Soundtrack CD (Including the theme song "More Than One Heart"by Yumi Kawamura)
• Exclusive Box Art by Keisuke Watabe (Character Designer/Animation Director)
• Newly Illustrated Cover Art
• 48-page Deluxe Booklet
• 10 Super P3 Stickers
• 4 Key Art Illustration Cards
• Aniplex of America Exclusive Bonus Material
• English Translation Booklet of “Deluxe 48-page Booklet”

Sales Price $79.98 (Collector's Edition)

Sales Price $59.98 (Standard Edition)

http://www.aniplexusa.com/p3m/

Looks better than the persona 4 anime, cannot wait for it.

5 Movies in Total

• Persona 3 the Movie 1: Spring of Birth
• Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream
• Persona 3 the Movie 3: Falling Down

Needs more Brooklyn.

Needs more Rage.

Can't wait for the FeMC version.

Looks much better han the actual anime^^

#1? Does that mean there's more than one? I hope so, because there's no way to cover P3 in 2 hours and have anywhere near the amount of necessary character depth and emotional attachment to each character. I'm really excited for this. It looks really well-made. Animation looks good and does the game(s) justice. So glad the Persona series is getting the recognition it deserves.

Also, I can't wait for the FeMC version either, cuz that's where the characters who deserved more development got it (I'm looking at you, Junpei and Akihiko)

@afabs515: Yes there will be multiple movies.

man i'm not hyped for this movie anymore.

definitely every trailer shits on the anime.

It's my most anticipated movie, and I didn't understand a word.

Looks hell of dark, though. I like that about Persona 3, definitely, but hopefully the visit the mall or night club at some point. They're probably saving that for the bright middle chapter.

I'm not so hot on this new Main Theme. Maybe I'll warm up to it but Burn My Dread has been "Burned" into my brain (YeeeeeaaaaahhhH!!!!!!!.... I'll stop.)

Still really excited.

Did not know about this until now. It is looking great!

Needs more cowbell.

I don't think there is going to be a FeMC version. She isn't cannon. And what anime? There is no Persona 3 anime.

A Blu Ray release is coming May 20th. It's subbed only and will have two versions, a collector's edition on sale for $80 ($100 msrp) and standard for $60 (msrp $75).

Preorders here.

It's a shame it's not getting a normal release, the price will definitely keep me away from this.

They are really doing as little effort as possible, testing to see if we will be content with special features that aren't even subtitled. I am sure fangroups will get to work on it, but I've seen bootleg Malaysian copies of anime sets with more effort in them.

Just letting people know If you import it from Amazon.jp, you'll get it a week early and for ten bucks cheaper.

Really interested to see what the fight with Nyx/Nyx Avatar will look like in the movies :P

Anyway, I'm mostly just interested and seeing the whole ending in anime form, so I dunno if I'm willing to pay that price for this. (I'm assuming the last movie will be around the same price)

Movie #2 Poster, I wonder how far it covers? Is this going to be sliced into 3 movies?

I still don't know how this game can possibly be condensed down into a handful of feature length films. The 26 episode Persona 4 anime even felt rushed at times, and Persona 3 is like 20 hours longer than P4.

Do we know if they'll be covering the story of "The Answer"? I'm pretty sure that's canon.

A lot of what happens in P3 is filler.

@ll_exile_ll said:

P4 took me like 20 hours longer than P3.

Man, the game dragged HORRIBLY between the boss battles. December in particular is so freaking boring because nothing happens during that month at all. If you were to cut out all of the boring filler, remove or reduce the screen time of every character that doesn't matter (almost every character outside of the SEES squad), I think it can fit perfectly in a few movies.

Edit: Also, Aigis is the best girl in Persona 3. Just saying.

Edit2: Persona 4 is a better game than Persona 3.

Yukari and Mitsuru tie for the best females in the game. Another vote for 4 being better than 3 (both fantastic regardless).

Persona 3 had a better story while Persona 4 had better characters

Persona 2 has best story, fuck that waifu shit in 3 and 4.

Innocent Sin and 3 have by far the best stories of the series. 1 was okay. To be honest, I don't really care for 1 in any way. 4 had okay parts.

@bigjeffrey: I think it's being sliced into four movies not three. I think there's going to be one for each season, you know SPRING of birth, midSUMMER night's dream. My guess is there is going to be two more for winter and fall, and then possibly a fifth for the answer.

I can't be more excited. Persona 3 was my first experience with the series. I remember back in high school I came home for 3 weeks straight and immediately played the game on my Psp into the night. I was obsessed.

Now I've watched the Persona 4 endurance run, but I've never actually played it. So, when the anime released I happily watched it, but in the back of my mind I wished for them to do one of Persona 3. Now I've got my wish. Even though it's not an anime series and instead a series of movies I'm still happy regardless.

So this arrived today.

The film REALLY barrels through the story. (Up to the introduction of Fuuka).

Much like the Persona 4 animation, I found it to be more of a supplement to the game than a film in it's own right. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my time with it, but if you've not played Persona 3, I think you'll leave confused and disappointed. If you have however, it's a wonderful nostalgia trip, even if the cast don't quite talk how you remember them!

Again, my opinion here, but I think it handles things better than the Persona 4 animation. It's heavier on the action, plus I always felt that Persona 3 was more story driven than Persona 4, which is probably why it survives the transition into film a little better. And I think I have a P3 bias anyway...

Forgot to add; unlike Narukami, they make the main character a real asshole at the start of the story (imagine picking all the apathetic responses in the game).

Happy to answer any questions if you're thinking about dropping cash on it.

Some pictures if you want them:

@mwng: See, I was actually super hyped when I first saw the trailers to this but after recently looking at a fight scene.... I dunno. I guess I was expecting an upgrade with the action. One of my largest complaints with the original P4 Animation is that it gets super awkward when there's supposed to be this tense life threatening situation and the only thing our heroes are doing is just standing there, you know? I get that these animations aren't necessarily a retelling of the original games, rather they are just nostalgia blasts, but it still kills the mood for me when I don't see Junpei swing away with his bat or Akihiko rush and beat down enemy shadows to a pulp. It turns into watching an animated Pokemon Trainer battle and not an animation of Persona.

@risenreaper21: Yeah, I get what you mean, it's still not great. The evokers help a little, giving them something to do rather than just stand about. There are a number of scenes with them tackling lesser shadows directly with their weapons, but these battles are woefully one sided, meaning they're pretty short, so there's not enough time for the action to get going.

Maybe it'll improve when Aigis can just shoot at stuff, but I can see the majority of boss fights turning into solely persona based affairs.

Also, WHERE ARE THE ALL OUT ATTACKS IN THESE ADAPTATIONS?!

@risenreaper21: @mwng: I agree with you guys. I was expecting a stand alone presentation of events in Persona 3 the game, but the whole thing felt too much like fanservice. It seemed more like a collection of scenes from the game, but not enough setup and actual build to fill between them. It just felt too rushed. If I wanted to recap the story, I'd rather play the game again. Persona 3 was an emotional roller coaster for me, but it didn't feel like that translated to the anime.

Though that bluray case looks freaking awesome.

Just watched it and I gotta say, I really liked it. I found the parts they chop out from the game to be pretty boring, with regard to the overall plot. I mean I enjoyed all the social linking I did (good luck fitting all those into 4 movies), but I felt like story events after the second full moon were spaced a little too far apart in the game.

After that one combat scene where the protagonist fights with sword in one hand and evoker in the other I thought I was in for some cool shit. I was a bit let down that most of the later battles suffered from the same thing as the P4 anime - people standing still while their personas fly around. Didn't bother me too much, though.

I'm interested in what they're going to do with the main character going forward. They have to try to make a real character out of him without having him stray too far from what the dialogue options allow. They haven't done a phenomenal job with the 'haunted past' bit so far, but if it doesn't take too long for him to stop with the apathy as he meets more people and learns about friendship strength of bonds social link yada yada then I could forgive it. An interesting tweak to his character is that he's been awake to the Dark Hour for a long time prior to the story (since that day on the bridge I guess?). Maybe that was always the case in the game but if I recall the only two dialogue options when Ikutsuki mentions the Dark Hour are incredulous, while in the movie he straight up says 'Yeah'. Adds a bit of explanation why he's so adept in the Dark Hour, as well as a bit of foreshadowing that he's different from the others.

I like how they reworked third full moon and the events leading up to it. If I recall you don't actually meet Fuuka in person until you find her in Tartarus. It's nice to get a chance to meet her before we're supposed to care about her. The main character's dramatic entrance was a little cheesy but I'll let it slide since they needed to build more of a climax out of it to end the movie. I like how they tied it into his overall development, even if "Maybe I don't want people to die" isn't exactly a huge revelation.

Looking forward to the other ones, specifically how they handle Strega/Ikutsuki and their motivations (which I felt were weak in the game), Ken and Shinjiro (which fell a little flat for me), and if they'll get into anything in The Answer (of which I appreciated the closure, even if it was sad).

Sorry for yapping so long in a month old thread, I just finished The Journey, The Answer, and the movie in the past few weeks and am just dying to talk about it in some capacity.