Man, this episode hit every good mark. From a story standpoint of the Yukiko arc to the interesting imagery. The relationship that Chie has with Yukiko from their first meeting, which helped set the stage in the start of the episode, to the revelation of Chie's other self with Yukiko's red room and Chie's masks, was handled pretty well. It is the very reason why I like the game for the development of the characters and I'm glad the anime is taking that concept and working it in with a nice twist. The battle was really well done as well with lots of style and flares. And it is confirm that Yu can change out Persona as he makes more bonds but I do question why Pyro Jack at this point? Where is Jack Frost Ho!? Comedy wise, it hit some good beats like the Yosuke’s weapon incident and the

anime version of the Yukiko in the TV which wasn't sexy but pretty cheesy in a good way. Despite how well this episode want there were a few problems. Thescene with Kou and Daisuke wanta little too fast but I'm pretty sure that they will show up later, we really to see those balls, and the calling over Teddie using Yu's hand felt out of place due to how fast it want. Overall this was a great episode. There is a rule that I go by when watching anime that if the show gets better after 3 episodes or shows signs of good development, it is worth continuing watching, and I can say that Persona 4 episode 3 pass with flying colors.

Hightlights

Man, this episode hit every good mark. From a story standpoint of the Yukiko arc to the interesting imagery. The relationship that Chie has with Yukiko from their first meeting, which helped set the stage in the start of the episode, to the revelation of Chie's other self with Yukiko's red room and Chie's masks, was handled pretty well. It is the very reason why I like the game for the development of the characters and I'm glad the anime is taking that concept and working it in with a nice twist. The battle was really well done as well with lots of style and flares. And it is confirm that Yu can change out Persona as he makes more bonds but I do question why Pyro Jack at this point? Where is Jack Frost Ho!? Comedy wise, it hit some good beats like the Yosuke’s weapon incident and the

anime version of the Yukiko in the TV which wasn't sexy but pretty cheesy in a good way. Despite how well this episode want there were a few problems. Thescene with Kou and Daisuke wanta little too fast but I'm pretty sure that they will show up later, we really to see those balls, and the calling over Teddie using Yu's hand felt out of place due to how fast it want. Overall this was a great episode. There is a rule that I go by when watching anime that if the show gets better after 3 episodes or shows signs of good development, it is worth continuing watching, and I can say that Persona 4 episode 3 pass with flying colors.

Hightlights

I'm having hard time making up my mind about this. Some of the changes in the scenes are definitely for the worse and I'm not sure I like the way they handle the bosses either. But on the other hand, seeing the different persona in action with their trademark animations and sounds, getting to relive some great scenes, noticing familiar people just hanging around and getting to enjoy the awesome music is definitely very enjoyable. Right now, the good still outweighs the bad.

In this episode in particular, I loved Yu's comment after Yukiko's appearance on Midnight Channel: "Wish I'd taped it."

In regards to using Jack o' Lantern (or Pyro Jack in the English version) over the more popular Jack Frost involves a continuity choice I wasn't expecting the writers of Persona 4 to use. Using a Magician persona is absolutely acceptable given the circumstances of arcana chance not (or at the very least not YET) being an option.

In the game Chie's Shadow was weak to Garu (Wind) spells that Yosuke could use. The only issue with that was if your going to use a Magician persona that would be impossible due to the fact that in the game no Magician persona had beginning Garu abilities whatsoever.

As to why Jack Frost was not used could result from Chie's eventual persona Tomoe. That persona was strong against Bufu (Ice) attacks and even used them herself in battle. Given that, it could be acceptably surmised that having Jack Frost used to defeat Chie's Shadow would have been an unsuccessful choice. What Chie's persona WAS weak to was Agi (Fire) spells. Now this fit much better into the Magician scenario since the vast majority of Magician persona have Agi abilities (Orobas, Hua Po, Dis, to name a few). But the most popular out of all of them (I could imagine) was Pyro Jack and that would be an acceptable persona to use to defeat Chie's Shadow.

Now if I were to be so bold as to predict what persona will be used against Yukiko's Shadow (assuming this trend continues), I'm honestly very interested in what will be picked because there are several choices that could work. One that most likely won't be picked is Eligor, he uses Agi attacks and in the game Yukiko's Shadow was immune to them. Now Slime, Nata Taishi, Ara Mitama, and Ares are all indicative of the Chariot style of physical attacks (at least how I used Tomoe most of the time when I used her) and could be good candidates for the Chariot persona.

If I were to choose one of them to use in the anime my bet would be on Ara Mitama personally, but we will have to see next week.

Episode 3 was definitely really good, better than the previous episode. I'm liking the characterization they have for Yu so far. Seems like a pretty chill dude.

Also, Chie was fucking adorable in this. Man, Japanese Chie is pretty neat.

Yu's gotta be so overleveled at this point. Isn't Pyro Jack like level 34?

I haven't seen episode 3 yet but I like what I've been seening so far.

Chie telling the MC about her fatass dog is actually Rank 7 or 8.  MC is getting it fucking done.  He's also at rank 2 for 3 different stats already, that fucking cheater.

All I can say about the episode is that it oddly made me nostalgic for Digimon. Anybody else on board with that thought?

The part where Chie says "You're the inner me that I pretended never existed" and the darkness gets blown away reminds me of the last episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion. I was half expecting everyone to be standing around clapping, saying "congratulations."

Or was that just me?

I was kinda iffy on most of the episode... I can't even remember why and I just watched it yesterday but I still get totally stoked whenever the battle music from the game kicks in and that is enough for me.

@Martial1562: Dude. You are thinking way to hard about all this.

I had totally forgot about this! Just started watching the first episode, it feels kind of weird seeing the exact events in the game play out in fluid animation, like what i'm seeing was what I say in my head when I played the game, if that makes any sense. Looks like it's great quality anime though (i'm no expert). Is there plans to use the original english voice cast when it's brought to North America?

I would love to hear Jeff and Vinny talk about their impressions of it on a bombcast!

@SuperWristBands: Lolz! Maybe I am but I've played the game before (currently playing through it again) and the theory makes sense to me at least.

I really like how the episode was able to go into greater depth over Chie and Yukiko's history and friendship. The game did a fine job in its portrayal, but the anime was able to depict aspects that were really only lightly referenced in the original source. And the confrontation with Dominatrix Bananahead is much more engaging in the anime, as it's able to be its own thing rather than be forced into following the boss fight template of a video game. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they adapt the confrontation with Shadow Yukiko and the other bosses.

I really like how the episode was able to go into greater depth over Chie and Yukikio's history and friendship. The game did a fine job in its portrayal, but the anime was able to depict aspects that were really only lightly referenced in the original source.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@Hailinel said:

I really like how the episode was able to go into greater depth over Chie and Yukikio's history and friendship. The game did a fine job in its portrayal, but the anime was able to depict aspects that were really only lightly referenced in the original source.

One of my favorite parts of this episode. It was something I was hoping they would do (among other things), but feared that they wouldn't thinking that they would stick too strictly to the events of the game. I'm still a bit weirded out by the fact that the people who the boss Shadows come from remain conscious during the fight, but it's nothing negative or anything. It definitely makes me more interested in how they'll handle the future boss fights, especially Kanji's and Mitsuo's.

I'm really interested to see how Mitsuo's plays out, given what happens to his Shadow in the game.

Here's to hoping only the first five or so episodes play out in a Monster of the Week format. While letting us see a lot of cool implementations of the game's battle visuals, it probably won't work that well when the main cast is mostly filled out. Then again, seeing as most anime takes about five episodes just to ease into their premise, I suppose it is only to be expected.

I do share the opinion that it seems somewhat rushed and incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't have prior knowledge from the original, kinda how I saw the Harry Potter movies(or pretty much anything compressed into a format about a fraction the length of the original), but it seems that they are coming closer to proper flow. I look forward to the pure slice of life episodes, like the school camping trip and those weird cook-offs. Please, anime, don't fail me now.

I thought this was the best episode yet. I especially like what happened at the 16:49 mark of the episode

Great episode, loved the bit of back story with Chie and Yukiko.

You guys should watch Angel Beats, same director and it's fantastic.

Favorite moment, lampshading Yu's personality:

Yu: Something bit me.

Chie: It... it left teeth marks, are you okay?

Yu: It's making me cry.

Chie: No, it isn't.

This episode basically ensured that I will watch the series to its conclusion. I especially like how Charlie Yu has a really dry sense of humor. Honestly though, I can't wait to see some of the more memorable moments from the game being translated to the Anime. The camping trip, the drinking game, and the cultural festival all have the potential to be amazing.

@Acheron said:

Favorite moment, lampshading Yu's personality:

Yu: Something bit me.

Chie: It... it left teeth marks, are you okay?

Yu: It's making me cry.

Chie: No, it isn't.

I was worried/interested on how they'd treat Yu's personality, and so far, I'm liking it. He's sincere when it's sincere time, and he's also just quirky enough that it adds a bit of fun to the show ("I wish I taped it" was the best moment of the episode). I was hesitant about the prospect of a P4-centric show, but now I've come to terms with what it is - pure fan service, and I accept that now. I'll be waiting for each ep on pins and needles now.

@ArbitraryWater said:

This episode basically ensured that I will watch the series to its conclusion. I especially like how Charlie Yu has a really dry sense of humor. Honestly though, I can't wait to see some of the more memorable moments from the game being translated to the Anime. The camping trip, the drinking game, and the cultural festival all have the potential to be amazing.

I always considered him to be pretty dry even in the game, past the dialogue choices it usually seemed to be played that way.

Forgot about some the set-piece events, definitely curious to see how some of those differ.

Aw shit, KINGS GAME! That better be fantastic