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Episode Review: Persona 4 the Golden Animation


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Barbobot



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 460
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 5:39 pm Reply with quote
Persona 4 Golden is most definitely not for the uninitiated. The show is essentially like a New Game+ of Persona 4 Golden, which is why Yu is so completely overpowered in the very first episode and you can even see in the OP how the pentagon stat gauge for him is completely maxed out. The show fully assumes you've played the game or at least watched the first season of the anime to understand any of it.
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amcnulty



Joined: 29 Aug 2014
Posts: 48
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 5:57 pm Reply with quote
I also decided to jump into this series without watching the last one or playing the game, and I felt just as confused. (Although the slice of life eps were still funny!) I was intrigued enough to go back and watch all of the original series since and now I finally understand.
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Lavnovice9



Joined: 23 Oct 2012
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:16 pm Reply with quote
I never see "confusing for new viewers" as a negative. Not every sequel or spin off needs to be accommodating for new people. Some stuff is just made for those familiar with the franchise.
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GiriOni



Joined: 10 Aug 2012
Posts: 218
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:26 pm Reply with quote
Golden was on PSVita not PSP by the way.

Uuh, hard to jump straight into this. Some people call it the 'New Game +' version of the original anime. But I prefer to call it DLC for the original anime. Props up the originals finale more with more humor and more characterization for a character + Marie. Can see why the rating is so low (considering all the meat of the plot is lost when starting this first) it probably would have been better to just leave this off the streaming reviews with it being essentially a second season.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:30 pm Reply with quote
amcnulty wrote:
I also decided to jump into this series without watching the last one or playing the game, and I felt just as confused. (Although the slice of life eps were still funny!) I was intrigued enough to go back and watch all of the original series since and now I finally understand.


The first episode played like an abridged word-for-word transcript of the first hour of the game, up until Marie showed up, and then I'm assuming that first part was just a first-episode "recap" intro.
The second episode was more of a slice-of-life, and I'm assuming they're just doing a new series with the characters.
(Since the earlier P4:tA series was following the game canon, but loosely.)

And even that first episode races through the first part of the game story so fast, you'd HAVE to have played the game to follow it.
Eh, but play it anyway (on PSN/Vita), it's addictive. Cool
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CrownKlown



Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 1762
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:15 pm Reply with quote
Im sorry Persona 4 Golden goes beyond just, not for those new to the series. I literally watched the first series right before, and even I am irked.

It reminds me of Maken Ki 2, its basically a bunch of filler episode that would be better off being refitted into the first series ala Haruhi Suizmiya, then coming out as a standalone series. That is honestly the only way this would work, maybe they might rerelease the anime after golden finishes and slot in these episodes, but its a shame because I like Marie, and some the episodes aren't bad, but this is just beyond a mess.
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Tanteikingdomkey



Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 2346
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:07 pm Reply with quote
They should have put in the opening we assume you atleast watched the previous anime if not played the original game. We are assume you will be able to put these scenes in their proper place in the game. And for those who can the new anime makes sense.

To be fair the new anime actually adds in some important new info so the story as a whole (the over arching) plot makes more sense since now they explain a lot of more of why adachi actually does what he does. Also the new scenes actually are funny.

The main problem with golden is even though it is cannon it is basically a whole season of filler with one new character, and they can't have any real development with that character like they do with everyone else because then they have nothing to end the series with.

In truth golden would have done much better as a movie only adapting Marie's story.
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terminus24



Joined: 19 Jun 2011
Posts: 304
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:06 pm Reply with quote
Part of me hates this show, simply because it is an awful retelling of the game- honestly, I think it would have been better had all the main plot points been left out of this completely so the episodes could be easily inserted into the original P4A so the overarching plot would make sense.

And then the other part of me loves this show, as I've grown to love these characters over three games and an anime adaptation, and the scenarios featured in P4GA can get really entertaining (I especially enjoyed the newest episode).

Probably the biggest thing, though that I dislike about this show is how misleading it can seem. This isn't an adaptation of the sequel, Arena (which I think would have made a lot more sense), but an adaptation of the remake of the original, so I'm sure a lot of people went into this thinking they'd get the entire story of P4G, but instead it's just Marie social links and the new events. Watchable if you know your P4, less so if you don't.
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Animeking1108



Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:58 pm Reply with quote
So, this is basically what everyone hated about the first half of FMAB, except the whole series is basically a glorified clip show.
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CrownKlown



Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 1762
PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 12:05 am Reply with quote
Tanteikingdomkey wrote:
They should have put in the opening we assume you atleast watched the previous anime if not played the original game. We are assume you will be able to put these scenes in their proper place in the game. And for those who can the new anime makes sense.

To be fair the new anime actually adds in some important new info so the story as a whole (the over arching) plot makes more sense since now they explain a lot of more of why adachi actually does what he does. Also the new scenes actually are funny.

The main problem with golden is even though it is cannon it is basically a whole season of filler with one new character, and they can't have any real development with that character like they do with everyone else because then they have nothing to end the series with.

In truth golden would have done much better as a movie only adapting Marie's story.


The first series while not as in depth on Adachi's motivation does at least hint at it to the point you can get it.
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Tanteikingdomkey



Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 2346
PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 12:15 am Reply with quote
CrownKlown wrote:
Tanteikingdomkey wrote:
They should have put in the opening we assume you atleast watched the previous anime if not played the original game. We are assume you will be able to put these scenes in their proper place in the game. And for those who can the new anime makes sense.

To be fair the new anime actually adds in some important new info so the story as a whole (the over arching) plot makes more sense since now they explain a lot of more of why adachi actually does what he does. Also the new scenes actually are funny.

The main problem with golden is even though it is cannon it is basically a whole season of filler with one new character, and they can't have any real development with that character like they do with everyone else because then they have nothing to end the series with.

In truth golden would have done much better as a movie only adapting Marie's story.


The first series while not as in depth on Adachi's motivation does at least hint at it to the point you can get it.

Sure but the problem is the game did the same thing pretty much and you have scenes where the game assumes you know what is going on but has given little to no indication about it. That has always been my number 1 problem with the originalso seeing it finally addressed makes me very happy.
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Pepperidge



Joined: 13 Sep 2003
Posts: 1104
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:11 am Reply with quote
There seems to be a widespread misconception that P4GA was supposed to be a complete retelling of the story, and I've noticed a lot of people criticizing it based on that pretense. It's clearly a side story intended for those who have already played the game or watched the previous anime, which did a pretty stellar job of adapting its story. I can understand the confusion given how it was initially marketed, but I'm not sure if it's fair to judge the final product as something that should be appropriate for those jumping into the franchise.

As someone familiar with the franchise, I was kind of amazed by how great the Christmas episode was. It was genuinely funny with good comic timing and had some really clever gags and surprises. The Christmas-themed kung-fu movie was an especially nice touch. I've been enjoying the show for the inconsequential series of side stories that it is, but this week really felt like the staff had a little more room to have fun than they normally do.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4422
PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:56 pm Reply with quote
GiriOni wrote:
Golden was on PSVita not PSP by the way.

Uuh, hard to jump straight into this. Some people call it the 'New Game +' version of the original anime. But I prefer to call it DLC for the original anime. Props up the originals finale more with more humor and more characterization for a character + Marie. Can see why the rating is so low (considering all the meat of the plot is lost when starting this first) it probably would have been better to just leave this off the streaming reviews with it being essentially a second season.


I'd say that is a more accurate assessment since New Game+ means you would still see all the older stuff, along with anything new, rather than just the new stuff on its own.
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Manwards



Joined: 26 Jul 2009
Posts: 194
Location: Leicester, England
PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 3:45 am Reply with quote
I wouldn't count on Golden explaining what Teddie is or giving the other characters much closure. All of that was handled in the original P4, and as this is an adaptation of the new material from the Vita version of the game, there's no need for them to touch on it.
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Hagaren Viper



Joined: 28 Apr 2011
Posts: 764
PostPosted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 1:43 pm Reply with quote
It's interesting reading the reviews from the perspective of someone not familiar with P4 as a whole, reminds me how completely inaccessible it must be for everyone not in the fandom already. I can't imagine there are many newcomers watching anymore at this point.

I've been enjoying the series enough, and I enjoyed the fact that the latest episode actually showed some Personas considering there have barely been any Personas in the whole show. Hopefully Miles can watch the original series sometime to make watching Golden a little more worth it.
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