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REVIEW: PERSONA5 the Animation Blu-Ray


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Zendervai



Joined: 06 Apr 2012
Posts: 197
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:17 pm Reply with quote
I remember the Persona 4 animation was kind of clunky, but one of the things they did there that helped was have Yu's dialogue basically always be the weird response when it was available in the game. He was still a bit too quiet and didn't speak up much, but when he did, it was usually something kind of weird.

But Persona 5 had less of those options to begin with and I guess they decided to keep him quieter in general.
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cookiemanstah



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:42 pm Reply with quote
this is one of those anime I can't believe came to be just based on the obvious fact it's trying to accomplish something that can't come out in any way other than shite. But the article covers that pretty extensively.

Besides that, a lot of people say Persona 5 (the game) is poorly written lately. I think it's very politically relevant and enjoyable though. The central theme of abuse of power and late plot threads of a psychopath running a shadow conspiracy to subvert democracy purely to satisfy his own greed? All handled well.


Last edited by cookiemanstah on Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1804
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:06 pm Reply with quote
They put our pancake boy with that facial expression in the cover of the bluray? Guess everybody knows the twist nowadays
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Ming Yi



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 207
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:39 pm Reply with quote
Take this with a grain of salt, but I know someone who asked another person who had connections to Japan's animation industry and they said that they were given little time to prepare and work on the show, which explains why the animation is terrible.

tintor2 wrote:
They put our pancake boy with that facial expression in the cover of the bluray? Guess everybody knows the twist nowadays


They didn't even bother to hide it.
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MFrontier



Joined: 13 Apr 2014
Posts: 10960
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:50 pm Reply with quote
I think the thing with Ann is that her outfit is very fanservicey but it's an instance of her taking back her sexuality for herself and using it as something empowering rather than as a means of victimizing her. One of her confidante's even alludes to her seeing someone like Mine Fujiko, the most iconic anime Femme Fatale, as a role model growing up as a kid.

I've wanted to check out the sub just because I first saw the game with the dub, but I've actually heard opinions that the dub performances are much more memorable and lively compared to the sub for one reason or another. Of course the sub has an utterly a-list voice cast so it might have been the quality of the adaption and direction that undercut them.

And are they ever going to officially release the Akechi and Valentine's OVA's?
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1804
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 5:11 pm Reply with quote
Zendervai wrote:
I remember the Persona 4 animation was kind of clunky, but one of the things they did there that helped was have Yu's dialogue basically always be the weird response when it was available in the game. He was still a bit too quiet and didn't speak up much, but when he did, it was usually something kind of weird.

But Persona 5 had less of those options to begin with and I guess they decided to keep him quieter in general.


Yeah, Yu really stood out in the original anime as while he acts like a stereotypical silent guy, he was secrety part of secret humor, and the fact that they actually gave him two episodes that expose his biggest fears to the point of having a Shadow even if the episodes were quite cliche. Then, we have the famous "King Game" scene that won everybody. Still, heard that the writer regrets some parts of Yu's character but I don't know if he meant the anime or the spinoffs.

EDIT: Forgot. Oh yeah, he also had a comedy episode focused on Inaba's social link where he was quite of a comic relief due to needing to help so many people.
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 604
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 5:38 pm Reply with quote
Zendervai wrote:
I remember the Persona 4 animation was kind of clunky, but one of the things they did there that helped was have Yu's dialogue basically always be the weird response when it was available in the game. He was still a bit too quiet and didn't speak up much, but when he did, it was usually something kind of weird.


The P4 anime made some choices with Yuu I disagreed with, particularly going the homophobic route when dealing with Kanji, but I do think it's a really solid example of how to give a silent video game protagonist personality. His dry, deadpan humor worked really well most of the time, and there were some emotional moments that hit even harder than the game I thought, such as spoiler[when it looks like Nana's going to die, and he's outside in the snow with Yosuke, so sad and scared that he can barely even stand]. I also liked how they hinted at who he was before the game's story: spoiler[a lonely boy who has never been able to develop lasting friendships and is terrified of being abandoned.]

Quote:
I think the thing with Ann is that her outfit is very fanservicey but it's an instance of her taking back her sexuality for herself and using it as something empowering rather than as a means of victimizing her. One of her confidante's even alludes to her seeing someone like Mine Fujiko, the most iconic anime Femme Fatale, as a role model growing up as a kid.


I love Ann as a character, but everything about her story arc screamed, "Sexy girl written by men," to me. Besides, the butt/boob shots are purely male-oriented fan service and objectification, which has absolutely nothing to do with "taking back her sexuality for herself" and everything about being looked at.
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Rentwo



Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 184
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 6:29 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed the anime. It rushed and skipped over some stuff, but that's to be expected with these kinds of adaptions. I think the appeal is more about seeing select highlighted scenes from the game animated and come to life.

I don't have an issue with fanservice. It is a series aimed at men after all so it's to be expected and i am thankful for it. My only complaint is Hifumi did not get much screentime, but at least we got to see her in her swimsuit in Hawaii.
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gsilver



Joined: 04 Nov 2007
Posts: 611
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:08 pm Reply with quote
The game is too monstrously long, and the adaptation is bad. I guess the best thing to do is just skip Persona 5 all together, then?
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5888
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:30 pm Reply with quote
gsilver wrote:
The game is too monstrously long, and the adaptation is bad. I guess the best thing to do is just skip Persona 5 all together, then?


Monstrously long?

If you know what you’re doing the game can be beaten in less time then say a typical DragonQuest game.

I mean I can see if you said tedious (which mostly applies to Kamoshida’s and Shido’s dungeon. And some of the bullshit in the real world like testing which locks you up for multiple days or the social links which have to be done under a specific set of circumstances.

cookiemanstah wrote:


Besides that, a lot of people say Persona 5 (the game) is poorly written lately.


If we’re talking about the localization well.....
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cookiemanstah



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:48 pm Reply with quote
no, not the localization. Although the author of this review is very vague on the matter, she implies there are aspects of P5's narrative that is garbage or at the least bad besides the infamous politically incorrect jokes and Ann fanservice.

I'm going to assume it's referring to the party cast in general.

Apart from Futaba and arguably Akechi, most of the criticism I see directed towards the game is Ann, Morgana, Haru, Ryuji (especially), Makoto, and Kasumi (yes that name is used here for a reason I know) aren't very compelling or unified compared to P4's leads. That they're more memorable for memes or shallow reasons.

I personally thought the strength of P5's cast was in its supporting Confidant cast, almost all of which obviously got shafted in this anime because of its length.


Last edited by cookiemanstah on Sun Jan 10, 2021 8:09 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Ming Yi



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 207
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 7:51 pm Reply with quote
MFrontier wrote:
I think the thing with Ann is that her outfit is very fanservicey but it's an instance of her taking back her sexuality for herself and using it as something empowering rather than as a means of victimizing her. One of her confidante's even alludes to her seeing someone like Mine Fujiko, the most iconic anime Femme Fatale, as a role model growing up as a kid.


I really have no opinion on fan service scenes other than there being a strong disconnect on what is being said and what is being presented in terms of writing. Even after the first part of the game she's constantly thrown in situations where she hates being oogled at (fireworks scene, desert scene) just for the sake of humor, not empowerment.
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 604
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 8:03 pm Reply with quote
cookiemanstah wrote:
he implies


She. Seriously, it's not that hard to look at the byline and "Caitlin" is as girly a name as they come.

I explicitly said that I love Persona 5 in the review. Yes, there are parts of the game's writing I'm dissatisfied with. I think Katsura Hashino, the director of Persona 3, 4, and 5, has a viewpoint that's very limited by his privilege as a straight man of the majority race, and that comes through in how he handles a lot of the game's themes. In an interview he even admitted that he never had a female friend in school. I think Ann's storyline in the game was, at best, clumsily handled, much like Kanji and Naoto in Persona 4, and in a story about revolution, that's especially egregious. I'm also tired of stories about changing society by defeating one big evil villain, rather than reflecting on the hard work of dismantling systems of inequality.

There are parts of Persona 5's narrative that are frustrating or poorly conceived, but I wouldn't call it garbage or bad.

Ming Yi wrote:
I really have no opinion on fan service scenes other than there being a strong disconnect on what is being said and what is being presented in terms of writing. Even after the first part of the game she's constantly thrown in situations where she hates being oogled at (fireworks scene, desert scene) just for the sake of humor, not empowerment.


Precisely this.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 8:23 pm Reply with quote
all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote:
In an interview he even admitted that he never had a female friend in school.


I believe that quote was misinterpreted? I think the context of what he was talking about was that, socially, it was considered atypical during his time as a teenager to have boys and girls with normal and purely platonic friendships, not that he himself didn't have any female friends. But I haven't read that interview since it was publicly released

I think another thing I don't like about Ann is how her feelings of being sexualized aren't even consistent. When she's got a swimsuit on and Ryuji very blatantly ogles her and makes groping motions, Ann laughs it off pretty naturally and doesn't seem to mind? But in almost every other instance she's objects to it or is otherwise uncomfortable with that kind of attention. So like, which is it lol
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cookiemanstah



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2021 8:29 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote:
In an interview he even admitted that he never had a female friend in school.


I believe that quote was misinterpreted? I think the context of what he was talking about was that, socially, it was considered atypical during his time as a teenager to have boys and girls with normal and purely platonic friendships, not that he himself didn't have any female friends. But I haven't read that interview for a while

Apart from the blatant implications of homophobia across P3 to P5, Hashino is transphobic based on some of the original dialogue for Catherine. I'm just saying if he sometimes raises the ire of some people for some straightforward writing style I wouldn't be too surprised.
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