Anime Review: Persona 4

I was able to get Persona 4 watched what seems like a long time ago now. I honestly don’t even recall around what time it was. So this is a little overdue, but I wanted to share it anyways, because I thoroughly enjoyed Persona 4.

For whatever reason I decided to give Persona 4 a watch. It was one of those franchises that I heard a little bit about but nothing major. I never played any of the games but regardless, I came cross the series for a pretty cheap price on a RightStuf sale and decided to give it watch.

The story starts out with our hero, Yu, moving in with his uncle and daughter while his parents are away for work and there is a rash of murders in the small town. Over the course of the first several episodes, Yu starts to build friendships and his alliance is built for the series. The introductory episodes are quite nice and do a pretty good job of giving each character some background.

My only complaint with the series from a story perspective is I feel like it loses track a little after the midway point. The first half of the series mixes these character introductions with some comedy but we also get a nice progression to the case to finding the murderer. The second half of the series seems to wander a little until we get to the final third or so of it. The story at that point starts to string together some solid episodes and brings a resolution to the series. At a story perspective, when Persona 4 stays on track with the main plot, it is a pretty engaging series that mixes action, comedy and character development since all of the characters are forced to confront their insecurities or things they don’t want people to know about them. But when the series starts to wander just past the half way point, it leaves you wondering. What could have they done if they took out a handful of the “wandering” episodes and replaced them with more impactful episodes towards the end of the series or even for the build up to the ending?

The art of Persona 4 doesn’t offer anything special. There are some fun and impactful animations when the characters are in the TV world, but if you are looking for new types of animation or something unique, you aren’t going to find it here. Which isn’t a knock on the series, because it is animated about the way you would expect. Not every show will be done in a certain studios style or risk-taking venture.

If you are a fan of video-game series or the perhaps the slice-of-life type series, Persona 4 may have enough of a cross over to find it appealing and worth a watch.

Personally, Persona 4 has introduced me to the franchise and I have been slowly starting to check out more areas. Most recently, the manga and one of the video games, Arena Ultimax. After I get my “to watch” stack watched more, I would like to check out the follow-up Persona 4 the Golden Animation.

Production Update 176: Race Against Time

Forgive the lack of posting recently I have been in a little bit of a race against time. So last week I was planning on posting up a review of Persona 4. However, we got notification last Monday that we could start planting our community gardens. The forecast the entire week was scheduled for rain but the storm shifted and we spent every night after work in the garden putting the fences up and getting the ground worked and our seeds and seedlings planted. So everything is in the ground now and doing pretty well with the exception of a few plants. Last week we didn’t get home until later and I forgot to get the blog posted, so it will be pushed to next week.

I also am writing the production update today because of the holiday weekend. So time to get you caught up to speed!

I spent some time last week working through some planning for the second episode. I have an outline done and need to flesh out the dialogue next. I am traveling for Akon later this week so I will have some plane time to hopefully start writing. Over the holiday break I spent time uploading new files and submitting Cosmic Rage into animation festivals. I will do my best to share any information on these submissions with you.

This week I am starting my photography class so I will have some homework for the next couple months. I still need to get into some drawing and start roughing out some covers for the e-book. I also have to finish off some end-of-the-year grant paperwork too.

Another update next week, post-Akon!

Things to come…

Full disclosure, I didn’t have anything really prepared for last week’s blog post. Over the past few weeks I haven’t thought much about the mid-week blog posts I typically do. So, with that in mind, I want to give you an update as to what some of the upcoming posts that I am working on will be, so you can look forward to new mid-week content.

Top 5 things I learned from making Episode 1 of Cosmic Rage.

Top 5 issues/dilemmas going forward on Cosmic Rage.

Reviews of things on my “to watch” and “to read” pile (Kill la Kill, Persona 4, Gurren Lagann, Shirobako, Psycho Pass, Bakuman, Resident Evil, Inuyashiki) and more.

An introduction post to the band (Phoenix Ash) that has music used for the closing credits for the episode, Convergence, of Cosmic Rage.

I have a Photography class this summer, pictures will be shared!

Anything you want to see? Just reach out and let me know!