Ren Amamiya is about to enter his second year after transferring to Shujin Academy in Tokyo.
Following a particular incident, his Persona awakens, and together with his friends they form the
“Phantom Thieves of Hearts” to reform hearts of corrupt adults by stealing the source of their
distorted desires.
Meanwhile, bizarre and inexplicable crimes have been popping up one after another…
Living an ordinary high school life in Tokyo during the day, the group maneuvers the metropolitan city
as Phantom Thieves after hours.
Let the curtain rise for this grand, picaresque story!
(Source: Official website)
Persona 5 is an action, fantasy series that is about a group of high schoolers who come together due to various circumstances and formulate a criminal organisation known as the Phantom Thieves. One evening while infiltrating a high-stakes casino to steal a precious treasure, Ren Amamiya—the protagonist and leader of the gang—is captured by police forces. When he starts being interrogated in a small room, the scene flashes back to the first time he arrived in the big city and the story unfolds from there henceforth. The animation quality is extraordinary as it captures the super stylish essence of the world of Persona 5 beautifully. The use of computer generated graphics and hand-drawn aesthetics were wonderfully balanced, and further complemented by the jazz and blues inspired music composition. Unlike most other anime, the animation quality remains consistent from start to finish, and I appreciated that very much because it does the series justice while paying tribute to the game itself. The voice acting, which was done by the original cast from the video game, is also very, very good. More than a couple of the characters have eccentric and loud personalities that are very animated (pardon the pun) and the actors were able to bring those traits to life. Even with all of these brilliant technical things, I believe the second most important one is the execution of the narrative specifically, especially when you think about viewers who have not played the game and knew nothing about the storyline going into it. It’s perfectly presented to appeal to non-gamers, as well as being true to the original source material enough to satisfy the gamers. The inclusion of the finishing moves for some of the battles, for example, and the interesting mechanics for the boss fights translated much better into an anime than I ever could have expected, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting much in that department. So… as an anime, Persona 5 ended up being one the best shows for the season, for me personally. It made me feel very nostalgic (mind-blowing considering how new it is) while I was watching and instilled within me a desire to pick up the PlayStation exclusive once again. However, putting aside all of the systematic titbits, the absolute best part of the anime are the messages and topics explored. __There are mild spoilers in the following section.__ One of the things that the Shin Megami Tensei franchise does wonderfully is explore human nature, whether people are being murdered such as in Persona 4 or they’re being abused, as in this instalment. Humans are sensationally complex individuals. We like to say that this person isn’t complicated, that they are just an idiot or an asshole, but it’s never really that simple. There are tons of factors that affect whether a person will be violent, or introverted, or something else. Persona 5 takes an intimate look into why an individual behaves the way that they do, and that is what makes the show such a brilliant experience. One of the earliest villains that the Phantom Thieves encounter is a coach who is abusing his athletes, particularly the girls. He’s a dirty bastard who has no qualms about beating up children, or sexualising them, to satiate his own superiority complexes. There are many school officials who know of his transgressions, yet they choose to remain quiet about it. This situation is the perfect example of multiple complex lines of thought. Firstly, we have conservative communities who fear the shame and negative association that is tied with a scandal of having an abusive or predatory teacher in the ranks of their faculties. Not only does it make the school look like a shady place, it also represents an environment that is unsafe, weak, and imperfect. When you have a society, such as Japanese society (quite akin to many other Asian societies actually) that is all about disciplined perfection and exquisite etiquettes, abuse can be a dangerous thing. It is far easier to pretend that abuse is non-existent than to admit it as reality and face the uncertainty that the consequences of such behaviours can bring. We see this in one of the members of the Phantom Thieves, who obtained a criminal record because they saved a woman from being assaulted. Instead of being rewarded or acknowledged for stopping predatory actions, they were in turn charged with assault and labelled a delinquent. The school and the people who allow the coach to continue abusing these kids is no different. Then you have the kids who are suffering themselves. To be a victim of abuse—speaking from experience—is a humiliating and degrading thing. It makes you feel like you’re a weak piece of shit, like you are incapable of being independent or brave. Bravery is an association given to those who subsist with abuse rather than fight against it. The ones suffering are the ones who are ultimately judged for being the victim rather than the assholes who choose to be violent. Many of the students are afraid to speak up about what is going on during practise sessions because this stigma of being frail and cowardly looms over them like a black cloud. Lastly, we have the coach himself, Kamoshida. His whole purpose for being the son of a bitch that he is, is due to entitlement and privilege. Since he was a star athlete and a champion, and he’s obtained some relative success as a coach, he feels that he has the right to treat his students however he sees fit; that they are the slaves to uphold his triumphs and maintain that level of superiority that he feels. His untouchability on campus makes him bold enough to openly abuse people in front of other teachers and students. This warped sense of power is something that is very common in hierarchical communities where fame is equated with superficial accomplishments. The exploration of the causes and consequences of maltreatment is done so in a way that is forward and intense. We see how abuse affects not only the victims, but also the loved ones who are ultimately helpless to stop it. The lessons of what helplessness truly entails is a provocative and profound one. Sometimes when we feel we are helpless, that isn’t necessarily the case. Oft times there is a fear that hides beneath the surface, usually similar to the ones the victims may be feeling. The fear of admitting that this is reality, the fear of what happens in the wake of bringing such a dark and fucked-up thing into the light, the fear of being seen as nothing more than a weak-willed individual, plus many more. Persona 5 takes similar instances such as this one, difficult subject matters (greed, corruption, grief), and tackles them in penetratingly empathetic ways. The arc that dealt with grief and how immobilising it can be, to the point where you can’t even leave the house, also resonated so fucking personally with me. I remember when my brother died, my ability to be outgoing died with him. I’ve been an agoraphobe ever since. While I have learned to live outside of the comforts of my prison-ish bedroom walls, it’s still something I struggled with daily. The series is far more contemplative than it gets credit for being. Most of it is buried beneath the camaraderie the Phantom Thieves share, which as light-hearted as it is genuine, as well as the tons of stylish theatrics. Nevertheless, below all of that jazz, there are layers and layers of depth that are extremely relevant in today’s day and age, and that is what makes it such an astounding narrative and exceptional series. If I undeniably had to choose one flaw for Persona 5: The Animation, it would have to be the ending. While I totally saw it coming, I know that non-gamers (and maybe even fans of the VG) will hate that HUGE cliff-hanger. There is an OVA special scheduled to release at the end of the year that should (theoretically) wrap it all up, but until then we all get to twiddle our fucking thumbs in anticipation. Overall, Persona 5: The Animation is a spectacular series that scrutinises serious subject matters that most other shows won’t touch with a ten foot stick. Toss in a variety of imperfect, compassionate characters, tender moments of friendship, sweet action sequences, and the cutest fricking cat around, then you have one hell of a blend, my friend. 8 coffees outta 10.
Persona is one of my favorite game series out there. It's stylish, musically incredible, and most importantly, it has fantastic characters and stories to tell. I've recently been on another Persona kick since I've been playing through Persona 4 Golden on Steam, which prompted me to do the unthinkable: pick up Persona 5 the Animation from my paused list. While I can safely say that Persona 5 is the superior Persona in my mind, the animation just failed to actually capture why it was that much better: its style. Persona 5 is a game that sits you down and slaps you back and forth with stylish menu after stylish menu, but don't get me wrong, that's not all the game does well. It's well animated, the characters are good (even if they don't have the same kind of group closeness as in Persona 4), the day to day life is engaging, the combat is incredibly engaging, the villains are detestable, but not entirely cartoon villains, and the music absolutely slaps. Personally, I'd say Persona 5 the Animation captures maybe one and a half of these points which I'll explain as we go. By far the biggest detractor from Persona 5 the Animation is the visuals. I mean just look at this travesty: ~~~img(https://external-preview.redd.it/mkujuvWejM9cjlHwOxRT0h-Fpv9bpp3Euci0YmQzR7A.png?auto=webp&s=0b5f79d3282a5e90999c52ff4b1db4dc0a6e03aa)~~~ It's not like this kind of thing was rare, either. It would be terribly animated or drawn _constantly_. I mean, just compare it to the in-game cutscenes and you'll get an idea of just how much a step down this was from even that. (Game on the left and anime on the right) img(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/f9/1b/e3f91b795b0679db9b2c05212aedc57e.jpg) It's such an obvious step down that it's actually kind of embarrassing for A-1 to release something of this quality publicly. Even the easiest scene for them to recreate, the All-Out Attack, was butchered by their 'anime'd' version of the end card which looks cheap and uninspired compared to the brilliantly expressive All-Out Attack cards from the game. The animation did so little right in the style department that they would have been better off ditching the idea of trying to replicate the game's flamboyant style and going for something completely different and unique that would work for a medium that's far less interactive than a video game. Sound design is fair in the animation. They reuse a lot of the same music and sound effects, so automatically that elevates the audio side of things, but otherwise there's nothing too remarkably new about Persona 5 the Animation's sound. The only good new song that came from this is Break in to Break Out, the first opening which is an a banger of the highest degree. Everything else, the endings and second opening, are kinda meh. P5A could have used a dub a lot earlier, in my opinion. I realize that one got announced for October of this year, but it would have done it a lot of good in the west if we could have heard these characters in the language that most of us played the game in, because, lets be honest, most people who are watching this came from the game. __Favorite Character:__ Ann Takamaki ~~~img(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/ee2317b0-f6d6-4a87-b85e-fbf740e36fea/db94462-12265db6-52bf-47d0-99d4-4a540026581b.jpg/v1/fill/w_1024,h_576,q_75,strp/ann_takamaki_hd_wallpaper_by_ganedikt_db94462-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD01NzYiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC9mXC9lZTIzMTdiMC1mNmQ2LTRhODctYjg1ZS1mYmY3NDBlMzZmZWFcL2RiOTQ0NjItMTIyNjVkYjYtNTJiZi00N2QwLTk5ZDQtNGE1NDAwMjY1ODFiLmpwZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD0xMDI0In1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmltYWdlLm9wZXJhdGlvbnMiXX0.0adaUJgggt_0qYBqzKbieVRiBwCedgkZ2QkwjTbqZEU)~~~ I'm going to come clean first and admit that I haven't played Royal yet, I'm kinda waiting until after I beat Persona 3 and 4, but I have to say, Kasumi might take this spot. Having said that, I love each and every character in this game, but you know me, I have to pick a best girl and it's most of the time the blonde girl. I'd like to take the time to say that I absolutely hate the Persona 5 fandom when it comes to the dating scene in the game/anime. It gets so elitist and nasty that if you say that anyone but Makoto is the best romance option you get absolutely toasted. Kinda makes me dislike Makoto just because of those people, even if I do like her as a character. Having said all of that, both in the game and anime, the most magical scene in the show always has to be when you meet Ann for the first time in the rain. That scene is beautiful and captivating in such a enamoring way that I fall in love with Ann and her character arc immediately after watching it. Something that I wish P5A had done was actually give Joker a personality. No one is controlling him, why not let him actually talk and seem like a real person? P4A already does this better and I'm only 5 episodes in. Narukami vs. Joker is like comparing a real person to a cardboard cutout if we're comparing their anime personalities. It annoyed me in the game too, because I thought that they could have had Joker talk a lot more and not have it break the 'insert character' mold, but still give him some life of his own. Also Akira Kurusu > Ren Amamiya. I'm having a hard time saying that I'd recommend P5A at all, because if you're not looking for a nostalgia trip, it's not really worth watching. It doesn't provide anything extra to the game experience, which is entirely disappointing and there's not a lot here to attract any non-game viewers because all I'd say to those people is to just play the game for a much fuller and fulfilling experience. There's a lot of watering down sections and not a lot that they improved upon, except for maybe giving Haru some more spotlight. I do have to say that the way they ended the main series was a banger of an ending, but having to slog through two hour long OVA's afterward wasn't entirely a great time, though the Valentine's Day special was absolutely phenomenal and a really creative way to give the viewers the romance ending of their 'choice'. Though, all it made me want is a romance option with Sae, who is low key a contender for best girl. Honestly, I had fun watching P5A, even if objectively, it wasn't that good. It was really enjoyable to relive the game in an abridged version and re-watch some of my favorite moments and, once again, revisit the Phantom Thieves who I hold so dear. I hope to do it again in Royal sometime soon, but until then, this will have to do.
I absolutely love _Persona 5_. Though it might not be the largest numbers, I have put over 350 hours into the vanilla version and 130 hours and counting into Royal, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The everyday life simulator combined with the dungeon crawling and turn-based RPG, the overflowing and elegant visual style, the absolutely _godlike_ soundtrack—it is hard to understate how much I adore this game. Then I was reminded a few months back that this game had an anime adaptation, and even though I knew that people said it was horrible, I, for some reason, went and watched it. I do not know why. In general, I like the story of _Persona 5_. It’s certainly not perfect, with certain moments and arcs that feel weird and plot holes that aren’t filled, but it’s a story that is compelling, makes sense, and is ultimately satisfying and cathartic. _Persona 5: The Animation_ retells the story of _Persona 5_, though it changes elements to fit the medium. Some of the confidant relationships were handled decently well in the anime, considering the confidants were a core gameplay element that would be difficult to adapt. The anime has golden moments that weren’t in the game—everyone’s favorite example is the scene at the school festival where Ren tries to unmask a ghost in his school’s haunted house out of habit from his Phantom Thieves shenanigans. Additionally, the anime also explores the relationship between Ren and Akechi much more in depth than vanilla _Persona 5_ did, which was interesting to see. But the elephant in the room regarding the anime’s story, as I think anyone who knows about it can tell you, is the god awful pacing. The vast majority of the time, the story is incredibly rushed. Events that take time to occur in the game are presented at breakneck speed, with whole arcs in the game being crammed into a fewer number of episodes than you can count on half a hand. Many scenes are painful to watch with how rushed they are, with characters following each other’s lines up with almost no time to breathe. Half of the entire game’s content, infiltrating and exploring palaces, is substituted for mere minutes of badly animated sequences showing the Phantom Thieves running around, with the occasional reference to unique portions of the palace—there was so much that could have been done with the Metaverse exploration that wasn't. I could go on, but the bottom line is that the storytelling in _Persona 5: The Animation_ is pretty garbage, and it definitely doesn’t the do the game’s story justice. If this anime were given more episodes and more time, it certainly could have been a good retelling of _Persona 5_. Alas, it was not. 3/10. The characters in this adaptation largely suffered as a direct result of the bad writing. Given the vast amount of characters, including the Phantom Thieves themselves and Ren’s confidants, and the limited timeframe the anime was pigeonholed into, it’s not surprising that the majority of the characters in the anime are sorely undeveloped, uninteresting, and, in the case of most of the confidants, don’t make much sense unless you already know who they are from the game. There’s honestly not much to say here. Some people argue that Ren Amamiya, the protagonist, actually has a personality in the anime as opposed to in the game—as should be the case, considering the game’s protagonist is meant to be an insert for the player. In my opinion, Ren’s personality isn’t even strong enough in the anime. Sure, he can still maintain the cool and quiet persona, but there’s no reason for him to be as silent and passive in the anime as he usually is in game. Line choices in the game for Ren are often witty and funny—some of this spirit was captured in the anime, but not nearly enough. But again, given the quality of writing, having strong characters is a bit of a tall order. 3/10. And then there are the visuals. _Persona 5_ is a game renowned for its gorgeous visual style, yet the animation in the anime adaptation is nothing short of embarrassing. A simple comparison of the All-Out Attack animation in game and the meager effort to reproduce it in the anime is a pretty good summary of the disparity in quality between the two mediums. That also isn’t to mention the awful fight choreography in the anime, which might as well have not existed. The cutscenes from in-game look better than most of the content in the anime, with the occasional exception, usually in the form of character expressions. Put simply, the visuals suck—and that’s even speaking from an objective point of view without comparing it to the game. 3/10. One of the “potentially” redeeming factors for the anime was its music, and it’s mostly just because it took much of the soundtrack directly from the game, whose music, as mentioned, is god-tier. Granted, there were some soundtracks that were exclusive to the anime that also were pretty great: one that comes to mind for me is the track that plays when Ren and Akechi play chess for the first time. The first opening, “Break In to Break Out,” was also a certified banger. That being said, “potentially” is in quotes because occasionally the timing and mood-setting of songs felt a little off, but this is a pretty minor problem compared to everything else. 7/10, because _Persona 5_ music absolutely kills it. It’s honestly really unfortunate that _Persona 5: The Animation_ was as much of a mess as it is. I genuinely believe that if this anime was given a few seasons of time to develop, it could have been an absolutely amazing adaptation—after all, the source material quality is there. And even aside from that, the anime itself had, as mentioned before, moments of brilliance that could have been even better had the rest of the adaptation held up. It seems blatantly obvious that this anime was rushed through production to capitalize on hype around _Persona 5_, which is almost made more apparent by the fact that the dub version was released on Blu-ray not too long ago from the time of writing for a whopping $300 (or for streaming on Funimation, to which the point still stands). The bottom line is: if you’re interested in _Persona 5_ at all, just go play the game. Please.
# DISCLAIMER __This review discusses many topics across the P5 story. If you are here, I'm assuming you've either finished the Persona 5 | Persona 5 Royal game, or completed this anime, or both. As of such, there will be major spoilers. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED__ # DISCLAIMER #2 This review will cover the following content - Persona 5 the Animation - Persona 5 the Animation: Dark Sun AND Stars of Ours If I want to cover the OVAs I will do so in another review. With that being said, let's get to the actual review. ---- "First of all, let me get this straight: This is a HIGHLIGHT REEL, not an anime. I know what it says on the cover, but when Atlus went out to make this thing our fandom SPECIFICALLY told them it wouldn't work out well. " The Persona 5 base game is approximately 75-85 hours long. Including bonus content in Royal's 3rd semester, the entire thing equates to roughly 80-100 hours of gameplay. To cram all that content into 11 hours of screentime (9 hours in the original series and 2 hours in the following episodes) seemed like a suicide run to many. And for the most part the results were as expected. P5 the Anime suffers from horrible pacing. The palaces and their respective bosses are zoomed by in the blink of an eye while the filler episodes drag on and on. Content is barely covered and small-scale timeskips are used galore. Much like the fate of the original Phantom Thieves in the games, one slip-up caused our entire world's perception of them to change. However, when you look at the finer details, you see little tidbits here and there that builds on the pre-established world and characters; tiny morsels of worldbuilding wedged into the chaotic rush of the entire anime. On top of this, this entire anime was done with recognizable and consistently good animation and interesting takes on the soundtrack that we're familiar with. __Characters__ Easily the strongest aspect of the p5 anime. In the Anime, The Phantom Thieves in the anime are rounded, fleshed-out characters that use what current knowledge you may have about their personalities to build new innovative ways to tell that character's story. One of the first things you'll notice is obviously the main protagonist. Given the name Ren Amamiya in the anime, the protagonist is given a distinct and vibrant personality that deviates from the blank canvas silent protagonist of Atlus's game. He is shown to be both cool and calculating and also a bumbling, joking idiot depending on the situation, giving him much-needed emotions aside from the 3 whole sentences of voices he's given in the game. While the Protagonist's personality is decided by the player, many of the most memorable dialogue options come alive due to the hilarious voice acting (Xander Mobus's depiction of Ren in the English Dub is beyond a spectacle to watch), and the fact that the Protagonist seemingly switches personalities while within the metaverse to become The Pompous Man in the Black Coat is a hilarious concept as well. Ren aside, attentive viewers will notice that many of the filler episodes follow the phantom thieves along their natural confidant stories, albeit slightly altered. This means that because Ren and the respective character is taking different approach to their story, you get to see a slightly different side of them that still largely coincides with your mental opinion of the character, creating a more rounded personality. Furthermore, the characters' backstories are also developed exceptionally well. While we get brief tidbits about the characters' pasts in the original games, the anime goes all-out when it comes to their backstories, creating visual depictions of their child lives as well as deepening their established backstories. For example, we're given a series of flashback still frames depicting a young Madarame teaching the child Yusuke how to paint. Despite the fact that we now know Madarame was doing this to simply exploit him, the frames given depict a happy Yusuke joyfully painting on the lap of a happy and supportive Madarame. Then the frame cuts back to the present, with Shadow Shogun Madarame in the same pose with the same ear-to-ear grin. Immediately juxtapositioning Yusuke's gleeful childhood with revelations of truth, and giving us viewers an automatic, unstoppable hatred for Madarame for doing such a cruel thing to Yusuke. In a different vein, Haru, who's story development was widely memed in the community for being shafted due to being introduced so late, was also given an uplifting in her backstory. While we know that Okumura Foods originally began as a humble coffee chain that Haru was very fond of before Kunikazu took the reins thanks to the original game's story, in the anime, we physically see a smol Haru visit the coffee shop and enjoy a nice warm cup of coffee. Giving us an additional reason why she is so saddened by what Okumura Foods has become. This type of character development creates an additional level of realism instead of leaving the character to infer what exactly happened in their pasts. The fact that their stories largely parallel their confidant stories also creates a nice sense of familiarity for the viewer to bounce off of. Main characters aside, P5A chooses to largely ignore Joker's non-playable confidants, I was thoroughly disappointed to find the likes of Chihaya, Yoshida, Hifumi, and Kawakami largely ignored, or with little to no interactions. Hell, Iwai literally only says one line in the entire anime and it is when they pawn off the olympic medal. This is exceptionally poor on the anime's part because Iwai becomes someone capable of talking to other people and being relaxed around Joker, but that bond was shafted, so even if Iwai appears in the Qliphoth world to cheer the Thieves on beside Mishima, you don't get the reason why he's there. Same thing with all the other confidants. That being said, the anime doesn't totally forgo minor characters. We are given an incredible amount of detail following the story of Shiho Suzui as she attempts to grapple with her situation. We are given multiple insights into her mind, a shot of what exactly Kamoshida does to her in his abuses, and also flashbacks that complement both Ann's backstory and hers as she contemplates jumping. It is an odd detail that the anime focuses so much on her in particular, but I certainly don't mind. __Plot__ Alright. Let's address the ~~elephant~~ grimekhala in the room. Let's start off by addressing a minor but glaring issue: the focus on Akechi and Shido. As people who have played the game know, Akechi and Shido are related and play a part in being the big bad of persona 5 before all the end-of-the-world business. This dynamic is largely possible because of Akechi dropping subtle hints that only an attentive viewer would notice, and Shido keeping his name hidden but his face somewhat recognizable. As of such, when the big revelation happens in the original games, you as the viewer already know via dramatic irony that these two are the big bads who screwed over Joker and caused him all this trouble in the first place, but the game makes an excellent way of slowly revealing it to the protagonist in a way that would be progressive. P5A does none of that. Not only is Shido's bald face thrown in the TV multiple times in the anime, but there is no coverup to address the fact that he is the guy who screwed the protagonist over, and they even blatantly tell you that the SIU is affiliated with Shido with the TV broadcasts, while in the game you were doing mostly guesswork. The aspect of surprise is completely lifted. The same case is with Akechi. You see him smack dab in episode 1 driving somewhere as the protagonist is captured, immediately revealing that he is the big bad. On top of this, what was originally an exceptionally subtle hint dropped by him is now blown wide open with him blatantly saying the role-revealing line in an isolated manner so that we the viewers immediately latch on to it. Sure, throughout the show he is still your glamorous ace detective, but we knew from the start something was up about both Akechi and Shido, which just ruins the mystery aspect for me. Now let's talk about the thing you probably clicked on this review to see me rant about: the pacing. Let's take Kamoshida's castle as an example of the pacing comparisons. In the game, it would take roughly 45 minutes alone for all of the tutorial stuff to happen, with up to an additional 1-3 hours for all the exposition for the protagonist to reach the Palace. The entire palace would probably take approximately another hour or two to beat. So let's just highball it and say that from the start of the game to the collapse of Kamoshida's castle, it takes roughly 6-9 hours. The anime takes 5 episodes to cover Kamoshida, keeping the OP and ED in mind, they compressed a 10-hour palace journey into 1 hour and 40 minutes. You clearly see the problem here right? So many things are rushed through and through. From the palace visit itself, to the concept of personas, to how Joker learns to use these powers, to how guns work in the metaverse, to the actual storyline itself, and even Shiho's attempted suicide was glossed over because they cut and snip away meaningful pieces of story development. Hell, they were so rushed to complete the Palace that they introduced Ann's awakening AFTER the thieves already secured an infiltration route. And speaking of, much of the puzzles in the palace were ignored, dimming reasoning behind why the protagonist would be a good leader (since he's the guy who figures out most of the puzzles in palaces), and preparation for the palace, such as buying meds from Takemi, are very rushed. All you get are these cuts of the thieves moving through the palaces without any regard for their puzzles and whatnot. If anything, its the same dynamic as a streamer or a YouTuber saying "so I did some grinding off-camera". Very disappointing to see. That is not even to mention that Joker actually did "grind off-camera". By Shido's boss fight he's so broken that he has access to Alice, Yoshitsune, and Beelzebub, who he each brings out to do one attack against Shido and there he goes. __Animation__ This is quite a divisive topic in the community. While many argue that the battle animations are completely trashed and whatnot. I actually think that the animation is quite charming. First of all, its done in Atlus's style, so its actually virtually indistinguishable from any of the in-game anime cutscenes you see. Secondly, they do take creative liberty in reimagining recognizable battle scenes like all-out attacks and persona abilities, but I think its quite nice that they still at least partially adhered to the recognized all-out attacks before adding their own spins to it. It's not for everyone, but given that the persona 5 fanbase loses their mind over P5 Royal adding a fade in to the all-out attacks I think I can go ahead and say that these criticisms are largely unfounded. __Music__ I think this part of the anime is also quite nicely done, though there are some sections that I have some major complaints about, they largely adhere to the acid jazz style of the original games, and they use a lot of the iconic OSTs in the anime as well. However, to fit it with their rushed battles, many of these themes, and especially the battle themes, are cut short. In one battle, the beat drop in Last Surprise arrives without sufficient buildup, and it isn't even allowed to fully complete before being cut short because the battle already ended. On top of this, it doesn't even time with the all-out attacks, which is just painful to hear. All in all, the persona 5 anime is clearly intended as a highlight reel of the most notable moments in the games, with the added touch of personality to all of these characters but completely ignoring the game mechanics the anime assumes we the viewer would be willing to ignore. It may be poorly paced, but when it slows down, it becomes an anime depicting the best of the Phantom Thieves we all know and love
~~~__Review - Persona5: The Animation__~~~ >___Story, Easter Eggs and Detail___ So seeing the adaptation of this video game in the form of such an anime overwhelmed me. Seeing how small details from the game are incorporated into the world building here as minor things (e.g. crossword puzzles or the baseball mini-game) is super charming and makes the heart of a fan of the game beat faster. > > The plot is a 1:1 adaptation, of course shortened to the most important plot points, which I can understand. I've had to read from many that characters or storylines suffered, but I can NOT understand that. The characters all work wonderfully. Of course you don't have every dialogue option, no matter how small, like you got in the game, but it's completely sufficient for this animation. Especially with characters who are otherwise irrelevant to the plot, it's even more fascinating to see that the effort was made to somehow cram the side missions with them into the series. That's well done! >___Characters___ Like the game itself, the characters and plots are phenomenal. A really well-written storybook, with lots of exciting twists and a very lovable cast. > > The Phantom Thiefs themselfs are very good protagonists. I love how Joker is given a very good personality in here and I enjoyed the other ones just as well as in the game. They all have strong emotions and wonderful characters that allow me to empathize with them and hope for the best for them. There are also iconic moments that the anime adaptation was able to convey successfully. > The antagonists themselves are very successfully portrayed as really bad people, which really encourages the player to really hate them with all their heart. By the way, not only the antagonists, but also the things they stand for (pedophilia, human trafficking, blackmail, etc.) are well presented as disgusting... as it should be. >___Animation___ The animation is averagely good. Not great, but far from bad. CGI giants are annoying and I think fights appear very poorly because they simply have far too little screen time. But many other scenes are well animated and stand out from the other animation standards for 2016. >___Music___ The soundtrack is phenomenal and includes a lot of what made the game so popular. Lyn is a wonderful musician and knows how to deliver with wonderful soundtracks. The openings are correspondingly musical masterpieces, while at least the first opening isn't entirely impressive visually. But I can't say that at all about the second and third openings. >___Unwarranted criticism from others___ But if I have to read again that oversexualization is getting out of hand... The only characters that are sexualized are Ann (whom I really can't stand because of that and I can understand the criticism) and a total of 2 MINUTES WITH THE TEACHER. But all the other characters have nothing to do with sexualization. Sexualization is effectively critisized in the story and people still avoid talking about it, probably because people are not entirely happy that their high expectations were not met. There's no other way I can explain why people want to tell me that Haru, Makoto and Futaba are sexualized. That's just nonsense. I can't understand at all that the series finale was turned into two "films", which is why I would like to automatically include them in this review. 90/100