It's ART Dang It! - Bakemonogatari Review

As one of my favorite anime reviewers, Gigguk, has said. It is very easy to determine what a certain anime will be like based on the show's fanbase, more specifically its most diehard fans. For a show like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya you'll often find a group of otaku's who worship a 16 year old girl and whose only joy in life is to perform a perfect Hare Hare Yukai at an anime convention. There's the die hard Neon Genesis Evangelion fans (which includes myself) who have probably all written college level thesis' on the significance of Shinji Ikari's pinky in that one scene. For a show like Bakemonogatari, you get the most hipster fans of the anime genre, those looking for shows that push the boundaries by more stylistic means (I'll come back to these fans later because I'm not done). Getting on to the real point of this article, the kind of reviews that I had read about Bakemonogatari told me the story about this series before I really got started; get ready for a dialogue heavy, push your mental limits, philosophical HAREM ANIME. Buckle up...

As far as plot goes (and believe me there is not much to go on), Bakemonogatari is about Koyomi Araragi, a regular, lazy, high school student who turns out to be one-tenth of a vampire. One day while walking up the stairs, he manages to catch Hitagi Senjougahara, a beautiful high school student who, it turns out, has had her weight stolen from her by a crab god. Seeing as Araragi has already had dealings with the supernatural, Senjougahara accepts his help in order to get her weight back. The rest of the episodes form themselves into story arcs which follow a simple formula: Araragi meets girl with supernatural problem, he hangs out with them for a bit, it gets solved. There really isn't that much more to the plot that needs to be explained. To be perfectly honest, the plot of the show is the least important part of this show. In fact, if you sit down to watch this show, you had better buckle up to prepare yourself for the lack of anything really going on. Most episodes feature the characters just sitting around and talking, most of the time about absolutely nothing. I could probably count the number of true action sequences on one hand, most them involving Araragi either beating up of sexually harassing a grade schooler (I'll elaborate later). So those looking for a fast-paced action packed show would be better off watching the show I last reviewed, Akame ga Kill!. However, what Bakemonogatari manages to do is make this into something really cool. The show is incredibly clever and the writing follows a mix of snappy humor, pop culture references, and a whole lot of other good stuff. I always found myself pleasantly surprised by the writing, often making me laugh out loud in my seat.  So yes, most of the episodes are around the characters doing absolutely nothing which reveals itself to be both a good and a bad thing. The slow pace can make it hard to watch more than 2-3 episodes at a time, which is good, since each plot arc is about that long. The "camera" is always changing perspective, at a rate of nearly every second, as if trying to keep your brain from getting bored.

These characters will not leave this area and will talk to each other the whole episode...get used to it.

 Before I continue with this review, there is one thing that I definitely need to mention. Bakemonogatari is made by Studio SHAFT and if there is one thing you could say about SHAFT is that they're a studio which can be very divisive. Bakemonogatari is so SHAFT all of the time. What does this mean exactly? It means loads of establishing shots, constantly changing perspectives, surrealism, loads of dialogue, loads of color everywhere, seems like the characters are the only ones who live in the city etc. It isn't hard to spot a SHAFT piece when watching an anime. This is the same studio that gave us Puella Magi Madoka Magica which should give you some perspective on what Bakemonogatari is like, though saying it is exactly like Madoka is a huge exaggeration. Bakemonogatari pushes stylistic barriers and honestly I can't say that I've ever watched anything like it. Being a SHAFT piece means that you are going to get a series that is absolutely beautiful and Bakemonogatari is no exception. This is one of those times where anime truly becomes an art form and I would say that Bakemonogatari succeeds in creating a stylistically beautiful and elegant piece of art.

Anyways, back to the review, the issue with Bakemonogatari is not these slow scenes but more about when that thing called a plot rears its ugly head. Araragi helps all of these girls deal with their supernatural problems which in reality are just giant metaphors for deeper psychological issues that each of the girls have. Like I said before, the show is at its best when two characters are just talking. Then suddenly the plot jams itself in there and you get the supernatural expert, Meme Oshino, explaining what exactly is happening. The plot is not a bad thing by any means but it seems to take a bit away from the excellent dialogue and character development and it is hard to truly care about it. Like I said before, the best scenes are when the characters are simply talking about nothing so when it shifts to the actual plot, I lose some interest. Regardless, those scenes are some of the most elegant and beautiful in the entire series. What I liked most about these plot arcs was that Araragi actually ended up playing a very small role in these girls facing and solving their problems. Most of the time, the character he's "helping" will solve her problem by simply facing it and figuring it out by herself. I thought that this was one of the best aspects of the show.

The girls, like Kanbaru here, often solve their own problems simply by having the courage to face them, rather than any intervention on Araragi's part.

 The story is viewed through the eyes of Koyomi Araragi who is either the lazy and laid back protagonist or the one who occasionally erupts into a frantically yelling crazy man who takes pride in beating up a grade schooler. Yes, Araragi is certainly an interesting character. The real highlight of the series however is Senjougahara, his sharp tongued, absolutely nuts, and yet lovable girlfriend. She is by far the best written character in the show and has the right combination of character traits to make her such an enjoyable character. I found that the episodes that she was most heavily involved with were the best ones of the series. The rest of the characters however, aren't anything entirely new. Each of the girls that Araragi deals with can easily be summarized into a harem stereotype. Senjougahara is two types of dere; yandere and tsundere, Mayoi is a loli, Kanbaru a genki girl, Sengoku the moe one, and Hanekawa a cat-girl/meganekko. Regardless, this show is so well written that simply dismissing each character as such would be a disservice. I would say that there wasn't a character to dislike in the show but I will say that Bakemonogatari does not always make the best use of its best character, Senjougahara, as some episodes go by where she barely makes an appearance.

Finally, I have to bring up my most major gripe with this series. Before I do, I feel the need for a quick disclaimer. I really enjoyed this series because it was unlike anything that I had ever watched before. It is incredibly well written, the characters are enjoyable, and the art and the music were absolutely fantastic. The hardest part of this series to swallow is that at its core, this show is simply a harem anime hiding behind a shield of pretentious philosophical language. What takes away from the deeper themes of the series is the constant overload of fanservice and the harem anime esque antics of Araragi. Now I'm sure that somebody could give me an explanation of what exactly all of that fanservice means but to be perfectly honest, I found most of it shallow and unnecessary and to be honest, undermined many of the show's deeper themes for me. This leads me back into a discussion about how the fans of the series can often impact your image of a series. This a show that definitely attracts a certain amount of pretentious and snoody anime fans who claim this show is the best thing sliced bread simply because it is so different when in reality Bakemonogatari is simply a very good show. It sounds a little hypocritical coming from a big Evangelion fan like myself but while I enjoyed this show a great deal, I don't think I enjoyed it in the way its most hardcore fans do. While it has all the flashy art, it honestly felt like a show that was trying to stash away its more generic aspects by covering it over with nonsense that its fans would inevitably attach frivolous meaning to, call it art, and then fire expletives at whomever disagrees with them. That being said, I still enjoyed this show because it did take a unique approach to some played out aspects of anime and managed to do them very well.

Its ART DAMMIT

So where exactly does that leave us with Bakemonogatari? It is certainly not for everyone; the slow pace of the episodes, the heavy dialogue, and the graututious fanservice (not to mention the amount of scenes that make you say WTF) will turn off a lot of people. At its best, however, you have a show with excellent art, slick animation, snappy dialogue, and a lot of really great character development. It is also worth watching purely to see Senjougahara, since she is one of the best characters that I have experienced in my time watching anime. Bakemonogatari is certainly one of the best thought provoking animes out there, though perhaps not in the way its most hardcore fans see it.

My Score: 4/5

Who's Next? - Akame ga Kill! Anime Review

The shounen genre of anime has always been close to my heart mostly because it was those kind of shows that got me into anime in the first place. Racing home from school to watch Dragonball and Yu Yu Hakusho was my introduction into anime. Of course, the more anime I have watched, the more eclectic my tastes have become. However, I do enjoy a good shounen anime every now and then whenever I'm in the mood for some good, fluid, and kickass action. This past anime season, we were treated to Akame ga Kill! a truly classic shounen fighting anime that takes the classic shounen formula and pushes it into darker and edgy territory.

The plot of Akame ga Kill! is pretty straightforward; swordsman Tatsumi sets out from his humble village to the Capitol in order to join the military and earn money for his village. However, Tatsumi quickly finds that the capital is not the place he envisioned in his head. Instead it is a depraved and corrupt place which has been tainted by the rule of a corrupt Prime Minister who wield massive influence over its child emperor. After nearly falling victim to this corruption (Tatsumi gets taken in by a seemingly nice family who instead love torturing outsiders for sport), Tatsumi finds himself recruited by Night Raid, a faction of the Revolutionary Army made up of assassins who are looking to clean up the Capitol's corruption. While Tatsumi initially does not approve of how the group does their business, he decides to join up with them seeing this as an opportunity to truly help the starving people of his village. Each member of the group wields what are called Imperial Arms, special weapons that each have incredible powers such as: a blade that can kill enemies with just one cut thanks to a deadly poison, a belt that can turn its wearer into a beast and heighten their senses, a rifle that has power equal to how much trouble its user is in, and several other interesting armaments. The members of Night Raid are an eclectic bunch as well; the stoic Akame (the titular character), the ditzy Sheele, the powerful Bulat, the tsundere Mine, the brash Leone, the butt-monkey Lubbock, and their leader Najenda. Each of them have their own character quirks that make them stand out and make for some highly enjoyable dialogue. 

The members of Night Raid (Left to right): Mine, Najenda, Akame, Lubbock, Sheele, Leone, and Bulat 

What proceeds from this is some classic shounen action. Fights in the series are sights to behold as each member of Night Raid turns out to be awesomely badass in their own way. However, Akame ga Kill! is still largely style over substance. The overarching plot is that these characters are fighting in order to make things better in the Capitol, however, that plot seems more like an excuse to pit characters against each other and have them fight. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing because all of the onscreen action is fun to watch and highly enjoyable. In fact, its actually nice to watch a show that lets you simply enjoy what is going on. That comment is more to say that it is very easy to forget what exactly the characters are doing other than just fighting and dicking around. What sets Akame ga Kill! apart from other shounen series is that it takes a much darker tone and the level of gore puts it more in line with a traditional seinen show. One criticism that could be leveled against this show is that just because a show violence and gore doesn't mean one should rush to call it dark and edgy. That sort of thing is reserved for a show that makes that violence pointless and is only really there so that it can be viewed as some dark and mature anime series. Akame ga Kill! is a show about assassins, in a world with magical weapons, rebelling against a powerful Capitol. It is a dangerous line of work and the tone of the series reflects that. This is a very much a show that avoids the traditional shounen Plot Armor that ruins other shows. At any moment a member of the main cast could die and very often that is exactly what ends up happening. 

Where Akame ga Kill! really struggles though is when it tries to balance its darker and more serious elements with its comedic ones. For example, in the first episode Tatsumi finds out that the family who took him in actually tortured and killed two of his best friends, he even watches one of them die in his arms. It is one of the most well done scenes in the show and gives us a greater understanding into how depraved the Capitol truly is. Tatsumi has had not only his worldview shaken but has just lost two of his childhood friends. However, not wanting to let things get too serious, Tatsumi is quickly whisked away by Night Raid's Leone and Akame to the rest of the group, cracking jokes and suddenly turning into a comedic scene. Suddenly, a should-be-in-shock Tatsumi is the straight man to  Night Raid's wackiness. This isn't an exception to the rule either as this is merely one example of a serious moment being undercut by something silly. This dichotomy in tone can make the series hard to take seriously. Luckily the second half of the series is much better about letting its serious moments be, rather than reducing them to rom-com anime levels. 

May result in mood whiplash

A second point where the series struggles is with its "Anyone Can Die" theme. This is quite the double-edged sword. As said before, reducing the Plot Armor on the characters creates more tension and makes the odds of a tragedy happening much greater. It suits a show like Akame ga Kill! very well. However, it once again undercuts the emotional impact of each character's death because it only spends an episode on each character. About six episodes in was when the first character died and shame on me but it was hard to really feel anything because I hadn't been given much reason to care about the character. If anything, I was more shocked that the series killed off a major character so early since shounens are famous for having their characters survive everything (look at you Code Geass second season). Since the first two characters die without being developed beyond singular episodes it makes one wonder whether its worth getting attached to any characters if they could just be gone in the next episode. While this didn't heavily impact my enjoyment of the show, I will admit that this thought was present frequently in the back of my mind.

The good (or bad, depending on your perspective) is that Akame ga Kill! does feature a fun gallery of characters. Tatsumi, in my opinion, was a breath of fresh air. While many anime protagonists now seem to love the soft-spoken often emotionless protagonist (Aldonoah.Zero and Sword Art Online), Tatsumi subverted this trend. Most shows would have Tatsumi constantly whining about Night Raid's moral ambiguity, making him useless and annoying. Instead, Tatsumi is quick to understand that killing is necessary in order to achieve Night Raid's end goal. Since he embraces this, we are able to see Tatsumi develop into a stronger man and fighter over the course of the series. His strong sense of purpose is his best attribute and he refuses to let the superior abilities of his fellow Night Raid members deter him from simply giving up. The rest of Night Raid make up an enjoyable crew. Akame is the titular character but doesn't impact the plot any more than the other Night Raid members until the very end of the series. Despite this, I still found her to be a fine character on her own. For all the members of Night Raid (and most named characters in the series really), everyone can hold their own in a fight. Akame is probably the strongest of everyone in Night Raid and it was clear the animators had a lot of fun doing her fight choreography. Akame's charm comes from her comedic seriousness and despite her stoic nature managed to be one of the funnier characters in the show. The rest of Night Raid doesn't entirely stand out, mostly being character types that we've all seen before. However, I still enjoyed them a great deal. Bulat reminded me a lot of Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in his relationship with Tatsumi. Leone even gets to take on a sister role similar to Yoko from the same show. Mine was the standard tsundere but manages to be charming at the same time. What Akame ga Kill! really does well is that it respects the strength of its characters. Characters lose fights because they were beaten fairly by their opponents and not because of "main character powers" or other deus ex machina. This show, despite its policy on character's lifespans, manages to give most characters the kind of respect that they deserve.

Esdeath was one of the most sinister and terrifying villains I've seen but good luck disliking her

The star character of the show however has to be the series' most present antagonist, the Capitol's General Esdeath. While the Big Bad of the series is the Prime Minister and the Emperor, they are still hardly the threat that Esdeath is. In fact, the series isn't shy about telling the audience that Esdeath is the biggest threat, not the Capitol's leader. The minister is often played for laughs and is ahrd to take seriously considering he's always eating and generally seems corrupt and clueless. Esdeath was truly a treat as a villain however. Many shows will try to humanize their villains and give them psychological excuses for why a character is so sadistic. Esdeath however simply loves killing and loves torture but at the same time has intense love for her subordinates and in her private moments can even be quite kind. However, her power on the battlefield was truly something to behold and she was truly a villain to be feared and at the same time loved. Her yandere obsession with Tatsumi, while first looking like it would detract from her appeal, ended up becoming one of her best traits. It is really an achievement to make such a chilling and strong character. Esdeath's team, the Jaegers, was also filled with likable characters. Seryu Ubiquitous however was a poorly developed character. Akame ga Kill! does an excellent job of giving us both sides of the conflict and just because Esdeath's group was on the opposing side they weren't necessarily evil, just people doing what they believe their duty. However, Seryu was the lone exception here. Her character is always seeking what she believes justice. In some appearances her character has a sweet demeanor but then switches to a manically cackling and bloodthirsty persona when she fights. It would be one thing if her character was meant to show how an extreme form of justice and how that can pervert a person but never are those aspects of her character mentioned. In one episode Mine calls her out for this hypocrisy but just because the show is self aware of how inconsistent Seryu's characterization is that doesn't mean its okay. Regardless, the Jaeger's are a great bunch that are meant to be parallels to Night Raid. Wave is similar to Tatsumi, Kurome to Akame, and so on.

As I said before, Akame ga Kill! is a slickly animated piece of work. The action looks great and the characters and world are well designed. Adding in magical weapons like the Imperial Arms really allowed for the animators to flex their muscles. However, the music wasn't entirely up to snuff. Both openings and endings aren't really anything special and the BGM, while it was passable, was hardly anything memorable. Ultimately, Akame ga Kill! was about the action and the bits of comedy, so as long as it looked good I was hardly going to complain.

Akame ga Kill! looks great and action scenes are incredibly slick

Overall, Akame ga Kill! is a fun ride and wildly entertaining. It isn't without his flaws and has the potential to frustrate people in the early going. Its habit of undercutting its own drama and at times shamelessly killing its characters may be a turn off for people. Despite these flaws, it still manages to poke its head into the upper echelon of the past season. I definitely recommend it for anyone who is looking for a good shounen that has great action elements while managing to avoid the Plot Armor trap that most shows in the genre fall into. While its hardly perfect, Akame ga Kill! is extremely entertaining and is almost worth watching for Esdeath alone.

My Score: 4/5

Reaching Out to the Truth - Persona 4: The Animation Review

As I have said in previous reviews; often times when a Japanese property becomes successful whether it be manga, light/visual novel, or video game, one can be sure it will get an anime adaptation. Persona 4 is no exception to this rule. This Christmas I received Persona 4 as a gift and proceeded to plow through it and I can legitimately say it is now one of my favorite games of all time. The Persona series is a real love of mine as I have stated before on this blog, however it took me a real long time to get around to playing P4. Regardless, having finished the game, I figured that the next logical step was to watch the anime adaptation, Persona 4: The Animation.

The Animation follows the plot of its source material right down to the finest details. The protagonist, normally silent and lacking a name until the player has named him, is named Yu Narukami in this incarnation. That name is now accepted as his canon name as evidenced by the Arena series. Yu arrives in the sleepy town of Inaba and is staying with his uncle Dojima and his cousin Nanako for a year while his parents are away. He adapts quickly to the town, making friends with Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, and Yukiko Amagi almost instantaneously. However, his arrival also coincides with two murders, both of which done in a bizarre style. Yu also discovers that he has the power to enter another world through TV. He and his friends realize that the murders and their newly discovered powers must be linked and resolve to find the killer. Like I said before, the plot follows the game, though of course a game that took me around 70 hours to complete now has to be compressed into 26 episodes that are each around 24 minutes long. As a result, things move rather quickly, at a pace that might be disorienting to anybody who hasn't played the game before. Because of time constraints, the dungeon crawling is also stripped down. The formula is pretty simple for the first ten or so episodes. Person appears on the TV, the team deduces who it is and then goes to save them. What The Animation actually does better than the game at points is blending in character development with the dungeon crawling. For example, when the team goes in to save Yukiko, the episode is interwoven with flashbacks of Yukiko's past that give greater meaning to the events of the episode. Most things shown on the screen follow each character's arc in the game but because its fully animated this time, the characters feel more real than they did in the game.

Covering a dense game like Persona 4 is no easy task, but The Animation is able to incorporate the look and feel of the game. Persona 4 is probably the most light-hearted game about murder that exists and The Animation really nails those feelings. The sections in the TV World certainly can get dark, boss fights are usually epic affairs. However, it is disheartening to see the way combat is done here. The characters just stand around while their Personas do the fighting while in the game each of them were capable of fighting on their own with weapons. That being said, it is still good to see the menagerie of Personas that Yu has at his disposal. Most of P4 is spent grinding through dungeons. Since the actual fighting is saved only for episodes where the team has someone to rescue, more time is spent outside the TV World (Not entirely unlike the game). The Animation then relegates Social Links outside of the main cast to filler episodes. In fact, two episode are spent covering about 5 of them and we are able to see the entire Social Link, albeit at an accelerated pace. While it is nice to see the show try and include more features from the game, sometimes it makes you wonder if maybe these filler episodes could have been spent on the more interesting main cast rather than these side characters that not everyone knows if they didn't spend time on each Social Link. It is also a lot of content to pack into one episode. Even so, The Animation is able to stuff a great deal of the game's content into a series. While it moves at a quick pace, it is still coherent and remains the well put together story that it was in the game. However, its transgressions and cut aways from the main plot will definitely frustrate those who haven't played the game before.

The Social Links with the main cast are done much better and are explored right before they get taken into the TV World. The show tries to capture the beginning and end of each Social Link, however it completely drops the ball on the middle. The characters reach these conclusions about themselves and if someone hasn't played the game they aren't really sure how the characters got there since there isn't enough time to develop the characters onscreen. Sometimes the resolution to their Social Link just gets randomly interjected into the main plot. For example, Yosuke's comes right at the pivotal moment where the characters deduce who the killer is. Then we're quickly whisked away to Yu and Yosuke beating the crap out of each other. Yosuke's Social Link was already the weakest of the main cast and its even worse here, especially since Yosuke is a stronger character in the anime than he is in the game. The rest fit it rather nicely even if their character development isn't as noticeable as it was in the game.

As said before, The Animation does capture the look and feel of the game. The anime retains the same calender as the game and there are plenty of familiar imagery and shout-outs to those who have played the game. Aiya Diner, the Timid Teacher series, the Social Links, the trip to Port Island; The Animation retains all of these little call outs and it is great to see them all fully animated. The plot moves along at its hustle and bustle pace and the most emotional moments of the show, like end, still pack their full emotional punch. The pace of the show definitely slows down in the final episodes which make them worth the wait. The confrontation with the killer and the final battle are done really well. However, the anime itself doesn't cover the True Ending over the course of its 25 episode run. There is a special 26th episode that does cover the True Ending, though its a bit too fast paced and tries to do too much. The very end of the show doesn't exactly have the same emotional impact as the game in which leaving the other characters was a real touching experience since you had spent so much time with them.

The real highlight of the show is its normally silent protagonist, Yu Narukami. In the game, Yu's personality and actions were entirely decided by the player through dialogue choices. Here, Yu has a full personality and speaks for himself. However, what makes him so good in The Animation is that he retains his comedically serious and weird persona (no pun intended). His actions in the anime largely reflect the choices that the player has for him in the game. His progression as a character mirrors his progression in the game, the show even cuts away at the mid-point of each episode to show his character traits and each episode they improve. By the end, the entire pentagon is maxed out and Yu is more expressive than ever. The Animation does a great job of also humanzing him whereas in the game he seemed more like a fly on the wall at points. You really feel how much he cares for his friends and their love for him back feels completely genuine. The show gives us a better idea of how much of an impact Yu has on the main cast's lives. At a certain point in the show, Yu has the most lines out of anybody whereas before the other characters were counted on for exposition and the "ra ra go team" part. Despite having a personality of his own, we are still seeing the action onscreen through Yu's viewpoint and many of the actions he takes are similar to how many players play him. Seeing him run right over to the girls side of the Group Date Cafe at the Cultural Festival, his role in the King's Game, his over the top exposition of the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. All of these are things I remember making Yu do and I laughed just as hard. Yu has a funloving personality but he does everything so seriously that it makes him arguably the funniest character in the game. That is definitely reflected here.

Since Yu has his own personality, more time is spent towards his development instead of his observing the other characters grow. Still, until the very end he is mostly silent while his friends do the talking. The show, despite its limited amount of time, is able to replicate what made P4's characters so good to begin with. Yosuke, who was Mr. Exposition in the game, has a bit of a reduced role and seems to be more of Yu's bro for life here. I was glad to see that they made him less of a jerkass than he was in the game. Chie remains as awesome as ever and entirely unchanged from her role in the game as is Yukiko. Rise, Teddie, Kanji, and Naoto are pretty much exactly the same as they were in the game. However, the show makes a big deal out of pairing each of the characters off and Ship Teases way more than it really needed to. Yu and Yosuke are pretty much heterosexual life partners, same goes for Chie and Yukiko. Kanji and Naoto haves plenty of Ship Tease with each other. Only Teddie and Rise don't feel paired off and the latter character barely qualifies since she hits on Yu nearly every episode.  It feels like fanservice more than anything but I still didn't really mind. I think the real crime is that the show moves a bit too fast to truly get to know the characters. For most of the show they feel more like caricatures of themselves. Chie's love of food is taken Up to Eleven as well as her temper with Yosuke. Yosuke himself also suffers from this, since Yu is voiced and can truly lead the group, Yosuke is no longer needed as the de facto team leader and source of exposition. Instead, his bumbling personality is taken Up to Eleven. The rest of the cast also returns and fills the same roles they had before.

In keeping with the theme of retaining the game's feel, The Animation doesn't make any radical changes from the game's formula. The character's designs are all exactly how they looked in the game and it retains the same style from the game's animated cutscenes. Each of the characters look great revamped though the animators seem to have dropped the ball when it came to drawing Yukiko whose face seems to be lazily done as opposed to rest of the cast. The action sequences also have to be given some credit as well. The dungeons look as good as they did in the game and the boss fight sequences are truly gorgeous to behold. The soundtrack is largely unchanged from the game as well. Since the Persona games are known for having amazing soundtracks there was really no need to change anything. It was really great in the first episode hearing "Reach Out to the Truth" when Yu unlocked his Persona. The visuals and soundtrack are elite for any anime.

Persona 4: The Animation is a show that I feel that I'm largely split on. For those who have played the game and love the series, they will really get a kick out it. However, those who haven't played the game will find it hard to overlook the pacing and won't be able to forgive the strange filler episodes based around the Social Links. Despite this, The Animation is probably the best you're going to find when it comes to an adaptation of a video game. Not everyone is going to be entirely satisfied with it but you really feel that the studio made the best attempt possible at including everything they could. Like the game, The Animation is jam-packed with content, the characters are well-drawn, the plot is gripping, and soundtrack is great. It's a fun 26 episode journey that is well worth anyone's time.

My Score: 4/5