I was throwing around the idea of titling this post “Amuro the Slowking.” Apparently it was confirmed two months ago that Persona 4 will be getting an anime adaptation, but I’m just hearing about this now. Regardless of when it was announced, I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS. For those that didn’t get a chance to play it, Persona 4 is a fantastic PS2 JRPG that mixes dungeon crawling, a murder mystery, and high school social interactions to great effect. I actually didn’t play Persona 4 until some time after it had been released in the west, so I was late to the party there too, but damn did I just love this game when I got around to it. I felt it was a nice counterbalance to the dark and depressing Persona 3. Granted, Persona 4 could be very dark and depressing itself, but despite being about a series of murders, if you worked for it and sought out the truth, you earned your happy ending dammit.

In any case, the anime is set to come out in October with the voice cast from the game reprising their roles. Persona concept designer Kazuma Kaneko, original character designer Shigenori Soejima, and musical composer Shoji Meguro are reprising their respective roles from the game for the anime. Of those three, I’m most excited for Shoji Meguro as the music for Persona 4 was one of its defining traits. The Director will be Seiji Kishi, who’s previous work includes Angel Beats, and the production studio will be AIC ASTA.

The promotion for the new series has actually been rather interesting, as it ties into the plot of the game. Occasionally at midnight Japan time, a promotional video will stream for a short period of time. In game, the Midnight Channel, a super natural TV station that only appears at the stroke of midnight, predicts the next person to die in the serial murder case. Already it seems that the anime project is sticking close to the nature of the game, and since the game has a heavy anime influence to begin with, complete with anime style cut-scenes and opening theme, the transition to an anime series is almost a no brainer. This is officially my most anticipated show of the 2011 Fall Anime Season (Sorry Gundam AGE!)

Thanks to ANN for the heads up. Also, check out the official site.