Due to several factors, I’ve been unable to write for Anivision these last few weeks, so to play catch up, I thought it would be appropriate to knock out 3 episodes in one post. This way, I can just jump back into it next week with my weekly posts. With excuses out of the way, let’s move on to the goodness.

Episode 04 Impressions

I felt that overall this episode was a great insight into Yukiko's character, and I look forward to seeing her and Amaterasu fighting alongside the others.

Yukiko Amagi seems like the perfect girl from the outside, but like everyone else in the show (other than Yu Narukami) she has some emotional baggage. In Yukiko’s case it’s the feeling of being trapped in Inaba, forced to succeed as the manager of her family’s inn. She saw herself as a bird in a cage, unable to leave by her own will, dependent on a caretaker to survive. The caretaker in the scenario is of course Chie, whom Yukiko had come to see as a source of strength, and perhaps someone that could rescue her from her fate. Of course, in the end it’s clear that Yukiko had true strength all along, and after accepting herself, she earns the Persona Amaterasu. Episode 4 was a nice expansion on what was presented in the game, particularly with all the Yukiko flashbacks, and I enjoyed how they handled the fight against Shadow Yukiko. Kusi Mitama was an interesting choice for the Chariot Arcana Yu got from Chie in episode 3, and Pyro Jack made good use of his fire absorption ability. Of note, Yu didn’t really get any one on one time with Yukiko, so the episode ended without any new bonds being formed.

Episode 05 Impressions

Ai Ebihara (Moon) and Kou Ichijou (Strength). Things may not have worked out between Ai and Yu, but they undeniably formed a friendship from the experience, and hopefully her feelings will eventually reach Kou. As for Kou, Yu inadvertantly helped him realize his true passion, and he attained the strength to see it through.

Most of your time spent playing and a major focus of the Persona 4 game was Social Links, in which you take time hang out with people, forming bonds to increase your Persona’s strength. Likewise, we’re going to see it in the anime as well. This time around we got a combination of two Social Links by putting the focus on Kou Ichijou, captain of the basketball team (Strength Arcana), and Ai Ebihara, manager of the team (Moon Arcana). A bit of a downside is that due to time constraints, we likely won’t be seeing the full extent of every Social Link characters development. For example, a lot of Kou’s plot was dropped, and Daisuke’s involvement was almost entirely removed. Ai’s story was handled better as she got more of the attention. It made perfect sense to combine the two considering that there is crossover in the game. Ai’s S.Link is one of my favorites in the game because her personality is difficult to read and she really grows on you as it progresses. As with all the female schoolmates, there’s a romantic ending option in the game, and the anime decided to follow the friends route instead. If you’re wondering, you have to turn her down when she asks you to date her on the roof to get her romantic ending. Ironic, no? A great shout out to the game Catherine was also in the episode as Yu’s ringtone for Ai was the game over theme from the game. That one had me rolling with laughter. Other than forming bonds with Ai and Kou, after the credits Yukiko rejoins the gang and they officially form the Investigation Team.

 Episode 06 Impressions

Things just got a little bit more...fabulous.

Episode 05 was a bit of a breather episode from the persona action in the first four episodes, and while episode 06 also lacked in action, it progressed the plot forward. This time around, despite upcoming exams, the team puts together what they know about the incidents. They conclude that the pattern by which the culprit is choosing his victims is women somehow connected to the first murder. The theory is partially thrown out the window when the next person to show up on the midnight channel is Kanji Tatsumi, a local punk from their school rumored to have taken out a biker gang by himself. When they decide to tail him, their plans are foiled as he finds out and chases them off. In the end, he gets tossed into the tv and Yu’s treated to a rather disturbing show on the midnight channel. Other than the shenanigans with Kanji, there were other great things this episode. The ever adorable Nanako got more screen time as she hung out with the gang when her father wasn’t able to get the time off he promised. Also, we got the introduction of the mysterious boy that wanted to meet up with and ended up stirring strange feelings in Kanji. The classmate we were introduced to in episode 05, Aika, makes a hilarious return this time around proving her restaurant’s motto that they’ll deliver anywhere, no matter what. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Magaret at the beginning of the episode showing a bit of a playful and flirty side toward Yu when he encountered her alone in the velvet room. Finally, Yu and Yukiko finally got some time alone allowing for them to get close enough to form a Social Link bond, giving Yu the power of the Priestess arcana.

Moving forward, I’m looking forward to seeing the gang return to the TV world and Yukiko getting some action for the first time. On top of that, Yu’s made a lot of progress in terms of Social Links and arcana, so it’ll be interesting to see which personae he’ll be pulling out and if they’ll include the fusion gimmick from the game, where in you take two personae and combine them to form a new one. Overall, these past three episodes have kept me more than entertained, and the Persona 4 anime hasn’t let me down yet.

[nggallery id=96]

-Reach out to the truth