Persona 4: The Animation: Difference between revisions

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[[File:p4a_8559.jpg|frame|The Sky's The Limit]]

 

{{quote|''So I'm stuck here for a whole year?''|'''Yu Narukami'''}}

 

 

Both of the game's character designers (Kazuma Kaneko and Shigenori Soejima, Shadow/Persona designer and human designer, respectively), the game's soundtrack composer (Shoji Meguro), and the majority of the main Japanese voice cast ([[Daisuke Namikawa]], [[Showtaro Morikubo]], [[Yui Horie]], [[Ami Koshimizu]], [[Tomokazu Seki]], [[Rie Kugimiya]], [[Kappei Yamaguchi]], [[Romi Paku]], [[Unsho Ishizuka]], [[Akemi Kanda]], [[Mitsuaki Madono]]) are on board. It is not yet known if the original English voice cast will be returning, though [http://www.animevice.com/news/persona-4-the-animation-english-dub-imminent-voice-cast-tbd/5603/ it has been confirmed an English dub in the works.]

 

 

* [[Adaptational Badass]]:

** Izanagi. In the game Izanagi's just a cool-looking Persona with low-tier stat growth/elemental affinities/skills that most players will have gotten rid of by the second dungeon; but in the anime he comes off as the biggest badass of the entire bunch, regularly being the go to Persona when Yu needs to wipe out a particularly dangerous Shadow.

** Rise's Personas get a moment of badass in Episode 25. Note that in the game proper, Himiko and Kanzeon have no attacks and are glorified [[Mission Control]]. In the anime, Himiko and later Kanzeon join the other Personas in directly attacking {{spoiler|Ameno-Sagiri}}.

* [[Adaptation Expansion]]:

*** For example, the third episode shows [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|the start of Chie and Yukiko's friendship]], something that was only mentioned in passing in the game.

*** Episode 9 shows Rise letting her manager knowing she's done being an idol and even lets us hear one of her songs (in lieu of an Opening).

* [[Adrenaline Makeover]]: The protagonist after he gets his Persona. He [[Female Gaze|lets his uniform jacket hang open]] and even ''smiles.''

* [[The Anime of the Game]]

** What was once a throwaway line in the game about cabbage became Adachi's signature item thanks to the fandom. And that meme became immortalized in the animated adaptation.

** Also, the line {{spoiler|"Bitches and Whores"}}, a line misattributed to Adachi courtesy of a fan edit to a Persona 4 [[Hentai]] doujinshi is now actually said by him in a plot centric piece of dialogue in Episode 24.

'''Teddie and Yu''': [[Heroic BSOD|AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]] }}

* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]: {{spoiler|Naoto}}, who has ''at least'' one male and ''at least'' one (albeit off screen) female character crushing on her. {{spoiler|Teddie}} is also an example, winning the cross dressing pageant by a landslide.

* [[The Bechdel Test]]: It passes, having featured numerous conversations between Yukiko and Chie.

** Yu is the bigger example. He may be irreverent and a little [[Cloudcuckoolander|cuckoo]], but he really loves Nanako, taking up the mantle of her older brother with ease and frequently having her around when he's hanging out with friends. The depth of feeling between the two is especially evident in episode 22.

** Naoto is a subversion, {{spoiler|because she is a girl}}. The first time we see Naoto's true colors is when Nanako is upset about her "case," dressed up in her Detective Loveline costume. Naoto picks up Nanako's abandoned magnifying glass, hands it back to her and encourages her not to give up by telling her that a detective should see the case through until it's over. When they visit the Amagi Inn and most of the others want to stay up in the baths, Naoto goes to sleep with Nanako, and the two share a bed.

* [[Bokukko]]: {{spoiler|Naoto}}.

* [[Book Ends]]: The first thing Yu kills is one of the shadows attacking the group in Episode 1 - he does so by plunging Izanagi's sword through the shadow's head. In the final (25th) episode - in the fight against {{spoiler|Adachi and his Persona Magatsu Izanagi}}? Yu's Izanagi plunges his sword straight through {{spoiler|Magatsu Izanagi}}'s head. The scenes even look exactly the same.

** Episode 19 is also a breather, focused entirely on the cultural festival and coming right after a comparably tense episode dealing with Nanako's feelings about her mother's death.

** Episode 20 as well, which focuses on the Investigation Team's night at the Amagi Inn. {{spoiler|Episode 21 is Nanako's kidnapping, and the first time we see the usually lighthearted Yu ''completely lose his shit.''}}

** Episode 6; The delivery scene.

** After seeing Shadow Yukiko on the Midnight Channel, Yu states that he wished he recorded it. By episode 10, this has turned into a running gag. This includes Yu rapidly hitting the record button while Rise is "showing her stuff", and then immediately trying to view it after the Midnight Channel ends. Unfortunately for Yu, it doesn't turn out as planned.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: The guys for some episodes, with Yosuke taking the brunt of it.

** Played for laughs in the 15th episode, when a drunk Yukiko and Rise tell Naoto all about the Personas, but the latter flatly refuses to believe it.

** Played seriously in episode 21 when {{spoiler|Yu is being interrogated at police station by his uncle. Again, he explains about Personas, but Dojima just doesn't believe him.}}

* [[Cat Fight]]: Ai and Chie get into one in episode 5.

* [[Censor Steam]]: Episode 20 makes liberal use of this in the Hot Springs scenes.

* [[Combat Sadomasochist]]: The two [[Macho Camp]] flunky Shadows alongside Kanji's Shadow ''really'' enjoy getting hit.

* [[Continuity Cavalcade]]: When the Investigation teams visits Gekkoukan High in episode 15, all the background music changes to ''[[Persona 3]]'' tracks.

* [[Continuity Nod]]: Although the anime is much abbreviated, attentive viewers can note specific bits from the games that are still present.

** [[Video Game Interface Elements]] are featured during transitions, fight scenes and the mid-episode [[Eyecatch|Eye Catches]].

** Various Social Link characters are present in the background of scenes they have no involvement in.

*** Sraosha using Mahamaon to {{spoiler|exorcise the shadows that possessed Namatame}}, a Light-based [[One-Hit Kill]] that can instant kill regular enemies.

*** Chie finishes off the {{spoiler|Reaper (at least, the one she and Yukiko are fighting)}} by having Tomoe use God Hand on it.

* [[Continuity Porn]]: Just have a look at the [[Continuity Nod]] section above.

* [[Cosplay]]: When she's invistigating Yu, Nanako cosplays as an in-universe fictional [[Magical Girl]] detective named Loveline. Apparently the cosplay's so good, some kids actually think that she ''is'' Loveline.

* [[Curtains Match the Window]]: Almost everyone, except Aika Nakamura, who has aqua teal hair and brown eyes, Kanji Tatsumi who's blond with beady black eyes, and Teddie's human form, with blond hair and blue eyes.

* [[Cutaway Gag]]: Twice in episode 11, both times when the team realizes they've left the head of Teddie's original body behind. Cue some kid crying at its white-eyed, soulless stare.

* [[Death Glare]]: Several examples:

** Naturally, Kanji [[Face of a Thug|has one of these by default]].

** ''The entire Investigation Team'', plus Dojima, in episode 24. (Yosuke, of all people, manages to pull this off quite well).

* [[Demoted to Extra]]:

** Igor, due to his Japanese seiyuu having passed away. All of his lines in the animation are taken directly from his speaking parts in the game itself.

** Also amongst the S-Links, since the Sun S-Link are two separate stories, they chose Ayane's S-Link and as a result, the only time we see Yumi is when she's silently annoyed at Kou [[Large Ham|hamming it up]] in the Culture Festival drama play.

* [[Even the Girls Want Her]]: {{spoiler|Naoto}} gets a love letter from a girl after she returns to school after her kidnapping. It's also implied that she wins the pageant in large part because of the female vote.

* [[Even the Guys Want Him]]: Yu. Yosuke apparently has confusing feelings for him during Episode 19's group date.

* [[Fake Buzz]]: In the club of episode 15, half the characters start acting as if they're drunk, even after it's confirmed that there's no alcohol served there. Carries over to the next day, [[Your Mind Makes It Real|where the ones who acted drunk don't seem to remember much of the previous day.]]

* [[Fast-Forward Gag]]: Yu has one of these in episode 19 when explaining the importance of entering the school's beauty pageant to the girls.

** Taken further in Episode 15: [[Mr. Fanservice|Yu's]] [http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly4jxqHoek1qh9on7.gif pretty ripped].

** And after [[The Big Guy|Kanji]] shows up, he's often seen wearing a sleeveless shirt, which lets the animators focus quite a bit on his rather muscular arms.

* [[Final Exam Finale]]: Episode 12 / the mid season finale, where the entire team needs to work together and Yu needs to unleash all the Arcana he's gathered except Star over the past 11 episodes to take down Shadow Mitsuo.

* [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!]]: Yu pulls this trope on Yosuke during the fight with his Shadow. Yu [[Deadpan Snarker|claims]] that it was an accident, but turns it into a straight example with the lines he delivers after the punch.

* [[Gratuitous English]]: It continues the trend.

** One of Shadow Kanji's flunkies speaks nothing but Engrish.

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]: Like in the game, the Shadows do this to their hosts, but Shadow Mitsuo gives a very bone-chilling one to Yu {{spoiler|inside the [[Lotus Eater Machine]]}}:

* [[Heart Symbol]]: When {{spoiler|Naoto}} tells the group she was scared, Kanji gets these floating around him.

* [[Hidden Depths]]: A key part of the series is exploring various characters' hidden depths.

** Nanako is a sweet young lady {{spoiler|with abandonment issues brought on by the fact that her father never seems to have time for her.}}

** Even Yu gets in on the act. Outwardly, he comes across as both [[The Stoic]] and [[The Ace]] with a ''really'' strange sense of humor (the audience isn't sure whether he's a [[Deadpan Snarker]] or [[Cloudcuckoolander]]; it's hard to tell). {{spoiler|In episode 12 we find out that even ''he'' [[I Just Want to Have Friends|just wants to have friends]], and is deeply afraid of being abandoned by the people he's close to}}.

** Episode 12 seems to have a lot of this between Yu and Yosuke. Yosuke pulls Yu out of {{spoiler|Mitsuo's Shadow's illusion}}, and they then look each other in the eye while in Jiraiya's arms. At the end of the episode, Yosuke calls Yu by his first name.

** Episode 15 and the Love Hotel, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise in the rotating bed having giggle fits. Something similar happens when Teddie, Yosuke, and Kanji end up in a bed together, except in that case the only one laughing is Teddie.

* [[Idol Singer]]: Risette.

* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]:

* [[Innocent Swearing]]: In episode 20, Nanako happily announces to the group that {{spoiler|Margaret}}, the fortune teller at the cultural festival, told her that Yu was a "gigolo."

* [[Insane Troll Logic]]: Kuma's response to how the main villain rationalizes his actions.

* [[Manly Tears]]: Both Yosuke and Yu indulge in these in episode 23.

* [[Meaningful Background Event]]: In the background of episode 6, Nanako leaves a Television show playing while the conversation with Yu and Dojima is going on. The words are fully intelligible, and it's very obviously reminiscent of {{spoiler|Naoto's show on the Midnight Channel,}} much later on.

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: Episode 22. It starts with {{spoiler|Nanako having to be rescued from the TV world before getting sent to hospital}} and just when things are looking up, {{spoiler|Yu gets called to the hospital, and the episode ends with Nanako flatlining.}}

** Yu's ringtone for when [[Clingy Jealous Girl|Ai]] calls him is Zigeunerweisen, also known as the [[Game Over]] theme from [[Catherine]], and his inner monologue after she calls plays out exactly like one of Vincent's.

** The OP Song for the episode when the gang goes to [[Persona 3|Tatsumi Port Island]] is none other than ''Burn my Dread.''

** In the final TV episode, {{spoiler|Ameno-Sagiri threatens to bring order to the world by transforming everyone into Shadows) He's defeated when Yu summons the demonic form of Lucifer, who has historically [[Order Versus Chaos|represented Chaos and opposed Law]] throughout the ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' franchise.}}

* [[Never My Fault]]: The girls in episode 20 continue to insist that the guys are perverts [[Accidental Pervert|because they walked in on them at the hotsprings.]] [[Insane Troll Logic|They conveniently choose to ignore that Yukiko was the one who caused the mix up in the first place.]] Even worse, when the boys try and go into the other of the two hot springs because the girls are in the first one, it turns out that the girls have switched. The boys get blamed ''again''. The mistake is pointed out to the girls by the boys and they ''still won't apologize''.

** Yu tends to gain a new ability, such as Persona Change or Fusion, whenever a boss turns out to be too much to handle.

** Teddie conveniently recalling that Kintoki-Douji can cast Energy Shower, which (just as conveniently) cures Enervation ("old" status).

* [[Nosebleed]]: Kanji gets one of these in episode 8, and again in episode 19 during the beauty pageant.

* [[No Theme Tune]]: Episodes 23 and 24 open with just the title cards, no theme song. Epsiode 25 also forgoes the theme tune, instead showing the title card just as {{spoiler|Adachi is presumed to have shot Yu in the head}}.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: The name of the penultimate episode - "The World is Full of Shit."

* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]: Igor's role is severely reduced because his voice actor passed away and they're only using his archived dialogue from the game.

* [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]: Applies to Yu and {{spoiler|Adachi}}, who are the Blue and Red Oni, respectively. {{spoiler|When they meet face to face in Magatsu Inaba, Adachi gradually has [[Villainous Breakdown]] while Yu [[The Stoic|calmly]] tells him to [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]. Also, Adachi's Magatsu Izanagi is primarily [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|red]] in contrast to Yu's Izanagi and its [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|blue]] aura.}} It could also apply in the game, but it applies more here due to the fact that Yu has a personality here.

* [[Red Herring]]: Like in the game, the in-universe version is {{spoiler|Mitsuo}}. For the audience, we also get {{spoiler|Naoto}} as a bit of a [[Red Herring]] early on. When Yu first sees him eerie music plays and the shot fixates on his eyes during a tense sideways glance. That's not to mention that he spends time with {{spoiler|Kanji, right before Kanji disappears.}} The [[Spoiler Opening]] ruins the latter example, though.

** Yu and his attempts to tape the Midnight Channel programs.

** Aika making deliveries/working in increasing unlikely places. Not only does she work at Aiya, make a delivery in the middle of a chase scene, and bring food to the protagonists on top of a mountain in the middle of the school camping trip, but she also has a job at a noodle shop at Tatsumi Port Island and at the Amagi Inn. They try to explain away the job at Tatsumi Port Island, but by the Amagi Inn episode, [[Rule of Funny|the writers stopped caring.]]

** In episode 9, Yosuke and Kanji while they're staking out the tofu shop.

* [[Sequel Hook]]: At the very end of the TV series, {{spoiler|Igor presents Yu with the Orb of Sight, forged from the strength of his bonds and which can dispel falsehoods}}. The late introduction of this element hints that there's one plot line left dangling...

** Episode 2 has Chie and Yosuke share a hug. She then knees him in the groin.

** Episode 8 has Yukiko and Narukami hiding in one sleeping bag together and Chie and Yosuke in another. When the time comes for actual sleep, they switch it up and [[Ho Yay|Yosuke and Yu]] and [[Les Yay|Yukiko and Chie]] sleep next to each other. When Yu says good night to Yukiko and turns around to go to sleep, he and Yosuke are ''spooning'' (though they apparently don't do this for the entire night).

** Pretty much most scenes with those 4 in it, or Naoto and Kanji are some form of shiptease. The studio sure knew the fanbase well.

** Episodes 9 and 10 have a lot of moments that would make Narukami/Rise fans [[Squee]] with joy, including a rather nice moment by the riverbank.

** Episode 15 features some between Yu and Chie; they share a personal moment on a alone on a park bench as the sun sets, with some blushing on Chie's part. Yu and all of the other girls get this, too ({{spoiler|except, of course, Naoto, still presumed to be a boy}}). King's Game, yo. The King's Game also gives us a rather (ahem) interesting Teddie/Kanji moment, [[Yaoi Fangirl|if you're into that sort of thing]]. Kanji/Naoto gets teased as well. Kanji blushes when he looks at Naoto across the train station. He does the same again when they're all out "drinking" and Teddie is embarrassing him.

*** Episode 19 teases this one a lot. Kanji begs Naoto to 'make him a man.' He also gets a nosebleed at the thought of seeing Naoto in a bathing suit, even with Naoto's refusal to come out from behind the curtain [[Serious Business|(complete with Kanji getting so excited they show the animation usually reserved for summoning Personae)]]. Earlier in the episode, during the group date, he describes his ideal partner as mysterious, with a strong facade. Now who might that be?

*** Episode 20 also has Kanji blushing and acting awkward and Kanji-ish when Naoto mentions the pageant. Later when Kanji hops into bed with whom he assumes is Chie, Yosuke [[Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest|wonders out loud why he didn't seek Naoto out.]]

** Episode 22 has the first major tease of Yu/Naoto, a fan favorite. Naoto talks about being happy to be seen as valuable for something other than detective skills. Naoto then blushes, and rushes off and heads in the wrong direction, forgetting it's still the middle of the school day.

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]:

** Yu does an absolutely awesome ''nonverbal'' version to Shadow Mitsuo in episode 12.

* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: In episode 21, the first chords of the soft, mellow ending theme start playing while {{spoiler|Dojima is laying injured in the street, begging Yu to save his daughter, "his only reason for living." ''Even more'' jarring in that only moments ago we saw Yu, whose video game counterpart was a [[Heroic Mime]], have his first true (however brief) [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|emotional breakdown]] of the series.}} It is then averted for effect in Episode 22. The credits play with no animation or music after the end-of-episode scent, setting episode 23 up to look ''very, very'' bleak.

* [[Spoiler Opening]]: Just like in the game, the opening gives away {{spoiler|many of the}} kidnapping victims, as well as the identities of the full investigation team. If one hasn't played the game, the script and direction of the anime is clearly intended to make a [[Red Herring]] out of {{spoiler|Naoto}} (see above), but simply watching the credits pretty much tells you {{spoiler|she's a good guy all along.}}

* [[The Stinger]]: They tend to show whatever Yu sees on the Midnight Channel.

** Also, {{spoiler|The TV run of the anime ended with Igor handing Yu an "Orb of Foresight," hinting that things aren't quite over yet.}}

** Averted with the bit of [[Gratuitous English]] in the ending credits ("Bonds of people is the true power"). The same goes for the theme songs.

* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: Kanji in Episode 8:

* [[Synchronization]]: The characters feel the pain their Personas feel.

* [[Take Our Word for It]]: Yu's apparently so persuasive and eloquent that he manages to give a speech just over 30 minutes long about why the girls should participate in the beauty pageant. It actually convinces them to go ahead with it, too. [[Fast-Forward Gag|Too bad we don't get to hear any of it.]]

* [[The Teaser]]: Every episode opens with a short meeting with Igor and/or Margaret in the Velvet Room, except for three episodes - in one episode Velvet Room is empty with message from Igor apologizing they couldn't be present, in second to last {{spoiler|Teddie}} is in it and last one doesn't start with it at all.

* [[Technology Marches On]]: In the game, the cell phones used by the Investigation Team look rather dated by 2011 (Incidentally, when the story is set) terms, so the anime gives them smart phones. It's only a matter of time before this takes effect again, however.

* [[The Resolution Will Not Be Televised]]: The TV broadcast only covers up to the {{spoiler|"Good Ending," which deals with the confrontation with Adachi and the battle with Ameno-Sagiri.}} The production team has announced, however, that the storyline leading to the "True Ending" will be released as a separate Blu-Ray OAV.

* [[Urban Fantasy]]

* [[Useless Useful Spell]]: Yu tries to use Mot to cast Mudoon on Shadow Naoto. It spectacularly fails to do anything of note. Bosses in the game are immune to Light and Dark attacks, since they're instant kills.

** When the viewer gets to see what Rise sees when she's under Himiko's visor, the screen is tinted and the same strength/weakness chart from the game is in one corner.

** We also see the characters suffer from various ailments, such as Enervation and Fear.

** Yu fishing in episode 14. {{spoiler|See [[Theme Music Power-Up]] above.}}

** Yu catching the King's Chopstick/throwing the dart in episode 15. The battle theme from ''[[Persona 3]]'' plays as the last button on his shirt falls open, and the a battle animation flashes across the screen when he reveals his command.

[[Category:Persona 4]]

[[Category:Anime]]