Persona 4 True Ending

That was quite an interesting way to adapt the true ending. In the game, Yu gets pulled down like everyone else, but instead they had Izanami show him an illusion. Then Margaret had to be the one to break him out by forcing him to actually accept himself. The anime wanted to make Yu more than a voiceless protagonist and I’d say they did a pretty good job. I wasn’t even expecting the Margaret battle to show up at all, so I’m impressed that they were able to find a way to work it into the true ending. And of course, Brosuke is a boss…Yosuke ending is how it is.

Still, I can’t help but be annoyed at how “Endless Eight”-like the illusion was. I understand how it fit with Yu’s personality, but maybe I’m still suffering from some lingering damage from that arc in Haruhi (it was so much suffering…). This show has definitely been a cool experience…even knowing how things turn out as I did. This episode in particular, the ordering of events can really throw you off if you’ve seen this stuff before…I was pretty confused with what they were trying to accomplish at the start of this. Anyways, hope you’ve all enjoyed as well. It’s finally over 😀

Persona 4 Final Episode

The battle between Yu and Adachi rages on. Meanwhile, the TV world and the real world are starting to merge. Adachi continues to taunt everyone, but they reject what he says and manage to defeat their opponents. Adachi starts to go nuts, but Yu forces him to face reality and defeats the copy of Izanagi. Adachi tries to kill himself, but he is suddenly possessed by a bunch of Shadows. He then becomes Ameno-sagiri, the source of the fog. Everyone tries to attack Ameno-sagiri, but he quickly blows them all away. Yu is about to be engulfed by the Shadows, but Yosuke calls out to him, evolving Jiraiya into Susano-o and saving him. Everyone else follows suit, evolving their respective Persona. They all push back Ameno-sagiri, and Yu fuses his Persona to finish him off. They then bring Adachi back to the real world to face his crimes. We finish off with Yu leaving Inaba to return to the city with his friends there to see him off.

I’m surprised they let Yu leave Inaba. I guess this was technically the ending, but they still gave him the crystal that takes away falsehoods. He needs that for the true route, which unfortunately doesn’t come out until the 10th BD is released later in August. It’s a very familiar scene from the game for his leaving, but I thought that it happened after finishing true route. A really nice game adaptation, but I wish they could have fit in the true ending instead of making us wait so long for it. I’m also really glad that they included the Persona evolution for other characters. At first, I thought it might just be Yosuke, but then everyone else joined in. For the most part, I think that their second forms look better, so it’s nice that they got an appearance. Plus, we’ll hopefully see them more in action when they do the true ending. And yeah…I’m gonna wait for the true ending to review this. I’ve enjoyed blogging it, though…was a great game, and it was  nice to see it in anime form.

Persona 4 Episode 24

Picking up from the big realization from last week, Yu heads to the hospital. Yu and Yosuke then go to confront Adachi, the true culprit. Naoto and the rest of the gang soon arrive, and together they all get him to admit his guilt. Kuma reappears to see Nanako, resolving to fight with everyone despite realizing he is a Shadow.

Everyone then chases Adachi into the TV World. As they go, Adachi starts to split the group up by summoning Shadows while showing them all of the missing parts of their investigation. Eventually, Yu faces off against Adachi alone, who summons his own Persona, a copy of Izanagi, to face him.

Everything’s coming to a close. With the current pacing, it looks like they might be able to cover everything, but it may be close. I’ll be really upset next week if they don’t. The rest of the episode this week was pretty good (everyone loves Naoto going into detective mode). Also, it seems like I was right last week…guess they’ve decided to go with the Yosuke ending for Yu, so he won’t be getting any of the girls. It’s a little sad, but pretty expected. I hope everything turns out well next week. I wonder if all of the people who played the game are as worried as I am?

Persona 4 Episode 23

After Nanako’s death last week, everyone goes to see Namatame, and find that he is appearing on the Midnight Channel. The group starts to split into those who want vengeance and those against them. Yu tries to throw Namatame into the TV, but is stopped by a memory of Nanako, choosing instead to find the truth. Strangely, Kuma goes missing, but everyone else re-examines the case.

They realize that the letter Yu received could not have come from Namatame, as he believed he was saving people. They go to hear Namatame’s story, and he reveals that the first two deaths were not his doing. Meanwhile, Kuma disappears into the fog, which somehow brings Nanako back to life. The episode ends with Naoto re-evaluating the case, and Yu finally realizing who the culprit is.

Margaret’s social link is so random…what the heck? Yu goes to sleep…Congratulations! You got my Arcana! O.o Anyways, woohoo…Nanako’s alive. Crisis averted. I like how Yu’s character was handled in this episode. He manages to put on the facade of calm with Namatame, despite breaking down when everyone leaves. Yosuke also comes back to comfort him. Unfortunately, this scene tells me that Yu will have an undecided ending, love-wise. If Yosuke’s there being a bro, then Yu’s not gonna choose a girl…that’s so disappointing, but a kinda expected. If you want to choose a girl, I guess you should just play the game.

Let’s talk ending. I have to say, I’m getting more and more anxious about it. I saw that there are 25 episodes slated, so that leaves two more. Does that mean true route will be resolved in one episode? Or will the battle next week only take half the episode. I really hope they don’t rush the ending too much…it might end up hurting the series a lot. I definitely look forward to the end, but I hope it works out. I really hope they don’t just end it with this arc and save true route as some unreleased episodes later down the line or something.

Persona 4 Episode 22

This week’s episode starts off with everyone arriving at Heaven, Nanako’s dungeon. Namatame reveals that he has been trying to “save” people, and draws Shadows to attack. He takes control of Yu and forces him to attack everyone else, but Yu is able to break the control mechanism and save Nanako. Namatame then controls everyone else, but Yu is able to free them all and defeat finish him off.

Namatame is arrested and Nanako is hospitalized afterwards, but she soon recovers. Strangely, though, there’s a heavy fog in Inaba following the incident, similar to the fog in the TV World. Nonetheless, things seem to be doing okay, but then Nanako’s condition suddenly worsens and she dies.

NANAKO!!!!!! Yeah…I actually have no idea what’s up with that. All I can do is wait for next week for some sort of explanation. The battle at the start of the episode plays into that scene from earlier where everyone looked at Yu with a sort of fear when he summoned his many Persona. Their fear is kinda justified when he’s turned against them. Stupid controlling business…made that battle more annoying than it should have been. Still, the battle was cool as usual.

With that little conversation with Naoto, I guess Yu has revisited every main character. I would have hoped for a bit more, but I understand with the pacing. The ending is becoming a bit murky for me. I’m not sure how faithful they’re trying to make it to the game. I really don’t want them to skip the true ending. Especially since something happened in this episode that is linked to it (I won’t give it away because spoilers are lame).

Persona 4 Episode 21

The plot has returned! Everyone gathers to discuss the mysterious letter from last week, but can draw no conclusions. That night, Yu sees an silhouette on the Midnight Channel, but it isn’t clear enough to distinguish. Another threatening letter arrives from the mystery sender, but this time Dojima sees it. Dojima interrogates Yu at the station, but refuses to believe Yu’s story and locks him in the station for the night.

The Midnight Channel appears again, and Yu recognizes the target as…Nanako! Naoto tries to save her, but arrives too late. Together, everyone realizes that the culprit must be a delivery man named Namatame Taro and rush to pursue. Dojima finds the truck first and manages to stop it, but Nanako has already been thrown in the TV and Dojima is hospitalized.

The show is entering the final chapter. This week’s episode was Naoto’s time to shine, as she calmly analyzes the situation for Yu and the others. Still, it’s not quite her social link, so there should be more focus for her later. Random CG for the chase scene was random, but I guess it was alright. Yu’s character in the anime is definitely nice. I don’t remember him showing this much concern and emotion in the game and it definitely makes things more effective. This was a bit of a weird moment in the game for me. When I reached this point, I was confused how a completely random person like Taro just suddenly comes into the picture. I don’t mind it now because I know the ending, but I wonder others feel about this sort of thing. Next week, it’s time to save Nanako!

Persona 4 Episode 20

In the aftermath of the culture festival, Yukiko tries to invite Nanako and Yu to stay at her family’s inn, but everyone else joins in too. At the inn, the boys walk in on the girls bathing, which results in a battle of epic proportions (which the girls win, of course). A TV show tries to make a show about the Amagi Inn, but Yukiko adamantly refuses them (Courage was increased).

In the night, the boys start to hear weird noises and conclude that their room is haunted. They then go to the girls’ room, but get the wrong room and hilarity ensues. The episode ends with the plot restarting, as Yu gets a letter in the mail telling him to stop rescuing people.

What the crap? Margaret was singing? Is this her social link? It’s a bit…different. Anyway, this week was Yukiko’s turn to shine, as Yu revisits all of the main characters. It’s a bit weird, though. In the game, it’s more a dramatic journey as she tries to leave the inn, but realizes that she doesn’t want to. The anime just kinda shows the end of it all. But other than that, most of the stuff in this week’s episode was what I remembered from the game (and it’s all still funny). This time, I have it right. Next week’s episode is going to be when all the plot begins again. We’re so close to the ending, I can’t wait!

Persona 4 Episode 19

The school festival has arrived! Chie, Yukiko, Rise, and Naoto all find themselves signed up for the beauty pageant by Yosuke (well played, sir). Yu ends up practicing with the soccer club and accidentally hits Ayane Matsunaga with the ball. The boys then find themselves signed up for the crossdressing pageant by Chie.

The day of the festival, Yu ends up spending a lot of the time with Ayane before Ebihara grabs him. The pageants start, with Kuma winning the crossdressing one. As for the actual beauty pageant, Naoto ends up taking the victory with her shyness. Yu ends up comforting Rise, who is more disturbed at her loss than she expected.

Another goofy episode. It was pretty entertaining. There was a lot of focus on Rise this week, going along with their pattern of looking closer at the main characters. If I remember correctly, the girls didn’t wear swimsuits in the game, so it was pretty funny to watch them, especially Naoto’s feminine side. Also, Kuma takes a more active role with the girls’ pageant than he does in this anime rendition.

Margaret makes an appearance as a fortuneteller. Not quite social link material, but still amusing. Next week’s episode looks to once again be a filler/social link episode, but I think it should be either the last one or very close to it. Once it’s over, it’s gonna be nonstop conflict to the end, I think. So much plot left to cover.

Persona 4 Episode 18

This week’s episode starts off with a bit of background on Dojima and Nanako. A hit-and-run incident brings back memories of the death of Nanako’s mother. Nanako starts to wonder about Dojima as he seems to care about his work more than her. Yu talks to Dojima about Chisato (his wife), and asks Naoto to look into her death.

Dojima ends up telling Nanako that he doesn’t have the time to go to her school’s parent observation event, which leads her to finally tell him how she feels. She then rejects him as her real father and runs away. Yu and Dojima go to search for her, finally finding her at the place where her mother died. Dojima talks with Nanako and the two make up.

So the preview last week made it sound like this week’s episode was something different (with the reference to Heaven and a certain line). Still, this week’s was pretty good, finishing up Nanako and Dojima’s social links. The episode I was referencing looks to be a few episodes down the line. It’s starting to look like time is running short for the true ending, but I’m confident they will include it. The opening scene this week with Margaret was kinda weird…is her social link developing with just those little 2 minute-sessions each week? Next week looks to be the school festival, with a certain contest that Yu will have to enter. Should be fun.

Persona 4 Episode 17

While the girls make a tactical retreat against the weird beam of Naoto’s Shadow, Kanji and Yu stay behind to fight. However, Yu and Kuma both get hit by the aging beam. Naoto starts to accept her fate at the hands of the Shadow, but Kanji continues to fight. Kuma summons his Persona and uses it to return the three of them back to their normal age.

Yu then performs a hexagon spread fusion and creates Beelzebub, who finishes off the Shadow with Megidolaon. Naoto then finally accepts her Shadow and gains her Persona. Back at school, Naoto discusses the case with everyone, as she remembered the detail of her capture unlike everyone else. She also concludes that Kubo was only a copycat killer.

Margaret tells the story of Jack Frost before randomly mispronouncing the name. What’s up with that? Also, Naoto’s voice gets higher after she is saved. I didn’t remember her Persona being so big either…Anyway, I wasn’t expecting Megidolaon being so flashy >.> I know it’s Almighty damage and everything, but holy crap was that serious. I guess this week’s battle was meant to showcase Rise’s analysis ability (I wish it did that in the game) and Kuma’s Persona. It really looks like they’ll be exploring Kanji’s relationship with Naoto, which I definitely like. Next week, tragedy will strike, but we will be one step closer to the culprit. I hope you’re ready for it.