Still the same as usual, though a bit less rushed. Like every episode so far, they’re doing a very good job rewriting the story to fit an anime’s pace. Tae’s intro was good. Munehisa’s too though he didn’t even talk for now. They also established the fact their physical abilities and the items they bring get enhanced in the other world. Despite skipping straight to the treasure in episode 3 after just a bit of exploration, they actually showed more of the dungeon this time too.
I think the negotiation scene was the best thing so far they replicated from the game, since it doesn’t need much animation. The Persona getting into Joker’s mask effect was even cooler than the game too, and this is the first time I can say this so far. Fusing during the boss battle didn’t surprise me, as “gameplay changes” like that are very frequent in game to anime adaptation like that. In fact, while they understood they need to take tons of liberties with the story, they don’t take enough with the gameplay elements, hence why the battles look so boring.
Most of the boss fight scene was really bland just like the other fights so far. And with lots of weird stuff like Kamoshida shooting his super attack right near the party instead of right on them. Because obviously it would mean they died if something like that hit them directly, as there’s no HP here. They could have just made them run around or try to seek cover or something, instead of just standing waiting for their turn like if it was a turn based game.
It’s just my own theory but I think the fights are boring because the anime was too soon compared to the game release. The anime staff didn’t get the time to get to know the game better and imagine cool ways to make it into an anime. And I mean before actually working on the anime. Persona 4 isn’t even 5% as cool as Persona 5, and yet the fights in its anime adaptation were fine and cool because the staff had more time for the game to get ingrained in their lives, as the anime happened years after. I think that’s what the problem is, and not whether the animators on P5 are good or not. Obviously though, they had schedule problems as they only finished the OP animation now.
The first half is kinda bland but the second half of it is really cool with stuff like that super cool Sae scene.
The most shocking thing is how they’re bringing out the fact that everything so far is a flashback from some current present with Goro saying he found out about Joker and his pals. Despite how they’ve already established what we see is a flashback during Joker’s interrogation by Sae, like in the game. It feels really weird and overly complicated just to shove in more Goro, which I find hilarious. They’re trying really really hard with the fanservice. Anyone who didn’t play the game would have no idea what the hell that scene. Are we gonna get Goro flashforwards now instead of the Sae Joker interrogation?
Nekketsu Nikki 