Persona 4 :The Animation Episodes 6 and 7

I’ll Beat you, I’ll Beat you good! + Suspicious Tropical Paradice

.Synopsis.

I would like to apologize for the slow rate I have been pumping out blog posts recently- As the semester draws to a close, the work load increases!

Episode 6 was the start of a new arc in the persona series. Starting the Kanji arc, we meet two new characters. Kanji Tatsumi, the white haired freshman delinquent (who drops small cute stuffed animals) and his friend, a boy whose name we do not know. They seem to have a relationship of some sort, but to Kanji at least it seems to be a little more than “just friends”. The group tries to investigate Kanji after his silhouette appears on the midnight channel but snooping proves to be a bit difficult then they expected as Kanji is quite the intimidating figure, causing them to run every time he shows up.

Though all hope is not lost, as when investigating at the textile shop that Kanji’s family runs they notice a scarf that seemed familiar. This scarf the one tied into a noose in the creepy room that they first stumbled upon after entering the Television World.

After being chased to the ends of earth by Kanji and a woman on an electric scooter (I don’t even…) Yousuke becomes a little fed up, suggesting they quit. The group decides they need to keep an eye on him just in case something new comes up.

The midnight channel flickers on to reveal an almost entirely naked Kanji Tatsumi, talking in such an awkward and flamboyant way that even a gay man would feel uncomfortable.

.Part Two.

Episode 7, was more focused on Kanji’s shadow side. While the synopsis is short, the episode cover a lot of ground and by far is the most interesting of the midnight cases so far. It seems Kanji is most likely dealing with some serious sexuality issues, along with the fact that he can’t be himself.

Kanji had liked to make small stuffed animals- which was looked down upon by the other guys, and lots of girls would make fun of him for being such a pathetic man. Gotta love people who stereotype.

Through the entire episode, a rather flamboyant Kanji makes the entire group (and the audience for that mater) feel rather uncomfortable. No not because he is gay, but because he is so extremely over the top.

After a rough fight with Kanji’s shadow- Kanji accepts the fact there is part of him inside he didn’t want to face. Oh, and Yu gets the ability to fuse personas.

.Impressions.

The synopsis for 6 & 7 were short for a reason. To put it simply, the plot was stretched out over lots of little scenes that took place in the game. The additions of these scenes were entertaining, but at the same time I felt for the first time that the show was losing sight of what it was trying to achieve. With the introduction of Kanji, it is rather obvious that he may or may not have feelings for another male character. In the game, while you have to see the midnight channel Kanji talking about how much he hates women and how much he loves sweaty men, you have the option to stand strong and keep moving, where Yousuke makes lots of jokes about how uncomfortable he feels. I didn’t have a problem with them adding that- it’s funny.

What I did have a problem with was the large amount of humor they added. “OH MY GOSH HE IS GAY SO WEIRD” get’s a little old after a while, just as the “Oh look how big her boobs are” and the “pantie shot” gimmicks. All of the jokes they added along with how COMPLETELY ridiculous they made Kanji’s shadow self really ruined any sort of “emotional impact” that the viewer was supposed to have. Which really blows, because that’s the part of the games I loved the most- watching the characters deal with who they really are inside and having to accept it. Here it just felt like they were like “oh if you think being gay is weird lets make fun of it so you keep watching the show.” It was, for lack of a prettier word, stupid to watch.

Anyhow- The animation is still top notch, and we are moving on to a fun character development arc. I hope they turn up the seriousness a little bit more. I don’t want the show to be grimm-dark, but I would like to give a crap about the protagonists.