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「I’ll beat you, and beat you good」
After several weeks of Persona awakenings and social links, Yuu’s special investigation team finally resumes its focus on Inaba’s abductions and murders and they do it with style, shenanigans, and some beef bowls.
Freed from most of the formulaic constraints of prior episodes, this sixth episode managed to better capture the slower plot and character progression of the game itself by subtly developing the characters while elaborating on the central plot. Without a clear social link or awakening event, the way we learned about various characters’ personalities was more natural as a result. For other shows, this might be par for the course, but for Persona 4, the previous episodes’ character development felt somewhat forced because of the events practically demanded it. With the added possibility of a romance, I feel that the pacing and style of this episode is a step in the right direction for this series (and I’m not just saying that because I’m fond of Yukiko).
Although Yuu lives at his uncle Ryoutarou’s house, the person he actually interacts with the most there is his cousin Nanako, making it a treat to see the first half of the episode focused on her. I wouldn’t mind having a younger sister who is so mature for her age. Even though she’s sad having again been denied a holiday trip because of her busy detective father, Nanako doesn’t complain. Also witness how easily and calmly she handled telling the others that she didn’t have a mother – if that’s not preternaturally mature, I don’t know what is. Yuu’s understanding level is probably still too low to realize that Nanako is easy to please as well. All he needed to do was to take her to Junes once in a while to buy her food and a cute shirt. Speaking of food, I’m eagerly anticipating the Epic Omelet Rice Battle™ being animated – and see if Chie can really cook as well as she claims.
Funny how after all that the investigation team has gone through, Yukiko was the one who brought up the subject of the abductions and murders and the character keeping track of the cases’ details was the one person I thought was the least likely to. Some possible explanations are that the others didn’t want to bring up the abductions for fear of upsetting Yukiko, and because Yousuke has all the time in the world to think about the case since he doesn’t study or even take all of his midterms. In any case, I’m glad that the team has finally started to live up to its name and begun to try and connect the dots and even doing some detective work.
With the theory that a person’s appearance on Midnight TV is essentially a preview for their eventual abduction, the gang decides to investigate the latest person to appear on it, Tatsumi Kanji (Seki Tomokazu), by shadowing him all over town. Unfortunately for them – they’re not too great at playing spies and staying hidden. Fortunately for us though, their missteps are more than worth it, giving us a great dose of character insights along with humor. Chie? Her hunger knows no bounds, even in times when she wants to be the tragic hero (thanks to magically delivered beef bowls from Aiya). Yousuke? He may have honorable motivations for investigating the mystery, but he’s also a creepy pervert, no doubt about it. (Who calls a girl late at night to tell dirty jokes?) Yukiko? If you ask for her phone number in a group, you’ll get a cold rejection, but if you ask her privately, you’ll get not only the number, but some blushing too.
Most, if not all of the investigation team’s antics stem from either their ineptness or their various misunderstandings of Kanji’s actions. Seeing all the unexpected aspects of Kanji’s personality was quite enjoyable, from his pink rabbit keychain, to his flustered face when he realizes that a mysterious boy (voiced by Paku Romi) has taken interest in him. I hope that this series doesn’t shy away from expanding upon this mere blush as I feel that it is a unique and worthwhile personality aspect that deserves further development. And in judging from his second Midnight TV appearance, I probably won’t have to wait long to find out more.
Preview
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I wanna see that Inazagi variant but it probably be some times away.
The Nanako half of the episode was adorable and filled with cute.
There were a lot of funny Chie faces this time around too, I feel like between her and Yousuke, they’re probably going to be the ones who will provide the most comedy.
Or at least until
You guys sayin I like dudes?
Yousuke annoyed me more in this episode than any of the previous episodes. Not at the level of some of the characters from recent anime yet, but at times it made me want to skip scenes with him in it.
Kanji is one interesting guy. Can’t wait to know more about him.
Rest assured that if its faithful to the game, Yousuke will hit high on the douchebag scale pretty often.
My gaydar is on red alert around Kanji…
next ep will be so full of lol’s i just can’t wait ^O^ also how many eps will this series have? 12? 24?
24-26 eps. And yeah, if done right episode 7 will be pretty much the best dungeon episode of the show, at least comedy-wise. Maybe even overall.
According to Sentai Filmworks, it’s 25
thanx for the info ^_^
Not sure what I just watched. The spying scene came of as a bit too goofy for my taste. I preferred how the game showed it, especially when Chie and Yosuke start arguing. I did get a good laugh at the delivery scene at least. I guess Aika Nakamura’s role in the anime is for deadpan humor?
Now all that left is Rise to be introduced!
Haha, that ridiculous chase scene had me in stitches. Aika delivers anytime, anywhere!
Also Yay for Naoto my fav character!!wait what? was she voiced by Paku Romi too in-game? seeing the VA alone should blow his cover XD
Yep, Paku Romi was the reason I played P4 in Japanese 😉
wow this episode’s pretty funny!!!
Pic 34- *cue Scooby-Doo chase music*
And the delivery of Scooby-snacks…
hints of Margaret’s & Nanako’s social linking coming soon ?
wonder if they’ll include the lovers choice in the show, Yukiko’s now leading first… until Rise comes along.
Thanks a lot for the review Verdant.
The only differences I’ve noticed were:
– You don’t, or “Yuu doesn’t” (take your pick), meet Kanji at school until after his case is resolved.
– Kanji only chases Chie and Yosuke (or whoever are chosen to spy on Kanji) in-game and then they report what they’ve got to the other two. Here, he chases all 4 characters.
– I don’t recall a food delivery being made during that segment either…
The rest is pretty accurate, like the lunch with Nanako, the exam week and Naoto’s appearance… although at some points she’s awfully small compared to Kanji, while in other shots she’s about at shoulder-height from Kanji.
He chases all 4 in the game too. They meet up outside his shop, then he comes home and is like “you two again!? GTFO!”. But yeah, the food delivery thing was outta nowhere. Really wondering what they’re doing with that anime-original waitress girl.
she might be used to replace one of the social links in the game.
the hermit? since a fox would be difficult to add in, as it’s main purpose is to provide healing points in the dungeons. unless they adopt it as a pet, lol.
Oh gods, if Aika replaces Fox I’m gonna be pissed!! Fox is the man!… err, animal!!! Still I see what you mean by him being pretty difficult to put into the show. They couldn’t really cover more than like the very start and very end without taking a few minutes out of every-other episode.
Well, I double checked, and while Kanji does chase the 4 characters away from his shop, he pursues only the two characters who spy on him and Naoto, not the whole crew.
Nooooo please don’t let the replace the fox.
ALL YO YENS YIP YIP YAP!
I’m thinking and if anybody wants to poll in, who do think Yuu’s love interest in the anime might be leaning towards to? well we haven’t seen Rise yet but chie is way too outgoing for yuu now, and amagi-yu moment seems to be a pretty decent foreshadow… hmm????
I’d vote for Rise since I like her the most in game.
Oh..such well-defined pecs…
Damn, Yuu’s courage wasn’t high enough to say he wanted Yukiko’s number for personal reasons besides the case 🙁 It might’ve been a while since they’ve discussed the case, but the time-frame is almost exactly dead-on with the game. I think the only difference was they talked longer about the case in their study-group. Don’t like how Yuu hasn’t been recognized as the “leader” yet, instead almost giving the feeling that Yosuke is the one in charge >.<
Empress link… they did that so well! That little bit of flirting at the end was HHHHNNNNGGG!! Nanako and Yukiko were done great too. Glad to see they're putting some real effort into the important S. Links. Granted Empress isn't that important story-wise, but still… it's Margaret!! XD
Yuu is more of a main player in the group than a leader. He seem to lack the “push” most leader possess…
As for Yukiko, she definitely like Yuu. Thus, she gave him her number while shot down Yusuke. Then again, Chie like Yuu at first, too. She seem to not anymore.
http://images.randomc.net/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
This picture said it the best. She like him, he couldn’t care less. The only way Yukiko will end up with Yuu is if she pushes herself on top of him like the other girl did from the last episode. Otherwise, I highly doubt Yuu like any of the girls other than a friend.
I’m not so sure what to think about the delivery scene and Aika. Sure… it was fun… but I think it was forced and out of place =/
(i meant this to be a separate reply)
I’m thinking and if anybody wants to poll in, who do think Yuu’s love interest in the anime might be leaning towards to? well we haven’t seen Rise yet but chie is way too outgoing for yuu now, and amagi-yu moment seems to be a pretty decent foreshadow… hmm????
Haha I can’t even imagine Yuu showing any signs of love. Could you imagine him saying “I love you”? It’d probably so monotone that it’d be funny.
If anything, we might see a Chie-Yousuke pairing. I kinda wished that the was pairing in the game itself, since it seemed more appropriate.
but that would definitely ruin their antics ryt? hmm… i kinda like how they are now, the ‘comicouple’:D
Well a lot of anime tandems have become couples without losing their comedic chemistry right?
When playing the game, I preferred to just have him friends with all the girls…though that’s probably because I’m a girl, haha…still, it makes more sense to me personally if he doesn’t start a relationship with anyone. I know Yukiko is considered more “canon” than any of the others, but I just don’t see it.
Honestly, I’ve seen more arguments for Rise (because she’s the Lovers link and will always crush on Souji/Yuu even if you go friendship route) or Naoto, because despite Kanji’s huge crush on her she never shows signs of reciprocation towards him and of all the girls, in promo and official art she’s the only girl who has not only ONE solo art with him but TWO.
Personally, while I can be satisfied if the anime friend-zones everyone with Yuu, I’d love it if they did Yuu/Naoto.
I’d really love to know where all this Yukiko being ‘canon’ talk came from since
Yeah…when I said that I thought Yukiko was “considered more canon,” I guess I was thinking of the abundance of Yuu/Yukiko fanart and support that I remembered seeing shortly after the game came out. I didn’t care, but that seemed to be the popular opinion at the time, at least from what I saw… though now, yes, the Yuu/Naoto pairing does seem to be much more popular (poor Kanji!) .
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I just had to search on who Naoto is and the excitement is ruined 🙁Anyways, I like reverse traps so it’s all right.
I’ve seen more fanart of Yu with Chie, Naoto, and Yosuke than I have seen of him and Yukiko, Anna.
Especially after the anime began. Heck I’ve seen more Chie and Yukiko fanart than Yu and Yukiko.
I can’t say for certain because we are missing the last girl in the group. Given the 2 now, Yukiko has a better shot than Chie. She seem to have lost an interest in Yuu as a lover and more of a friend now.
I’m thinking he’ll end up with Yukiko or Rise, though Rise was put off from me once she joined the team ingame. As for why I think/hope he’d end up with Yukiko? Well Chie and Yosuke seem to have feelings for each other (at least that’s how I saw it) and Kanji likeNaoto and even though that’s onesided I think the anime could expand it and make it a bit more less onesided. And, well, Rise just doesn’t seem liked she’d fit based on the dub of the game. Though the anime could change my mind. I’ll have to wait and see.
What’s this I hear about an omelet rice battle? Is it yet another unnecessary omurice side episode? Noooooo… don’t want festing it up
Trust me, this future omerice episode will be way better than Hanasaku’s, at least on the funny scale.
The food battles are an essential part of Persona 4!! Those and the school festival are great bonding moments for the team, plus they’re hilarious! You DON’T want them left out.
I could have gone without the food battles, personally, but they were kind of funny. If they are animated, I just hope they don’t take up too much of an episode.
Let the awkward misunderstandings commence…
Why is the coloring of the faces weird?
It’s sort of gradated, I kinda like it this way, feels more vibrant. Guessing they just followed how the game was coloured.
http://images.randomc.net/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
Anybody else was thinking, “What a freak show!” when they saw this?
I felt some serious Razor Ramon Hard Gay vibes there. But seriously that should give any yaoi fan girl nightmares Mwuhahahaha!
Me too lol. Oh how I miss Razor Ramon HG.
I guess that was Kanji’s way of saying “Welcome to the Hard Gay world”!
DOMO DOMO
some of the best times i’ve had with youtube
Yosuke’s puppy face when Nanako said she loves June, hahaha.
I am liking Aika the restaurant girl XD
I like it when it’s just me and her.
Velvet Love Room 11/11/11
Keep dreaming single.
belated Happy Single’s day.
http://images.randomc.net/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
This is what happens when you secretly like guys…. And Izanami screwed with you.
Next Arc will be a reverse: Naoto wants to be a guy.
…spoiler tags, please. and next arc is Rise, not the guy.
I want Aika’s restaurant in my neighborhood. You can’t find that kind of top notch service anywhere!
Nanako is so cute, I wish my neice was more like her. I wouldn’t mind baby sitting and treating her to ice cream and steak lunches and such!
I kinda like what they add to this episode since the game’s scenarios are short in chase view. Also I did notice that Aika’s side view is almost identical to Fuuka’s.
http://images.randomc.net/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2016.jpg – This is what happens after the examinations.
Finally the Priestess Social Link has been established when they’re alone without Yosuke and Chie.
http://images.randomc.net/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION/Persona%204%20the%20ANIMATION%20-%2006%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
I felt weird when I saw the MC standing in front of his television when he viewed the Midnight Channel. But isn’t the placement of his tv weird?
Because when he viewed Yukiko’s show, he was sitting down behind his working table, and leaning back to the sofa behind him.
He looked straight in front to view the tv.
*I’m never going to forget his deadpan line then*
My point is: Isn’t the MC supposed to stand in-between his working desk and tv?
The working desk in that scene is too left. And if it was correctly placed in this scene, he wouldn’t be able to look straight into the tv when he viewed Yukiko’s show.
Am I the only one who caught this?
I caught this after I watched the episode three times. And rewatched the series two times, before confirming. Please reply!! Somebody!!
Yuu accepting gaudy swimsuit: Courage +1
Yip.