“Persona 4" has built itself into its own franchise within a franchise. The first entry was the videogame “Persona 4” for the PlayStation 2 back in 2008, which acted as the aptly named sequel to the video game, “Persona 3.” But since 2008, the game has spawned a manga series, a musical, a spinoff fighting game and an anime series. The anime series, “Persona 4: The Animation,” was finally released in the U.S. on DVD and Blu-ray, featuring a stellar English voice cast, beautiful animation and a story that is both hilarious and gripping. “Persona 4: The Animation” is a series anyone can appreciate and that fans of the series have no excuse not to own.
The story follows a group of high school students in the town of Yasoinaba as they get involved in, and attempt to solve, a series of murders that are happening in the town, where the next victim is always displayed on a mysterious TV channel at midnight after the TV has been turned off. On top of that, the students discover a different world inside of the televisions, where they find they have access to a mysterious power called “persona” which allows them to summon a manifestation of their thoughts to fight alongside them.
It might not be for everyone, as the series is very much an anime and if you're not a fan of anime, this may not sway you, but it is worth a look. It's a story that sounds odd, but works thanks to it's fantastic writing and localization, and a voice cast that features mostly the same fantastic voice actors from the original video game. And there are enough subtle hints in the series toward the original game that make the series an absolute must-own for Persona fans.
The strongest point of this series is its characters. Each character is unique with their own stories and weaknesses. From the son of a department store mogul who is dealing with resentment from the locals, to an idol who moves to the area to escape the pressures of idoldom, each character is well-written, down to the silent protagonist from the games, who is handled so well in the anime series he may never be known as silent again.
However, the Blu-ray does have a couple of drawbacks. For the purists that refuse to watch the English dubs of anime, licensing issues have prevented the publisher from including the Japanese voice track on the Blu-ray discs. The DVDs, on the other hand, feature dual voices.
The discs cover the first half of the series, the first 12 episodes. The Blu-rays cost around $70 and the DVDs cost $50. In total, to eventually own the entire series it will cost from $100 to $140. The economically minded would probably purchase the DVDs, but the Blu-rays feature some of the cleanest and most beautiful animation to come from anime in a long time, making it worth the $20 upgrade.
The price and the omission of Japanese voice tracks are worth accepting for the final product. For newcomers, anime fans and die-hard Persona fans, the package is more than worth the price of admission and will certainly keep them looking forward to the second half of the series.
Reach the reporter at brian.bishop96@gmail.com
