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Persona 4 Episode 1: Success and Failure in Familiarity

by turambar

Adaptations are tricky things to get right. Cross-medium adaptations are even more difficult. Like others before it, Persona 4 wades its way through trying to capitalize on the source. And like others before it, the results are mixed, though I'd say it succeeds more than it fails thus far. Both in visual and audio, the episode strives for familiarity. Tracks from Persona 4's OST are inserted pr...

Adaptations are tricky things to get right.  Cross-medium adaptations are even more difficult.  Like others before it, Persona 4 wades its way through trying to capitalize on the source.  And like others before it, the results are mixed, though I'd say it succeeds more than it fails thus far.

Both in visual and audio, the episode strives for familiarity.  Tracks from Persona 4's OST are inserted properly through out the episode with the OP theme being the opening track for the game in full.  Visually, things like the above calender and the persona summoning eye catch are seen, certain to bring much delight to fans of the game.  The usage of the status growth screen as the episode eye-catch is particularly interesting.  One can only speculate, but perhaps they will let it develop just as it did in game, hinting at possible S.link based plot points in up coming episodes as it reaches the proper number of courage points to down the curry.
 Max Knowledge FirstAs I said previously though, its attempt at familiarity is both success and failure, and I don't just mean how the MC's name is not "Charlie Tunoku".  Certain scenes simply do not translate from game to anime all too well, the most obvious being the initial entry into the television world.  The televised version simply felt rushed and Yosuke's urine antics leading to the falling into the TV, instead of delivering a good laugh as it did in game, had me raising an eye brow at in annoyance at how absurd and poor that scene felt.
 BUFUThe MC's silent protagonist retreatment also bears mentioning.  One can count the lines of dialogue he has in the episode on your fingers and toes.  While that is not bad unto itself, his incredibly reserved, shy, and passive personality is simply not the type of character he presented himself as in game, regardless of player decisions.  Things do get a bit more lively and heated during the combat scene (and I don't just mean when he starts stripping) as he utters a few emotion filled lines, and one can only hope his personality does not remain so blank.
 Delicious Jacket UnbuttoningFamiliarity is a double edged sword, and perhaps Persona 4 will wield it well.  The first episode was far more good than bad despite my criticisms, and one can only hope it keeps going that way.