Persona 4 Episode 4: Three's a Trend, And Our Heroes are Helpless
by turambar
When I started my attempts at internet blogging about two years ago, one of my first entries was on Persona 3. What drew me to that game was the nature of the enemy, and the futility of the conflict. The ultimate evil in that game was Nyx. It was a being of death manifested by and attracted to the negativity of mankind. It knew no malice and did not seak power. It was instead manipulated by man...
When I started my attempts at internet blogging about two years ago, one
of my first entries was on Persona 3. What drew me to that game was
the nature of the enemy, and the futility of the conflict. The ultimate
evil in that game was Nyx. It was a being of death manifested by and
attracted to the negativity of mankind. It knew no malice and did not
seak power. It was instead manipulated by mankind's unconcious
negativity. Our heroes fought against it, and even with the "Power of
the Universe", the strength to perform miracles, all the main character
could do was use his own life force to create a seal, blocking Nyx off
from man kind's thoughts.
The conflict was against a being of man's own creation and unconscious
manipulation, and fighting against it directly was futile, as refuting
the will of all mankind with just your own was futile. Far outside the
JRPG norm, this is what made Persona 3's story appeal to me. When
Persona 4 came around, I loved it, and yet couldn't help but feel a
twinge of disappointment because of how the balance of power played out
in the conflict. The heroes fought against the monsters, and each time
came out victorious. Personal acceptance of one's demons became less
life threatening as the ability to fully subdue them over and over was
always there.
And then came along the Persona 4 anime. Within the last 3 episodes, we
have seen three boss fights and none of them gave us an Investigation
Team victorious on their powers. Narukami fought Shadow Yosuke to a
standstill at best. Shadow Chie had Jiraiyah and Yosuke tied up with
her bondage hair. Shadow Yukiko's flames were more than even Pyro
Jack's absorb flame affinity could handle. Once is a fluke, but three
is a trend. The conflict puts emphasis on the futility of combating
psychological beasts with brute strength. Every time, it took a change
in mind set on the part of the host to give our heroes a fighting
chance. 
While the criticisms of melodramatic nature of the self-acceptance is
understandable, in this sense, it also makes sense. One cannot win
through fighting, and hold the shadow back is already a near impossible
task. The priority is acceptance, one that the heroes need to work
towards through emotional appeals more than anything else. The change
in this emphasis is also backed up by an expansion on the back story and
motivations of the characters that I have praised in previous
writings. The true source of Chie and Yukiko's friendship, the set in
stone routine of Yukiko's life at the inn, what people really think
about Yosuke behind his back, these moments help gives depth to this new
priority. Persona 3 showed the supreme power of the subconscious. It is good to see the Persona 4 Animation following in those foot steps.