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[series:3520#628] | ||||||
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(All episodes watched): Even before I watched episode one, I had been confident that P5 would be a hit for me and that I would watch it to the end, since it came from the same line as P4, an all-time favorite of mine. But now that I have watched it, I'm not so sure. It was confusing and frustrating, basically. Persona is all about bending reality with one's mind, and when weird stuff like that happens, a credible explanation of what's going on is crucial, but I didn't feel I got one. Just lots of bizarre things for which I'll apparently have to wait for episode two for an explanation (and pray that one is forthcoming). The OVA P5 the Day Breakers did a much better job of explaining the basic premise of P5 than this episode did (and even that show didn't thrill me to anywhere near the degree that P4 did). Also, we barely get to know main character Ren, and with him basically remaining a stranger I couldn't care all that much what became of him. As a result, I am now wondering whether I will watch this show at all. It is becoming clear that just because P4 was good doesn't necessarily mean that it's successors will be as well. Fortunately episode two did a better job of explaining things--or at least it didn't confuse me even more. Whereas I noticed I could barely remember what had happened during episode one (since it never made much sense to begin with), during episode two I largely knew where things stood and as a result could enjoy the show. It's fairly intriguing that there's basically an alternate reality psychological battle going on between people who pretend not to be adversaries in real-life, and the results of that battle will have a definite real-world effect. Screwing with the bad guys' minds, you might say. It's an effective way for the good guys to get around the power and privledge which the villains enjoy in real life. The thought has occurred to me several times that I might be better off re-watching Persona 4 yet again than watching this show. This show isn't bad, but it definitely isn't great, like (IMO) P4. P4 had a definite mystery behind it, clues were released to us in a skillful manner, and no doubt the characters were more likeable. P5 isn't nearly as sophisticated. I don't really sense any longterm plot, just the Phantom Thieves solving a number of minor cases then moving on. Perhaps the problem is that the initial introduction of the premise was kind of confusing, but once that is done the show makes a good deal of sense and is easy to follow. And we gradually get to know the characters better and find them to be more likeable than they first seemed. Actually, maybe there is a longterm plot after all: the ultimate goal may be to defeat the person who screwed Ren (if I understood episode eight correctly) and perhaps people who did the same to other Phantom Thieves. That might be fun. It would have been better if it had been fairly clear from the start that this was the objective. On the one hand it took a couple of successes for it to dawn on the Phantom Thieves that they might be capable of such a thing, but on the other there had been little indication that the injustices they had suffered was bothering them all that much and needed to be fixed. Perhaps the idea was to depict them as being too cool to let such things annoy them. One thought that has occurred to me is that the netherworld fights that the Thieves get into aren't all that memorable. They don't last long and exactly why they end the way they do is often unclear. Of course if a fight is going to be unspectacular, better that it be a short one than a long one. I often have more fun when the thieves are just hanging out than when they are going into people's 'castles'. It looks like their third target will be a yakuza boss who has had nothing to do with any of them up until now, which sort of disappointed me after the hints that they'd be trying to resolve longstanding grievances of their own. Judging from the ED sequence, there's a fifth Thief who has yet to join the team; if the team isn't even complete as of episode ten, perhaps this will be a two-season show. Despite the slow start, I found myself becoming more and more intrigued as the series entered its second half. Famous detective Akechi Goro is closing in on the Phantom Thieves (without realizing that he has already met their leader) and is confident that he'll bring them to justice. The characters have become well established and likeable. They have to deal with an assault by computer hackers, one of whom has deduced their true identities. Things don't always go smoothly, sometimes they experience defeats and disappointments--in other words, the story is more realistic than most. One thought that had often crossed my mind was that perhaps the Thieves were worrying too much about getting caught by the police, because they always had one last card up their sleeves: if they were brought to trial, what judge would believe that an alternate reality existed in which bizarre manifestations of peoples' personas fought it out? What law did they break? The case would be laughed out of court. In episode 23 we sort of get around that problem, as Akechi reveals that he, too, has been there. That basically results in a major realignment of who is on who's side, and I'm not sure if it was a good idea or not. The conspiracy that is working against the Thieves seems confusing and ill-defined, so in a way it was more fun previously when there was a well-developed and formidable opponent on the other side. A new opponent has been introduced, but he doesn't match up, at least not yet. The story is clearly far from finished after 26 episodes (and the ED sequences showed a 27th one, if not more, on the way). But it looks like P5 will be taking a break for now and we will have to wait for the final season. I suspect my final verdict on Persona 5 will be that it is not as good as Persona 4, but is better than I had initially expected. Last updated Tuesday, November 27 2018. Created Thursday, April 19 2018. | ||||||||
