Persona 4 – 09
A friend in need’s a friend indeed, a friend who’ll tease is better
 |
Whoa, December already? Where did November go? Anyways, so it IS Rise’s episode! I wonder how her arrival will affect the balance of Yu’s giant harem composed of every single Persona character shown thus far. (Yes, even Dojima and Igor.) |
 |
This week I have to actually do more than just throw in some screencaps and words at the end ahaha. Karakuri will be picking up Chihayafuru from now on so you might see me taking over summaries occasionally. We’ll see how much free time we both have! Each week will be like a surprise! WHO WILL YOU GET?!?! |
If A happens, then B will follow. If you are watching Persona, then there will be a Velvet Room segment. I will now just scream VELVET ROOM at you at the beginning of every post and then move on. This week, we are introduced to Rise (aka Risette) who is a famous idol known for her singing, acting and modeling prowess. Despite having everything, she’s so unhappy with the celebrity life that he tells her agent she’s going to quit just before what is now her last performance. This performance is now this episode’s OP song! Risette overload!
Risette quits her job as an idol and goes back to Inaba, which is where her family owns a traditional tofu store. The whole town is very excited for her arrival since, well, the most lively thing they’ve got going on is a glorified Wal-Mart. Rise tries to play it cool, disguising herself with glasses as she goes shopping (best animu disguise in the book). She starts to fear that she’s being stalked, but it’s just Yu trying to give her back her cellphone. It’s only after the odd encounter that Yu happens to see her on the news and thus connects the dots that he just met the famous idol, Risette.
The Investigation team of persona users have a mini meeting to discuss the current situation, deducing that Rise should be next if the pattern is “people who are on TV that reside in Inaba.” Sounds legit, right? Sure enough, they see a fuzzy version of Rise in a bikini on television that night, meaning she is in some serious trouble if they don’t do anything. After one more discussion at school, they all agree on talking to Rise and warning her about TVs. GIRL, DON’T GO NEAR NO TVS, OKAY? A flawless plan if there ever was one.
Investigation and legs go together so well
Rise ends up attracting a huge mass of fans to the tofu store, so they’re all out of stock by the time the rag-tag investigation team arrives. They go inside anyways to warn her regardless (and check out her body). She insists that the girl on Midnight Television wasn’t her, so they just give her some very vague advice to NOT GO NEAR KIDNAPPERS and leave with some tofu fritters. Dojima and Adachi give them the evil eye as they leave, wondering how the hell some rascals could get a better grasp of Inaba’s dangerous situation than a detective working hard on the case.
Give up and go home? NEVER! It’s time for more quality stalking in the form of 5 people crouching behind a car and eating take-out. Adachi even joins in, as he was ordered by Dojima to keep an eye on Rise as well. The stalking pays off, as they spot another stalker in front of them who is following Rise. Without any hesitation, Yosuke, Kanji and Chie tackle him to the ground for Adachi to arrest him. However, that was a bit too easy for things to be over just yet.
In the midst of the chaos, Yu takes rise to a safe place by the riverbank. Rise confides in Yu that the idol Risette isn’t the real her, just a side of her she created for showbiz. Yu cheers her up by making paper cranes with her, and they eventually return back to the shopping district once they’re sure the “criminal” is caught. However, they don’t think this is the real deal. The next day, the Investigation Team has a rooftop meeting to discuss Midnight Television. They notice that a fuzzy picture of the person about to be kidnapped appears before the variety show, making them wonder if the TV is showing the killer’s thoughts of who he wants to target before he actually throws them into the TV.
Somewhere out there, a hobo is very sad his precious magazine is being destroyed.
Yu spots Rise on the way home and he naturally ends up walking home with her. SKILLS. Anyways, they have to go around the side and climb over a fence to avoid the rabid paparazzi that is following Rise around. They run around like fugitives until they inevitably come across people with cameras waiting outside of her house. She has to go back eventually, so it’s expected. Instead of trying to get home, she’s distracted by her agent suddenly appearing and begging her to come back to her job as an idol. She refuses him firmly, but starts to waver when he tells her that a girl named Kanami is taking her place in the movie that she was supposed to star in. When Yu picks up on this and points out her hesitation to her, she just lashes out at him and runs away crying. And Yu realized he didn’t understand woman that day.
Bonus Magazine At the Riverbank:
Oh, I think I’ll know what I’ll FIND if you just move that text censor hurr hurr hurrrrr
Persona game players, let’s see if you can spot a familiar figure in this screencap!
Now is not the time to practice your Olympic diving!
Yosuke, please make more faces and hopefully one of them will stick. Then I can laugh at you forever.
End Thoughts:
Random high school students: 1, Police who have had years of training and experience: 0. Yep. Just a typical day in an anime show. This episode!! I was super impressed by the fact that they included a random concert scene…. Even if it was extremely low budget animation and not all that exciting. (Aren’t concert scenes supposed to be where you use up all of the good animation, leaving the rest of the episode pale in comparison?). Even the song wasn’t all that exciting…. Wait. Why did this impress me again? Anyways, the whole Risecchi (…I think that’s how you romanise it? …Risechie? Risechi?) thing while reading Risette the whole time kind of threw me off (as did hearing every single one of Kugamiya’s characters ALL AT THE SAME TIME because she used her trademark tsundere voice for this role), but whatever. If you couldn’t tell from me talking in earlier episodes, Rise is my favourite character from P4, so this entire arc has me excited.
That being said, this episode probably reflects a lot of real life idol problems. I mean, of course they have to deal with stalkers and mobs/television people wanting to know every thing about everything in their lives. Imagine how annoying that would be. Though Yu was pretty awesome to Rise this episode (stalking aside XD.That was hilarious. ). Though I don’t think telling some stranger that you think her phone charm looks delicious is always the best course of action. Also, his crane making was pretty useful. Guys, take note. Origami gives you swag. Them cranes be pimpin’.
So anyways, back to the episode. They set aside a pretty long time to show off Rise’s character. I mean, an entire episode happened and all we found out was that Rise was an idol with a bunch of idol problems. I’m pretty sure that all of the characters had other issues addressed in their episodes, but this one focused mainly on Rise (aside from some investigation team stuff). …If you couldn’t tell, I don’t have much to say other than I like Rise, stuff happened, nothing much was accomplished. Next episode should be interesting though. I can’t wait to read some of the viewer’s reactions to Rise’s Shadow. If Kanji’s Shadow was any indication, the next Shadow will be …amusing.
Holy crap, that was an awesome episode. I loved how the anime still incorporated what happens in the game such as catching the stalker and part of her social link (Rise was my waifu. Well, ONE of them…) while providing a boatload of new stuff. Most notably..DAT SPECIAL OPENING SONG! You may or may not know this, but I am a sucker for crazy anime dances, so I was really impressed. This may be my favourite episode after the Kanji episode! It’s just one of those episodes where everything clicked into place, the pacing was perfect, and the drama wasn’t forcefully explained within the span of 2 minutes.
I really like the relationship dynamic of Yu and Rise – as either friends or something more. At this point, just as friends. Yu, with the emotional range of a rock, couldn’t really care less about whether he makes friends with an idol or an average girl. That sort of unconditional acceptance and lack of prejudice is perfect for Rise. Rise is getting used to him, although I’m not sure if she even considers him a friend yet with those vicious mood swings. She’s really lax around him too, even when in a good mood. She’s not blushing or tripping all over herself. You can’t have EVERY girl fall for that swag on day zero, right? Based on the game though…I might just have to eat my words on her being classy and just enjoying his company as a friend. BUT FOR NOW…I’m glad Rise is confiding so much in him and that it’s not going to be so easy for Yu to break down her defenses and find out what she really feels about herself and Risette. It’s no fun when you solve a problem in one episode (*cough* Naoki). It’s much more satisfying to build it up, have a bit of fighting, and slowly come to an understanding.
Ah, right, Rise aside there is actually a mystery going on! I should talk about that! You can tell that by the end of this episode that Rise is kidnapped, based on her phone being on the ground at the end and the preview. That confirms the stalker wasn’t the killer, although I’m sure we all knew it wouldn’t be over just like that. At the very least, we’re finally getting back on track with the killings as opposed to OMG CAMPING TRIP!!!111one!! I can’t wait to see how they’ll deal with the rest of the mystery – I hope it’s handled as well as the little mini dramas with all of Yu’s friends. Are you guys glad the mystery is back in focus, or do you like Persona as a comedy more? Or do you like a mix? Personally I like the mix, even if it makes the murders seem a bit less serious or tense. So far so good though, and this was an excellent episode. More video game adaptations of this caliber need to be looked into. It can be done well with just a bit of effort! You show them, Persona!
Preview: Rise’s dungeon…home of the shadow clone technique. Naruto would be proud.
Shhhh, I know this isn’t from the preview, but it’s not like you can see anything in those screencaps anyways
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 209 comments
I have to say that the Rise’s Opening was very well made and was fitting with the episode as it shows what she is leaving behind.
So can we say that Yu X Rise is anime canon?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I think the whole concert thing was a really nice touch on the episode.
And I wish! The two go really well together so far, but who knows where they’re going with this.
POWUH: 400-499 with 428 comments
The opening by Rise was a definite surprise, but I agree, it suited everything about her story in Persona…but now since watching certain comics, when I saw Dojima warning Yu, I just imagined Nanako’s voice in my head ‘No fighting!’ *facepalm* 🙂
Seems like they expanded Rise’s story a bit more, not just with the whole concert opening but also her interaction with Banchou; I don’t think this much was in the game before Rise got thrown into the dungeon, especially not the tiff between Yu and her, but again it suits her story. I guess it makes it more dramatic than the game, which was the whole, Rise just disappeared! Now we have to find clues about her to find her in the TV World!
Now for the next episode…Yosuke’s going to need need pants, and Kanji’s going to need a whole lot of tissue paper 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
They’re putting a lot of effort into Rise’s arc (not that I mind)! Ahaha yeah, same here. Did you see the one with Yosuke going “I HAVE TO PEE!!!” near the beginning? That seriously all I was thinking during the first episode xD.
Yep, though hopefully after knowing more about her from the beginning, we can skip the whole asking random people from town about Rise to find her in the TV. Really, those parts always annoyed me in the game.
AHAHAHA it’s funny because it’s true XDDDD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hmm… Another OP in a show that is supposedly at a 12 episode limit. But it does go with her story. An idol’s life sure looks like a very strenuous thing from Rise’s point of view.
This is starting follow like Blood-C. You’re seeing more characters and there’s slow story development which looks like it’ll speed up at the before last or very last episode of the series.
The way everyone assaulted that fan of Rise was hilarious. Yu and Rise make a great match. At first, I thought it would be Yu and Chie but Rise looks like the better choice. I wonder crazy Rise’s Shadow will be in the Persona world in the next episode.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
P4 is going to be 25 episodes, or at least that’s what I’ve always gauged from TheAnimeNetwork’s streaming page having 25 episodes listed.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Bakemonogatari had a different OP for every arc and it was only about 12 episodes :3 It all depends on how ambitious the studio feels, heh.
Chie seems to be getting more buddy-buddy with Yosuke in that love-hate relationship kind of thing. Oh boy, let me tell you, her shadow is…extravagant.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
All things considered an okay episode. I however, just love listening to Kanji talk XD Looking forward to the battle portion of this ARC, that’s always my favorite.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
ME TOO. That harsh way of speaking, ahhhh~ I can’t get enough~
POWUH: 400-499 with 410 comments
I didn’t know you’re an ‘M’. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Naw, I’m still S. Toori-chan, only the tough guys can ever be with me. Everyone else would die within a day~
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I was worried there for a minute =3
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
I like Kugimiya Rie as a loli, but when she’s not playing a loli, I like her even more! Also, what a babe Rise is! (Although I’m partial to Chie, myself…)
To answer the question OC posed, I did enjoy eps. 7 & 8 as purely comedy episodes and wouldn’t mind if another 1 or 2 were sprinkled in. Even though it felt separate (for me as a non-Persona player) from the main plot of P4, when it’s as hilarious as those two are, I’d like to see a couple more comedy eps.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I agree about Kugimiya Rie. She’s got the perfect loli voice, but it’s nice to see her change it up (well…a bit.)
In the whole 25 episode run of things, I think they should definitely have more of the comedic episodes. It’s a good way to contrast the darkness of the murder plot and give a little breather in-between. :3 Even as a player of the game, the comedy episodes feel very separate, but I find that it works anyways.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
On that same question, I honestly have a hard time seeing it as a serious show. The murder stuff and the battles are always tied up with the toy bear. To me it comes across as a comedy with a dark premise, or something.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I guess a dark comedy would be more accurate. The anime has more jokes, and the games comes with the notion of levelling up and just saving people because hey…a game is a competition and you’ve got to win! So while it has serious elements, I can never really take it at surface value when there’s a whiny bear around either XD Although, to be fair, things later on do take a turn for the more dramatic and depressing towards the end and that’s where the game (and anime, I would assume) truly earns its “dark” genre.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 192 comments
Really? I thought the opening was spectacular! Although the song wasn’t that good. I haven’t really watched that many anime so I can’t say for sure. Anyway, what would be the best concert scene in anime in your opinion, Karakuri?
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…That’s actually a pretty good question. Hmmm, non-dancing, I’d say that the one from Angel Beats was pretty good. With dancing, the Kannagi OP was fun (though most of it is non-concert, idol stuff). The Seikan Hikou performance from Macross Frontier is a classic too, but now that I watch it again, I’m less impressed. I still like the dance though =3.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 192 comments
Thanks, I’ll see if I can dig them up on Youtube.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
The concert scenes in the idolm@ster are pretty fabulous. I think they look about 10x prettier than the one in this episode, which I thought was rather ugly. They’re pretty easy to find in youtube too, just search for : Ryuuguu Komachi anime performance.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
scratch that, It’s easier to find if you replace performance with smoky thrill.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Really? Yeah I heard the frame count in some idolm@ster episodes is double the normal amount in anime. Thanks~ I’ll pay attention when I marathon this… Hopefully sometime this month.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Hai thar UtaPri
Meh, Rise. Suddenly girls can’t be compared with the greatness of Kanji.
I’m liking Yu more and more now. He’s so cool now. I remember when he was such a stoic character at the beginning of the series. There’s definitely improvement with his character
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yu is kind of, the same personality-wise, but I feel like they’re portraying him a bit differently. They’re more self-aware about how flat he is and it’s usually the butt of the joke now XD I guess he IS a bit nicer now that he’s gotten close to everyone, I’ll give him that.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
SPARKLING BISHIES OR IT’S NOT UTAPRI XD.
*looks at Kanji episode 7* …oh, wait.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 48 comments
I can see people who played the game looking forward to the next episode, even if I didn’t. I hope this is a good sign that things will pick up again. This episode was bad for me.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Things will pick up…. in more ways than one XDDD