Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Guys, things have been a little strange around my house lately. My TV keeps appearing in the kitchen. The furniture keeps moving around on its own. And probably the strangest thing of all has been the milk constantly not expiring. But, I am not so easily thrown off by the supernatural. I have hopefully experts looking into the problem as we speak while I do my review this week which is the second part of the Persona 3 movie series. Titled Midsummer Knight’s Dream (a shout to the famous story Midsummer Night’s Dream) this is part 2 of 4 in the Persona 3 movie series and it’s the one part of the series which covers the most. Coming out in 2014 done under the production of A-1 Pictures the story of Persona 3 continues as we enter the summer portion of the series. Let’s continue the story of Persona 3 and take a look at Midsummer Knight’s Dream.
So the movie starts off with Minato about to get him some of Yukari’s sweet ass (damn son you already got her! I didn’t think you could max out her social until fall. Scene here: //youtu.be/lD-JLcm1vzs, I guess it was too soon for her. By the way did you see how she was checking him out? She was totally thinking: “Yeah. I’ll hit that. But for now, I’ll keep teasing him and build up the sexual tension between us). So after that fake start we find out that the group is right in the middle of a fight with not one but two full moon shadows and the fight is taking place in a love hotel (even the shadows want to get their freak on. Scene here: //youtu.be/Xlt8yuSR2go, bitch slap for the win and cool they did an all-out attack). After defeating the shadows they leave the hotel (a shame, I was hoping Minato and Yukari would pick up where they left off) where unbeknownst to them three shadowy figures are watching. These three are Strega persona users gone rogue who want the Dark Hour to stay. They’re led by Takaya who pretty much has a messiah complex, his loyal companion Jin (who might have a man crush on Takaya), and Chidori the quiet but beautiful red-haired gothic girl (wow. That’s strangely hot now that I think about it). We fast forward a few days to summer vacation where the group is going to Yakushima for some much needed relaxation as well as learn more about the shadows (but most importantly to provide us with fanservice. Scene here: //youtu.be/BmWDbHwGEy0, man who to choose who to choose). This also leads to one of the best side missions in the game Operation Babe Hunt (scene here: //youtu.be/3QPUGzuPi5s, she was pretty. Also, nice shout out to the Persona 4 teacher). After relaxing in the sun they go back to Mitsuru family’s villa that night and meet her father Takeru who tells them the truth about the shadows and the Dark Hour. We find out that long ago the Kirijo Group was using shadows in an attempt to control space and time. Mitsuru’s grandfather financed the project and used their school as the testing place for the experiment (well this explains why the school looks like something out of Tim Burton’s fanfiction). The Kirijo group gathered hundreds of shadows to use in their test but before the final test could be run the shadows escaped destroying the faculty and everyone in it spreading to the surrounding areas and creating the Dark Hour. The only known footage of the incident comes from Yukari’s dad who was the head researcher at the time of the incident (oh how embarrassing for Yukari). He says that the only way to stop the Dark Hour is to defeat all the shadows (so just basically do what we’ve been doing so far. Find a shadow, hit them from behind to get the advantage, fuse personas, and then on the night of the full moon kill the big ones. Rinse and repeat and max out some social links along the way. Good times). After the video Yukari is mad that Mitsuru hid something like this from her and storms off into the night (which is currently in the Dark Hour and she doesn’t have her evoker. Or weapon. Have fun dying). While that’s going on, back in the city Shinjiro comes across a young boy named Ken an elementary student who can also use a persona and lost his mom to a persona attack. He’s voiced by Megumi Ogata (Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho).
Back with the main cast Minato goes to talk to Yukari on the beach where he opens up to her and admits that his life has become more fun since meeting her and the others (I imagine so, it’s not every day you get to play hero. Scene here: //youtu.be/2McnKOaYxSw, Yukari just got her man stolen). This badass girl is Aigis voiced by Maaya Sakamoto (Crona from Soul Eater) an android created with a persona to fight shadows (and Persona 3’s mascot character). She’s been offline for years but for some reason woke up and began exploring on her own a few months ago. She claims that she’s been waiting for Minato to show up saying that staying with him is her purpose as he is very important to her (that’s a little creepy but since it’s her it’s just cute. I don’t know why but everything she does no matter how creepy comes off as cute). They decide to bring her back with them as a new member of the S.E.E.S team and transfer student believing she’ll be a valuable asset to the team (meh. She’s alright. I used her but only when I truly needed her. The only thing she’s good at doing is physical attacks. She doesn’t know any magic skills). They return back to the city where they deal with Ken by letting Minato be his bodyguard since they’re both essentially orphans and because he insist on still wondering the Dark Hour despite being told how dangerous it is (there’s better ways to get yourself killed kid). When the Dark Hour comes he goes out for a stroll alone (I guess there’s something about coffins, the sight of blood, and the scent of death that puts him at ease) where he hears Koromaru a dog who used to belong to the priest at the local shrine until he died due to a traffic accident. Now Koromaru guards the shrine in honor of his dead master (you are really man’s best friend). A shadow (which looks strangely like some wrestler who’s name I forget. (Shizuku): Hulk Hogan. (Nitsuj): Who? (Shizuku): Hulk Hogan. Remember? Hulkamania. N.W.O. He lifted Andre the Giant. Most well-known wrestler of all time. Ego-maniac who stole the spotlight from so many great wrestlers who were obviously better than him. (Nitsuj): Sorry Shizuku, I honestly don’t know who you’re talking about) is attempting to attack the shrine and Koromaru is doing his best to protect it (Shizuku: Watcha gonna do brother when the Hulkster and the Shadow maniacs run wild on your ass? Does that not ring a bell? (Nitsuj): Seriously, I have no idea who you’re talking about?). Ken arrives onto the scene and gets attacked from behind by a shadow (Shadow: Surprise butt sex) but gets saved by Minato (who is still using Orpheus after all this time). When Minato drops his evoker to save Koromaru, Ken picks it up and summons his persona which uses light magic and destroys the shadow. They go back to the dorms where Ken and Koromaru join their ranks (yeah, they are good fighters. Ken’s like a younger version of Akihiko accept he can use light skills and Koromaru is like Junpei minus the physical attacks, stronger magic skills, and dark skills. He’s also quite agile). After a few days of training from Akihiko and Minato, Ken and Koromaru are already on the frontlines fighting beside them and just in time because a full moon is just around the corner.
On the night of the full moon they find the big shadows in an underground military facility that was used during the war where the dead bodies still remain (//youtu.be/YRMvvds6MpM?t=40s). As they wonder the facility Strega comes in and seals the doors trapping them inside and they let poisonous gas into the room which slowly begins to infect them (//youtu.be/E1eWE5vlwmM?t=5s, this was the best clip I could find. Deal with it). Sure enough it gets worse when the two big shadows show up ripping off Transformers (or in this Shadowformers. Shadows in disguise) and combine to form a tank. Mintao and Akihiko try to fight it but they soon become weak from the gas (I have to admit I like this setup a lot more than the game’s setup. How cool and intense would the fight have been in the game if you were constantly losing HP while fight these shadows? It be great and challenging). This forces Aigis to activate her trump card orgia mode (and no it’s not what you think it is. Scene here: //youtu.be/gVisuzS7suM). When she finally overheats and is left for dead Shinjiro comes in to save them (perfect timing. You didn’t get lost on the way here did you Shinjiro?). After the battle Shinjiro rejoins the team (much like Aigis he’s a power hitter however has no weaknesses) and a few days go by as we see that Ken has developed a little brother affection for Shinjiro in that he always wants to be near Shinjiro and learn from him (well at least it’s played in a way that’s not creepy or disturbing). We also see that Shinjiro is a good cook a fact he tries desperately to hide from others (scene here: //youtu.be/E6AOLg2EU84). September finally rolls around and school begins once again (boo~) with Aigis transferring to the school as a new student. On the days approaching the night of the full moon we see that a few of the characters (mainly Minato and Fuuka) have mixed feelings about the Dark Hour disappearing. Just like Strega told them the Dark Hour allows them to feel alive and Minato and Fuuka feel very much alive in the Dark Hour which is pretty understandable. Fuuka comes from a family who are only concerned about her grades and not her (parents of the year folks) while Minato uses the Dark Hour as a way to be with his friends. You take away the Dark Hour and they’re pretty much left with nothing (it’s actually quite sad and deep). On the night of another full moon after they defeat the electric shadow Shinjiro’s persona goes berserk showing everyone that he has a hard time controlling his persona and it tries to kill him (um persona you do know if the host dies you die along with him right? That or turn into a shadow). In order to suppress his persona Shinjiro takes a special drug but the after effects are pretty life-threatening.
After seeing Shinjiro’s persona go berserk Ken finally remembers that it was Shinjiro’s persona who killed his mother (oh great. Now he has to kill him). On the night of October 4th Ken and Shinjiro meet up while the others take on two big shadows where Yukari, Junpei, and Koromaru get knocked out and Minato fights half-heartedly as he’s still struggling in his dilemma to end the Dark Hour and stay with his friends. He manages to fight through it and save the team and then they all rush off to stop Ken and Shinjiro. Shinjiro tells Ken to go ahead and kill him saying he won’t hold it against him and that he deserves to die to make up for his actions in his past. Takaya comes in and tells Ken it doesn’t matter if he kills Shinjiro as he’s gonna die anyway from the drugs (so drug overdose basically). Takaya shoots Shinjiro and tries to get him to spill the beans on who can sense the shadows (basically Fuuka). Ken wanting to protect Fuuka and realizing he has nothing to live for anymore (trust me kid you do) says he’s the one who can sense shadows and offers to let Takaya kill him but Shinjiro has other plans in mind (scene here: //youtu.be/XYBwYHIrPwM, man Ken had a hard time getting that scream out didn’t he?). At the school the next day they have an assembly honoring Shinjiro where a few of the students decide to be assholes and not show any respect for Shinjiro’s death. This pisses Junpei off that he openly tells them to shut up (one of the only good moments of Junpei). The movie ends on a slow zoom in on Minato just taking it all in (this is how the movie ends? It’s almost as bad as the ending in the Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie or the ending in the Desolation of Smaug).
Final Thoughts
So that was part 2 of the Persona 3 movies. How was it? Well just like the first movie somethings are done amazing well while other things could have been improved more. Let’s start with the good. The development of the new characters introduced in this movie are great. I do like the brotherly bond Shinjiro and Ken have with each other throughout the movie and it makes it quite sad to see it all come crashing down when Ken remembers his past however it is gallant to see Shinjiro lay down his life for Ken as a way to atone for his past sins. Koromaru is cute and his loyalty is just great within the movie both to his former master and to his new teammates. But hands down the best addition to this movie is Aigis who’s relationship with Minato is one of the central focuses of this movie. She easily replaces Yukari as the main love interest in this movie which leaves kind of a bittersweet feel to me. Her interactions with Minato are cute and she has some pretty funny moments throughout the movie. While Minato is hesitant in his mission to end the Dark Hour, Aigis has come to terms with it and is prepared to end the Dark Hour what it takes. The final thing that’s good is Minato’s growth in the movie. At first I didn’t really like seeing him become this guy who was hesitant to fight and was worried to see the Dark Hour at leave as this was kind of Junpei’s stick in the game but after thinking about it and analyzing his character it makes sense that he would act this way. He’s lived a life of loneliness without any purpose in the world. But now, he has friends and purpose to keep on living and fighting. You take away the Dark Hour and it’s pretty much got nothing. Many people said this dilemma was similar to Yu in the Persona 4 anime but I think it’s done a lot better here and makes more sense. In my opinion Yu really had nothing to worry about but Minato does given what he’s been through in his life.
Now with all good things we have a few bad things. First off, the exposition. Most of the exposition in this movie is done through long winded speeches of the characters just sitting down and talking. The information is good and explains a lot of things such as where Tartarus came from and stays true to the game but I was hoping the movie would fix this and explain it in a better way. The characters outside of Minato and the new characters are handled poorly here. They all take a backseat this time around and get passed over. For example, we see that Fuuka is worried about the Dark Hour vanishing as well but we never explore her and this situation. Akihiko lost a little sister in a fire but they never explore this. Yukari and Mitsuru have a few issues going on between them and once again we don’t explore it. Finally, with Junpei there’s a side story between him and one of the members of Strega that completely gets skipped over in the movie. This probably had to do with time restraints and the introduction of new characters but still you have to make sure all characters of the main cast get the right amount of screentime so we can explore their characters more and if you don’t have time now at least make sure you drop hints that you’ll address them in the future. There were fewer fights this time around and I was really hoping to see more fights to see how the group worked with each other when fighting against shadows in Tartarus. Finally, the ending to this movie was terrible. It could have been done better. I really didn’t like the way it just up and ended and where are my Elizabeth and Minato moments?
The animation is still good and the music is always on point within the Persona series. While there are few fight scenes they’re still good to watch with plenty of action and cool visuals to keep you entertained. Midsummer Knight’s Dream definitely does a good job answering question anybody had about the first movie and continues to build off the already huge bar the first movie set for the series. Is it better than the first movie? I say about the same but I will admit I enjoyed watching this movie a little more than the first one.
Final Score
Midsummer Knight’s Dream earns an 7.5/10. Despite a few setbacks the second movie does a good job building off the first movie introducing new characters, developing its main character, and advancing the story in the right direction while still remaining true to the game. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project-
(Shizuku): Boss we got a small problem.
(Nitsuj): What kind of problem?
(Shizuku): Now I don’t want you panic but I’m sure you’ve noticed strange things have been happening around the house.
(Nitsuj): Oh God what now? Are their dead chickens on the lawn now?
(Shizuku): No it’s not that but it is something valuable to you?
(Nitsuj): What is it?
(Shizuku): Now I want to stay calm and listen to me. You mustn’t overreact in these kinds of situations.
(Nitsuj): Just tell me already.
(Shizuku):. . .It’s your car.
(Nitsuj): WHAT!
*Nitsuj gets up and rushes outside where he sees his car is filled with blood*
(Nitsuj): AHHHHHHHHHHHHH~! What the fuck! It’s not a small problem! It’s a big problem! A really big problem!
*Nitsuj begins to sob a little*
(Seras): Yeah, when I first saw this I thought it was an optical illusion created by the mirrors but no. That’s blood. And lots of it.
*Nitsuj opens the one of the doors and blood comes pouring out*
(Nitsuj): Damn! It’s like someone took a whole a farm of pigs and ran them through a blender. How they even get into my car?
(Mira): This isn’t normal blood. This is. . .otaku blood!
(???): That is correct. And now you all stand in the middle of situation which will decide the fate of the past, present, and future?
*A wormhole opens and out pops a robot with a robotic jack o’ lantern’s head*
(Yin-Yang): And who the hell are you?
(???): I, am the cybernetic ghost of Halloween present from the future come to help you solve this haunted house crisis.
(Nitsuj): Oh God.
To be continued. . .in Ani-ween
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Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or request down belong or send to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com