Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Sorry, I’m not in the usual Persona-mas spirit because today we’re looking at an anime that takes one of my favorite games and drags it through the mud. That anime is Persona 5 the Animation. When Persona 5 came out it was a big hit not just in Japan but in the whole world. Even those who hadn’t played a Persona game and knew nothing about the series picked it up because of how stylish, unique, and cool it looked. In my honest opinion Persona 5 was the best game of 2017 and in a year when we got the Switch that gave us Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey that’s saying something. Since the Persona 4 anime and Persona 3 movies went over so well, it only made sense to turn Persona 5 into an anime. Released in 2018, out of all the games this one had the potential to be the best of the bunch because of its story and way it was being told. So, how did they mess it up? They gave it to Cloverworks. You see around this time A-1 Pictures was splitting up their studio. A-1 would have some of the more veteran animators while Cloverworks would have a bunch of young and upcoming animators who bought a new style to anime. The only problem is this young studio just weren’t ready to handle an anime this complicated as Persona 5. Now to be fair they did do the Persona 3 movies and did a great job on them. However, while the movie series had people on it who understood the game and had a passion for what they were doing, the Persona 5 anime only had people on it who saw this series as a means to make a quick buck and slap every fan in the face. Don’t believe me? Well keep reading. This is Persona 5 the Animation.
Opening and Ending Theme
So the first opening of the anime is “Break In To Break Out” by Lyn. Some of you may recognize it as one of my favorite openings from 2018 and why not. The song is great and the animation is spectacular. The colors, the shading, and how it matches up perfectly with song is just a treat to watch. If the anime looked as good as the opening it would have gotten over better.
The ending is “Infinity” by Lyn. While I didn’t put this song on my list, I still think it’s a great song. The beat is good and the song perfectly matches up the game. This song honestly feels like it belongs in the Persona 5 game. Actually, it feels like it came from Dancing Star Night.
Episodes 1-4
So, the anime starts off much like the game. We see our main character codenamed Joker aka Akira (Ren was alright but I think Akira is better) voiced by Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch from Code Geass) trying to escape a casino. Just like in the game he manages to escape the casino in style (something that those who haven’t played the game will quickly realize there’s a lot of style in this game) and make it outside only to get ambushed by the cops and arrested. He gets taken in where he’s beaten up, tied to a chair, and drugged to get information out of him and sign confession papers (you may think this is illegal but in Japan this is quite legal). After the bad cop portion of his interrogation, Akira gets the good cop portion by talking with Sae a member of the SIU who’s been tasked with prosecuting his case and has questions that need to be answered. This results in Akira starting all the way back at the beginning of his journey which was six months ago. It’s the start of April and Akira has just arrived in Tokyo on probation for inflicting bodily harm on someone (more on that later). Once he reaches Shibuya a strange app appears on his phone which causes time to stop and a huge fiery being to appear for Akira to see (best app ever). He returns to the real world where he deletes the app and hurries on his way to Yongen-Jaya (which is based off of Sangen-Jaya, Setagaya a heavily populated residential area in Tokyo. In fact, Yongen actually does look like Sangen quite a bit in the game) and to the café known as Leblanc where he’ll be under the watchful eye of Sojiro the owner of Leblanc (and future Hierophant social link). Now in the game, when you first meet him he’s quite cold, bitter, and treats you like a burden he doesn’t want. In the anime he’s slightly nicer. He still acts coldly towards Akira (such as threatening to throw him out should he cause trouble) but he’s not bitter nor does he treat him like a burden. He knows Akira has been through enough already and is trying to make him feel welcomed but also sending the message that if he messes up he won’t hesitate to kick him out (it’s a small change but I personally like it. It shows off that deep down Sojiro is a kind-hearted guy. He has no relation or history with Akira at all and only took him in as a favor from a client. He could have easily said no but he didn’t). Sojiro gives Akira the attic above the café and tells him he’s on probation for one whole year meaning he has to stay out of trouble for one year or he’ll be thrown in juvey or worse. Sojiro takes his leave for the night and Akira falls asleep where he enters the Velvet Room. This time taking the form of a prison cell (first an elevator, then a limo, and now a prison cell. These Velvet Rooms are getting smaller by the game) and meets the long nose master himself Igor and the loli warden twins Justine and Caroline. Igor warns him of a coming disaster and tells him not to fret as there’s a way to avoid it before Akira wakes back up. The next day Akira and Sojiro go to introduce him to the school he’ll be going to (where the principal is Kingpin from Spiderman) and his homeroom teacher Kawakami where he’s told that if he causes any trouble he’ll be expelled on the spot. The next day comes and as he heads to school he runs into the game’s first heroine Ann voiced by Nana Mizuki (and just like the game gave her introduction justice, it gets justice here as establishing herself as someone who’s going to play a major role in the game. Scene here: https://youtu.be/VjUBEhNgnM0. Also, fyi, this was a cutscene from the game) who gets a ride from Kamoshida the PE teacher (good God, you got a big chin) and your douchebag for the first arc of the anime. We also get to meet Ryuji voiced by the handsome devil himself Mamoru Miyano (Light from Death Note) a troublemaker at school who used to be on the track team until it got shut down and seems to have a deep disdain for Kamoshida. Akira and Ryuji quickly become friends and make their way to the school only to arrive and see that the school has become a castle (well, looks like this school isn’t lacking in the finance department). They enter the school where they quickly get attacked and thrown in a cell by shadows who are being led by Kamoshida (put some pants on, this isn’t the Playboy Mansion. Nobody wants to see all of that). Kamoshida begins attacking Ryuji and is about to kill him until Akira decides to intervene and we get the awakening scene as he unlocks his persona (and honestly a cool outfit) Arsene Lupin (scene here: https://youtu.be/lqRVMG1fH-g, a thief having a thief as his persona. It’s perfect).
Episode 2 picks up where episode 1 left off with Akira awakening to his persona. He defeats the guards and Ryuji grabs the keys and locks Kamoshida inside the cell as they make their escape and return to reality (thank you, don’t come again). As they approach the school they get in trouble for being late (in the game they miss the whole day) and we see that Akira’s probation has already started spreading around the school and everyone is keeping their distance from him, believing he’ll hurt them (first day and all eyes are on him). We get to see a few familiar faces who will play an important role down the line and even see Akira hold his ground after getting pelted by Kamoshida’s vollyball serve in PE class (scene here: https://youtu.be/OKy_xwaf65w. He’ll remember this, when he’s in your palace). At lunch, Akira and Ryuji hang out on the school roof where Ryuji can’t seem to forget about what they saw in that castle and wonders if he can use it to get dirt on Kamoshida seeing as how there are rumors about him at school such as how he uses his position to physically abuse other students who are afraid to speak out against him (yeah, just a heads up. You will come to hate Kamoshida by the end of his arc). Case in point, Shiho, a student who just happens to be Ann’s best friend and a member of the volleyball team who we see gets physically abused by Kamoshida. Akira shows Ryuji the Metaverse app he got from Igor and they return to Kamoshida’s palace where they see students getting physically abused and he wants to save them but they hear a voice telling them it be pointless seeing as how they’re fake humans and aren’t real (just like Trump’s cabinet). The voice belongs to the game’s cute mascot (because all games need a cute mascot) Morgana the cat voiced by Ikue Ōtani (Chopper from One Piece) who is locked in a cell (now in the game they originally met Morgana their first time in the palace as they were escaping instead of the second time. This of course led to the tutorial which explained how the battling system works. While meeting Morgana on their second trip makes sense from a character perspective as Akira and Ryuji were busy trying to escape, it doesn’t make sense from a story perspective because it doesn’t explain how they managed to sneak into the castle without getting noticed. In the game Morgana showed them a secret way out and on their second visit they used it to sneak back into the castle. Here, they just come barging in totally unnoticed. Great security work guys). They let Morgana out and in exchange for freeing him, Morgana tells them that they’re in a palace which was created by Kamoshida’s corrupted desires. This castle and everything in it is how Kamoshida views it (to him, the school is his castle that he rules over and anyone who goes against him must be punished. Sounds like my first-grade teacher) and the Kamoshida they see in the palace is Kamoshida’s shadow while the real world Kamoshida is unaware of what goes on in his palace. After hearing all of this, the guys get captured and taken before Kamoshida where he berates Ryuji. It gets revealed that Ryuji was the star of the track team until he stood up to Kamoshida who was abusing the team because he didn’t like them. Ryuji finally had enough and stood up to Kamoshida where in an act of “self-defense” broke Ryuji’s leg (https://youtu.be/EYWbatgKN4g). This resulted in Ryuji having to quit the track team, the track team was quietly disbanded, and Ryuji got shunned by the school and his teammates. Akira encourages Ryuji to rise up and face Kamoshida again and this leads to Ryuji awakening his persona Captain Kidd (raise your flag of rebellion and shock the system). A fight breaks out where Morgana reveals his persona Zoro (so Morgana is an alternative version of Puss in Boots? That actually makes sense) and they knock down the shadow guards of Kamoshida to unleash an all-out attack (scenes here: https://youtu.be/siagHOQi9_4 and https://youtu.be/wuxFLA6DHGQ. Okay, a few things. Where did those weapons comes from? Second, that was terrible. That was not an all-out attack. This, is an all-out attack: https://youtu.be/pAL91JqNzxo. See how stylish that was? Are you seriously telling me the anime ran out of budget after the first episode, were you guys lazy and didn’t feel like ripping from the game, or did you just not give a damn? Whatever the reason is congratulations, you failed). Despite having his shadows beaten, Kamoshida still reigns supreme in his castle and he’s got the shadow Ann to back it up with Morgana dropping the cat pun (damn, Ann looking hotter than usual. Also, for those of you worried about the cat-puns don’t worry, this is the only one and that’s pretty impressive. I think they learned their lesson after Teddie). They decide to escape where Morgana shows them a way out but deciding to stay as he’s looking for something. Once Akira and Ryuji return to the real world, they go to eat some ramen where Ryuji asks Akira about his probation. Akira reveals that he got put on probation after saving a woman from some drunk who was forcing himself on her. The drunk slipped and injured himself blaming Akira for his blunder and pressing charges. Despite inflicting no physical harm whatsoever, Akira was found guilty and put on probation for a year. This resulted in him getting expelled from his school and forced to move out to Tokyo and attend Shujin which was the only school that would accept him. After hearing the story, Ryuji can’t help but cry a little (which comes across as him being a douche. In the game he was rightfully pissed to see a good guy like Akira get in trouble for only helping out someone in need. Here, his forced crying comes across as him acting like a douche). The two officially become friends and decide to take down Kamoshida together.
In episode 3 Akira and Ryuji go around school and try to get members of the volleyball team to talk about Kamoshida’s physical abuse but they’re all too scared to talk (break them mentally and they’ll fall in line physically). They even try asking Shiho, but Ann gets in their way. While wondering what to do, Morgana shows up in the form of a cute black cat and tells them there’s a way to make Kamoshida change for the better however if they fail there’s a high risk they could kill him (I fail to see how that’s a high risk. He’s an unredeemable scumbag who abuses his students). Morgana gives them time to think about what they want to do and as Akira is walking home, he runs into Ann who just got done talking to Kamoshida on her phone who wanted her to come to his apartment (oh no you don’t. That girl belongs to my boy Akira). Seeing her distraught, Akira talks to her where she reveals that she’s not really dating Kamoshida (yeah why would you? The guy’s jawline needs its own face) but really has no choice but to charm him as it’s the only way to help her friend Shiho. Kamoshida threatened to cut Shiho from the team unless Ann hung out with him and since Shiho is Ann’s only true friend in school, she felt that she had to do this. She’s half-Japanese so she got alienated by her classmates in middle school. Shiho was the only one who didn’t judge her and the two quickly became friends. The next day at school Shiho tries to commit suicide by jumping off the school roof but managed to survive the fall (however, she’s gonna be in a coma. Scene here: https://youtu.be/6yM-MYl-avk). We find out from Mishima (a classmate of Akira, member of the volleyball team, and the guy who told everyone that Akira’s on probation. Asshole) that after Ann refused to meet up with Kamoshida yesterday he summoned Shiho to his office where it’s hinted that he sexually assaulted her (they don’t come out and say it but it’s either sexual assault or he beat her up). No longer able to take anymore, she just went up to the school roof and just threw herself off it (she’s broken mentally, nobody will believe her even if she bought it up, and if she did make a move there’s no telling what he would do to her or Ann. I think you understand why she did what she did). Akira, Ryuji, and Mishima confront Kamoshida where he just laughs and says they have no evidence to back up their claim and says he’s going to expel them at the next school meeting (alright, risks be damned. Let’s take this motherfucker down). Having no other choice, Akira and Ryuji hear out Morgana’s proposal where he explains that the key to changing Kamoshida is to destroy his palace and to destroy his palace they have to steal his treasure, the embodiment of his desires. Once his palace is gone, Kamoshida will be so overcome with guilt over his past actions that he’ll confess them to everyone. The risk however is that stealing one of their desires can be dangerous as desires are essential to human life (it gives us a reason to wake up every morning). Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana infiltrate Kamoshida’s palace and manage to make it to the treasure room (well that was fast. Seriously, this dungeon was long. How’d they get there so fast? (Seras): Easy mode). However, the treasure isn’t there as it hasn’t materialized yet. In order for the treasure to appear they have to make Kamoshida (the real one not the pants less one) realize that his treasure is in danger of being stolen. His conscience will know what they’re talking about and the treasure will appear (scene here: https://youtu.be/KI8kSMoTxcM). As they discuss this, they hear the alarm go off and find out that Ann followed them into the metaverse and got captured by Kamoshida who’s about to execute her. The guys show up ready to fight but can’t make a move and Kamoshida begins blaming Ann for what happened to Shiho. At first it works, but Akira tells her not to let him get away with what he’s done and this allows Ann to awaken her rebel spirit and summon her persona Carmen (scene here: https://youtu.be/aXq2dEX8i9k). She fights with the guys and together they take out the shadows and do another all-out attack (scene here: https://youtu.be/L1IblkXn0RQ, where it’s still bad but a slight improvement over the first one). Kamoshida retreats for the time being and so do our thieves where they tell Ann what’s going on and they form a partnership to take down Kamoshida and steal his heart.
We get the end of the Kamoshida arc in episode 4 as the group now calling themselves the Phantom Thieves (better name then the Investigation Team) have sent a calling card to Kamoshida via school message board (hey the school cancelled pizza Friday) where he and the whole school see it. This card will alert his shadow that the treasure is about to be stolen and once it knows the treasure will materialize in his palace. The effect will only last for a day, so they decide to steal the treasure that night. After their preparations are done (i.e buying a fake gun, seeing Shiho, and making lockpicks. Scene here: https://youtu.be/VFc8yh4kR0Q) they infiltrate the palace and use code names for each other. Ryuji is Skull (the muscle), Morgana is Mona (Mona Lisa would be honored to have such a fun character named after her. Also, the mascot), Ann is Panther (the seductress) and Akira is Joker (the leader/wild card. Scene here: https://youtu.be/VFc8yh4kR0Q). The treasure room gets cut off by swinging pendulums so they have to steal the key from the guards. They steal the key from a Pixie who in turn becomes Akira’s new persona (scene here: https://youtu.be/-Azmfm5whbM, Joker caught a wild Pixie). They enter the treasure room and get the treasure (in the form of a crown) but Kamoshida gets it back and now they have to fight him for it (I’m sure Akira, Ryuji, and Ann have been looking forward to this) where he transforms into the embodiment of lust (Mira: Bill Cosby? (Nitsuj): No, but good guess). They fight the demon Kamoshida where Ryuji tries to steal the crown while the others distract him. Akira gets spiked by Kamoshida and finds himself in the Velvet Room where Igor allows him to fuse Arsene and Pixie to create Agathion (that persona? That thing sucks. He would have been better off fighting with Arsene). Agathion manages to defend Akira and daze Kamoshida long enough for Ryuji to steal back the crown, perform an all-out attack, and deliver one final hit to defeat Kamoshida. Kamoshida returns back to his normal self where he tries to make excuses for his actions, but Ann tells him to confess his crimes and take his punishment. Kamoshida agrees to confess and vanishes. With Kamoshida’s desires no more, the palace begins to collapse on them and they escape. A few days go by with Kamoshida taking a leave of absence and returning on the day of the school assembly where he confesses all of his wrong doings and says he will kill himself to make up for his crimes (oh no you don’t, you ain’t taking the easy way out you piece of trash) but Ann tells him to face his judgement like a man (scene here: https://youtu.be/y5U0GSDIyAs). Kamoshida gets arrested, Shiho regains consciousness, and Morgana becomes Akira’s new pet at Leblanc (https://youtu.be/CcByyrZi9_s).
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts off with the anime reminding us that Akechi is a character in this anime. Akechi is a high school detective and has been nicknamed the second Prince Detective (the first of course being Naoto from Persona 4). He has quite the fanbase (in and out of the game) and Cloverworks seems to be a fan of this guy as well as he keeps popping up throughout the first episodes. He’s voiced by Sōichirō Hoshi (Death Gun from SAO). While he only had short cameo appearances, a lot of people seemed to take issue with this especially since he doesn’t make his first appearance until after Kamoshida’s palace. I personally didn’t really mind his earlier appearances but I did find them annoying especially since Cloverworks kept cutting to him for no apparent reason other than to say this guy is a character too. Anyway, we cut to our Phantom Thieves who are celebrating their recent success by eating at a fancy buffet (scene here: https://youtu.be/6xS9NWC7FGE). While there we see a few adults disrespect them, look down on them, and even blame them for stuff they didn’t do (scene here: https://youtu.be/r6WL9jzj8SM, I can just hear all the angsty pre-teens saying this anime gets me). This makes Ryuji suggest that they can continue to be Phantom Thieves, changing the hearts of those with twisted desires and who look down on everyone (sure, I got nothing better to do). Ann and Akira agree with Ryuji’s idea and they officially become Phantom Thieves with Akira as their leader and calling themselves The Phantoms (scene here: https://youtu.be/XxWopgKC4EQ). The next day at school Akira gets approached by Mishima (who’s a lot more aggressive in the anime. In the game he was a bit more timid and afraid to stick out but here, he actually seems more willing to take the lead and go after stuff he wants which I think is a good change) who easily figures out that Akira is a phantom thief but plays along with Akira’s fake act. He tells him that he created a site called the Phantom Phansite where people can post their problems and asks the Phantoms for help (scene here: https://youtu.be/x4oEGef0p8U). With this site, Morgana takes the group to Mementos the side dungeon in the game (the best way to describe Mementos is a reverse Tartarus from Persona 3). Mementos is basically the palace of everyone (the general public) who have distorted desires but they’re not as distorted as Kamoshida thus they don’t have a palace of their own. Morgana transforms into a van (scene here: https://youtu.be/66YwJ0PyzmE, an obvious shout out to My Neighbor Totoro) and ride into Mementos dodging all the shadows they come across (good driving Joker) and come to their first distorted shadow, a guy named Nakanohara who’s been stalking his ex for some time (move on bro). He transforms into a shadow but they take him down quickly with an out all attack (holy shit they did it right this time. Just goes to show that at first they do it right. Complain and complain again until they get it right). Nakanohara returns to normal, admits he was wrong, and says he won’t do it anymore. After that they reach the end of the first block in Mementos where Morgana says his goal is to reach the bottom and solve the mysteries of Mementos in the hopes of finding out who he is and regain his original form as he thinks he’s a human (scene here: https://youtu.be/CbW7OS8EeHQ. Yes, you’re a human. In the same way miniature golf is actual golf). After exploring Mementos, Akira returns home but not before stopping to meet the back alley sexy gothic doctor Tae who gave him some medicine to test out last episode and wants to check for side effects. Morgana tells him to make friends with her and make her one of his confidants (the name for the social links in this game) so Akira becomes Tae’s guinea pig and agrees to do more clinical trials for her (if you play your cards right she might make a house call). At Leblanc, Akira becomes Shojiro’s assistant and begins working part-time (scene here: https://youtu.be/aPajB4sv5qw, best to make nice with the man who’s giving you a place to stay). As the episode ends Akechi comes in with Sae to have a cup of coffee and we get our first interaction between Akechi and Akira (scene here: https://youtu.be/YlNFmokvN9Y). After the credits Ann feels that someone is stalking her so they set a trap for her stalker and we see that its everyone’s boy, Yusuke (scene here: https://youtu.be/xIWCGCzl_1A).
So in episode 6 our Phantoms come face to face with Yusuke voiced by Tomokazu Sugita (Escanor from Nanatsu no Taizai), who many have argued is the best male in the game (Isis: He’s so gorgeous). Aside from having a good design it’s hinted that he’s autistic as well and I totally welcome that (in a good way). Just like with a lot of characters it’s open to interpretation but he really does display traits you would associate with someone with autism. He only focuses on things he likes and is completely oblivious to how his behavior makes other people feel but like I said earlier I welcome this character being autistic because that’s not his defining trait. Anyway, in the episode he wants Ann to be his model (scene here: https://youtu.be/7xNfTTiHoAk) and invites her to the art exhibit of his master and guardian Madarame a famous painter who has taken the art world by storm with his various styles. The Phantoms go to the exhibit where Akira wants to investigate Madarame as he remembers Nakanohora’s shadow talking about him. While in the exhibit Ann takes a liking to a painting but Yusuke tries to steal her away from it. Akira checks the phan-site where someone left a post about Madarame abusing his students and plagiarizing their work. They decide to investigate and have Ann take Yusuke’s modeling job where they see Madarame’s workshop is a shack (a big one but still a shack). Ryuji just cuts to the chase and asks Yusuke if the rumors about Madarame are true but Yusuke denies them and shows them the picture of Sayuri the painting that inspired him to be an artist and was drawn by Madarame himself until it got stolen. Even Madarame himself denies these rumors and comes across as a genuinely nice person (scene here: https://youtu.be/cy-vlm-eyq4, I do like these extra Madarame scenes. It makes it harder to see him as a villain for anime-only watchers). They take their leave but once they’re outside the shack, Akira gets a hit on the metaverse app and discover that Madarame has a palace where his shack is actually a gaudy art museum (there’s a difference between gaudy and extravagant Madarame. This is gaudy). They manage to sneak inside where they see paintings of past students and overhear Madarame’s shadow gloating about tricking the Phantoms. It turns out the rumors about him abusing students and plagiarizing their work were all true. He now plans to run Yusuke dry for all he’s worth and then disown him when the time comes (you son of a bitch. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Jrjx6Bj6Qrc). After seeing this, the Phantoms try once again to get Yusuke to confess but he refuses to confirm Madarame’s misdeeds as he owes Madarame his life. He didn’t know his dad, his mom died when he was young, and it was Madarame who took him in when he had nothing (he wants to leave but can’t find it in himself to turn on the man who saved him. It’s like an abusive relationship). He tells them to leave and never come back but the Phantoms aren’t ready to give up and after meeting up with Nakanohara who confirms Madarame’s mistreatment, the Phantoms decide to make Madarame their next target (scene here: https://youtu.be/HMOuCGwPIdM).
At the start of episode 7 the Phantoms are in Madarame’s palace trying to find his treasure but get stopped by a security field just like in the game. The security field represents a door Madarame has in his shack and in order to get past the security field they have to open the door in real life and make sure Madarame sees it (why go through all of that you ask? (Mira): Because Madarame believes that the door can’t be opened. Therefore, they need to change his perception of this and show him that the door can be opened. (Nitsuj): Correct). So they have Ann agree to be Yusuke’s nude model (oh his paintbrush will be getting a good work out then) where she will keep Yusuke distracted and Morgana will try to unlock the door in front of Madarame while Akira and Ryuji wait in the palace for their success. Ann and Morgana re-enter the shack where Ann begins to strip for Yusuke (*The Jack Bros. begin to throw money*) and Morgana tries to unlock the door but has trouble (no opposable thumbs). Just when Ann is almost out of clothes to wear, Morgana manages to open the door just as Madarame shows up and Ann grabs Yusuke and goes into the room. Back in the palace, the security system goes down and Akira and Ryuji continue through the dungeon where they come across paintings that they can go into but can’t figure out to how proceed further into the dungeon because they lack artistic sense (oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this is the most interactive out of all the dungeons in the game. Which makes sense as we’re dealing with art and they make full use of the various paintings in the dungeon to their advantage. You can tell this was a dungeon they had fun working on). Back in the real world, Ann, Morgana, and Yusuke enter the room where they find paintings of Sayuri (either Madarame is forging his own work or he’s obsessed beyond belief with one of his paintings. It’s been known to happen). Madarame tries to cover-up this discovery by saying the real Sayuri was stolen and in order to get out of his slump he attempted to repaint it but Morgana reveals the real Sayuri and Madarame confesses that he’s using these fakes to sell on the black market (how dare you insult the integrity of an artist). He calls the cops on them and Ann makes her escape into the Metaverse where she accidently drags Yusuke along with her and he sees the gaudy heart of his mentor. The shadow Madarame shows up revealing all his misdeeds and says he’s only interested in the money (scene here: https://youtu.be/6bH45Yc8HE8. I actually do like his interaction with Yusuke here than in the game. He bitch slaps Yusuke for defying him, calls him a cash cow, and even Yusuke cries a little over the betrayal of the man he considered a mentor and father figure in his life. It’s a situation that makes you both angry and sad). A bunch of shadows come out and attack the Phantoms where Yusuke finally decides to stand up to his mentor and awakens his persona Goemon. With the help of Goemon, Yusuke defeats all the shadows with one icy slash (once again he has sliced through something worthless). The shadow Madarame escapes and Yusuke tries to go after him but is too exhausted to do it so the Phantoms retreat for the time being (scene here: https://youtu.be/bflNXiF_fqM). They return to the real world to eat and explain things to Yusuke who hears what they have to say and wants to join them. They welcome him aboard and give him the codename Fox (because of his mask and outfit. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/wSAOzrfaA3k and https://youtu.be/flmVs1QTnAQ). After the credits we see the Phantoms figure out the painting maze thanks to Yusuke and manage to secure a route to the treasure (aww, they skipped the crazy stairs).
In episode 8 our phantoms send the calling card to Madarame who is not amused and enter his dungeon (scene here: https://youtu.be/cU0FudiAQO0). His treasure is a painting but it’s guarded by a security field, guards, and Madarame himself. The only way to steal it is to steal it from above so their plan is to turn off the lights and lower Morgana down on a crane to steal the treasure and escape (good plan). The plan works and they managed to make it out into the garden where they discover that the painting is a fake (scene here: https://youtu.be/8M3vQUJL2uQ, son of a bitch trolled us). Madarame shows up and reveals the real treasure to be the original Sayuri where we see what she’s holding in her arms is actually a child. Madarame says the painting was done by his female pupil who was Yusuke’s mom (a painting filled with affection and grief. Affection for a mother holding her child who she loves and grief because the mother knows she doesn’t have long to live and is leaving her child behind). Madarame took the painting, altered it to give it that mystique, and released it under his name. As for Yusuke’s mom, she had a seizure when confronting him and he didn’t call for help thus letting her die right in front of him (that’s really fucked up man) and taking Yusuke into his care (scene here: https://youtu.be/QczSzsj_MJM). The fight begins where Madarame turns into 4 paintings (and give them credit the CGI is better here than it was on Kamoshida’s shadow). The shadow begins spitting out paint that makes people weak (well getting that out is gonna be a pain) but Yusuke counters with some paint lying around. The paint weakens Madarame (clever commentary on how Yusuke is a better artist thus overpowers Madarame’s painting style or just plot convenience? You decide). They hit Madarame with everything they got and Yusuke finishes him off with a block of ice. With Madarame defeated the palace begins to fall apart and Yusuke takes Sayuri with him (scene here: https://youtu.be/ikaTCw4DxA4). The next day Madarame confesses his crimes on TV and the Phantom Thieves get famous from it (scene here: https://youtu.be/cU0FudiAQO0. The world has no choice but to recognize their legitimacy). Yusuke moves out of the shack and tries to stay over at Ann’s house but she says no so Morgana offers him a place at Leblanc and Sojiro says okay (scene here: https://youtu.be/ZYn9b_JMKKU). They have a hotpot party to celebrate their success and welcome Yusuke (scene here: https://youtu.be/kYB_iorzNWo) where they talk about their pasts and a connection with each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/NmIH1vCW8Wo, they were all judged and labeled by society unfairly). The next morning, Yusuke decides to move into the student dorms at his school realizing that he needs to interact with more people if he hopes to expand himself as an artist and as a person. He thanks Sojiro for everything and leaves Sayuri as a gift (scene here: https://youtu.be/SdeWiB-tLwU).
Episodes 9-13
Episode 9 gives us a break from palace exploring and instead focuses on the confidants aka the social links. In the episode Ryuji gets a letter in his mailbox which talks about a maid service. Interested in the service he gets Akira and Mishima to join him in calling up a maid where just as the maid arrives Ryuji and Mishima get cold feet and run away which leaves Akira to handle the maid where he discovers that the maid is his homeroom teacher Kawakami (well this is awkward. (Mira): For who? Akira, Kawakami, or the viewer? (Nitsuj): Yes). Not wanting word to get out about her night job and since calling over a call girl would get Akira into serious trouble, they decide to forget this whole thing happened (scene here: https://youtu.be/xGe7atvUph4). The next day, Ryuji decides to do some training and invites Akira to come along where they run into Ryuji’s old running buddies who tell him the track team is starting back up but Ryuji wants nothing to do with them since he was the one responsible for getting the team banned. Wanting to help Ryuji, Akira calls up Kawakami and invites her over to the café where they talk and we discover that the real reason Ryuji punched Kamoshida is because he insulted Ryuji’s mom who is raising Ryuji on her own (and any man who insults another man’s mom who works hard and provides for her child all by herself deserves to be punched). Kawakami tells Akira that the new track team will be under the supervision of Yamauchi a teacher who was the closest to Kamoshida and just like Kamoshida he’s an asshole (not as big an asshole as Kamoshida but still an asshole) who plans to cause friction within the group in order to eliminate anyone who opposes him (scene here: https://youtu.be/a6l63xiLfa8). Akira and Ryuji follow him to a restaurant where Akira overhears him spreading rumors among the teammates to get them to turn on each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/m8FEGG3_OSc) so the next day Ryuji and Akira confront the group and reveal Yamauchi’s plan to them. They don’t believe him without proof but Ryuji says that he trusts Akira and that’s all the proof he needs (well that’s a nice change. In the game, Ryuji just ducked out in the bathroom while Akira turned on his phone, so Ryuji could listen in on Yamauchi’s conversation. Here, Ryuji didn’t go inside at all, so all he has to go on is Akira’s word as proof that Yamauchi is tricking them. This scene shows how much trust Ryuji has in Akira. To go in front of his old teammates with no recording or nothing to back up his claim except for the word of Akira who is still seen and believed to be a delinquent by the school. It’s pretty cool and elevates their friendship). It gets revealed that it was one of the teammates who told Kamoshida about Ryuji’s mom and he just smiles and says so what. He says that the stuff with Kamoshida has been resolved (exactly, he’s not coming back. You guys won. If you keep looking at the past you’ll never see what’s in front of you), tells the team to move forward together, and even tells them to take a shot at him in order to resolve whatever grudge is left over and they oblige. The plan works as the team is on the same page now, Yamauchi gets removed as their advisor, and the bond between Akira and Ryuji has grown (scenes here: https://youtu.be/VQe9fjajEtU and https://youtu.be/2gL3RpIpmrI).
In episode 10 the thieves go to a TV station as part of some school learning activity. We get a cameo of Hifumi the Star confidant (and a very fun girl to hang out with. Especially if you like people with active imaginations). They get to be in audience for a live interview with Akechi where the topic is on the Phantom Thieves. Akechi talks about how the thieves should be brought to justice and are wrong for taking the law into their own hands (well maybe if the police got off their asses and actually put the time and effort into bringing down the real criminals, we wouldn’t have to rely on cool and stylish phantoms). After the interview, Akechi meets up with Akira and the others where he overhears them talking about pancakes (I bring this up because it’s going to mean something later on). After this, we focus on Makoto the president of the student council and the little sister of Sae voiced by Rina Satō (Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon Crystal). She’s been put in charge by principal Kingpin to investigate the Phantom Thieves as it’s believed that the thieves are students at the school and since he doesn’t want to get the police involved the job falls on her to investigate (you had a student try to commit suicide and a teacher publicly admit that he physically assaulted and abused his students. Oh, he might have forced himself on one of them. If this school gets any more negative publicly, then their reputation is going to be lower than Trump’s approval ratings). Now Makoto is often considered to be the best girl in the game (I would argue that) because of her personality and character but there’s no denying that when you first meet her she comes across as a kiss-ass bitch who blindly listens to what adults tell her to do in order to get their approval. In previous episodes she’s been steadily following the group growing suspicious of them and when she overhears the group talking about Akechi and them being phantom thieves she confronts the group and works out a deal with them. Makoto wants to see their justice first-hand and asks them to investigate a crime syndicate in Shibuya that’s been exploiting students in drug trafficking. Once the group knows who the leader is, they are to change their heart. They take to the streets where they get no leads (scene here: https://youtu.be/9_0HPDgaYH0), so Akira calls up Ohya a freelance reporter who was investigating Madarame in the past and happened to run into Akira and Ryuji during her investigation. Akira, Ryuji, and Morgana go to meet her in Shijuku at night (wow, shades of Yakuza are running through my mind right now) where Ryuji has women trouble with some okamas (stay strong Ryuji. Stay strong) and Akira leaves him to go meet Ohya in a bar. Ohya tells him that the person he’s looking for is a guy named Kaneshiro (scene here: https://youtu.be/2s6_CF3PfXs) and the next day the thieves put his name into the app where they get a hit and get transported to his distorted world where he views Shibuya as his personal bank (scene here: https://youtu.be/7To-mTJlvFE).
Episode 11 starts off with a flashback to Makoto’s past as a child who loved and admired her dad (that’s a nice addition in the anime. Plus, little Makoto is cute as well). After the flashback, Makoto and Sae have dinner where Makoto wonders if her dad was still alive, would he be on the side of the phantom thieves (he could be like Gordon from Batman). This causes Sae to snap where she bashes her dad saying he had lofty ideas of justice and even calls Makoto a useless girl which she immediately apologizes for but still, bitch (scene here: https://youtu.be/iatg6PhipfA). After the opening the credits we return to the phantom thieves who are inside Kaneshiro’s distorted world where his palace is a flying bank that they can’t reach. They try asking the citizens of his world who are walking ATM machines (my God you are the embodiment of greed if you see people as walking ATM machines. And I thought Mr. Krabs had a sick obsession with money) but really don’t learn anything useful so they return to the real world (scene here: https://youtu.be/eSOOIFuABx8) where Makoto is spying on them so Ann gives her a piece of her mind and calls her useless as well. This pisses Makoto off so she acts rash and finds Kaneshiro’s men who take her directly to Kaneshiro with the others following after them. They arrive at a club where Kaneshiro takes a picture of them (filled with drugs and alcohol in the background) using Makoto’s phone and threatening to send the picture to their school unless they pay him 3 million yen (scene here: https://youtu.be/Muk6bsC74QQ). This reckless mishap actually works to their advantage as they’re now considered customers of his and enter the metaverse with Makoto where she quickly grasps the cognitive world and now understands what they mean by stealing someone’s heart (scene here: https://youtu.be/wMV9g22_kvw. She’s good, isn’t she good guys?). They go into Kaneshiro’s bank where they meet the shadow Kaneshiro who wants Makoto to sell her body in order to pay off the debt. He even talks about getting Sae in on the action. Makoto finally hears enough and awakens to her persona which is. . . the coolest looking persona I’ve ever seen. I mean it, Johanna is hands down the coolest looking persona out there (she’s a motorcycle. That’s so badass. Scene here: https://youtu.be/KLq9R6EzujQ). They fight a couple of shadows and make their escape to the real world where they welcome Makoto into their ranks as an advisor and give her the codename, Queen (scenes here: https://youtu.be/ZUpNhCAcFUQ and https://youtu.be/vv5PVV0YTLk).
We start episode 12 at school where Akira lost the lower half of his body, is still alive, and floating (gotta love that Cloverworks animation). Jokes aside, we see Makoto trying to get close to the other students so she can be more helpful to them but her approach comes across as suspicious and sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. Akira invites her to the arcade and kaoroke after school which she says she would like that (and Akira found his lower body). After that, our Phantom Thieves begin traversing Kaneshiro’s dungeon which takes them a few days (yeah, this dungeon is one of the longer dungeons in the game. If you’re trying to reach the treasure room in one day I recommend you stock up on HP and SP items). During this time we see Ann and Makoto become good friends (scene here: https://youtu.be/ZrE2B-I9qyc), Ryuji buys an old TV for Akira’s room, and Akira finally takes Makoto to the arcade where she enjoys herself (scene here: Scene here: https://youtu.be/mkz9BzNEGWc that was a nice unofficial date). They finally reach his treasure room and send their calling card to Kaneshiro by posting them all over Shibuya for one of his stooges to see and bring it to him. They go inside his dungeon where his shadow is waiting for them and transforms into a rapping fly-man with a mechanical piggybank as his security system (https://youtu.be/OWDozBLKdJ4). Kaneshiro and his pig give them a little trouble at first but once they burn some of his money and follow it up with a baton pass and all-out attack they manage to win. As he starts to drift away as he warns them that there’s another metaverse user out there who’s causing psychotic and mental breakdowns of people and warns them to look out for the person wearing the black mask (scenes here: https://youtu.be/VOunsLEvpjQ, https://youtu.be/sh3WH91OcTw, https://youtu.be/WeEcoJGZKrg). After that, the palace begins to crumble so they grab his treasure which is a golden suitcase filled with money and escape. Once they return to the real world they find out that the money is fake (https://youtu.be/mb_6UOAj_D0, like Trump’s hair and marriage). A few days later Kaneshiro confesses and turns himself in, Makoto delivers her report to the principal saying the phantom thieves are just, and she leaves content finally finding a place where she belongs.
Episode 13 is really good and enjoyable. It starts off with Akira playing Akechi in chess where Akechi wins all while they talk about the Phantom Thieves (this is new, interesting, and builds on the relationship between these two. The gentleman thief and the prince detective having a friendly conversation over whose idea of justice is right). After that, we shift our focus to Yusuke’s social link. He’s in a slump and asks for Akira’s assistance in helping him find inspiration. Yusuke manages to find inspiration in Mementos where he sees the darkness of man’s heart (didn’t think the darkness of man would be so red and look like something out of horror movie). He creates a painting called Desire which gets panned by an art director named Kawanabe who says that Yusuke only showed his conception of desire, he didn’t convey what he thought the true meaning of desire is (and he’s right. While Yusuke’s painting is cool I’m not sure what he’s trying to convey. Does he think desire is good or is it bad?). After the exhibit Kawanabe approaches Yusuke again and says he wants to sponsor Yusuke in his art program by marketing him like no tomorrow. Yusuke is offended by this and declines his offer so Kawanabe challenges Yusuke to create another painting for an exhibit he has coming up soon. While that’s going on, Akechi is investigating Kawanabe as there’s a good chance he might be a part of some money scandal and employs the help of Akira with his investigation (the thief and the detective teaming up. Why do I feel like this would make an interesting movie?). Through their investigation, Akira finds out that Kawanabe is innocent in this case, but his right-hand man is the true culprit in this money scandal and Akechi is able to make a proper arrest. As for Yusuke he learns from the others that desire isn’t all that (which is true) and art is being subjective. When Yusuke looks at Sayuri he sees beauty but for Ann she sees a mother’s love for her child and caring for said child. This helps Yusuke come to the conclusion that even though the human heart is full of desire, there’s a sense of beauty and hope to it. Yusuke recreates his Desire drawing naming it Hope and Desire and manages to win the exhibition where Kawanabe praises his work and says his actions against Yusuke were all a front to help motivate him. He once again invites Yusuke into his program but Yusuke says no saying he’s got all the support he needs in Akira (and the others but mostly Akira). After the credits we end the episode the way we started with Akira and Akechi playing chess only this time Akira wins (scene here: https://youtu.be/figzy1jJZVw).
And we’re at the halfway point here and to be honest while there are a few mistakes here and there the anime isn’t really all that bad, at least in the first half. The second half is where a lot of the problems begin to become apparent which I’ll get to in a little bit.
(Baron): Hey Nitsuj are you expecting company today?
(Nitsuj): No why?
(Baron): Cause there’s a bunch of black cars in your driveway.
(Nitsuj): What!
*All of a sudden, men in suits come barging in with guns*
(Well-dressed man): Aniplex representatives! Nobody move! Aniplex representatives!
(Nitsuj): Oh you guys again.
To be continued
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