Anime Reviews: Persona 5- The Animation

Don’t worry. It’s spoiler free.

So, I don’t think I’ll be able to give a fair review of Persona 5, because I played the Persona 5 console game before I watched the series, and for this reason, I ADORED this show.

A lot of people had beef with it…the animation, the plot, the ending (The last episode of the series is shocking. There are two follow up OVA’s that finish out the storyline.)

If you take a bite into this show without knowing anything about it, I can see why it could very well be very confusing and straight up weird, but even without any prior gameplay experience, I think it is would still be enjoyable. (Maybe I’m bias.) You’ll have to tell me, to that end. Here’s my take on it!

Plot Rating: 3/5. Does it have a plot? Yes. If you looked at it like a regular show would it be exceedingly strange? Probably also yes. To strip it down, a magical phone app gives some high school students the power to enter people’s minds and see their deepest desires. These desires are represented in a physical item that is important to the individual. If they can steal this item then the dark desires that have been overtaking the individual will cease and the individual will become “good” again. The group of students takes on the name “The Phantom Thieves” and they bounce from place to place doing different missions and stealing people’s evil desires, trying to save the world, essentially. When they enter the different universe where the desired object is personified, they also gain some special powers, which they use to fight monsters. I found all of this very enjoyable to watch since I explored these different levels and fought these monsters in the game! But could this make for an odd and confusing plot? Possibly?

Character Rating: 4/5. There were multiple enjoyable characters each with their own personality, drives and talents. There’s an anti-hero, a talking cat, good people doing bad things and bad people doing good things. The cast is good and makes for a well balanced show. I wouldn’t say there was much depth or character development, but that really wasn’t what the story was focused on.

Intro/Outro: 4/5. I really enjoyed the intro and outro. It’s very true to the show, showing the characters both in their “regular” bodies and also their “persona” costumes. There is good use of color and it is fun and intriguing. I love the color and interesting animation style in this series.

Genre: Action? 3/5. There’s action and fighting, mostly of a sci-fi variation. Slice of life and a tale about friendship? Sure. 4/5. There are a lot of cute moments with the students growing closer through shared experiences. Adaptation from a video game? 5/5! Would watch again!

Overall score for this? I give it a 4.5/5. It was so enjoyable to see my favorite characters come alive after playing through this game. If I had watched this without playing Persona 5, I am sure I would have scored it much lower, however, to me this was an outstanding series that gave me a strange sense sense of comfort and nostalgia after many long evenings poured into the console experience.

Did you play the Persona 5 game? Did you watch this anime? What did you think? Did you watch this anime without playing the game? What was your take on it?