Persona 4 Golden Animation Episode 9: Some calmer thoughts
So now that I've cooled my jets a bit, here is what I think: the episode actually had a few good things going for it. The Ski Trip is possibly one of the best additions Golden has (I grant you that the hotsprings at the end are entirely unnecessary), bringing with it entirely new costumes, a fun way to show the cast in a new situation, and its something I kinda felt was more grown up (at least, for me, personally, trips like this with my friends wouldn't happen until after HS). As such, the adaptation of those parts was really fun. We got to see Rise and Kanji's tete-a-tete, which I always like, as well as Naoto dropping her tough guy mask a bit more.
There was, I confess, a fair amount employed in this episode to sell you on the memory loss plot that I was impressed by. The use of the video camera episode, as well as Rise's photographs, was a pretty nice set-up. Some of it wasn't, though, like Teddie's out of character diss on the other girls' figures for the sake of both declaring Marie has the best body and forcing a rather heavy handed "ZOMG WE DON'T REMEMBER" moment.
Yukiko's antics during the ghost story scene, and in fact the entire scene itself, were a pretty good way to incorporate that material and keep it more focused than it was in the game.
Although I don't much care for the "we're forgetting someone we love!" plotline since it's been used twice already in Persona, I can admit they most of the work they needed to make it come across nicely. What it lacked, I felt, was a distinct set-up in a previous episode. There was no Margaret announcing it, and so I think that many people may have been confused and thrown off by why the team forgot someone they'd spent 7ish episodes hanging with. Even after they remembered her, there wasn't much in the way of an explanation as to why, though that may yet be addressed in upcoming episodes.
There is also the completely unforgivable cabin scene. I mean, 8 different possibilities and combinations and gags to work with and they throw them all away for the sake of reinforcing the point that Marie, and Marie alone, is special to Yu. It was a pretty big mishandling of what I expect is sort of a favorite for many.
Which touches upon the final problem, and I grant that some may feel this is unfair: a lot of this episode would've been seen differently if it hadn't been focused upon Marie, specifically. Or rather, had this anime played out in a way that would have not set Marie up as an all consuming, undeserving object of every single living thing's affections, things could have been much more easily received. It's sort of the singular problem with Marie in both the game and the anime; if Marie had been treated as one of the gang, and developed as one of them, she would have been much easier to accept than she currently is. Because the way I see her currently, it feels too much to me like there is too much effort placed upon setting Marie apart, making her somehow different and special.
I don't want to make this into much of a rant, but I think that Labrys always serves as a good contrast to Marie. She has parts which are every bit as contrived, yes, like being yet another robot and being the first heroine since Maki to have so much of a game focused upon her and her issues, but at the same time, with Labrys, a large amount of effort is placed upon making her one of the team, and talking about how her Shadow problem isn't any different from them. The focus is largely upon making her part of the team and getting that position earned, whereas I feel with Marie too much of that position is given.
But I digress. The point is simply that, had they taken the time to build Marie as an equal, rather than special, I could see myself liking her and this episode so, so much more.
So now that I've cooled my jets a bit, here is what I think: the episode actually had a few good things going for it. The Ski Trip is possibly one of the best additions Golden has (I grant you that the hotsprings at the end are entirely unnecessary), bringing with it entirely new costumes, a fun way to show the cast in a new situation, and its something I kinda felt was more grown up (at least, for me, personally, trips like this with my friends wouldn't happen until after HS). As such, the adaptation of those parts was really fun. We got to see Rise and Kanji's tete-a-tete, which I always like, as well as Naoto dropping her tough guy mask a bit more.
There was, I confess, a fair amount employed in this episode to sell you on the memory loss plot that I was impressed by. The use of the video camera episode, as well as Rise's photographs, was a pretty nice set-up. Some of it wasn't, though, like Teddie's out of character diss on the other girls' figures for the sake of both declaring Marie has the best body and forcing a rather heavy handed "ZOMG WE DON'T REMEMBER" moment.
Yukiko's antics during the ghost story scene, and in fact the entire scene itself, were a pretty good way to incorporate that material and keep it more focused than it was in the game.
Although I don't much care for the "we're forgetting someone we love!" plotline since it's been used twice already in Persona, I can admit they most of the work they needed to make it come across nicely. What it lacked, I felt, was a distinct set-up in a previous episode. There was no Margaret announcing it, and so I think that many people may have been confused and thrown off by why the team forgot someone they'd spent 7ish episodes hanging with. Even after they remembered her, there wasn't much in the way of an explanation as to why, though that may yet be addressed in upcoming episodes.
There is also the completely unforgivable cabin scene. I mean, 8 different possibilities and combinations and gags to work with and they throw them all away for the sake of reinforcing the point that Marie, and Marie alone, is special to Yu. It was a pretty big mishandling of what I expect is sort of a favorite for many.
Which touches upon the final problem, and I grant that some may feel this is unfair: a lot of this episode would've been seen differently if it hadn't been focused upon Marie, specifically. Or rather, had this anime played out in a way that would have not set Marie up as an all consuming, undeserving object of every single living thing's affections, things could have been much more easily received. It's sort of the singular problem with Marie in both the game and the anime; if Marie had been treated as one of the gang, and developed as one of them, she would have been much easier to accept than she currently is. Because the way I see her currently, it feels too much to me like there is too much effort placed upon setting Marie apart, making her somehow different and special.
I don't want to make this into much of a rant, but I think that Labrys always serves as a good contrast to Marie. She has parts which are every bit as contrived, yes, like being yet another robot and being the first heroine since Maki to have so much of a game focused upon her and her issues, but at the same time, with Labrys, a large amount of effort is placed upon making her one of the team, and talking about how her Shadow problem isn't any different from them. The focus is largely upon making her part of the team and getting that position earned, whereas I feel with Marie too much of that position is given.
But I digress. The point is simply that, had they taken the time to build Marie as an equal, rather than special, I could see myself liking her and this episode so, so much more.
