#Nipponica Fandomstuff

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Movie Review: "Persona 3: The Movie #1 - Spring of Birth"

Oh boy, here I am in Japan, ignoring this blog for weeks, even though I have plenty of interesting material to post, and then I come and the first worthwhile thing in ages that I put here is a review of a Videogame Movie. Are you sick of me already? :-D

Seriously, though, I wanna talk about this movie for a bit. needless to say, this will contain spoilers for the movie, including plot-points that were changed from the game, so if you are planning to let yourself be surprised by these things, you'd better turn away now.

Well, here we are, Persona 3: "The Movie #1 - Spring of Birth", or, as the theater listing calls it "Persona 3: The Movie; Chapter 1".

I can only say "Thank god for this film!" and that in the best way possible. Do you remember the common complaints that P3 is "All story, little characters", while P4 is "All characters, little story?" Well, apparently they decided to fix this up at least in P3's case. This movie is basically "Sorry the characters were so underdeveloped in the game, let us quickly fix that:The Movie”

The movie greatly expands on the characters and, especially, they relationships, which appear for more dynamic than they did in the game, which is in a big part due to how the character of "Makoto Yuuki", the protagonist, was handled. While Makoto stays very true to his roots as a Silent Protagonist, having only very little dialouge throughout the movie, this does not come off as an in-joke or even laziness, but as a very smart, concious style-choice. Makoto's character is portrayed as silent, stoic, and, above all, extremly indifferent towards almost everything around him - and towards himself. About half of his dialouge in the movie consists of the phrase "I don't care", which becomes deeply woven into the movie's core message, which, surprisingly, is "care for life" rather "remember your death". Having been aware of the Dark Hour ever since he can remember properly, Makoto is also jaded by it to the point that not even the distant screams of becoming-Apathy-Syndrome-victims during his walk to the Iwatodai dorm phase him. Most striking is his attitude towards death, which is akin to that of a Strega Member, which leads to the following dialouge between him and Yukari during the first Fullmoon Shadow Attack on the dorm.

Yukari: "Why are you stopping!? We gotta run." Makoto: "Look. The moon." Yukari: "What!? Stop with the nonsense! Do you want to die!?" Makoto: "...I don't care." Yukari: "...What?" Makoto: "If I died now... would that really be such a bad thing?" Yukari: "What the hell..."

Makoto's indifferent attitude does not remain unnoticed by the people around him, he is being perceived as unsettling to the point of creepiness which, in a huge break from the game, puts him at odds with Yukari, who is deeply disturbed by his behaviour, to the point of saying that his attitude "ircs" her and might "turn him into a danger to himself". Despite this, Makoto does not come off as cold; though he cares little for his own life or anything else, for that matter, he shows kindness to people frequently, even though his expression remains unchanging. Most notably Yamagishi Fuuka is frequently aided by him. It is also Fuuka's and Natsuki's relationship (which receives far more focus in this movie than it ever did in the game, making me convinced that this movie is going to kick off a wave of Fuuka-Natsuki shippers akin to Chie-Yukiko shipping), which brings Makoto to begin reconsidering his attitude towards his own life. I intentionally say "his own life", because Makoto's indifference towards life-and-death only applies to himself; due to the trauma of losing his parents, Makoto displays a deep, almost panic fear of watching people getting hurt or, worse, die. This puts his first Persona summoning into new context; while Personas are usually summmoned through a drive for self-preservation, Makoto's first summoning of Orpheus (who, by the way, actually gets to BURN stuff in this version before Thanatos decides to rear its head) is not triggered by Makoto trying to protect himself, but by his panic fear at the prospect of possibly having to watch Yukari die. As the movie progresses, Makoto steadly learns to "care"for the lives around him and his own life; the title "spring of birth" thus refers to Makoto's own "(Re)Birth"; ending his persumably 10-years long period of mental "death" via isolation. This bears a certain amount of sad irony if you know the ending of the game...

Talking about Yukari, this movie did true miracles for her character. If you were among the group of people who dispised Yukari in the game for being a "whiney bitch", this movie might just recitify this for you, as Yukari receives far more relevant character moments and depth through her (very justified) attitude towards Makoto. Generally, everything Yukari does in this movie comes off as very natural and justified, while being absolutely true to her in-game personality. Additionally, the way she is animated gives her a sense of character that the game could never quite bring out.

Who really steals the show in this movie, though, are Junpei and Fuuka, both of which receive far more screentime and character moments than the game had granted them in the first third of the story. While Fuuka, as previously mentioned, had her relationship with Natsuki greatly expanded on, making them becoming friends so quickly far more blievable, Junpei's jealousy of Makoto is even more pronounced in this version, which is helped by the fact that Makoto in this version is , in fact, NOT named the "Operation Leader" of SEES, but is still constantly favored over Junpei whenever important tasks are handed out. This causes a certain resentment to grow in Junpei, cummulating in him attempting to fight the priestess Shadow all on his own. While Makoto and Yukari do save him, like in the game, Makoto does not actually defeat the priestess himself, but only creates an opening for Junpei to attack and deliever the final blow, which causes Junpei to develope a liking for Makoto, which milders his jealousy. It should be noted that, while Social Links receive far less spotlight in this movie than they had in P4:The Animation, they are still present, but severely changed from the game: Junpei replaces Kenji Tomochika as the Magician Social Link (Kenji has been degraded to a one-scene-cameo character and also received such a heavy redesign that you might need a minute to realize that it's him), and Fuuka Yamagishi, who, in the game, is one of the last Social Links you will probably establish, is the second bond Makoto gains in the movie, as the Priestess Social Link. The only other Social Link established in this film is the "Death" Arcana - right after the credits, before the teaser for the next film.

Talking about the execution of the movie, it is truely marvelous. While the color palette is more lively than in the game, it is used perfectly, bringing the environments out excellently. Mood Lighting is used wonderfully in scenes and the animation, while not necessarily "top notch", is and EXTREME improvement from P4:The Animation. You won't ever find any of the old "Purseowner Derp Faces" in this version, unless you look really hard, like a true nitpicker.

The music relies a lot on the game's OST, but most of the songs have been rearranged and sound a whole lot more interesting and fresh than they did in the game, which is obvious as soon as the verse to "Burn my Dread" starts. The new BGM is very reminiscent of P4:The Animation in all the best ways, but no songs have been reused. Talking of similarities to P4:The Animation, if I had to add another one, it would be how character interactions are handled. This is especially visible in Junpei, who has been, for lack of a better word "Yosuke-fied" quite a bit (though not so much that it would overwrite his own personality, don't worry). Part of this might be the result of him now being the Magician Social Link in Kenji's stead.

How battle scenes are handled is MUCH different from P4: The Animation, however: While the characters actually use proper weapons in this Movie, contrasting P4:Animation, where the characters barely ever used weapons themselves, in return, their Personas are far more instable; none of them is able to summon their Persona for more than a few seconds before it has to be re-summoned by firing the Evoker again. So yeah, prepare to hear the famous *crash!* sound quite a lot.This is much closer to how the game's combat works in spirit, however, it can get a bit tedious to watch after a while.

Taking the most boring timeframe of the game and using it as an oportunity for character expansion and building, P3: The Movie#1 - Spring of Birth is a wonderful "Prelude to the Beginning of the End of Everything", as the Movie Mini-Artbook I bought decrived it so nicely. I can't wait for the next Movie - which, if the teaser after the credits isn't lying, will premier in early summer next year. Probably in late June.

[neni-nipponica]

Shingeki no Kyojin Shelf at Ito-Yadoka Departmentstore. Hey, sis, look.

[neni-nipponica]

"Japanese People hate Anime" and Other totally baseless Myths based on Generalization

Let us clear up one thing to begin with:

No, saying you like Anime will, contrary to popular belief, not get you scorned and avoided as a "fat, antisocial Otaku Manchild" in Japan.

Now, do the Japanese *love* Anime? Let me answer this with another question in response: Do the Americans love Cartoons?

Reducing a whole nation down to the collective "The Japanese" or even "The average Japanese adult" is never a good idea and this whole myth is just another example of why. It is true that Japan is not the Anime-Mecca that Weaboos expect it to be - not by a long shot. There is not merchandise behind every corner and you will likely not be overwhelmed in crazy cosplayers on the street or people walking around with Hatsune Miku Keychains on their phones (though, there are enough people with Anime keychains regardless.) Going to Akihabara will probably satisfy your Fanboy/Fangirl needs, but how about the rest of the country? This can be answered with a nice, big shrug.

See, there is truth to the myth that japanese adults find Anime juvenile in one way: The recent prevalence of Moe-kei Anime, which focus more on cute, bouncy (in more than one way) girls to satisfy the viewer's needs than on an actual plot. It should be obvious to see why the likes of such works are *not* everyone's cup of tea. And why being a fan of those will get you weird stares. And YES the reputation of Anime as a "genre" (if you can even refer to Anime as such, I prefer to only use it as an umbrella term for "animation created in Japan) has, indeed, suffered from such very fetishism-oriented productions. Thank you, Kyo-Ani. 

However, is it embarrasing to be watching Anime in general as an adult Japanese person? Maybe in some circles, but the general answer should be: No. It depends on WHAT you're watching. But watching Hayao Miyazaki? Shingeki no Kyojin? Eden of the East, Detective Conan, insert various Jump-properties here? Maybe Madoka-Magica will probably get you some weird smiles due to the drawing style and the animators' weird (and most likely intended) fixation on panty-shots and Mami's breasts, but all in all, depending on where you are, there is no general shame in liking well-made animated Japanese series or movies, as long as everyone knows they focus more on actually telling a decent story than making you oogle girls in miniskirts or shirtless males. The great majority will still avoid greatly associating with the Character-Shipping, Merchandise-buying, Cosplaying Fanbase, but you will definitely find a nice number of Non-Otaku japanese adults who watched and enjoyed Shingeki no Kyojin (and maybe even Madoka Magica). Sure the general majority isn't *crazy* for Anime, but do you see people in America run onto the street in masses and scream praising hymns to "Frozen" into the air? Point made.

It may be because most of us have minimal interaction with japanese people, but a lot of us westerners seem to view the Japanese Nation as a collective, rather than a gathering of individuals. And while some may come and draw out social-psychological arguements for this now, I will always find this to be a grave mistake. "The Japanese" do not have a hive mind. "The Japanese" do not exist. You will find Japanese who hate Anime, Japanese who love Anime, Japanese who hate certain Anime and love other Anime... The exact same spectrum as everywhere else. The distribution may differ, but even then, saying that "The Japanese love Anime" or "The Japanese hate Anime" is a statement that says exactly nothing. The people I have met here in Tokyo in the past 4 months are incredibly diverse and so were the people in the theaters when I watched "Kaze Tachinu", "Madoka Magica: Rebellion Story" and "Persona 3 #1". So while you can talk about tendencies, you can never generalize.

It's the same with the Myth "Japanese People hate Foreigners" or the myth "Japanese People do not understand Western Culture". It depends on where you go, who you met, how you behave. You can't put all Japanese or even groups of japanese into drawers and expect these to be universally applicable. Sure, there are definite cultural differences, but even the strengths of those vary from person to person. If you go into a neighbourhood used to Exchange Students, like Minami-Oosawa (a beautiful place, with an Arcade and a nice Merchandise Corner in the Department Store) you will lead a fairly happy life as both, a foreigner, and an AniMangaGames-Fan. Now, for people who are planning to go out to the rural areas? It probably looks far different there. But, to quote the legendary words of Morishita Yuya-senpai: "Tokyo is a different Japan".

If there's one thing Japan has with Anime that Western Cartoons don't have in the west, it's extremly dedicated merchandising; the Japanese firms are just more ready to go to greater lengths to satisfy (and exploit) the fans than the western companies (exception: Disney) are. This says nothing about the public's acceptance or even opinion of Anime. It only says that the Japanese Fans just get more stuff and we all wish Merchandising in the west would take a page out of that book. (Or not. I mean, we all like our wallets, after all.) But aside from this heavenly-hellish merchandising? Really, liking Anime in Japan is neither the norm, nor a general stigma. 

So, Non-Japanese Anime-Fans planning to go to Japan: Relax. You will NOT be burned on the stake for your hobby and you will not be pointed and laughed at as a strange Otaku-manchild as long as you don't flaunt your fanboy/girlism in front of people with no interest in it. 

Just don't go onto the street in a Hatsune Miku Cosplay, with a Soul Gem around your neck, wearing 3D Maneuver Gear. Trust me. It's for your good. 

[neni-nipponica]

This is the loot of today's trip to COMIKET. I am so glad I found plenty of Ace Attorney and Persona. I even bought some HanaKuma Dojinshi after checking if the content was fully platonic (which it was) these things are just too cute!! The NaruHana Dojinshi in the lower middle is a late Christmas present for a friend who should know herself who I mean. The Touhou Artbook is for my boyfriend.

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Pokémon Center Yokohama, with Neriede and Hiroko, 19th of October 2013.

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New Rozen Maiden figurines coming out. As if my wallet wasn't already endangered enough.