Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream

Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring of Birth was done by AIC A.S.T.A. studio which despite not being a good film I would have preferred if they continued making the films over A-1 Pictures studio. A-1 Pictures had their chance at the Persona franchise with Persona 4: The Golden Animation. Instead of refining Lerche’s earlier anime adaptation, titled Persona 4: The Animation, on the same game A-1 Picture created what is best described as a cash grab. Now they’re in charge of creating a sequel to an average video game movie adaptation. Like with Persona 4: The Golden Animation, A-1 Picture doesn’t seek outto make improvements, and instead makes sure you know it’s an A-1 Pictures product. What I find funny is during the opening sequence, Makoto says “I don’t know why, but I feel really good” looking up into the sky revealing director Tomohisa Taguchi name. Almost as a way to reassure viewers this sequel is in good hands. It might seem unimportant, but this is the same director behind Persona 4: The Golden Animation. Persona fans, let that sink in as I delve into this bad sequel. Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight’s Dream continues the story of Makoto Yuki from the first film leading a group of Persona users to eliminate “The Dark Hour”. This movie opens with a shower scene in a motel room. The film is gracious enough not to provide viewers with a recap of the previous film to pad the running time, but not smart enough to provide context as to why two teenagers are in a motel seemingly about to have sex. I know what happened since I played the game, but even with that said I’m watching a movie not playing it. External knowledge should not be required to understand the first scene of a movie. Once Yukari Takeba finishes showering, putting on a towel while Makoto takes off accessories around his neck. Yukari, and Makoto stare at each other in the middle of the room for a bit before Yukari blushed from embarrassment. The opening scene ends when Yukari slaps Makoto in the face then cue in title card. No scene, can better express what it felt like to see the film. It was, in every metaphorical sense, a slap to the face as a fan of the Person 3 video game. Now, I want to emphasize this is an A-1 Picture production because it takes 17 minutes before anything significant like story actually appears in the movie. Yes, it takes that long before anything story wise actually starts moving forward in a film that’s around an hour, and forty minutes long. The most important thing relating to story that happens within those first 17 minutes is introducing the passive villains Strega. Everything else is spend on fan service like a scene at a beach involving Junpei Iori describing the swimwear of the female characters as the camera shows them off. Granted, this also happened in the video game, but at least they (the female characters) received some characterization at that point in the video game. Since the last movie didn’t develop the cast into dynamic characters it’ll make you shake your head as this is most of the female characters’ biggest contribution in the film. Another aspect it failed to do within those 17 minutes was introduced anything meaningful to use later on in the film story. After an opening action scene, the characters are next seen on a boat heading to an island, then proceeds for around 10 minutes on the beach on non-story related activity. Pass those first 17 minutes the film finally provides explanations for questions that should have been answered in the first film. So now you’ll finally get an answer for why Gekkoukan High School transform into Tartarus in “The Dark Hour”, why the Shadows were released into the world, how to possibly eliminate “The Dark Hour”, and how many of the powerful Shadows that appear during a full moon need to be defeated. All of this information would have been useful in the first film! This is basically damage control for the insane decision for characters to withhold information for no good reason. Narratively it leaves the viewers with no exposure to Persona 3 wandering in the dark when information needed to understand how the film world function gets addressed in the sequel. Thankfully, the one good decision from the story was explaining the concept of artificial Personas. Explaining what makes them different from regular Personas, and the consequences they hold. It’s not a focal point in the film, but at least some attention is given to it. Out of all the material that could have been cut from the film it’s beyond comprehension why the one, and only scene in “The Velvet Room” was left in when all that was said in it was enjoy life to the fullest, and beware of Shadows. This added absolutely nothing of value to the story. The inhabitants of “The Velvet Room” don’t appear again the film besides this one scene. The film was also in need of direction, and main goal to accomplish in the story. There’s a moment in the film where Shinji cooks for a dog while wearing pink cooking apparels. Then, the camera turns around to show an expressionless Aegis staring at Shinji. This causes Shinji to sweat with hip hop music (Mass Destruction by Lotus Juice) playing in the background repeating “Baby, baby, baby”. I just described a pointless moment in the film that the creators of the film approved to animate in the film, even though the first 17 minutes does nothing to move the story forward. Choices like these are the reasons why these Persona 3 films fail to tell a story properly. While still discussing the first thirty minutes of the film I should get across this sequel ruined one of my favorite scene from the video game. It’s after Yukari sees footage of her father dying (plus a revelation discerning Shadows too), and Makoto goes to the beach at night attempting to make Yukari feel better. I very much like this scene allot in the video game besides being a tender moment gave Yukari more depth as a character. It also ended on a humorous note showing the group strong friendship in hard times. So, when I saw the altered scene play out it was for a different purpose. What should have been a character defining moment for Yukari ends up being the set up to an introductory action scene to show off Aegis capabilities as an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon killing a dozen or so shadows. I wouldn’t have mind the action scene if A.) Cell Phones were not shown working in the "The Dark Hour" even though the first film establishes technology doesn’t work during “The Dark Hour”, B.) The action scene happens after Yukari sees footage of her father dying which dramatically voids Yukari of a meaningful moment, and finally C.) If in the previous film a single character had no trouble fending off a powerful Shadow in his first time of combat in Tartarus what makes you think I’m going to believe two unarmed characters will be in danger from an encounter where they are surrounded by a dozen weak Shadows. Okay, with the first 1/3 of the film problems already written about there’s the rest of the film. With newly introduce Cyborg Girl Aegis now part of the main cast the film makes sure to tell audience she has an infatuation with protagonist Makoto Yuki. A love triangle would have benefited the story if done right. Makoto pays more attention towards Aegis in the film than Yukari even though they have known each other longer. Yukari is shown being jealous whenever Aegis says her purpose in life is to be next to Makoto Yuki side. If competently written this would be used to develop Yukari instead of just being used for humor. To add insult to injury Aegis proves to be more powerful, and useful in combat than Yukari who has been fighting Shadows for a far longer time. This romance aspect of the story doesn’t go far beyond Aegis stating she wants to be next to Makoto. Our protagonist shows no interest in either of them, but spends more time with Aegis in the film. Continuing what was the point of the first film if Makoto didn’t learn to be more open with his emotions! It’s like he reset as a character to learn the same thing in the sequel. However, this film ends on a tragic note which would have made sense for Makoto to be emotionless if that tragic event happened earlier, or if the film was longer to expand on his depress state of mind. It’s headache inducing attempting to figure out why the filmmakers thought this was a good direction to take Makoto character in. When it comes to characters instead of developing the already large cast this sequel decides to increase its number instead. With the exception of Makoto, all the characters from the previous film are delegated into the background. Including Yukari, and Junpei whom were important in the previous film don’t grow as characters in the sequel. Junpei for instance doesn’t know what he would do after “The Dark Hour” is dealt with, but there’s no exploration on it. Other characters who also pondered this same question in one scene. Beside Makoto Yuki, everyone else’s thoughts on the question feel unimportant. A negative that detracts from the whole group dynamic when its tries to get across SEES is made up of close friends. Any character that was in the sideline in the first film don’t receive better treatment except for Akihiko who receives some characterization. Unlike the first film where the climax allowed him to contribute to the story. In this entry, Akihiko ends up short as his connection with Shinjiro has to be rushed, nor is the idea that they (Shinjiro and Akihiko) are good friends is done convincingly. A total of seven characters get added to the cast. One of them is Ken Amada who turns out the best developed of the new characters. He has a simple backstory that eventually turns into a sub-plot of revenge. This leads to Ken being more developed as a character since the reasons behind his negative feelings on living are addressed. Koromaru is a dog that can use a Persona who has no backstory to him. Ken says a single line that Koromaru got left behind, but that could mean anything from an owner who forgot his dog to a street dog with no owner. A single line won’t make me care Koromaru, even if he’s a cute dog who can use a Cerberus like Persona. Finally, there is Shinjiro Aragaki who joins SEES fifty minute into the film. Anybody who has played the game (minus maxing out Shinjiro social link in Persona 3 Portable female route) knows Shinjiro fate in the story. His late addition to SEES makes Shinjiro character be rushed, and his impact on the story overall weak. Without much time spend with him, along with other characters, there’s no reason to be invested in their story. He’s also a plot convenience in the film when he goes to the rescue of SEES. If you complained about Makoto Yuki being overpowered in the first film; this film offers a solution by providing another overpowered character. This time in the form of Aegis who also just as powerful as Makoto. In this film, Aegis is responsible for doing most of the fighting while Makoto is given a handicapped depending on the context. The climatic fight in particular has Makoto pondering his purpose after eliminating “The Dark Hour” for most it. While on the climax, it does a disservice to Junpei, and Yukari characters as they get beaten quickly showing they had not grown stronger since the first film. As a character, Aegis is simply a robot that doesn’t blend well with other human with how she acts. Unfortunately, she doesn’t learn, or wants to seek out what it means to be human in the film. Though, given the archetype of Aegis it’s bound to happen. Her defining trait in this film is being overpowered, and being attached to Makoto Yuki allot. If you complained about Makoto Yuki being overpowered in the first film; this film offers a solution by providing another overpowered character. This time in the form of Aegis who also just as powerful as Makoto. In this film, Aegis is responsible for doing most of the fighting while Makoto is given a handicapped depending on the context. The climatic fight in particular has Makoto pondering his purpose after eliminating “The Dark Hour” for most it. While on the climax, it does a disservice to Junpei, and Yukari characters as they get beaten quickly showing they had not grown stronger since the first film. As a character, Aegis is simply a robot that doesn’t blend well with other human with how she acts. Unfortunately, she doesn’t learn, or wants to seek out what it means to be human in the film. Though, given the archetype of Aegis it’s bound to happen. Her defining trait in this film is being overpowered, and being attached to Makoto Yuki allot. Lastly for the characters there are the members of Strega. A group that only has one character who has anything to do in the story. His name is Takaya Sakaki who states his intentions, and make the heroes ponder the questions of their purpose without “The Dark Hour”. Takaya is only in this film to kill off a certain character whose death has not much impact because that specific character short screen time. The other members of Strega don’t do much beside exist. Finally, there’s the character of Pharos who also has little to do in the film. Much like the one scene in “The Velvet Room”, Pharos appearance could have been cut out since he basically states the obvious of something bad is about to happen. A-1 Pictures is in charge with the production, and thankfully at least that is carried over from previous film. A-1 Pictures doesn’t improve on the animation aspect, but there is not a decrease in quality either from film to film. There’s more variety in the settings. The majority of the movie takes place at night time with the presence of heavy shadows. Like in the previous film, it’s reliance on lighting to create an eerie atmosphere. When in “The Dark Hour” blacks into dark greens and the blues into reds. This carries in the film insistent on color saturation be it making day scenes intensely bright, or making night scenes really dark. Almost as if it’s unable to trust viewers with the time of day a scene takes place in. Particle effects are amped up in the battles from the previous film as members in SEES equals to more Persona on screen using magic attack, or the characters killing shadows. When Aegis is killing a group of Shadows in her first action scene the animation is fluid as she quickly moves around the environment, the framing of shot making it clear to see what’s going on, and the effects to add to the impact of an attack be it heavy flames, or bullet piercing. There is some bad 3D animation during a major action scene that doesn’t blend with 2D animation in the middle of the film. Besides this, the 3D in the film is not jarringly noticeable through its duration. Voice acting is satisfactory once again. With too many characters, and unequal screen time the majority of the main voice cast from the first film get sideline without being offered single a scene to display their talent. Giving more than half of its voice talent the equivalent of thankless roles. New addition Kazuya Nakai who plays Shinjirou Aragaki gets the most ranged in a rushed amount of time. His performance is noteworthy as despite the speed his character changes tone Kazyua Nakai always sound natural. He makes the swift change in his character easier to accept. Megumi Ogata plays Ken Amada has a steadier change in her performance. Going from uncertain scare kid, too optimistic, to gloomy is handle well through her performance. I might not like the character Ken Amada, but she makes the character convincing. Then there’s Maaya Sakamoto who plays Aegis who has plenty of screen time. Unfortunately, her character is a cyborg trying to learn emotion archetype. However, since Aegis hasn’t gotten philosophical of what it means to be human Maaya Sakamoto is monotone for the whole film. It goes with the character in this instance, but it ends up being a forgettable performance. Sakamoto monotone delivery of her lines does not provide hint of a complex character making Aegis seem hollow than she might actually be. What really bothers me the most about the performances is voice actor Akira Ishida doesn’t get to expand on his character Makoto Yuki. So he once again has to play the same emotionless, broken leading character from the first film. Ishida is not allowed to be more emotional, more expressive in his portrayal of Makoto Yuki. This film does the biggest disservice to him since by not allowing Akira Ishida to gradually transition his emotionless character to a more expressive one. The film rejects Akira Ishida the opportunity to expand Makoto Yuki beyond what was presented in the first film. It feels like a retread of his performance from the first film. While his retread performance is not bad it doesn’t quite the same effect the second time around. Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight’s Dream is a bad film continuing being inaccessible for newcomers, and infuriating for Persona 3 fans for not making the appropriate changes for the material to function as a movie. None of the character are developed enough to care about, there’s no tension because of two overpowered characters, a large cast most of whom don’t contribute to the story, and is predictably boring for anyone who played Persona 3 as it does nothing to throw fans off guard. It looks, and sounds like Persona 3, but by the time the credits roll it won’t be the same emotional roller coaster the video game was.

Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream is based on the Atlus game Persona 3. The story of Persona 3 revolves around an young man who returns to his hometown after several years, discovers that there are unusual events and through a series of events gains access to people's power. I played the game and i kind say tha the summer time in the movie is much better then in the game, here you wont do almost anything during summer time. Story: 9 out of 10 The summer time is a boring time in the game with not much to do, if they did in themovie the exactly same story as the game i would grade it 5 or 6, but they had the guts to change the story. I know that the story isn't perfect, there are a few things that didn't get explained. The bad thing is that because is just a movie, the support characters don't have almost any screen time and any development, maybe if they made a four season anime it It could be better but they did good enough with the movie. Art: 10 out of 10 The art is the same as in the game, it is a beautiful kind of art that fits the game very well. Sound: 10 out of 10 It is so good they i have nothing to say about it, the bgm fits every scene, the voices and the other sounds are also very well done. Characters: 7 out of 10 The character development of the MC is better in the movie but as for the other characters like Yukari, you can feel that the social link system is very important for character development and that interesting side character like the girl from the hanged man or the girl from the justice social link have a few seconds of screen time or don't apear at all. Enjoyment: 9 out of 10 I really liked to watch what they did with summer time, unfortunately they skip many details that apear in the game, a few events and side missions. Overall: 9 out of 10 If you're thinking about watching the movie to know if you should play the game, DON'T DO IT! First play the game than watch the movie.

Summer means beach and festival fun but means more Shadows lurks. New characters, more character development and world building, this is Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream. So Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream starts off with SEES in a beach vacation where they encounter Aegis voiced by Maaya Sakamoto, an android weapon meant to kill Shadows but also Shinji, Akihiko's older brother encounters another Persona user, Ken Amada voiced by Megumi Ogata and a dog that can move in the Dark Hour named Koromaru. With these revelations, also comes in Strega, a sorta polar opposite to SEES, where they are tryingto PROTECT the Shadows and keep the Dark Hour going and this indirectly gets at Makoto, as he somewhat sympathizes with Strega's motives yet it conflicts with his desires of protecting his friends but at the expense of giving Makoto a fulfilling life in the Dark Hour, well to be honest this character development of Makoto was something LA was wanting from the first movie and is a moral dilemma for Makoto that affects not only his character but the plot too as what happens once all 12 of the Greater Shadows and the Dark Hour disappears?, will he be a nobody and be an ordinary student again or maybe because if the Dark hour disappears, he'll lose his friends he's met up til now. Though Makoto's dilemma is somewhat plot crucial in this movie, Midsummer Knight's Dream focuses more on Shinji and Amada and how they are linked in a ways, in similar respects to fleshing out Fuuka but with Shinji and Amada's case much more detailed and with much worse consequences. From the first movie we got glimpses to Shinji as a character, just that he's a loner and is the older brother to Akihiko but in Midsummer Knight's Dream, we get more in depth with him and how his sins and dilemna's is linked to Amada in a ways and LA won't spoil but let's just say it reminds LA HEAVILY of Snow and Hope's relationship from Final Fantasy XIII, heck it's almost beat for beat...almost. Though Amada and Shinji's development takes centre stage, we do get more world building and where Yukari comes in with why she's in SEES in the first place and for being LA's favorite character this was welcomed to say the least and LA only grew to like Yukari even more giving her at least some limelight. (Now that LA thinks about it, LA likes Persona's tomboyish characters, Yukari, Chie from P4 and Makoto from P5) Anyways her backstory more or less brings in the world building of how Tartarus, the Dark Hour was formed and how to get rid of it. To say that Midsummer Knight's Dream is much more character-focused in an understatement and it's only helped with it's world building giving urgency and tying things together to the entire ordeal of Strega, the Dark Hour, Shinji, Amada and Makoto as it's core elements that was nicely no very well executed. If there were any flaws, LA wouldn't exactly call them flaws, more nitpicks but even then LA will defend those, now Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream does seem to rush to the major events but LA will defend this by saying that at least they brought in some cameo social links during the off peak moments of the game and really again LA made this argument many times but trying to cram in a 200 hours game content to the second part of a series of movies each with 100 minutes of screentime is highly doubtful, but the second movie at least tried to put some mention of it in. Lastly would be that some character development was halted to make way for the new characters and their development, the major victims being Yukari and Aegis who was only introduced in this movie and nothing much else but much like Fuuka taking the focus during the first movie, LA can give this flaw some grace as LA will guess the next movie will flesh it out and heck Mitsuru had probably the smallest screentime of the movie and we just know about her father and that her father's company helps the SEES. The production is the the same as the first movie however to be fair, the animation now done by A1-Pictures was as still consistent from the first movie with even better fights, background work, silkier character designs but most definitely from the atmospheric animation work was amazingly done. In the voice acting department, LA will give Akira Ishida as Makoto and Megumi Ogata as Amada and Kazuya Nakai as Shinji some props in their voice acting. Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream shows that it isn't playing around and this isn't a game (well it is, LA is saying in-universe) of playing hero and nothing echoes it than the finale of this movie and it's incredibly heartbreaking to say the least what happens and the moral dilemma it's going to cause to Makoto of either wanting to get rid of the Dark Hour to protect his friends but his want to be something with the Dark Hour present. Midsummer Knight's Dream is an obvious step up to the first movie but LA won't give the first movie any slack and it was build up to this revelation. Well executed character development from both new and old characters, moral quandaries questioned, world building fleshing out the supernatural and villains and a bitter yet well deserved ending. Summer slowly but surely moves to Falling Down...

Persona 3 the Movie 2: Midsummer Knight's Dream is the sequel to Spring of Rebirth. The problem is that it is not exactly clear when the movie takes place other than that it hints that it is something like the summer. The movie immediately begins in the middle of the Lovers' Shadow on a full moon with no context for how they got there. It immediately cuts to a beach episode before getting serious again. They flash some scenes of minor characters and social links, but unless you played the game, you would have no idea who they are. While there seems to be astory between the past relationship of two characters, it is split up so far apart and not emphasized before it reaches the climax and you actually figure out the significance of the event. It felt like there was a lack of direction and they chose to just adapt what they felt would be popular with the fans rather than trying to make a coherent story. Like its predecessors, the art and the sound are great. The animation is excellent and makes great use of CGI to show how the Persona are foreign. The impressive shadow and lighting effects make their return and continues to contribute to the overall feeling of the story. There are a few scenes where the lighting does seem a little off because one character appears with shadows and then suddenly, another character in the same conversation does not. The sounds and music of the game make their return in high quality. The poor story ultimately hurts the character development and the overall enjoyment of the movie. While the first movie spent some time to develop the characters, Midsummer Knight's Dream felt like it constantly shifted between action scenes and suspense scenes, skipping large chunks of the story just so it could follow this formula. The few scenes that do not follow this do little to contribute further to the characters. This becomes an even bigger problem in the third movie, Falling Down, where one of the things they kind of glossed over becomes important towards the climax of the that movie. This movie felt like a movie that could only be enjoyed by people who had already played the game because then you could at least do things like fill in the missing information yourself. But if you are experiencing Persona 3 for the first time, all this does is leave you confused.

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