The stage is Ayanagi City, a city near the Japan Sea. It is a futuristic city that was built to carry out the recovery from the calamity caused by the "Apathy Syndrome" ten years previous. High school student Shin Kanzato with his little brother Jun, meet with their elder brother Ryou, who is the chief of the Ayanagi City Police, again after ten years. At that time, a series of strange incidents happen in Ayanagi City such as the crew of a submarine that suddenly disappears while in their submarine, or a spiritless symptom which disturbs the world after ten years, or the case of the inside out corpse where a student took on a cruel appearance. Ryou tracks down the organization behind the string of incidents, and having become involved in the incidents, Shin awakens the "Persona."
(Source: Wikipedia)
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Comentários
vault2049
The Shin Megami Tensei brand has been taking away hours and hours of my life after having played my first Persona game and Digital Devil game 2 years ago. But, and what I enjoyed most, was the transition after I finished Persona 3 and started Persona 4. So, after coming back to the Persona world (encouraged by the Persona 3 Portable game latest release) I thought about watching this series that I had stored on my hard drive since about one year ago. After I finished watching it I was very dissapointed. I definitely expected a lot more from Persona –trinity soul-, an anime adaptationof one of the best JRPGs ever made.
So, welcome to Ayanagi City, a futuristic metropolis where Persona users seem to be more and more frequent. Here is where the young Kanzato brothers, Shin and Jun, are returning to reunite with their elder brother, Ryou, after the disastrous incidents that ended with their parents and their younger sister lives 10 years ago. Ryou happens to be the chief of the Ayanagi police Department. He has been on the track of a Persona criminal group known as Moribito, who he beliefs are the cause of the incidents 10 years ago. This group was apparently inactive, but when Shin and Jun arrive at Ayanagi City the group suddenly starts to take action. This and other events trigger the awakening of Shin’s persona.
Most Persona fans must be familiar with the “Apathy Syndrome” and “Persona” terms so I’m not going to explain those. Also, and to clarify, I’ll be making lots of comparisons with the Persona videogames (3 and 4) just because I consider it to be pertinent. This being said, the viewer must know that this is a spin-off story from Persona 3 that holds almost no relation to it.
As for the story development goes, the producers failed miserably. The incoherence and slow pace is a constant element that makes the whole story pretty much boring. Most episodes of Persona trinity soul- don’t start “right off” when the previous one ended; this makes it a little confusing for the audience and tends to be tedious, since one will have to wait to the near end of the actual episode to be able to realize what’s really going on. Sometimes there is not any explanation of what happened previously whatsoever.
At the end, the story has it good moments and some awfully and constant monotone passages. The battles are short and a disgrace to those who played the Persona videogames because of the lack of complexity featured. The plot focuses more on the characters as a whole and on their problems. Some episodes might be (to some extent) entertaining to watch, but each episode definitely doesn’t shine on its own amongst the others. The storyline is nothing near engaging or memorable.
On the other hand, the animation is very well done. Somehow the quality and style makes me remember Persona 4, since the characters and locations are drawn pretty much alike. Also the high school male uniform it’s similar to the one used on Persona 4 by the main leads. This makes sense, considering that the Persona 4 game was released in Japan one month after this anime started airing on June of 2008.
Ayanagi City also looks familiar. One can associate the city town district with Gekkoukan City (Persona 3) and the rural area, where the Kanzato residence is ubicated, with Inaba City (Persona 4). Ayanagi City might be, in fact, a hybrid resulted of the combination of both cities.
My only concern with the animation design does come to surface when the personas are ‘summoned’. Fans hoping to watch little Jack Frost freezing an opponent or gorgeous Angel casting a healing spell will be greatly disappointed. The persona’s design on Persona -trinity soul- seems to be taken out from a mecha genre anime and practically all of them look almost the same with some slight differences in contextures and colors. Plus, the personas don’t have an identity or name, they’re just "personas"; this really blurs the whole perspective for the viewer who could wonder: “are these ‘personas’ THAT important to the plot?” At least visually the personas are just a nuisance and might anger more than one.
If I were to point at the best attribute (and probably the only one) that Persona -trinity soul- has, I would say without a doubt: that’s gotta be the soundtrack. While the show follows the usual fast and strong Opening single and slow and tranquil Ending theme sequence that shounens usually tend to use, the tracks are far above average. Especially the second Opening single, “Word of voice” performed by FLOW, needs a special recognition for its quality. The original BGMs are very good and definitely add more sentiment when the moment requires it. There are some remixed versions of some Persona 3 BGMs that can be heard on most of the episodes. Also an old character from the same game makes his appearance half trough the series.
Sanada Akihiko, probably the most popular character from Persona 3 amongst the ladies, appears from nowhere exactly when the anime reaches its second season. Surely a fanservice alternative from the producers to please the audience has to be the case, taking into consideration that Akihiko doesn’t really take any part in the “action”. Even so, he might be one of the few characters that are actually “alive” in the plot.
All the main characters and the majority of the secondary characters are lifeless or, simply put, lame. There isn’t a single moment to break into laugher or a single sad moment because the characters don’t really ask for the viewer’s sympathy. Junpei, Aegis, Yukiko, Fuuka, Yosuke… Persona gamers can find all the previous stereotype characters in this anime roster. Of course, none of the characters share the original’s charisma or seem to be developed to the videogame’s possible extend. The characters could disappear one after another and the viewer probably wouldn’t care or even notice the “change”.
Persona -trinity soul- wasn’t enjoyable, of course being I a Persona gamer. I seriously don’t have the slightest idea if a non-Persona gamer would fully understand the anime scenario. But, I can say this for myself: a Persona gamer will feel angered, disappointed or just will not feel anything at all. I wouldn’t recommend it to Persona gamers, knowing that this is simply a mediocre rip-off of a great theme and I wouldn’t recommend it to non-Persona gamers, since I don’t want them to have a bad impression of the saga. There is a slight chance that the last mentioned group might enjoy it though.
I’m sure the producers tried to make this anime somehow different to the usual content that the fans are used to. As they say: “different is not always bad”, the contrary could as well be applied: “the usual is not always bad”. A shame that the staff couldn’t realize that: “when things go well, why change them?”
bjtdevera
The Good: - Persona 3 fanservice (it features one of the characters from the video game midway through the series) - Great soundtrack - Beautiful art style The Bad: - Convoluted plot - Seriously...what's up with the whale feathers? - Can be too emo at times - Episodes never start exactly where the last episode left off. Annoying.Conclusion:
Persona tries to draw you into their world, and into the dark histories of its characters, but only partially succeeds. Fans of the video game will surely find reason to like this anime. Those who have never played the game, however, will probably find it average at the least.
AngryButler
Persona -Trinity Soul- is a nice addition to the Persona story, and like Persona 3 before it, focuses a lot on character develpment. Even though this anime is considered a sequal to Persona 3, besides having a supporting character from the game, and the occasional mention of the "event 10 years ago," it doesn't entirely connect with the game, and is better considered a story of it's own. At first, the story is slow and confusing, but the explanations and speed picks up partway through the series. For people hoping to see a lot of Persona versus Persona fighting, sorry. The focus is more on storyhere.
Overall, though, it was a very great anime, with sometimes surprising plot twists and touching flashback scenes (which I usually hate). The music is always fitting with the scene that is occuring. Character design and art is great, and the studio did a great job of perfecting the same dark atmosphere that the Persona series is known for.
k0k0
How cool is it when you put a gun to your head, close your eyes, pull the trigger... and out comes a mask of your personality, a figure of your other self, a being of great power that you can summon...a Persona? Very cool indeed. That's the theme of the quite popular Persona 3, an Atlus game for the Playstation 2. Persona: Trinity Soul, is a spin-off to the awesome RPG. Sadly, it turns out to be a disgrace to Persona 3, and all of its fans. Trinity Soul has absolutely no relation to the game whatsoever (thankfully). Save one recurring character from the RPG, the rest ofthe series is unrelated to the original game's plot. It's not a sequel, but an independent anime based on the theme of Personas stolen from the game.
The only excuse I found for watching this series (as i'm sure is also the case with the other persona 3 fans) is solely because it followed the theme from my all time favourite RPG.
What I did not expect was the complete butchering of Personas, their summoning, their power and the over all story in Trinity Soul.
Story
The story, if it can be called a story, takes place 10 years after the occurences in persona 3 and centers around the young 17 year old Shin. A normal highschool student who gets transferred along with his younger brother, to live with their older brother who works in the police force. Strange things seemed to be happening in the city, and as Shin becomes aware of them and gets involved, he awakens his other self, his Persona.
That is all which is notable in the series, the rest is crap.
There's no actual plot, just a gang of bandits experimenting with persona users. The plot, at times, becomes difficult to follow and I can honestly say that I still didn't completely comprehend the ending.
Art
The art was somehwat decent. The characters were built nicely but they look like a mixture of the old 'cute' anime faces and the new 'real' looking ones. The eyes somewhat disturbed me. Apart from that, the backgrounds and sceneries were quite impressive I admit and the city highlights were heart warming and the only pleasure I could derive from the series.
Sound
The OP and ED themes were actually very good. But I never noticed the background music much (which are extremely important and if used correctly, can make the moment 10 times more enjoyable). Either because they never used anything decent (or maybe none at all) or maybe because I was desperately waiting for the series to finish quickly.
Character
This was just...bearable. Shin always exaggerated his feelings and sometimes, didn't show them at all. The characters never expressed at the right places and behaved very abnormally. I feel that one of the side characters, Yuki, was barely necessary but the series has stressed quite much on her. Then the way a few characters are dealt with is just plain PATHETIC. A moment which was supposed to make the viewer feel sad and depressed brought a reaction of 'WTF!?'
Enjoyment
Need I say more? You might be able to relax your eyes on the sceneries and on one of my favourite characters who made a return in this (why HIM of all the people?). But forget about the main theme: Personas. They are designed like personas but are almost transparent and their summoning is bull. No backstory on personas or their history. They are more like giant colourful flying robots. YES. EXACTLY like that. Utterly obliterated. And what's with the whale and the feathers?
Overall
Fellow fans of the Persona RPGs, expect nothing from this. I highly recommend you ignore this series if you don't want to see the lovable and awesome personas turned into garbage right in front of your eyes. Continue enjoying the awesomeness of the games Persona 3 and 4 and their brilliant story lines, characters and plots. Don't indulge yourself into this nightmare like I did, thinking that it's worth watching since it's related to Atlus' Persona 3. You might enjoy this series more if you were unaware of the original games, but you wouldn't understand anything to begin with.
Very Poor. Nothing like the Persona brilliance, which is in a whole different league. A big let down for Persona fans.
Nikki0417
Any fans of the Persona series, Persona 3 in particular, will probably be excited to watch Persona Trinity Soul, especially since most synopses describe it as a sequel to P3. Be warned, though, that while the anime does make reference to things in Persona 3 and even features a cameo of one character, it has very little to do with its predecessor. Plus, if you can manage to figure out what's going on, you'll realize there are a few things happening that are actually inconsistent with the video game series. Story: 3/10 The series goes from boring, to confusing, and ends with disappointing. Like the PersonaRPGs, there's a big focus on character development. Unlike the games, however instead of balancing that development with action, most episodes are 24-minutes worth of talking heads. The moments of action are minimal and usually appear at the end of an episode, leaving you with a cliff-hanger. However, the following episode doesn't start right where the previous one left off. So, you're forced to sit through another 20 minutes of talking, repeating the process all over again. The second half of the series has the same amount of talking heads, but this time the heads are saying things you don't even understand. The writers added too many elements to the plot and left most of them unanswered. I just wish the characters would stop speaking in metaphors for a minute and tell me what the hell is going on in plain English...or Japanese, SOMETHING. Why are they called “whale feathers”? Why are they talking about whales? What the hell is everyone doing? What's with the red lolita chick flying around? Also, I won’t mention any spoilers, but there are a few things surrounding the existence of personas, as well as one of the characters in this anime, that I found were inconsistent with the video games.
Art: 4/10
When reading other reviews, I noticed most people really enjoyed the animation. Maybe I'm just a snob, but I found the animation to be some of the worst I've seen in anime. The characters aren't drawn consistently; facial structure or anatomy unintentionally change from frame to frame. Shin's chin might look normal in a close-up but suddenly be WAY too long when the camera zoom's out. There were a number of scenes where a character moved their head and their eyes would suddenly be too far apart or too close together. These are the kind of anatomical errors I'd expect from a beginner artist, not professional work. Aside from the fight scenes, there wasn't a lot of actual "animation," either. There was a lot of panning across still images or zoom-ins and outs, making slow episodes feel even slower. The backgrounds were drawn well, though. The environments and dark atmosphere of the series were the only things I really enjoyed about the art.
Sound: 7/10
Listening to the background music in this series was one of the few things that kept me watching. I remember getting so excited when I was watching the first episode and suddenly heard a track from P3. From then on, I would wait for scenes to change then listen to see if I could recognize the background music. The original music in the series isn't too bad either. There are several catchy tunes that make the fight scenes (the few and far between) even more enjoyable to watch.
Character: 5/10
The. characters. are. so. flat. I wanna say they're like "diet" version of previous Persona characters. I can see similarities to characters like Junpei, Fuuka, and Yukari, but they lack the depth and empathy said characters possess. They spent so much time angsting over their past, I found myself more frustrated than sympathetic. Akihiko Sanada from P3 is introduced in the second half of the series, and while he's by far one of the more entertaining characters, I still found that even his personality was somewhat diluted. Maybe hanging out with Shin and company too much killed his soul. But even with this, I thought the most interesting characters were Akihiko, Itou, Narasaki, and Inui only because I'm convinced he's Ken Amada in disguise. While Shin's friends are off angsting over the loss of their family members, Jun's playing Persona Whisperer, and Shin's having what looks like a bad acid trip, those guys were actually trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They were investigating, researching and showing general interest in the, you know, PLOT. I think it says something when the best characters don't even get featured in the opening.
Enjoyment: 4/10
Like I said earlier, the few things I enjoyed were the well-drawn backgrounds, music, the investigations Itou and Narasaki conducted, and a 28-year-old Akihiko in a suit. If there wasn't a song I recognized or a scene with Akihiko and/or the cops, I found myself getting easily bored. I'd spaced out and miss what they were saying, but even if I rewound to catch the dialogue again, I'd still be confused about what was going on.
Overall: 4/10
I don't know if I can describe Persona Trinity Soul as a sequel or a stand-alone series. It's too far gone from it's supposed predecessor to be a real sequel, but the characters make too many references to Persona 3 for it to be a stand-alone anime. This also makes it hard for me to assume who the target audience was. Persona 3 fans would probably be disappointed with the lack of action and less entertatining persona summons, and those who haven't played the Persona 3 would find it too confusing to get into.
This series isn't worth watching for the plot or other characters. Fangirls can go ahead and watch it for the eye-candy; fanboys are just screwed. If you liked P3 and you liked Akihiko or you just like hot guys, watch this series to see Akihiko strut around in a suit. Watch it from episode 14 on and pretend it's a show about him walking around and talking. Don't worry about not understanding whatever else is happening in the show. Odds are, you won't understand what's going on even if you watch it from the beginning.
Kira01
People who played the games and expected to see many cameos or lots of intense persona battles will find this anime to be disappointing, because the anime took a different direction. It is more like one of those "slice of life" anime series rather than the expected action-packed persona battles. Most of the episodes can be considered as drama rather than action genre action, because there is little to no battle scenes in it at all. On top of that, there were quite a number of twists and irony throughout the anime, as well as confusing points that people who don't pay attention would nothave any idea what's going on.
If people watch this anime as an anime and not as a Persona-related anime would find this to be a masterpiece in terms of story elements, character developments, great animation and also an awesome soundtrack along with many vocal tracks by Lotus Juice and Kawamura Yumi, both of which did the Persona 3 FES OST.
slurmsoda
DON’T WATCH THIS, SAVE YOUR TIME First & probably last time I’ll ever write a review for anything on this platform, I was telling someone about this show & noticed there were more positive then negative reviews which is off putting provided how terrible of an experience this was for me. For persona fans, imagine playing persona 1. Simply going through the SEBEC route & grinding for ultimate personas for your party. Not 100% completion. That’s a hellscape & you’d have to be a glutton for punishment to want that. Watching this anime is the same experience, it’s a punishment. It’s not generic, it’s not funnybad. There’s just isn’t any redeemable qualities. The plot is extremely boring, I carve out time to watch shows to really experience them not as background noise to a phone & I can’t tell you any plot points from this show a year later. Can’t tell you any of the characters names, nothing of value came from this show except the cameo of a persona 3 character. It’s not worth watching it to see him.
Plot 2/10
Characters 2/10
Animation: Generic/10
Combat 3/10
Soundtrack not memorable/10
Akihiko cameo: 3/10
Subject matter: Not memorable/10
As a final word, this is slop. You won’t extract any value as a persona fan or a casual watcher. It’s important you save time in a era where we’re spoiled with unlimited content for our ape brains
Ninjanina
I have to admit, unlike quite a few people who watch this anime, I haven't played any of the Persona games, so this review won't be about how faithful it is, but about enjoyability for novices to the story. I think what first pulled me into the anime was the clean, nice and just good quality animation and art. The sound was pretty decent and the character introductions started off really well- they were all pretty hilarious and had their own quirks- I wanted to know who they were, why they were there and why all three brothers had such different hair colours (...I don'tthink we ever found out btw).
The concept, although not super epicly original, was still great and enthralling- there was mystery and no pointless fanservice most anime seem to be keen on including nowadays. (Also, there wasn't one of those annoyingly weak female characters whose existence is designed purely to annoy you.)
But then, one episode, I suddenly realised that I had no idea what was going on. I actually thought I'd skipped an episode, but no, there was just no continuity/ explanation as to the sudden and seemingly random timeskip. But I persevered until, having just finished the last episode, I turned to my brother with a genuine sense of: "dafuqdidIjustsee?"
The 'final battle', no matter how epic and emotional, made no sense to me at all. Neither the main character's nor the 'villain's' motivations were explained as far as I could tell, and I kept blanking because the characters would talk about people hardly even mentioned before without even a glimpse of a helpful mini-flashback to remind you who on earth they were.
Even so, I did enjoy it... and if anyone watches it and can tell me what happened... I'd thank them profusely. But hey, maybe that's because I haven't played the games? I'm planning on watching Persona 4 the animation next, so maybe that would help.
So, in conclusion: Story-4, art-10, sound-9, character-8, enjoyment-8.
TheLegendOfDiana
Well, it sure was interesting, even if it wasn't very well made... The series is about two brothers, Shin and Jun, who return to their home town after years away to live with their older brother, the town's police chief. Meanwhile a large number of horrific murders have been occurring, and Shin discovers that he (and conveniently all of his friends at school) have the mysterious power to release their "personas" (giant translucent robots (ok, they aren't actuall robot but they sure look like them) that exist inside everyone and are supposedly the manifestations of people's hearts and souls), and he and his friends are pulledinto the horrifying fight against the Marebito organisation (who are ripping people's personas out to strengthen their own, either killing their victims or leaving them braindead).
This series is great at building suspense and keeping you asking questions.... but plenty of those questions either don't get answered (for example: What is The Whale? What happens to the bodies of the people who fuse with The Whale? Why does Jun have psychic powers? Why can only some people unleash Persona if everyone has it?), or they take so long to get answered (e.g. what actually was the tragic event that happened ten years before the series starts) that they make large parts of the series really confusing to watch and make them feel like a chore to get through.
Another problem is the appalling animation quality, especially in the first half. Background characters never move at all, and there are a few head movement scenes in which characters' faces don't quite keep up pace with the rest of their heads, or their eyes appear to migrate around their face in weird ways. The art style is also quite unpleasant in the way that noses are drawn, and sometimes the shading on the faces makes them seem somewhat oddly shaped.
The story also has enormous plot holes. For example, the body-swapping that goes on later in the series is never explained, and the organisation that our heroes end up working with claim to have the goal of covering up the existence of Persona.... which the first few episodes make very clear that just about every teenager in the city knows about... and which can be (and often are) unleashed in a "Shadow Extraction" simply by putting you hands on a person's shoulders for about 3 seconds. Heck, Shadow Extractions are even considered addictive among teenagers, and Kanaru, one of the series' more tragic characters, ends up going through withdrawal symptoms when the protagonists keep her from continuing to perform them.
This gets even more stupid when Akihiko, one of the organisation's members, tells Shin that their goal is to destroy all evidence of Personas ONE DAY AFTER A GIANT ROBOT FIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING CITY, SEEN BY HUNDREDS, MAYBE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, plenty of whom would definitely have filmed it on their freaking phones!
The giant robot fights aren't all that impressive either, since they always seem to occur either at night (when you can't see the robots properly because they are translucent), or in the snow (where the scenes are oversaturated with white, so once again, you can't see the translucent robots properly). Also, the series' main villains (the psyhopathic mad scientist Kunihiro and his daughter Ayane) are somehow able to make their Persona look human, and like themselves, instead of like giant robots like everybody else...
To its credit, the series develops its characters really well, and explores the hardships that the incident ten years ago caused on their families, realistically addressing the kind of issues that resulted and how it tore characters' relationships apart. It also takes a mature stance on the topic of addiction and dealing with it, all while strengthening the character's relatability... heck, even most of the villains are relatable in the way that they were subtly manipulated since childhood by the series' true main antagonist so that he could use their bodies to fuse and grow Persona. It's also the only series I have ever seen that actually explains why Jun (a boy) looks and sounds like a girl, instead of just having him be a pointless "trap character" like in countless other annoying shows.
Some scenes however feel like complete crybait added for no reason. For example, towards the end of the series we learn that one of the series' female protagonists was experimented on as a child by the main villain, and that she was given a reduced lifespan and set to die after a specific date once she had completed her inbuilt tasks as a result. This leads to a heart-wrenching scene of her dying before getting the chance to tell Shin that she was in love with him, but her death doesn't really affect anything that happens afterwards at all other than providing a reason for her absence. It doesn't even provide additional motivation to stop the main villain out of revenge or anything, it just seemed like a pointless way to be cruel to the viewer.
Overall then, it's an average-quality series with nothing that particularly stands out about it, aside from its catchy and cool first theme song. 5/10
mobiusknight
before a-1 made the crappy p5 animation they made trinity soul, which means they've defecated on the series twice now, the personas are horribly designed, the characters are one note and bland, the story is confusing, and most importantly its boring, although i will admit that the soundtrack is great, but even then its not on the usual level of quality that persona soundtracks offer,if you want to get into the persona series its a terrible place to start, and if you're already a fan, then watching it is only going to ruin your day, you really are better off ignoring it.
LinkSeasonMaster
Much like the early games in the Persona franchise, Persona: Trinity Soul doesn't get much love from fans of the series or even Atlus. In fact, unless you already own the DVDs or are willing to shill out a lot of money, there doesn't appear to be any currently LEGAL means of watching the show. But does the anime deserve such a brutal fate? Well, I decided to take a look and see for myself. The series follows Shin Kanzato, a young high school student returning to his childhood home of Ayanagi City alongside his younger brother Jun to live with their elder brother Ryo, thelocal chief of police. Ryo, however, makes it clear that he'd rather they live just about anywhere else, and as cold as his treatment of his brothers is, he sadly may have a point. Teenagers throughout the city are being targeted for mysterious reasons, their bodies turned inside out and the police assigned to protect them left alive but unresponsive to the world around them. Before long, Shin himself is attacked, but awakens to a strange ability that enables him to defend himself: the power to summon another being tied to his personality called a Persona. Now irrevocably involved, Shin strives to find out what's going on, all while trying to restore the bond the brothers once shared in their youth.
Story: Trinity Soul actually has a rather compelling story, with some pretty neat twists and turns. Unfortunately, it is only executed somewhat competently. Not helping is that any version of the show I've been able to find never have great translations, with typos and bizarre wordings often making it hard to understand what characters are talking about when discussing exposition, of which there is a LOT. And while the source material can also get a bit exposition heavy in just about any of the games, these translation issues make it all feel a lot clunkier in comparison.
Art: The art of the series is easily one of its best aspects. The characters are physically consistent throughout the series, the designs of the Personas are absolutely incredible, the locations are all pleasant to look at, and every Persona user has a very distinct design. That being said, sometimes Personas are too transparent to get a good look at during fights, only a few characters who aren't Persona users have memorable designs, and some scenes it's all too clear to the well-trained eye that they were cutting corners with how characters move around.
Sound: The music in the show itself isn't bad, but most of it isn't too memorable, either. That being said, the first opening theme, "Breakin' Through" by Shuhei Kita, gets me pumped up every single time I hear it.
Characters: The heroes are all pretty likable, with Shin easily being one of the most expressive Persona protagonists outside of (and possibly even including) spinoffs. Both of his brothers as well as their circle of school friends are also pretty interesting, with some really engaging backstories, motivations, and depth. Unfortunately, only a handful of the antagonists and side characters receive similar treatment.
Enjoyment: For the most part, I did enjoy the series, with a handful of episodes in the second half really hitting me emotionally in a great way. Unfortunately, there were two key factors that prevented me from completely enjoying myself.
First is how Trinity Soul attempts to tie in to the Persona series as a whole. Specifically, how it fails to do so with one key reveal: adults cannot naturally have Personas, nor hold onto ones they had in their youths. True, this anime came out several months before Persona 4, where an adult is later revealed to have a Persona of their own. But one need only take a quick look at the Persona 2 duology and they will immediately realize that this idea is utter nonsense. Not only will a lot of modern Persona fans find it hard to take this plot point seriously, it also serves as quite possibly the most blatant example of Atlus disregarding any Persona game prior to 3. And the fact that a few of the characters bear a startling resemblance to certain Persona 2 characters just makes the discrepancies with how Personas work even worse. Admittedly, as of this review, I have yet to actually play Persona 1 or either entry in the Persona 2 duology, but not only do I actually intend to, I actually acknowledge that those games, as well as their characters and stories, exist and are worth experiencing at least once.
But for me, what was the most problematic part of the anime is the inclusion of a specific character from the Persona 3 video game, or more specifically, how said character is handled. This character is someone who, while far from perfect in their source material, was very likable and even admirable. Here, they are complicit in several government-sponsored schemes that are effectively what they and their comrades were fighting to correct (such as experimenting on innocent youths), and they are later shown to have used a child as bait in order to track down the antagonists’ hideout. True, they are rightfully punched in the face for this latter act, it is established shortly afterwards that it was the child’s idea and that they and their coworkers only agreed to it because they felt that they were out of options. And admittedly, much further down the line, when this scenario is brought up again, the character shows far more remorse on their face. Even so, I had to pause the episode where this scenario is revealed for over an hour once it occurred, and while I was later cheering when the character got punched, it wasn’t just for what they did, but that they were supposed to be the same character that I loved in their source material, someone whose end-game self would never agree to be part of this after what happened to them and their friends, and that their supposed remorse was only stated, not shown. All of this is behavior that the character in question was very much opposed to, especially by the end of the game, but this anime is supposed to take place 10 years after the events of the game, and none of that character development nor the expected reactions of this returning character are present. And to make matters even more infuriating, I’m in the middle of another Persona spinoff that came out much later where this character is also present, and while there are legitimate arguments for them and other characters being flanderized in said game, they and their personalities are still unmistakably RECOGNIZABLE. To summarize all this, a blatant attempt at fan service ended up doing FAR more harm than good.
Overall: Safe to say, Persona Trinity Soul is an extremely mixed bag. There are characters, stories, and ideas here worth checking out, experiencing, and even exploring in future Persona games. But the clunky storytelling, not giving the minor villains and side characters sufficient depth, and the failed attempts to tie into the series proper can easily make one wonder if it would have been better served without any blatant connection to the Persona series and just an entirely separate property that was openly inspired by it. All that being said, I don't think it would have too hard to successfully tie it in to the overall franchise without things that would wind up making the show non-canon by default.
All in all, Persona Trinity Soul deserves a fair shake, much like the Persona games prior to 3, even if it is extremely different to what people have come to expect. I legitimately feel that Trinity Soul and its merits should be acknowledged, possibly even incorporated into more official products of the series (Heck, I'd be happy just seeing more fan works of the series, even if it's primarily in crossover-type work with other Persona series). It does have some serious issues, though, especially with its poor attempts to tie into the mainline Persona series, and I won't blame any long time Persona fans for getting mad. After all, I know I did. In other words, if the opportunity presents itself, don't hesitate to give the series a shot and come to your own conclusions, but whatever you do, don't just pretend the series doesn't exist, regardless of its actual place in canon.
Jensenray
Somehow I convince myself to watch this because of the song “mellow dream” Im a big fan of persona game, also all other shin Megan tensei game (nocturne, devil summoner, devil survivor, digital devil saga) Now I know why this film have so much negative review, Its because most of People who watch this are shallow, they only care about the action stuff, dating, high school and pervert stuff Tbh, I amaze by the quality of writing in this anime, and the whole whale feather theme keep me curiousThe character development in this film is great, each character has it’s own complex story
I think The writer in this film actually care so much about this film, each chapter is well planned, and there many memorable moment in this film, great execution
I love how they focus on the story and didn’t overuse the persona, or do some crazy illogical thing with persona, and keep the film grounded
Its not your average shallow hack and slash anime,
it’s not a typical fighting film that always end with somehow the protagonist turn into Saiyan and kill the bad guy
Its a persona film with a well done story
If your head only accept fighting, pervert scene and mindless dialogue, then probably this film is not for you
Renegade7654
Wow I'm actually using the review feature for the first time ever. As a big Persona fan, I have.... quite a bit to say. My main point though? This is not Persona. It is called Persona. It IS an officially licensed product. It has ties to Persona's universe (or more specifically, Persona 3), going as far as to have certain songs from 3 show up a couple times & even have an important side character be a returning character from Persona 3 (If you've seen the show, you know who I'm talking about). But despite all of that, this is not Persona. This show, while not particuarlybad, is just rather bland. All of the style, flair & charm Persona is known for is completely missing from this series. There's no depth in the fights, the character designs are fairly generic & don't really stand out compared to the casts from the mainline games, and the character's personalities just feel very lacking. For example, it feels like Takuro is supposed to be the Junpei/Yosuke/Ryuji type of the group, but he just does not have the energy or charm that any of those 3 bring to the table. He feels far too watered down.
They try to have SOME fun moments with the cast in the early parts of the show, but it just doesn't work out. And even the emotional beats, such as character deaths or important backstories, also unfortunately fail to hit.
On a more positivie note, I did feel like this show was trying it's best. Even if it didn't work out, you can tell there was at least some attempt to try make these characters interesting, but they just didn't know how. The animation & overall art of the show can be pretty solid at times too. And the soundtrack, while a little messy, is still decent as well.
If you haven't played Persona before, I definitely can see you enjoying this. If you have though, I can't say I suggest this. You'll really just end up wishing you replayed one of the mainline games, or rewatched their respective animes. Or you'll go back to wishing for Persona 6 to be finally revealed, like the rest of us. At the end of the day, Persona Trinity Soul is not bad, but it's also not very good. And I now understand why even Atlus themselves has forgotten it - Because it really is just that forgettable.
BigDaddyTuesday
tl;dr No reason to really watch this if you aren't a Persona fan, and even if you are it is very underwhelming. Not outright awful or bad, bust long and boring. Persona Trinity Soul is weird because the only reason anyone would care about it and the only reason it is even remembered is because it is a weird spin off of Persona 3 that was eventually de canonized. This show isn't awful but at the same time it isn't necessarily great or even that good at times. Here's a mostly spoiler free summation of my thoughts. Story and Characters 6 - The main plot of theseries is about the mc and his little brother moving back to live with his older brother, hence the trinity. The older brother is a cop with special powers and is investigating murders and whatnot about their town. Meanwhile the mc attends school, makes friends, and ultimately gets involved with his brother's work. The overall focus of the show is on the relationship between the three brothers, and this is a mix of occasional good and mostly bland.
The older brother is a very typical cold-hearted individual who doesn't want his family involved with his work and the mc is also typical in his sense of right and curiosity. The most interesting character is the little brother, who has a bit more going on with his personality later on in the series. Aside from the main three the side characters are fairly simple with a few decent episodes dedicated to fleshing them out. Some episodes serve no purpose and are pretty much just filler which holds the show back significantly. The only real connection this show has with the Persona series aside from the titular powers is Akihiko. His presence is fairly minor though, the emphasis is placed on the cast original to the show.
Overall the show itself doesn't have any necessarily bad story elements or character moments, however they aren't particularly noteworthy, and the presentation is relatively bland.
Art 5 - This show is very dated to its time and the animation style isn't particularly noteworthy or impressive. The personas themselves also are foggy and don't look good in general.
Sound 8 - Easily the best part of the show; Persona 3 has a good soundtrack and the show remixes many good songs from the game. Some of the arrangements are on par with or better than the vanilla mixes from the game imo. Aside from the fact they are from the game and therefore catchy, sometimes the music choice doesn't match the scene and aside from the game compositions the rest of the soundtrack isn't particularly memorable.
Enjoyment 5 - Again, the only reason you would ever watch this is if you are a fan of Persona and want to see this obscure show. Even then it is very generic and also boring for most of its duration. Many episodes feel like filler and the end result is underwhelming. At least Akihiko shows up to say hi halfway in.
Overall 6 - Trinity Soul will always be remembered as a piece of Persona history that no one remembers or acknowledges often because it is not that great. Rating this as a show and nothing else it would probably get a 5. The extra point comes from bias and the soundtrack.
Azureness
Story: The story line for this anime was amazing. It was not predictable. It was exciting and full of emotion, very suspenseful and eerie. A lot of deaths and turns you wouldn't expect. It has to be one of the most emotional anime's I have seen. The end of episode 13 gave me a heart attack. I cried. I probably cried during 3 or 4 of the episodes. Art: The art was very solid. The characters looked amazing, and the backgrounds, but the persona's at times were hard to see because they were portrayed as translucent. Sound:I loved the music so much that I purchased the soundtrack. I watched it in Japanese. I don't know if it is in english. I don't watch the english version of anything because the Japanese version is always much better. I would never substitute great acting with subtitles(original work) for dubbed work and crap secondary acting.
Character: Once again the emotions are portrayed amazingly. I have only good things to say about the character display.
Enjoyment/Overall: This anime was great, my eyes were glued to the screen. Depending on your taste you may not like it as much but I can't see too many low opinions on this piece. All of the greatness made up for the faded Personas. Fantastic work!
Yuki_Snow
THIS ANIME IS AWESOME! especially Jun Kanzato and Yuki Kanzato, they're both cute and good-looking. opening music and the endings are great too, Kita Shuuhei - Breakin' Through and Flow - Word of the Voice with the endings Yumi Kawamura - Found Me and Nana Kitade- Suicides Love Story. I LOVE IT!
Jazolai
First of all, I'd like to say that this review was based solely on the anime, and was not used in comparison with any of the Shin Megami Tensei or Persona games. Story: 6 Art: 8 Sound: 7 Character: 8 Enjoyment: 7 Overall: 7 The story, I felt, was too confusing. From beginning to end, it never really explains anything. It's difficult to grasp the actual plot as different things in the plot start but then stop suddenly, or never actually have an ending. The way the story was explained, as well, was confusing. While truthfully, the story is unique, the 'confusion' factor is so significant (as you can't understand anything aboutthe anime until you know the plot) that I can only give the story a 6.
The art was wonderful. While not top notch, it's certainly beautiful. If the scenery were a bit more unique, or perhaps more detailed, I would've given the art a 9 to 10. However, the way each of the characters are drawn and especially how their facial expressions are drawn, I have to give the art an 8.
The soundtrack would honestly get me a 6. While it's peaceful and relaxing, I'm afraid that the soundtrack isn't the type to stick in anybody's minds. It's good to listen to once in a while, but eventually, it'll be forgotten, thus why it gets a 6.
I found out that in Persona: Trinity Soul, the characters were very well developed. Simple characters actually play significant roles later on in the story, and each of their personalities were unique and a fresh breath of air. Their pasts were also well developed, and you can really tell how their pasts led to their personalities in the present. The reason why the character section is rated 8 and not 10 is because some characters that got a lot of screen time never actually played a significant role in the end. As well, the main character is often seen as a minor character, as only in the end does he actually play a big role. The amount of screen time and who should get the most development should be seen as something to work on.
Enjoyment would get a 7. I enjoyed the anime, but not so much for the above reasons listed above. It wasn't something that I'd frantically keep on watching, and I often had to skip past some parts because it got too boring. I'm sure many others had to do the same.
Overall it'd get a 7. Why? Calculate the mean.
robert788
Persona: Trinity Soul (2008) 2008 shame on you. This show could have been great but stretching what should be a movie into a series made it far too long and so boring. I honestly struggled to watch this because it just goes on and on and on barely achieving anything. If it was 12 or 13 episodes perhaps I could forgive but not 26. The art for 2008 looks pretty good and isn't so bad. It is just that era where everyone looks super skinny and stands weirdly when they have their hands in their pockets. The sound is okay. The OP and ED are kind ofdull and uninspired. Action is lacking in depth and the voices sound pretty montone mostly.
The characters themselves aren't bad, a bit cliche but they are fine. They do however struggle because everything takes so long and the time you learn something interesting, I just did not care anymore.
They tried a different platform for doing persona that really isn't so much about persona but more about life. It did not work in my opinion.
2/10. I want my time back.
