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Is The Persona 5 Animation Hand Drawn

The time has come to talk virtually the animation within the latest entry of the Persona franchise: the office information technology plays within the game'southward very distinct aesthetic, its shortcomings, and the artists who were in charge of it. For those worried nearly spoilers, the few pieces of footage beyond the initial stages are marked every bit such, and it contains no concrete references to the narrative events. Let's go!

Having recently completed the game and enjoyed it an immense corporeality, I tin can say without a doubtfulness that the animation of Persona 5 isn't very good. I'1000 not talking virtually Persona 5 The Animation:  The Day Breakers, though that is admittedly a poor try likewise – so much so that the plan executed in this promotional anime, based off the Mementos sidequest "Phantom Thieves VS Burglary Ring", is dismissed in-game equally a bad idea. And I don't mean the game's set of animations either, since those are actually rather strong; there is more character in the high-five billy pass skits than the explicit narrative can sometimes muster, and while information technology's express I appreciate the try put onto details like Futaba Sakura'due south trunk language. Just the focus of this piece is a less inspired element that plays a even so interesting office: the 2D animated cutscenes of the game.

Even if y'all don't pay much attending to visual matters, specially within videogames where the interactivity keeps you preoccupied, Persona 5's assuming voice is almost incommunicable to miss. Blood-red and blacks dominate this game, and its ransom alphabetic character aesthetic constantly reminds you of your position as a phantom thief shrouded in mystery. E'er since the promotional footage started surfacing, it became apparent that the slickness was woven into the very core of the game, integrating the menus in hitting fashion and making the transitions unusually satisfying. Those are aspects players tend to tolerate at best, so it was quite rare to see major excitement for the commonly tedious parts of operating a videogame. After completing it I tin confirm that the excitement built upwards for even such usually pocket-size details was warranted: non merely was Persona v every bit mechanically smooth as it seemed, it truly committed to the aesthetic from the teasers. Apparently the unabridged game isn't monochromatic, but reds and blacks remain the theme that dyes your adventures, particularly as you delve deeper into Mementos' secrets. Otherwise vibrant colors are still all over the place during the mundane scenes, and the game's love of stiff contrasts never fades. The phantom thief imagery is similarly ever-nowadays, leading to a game that e'er feels like itself and is damn proud of that. Persona 5 sticks to its theme even to a fault; despite existence rather fond of its unmistakable appearance, early on I plant its UI a fleck claustrophobic at some points, and I imagine that if you feel the palette is abrasive then the entire game might be an endless nightmare. Equally far every bit I'g concerned though, the attempt to be a cohesive unique experience is commendable in and of itself, and worked well way generally. And in the instances when in didn't, it still won me over with earnestness alone. Persona five definitely tries very hard, which is somehow becoming an attitude looked downward upon on the internet, just I find it endearing.

To brand the issues about the animated cutscenes I want to address later even more noticeable, the game's overarching aesthetic is flawlessly introduced…through 2d animation. Its opening sequence directed by Sayo Yamamoto is the perfect equivalent of the game in anime grade; the theme colors put to striking use, transitions that bring to heed the effect of navigating through the game, and fifty-fifty stylized 2DFX animation that resembles the special cut-in attacks inside combat. And beyond beingness such an effective depiction of the game's visual themes, it'southward quite the craft accomplishment by itself. Its delineation of disinhibited acting stands out in particular. Much like the rest of the footage, this was animated at Product I.M, and supervised past Koichi Arai who fully key animated it alongside Tetsuya Nishio and Satoru Utsunomiya. Nothing but theatrical anime level artists! As a curt aside, the production procedure of Persona'southward blitheness has been bouncing around different companies a lot lately. It has generally concluded upward in capable hands too, particularly and then when it comes to its openings; earlier going with Production I.G and Sayo Yamamoto, ATLUS trusted Basic and allowed Norimitsu Suzuki to direct, storyboard and entirely key breathing the intro to Persona 4 Dancing All Night. He'south quite the unknown fable and has no shortage of such solo efforts, so I would honey to return to him on this site someday. Meanwhile, information technology was Madhouse that produced the footage for other rereleases and spinoffs; Sayo Yamamoto wasn't the offset talented woman to handle an intro for the series, since the vividly colorful Atsuko Ishizuka had already handled a couple of those. The Persona 4 Loonshit one is more representative of her approach to postprocessing, but it'southward rather express and pales in comparison to her Persona 4 The Golden OP which adequately encapsulated the spirit of the game.

Allow's render to this particular game'southward opening though, since it also serves as a reminder that personal idiosyncrasies are perfectly compatible with pre-existing guidelines. To put it manifestly, the fact that it's full of skating cuts is a pure, entirely transparent deed of cocky-indulgence: Sayo Yamamoto loves skating, to the point that she pushed for an original series depicting the sport – and the residual is history. Her depiction of the Persona 5 principal cast freely skating through the city turned out to be an extremely appropriate intro to a game about a group of youngsters performing acts of rebellion, but that'due south a feeling she managed to evoke out of something she just personally happens to fancy. And her egotistic drive didn't simply lead to a very constructive outcome, she achieved that while perfectly complying with the game's predominant aesthetic. Working nether a framework with a strong identity doesn't mean limiting idiosyncratic creators, ideally it should be a way to channel their quirks so they can give their own spin to the theme. And that'south exactly what this intro embodies.

Sample of Sayo Yamamoto's storyboards for the game's opening.

Unfortunately, Persona five's animated charm dies correct after that spectacular beginning. The tutorial phase already makes it obvious that whenever the game switches to 2D animation, all personality is unceremoniously thrown out the window. The aforementioned surround appear drab, lifeless and hazy, an all-around failure in the design work; art direction (a Silver Link & Studio Tulip attempt lead by Minoru Maeda), colour design (handled past Sayo Motegi, as opposed to the opening's Izumi Hirose), I.Thousand'due south blended work, and of class the direction past the veteran Toshiyuki Kono all fail to capture the spirit of the game. Calling the animated cutscenes polished is as far as I tin can bring myself, and even that isn't entirely true; effectually the stop of the game there's a noticeable dip in quality, with such poor lighting that it makes those scenes look bizarrely flat. The animation itself is adequate if entirely unremarkable, despite the key animation lineup featuring stars similar Takuma Ebisu, Yuya Geshi, Mai Yoneyama, Tokuyuki Matsutake and Nobuhiko Genma. The only example of genuinely noteworthy movement is the sequence after the game'due south fourth Palace – go on at your own take a chance if you haven't reached that point, though information technology's non particularly spoilery – which merely sticks to drawing escape fundamentals.

At that place are broadly two usages of this kind of 2D footage. The first one isn't particularly interesting, and honestly has no identify in this game; when it wants to leer at the girls in your crew for a lame gag, yous get a worthless animated cutscene, since it'south easier and probably more constructive to creep on drawings. Those are in the minority of course, as most pieces of animation are dedicated to climactic moments that need to showcase non-static settings. All the same, since Kono's storyboards are simply functional and the design work drags everything downward, those end up having much less of an impact that the pre-rendered cutscenes. As someone who runs sites defended to 2d craft, it's a complicated feeling to wish that there was less of it in a game that I quite enjoyed. Merely information technology's precisely because I like Persona 5 that I'1000 not at all addicted of these animated cutscenes, since they're the signal where it loses its otherwise clear identity. And this about sums up their well-nigh insidious issue: in contrast with an immediately recognizable game, these scenes could be part of right most anything. The footage is attached to Persona five, simply at no point feels like it belongs in there. Moderate technical competence tin can't make upwardly for entirely misguided groundwork, so fifty-fifty at their best they don't quite work. Peradventure in a less idiosyncratic game these cutscenes with have composite in, hiding under a veil of mediocrity. But as function of something with this strong of a personality, they stand out similar a sore thumb. They're non a care for for the histrion, rewarding them for hitting a particularly climactic moment or simply for having played for quite a while. They're manus drawn disappointment that pales in comparison to the rendered footage.

I don't subscribe to the idea that artistic criticism needs to provide solutions to be valid, and I wouldn't call myself a critic to begin with, but let'due south play that game for a change. How do yous fix Persona 5's animated cutscenes? Directly addressing the issues I've brought up would be a start, of course. Comprehend the game's palette with no shame, and don't drown the footage with uninspired photography effects. And beyond that, translate its appeal so that it can be conveyed with some other toolset. The game's dynamic UI and usage of stylized furnishings is reminiscent of the work of webgen animators, so not relying on them feels similar a wasted chance. The finishers and cutting-in attack sequences (final crew member footage) were particularly reminiscent of Rapparu'due south work, and so I would have loved to see them involved with it. And earlier y'all claim that hoping for youngsters similar that to work on videogames is a crazy sakuga nerd dream, allow me remind you that Bahi JD's professional debut was actually blitheness for Skullgirls. Granted that the game'due south cutscenes aren't a constant stream of FX animation, only this is just more proof that it was possible to detect 2D creators attuned to the game's sensibilities. Just like how Sayo Yamamoto's directional skills proved to exist compatible during the opening, there are plenty of creators who could have made the movement itself feel like an integral part of Persona 5 during the cutscenes.

All of this is ultimately a pocket-sized effect of course, one that didn't hugely impact my fondness of the game. If the more glaring bug didn't sour me on it, then a handful of disappointing hand fatigued sequences couldn't actually upset me. I have to say though, I experience like they embody the contradictions present in the game's recurring issues. Equally your crew fights against sexual violence, every at present and and then the game also decides to uncomfortably make the boys in the group ogle the girls seemingly for a quick express mirth. Its spirit champions rebelling against the system and being yourself, which merely makes the lack of certain relationship options even more puzzling. You often detect yourself fighting to protect the marginalized, but then information technology also thoughtlessly makes them the butt of the "joke" a couple times. In the context of all these incongruences, I suppose that the game occasionally betraying its otherwise well cultivated aesthetic is virtually fitting. I love Persona 5, and that feeling merely increased in intensity when I started its rather ridiculous terminal stretch. But I would dear information technology even more if the game didn't forget to be itself every at present and and then.


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Source: https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2017/05/08/the-animation-of-persona-5/

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