Since Persona 4 is currently, as of writing, at ten volumes with an eleventh coming out soon in the west, I had thought it wise to put some volumes together to hasten this review process along a little. Moreover, while I was very brief in my review of the Persona 4 anime to avoid reviewing things, Persona 4’s manga doesn’t really allow this. As such, every review of this manga will likely feature some spoilers that cannot be avoided. Some things just cannot be kept hidden while explaining the events.
ONCE MORE, THIS IS YOUR SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU WISH TO READ THIS SERIES, PLAY THE GAME, OR WATCH THE ANIME, I WILL BE SPOILING THE HECK OUT OF PERSONA 4!!
We begin with an introduction to our protagonist. In the anime, his name was Yu Narukami, but in the manga, it’s Soji Seta. Please forgive me if I refer to him as Yu, as that’s the name I prefer and I sometimes use it without thinking.
Soji has a problem. He’s having to leave his big city high school, whose name we never learn, because his parents are heading to work overseas. As they don’t want to interrupt their son’s lifestyle more than necessary, he’s being sent to a small mountain town called Inaba, which is where his mother grew up and where his uncle, Ryotaro Dojima, lives. He’ll be living with his uncle for a year, attending high school there at Yasogami High, before his parents finally return. This is a common occurance for the young man and, as such, he’s used to it. And doesn’t make friends as a result, just in case he’s ripped away from them.
Once there, he meets Dojima, his uncle, and is introduced to a character most beloved by Persona 4 fans, Nanako Dojima, his daughter. She’s about six years old and most Persona 4 fans love her, for reasons I’ll eventually get to. They stop at a gas station for a needed break and Soji meets a nondescript gas station attendant with messy hair. After shaking the girl’s hand (Yes, if you’re reading this, that is a girl), we get a short skip forward to Soji explaining the coming events; the story of a series of horrific murders that hit this mountain town, the adventure of a lifetime, and dear friends he would meet. The story also takes place in 2011 (This is actually used as a plot point in Persona Q2, where the various groups of protagonists were pulled through time, which explains why they all look exactly as they did in their games).
Chapter 2 starts us with the setup for the mystery. Soji is in a strange place, a road of disconnected blocks, when he spots a figure shrouded in fog. He chases the figure, who seems surprised Soji can see him, even through the fog. It laments that people see what they want to see and, if Soji seeks the truth, it wonders if Soji will find the actual truth or just the one he wants to be the truth. The fog becomes all encompassing and the figure tells Soji it’s looking forward to seeing what he can do.
Soji is awoken by Nanako, guided to school, and the mystery begins. The first body is found, hanging upside down from a television antenna. Soon, Soji is at school and, after introductions are made, we start to meet our ragtag group. While they go unnamed for some time, the boy is Yosuke Hanamura, the girl with short hair and kung fu skills is Chie Satonaka, and the long haired girl is Yukiko Amagi. In the game, you’d learn their names quickly, but in the manga, they go unnamed for a while.
Also, for those paying attention, there is a line about someone seeing a Ms Yamano on the TV and a legend about rainy nights.
Skip to that night, where the news reports that Mayumi Yamano’s body had been found in Inaba, hanging from an antenna. Now we have a name of the body found earlier. The news also shows an interview with the poor Yasogami student who found the body, though her name is undisclosed and her face and voice are obscured.
The next day, Yosuke winds up crashing into garbage pails when his bike’s brakes lock up, where Soji helps him out. We’re also introduced to Junes, a large shopping center that has essentially taken over Inaba, to the point where the local shopping district is having a considerable amount of trouble competing. We’re also introduced to Saki Konishi, a girl who works at Junes, whose family owns a liquor store in the shopping district, and Yosuke’s got a crush on. Finally, Chie introduces the legend of the Midnight Channel, which is a legend where if you stare into a turned off TV at exactly midnight, on a rainy night, the TV will turn on and show you your soulmate. She extracts a promise from Yosuke and Soji to actually try it that night, along with herself.
It isn’t a legend. That night, Soji looks into the TV and, at first, nothing happens. But then, the TV turns itself on and shows a figure, shrouded in fog, but it’s obviously a young woman. The part that makes this interesting… is they all see the same girl. She’s wearing their school uniform and the only thing they can’t see is her face. But Soji gets dizzy, sets his hand on the TV to keep from falling, only for his hand to create some kind of portal and go into the TV. Something grabs him and tries to pull him in, but since his TV is so small, he manages to pull free.
The next day, the three have shared what they saw and they all realize they all saw the same girl. But Yosuke and Chie don’t believe Soji about almost being pulled into his TV, teasing him about it. They even go so far as to take him to Junes, where Chie wants to look at new big screen TVs, and the two start pushing against the screen to mess with Soji. The two head off to look at TVs, only for Soji to move up to the TV they touched before. A simple touch of his finger causes a ripple across the surface, and his hand goes through once more. The others notice, Soji starts climbing in, and both Yosuke and Chie follow him in (This scene is much more comical in the game, where Soji is just messing around, putting his head in to tease his friends back, but when Yosuke notices customers coming over, he and Chie completely panic and wind up knocking all three through the portal).
Chapter 3 begins with Soji, Yosuke, and Chie in a strange, foggy place. It resembles a television studio, where one would be making a show, but the fog is very thick and makes it hard to see. None of them can see an exit, so they set off in search of one, since they’re no longer in Junes. They wander across an apartment complex and one of the doors is open, with a swirling vortex over the entrance. They step through to find a room, bereft of fog, with a bed, plant, and a set of creepy posters. Each is a poster of a woman, with the face torn off, and, in the center of the room, a chair, some rope tied to a ceiling beam, and a scarf forming a noose. Chie expresses she wants out, this place is too much for her nerves, and even the guys are similarly creeped out.
They find their way back to where they started, where a strange figure is waiting for them. Chie, now seeing an outlet for her fear, attacks with her almighty kung fu skills. The figure, who Chie floors with a single blow, turns out to be… well, imagine if someone took a circus bear and tried to make it cute and mascot-like. Teddie, as he calls himself, amidst a bunch of bear puns, is telling the group they need to leave this world, that someone is throwing people into this world and it’s causing chaos. The group tries to tell Teddie they can’t leave, when Teddie informs them he can show them the way out. He summons a bunch of televisions piled together and pushes them towards them, which reopens the portal and deposits the three right back in front of the same TV in Junes.
They find a poster by the TVs, the same one from the room, but with the face still intact. It’s Misuzu Hiiragi, a famous singer who was married to Taro Namatame, the man who cheated on her with Mayumi Yamano. Could there be a connection? The three ponder this shortly before Yosuke suddenly blurts out they need to stop thinking about this and puts down what just occured as some horrible dream.
But Yosuke can’t let it go. He watches the Midnight Channel again, sees the girl and realizes she looks just like Saki Konishi. He watches as she seems to be in agony and can’t pull his gaze away. And, the next morning, Saki Konishi is found dead, hanging upside down from a television antenna, just like Mayumi Yamano was found.
The group meets up the next day. Yosuke begins to report what he saw the previous night, stating that, at one point, she just disappeared from the screen. Yosuke brings up how Ms Yamano was also seen on the Midnight Channel before she died, before he makes an argument, a theory, none of them want to hear.
The Midnight Channel doesn’t show you your soulmate. The people who appear on the Midnight Channel will die.
Yosuke can’t let it go. He needs to know why Saki died. He wants to meet Teddie again, to find out what that world really is. But he needs Soji’s help to go there. He tells Soji and Chie he’ll meet them at Junes, where he and Soji head inside, leaving Chie behind. His plan is to use a lifeline tied to him and Chie can pull the two of them back out, in case the bear won’t let them out again.
It doesn’t work.
Chapter 4 begins with Yosuke and Soji confronting Teddie, trying to learn about this world, if he was involved in hurting the people who came through. They learn someone from the outside, their world, is pushing people into the TV world. Those people become trapped in this world and, eventually, die. Teddie reveals something called Shadows exist in this world and they’re dangerous, most especially when the fog is gone. He reveals the fog in the TV world is the opposite of the real world; so if it’s foggy in the TV world, it’s clear in the real world. But if the real world becomes foggy, the fog lifts in the TV world, at which point, the Shadows go berserk, likely killing any humans in the world at that time. Teddie also gives the two glasses, which allow them to see through the fog.
Teddie leads them to where the last person disappeared, bringing them to a place that looks exactly like the Inaba shopping district. Yosuke guides the group to Konishi Liquors, the store of Saki’s family, where they find another swirling portal, just like at the apartment building. But before they can enter, we finally meet the Shadows. Soji tries to fight with a golf club Yosuke gave him before they entered, but the weapon is completely destroyed upon hitting the Shadow. Teddie reveals physical force won’t work on Shadows, but just as things are looking grim, Soji finds himself in the Velvet Room, where Igor and Margaret explain that his future is a special one. Margaret hands over a single glowing card, a blank card, which Soji finds himself holding back with the Shadows.
The card erupts into light and Soji awakens to the power that is Persona. His initial Persona is Izanagi, of the Fool arcana, a creature with lightning powers and a massive sword, with which he is able to fight off the Shadows handily. The three marvel at this power while they have a moment to breathe, only to be interrupted by voices. Voices that speak ill of Junes, of Saki, lots of gossip mongering. Yosuke seems to realize this must have been Saki’s reality before she died, so he rushes inside to find out more.
We’re now in Chapter 5, where the group finds more voices inside Konishi Liquors. It seems Saki’s father didn’t take her working at Junes very well, yelling at her constantly over it. Finally, when Yosuke finds some pictures of the Junes workers altogether, they hear Saki’s voice. She laments that she never told Yosuke how she feels, but before Yosuke can even begin to think she likes him, the voice goes on to claim how much she hated him, how she only was polite to him because he was the owner’s son. All the while, a photo Yosuke is holding, showing himself and Saki, starts ripping in half by itself. Yosuke, however, doesn’t want to accept this. He still believes she wasn’t like that, she couldn’t be that shallow.
Then, things change. Someone walks out of the shadows, mocking Yosuke with how he’s a poor victim of fate and how his sweetheart was stolen from him. When this shadowy figure finally comes into the light, the figure looks exactly like Yosuke. This figure, which Teddie identifies as a Shadow, starts to talk, asking Yosuke things like how long he’s going to pretend to be happy-go-lucky, how he pretends being in the countryside doesn’t piss him off, how much he resents Junes for shipping his family here, and more. Yosuke tries to deny these things, all the while Shadow Yosuke keeps telling him he knows because they’re one and the same, that Yosuke knows he isn’t just spouting nonsense.
Eventually, Yosuke denies his Shadow’s existence, at which point it transforms into a monster and starts destroying the shopping district. Yosuke comes to the conclusion it wasn’t specifically Shadows that killed Saki, but likely her own Shadow, the dark parts of her heart she couldn’t face, just like it’s looking like his own Shadow will finish him off, if nothing is done. Soji, however, isn’t going to allow it and punches Yosuke to knock some sense back into him, proclaiming that if he thought he’d just let Shadow Yosuke kill him, he’d kill that part of Yosuke himself.
I’m going to stop for a moment to bring up something I enjoy more so about the Persona 4 manga than any other form of Persona 4. In other media, Soji, or Yu, comes off as a total Mr Perfect, a guy who can do no wrong and has no flaws whatsoever. This is more appropriately termed a Mary Sue, or Gary Stu in this case. This is to the point that most of the other characters usually rely on him to pull their bacon out of the fryer before they learn to fend for themselves.
The Persona 4 manga doesn’t really do this as much as other media Persona 4 has been shown in, and nowhere does this show more than the following scene. Rather than Soji beating Shadow Yosuke to save Yosuke’s life, Yosuke, lamenting over his own lack of power, starts to pull himself out of his emotional ditch and start asking himself just how much of what Shadow Yosuke said is actually nonsense. He asks himself if Saki was really just an excuse for an adventure, his actual feelings for her, and more. In the end, he pulls himself out of his slump, forms some resolve to be just as good as Soji, wanting to be a hero too. He notes a card form under his right hand, a tarot card of the Magician arcana, grabs it, and rises up to fight himself. He’s rewarded with his own Persona, Jiraiya, of the Magician arcana, and proceeds to join Soji in battle with his own Shadow. He remembers some things Saki had told him when he first came to town, that brought him out of his funk and made him start to appreciate the town for what it was instead of being tainted by his irritation at being forced to move. I should note we’re also now in Chapter 6.
After the battle, Yosuke is struggling somewhat, embarrassed that such a being had been part of him, though he’s slowly coming to accept it. But that’s only secondary to him, in that moment. Instead, he opts to remind Soji that he gets a free shot, after how Soji decked him during the fight, even if it was to knock some sense into him. Soji, however, refuses, telling Yosuke he’d need to earn every hit. The two start slugging it out, the entire time Yosuke glad that Soji sees him as an equal. The two begin to come up with a plan, in a loose sense, to find the one throwing people into this world, to stop them, and make Teddie’s world peaceful again, with the power of Persona.
Almost feels like they’re forgetting something, right?
They get their answer when they return to the real world, where Chie has been waiting for them, scared for them after the lifeline was cut and trying to figure out what to do. She, after all, couldn’t follow after them and had no idea how to explain to people the disappearance of the two. She starts screaming at them, about how they scared her so much, about to lash out at Yosuke, but she manages to stop herself. It’s rather implied they tell her what happened, before the volume ends with Yosuke going home to get some well deserved rest.
The next volume begins with a brief meeting between Soji and Yukiko, who had been absent for a lot of volume 1. A chance encounter at the riverbank, where the two are seeking shelter from the rain, when they get a moment to chat. Yukiko’s just curious about Chie’s new friend and making sure Soji is settling into town just fine. Only for danger to begin shortly thereafter.
A girl in a kimono appears on the Midnight Channel and, unfortunately, Chie recognizes it. She knows it’s Yukiko, as she’s seen that exact kimono many, many times, as Yukiko is her best friend since they were very young. Chie’s in a panic, as not only did Yukiko appear on the Midnight Channel, but she can’t get a hold of her. She’s afraid her best friend is in danger, which isn’t helped when Soji and Yosuke begin talking about checking out the TV world, to see if she’s in there. Chie tries to call Yukiko, scared to death, only for Yukiko to pick up and explain she’s been busy at the inn, due to a massive influx of guests. Also, her mother is sick, so she has to step in as manager, so she can’t come to school.
Only for Yukiko to really go missing the next day. And the group of three is at the police station, trying to get information on their missing friend, only for a new character, Adachi, to start grilling them on how Yukiko’s been acting. After all, as a detective, he needs to address the possibility that Yukiko might be hiding, as it’s revealed that her mother is sick because Mayumi Yamano had stayed at the inn before she died. And the reporter had treated the woman so poorly that she fell ill due to stress, so the police think Yukiko may have done something to Ms Yamano as retaliation, before running away to hide. The group opts to check out the TV world, just to be sure.
However, they can’t enter today. It goes unexplained why in the manga, but in the game, Junes is having a massive electronics sale that day, so the area is too packed for them to go inside. So they call for Teddie through the portal who, after biting Soji’s hand for some reason, explains that he can sense someone inside the TV, so they ask him to track the person so they can try to get them out before anything happens. They also opt to check the Midnight Channel that night.
This is when the Midnight Channel takes an… odd turn.
Before, it was only showing people vaguely, usually obscuring their features and leaving people questioning who it was. Now, it shows Yukiko clear as day, wearing a gown, and talking about seducing men, hunting for her prince charming, and how she’s wearing her special underwear for the occasion, before bending down for a huge cleavage shot. She sets off into the castle behind her before the program suddenly cuts out, leaving Chie in shock and probably questioning a lot of things.
Chapter 8 begins with seeing how Yosuke and Soji are dealing with the program, as this kind of thing is brand new to the Midnight Channel. Yosuke is trying not to get distracted by Yukiko’s cleavage, trying to reason that the TV world and the real world were connected at specific locations, but wondering what would happen if he entered while the Midnight Channel was on. Would he goto the castle? Though the thought of sticking his head into Yukiko’s cleavage makes him hesitate, he decides to just go for it… only to come face to face with Soji, who seems to have had the same idea. Sadly, it didn’t work and they’re both just floating in a random place in the TV world, so they’ll have to wait on Teddie to find that castle.
Chie, however, refuses to just sit aside this time. She’s going in, Yukiko is important to her, after all.
The group meets up with Teddie and they head to the castle. On the way, they’re trying to figure out just what the Midnight Channel is and how it’s being shown. Teddie informs the group no one is actually filming these shows, they’re just peeks into his world, but he has no idea why it’s suddenly becoming a thing or why it’s happening at all. Teddie is also trying to figure out what he is as well, though Soji and Yosuke do say they’ll help him figure it out.
But upon getting to the castle, Chie takes off suddenly inside. And just like before, she starts to hear Yukiko’s voice, lamenting about how Chie is important and makes her existence worthwhile. Yukiko seems to be having serious self-esteem issues, thinking herself worthless, but that Chie still values her, telling her things like how she looks good in red and how she’s so kind.
Only for Chie to come face-to-face with her own Shadow, who seems to be delighted in having such power over Yukiko, exclaiming how she gets such a thrill that Yukiko values her so much, thinks herself so worthless despite getting all the attention, that all the boys all want Yukiko, but Yukiko envies Chie so much. And how much she loves it. And, just like with Yosuke, Chie is struggling, seeing this side of herself, only for it to get even worse when Soji, Yosuke, and Teddie arrive on the scene. Chie can’t accept this side of her exists, much less in front of her friends. Like Yosuke, she rejects that part of her, who transforms once more into a vicious monster. But, unlike Shadow Yosuke, Shadow Chie seems to be much more interested in just making Chie accept the truth, not in destruction until Yosuke and Soji jump to Chie’s defense. Mainly because she values honesty and sees Chie as a ‘deceptive, lying witch’, in her words. Yosuke and Soji urge Chie to accept this part of her, explaining they know it’s ugly and it’ll hurt to do so, especially Yosuke, but she has to.
Chapter 9 starts with a flashback, to the time Chie and Yukiko first met. Chie’s down at the riverbank, practicing her kung fu, when she comes across a little girl, crying. The girl is holding a puppy and she’s crying because her family won’t let her keep it, because her home is an inn. Chie, however, promises she can take in the puppy at her own home and they could take care of him together. So forms a friendship that would last many, many years.
Chie is starting to question a lot of things at this point, all the while, Yosuke and Soji have summoned their Personas and are fighting Shadow Chie, who likes to fight dirty. We also find out that the summoner and Persona are connected, as when Shadow Chie gets in a cheapshot kick to Jiraiya’s crotch, Yosuke immediately drops as well. But it doesn’t really matter, as Chie’s ready to accept her truth, that she was just drunk on some ego trip. But she wants to remind Shadow Chie of one thing; Shadow Chie isn’t the whole of who she is anymore than Chie was. She rushes in to attack her problems head on, just as she normally would, with Soji and Yosuke, through their Personas, providing cover fire. Jiraiya blocks a blow for Chie, while Chie points out she doesn’t care if she was jealous or on an ego trip. That her friendship with Yukiko, that her feelings for her, were still real, regardless of her hidden feelings. Finally, Chie manages to get close and Shadow Chie tries for one more parting shot to get Chie to accept the truth, that she’s a foolish girl. Chie simply responds that she knows this, before kicking Shadow Chie in the face.
While we don’t yet see Chie’s Persona, we do see a card form after the battle, that of the Chariot arcana. But the group is given no time to rest before Yukiko arrives. She’s still trying to find her prince charming and she finds it funny she’s found some unexpected guests in her castle-wide stud hunt. Chie confronts the girl, claiming she isn’t Yukiko, only for the party to hear a familiar line. “I am Yukiko and Yukiko is me.” They realize this isn’t the Yukiko they know, but rather Shadow Yukiko, but they aren’t given time before Shadow Yukiko takes off to resume her search. It almost seems like the Shadow’s trying to tell them something, but Chie collapses, exhausted from the battle. She wants to continue on, but she can’t, but Yukiko is in there and she doesn’t want something awful happening to her.
This is when Teddie chooses to reveal something he’d been trying to elude to earlier. “Normal” people, meaning people without the power of Persona, are safe within the TV world, so long as they don’t meet their Shadow. And while Shadow Yukiko is running around, she’s looking for something, something that may not be her prince charming, as she claims, but so long as she’s searching, and hasn’t found it, she’ll leave the real Yukiko alone. Moreover, the Shadows will also leave Yukiko alone, as while it’s foggy within the TV world, they leave normal people alone. It’s only when the fog lifts that this changes. So, so long as they save the person before it becomes foggy in the real world, Yukiko will be safe.
The end of Chapter 9 and going into Chapter 10, it seems the group isn’t really wasting any time, as they go right back in after resting. Chie gets her glasses to help against the fog and they head right back into the castle. Within, Shadow Yukiko and the real Yukiko meet for the first time, but rather than immediately starting to go off on Yukiko, the Shadow almost seems to be waiting for something. When the party arrives, it seems to have finally happened. Shadow Yukiko calls all three of the party, minus Teddie, her princes and reveals she, that is the real Yukiko, just wants to leave the town, to be taken far away, to somewhere no one knows a Yukiko Amagi.
But Yukiko cannot rely on Chie anymore, she’s no longer her ‘prince’. She’d, after all, never take Yukiko away from Inaba. Shadow Yukiko reveals she feels like she was born to the wrong family, in the wrong place, that her life’s been decided for her from birth and she resents everyone for that. So far, it’s been a lot of Shadow Yukiko shouting, not really giving the real Yukiko a chance to really say much of anything. In reality, she’s not giving Yukiko time to process that her innermost heart is being revealed nor giving her time to accept it. So when she finally prompts the real Yukiko to agree with what she’s say, the real Yukiko rejects these things, as Shadow Yukiko wanted her to.
Shadow Yukiko transforms into a great bird of flame, as if finally springing forth from her cage. Chie charges in with her Persona, Tomoe, while Soji and Yosuke seem to be taking up guard duty for Yukiko. But, in contrast to how Yosuke and Chie faced their own Shadows, Yukiko is still struggling to accept that this was part of her, mainly since Shadow Yukiko was making her think she wanted everything to go up in flames, essentially. And while Yukiko can admit she wants to be free to make her own choices, to not be forced to continue to manage the Amagi Inn, the extremes Shadow Yukiko is claiming is still making it difficult for her. It isn’t until Chie is actually winning and about to slay Shadow Yukiko that Yukiko finally manages to summon forth the courage to accept what’s before her, that Shadow Yukiko may not be wrong. Even Yukiko herself claims that she wants to be free and her family’s traditions can burn in hell. But she manages to talk Shadow Yukiko down, to show that she never needed a prince to take her away, that she can do so on her own. Shadow Yukiko becomes a Persona, of the Priestess arcana, and both Yukiko and Chie have a moment to iron out their friendship, with Chie apologizing for never seeing Yukiko’s pain, for always being so focused on herself that she never could see her own jealousy. Basically showing that her confrontation with her own Shadow had affected Chie deeply enough that she needed to essentially confess her sins to her best friend.
Chapter 11 sees us back in reality, where the group is getting back together on the roof of Yasogami High. Seems like it’s lunch time and everyone, minus Teddie, is meeting up to discuss what’s going on and if Yukiko has any recollection on who kidnapped her. She can only remember hearing the door bell and someone calling her name, but nothing after that point. Yosuke and Soji tell the girls they’ll be working with Teddie to stop the culprit and both girls are willing to help. After some thought, the group starts trying to piece together a motive for the killer, eventually deciding on the victims being women linked to Mayumi Yamano, with Saki being killed to silence her since she found the body. They don’t have a solid reason for Yukiko, but since her mother had seen Ms Yamano before she died, Yukiko was likely targeted to get to her mother.
The rest of the chapters, 11 and 12, features a few gags, including a pair of gag glasses Teddie made while bored, when they go back to the TV world to get Yukiko some glasses and to meet Teddie. Soji also gets to meet with Adachi again, who turns out to be his uncle’s partner on the police force, both of them being detectives. We also get some peeks into the Dojima family’s home life as, while Dojima believes he can get the 4th and 5th of May off work. For those that know some Japanese culture, this set of days is near the end of a set of holidays in Japan, known as golden week. It’s a national holiday going from April 29th until May 6th, where schools and businesses are often closed to give people time off to celebrate a series of holidays. This includes Showa Day (April 29th), Constitution Memorial Day (May 3rd), Greenery Day (May 4th), and Children’s Day (May 5th). And now, you can say you learned something today! Anyways, for a government run organization, like the police, they likely aren’t shut down for golden week, so it’s likely difficult to get time off for then.
Suffice to say, he doesn’t get his time off. Another detective gets sick and his case can’t sit, so Dojima gets the case. A fact that destroys Nanako, as she wanted to take a trip with her father and cousin, Soji. We get a brief flashback to Soji’s own childhood, where his own parents would make such promises and he’d wind up all alone, feeling for his younger cousin. Soji tries to talk to Nanako, only for her to tell him she’s used to this before turning in early. But Soji isn’t about to accept that so, when Chie shows up suddenly the next day to invite Soji to join her, Yukiko, and Yosuke at Junes for the day, and invites Nanako to join them, he cuts off Nanako’s protests and urges her to join them for the day. Nanako, thankfully, loves Junes and enjoys going there, so when the girls feel bad for dragging her to Junes during golden week, they have no idea she’s really happy to be there. I won’t spoil all of this scene but it’s easy to see the whole group getting attached to Nanako, not to mention the group learning Soji can cook, if only because he grew up mostly alone and had to cook his own meals, or so I’m getting from the flashbacks to his childhood. The volume finally closes with closeups of two new characters, one with bleached hair and a leather jacket, and the other a young man, seemingly a detective, who just saw the cases from Inaba and seems intrigued by them.
I’d like to again pause to note that I really enjoy this about Persona 4’s manga. Where the game made Soji out to be some kind of god at everything, the manga is still making him look really competent, but we’re getting little peeks into why he’s competent. And that why begins to contextualize why he’s so good at being independent; because he had to be. And that context helps greatly in establishing who Soji is. It also contextualizes in a much greater way why this main character, who would usually avoid getting so close to anyone since he’d only be there for a short period of time, would suddenly reach out and connect with Nanako. He may not be there for very long, but in Nanako, he sees a younger him and wants to be the big brother to her that he would have wanted. This one scene shows great growth from our protagonist.
This is a great strength, as a lot of Persona 4’s other media often delivers Soji as Mr Perfect, which I know I’ve brought up early, but I’d like to once again iterate. Sometimes, he even seems a little too perfect. And while Soji can come off in this manga as being the same, the glimpses into his past and into his thoughts offer much more context than the other media delivered, even the game. Even more, a lot of the story of Persona 4 is being told through multiple perspectives. A lot of chapters are actually told through the perspectives of Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko, which leads to a lot more exploration of their characters. This was the strength of Persona 4, in all media, where the lack of developing a main character lead to more exploration of the supporting cast, making them feel more alive. This is what made Persona 4 work, as you weren’t really playing to see how Soji handled the mystery being put before him, but rather to spend time with characters you like, which wound up being the biggest draw to Persona, as a series. These worlds feel alive and the people feel like they’re real. And most of the casts feel so very alive and are quite likable.
And the Persona 4 manga not only retains that aspect but I would argue this is the best way to experience the base story of Persona 4, with Persona 4 Golden being the best way to have an expanded Persona 4 experience. The characterization is still excellent, if not even better, the visuals are spectacular, and the artist really sells not only the mystery of the TV world, but the other worldly vibes of it, to the point I could hear the battle theme in my head every single time I saw a Shadow. The visual effects they used to simulate fog was especially nice and stood out to me, though some things did jump out at me as inconsistent. For example, when Yukiko is normally shown, she has a very modest bust, but when Shadow Yukiko was wearing her evening gown at the castle and they had the plunging cleavage shot, she looked quite large suddenly. Especially since they kept bringing attention to it, as Yosuke estimated she was at least a C cup. This might seem nitpicky, but there’s a reason I bring it up, but we’ll get to that in future volumes. Needless to say, the Persona 4 manga has it’s share of fan service.
I also like how the various characters outside of Soji have a more active role in the game’s events, instead of relying on Soji to jump in before they can do anything. Sure, some of them needed more of a nudge than others, but Soji wasn’t as active, which makes more of the cast seem more competent. It really sells that this entire mystery being solved will be a team effort and everyone’s bringing their own talents and strengths to the team rather than relying too much on one man. Everyone is a valued member of this team and I appreciate that! This manga does some really interesting things and makes good changes, if you ask me.
I’m going to go a bit more in depth than my usual recommendations because Persona 4 is a difficult manga to recommend. Not in that I can’t, but manga, much like movies and TV, have certain audiences they do and do not appeal to. The toughest part about recommending it is that UDON doesn’t give this manga an age rating. Where my previous manga review, Goblin Slayer, has a Mature rating on the back and letter grades to show it has extreme language, nudity, sex, and violence in it, Persona 4 has no such thing. So let me give you one. I would say Persona 4 is likely fine for anyone 16 and up. At the least, the manga deals with death and a murder mystery, but also due to the fan service. While the worst it’s been so far has been just a closeup of a woman’s breasts, and not even bare at that, I can think of some scenes in the future that get pretty risque. Moreover, this manga is based on a game that got an M for Mature rating in the United States, which is a 17+ recommendation. I do understand, though, that it got a 16+ rating in the UK and Japan, so I’m more comfortable with that rating.
So, for those 16 and up, I give a high recommendation to this manga.
For those younger than 16, I would recommend this manga, but urge parents to read the first volume or two before you allow your child to. Use your own judgement of whether this manga is right for your child. I would still recommend it, however, since there is a lot of positivity to be found, like how true friends will stand at your side through anything, the value in things like honesty, integrity, and having empathy towards the people around you.
I hope you enjoyed this wall of text that almost became a novella. And do please let me know what you think of me doing two volumes in this review as opposed to one. I’ll still do the next two volumes, 3 and 4, together, but I want to hear opinions on if people like this or dislike it. I have numerous longer series that I’d like to review and your opinions will help with how I do things in the future.
The Professional Protagonist 