Sunday 11 March 2012

Persona 4: The Animation - Episode 22

Nanako is in danger, and the culprit seemingly responsible for the Midnight Channel disappearances has been tracked down - are we entering the gang's final battle to solve this case?

First things first however, as Nanako's safety takes priority and a dip inside the world of the television brings us to a heaven-like vision brought forth by Nanako herself out of continued grief for her deceased mother.  Although Taro Namatame tries to make a run for it with Nanako in tow, he's soon cornered, with his insistence that he's trying to "save" those he's dumped inside the TV world falling upon deaf ears.  Such is Namatame's insistence that he ultimately finds himself surrounded by Shadows who bestow upon him the ability to control others and their Personas - a trick which makes life decidedly difficult once he takes control of Narukami.


Ultimately though, Yu manages to break this "spell" before later helping his comrades to do the same, and giving them to opportunity they need to take down Namatame and save Nanako.  With the former taken into custody and the latter rushed to hospital where she remains for some time before showing signs of recovery, it seems that the case really has been solved this time.  But is this really the end of the story?  With Yasoinaba finding itself blanketed by fog day after day, something is clearly amiss, and even Nanako's fate is still anything but assured...

All of this adds up to another great episode of Persona 4 - by this point it almost doesn't need to do anything special, as its story alone has enough in the bank to keep you hooked.  With a pretty slick action scene making up the first half of the episode before lulling us into a false sense of security on multiple counts during the second, we well and truly have the rug pulled out from underneath us in its closing moments.  Is its story really going to take such a cruel turn, and in what direction are we headed next?  It's these exact questions that has me on the edge of my seat as we wait for next week's instalment.

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