(L) Devil Survivor 2 - Weekly Episode Comparison to the Game

[relentlessflame]

The purpose of this thread is to allow Devil Survivor 2 game players an opportunity to discuss the presentation of the anime as it relates to their game experience. It is also a place where speculation and spoilers are permitted.

This should not normally be necessary, but it seemed otherwise impossible to keep the discussion in the other thread focused and on-topic. This should be considered an exception and may not be extended to other shows with similar issues.

[Soliloquy]

Good thing this thread is created because this episode really turned 180 degrees in terms of faithful adaptation. Regarding the characters, they all have the similar traits as the game but the fact Hibiki Kuze joined the opposing team of JPs, now nothing's for certain. I'm trying to remember if there are any more new characters yet to be introduced but I can't think of one.

If I remember, Io Nitta hasn't really acted for herself until about the middle part of the game, so I guess it's a bit of improvement. Really I have to say Io is really the only one so far received the decent character development. And I'm not really pleased about the latest episode that Joe has been somewhat pushed into Side character territory when he's like one the livelier character with fun lines. To think he's not properly introduced, rather came up abruptly, really disappointing. I'm hoping somehow he receives some proper development.

[GoldenLand]

Yep, at this point the series is not making any real pretense at being a faithful adaptation. And...I quite liked it, although I have to wonder if anime-only viewers will be getting as much out of it, because little time is being paid to the characterisation.

The scene with Io and Daichi was cute. It was probably the first scene where I really liked her voice acting. I agree that Io is now actually doing better than many of the characters: ep 2 she got some understandable angst, ep 4 she got to decide to fight and try to help Hibiki, and this ep she got to be adorable with the box and came over as competent. It's okay as the bare bones of a character arc. A pity there wasn't a better adaptation of the box scene, but admittedly that could have been very difficult to write in, both in set-up and in time taken. They probably couldn't do it in the few episodes they have.

Daichi isn't doing horribly badly, but if his main contribution in this series is going to end up as "comic relief character with weak demons who ends up eventually showing up with some strong ones"...that is going to bite. And there's a real risk of it happening.

I adored the Jungo and Airi scene. I'm curious about Jungo because he, well, died on my sole playthrough of the game. From what I've heard his highest stat was strength, so having him be able to open that tunnel cover easily was a nice touch. It must have been a deliberate reference. And I love that he's speaking in the third person all the time. Airi's voice acting seemed spot on.

Joe...Joe was concerning. Especially with his girlfriend dead and him not spending any time with Hibiki+Io+Daichi, it looks extremely doubtful that he'll get any real screen time or character development. This ep he had about a minute of screen time at the most. Otome came over well in this ep, and her being a doctor does give her a good way to be slotted into the take-over of JPs without having to waste scarce dialogue time on it.

The scenes with Yamato and Alcor were pretty good, especially in regard to the art. Shadows and chess sets, very nice, and the bit at the end with Yamato's expression about the death clip was well done too, and managed to convey some info about Yamato's character. Having Hibiki join Ronaldo and have a death clip was a good move, as it makes things interesting both for the plot and for having Hibiki be less of a standard boring protagonist. Who can really say what'll happen next? Ronaldo is another one I'm curious about, as here he's a former JPs member and is only interested in targeting Yamato. He must know that there are good people in that organisation.

If they keep on with things as they have in ep 5, I think the series is going to be good and entertaining to watch, but that in terms of characterisation depth it's only going to give out the bare minimum in order to keep the plot moving and will in that sense be like a glorified commercial for the game or fanservice for the game players, despite the best attempts of the staff. Not that the game is incredibly deep on characterisation in the first place, but it's definitely better. There is just not enough time here to give all the characters the depth they need. But given the size of the series, going off in the direction they have is arguably the best choice.

Now what I'm wondering about is: who else is going to die? It's hard to believe that Keita will be the only one, because that would be cheap. Ronaldo is at high risk, but aside from him...Joe, Otome, Jungo, or Airi? No, probably not Airi.

(Thank you for creating the extra thread, mods! I hope it'll get used.)

[RWBladewing]

I haven't watched the episode yet but it is great to hear they included Operation Box. That was the moment I wanted to see animated the most and I was worried it wasn't gonna happen based on how Io started out here.

[GoldenLand]

Originally Posted by RWBladewing

I haven't watched the episode yet but it is great to hear they included Operation Box. That was the moment I wanted to see animated the most and I was worried it wasn't gonna happen based on how Io started out here.

It's a cute moment in the anime, but it's very brief, so I don't want to get your hopes up too much. I'm happy with it, though. Leaving it out would have been terrible.

[shmaster]

I think what we see in this episode is all we are going to have for the operation box.

Also, with his girlfriend already gone, I have this gut feeling that Joe is the one getting killed next. There isn't much to his character without his girlfriend.

And I don't think I really like what they did to Al now. Too not personally involved. He should be more hostile to Yamato at this point.

[Angelic Cross]

Originally Posted by shmaster

I think what we see in this episode is all we are going to have for the operation box.

Also, with his girlfriend already gone, I have this gut feeling that Joe is the one getting killed next. There isn't much to his character without his girlfriend.

Yeah, the only good end possible now is the Kingmaker ending.

On another note, I don't think we're going to be seeing Dera Deka.

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by GoldenLand

Ronaldo is another one I'm curious about, as here he's a former JPs member and is only interested in targeting Yamato. He must know that there are good people in that organisation.

This so much, I actually did like that they made him a former JP's member, because of the implications. Not all JP's member are satisfied with Yamato's goals, and the duality with Makoto's own doubts help both stand out stronger. And having him as a former JP's member is a much better reason than "lol detective snoopin" to know about Yamoto's plans.

[RWBladewing]

Hmm, yeah, that was not the Operation Box I was expecting but an homage was better than nothing.

I actually enjoyed this episode quite a bit. I think they did a good job with Airi and Jungo's dynamic and I kinda like the tsundere-ish Otome + Joe interaction as well.

[melina_putri]

Looks like Tuesday is only 2 parts, since the next episode preview shown they are fighting Phecda already. I wonder if someone going to die in the battle...

[Kimidori]

for some reason I feel Jungo high chance of dying in the anime, hope not though cause he my favorite character in the game.

I'm replaying the game now to get Daichi+ ending, didn't got it in my first run cause I let Keita die and thought he was not saveable.

[Dengar]

It seems there were quite a lot of people who failed to save Keita on their first runs. In that regard, the anime is actually being quite faithful. lol

[Kimidori]

Originally Posted by Dengar

It seems there were quite a lot of people who failed to save Keita on their first runs. In that regard, the anime is actually being quite faithful. lol

mostly because all death clip before Keita was prevented without any player input, me and I think many players thought that will be the case with Keita as well, and when they see him die, like me, thought he was not saveable.

[Shadow5YA]

I had experience from the first game, so I didn't have any deaths on my first playthrough with the exception of the 7th(8th?) day because it's forced on certain routes. Keita is probably one of the characters I cared for the least, so his death in the anime was welcome.

I'm also glad they made Ronaldo less crazy, because he is arguably one of the most despicable characters in the game... though with him being the extreme communist to Yamato the fascist, I suppose neither one of them were supposed to be likable in the first place.

[Kimidori]

strange, I don't understand why there are so much hates for Ronaldo, did he do something bad in his route? (I don't mind spoiler btw)

I only managed to unlock 3 route, maybe I should go his route next, or maybe Yamato?

[Shadow5YA]

Long story short: even though he talks about "justice" and fairness, he's really more driven by revenge to kill Yamato and destroy JPs for the disappearance of his mentor. He's a hypocrite who doesn't even follow his own philosophy of "protecting the weak" unless the MC keeps him in line. Yamato may also be an ironfisted leader with an extreme point of view, but at least he sticks to it.

Examples:

Spoiler for Ronaldo's exploits:

Then there's a scene before it where JPs members are being attacked by stray demons in a subway. Ronaldo wants to leave them to die, unless the protagonist talks him out of it by saying how he's not really protecting the weak if he leaves them to die, JPs or not.

...and then some time later...

There's a death clip where Ronaldo shoots and kills Makoto. This was not by accident either. He is outright storming JPs while Makoto is helping her allies evacuate. It's pretty much an execution.

And this is before the route split. You should have seen it happen already.

As for the routes, there are only four. You have three: Yamato's Way, Ronaldo's Way, and Daichi's Way (this one has two endings). The only one you're missing is Anguished One.

[Dengar]

So 1: He's human and 2: He shoots an enemy, big whoop.

I always thought people hated him cos he's communist or something.

[Kimidori]

well, at least in the anime he seem to be better, only target Yamato and see JPs members as "only obeyed they were given" and tell the rioter to "leave them alone". he saying "what we have to stop is Yamato Hotsuin alone" pretty much say it all.

[eiyuu99]

The game portrays Justiceman as a hypocritical idiot. Here's one issue.

Spoiler for Major late game spoiler:

This fate event is likely to take place on 6th Day.
On the event to Fate level 4, Ronaldo spread some rumors to lure JP's members, who ended up ambushed by demons and he was willing to watch them die.
While he claims Yamato was inhuman in his methods, watching humans killed by demons and intentionally not doing anything wasn't a humane act.
Hibiki talked him out of it and he realized he was little different from Yamato.

On 6th Day late evening, Ronaldo stormed Nagoya branch again and insisted on killing JP's members while Makoto helped her allies escape.
After defeating Makoto and has her at his mercy, Makoto refused to surrender and he shot her in cold blood.
Okay, he shot an enemy, big whoop. Let's take a gander in later events.

A Saturday Toward Equality
On 7th Day, Ronaldo defeated another JP's member in Ronaldo's Way.
When the member refused to surrender, he let him go.

On 7th Day, Ronaldo defeated Yamato, who he claims to be evil. Ronaldo decided to let Hotsuin Yamato go.

What is the logical explanation for his sudden change of heart that justifies killing Makoto on 6th Day and then letting Yamato and other JP's members live on 7th Day?

Please advise.

Ending

Spoiler:

4 routes may be available at the end of 6th Day.
A New World - Need to unlock.

Ronaldo's Way - Available at default
Yamato's Way - Available at default

Daichi's Way - Available at default
If Restorer route is unlocked, player has a choice to choose between Liberator or Restorer on 8th Day. Otherwise, Liberator is the default choice on 8th Day.

Restorer has 2 variations - Incomplete (default) and complete, which require the player to get all 13 tamers, sans Saiduq, to unlock the additional scenes in the ending.

[Blizzard]

He is kind of a hypocritical idiot here as well. I mean first he accuses Yamato of using this whole mess for his own agenda and minutes later HE announces that he's going to use the third Septentrion to elevate his own status and get recognition. By quote unquote getting them before JPs or Government with his "party" like he's going after some rare map boss in a MMORPG even.

If he had half a brain he would've used all resources available and cooperate but no he's turning it into some kind of pissing contest and severely underestimating the threat as well. From preview alone at least FOUR JPs summoners (Io, Daichi, Airi, Jungo oh not to mention Otome) will be joining the fight as extra members and even then they seem to be having trouble. Ronaldo's plan as it is was bound to get everyone killed, cost them Nagoya and deliver an hefty blow to the front lines for later fights.

On that note Ronaldo was in Osaka and it doesn't even seem like he arrived at the last minute either considering he did know about the prophecies as seen in this episode. He too knew it would happen and he had a strong demon capable of making a difference. He was on the scene. He also let all those people die and watched as it happened. And here, they were his former coworkers so we can't even blame his ignorance like in the game. He let it all happen possibly just to show Hibiki what a bastard Yamato was. They were laughing at Osaka's "incompetence" for gods sake. Right, equal. OHe only knows how to talk.

To be honest I think Ronaldo is less concerned about justice but the IDEA of being a hero of justice. It seems he just wants to feel good about himself. Like people who give a beggar money and are like "omg I did something good today go me" for weeks afterwards. All his so called ideals sound like hollow stock phrases from some childrens cartoon. (Not anime. Anime are deeper.) But anyway, he has no idea what he's in for unlike Yamato who has a plan and knows what he's doing. And he's trying to play political games with humanity on the brink of extinction. At least whatever plans Yamato has are for after they deal with the main problem. On top of THAT he's depleting whatever limited resources there is to have even the slightest hope of getting through this, both in supplies and manpower.

And then there's also the thing he didn't get his "right hand man"s death video when Yamato of all people did. To be honest, I'm even more done with anime Ronaldo than game Ronaldo. At least the latter had his revenge as an excuse to be irrational. This one is just feeding his ego. Heck you might say he's even MORE of an hypocritical idiot than he was.