(L) Devil Survivor 2 - Anime-Only Discussion (no game comparisons or spoilers)

[Requiem-x]

Finally found time and peace of mind to watch this, and reactions are mixed, but on the enjoyable side.

Spoiler for Spoilers:

Things looked ok, too dark in the middle, but I doubt that will be a problem for the rest of the show. Characters look spot on, demons look spot on, music is really nice (I actually like the OP, and holy crap, that ED). Voices are a mixed bag: Hibiki sounds great, much less Touma than expected, Daichi is perfectly ok, Makoto is Inaban, that's enough to make it a plus in my book, but Io sounds a bit too squeaky and Yamato sounds like a gruff 30 year old.

Now, for the important part, this feels more of a retelling than an adaptation (yes, I've played the game), given all the modifications, but I don't mind that, in fact, it will be very interesting to see how it goes. After all, one of the biggest complaints about the game was the lack of seriousness for most of the plot, and it seems the anime will focus on solving that, which is awesome and damn rare, so one way or another, this will be quite the experience, and possibly a lesson on adaptations.

Speaking of seriousness, it looks like we're going to see the hardest part on Io's development next week, will definetly look forward to see how that is adapted. As well as anything else involving Io, really. Just please, don't make her Yuzu levels of worthless. She's better than that.

P.S: Joe can get agidyne'd for all I care.

[dark998]

Pretty good despite the fast pace and the expected differences with the game. Though with the next day being 2-part episode they won't be taking down one Septentrion each time. Now THAT would have been insanely fast pace.

Also: ED >>>>>>> OP. In both visuals and song.

[shmaster]

Spoiler for Comparison to the game:

I won't mind they let Byakko do it if they actually shows us how menacing Dubhe is. But what we get is Dubhe getting stumped and we don't even see it possess this powerful trick.

Also, the energy balance within and outside Dubhe has to be broken the exact moment the explosion goes off. Hitting it before it goes off does not work. In other word, you have to tank his explosion out right in order to break his invincibility. The animation made it look like breaking that invincibility to be some easy task.

They could have skipped Dubhe bombing the civilians, which no one cares about. And extend the fight a bit longer showing Dubhe driving Hibikki in danger with its hax. Than have Makoto step in (who had her own suspicion on Dubhe's invisibility in the original game) to provide some hit and maybe even some of their exchange in the original game, then finally break Dubhe out of its invisibility mode. This way, we still can get an good fight making Hibiki shine, and still make the alternation stick close to the original thus making both sides of audience happy. Why couldn't they do something as simple as this?

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

Moreso than that actually, Devil Survivor and Persona are technically from the same franchise as well.

I think the Persona series isn't part of Shin Megami Tensei actually. That was added in North America and Europe to try and tie both series together for marketing purposes.

[Chaos2Frozen]

I was wondering how they would handle the devil summoning; unlike Persona the characters don't have any defining creature to begin with.

So it looks like they gave the protagonist Byakko... I guess because they're both white... And blue...

Damn good production quality, lets hope it continues (unlikely)

Originally Posted by dark998

Also: ED >>>>>>> OP. In both visuals and song.

Most definitely, it's almost like a completely different team did the two of them.

The ED is kickass as hell.

[SilverSyko]

Originally Posted by Dextro

I think the Persona series isn't part of Shin Megami Tensei actually. That was added in North America and Europe to try and tie both series together for marketing purposes.

Try telling me that once you go back and have a look into "Shin Megami Tensei: If..." The connections between that game and Persona are somewhat evident.

And while they're called Personas in Persona, they most definitely use the exact same demon designs from the other Shin Megami Tensei titles. While minor, that's definitely a connection too.

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

The game is by the same people who did Persona.

Not correct, but not wrong either. What you mean to say is that they're of the same franchise. Two completely different Atlus teams handled the games.

Originally Posted by Dextro

I think the Persona series isn't part of Shin Megami Tensei actually. That was added in North America and Europe to try and tie both series together for marketing purposes.

It didn't start out under the SMT brand, but by Persona 3's time Atlus basically consolidated all the Megaten games under it. Now though, Persona's grown big enough to be its own brand, and even the team handling it has its own officially recognized P Studio.

[RRW]

[Hooves]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I was wondering how they would handle the devil summoning; unlike Persona the characters don't have any defining creature to begin with.

So it looks like they gave the protagonist Byakko... I guess because they're both white... And blue...

Damn good production quality, lets hope it continues (unlikely)

Most definitely, it's almost like a completely different team did the two of them.

The ED is kickass as hell.

Byakko going with someone that has the same color of hair as it sounds reasonable

I agree, the ED is just awesome.

[Angelic Cross]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

Try telling me that once you go back and have a look into "Shin Megami Tensei: If..." The connections between that game and Persona are somewhat evident.

And while they're called Personas in Persona, they most definitely use the exact same demon designs from the other Shin Megami Tensei titles. While minor, that's definitely a connection too.

As a storyline and a universe, If... and the Persona series are considered one. In a metafictional sense? No. For example, if you'll look at the "History" section of Atlus Japan's Strange Journey homepage, they list the games of the mainline series. If.. is there but not the Persona games. I think they do the same thing in their list of series in the untranslated MegaTen documentary on Youtube. Atlus considers Persona as a spinoff series, while If... is a mainline side game, even though they're part of the same timeline (strange, yes, but then again Atlus does make some odd decisions with their stories and characters). That's what Dextre's getting at, I believe.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

I was wondering how they would handle the devil summoning; unlike Persona the characters don't have any defining creature to begin with.

I'd really prefer they don't have any defining creature. One of the big differences between Personae and demons is that demons are treated as disposable tools. A Persona is basically a part of oneself, so it makes sense to make them unique to the characters. With demons, you're basically using a computer program to enslave something that'll happily screw humans over. Demons are not your friends (with very few exceptions). They will either eat you, enslave you, or make you suffer for the lulz.

[Somnus]

I thought about joining the discussion of anime vs game, and then decided it wasn't worth the effort, when I started to remember the SAO conversations.

So instead, I'm going to drop in and say the first ep was fun and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

More importantly, I'm VERY much a fan of the ED.

[FlareKnight]

This will be a nice change from Persona 4 in which I have no experience with Devil Summoner 2. Can just take the episodes as they come without worrying about comparisons or anything .

Pretty solid first episode. That trio really has gotten involved in something crazy. Looking forward to figuring out just what the heck is going on .

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

If it hasn't yet, I'm sure it'll happen eventually. This JP organization and the government likely aren't going to want demons freely roaming Japan.

There IS a reason later why they can't leave Japan. I'll leave it to the anime to (hopefully) show how and why. I'll just say this: in a world where demons exist, your way of thinking is too narrow if you believe only humans can limit traveling.

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

A lot of deaths.. and only the youngsters could save the world.. pretty cliche....

This is false. If you look at the main cast list and profiles, you'll find that more than one of them are adults.

[GDiddy]

I have no idea of the game is about but I liked this a lot!

[Master_Yoma]

This seems like Persona meeting Tokyo Magnitude

[OkamiNoKaze]

Cool series, a darker Digimon/pokemon, speaking of which, I hope there is a Nocturne Anime one of these days, that would be cool.

[com_gwp]

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

This seems like Persona meeting Tokyo Magnitude

Funny, that's exactly how I would describe it, along with a dash of Evangelion.

[Metalsnakezero]

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

This seems like Persona meeting Tokyo Magnitude

That's not a bad comparison.

[ginger02]

Curious, how dark is the show, given the first episode and previous work? With a title like that, not too sure if I should be expecting something blood and gore like highschool of the dead, or something more toned down like say Persona 4.

[creb]

Originally Posted by ginger02

Curious, how dark is the show, given the first episode and previous work? With a title like that, not too sure if I should be expecting something blood and gore like highschool of the dead, or something more toned down like say Persona 4.

There are darker (far darker) stories/franchises within the Shin Megami metaverse.

The game is rated T, for teen, to put things in perspective.