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

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

Not quite; Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Golden were released very close together (July 2012 and June 2012 respectively), but the Persona 4 anime preceded them by a fair amount since it started October 2011.

The anime was still promotion for Arena and Golden. They were all announced at around the same time.

[Dr. Casey]

Ah, I see.

[Dengar]

The second episode appears to be more about exposition than anything else.

Although even with exposition, the way the story works, you still don't understand very much. What are the Septentriones? Why are there six days left? What does Yamato mean when he says the world will end? The nature of the story means that the answers to questions such as these will be revealed rather slowly. So if people view the second episode as a bit boring, I can understand that.

That being said, I'd say keep to your rule of three. The first episode is meant to draw people in, the second usually explains a bit about the setting (but as I explained before, given the nature of the story, this is kind of hard to do), the third episode would supposedly set the stage for most of the story. So I advise to stay your decision to drop it or stick around until at least the third episode.

My personal opinion.. While I'm still excited, I'm getting kind of worried whether it's even possible to correctly adapt this game into an anime. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised in the long run. It's not a long series, and I do kind of squeal out of fanboyism, and Io is so very much mai waifu, so.... I'll probably end up sticking around 'til the end.

[kuromitsu]

Hi Suwabe Junichi!

*ahem*

Exposition plus plot set-up episode, but at least it looked pretty - I really like the visuals and designs in this series. There's not much to say about it otherwise, though... it went through the necessary motions, the actual story will start in ep 3. Oh well, I can wait a week.

Originally Posted by Dengar

Although even with exposition, the way the story works, you still don't understand very much. What are the Septentriones? Why are there six days left? What does Yamato mean when he says the world will end?

TBH I never understand it when people get hung up on things like this. The Septentrion are the bad guys, there are 6 days left because the boss said so, and the world will end which is bad... I think this is enough to understand what's going on for the moment, and then we'll get clarifications and explanations in time. (Though to be fair my first question would've been "why 6 days?" but eh, if it's a secret then it's a secret.)

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

Not quite; Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Golden were released very close together (July 2012 and June 2012 respectively), but the Persona 4 anime preceded them by a fair amount since it started October 2011.

It's close enough for horseshoes, it's close enough for hand grenades, and it's close enough for me.

Originally Posted by Dengar

Although even with exposition, the way the story works, you still don't understand very much. What are the Septentriones? Why are there six days left? What does Yamato mean when he says the world will end? The nature of the story means that the answers to questions such as these will be revealed rather slowly. So if people view the second episode as a bit boring, I can understand that.

I haven't reached the explanation in the game, but it's pretty obvious given what happened in Devil Survivor 1. And really it shouldn't be too unexpected even if you've never played one of these games.

[Shadow5YA]

It's not really a secret: it's more like Yamato is an elitist who doesn't think it's worth sharing information to commoners he thinks are nothing more than peons

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

I haven't reached the explanation in the game, but it's pretty obvious given what happened in Devil Survivor 1. And really it shouldn't be too unexpected even if you've never played one of these games.

Um... If you're expecting something that's even remotely resembling a carbon copy of DeSu1, then you're going to be somewhat disappointed. It shares some of the same themes but the story plays out rather differently.

[Kanon]

Episode 2 provided more questions than answers, but that's fine for now. We're only at the very beginning of the series after all. Answers will come in due time. What matters is that the protagonists have been given a clear goal. I'm glad they didn't waste too much time making up their mind and have already joined the good guys (or are they?).

[Shadow5YA]

The hell are they doing with Joe? I have no doubt he'll be appearing since he's in the OP and ED, but the fact that he hasn't appeared yet when he's one of your first party members after Io and Daichi is very puzzling to me.

[ChampDream]

Byakko for the win!
Hibiki has found his reason to fight and his friends are supporting him.
now I only wonder if JP are really the good guys?

[jeroz]

Since they removed the "you have to fight the first demon yourself" thing, it won't make sense for his introduction. I think they are presenting him alongside another character, possibly Otome

[finallyanime]

Originally Posted by Dengar

The second episode appears to be more about exposition than anything else.

Although even with exposition, the way the story works, you still don't understand very much. What are the Septentriones? Why are there six days left? What does Yamato mean when he says the world will end? The nature of the story means that the answers to questions such as these will be revealed rather slowly. So if people view the second episode as a bit boring, I can understand that.

That being said, I'd say keep to your rule of three. The first episode is meant to draw people in, the second usually explains a bit about the setting (but as I explained before, given the nature of the story, this is kind of hard to do), the third episode would supposedly set the stage for most of the story. So I advise to stay your decision to drop it or stick around until at least the third episode.

My personal opinion.. While I'm still excited, I'm getting kind of worried whether it's even possible to correctly adapt this game into an anime. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised in the long run. It's not a long series, and I do kind of squeal out of fanboyism, and Io is so very much mai waifu, so.... I'll probably end up sticking around 'til the end.

I completely agree. I was on twitter a little earlier and just looked up tweets mentioning devil survivor and idk if i looked at the wrong time of the day....or something, but people were super hype about it after watching the first couple episodes.

That worries me.

This show reeks of a lot of signs pointing to nothing special. I would explain more, but I'm gonna do so later in a review anyways, so i'll save it, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this show was a bit too abrupt for itself. I mean dont get me wrong, i like abruptness and it can be done very well. I HATE bringing up older shows for examples, but Elfen Lied probably has one of the most "abrupt" first episodes ever (or perhaps deadman wonderland) & they did a great job. And the beginning was good I thought, but after that first bit, I was lost interest-wise.

Agree, disagree?

[Shinhwa]

Good episode. Too bad I never played the game to know the whole story :I

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by jeroz

Since they removed the "you have to fight the first demon yourself" thing, it won't make sense for his introduction. I think they are presenting him alongside another character, possibly Otome

The problem is that you have to meet Joe in Tokyo. In the game he explicitly states that he's there for a reason. If he appears in another area like Nagoya, it would contradict his character.

Considering the changes already made like Hinako already being with JPs, I'd say it's already beyond the point where we can call this a faithful adaptation of the game's story.

I'll still watch this because it's decently animated with delicious Yasuda designs intact, but no, this is not how the story goes.

[Hooves]

Episodes that simply add more questions early on is the best in my opinion. I quite enjoyed this episode in a casual way.

[Kirarakim]

I found the 2nd episode entertaining, fun to watch. But in the end I do think this series will be largely forgettable. I am mainly staying for the seiyuu (it's a guilty pleasure of mine).

I'd love to be proven wrong though.

[Polarpew]

Araragi as Hibiki.... lol so messed up, anyways I like the dark visuals in this anime and the ED song blew me away. This entire series just feels depressing from the get-go, which means it'll be great!

[RWBladewing]

It's still very early and next episode looks to change things up, but I don't really like what they've done with Io so far.

Spoiler for game comparisons:

She struck me as being much more competent from the very beginning in the game, keeping a relatively cool head while trying to understand what was going on and eager to figure out how to use the summon program effectively. When Daichi was in trouble she didn't hesitate for even a second to jump in and help despite being worried about her family. Here she just seems completely crippled by those worries so far. I hope that changes soon, I really liked the quiet and shy, yet eminently capable, version of her.

[SilverSyko]

Well the story's really moving along isn't it? I do know the game is only 7 "days" long so the fact we're already at "day" 2 in episode 2 shows me that this will indeed only run for a single cour.

Not a whole lot to say about this episode really. I don't know what that skull-bird demon that attacked the church was. Never seen it before in other SMT games.

I'm wondering if the story will delve a bit into the misuse of tamed demons by humans like the first game did. That was sort of lampshaded here with the people fearing Hibiki after using Byakko, but was pretty much instantly resolved thanks to the boy he saved.

[Von Himmel]

I hear some remix of game soundtrack in this episode, particularly that scene where the demon appears.

Oh and they do seem to expose more information about what's happening already compared to the game I wonder how this will work out.