persona 3 movie review

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The Persona 3 films adapt everything, for better or worse

Persona 3 Reload , a remake of the classic 2006 RPG , is due to release on February 2. Between 2013 and 2016, AIC ASTA and A-1 Pictures released four animated films on Persona 3 . The question is: are they worth watching before Reload ‘s release?

For many, myself included, seeing your favorite franchises adapted into a new form is thrilling. So when I heard there were four full-length animated films based on Persona 3 , I knew I had to watch them. It’s too good to be true! Well, in a way, it kind of is.

Spoiler alert for Persona 3 and the films.

What are the Persona 3 movies?

Let’s give a bit of context here. The Persona 3 films, under the banner Persona 3: The Movie , were mostly made by A-1 Pictures (with AIC ASTA doing #1). A-1 also tackled the animated scenes in Persona 4 , so they’ve worked with Atlus in the past.

The films came out over four years, starting in 2013 and ending in 2016. They launched theatrically in Japan, and while they never made it to the West in terms of dubbing, you can buy them subtitled off Amazon Prime for around $5 each.

In honor of Persona 3: Reload ‘s release, I decided to watch all four films and collect my findings here for you all to see. I’ll talk about how the films adapt the source material and make it better, or in some cases worse.

As someone who played Persona 3 Portable , which had no animated cutscenes, the movies made up for that. Seeing the events of Persona 3 done justice through the great animation by AIC ASTA and A-1 Pictures is satisfying. The style is consistent with the original game and outmatched the animated cutscenes in-game, in my opinion. The fight scenes are also given a one-up, feeling just as snappy and rewarding.

The films also give Makoto Yuki, the once-silent protagonist, a full voice and lines . This helps speed things up story-wise and gives him more of a personality and arc. His character development throughout the four films is pretty good and goes deep into the themes of life and death. Furthermore, Yuki’s humanization in Persona 3: The Movie #3. Falling Down with Ryoji creates some great moments of friendship the game never had, if I remember correctly.

From the start, you can tell the films were made by Persona 3 fans. Throughout the four films, you’ll see cameos from Social Links like Akinari and Chihiro, as well as Makoto using fan-favorite Personas like Jack Frost and Thoth.

The S.E.E.S members also have their moments in the spotlight and translate well onto the screen. Junpei is still that lovable goofball, and Akihiko punches anything and everything near him. We even get an “I’ve been waiting for this” , which is a must for any Persona 3 title.

The story of Persona 3 is a long one. I mean, the game takes at least 88 hours to beat , and that’s just sticking to the narrative. While the base story remains, small character moments and events are shaved to their bare bones or cut entirely. Even still, it hurts characters that didn’t get much time in the original, like Shinji and Jin.

While what it adds is good, it doesn’t elevate things as much as they could’ve. For example, the concept of Personas turning on their users is glanced over, being resolved the same way for both afflicted characters.

Another thing that felt off was the unchanged ending. I know some people didn’t like the pacing of the ending and the events that transpire. And, while I was confused and surprised, it felt right. Persona 3: The Movie #4: Winter of Rebirth didn’t change that, and it’s a missed opportunity.

On that note, the pacing was quick and went too fast. This problem came up a lot, as events happen and end within minutes and get pushed to the side. The game had this issue, and to see that adapted doesn’t suit the films well.

I do want to point out that each film has a different director. While the visions for them didn’t change much from each version, it feels like there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room to explore. For example, Persona 3: The Movie #1. Spring of Birth covered the beginning up to Fuuka’s entrance, while Persona 3: The Movie #2. Midsummer Knight’s Dream gave us the rest of the S.E.E.S squad and villains.

Each film was an hour and a half, give or take. I’m unsure if the plan was always four films, but deep down, I feel like adding a bit more time to each would help smooth the pacing and make them unique.

The Persona 3 films are solid showings of the game’s narrative. They stay true to the source material and add small yet welcoming changes. That said, condensing the story and translating its pacing problems to the screen hurt the films, especially the last two. As a fan of Persona 3 and its characters, it’s great to see them as lively as they were in the game.

So, it begs the question: should you watch Persona 3: The Movie and its sequels before Persona 3 Reload ? Personally, I would steer clear of them if Reload is your first. The game looks to correct some of the original’s errors and the story flows much better with gameplay. If you’re a returning Persona 3 player, the films would help refresh your memory of the story and characters. Plus, it gives some fun moments that fans will enjoy.

Overall, they act as mementos of the original. Whether they’ll age well come Persona 3 Reload ‘s release remains to be seen. 

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Persona 3 the Movie 1: Spring of Birth

Persona 3 the Movie: #1 Spring of Birth

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The Persona 3 Anime Adaptation Differed From Its Successors in One Key Way

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Ever since it began to truly become mainstream, Atlus' Persona series has been more than just a video game franchise. The most notable entries have also had anime and manga adaptations, bringing their source materials' stories to life in a more streamlined fashion. Persona 3 was no exception, though it was handled differently than its two successors.

Persona 4 had two anime series adaptations, whereas Persona 5 had one. On the other hand, Persona 3 had its story retold across four movies, one of which made the true terror of the plot even more visceral. With Persona 3 Portable now available to download for modern consoles , here's a look back at its anime and where the movies can be watched.

RELATED: Atlus Is Revisiting the Wrong Persona Game

Persona 3's Plot Set Trends for the Direction of Persona 4 and Persona 5

The story of Persona 3 and its many permutations involves a high school transfer student who moves to the fictional city of Iwatodai. This location was the subject of numerous experiments, resulting in the present phenomenon known as the Dark Hour. During this period between one day and the next, most of the town's residents turn into coffins. However, those who don't are terrorized by the monstrous Shadows that reside in the tower called Tartarus, which itself is the Dark Hour equivalent to the protagonist's school Gekkoukan High School.

After moving to the school, the main character joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, which is made up of people aware during the Dark Hour. Able to summon "Personas," this team goes about taking down Shadows, though their actions and the fate of the town are all connected to much darker secrets. The main storyline in Persona 3 is titled "The Journey," with the expanded version Persona 3 FES containing an addendum titled "The Answer." The team concept of the game was very much what would inspire the plots of the next two Persona titles, as would the "Social Links" involving interaction between party members outside battle. Unlike the next two games, however, the Persona 3 anime was handled a bit differently.

RELATED: Persona Fans Will Love Thirsty Suitors

The Persona 3 Anime Movies Are the Best Adaptations of the Series

While Persona 4 and 5 had full-on anime series, "The Journey" section of Persona 3 was instead turned into a quartet of movies. The first of these was Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring of Birth , which originally released in 2013, seven years after the game. The series of movies as a whole worked to truncate and streamline the games' story without getting lost in the weeds with sidequests and Social Link plots . That does come with the caveat of the first and third entries easily being the worst, as they have the arduous task of establishing numerous vital elements to the plot. On the other hand, the second and especially the fourth films emphasize the terror felt at Gekkoukan High School as the plot crescendos into its climax.

The movies also overcame insurmountable odds in making their protagonist an actual character. Compared to the fourth and fifth Persona titles, the main character of Persona 3 was a silent protagonist whose name of Makoto Yuki wasn't officially established for quite a while. Drawing upon the dark "coolness" of his actions in the game, the movies gave a bit more depth to what was a blank slate. Add in that the series is made up of four 1.5-hour movies, and it's a quicker watch than the Persona shows. Despite the runtime, it handles the material and pacing far better than the Persona 5 anime, which was widely disliked by the fandom.

RELATED: Persona 3 Remake Reportedly In the Works

Where to Watch the Persona 3 Anime

The anime adaptations of Persona 4 and Persona 5 are available on streaming services such as Hulu and Crunchyroll, so some might assume that the same is the case for the Persona 3 movie series. Sadly, there's no streaming service that hosts the Persona 3 film quartet, though the movies are readily available to buy and watch. Viewers can rent or purchase the films through Amazon Prime Video, allowing them to either relive the game's story or experience it for the first time before playing it through the port of Persona 3 Portable .

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Persona 3 the Movie: No. 1 Spring of Birth Reviews

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The Persona 3 Films Continue to Impress

I’ve been more than a little impressed by the first two movies in the Persona 3 film series. And with its focus on character development and thematic exploration, the third film, Persona 3: Falling Down , sets the bar even higher.

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On the surface, Falling Down doesn’t seem like the third film in a tetralogy—rather it gives the impression of an overly long epilogue. The film’s opening scene feels like it should be the climax to the entire film series: The SEES team battles against the twelfth and final shadow boss as well as the Strega persona users. When the battle is over, by all accounts the heroes have won, with all adversaries defeated.

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While there is clearly something still amiss—as the dark hour remains—there is not even a single battle between the opening scene and the film’s climax. Rather than action, the film focuses on the everyday life of the characters and the lingering effects of what they have been through so far—especially in the case of Makoto, the main character.

In the games, Makoto is a blank slate—his personality is only that which you, as the player, give him. The strongest point of the film series thus far is developing Makoto into a strong character with a distinct personality all his own. In the first film, Makoto is defined by his ambivalence towards the world in general—and even his own death. However, by the end of that film he learns to enjoy life through friendship. The second movie then has Makoto struggle with the fear that once the shadows are defeated, his friends will grow apart, leaving him once again alone.

In Falling Down , Makoto is decimated emotionally. After the death of Shinjiro and the disappearance of Pharos—as well as the apparent end of the shadow threat—he chooses to abruptly cut all ties with his friends rather than wait for them to grow apart. Over the course of the film series, he has come to believe that the deeper the bond between people, the worse the pain when they are inevitably separated. Thus, the only way to avoid such pain is to have no relationships beyond the most casual. His choice seems all the more correct after Itsuki’s betrayal early in the film.

But Makoto is not the only person dealing with the pain of loss in Falling Down . Akihiko and Ken have taken the pain of Shinjiro’s death and turned it into motivation to fight even harder. Later, with the death of her father, Mitsuru throws herself into the role of responsible heir—denying herself the fun things in life that come from being a high school student.

However, apart from Makoto, the character with the most camera time is Junpei. Junpei’s story is also one of loss—this time in the form of a tragic romance. Chidori, the girl he loves, literally gives her own life to save his. However, both Junpei and Chidori believe that, despite this unfortunate ending, the love they experienced more than off sets any pain. From their example, Makoto is able to adopt the same philosophy and once again fully open up to his friends.

While loss and emotional pain are the key themes of Falling Down , that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more lighthearted scenes. Ryoji is a new transfer student into the protagonists’ high school. He seems bound and determined to become Makoto’s friend—though Makoto rejects him at every turn. Ryoji begins working the same part-time job as Makoto and even starts up a school “helping club” where the two can be hired for odd jobs. These scenes tend to have more than a bit of humor—especially when Aigis and her intense, irrational hatred for Ryoji is involved. There is also a hot springs scene that, while cliché, elicits a few laughs at the melodrama of it all.

Persona 3: Falling Down is an excellent addition to the film series. Exploring loss and how the various characters deal with it focuses the film thematically in a way that keeps it interesting even without constant Persona battles to provide action. Moreover, continuing to develop Makoto as a character makes the movie stand on its own with an identity unique from that of the game. It is a great game-to-film adaption that knows exactly what should be changed or cut and what should stay the same.

Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down was released in Japanese theaters on April 4, 2015. The fourth film Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Last Episode is “coming soon.”

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.

To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan .

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Persona3 the movie #1 spring of birth, 劇場版 ペルソナ3 第1章 spring of birth.

Directed by Noriaki Akitaya , Yoshifumi Sasahara …

The End of Everything Begins...

In the spring, male student Makoto Yuki transfers to Gekkoukan High School. However, as he heads to his new dormitory, listening to the music on his headphones, he is stopped. More precisely, time has stopped, and the people who were around him turn into coffins. Makoto learns that this period of time hidden between the minute of midnight is called the Dark Hour, a time when monsters called Shadows appear. Suddenly made the leader of his fellow classmates Yukari and Junpei by his upperclassmen Mitsuru and Akihiko, Makoto must learn empathy, his connection to his comrades, and the meaning of death. With the power of his Evoker aimed at his head, Makoto fights against the Shadows threatening to attack his world from the mysterious tower of Tartarus.

Akira Ishida Megumi Toyoguchi Kohsuke Toriumi Rie Tanaka Hikaru Midorikawa Mamiko Noto Kazuya Nakai Isamu Tanonaka Miyuki Sawashiro Hideyuki Hori Yuka Komatsu Hiroaki Miura Kenji Nojima Atsumi Tanezaki

Directors Directors

Noriaki Akitaya Yoshifumi Sasahara Tomohisa Taguchi

Producer Producer

Kazunori Adachi

Writer Writer

Jun Kumagai

Original Writers Original Writers

Kouji Okada Kazuma Kaneko

Editor Editor

Takashi Sakurai

Additional Directing Add. Directing

Isamu Fukushima Sayaka Koiso Keisuke Katayama Masaya Yasutome Tomoaki Kado Takuya Tani Hideoki Kusama Michinori Shiga Mika Sawada Tomomi Ishikawa Yuuko Yoshida

Composer Composer

Shoji Meguro

Anime International Company Atlus Aniplex AIC A.S.T.A.

Releases by Date

15 oct 2016, 23 nov 2013, 27 nov 2015, releases by country.

• Physical PG
• Physical 12 DVD / Blu-ray
• Theatrical PG12
• Premiere PG-13 Akibafest

92 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by James (Schaffrillas) ★★★ 21

Wow Junpei is tolerable now

Review by Roselyn ★★★½ 2

Had the same reaction as Spiderman fans during NWH did when Jack Frost showed up to save the day

Review by Master Crash ★★★★

I liked the little 4th wall jokes ("What's her weakness?" "It must be fire") and the social links cameos, those were pretty nice. The movie itself is a good adaptation of the game, it suffers from not having exactly many of the good parts of the story yet, I think.

Review by comrade_yui

it's very much a 'part 1 of 4' film and even as a fan of persona 3, the beginning is still easily the weakest part of the game. this is about as good of an adaptation of that lesser portion as you can expect, and the music still kicks ass

Review by Mazinkaiser ★★★★ 4

Ok but like why are you using an Ice Persona on an Ice Shadow

Review by Carol Grant ★★½

Barely a movie, but a weirdly intriguing experiment in interpreting a silent protagonist from a video game, and trying to characterize him in a cinematic context by... making him into a giant shitbag. You gotta respect it.

Review by Platy ★★★ 4

This is a tough case, even for Junpei Iori, Ace Detective.

Review by Danny ★★★½ 1

Not enough Jack Frost. Shit movie.

Review by Cartoonshi ★★★

Finally decided to start watching these after replaying Persona 3, and while I’m biased since P3 is my favourite game in the franchise, I still like a lot of what they did here. Junpei, while I liked him in the game, was bordering on intolerable in the early parts of the story, so I’m glad that they gave him a much more likeable presence here while not completely throwing his arc out the window. I also appreciated the changes to how the second operation played out, giving Makoto an actual character arc, overall improving Fuuka’s presence in the story, and on top of that holy WOW this movie looks so damn pretty. 

The negatives however have to do with the…

Review by droopydrew ★★★

Me every time Jack Frost appeared: 😍  Me every time Jack Frost wasn’t there: 😢

Review by Sound•Blaster ★

I know, Persona is one of the best game franchises of all time by Atlus but as the anime this is worst.

(I wish i want to play this game franchises until i have PlayStation 4) Makoto Yuuki is my favourite protagonists from Persona, but why in this movie the writting of Makoto/the main character just going bad.

I like Junpei Iori as side characters and he's really relatable person (he just literally me rather than Makoto 😁)

Lazy writting, mainstream fight, even the plot doesn't have deep meaning in the first movie, i can say this anime worse rather than Shounens anime, but the theme songs still great because Shoji Meguro is a great composer for Persona games.

If the Persona 3 is slow-paced games, then for the anime the pacing was really fast rather than the game.

I don't like the anime but maybe i'll try this anime sequels for the unknown times

Review by JustTru ★½ 5

It's almost useless talking about this film because it fails in almost every single area you can think of. The music is nice and some sets are pretty but that's about it. And those are both lifted directly from the game. The film moves at such a quick pace and yet somehow, miraculously, it still feels like nothing happens. Every ten minutes plays out like this: a conflict with contrived, vague stakes is set up, and the stereotypical heroes overcome it with ease. Throw in a few cardboard cutout supporting characters and some lame action, repeat it ten or so times, and you've got a film apparently. The characters aren't even one-note: most are given no traits at all. I…

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Review: Persona 3: The Movie #3 Falling Down

This structure is unconventional but works surprisingly well. The initial climax feels more like the end of a movie than the beginning of one, but the consequences of these events end up being more compelling than the initial revelations. They allow the film to tell a story of loss, murder and betrayal, and show the impact this has on the characters, provoking a series of thematically linked subplots that run throughout the movie.

As with Persona 4: The Animation , the portrayal of the game’s silent protagonist is the area in which the largest room for interpretation exists in the anime adaptation. The Makoto we see here isn’t silent because the player is meant to project themselves into him, but rather because he blames himself for Shinjiro’s death, and because he doesn’t want to feel emotionally attached to his friends.

Side stories are powered through at relentless speed. I like this; it’s fast paced, there’s an interesting contrast between scenes, and miraculously there’s enough time to show what everyone’s up to. Storylines from the game’s social links are blended together seamlessly with the main plot, and there’s also the school trip to Kyoto – one of the game’s highlights. Persona 3 has an excellent sense of humour, and it’s great to see this hasn’t been forgotten, even if the narrative is quite dark overall.

Persona 3: The Movie #4 Winter of Rebirth

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Persona 3 Portable review: The best way to play the best Persona game

• Author: Georgina Young

You’ll never see it coming

Following the global success of Persona 5 Royal, Atlus saw it fit to share its whole series with the wider gaming public. This was honestly a great decision. Before the latest influx, most people were forced to play Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden on the PlayStation Vita or PSP. While these are both great options, it meant that a whole generation of gamers had only played the last, admittedly enjoyable, entry in the series.

To say I have a PlayStation Vita is an understatement, and I’ve played every entry in the Persona Series. Persona 3 always stood out to me as the best. The soundtrack is whimsical and powerful, the characters are detailed and well written, and the story has a clear background, framing and thread. However, the first version of Persona 3 I played was FES, an update to the original with a new post-game story.

Despite the fact that Persona 3 Portable lacks several additions that FES includes, I would still say it is the better way to play. The Answer – FES’ additional story – is mediocre, and while it plays in 3D rather than Portable’s 2D you’re not missing much here either. Both games play in a top-down isometric view, and while running around the city may be nice, there’s something in instantly jumping from one point to the next.

Persona 3 Portable respects your time better than FES ever did. I finished P3P in 50 hours compared to FES’ 80, before even looking at The Answer. Transitions and movement are faster, and you have more control during battle. The ability to control the actions of each of your teammates turns fights that may have felt hopeless into achievable. There’s more depth to this strategy, and less grinding, and fights go by more quickly as a bonus. P3P also widens the number of difficulty settings, adding in the setting from Persona 4 and 5 that stops you from dying. This means if you want to focus on the story, you don’t have to worry about the battles.

Transitions and movement are faster, and you have more control during battle

On the other hand, it has harder difficulty settings, and a wide net of personas to use and fuse. It allows beginners to enjoy themselves, and brings a challenge to hardcore fans. As always, the best personas require maxing out all of the social links, which is done more easily thanks to P3P’s tweeks to their availability, and starting requirements. The new route with a female protagonist gives you a number of new social links adding a level of replayability to those who have played a different version of P3 before.

In fact, P3P adds more to the story than any upgraded version of Persona ever has. It feels like it has truly learned from the gaming landscape, and given us a game that people would be eager to play twice. Not to mention there are eight different characters that can fight alongside you, meaning that you can switch up the battles the second time around. P3 is also the only Persona game that lets you fight alongside a dog carrying a dagger in his mouth, and that’s just cool.

That doesn’t mean that P3P is a perfect game. It is still very much almost exactly the same game that came out in 2009, though it admittedly ran a lot smoother on my Switch. There are some questionable choices when it comes to the storyline. Many characters are left off the table when it comes to romance, and yet 11-year-old Ken Amada is very much available. I wanted to romance one character as I heard you can save their life if you do. However, the rest of the game plays out the same, with all the other characters acting like they had perished. Talking to a random NPC at the end I had saved their life, but this change was hardly felt in the game as a whole.

P3P has tightened up the social links, but they can still feel impossible if you are doing them in the wrong order.

While P3P has tightened up the social links, they can still feel impossible if you end up doing them in the wrong order. You might not know but you pretty much have to complete your links before the end of November as you are rushed through December, and focused on the last links in January. Without this knowledge, it’s a real struggle to get ready in time even if you know all the answers to their questions.

Despite this, I still think Persona 3 is the best Persona game, and Portable is the best way to play it. It may not have all the shiny, flashy, high-end graphics and animations of Royal, but it offers a touching story, bombastic boss fights, and one of gaming’s best-ever soundtracks.

Score: 9/10

Version tested: Nintendo Switch

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