Memento Mori- Remember your mortality.
Memento Mori is Persona 3's motto. (Which is a game I adored and replayed countless times) There's nothing special about it; we are all destined to die, some die earlier than others, some die more suddenly than others. In the end, we all die.
The question is, what happens when we forget that we do die? What would happen to a person's sense of reality when they forget the fact that they will die?
The answer which I learned by watching this movie: you begin to dream. You begin dreaming a nice pleasant oblivious dream. Your sense of reality would be distorted, not ... abiding by the rules of the world and reality that revolves around you. And when you wake up, reality would be so far away that it would be impossible to catch up.
(Just as heads up, I gave this movie a perfect 10/10 in everything. I know I might be exaggerating and overrating it, but please, take the time to read my reasons and I hope you agree along.)
A quick summary about this movie; SEES has found a way to erase the Dark Hour for good. Unfortunately, a clear objective always have obstacles. Strega, a three-people group of persona-users opposes to SEES's objective, creating a clash between characters. That's not all, as the story progresses, the team begins to create their own problems. Yuki faces a predicament against himself and two members of the team conflict that completely changes the course of the story into a more dark, serious story. But the main summary points aren't the reason why the story in Persona 3- Midsummer Knight's Dream deserves a 10/10. The reason is simple. The story is flawless. Reason, logic, motivation, pace, balance, everything that creates a flawless story line was incorporated within this movie. The movie balanced the humor and leisure of summertime with the dark reality hidden behind the shadows. The motivation and reason behind specific characters are not only well presented through their actions and words but also perfectly understandable and for some of you, are able to sympathize alongside them. The pace was very smooth and felt just like a jog down the park. It gave us time to ponder thoughts and opinions about the characters which I found to be very considerate since a lot of character development is displayed in this movie. For the reason Persona 3- Midsummer Knights Dream utilized comprehensible logic, reason, gentle pace, and perfect balance, I think the story deserves a 10/10, seeing how it has a flawless, clean story.
Having played the Persona 3/FES personally and watched the poorly animated shows of Persona 4, I was surprised how much quality was applied to the first movie, Spring of Birth, but I completely dropped my jaw when I watched Misummer Knight's Dream. THE ART IS BEAUTIFUL. Everything is so polished, shiny, colorful, and the designs of Shadows, characters, location, and personas were so well drawn and animated. (Mitsuru's expression when she summons her persona in the first fight scene made me jizz my pants... So bloody epic.) I never saw a moment where the art felt odd or the animation didn't make any sense. If you watch the movie closely, you could see that even the background details are animated just as well as the front. The battle scenes are very well drawn and planned, especially considering how limited the Shadow's actions was in the game, what Midsummer Knight's Dream showed was really new and even breathtaking for those who played the game. (NOTE: Do not use Orgia mode during boss battles... Aigis doesn't go OP like in the movie. The overheat is long, and she doesn't have good attack stats and skills in the first place... ㅡ.ㅡ) In any case, because the art is polished and innovative yet nostalgic to Persona 3 players, I gave the Art 10/10. (AIGIS IS SO CUTE AND BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!! GAHHHHH ASJDFLEALDKF~)
Ahem.... Moving on to sound. I have a lot to talk about sound. First, I should let everyone know that the music composer is Shoji Meguro. If you do not know this name, I am sorry, but really... You're missing out... I have watched this man present music so fitting, so harmonizing along whatever is going on, be it a romantic first encounter or an intense, desperate situation, he freaking nails it every time and has never disappointed me in any of the games he worked as the music director. Long live Meguro-sensei! Fabulous music from the sexy rapper LJ aside, the voice acting in Midsummer Knight's Dream was far more expressive than it was in Spring of Birth. True, the situation has called for dramatic lines and tones, but even so, it was impressive to hear characters talk in an unavoidable tragedies, or shout during battles. I have noticed how Akihiko had a lot of lines and heart-moving tones compared to the first movie, and his voice actor, Hikaru Midorikawa was golden. The words Akihiko spat when angry, the wails he cried when he found the world to be so unfair, and the shouts he screamed was amazing and top notch. Great respect to the voice actors and actresses, they have done their part perfectly. Due to the harmonic music and impressive voice acting, I would be crazy not to give 10/10 in sound. (I love Aigis's voice actor, Maaya Sakamoto, the same VA for Shinobu in Monogatari, SO CUTTTEEE AHHHHHH!)
Ah, yes. Character, perhaps the most important aspect in an anime. An anime without likable and hateful characters is no longer an anime. As I stated above, character development is constant and well paced through incidents and events that occur. There are also several clashes among them which contributes to a good story line. If you watched the teaser for the next movie, Falling Down, all the characters in Persona 3 cast have been revealed. (Of course, not counting Metis from Persona 3 FES or sadly... Tanaka from the TV show...) This means everything is in place for the final act to begin and end and Midsummer Knight's Dream had done such a good job of setting the stage for Falling Down. The antagonists have been introduced really obviously, Revolver Jesus (Takaya), Nerd (Jin), and Gothica (Chidori) have been shown early in the movie, clearly showing them to be evil and malicious. The end of the movie was the perfect touch for the finale to take place. Some characters have found their resolve which will be tested and proven in the next movie. Like I said before, Midsummer Knight's Dream have utilized its characters so well and perfectly that created the optimal atmosphere for Falling Down. At this point, there is no possible way for the movie to fail. For the reasons stated above, I will give character a 10/10.
Enjoyment. I really have nothing much to talk about here... I really stated everything I wanted and expressed my honest feelings in the description I wrote. I really enjoyed the movie and the chocolate biscuits I devoured as I watched at 3 A.M. (Boy am I going to gain weight...) Biscuits aside, I genuinely enjoyed watching Midsummer Knight's Dream. Nothing more to explain. I loved Aigis, Akihiko, Shinji, and Aigis, and Aigis. I really love Aigis. :D No really... Aigis is my favorite character in the Persona franchise. But I digress...
Overall, Midsummer Knight's Dream is an outstanding sequel and an amazing prequel to a another incredible movie in the future. It served as the perfect median, balancing bright elements shown in Spring of Birth, and the darkness which will be presented in Falling Down. I am very excited for it but I am very pleased by Midsummer Knight's Dream.
Thank you for reading this review! Feel free to comment or message if you want to argue against my reasons or just want to talk about Persona 3 in general. Thanks again!
 Alternative Titles Synonyms: P3M Japanese: PERSONA3 THE MOVIE —#2 Midsummer Knight's Dream— Information Type: Movie Episodes: 1 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jun 7, 2014 Licensors: Aniplex of America Studios: A-1 Pictures Source: Game Duration: 1 hr. 38 min. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) Statistics Score: 7.611 (scored by 46,770 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #14862 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #2268 Members: 86,887 Favorites: 221 Available AtResources |
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