Be very… pre-bear-ed.
Creative Staff:
Original Story: Atlus
Story and Art: Mizunomoto
Translation: Alethea Nibley & Athena Nibley
Lettering: James Dashiell
Editing: Ajani Oloye
What They Say:
PERSONA Q: A NEW VIEW
Yasoinaba’s very own Investigation Team are back in action in a new adventure based on the critically acclaimed Persona Q series! While enjoying Yasogami High’s cultural festival, the Team suddenly hears the ringing of a mysterious bell and a bizarre, new exhibit appears at the festival. Inside this exhibit is a most curious maze—one that will take them on a wondrous and treacherous journey. And as they explore this labyrinth, they’ll meet new foes and maybe even some new allies from the Persona universe…
THE MANGA OF THE HIT VIDEO GAME PERSONA Q!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Whether movie, TV show, comicbook or otherwise, making the jump from videogame to videogame adaptation is always a challenge in that what works for a story in-game doesn’t necessarily work for a story in other forms of media. In particular, the more freeform peaks and valleys that tend to be videogame story progression just don’t equate well to comics and movies, which tend to have a more gradual uphill slope—usually in the form of protagonists facing increasingly more difficult and story-heavy challenges.
Having already read the Persona Q Shadow of the Labyrinth Side: P3 manga and seeing said problems come to light, I wasn’t exactly anticipating much better from the Side: P4 manga, either. Thankfully, I was proven wrong.
The major differences between the Side: P3 and Side: P4 manga are 1) the authors, and 2) the cast. While the Side: P3 manga was by So Tobita, using chibi-fied versions of the otherwise grimdark P3 cast, Side: P4’s manga is by Mizunomoto, whose art is slightly less chibi and has the advantage of primarily featuring the P4 cast, which is innately more goofy than P3’s. In short, there’s a smaller gap between the art-style and the characters’ personalities, so the scenarios don’t feel nearly as forced as in Tobita’s manga.
From the get-go, we’re given a quick run-down of the main characters, from Chie, who “loves kung-fu and steak unconditionally” to Kanji—“an outspoken character overflowing with machismo.” The cast as a whole is a ragtag batch of misfits even more so than the cast of Persona 3, and it shows not only in their designs, but in their personalities and interactions with each other throughout the volume, no matter how goofy or dire the situation.
The gang, getting stuck in some sort of alternate version of their school’s campus, enters their homeroom class to find that it’s become a labyrinth filled with monsters. Accompanied by Velvet Room assistant (and primary means for exposition) Margaret, she tells the others that their means to escape is more than likely within the labyrinth, so they venture forth. From a videogame perspective, the campus is clearly their hub world of sorts, and the group’s main place to take a breather between dungeon-crawling, but the manga never gets this across fully, making the slower scenes feel more awkward than they should be. Regardless, the lighter moments are handled significantly better than Side: P3 if only because the cast itself is already inherently goofy, so moments of hilarity or sudden cuteness feel more natural.
Speaking of cuteness, the introduction of characters-shrouded-in-mystery Rei and Zen are also better handled this time around. Between the manga’s opening sequence with little sister Nanako, and Rei’s junk food obsession and overall personality, it’s clear that author Mizunomoto has a better grasp at handling the more cutesy characters—bouncing back and forth between their moments and the more action-oriented ones without it ever feeling out of place or uncalled for. It makes for an overall good balance between the ordinary and the fantastical, which was the point of the Persona Q source material in the first place.
As a final aside, it should also be noted that thus far, all physical copies of the Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth manga look to be using the exact same translation that’s up legally on Crunchyroll’s site. Normally, I wouldn’t think much of this, but having noticed that physical and CR translations of A Silent Voice differ greatly between each other (CR’s feeling a lot more unpolished in how direct its translation feels), I can’t help but think this means some laziness on the production side for the Persona Q manga, not that it cheapens the quality of the translation, either way from what I’ve read.
In Summary:
The main storyline of Persona 4 is the perfect mix of goofy kids getting into some serious trouble, and the Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth manga starring that same cast emits that same vibe. Moments of silliness feel in-character for the cast and are balanced well with the more intense moments of Persona/Shadow fights as the gang gradually works their way through the apparent ghost equivalent of their school’s campus. Definitely a step up from the Persona Q Side: P3 manga.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: March 22, 2016
MSRP: $10.99
