Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth Review

Introduction

The Persona 3 The Movie series are Japanese animated movies that serve as a film adaptation of the Persona 3 video game by Atlus, the entire plot is split into four films. The initial Persona 3 video transitions surprisingly well into a movie format and unlike most film adaptations of video games the Persona 3 movies stay completely faithful to the game's plot and due to the original game being very story heavy the creators of the movie series were given a lot to work with. The movies were only released in Japanese however versions of the movie have been released with English subtitles. The first movie in the series was Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth Review. It was directed by Noriaki Akitaya, written by Jun Kumagai with the original games story being written by Atlus.

Plot Summary

Spring of Birth covers the first portion of the original game's plot which follows teenage protagonist Makoto Yuki who has just transferred to Gekkoukan High on Tatsumi Port Island in Japan, however upon arriving he begins to experience the strange phenomenon known as the 'dark hour', a hidden hour between one day and the next which only certain people can experience. During the dark hour creatures known as 'shadows' roam which only come in many forms and cause harm to humans that are inactive during the dark hour. Makoto soon learns that he has the ability to summon a 'Persona' to combat the shadows and joins the 'Specialised Extracurricular Execution Squad' (or SEES for short) which is a group of other 'Person users' from Gekkoukan High that work to protect humans from the shadows

Themes

The main theme in all four movies as well as the original game is death leading to a very dark plot however, due to it being the first movie in the series, the theme of death is significantly less present in Spring of Birth then the other three movies however that does not mean that it isn't still there. In fact the dark themes are present from the beginning as although there are no major character death present in Spring of Birth the characters do consistently mention dying throughout the movie and the entire series as a whole.

Characters

Featured alongside protagonist Makoto Yuki are the other members of SEES. Although more characters join the group throughout the series not all of them play a major role in Spring of Birth specifically, come characters who become major characters in some of the other movies are only briefly shown on screen in Spring of Birth. The other characters in the movie that play a major role are Yukari Takeba, Junpei Iori, Akihiko Sanada, Mitsuru Kirijo, Fuuka Yamagishi and Shinjiro Aragaki. Each character also has their Personas that they are able to summon and although the Personas themselves to do not have their own personalities they are all based of mythilogical, historical figures and people or creatures from folk lore that helps to represent the character's personality. This is a good way to give each character more depth then just what is seen on screen. Characters each have their own development although for some characters their development is in the other movies and not Spring of Birth. Through the series the main characters often have some conflict with each other which is built into the character development of the characters involved. An example of this in Spring of Birth is Junpei's character arc around the midpoint of the movie in which he becomes jealous of Makoto's natural abilities as he feels that fighting shadows is the only thing he can do well but he is still shown up by Makoto. This effects Junpei's development as a character as it leads to him rushing off alone while on a mission in an attempt to be the hero, he is then saved by Makoto and Yukari after being attacked by a shadow where he learns that he doesn't have to be the best to be a valuable assets to the team.

Sountrack

The soundtrack for the movie was composed by Shoji Meguro, the same person who composed the soundtrack for the original game, as a result the movie borrows a lot of music tracks from the games and some remixed or rearranged versions of those tracks as well. This means that are often upbeat but intense music during action scenes as they use the battle theme from the games soundtrack. Even the main theme of the movie, titled Burn My Dread, is also the main theme of the original Persona 3 video game. Reusing music from the original Persona 3 creates a sense of familiarity to fans of that game as they will recognise tracks after hearing them in the game.

Balancing

The original Persona 3 video game was all about balancing fighting shadows with daily life activities, however these activities would strengthen you, and this has been translated into the movie. The movie constantly shifts between scenes that take place during the day and ones that take place during the dark hour. Scenes that take place during the day are usually all bright and colourful using a variety of vivid colours, however these colours become slightly duller in the night time scenes as the dark hour approaches which helps to create a sense of incoming danger. During the dark hour the environment becomes very dull and gloomy with the sky changing colour to a dark green creating an odd green glow, this creates a contrast between the dark hour and day scenes and conveys that it's not fun and games anymore and that the characters must fight.

Awakening Scene

One scene of the movie that I would like to focus on is the scene where Makoto discovers and first summons his Persona (The scene included). Being a scene that takes place during the dark hour, the environment is and dark and gloomy with a strange green glow and blue dark blue mist which a sense of mystery and neither Makoto or the viewers know exactly what the dark hour is or why it exists. The gun like objects create an even greater sense of confusion as viewers do not know what they are and only see characters pointing them at their own head until a Persona is summoned. During the fight Orpheus (Makoto's Persona) transforms into another Persona, Thanatos, this shows that there is more to Makoto then people initially thought and he is more then just another Persona user like the other characters. This scene is also one of the first times that Makoto shows any form of emotion and provides very small glimpses into Makoto's backstory and who he is as a character

Conclusion

In conclusion Persona 3 The Movie: Spring of Birth is one of the few great movies based off a video game as it is able to stay true to the original material while still providing a new experience to people who already know the story from the games by using flashy animation and providing a new take on certain scenes that were originally just characters standing around or characters whacking shadows over and over. As a fan of the original game myself I really enjoyed this movie however it is still enjoyable for people who have never even head of the Persona series before as they are able to experience a new and unique story with interesting characters. I would recommend this movie to people who are fans of interesting (but admittedly a little weird) stories.