Persona 3

Edit

I've never played the PS2 game before but I swear, thanks to this manga I'm just about to jump out of my chair and go buy a ps2 just to play this game.
The story is by-far very original to me, the art is absolutely fabulous. So fabulous i'm completely awe-struck. I seriously am hardcore loving the art, the characters are all so handsome and, though this is quite shallow, i love mangas with beautiful people.

The characters all have their individual personalities, but there are some depth in certain characters like how their first impression make you think, 'oh well he's obviously going to be ... the [insert stereotype] for this manga' but then all of sudden, you look inside his mind and you're like, 'Oh my, when was he ever like that?'.

The story, like I said, was pretty original for me. I can for sure say, that this story plot is completely possible in reality. I mean, what they're saying in the story makes the readers think that this is possibly happening in real life and I find that a very good aspect in a fictional story. The main reason why many read stories is to escape reality, or to make things in real life more exciting. If the possibility of the story being true is in your mind, then hell yeah, my life is a bit more exciting.

I'm defiantly giving this manga high points considering how much I love the art (especially how the main character was drawn >.<). But the story and the characters are also pretty awesome too, so really what else can I say? I pretty much love this manga and I can't wait for more!

Persona 3.
What a wonderful game.
It inspired me so much and brought me to tears many times.
I love this manga, and went out an bought it at a convention. I own 1-3.

The art is GORGEOUS and the storyline is great.
I love this adaption and recommend it highly.

Persona 3 manga is a poor adaptation from the videogame that focus only on the main story. If you only care for that part, then this is the right manga for you. If you, however, prefer some more MC development and side characters (besides the main team), then I'm sorry to say that this isn't for you and you'll be more suited to watch the movies instead. This review is spoiler-free from the main events, mentioning only a few names, and will expose what's so wrong about this source.

>Played the original game, finished a few months after starting the manga.
>Read on retail manga, taking both ... time and money.

Without more to say, I leave the rest of the review for the thoughts on it.

Story: 5

The manga is basically the game's story, no social links nor Elizabeth events featured. But why is it bad, if the game is so appraised? First of, the horrible pacing. At least in each volume you are going to find time skips that, for the average reader, will just confuse them. I started this manga when I barely got into October in the game, so seeing November's events in volumes 2 and 3 were, as I've said, confusing. Second, the lack of social links. The most of it you will find is the death arcana one, but even still it's story-related so it wouldn't count as a social link itself. What made this game so great, besides its main story, are all of the side stories that you can learn from the side characters, such as the 'gamer' social link, Tanaka (which yes, he also didn't even appeared here either), the old couple, etc.

Lastly, as I've already mentioned on the beginning of this part, there are no Velvet Room events. While for the fusion scenes is justified, the fact that it also skipped most of Igor's dialogue during the game and all of the Elizabeth's events (imo, the best so far in the game and a shame that she only appears as a background) is like a joke.

TL;DR: straight game story with time skips for the most part.

Art: 8

It must be said that the author really catched the Persona art-style. The grey tones used also makes it good for a better interpretation (for example, darker tones for the Dark Hour scenes). The chibi style used for some pannels are also good, but sometimes feels way too loosed, as if there's a need to make it bad on purpose for the scene to be funny. Cover art is also gorgeous, so far being 10th and 11st the best imo. This would be the major positive point for the entire manga.

Characters: 4

Again, this is mostly due to the pacing being horrible most of the time, but the cast seems so out place (and yes, this also include in the game itself, not only the adaptation). First of, Makoto/Minato's personality doesn't feel good. It seems as the author wanted him to be an edgelord that doesn't give a thing about people, but at the same time a timid personality. At times he can be annoying for the reader, but towards the end his trait seems to be fixed finally. As for the side characters, each of them has their own 'arc', but Yukari and Aigis, which for some reason appears the most? While Aigis had their proper character development, I can't say the same for Yukari. I can't stand her, neither in-game nor this manga. If you are familiar with FES's The Answer part, you'll know how I feel.

Now, jumping on to each development arc, it has to be said that some of them are fairly short, not being more than 2 chapters. Some backstories are so short that you are probably forgetting about it a few chapters later (at least 2 characters, Ken and Shinji, are almost present in this meaning). Even then, everyone has the typical backstory: depressive story about how our character lost a loved one, be it physically or in terms of being dead. Only exception for this is Fuuka, and when I say 'only', she's literally the only one in the entire manga who doesn't have this cliche backstory.

Personal enjoyment: 7

As I've mentioned again again, the terrible pacing and characters made it hard to enjoy the reading. Not only that, but as someone who bought the whole retail manga 1 by 1, it feels more worth to wait for the game port to come, play with emulation/PS2 or just watch the movies instead. 11 volumes are way too much, knowing that in the 8th one it enters the final stage (basically rushing through the main story) and it takes 3 more to ONLY get to The Journey ending. Sogabe's extra pannels aren't bad, but sometimes feels useless (with all due respect, as I know he might made those for entertainment/commentary purposes, I mostly skipped them after volume 5).

So, overall?

A 6/10 is the most suited rating for this. Without comparing sources, the story is pretty average and it's not until the end where things get spiced up. Using the excuse of being an adaptation, there could have been parts where it explained more about the personas, since that's one of the key parts not only in Persona, but in Megaten series as a whole. Seeing the MC, who has the ability to make any persona, using almost the same ones through the pages, it makes the interest fade away and the battles almost predictables in terms of actions.

In the end, it's up to the reader to consider if it's worth giving this a shot. With both main game and movies being out there (plus some ports that are going to come anytime soon), it's almost irrelevant to try this. However, if you are lazy to finish it, or don't like watching anime (or if you only want to read main events, but as I said you'll skip a lot of good moments), then you can consider reading it.