As with I believe the UK release of the series, Madman Entertainment’s Australian release of Persona 4 the Animation differs quite a bit in comparison to the North American release which recently finished distribution by Sentai Filmworks. Whereas the North American blu-ray release came with only the English dubbed version of the show – the Australian release will include both English and Japanese dubs but in turn has been split up into three blu-ray volumes of which the first was released in January 2013. The DVD edition remains identical in format to the North American release on the other hand – two volumes and a hybrid dub.
Originally it was announced the company had intended on doing the three volumes in two month installments – January, March and May with the two DVD installments being released in January and May. However as the March 2013 pre-orders opened up there was no listing, and when April’s opened up this month it was still the same. While my earlier article “It Seems Like Aussies May Need to Wait Until May 2013 For Persona 4 the Animation Blu-ray Volume 2 to Be Released” mentioned that we might be seeing the second volume released in May, The Otaku’s Study reached out to Madman Entertainment to confirm just when Aussies will be able to collect and complete the remaining installments in the series.
Volume 2 is set for release in May 2013 and will contain episodes 10 through 17. The third volume which will contain episodes 18 through to 26 (Truth End) should be available in July 2013. The second DVD collection will also be available in July 2013. While it is unfortunate to hear that they are taking so long to bring it to Australia – hopefully the option of dub choices will make up for it to some extent.
Volume 2 – Synopsis
Yu finds himself joining with a group of eight other teenagers in a desperate bid to solve the mystery. A mystery that is somehow connected to both the local weather patterns and a strange video game world which Yu, his friends and the enigmatic killer can all enter.
However when a new murder victim is discovered in Inaba without appearing on TV, Yu and the others are back to square one. Naoto Shirogane, boy detective, is brought in to help with the case. Can they solve these mysterious murders and tie it back into the mysterious world of the Midnight Channel?
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About Persona 4
Inaba, a quiet town in rural Japan. A normal teenager arrives at the station to begin his year-long stay in the countryside, only to be welcomed by the news of a dead TV announcer. Shortly after, another body appears, mysteriously hung from the top of a telephone pole. The cause of death is unknown… with no leads on the suspect. As the peaceful community is thrown into turmoil, the urban youth and his classmates wander into a strange, surreal place covered by a thick fog…
Persona 4 the Animation is an anime adaptation of the original 2008 Playstation 2 release under the title Persona 4. It is an RPG with dungeon crawling and monster (Persona) collection aspects. Outside of the battle and “TV World” environment the game serves up a fairly enticing social simulation environment where your characters live their ordinary (and not so ordinary) school lives, work towards solving the mystery and the protagonist forms social links with a sizable number of characters to provide further perks in battle.
Persona 4 Golden was released in North America last year on the Playstation Vita and serves as an enhanced port of the original title. Persona 4 Golden is set to hit Australia in the next couple of months – distributed by Namco Bandai Partners. Persona 4 Golden was my Game of the Year 2012 and my review of which can be read HERE.
