Persona 5 the Animation: The Day Breakers

There is a new urban legend circulating Tokyo. It claims that if you make a request in the Ask-a-Thief Channel, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts will show up and bring justice by stealing a corrupt person's heart and making them regret all their wrongdoings. As strange and inexplicable events continue to happen all around town, more people submit their requests in hope that the mysterious vigilante group will help.

Kazuya Makigami is a burglar by night, but has started to have second thoughts about his crimes and those who help him commit them. Unable to stand up to his comrades himself, Kazuya submits a request to the Ask-a-Thief Channel.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Amamiya, Ren Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Sakamoto, Ryuuji Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Kitagawa, Yuusuke Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Takamaki, Ann Main

Mizuki, Nana Japanese

Morgana Main

Ootani, Ikue Japanese

Makigami, Kazuya Main

Oosaka, Ryouta Japanese

Akechi, Gorou Supporting

Hoshi, Souichirou Japanese

Makigami, Naoya Supporting

Saitou, Souma Japanese

Adachi, Kazuki Producer

Mito, Kai Assistant Producer

Ozaki, Takaharu Director, Episode Director, Key Animation

Iida, Satoki Sound Director

Reviews

Jan 7, 2024

swaqqyy

Recommended

Okay, why is this SINGLE episode of a Mementos Side Quest better than any of the garbage they put out for the actual anime?

The Daybreakers special is not anything too climactic, or even exciting or interesting. It is an episode following a Mementos Request (essentially small-scale palace runs, if you played the game you would know), and basically a single battle showing how it all goes down.

As someone who has played the game, it is (for lack of a better term) a deeper dive into how the PTs gain info on their Mementos target in order to confirm if the request on the Phan-Site is ... legitimate or not. It was a nice way to give more insight on how the PTs do their business.

But the one thing that stands out in this single episode over the entire series is the animation. Daybreakers has ACTUAL fighting (holy shit! what?). What I love about Daybreakers compared to what P5A has done is the quality of the fights. The fights feature the PTs doing more than "summoning a persona just for that persona to shoot a ball of blue magic" or some shit. The fight features animation; while not on par with top animes, is much more watchable and enjoyable than the fights in P5A. I also enjoyed the way they incorporated in-game mechanics like Baton Pass into the anime battle in such a way that makes the fight more cohesive.

Other than that, even if P5A turned you off from watching any P5-related anime media, Daybreakers is a short, disconnected yet sweet experience that respects the content of the game it is based off of, while at the same time adding on some of the flair that animation without letting itself be confined by the straightforward and somewhat blandness of a JRPG system.

8/10, huge recommend!

P.S please play persona 5 royal, it's an amazing game that i swear goes on sale once every month, it's also available on xbox game pass!

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 17, 2022

yakisobaman

Recommended

After finishing Persona 5 on my Playstation 4, I found it really hard to say goodbye to the Phantom Thieves. Because of this, I continued my journey through Persona 5 Strikers, Persona Q2 and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. It wasn't enough. I read the three Mementos Mission mangas, kept returning to the game's fantastic OST, and watched nearly every "hot take" video essay on YouTube. Eventually, I ended up watching this OVA. While it did not take my heart, it did help me move on to different forms of entertainment.

Now, the above is not to say that I did not enjoy The Day Breakers. ... It is a pleasant, little snack before (or after) one dives into the full main course that is Persona 5. It introduces its beloved cast in a way that aims to spark curiosity in those who are still to play the game, and a sense of familiarity in those who've already done so. While not too remarkably animated - besides one particular fight scene - it does present its viewers with a solid story featuring "rotten adults" and teens, struggling to find their way amidst societal woes.

I would suggest this OVA to anyone that, like me, finds it hard to say goodbye to Leblanc's coffee and Shoji Meguro's astonishing tunes. People that are curious to jump into the 200-hour frenzy that is Persona 5 might also be attracted to this short introduction. In case you have little affinity with Persona ór are in need of a deep, complex storyline and matching visuals: look elsewhere.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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May 2, 2018

SebastianM20

Not Recommended

Honestly, i don't know why there are some many 7s or even 8s. This OVA is just one adaptation of one of the sidequest you can do in the game source (and a uninteresting one in my opinion). As a stand alone product it fails because you need to have played to game to understand it and as content for the players it's pretty boring because it focus too much on irrelevant characters and tries too hard to make the heroes looks cool without them doing anything remarkable until the only (and final) battle. By the way, the ending doesn't make any sense at all, ... what was the point of that scene? Nothing, just a crazy reference out of nowhere.
The animation is good (the baton pass is probably the highlight), nothing more than a few fails here and there but it's good overall. The music is hard to tell, it fits but at the same time it's weird to see the music from a game in an animation. The new characteres are boring, nothing more than archetypes and the "villain" is just an edgelord. I still could find enjoyment watching this because I played the game, but that's not an excuse for the product to be so mediocre in content. If you can only make an OVA and it's for fans of the game you can adapt one of the most popular moments of the game or do a quick introduction with an original history.
Actually, i don't know why did I expect something more than mediocre from an anime based on a videogame.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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