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Ok guys, I really tried to be positive, I went open minded to see the episode but... Is P5A what are we talking about.
This is my first review and I never feel the need to write one but...
Let's start with the positives: they made it 50 minutes long and Rivers in the Desert. That's it, now with the negatives...

*inhales*

The direction and the pace were as bad as always. The animation wasn't that bad but it's still nothing remarkable and impressing and has the same problems that the original series had. Then we have the clip collection of the group exploring the palace. I hate this ... parts, every palace in the anime had it and it feels so stupid, it feels like I'm watching a trailer more than an episode of anime. Why did they put this? The writters probably wanted to put EVERYTHING that happens in the palace, but they don't have the time to do it. That's when the word "adaptation" comes to play. You don't have to put all of that, if you make changes that make sense with the plot it works perfectly. That is why I liked so much P4A, they make some changes here and there (mostly with the confidants), but in order to make everything work to the overall plot of the series. CloverWorks words of "wanting to make something different" where just a bait after all?

And now, let's go with the most importants parts of this arc: Akechi's death and the battle with Shadow Shido.
Akechi's battle was boring, and his death was emotionless. Akechi wasn't one of my favorite characters at all, but his death in the game make me feel sorry for the poor guy. Here, the direction completely killed any attempt of make me feel something about his death.
Shadow Shido's battle was as boring as always, and now let me say something. Most of the battles in P5A are so boring and lifeless, they aren't dynamic, they aren't like what you would expect from an anime. I know that this is the adaptation of an RPG, but for the love of god that doesn't mean that the battles in the anime has to be like an RPG too! The first phase of Shadow Shido was just him standing still waiting to be attacked literally doing NOTHING! And then when he transformed in his second phase the battle was so short that it just falls flat. In fact, that part makes Shadow Shido look very weak. Gaining a power-up and finally start to fight back... just to end up defeated almost immediately. Wow, maybe they couldn't make me feel sorry for Akechi but they did it with Shadow Shido because of how weak he was!

At the end, this special wasn't anything remarkable at all, something that doesn't impress me at this point. When I watch P5A, I don´t feel like I'm watching an adaptation of a game, I feel like I'm watching a resume of the game made for the Wikipedia. The only reason that I have to wait for march is to know what the hell is P5R.

4/10. And for the next special... SPOILERS I don't know how the plot-twist of the fake Igor being Yaldabaoth will make sense for anime-only viewers considering the low importance that the velvet room have in this "adaptation".