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I guess the first Persona game is old news these days, but I was still excited to find the complete 7 volume manga set at Book Off for 500 yen (around 5 dollars). The art is quite good for being an afterthought spawned from the games popularity. The story so far is exactly the same as the game. It may be hard for me to say that with any certainty considering the butchering the American localization received.

The series starts out on a normal day at school. The main character and his friends are gathered in their home room discussing a rumor they heard about “Persona”. None of them seem to be taking it very seriously, and they are egging each other on a bit. Finally, after some friendly bets are placed on whether the rumors are true or not, the characters try to evoke the “Persona-sama” as they jokingly call it.

They form a square with 4 people, and the remaining 3 in the center. After calling the Persona, the characters enter a strange void-world with a young girl holding a teddy bear. She repeatedly asks for their help, but everyone is frozen with fear. Finally the main character enters a world akin to the Velvet room, where a masked man named Philemon bestows upon him his very own Persona. Here the story begins, and the team of teenagers attempt to uncover the mysteries of the increasingly dark world around them.

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