yeah i do ^_^ as an alternate version of events more though (which is what it is but. y'know. to clarify), because there are some changes to the narrative (in part the natural consequence of its medium and runtime) that i just don't really fw

characterization-wise though, i think the movies are really good. i mean, they kinda give akihiko a bit of a temper problem, in that idk how i feel about him just socking the shit out of junpei during the december interaction but that's like the only place where i was like woah what the hell is your problem akihiko (he doesn't punch shinjiro in the drug interaction in the movies [something he does in all other iterations], for instance, so i was very surprised by the junpei punch). other than him though it fleshes out makoto a lot and is my favourite version of him as a result.

as for shinjiro, i really do enjoy shinjiro's characterization in the movies. it's probably my favourite version of him ^^ it offers a good gamut of his personality and the conflict he faces. it also shows that castor's outbursts are a recurrent issue for him -- something that is kept vague in the game itself, where you can interpret the 2007/10/04 incident as a sole occurrence -- which i really like. i think his character is leagues more compelling and grounded in that reading, where he's pinched into a really terrible situation of either take inhibitors that will slowly kill him or risk castor hurting someone again (or himself, as we see castor attack shinjiro once and attempt another time in the movies). given reload's "i'm getting by on pills for now" line, i assume that's the interpretation that reload goes with as well? since the only pills he takes are the suppressants, indicating castor as his continued problem, but that's irrelevant for this discussion.

point is, i love movie shinjiro. i love how he snaps in the drug confrontation. i think it's the most raw and best executed iteration of who he is.

the whole thing with ken's stuff is. difficult to explain my thoughts on. i quite find the storyline presented there compelling, but i ultimately don't see it as "superior" to what the game offers. just an alternative way of stuff happening. it's an interesting and again compelling plotline for ken to get attached to shinjiro before realizing that it's he -- a man he looks up to, even cares about -- who killed his mother, but i generally like how the game goes about it.

to explain more thoroughly: i think the movie works well in communicating the extent of ken's anguish (resolving to go through with it even after seeing the human side of shinjiro, because he is just that compelled by the pain of his mother's death and his hatred of the person who took her from him) and it certainly functions good in the shorter cinematic medium of the movie, but the game goes about it in a more... logical way for ken's character? him being spurred into sees because he knows his mother's killer is there and he's seeking an opportunity for revenge is a more logical plotline than how he joins sees in the movies in my opinion. ken asks to join sees specifically after what he learns on 8/24, where the fact that his mother's killer was a persona user is essentially confirmed, and where he finds out that akihiko knows his mother's killer (as well as his name). ken living for a month with a festering demonized view of shinjiro, refusing to interact with people much because he's earnestly under the impression he's going to kill himself after killing shinjiro, feels more sensible than having ken be quite eager to interact with him per the movies.

this is to say! i do really love the movies' version of events. brings a lot of interesting ideas up that i love to ponder and rub my chin over. and the characterizations are great. so <3 also it has the best version of the drug confrontation scene bar none