Mienai wrote to inform me that his translation group, Gekkoukan High Scans, has two new releases today: Piece 02 and Volume 01 Complete (”Chapitre Un”).

You might remember a few days ago we wrote about GHS’s release of a translation of Sogabe Shuuji’s Persona 3 manga. Piece 00 (Prologue) and Piece 03 of the series were also discussed at that point, both of which were a joint release with Starry Heaven (headed by Cheebs). The groups have since split off, each handling the remaining chapters (and revisions of previous releases) on their own . . . .

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The Persona -trinity soul- web site continues to receive a slew of updates. New sections have been added, featuring character art and further details. The most significant addition is arguably the first trailer for the series. It is available under the “Special” section of the site, but it seems quite a few people are having issues streaming it properly (plus the page itself uses an ActiveX control that seems to put some browsers into an infinite loading loop) . . . .

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A few days ago we featured some basic news on Persona -trinity soul-, clumsily translated from the official site. We detailed some basic information on the Kanzato (also apparently translated as Shingou) brothers that star in the series, but thanks to some wonderful help from Cheebs, we also have a better translation of the remaining plot information.

It apparently opens up with a bizarre scandal that strikes Ayanagi City. The crew of a submarine suddenly disappears and for the first time in 10 years people found themselves again concerned over the Apathy Syndrome. Around this same time, dead students with their corpses cruelly turned inside-out began to appear. Ryou’s police force is secretly following these events. His two younger brothers also get involved, resulting in Shin’s summoning of a Persona. The description ends with the ever-mysterious “The gears controlling the fate of these brothers have now begun to turn…” . . . .

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A group by the name of Gekkoukan High Scans has taken on scanning and translating Shuji Sogabe’s Persona 3 manga series. It closely follows the events of the game, although it seems certain liberties are taken (earlier appearances of Aigis, for example) to help enhance the storytelling. Currently three pieces are available, all of which are up for download through their site. They’ve done a really nice job with them.

GHS has a surprisingly large staff; we wish them all luck with this project and any others they might take on. Thanks a lot to the founder of the project, Mienai Kitsune, for pointing out their work so far. Be sure to check it out.

We first reported on the new Persona anime, -trinity soul- a few days back. Emilo points out that it now has its own dedicated website.

The site features a brief description of the show. As mentioned before, the series takes place ten years after what happens in Persona 3 on the PS2. The anime appears to focus on a new set of characters: Shin Kanzato (a 17 year old student), his younger brother Jun (a 14 year old student) and their eldest brother Police Chief Ryou (28 years old).

The site also reveals some more of the staff involved. Makoto Matsumoto is directing the series, Taku Iwasaki is responsible for the music, Yuriko Ishii is working on character designs based on Shigenori Soejima’s original designs and the animation itself is being handled by A-1 Productions.

We’ll be sure to let you know if there are any new developments.

Although we’re a bit late in pointing it out, Enid has posted some interesting information on the forum. It turns out that Persona 3 is getting its own oddly titled anime series: PERSONA -trinity soul-.

Enid also points out that RPGamer reports that the series takes place ten years after the events in the game.  It will follow three brothers who live in a city where the dead have risen (with their skin turned inside-out, no less). More from their site:

“Jun Matsumoto, whose previous works include Digimon and Blood+, is said to be directing. Shigenori Soejima, the artist behind Persona 3’s stylized character models, will be designing the characters for the upcoming anime. The anime’s story will be headed by Yasuyuki Muto, whose works include Le Chevalier D’Eon. The music is being composed by Taku Iwasaki, known for the anime Read or Die.”

The series is set to appear during January 2008 on Japanese television as a weekly series. As expected, no information about releases in other parts of the world has been revealed, although it’s probably safe to expect this one to be fansubbed pretty quickly.

It won’t take much to improve upon previous Megaten-related anime releases, but this one seems to be on the right track either way. More information will be posted as it appears.