Persona 4 The Animation - Review

Anime Series

Length: 25 Episodes
Worth Watching: Yes (If you have already played Persona 4)
The Bottom Line: "Worth it for fans of the series."

As a fan of Persona 4, and with the new P4 Golden anime currently airing, I decided to check out the original series. The anime is great in its own right, but it of course does miss a lot of content. Coming in at 25 episodes in length, the series definitely could have benefited a ton by being 5-10 episodes longer. If you're a big fan of the game it's worth your time, if you haven't played Persona 4 yet, play it first.

One of the biggest reasons why people probably have a hard time enjoying the anime is because of the missing content. While a lot is definitely included, just as much is probably left out. For example, the series ends at the boss fight in December, and time skips from 12-25 all the way to 3-21 when Yu leaves Inaba. This leaves me with the hope that some of those more memorable scenes that take place during that time period will be included in the new series. 

I watched this series in English to have a closer experience to the game. One of the most notable changes is the fact that there is no established canon love interest in the anime and those events are skipped over. There is a distinct lack of "Senpai you're so great" type dialogue and Yu feels on a much closer level to the rest of the cast, rather than some kind of demigod. Of course a lot of the S-Links are clumped together or rushed as well but for the most part, considering how they were all presented it didn't seem all that bad.
Fans of Yumi for the Sun Arcana S-Link will be disappointed she was left out entirely. Yu does not join drama or music club (like the choice you are presented with in the game) but runs into Ayane later on. Yumi does make one appearance in the background though, briefly for a few seconds.

The biggest problem with the English version of the anime, is still the fact that Adachi's voice actor plays both Yu and Adachi. The voice that is used for Adachi in the game is identical to Yu's voice while Adachi's is slightly changed. It was something I got used to, but it still bothered me having just spent so long getting used to that voice in game only to hear it on another character entirely. 

Something else that other people seemed to not like was the addition of Aika, the daughter of the man who runs Aiya's in the Shopping District. She is hilariously always appearing just about anywhere throughout the series and its a running joke that's shes always working, just about anywhere. I feel that while she seems a bit overused, it was far from a bad decision to include her in with the rest of the cast. 

Overall, the Persona 4 Animation is pretty good, and if you're a big fan of the game there's a good chance you'll love it. I don't feel that it is a good introduction to Persona or a replacement for those who have not played the game simply due to the lack of content and pace of the story. However, I do feel it is a good supplement for those who have already played through the game and wanted to see more of the cast of characters. 

7.5 / 10 - Good