Persona 4 the Golden Animation

If you haven't played Persona 4 Golden, this really isn't for you. Even if you have played it, don't expect a full adaptation like the Persona 4 Animation. Think of it more as a compilation of the cutscenes and events from the game.

Overall I give this a 10/10. This isn't because of its merit as a stand-alone series. In that regard it's actually terrible and you would have no idea what's going on if you watched it in a vacuum. I give it a 10/10 because of how well it adapts key scenes from the game- which is probably the goal rather ... than making an adaptation of the entire narrative.


Not only do you get memorable events in full animation, but they retroactively add in Marie for events she wasn't actually present in. Normally, this alone with a few minor plot changes would put me off, but they did a really good job of fitting the narrative together in a way that wasn't at all confusing...if you already played the game. It's almost like an alternative universe in which Marie had an even larger role. If anything, it's refreshing, since watching the exact same scenes happen in the exact same way would get pretty boring.

If you think of this as DLC for people who completed the game instead of an actual show, I think you can get a lot of enjoyment out of this. Especially when you go looking for easter eggs that show that this is a New Game+ run with max character stats.

Golden is about the story of Marie and her journey to find her memories, a great slice of life anime with a little bit of that persona video game action. Not an all-rounder but it'll make you feel good inside especially the last episode.

I wouldn't say you should avoid watching this if you have not played the game or watched Persona 4: The Animation, It's a different story on its own but it does have some spoilers but its not blatantly obvious.

What really got me was that the animation is top-notch; it was like it was from those cut scenes from the game itself. The ... story does get stale after so many iterations coupled with such rushed pacing but somehow it always compels me to watch it again and again. Recommended if you want something beautiful to admire or just to have something new to watch.

tl;dr: supplement, not a replacement

I don't understand half the hate this gets. From the intro you can tell this is meant to emulate a new game+ for the main character, with his stats maxed out, lending to the main character's more lively personality. If you actually played a new game+ run of P4G, this is how your save would look, easily skipping over character introductions and dungeons, while absorbing all the new content of the game. The important part of this version is the GOLDEN, but negative reviewers mostly lament the fact they didn't re-animate the events of the original Persona 4 animation. What did ... Atlus add to the Golden version of the game? Marie and Adachi s. link, Winter trip, and a new boss, and therefore new ending. What P4GA didn't cover was what the base game already had and what was already animated, but what it did animate was everything NEW to the series. This is a supplement to the main story and not a retelling, please watch it with that in mind.

So I am going to be wading against the tide of masses here, but I really enjoyed this anime and probably for a lot of the reasons others did not.

That being said, if you have any chance of enjoying this, then I recommend you;

1. play persona 4 and if you have a vita, the golden version.

2. watch the original anime (http://myanimelist.net/anime/10588/Persona_4_The_Animation)

I love the characters in Persona 4 and overall I think they did a solid job on both animes. Unlike a majority of the P4 fans, I feel like this anime did honor to the game's story. So I'll try and keep this ... as simple as I can. Why did I like this anime and the original that its based off of?

1. I feel in love with the characters and world of P4 and the shows did justice in bringing so much of what I liked about the characters back from the game and even stepping it up a notch. If you are new to P4, then welcome to a well rounded crew of characters that mixes anime mystery and slice of life with Scobby Doo adventure and antics, no I'm not kidding.

2. Since the games main character Yu is a Silent Protagonist, its great to see his character be given so much life in the animes. Everything that made him badass based off the players choices, are personified (hehe) in the show. Scenes like the P3 nightclub are made that much greater or in the case of this anime, the Christmas and beach events.

3. This is where most people will disagree with me and why I encourage you to watch the original anime first. Yes the main story is almost completely lacking in this anime, and I'm Glad it is! Why? Well while I understand not everyone fits in this group, its overkill for me. I played the original game to completion, I also 100% the golden version. I also watched the original anime before this one. While I love the story, I also am tired of it as well. I played through the game again and that was fine, but the last thing I want to do is rewatch all of it AGAIN just to see some of the "extra new stuff". This anime gives you Marie's story and all of the awesome extras that the golden game added without you having to rewatch the same stuff again.

The creators made this anime catering to the fans who watched the original already. A similar thing is done in Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood. They rush through the things that sync up with the original anime and when it branches away, they start to give the anime a slower, more depth paced feel, (even if it was a roller coaster ride). The anime producers do this to prevent the original work they did from becoming obsolete while still appealing to the fans of that original work.

So all of that being said, watch this either after or alongside the original anime and you will find yourself in for an enjoyable time.

Anime Series Review No.4 This going to be my shortest review of the series because their is nothing much to talk about. I will discuss my viewpoint in the series.

Story 5/10
The story is the weakest part of the Persona Golden unlike the first Persona 4 which the story is top notch for it told the event in the night more and some day events. The story in the golden is majorly in the day and will focus more the slice of life and normal friendship bonding and less action. Even the premise is just a retelling version of the events they still made the ... story not dull and still enjoyable and inspiring but not as much good as the first version.


Art 8/10
The art is no different from the last P4 but still I like the colors and the presentation of the battle scene and the Persona's. OP art style is funky and groovy still give the persona 4 aura.

Sound 6/10
I still like the way they reuse the song of the former version of P4 but not use in the most epic way in the last former. Just gives the nostalgia feels.

Characters 8/10
Since it's a 12 episode series and a retelling remake that only way to make the show enjoyable is to flesh out the characters as much as possible made them unique and likable and more importantly don't make them dull and annoying which is the strong point of persona 4 golden and that's all to that.

Enjoyment 8/10
I didn't raise my expectation in the P4 golden for it's just short so I won't expecting I will enjoy the plot but the characters made an alternative solution for me to enjoy because the characters of P4 is still enjoyable to watch and still laugh at the simple humor.

That's all I can say I am Persona 4 fan but I didn't raise my expectation by doing that I still have enjoy the show fairly and without disappointment.

Villians are not one-dimensional characters like typical children cartoons show them as. Villians can be saved or just defeated, it's up to the protagonist or someone else to choose. Remember, villians aren't unsympathetic nor are they unempathetic, because they are as much of characters as the main cast, if not even more. Villians represent what we may become, one of the possibilities, that's why you can't just take out everything with a big fat laser. You have to understand the villian, and understand him/her/it well. How did the villian become a villian? Did someone do this? Was it society as we know it? A ... cultural flaw? Imo, Adachi was one of those unlucky unfortunates that got the short straw in life. Yes, he did kill, but that doesn't cover up his own suffering. Understand the villian, know the villian, take out the villian if you want but don't treat the villian character one-dimensionally, even if he/her/it hates you for trying to understand the situation. Pity the villian? That sometimes may be fine. But the best solution as shown in Persona 4 The Golden Animation, is to SAVE THE VILLIAN.

(like many people who end up not talking to their "friends" past graduation because they were never that close).

I loved The Golden Animation even more than the first anime. Why? It went into greater depth for character development for one of the most pivotal characters, Adachi. The original series depicted little of Adachi, and left little to pity about him, as he was depicted mainly from the Investigation team's view, and felt one sided as a villian, not explaining much about himself and forcing the audience to analyze deeper into him without many clues.
The Golden Animation elaborates on Adachi's self more, how he became like that etc. Adachi was originally a bit of a "good student" kind of person, as seen in ep7, this doesn't mean that every good student who studies hard and as a result doesnt further his/her social relationships like Adachi will become a killer or anything like that.
It's just a possibility that may happen, if let be by either the subject and/or others.

EPISODE 6 AND 7! These are the high rewatch value episodes for 10/10 character development! I can relate, empathize with Adachi about the shittyness of the world, cuz I'm a anti-social existential crisis myself. Adachi's life before discovering the Midnight Television as depicted in episode 6 and further elaborated in ep7 resembles the sort of cruelly realistic life that many people lead, one that is boring and uneventful, a situation that ends up making one view the bad sides of the world. Adachi was nearly improving tho, when he met the Dojimas. He hated the life in the country, and life and people in general.
Of course, as shown in Golden's Adachi arc, when someone else came in (Yu), he started to spiral downward again, so it seemed like Yu's fault here (watch the episodes for more info).

I actually cried, no I actually cry everytime I rewatch episode 7. And when I rewatch episode 6 my heart cringes and I feel myself in Adachi's shoes, because I've had similar experiences and feelings. Some folks might go all insensitive and "JUSTICE" and say one-dimensional things like "Adachi is such an ass" or "so annoying Adachi, go to jail already". Those sort of insensitive things you see on the internet often. But that's called being stuck in the one dimension. Villians are not one-dimensional, not in real life and not in Persona.

The KEY to solving Adachi's suffering was bonds, as Yu reveals Adachi had with Dojima all along, and that Adachi wasn't replaced. Or perhaps that was just an illusion cup? No, play Arena Ultimate and know that this is not true, Adachi DOES have a bond, and he is saved by it by YU who saves Adachi by showing him the bond and understanding Adachi's woes recognizing his own existence as one that may make Adachi's suffering.
That's something you don't get in many anime. The Golden is a masterpiece, tho short. Prepare to cry when you finally do feel Adachi's woes and anger. And when you see him saved, you'll find yourself likely thinking that he's the best villain in Persona 4 you ever faced.

It's New Game+ for Yu

Persona 4 the Golden Animation is in the simplest ways, a retelling of the original Persona 4: The Animation but with a new character and Yu essentially being in New Game+ mode, add in one new Social Link and slice of life events not told in the original and we have Golden.

Now the slice of life events takes roughly the first half of the anime as we get integrated with our newest character in the anime, Marie voiced by Kana Hanazawa in her tsundere vocals and who she really is, as you guessed it, we have an amnesiac plot interlaced in ... all this.

The slice of life events is mostly fillery but also trying to get to know more of Marie throughout the anime, it works but Marie's brash tsundere personality doesn't help in some cases (mostly when got serious for LA). The slice of life events mostly compromises of beach to hot springs to the more zany "Yu's cramped schedule day with EVERYONE" event, it for all accounts counterbalances the more serious events the original had with it's serial murders and Persona's business.

Now Marie as a character for LA was a bit hard for LA to like with her tsundere personality and LA LOVES tsundere's but she kinda was borderline unlikable at times. LA knows her entire deal is of a person who has no idea who she is and also when she finds out who she is she doesn't want to know, Kana Hanazawa helps...a bit but when it starts focusing on her "arc" her motivation for what she did was for the Investigation Team but LA was still torn by those revelations and what she did to make it rather tedious to "get her back".

On speaking of "get her back", because Persona 4 Golden essentially being a retelling of the original game that means the "original series villain" of the series who LA won't name even in this review is back and mood-whiplashes you from the slice of life moments to the outrageously serious in taking down the villain in question and guess what Marie is nowhere to be seen (LA knows her disappearance has relevance but still coupled with the moodwhiplash doesn't help it as the major villain hijacks the plot for his development before jankily turning back to Marie).

The animation done this time by A1-Pictures, keeps the favour and art style of AIC A.S.T.A's animation pretty well form character designs the original had, LA really don't have that much to say about A1-Pictures animation besides that it has a few derpy facial animation at times but other than that, A1-Pictures' animation is decent enough.

The voice cast is back just adding the aforementioned Kana Hanazawa and a portion of the anime is dedicated to Marie so Kana Hanazawa has ALOT of screentime compared to the rest of the cast, LA will give Kana Hanazawa MVP by default but LA will put Yui Horie who voiced Chie as second merely because Chie gets screentime in the slice of life events and was LA's favourite character.

Persona 4 Golden: The Animation though does have elements of the anime missing from the original to pretty much abridging the original series to fit it's narrative but Golden still has it's upsides to all this, from new and old storylines from both Golden and the original series being finished along with trying to give character development to the newest character is a difficult feat Golden had done...just with some loose execution in it's part.

Some of the new and old storylines Golden did answer at the very least is who Marie really is in detail, how Yu got his Persona powers in the first place (and these two plot points are linked) as well as giving a proper epilogue of all the characters so that Persona 4 finishes completely with no loose ends.

If anything, Golden is an companion piece to the original anime series and sure LA will say both animes can compress a 200 hour or so game into 36 episodes and expect it to fill in ALL the details like what anime to game adaptation CAN do something like that?, but for what Golden did in 12 episodes from introducing, developing Marie and her presences in the plot, explaining everything it could AND bringing in Persona 4's more mundane slice of life events into focus all into one, LA will commend Persona 4 Golden: The Animation for that.

Persona 4 Golden: The Animation should at least be watched for diehard Persona fans or people who watched the original series and just want more of Persona 4, be it serious or not this time with all the loose ends tied. LA liked Golden but just not as much the original series, but as LA said Golden is more of a companion piece to the original anime series than a stand alone anime in it's right by the end of it.

Golden ain't terrible or anything but it needed some polish was all...

The review will be split into 3 categories so pick which ones correspond to you.

For those that have never seen Persona 4 The Animation or played either Persona 4 or Persona 4 Golden:
Don't bother with this anime cause it requires knowledge from the previous season or the games.

For those that have seen the Persona 4 anime or played the 1st Persona 4 game:
This adaptation will give you all you need to know about what happens in Persona 4 Golden. With the addition of Marie and the backstory of the main antagonist. And it won't bother with showing you stuff you have already seen ... or played before with the exception of the 1st episode but with awesome action since the animators treated it like you imported your old save to start new game+, so you already have max stats and an Izanagi with Maziodyne. However it's focus is mainly on the characters and slice of life mode except until the later parts where the action picks up again.

For those that have played Persona 4 Golden:
This adaptation will show you all the added content in the game and more. It will show scenes that were never in the game especially with Marie and later for a couple of episodes with Adachi. The focus is on Marie's development as a character and on the slice of life comedic antics of the group with some really hilarious twist that I wish was also in the game, especially the Christmas Eve episode which was Golden!

It's a great adaptation assuming you already know Persona 4 beforehand. I myself had beaten Persona 4 Golden just so I could purchase my Persona 5 "Take Your Heart" Edition the day after. Then binge watch every Persona anime from Trinity Soul, Persona 3 Movies, All Persona 4 series & OVA's and the Persona 5 Day Breakers.

So give it a go and delve deeper into the Persona Universe.

Stange.... maybe it just me but I think these P4GA got hate more than they deserved but yeah... This is just my opinion so nobody need to believe it.

First This is not stand alone series or sequel or spin off
It is an addition story of the first P4A to milk more money from P4G.
what you will notice when you watch this anime is
1. What's already told on P4A will be skip
2. MC are max Social stat

so if you are for rich story, emotional moment ,and character development
you won't get that much(except for the new character)
...
Second so what's good about P4GA ?
If you minus all of that and then what is left?

eerrrr.... then why the heck is P4G got 9.3/10 on IGN
It is the same reason THE ADDITIONAL PART.

If you understand what it is and able to guess what you'll get from it then you'll enjoy it ...it is DLC of the P4 animation with some tweak and change
It is now the New Game+ additional story of the P4G

in the opening you'll see social stat of the Yu Narukami and that open the whole new possibility for the main character.

now he have courage to take different route from what original done.
he have a cool calm understanding and can express it freely in this anime.
which sometime make him failed more miserable.

to sum it up : It is an enjoyable additional story for people who don't mind seeing things different from what they see on the P4G.

It is an enjoyable for people who want to know what happen in Golden version of the game but they don't own PSVITA.

It is enjoyable for people who want to see more Persona 4 Character but don't mind the main focus to the new character of the show.

FMAB also did this. while there's first FMA anime adaption.
They rush and tweak some of the early plot story and go right into when the juicy stuff happen.

That's it for the story part
Music : you know it is Persona Music.
Character : Main focus on Marie + new event for all the character.
Art : Colorful
Enjoyment : yes
Meaningful : no
Overall : If you looking for something No.. / If you're bored and want more P4 ....YES

Say what you will about anime adapted from video games, but the Persona 4 Golden anime is genuinely amazing. It does Marie so much justice that she doesn't get in the game, even in her social link. Before watching the anime, my thoughts on Marie were "Eh, she's alright. At least she has a cool design." After the anime, she is probably my favorite female character from Persona 4. Even her tsundere-ness is more charming in the anime, while in the game it's the main thing I disliked about her. In addition to all that it does for Marie, the visuals are also gorgeous. Probably ... my favorite visuals in any anime. It's so colorful, bright, and shiny, and it just brings so much life to the characters.

The story is presented very oddly, skimming over the main plot points of Persona 4 to focus on the new Marie segments present only in the Golden version of the game, but I got used to it after a few episodes and I find it a unique and oddly charming way of telling the story. Because of this, it's not a good anime to watch on its own: you should have at the VERY least watched the original P4 anime first if not played the game, otherwise you'll likely be confused by new characters suddenly popping up out of nowhere.

This is my first review, and will make sure that it doesn't contain any spoiler so read it calmly. Perhaps it will help you appreciate this work more.
---o---
The reason this anime has such a low score is because a lot of people misunderstood what this anime is. In the videogame franchise, Persona 4 Golden makes Persona 4 vanilla (the first version for PS2) not worth playing, since P4G is an enhanced version, with much more content (characters, story, levels, etc). Same happens with Persona 3 FES and Persona 5 Royal. I'm pretty sure a lot of people tought that, since the P4G makes the ... original P4 obsolete, the anime could be the same thing. I mean, the idea that "Persona 4 The Golden Animation" would have much more content and would make obsolete "Persona 4 The Animation". And they couldn't be more wrong.
If you want to enjoy the principal story of Persona 4, you should watch "Persona 4 The Animation". There you will see how Yu gets to know every character, and how with his squad they go forward toward discovering the truth. That's why that anime has more than 12 episodes. If you try to watch this anime first, without knowing the principal story, you would get more lost than a compass in a washing machine . So yeah, I would say that's the reason it has such low score. People see this anime has a standalone anime, when actually they should be seeing it has an OVA, or has a complement to see after watching the first anime.

Now that I have made that clarification, let's see; what does Persona 4 The Golden Animation has to offer?
Story: 8
Instead of re-telling the entire story of Persona 4, which could have been tiresome to someone that has already played the game, and/or just watched the first anime, this anime tells us the story of a character unique to the P4G videogame, Marie. Also, it lets us know more about the villain past, wich was my favorite add to the series. You'll know who Marie is if you haven't played the P4G game, or if that isn't the case, you could enjoy the new scenes of this character in the story. Personally, I'm not a fan of this character, but I truly enjoyed seeing how her relationship with the group develops. And well, Iguess she has some fans that would surely love this.
It also adds a bad ending, listed in this page, and the true ending for P4G.
Art: 8
It has great animation, and some good drawings, but sometimes the characters have badly drawn faces. Normally when they are afar from the viewer's sight. But I guess this is kinda normal in anime.
Sound: 10
Not much to say, the voice acting is great, and the music is top-notch.
Character: 9
In this version, we could say Yu has every social stat to the max. The real Yu NaruCHADmi. Every other character is just like what we've seen in the previous anime. I would take 2 points of it because I don't like the new character (sorry tsundere fans, just not my cup of tea), but I added one because I love how they animated more of the antagonist past.
Enjoyment: 7
I mean, the story goes around a character I don't really like, but I could still enjoy how this relationship develops, and revisit a lot of funny moments from the P4 story, like the beach scene. If you have played the Persona 4 Golden videogame, then I would say this will fill a hole that you probably felt after completing the first anime (which is an obligatory watch btw).
Overall: 8
This anime isn't as enjoyable as the first anime, but that's okay since that wasn't its objective. The objective of this anime isn't replacing the first anime making it obsolete. The objective of this anime is letting you know about all the content added in Persona 4 Golden that you could have missed, if you didn't play the game and/or only watched the first animation. I would recommend it to a friend that can't play the game, but only after watching "Person 4 The Animation" first.

I hope this review makes people understand what this anime is, and how they should watch it. I'm beary sad because a lot of people failed to understand this, and really expected a re-telling of the complete story (for that they have the first anime), whic would have made this boring to watch to someone that already watched the first animation. Anyways, I don't have anything else to add. If you already enjoyed the first animation, watch this. If you haven't seen the first anime, GO WATCH IT, and then watch this one. Have an enjoyable time doing so, buh-bye

Really, I'm not sure why Golden Animation has such a low score. Probably people came into it expecting to enjoy it standalone... but then again, objectively, it works just fine as a standalone, OR as a continuation of the first Persona 4 anime. My only real issue with it is the animation could be very nice in spots, and very lackluster in others. Everything else was fine; not the greatest anime I've ever seen but it had a sweet story, focused on Marie (mostly because she was absent from the original P4a so it makes sense she would be the focus of this one). Perhaps ... more viewers were expecting a total revamp of P4a? Who knows? Either way, I enjoyed it equally, viewing it as a piece of the whole.

tldr - watch the original adaptation or play the game first before watching this series, since it only covers what is new in the Golden game.

I first watched the first Persona 4 anime when it was released in 2011, watched one episode of P4GA when it was first released in 2014, and never touched it again until after playing the steam port of the game. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the first epsiode of P4GA. it was that the original adaptation had aired relatively recently, and I did not feel like rewatching through the entire storyline again.

Now that I have finished the series proper, ... my initial impression that this series was simply a retelling was right and wrong at the same time. And that sums up the issue with P4GA. It does not really know what it wants to be. Part of it wants to have the same continuity as the original (heck, Episode 6 in P4GA reused scenes from P4A), while others is a complete retelling.

In essence, P4GA is mostly a supplement to the original series. It focuses mostly on events and characters which were new to the Golden version of the game; which is basically Marie's social link, her backstory, and a few new bonding events of the investigation team. Therefore, new viewers would have zero idea as to what is happening, particularly the first half of the season since about 90% of the events from the original series is happening during the same timeframe.

This does not necessarily mean that the adaptation was bad (at least for someone who understood the story of the original and was not confused by the choices made in this adaptation). Story-wise the animation team took some liberties from the game material and did flesh out Marie's character a bit more. Art-wise I felt it was more appealing than the original adaptation. Colors are brighter, the color palette of the characters match more closely with the game. It was still very flawed in parts, but I felt for the most part it was pretty decent. Sound is great, as is most Persona-related things. Characters are still loveable as they were in the original adaptation. Overall, I felt this series as a whole was pretty good.

I think the choice that the animators took to only animate the new aspects of P4G made sense considering that the original aired just 3 years prior. The only anime in memory that did a completely new adaptation in such a short time-span was probably Kanon. However, I just wished they fully committed to it, and left events which were already covered in the original alone and focused only on the new content, and made it very clear that this is purely meant to supplement the original series rather than replace it. Heck, even shortening it into an OVA series would probably work well. Instead, we end up with a confused mess that will satisfy fans of the material but confuse the heck out of new comers.

Was sceptical at first thinking it was just persona 4 story recapped with a new character. In a way it is but Marie's story was very enjoyable. Its better to watch the original animation first then this as extra content. Though I found the ending of this version much better than the original one.

I was watching the show along with my progress in the game and I had a really great time. It's sad to see this being not appreciated as much as the original animation since not many played golden and barely cared abiut the extra character or alternative ending. Though I would argue ... this added more emotion to the story for me.

Persona 4 The Golden Animation is an anime made for Persona 4 fans. If you haven't played the games or at least watched the previous anime you most probably won't enjoy this anime and I'll explain why.

Story 8/10
It's all about Marie. Marie's story is a subplot in the Golden version of the game. However, as the original game was already animated in Persona 4 The Animation, this one is almost completely focused on Marie, and the main plot of the game becomes the subplot. If you don't like Marie or don't know her and have no interest in her character, this anime isn't for you. ... If you haven't played the game nor watched the 2011 anime you will be very confused with P4GA, since characters seem to pop up out of nowhere, without any explanation about them, and their backstory is never discussed. This anime also animates events that weren't animated in the previous series, and if you're a fan of the series and its characters you'll certainly have fun watching their shenanigans.

Characters 8/10
Marie, together with Yu, is the star of the show. You get a lot of her, since the whole point of this series is learning about her past. Some say Yu is too different from the games, but I definitely love his personality in the anime adaptations. After seeing Makoto in the Persona 3 movies being a walking corpse devoid of personality, Yu is certainly a breath of fresh air. The other characters are there too, the whole bunch, Yosuke, Kanji, Naoto, Yukiko and Chie, being themselves, it's fun to see them. And we also get to see and learn much more about Adachi, which is one of the highest points of this series imo.

Sound 6/10
Typical Persona 4 OST. It definitely fits the atmosphere and I don't really have any complaints, it's just not one of my favorite OSTs, but that's just personal preference. The OST isn't bad.

Art and Animation 9/10
The animation is definitely much better than it was in the previous anime. The colors are brighter and feel closer to the original game. The art is the same, which means it's great.

Enjoyment 8/10
It's fun. Seeing characters we already know and love in different situations can be very entertaining, and getting to know one more interesting character adds up to fun. I'm fairly certain if you like Persona 4 not only for its plot, but for its characters and atmosphere, you'll be able to enjoy this series.