Short summation of my thoughts, Overall section has a longer tl;dr for Persona fans of various types
Story and Characters 4, 8 - vanilla Persona 5's story is a mixed bag and condensing 100 hours of game into 30ish episodes counting the specials causes it to suffer. The most common complaint with all Persona adaptations is that the pacing is bad, and the length of the game story does not adapt well. Persona 4 and the Persona 3 movies are like Steins;Gate compared to whatever this is supposed to be. (Steins;Gate is widely regarded as a great adaptation of a visual novel) Events and main story beats that shouldn't be rushed are and slice of life and confidant events that should not have episodes dedicated to them have episodes dedicated to them for some reason. At this point I would suggest watching a lets paly without commentary over the show. There is one saving grace to this show, the mc speaks. You also get some extra voice lines for other characters. The fact this show got a dub is the only reason I watched it and hearing Xander Mobus speak like 40 lines wasn't really worth it in the end.
Art 4 - there is cg and it looks terrible. Art is often shoddy, mis-proportioned, and choppy. Ironic considering Persona 5 is known for its style but the show is just watered down and sad.
Sound 7 - At the very least Persona 5 still has its music to its name. Some great songs are in the track, not that the fit with the scenes well at all. If anything, the game tracks are jarring and don't flow well with the show, almost as if they were made in mind for a completely different medium. They are catchy though, so it balances out slightly.
Enjoyment 5 - my enjoyment is tied to hearing the dub and seeing a few original scenes here and there. Score would be higher if the rest of the show didn't exist.
Overall 4 - If you want to larp as a Persona 5 fan online then put a YouTube let's play on 2x speed. If you want to actually experience Persona 5 play the Royal. Royal fixes many gameplay annoyances with Persona 5 and adds the best story arc in the game and debatably the series (IS and EP are mid fight me). If you have beaten the Royal and want to watch the show for the sake of watching, go on YouTube and watch a highlight reel. There are probably many good ones, and it will save you several hours. If you're a loser and want to watch the first-person Valentine's episode, then play an eroge or get an actual girlfriend instead.
