For those completely unfamiliar with P4, it begins with a high school student, Yu Narukami, moving to Inaba for a year. His arrival coincides with a serial murder case that seems to be tied with an urban legend named "The Midnight Channel." Yu and his classmates find themselves caught up in this case as discover an ability to enter TV's, use summonings called "Persona's," all of which relate to the serial murders.
The biggest discrepancy between a persona game and an anime is the silent protagonist. Its role in a game is to enhance roleplaying, perhaps immersion, but this has no place in an anime. Somehow, Yu actually manages to reprise his role as the essentially silent protagonist. A rare deadpan joke with 1 or 2 lines meant to inspire at ciritcal points are the extent of his verbalizations. His utter LACK of leadership and vapid, almost robotic personality doesn't fit with the respect he gets from his comrades. He is seen as the leader by the group when to viewers, he's clearly a Robin, or maybe even an Alfred. Not a Batman.
The pace is breakneck, and the series suffers for it in the early going. We never get to soak in the creepiness of the murders, the newscasts, the body positions, and the bizzaro TV world. Even the "social links," relationship building sequences between the main character and classmates, feel rushed. Absent are the dramatic changes of tone, or the critical moments that completely change the relationships' course.
It seems this Anime was designed with fanservice in mind. It assumes everyone knows the story and doesn't bother illustrating it properly. Instead, it just tries to cover as many events in the game as possible. Less is definitely more in this case. It's a nice recap of the P4 story for those who have played the game for anyone who needs one, but I wouldn't recommend it beyond that.
