Story wise this anime deserves major props for the near perfect job they did adapting a video game plot to an anime. Most adaptations of video games follow the narrative of the game only loosely and end up doing a sloppy job story wise. Persona 4 stays extremely loyal to the video game's story, diverging only when it is necessary to do so (for example the long trek to dungeon bosses are usually glossed over in favor of an immediate confrontation with the boss). I was lucky enough to finish playing the game just before I started watching this and was amazed at how close the anime story is to the game story. In fact some scenes take the dialogue from the game almost word for word. Now despite all this praise its worth pointing out that as a J-RPG, Persona 4 is a heavily story driven game anyway so you would think it would be easy to just cut it up into 25 episodes right? If its that easy then how come other adaptations like the Xenosaga anime keep screwing up their game's stories so much? As I said before, the story is near flawless so 9 out of 10.
In terms of the art, I have to give props to the animators for apparently studying the game religiously and making sure ever visual detail of both the characters and scenery are reproduced accurately in the anime. A lot of video game adaptations are thrown together in order to make some extra money off the game's fans but in Persona 4's case its clear a lot of effort was put into making this anime an extremely loyal adaptation visually as well as story wise. The anime even takes it a few steps further by showing us scenes that were never present in the game. While they went above and beyond on the animation, I give Art an 7 out of 10 because honestly the art style in the game is a tad stale since the anime uses the same art style it doesnt quite measure up to the art styles in other animes. Its still good though so once again, 7 out of 10.
Sound wise, no surprises, the soundtrack is lifted almost verbatim from the game and if you liked the music in the game you are in luck cause the anime uses it too. However the opening and closing titles are (as far as I can tell) original and the soundtrack from the game is inserted with attention to context in the anime. Personally there was only one song on the soundtrack that I kinda liked, the rest were ok enough and the anime uses them responsibly so you never really get tired of one that is used too much. 7 out of 10.
If you are seeing a trend then it continues with the Characters. The personalities of the anime characters match up almost perfectly with those in the video game and the anime actually takes every opportunity to expound on them, providing even more background than we get in the game but does so in a way that seems meaningful and not just tacked on. On top of this the voice actors are (in both the Japanese and English versions at I believe) the same ones used in the game and just as in the game everyone does a great job bringing their characters across, better in the anime in fact than in the game given the animation limitations of video games compared to anime. One key difference between the anime and the game is that the main character is mostly silent in the game but in the anime he speaks...quite a lot actually. The problem is that the Main Character in the anime is inconsistent and in some scenes just comes off as too robotic and less real than the other characters, however these scenes are few and far between and they do a good enough job with the Main Character and an excellent job with all the characters. Of particular note are Rie Kugimiya (Shana from Shakugan no Shana and Taiga from Toradora!) as Rise and Kappei Yamaguchi (L from Death Note) as Kuma. Ryusei Nakao (Frieza from DBZ and Mayuri from Bleach) even voices an important character in the last episode. All the voice actors and actresses do a superb job really but if I talked about each one this review would never get submitted. For characters, 8 out of 10.
The most important question with any anime or video game is "did you enjoy it?" With Persona 4, if you liked the game you will like the anime, if you didn't like the game then you don't like J-RPGs or anime so you wouldn't be watching the anime anyway. Unlike most video game adaptions, Persona 4 does everything right and delivers an experience just as, if not even more, enjoyable than the game itself. The only problem is that if you watch the anime first then you have spoiled the game for yourself and if you play the game first you know kinda whats going to happen in the anime. Personally I played the game first and enjoyed the anime a lot so I recommend you do the same if you havnt played the game or seen the anime yet. 8 out of 10.
So if Persona 4 The Animation is a near perfect adaptation of a video game into an anime, why do I only give it a 7 out of 10? The simple answer is BECAUSE its a video game adaption. Video games are an interactive form of entertainment while anime and movies are not interactive. No matter how loyal you are to the game it doesnt change the fact that the story of a video game is (ideally) supposed to drive the plot and mesh with the gameplay. If you take the story and leave out the gameplay then even if its a good story its going to feel a little empty like its missing something. In the end you almost feel like you are watching someone else play the game for you (ok its more exciting than that I admit). Overall, compared to other video game adaptation animes Persona 4 is probably as good as it gets. However when compared with animes in general Persona 4 The Animation is good but not great, 7 out of 10.
