Anime An Adaptation That Does Everything Wrong
It is impossible to discuss this show independently of the game that its based on, as it tries to be so faithful to the source material that it fails to stand alone as an independent work. The show's creators were obviously trying to design a show that it incredibly close to Persona 4 the game, but they seemed to only select facets of the original game that feel disjointed and clunky when placed in an anime. The show is faithful to the details of the game's mechanic instead of taking the central narrative of Persona 4 and redesigning it to conform to the structure of an anime.
There are too many failures in Persona 4 the Animation to mention in a single review. The animation is awful, and the show suffers from far too many "Quality" moments. The art design is inconsistent, as the game's cartoonish look does not transfer to the show. Thus, all the Personas that Yu summons other than his initial one seem entirely out of the place with the aesthetic of the rest of the show. In addition, they failed to give the protagonist of the show any sort of character at all. He completely fails to carry the weight of the adaptation, despite the other characters maintaining much of their charm. Other aspects of the original game that fail in a televised setting are the frequent trips to the Velvet Room that contribute nothing to the show's plot or characters, the calender system that comes off as confusing and unnecessary, and the attempt to cram in every social link that robs most character interaction of any depth. Persona 4 the Animation loses much of the subtlety of the original game despite, or maybe because of, its purported faithfulness to the source material. The video game is certainly not perfect in its portrayal of sensitive topics such as Kanji's sexuality, but it is certainly less outright offensive than its animated counterpart.
There are some aspects of the show that deserve some praise, such as the soundtrack. The music is excellent, though unlike in the game it is not used effectively. Sometimes the music simply doesn't seem to fit the scene being played out. I understand that some fans appreciate that Persona 4 the Animation is a an adaptation so faithful that it even references game mechanics such as elemental weaknesses. It is sad to see an adaptation, however, that tries so hard to reference its source material that it misses the point.
Anime One of the best "Anime of the Game"s out there.
As someone who grew up with, and hated, the Pokemon anime, this one surprised me in how faithful to the games it is. The first few episodes, for instance, play out nearly exactly like the beginning of the game. Personas and bosses have the same weaknesses and immunities as they do in the game, and fusion requirements match up. These details are subtle enough, however, so as not to alienate anyone unfamiliar with the source material.
The anime does a decent job of condensing a 100+ hour game into 26 episodes, covering every major boss fight and plot event, with a few cases of welcomed Adaptation Expansion (especially the final episode). Strangely, it's the Social Links that get cut down the most, which can be annoying in some cases but at least them manage to show them all.
Pacing is a major flaw with the show though. The first half rushes through plot boss fights, with only a few left at only 12 episodes in, leaving most of the second half for Breather Episodes. That said, some of the "Breather" episodes are among the highlights of the show for comedy (13, 14, 15, 19) or drama (18, which may actually be the single best episode of the series IMO, the emotions they conveyed downright floored me), but it does make the main plot feel a little weirdly-paced at times. Then again, the original game could be like that too.
Comedy is a real strength of this series, actually, with a lot of really hilarious moments in the Social Link adaptations, with a good bit of self-deprecating humour too. (ep 13 is basically all about how weird S Links look out-of-context) The main protagonist gets his own personality that's a paradoxical combination of The Stoic, Deadpan Snarker and Large Ham, and it is glorious.
Finally, something I really have to praise: the English dub. This may be the only anime that's dub is actually tolerable to me. No, more than that, it's amazing. Nearly all the V As from the game reprise their roles, with fantastic performances from Troy Baker, Laura Bailey and Johnny Young Bosch in particular. The dialogue is faithful for the most part, but there are several lines I actually find funnier in the dub ("She said you were one big man whore!"), and it also makes an effort to downplay some moments of Unfortunate Implications like Episode 8's tent scene. Definitely recommend it even if you're a Japanese purist.