Persona 4: The Golden Animation is based on the Vita updated port Persona 4 Golden where it added a ton of content. This anime (which no one really asked for) assumes you have knowledge of the plot already, whether this was from the first anime or the game. It glosses over the plot in favor of adapting mostly the new content, and has a high focus on the new character Marie. It is 12 episodes long plus an OVA.
The original plot of the murder mystery in the town of Inaba as well as the power of friendship, is thrust to the wayside and only cursory mentioned. The protagonist Yu Narukami arrives in Inaba to live there and attend school for a year. Upon arriving at the station he meets a mysterious girl, whom he later learns is Marie and befriends her. Marie is part of the Velvet Room.
The first episode quickly throws the characters into the TV and encounters with the Shadows. This plot thread is promptly forgotten and focuses upon Yu's dates with Marie. The rest of the characters such as Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, Teddy, Kanji and Rise suddenly appear and it is assumed that the viewer already knows their personalities. Thanks to the fact that it is heavily centered on Marie, there doesn't seem to be as strong a plot thread as the murder mystery that ties the gang together. The episodes present a slice-of-life view and cover most of the additional content in Golden that wasn't covered in the original game or anime such as the social links, song performance and ski trip.
Marie herself is a mysterious character. She does not have any memories of the past and a big plot point is how she comes to terms with this fact, and settles with creating new memories with her new friends. Through all of these events, the murder mystery is still happening in the background and this is where the anime assumes its viewers has either played the game or watched the first anime. Viewers are expected to know when the major events surrounding the murders occurred as we'll have new characters suddenly appearing and Yu will end up facing the final boss. There are very limited fight scenes in which the characters summon their titular Personas but they are so brief they might as well not put it there.
Considering the amount of focus placed upon the characters' day to day lives and activities, they should have just eliminated the murder mystery plotline instead of shoddily inserting it here and there. The humor has been dialed down, extremely funny scenes in the original game only gets you a chuckle here or there. The anime lacks all the one-liners and random gags that made the first anime , and the game, so funny. While Marie is truly the main focus, it spotlights upon another underrepresented supporting character. Adachi, the newbie partner cop to Yu's uncle, has his character fleshed out a bit more. It is done awkwardly though but when he eventually gets his own episode focusing on his past, you can understand his personality more.
The ending is supposed to invoke a sense of longing and peace at finding and saving Marie. Instead, because the anime's pacing was so slow with haphazard events, it didn't allow the viewer to develop the bonds and caring for the characters. You don't feel much when the cast gets hurt, or a rush of awesomeness when their Personas finds enough power to overcome the final boss. The fight sequence involving the final bosses feels lazy and lacking substance, such that it leaves you with a hollow feeling. It doesn't help that the scene cuts awkwardly, expecting the viewer to already know the background of the boss and what occurred during the fights, only showing the new parts.
The music of Persona 4 was one of the highlights and it's great that The Golden Animation reuses those tracks, adding in a nostalgic feel as well. It is when the music from the game turns up in a scene that you have the habit of feeling that the scene will be epic, even when it doesn't live up to the expectations. The animation quality though, fluctuates. The aesthetics of the character models are slightly off compared to the game, character proportions are a tiny bit plumper than expected.
There is an OVA which adapts the new Bad Ending from the game. It's slow paced and much darker than the rest of the anime. It's shorter at only 14 minutes long but is quite good and more impactful once you start wondering about what must be going through Yu's head. Overall, Persona 4: The Golden Animation is definitely one for the massive Persona 4 fans. The animators couldn't win, if they decided to readapt everything with the new content then it would have retreaded too much, but having only adapted the new content makes the plot disjointed and makes the viewers feel alienated from the characters and everything that is going on. While it isn't a bad anime, it leaves a lot to be desired.
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