Persona 4 The Animation

Persona 4 The Animation
Production Details
Director(s)	Seiji Kishi
Writer(s)	Yūko Kakihara Mitsutaka Hirota Jun Kumagai
Composer(s)	Shoji Meguro
Studio	AIC ASTA
License	AUS - Madman Entertainment NA - Sentai Filmworks UK - Kazé
Network	Original - MBS, TBS, CBC, Animax English - Anime Network
Original Run	October 7, 2011 – March 30, 2012
Episodes	25 + 1 OVA
Release Date	Streaming Services September 20, 2021 (Amazon Prime Video, Bandai Channel, ABEMA) September 23, 2021 (Hulu) October 17, 2021 (FOD) TBA (d Anime Store, U-NEXT)

Persona 4 The Animation (ペルソナ4アニメ, Perusona 4 Anime)^? is a television anime adaptation of Persona 4 that was created by AIC ASTA and overseen by Aniplex, using the same characters, setting and narrative of the source material. Shigenori Soejima and Shoji Meguro, the original's art director and music composer, respectively, return in their former roles.

Air and Release Dates

• MBS: October 6, 2011 - March 29, 2012
• TBS: October 7, 2011 - March 30, 2012
• CBC: October 12, 2011 - April 4, 2012
• Persona 4 The Animation - The Factor of Hope: June 9, 2012
• U.S. Retail Episodes 1-12 - September 18, 2012
• U.S. Retail Episodes 13-26 - January 15, 2013
• U.K Retail - January 27, 2014

Re-Releases

Sentai Filmworks released Persona 4 The Animation Complete Collector’s Edition in the U.S. on September 29, 2015.. This collection included all 26 episodes, including extra footage, such as a Director's Cut of Episode 1. This release included the original game's cast for both the Japanese and English dub of the anime.

Aniplex released Persona 4 the Animation Series Complete Blu-Ray Disc BOX in Japan on April 11, 2018.This re-release included all 26 episodes of the anime as well as all 12 episodes of Persona 4 The Golden Animation and extra footage for both series.

For the first announcement of the Persona 25th Anniversary on September 20th 2021, it was announced that the series would be releasing on various Japanese streaming services over the next few months, during the course of the anniversary celebrations.

General Information

Persona 4 The Animations logo and characters

The series was broadcast in conjunction with special live midnight broadcasts on the Japanese Nico Video streaming service. These broadcasts were hosted by the characters' voice actors.

On May 27, 2012, plans for a film adaption were announced. Persona 4 The Animation -The Factor of Hope- compiled the anime into a 90-minute film and introduced the non-broadcasted final episode. This was later added as part of the Japanese Blu-Ray release on April 11, 2018.

On May 2, 2014, a second "version" of the anime, Persona 4 The Golden Animation, was announced for a July broadcast on MBS and TBS, featuring an updated retelling of the story utilizing the updated story elements from Persona 4 Golden.

List of Episodes

Main article: List of Persona 4 The Animation Episodes

Episode-related Trivia

Episode 1 - You're myself, I'm Yourself.

• The TV in the background at Junes was showing the opening scene from Spring of the Dead from the Highschool of the Dead anime series. Both Highschool of the Dead and Persona 4 The Animation were produced by Sentai Filmworks.
• When Dojima pulls into Moel gas station and the attendant asks if he's going on a trip, Dojima responds with, "No, I just got back from picking my nephew up from the airport." This is wrong considering Yu came in on the train.

Episode 5 - Would You Love Me?

• When Ai Ebihara calls Yu Narukami, the ringtone of his cellphone is the piece "Zigeunerweisen" by Pablo de Sarasate, which is played in the game Catherine when the player dies.

Episode 7 - Suspicious Tropical Paradise

• Right at the start, Margaret mistakenly refers to Yukiko's Arcana as the Empress in the dubbed English version, including some subtitled ones.

Episode 8 - We've Lost Something Important Again

• The transition right after the commercial break shows Yosuke's notebook, and the various things he wrote down. One of these things is "What does 'Ressentiment' mean?", likely a reference to his role in Persona 4 Arena, where his title was "Captain Ressentiment." The "note" could also be a reference to the game, Persona 4, where on June 27 King Moron asks the main character "What does 'Ressentiment' mean?"

Episode 9 - No One Sees The Real Me

• The opening is changed and featured a special opening (with the song "True Story") for the first appearance of Rise Kujikawa.
• At 14:09–14:12, the viewer can see a book poster reading "1Q46." This is likely a reference to Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 series.
• When walking up to the tofu shop, Mitsuo Kubo can be seen, hinting his role later as a "Red Herring."
• You can see the tail light, the side, and the rear portion of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII (CT9A).
• Instead of disappearing immediately after the Investigation Team catch Rise's stalker, she disappears the day after.

Episode 10 - Real Me Doesn't Exist

• When Kanji loses his goofy glasses given to him by Teddie and has a hard time finding them, it is a reference to a cliche stereotype depicted in older anime (such as Doraemon) of glasses characters having extremely bad vision, and often shown struggling to find their dropped glasses on the ground, often with eye expressions with the number 3 to represent bad vision.

Episode 12 - It's Not Empty At All

• The Reincarnation version of "I'll Face Myself -Battle-" is used for Yu's battle with Shadow Mitsuo.

Episode 13 - A Stormy Summer Vacation 1/2

• At 03:36, Nanako is seen sitting barefoot watching television when she gets up to greet Yu returning home. She is off-screen for less than a second as she is heard greeting him and running over to him. Yet after Yu asks her if she's heard of Neo Featherman, at 03:55 she is shown from head to toe ... and she is wearing a pair of white socks.
• When Nanako calls Aika to help Kou and Daisuke, the Reincarnation version of "Specialist" is used.
• Kanji is now voiced by Matthew Mercer.

Episode 14 - A Stormy Summer Vacation 2/2

• When Yu runs to return the fireworks, the Reincarnation Version of "Reverie" is used.
• When Yu's fishing rod is delivered, Taro Namatame is the one who delivers it to him, hinting at his later involvement in the story.

Episode 15 - The Long-Awaited School Trip

• The background music tracks on this episode are entirely from the Persona 3 OST and Persona 3 FES OST.
  • Additionally, the opening sequence of this episode uses the "Burn My Dread" theme.
• One of the scenes in the episode is a reference to both Chie Satonaka and Yukari Takeba's Social Links, as Chie is protecting a kid from a bunch of bullies, like in Rank 9 of her Social Link, but the area she is in is the same location Yukari was attacked by bullies, like in Rank 5 of her Social Link.
• During the scene where Yu and the rest are being lectured, their seating seems to resemble that of Junpei Iori, Yukari Takeba, Aigis and the Persona 3 protagonist. In fact, the room they are in is the same homeroom, but that can only be seen by the room arrangement and the teacher who is present during the scene.

Episode 17 - I Want to Know the Truth

• After Naoto's Shadow ages Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie, the Kyoto theme from Persona 3 plays during their elderly interactions.
• Yu and Yosuke's elderly form faces are never seen. Teddie's is however.
• In the English dub, when Rise is scanning that Beelzebub is activating Megidolaon against Naoto's Shadow, the attack is mistranslated as "Megidoloaon."
• In the English dub, when Aika brings the Mega Beef Bowl over to Naoto and Yu, she says "one order," except, in the next scene, she clearly brought two.

Episode 19 - It's School Festival Day! Time to Have Fun!

• When Ayane plays the trombone, she is playing the chorus of the ending credits of Persona 4, "Never More."
• The reveal of Teddie as the "new comer" during the cross-dressing pageant is directly referencing the Super Smash Bros. newcomer screen, as it uses a similar design with silhouettes.
• When Yu role-plays a girl in the Group Date, Yosuke calls him Yuko. In the English dub, he calls him "Bro-milda," a portmanteau of "bro" and the name "Brumilda."
• Despite Yu never becoming romantically involved with any female characters, both Ebihara and Margaret accuse him of being a "man-whore."
• The non-swimsuit portion of the girls' beauty pageant is skipped.
• Yumi makes a brief cameo appearance standing behind Yu and Daisuke watching the school play.

True End Episode - No One is Alone

• During Yu's battle with Izanami-no-Okami, when Lucifer is dismissed, his tarot card is briefly seen as the 05.0Hierophant instead of 20.0Judgement.
• Kou is implied to have won a basketball game, which suggests he later confesses his feelings to Chie.
• The battle between Yu and Margaret is not related to the battle with Izanami in the game.
• Unlike the game, Rise is shown being killed by Izanami's Thousand Curses attack.
• Yu has a Shadow that is convinced he will not make friends back in Tokyo, which largely echoes Adachi's loneliness.
  • Speaking of Yu having a Shadow, this likely isn't in the game because Izanami unlocked Yu's Persona, Izanagi, without him facing his Shadow. Because of this, it's interesting that Yu still has to face a Shadow despite already having his Shadow-turned-Persona.
• The whole aspect of the episode, Narukami reliving March 20th over and over again until he finds "The Truth," may be a reference to Persona 3 FES The Answer, in which the main characters have to relive March 31st until they find "The Answer."

Differences

There are notable differences between the original Persona 4 game and anime, including but not limited to:

• A few new characters have been added, such as Aika Nakamura, the daughter of the man who owns Aiya's.
• Many characters possess smartphones, which became prominent after Persona 4 was originally released.
• Ai and Chie do not seem to possess romantic feelings for Yu.
• As to be expected, the dialogue is relatively the same, albeit slightly reduced from the game.
• No main weapons or items are used in combat to battle Shadows, unlike in the game.
• The characters don't pass out when their shadows go berserk.
• Since Johnny Yong Bosch voices both Yu and Adachi, he adjusted the voice for Adachi to sound more raspy and insecure.
• In the English dub, all honorifics have been removed.
• Rise is initially much colder to Yu and his friends. Kanji even states that she "has an attitude."
• Yu can fuse Personas without visiting the Velvet Room, and can do so on-the-fly. Besides Izanagi, he acquires all of his Personas off-screen.
• Social Links, which could take many days to cultivate, are usually maxed within one episode.
• Some characters' appearances have been modified slightly, such as having darker hair or differently colored eyes.
• The Investigation Team's confrontations with their Shadows are further expanded on; the issues that were talked about are given the proper time to be showcased. Chie and Yukiko's childhood is explicitly shown, as is Rise's life prior to her hiatus.
• The language for the animation is considerably more vulgar than the game's. At one point, Kanji says "fuck," which is never said in the game.
• Yu has a Shadow he must face, as opposed to the game, where it is non-existent.
• Though most of the main cast members from the game reprise their roles, there are some characters who have different voice actors. Chie and Teddie are portrayed by the same voice actors from Golden.
• The Investigation Team first realize locals who appear on TV programs are targeted during the school campout, not during a discussion with newly-recruited Kanji.

Music

The Animation's soundtrack is composed by Shoji Meguro. It was included as nine bonus CDs, featured alongside the first nine Blu-ray and DVD volumes of Persona 4 the Animation released.

These were re-released as the Persona 4 The Animation Series Original Soundtrack, which included all tracks from the bonus CDs plus the opening and closing themes of Persona 4 The Golden Animation.

Opening themes

• "Pursuing My True Self" by Shihoko Hirata: Episode 1
• "Sky's The Limit" by Shihoko Hirata: Episodes 1-8, 10-12
• "True Story" by Rise Kujikawa (VA: Rie Kugimiya): Episode 9
• "Key Plus Words" by Shihoko Hirata feat. Yumi Kawamura: Episodes 13-14, 16-22
• "Burn My Dread" by Yumi Kawamura: Episode 15
• "Ain't Nobody Can Hold Me Down" by Shihoko Hirata feat. Lotus Juice: Episode 14. This theme plays when Yu Narukami tries to help Eri Minami who was knocked unconscious.

Ending themes

• "Beauty of Destiny" by Shihoko Hirata feat. Lotus Juice: Episodes 1-12
• "Koisuru Meitantei" by Loveline (VA: Yui Horie): Episode 13
• "The Way of Memories" by Shihoko Hirata: Episodes 14-17, 19-21, 23
• "True Feelings" by Shihoko Hirata: Episode 18
• "Never More" by Shihoko Hirata: Episode 25

Gallery

Volume DVD illustrations

DVD Cover Volume 1 Illustration, Izanagi

DVD Cover Volume 1 Illustration, Yu Narukami

DVD Cover Volume 2 Illustration, Jiraiya

DVD Cover Volume 2 Illustration, Yosuke Hanamura

DVD Cover Volume 3 Illustration, Tomoe Gozen

DVD Cover Volume 3 Illustration, Chie Satonaka

DVD Cover Volume 4 Illustration, Konohana Sakuya

DVD Cover Volume 4 Illustration, Yukiko Amagi

DVD Cover Volume 5 Illustration, Take-Mikazuchi

DVD Cover Volume 5 Illustration, Kanji Tatsumi

DVD Cover Volume 6 Illustration, Himiko

DVD Cover Volume 6 Illustration, Rise Kujikawa

DVD Cover Volume 7 Illustration, Kintoki-Douji

DVD Cover Volume 7 Illustration, Teddie

DVD Cover Volume 8 Illustration, Sukuna-Hikona

DVD Cover Volume 8 Illustration, Naoto Shirogane

DVD Cover Volume 9 Illustration, Magatsu-Izanagi

DVD Cover Volume 9 Illustration, Adachi, Dojima, and Teddie

DVD Cover Volume 10 Illustration, Izanagi-no-Okami

DVD Cover Volume 10 Illustration, Yu Narukami

Volume DVD covers

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 1

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 2

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 3

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 4

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 5

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 6

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 7

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 8

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 9

Persona 4 The Animation DVD Cover Volume 10

Persona 4 The Animation DVD (U.S. Version)

Persona 4 the Animation Volume 2 (U.S. Version)

Series Complete Blu-Ray and Original Soundtrack countdown illustrations/Cover

Persona 4 The Animation Series Complete Blu-Ray Box and Original Soundtrack Cover

Illustration countdown of Yu Narukami

Illustration countdown of Yosuke Hanamura

Illustration countdown of Chie Satonaka

Illustration countdown of Yukiko Amagi

Illustration countdown of Kanji Tatsumi

Illustration countdown of Rise Kujikawa

Illustration countdown of Teddie

Illustration countdown of Naoto Shirogane

Illustration countdown of Dojima and Nanako

Trivia

Persona 4 The Animation-themed menu

• A variety of Persona 4 The Animation-styled foods and drinks were served through a collaboration with Pasela Resorts for a limited time.
• The anime was announced on April 11, 2011, which is also the date the in-game story starts.
• The show's trailers were released on a special website resembling an old-fashioned TV and would air at midnight, similarly to the Midnight Channel. Additionally, the videos were broadcasted on dates that hold certain importance in the game, like the date of the disappearance of a person.
• As Yu obtained more social links throughout the series, their respective arcanas are added to the closing credits.
• Halfway through the English dub of the anime (starting with Episode 13), Kanji's voice actor changes from Troy Baker to Matthew Mercer. Mercer now voices the character permanently after Baker had to leave the role.

External Links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Trailer
• True Ending Episode Trailer