The Series (4/5)

    It is quite difficult to adapt a video game  to a format that is not it’s native video game. We have seen this time and again with cinema and anime adaptation of video games which fail to either accurately adapt the story of the game itself, or not even attempt to accurately portray the world of the series accurately. Persona 4, though it does take some narrative liberties with the source material it is all for the benefit of translating the material from video game to the small screen. Persona 4: The Animation actually is one of the finer works to translate a video time to another narrative medium.

     The series follows Yu, a young man who escapes city life to move to a quieter country suburb. Unfortunately, for Yu his move will prove to be anything but quiet. Soon after he moves he discovers a rainy night only, TV show called “The Midnight Channel” that is rumored to identify one’s true love, but in reality reveals the next person to be murdered in the town. Yu also discovers that he and his friends can enter the show, but need a TV big enough. Upon entering the TV, they realize a whole world of monsters is inside here, and this might connect to the murders in this village.

     Persona 4 could have come across as an extended video game cut scene, but rather feels like a fully fledged narrative show that stands well on its own. With that being said I do suggest that people who are interested in this play the game first, as it spoils the whole thing, and it is a sort of a game you do not want to have spoiled. The animation is quite solid and depicts the world of the game nicely.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Section 23 puts Persona 4 on Blu-ray in a quite solid 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the show’s OAR. Everything here looks quite solid, colors are stable and well reproduced, and I found nothing to really complain about.

   Audio is presented in English and Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks, both tracks are serviceable and audio comes through nicely.

Extras (3.5/5)

    We get Japanese commentaries for all episodes, director’s cut and on air versions, shorts, promos, and more!

Overall

    A thrilling, fun, and aat times funny adapation of Persona 4. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite excellent, and comes with a decent slate of extras. RECOMMENDED.