As I mentioned in my review of Persona 4 Golden, there is an anime that was created based on it. This is one of the three animes I have actually watched (Side note - Angel Beats and D.Gray Man are the others.) As this was based on the original version of the game there are some substantial differences, and there are many differences between it and the original game as well. However, as I have played only Golden, I will compare The Animation to that game.
Things that stay the same -
The story, of course, stays the same in The Animation, with most stuff left alone, and changes made to the social links (I have not played through all social links [Naoki or the Foxes, for example] so I am unaware of some of the changes made in those.) The social links are with the same people as the game, minus the two exclusive to Golden.
The characters are also the same, but a few are slightly modified, and a few minor (read "Nameless or otherwise unimportant") characters, such as the teachers, except for King Moron, are removed. For example, Daidara sells you weapons in the game, but, as weapons are not used in The Animation, he has been changed to the master of fireworks.
Another thing that is the same, are the voice actors in Golden and in The Animation are the same (At least in the English dub.) This does not seem significant unless you know two voice actors (Those of Teddy and Chie) change between the original game and golden. This is strange as the animation is based on the original, not golden. However, though it was released in Japan before Golden was, Golden was released in the United States before the Dub was created, making this the likely reason for this choice.
Things that Change -
Social links, as mentioned above, change immensely. For one, the strength social link is with Kou Ichijo, specifically, and does not go through his personal issues. In fact, from what I can tell, no-one gets their social link storyline much. The main characters don't get it at all, just a social link when they join the party. Also, Yumi Ozawa is completely removed in favor of Ayane Matsunaga for the sun social link (You choose towards the beginning of the game which one you follow int the game.) I personally preferred Yumi's, but the writers of the anime, apparently, did not. Additionally, the Golden exclusive social links were not included, and Marie did not appear at all (A shame, as I truly felt she added to the story).
As mentioned (far) above, the characters do not use weapons at all. They rely entirely on their Persona's while fighting, and there is, of course, not a turn based fighting system, or level based upgrades (Spoiler, skip to next paragraph to avoid.) besides the upgrades of their personas to there ultimate versions (Not the super ultimate version featured in also in golden though.)
Personas, at least those of Yu Narukami, the protagonist, are handled differently as well. As opposed as having over one hundred Personas to chose from, he has one for each social link, his initial persona Izanagi, (Spoiler, skip over the rest of the paragraph to avoid.) and the persona's Lucifer and Izanagi-no-Okami, the ultimate persona for the Judgement social link (Notable as it doesn't appear in the Animation. The Judgement social link is the bond created by the group searching for the truth.), and the sole persona of the world Arcana, respectively. Izanagi-no-Okami appears only in the epilogue episode/movie "Persona 4: The Factor of Hope" as the persona Yu obtains when he faces Izanami to save the world.
Additionally, the King's Game scene was better in the Animation. By far. If you watch up to it in the Animation it justifies the entire thing in terms of hilarity. At least in my opinion.
Both Persona 4:The Animation and Persona 4 Golden are excellent. If you are unable to play Persona 4, I strongly recommend you watch the Animation, as the story is great and there are many moment of hilarity. Warning - There is mild language and adult themes. Quite a few adult themes. If it were a movie, it would be PG-13. Here is a link to the first episode on YouTube. If you wish to watch the rest, find them yourselves (It should be pretty easy).
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