How far did you get? The Kanji part was the part that sucked me in after the boredom.
Yeah Persona 3 story was really niche, dark, and much more entertaining than what P4 gave of a "mystery"
I'd say Shinjiro. From what details we got fro P3, and then in the female route for his social link that he was a very sad, but great character. Yukari seemed a little annoying, but Mitsuru was good. Mitsuru was a good strong female lead which is something that i've begun to less, and less of nowadays.