Yes, I find the dungeons and battles repetitive too. I don't know if "grind" is built into the JRPG psyche ā a lot of the other activities are similar (building your stats by exercising, reading books, increasing "guts", etc.) ā their commitment to consistent self-improvement is admirable, but it pads the game unnecessarily.
I haven't finished Persona 4, which I started years ago on the PlayStation 2. I looked into the OVA animation (there were two anime series based on Persona 4) yesterday, but I lost interest when I found out they changed some of the voice actors. I'd rather go back and finish the game instead of passively watching the shows.
It turns out you can get the soundtracks on CD so I might look into those.