#does atlus think this far ahead? probably not!

[235uranium]

thinks about akechi and futaba having the same rare blood type

[mantaberrygamingtart]

Metaphor: ReFantazio thoughts so far

Currently, I am in the first playable month, and I have cleared the first major dungeon as well as developments immediately after it. I am on my way to the next major plot point.

The dungeon I referenced is where the prologue ends.

There are major spoilers ahead. Do not continue if you are not 100% sure you're past where I am referencing. I am NOT referencing the mines.

So, I've got about 15 hours of play time, more like 11 active hours at this point.

I think the game is really interesting and thus far, have genuinely enjoyed the world building. I like that the world feels alive and dynamic. By this, I mean that the consequences of the current events are very clear among a diverse populous. As you move from the poorer areas to the wealthy areas, the opinions differ heavily. The culture shifts. The demographics change and it feels like the current events have weight to them. I love a dynamic world. I also like that a lot of this building, while said directly to you in plenty of interactions, is also largely in passing.

I'm glad, because they throw so SO much at you as a player. It thins out before I know it, but it was a lot.

Okay. So. More critical thoughts.

As a Persona fan, I'm glad, but in general, this had might as well have been a persona spin off.

The mechanisms are so close to Persona's that it feels as though the game is living in the shadow of it's predecessor.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the game defines itself as part of a genre rather than a deviation in a series. If it never does, I won't be mad. But with all of the big names involved and the fanfare, it feels as though it should.

Thus far though, outside of the compelling narrative decisions (Grius, I'm not talking about you. Your armor was made of death flags. You were doomed by the narrative and your character design. Dead anime mom hair meet sacrificial mentor knight)

The core mechanics are almost too familiar.

Down to having a very persona way of awakening to their powers. The way bonds awaken is damn near the same, just less catchy. They took their formula, tried not to make it a copy, and made it less endearing in the process.

Thus far, what's really setting the game apart is the immersion and how I'm rewarded for participating in that immersion. It is constantly making me wonder what their end message is going to be and how they intend to ruin my day.

The first human we fight is seemingly the original sin and it seems we're about to be in for another allegory for the sins of man in the middle of an Atlus game.

I'm keen on watching closely to try and piece things together before we get them having to tell me. But beyond the more obvious things that they're laying on quite thick, I think I'll have to revel in seeing Easter eggs in another play through.

Last thing, there's no way Louis isn't suspicious of us. We're carrying a royal sword. Travelling with a royal knight that was the one guarding the prince when he was attacked, using a crown commisioned vessel. We didn't actually see Louis' face when that curse was casted though. If Louis doesn't recognize Hulkenburg or the sword, it stands to reason that Louis isn't the caster, and only ordered a subordinate to do it.

Lastly, we're able to be hurt by the others fighting for the crown. At what point do we become worthy of protection? Like we're told anyone can run but not everyone is equally protected in the eyes of the divine force. And the ones fighting under the holy mantle would uphold the corruption more than the ones willing to openly commit atrocities. The only answer is to tear it all apart and challenge every facet whether it's the immediate problem or not. The reality is that even though we keep saying Louis is the problem, Sanctism's doctrines are what creates the framework. So, they're both our enemy. Destroying the cathedral was probably correct.

I can't decide if the game is cheesy for telling me up front it's a Metaphor or if I knew what I was getting into so I can't say anything about the commentary being so blatant.

I'm looking forward to coming back to this post and seeing what I'm right about, what I'm wrong about, and how my opinions on the game change after another few days of playing. Remember!!! THESE ARE THE THOUGHTS OF SOMEONE WHO IS BARELY INTO THE WORLD OF THE GAME. I WILL LIKELY CHANGE THESE AS I PROGRESS. I AM ONLY JUST ARRIVING IN THE SECOND TOWN.

[bluevelvet-room]

PERSONA 3 RELOAD TRAILER SPOILERS AHEAD

as promised, i am typing up my thoughts about reload with in depth discussion on the 2 most recent trailers. i'll put that in a read more - but before that, a disclaimer: first of all, these are my own thoughts and opinions and i will not be debating anyone about anything subjective i say. second of all, i'm only discussing the most recent 2 trailers because the other ones make me unreasonably angry so i might be missing stuff. anyways.

as a persona 3 fan, i havent necessarily been excited about reload for so many reasons i wont really be going into, but these new trailers have given me some amount of hope, and i will just be mostly ignoring the glaring issues.

some things almost definitely confirmed by the two most recent trailers as well as the demo they had at the sega event the other day:

3 physical attack types confirmed to still be in the game. this is a good thing

kouha and eiha have been added to the light and dark skill set, but no evidence of nuke or psy. this is an okay thing (im glad no nuke or psy - they have no real place in the game. but i dont necessarily think that ken and koro needed to deal damage because theyre both op as shit anyways if you build them right) (this might need fact checking, but i saw several people saying it, so)

despite prior claims, there is in fact fes content in reload. "the answer" may not be in it, but there IS fes content. so it's less original persona 3 as claimed and more the journey without the answer, fes edition. we know this for certain because a fes/portable exclusive scene is shown in the character trailer (mitsuru calling the cops because she thinks junpei's room has been burgled, as seen in the hidden cameras, an fes/portable exclusive feature)

new outfits that have been affectionately dubbed "tacticool" by my brother, and i will be using that phrasing to refer to it from now on. tacticool outfits are not an immediate addition - the old armbands do exist in the game for some amount of time. from trailer analysis, i've concluded that SEES switches to the tacticool outfits after fuuka joins but before aigis does, presumably at the same meeting where fuuka is asked to join. tacticool outfits standardly include the new armband, which is uniquely numbered to each character - minato is 3, and i've been able to catch junpei's number as 5. if anyone can figure out the other numbers, let me know i'm so curious. they also include a new coat and 3 magazine clips, which (speculatively) probably mean an evoker upgrade at the same time, possibly to be able to shoot shadows - though i'm not sure how well this would work as bullets would be pierce damage and almost entirely defeat the point of ever using aigis

we got clips of the additional male teammate "scenes", which i'm very excited about. it's confirmed they wont be social links, but they will have moments with minato, which is all i've ever wanted.

the demo apparently includes a version of baton pass, which is. fine. sure. i can deal with that

new ost/battle music which i am withholding judgment on until i can hear the full thing

dlc outfits - p4 uniform, p5 uniform, and phantom thieves outfits which look ugly as hell on the persona 3 characters and do not match the vibes at all thanks atlus. why does junpei still wear his hat

when a battle ends with an all out attack, the initiating character gets an end screen like in persona 5. we've only seen minato's thus far, though

TACTICOOL OUTFITS - IN DEPTH

now imagine if you will that i spent like an hour watching a two minute trailer because i care about these outfits so hard so i am going to describe my thoughts about them in so much detail

as i said earlier i think these come hand in hand with some sort of evoker mechanic upgrade/change, and theyre only introduced after fuuka

if i had to guess, the armbands are numbered with mitsuru as 1, akihiko 2, minato 3, yukari 4, junpei 5, and so on

they all have SHEATHES for their weapons which is sick as hell as well as everyone wearing some form of glove which is also sick as hell!!!

mitsuru has a cape. this is the most amazing thing that could have ever happened ever, and i support her in her cape endeavors

fuuka has a tactical poncho and headset (probably to make it more clear how she's speaking to everyone), but no clear evidence of having an armband. if she did have one, i'm pretty sure it'd be covered up by her poncho, so ??? but it's it's possible that only the fighting members of SEES get the new armband

ken with the oversized coat is so sick. i cannot even begin to stress how cool i think this 10 year old is. atlus was like would you like the world's sickest 10 year old with a sick ass coat and im EATING IT UP

if i think of more things i will reblog this post or make a new post idk i just needed to get the Melting Brain out. i hope everyone enjoys these ramblings and gains something out of it

[petorahs]

pq2 thoughts after finishing it!:

i think. it is a g. game. it is a persona game i will admit!

no but srs i think its good if youve never played a persona game which i assume is why its on 3ds only. it really does feel like discount persona with all of the last three cast thrown in? and some of the gameplay improvements (this game's gameplay aged better than fes and p2's LMAOO) i guess its a compromise to reach fans who've never actually played the main games cause they dont own a playstation console or something.

at the same time it makes no sense for "new fans" to play because you need at least some background knowledge of the prev characters and plot to care.

in my case i knew everything abt p3 and p5, only osmosis knowledge of the plot of p4 so i ended up using the p4 cast the least in my playthrough :( so theres that. not worth playing if u dont care abt the other casts imo

...so we agree the characters are the selling point here, its advertised as a mega crossover and whatever but. people complaining that theyre "watered down" to base traits or even traits they didnt have in the first place are Right LOL except for a scant few characters who get a lot of expansion. but for the most part none of them are themselves (like yusuke... 😔.... akihiko.... aki not as bad as yusuke but they have the same writing problem)

no one expects the characters to rly individually shine when theres so many ofc, the game even pokes fun at the "limited screen time" joke but like. what else is there to this? 🤔 well

character interactions! those were good. everyone expected detective princes meetup to be really great but i loved the other pairs like haru and mitsuru (heirs with distant dads...), and the PQ OC girl with futaba :] (introvert friends!!)(theyre like sucrose and collei in this year's windblume if you go there)

speaking of akechi though. yea he's part of the list of characters that surprisingly did not get butchered and in fact expanded upon in this game. aside from akechi it's P3 FeMC.

others i liked were P5 MC (his dialogue choices are SO out there), shinjiro aragaki, ken amada, yukiko amagi maybe yosuke hanamura and P4MC but their personalities just stayed the same instead of getting possible new insight?

i liked velvet room guys too theyre goated frfr! yes including marie. even i was surprised (probably cause akechi gets to poke fun at her and the twins hdjdhdhd)(cute)

i cant put P3 male MC anywhere cause i will always be biased towards him 😔🫰 (he was great btw)

but the crow character expansion in particular intrigued me and leads me to accept this game as canon like some ATLUS USA reps intended. akechi: stripped away of his obligations is a cunning, introspective and overall respectable young man and the game showcased all of his core traits well. he purposefully isolates himself from the main group and gets called out on it, consistently is the one that makes the most sense in discussions, gets various little moe moments... he honestly seems like he doesnt know what to make of all this forced bonding with strangers but he cant help to indulge anyway. 😭 he's vocal in discussions about their plans but a passive :) face in the background during fun moments until he's addressed or curious. the way he furthers the narrative along like they wouldnt get as far as they did without him i feel. but between all of that he was the main character to me.

the end scene where he seems regretful that he has to leave and go back to his revenge plot.... hurts. because for all intents and purposes we just saw akechi if he didnt have all that baggage and was just allowed to exist as himself. a smart guy with a whole life ahead of him. but he didnt choose that.

😔

oh god that emoji is huge but anyway. FeMC!! ^_^ the problems of toxic positivity being addressed in her arc was great. they really tried to give her as much love as possible without being too happy (persona games tend to make their characters suffer anyway to even things out) and it was great! her writing reminds me of kasumire's mental illness but with less romance tease pandering.

ah yes and the obligatory Persona side game OC... hikari and nagi. honestly wished they didnt exist as much as i liked hikari's thing 😔 it got old and outright cringe man im sorry like surely the devs could come up with something better than this?? way to not explain enlil and mess with the in-universe power scaling too LMAO. 2/10 is being generous!

anyway its a fairly short game in persona standards so i cant really say it's time wasted when i got so many character interaction crumbs..... i guess i lucked out by liking the characters that i do instead of ones that kinda got shafted in this. (except for aki but 😔 i just kinda accepted his blown out of proportions awkwardness outside of P3)

it's..... a 6/10 from me overall! music and velvet room attendants + nanako cameo DLC carried

[catherdrashepard]

Atlas au Raa

So, I finished Dark Age not that long ago and it came with so many brand new questions. And so many thoughts about the characters. But, as the title suggests, the character who has been at the forefront of my mind is Atlas au Raa. There’s just so little we know about him but there’s pieces there that I think just need to be put together. It will in no way reveal the full puzzle that is Mr. au Raa but I do hope that it can give some idea as to what he’s about. Spoilers ahead. This post is very long and a but rambly, apologies in advance.

What DO we know about Atlas au Raa? Shout out to @hyena-frog for helping me with this part. (Read: pretty much doing this part for me.) He’s a Rim Gold and brother to Romulus au Raa. He grew up in Octavia's court as a ward because she required each Rim family to send a kid to her as a hostage to prevent another rebellion. Apparently he was a favored student of hers. He mostly stuck to himself there but loved the library. Octavia forced him to have a child with Aja (Ajax, AKA the Core’s Storm Knight.) Atlas himself is the Fear Knight. He was best friends with Lysander’s parents, Brutus and Anastasia and, at some point after they died, he was sent to the Kuiper Belt to supposedly deal with the Ascomanni. Although, we’re pretty sure Octavia sent him there in order to eliminate him. He tortures people in order to kill enemies psychologically, preventing further deaths. He also controls Volsung and Xenophon. There is also the implication that he views the Rim as enemies and is more loyal to the Core. He makes meditation totems out of those who make him question his prejudices. Currently he has totems of (that we know of): Daedre, a Red woman. And a WIP Darrow.

The whole “question his prejudices” thing is really Interesting to me. Golds are taught that they are at the top, that they are the pinnacle of humanity (which they are but....that’s only because they MADE it that way) which definitely gives them some biases against the other Colors. I haven’t quite puzzled out if he counts these people as exceptions or if he realised that Color isn’t indicative to someone’s ability and he needs to remember to judge them based on individual ability. My money’s on the latter tbh because he doesn’t seem like the type of person to assume everyone is going to fit into the place they were assigned. As @hyena-frog beautifully put “He's learned not to let his biases blind him to how dangerous even LowColors can be.” But you know who doesn’t have the same critical thinking skills as Atlas? Lysander.

There’s also the question of his motivations, and what exactly he uses the Fear Knight persona for. Something specific that’s been nagging at me is the story about the Ascomanni that Pax told to Ephraim. I already mentioned it briefly in the first paragraph but I’d like to expand on why I think he was involved in what happened with the Ascomanni.

First, I’d like to go through the timeline. From what I got from the Wiki, some Obsidians escaped to the Kuiper Belt around Late 3rd Century PCE (Post Conquering Era) and approximately 736 years later, Atlas au Raa was banished to the Kuiper Belt by Octavia au Lune. 11 years after that in 747 PCE, Atlas returned to the Core to allegedly help fight against the Rising. In 754 PCE, 7 years after Atlas’ return, the Ascomanni attack the Pandora over Mars. Darrow enters the Institute 2 years prior to Atlas’ banishment. The majority of the first trilogy happens while Atlas is in the Kuiper Belt, including the entirety of Morning Star. So Atlas returns sometime in between the end of Morning Star and the beginning of Iron Gold. I’m not really finding any answers on how long it might have take Atlas to travel to the Kuiper Belt. Pardon some weird math for a second. Based on the Wiki: “the novels depict travel time between planets taking several weeks and often two or three months without layovers...” For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to assume it takes about 3 months to get from one planet to the next. I’m sure it will vary depending on distance between planets but...3 months is a good average. I’m also going to include the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. If Atlas was travelling from Luna to the Kuiper Belt, assuming he made no stops in between, my guess is it would have taken him probably about 2 years to get there. Theoretically then, Atlas would have spent 7 years in the Kuiper Belt doing whatever he was doing.

Something else that I’ve been thinking about is why Atlas joined the Core Golds and why Octavia appointed him as the Fear Knight. I don’t believe for a second that it would’ve been to foster peace between the Rim and Core Golds. Atlas’ parents were most likely alive during the First Moon Lord Rebellion considering their oldest child was born 9 years after it took place. We don’t really know a lot about Atlas’ parents but we have gotten little bits of information that I’ll do my best to analyse. Revus au Raa, Atlas’ father was said to be involved in the death of Lysander’s parents so that puts his death to sometime after 739 PCE and I believe before 742 PCE. I am not the cultural anthropologist that my sister, @saiikavon is so I got her opinion on Atlus’ potential motives for joining the Core. Her thoughts are that Atlas joined because he wants to understand the Core. The Rim Golds believe the Core is “barbaric and has corrupted itself with a sense of entitlement...” so it’s safe to say they have heavy prejudice against them. My sister mentioned that based on Atlas’ totems, he seems to be the type who would question the prejudices the Rim has against the Core and prefer to do his own research in person. From what little I know about Revus au Raa, I doubt he would have approved of his son’s choice.

Since I don’t know exactly when Atlas became the Fear Knight, I have to make guesses on which events he was on the Core for. I think it’s entirely possible that he was present for Eo’s song and her death. He also wasn’t sent to the Kuiper Belt until a year after Darrow finished at the Institute so I don’t think it’s farfetched to think that he witnessed all of what happened with that. He was also friends with Lysander’s parents, one of which who was planning a coup against Octavia. As we know, Lysander’s parents were killed because of this plan and, if Atlas was in on it as well, that could explain why he was sent to the Kuiper Belt. Octavia obviously didn’t want him to return from his exile, but she couldn’t outright kill him because that might have started a war between the Core and the Rim. And I don’t think Revus would have wanted to risk a war either had his son been able to succeed in the coup. Which would explain why he became involved in the death of Lysander’s parents and why he allowed his son to be sent away. Revus was then killed which I suppose could’ve been Octavia tying up loose ends.

This finally brings us to the Ascomanni. 736-738 (to account for Atlas’ travel time) years is a long time to be isolated in and beyond an asteroid belt. My guess is that they were incredibly far behind in technology until Atlas showed up. If we consider the above paragraph as canon, I suspect Atlas would have tried to recruit the Ascomanni to help him overthrow Octavia. If we take account the 3-4 years that it probably took for Atlas to reach the Kuiper belt, he spent about 7-8 years with the Ascomanni. We can only speculate (until Pierce Brown maybe tells us please) as to what happened between them but I feel like it’s safe to say that Atlas helped the Ascomanni obtain at least some of the technology they used during the attack on the Pandora. Also, because the Ascomanni didn’t arrive until 7 years after Atlas did, he had plenty of time to make plans and recruit Xenophon.

The only thing is, I think Atlas’ plans must have changed during that time, at least to some degree. In one of the previous paragraphs, I mentioned that Atlas returned to the Core sometime after the end of Morning Star. I’m sure that on his journey back, he learned that Octavia was killed and that Lysander was taken away by Cassius. Whether or not he knows WHO Cassius is is unknown. I think it’s possible depending on how closely he followed the events at the Institute. But as Cassius trained with Aja in 740, Atlas probably didn’t have a close relationship with him or know him all that well. This makes me think that it’s possible that Atlas assumed (like most people now that I think about it) that Lysander was dead.

Where does this leave Atlas then? Octavia is dead, Lysander is also presumed dead, and the Core has been taken over by a new group. I’m reluctant to say that he is entirely for restoring the Core back to how it was, but I imagine that he sees the Rising (and defeating the Rising) as a way to reshape the Core to be what he thinks it should be. I feel like his motives are similar to Lysander’s in that he wants to fix what he thought was broken about the Core. Although, Lysander’s (stupid) opinions on what’s broken and Atlas’ are probably different.

Anyway, I don’t really feel like I answered any questions about our beloved(?) Fear Knight but here are my thoughts. I really hope we get more of him in the next book.

[mypunkpansexualtwin]

Sumire and Ryuji from persona 5!

Hi volt! Sorry this took a while! Under a cut cause it’s gonna be a little long.

And for context for the rest of my followers, send me a character and I’ll talk about them!

Ryuji first! Because it’s the boy!

do I like them: Like him? Like him??? I adore the boy! That’s my boy! 

5 good qualities: 1) Okay I know a lot of people put it in the negative qualities, but his anger. It consistently comes from a place of compassion, of seeing people being treated less than they deserve! I love a good example of righteous fury and Ryuji has it in spades. Plus, for me at least, it’s relatable. 2) That said, even if it’s (in my humble onion) good anger, it can get ahead of him/out of hand, and he recognizes that. And when it goes too far, he apologizes! He knows, admittedly often in retrospect, when he’s gone too far and needs to make up for it. And then he does! 3) Loyal, kind of to a fault. He’s ride or die for the protag from day one to endgame, even if you take the options to be an asshole to him and throw him under the bus for the entire game. He’s still looking out for the track team even though they don’t want anything to do with him. He deserves better. 4) He loves his mama. 5) That smile. Enough said.

3 bad qualities: 1) Always putting himself down. He’s fantastic and needs his confidence back. No, honey, you do not deserve to be beat up by your ex-teammates from track. I’m gonna beat them up right back, and then the people who let you think this way, starting with Atlus. 2) Protag can’t romance him. It’s not his fault though. 3) Poor boy got slapped with the Token Perv designation. (There is a pattern here to his bad qualities that are more about Atlus than the character himself.)

favourite episode/etc: I love his awakening (granted, I love all the awakenings) but probably my favorite thing is when he just. Invites you to go fishing on his birthday? Without actually telling you that’s what day it is? He just decides that what he wants for his birthday is to spend the day with his best friend just chillin’??? But doesn’t wanna pressure you? He’s! A good! Boy!

otp: Akiryu, pegoryu, whatever you wanna call it. Skull and Joker are soulmates and that’s that on that.

brotp: Ryuji&Ann and Ryuji&Futaba are my favorites, but just in general he deserves all the friendships.

ot3 ot4: Ryuji/Akira/Makoto/Haru. I could go on at length about why I adore the potential dynamic here. But I won’t on this post. Feel free to ask me about it sometime though. Buuut it’ll probably take me a while to answer, fair warning.

notp: Honestly, as long as it isn’t something Overtly Gross (cause 16), I don’t really have a notp for him. He’s full of love that needs to be shared.

best quote: Listen, we all love the “bein’ free” and “my place is next to you” quotes, so those go without saying. Instead, consider: “My whole life I thought I was banned from watching R-rated movies because my mom told me it stands for no-Ryuji.”

head canon: Shit, normally I have a few dozen headcanons rattling around in my brain at a time, but today I got nothin’ that I can dredge up and put to paper (metaphorically) so instead, uh, this song always makes me think of him.

And Sumi!

do I like them: I really do, partly out of spite for the part of the fandom that doesn’t like her, mostly out of genuine enjoyment for the character.

5 good qualities: 1) I’ll say it flat out, I respect her saying that the Phantom Thieves aren’t a permanent solution to society’s problems and that while they’re doing good work for those with no other options, society as a whole would stagnate for relying on them and not facing their own problems head-on. Because she’s absolutely right (as seen in the 12/24 Bad Ending), regardless of the particular irony of her circumstances when she said it. 2) Her overall growth from depression and self-deprecation to unflinching determination is super admirable and tbh kinda resonated with me. 3) Again, respect for turning down the Phantom Thieves to focus on herself. I like an ally character who won’t immediately bend over backwards for a player character, it keeps things interesting. 4) Impressively sneaky. Very important for a Phantom Thief, even if she isn’t officially one until almost the end. Tailed them in Sae’s palace without tipping them off on the 18th, eavesdropped on the conversation with Lavenza and just turned up in Maruki’s palace like it was no big deal, she’s fuckin’ impressive. 5) Who doesn’t love a good cook?

3 bad qualities: 1) Not her fault, but the big gap in the story between maxing her confidant early on in the game and then not being really relevant at all until 3rd semester save for a couple of “hey remember she’s still around” cutscenes leaves her feeling really isolated from the rest of the game. It’s more an issue of the writing not making an effort to connect her to the rest of the group/story at large. (I have my issues with Persona 4 Golden, but the New Girl confidant was at least better linked to the rest of the team during her social link.) 2) Girl I get the depression aspect, but why did you think Kasumi wouldn’t have mourned your death beyond, “well now I’m gonna keep working at this goal for both of us”??? (I know, I know, she is grieving, but a lot less that we see her do as Sumire, and again, the depressive spiral that made her take off like that anyways, but still.) 3) Another complaint more at the writing team than at the character herself, but I do wish that the protag could have been a little more of a smartass to her like he can to the rest of the team. “Are you going to the park cleanup too?” “Nah, I’m wearing my school gym clothes for fun.” Y’know, harmless sass like that. She suffers from a little bit of “Here’s The New Waifu, Now Love Her” writing. 4) Atlus, please give me a Confidant item that gives me those sweet, sweet perks back in NG+.

favourite episode/etc: Her second/real awakening during the third semester. Partly because by the time we got to Makoto’s awakening, the tearing-off-the-mask moment was more of a “okay you’ve seen this part, on to The Reveal” and that was disappointing because I liked how visceral and cathartic the first three were, and boy did hers fuckin’ deliver on that. It was fantastic.

otp: I’m a sucker for Sumitaba. Although Harusumi snuck up on me recently.

brotp: Ann&Sumire and Yusuke&Sumire, but again just give her all the friends. And then a couple more just for good measure.

ot3: Sumire/Enough Food To Fuel The Growing Athlete/Writing That Doesn’t Food Shame Her

notp: Again, as long as it’s not an Overtly Nasty, You Need Jesus ship (saw one person ship her and maruki and just. Yikes.), I don’t really have a notp for her. That said, my first playthrough was more “that’s my little sister” than a character I wanted to romance, so shusumi took a little bit of a brain adjustment.

best quote: “I am myself! I’ll never forget that again!” Fuck yeah, girl, heal from that trauma!

head canon: Haru and the Yoshizawa twins were friends as very little kids in the same beginner ballet class.

[ask-the-phan-site]

It came!

Well, it happened. Persona 5 Royal was released in Japan... Although, I can’t believe what happened in the Third Semester. I must warn you, the next few posts may contain spoilers, though, they may not make sense since the other admin helping me is struggling with Japanese. So if we have made any mistakes, don’t be afraid to tell us in either the requests or the polls.

NOTE: DO NOT EVEN THINK OF GIVING US ANY MADE UP STUFF OR MESS WITH US OR MISINFORMATION.

Speaking of the polls, it will now be changed to let us know what you think of the game so far. We hope to hear from you soon.

In the meantime, let’s hear what the Phantom Thieves themselves think of the game. Or rather, the Third Semester. Even Crow, who is now awake since a friend of theirs is back to his own self.

WARNING: SPOILERS AND TRUE IDENTITIES AHEAD!

AND REMEMBER, THE PHANTOM THIEVES ON THIS PHANSITE ARE FROM A FANMADE TIMELINE, THOUGH THE GAMES STILL APPLY.

... Now this just hurts.

Admin: I guess you really do wish you could rejoin the track team.

Skull: ... Maybe a little. I know I said that I wouldn’t go back to them because I was scared I would go back to the way I was before I met my friends. But I guess deep down, some part of me still felt like they belong to the track team. I just don’t get it.

Admin: So are you thinking of rejoing them now?

Skull: After seein’ this... I’m sorta at a crossroads now.

Admin: I hope this doesn’t mean that you’re giving up being an idol.

Hell no! I love bein’ an idol. Even if I do decide to go back to the team, I don’t see why I can’t do both. Just look at Galaxy Standard. They’re not only an idol group, they’re a stride club.

Admin: I see. Well, I hope you decide soon. We’re in our last year of high school and the year is almost over.

Skull: ... I’ll think real hard ‘bout it.

(sighs) Such a shame that me being human in this game came at a price. I feel cheated.

Admin: Speaking of which, how are you still human now?

Mona: Like you said, this is a fanmade timeline. Anything can happen. Still, look how happy I am now that I’m with Lady Ann. Maybe someday, in that reality in the game, this will become a reality... *cough, cough*Scramble.*cough, cough* But for now, I’m sure that that Mona will find some advantages of a cat.

Admin: Like what?

Mona: ... Free movies at the theaters.

(laughing) That’s true!

I guess this does kind of fit. I really would like for Shiho to continue being at Shujin, but I have to accept the fact that we don’t have to be in the same school to remains being friends. Besides, her school isn’t even that far. Just a train ride away. Plus, I found out hat we might end up in the same college, though in different classes. She wants to become an Olympic stride runner and I’m still studying to become an actress.

...

Panther: What? Don’t tell me...

What!? No! DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS WITHOUT ALL THE FACTS!

Okay, okay. You don’t have to be so defensive.

Sorry. Next thief, please.

So I’m back with Madarame? I’m surprised that my mother isn’t alive in this dream realm.

Admin: I guess there’s only so much someone like that can do. But at least your art got appreciated.

Fox: You mean the Sayuri? I’m only famous for that painting because I’m in it. It’s my mother’s painting. I wish to be appreciated for my own art.

Admin: I see. I hope you succeed, Fox san.

Well, it helps that I have some good models... Especially, Joker... I love him so.

I guess that is a nice dream. Me, Sis, and Dad all together again... But I know it wouldn’t be right. Dad will always be in our hearts. And me and Sis can always find time to be together.

It’s all about trusting each other. And as long as there is love...

Admin: “Those are the ties that bind.”

>A moment of silence for Robin Williams.

I get what Queen is saying. I miss my mom, but she’s always with us in our hearts. All I have to do is close my eyes, look inside, and there she is. (sniff)

Admin: Tissues to your left, Oracle chan.

(drying her tears) Thanks. I’m... Just so happy that even though the family I dream of didn’t turn out the way I thought, it’s still turned out to be the best thing that happened in my life.

I guess I did wished for my father to be back and that he would be a more gentle soul, but I know I still have to clean up after him. So I’ll just have to do the living for the both of us.

Queen: Just don’t forget to live for yourself as well... For me.

I think I would die for you.

>A little morbid, the two women still looked lovingly at each other.

First off, so happy to be awake again. As for this, it is nice to know that the real me in that game did something so noble as sacrificing himself to save the Phantom Thieves, though, me coming back to life like that would defeat the purpose.

Admin: And yet, here you are.

Well, this is a fanmade timeline. So, anything can happen.

Admin: But you’re still glad that you’re here now.

Crow: That’s right.

And right now, I’m not going anywhere just yet. Not for a very long time.

(whispers to herself) I still don’t have a proper sprite available. (normal speech) Kasumi, I was always so jealous of her. But she really did care about me. She gave me a second chance at life. After what just happened, I’ve decided I’m not going to let it go in vain. From now on, I follow my own path.

Admin: I’m proud of you, Violet chan.

Violet: Well, I don’t have a sprite available, but I’m glad ATLUS finally gave me my official code name... But in all honesty, I find it really bland. Violet’s already a name... Of a girl who can turn invisible.

Out of all the Phantom Thieves, this probably hurts me the most. This is such a picturesque scene. We’ve already been through so much already, don’t we at least deserve a break? ... Then again, Yu Narukami would be disappointed for choosing this path.

Yes, life without truth isn’t life.

When did you get here?

Long enough. The situation here is similar to what me and my friends went through a long time ago. Our leader had  to make a choice. We had to destroy someone we knew in order to live normal lives, though the world would be trapped.

Joker: But he chose the other path. He chose to spare this person.

Aigis: That is correct. So do not worry, my friends have gotten along without having to rely on a false reality, so I am sure you will as well.

Yu: And if you every need any help doing that, you can always count on us. Me, my friends, Aigis, and Mitsuru san’s group, we’ll be there for you.

Joker: ...

Thanks. Both of you.

>Me and my fellow Wild Cards smile.

Joker: But I suppose there is one good things that came out of choosing reality.

Yu: What’s that?

This... PERSONA!

Yu: (amazed) Whoa! A second one!

Joker: I know, right? What do you think, Aigis san? ... Aigis?

Aigis: (shocked) A Wild Card... With a Third Tier Persona? (now worried)

Yu: Aigis san? Are you alright?

Aigis: ... I have to go. And Ren san.

Ren: Yes?

Aigis: ... Just be sure to call me, especially, if anything happens... With that Persona.

Joker: (curious) I don’t know. Raoul doesn’t seem so bad.

Admin: Alright, that’s all the opinions we have. Don’t forget to tell us if we made any mistakes do to misinterpreted translation. We’re back now. And don’t forget to send us any requests and to submit to our poll.

We’re back, Phandom.

[calliecat93]

RWBY V6, CH1 Review: Argus Limited

RWBY is back! YAY!!! SO last volume had some... lets say mixed reception. So much so that Miles and Kerry have changed the writing process to have more proofreading done and to have more reception from the higher ups. Regardless of how one feels about V5, it ended with RWBY reuinited, the bad guys being defeated, and the Relic of Knowledge being obtained. The next stop is Atlas. How will this wild and crazy journey go? Only time will tell. But lets see how it starts!

Overview

It starts off... pretty interestingly. First, the snow effects look SO PRETTY. There is no way that they could make natural landscape s look as pretty in Poser like they did here with Maya. Once again, the animation continues to improve and it’s just gorgeous in this chapter. But yeah, we start with a fight already going on on top of a train. The RWBY girls and Qrow are fighting I THINK a bunch of Manticore Grimm. Might be wrong about that one. It’s got a lot of good moments. Weiss saving Ruby with a ‘Thank Me Later’ (that Ruby repeats later), Blake and Yang’s combo, JNR joining in with Nora complaining about how stuff always happens to them, and... it’s just so good. But... how did we get here exactly?

Well before we answer that, we get a brief update about Adam. At first we only hear voices as the camera pans through the throne room. We hear Adam return, telling his remaining forces to get away form his throne. But they refuse. They are NOT happy that Adam abandoned the forces at Haven and got defeated by Blake. One guy even comments how ti seems she has more control over Adam than Adam does her. T His makes Adam snap... you know, more than before. We finally see some bodies... or should I say, corpses. Yep, Adam killed what I assume is all the remaining White Fang in Mistral. He also slashes part of his thrown, screaming in rage towards the sky while musing about Blake. It’s pretty clear that, as Ilia said, the WF is no longer with Adam and he is on his own. And chances are, his focus is going towards the girl who bested him.

So following THAT happy scene, we cut to a train station and Qrow narrates. He’s written a letter to Ironwood, explaining about the attack on Haven and Leo’s death... well sorta. He... bends the truth. The credit for the failure of the attack is given tot he Menagerie Faunus and he and the kids just happened to be there. He also lies that Leo died fighting to protect the academy, which we all know is a big fat lie. Why did he lie about this? Heck if I know. This seems dumb, especially since if Ironwood finds out I imagine that his paranoia will only get worst. I guess it was to be safe for if the letter got intercepted since Qrow DOES say that there’s more to the story, but still...

Anyways, Ruby is excited! We find out that the group is heading for a town called Argus, which is along the Northern coastline. They're going to be heading there via train... too bad that the Huntsmen that Mistral hired suck. But meh. Weiss is also a tad salty since she just got out of Atlus and went through a lot of effort to do so, and now she has to go back. Can’t blame her, poor ice queen. But Ruby assures her that Team RWBY will be there for her. Speaking of, they’re all waiting on Blake before they get going.

Blake is saying goodbye to Ilia, who now has some super cute civilian clothes. While Ilia helps the Belladonna’s and Faunus improve relations in Mistral, Blake will be going with her team and therefore after the ones attacking the skills. Ilia is sad to see her go, but she now has a chance to start her life over and to make sure that the new Faunus movement doesn’t end up like the White Fang. Sun also shows up to say goodbye, and he brought Neptune! Yay! Sun explains that eh and his team are going to Vacuo with Sun intending to learn to be a better leader for his team. He also tells Blake that she doesn't need him anymore. She’s sad when he outs it that way, but Sun elaborates that Blake NEEDS to be with her team and that she’ll now be fine with them. But who knows? They may run into each other again. Blake seems to accept that, even giving Sun an appreciative kiss on the cheek. Aww~ Ship it or not it was a super sweet scene between them and I’m glad that it was there.

The train is soon on it’s way and we see Team RWBY chilling in their room. Which nice subtle callback tot he bunkbeds! They’re even structurally sound this time! When Yang goes to get her Scroll to kick Ruby’s butt at video games, Blake gets up to help her with her bang. It’s pretty clear that Blake’s still feeling guilty for what happened to Yang and probably for running away liek she did. Fortunately, Yang admits that, yes things are going to be weird, but it’ll be okay.. She’s just glad that they’re all together again. It’s such a good moment. Not only is it pretty much telling us ‘yes we’ll get to the emotional stuff with these two, but it will be okay”, but it shows Yang’s development. She’s not snippy. She’s not angry. She’s honest, but also calm and is trying to accept Blake back. It would be so easy to milk this for all the melodrama that it’s worth, but they’retaking a mature approach with it that doesn't damper the tone or Team RWBY being together again. I’m very appreciative of that.

Sadly, the fun times can’t last. A swarm of Grimm attack. God dang it Grimm,y ou ruined Qrow kicking his nieces butts at idea games! I was looking forward to that! But yeah, they go to face the Grimm as one of the two we saw earlier is knocked off and probably killed. The remaining one turns on the defenses, which includes turret guns. But since he’s at the front of the train, which is where the passengers are, it’s attracting the Grimm to them. Oscar, under Qrow’s orders, tries to make him stop, but he refuses. Which I can’t completely blame him since its his job to kill them and these Manticore are clearly NOT easy to kill. But things go bad for him when Oscar sees a tunnel up ahead and while most everyone gets back inside, the poor Huntsman knocks into it and breaks his arm.. Seriously that moment made me cringe.

When inside, Qrow starts arguing with the Huntsman about the turrets. During this, Ruby looks around, seeing that the Grimm are following after them still. She also looks and sees the passengers, clearly scared. Knowing that they can’t keep wasting time, RUby gets Qrow to back down as she and Jaune convince the Huntsman to turn off the guns, Jaune even using his aura amplification Semblance to heal the guy’s arm. Nora gets the idea of using Ren’s emotion masking Semblance to mask the passengers, and then the Grimm would leave them alone. Ren’s a little unsure of this, until the others point out that Jaune can use his Semblance to enhance Ren’s. So fi there���s still any doubt, yes Jaune’s power is to amplify aura, which in turn can enhance a Semblance. Our boy has become a true Paladin!

At this point, Oscar finally allows Ozpin to take over, who explains that part of the problem is the Relic. The Grimm are attracted to it. Even Qrow is surprised by this. Yang, clearly peeved, asks why he did this... though really guys? Is this really a surprise? You know that Salem is after it ad by now knows that you have it. So... while yeah Ozpin should have said something, is it really a shock that the Grimm are gonna come after it? Ozpin does get ready to explain himself, but Ruby interrupts. Right now it doesn’t matter why. Right now what matters is protecting the innocents. This does give her a new plan though. While JNR stays with the passengers, the rest of them will disconnect the cars with the Grimm. That way, they can take care of them while the passengers are protected by Ren’s Semblance and they can reach Argus safely. Jaune, while clearly not happy with it, agrees , but only when Ruby promises to meet them in Argus. 

With that, Blake cuts off the cars. But not before seeing what seems to be a hallucination of Adam. Was it really him? Maybe. But no time for that as we have a fight still. With the cars disconnected, Ren and Jaune do their thing and indeed, the Grimm don’t give chase. Which I’m just gonna say it now, the fights in this episode are AWESOME. A BIG complaint about last year was the fight scenes especially during the Battle for Haven. While I thought the one on ones were fine, the group fights seemed to have problems as well as giving everyone focus. Well clearly CRWBY listened because this fight is AWESOME. Everyone gets a moment to shine, Oscar (who I assume took back control) has greatly improved, Team RWBY is perfectly in sync, the action is fast but creative, and it ends with Ruby and Qrow double teaming with some scythe action. It is SO GOOD GUYS. All while a new rocking tune sung by Jeff and Casey plays and man it is WAAY too early to want the soundtrack, but damn it I want it!

While the good guys win, the dying Grimm still causes damage to the rails. Weiss uses her gravity glyphs to keep everyone in place, but nevertheless the train is derailed and crashes. Fortunately, everyone is okay! Yay! This includes, to everyone’s surprise, a goggled old woman who seems to have decided to stay instead of head for safety. This is Maria Cavadera, and with her pointing out how much of a close call that was, the chapter ends. Ho boy, is this gonna be fun!

Review

So I already wrote a review for the opening, so we’re gonna skip that other than me repeating that it is the best one so far and I want the V6 soundtrack like crazy.

So this premiere... HOLY SHIT. Just... HOLY SHIT.  While I still think that the V5 premiere was the best one, this one may be a VERY close second if I can decide if I still liked the food fight in V2′s better than this or not. I kinda worry that maybe they set the bar a little TOO high and may not be able to keep it up since that seems to be how people felt about V5. But were only one chapter in, so I’m not gonna worry about that right now. It set up a lot though very quickly without feeling rushed though, so that’s good!

Okay, so for the most part this was mainly a setup/fight scene chapter but we have plenty to talk about. Lets get to Blake and Yang first. So I had a LOT of issues with Blake during V4. I did NOT like how she was written there and only furthering hr problems. Now V5 fixed pretty much all of that, and this chapter sealed it. Her goodbyes to Ilia and Sun were so sweet and well done. I’ll miss them, but it’s like SUn said, Blake needs to be with her team. It’s also good to see that she’s still guilty about Yang and not quite sure how to act around her other than trying to help her. Fortunately Yang seems to have taken what Weiss said last volume to heart and is trying to give her a chance. As I said, I’m glad that we’re taking a mature approach to this and not going all melodramatic. Its gonna be weird for a little while, but it’s gonna be okay. Very happy with how things have started so far.

There’s not too much with the other characters aside from Oscar, but I want to talk about Ruby too. With Oscar, while it’s brief, he is clearly not okay with Ozpin taking control again. After what happened in V5, while Oz forcibly taking over was understandable due to Hazel being scary as Hell, that’s... not gonna help Oscar feel any better about his situation. Poor kid is trying so hard and we do see that he’s improved as a fighter. He’s not exactly a hard hitter, but he does good as a supporter. But going off this and the trailer... yeah I think that Oscar’s gonna feel like his control is slipping mroe and more as he and Ozpin’s souls become one. Poor boy...

With Ruby, my biggest problem last volume, like the only one I can say made me upset, was how badly she was handled. She was more or less a background character, received little to no development, her training arc was reduced to her learning how to give a headbutt,and worst there were PLENTY of character development moments available but NONE OF THEM were taken. I guess the focus was on Yang, Raven, and the Menagerie stuff but it REALLY upset me. My biggest hope has been that this volume will rectify that. While it’s brief, seeing Ruby’s clear concern for the passengers, taking the lead with both the plans and the fight coordination, and the hints int he opening with her eyes has given me a LOT of hope that that character development is finally coming. She actually felt like the cheerful but determined leader that she’s supposed to be, not the happy plucky anime girl that’s there for morale support like last time. Ruby is my favorite character, hence why I’m so passionate about this, so hopefully my prayers have been answered and my girl is getting the plot that she deserves.

Really, this whole chapter felt like one big showcase of proving the critics that yes, they listened and yes, they will be trying to improve. Lack of fights? We’re gonna start off with one big one. The fights are not good when it’s more than two characters? Not this time! Lack of new songs? Well you just got a badass Jeff and Casey duet! Lack of focus? Well the plotlines aren't split anymore, so here is where the focus is gonna be and who we’re going to mainly follow this volume! Seriously, aside from the brief cut to Adam, it’s clear where the plot’s focus is: with Team RWBY as they head for Argus. The split plots was fun, but it clearly caused a lot of problems with pacing and where the main focus was supposed to me. Now that the band is back together, that’s no longer an issue and it made the pacing feel SO MUCH BETTER because of it. I’m sure that were gonna have some subplots with other characters, but it’s clear that the main attraction is Team RWBY’s journey together, which I think will help keep things better rounded out.

I guess the final thing to talk about is the animation. Every year, CRWBY ramps it up and this year is no exception. The snow effects are beautiful,t he landscapes themselves look amazing, the character animation is energetic and expressive, and it just looks so good on screen. It’ crazy. I was rewatching V1 a few days ago and while still impressive considering the low budget back then... aside form Monty’s fights, it.... looks cheap and flat. Remember, they had to use shadow people and not actual character designs if they weren't important back then folks. I think that the switch to Maya and now having had over two years of experience with it has REALLY done wonders for the animation team. Everything looked great here, especially with the fight being fast but incredibly creative and fluid. Like if this was just Chapter One, I can't wait for what the other thirteen look like!

Final Thoughts

When Volume 5 ended, I was so done with the drama and negativity that I saw about it that I very nearly quit the show. I guess putting my attention on RvB up until now helped me feel better about it because by the time the premiere came, I was actually feeling excited about the show coming back. This chapter reminded me so much of why I love RWBY. Great animation, amazing music, likeable and fun characters, and a tam of people who love and care for this property. This chapter brought me so much excitement and happiness that I had missed with this show. I am legit excited (and terrified) for the rest of the volume no matter what happens. Welcome back RWBY! It’s gonna be one Hell fo a volume!

[catherdrashepard]

Darrow is Not Going to Die at the End of the Series Part 3

The more I think about all this, the less fandoms I plan on talking about because otherwise there will be like 50 parts instead of 4. For this one, I’m still not done talking about video games. BUT THIS TIME, I will be focusing on Persona 3 and Persona 5 (I’m sorry Persona 4, your narrative doesn’t quite fit the argument.) Spoilers ahead for Persona 3, Persona 5, and Dark Age.

As you all know by now, or at least you should, I am a slut for Atlus. Any games they release I’m interested in and 9/10 I will want to play them. So, it only makes sense that I would bring it up in a post about Darrow not dying. Again though, I’d like to point out that creating an ending for a video game is going to be different due to the fact that it’s reliant on the player.

Anyway, Persona 3. The game focuses on a group of high school students who enter a secret time of night in between midnight and 12:01, called the Dark Hour. Their school transforms into a towering labyrinth that they have to fight through to find out more information about the Dark Hour. They also have to fight large monsters who represent the 12 Major Arcana and, when they all have been defeated, they then have to defeat Nyx. The player has two options before the final fight. If they kill Ryoji, who is the harbinger or Nyx, the end of the world (called The Fall in game) is postponed and everyone forgets everything that happened. We don’t get to see it, but it’s implied that The Fall will still happen, and everyone will die. They just won’t be aware that it’s a thing at all. This is the Bad Ending.

The Good Ending is if you choose to spare Ryoji and when he becomes Nyx, you fight her. Which, btw, is really long because she revive several times. After that, the protagonist has to face Nyx solo and is able to defeat her with the help of their party and all of the other social link the player established throughout the game. The way Nyx causes the end of the world is by combining with Erebus, and so the protagonist uses his own life force to seal Nyx away to prevent this. In the epilogue of the game, called The Answer, this is explained in more detail about why The Fall happens and what exactly the protagonist has done to protect everyone. You play as one of your former party members in this epilogue because at the end of the original story (called The Question), the protagonist is essentially dead, although I think the actual description is that he’s permanently in a coma.

This is where it relates to RR and Darrow. It’s a little different from Mass Effect because the player actually does get to witness what happens after the original game ends and the protagonist is dead. (The Answer takes place during a time loop though so we only get so see how the former party members are doing and not Japan as a whole). This is particularly interesting to me as there aren’t many games I can think of that shows the consequences of the main character dying (permanently) by giving you more playable content. In fact, Persona 3 is the ONLY game I can think of that does something like that. Also, to detour back to Mass Effect, Persona 3 (and 5) also have the same technology issue going on. No one can replicate the big bad so once it’s gone, that’s it. BUT, with the inclusion of the epilogue, it’s possible that there are still things that can be done in the Persona 3 universe, and the protagonist isn’t entirely necessary.

To play devil’s advocate for a second, if Pierce DID decide to kill Darrow, I think it would make the most sense for it to be something like what happened in Persona 3. Darrow would have to finish off the biggest threat (kind of up in the air who it will be by the 6th book), and give his life to do it. This would have to be done before the end of the 6th book, which would continue the story with someone else in Darrow’s circle. Or, if Pierce chooses to kill of Darrow at the end, there would need to be at least one more book detailing the recovery efforts of the rest of his group. I mean, he could do something like Hunger Games (goodness knows there’s plenty of comparisons) where there’s a short epilogue but the difference in that is that Katniss was alive in her epilogue. RR isn’t a video game, so some of the story elements don’t necessarily apply, but it feels wrong somehow to have Darrow just be dead. Especially because every death so far has had some kind of impact to the story.

To continue the Persona thoughts, I wanted to bring up Persona 5. This one is a little bit different because the main character doesn’t die in the end, but there is a considerable sacrifice. Also, I would say the plot of Persona 5 is more similar to RR than Mass Effect or Persona 3 are. In Persona 5, the main characters fight corrupt individuals inside their own minds and change distorted perceptions they have of themselves and the world around them. They usually do this by stealing a “treasure” which ends up being the source of the distorted perception. Now that I think about it, Lysander reminds me a bit of a Persona 5 villain.....which is probably something I’ll put in another Lysander post.

What makes me think of RR is that the main problem lies in the powers at be being corrupt and taking advantage of those they perceive as inferior in some way. This point is especially obvious during the last Palace in Persona 5 (not counting the extra semester in P5 Royal). BUT ALSO in Persona 5, the final boss is called Yaldabaoth, who is the God of Control. It’s another saving the world kind of deal, but your goal is to change the hearts of the general public. Based on the lead-up to this battle, I got the impression that you end up trying to restore the free-will of the people. But the cost ends up being your ability to summon Personas and continue making the same changes you had been. You sacrifice a part of yourself and make the changes the responsibility of the people who should have been responsible in the first place.

I suppose, again, I’m arguing for Darrow dying at the end but....I could see something like this being an end to RR. Where the defeat of the corrupt system requires a huge sacrifice by Darrow. Of course, his life could be considered for that, and I honestly wouldn’t have any idea of another sacrifice that could count, other than his loved ones. BUT, Darrow has already lost so much to this war he is fighting so it could be argued that he has already sacrificed enough to justify a Persona 5-esque ending. Just think of all the trauma, and all strained relationships, and the death of so many of his friends. Also, to bring back the technology argument, once the P5 protagonists defeat Yaldabaoth, that’s it. It’s implied that he can’t come back and cause the same problems. Whereas in RR, the Society has the possibility to return and cause conflict once again.

This last point in particular will be brought up again in Part 4 when I discuss Voltron: Legendary Defender, and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.