#why do you hate your fans atlus?

[cochart]

Here’s my Hogwarts Legacy OC.

And here are some impressions of the game. I like it fine by the way.

Here are HL friends in Persona style btw.

I bought this game on sale recently and so far have been enjoying it. It’s a fun enough game even though I was never obsessed with Harry Potter except when I was like seven.

Here are some of my thoughts, some good and some a bit critical I guess.

1. Good but not memorable

Maybe because I was never obsessed with Harry Potter series the way some people are, I found the game decent but not memorable (e.g. Zelda or Persona level). It’s decent; in other words, it’s a bit bland. I don’t have any particular complaint about the game mechanics, but I don’t have anything particularly nice to say either. The exploration is fun enough. The battle can be a bit repetitive but overall okay. Collecting trinkets and doing puzzles can be amusing. But none of this all comes together to leave a strong impression. I think it’s a decent RPG for weekend fun though, especially if you’re a Harry Potter fan. That it’s not too memorable also means that it’s average a.k.a. you likely won’t have to ragequit this game. The gameplay is pretty easy, so it would be perfect for casual gamers who don’t want no Dark Souls taking over their weekend.

2. Character design matters

In an RPG, having a good character design matters. This is partly due to the fact that I don’t really enjoy the “realistic” rendering that so many western games employ, but I found the overall character design less than charming. Customizing my own character feels so much less fun when it’s hard to find a charming build. I’m sorry, but why does every option for my character make her look like she’s thirty-five? I feel like a damn PhD candidate in Hogwarts already without my character looking like she’s thirty-five years old. By the way, I also considered making a male character, but the male characters look equally old and not that charming. I think it’s partly the hair. Almost every hair option makes your character look thirty-five.

The NPCs don’t fare much better either. Yeah, they’re nice and I find Natty pretty cute. But that’s about it. They all have their stories and stuff, but something is just lacking.

It’s not like I want anime character design either. A style like Arcane would have been awesome.

3. I feel like a Mary Sue

I’d say being a Mary Sue might be better than being an emotional support character for dev’s Mary Sue, but it still feels weird to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been playing too much Atlus games recently and in their games, everyone’s out to kill you. I’m not used to characters fawning over me. There are many moments including when you’re taking a class that you’re blatantly praised for your abilities. The Ravenclaw boy gushing about how you must be a part hippogryph during your flying lesson is one of them.

Everything about the plot makes you a Mary Sue as well. You’re this mysterious new kid with ancient magic powers who excel at everything. I know it’s somewhat necessary in an RPG, but this game makes you feel like you’re playing some “Modern Girl in Hogwarts” game. I don’t hate it that much, but it still feels weird.

4. Missed opportunities

I’ve played old EA Harry Potter games and loved them, but I don’t know if it was a good idea to make an original Hogwarts game a solo exploration game. To me, one of the charms of HP series is the focus on the friendship and the adventures of the trio. In HL, you’re alone most of the time. I know a lot of modern players don’t deal well with turn-based games, but I think an original Hogwarts game that is turn-based where you can build your party of Hogwarts students would have been quite fun.

I also feel like there are a lot of missed opportunities with the school life content. Cramming in classes and having afterschool adventures would have made it feel more like life and Hogwarts where you’re not a graduate student.

Here, so you can get stressed thinking about crammed scheduling!

For an open exploration game, I’d rather have preferred something like Fantastic Beasts where you’re an adult. The game taking place in 19th century London would have been awesome. You’d be a recently graduated wizard who’s working both in wizard and muggle world solving some crime or something. This could have also made a better opportunity for the stealth element in the game as you can try to be discreet around the muggles.

[taldigi]

I think the reason Joker/Akechi is so popular (other than sadboy angst) is because of how he changed from vanilla to royal. Having Joker mess with his hair, giving him a boathouse scene, the double entendre of giving someone your glove being a declaration of a duel but also sometimes considered a romantic gesture, among other things made people feel as if they were leaning into a romantic interpretation of their relationship rather than the more nebulous original version. Then there's third semester, with Maruki commenting on their "unique relationship," giving the player the option to sacrifice reality to keep Akechi alive, and the whole Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming thing with the fairytale motif... it just seemed like Atlus noticed that a decent amount of people were shipping Akechi with the protagonist and decided to run with it. It certainly doesn't help that the English voice actor for Akechi that Royal's more romantic lean is "not thinly veiled." I still agree that fandom focuses on it far too much, though. Especially considering how much the game emphasizes that it can't actually happen.

ohh, thank you. I highly appreciate the reply!

I want to preface by saying that my reply comes from my experience in interpreting the game and how that's influenced my own opinion. It isn't meant to diminish the argument, despite any harsh wording, but to examine it through my own eyes.

I also don't.. hate the ship (I had been in the ML fandom too long to know that), but am largely overwhelmed by it's over-saturation and domination over the fan space and what I interpret as being... hugely out of character.

The kind of character I see Ren as being- outside his anime protagonist curse- is a highly empathetic (he takes books and media to heart, is able to empathize with the worst of humanity, and is able to touch the hearts of even the most prickly of people) and selfless person. Someone who would do anything to save anyone at any cost short of killing someone else! it's the reason why he's in Tokyo in the first place, and he doesn't stop afterwards. He steps in-between many many possible conflicts and puts himself in immediate and possibly fatal situations in order to keep his friends safe.

The whole premise of his story, and his ultimate choices, is freedom- after all- even if that freedom leads to pain... But and what is more confining, and final, and indisputable than death? Ren, a guy who chose to let each and every palace owner live and make them admit, understand, and face the consequences of their cruelty... would suddenly let Aketchi into his heart and trust him so fully and wholly? How many families has he left torn apart? And not all the victims were high ranking diplomats. The train conductor may have lived, but he died brain-dead.

Like- duh, right. Ren wanted to befriend Aketchi. He sees himself in him- friendless, misunderstood, and a little pathetic. Ren's scenes with Aketchi come before he finds out what he's done, and after that Aketchi changes. As romantic as those scenes might come off to some (I personally took it as pity) That Aketchi was a fake. He fucked with Ren's head and succeeded for the most part- and if Mona and Futaba didn't step in, he might have gotten away with it. Ren might not have been there to see it, the second he pulled that trigger it was over-- and he still had the mind to gloat about it.

All of the phantom thieves, after it's all said and done. Still express empathy for him. None of them will forgive him. None of them should forgive him... and the Joker I've come to know would never ever grant Aketchi any leeway without- bare minimum, Haru or Futaba's forgiveness.

All that being said, the interpretations of the story given seem highly generous. Ren shows the same affection, offer of understanding, and willingness to assist in any issues to Aketchi as he shows to any of his confidants.

Royal offered more than vanilla, sure- and Aketchi coming back in semester 3 might have been a result of Ren's desire to befriend him or save him (notice how the Aketchi in the stay ending is the softer "fake" version) but it might have also stemmed from the fact that it's in Ren's nature to save others, and the result of the shifted realities Isn't solely reflected in his desire to have Aketchi be responsible for his crimes- but in the fact that he gets to see his coffee family whole and happy- or Haru having her father back and in a good relationship, or seeing Ann or Shiho not having to live with the traumas of sexual assault or suicide attempts, and to see Ryuji and Yusuke living their dreams without pain and with family.

Yeah, they do have a "unique" relationship. They have similar circumstances, they've been pushed to play the same interdimensional game, they're the same person- same coin. But they're never ever going to see face to face. They both chose freedom, but Aketchi chose power and revenge and Ren chose kindness and friendship.

...and you know what? I appreciate that tragedy! I appreciate it a lot. I love what they did with Ren & Aketchi's dynamic and how they expanded it in Royal. It's equal parts deeply fascinating and tragic and says so much about both characters. But just like returning Aketchi to life and free would render that experience void of meaning... rendering it romantic.. seems.. diminishing. It doesn't work as well if it's romantic.

Bah, i'm getting rambly. Thanks for hearing me out.

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

Wondering if the reason people make the thieves out as uncaring after 11/20 is because the game itself moves on too quickly from it? Not saying I haven't kind of fallen into that take myself, though not like harshly, just felt they didn't act like they cared *enough* as in it should have been shown more. Because of the way the game's social sim works, you don't get the thieves checking in on/visiting Akira whilst he recovered like you might see in a fic and it can just go straight back into the confidant ranks of helping people with their problems, with no special dialogue or anything to ask how he's doing beforehand; so I feel like that contributes to the takes a lot, especially when one hasn't replayed in a while (sorry your post gave me thoughts on how people get to that take in the fandom, like I think the plan sucked for other reasons such as "Surely someone would notice the lack of a body?" but that's a bit besides the point)

Yeah I think you're absolutely right about that. The structure of the game doesn't let the Thieves care about Akira afterwards. There's also a bit of dialogue during the plan explanation when Akira says "I'm just glad I didn't die" and no one responds to it, which is...kind of baffling. But that doesn't mean the Thieves don't care about him, it means the writers at Atlus made a weird choice. And we know that because we see in that same scene that all of them were very worried for their leader's safety, and like I mentioned before, Makoto herself says she's glad he made it out safe.

The structure of the game kind of fucks over Akira and makes the Thieves look like worse friends in general, too. He helps them throughout the confidants, and then they "stop hanging out" after that, once they all say they want to start helping him out like he helped them. So we don't ever get to see their friendships become reciprocal. But like, that doesn't mean they actually stopped hanging out in-universe. It's a limitation of the play style.

That all said, I do think there is a valid interpretation you can come to which is that the Thieves don't know Akira was traumatized, or the extent of the danger, because he never talks about it. He's overly selfless and doesn't ever talk about his issues, so I could totally see that happening, and it's my personal interpretation. But that doesn't mean the Thieves are terrible friends for failing to read between the lines like that. It's on Akira for refusing to communicate.

And you can even say that they should have been more concerned for him afterwards, and that they put him on too high of a pedestal and think of him as utterly infallible, especially after he escapes with his life. They're kids, and Akira did just survive the impossible.

Or maybe they try not to bring it up on purpose because they don't want hurt him by talking about it, but letting it fester just hurts Akira more and makes him feel like they don't care.

Point is, there's lots of ways to take this strangeness in the game and make it into interesting fic content to explore. There's absolutely a discrepancy going on and exploring that is super valid and interesting. But turning it into "the Thieves are ambivalent and selfish and completely blind to their leader's suffering" takes that way too far. And like...why do people want to do that? Well, at least in the cases I've seen, the answer is twofold.

First of all, there's a section of the fan base that really hates Makoto. This is mostly common among Akechi fans from what I've seen. I think it's a combination of misogyny and the fact that Makoto can be obnoxious sometimes with her defense of the police, which is especially egregious in this situation. Like, the police beat up her best friend, and she still wants to join them. That can read as callous...if you don't understand her as a character, but I digress. (Someday I should write a Makoto defense post bc yeah. People are very stupid about her.) Point is these people like making up reasons to dislike her even more, which is where I think the whole "the plan was her idea and just an ego trip" thing comes from.

And the other reason is that there are a lot of shuake shippers who really, really want Akechi to be Akira's only "true" friend who "really" understands him. Which like...is true to a certain extent, they do have a special bond and Akechi is the only confidant that doesn't ask Akira to fix something for him, etc etc. But them having a special bond DOES NOT EQUAL all of Akira's other friends being terrible friends who suck and DON'T understand him. There's room for nuance here! You can like the toxic ship between rivals without making it less toxic because actually he's the only one who REALLY respects and loves Akira.

Like, he shot him in the head, guys. Let's not delude ourselves here.

But yeah. I'm pretty sure these two sections of the fanbase are specifically Akechi stans, and so they twist actual parts of the game to make Akechi look better and the Thieves worse. They almost like, take Akechi's perspective to a certain extent? Akechi doesn't like Makoto, and Akechi thinks the Thieves are bad friends (maybe, presumably, we don't really know, but he definitely doesn't really like them all that much and he definitely thinks they idolize Joker too much), and these Akechi stans agree with him. Which is baffling to me. Maybe he has half a point, sure, but Akechi is also REALLY stupid and frequently wrong.

And like, to be clear in case anyone who doesn't know me sees this, I say all this as an Akechi stan (look at my username) and shuake shipper.

In conclusion, I do think there is something to be said about how the confidants are written to be unequal, the Thieves don't check in on Akira enough, and the idolization they very much do have for their leader! These are real things that could make for really interesting conflict in fic. But it can happen without villainizing the Thieves or saying they just straight up don't care about their leader. Which is an obvious lie.

I think most people do agree with me nowadays, I've seen a pattern of recent fic and fandom people talking about how this villainization is stupid and going out of their way to make it clear the Thieves do care, so that's good. It was mostly a thing in early fandom that disliked how Akira was treated by canon (valid), wanted to give him conflict in fic (very valid, I love Akira angst), and wanted to make Akechi the "better friend" (???) who understands Akira better than the others (technically true, but it's complicated).

(As for the body thing, Sae said she made sure no one would check the morgue, so you're not supposed to think about it I guess. Makes me wonder about the people who would have taken his body to the morgue, though. Like, did they not report the missing body to anyone? Idk, maybe Sae paid them off too, lol.)

[elendsessor]

tbh i don’t know when or if i’ll get back to playing desu2–strategy games are particularly draining for me when i feel as if they’re pushing too long without justification and that’s a problem i’m facing with 2.

i do want to inevitably talk about a couple more things desu2 put out there i appreciate it for over other megatens since there’s so much potential here. it’s by no means a bad game!!! it’s just too much. it’s heavily flawed. and though i see why people love it, those flaws still need to be acknowledged.

yes the gameplay improvements are amazing. yes i do think more time and effort was put into 2 than the first game presentation-wise, some of the battle improvements are much better, there are concepts no megaten would ever dare to even try and tackle at least in the pre-established format mainline is famous for, and though the writing is generally messy and contradictory, it’s genuinely entertaining at points… until day 8. we do not need a day 8 unless it’s post-game content like what overclocked did.

the problem stems the most from an identity crisis affecting the way it plays. of course it mainly struggles from its nge inspiration, but the biggest part of the identity crisis is one based in a criticism no megaten fan likes. hate to do it but imma do it—devil survivor 2 is one of atlus’s first attempts at persona-ifying the rest of the franchise. it’s a problem i want to touch on in the future so imma keep this brief.

desu2 clearly wants to be modern persona the most, judging by the fate system and how it does the cast, however a strategy game can’t pull this off without jumping major hoops. fire emblem does the social aspect better because the process is streamlined and the characters you’re made to care about usually tend to be written well unless your name is fates. (anything that has the word “fate” in the title should be enough of a red flag for either garbage fandom or garbage product just saying lol.) however, with what success persona got beginning with 3, the dev team was tasked with replicating parts of modernsona to help it be some way to capture mainstream audiences. after all, most people’s introductions to megaten will be persona, and as we all know with how journalists were with smt 5 and likely applies to the rest of the franchise due to how different it is, anything megaten that isn’t persona has no heart. with shit like the fate system being forced in, the pacing further deteriorates.

both desu1 and 2 are easy for the most part but require an ungodly amount of grinding just to build your team because money is scarce and everything is overpriced, be it in the auction or the compendium. you need demons with a certain skill and resistances? get grinding. and with what little ways to actually play around with the fusing without grinding because of the stupid add ons and expensive fusion chains and how exp you can get for demons gets significantly harder to obtain, you’re already at a strategic disadvantage. you can’t fuse mitamas without unlocking it after fucking beating the game, and even if you can, fusing elements and mitamas has a fee. this already takes up most of the experience, as this forces most battles to be either free or dlc battles for the sake of resources which ends in being over leveled, and since the ai for enemies and bosses aren’t the best, you’re already at far too great an advantage, so the mandatory combat goes by fast. then the socializing comes in. desu1 is definitely better since it cuts out the bullshit and makes so most of what you’re hearing contributes to the plot, worldbuilding, or actual development for the characters. in 2, the fate ranks affect nothing save for unlocks and maybe the occasional story relevance. you can’t skip this, as most of the options are either free battles, waste 30 in game minutes viewing an event that doesn’t affect any other function, talk with teammates that you swore you’ve seen their archetype done better before, be given info about said character that may or may not actually mean shit based on when you talk to them, have a chance to up their fate rank, and that’s it. not like you have the threat of being unable to. you can prevent anyone in death videos from dying, and there’s no consequences for choosing a route since you can re-recruit everyone except a certain alignment rep if you oppose them, not counting daichi. all that changes is the ending and if an alignment rep dies again not counting daichi. this is all the game is, rinse and repeat.

i’ve never had something simultaneously be worse and better all due to anime tropes and inspiration. it fucking hurts me. 2’s a good game, just way too big and way too focused on capitalizing on persona, neither of which i can fault the team behind it for since it was clearly an issue of ideas and expectations being thrown onto them. maybe one day i’ll power through the final day, but right now, it completely lost me.

if you want to make your game’s main campaign long, justify why it’s that way. if it’s long because of padding without a way to grip the player, your product serves as a way to waste time and money that could’ve been spent on something else.

[arcplaysgames]

hmmm where did i leave off....

To celebrate the Madarame Job, the team comes together for hot pot. It's a nice sequence! It's cute! Ann and Yusuke continue to be my favorites. Everyone bonds over their sad backstories and Reverie re-explains how he wound up with an assault charge.

Morgana is briefly sad that he doesn't have any memories to bond with the team about. Yusuke is as comforting as I would expect him to be. He has such a dry sense of humor, it reminds me of Akihiko when he starts to open up and has these really straight-faced little jokes.

AND FOR A WHOLE TEN MINUTES THE GAME LETS ME THINK YUSUKE IS GONNA MOVE IN WITH REVERIE AND I WAS LIKE "AT LAST, EVERYONE TOLD ME THIS GAME WOULD DELIVER SOME GAY AND NOW I GET TO HANG OUT WITH EFFETE AESTHETE MATT MERCER EVERY NIGHT, YESSSS" but no he decides to go to the dorms.

my pout can be seen from fucking space

He does leaves Sayuri in the cafe, which actually made me emotional for a moment.

MEANWHILE

I don't know shit about Akechi but he sasses Makoto, so I'm a fan.

Also, Makoto, idk gurl maybe people get on your case because you fucking suck? It ain't that deep.

Okay, one: RYUJI I AM GONNA GET YOU A FUCKING BALLGAG AND IT WILL BE THE LEAST EROTIC USE OF A BALLGAG IN THE HISTORY OF GAGS. WHY CAN'T YOU SHUT THE HELL UP.

Two: I'm about to vault over this table and throw hands with Makoto. This might be a new landspeed record for a character getting so fucking deeply on my shitlist, this might actually rival Ryoji The Insta-Creep Whomst I Hated in P3P, I despise this girl.

Makoto blackmails the team into going after her target, a mafia group that is going after students.

(I wonder if they are yakuza in the original JPN? I feel like "mafia" sounds extremely weird here. If for some reason you don't wanna call 'em yakuza, even "organized crime" sounds less weird, but what do I know.)

This game is really trying to pitch me on Makoto being in a tough position, but I am a complete no sell on this. I think because I flat out do not buy the idea that she didn't know about Kamoshida when multiple students were going around the school with visible injuries and everyone was talking about Shiho and Ann. Like, if Makoto swore she didn't know, she's either a liar or she's so fucking oblivious to suffering around her, she shouldn't be in a position of authority over anyone and doesn't have a leg to stand on against the Thieves.

Glad the game lets me convey my contempt to her, tbh.

Oh then right after, she digs up Reverie's phone number to call him to thank him.

Makoto, you are a full-ass stalker and we are not friends. You lying to Sojiro to get Reverie's personal cell number to call him is like the cherry on top of your stalker sundae.

Also, through this entire sequence I have squinting at her shirt collar to figure out what that is. It's a B and a J, for Boaz and Jachin, the pillars at the entrance of the Temple of Solomon and framing the High Priestess as she sits sentinel before the veil BLAH BLAH she's the fucking Priestess. In what universe. Whatever.

The only good Priestess I have seen in Persona thus far is Fuuka. As discussed previously, Yosuke was P4's real Priestess.

If she's not the Priestess and her collar stands for, like.... Japanese Baseball, I will uninstall this game.

Anyway, I started Temperance.

Mostly because I wanna know what the fuck is going on here and is it deeper than some asshats at Atlus going "what if we combined our Maid Kink with our Hot For Teacher Kink!!!!!"

Also oh my god when the fuckign framing device thing kicked in and Sae was like "YOU MUST HAVE HAD HELP AT SCHOOL" i about fucking died.

The framing device of this game unfortunately takes Sae, who had a great introduction, and makes her seem like an idiot.

........ GOD could you IMAGINE if this game had The Fox?

SAE: "It seems like you were seen at the shrine on a regular basis. You MUST HAVE HAD CURRIED THE FAVOR OF THE GODS. Who helped you????"

LOOK AT HER FUCKING FACE I'M CRYING. I almost flung my Odin away in terror. PUT THAT AWAY!

Do you... want me to play along? How much is this a chosen job and how much is necessity?

I hate to be That Guy but if this.... is actually a line of work Kawakami enjoys, that would be very Temperance of her. Taking subconscious desire and want, and connecting it to material needs like money. Temperance would be the card of "getting paid for what you enjoy doing," honestly?

But who even fucking KNOWS. In P3P I literally Noped out of the Temperance SLink and in P4G I never got to rank 3. I figure I owe Atlus to follow ONE of the routes so why not the one that raises the most alarm bells! For fun!

Meanwhile, Mishima continues to be a crisis case waiting to pop off and I just wanna scream.

And then. Oh. He's in Kichijoji? AKA my favorite location? HM.

Am I being fucking punked? Or doxxed? What is happening here?

I mean... again, the Jake English vibes are bananas through the fucking roof, but he's also a master of billiards and a (so far subtle) flash bastard about it?

This is not helped by the fact that if I were to assign, uh, a Certain Character I Wrote In A Story a major Arcana, Justice would be one of the best options for him.

Anyway uh. Okay. I'm paying attention now.

Even if he is still Beige as all hell.

Last note for this post, I finally kicked off Yusuke's link and

damn Sae you fucking got me, we were having Yusuke make counterfeit copies of high-value TCG cards and sold them on the black market to fund our work, YOU FUCKIN CAUGHT ME

I don't even know how to deal with Yusuke being the fucking Emperor. What the fuck is his domain? The art world at large? How the fuck does he exert power over that? Also, like, if that were his domain, that's more a Hierophant thing than an Emperor thing--

MY POINT IS, I DON'T THINK IN THESE THREE GAMES YET I HAVE BEEN SO BAFFLED BY AN ARCANA CHOICE. I can see Magician, Hermit, Priestess, Strength, even the Hanged Man if you wanna be Spicy. Ooh, or the Star, he'd be a GREAT Star.

The fuckign EMPEROR?

Is the game gonna pull another rabbit out of its hat and convince me "oh yeah he the emperor" like it did with Kanji? STAY TUNED, TRUE BELIEVERS but the odds are not in their favor. oh my god, Yusuke as the Emperor, I'm fucking flabbergasted. What the hell.

[haejjoon]

Hi hi i read through all of your character analysis and i completly agree with most of the stuff. Like i really love these guys but atlus did some of them so dirty???

Like i LOVE morgana, but like everyone i really hate his whole arc during the okumura arc. And it pisses me of so so much cuz i know that that whole thing was stupid and morgana shouldve AT LEAST apologized to my guy ryuji but still i love my little furball of a friend. And then i get so sad every time i watch a playthrough and most of the players dont like morgana. Like i absolutely get where they come from but it still makes me sad. I think i just got really attached to his snarky commentary through my day to day life and him telling me to GO TO BED while other people just got really annoyed by it. But you are absolutely right that the writers shouldve just picked the story for morgana and stuck to it cuz it really is just all over the place... but still i cant keep from loving him (maybe it also got somewhat to do with de fanon version of him)

COMPLETLY different thing, but with all the characters we have been talking about that got done dirty, WHY does ann have like the most compelling arc about going against a f ing RAPIST, standing up for herself and just overall giving a big ass fuck you to everyone seeing her as only a object of sex appeal, and then the IMMEDIATE next arc goes "haha you want to unwillingly pose NUDE for some random guy? Haha nevermind you dont get a choice its either this or nothing else" like WHAT??? At least let her have her own say in this??? And then the rest of the game keeps doing this by giving her and ryuji constant scenes of him making eyes at her... I just kinda ignored all that. I think its really sad that everytime these scenes happen in japanese media i got to roll my eyes and think okay thats the required fan service out of the way lets get on with ANYTHING else. But thats the way it is i guess

Sorry to just put all of this here i was getting really passionate about how i feel about some of these characters reading all your (very based) analysis haha. I dont really got any good analysis for you but boy do i have FEELINGS

absolutely understand why you like morgana so much!! snarky characters always have a special place in my heart. for me personally morgana wasn't as snarky as he was just straight up mean sometimes, but that's just a matter of perspective. ur so valid

hard agree with ur grievances about ann. the dichotomy of "im my own person and i wont stand by when im harassed" vs "h-he wants me to pose NUDE?!?? okay... only because I Have To..." like girl no you don't have to. we can figure it out. yusuke couldnt even press charges back there anyway, what was he gna tell the police??? "i let these three teenagers in of my Own Accord, officer, and they started questioning me about my very abusive father figure and i didnt like it so i decided to call you to kick them out"??? it was such a non issue. atlus pls.

[nanjokei]

I'm not even an Akechi fan but honestly yeah it's nuts how Akechi was treated in base game P5 and then people loved him and sympathized with him and you basically had to beg Atlus on your hands and knees to get them to put him in any spin-offs despite him being arguably one of the most popular characters in the game if not the most. Atlus like no you can't get Akechi in this P5 spin-off game as anything but optional minor DLC content but we CAN put a new ending in P4 Golden where you side with Adachi. Can I mention how much I hate the P4 Golden accomplice ending.

oh my god i forgot about the whole era where atlus also contributed to it by basically treating him like some kind of irredeemable but minor villain so they wouldn't put him in anything hahaha (and i forgot about the accomplice ending too....ughhhhhh)

it always goes back to hashino somehow. i think hashino really does relate to adachi on some level (versus ikutsuki and akechi who get fully condemned and treated like the scum of the earth... like i get it for ikutsuki cuz he MADE his bed but lol) and that's why adachi never got the same treatment. like sure. adachi is very popular both overseas and SUPER popular in japan. but akechi was just as popular in japan if not more.

it really screams "this guy is a villain and you're not supposed to like him he sucks and he is bad" which is pretty much what hashino wrote the story around him to be initially. wholeheartedly believe that atlus eventually realized they had to turn against hashino's vision and go "ok but the team has to put akechi content in royal. we are burning money at this point." but even then, it's non-canon to other spinoffs anyway.

it is so so so strange

i do think if he was written by someone competent and was in a better story he could have been an it girl like maki or jun but unfortunately its hashino persona we are talking about... he is only as good as the fans can expand on his story with

[sunset-bridge]

thoughts on p3 sees characters? 🤠 hope ur having a nice day!

HI SORRY i have no idea what i was doing that day but IM HERE.

UHM helloooooo helloo i love p3 i love the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad im the SEES #1 fan:

protag (im kinda talking about my guy here specifically, Reiji..): hes everything to me. angel boy. baby baby baby has done nothing wrong in his life... hes just a bit awkward and kinda pathetic but he tries so haaaard and life SUCKS so bad. fly high. i hope u have fun at the karaoke in paulownia mall. i feel compared to othe rprotags life is kinda dragging him around but he still tries his dammned hardest... hes SO AFRAID of death cuz who isnt but he WILL punch THAT GUY in the FACE !!! GRRRRAAAAAAAAAA BURN UR DREAD

yukari: GRRRRAAAAAAA i hope she gets to kill and destroy everyone that was ever mean to her. shes so. if u hate her u actually hate women i think yes. she keeps it so real and shes a cunt sometimes but so am i so likeeee. her fashion ssense is impeccable and i love how sarcastic but sweet she can be. shes having a gamer moment in her head all the time shes so strong hellooo

junpei: my friend junpei.. :3 ehehe hes soooo silly but sooo Real. like same bro i too would latch onto anything that made me feel like a hero like the protag of my own life i dont blame him at all for nothing he said or did he keeps it so real too. hes da man

akihiko: BARK BARK I LOVE AKIHIKO HES MY FAVORITE P3 CHARACTER HELLLOOOO HES SO. )(/&/(%$/#%&(/( ok hes. hes. so. so so so dedicated and strong and bold and brave but also so hard headed and can act on impulse or even be childish at times AND I AM SUCH A FAN !!!! He has to deal with so much but he keeps his chill cool senpai image up helloooo boy hellooo can i hug you. i respect him so much hes so cool. also hes so awkward and bad at talking (same boy). but i never lost the respect i had for him even after everything. i hope he wins everything forever AND I HATE THE PROTEIN THING ATLUS DID

mitsuru: EHEHEHEH MYyyyyy senpai mitsuruuuuu. GOD HELLO if aki and shinji have to deal with 5 things SHE HAS TO DEAL WITH LIKE 20 !!!! she has to keep everything in sees afloat especially after the Events and like. hello. shes literally 18 and she has to do somuch fucking serious and Very Important things and take decisions and act so mature but she Suffers too but who does the Boss go to when she feels down???!! she has to keep everyone together,,,, GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA

fuuka: AWEEE fuuka my friend. :) i love her i havent thought as mucha bout her but shes wayyy to kind and sweet for her own good and god this was way too much for her i salute her for keeping her sanity

ken: I LOVE KEN hes so baby..,,, grrrr why do people not like him as much. he has such big feelings for sucha small person,,, and theyre just as valid as everyone elses !!! but hes also soooo small and he doesnt know how to handle things but he tries so Hard to keep it together BUT HE SHOULDNT BE DOING THAT grrraaaaaaaaa. my son. also he can be so funny helloooo little sir can i help you. luv him

koro: EHEHEH ouppy... but ok hellooooo hes so real also this is gonna sound delulu but since hes kinda like. young adult if he were human. his presence actually makes me feel more at ease because he tends to keep his cool when everyone else is freaking out and he like. Acts fast. also hes clearly smarter than an average dog so i have so many thoughts... does he find hanging out with normal dogs boring... does he have many thoughts about the grief he went thru after what happened to his owner... also hes the only one whos heart is relatively at peace since his persona never evolves .

shinji: GUUUUAAAAH shinji.,,,,, grrrrrrrm i HOPE HE EXPLODES (hes everything to me...). god god he makes me sooo frustrated because. i really like him but hes so fucking emo cringe loser bottling up eveeryhting forever DO U EVER THINK ABOUT UR FRIENDS u fucking lsoer. about aki. about mitsuru. ABOUT KEN he.lllooo what is your edge gonna fix here. i knnnoooow vulnerability is hard but like. use your words man.... yeah ur cool as hell but u become WAY LESS COOL when u try to act so tough... WUEEEEE

aigis: I LOVE AIGIS. ok maybe u guys dont know this but i love androids and robots in general. so aigis. instant fave shes literally so cool looking and so badass but also i love seeing android characters learn about their own humanity... also shes always based and funny and real i also want ryoji to explode cuz he failed my vibe check as well

thamk u

[cryptofadventure]

🌻

new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever the fuck i want

Ok so I'm a persona fan yeah?

I got into the series when 5 came out so naturally I played that first right????

....

How come I felt so fucking cheated when I played through Persona 4?

P4 has a better story, better humor execution, better relationships, better suspense, just better everything save for aesthetics (bc the concept of mysterious thieves and the use of symbolism got me in a chokehold). Dude I'm sorry but as much as I love the Phantom thieves their friendships weren't nearly as close as the Investigation Team and there were times where they were downright malicious to each other (and by that I usually mean Atlus trying to be """funny"" and shit on Ryuji in an uncalled for manner while Morgana is allowed to be a fucking massive creep).

Morgana is fucking disgusting and completely unlikeable and you cannot change my mind, Shido was a hallow villian that pales in comparison to Adachi, they fucked up how cool Akechi's character COULD HAVE BEEN for making him snitch on himself so fucking fast, Okumura's palace was complete dog shit, and Haru was completely robbed of a character from Mona having his little piss fit that literally added nothing to the story but a headache.

Teddie was so fucking loveable and silly I literally cannot understand why people hated him. Dude his ''''weird behavior''' he learned from Yosuke and Yukiko specifically and several of the first dungeons were promiscuous and this mfer has NEVER talked to another person before you expect him NOT to pick up on what he sees his friends doing??? And he never soley went after the girls he did this to EVERYBODY no one was safe from his weird flirting and that's what made it funny vs Mona who literally sexually harrasses a sexual harassment victim at any given moment that's supposed to be his friend and acts like a incel constantly. Him being the 'being of hope' and being this fucking disgusting and selfish is fucking laughable. Fuck that cat.

But moving on since I can literally complain about Mona's character for hours; Shido is weak as fuck. Bro Adachi had LAYERS like an onion bro. He was just a everyday guy and that's what made it fucked up; ANYONE could have fallen down that road. A perfect example is Yosuke; a kid down on his luck, treated like shit no matter how hard he tries, and is consumed by boredom. Had Yosuke's parents not loved him and had ne not met his friends he could have became an Adachi himself. Adachi does a good job at making you feel bad...to a degree. Like bro it sucks your parents didn't give a shit about you, it sucks you made a tiny mistake and got shipped out to the middle of nowhere, and it sucks your love life is non-existent but you ain't had to kill anybody lmao. Also you like him once he pulls the chad move of 'oh man is THAT what i used to sound like??? You're cringe, kill yourself.' to a actual god WHILE it's beating his ass.

In addition I'm so ass mad they removed the cut scenes that gave the Will Seeds has so much more story purpose. I think it's extremely important to see how the villians get to the way they are bc no one is just born fucking evil. They were all just normal people at some point that started tumbling down the wrong road. One I can easily talk about is Kaneshiro. Where I live, gang activity is rampant; you don't just choose that lifestyle. It's a lifestyle your pressured into, or you feel you have no choice, or you are influenced by your media/friends/family. It's hardly ever something you want to do (instagram mfers with guns and drugs that say they're about that life aren't. it's a front to look cool they'd die here in seconds). He was pushed around in a low income neighborhood presumably by other gangsters and he had no choice but to fall inline and when you see YOUR opportunity to be the big dog you take it because it's a dog eat dog world..but that still don't make you a sad beanie baby. You're still a monster for ruining other people's lives by repeating history.

Showing that would have made every villain so much stronger than what they are.

Having Akechi snitch on himself so fast and even without the pancake thing it was blaringly obvious he was a antagonist. How he hated them so passionately, even for his image, didn't make much for a surprise. Also going on about characters; Makoto's hate isn't deserved full stop. 'oH BuT She WantS To Be A pOlIce OffIcer She'S meAn TO TThe GrouP SHe'S a BoOtLiCkEr' shut the fuck up Stacey you on;t hate the police bc you think it's cool but if you were robbed you'd call for 911 before anyone else. Makoto's character was so painful; imagine you lose the parent you were so close to and never met the other and on top of that you have to watch your only sibling turn into a abusive, selfish monster that treats you like shit. And it doesn't stop there, because you're pressured to be the embodiment of the nerd emoji other students hate you and adults take advantage of you. Bro the principal literally went 'I'll destroy your college future if you don't figure out a case the police can't solve'. Bro WHAT.

Also Ryuji was done dirty, Kamoshida was also his villian not just Ann's. I don't care he was still assulted too; homie teased this kid about his drunk dad beating him in front of EVERYONE and broke his leg knowing FULL WELL he's not academically capable and can't go to college any other way that sports now he has to be uncertain about his future.

eh, where was I? I forgot. In short: Persona 4 handled everything better than 5 ever could and it makes me so sad bc 5 has such a good premise and aesthetic. It honestly makes me wanna re-write a good chunk of it and apply it to my P5 blog to satisfy the dweeb in me.

Oh bonus:

If you think Maruki is morally worse than Shido soley bc you're an Akechi simp I think your brain is smoother than a jar of fucking peanut butter and that you've the intelligence of a rock.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

To be fair tho, any kind of line up woulda likely been mucked up by covid happening right in the middle of stuff, and some projects would likely be delayed farther than others; I'm still annoyed with hope atlus has been handling things, but figured to bring up the elephant in the room

Fair, but....the game came out in 2016. The muck up would've 1) not been till 2020, 2) parts of the muck up would've been overseas people rather than just JPN (aka what happened to Strikers). Regardless, it's 4 years before shit goes sideways and they didn't plan that well.

And....I ended up ranting (my frustrations with Atlus not you). Ok so like I agree with you, the C word that shall not be named did screw a lot of things up, but remember this was going on years before that. And if things got mucked up cause of C? That's fine, it's not Atlus' fault. But they failed to plan before that was a thing so I'mma say a few words about it:

We got P5 (2016), then we had to wait two whole freaking years for an anime (2018) and for....a crossover cash grab spinoff of another (2) game(s depending on if you got the triple pack or not) that current gen/new fans aren't able to play, along with the fact they forget the events by the end (ignoring the lack of any gd plot). Then it's followed by (later 2018)......ANOTHER crossover two the same two games new people probably don't know, with them forgetting the events at the end, on top of it ONLY being on a dying console. We're doing....fantastic so far, great job Altus. Was that shitty cash grab worth it? >.>

So we wasted two whole years post P5, and the first games outta the gate are........a waste. I'mma be honest, they are a waste. They're aren't unnecessary, I mean Atlus wasted them. Wasted their opportunity, their potential, timing. All wasted. It shows in the sales of these two(/three/four....depending on if you count P4D and if you group P3D with P5D) poor games.

Then 3 years after P5's release....we get a fucking remake. An....."enhanced re-release"....................are you shitting me? Three years. A rerelease. On the same....console. The SAME console. *inhales* Why? WHY???? No. Why? Why NOW Atlus? Tell me why, NOW.

"Oh Silly calm down-" No, no I'm very annoyed with Atlus I will not. Tell me Atlus, what was the point? What. Was. The. Point?

*rubs temples* No cause you see. Let's look at the P4 spinoffs. I know they aren't perfect! I'm not trying to say they are! But they have something that Post P5 releases are lacking. Spoiler: It's a brain and planning. But let's break that down! (gonna have a rough timeline, gonna try to be accurate in my short time)

P4 (July 2008) came out, Atlus wasn't in the best financial situation. P4 sold pretty well.

P1 PSP (April 2009), new port, Atlus still not in the best situation. (I think this sold decently)

P3P (Nov 2009), new port, still not in the best financial situation, P3P sold pretty well.

P2IS PSP (April 2010), still not in the best financial situation

P4 anime begins (Oct 2010), Atlus is bought by Index, anime starts it's run.

P4 Arena arcade ver (March 1, 2012), is doing well, coinciding with the anime as hype builds. It's helping to hype up the anime and P4G.

P4 anime ends (March 30, 2012), anime ends it's run, it's a big success. Between this and Index they are doing better. The anime helped hype up P4G and Arena.

P3 FES on US PSN for PS3 (April 2012)

P2 EP PSP (May 2012), new port, released only in Japan, not doing great (but we dunno how well the PS1 psn port did). Focus on new P4 remake and first sequel spinoff.

P4G (June 2012), new port, hype is building like crazy, sometime after this all Persona PSP games (plus PS1 P2 Ep for outside US) were release on vita as well.

P4 Arena console ver (July 2012), hype is building even more. New P4G girl isn't in game, fans are confused but between that and the initial Personas we kinda get what's going on (things clear up by Ultimax tho).

P stuido is formed (Oct 2012)

Ultimax arcade ver and First P3 movie air (Nov 2013): builds mystery left by Arena. Same month PQ1 and P5 (coming winter 2014! jksldfsaklaj *wheeze*) are announced. PQ1 announcement shows Marie and things start to make more sense (or less sense).

P4 PS2 ver on US PSN for PS4 (April 2014)

PQ1 and Second P3 movie air (June 2014), new game, sells really well.

P4G anime begins (July 2014), it was hyping people prior to the run. Around this time Marie has her own Ultimax commercial (so at least by this time we know she is gonna show up in Ultimax, maybe prior to this time we knew I didn't dig THAT deep, but we know the whole Arena thing she was just..."absent" and that mystery is figured out).

Ultimax console ver (Aug 2014)

P4G Anime ends (Sept 2014)

Third P3 movie air (April 2015)

P4D (June 2015)

Fourth/Final P3 movie air (Jan 2016)

P5 (Sept 2016)

Ok we got a rough timeline, these are all JPN original dates mind you (in the US Ultimax came out before PQ1 iirc but we are going off of the original releases). Obvie excluding the PSN ports, I dunno if/what dates the JPN ones for PSN were (if that was even the case). We are also ignoring the other Megaten games, I know Atlus was working on other stuff at the time, but there was a mini Persona team prior to P studio (they worked on other stuff at times but still), if anything it's more amazing hey could do a lot of stuff and better than after P studio was formed (at least.....*glares* Post P5).

So as you can see, after P4's release, Atlus focused on porting the older games. Which was a good move, P4 on PS2 did do pretty well so might as well introduce fans to the older games, no? And putting it on the PSP was a good move imo. PS1 games are backwards compatible on PS2 games, PSP was popular in Japan (so was the Vita if what I remember reading was correct, Japan....only...remember.... orz)....might as well spread to a larger audience no?

Soon after we have it’s first sequel game along with an anime. Both paired well, as they hyped each other up. With the anime having the most influence, as it caused P4MC’s name to be referred to as Yu (iirc, less so his personality in this since iirc the name they decided to go with came after writing). But it turned out that the previous port games would have an extra benefit. 1) It got fans refamiliarize with P3 chars for you know...the crossover game. 2) It reintroduced old P1/2 concepts (the one that always stands out to me are fake Shadow selves). Another great thing about the anime and Arena, is that it helped anime fans easily transition to the gaming side with Arena (so it easily served as a sequel to game only fans AND anime only fans).

Then we have the P3 movies, and now Atlus decides to take more of what they learned with Yu, and plan accordingly. They decided to try to adopt some more of the anime (well...movie) adaptation of P3 into PQ1 (specifically movie 2, esp since it was released close to PQ1). The movies made it easier for the anime only fans to get into PQ1 as well! 

So far everything is synergizing well! We have refreshers, we have anime and game fandoms crossing over and overlapping, we have games that’s easy to follow from either the games or the animes!

Oh and this isn’t even talking about how the games lead into each other and synergize!

First, P4G introduces Marie, while she is missing from Arena (development timing reasons), but hey she’s a new girl that appears in other games! For once..... *Silly said both sad and bitterly*..... *sobs* But then we get to the games. While it’s cool for DramaCD fans to notice Labby and Kikuno, what’s really cool is the continuity with the later games. Arena gives us a few mysteries. Who is the eerie voice? Who is the malevolent entity? Who is Labby’s mom? And maybe even “why do the P3/4 kids trust each other/get along so easily” (tbh I never question it but hey it makes sense to question it so 8U). These questions are answered with two later games, one of which we didn’t know was a sequel: PQ1 and Ultimax. PQ1 and Ultimax have a lot of call back/forward (depends on which order you played them in) references, and they for the most part answer everything. Who is Labby’s “mom?” It’s Rei most likely. Both died from an incurable (at the time) disease, the timing and the similarities are too hard to ignore. That, and along with “why do the P3/4 kids get along so easily” is because they already did interact before, which makes them striving so hard to save Labby make it so much more interesting. They saved the mom, and now it’s time to save the daughter...in a sense. Then we get to Ultimax, and the two new mysteries are new....original chars BUT! Narratively they are pretty interesting. 

Eerie voice, aka Sho, serves as a shadow archetype to Labby, Yu, and Adachi. Both him and Labby are mirrored color wise, and both have a similar background of rage and fighting (and issues with bonds, Sho wanting to reject while Labby.....it’s complicated). Adachi and him have a similarity of rejecting people. And with Yu it’s a reflection of what Yu could’ve been without a friend. 

Kagu takes some good notes outta Nyarly’s handbook. Yes it sucks it wasn’t Nyaly, but hey at least he’s not a freaking mess like Yaldy (who tries to copy both Nyarly and Izanami’s plans when....they contradict but now’s not the time). And hey, if you played the P2 ports (either on the PSP or Vita) you’d see the parallels! And that is really cool and it def gets people speculating! He does do a good job, I think most people are just salty on the fact it wasn’t Nyarly, which is fair, but hey he was a destructive boi.

But then these lead into P4D. Ultimax’s......foil. While Ultimax (and Arena) were all about fighting, P4D lacks fighting. Ultimax you were banned until you fought, P4D you are banned from fighting. Sho/Ultimax/Kagu is about rejecting bonds and want for solitude, P4D(/Yuko/Mikura) is craving a want for bonds even if it means forcing them. 

And....what does this all mean? It means Post P4 era releases had layers. They synergized, there was a reason to the madness. Either to get fans to crossover, to familiarize fans with the older entries because they were going to use something from it, and it utilized some spinoff/remake only characters for future spinoff releases (Labby/Theo/Marie....and later Hamu and Sho! with Motoko and her whole shtick being a reference). Nothing was wasted. Nothing felt like a waste. There was meaning.

What has P5 brought me? Nothing. 

Big mystery? The only thing is Jose and that’s just left to the way side.

Spinoff/port chars? Don’t make me laugh. Doubt we’ll see more of Hikari (I’d be happy if we did tho!). Sumi/Jose/Maruki and even Goro are nowhere to be found outside of PQ2 and P5/R. Lord help me if Ichinose and Sophia don’t return. 

Strong theme or connections? SNNNNNRRRK DLKJFSAKL;F *WHEEZE* FLKDJAFSFS AHAHAHAHAHAHA FKLDJSAL; *WHEEZE* HAHAHA HA....haha...haaaaaaaa.... Good one. Ok ok tbf, P5(/3)D, PQ2, and Royal all had one thing in common. The word “dream” came up one way or another. I don’t remember P5S saying that word tho. But each dream was different. P3/5D was a dream. PQ2 it was seen as a dream by Hamu (and Hikari?), I know Hamu was sleeping and “woke up” at the end of PQ2. Royal? uhhhh that whole “I stole their dream” blah, it was a connection I made prior to Royal coming out cause of that trailer (so my brain goes to that rather than if/where it appears elsewhere in the game). P5R and P5S (and anime?) do have the same gem things but.....whoop dee do? They don’t do anything with it. 

Structure? See above, making us wait for the first actual sequel, and has us deal with 2 crossover spinoffs that didn’t have proper ports of older games, and then we have to have an unnecessary enhanced rerelease. 

Post P5 games have nothing that made the P4 era work. And it really required a bare min of effort.

They release P5? Well guess what was around then. Devs ported their PS1/2 classics to PS4 under a digital only thing. They could’ve easily just ported P3/4 PS2 vers on there. Maybe even P1/2 PS1! Just do that and then the Dancing spinoffs (and maybe PQ2). “But what about the other consoles?” What about them? At this point P5 is only on PS3 and PS4. PS3 is easily covered, PS4 is where it needs covering. Worry about the other console/PC ports later. “Well what about remakes/remasters” Who says you can’t do both? Some fans want both, some fans will buy both even if they don’t want both (they’ll buy the old cause that’s all there is, but then will want the new one). FF7 did both, released the PS1 ver on PSN and then did a remake. That’s fine! I bought both! And I’m def not shy to rebuying Persona games multiple times! Regardless they needed to do this, not only would it cover PS4, but it also cover PS5 owners too (not that they’d know that but.... 8U)

It probs would’ve def helped P3/5D sales! ....I mean what really could’ve helped them is by being good games that deserved that price tag, but I have to work with what I got. 

I just....I dunno. The P4 era was a lot of fun, partially because we had a lot to speculate on! Not just in the game we were getting but how they could connect! And that includes the lead up to P5! It was so much fun speculating on the spinoffs and P5! 

But.......I think the only one that did that was PQ2 and Royal.....and that was mostly cause of Hamu (it’s the eye shape and eye lashes, that’s why Sumi reminds me of Hamu so much lskdjf;a). Sadly, speculation be damned, we get nothing in terms of a long and fleshy mystery like Arena gave us. We just have “who is Jose working for” and that’s it. Which is fine I like that  mystery but....WE HAVE NOTHING! They’ve given us nothing related to that. *sobs* 

My best theory atm is Labby and Sho are gonna play a role in some upcoming game. And the next game announced is grey/silver looking so it’s either P1 or P6 or a new spinoff/other game. Calling what Atlus has given me “crumbs” is far too generous of a word. ;w; 

(don’t get me wrong I do want ports, ports to all the systems! but Atlus needed to think a bit better. Port to PS4 first then worry about the other stuff later! I know I’m PS trophy biased, but I’d say the same thing about Xbox/PC/Nintendo.....tho sadly I know their hands are probs tied for PQ stuff orz)

God I tried typing this fast. I’mma head off to bed, yeah let’s just end it here. orz

[destroy-trash-boys]

i know everyone loves angst and doesn’t care, but the way atlus won’t commit to anything with akechi makes their shuake teasing actively homophobic

the word queerbaiting gets a lot of debate but i can’t think of what else to call it. cool, they danced under a heart in a concert and hugged in a stage play. a stage play can get away with more than a major game released so while it’s nice for fans and cool of the actors, it just reinforces how cowardly atlus the company is

but it’s been six years since the game released in japan. i can’t tell you how not normal it is for any writer to write a character like this. i hated how much akechi felt like bait for a new installment in vanilla, and then people act like royal was much better even though it left him in the same place. you can’t ignore him in royal since he’s so hyped up and so part of joker’s character, but it’s done in a way that becomes actively homophobic when it comes with baiting a ship like this.

nobody baits a character’s status like this. either kill them or don’t. even p3p was clear about shinji only living in the femc route. nobody baits a character unless they want the fans to spend money. the real people winning are the people who hate a character. the people who don’t want to see any homosexuality in their games. that’s why the beauty of interpretation is a coward’s answer. you cannot do “interpretation” when we still live in a homophobic society where straight is the default. letting people ignore any gayness, when we don’t have the option to ignore straightness, is just homophobia. how come literally every fandom calls out homophobia except this one??? it’s insane!!

the irony is people wouldn’t have hated akechi in vanilla if atlus committed to something with him in the first place. now his fans just accept this because of angst and because fandoms think mlm ships without death and abuse are boring, even though wlw shippers don’t act like this is a requirement. tying the gay subtext to a character who can’t be confirmed alive or dead is homophobic. teasing it in a canon that’s going to be ignored is homophobic. all the leering at ann and all the sexist remarks from the boys are kept in, but gay relationships still need to be hidden, ~up to interpretation~, and easy to dismiss because the character is safely dead and won’t be ruining the good heterosexuality of everyone else

other companies have done better with lgbt characters. even other shipbaiting has done more than atlus. instead people get yelled at if they don’t appreciate what atlus did, so maybe it’s because i’m not into the ship and because i don’t think potential for fanfics outweighs bad canon writing. the writing being so bad is why the ship has so much fanfic, but it’s only because they’re easy to write in the same mlm tropes and i hate the fanfic, so that doesn’t mean much to me. what i hate is homophobia, baiting, and fandoms that eat it up. cishet men will protest if they can’t date every female character in the game but nobody can even ask for better. atlus cut a gay romance route in persona 4 over a decade ago, and still we can’t get anything. stop praising this and making people think its good! it’s just homophobic!

there’s something about male writers who see they have female fans, and who want to punish those fans, and its at play here too. not just the way female characters are written in p5. most people who like akechi seem to be women. if you’re a woman, or an lgbt person, atlus hates you. they are making that obvious. they hate you, they will take your money, but they won’t reward the way they reward cishet men. if you personally loving akechi or see something romantic in shuake, atlus has contempt for you. they’ll bait you with a heart over some them dancing at a concert, but they won’t do anything to upset homophobes. it is not normal for good writers to bait a character like akechi over fans for years. i’ve seen fans back during vanilla days spending money on merch for more akechi. and then years later, you get more bait for atlus can get more money because what if this time, guys!! don’t fall for it. 

personally no amount of headcanon angst would get me to be okay with this treatment. even though i’ve said a lot of mean shit about this ship and the fanon and akechi’s character, i can still see homophobia when it’s happening. at the very least don’t praise a company or a story that actively hates your guts.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Updated thoughts on where I’m at with “Persona 5″ (palace 3, I just need to send the calling card out):

1) My party rankings: Morgana > Makoto > Ryuji > Ann > Yusuke

Morgana is my prime healer, so he’s at the top of my list. Makoto is a great all-around character (her “nuke everybody” skill really comes in clutch). Ryuji is great at offense.

Ann...she’s fine but I feel like I’d rather have Ryuji or Makoto on my team. She’s great as a backup.

Yusuke, I hate to say this, is my least favorite mainly because he tends to die/get critically injured. I don’t know why this keeps happening since no matter how much I upgrade Yusuke, he gets his ass beat. 

/

2) Not the biggest fan of how the game approaches the female characters. There’s this uncomfortable feeling of oversexualization, which stands out since the same can’t be said about the male characters. 

Ann’s whole character is that she’s seen only as as a sex object by Kamoshida and the student body. The story is technically fine since it’s about her standing up for herself and taking down her abuser...but the game undermines her story by having the heroes also objectify her (ex.: Yusuke forcing Ann to do nude modeling for him, Ryuji and Morgana trying to look up Ann’s skirt when she was sleeping). So, when the villains do it, it’s bad, but when the heroes do it, it’s good? 

Makoto’s character arc is a bit better, but still has some uncomfortable, skeevy undertones. If you fail palace 3, apparently Makoto will be forced to work as a prostitute or something. And then there’s the fact that the villain wants to keep Makoto’s sister as a slave (they don’t say “sex slave”, but the implication is there).

You know...I would’ve loved the option to customize Joker/Ren/Akira, especially being able to play as a female Joker. But now I’m wondering if that’d be a good idea considering this is how Atlus is treating their female characters.

/

3) I’m not 100% sold on the storyline just yet. Now that I have a better grasp of what’s going on, I’m not really feeling what the story is trying to do. I mean, yes, we are the Phantom Thieves. We’re a vigilante group that goes around “stealing” people’s hearts and making them change their ways. What I’m not convinced about is that we’re being treated like actual criminals.

Like...if we get caught, what the fuck are we gonna get charged with? “Joker, you’re under arrest for stealing the physical embodiment of the person’s desires. Also, apparently for trespassing as well since you entered the Upside Down through your iPhone without permission”. And the fact that everyone is going along with the “Phantom Thieves are actual criminals” perspective without questioning things is just baffling to me. 

This is lowkey reminding me of “Trauma Center”, another Atlus game. The story in that game was also pretty far-fetched and unbelievable, so that just might be Atlus’ way of writing stories. 

Also, maybe the story irks me in particular since I’m a lawyer-in-training. I’m just imagining myself in court defending the Phantom Thieves, yelling at the prosecution, “WHAT ARE THEY BEING CHARGED WITH?! THEY DIDN’T BREAK AN ACTUAL LAW!”

/

4) Palace 2 is definitely my favorite setting so far. Palace 1 began to annoy the shit out of me, especially with the music, while Palace 3 is just...okay. Palace 2 was very creative and I liked how the artist storyline meshed into the game

/

Okay, that’s it so far. Will update again once I finish palace 3. 

[p5confessions]

I hate that in rank 5 of Futaba's confidant the only thing you can say about Mishima is either "he's not my friend" or "he is my classmate" (again, denying that you aren't friends with him). Like, why? Why we have 10+ romance options in game to choose from but we can't choose if we can be friends with Mishima or not? Some fans like him very much and it sucks your protag wouldn't like him no matter what you do, especially when he was one of the few people that cheered on and believed in the Phantom Thieves from the very start of the game... And Joker would continue to dislike him even after rank 10 of his confidant and having a "blood oath" and "deep trust and bond of friendship" with the guy, like...why?

I know he is a comic relief character but being that type of character doesn't discredit him from being able to have friends or just be likeable in general. Other comic reliefs characters from previous games like Yosuke or Junpei or Eikichi could be funny and comic relief while being respected and liked by their friends and the protags...

Atlus did Mishima so dirty and I hate that, Mishima deserve better!

[tricksheart]

What would you say is your favorite thing about writing your character? Is it their characterization, their development so far, or would it be something else entirely? Are you proud of how far they've come since you started your blog? Is there anything you'd do differently if given the chance?

Sorry if this seems short compared to the dash that also got this question for some odd reason. But I think it's a combination of all things for writing this character in the long run. I do have some regrets, namely having Akira for so long that I don't like the idea that his 'canon' name is Ren Amamiya but it's not the fault of the fans who liked his name as 'Akira Kurusu', as the official ( some like to claim Atlus didn't have too much input in the original manga but still hasn't come out publicly stating that the manga is not canon since it's even following some elements of Royal now ) manga has his name as Akira and not Ren as in Mementos Mission which IS a non canon manga. I guess having my muse so long, I just like the name they gave him previously. That and the 'fans' putting me and my feelings down just because I like Akira over Ren in naming terms. Hence why I don't like the name wars in the Persona fandom as a whole. It's exhausting and draining to say the least. I think that is one reason why some fans left the franchise. Also, I hate to say it but this fandom has really went downhill in the past 6 to 7 years and it's sad. Although, there are still some good people here and I commend them for sticking with me and others who still are decent when it comes to the fandom. I am grateful for all of my Persona muse mutuals and also those who write with me outside of that too. That with all of my world building, verses, crossovers, silly things, and everything between, I am still glad everyone I met has given me a chance to write the protagonist and my own spin on his character. I really am thankful to all that interact with me or my muse.

[1eos]

Hii Princess Kendra! So I’m playing P5 and (this is a mini rant abt Ak*chi’s character so please ignore this if this is a bother) but I genuinely wish hardcore Ak*chi fans could just realize that they’re obsessed with the Potential that this character had instead of the character itself… because even with Atlus tweaking parts of his Link and expression of his personality in Royal, they really just gave us all fucking nothing in the end (which is a shame because I feel like his character could’ve been a genuine exploration into how childhood trauma can differently affect a person’s psyche and self worth & unfortunately increase the likelihood of getting them gr00med etc etc). It’s so sad honestly… anyways Ryuji & Yusuke >>>>>. Sorry for this and hope u have an amazing day!

dont ever apologize for being right!!!!!! cuz you’re spitting nothing but facts! i totally agree nd i say it all the time but the two narrative shortcomings of persona 5 is that it doesn’t explore the trauma of the characters enough nd that it’s relying too hard on persona 4. like p4 balanced that exploration of trauma w light comedy hijicks better bc the narrative structure nd core gameplay mechanic was overcoming your shadow which is the physical embodiment of your trauma almost. you spend hours with each character exploring their deepest issues at the time! even persona 1-3 make addressing trauma a fundamental part of the narrative (in persona 3 the characters don’t get their evolved personas until they begin to heal from a traumatic event in game) wheras in persona 5 they give u a taste of that trauma nd then move on. nd its up to the social links to do the bulk of the fleshing out so if the s-link is underwhelming (and akechi’s fucking was) you don’t really get much more? but persona fans still love akechi bc atlus borrowed facets from p4 characters notably naoto nd adachi but we don’t love naoto just bc she was a fucking detective. just like ppl aren’t obsessed w adachi JUST bc he was fake. but bc ppl know of the kid detective archetype or the backstabber archetype they can fill in the blanks when in reality the akechi we got was v v v v empty. like now that im on my 3rd or 4th playthrough ive noticed that this rivalry akechi has for u comes out of fucking nowhere. and AGAIN its something done well in p4 nd stuck in here. he just tries to talk to you nd vaguely trauma dumps while ure like ??????? in the coffee shop so his betrayal isnt shocking kgakgkag when ure betrayed in p3 nd p4 its genuinely a shock bc 1. u spent a LOT of time w those characters, naturally, nd they purposefully were made to be a comfort to you of sorts which is exactly why the back stabbing hurts! whereas akechi is suspicious the whole time. which could be fine if they actually gave u hints that he had a hate boner for the protag. like it wouldve been so easy to have akechi be soooo nasty to akira in small doses mean girl style when they were alone in a way that directly contrasts how nice he was in public bc he had an image. like there was so much to be done w someone who craves attention nd success bc of their abandoment issues nd how even with power he still was subject to being used nd manipulated bc he had no one around him that truly gave a fuck about his well-being but in the end we got a really one note character with this great mask off moment at the end nd that was it. literally i need a podcast bc there’s so much to talk abt how persona 4’s mega success affected persona 5

[nightshadedawn]

Persona 5 Royal Playthrough pt3

I ended up going through two Palaces before I could update y’all. Oh well.

...Yeah, no, quit calling me Miss Special Snowflake's boyfriend. It's not happening.

Ryuji, Morgana, and Yusuke having a conversation in the laundromat: "It's like he's our mom," says Ryuji... the mom friend.

Every time Morgana is like "I have to turn into a human so no one else can have Lady Ann!" then expects no one else to hear him makes me laugh. Like, bitch, no.

I have the restaurant in my Thieves Den 'cause I like it. Yusuke, Ryuji, and Morgana are there. They're so precious.

I got a three in a row Tycoon on cutthroat!!!

Ryuji and Ann just keep going "Shoulda figured" and other versions of the statement every time I win.

Ann just rejected Morgana's feelings HARD. I am happy.

Ryuji is too good, honestly. Why would anyone not like him? He's... He's always trying to build the team up, make them proud of themselves and what they've done. I will admit that he has his moments of being not a great human, but they're teenagers who were given absurd powers, so honestly, can you blame them?

I didn't know darts was an actual minigame! There's so many minigames. I'm so happy.

I don't like Akechi. I don't know why some people do. Like, his death scene was a bit... too late for a redemption for me, right after he tried to kill Joker, several times. His pain is understandable, but still... I can't.

Their "two sides of the same coin" also doesn't seem particularly fair. It's totally uneven in everything but color schemes.

Guys, GUYS, please, PLEASE decide whether you're going to react to my teasing or not.

"We don't have to deal with them directly," Ryuji says joyfully about the mafia. Oh you sweet, sweet, innocent child, if only you knew what I do.

I literally can't play this game around anyone else because I tend to yell "BABY!" to Ryuji, Ann, and Yusuke and "BITCH" or "FUCKER" to... a rather long list of villains in this game... and Makoto.

I can literally feel Yusuke's anxiety about his painting when you take him to Leblanc to see Sayuri.

How can you say Yusuke isn't gay when he says everything I do is beautiful?

I love Ryuji's 9th social link. It's LITERALLY written like a confession scene. This also means I kinda hate it because... I can't date him.

Also... PRETTY BOY RYUJI PRETTY BOY RYUJI PRETTY BOY RYUJI

I actually kinda thought that the new scene for Ryuji being a crossdresser is kinda funny??? Is this bad??? I wanna see him in a dress, tho. I gotta agree, he'd be a natural. Not the like, painfully obviously not taking it seriously from the dancing game, though.

Though I do think it's valid that he freaks out when two strange adults come up to him and try to take him somewhere, especially in a place known for being shady, and at night.

...When Ryuji complains about it, I do feel bad about ditching him. Then again, I blame the cat.

Ryuji may be my ideal type on paper, but I'm also highly attracted to Yusuke and this is so totally unfair.

*softly chanting* butlers butlers butlers butlers

Don't mind me just... *makes meticulous plot to avoid having Makoto join the team that i may or may not write a fanfic about*

Makoto is one dumbass bitch. Like, honestly, there's nothing she does that's in any way remotely smart.

...I thought I'd just skip Makoto's scenes until she became relevant, but here I am, still skipping her scenes. Does that mean she’s still irreleveant?

"Witch" I suggest, and Makoto complains! "Would you prefer "Bitch"? I can use that too.

I put Yusuke on the team in the middle of the palace through settings, replacing Morgana, who had been standing right behind me. Which made Yusuke stand right behind me. It looked like he was holding onto my waist and standing uncomfortably close. Bro, babe, I love you, but not in front of my boyfriend and girlfriend!

Just accept the compliment, guys, I'm not going to compliment Queen.

...Opening chests with Ann or Ryuji is just so sweet because they're so affectionate and touchy feely. Especially Ryuji.

Math. Fucking. Sucks. I should not have to use math in a game. I hate this. Obviously it's the Palace Makoto comes in that this happened.

Well, I finished the Palace in a day. I love the feeling. But it was getting close there. Joker and Yusuke were down to no spells...

...Yoshizawa hasn't showed up yet. When is she getting shoehorned in?

WHY IS THE VELVET ROOM RED!?

My very first playthrough I didn't execute a single execution except for the first one we have to do. It  really screwed me over my second playthrough...

...I broke the electric chair. That's certainly something that happened.

147 games of Tycoon later and I've only been a beggar 31 times in total, versus the pure thirty wins in just Cutthroat.

They're in their summer uniforms and it makes make miss warmer weather already. It's fucking snowing outside. Grrrr.

Beat Kaneshiro! ...Wasn't a fan of his new boss battle. I'm even playing on safe mode! But whatever.

Makoto is a DISASTER at Tycoon. She exclusively got beggar all three times I played with her!

...RYUJI YOU CAN'T SAY SHIT LIKE THAT AND NOT LET ME DATE YOU.

Ann, sweeties, baby, you're doing so well.

She confessed to me, then in the call afterwards it was basically insinuated I proposed... WHICH IS LIKE FUCK YEAH 'CAUSE SHE ACCEPTED IT.

It makes me think of the future conversation where they're talking about marriage.

Anyway, if you haven't noticed, l love Ann.

My next playthrough I'm not gong to date her, though. I'm a completionist and I want ALL of the possible awards. But... I refuse to cheat on Ann. So I'll date everyone else then just hang with Ryuji... despite how cringy some of the date things are.

...If Akechi wasn't, you know EVIL and tried to KILL ME, SEVERAL TIMES, I might, MIGHT, like him. But in truth, I think that's really just the Persona 5: Revival talking. We get... into some stuff during that.

I know that either Atlus or the translators know EXACTLY what goes on in the Persona fandom because otherwise "He's too pretty to be wrong" would not be an option when talking to the newspaper girl about Akechi. I have to agree with her that his looks aren't really, you know, awesome enough for that.

Also, I read it as "He's too petty to be wrong" at first and I think that's an accurate sum of his character.

YO AKECHI-FUCK I HAVE NO NEED TO SEE YOUR ASS LIKE THAT WHEN I HAVE BOTH A BF AND AND GF.

...fucker fucking giving me shit about my fake glasses...

If you COULD date the boy out of mod, Akechi would definitely be the one they were pushing you to date. Like Makoto. Or Yoshizawa.

But hey, at least I get to not be nice to him.

I remember seeing this picture where Ann, Ryuji, and Joker kept going to the movies together and seeing 3D movies, and Joker couldn't wear the 3D glasses properly because of his own. I keep imagining that picture during this event with Caroline and Justine.

You know what? Some people call Joker a loli lover because of them, but nope! He's just adopted two more siblings. That is my stance on it.

FUcking

Fucker

WHAT THE FRRRRRRRR

FUCK YOU ATULS OR TRANSLATORS OR WHATEVER

APHRODITE AND MARS ARE FROM TWO DIFFERENT MYTHOS. Aphrodite is GREEK, Mars is ROMAN. Their reversed are VENUS and ARES. USE ONE OR THE OTHER PEOPLE.

I get very pissed about this, and it's worse with Hades.

7/4 is the day I am screaming at, if you were wondering.

My dad asked me if the other students think Joker's stupid because every time I answer a question right they get all surprised.

I don't really like Makoto, as I'm sure you've noticed, but she was super nice about Ryuji's special move idea. And that put her ahead of Akechi in my book.

TESTS ARE NERVE WRACKING EVEN WHEN THEY'RE FICTIONAL

Yusuke and Ryuji are good boys, the best boys. And they're so awesome about their special move.

AND RYUJI OFFERED MONEY FOR YUSUKE'S FOOD. And implied that he did it before???? Ryuji, you best boy.

This boys' outing DOES make me happy, though. Like, insanely happy. Dunno why.

Maybe because Joker gets to be so flipping cheesy.

...fuck you, Yoshizawa.

HONESTLY WHAT THE EVER LOVING--- Grr. Too many choices while with her. Too many. OOC Joker when with her. 0/10.

I LOVE THE FESTIVAL PHOTO

And you know, it's really hard to choose between Lala-chan and Ann, but... GONNA TAKE ANN ON A DATE

Got her some flowers. Lets see if we can give them to her this time!

"Such a good FRIEND." Babe, we're DATING. For like, TWO WEEKS NOW.

AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO GIVE HER FLOWERS

Ann called Yusuke a pretty boy, but then she's missing out on the REAL pretty boy, Pretty Boy Ryuji.

Ryuji, why're you so worried about other girls when you've got ME?

"I like the shade." "What are you, moss!?" Oh, admit it, Ryuji, I'm growing on you.

Cargona. Snrk. Gods, I love you, Ryuji.

Dome town with Ryuji! "Isn't it all couples?" That's the point!

I COULD GIVE RYUJI THE ROSES!?

Sadly, I bought those for Ann. Ryuji, you get the noodles.

AND HE FUCKING LOVED IT.

"It feels like I really captured Ryuji's heart!" FUCK YEAH I DID

Gonna give Yusuke the bracelet when I get the chance.

Why is everyone color coded in the chat room? Kawakami, Akechi, Mishima, and the reporter are all ORANGE. What's the point? Well, Akechi's more of a golden orange, but close enough.

While Mishima is not my first choice for a date, he's definitely not my last.

...But the boy really needs some fucking sleep. He's not drawn with the bags under his eyes, but I can see them!

It's not fair that they give Akechi a kicked puppy sprite. I'm... goddamnit, they're trying to make me not hate him.

When Makoto doesn't know something, I'm brought great joy.

NO DAD MAKOTO IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND ANN IS AND SHE IS LITERALLY R I G H T T H E R E

First day in Futaba's Palace! I've gotta say, this is my second favorite palace. Kamoshida, Futaba, Madarame, Sae, Okumura, Shido, Kaneshiro, Holy Grail. In that order. I HATE Kaneshiro's place and dealing with the Holy Grail. But whatevs, man. I love this game. (Vanilla, at least, this one is still on the fence)

I found out a cool little thing. On the uphill sand slopes in the town (don't know about anywhere else) if you're running and turn back quickly, Joker will do a little animation to steady himself. It was cool and made it seem, I dunno, more human? Anyway, while I was admiring this, Ryuji and Yusuke just stood at the top of the slope and Ann followed me while I was running. Best girlfriend ever.

Kin-Ki is looking pretty kin-ky if you know what I'm sayin'

Please don't murder me because I do terrible puns.

*we fall through the trap door* *Ryuji starts screaming* Same, baby, same.

...Makoto is seriously annoying. Like, she's got no business acting as familiar with Futaba's situation. The one who WOULD be the most familiar is Yusuke, and I'm glad he recognizes that. It's not the exact same, none of their stories are after all, but I feel like those two get each other better than even Ryuji and Joker understand each other.

Yusuke and Ryuji's special attack is THE BEST

Ryuji and Joker getting up close and personal in the shadows. All those fanfics coming true, man.

I thought Futaba was sloth, not wrath? Why are her Will Seeds called Wrath?

Beat it in one day! It's so satisfying to watch all those achievements when I leave the palace.

You know, I'm thinking of wearing the Christmas outfits for the final battle. Just to be kinda funny.

Spending a relaxing day with Yusuke after going through Futaba's Palace... kinda want to take him to the bathhouse to check out that new scene, but I also REALLY wanna feed the boy... gonna feed the boy.

Apparently I can only make 'decent curry.' Which is fine. Because "I" can't make curry at all. Joker, you've done much better than I.

THE DATE CHANGE SCREEN HAD A RAINBOW AND RYUJI WAS COMING OVER ON THE SAME DAY FUCK YEAH MY BISEXUAL BABY

...Broooooo, the way you talk about your manga is how I talk right before I start shipping.

Took him to the bathhouse, 'cause I don't gotta worry about Mama Sakamoto feeding him.

...Can I take Ann to the bathhouse?

Asked Ryuji to move in. He was all up for the idea until he remembered that I live in an attic.

I'm Charismatic now!

...I was all hoping Ann would stop by but then Akechi asked me out. Laaaaaaaame.

Ryuji's smile is so fucking cute.

...I say we just be honest, and everyone's so fucking stupid about it until Makoto explains it. This pisses me off. They're not that dumb... At least, they weren't until Makoto showed up.

Futaba's hiding in the closet. ...I've spent too many weeks making jokes about closets to not have a joke about it.

Really, Yusuke? You see those books and think she can't understand?

...Wait, that sassy tone of voice... You were TRYING to pull a reaction of her. I knew I shipped those two for a reason. OTP and BroTP. Doesn't matter, they're both awesome.

I love you Ann, but I don't think your situations were the same at all. It's not like both are valid and bad, but... different.

Joker is SO fast compared to the others, especially when he's speeding.

What the...

Holy fuck...

JOKER IS TOO EFFING COOL

THAT MOVE TO GET FROM THE ENTRANCE TO TO TREASURE DOOR? Awesome!

Damn, Joker has my heart too.

I kinda wish we could see Futaba's costumes in her Persona. That would be pretty neat.

The moment right before Wakaba appears is so aesthetically pleasing.

...Futaba being happy is almost enough for me to accept Maruki's offer, and I haven't gotten there yet.

Ryuji and Ann keep smacking each other out of their ailments. Like, you guys just love each other so much! It's awesome.

Joker has lackluster responses to Wakaba... I'm hoping that isn't one of those "Answer these wrong and you break her!" things... Not that I think I was, but still.

I liked Futaba's new animation for when she defied her mother.

I wish the anime looked more the cutscenes. I'm trying to rewatch the anime so I can pinpoint specific moments for future editing purposes, but it's kinda painful.

1- This is the SECOND TIME you've landed on Yusuke while running from trouble.

2- YUSUKE LET GO OF MY GIRL

No Makoto, I don't want to go see Futaba with you! I can go see her myself.

So, I like Takemi's new voice with her lines during this scene.

Sure, she collapses every so often and sleeps for a while. Stays like that for a few days. Sorry that I put her into a coma for a month, Boss...

SHE LOOKS SO CUTE WITHOUT GLASSES

Guys, we have a month. Stop worrying.

THE TWINS ARE SO CUTE WHILE HANGING ONTO THE BENCH PRESS

Damn, Joker's dying to the amusement of two little girls.

I'm kinda disappointed I didn't get results for all that training. But I liked the scene.

Yusuke just casually be lugging bigass paintings around.

Taking the girls to the church may have been one of the funnier moments. These cement them as Joker's little sisters. With Futaba. Damn, Joker, you got no brothers.

Yusuke promises to come by every day and we can tell him to take his clothes off. ATLUS, you have some EXPLAINING to DO.

..And Yusuke took it and ran with it. My sweet summer child, I don't think I could handle you in as little as possible on the day to day.

"The heat induced delirium made me think outside the box." Same.

Guts takes sooooooooooooo long to level up.

"Punish me more" he says, as if Takemi won't do it.

"Good god. Well, none of my medicine can cure THAT." AT LEAST WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE

BATHHOUSE WITH YUSUKE

Awe, he had fun. :)