30 DAY PERSONA CHALLENGE: Day Ten – Favourite Arcana
the most interesting part of this challenge was the fact that this not only called into question the matter of favourite arcana thematically (what it represents and how this is represented), but also needed to be strongly impactful in some way across all three games. although several do feature this, there are also more that only have 2/3 characters that were memorable. for me, I decided not to consider those unless I could not find any 3/3 arcana that fit the bill (though I’ll count them for runners up).
chosen for the differences and similarities all connected by central theme, today’s challenge winner is aracana IV, the emperor.
for the purpose of explanation, I’ll be looking into examining the arcana itself, and the characters which embody it across p3-p5 – that is, sanada akihiko, tatsumi kanji, and kitagawa yusuke. le’go!
according to google, the emperor is the fourth of the major arcana, representing wisdom, dominion, regulation, unyielding power, and the ultimate male ego. in other words, the manly man’s arcana. when it appears, it is said to symbolize stability and security in one’s life through hard work and discipline, and that you are now in control of defining your own rules and boundaries in life.
this is reflected beautifully across all three characters represented by this arcana, as each of their personal narratives and journey’s within these narratives share similar themes of self-actualization, the desire to define themselves, and markedly different representations of what is masculinity. it is also interesting to note that each of them span the age-range of the immediate casts of the games – with kanji being younger than the protagonist, yusuke being the same age, and akihiko being a year older.
the emperor & self-actualization
perhaps the most explicit of this pursuit is akihiko, who seeks stability in his life (i.e. the protection of those he cherishes) through the constant pursuit of strength, namely in the physical sense. at the start of his personal journey, he focuses to an obsessive degree on “becoming stronger” as an unhealthy coping mechanism to deal with the grief and trauma of witnessing (and being unable to do anything about it) his sister miki’s death in the orphanage fire. even if he may not conceptualize it precisely this way, it is clear he struggles to define his own worth outside of his capacity to help and protect people he loves. his personal journey and progress towards self-actualization centers around his relationship with the person closest to him – aragaki shinjiro, with whom he shares a deep platonic bond akin to brotherhood. the guy dogged him for two years to get him to come back and was clearly willing to keep going indefinitely – and although part of it was most definitely fueled by his desire for shinji to face his own demons and “stop running away”, there was also a part fueled by his own desire to not let the last person he loves slip away from him without doing his damnest to hold on tight to him not matter the distance and walls shinji put up. because if he could hold onto him, and even help him become better himself, that has to mean he’s still strong and can protect him too, right? wrong shinji’s death (in his arms man, holding his damn hand, which is symbolic in and of itself but that’s for another day) is the turning point in his personal journey, which ultimately culminates with him beginning to realize that he is only one man, and only one man can do so much, but that doesn’t make what you do meaningless nor mean you shouldn’t still try to become better and strive to protect what/who you love.
kanji’s journey in p4 is a journey of self-acceptance and defining “masculinity” in his own terms (more on that later…), reconciling the truths about himself and what he feels the need to profess as a person. like akihiko, he also struggles with the concept of personal strength – this time, though this struggle is between kanji’s passions and gentleness (and arguably, sexuality) coming into conflict with the “tough guy” image he also possesses. the “feminine” passions of needlework, his gentle emotional heart, and his newly realized potential sexual orientation are all things that aren’t what a “man” is supposed to be like, as told by society. yet, in terms of gender identity, kanji most definitely defines himself as a young man. throughout the course of his s.link, he works to accept himself as the soft tough-boy that he really is, and ends up reaching the conclusion that he can still be a manly tough guy and also love his mama, sew, and maybe like boys too. he discovers his definition of “tatsumi kanji” in the wider scheme of things.
yusuke’s journey (as was mentioned before in a couple of previous challenges) is defined through metaphor, standing out amongst the previous emperors. as he comes to terms with the abuse he faced at the hands of his former mentor, he struggles with being able to produce his artwork any longer (i.e. the authentic representation of himself, defined in physical form). stability in yusuke’s life is tied to his ability to make his artwork – it’s suffocating having the foundation of your being unable to be actualized. he is able to find within himself the motivation and authenticity in his work by the end of his journey, and actualizes himself as kitagawa yusuke. no longer is he “kitagawa yusuke, pupil of madarame”; instead, he is his own person, his own artist, and can now ascribe a definition to himself within the wider world of both visual artists and broader society.
the emperor & defining of masculinity
as was mentioned prior, each of the emperor boys embody different iterations of “masculinity” as a concept – yet by all sharing the same arcana (that is considered to be the embodiment of masculinity), there is the unspoken agreement that each version of this concept is equally as valid an iteration.
akihiko is the emperor who fits the image of the “traditional man” – he is respected and acknowledged for his physical strength (he’s the captain of his boxing team, and according to the paper and trophy awards in his room, he’s clearly been recognized for this), and seeks out more physical strength too. in terms of looks, he’s very traditionally handsome naturally – doesn’t really go out of his way to look a certain way, but just ends up being good looking by nature of being akihiko, rocking short-cropped hair and a clearly masculine face (even if he’s still got some of that baby softness around the edges). although he is an passionate and subsequently emotional person (and “a crybaby” at least according to shinji), that passion is also closely tied to aggression, which is a very common masculine association due to societal pressure surrounding men’s’ allowed expressions of emotions (particularly emotions of distress). aki’s also clearly a hot-blooded young man no matter how awkward he is around girls – mr. “just close your eyes and let our bodies do the talking”. boy.
tatsumi “softest tough boy” kanji puts on an exaggeratedly masculine front, styling himself up like a punk, complete with piercings -- though this is not something typically associated with masculinity in the traditional sense, it is when it comes to punk rock fashion. he is openly emotional, and pursues and excels in what are considered to be traditionally “feminine” hobbies – sewing and needlework crafts. and perhaps most importantly, he is heavily implied to be not straight – whether he is bisexual or simply gay isn’t really clear, but its evident that he at least entertains the idea of attraction towards men or masculinity-presenting figures such a naoto (even if they do not identify as a man). societally, there is a stigma over queer men that they are somehow “less a man” – yet! kanji’s just as much an emperor as both aki or yusuke, and jut as much a manly man, even if he might think a guy’s cute.
yusuke is the least traditionally masculine of the three when it comes to his looks – he is an incredibly pretty young man, with graceful features and mannerisms that verge into the effeminate (although not in a stereotypical mocking way). he is also the only one out of the three to not have an image or past-time involving physical violence – akihiko’s got his boxing, and kanji has his curb-stomping punkass beat-downs for his mama. he is also deeply in touch with his emotions as an artist. despite his beautiful looks, he has an incredibly deep and melodious voice in both the sub and dub, clearly defining him as a man. also, in contrast to both aki and kanji, yusuke seems unconcerned with the experiences of sexuality, although he does explicitly express aesthetic admiration for the feminine form (i.e. asking ann to model nude for him not out of some perverted desire, but just to admire her aesthetic beauty). this can be taken to mean he could be asexual, or just not a very sexual guy in general even if he’s not on that spectrum – this, of course, may be subject to change if we ever get a p5 remake involving a female protagonist (ala p3p style) and yusuke romance route becomes a thing. either way, it is a departure from the two previous representatives of the arcana.
this definitely got a little or a lottle longer than expected, but I really had fun dissecting this particular arcana and why it ranks as my favourite over all. can’t wait to see what new boy joins their ranks in the eventual p6!
runners up; the moon (for yuuki and shinji), and (the wheel of) fortune (for ryoji and naoto)
