Persona: a question of perspective
My brain works weird and my obsessions cycle between 17 different things every so often, and my current obsession is Persona 5: The Phantom X, yes it's a gacha, deal with it, I posted Genshin concepts as well, however I'm not here to post a character concept, at least not yet, I am here to analyse how 3 of these characters shine a light into how much perspective can shine in the world of persona, that being the 2 Psychic original characters and a 3rd who should genuinely be a psychic character (and may or may not be the character I post a concept about): Haruna Nishimori codename Riddle, Tomoko Noge codename Moko, and Rikuto Shimizu the Photographer (who I believe should be a Psychic Saboteur or Elucidator under the codename Change or Flash), I'll be using the Codenames from now on though Rikuto for the Photographer.
Let's start with Moko: She is a simple character, best friend of your first human ally, hard worker, and has a crush on the main character but her showcase on perspective is in how her synergy showcases determination, she used to be a baseball player until she was forcefully retired by the infamous subway slammer shattering her dreams of baseball, and yet her determination only grows, there are other characters in the game who have given up on their dreams, phantom idol Okyann and phantom idol Phoebe (both elucidators funnily enough) are characters who have abandoned a desire, neither of them are depresed for this but it is something they have left behind for something else, and this reflects in their phantom idol forms, Okyann takes the form of her High School days, dressed in Gyaru like she used to do, and Phoebe takes the outfit of a dance she did when she was still pursuing it professionally, they are characters who have moved on from their lives but still look back very fondly at what used to be, Moko on the other hand appears as she is now, Bold and Daring, exploring new horizons, and just wanting to be helpful unlike her close friend and real Phantom Thief Closer, she holds no symbols of Baseball on her, she is a showcase of her vision to keep moving forward, showing how perspective on your situation can truly change where that determination will take you.
Next is Riddle: A young kid, she is a genius by all standards, already accepted into College at a very respectable age of 10 years old, and yet she remains close with her friends, going on adventure with them to enjoy all the time they have together, and with one of her friends engulfing himself in study out of jealousy, she pulls him out of that spiral and though their time together is still short they reconcile, however instead I am delving into theory territory for her showcase in perspective, as she is one of two Phantom Idol characters who have been shown physically participating in a Palace infiltration in official media, opening the possibility of her having become a real Phantom Thief, who are categoricaly characters who have been wronged in a very personal way, them or their friends being hurt in a life changing way with the perpetrator unpunished, betrayed by parental figures and used as pawns, conned by a jerk with their family under threath they are the vengance of those hurt to the heart, so why would Riddle become one? Well she is a very perceptive child but due to her age many are not to take her perspective seriously and her inquisitive nature and respectable intellect could have gotten her in trouble, and yet even through these struggles both with her friends and whatever happened to awaken her persona, she remains cheerful, she shows the value of a youthful perception, ever positive and always inquisitive, and a perspective that should be respected, else someone gets away with something evil.
Last in the list is my beloved photographer: Rikuto's story is quite short so far, he is a freelance photographer, always looking for a subject to capture in image, but what calls my attention is what he is both very perceptive to, and what he tries so hard to capture: Change, he detects subtle changes in life, the energy of a location, the stride of someone's walk, and before even we know it, the mental state of Wonder, he has a very unique perspective to life, noting changes that no one else can, and adoring them as they appear, and yet he struggles, he dislikes the stagnant life of routine, the ever unchanging cycles of the many pedestrians in Shibuya AND the ever vibrant lights of the red district, always on high power never lowering or rising ... until you look at it from a different perspective, he is the first to notice a shift in the protagonists routine, the first to tell that something gave him HOPE, and when looking at those stagnant lights, he takes a step left and finds a glimmer, he finds himself in a position where changing where he looks allows him to see more change, sadly that is where his story ends, I am hoping that it gets expanded in the future and he is allowed to showcase the value of Multiple Perspectives, both in art, and in dealing with problems.
I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what point I wanted to make with this, but I do know that all these characters are characters I adore, they are determined and hard working and they all provide such a beatiful set of showcases of vision and perspective holding power in how someone advances in their life, what do you do with your determination? Do you attempt to return to your dream (closer) or move forward to a new frontier; what do you do with your limited time as a friend advances beyond your limits? Do you shut them out and focus on reaching those limits or do you spend that time you have and make the best with that friendship and hopefully maintain it onto reunion, not necessarily mutually exclusive with that chase; What do you do when life itself stagnates, when your dream hits a wall with no clear path to progress? Do you stop? Do you stagnate yourself? Or do you change perspectives and search for a new path. Eh, I got too philosophical, I suggest you experience this yourself, P5X may be gacha but it is very F2P friendly and it's story is engaging and beautiful so go check it out, oh and p5x-theories too, they are a valuable resource in everything game related, lore discussions, fan art collection, and future content, the only thing they can't help you with is actually playing the game so enjoy :)
