#nonsensical ramble

[scraftyisthebest]

Y'know it struck me but P4R's All-Out Attack finisher screen is different from Persona 5 and P3R's style, which ends in a stylized splash art AoA finisher screen in both cases.

P4R has a 3D shot of the finishing character posing with a splash screen in the background instead.

That's a change, but...

I do wonder if this is giving a look/hint at what Persona 6's AoA finishers will be like. If P6's AoA is like P4R's, I'd be hella down for that! I love P5's style but P6 should take things to the next level imo, and this kind of pose in-engine combined with a splash art backdrop would be a nice way to do that in Persona 6 (with green ofc!).

[bucked-it-up]

Thinking about the helicopter scene and how Buck knew he felt something for Tommy but he couldn't put it into words. Buck did know however that if he kept telling to Tommy that maybe that feeling of never beeing quite on the ground, always feeling like he was missing something maybe that was with Tommy. When he felt Tommy's lips on his it was like he was push softly to the the ground and like the universe said this is what you have been looking for.

[ardentglory]

.

[scraftyisthebest]

One thing I kind of like about the Sun Arcana Social Links or Confidants and the characters associated with them is that they in a way reflect the ending of the Fool's Journey of the respective protagonists involved. The Sun Arcana is close to the end of the Tarot, just before Judgement and World, which are the endpoint of The Fool's Journey, and the themes of the Sun Arcana are clarity, happiness, and accomplishment after the darkness of the Moon Arcana, and in the end being truly fulfilled and satisfied at the end of a Fool's Journey. Akinari, Yumi/Ayane, and Tora's resolutions mirror the respective protagonists' endings at the end of their Fool's Journeys, ie the endings of the games in a way.

Akinari is a rather interesting (if bittersweet) spin on the Sun Arcana's themes, but he fits because even though his whole thing is that he was doomed to die young because of his terminal illness, in the end, he accepts his death not out of resignation, but because he's fulfilled. He writes a book and manages to finish it and give it to Makoto before he dies, and later it turns out his dying words to his mother were of gratitude. He didn't lament how short his life was. He was grateful to her for giving him the life he did have, no matter how short it was, and he's glad to have been born, to have been her son. He did find happiness in the end because he found his answer to life's greatest question, and in his dying moments, he had no regrets. He made the most of his finite life and managed to make it matter through the smallest things, namely the book he wrote and how he will live on through it. Much like how Makoto himself ends up dying in the end because he sacrificed his life to seal Nyx away, but he died fulfilled because he found meaning through the connections he forged, and he also had no regrets. They both died, but they know they'll live on in the ways that matter through the lives they will impact. Akinari through his book, and Makoto through the bonds he made with others and how he impacted their lives, and the lives of those who will be impacted by his friends' lives.

Yumi and Ayane are kind of opposite spins on a similar path of self-honesty. At the start, Yumi pursues acting aggressively and competitively to run away from herself, at the expense of others. At the same time, Ayane is a people pleaser who doesn't think too highly of her talent and sidelines herself and her own dreams and happiness for others' happiness and success. Yumi ends up confronting her own messy feelings about her dad's presence (or lack thereof) in her life but accepts that her parents, even her dad, gave her life, and she gave meaning to theirs, and resolves to live for herself. Ayane meanwhile learns to live for herself and pursue her own ambitions honestly, and despite one quitting drama and the other continuing her path in music they both seek to find ways to contribute to others' lives and bring happiness to others. Both of those mirror the way Yu's time in Inaba ends, because he came at first with no real purpose but left with a sense of clarity of who he is, who he wants to be, and as someone who is able to connect with others and bring meaning to others' lives.

And Toranosuke is pretty different but similar to Ren, since he started out as someone who was framed for false charges against him like Ren was and endured societal disgrace, but managed to win over people as a politician through honesty and sincere conviction in his speeches. He's a politician who is genuinely committed to the values he speaks about and truly believes in them and reforming society, much like how Ren despite being a Persona User and Phantom Thief ends up firmly standing by his values and maintains his principles. They both become the kind of person who inspires change through fighting honestly in what they believe is right, even if they have to endure disgrace in doing so, in their respective paths.

I'm probably reaching and looking into it too much, but it's a nice parallel in all cases. The Sun Arcana characters and their arcs are, in a way, a mirror and microcosm of the answer the respective protagonists themselves reach at the end of their Fool's Journeys, and also reflect who they themselves become in the end.

[scraftyisthebest]

Hmm

Pagogo could be tied to the sea, and Liko is associated with the moon. The moon influences the sea by influencing its tides through its pull.

The Black Rayquaza is tied to the sky, and Roy is associated with the sun. The sun influences the sky by illuminating it with its light.

The White Zygarde is tied to the land. Amethio could be associated with the earth, which influences and shapes the land itself.

By extension, since the three legendaries' original Trainers were Lucius, Rystal, and Gibeon, that means the three of them are the sky, the sea, and the land, respectively, while Liko, Roy, and Amethio are the moon, the sun, and the earth as the modern-day inheritors of the original three's legacy.

[scraftyisthebest]

Persona 3 Reload's super mechanic is "Theurgy", a super skill where one party member "reloads" their Evoker with a special cartridge and shoots to unleash the ultimate strength of their Persona by fully attuning themselves to the cosmic and spiritual forces of the Sea of Souls.

Persona 4 Revival's super mechanic is "Prime Time", a super skill where the entire party together begins a grand "revival" of the show, which they are the stars of, and unleashes the ultimate strength of their Personas together in a spectacle that culminates in the revival's "Series Finale".

[scraftyisthebest]

Yuko's Social Link in Persona 3 is actually one of my favorites, the more I think about it. It's not a super deep one, but it's good, and it works really well with the message P3 is trying to convey in perhaps one of the more surprisingly straightforward ways.

One of the things Hashino had in mind when he directed Persona 3 was societal apathy in Japan, especially the working adults who had become automatons as cogs in corporate machines and who just devote all their waking time to work, then go home or to a hotel and get drunk, sleep, and rinse and repeat, and drifting through the motions. But he also kind of singles out the point in life where that mentality, at least unintentionally, starts, because high school in Japan is often perceived as the final point in life of "freedom" before entrance exams, diligent college study, and working adult life. That's also ironically the point where, at a subconscious level, the mindset of existential apathy, which Hashino pins as the ultimate enemy in P3, begins.

Yuko's early mindset in the Social Link is basically the mindset a lot of high schoolers, especially in Japan at the time, have, which she expresses when she rants about how she turned in a blank paper and was forced to write a reflection essay and get lectured by Ekoda who criticized her for not taking her future seriously and how she'll end up a good-for-nothing adult at that rate. She brushed it off as "Come on, I'm still in high school, and still a teenager, I should be enjoying myself while I still can. Yeah, the future's important and all, but can't it wait a few years?" which is a very common mindset of adolescents in Japan, especially at the time. That's, in effect, the mindset Hashino critiques throughout Persona 3 because he singles that out as the breeding ground of apathy that is very prevalent in working adults who have become too exhausted to engage with life meaningfully.

Yuko herself doesn't necessarily have to confront death, a very prevalent motif in P3, but she ends up growing out of that mindset once she's asked to coach a group of kids to run and compete with another group of kids who are older than them. She ends up finding that she genuinely loves being a coach and decides that's what she wants to be, and she decides to devote her time to studying to become a coach, and not just in the future, but here and now, starting from the point towards the end of her Social Link. She goes from being nonplussed about the future to actually thinking about it and investing her time into it because she knows what she wants to be, what her purpose is, and will start working towards it here and now to ensure she achieves that. It's not a deep Social Link, but it's a straightforward representation of what Persona 3 is trying to convey, which is the idea of engaging with life meaningfully, being present in your own life, and finding purpose in life (and one you truly believe in, not what society says you should be).

[scraftyisthebest]

From what little I heard of Wonder Voyage's new OP song (which is a duet by Liko and Roy VAs), I think I'll like it when it comes out in full, both as an OP and as the full song.

Like Dokimeki Diary, the very first OP of Horizons as a whole, it has a very shoujo feel to it, like the kind of song you'd hear in a magical girl anime story, which fits because Liko being the viewpoint character and protagonist of this show skews it a bit more towards a shoujo feel.

It once again contrasts the general tone the OP songs of the Ash era tended to skew towards, as most of them, right down to the very first OP song ever, had a shonen feel to it, being very high-octane, intense, and rock-heavy, since him being the protagonist skewed the general vibe a bit towards a shonen feel, even though Pokemon is as a whole a kodomo show. Ash and Goh's own duet in Journeys, being v4 of 1, 2, 3, had a very shonen vibe to it as well.