I like how Goro also mentions he doesnt wanna be back because he is only back to make someone else happy. Its a shit life to live where you are only living for others and not for yourself, and Goro mentioning that was reslly cool. I wish they went a bit more into this.
I also really love that theme! In fact if you are interested in hearing more about Goro as a character feel free to check out my newest video! I break down his characterization in P5R and actually explore this theme specifically there, I think you might enjoy it!
You say Akechi receives no real redemption arc during the third semester. I always thought it was the best possible redemption arc Akechi could achieve. Maybe ever.
I can definitely see that point of view as he does prove to be very helpful to Joker and the rest of the cast for the 3rd semester, but what really does he do to redeem his actions in the main story? For the most part he is acting out of his own sense of morality that is consistent with his actions before the third semester and he certainly makes no attempt to apologize or show regret/remorse for what happened between him and the phantom thieves. The closest we get to that is the scene in the original story where he (presumably) dies. In all of the third semester however he seems to go all in towards his more violent tendencies and this is reflected in both his words and his persona/outfit. Of course this is just my view of the situation, and it is a very personal side of the story so ultimately it is best for everyone to reach their own conclusions! I hope this comment maybe conveys my ideas a little better than my video did but I don't write this to sway you haha, at the end of the day whatever you understood from the story is how you interpreted it and that's rad!
@@3Waifu He redeems himself by finally cutting the bull and being honest and real for once. By being himself, he gained my respect. I played P5R completely unspoiled, and I never played Vanilla beforehand, so I had no point of comparison. I also missed the infamous "pancake" hint, so the twist in November legitimately shocked me. The entire time before then I thought they were just setting Akechi up to be that sort of rival/Anti-Hero/working the same goal from cross purposes trope that anime tends to do. And all during that time his "Detective Prince" guise slowly began to irritate and irritate me more. When he lets the facade slip just a bit during his Rank 8 Confidant event and actually admits that he hates me, I was like, "Good, I hate you, too. At least we know where we stand with each other." Then the Engine Room happened. And you learn not only just who he really is, but why he's that way. And then as soon as that happens, he's gone. And you feel at a loss. But then third Semester happens, and yes: it's literal wish fulfillment on behalf of Maruki, but you get to make up for lost time. You can't really befriend him in the same way that you can Ryuji or Yusuke. The game even makes it explicit that you can't even really trust him. But you can begin to understand him better, and to respect him, and even to accept him a bit, even though it's an acceptance on his own terms. He's completely unapologetic and unremorseful, but he's honest. And that's where the redemption comes in. Not in a traditional moral way, but in a more personal sense. I don't want to know Fakechi. I want to know Realkechi. Even if I have to keep him on a short leash to do so. A leash that, by rejecting Maruki, you have to let go of completely.
@@mikebliss3153 I can absolutely agree with this although I personally wouldn't really label that as a 'redemption' under a traditional definition I agree with your points. Terminology aside I think the third semester is at it's best when exploring Akechi's character and developing him even deeper. This is doubly satisfying because in the original game you actually didn't get to do confidant things with him. It was a story progressed confidant like Igor and as such we got to see much less of him overall leaving Akechi to feel very one note and flat in the original game when compared to royal. I think no matter what label you choose to assign to it we can all agree that Akechi in Royal (especially in the third semester) is a fascinating and well written character!
So, I was actually talking about this with a friend, and she brought up a great point : What if a "Perfect World" doesn't mean that nothing bad ever happens, but rather that it will always work out in the end? Family Member got hit by a car? they will always recover with no lasting injury, inflicted with a deadly disease? you will always get better. if this is the case, it swings the morality *far* into Maruki's favor, and I can't recall anything in-game that counters this fact. as you still face hardship, it just happens to not go as far as to ruin a perfect world.
That's a very interesting take! That could certainly be the case and if so that would change things. I still think there is a debate to be held about the value of a hard reality versus a better falsehood but under the framework you provide that debate certainly gaines a new facet! I think hypotheticals like these are what makes the 3rd semester so great cause it really gets you questioning things and considering all pieces of the puzzle!
It's an interesting point but wouldn't it be empty as well? You don't have your own choosing in regards to anything in your life and don't matter what happens it will 100% work out in the end, So in example you can forget about a test till the very minute you would take it and still get an a good grade, wouldn't it make all of this "recognition" void because it was "fate"? If everyone that gets hit by a car manages to live without repercussions would it still be a bad thing? It Would be an annoyance at best. And let's not forget a world where everybody is happy can't happen, because of conflicting want's and needs
@@psyqualiaxd I agree with this a lot! While the method and moment to moment results may be different if the outcome is always the same then does the moment to moment really matter all that much? Like you detail in your comment I would agree that it loses meaning! I think all of this goes to show how well done Maruki's arc is because it is so thought provoking!
@@3Waifu exactly, and this brings the case of athletes and artists, there's always someone on second and last place, not everyone can be champions at first
See you could be right, if they didn't have the testing segment during the palace, it essentially lays his mindset out as "if pain can be avoided, it should be." So in his perfected world, the pain wouldn't be started in the first place, the cause of the pain would be removed.
I really love the fact akechi goes harder into being a murderous psychopath, because every other character who ends up finding their voice end up being a self sacrificing role model. An argument could be made that game implies that even when you’re free of societal expectations you are still duty bond to aid it, to serve it. And then akechi shows up and says “no I know who I am and I’m at my happiest and strongest when I’m trying to kill everyone.” He helps the group because still he wants to prove that he’s free and that he’s accepted the results of that freedom.
I would argue that one of the biggest fixes Royal added to P5 was the inclusion of the team doing normal everyday stuff. They go as a school to clean up a park rather than Ryuji just yelling that they're the Phantom Thieves like he does it every other scene. The boys going to the food festival thing and Ryuji giving a stupid interview. Those moments are so important and P5 and Royal needed so many more of them. When you're between palace targets the game will say to live like a normal high schooler. So then why do you not do any clubs? Why do they not have them just being regular teens? Royal added some moments like that which was great for breaking up the monotony of EVERYTHING IS PHANTOM THIEVES because jesus it made the plot get so boring (the plot as a whole never quite reaches the same level as the first palace arc, when everyone was invested in taking down Kamoshida though I suppose the 3rd semester does kind of get there). Granted those added scenes were just to give more moments with Kasumi (spend time with the boys at the festival, run into Kasumi on the way home, etc) but still
I totally agree! Those small slice of life moments do so much to characterize and humanize the cast and it really does a lot for engagement. I personally really enjoyed the story all the way through and felt it built from Kamoshida's palace pretty well (with notable exclusions for Okumura's arc that bit was pretty bad). Those little moments though just made it even better! If I revisit Persona 5 Royal I def. want to talk about how it used these to make the game so much more personal and human feeling!
The "team doing normal everyday stuff" is so barely even used that it’s not even a fix. P5 lacked this kind of moments compared to P4, and Royal didn’t add enough of them to fix that. As you said, the few that were added were only for Kasumi to show up. That’s fine, she needed to be there or else the 3rd semester wouldn’t work. But when they didn’t feel like adding Kasumi or Maruki, they didn’t do shit. The Summer festival? Pointless. Hawaii school trip? Still nothing to see here, with some Kasumi added on top of it. School festival? Added some Kasumi cringy fanservice (whoever animated her moves in this scene and the opening has never seen a gymnast before). Beach trip? Nothing new. Completely uninteresting. Anything new that doesn’t involve or serve as introduction to Kasumi or Maruki scenes? Nope. Compare this to what P4 and even P3 did for the same kind of events, and Royal really underdelivers. And that’s not even counting on the many times the P4 crew just hangs out for the sake of hanging out, a thing we barely ever get in P5 because everything has to be Phantom Thieves related, instead of just focusing on the characters for once. Don’t get me wrong, I loved P5 (Royal? Not that much), it was my first Persona/SMT game. It has amazing style, great gameplay, some amazing moments (never have I hated a video game character as much as Kamoshida before)... But people keep talking about the writing and characters as if they’re the best thing ever. Give me a break. P5 and Royal don’t even have the best writing and cast in the series.
@@sabrakt Oh total agree. The moments added in royal helped but they should have been there from the start. Why is it that you're trying to reform your image yet don't partake in any school clubs? Easily could have made the devil a journalism club and the sun a debate team or even student council. I will never not be angry about the treatment of Haru and it would be overall such an easy fix. Just plug her in more in moments where it makes sense. Ie the original hideout on the roof where she has a garden. Why not have her find them there and then tell makoto so she busts them forcing the relocation. Why not start her confidant earlier to actually get decent use of her garden. Perhaps the veggies don't give sp heals since you already have coffee and curry for that but have them give buffs or phys or magic walls. Have the confidant start with her trying to do shit without revealing her family connections. Maybe when she introduces herself she doesn't give her last name? So then the fireworks scene of her getting in the car, make characters comment on it like wait that was that girl etc because as it is there's no reason for it to be there. The 3rd semester stuff is good but until then the plot was never as good as arc 1 with kamoshidas palace when the team all had actual personal stakes in it. After that it's just the one person who has a reason to be invested other than boosting the phantom thief brand each time I'm playing persona 5 strikers and amazingly they actually do have scenes of the cast just hanging out and not just being all phantom thieves all the time. Its weird. Even Ryuji who is still the worst is less the worst than he was in p5/royal. It's shocking because it means they did know how to make those moments and just chose not to
You can thank the dumb people who complained in persona 4 that it had "too many hangouts" so atlus made it in persona 5 that every main hangout had a "reason for the plot". Stupid people. But still atlus...you teased a snowball's fight, with the whole crew and akechi no less...so manny missed opportunities...
I think what they did with Akechi is way more interesting than a plain redemption arc would’ve been, honestly. I mean I feel like he definitely achieved redemption by solidifying his true values and proving why he’s a persona user and not a palace ruler.
One thing to keep in mind is that even though Maruki’s envisionment could be called perfect, Maruki himself is far from it. In other words, his actions are great but his motives are quite dubious. The further in the third semester goes, the more you see the screws loosening in Maruki’s mental state. Be it the memories on the VHS tapes, the bizarre scenery or the Rumi statues near the top floor, Maruki’s so called “perfect world” would not last long. This is a bare assessment, a more detailed one would go on a little long, but it still proves that despite all that Maruki does, he himself is also human.
The bad ending when he helps "ease of you the pain that decision making brings" is disturbing enough to tell you that Maruki absolutely should not be supreme deity of utopia, no matter how good his intentions were.
The fact that his Persona is named Azathoth also adds to this idea, because Azathoth is an Eldritch god from HP Lovecraftian stories, and iirc, the one that tries to help everyone with its 'gifts', but actually ends up hurting everyone instead
oh actually Azathoth is the "blind idiot god" who sleeps all the time and dreams up our reality, and if/when he wakes up, we all die @@decepticonsoundwave297
Royal cemented Akechi as my favorite Persona Character. The fact he is both overly crazy and also he would rather not exist than live in a false realty is just so dam cool.
The thing with Maruki's reality is, if he can bring people back from the dead, imagine how many people with terminal or very painful deseases he saved... Or the people with serious disabilites that he gave a chance at a normal life... Damn... Third Semestre really makes you think...
I thought maruki didn't actually bring people back from the dead or change reality just rewrite peoples' cognition so they'd believe that was the case.
That's definitely one of the most difficult aspects of determining which reality is morally just. In denying Maruki's world, you're denying so many people's only chance at living a normal, happy life.
Indeed. Is ending pain and misery worth giving up free will? The 3rd semester maybe a bit short but it and Maruki are great additions to an already great game.
they explained in game that the world is dictated by cognition so if people collectively believe something, it will reflect on reality. so technically akechi is actually alive and not just a figment if cognition
The more I think about Maruki and his perfect world the more unsettling feeling I get. Even if everyone in the world becomes happy, Maruki himself will never be truly happy. He will rule over this world of happy People feeling that he will never get what he really wants because he lost the girl he loved and kinda sacrificed himself for "the greater good". That makes me really sad. Yeah, he has a messiah complex but he is not a bad guy. He deserves to be happy too. But in the true ending he has a chance to move on and start a new life.
In fact, the true ending is the only one where he even has a chance to move forward. One of Maruki's greatest character flaws is is that he genuinely does not believe that it is possible for people to live with pain in their lives and move forward with that pain, becoming stronger and better people for it. He does not think it is possible because he himself could not move forward with the pain in his life. The councilor needed counseling most of all.
Bit late but I can offer another interesting fact that adds to your case. In Maruki's "new reality," no one remembers who he is. During the cutscene where the gang plus Akechi takes a group picture, Maruki comes up to them and takes it for them, but they never identify him as the guy who helped them. Meaning its likely that his own existence was practically erased in his "new world." Kinda sad tbh.
3Waifu: "You ever find an exploit that trivializes the gameplay loop?" Me in Royal with Auto-Concentrate, Almighty Boost, Auto-Matarukaja, Megidolaon Messiah Picaro: "No idea what you're talking about chief"
The only convo in the 3rd semester that hurt me (and made me legit cry) was Ryuji's because he's my (all time in all of gaming) character. So seeing him lose what HE loved like... broke my heart. Lol
@@acehikarigaming I can understand that haha, I think I def. prefer the royal ending from both a character and narrative perspective but I can see why it's not everyone's cup of tea!
This showed up in my recommended page, and I totally agree. Dr. Maruki is the best character I've seen in any source of media, and he absolutely makes the game for me.
I totally agree! I wasn't sure how good the new characters were going to be because I've heard bad things about previous added in characters in past games but he really ended up making the game for me!
Something I thought of after doing a playthrough just now is how when Maruki's reality broke down, everything that was supposed to happen during that time happened. That means that the other reality was still functioning and moving on while everyone was living in Maruki's reality. Maruki wasn't actually getting rid of anyone's hardships, he was *only* changing their cognition, their real selves were still living through their struggles like normal. It's almost as if everyone in Maruki's world is a cognitive version of themselves, the way *Maruki* sees them, as people deserving happiness, the same way Kaneshiro saw people as ATM's or Madarame as paintings.
A little late, but can we talk about the big Bad End to the Third Semester? Not the one where you submit to the new world, but the one where you don't send the calling card in time. Maruki changes Joker into becoming a lethargic shut-in and he basically wastes away in his room while everyone else gets to enjoy the reality. It's a scary ending that is pretty perfect. Joker sits there and pulls his friends out of their perfect world, and threatened Maruuki's peace, but in the end he's not determined enough to finish what he started. Maruki punishes him in a perfect and honestly scary way, because Joker showed he was determined enough to talk a big game and convince people to his side, meaning he was a threat that could no longer be allowed to experience the Perfect World.
I feel like I’m in the minority when I say that while I love Maruki as a character, and understand and sympathize with his reasons, I am fully *against* his ideal world. As good of an utopia as he can make, if people like Joker show even the slightest resistance, Maruki does try and fight back, because HE knows better than THEY do what they want. I liken it to a debate about the “right to die” terminally ill patients have; if they’re ready to go, if they’re happy to pass on, who is Maruki to say that no, they’re wrong, they’ll be much happier alive because that’s what will make others happy? Sure, he can cure them of their illness, but what if that’s not what the person wants, or is prepared for? It’s actually not dissimilar the stance Akechi takes; what’s the point of coming back to life if you’re only alive for other people’s whims? Another thing I don’t like, and I think a thing people miss; sure, if you had the CHOICE, you’d choose to enter paradise. But with Maruki taking over reality, *you don’t get to make that choice*. He chooses it for you, whether you wanted it or if you’d rather face reality and work for what you want your future to be. If you get the bad ending, choosing it or running out of time, Maruki makes the executive decision to keep the PTs trapped in the utopia, and puts Joker to sleep (heavily implying that he intends to keep him asleep until Joker dies). It’s a bad ending for a reason; the freedom you fought so hard for, the free will you worked so hard to liberate, that you shot God in the head for? It’s gone. And no one is any the wiser, because a good man with a god complex made the decision that yes, your life would be better if you never had to grow or change. Go back to sleep. Stop resisting him. Again, I adore Maruki as a character. He is, as I said, a good man with a god complex. And he does provide a perfect counter to the PTs ideals, asking if changing his heart is right. But I feel like so many people are caught up in the “good man” half, they almost unintentionally overlook the “god complex” half. Interesting discussions to be had all around. Edit: I think another thing is that Maruki is supposed to be flip side of the coin Yaldabaoth is on. Yaldabaoth wanted society to be downtrodden and under his complete control for his ego; Maruki wants society to be happy… and under his complete control because his trauma makes him unable to realize that yes, this is in fact, for his ego. Not to put too fine a point on it, but a “gentle madman” is still, well, a madman.
THIS!!! SO MANY people don't realize that what Maruki is doing is just a softened version of what Yaldabaoth wanted to do to people, and it drives me up the wall!!! X_X
Yeah let's question for a second if a human desire is fullfil than what happened to the desire, probably they will strive for more. Is marukis going to fulfill everyone desires even if everyone desires will contradict with each other. Or is he just going to give what he thinks is the "best". But that's just what yaldaboth did. He thinks what's the "best" for humanity is that they should be under his control so there's no suffering. This is just maruki but without soft words
Maruki’s reality is also not reality. Wakaba and Okumura are not actually alive. They are still in their graves, but Maruki has made it so no person in the world could ever perceive that their graves are even there, and everyone collectively hallucinates them to still exist and be around. It’s like the thought experiment of “what if you were just a brain in a jar and everything you see and feel is just being fed to your brain?” If it were true you could never perceive the actual world around you as it is. Maruki has just turned the entire world halfway into brains in jars, effectively. People are still walking around living their lives, but with certain realities removed from their perception and certain things injected into them. Reality still exists, but no one has access to it. No one can ever hope to understand the world again because one man will have irrevocably removed the ability to observe reality as it is. We can no longer rely on observational ability to advance physics or astronomy, because what you see may well have just been written over the reality your brain is not allowed to see. It’s cognition made manifest, but it is still cognition. It will never be truly real, but no one will ever have the means to identify it as fake. Well-intentioned or no, it’s the most viscerally disgusting thing any villain in the entire game does. It is a fundamental bodily and mental violation of every living person without their consent.
I agree fully~! Since the dawn of time, stories have had perspectives. And those perspectives often have variations on what is “good”, “bad”, “right”, and “wrong”. If you wish to truly evaluate if the path you’re walking is as good as it should be, you must first humor the idea that it isn’t. You don’t have to actively question everything you believe, but you have to be open to the idea that your view on the world is a work-in-progress. By doing that, you can either strengthen your existing philosophy based on the facts presented, or come to believe something new based on the contradictions you find that may work better. A big part of life as we know it is the constant adaptation to understand, and thus take advantage of, the world we live in. And the means of walking that path is introspection.
When Yusuke mentioned that his Art-acquaintance who had a bit of an artist block, suddenly became an archer, something he only mentioned passingly it reinforced my idea to stop Maruki. It's hard to have faith in that someone who is miserable and unhappy to leave with the fate of whole world's happiness. And as deadline ending shows, he will go to extremes to stop someone and leave no room for negotiation.
I like to think the way things worked out was the devs' way of giving a subtle middle finger to all the escapism in fan comics and fics. The stark return to the 3 months Joker spent in prison are a clear sign of that... ...but there's always that 1% of fans that understand why escapistic fanfic'ing is bad but instead of giving up work hard on dem theories to bring Akechi back without breaking the balance in consequences. Feels like the Akechi glimpse in Royal's secret end variant was there for those people.
"When you were little and you found a way to cheat in a game, how did it make you feel when you won those encounters?" Literally great. Zero regrets. Non-cheaters are baffling to me.
I completely agree! I love all of the different POVs Royal has to offer to really question the morality of not only the Phantom Thieves, but all of the characters as individuals. It makes all of their stories that much more heartbreaking and stronger as well.
Honestly, a good way to fix the fourth Palace's problems in my opinion would have been to make Haru more upset at the death of her dad. She was constantly told by the other Phantom Thieves that it would be fine, but instead her dad straight up dies by what seems really obviously the fault of the Phantom Thieves. Not only would it fix some of the problems with the arc of that Palace, it would also finally give Haru some much needed screen time. She could even reference back to it in the third semester, knowing she has to work with the person who killed her father, for just a little bit more time in the spotlight and some much needed direct interaction between psycho Akechi and the other thieves. (it's been a while since I played, so I can't guarantee that they don't do these things a little, and I just don't remember them)
I'm only at the 5th palace, but Haru doesn't seem exceptionally bright. She mostly follows what other people tell her to do, as evidenced by her repeating lines fed to her by Morgana when you first meet her.
@@justinwhite2725 I honestly think that her coming across as a little airheaded when first meeting her is pretty odd and contributes to a major problem with her character: she's really inconsistent. You're absolutely right, she seems pretty stupid when you first meet her, but her backstory has her as the capable heir-apparent to a massive corporation. She's also often made out to be sensitive and mature; really the whole arc with Morgana is an awkward contrivance. She never acts that way again. She's definitely a pushover, but only because she's too concerned with other people's feelings and had a pretty low self image. She's mostly just a hodge-podge waifu if you really take her at face value. The only consistent part of her character is that she's sweet, and even that's subverted by her sadism gimmick. Sometimes she's responsible, sometimes she's dependent. Sometimes she's thoughtful, sometimes she's absent. Sometimes she's ambitious, sometimes she's docile.
Akechi is not evil .. he is broken ... he is what could happen to any phantoms thieves if they were alone. Wht i love in persona 5 and more on persona royal is the facts that allow you to show empathy to " bad guys".. they are just . In the end if Maruki had not such a messiah complex and isntead of impose his way of thinking on others but just ask them ... it coul have work
@@dabillya6845 except that's not what he said at all, akechi had a shit childhood, an abusive one where nobody loved him or wanted him, of course if you get power like that you'd use it to make your life better, he's what could have happened to any of the phantom thieves if they were alone, especially joker
it doesn't mean he's right or anything, it means he isn't doing it just to be evil, he has an actual motive, he wants to make his life better and get revenge on his father who gave him such a miserable life
@@lIlSanslIlI Thanks you ^^. Its easy to judge but hard to understand. It doesnt mean i approve of what he did or its justify his actions .. but a least we have a motive
@@unviewerrandom4792 yeah, that's what makes Akechi so interesting to me in my opinion I genuinely felt sad after he dies because he was one of the few characters that I couldn't help
I have one point of disagreement Akechi definitely got a redemption in the 3rd semester, albeit an untraditional one. If Akechi weren't there to push Joker on the matter of how sick the fake world is and how messed up a world built entirely on lies truly is, would Joker have even rallied the Phantom Thieves against Maruki? Akechi may be a psycho, but he very much was instrumental in saving the world from being swallowed up by a delusion. If that's not enough to redeem him, what possibly could've been?
I agree with this although I'm not sure I would personally call it a "redemption" per say but rather more of expansion on the themes that make him a sympathetic villain. For me a redemption arc would see him confront his past actions and move on from them in a way that acknowledges their immoral nature. However I also think that when it comes to these sorts of things it is very personal and what counts as "redemption" for me will be different than what counts as "redemption" for someone else. Honestly I think questions and discussions like these just point to the fact that no matter how you slice it Akechi is really fun to analyse and examine!
As someone who grew up in the grimiest parts of NY, I wouldn't think twice about siding with Maruki Some people say that hardships are needed to grow, but I've seen and heard of people and friends recklessly killed for wearing the wrong color t-shirt on the street. What's the lesson there? Don't wear red? Not all hardships are equal and not everything has a lesson that can be learned from it. Some things are just sad and disgusting and usually innocent people have to suffer the consequences through no fault of their own.. Besides, if everything is perfect then they're's no need to grow from those experiences. If it ain't broke don't fix it
God it would be so fucking cool if Joker was swayed by this new world as well and the game made you play as Akechi to save everyone. He can use multiple persona’s so I’d see some really cool stuff going on. Obviously there’s some quirks but nothing a little plot manipulation can’t fix
Maruki went from believing he was the torch that lead people to their proper destination, to a taxi driver where people lead him to their own destination.
While I agree with a lot of your points in general, I question how the added narrative in any way ties back in to the question of the morality of the PT's actions that you opened with. Even if you argue that what Maruki does is the same thing as the PT does, the sheer difference of scale, both in number of affected people and the changes he makes, means that I never thought of it as the same thing. I never saw them stopping Maruki as them admitting they were wrong, but as them thinking Maruki took it too far and proving that there was good reason for the stop measures they imposed on themselves (Only go after targets agreed upon in unison, arguably they tries only those no one else can do anything about, they only forced their targets to admit the depravity of their actions, and they were forced to go after most of the big targets anyway). The only thing they blame themselves for is putting Maruki in the position of power he ended up in, but that was never something they intended to do in the first place. They wanted the world free of control, not give all that control to someone else; they botched the mission, so they're doing it again.
Maruki is basically the cheat codes for Persona. If you accept the false reality, you’re losing all the levels you had gained before, the hardships you felt with your friends, the characters, and much more? If you did, you lost all accomplishment in that game. If you didn’t, you accepted the terms and chose not to use the cheat codes and suffered. But that’s what made winning so fun. You feel congratulated by winning since you didn’t accept the cheat codes. That’s the way I see it.
i was very much guilty of falling for Maruki's charms he was just a fun silly guy you could talk to so i felt rather betrayed when i found out he was the final boss but he allso did bring up some good points on the whole thing, gentle mad man is such a vibe i got lost in that hospital but i didn't mind because it just meant that i could keep vibing to the music
one thing many people forget royal added is that it added translations to other languages. meaning some of my friends that only speak Spanish can play this game no issue.
Great video however I don't think akechi died. When the phantom thieves rejected maruki's reality okumura wakaba and makoto's dad (I think it's her dad I'm not sure) disappeared however akechi didn't and maruki never said he brought akechi back all he did was make it so joker and akechi could meet again. There are many explanations as to how akechi can still be alive
True! I really like that perspective as well! I feel like Akechi's death was left purposefully ambiguous in order to let the viewer come to their own conclusion which is really awesome. Looking back there is def. a lot of evidence to support him still being around so I am inclined to agree with you!
plot twist: Joker subconsciously did not want to reject Maruki's reality even after Goro's 3rd awakening because Akechi would be yeeted out of existence . A small head canon of mine, but that kind of stings when thinking about it.
Akechi wasn’t manifested for Joker by Maruki either. If he was, the moment Joker rejected the fake reality, Akechi would have vanished. There’s only so much a cognitive creation can do, and a cognitive creation of Akechi wouldn’t have his own conscious, let alone fight in the metaverse.
@@the1theonlyg248 that is certainly an interesting perspective on things! I think narratively speaking Maruki's cognitive creation abilities are left rather vague so that the player can make their own inferences about what is real and what isn't. Honestly that kinda goes back to the whole point of the 3rd semester. I think it is probably impossible to say for sure whether or not Akechi was a construct made for Joker in the 3rd season but what we can say for sure is that no matter the conclusion it def. Gets you thinking!
god seeing those videos about royale makes me kind of sad that i didn't think that there would be an expansion, like i finished the game a few months before the release of royale.
This was good, I hope in the future to see more of an expanded/ in-depth analysis on this topic of the impact Maruki’s & Akechi’s characterizations have!
Thanks for the kind feedback! I definitely have plans to revisit persona 5 (in the very near future lol) and when I do that is something I would really love to talk about!
yeah after recently finishing the game I went with Akechi's choice as it was his life to fight against. Then I went and watched the "bad" ending but there was no dark twist that I expected, there was nothing malevolent about Maruki's world. It seemed to me that Maruki's ending was geared at how the normal fan would perceive a "good" ending, the game ends with the characters close until the end of time, even Akechi..... but when taking that ending you know that isn't the case, Akechi didn't want this reality and YOU, the player, forced that decision on to him.
not to be a whole ass year late to the party, but I think what I find most haunting about the maruki “bad” ending is that everyone is a shell of who they are. what made the thieves special was the hardships they had to overcome, both individually and collectively, and the strength that came with that. (of course, strength from trauma is its own can of worms, and it is not true in every case that the strength resulting from trauma is a positive). but for the thieves specifically, they do find inner strength and a collective identity as positive results of their hardships. to see all of that evaporate and leave behind cardboard versions of each character is pretty grim in its own way, even if it had good intent behind it
@@ThePeaterBeater Yeah I really love that aspect of the third semester. While yes this reality technically makes everyone happier, trauma is what made these people close in the first place. Without their connections, they don't seem like close friends but instead that cousin you see at the holidays It's kind of a part of the nature vs nurture argument in a weird way. If every aspect of people are predetermined, then personal growth ceases to exist. That is Maruki's take in the end, people get what they wish for without trauma. There is no need to overcome pain. The thieves wish for life that requires strength and the will to grow past trauma, so the conflict feels natural. After some narratively strange plotpoints in the shido and yald arcs the third semester hit me just right in my first playthrough lol, it's great
I think if the real life scenario were to be dropped on me, I would pick Maruki’s reality based on the fact that every is happy in the end. Like realistically the lack of free will is a massive sacrifice but when you consider the people living in terrible places with a lack of it to begin with. You start to think more about their safety over your own free will. Think about the millions of people who will never get to experience a real life because they are trapped in a system that oppresses what happiness they could possibly have. I mean north korea for example
This is a really good take! I think a lot of people write off Maruki's point of view because he is written as the "villain" but honestly there is a lot to consider from his point of view! If you are interested in Maruki keep an eye on my channel this Saturday!
exactly my thought tbh, viewing him on the denied growth perspective is clearly a misunderstanding for a lot of people. I myself viewed him on the Savior for the Damned perspective which gave him a lot of positive aspects and strayed him far from villainy.
Not sure what else to say other then you nailed it, what I loved so much about this ending and not the Regular persona 5 where you could chose either everyone has free will or not, that option is always no because you want everyone to have free will, however, with maruki if you say yes or no to his universe, you won't be seen as the bad guy , and it teaches you how to gain true happiness you need to experience some great hardship that's my take on this new palace, keep up the great content
Thanks! I totally agree! I think the moral grey areas that p5r highlights at the end really do a lot for the story and offer a more interesting conclusion than base p5. I couldn't agree more!
I disagree on a few points. First, i think the maruki arc is a good idea but as poorly executed as okumura's conflict. The characters do not feel like they are grappling with issues as grave as resurrected dead relatives. Even in the 3rd tier persona free times they feel too detached. They should have gone deeper into it and maybe even tried a p3 answer style falling out. The most we got was Sumire. Second, maruki doesn't void agency. Paradise is decided by his targets, not himself. There are problems with his plans like people wanting mutially exclusive things and who's paradise gets priority but the game largely dodges those. It is implied Akechi is brainwashed but he's only back due to Joker. Finally the game analogy is off. I woulf have felt empty beating hollow knight with cheats, but i have no issue just following a guide in va-11 hall-a. If my dead relatives could be brought back, the moral issue means less to me. The game is designed around refusing the offer. No, it isn't even remotely subtle. P5 had weak writting. P5r is better but i wouldn't call it "fixed."
One of the things I noticed before Sumire officially joins the party, when Joker is walking around school before returning to Maruki's palace is how lackadaisical a lot of the students and the people around the city have become. The captain of a sports team is quitting so he can watch the team from the sidelines, a girl is saying she is not going to go to college while her friend is confused because going to college was all she was talking about. By taking away ALL pain from people, Maruki also took away ALL ambition. Yes, people suffer in trying to achieve their dreams and make sacrifices to make those dreams a reality, but by taking away the pain Maruki took away that sense of accomplishment of overcoming the pain. Morgana specifically talks about this to the team in Kamoshida's palace, how a treasure is so tied to a person's desire that it had to be handled with care because desires are what causes people to go eat, sleep, work, aspire to achieve and so on. Maruki did NOT handle the cognition and the desires of the world with care at all. He was so blinded by his desire to "save" everyone from pain altogether that I doubt he even realizes how much harm he has done to humanity as a whole in his desire to remove all pain.
I'll be honest. The world Maruki created never once tempted me. I never ONCE questioned my belief that it was wrong. Why? Because living a lie even if it's so perfectly crafted that you would probably never tell the difference just doesn't sit right with me. After all, there's no guarantee that it would have lasted, nor is there any way i'd trust one person to basically be our new god. No human should have that sort of power, no matter how morally upright they may seem. And frankly, Maruki is PLENTY flawed. His idea of what's perfect would absolutely clash with us at some point regardless of how you feel about losing loved ones by going against him.
That and also *the entire rest of the game* was spent all but screaming at the player about how/why giving up all your autonomy to a single authority figure for the sake of your comfort is a terrible idea that will get you neither autonomy nor comfort. Why would you back out just bc the counselor made sad puppy eyes and had a tragic backstory??
If you've ever seen the cut content, like the harem ending where it's implied it takes place after joker accepts the alternate reality, it's the freakiest thing in the game and basically spells out that: No. There's absolutely no way to make everyone happy without severely fucking with who they are as people, as some people have selfish wishes that'll require taking things from others while making them happy about it. But they took it out, probably because some people aren't as uncomfortable about the out of character zombie like personalities that the girls had if it meant having a harem. At least that's why I think they removed it.
I believe that the idea of "A life is is less satisfying if there is no hardship" does not apply to most if the people living it are not aware that the game is rigged in their favor. Outside of our own small awareness of this world, so many people struggle to survive, fail to find happiness, and suffer under injustice, hatred, disability, ignorance and loss. If someone with genuine motives and actions can wipe that all away? I choose Maruki. Every time. It would be selfish to take that away from everyone because I wanted to "play fair."
Nice video! It is totally on the mark for all of the royals major narrative improvements. I will minorly disagree with you though by saying your analogy for Maruki's reality would be more like if you struggle with a game's level and you eventually just have somebody beat the whole game for you while you watch. Still though great stuff
I loves Royal it is my favorite game but st the third semester while it was hard telling everyone that the world wasn't real what almost made me side with Maruki was learning that Akechi would die if I didn't I didn't want that but Akechi convinced me to let him go and I got the true ending.
First of all a BIG Like for the Video, our thoughts are the same on the ''Distorted Maruki World'', !!!WARNING GREAT SPOILERS FOR THE THIRD SEMESTER AHEAD!!! i had ernormous morality issues during the transition between the reality and the distorted World of MarukI, it all started at the Christmas Eve Event, everything went just to smoothly... But then it was obvious that something is horribly wrong, to see the Scumbag Akechi, Futaba's Mother Wakaba, Mr. Okumura and Mr. Nijima walking among the living, Morgana as a Human (THAT took me a while!) , Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke living their dreams, for a man who works with people like me, it is very hard to ''destroy'' the happiness of other People to wake them up from such a distortion, i mean, Maruki has good intentions, no doubt about it but the question is: would you rather live a lie for the rest of your life or accept the harsh reality as it is? My Friends and me had looooong discussions about this topic but my Arguments were the same as yours and Akechis: Life is no life without hardship and growth and why accepting the lie, when we fought a whole year against distorions of life to see the truth? it was just plain wrong for me, and it was really hard to break free from the lie Maruki forged during the third semester because the story is so damn good written
I could leave a long and detailed comment due to how much I adore P5R, but I’ll just keep it brief: Entirely agree with the video, P5R’s new content is great and improves upon base P5 in spades, and anyone who hasn’t played it should 100% done so. And I’m also entirely glad this showed up in my recommended when watching P5S videos, since it’s earned ya a new sub.👌🏽
Maruki would unironically be considered the Hero and the character who was right if only he gave his reality to only those who wanted/ requested it instead of literally anyone he could.
This is a really interesting perspective. By adding consent to the equation the entire moral question shifts a little bit. I'm interested to see how many people would find this to be an appealing option vs how many think more like Akechi and Joker and see it as meaningless and shallow.
The biggest problem with Maruki's reality is that he's imposing it on everyone whether they want it or not. During his boss fight he even admits it's best for people when they overcome pain on their own. I think it shows just how self righteous and deluded maruki was.
I think for me personally, the reason why the whole "A world without pain and suffering for everyone" concept of Maruki's didn't resonate with me is that I saw the immediate flaw in it. A world without pain and suffering for every person cannot exist simultaniously in a world of people who have their own dreams and desires, because those desires may clash against what another person desires, bringing conflict. So in order for Maruki to bring everyone their ideal world, some people need to be altered to fit. The game actually shows this fantastically with how some of the background characters talk about giving up their dreams. In addition, the psychiatric examination in Maruki's palace shows that there is a 'right' way to be happy in Maruki's eyes. But what really frustrated me about the third semester is that you never actually talk with Maruki about any of this. It is just sort of skipped over in favor of the themes of working through ones pain.
Akechi being absolutely unhinged in the third semester is what made me keep him in my party for EVERY battle. That, and roleplaying - I imagined he was the kinda guy who, if told to back off, would be like "nah don't feel like it. LOKI, GET THEIR ASS"
Oh, you want some plucked heartstrings about the third semester arc? How about the funniest AND potentially most-tragic part of all: Morgana's humanity. It was the one thing he wanted. Not success, not the return of someone to life, not even love itself (though he pines for Ann, of course), but just to stand and be counted as a human being. Now, the introduction to Morgana as a human was both funny and shocking, but also...taking that away from him was hurtful. I love all the Phantom Thieves, and I made them all grow equally, with only Joker standing out because he was the lynch pin to them all. Taking away Morgana's hopes and dreams, where he had the freedom to pursue a relationship with Ann or be shot down, live a normal life, and experience all of life's pleasures as we do... I felt really bed. I felt bad about taking it all away, but that impacted me the most. Still, if I may comment on the cheat code debacle for just a second: They're just there for funsies. If you really feel bad, and you don't want to mess around, then don't do it. Some people don't ever get to see the parts of a game that make it good because they're unable to progress. Just lock, stop, and over a barrel, unable to do it. Now, I for one began life using cheat codes, but then I also challenged myself to see if I could prevent myself from getting hit, even though it wouldn't matter. What I did was train, essentially. Then, I stopped bothering, because I didn't need them. I had full access to cheat codes for like Saints Row 3, but I didn't bother because all my crazy wandering around the sandbox just made me super powerful on my own. There's nothing wrong with using codes. They're just for enabling fun, and fun is the point of games. Now...someone tell me why there's a flash of Akechi at the end of P5R if he's still dead.
I clicked on this and I was afraid you were gonna say Akechi's character was the weakest part of the base game and I was gonna be so sad. Thank god that's not what happened. Excellent video, great points
Thanks for the kind feedback! I'm happy to hear you liked the video! (and if you liked what I said about Akechi consider keeping an eye on my channel this Saturday!)
I wish in the OG game they had him turn himself in for Joker, that would have made it a better redemption arc. Although that would still destroy the whole “Is he alive or not?” thing but they could have still did it by, idk, having someone turn themselves in for joker we don’t know who it was but we can theorize it was Akechi. I really liked Akechi’s character and i didn’t play vanilla but im so glad i played Royal first so i could experience his full character potential for the first time.
Isanagi no okami made my second playthrough of this game so much less of a slog! I didn't really use it my first go around so I didn't realize that it was super busted but I definitely kept it in the party for playthroughs #2 and #3 (this video was recorded on playthrough... 2 I think? It's been a while lol)
Very good analysis I think you nailed some points so many people missed entirely , many just say you have to refuse Maruki’s reality because he’s not really able to make his plan work or because he’s just evil creating a reality to satisfy his ego. They missed the point completely. Maruki is the best compassionate person with a big heart that could probably (he’s the perfect candidate) make work the best possible escapism solution for a world where you don’t have to fight and you can get a life full of armonia without fighting and struggling. If you got what good the phantom thieves made you could understand the importance of facing hardships to reach a better life and fulfill yourself. If you can manage to achieve something than fighting for is worth it. However this dilemma is not so easy at all. If you empathize with the character and the people who lost everything choosing reality is incredibly hard and painful. I played P5 once and then Royal so when I played this story arc I knew well the characters, their pasts, their hardships. Initially I could not ask Futaba nor Haru to let go of their loved ones nor I could ask Sumire to be Sumire and face her trauma and probably her depression. It’s a weigh I could not handle initially because I didn’t realize all of them would be able to fulfill themselves through facing hardships.
Cool video, but am I the only one who felt none of this? I never questioned my choices, I never felt bad about taking people from the fake reality and I never trusted Maruki. Am I the only one here?
Persona 5 royal is my favorite piece of medai (thought it's really close with persona 4 ,kirby's epic yarn and Soul) while I do have problems with how the added on marukis palaces I don't care it's so good and made me think about my view on life as a whole and maybe other then Soul Persona 4 and It chapter 1 the game has affect me as a person more then anything piece of media I've seen
It’s like they took that scene from the lacklustre Star Trek V: The Final Frontier where Spock and Bones are shown their greatest emotional pains by Sybok with the offer to take the pain away before Kirk refuses the offer to make a point about needing his pain to be strong and expand on that in P5 Royal.
Maruki: I can raise your dead loved ones, cure all illnesses, end all wars, rewrite all suffering, and give you the definitive best possible life. Joker: *who asked* Nah but honestly I’m in favor of maruki because the simple counter to that whole pain is progress thing is just making small hills for you to climb. Like learning an instrument or something and not you know horrible crippling trauma or suffering.
Another interesting point that I see few people pointing out is Yoshizawa's role in the 3rd semester. I personally think, that she's is one of the keys to the true ending. She represents in a way how distorted Maruki's world can be, and shows through her arc how much enduring suffering might make you stronger than ever, just like her card says, she's Joker's and the players faith in a earned future.
4:52 Im going to go against your argument for a moment Say your friends have been living in depression Or their parents are dead or something would you change the reallity for their happiness I feel like that's the problem i had with picking: putting it back to reall reallity. Since i have friends like this i would do anything to see them more happy, why should i follow in a reallity that's horrible opposed to a better reallity that might be fake?
I love the game and it's one of my favorites. But the only thing I dislike about Royal is that we can't use Robin Hood with Akechi even though it's stated that him and Joker share the same power. So when you use Akechi you should be able to switch between personas just like with Joker.
That would honestly be super sick! I would have loved to make use of the wild card with both Akechi and Joker although I understand why they just gave him loki for symbolic / thematic purposes!
Persona 4 Golden was already on Steam, it got ported there in 2020. When 3P and 5R were ported to Steam in 2022 it just got updated from an x32 to an x64 version of the exe.
Honestly I was very conflicted on whether or not to accept his reality The perfect reality is something I have kind of dreamed of But the way Maruki does it just doest sit right with me Him deciding what a person is and isn't happy with and forcing it on them was what made me realize that this isn't right
Yup. Maruki knows, through his training as a counselor, that the best thing for people with pain is to accept it and move forward; Maruki just doesn't accept it. Thanks to the pain he feels and his inability to deal with it he genuinely believes that it is impossible for others to also move on from their pain. He would rather there just not be any pain at all and he doesn't care how that would affect people in order to make it happen. It's also impossible for him to achieve. There is no way to simultaneously meet the wishes of everyone without many of those wishes contradicting each other. There is a cut harem ending for Joker. In that cut ending where Joker stays in his false reality the personalities of all the ladies are severely warped to the point of them being zombies devoted entirely to Joker, so much so that they just aren't the same people any more. Maruki cannot make their wishes come true in that scenario because he messed with them so much that they can't have wishes beyond the wishes Joker has. Maruki has to decide who's wishes are more worthy of granting than others and distort all others minds and morals so they are happy about it when they otherwise would be pissed.
It's impossible for a utopia to exist where everyone is happy and satisfied. However, it's possible for everyone to have a utopia within separate planes of existence.
Old video, I know but recently finished Royal and I love it for subverting two tropes: 1) Akechi has no redemption arc, at all. You accept him either because you like him despite his numerous and big flaws or because he is useful, not because he is right or good now and 2) thank god Maruki isnt some power hungry villain. When the twist happened I was afraid they would turn Maruki into a "hurr durr I was the villain all along now bow to me or die!!!" Which is a nice change of pace since the rest of P5 villains are so incredibly evil and have no redeeming qualities at all
A big flaw I saw in Maruki's perfect world happened because I romanced Ann. Morgana is turned into a human and wants to date Ann. But how does this "perfect world" handle that? Either he dates her, which means that her agency is taken (because for the world to be perfect it has to be thus) or my Joker's world is no longer perfect as the person he loves now loves someone else. When one person is in love with another but it's not reciprocated, what does his world do to fix it? Either pain of the heart has to exist or people's free will is taken which would be rather gross.
There's an unused Valentine's Day event that's supposed to take place in Maruki's world that kiiinda sorta goes into this, if you feel so inclined... :O
To be fair, beating Maruki never conflicted me only because of his persona. An entity that is indeed onmipotent but in the end portends only bad things His awakening is actually pretty telling if you are a Lovecraft fan.
actually on June 16th last year(2020) i asked out my crush and got rejected. When i came home, i didn’t really feel anything prolly bc it hadn’t sunk in yet. I turned on my PS4 and started playing P5R and got the good ending(Maruki life) and when the credits were rolling and everyone was so happy i started crying so hard, right there in the living room. Something about the music and ending scenes just kept hitting me. Then during the second lockdown i found that someone created a dual mix of ideal and the real and started listening to it. It was really cool and nice and i like it. I started listening to it while i was in the shower and it would make me think about the rejection and i’d cry. A few months after that, during September, i lost my dad. And now whenever i listen to that dual mix, that mixture of chill and calm and hidden sorrow always makes me think about Dad and i cry whenever, wherever.
One of favorite things about Maruki is one of his last words of defiance. Pharaphrasing a bit. "In reality its better for one to overcome harship by their own means.... But life doesnt always gives you that option" At that moment the game/story is briefly acknowledging that Maruki has a point How many life would return to innescapable hells without maruki? Opressive dictatorships, wartorn countries , people living without access to clean water. Even if the narrative still rejects Marukis vision through the protagonist, that point its never denied. That sole line makes me belive that whomever was writting this, was really thinking about it and not just preaching to the choir.
loved the extra stuff they added to royal and the extra dungeon and companions but preffered the original ending where the the phantom thieves travel off together after dealing with the qgents
I also LOOOOOOOOOOVE the idea of "the role of a God in the world" that has really amazing ties with the whole SMT thing, P5R mixes the Persona themes with SMT themes with Maruki.
“I am surrounded by absolute fools.”
-Akechi
Am I wrong?
@@goroakechi6126 who’s the true fool the fool or the fool that follows the fool - joker probaly
"Am I the only sane person here...?"
-Akechi, P5R Thieves Den
Naoto: are you a bunch of imbecils?
I like how Goro also mentions he doesnt wanna be back because he is only back to make someone else happy. Its a shit life to live where you are only living for others and not for yourself, and Goro mentioning that was reslly cool. I wish they went a bit more into this.
I also really love that theme! In fact if you are interested in hearing more about Goro as a character feel free to check out my newest video! I break down his characterization in P5R and actually explore this theme specifically there, I think you might enjoy it!
He had spent most of his life living for others, he wanted to end the cycle. Even if that means he needed to die to do so.
It’s interesting that Maruki wanted to end the world’s suffering, when suffering is how he achieved the means to do so in the first place.
True. I guess he wanted to break the cycle.
Well I mean you can't fix something you didn't experience
His palace theme is just him “Gentle Madman”
@@dunethegod6031 his persona is the blind idiot god stuck in his dreams.
Infinite Tsukuyomi vibes.
You say Akechi receives no real redemption arc during the third semester.
I always thought it was the best possible redemption arc Akechi could achieve. Maybe ever.
I can definitely see that point of view as he does prove to be very helpful to Joker and the rest of the cast for the 3rd semester, but what really does he do to redeem his actions in the main story? For the most part he is acting out of his own sense of morality that is consistent with his actions before the third semester and he certainly makes no attempt to apologize or show regret/remorse for what happened between him and the phantom thieves. The closest we get to that is the scene in the original story where he (presumably) dies. In all of the third semester however he seems to go all in towards his more violent tendencies and this is reflected in both his words and his persona/outfit. Of course this is just my view of the situation, and it is a very personal side of the story so ultimately it is best for everyone to reach their own conclusions! I hope this comment maybe conveys my ideas a little better than my video did but I don't write this to sway you haha, at the end of the day whatever you understood from the story is how you interpreted it and that's rad!
@@3Waifu He redeems himself by finally cutting the bull and being honest and real for once. By being himself, he gained my respect.
I played P5R completely unspoiled, and I never played Vanilla beforehand, so I had no point of comparison. I also missed the infamous "pancake" hint, so the twist in November legitimately shocked me. The entire time before then I thought they were just setting Akechi up to be that sort of rival/Anti-Hero/working the same goal from cross purposes trope that anime tends to do. And all during that time his "Detective Prince" guise slowly began to irritate and irritate me more. When he lets the facade slip just a bit during his Rank 8 Confidant event and actually admits that he hates me, I was like, "Good, I hate you, too. At least we know where we stand with each other."
Then the Engine Room happened. And you learn not only just who he really is, but why he's that way. And then as soon as that happens, he's gone. And you feel at a loss.
But then third Semester happens, and yes: it's literal wish fulfillment on behalf of Maruki, but you get to make up for lost time. You can't really befriend him in the same way that you can Ryuji or Yusuke. The game even makes it explicit that you can't even really trust him. But you can begin to understand him better, and to respect him, and even to accept him a bit, even though it's an acceptance on his own terms. He's completely unapologetic and unremorseful, but he's honest. And that's where the redemption comes in. Not in a traditional moral way, but in a more personal sense.
I don't want to know Fakechi. I want to know Realkechi. Even if I have to keep him on a short leash to do so. A leash that, by rejecting Maruki, you have to let go of completely.
@@mikebliss3153 I can absolutely agree with this although I personally wouldn't really label that as a 'redemption' under a traditional definition I agree with your points. Terminology aside I think the third semester is at it's best when exploring Akechi's character and developing him even deeper. This is doubly satisfying because in the original game you actually didn't get to do confidant things with him. It was a story progressed confidant like Igor and as such we got to see much less of him overall leaving Akechi to feel very one note and flat in the original game when compared to royal. I think no matter what label you choose to assign to it we can all agree that Akechi in Royal (especially in the third semester) is a fascinating and well written character!
@@3Waifu Agreed.
Got to give credit to akechi for standing by his beliefs no matter what he faces
So, I was actually talking about this with a friend, and she brought up a great point :
What if a "Perfect World" doesn't mean that nothing bad ever happens, but rather that it will always work out in the end?
Family Member got hit by a car? they will always recover with no lasting injury, inflicted with a deadly disease? you will always get better.
if this is the case, it swings the morality *far* into Maruki's favor, and I can't recall anything in-game that counters this fact. as you still face hardship, it just happens to not go as far as to ruin a perfect world.
That's a very interesting take! That could certainly be the case and if so that would change things. I still think there is a debate to be held about the value of a hard reality versus a better falsehood but under the framework you provide that debate certainly gaines a new facet! I think hypotheticals like these are what makes the 3rd semester so great cause it really gets you questioning things and considering all pieces of the puzzle!
It's an interesting point but wouldn't it be empty as well?
You don't have your own choosing in regards to anything in your life and don't matter what happens it will 100% work out in the end, So in example you can forget about a test till the very minute you would take it and still get an a good grade, wouldn't it make all of this "recognition" void because it was "fate"?
If everyone that gets hit by a car manages to live without repercussions would it still be a bad thing? It Would be an annoyance at best.
And let's not forget a world where everybody is happy can't happen, because of conflicting want's and needs
@@psyqualiaxd I agree with this a lot! While the method and moment to moment results may be different if the outcome is always the same then does the moment to moment really matter all that much? Like you detail in your comment I would agree that it loses meaning! I think all of this goes to show how well done Maruki's arc is because it is so thought provoking!
@@3Waifu exactly, and this brings the case of athletes and artists, there's always someone on second and last place, not everyone can be champions at first
See you could be right, if they didn't have the testing segment during the palace, it essentially lays his mindset out as "if pain can be avoided, it should be." So in his perfected world, the pain wouldn't be started in the first place, the cause of the pain would be removed.
I really love the fact akechi goes harder into being a murderous psychopath, because every other character who ends up finding their voice end up being a self sacrificing role model. An argument could be made that game implies that even when you’re free of societal expectations you are still duty bond to aid it, to serve it. And then akechi shows up and says “no I know who I am and I’m at my happiest and strongest when I’m trying to kill everyone.” He helps the group because still he wants to prove that he’s free and that he’s accepted the results of that freedom.
“Persona 5 royale”
-RUclipsr guy
Yeah, what the actual fuck
Just let him be guys! Lol. Just let him be!
I still pronounce “Battle Royal” from the Gen 7 Pokemon games as “Battle Royale”
I would argue that one of the biggest fixes Royal added to P5 was the inclusion of the team doing normal everyday stuff. They go as a school to clean up a park rather than Ryuji just yelling that they're the Phantom Thieves like he does it every other scene. The boys going to the food festival thing and Ryuji giving a stupid interview. Those moments are so important and P5 and Royal needed so many more of them. When you're between palace targets the game will say to live like a normal high schooler. So then why do you not do any clubs? Why do they not have them just being regular teens? Royal added some moments like that which was great for breaking up the monotony of EVERYTHING IS PHANTOM THIEVES because jesus it made the plot get so boring (the plot as a whole never quite reaches the same level as the first palace arc, when everyone was invested in taking down Kamoshida though I suppose the 3rd semester does kind of get there). Granted those added scenes were just to give more moments with Kasumi (spend time with the boys at the festival, run into Kasumi on the way home, etc) but still
I totally agree! Those small slice of life moments do so much to characterize and humanize the cast and it really does a lot for engagement. I personally really enjoyed the story all the way through and felt it built from Kamoshida's palace pretty well (with notable exclusions for Okumura's arc that bit was pretty bad). Those little moments though just made it even better! If I revisit Persona 5 Royal I def. want to talk about how it used these to make the game so much more personal and human feeling!
The "team doing normal everyday stuff" is so barely even used that it’s not even a fix.
P5 lacked this kind of moments compared to P4, and Royal didn’t add enough of them to fix that.
As you said, the few that were added were only for Kasumi to show up. That’s fine, she needed to be there or else the 3rd semester wouldn’t work. But when they didn’t feel like adding Kasumi or Maruki, they didn’t do shit.
The Summer festival? Pointless.
Hawaii school trip? Still nothing to see here, with some Kasumi added on top of it.
School festival? Added some Kasumi cringy fanservice (whoever animated her moves in this scene and the opening has never seen a gymnast before).
Beach trip? Nothing new. Completely uninteresting.
Anything new that doesn’t involve or serve as introduction to Kasumi or Maruki scenes? Nope.
Compare this to what P4 and even P3 did for the same kind of events, and Royal really underdelivers. And that’s not even counting on the many times the P4 crew just hangs out for the sake of hanging out, a thing we barely ever get in P5 because everything has to be Phantom Thieves related, instead of just focusing on the characters for once.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved P5 (Royal? Not that much), it was my first Persona/SMT game. It has amazing style, great gameplay, some amazing moments (never have I hated a video game character as much as Kamoshida before)...
But people keep talking about the writing and characters as if they’re the best thing ever. Give me a break. P5 and Royal don’t even have the best writing and cast in the series.
@@sabrakt Oh total agree. The moments added in royal helped but they should have been there from the start. Why is it that you're trying to reform your image yet don't partake in any school clubs? Easily could have made the devil a journalism club and the sun a debate team or even student council. I will never not be angry about the treatment of Haru and it would be overall such an easy fix. Just plug her in more in moments where it makes sense. Ie the original hideout on the roof where she has a garden. Why not have her find them there and then tell makoto so she busts them forcing the relocation. Why not start her confidant earlier to actually get decent use of her garden. Perhaps the veggies don't give sp heals since you already have coffee and curry for that but have them give buffs or phys or magic walls. Have the confidant start with her trying to do shit without revealing her family connections. Maybe when she introduces herself she doesn't give her last name? So then the fireworks scene of her getting in the car, make characters comment on it like wait that was that girl etc because as it is there's no reason for it to be there.
The 3rd semester stuff is good but until then the plot was never as good as arc 1 with kamoshidas palace when the team all had actual personal stakes in it. After that it's just the one person who has a reason to be invested other than boosting the phantom thief brand each time
I'm playing persona 5 strikers and amazingly they actually do have scenes of the cast just hanging out and not just being all phantom thieves all the time. Its weird. Even Ryuji who is still the worst is less the worst than he was in p5/royal. It's shocking because it means they did know how to make those moments and just chose not to
You can thank the dumb people who complained in persona 4 that it had "too many hangouts" so atlus made it in persona 5 that every main hangout had a "reason for the plot". Stupid people. But still atlus...you teased a snowball's fight, with the whole crew and akechi no less...so manny missed opportunities...
Nah the plot really didn't get boring, it got better actually when it was the Phantom Thief stuff. Not really...it wasn't just for Kasumi.
I think what they did with Akechi is way more interesting than a plain redemption arc would’ve been, honestly. I mean I feel like he definitely achieved redemption by solidifying his true values and proving why he’s a persona user and not a palace ruler.
One thing to keep in mind is that even though Maruki’s envisionment could be called perfect, Maruki himself is far from it. In other words, his actions are great but his motives are quite dubious. The further in the third semester goes, the more you see the screws loosening in Maruki’s mental state. Be it the memories on the VHS tapes, the bizarre scenery or the Rumi statues near the top floor, Maruki’s so called “perfect world” would not last long. This is a bare assessment, a more detailed one would go on a little long, but it still proves that despite all that Maruki does, he himself is also human.
Even the way the shadows in his palace look is a hint at how warped his mental state truly is.
The bad ending when he helps "ease of you the pain that decision making brings" is disturbing enough to tell you that Maruki absolutely should not be supreme deity of utopia, no matter how good his intentions were.
The fact that his Persona is named Azathoth also adds to this idea, because Azathoth is an Eldritch god from HP Lovecraftian stories, and iirc, the one that tries to help everyone with its 'gifts', but actually ends up hurting everyone instead
@@Jason-ut2cx like forreal, in that ending maruki gives you depression and calls it a day
oh actually Azathoth is the "blind idiot god" who sleeps all the time and dreams up our reality, and if/when he wakes up, we all die @@decepticonsoundwave297
Royal cemented Akechi as my favorite Persona Character. The fact he is both overly crazy and also he would rather not exist than live in a false realty is just so dam cool.
The thing with Maruki's reality is, if he can bring people back from the dead, imagine how many people with terminal or very painful deseases he saved... Or the people with serious disabilites that he gave a chance at a normal life...
Damn... Third Semestre really makes you think...
I thought maruki didn't actually bring people back from the dead or change reality just rewrite peoples' cognition so they'd believe that was the case.
@@dantegrimm6439 Yeah I guess you're right. Still the people with diseases would still be cured
That's definitely one of the most difficult aspects of determining which reality is morally just. In denying Maruki's world, you're denying so many people's only chance at living a normal, happy life.
Indeed. Is ending pain and misery worth giving up free will? The 3rd semester maybe a bit short but it and Maruki are great additions to an already great game.
they explained in game that the world is dictated by cognition so if people collectively believe something, it will reflect on reality. so technically akechi is actually alive and not just a figment if cognition
The more I think about Maruki and his perfect world the more unsettling feeling I get. Even if everyone in the world becomes happy, Maruki himself will never be truly happy. He will rule over this world of happy People feeling that he will never get what he really wants because he lost the girl he loved and kinda sacrificed himself for "the greater good". That makes me really sad. Yeah, he has a messiah complex but he is not a bad guy. He deserves to be happy too. But in the true ending he has a chance to move on and start a new life.
In fact, the true ending is the only one where he even has a chance to move forward. One of Maruki's greatest character flaws is is that he genuinely does not believe that it is possible for people to live with pain in their lives and move forward with that pain, becoming stronger and better people for it. He does not think it is possible because he himself could not move forward with the pain in his life.
The councilor needed counseling most of all.
Bit late but I can offer another interesting fact that adds to your case.
In Maruki's "new reality," no one remembers who he is. During the cutscene where the gang plus Akechi takes a group picture, Maruki comes up to them and takes it for them, but they never identify him as the guy who helped them. Meaning its likely that his own existence was practically erased in his "new world." Kinda sad tbh.
And Sumire dies, while Kasumi lives.
Even In the perfect happy world he created, he became its biggest tragedy.
3Waifu: "You ever find an exploit that trivializes the gameplay loop?"
Me in Royal with Auto-Concentrate, Almighty Boost, Auto-Matarukaja, Megidolaon Messiah Picaro: "No idea what you're talking about chief"
Myrid Truths
@@BitchChill atlus really gave us p2w on a single-player game huh
The only convo in the 3rd semester that hurt me (and made me legit cry) was Ryuji's because he's my (all time in all of gaming) character. So seeing him lose what HE loved like... broke my heart. Lol
I totally feel that! Some of the stories in the third semester were really tough to get through but I think in the end it is all worth it!
@@3Waifu for sure! I'm glad it isn't canon, though. I like the original ending more ahaha
@@acehikarigaming I can understand that haha, I think I def. prefer the royal ending from both a character and narrative perspective but I can see why it's not everyone's cup of tea!
@@3Waifu Same but I felt kind of empty when the dialogue of everyone moving out
This showed up in my recommended page, and I totally agree. Dr. Maruki is the best character I've seen in any source of media, and he absolutely makes the game for me.
I totally agree! I wasn't sure how good the new characters were going to be because I've heard bad things about previous added in characters in past games but he really ended up making the game for me!
I can take or leave sumire but maruki is a great addition and I wish he'd been in the original.
Something I thought of after doing a playthrough just now is how when Maruki's reality broke down, everything that was supposed to happen during that time happened. That means that the other reality was still functioning and moving on while everyone was living in Maruki's reality. Maruki wasn't actually getting rid of anyone's hardships, he was *only* changing their cognition, their real selves were still living through their struggles like normal. It's almost as if everyone in Maruki's world is a cognitive version of themselves, the way *Maruki* sees them, as people deserving happiness, the same way Kaneshiro saw people as ATM's or Madarame as paintings.
A little late, but can we talk about the big Bad End to the Third Semester? Not the one where you submit to the new world, but the one where you don't send the calling card in time. Maruki changes Joker into becoming a lethargic shut-in and he basically wastes away in his room while everyone else gets to enjoy the reality. It's a scary ending that is pretty perfect. Joker sits there and pulls his friends out of their perfect world, and threatened Maruuki's peace, but in the end he's not determined enough to finish what he started. Maruki punishes him in a perfect and honestly scary way, because Joker showed he was determined enough to talk a big game and convince people to his side, meaning he was a threat that could no longer be allowed to experience the Perfect World.
I feel like I’m in the minority when I say that while I love Maruki as a character, and understand and sympathize with his reasons, I am fully *against* his ideal world. As good of an utopia as he can make, if people like Joker show even the slightest resistance, Maruki does try and fight back, because HE knows better than THEY do what they want. I liken it to a debate about the “right to die” terminally ill patients have; if they’re ready to go, if they’re happy to pass on, who is Maruki to say that no, they’re wrong, they’ll be much happier alive because that’s what will make others happy? Sure, he can cure them of their illness, but what if that’s not what the person wants, or is prepared for? It’s actually not dissimilar the stance Akechi takes; what’s the point of coming back to life if you’re only alive for other people’s whims?
Another thing I don’t like, and I think a thing people miss; sure, if you had the CHOICE, you’d choose to enter paradise. But with Maruki taking over reality, *you don’t get to make that choice*. He chooses it for you, whether you wanted it or if you’d rather face reality and work for what you want your future to be. If you get the bad ending, choosing it or running out of time, Maruki makes the executive decision to keep the PTs trapped in the utopia, and puts Joker to sleep (heavily implying that he intends to keep him asleep until Joker dies). It’s a bad ending for a reason; the freedom you fought so hard for, the free will you worked so hard to liberate, that you shot God in the head for? It’s gone. And no one is any the wiser, because a good man with a god complex made the decision that yes, your life would be better if you never had to grow or change. Go back to sleep. Stop resisting him.
Again, I adore Maruki as a character. He is, as I said, a good man with a god complex. And he does provide a perfect counter to the PTs ideals, asking if changing his heart is right. But I feel like so many people are caught up in the “good man” half, they almost unintentionally overlook the “god complex” half. Interesting discussions to be had all around.
Edit: I think another thing is that Maruki is supposed to be flip side of the coin Yaldabaoth is on. Yaldabaoth wanted society to be downtrodden and under his complete control for his ego; Maruki wants society to be happy… and under his complete control because his trauma makes him unable to realize that yes, this is in fact, for his ego. Not to put too fine a point on it, but a “gentle madman” is still, well, a madman.
THIS!!!
SO MANY people don't realize that what Maruki is doing is just a softened version of what Yaldabaoth wanted to do to people, and it drives me up the wall!!! X_X
Yeah let's question for a second if a human desire is fullfil than what happened to the desire, probably they will strive for more. Is marukis going to fulfill everyone desires even if everyone desires will contradict with each other. Or is he just going to give what he thinks is the "best". But that's just what yaldaboth did. He thinks what's the "best" for humanity is that they should be under his control so there's no suffering. This is just maruki but without soft words
Maruki’s reality is also not reality. Wakaba and Okumura are not actually alive. They are still in their graves, but Maruki has made it so no person in the world could ever perceive that their graves are even there, and everyone collectively hallucinates them to still exist and be around. It’s like the thought experiment of “what if you were just a brain in a jar and everything you see and feel is just being fed to your brain?” If it were true you could never perceive the actual world around you as it is. Maruki has just turned the entire world halfway into brains in jars, effectively. People are still walking around living their lives, but with certain realities removed from their perception and certain things injected into them. Reality still exists, but no one has access to it. No one can ever hope to understand the world again because one man will have irrevocably removed the ability to observe reality as it is. We can no longer rely on observational ability to advance physics or astronomy, because what you see may well have just been written over the reality your brain is not allowed to see. It’s cognition made manifest, but it is still cognition. It will never be truly real, but no one will ever have the means to identify it as fake. Well-intentioned or no, it’s the most viscerally disgusting thing any villain in the entire game does. It is a fundamental bodily and mental violation of every living person without their consent.
I agree fully~! Since the dawn of time, stories have had perspectives. And those perspectives often have variations on what is “good”, “bad”, “right”, and “wrong”. If you wish to truly evaluate if the path you’re walking is as good as it should be, you must first humor the idea that it isn’t. You don’t have to actively question everything you believe, but you have to be open to the idea that your view on the world is a work-in-progress.
By doing that, you can either strengthen your existing philosophy based on the facts presented, or come to believe something new based on the contradictions you find that may work better. A big part of life as we know it is the constant adaptation to understand, and thus take advantage of, the world we live in. And the means of walking that path is introspection.
When Yusuke mentioned that his Art-acquaintance who had a bit of an artist block, suddenly became an archer, something he only mentioned passingly it reinforced my idea to stop Maruki.
It's hard to have faith in that someone who is miserable and unhappy to leave with the fate of whole world's happiness. And as deadline ending shows, he will go to extremes to stop someone and leave no room for negotiation.
I use to use cheat codes, I would normally be careful how many I used
I like to think the way things worked out was the devs' way of giving a subtle middle finger to all the escapism in fan comics and fics. The stark return to the 3 months Joker spent in prison are a clear sign of that...
...but there's always that 1% of fans that understand why escapistic fanfic'ing is bad but instead of giving up work hard on dem theories to bring Akechi back without breaking the balance in consequences. Feels like the Akechi glimpse in Royal's secret end variant was there for those people.
"When you were little and you found a way to cheat in a game, how did it make you feel when you won those encounters?"
Literally great. Zero regrets. Non-cheaters are baffling to me.
We enjoy actually reaping the benefits of our hard work in the game. The rewards feel like we earned them when we put in the work for them.
Good for you. Not me though. Love to cheat.@@JCaesar71306
I completely agree! I love all of the different POVs Royal has to offer to really question the morality of not only the Phantom Thieves, but all of the characters as individuals. It makes all of their stories that much more heartbreaking and stronger as well.
Exactly! I think it is the perfect addition to the story to really close it off and make it feel like a full well rounded narrative!
Honestly, a good way to fix the fourth Palace's problems in my opinion would have been to make Haru more upset at the death of her dad. She was constantly told by the other Phantom Thieves that it would be fine, but instead her dad straight up dies by what seems really obviously the fault of the Phantom Thieves. Not only would it fix some of the problems with the arc of that Palace, it would also finally give Haru some much needed screen time. She could even reference back to it in the third semester, knowing she has to work with the person who killed her father, for just a little bit more time in the spotlight and some much needed direct interaction between psycho Akechi and the other thieves. (it's been a while since I played, so I can't guarantee that they don't do these things a little, and I just don't remember them)
I'm only at the 5th palace, but Haru doesn't seem exceptionally bright. She mostly follows what other people tell her to do, as evidenced by her repeating lines fed to her by Morgana when you first meet her.
@@justinwhite2725 I honestly think that her coming across as a little airheaded when first meeting her is pretty odd and contributes to a major problem with her character: she's really inconsistent. You're absolutely right, she seems pretty stupid when you first meet her, but her backstory has her as the capable heir-apparent to a massive corporation. She's also often made out to be sensitive and mature; really the whole arc with Morgana is an awkward contrivance. She never acts that way again. She's definitely a pushover, but only because she's too concerned with other people's feelings and had a pretty low self image. She's mostly just a hodge-podge waifu if you really take her at face value. The only consistent part of her character is that she's sweet, and even that's subverted by her sadism gimmick. Sometimes she's responsible, sometimes she's dependent. Sometimes she's thoughtful, sometimes she's absent. Sometimes she's ambitious, sometimes she's docile.
Akechi is not evil .. he is broken ... he is what could happen to any phantoms thieves if they were alone. Wht i love in persona 5 and more on persona royal is the facts that allow you to show empathy to " bad guys".. they are just . In the end if Maruki had not such a messiah complex and isntead of impose his way of thinking on others but just ask them ... it coul have work
yeah jeffrey dahmer wasnt evil he was just broken... good one
@@dabillya6845 except that's not what he said at all, akechi had a shit childhood, an abusive one where nobody loved him or wanted him, of course if you get power like that you'd use it to make your life better, he's what could have happened to any of the phantom thieves if they were alone, especially joker
it doesn't mean he's right or anything, it means he isn't doing it just to be evil, he has an actual motive, he wants to make his life better and get revenge on his father who gave him such a miserable life
@@lIlSanslIlI Thanks you ^^. Its easy to judge but hard to understand. It doesnt mean i approve of what he did or its justify his actions .. but a least we have a motive
@@unviewerrandom4792 yeah, that's what makes Akechi so interesting to me in my opinion I genuinely felt sad after he dies because he was one of the few characters that I couldn't help
I have one point of disagreement
Akechi definitely got a redemption in the 3rd semester, albeit an untraditional one.
If Akechi weren't there to push Joker on the matter of how sick the fake world is and how messed up a world built entirely on lies truly is, would Joker have even rallied the Phantom Thieves against Maruki?
Akechi may be a psycho, but he very much was instrumental in saving the world from being swallowed up by a delusion. If that's not enough to redeem him, what possibly could've been?
I agree with this although I'm not sure I would personally call it a "redemption" per say but rather more of expansion on the themes that make him a sympathetic villain. For me a redemption arc would see him confront his past actions and move on from them in a way that acknowledges their immoral nature. However I also think that when it comes to these sorts of things it is very personal and what counts as "redemption" for me will be different than what counts as "redemption" for someone else. Honestly I think questions and discussions like these just point to the fact that no matter how you slice it Akechi is really fun to analyse and examine!
As someone who grew up in the grimiest parts of NY, I wouldn't think twice about siding with Maruki
Some people say that hardships are needed to grow, but I've seen and heard of people and friends recklessly killed for wearing the wrong color t-shirt on the street. What's the lesson there? Don't wear red? Not all hardships are equal and not everything has a lesson that can be learned from it. Some things are just sad and disgusting and usually innocent people have to suffer the consequences through no fault of their own..
Besides, if everything is perfect then they're's no need to grow from those experiences. If it ain't broke don't fix it
God it would be so fucking cool if Joker was swayed by this new world as well and the game made you play as Akechi to save everyone. He can use multiple persona’s so I’d see some really cool stuff going on. Obviously there’s some quirks but nothing a little plot manipulation can’t fix
Maruki went from believing he was the torch that lead people to their proper destination, to a taxi driver where people lead him to their own destination.
Everything Akechi was saying in the 3rd semester, I was eating up everything he said. I wasn't in Maruki's corner at all
While I agree with a lot of your points in general, I question how the added narrative in any way ties back in to the question of the morality of the PT's actions that you opened with.
Even if you argue that what Maruki does is the same thing as the PT does, the sheer difference of scale, both in number of affected people and the changes he makes, means that I never thought of it as the same thing. I never saw them stopping Maruki as them admitting they were wrong, but as them thinking Maruki took it too far and proving that there was good reason for the stop measures they imposed on themselves (Only go after targets agreed upon in unison, arguably they tries only those no one else can do anything about, they only forced their targets to admit the depravity of their actions, and they were forced to go after most of the big targets anyway). The only thing they blame themselves for is putting Maruki in the position of power he ended up in, but that was never something they intended to do in the first place. They wanted the world free of control, not give all that control to someone else; they botched the mission, so they're doing it again.
saw ur post on the subreddit, this is quite well made. Keep up the good work
Maruki is basically the cheat codes for Persona. If you accept the false reality, you’re losing all the levels you had gained before, the hardships you felt with your friends, the characters, and much more? If you did, you lost all accomplishment in that game. If you didn’t, you accepted the terms and chose not to use the cheat codes and suffered. But that’s what made winning so fun. You feel congratulated by winning since you didn’t accept the cheat codes. That’s the way I see it.
i was very much guilty of falling for Maruki's charms he was just a fun silly guy you could talk to so i felt rather betrayed when i found out he was the final boss but he allso did bring up some good points on the whole thing, gentle mad man is such a vibe i got lost in that hospital but i didn't mind because it just meant that i could keep vibing to the music
one thing many people forget royal added is that it added translations to other languages. meaning some of my friends that only speak Spanish can play this game no issue.
Great video however I don't think akechi died. When the phantom thieves rejected maruki's reality okumura wakaba and makoto's dad (I think it's her dad I'm not sure) disappeared however akechi didn't and maruki never said he brought akechi back all he did was make it so joker and akechi could meet again. There are many explanations as to how akechi can still be alive
True! I really like that perspective as well! I feel like Akechi's death was left purposefully ambiguous in order to let the viewer come to their own conclusion which is really awesome. Looking back there is def. a lot of evidence to support him still being around so I am inclined to agree with you!
plot twist: Joker subconsciously did not want to reject Maruki's reality even after Goro's 3rd awakening because Akechi would be yeeted out of existence . A small head canon of mine, but that kind of stings when thinking about it.
@@papyrus4977 I dig that headcannon I always thought Joker's friendship with Akechi was really interesting so I can definitely see that!
Akechi wasn’t manifested for Joker by Maruki either. If he was, the moment Joker rejected the fake reality, Akechi would have vanished. There’s only so much a cognitive creation can do, and a cognitive creation of Akechi wouldn’t have his own conscious, let alone fight in the metaverse.
@@the1theonlyg248 that is certainly an interesting perspective on things! I think narratively speaking Maruki's cognitive creation abilities are left rather vague so that the player can make their own inferences about what is real and what isn't. Honestly that kinda goes back to the whole point of the 3rd semester. I think it is probably impossible to say for sure whether or not Akechi was a construct made for Joker in the 3rd season but what we can say for sure is that no matter the conclusion it def. Gets you thinking!
There’s no world where Maruki was right, but he was a damn good villain because of how much you wanted him to be.
god seeing those videos about royale makes me kind of sad that i didn't think that there would be an expansion, like i finished the game a few months before the release of royale.
This was good, I hope in the future to see more of an expanded/ in-depth analysis on this topic of the impact Maruki’s & Akechi’s characterizations have!
Thanks for the kind feedback! I definitely have plans to revisit persona 5 (in the very near future lol) and when I do that is something I would really love to talk about!
yeah after recently finishing the game I went with Akechi's choice as it was his life to fight against.
Then I went and watched the "bad" ending but there was no dark twist that I expected, there was nothing malevolent about Maruki's world. It seemed to me that Maruki's ending was geared at how the normal fan would perceive a "good" ending, the game ends with the characters close until the end of time, even Akechi..... but when taking that ending you know that isn't the case, Akechi didn't want this reality and YOU, the player, forced that decision on to him.
not to be a whole ass year late to the party, but I think what I find most haunting about the maruki “bad” ending is that everyone is a shell of who they are. what made the thieves special was the hardships they had to overcome, both individually and collectively, and the strength that came with that. (of course, strength from trauma is its own can of worms, and it is not true in every case that the strength resulting from trauma is a positive). but for the thieves specifically, they do find inner strength and a collective identity as positive results of their hardships. to see all of that evaporate and leave behind cardboard versions of each character is pretty grim in its own way, even if it had good intent behind it
@@ThePeaterBeater Yeah I really love that aspect of the third semester. While yes this reality technically makes everyone happier, trauma is what made these people close in the first place. Without their connections, they don't seem like close friends but instead that cousin you see at the holidays
It's kind of a part of the nature vs nurture argument in a weird way. If every aspect of people are predetermined, then personal growth ceases to exist.
That is Maruki's take in the end, people get what they wish for without trauma. There is no need to overcome pain. The thieves wish for life that requires strength and the will to grow past trauma, so the conflict feels natural.
After some narratively strange plotpoints in the shido and yald arcs the third semester hit me just right in my first playthrough lol, it's great
I think if the real life scenario were to be dropped on me, I would pick Maruki’s reality based on the fact that every is happy in the end. Like realistically the lack of free will is a massive sacrifice but when you consider the people living in terrible places with a lack of it to begin with. You start to think more about their safety over your own free will. Think about the millions of people who will never get to experience a real life because they are trapped in a system that oppresses what happiness they could possibly have. I mean north korea for example
This is a really good take! I think a lot of people write off Maruki's point of view because he is written as the "villain" but honestly there is a lot to consider from his point of view! If you are interested in Maruki keep an eye on my channel this Saturday!
exactly my thought tbh, viewing him on the denied growth perspective is clearly a misunderstanding for a lot of people. I myself viewed him on the Savior for the Damned perspective which gave him a lot of positive aspects and strayed him far from villainy.
Great video that makes excellent points. You put this together very well. Editing is smooth and voice quality is top tier.
you’re so right but when you say royale instead of royal i can’t focus on your great points
Haha I'm glad you liked the points at least!
Not sure what else to say other then you nailed it, what I loved so much about this ending and not the Regular persona 5 where you could chose either everyone has free will or not, that option is always no because you want everyone to have free will, however, with maruki if you say yes or no to his universe, you won't be seen as the bad guy , and it teaches you how to gain true happiness you need to experience some great hardship
that's my take on this new palace, keep up the great content
Thanks! I totally agree! I think the moral grey areas that p5r highlights at the end really do a lot for the story and offer a more interesting conclusion than base p5. I couldn't agree more!
@@3Waifu i actually didn't think you'll notice me, thanks man
@@ZaWildCard Of course! talking to viewers is like my whole reason for making videos!
I disagree on a few points.
First, i think the maruki arc is a good idea but as poorly executed as okumura's conflict. The characters do not feel like they are grappling with issues as grave as resurrected dead relatives. Even in the 3rd tier persona free times they feel too detached. They should have gone deeper into it and maybe even tried a p3 answer style falling out. The most we got was Sumire.
Second, maruki doesn't void agency. Paradise is decided by his targets, not himself. There are problems with his plans like people wanting mutially exclusive things and who's paradise gets priority but the game largely dodges those. It is implied Akechi is brainwashed but he's only back due to Joker.
Finally the game analogy is off. I woulf have felt empty beating hollow knight with cheats, but i have no issue just following a guide in va-11 hall-a. If my dead relatives could be brought back, the moral issue means less to me. The game is designed around refusing the offer. No, it isn't even remotely subtle.
P5 had weak writting. P5r is better but i wouldn't call it "fixed."
One of the things I noticed before Sumire officially joins the party, when Joker is walking around school before returning to Maruki's palace is how lackadaisical a lot of the students and the people around the city have become. The captain of a sports team is quitting so he can watch the team from the sidelines, a girl is saying she is not going to go to college while her friend is confused because going to college was all she was talking about.
By taking away ALL pain from people, Maruki also took away ALL ambition. Yes, people suffer in trying to achieve their dreams and make sacrifices to make those dreams a reality, but by taking away the pain Maruki took away that sense of accomplishment of overcoming the pain.
Morgana specifically talks about this to the team in Kamoshida's palace, how a treasure is so tied to a person's desire that it had to be handled with care because desires are what causes people to go eat, sleep, work, aspire to achieve and so on. Maruki did NOT handle the cognition and the desires of the world with care at all. He was so blinded by his desire to "save" everyone from pain altogether that I doubt he even realizes how much harm he has done to humanity as a whole in his desire to remove all pain.
I'll be honest. The world Maruki created never once tempted me. I never ONCE questioned my belief that it was wrong. Why? Because living a lie even if it's so perfectly crafted that you would probably never tell the difference just doesn't sit right with me. After all, there's no guarantee that it would have lasted, nor is there any way i'd trust one person to basically be our new god. No human should have that sort of power, no matter how morally upright they may seem. And frankly, Maruki is PLENTY flawed. His idea of what's perfect would absolutely clash with us at some point regardless of how you feel about losing loved ones by going against him.
That and also *the entire rest of the game* was spent all but screaming at the player about how/why giving up all your autonomy to a single authority figure for the sake of your comfort is a terrible idea that will get you neither autonomy nor comfort. Why would you back out just bc the counselor made sad puppy eyes and had a tragic backstory??
If you've ever seen the cut content, like the harem ending where it's implied it takes place after joker accepts the alternate reality, it's the freakiest thing in the game and basically spells out that: No. There's absolutely no way to make everyone happy without severely fucking with who they are as people, as some people have selfish wishes that'll require taking things from others while making them happy about it. But they took it out, probably because some people aren't as uncomfortable about the out of character zombie like personalities that the girls had if it meant having a harem. At least that's why I think they removed it.
I believe that the idea of "A life is is less satisfying if there is no hardship" does not apply to most if the people living it are not aware that the game is rigged in their favor. Outside of our own small awareness of this world, so many people struggle to survive, fail to find happiness, and suffer under injustice, hatred, disability, ignorance and loss.
If someone with genuine motives and actions can wipe that all away? I choose Maruki. Every time.
It would be selfish to take that away from everyone because I wanted to "play fair."
Amazing video. Seriously... Well done!
Nice video! It is totally on the mark for all of the royals major narrative improvements. I will minorly disagree with you though by saying your analogy for Maruki's reality would be more like if you struggle with a game's level and you eventually just have somebody beat the whole game for you while you watch. Still though great stuff
True I didn't really see it that way at first but I see your point! that is a really unique way of looking at it!
I loves Royal it is my favorite game but st the third semester while it was hard telling everyone that the world wasn't real what almost made me side with Maruki was learning that Akechi would die if I didn't I didn't want that but Akechi convinced me to let him go and I got the true ending.
"Two added characters"
Why the hell does everyone forget about Jose?
First of all a BIG Like for the Video, our thoughts are the same on the ''Distorted Maruki World'',
!!!WARNING GREAT SPOILERS FOR THE THIRD SEMESTER AHEAD!!!
i had ernormous morality issues during the transition between the reality and the distorted World of MarukI, it all started at the Christmas Eve Event, everything went just to smoothly...
But then it was obvious that something is horribly wrong, to see the Scumbag Akechi, Futaba's Mother Wakaba, Mr. Okumura and Mr. Nijima walking among the living, Morgana as a Human (THAT took me a while!) , Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke living their dreams,
for a man who works with people like me, it is very hard to ''destroy'' the happiness of other People to wake them up from such a distortion,
i mean, Maruki has good intentions, no doubt about it but the question is: would you rather live a lie for the rest of your life or accept the harsh reality as it is?
My Friends and me had looooong discussions about this topic but my Arguments were the same as yours and Akechis:
Life is no life without hardship and growth and why accepting the lie, when we fought a whole year against distorions of life to see the truth?
it was just plain wrong for me, and it was really hard to break free from the lie Maruki forged during the third semester because the story is so damn good written
It feels like they knew what change but couldn’t sue to deadlines
"Did you ever use cheats when you were younger"
Me using the strongest Persona at the end of the game on my first run
Maruki was one of the best written characters I've ever seen in a video game. And his backstory was perfect for his character! Great video 😄
Thanks for the kind feedback! I definitely agree, he is an absolutely amazing character!
I could leave a long and detailed comment due to how much I adore P5R, but I’ll just keep it brief:
Entirely agree with the video, P5R’s new content is great and improves upon base P5 in spades, and anyone who hasn’t played it should 100% done so.
And I’m also entirely glad this showed up in my recommended when watching P5S videos, since it’s earned ya a new sub.👌🏽
Maruki would unironically be considered the Hero and the character who was right if only he gave his reality to only those who wanted/ requested it instead of literally anyone he could.
This is a really interesting perspective. By adding consent to the equation the entire moral question shifts a little bit. I'm interested to see how many people would find this to be an appealing option vs how many think more like Akechi and Joker and see it as meaningless and shallow.
The biggest problem with Maruki's reality is that he's imposing it on everyone whether they want it or not. During his boss fight he even admits it's best for people when they overcome pain on their own. I think it shows just how self righteous and deluded maruki was.
Guys! persona dancing: Endless night collection is now on sale for 19.24$! I’m gonna buy it!
I think for me personally, the reason why the whole "A world without pain and suffering for everyone" concept of Maruki's didn't resonate with me is that I saw the immediate flaw in it.
A world without pain and suffering for every person cannot exist simultaniously in a world of people who have their own dreams and desires, because those desires may clash against what another person desires, bringing conflict. So in order for Maruki to bring everyone their ideal world, some people need to be altered to fit.
The game actually shows this fantastically with how some of the background characters talk about giving up their dreams. In addition, the psychiatric examination in Maruki's palace shows that there is a 'right' way to be happy in Maruki's eyes.
But what really frustrated me about the third semester is that you never actually talk with Maruki about any of this. It is just sort of skipped over in favor of the themes of working through ones pain.
Akechi being absolutely unhinged in the third semester is what made me keep him in my party for EVERY battle. That, and roleplaying - I imagined he was the kinda guy who, if told to back off, would be like "nah don't feel like it. LOKI, GET THEIR ASS"
Oh, you want some plucked heartstrings about the third semester arc? How about the funniest AND potentially most-tragic part of all: Morgana's humanity. It was the one thing he wanted. Not success, not the return of someone to life, not even love itself (though he pines for Ann, of course), but just to stand and be counted as a human being. Now, the introduction to Morgana as a human was both funny and shocking, but also...taking that away from him was hurtful. I love all the Phantom Thieves, and I made them all grow equally, with only Joker standing out because he was the lynch pin to them all. Taking away Morgana's hopes and dreams, where he had the freedom to pursue a relationship with Ann or be shot down, live a normal life, and experience all of life's pleasures as we do... I felt really bed. I felt bad about taking it all away, but that impacted me the most.
Still, if I may comment on the cheat code debacle for just a second: They're just there for funsies. If you really feel bad, and you don't want to mess around, then don't do it. Some people don't ever get to see the parts of a game that make it good because they're unable to progress. Just lock, stop, and over a barrel, unable to do it. Now, I for one began life using cheat codes, but then I also challenged myself to see if I could prevent myself from getting hit, even though it wouldn't matter. What I did was train, essentially. Then, I stopped bothering, because I didn't need them. I had full access to cheat codes for like Saints Row 3, but I didn't bother because all my crazy wandering around the sandbox just made me super powerful on my own. There's nothing wrong with using codes. They're just for enabling fun, and fun is the point of games.
Now...someone tell me why there's a flash of Akechi at the end of P5R if he's still dead.
I clicked on this and I was afraid you were gonna say Akechi's character was the weakest part of the base game and I was gonna be so sad. Thank god that's not what happened. Excellent video, great points
Thanks for the kind feedback! I'm happy to hear you liked the video! (and if you liked what I said about Akechi consider keeping an eye on my channel this Saturday!)
Trashumi was the weakest part.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one that says Royale and not Royal
I wish in the OG game they had him turn himself in for Joker, that would have made it a better redemption arc. Although that would still destroy the whole “Is he alive or not?” thing but they could have still did it by, idk, having someone turn themselves in for joker we don’t know who it was but we can theorize it was Akechi. I really liked Akechi’s character and i didn’t play vanilla but im so glad i played Royal first so i could experience his full character potential for the first time.
4:48
Thanks, Izanami-no-okami picaro
Isanagi no okami made my second playthrough of this game so much less of a slog! I didn't really use it my first go around so I didn't realize that it was super busted but I definitely kept it in the party for playthroughs #2 and #3 (this video was recorded on playthrough... 2 I think? It's been a while lol)
Very good analysis I think you nailed some points so many people missed entirely
, many just say you have to refuse Maruki’s reality because he’s not really able to make his plan work or because he’s just evil creating a reality to satisfy his ego.
They missed the point completely. Maruki is the best compassionate person with a big heart that could probably (he’s the perfect candidate) make work the best possible escapism solution for a world where you don’t have to fight and you can get a life full of armonia without fighting and struggling.
If you got what good the phantom thieves made you could understand the importance of facing hardships to reach a better life and fulfill yourself. If you can manage to achieve something than fighting for is worth it.
However this dilemma is not so easy at all. If you empathize with the character and the people who lost everything choosing reality is incredibly hard and painful.
I played P5 once and then Royal so when I played this story arc I knew well the characters, their pasts, their hardships. Initially I could not ask Futaba nor Haru to let go of their loved ones nor I could ask Sumire to be Sumire and face her trauma and probably her depression. It’s a weigh I could not handle initially because I didn’t realize all of them would be able to fulfill themselves through facing hardships.
Cool video, but am I the only one who felt none of this? I never questioned my choices, I never felt bad about taking people from the fake reality and I never trusted Maruki. Am I the only one here?
Persona 5 royal is my favorite piece of medai (thought it's really close with persona 4 ,kirby's epic yarn and Soul) while I do have problems with how the added on marukis palaces I don't care it's so good and made me think about my view on life as a whole and maybe other then Soul Persona 4 and It chapter 1 the game has affect me as a person more then anything piece of media I've seen
It’s like they took that scene from the lacklustre Star Trek V: The Final Frontier where Spock and Bones are shown their greatest emotional pains by Sybok with the offer to take the pain away before Kirk refuses the offer to make a point about needing his pain to be strong and expand on that in P5 Royal.
ok, random yt algorythm sent me here, nice video! ^_^
Nice glad to hear at least one of my videos is getting recommended lol!
Persona 5: Battle Royale
Maruki: I can raise your dead loved ones, cure all illnesses, end all wars, rewrite all suffering, and give you the definitive best possible life.
Joker: *who asked*
Nah but honestly I’m in favor of maruki because the simple counter to that whole pain is progress thing is just making small hills for you to climb. Like learning an instrument or something and not you know horrible crippling trauma or suffering.
Another interesting point that I see few people pointing out is Yoshizawa's role in the 3rd semester. I personally think, that she's is one of the keys to the true ending. She represents in a way how distorted Maruki's world can be, and shows through her arc how much enduring suffering might make you stronger than ever, just like her card says, she's Joker's and the players faith in a earned future.
Nice vid! I totally agree.
Thanks if you liked this consider sticking around I def. want to make more similar stuff!
Maruki is just the god of control with a different skin. Kasumi i found her useless.
Hot take the doctor did nothing wrong and the ending were you accept his reality the good ending as far as I’m considered.
A Royale with cheese! My favorite!
In all seriousness- excellent vid
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
4:52
Im going to go against your argument for a moment
Say your friends have been living in depression
Or their parents are dead or something would you change the reallity for their happiness
I feel like that's the problem i had with picking: putting it back to reall reallity.
Since i have friends like this i would do anything to see them more happy, why should i follow in a reallity that's horrible opposed to a better reallity that might be fake?
I love the game and it's one of my favorites. But the only thing I dislike about Royal is that we can't use Robin Hood with Akechi even though it's stated that him and Joker share the same power. So when you use Akechi you should be able to switch between personas just like with Joker.
That would honestly be super sick! I would have loved to make use of the wild card with both Akechi and Joker although I understand why they just gave him loki for symbolic / thematic purposes!
I believe it’s intended to be pronounced royal like royalty instead of royal like a battle royal.
3Waifu: mentions how akechi was brought back for joker
Me: NO NOT THE TEARS PLEASE NO STOP STOP STOP
4:33 nah man accepting the reality was to get that BANGER theme for the thieves den, jokes aside i’m late on saying great video
Persona 4 Golden was already on Steam, it got ported there in 2020. When 3P and 5R were ported to Steam in 2022 it just got updated from an x32 to an x64 version of the exe.
Honestly I was very conflicted on whether or not to accept his reality
The perfect reality is something I have kind of dreamed of
But the way Maruki does it just doest sit right with me
Him deciding what a person is and isn't happy with and forcing it on them was what made me realize that this isn't right
Yup.
Maruki knows, through his training as a counselor, that the best thing for people with pain is to accept it and move forward; Maruki just doesn't accept it. Thanks to the pain he feels and his inability to deal with it he genuinely believes that it is impossible for others to also move on from their pain.
He would rather there just not be any pain at all and he doesn't care how that would affect people in order to make it happen.
It's also impossible for him to achieve. There is no way to simultaneously meet the wishes of everyone without many of those wishes contradicting each other. There is a cut harem ending for Joker. In that cut ending where Joker stays in his false reality the personalities of all the ladies are severely warped to the point of them being zombies devoted entirely to Joker, so much so that they just aren't the same people any more. Maruki cannot make their wishes come true in that scenario because he messed with them so much that they can't have wishes beyond the wishes Joker has.
Maruki has to decide who's wishes are more worthy of granting than others and distort all others minds and morals so they are happy about it when they otherwise would be pissed.
It's impossible for a utopia to exist where everyone is happy and satisfied. However, it's possible for everyone to have a utopia within separate planes of existence.
Old video, I know but recently finished Royal and I love it for subverting two tropes: 1) Akechi has no redemption arc, at all. You accept him either because you like him despite his numerous and big flaws or because he is useful, not because he is right or good now and 2) thank god Maruki isnt some power hungry villain. When the twist happened I was afraid they would turn Maruki into a "hurr durr I was the villain all along now bow to me or die!!!" Which is a nice change of pace since the rest of P5 villains are so incredibly evil and have no redeeming qualities at all
A big flaw I saw in Maruki's perfect world happened because I romanced Ann. Morgana is turned into a human and wants to date Ann. But how does this "perfect world" handle that? Either he dates her, which means that her agency is taken (because for the world to be perfect it has to be thus) or my Joker's world is no longer perfect as the person he loves now loves someone else.
When one person is in love with another but it's not reciprocated, what does his world do to fix it? Either pain of the heart has to exist or people's free will is taken which would be rather gross.
There's an unused Valentine's Day event that's supposed to take place in Maruki's world that kiiinda sorta goes into this, if you feel so inclined... :O
To be fair, beating Maruki never conflicted me only because of his persona.
An entity that is indeed onmipotent but in the end portends only bad things
His awakening is actually pretty telling if you are a Lovecraft fan.
cant believe he didn't mention the hardest boss of the story line. 801 darts
actually on June 16th last year(2020) i asked out my crush and got rejected. When i came home, i didn’t really feel anything prolly bc it hadn’t sunk in yet. I turned on my PS4 and started playing P5R and got the good ending(Maruki life) and when the credits were rolling and everyone was so happy i started crying so hard, right there in the living room. Something about the music and ending scenes just kept hitting me. Then during the second lockdown i found that someone created a dual mix of ideal and the real and started listening to it. It was really cool and nice and i like it. I started listening to it while i was in the shower and it would make me think about the rejection and i’d cry. A few months after that, during September, i lost my dad.
And now whenever i listen to that dual mix, that mixture of chill and calm and hidden sorrow always makes me think about Dad and i cry whenever, wherever.
One of favorite things about Maruki is one of his last words of defiance.
Pharaphrasing a bit.
"In reality its better for one to overcome harship by their own means....
But life doesnt always gives you that option"
At that moment the game/story is briefly acknowledging that Maruki has a point
How many life would return to innescapable hells without maruki? Opressive dictatorships, wartorn countries , people living without access to clean water.
Even if the narrative still rejects Marukis vision through the protagonist, that point its never denied.
That sole line makes me belive that whomever was writting this, was really thinking about it and not just preaching to the choir.
"I gave up EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING!!!! So why...!?!?!"
Love that line.
loved the extra stuff they added to royal and the extra dungeon and companions
but preffered the original ending where the the phantom thieves travel off together after dealing with the qgents
I also LOOOOOOOOOOVE the idea of "the role of a God in the world" that has really amazing ties with the whole SMT thing, P5R mixes the Persona themes with SMT themes with Maruki.
him saying royale instead of royal is killing me. but good video.
Aye man I fuck with your videos and the quality of them, keep it up broski❤️
Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoy them!