Today we're continuing the Social Link rant rewrite we started last time, because this month it's All Persona, All The Time! Or, well, All Persona, 3 Days Of The Time this month, I guess. And actually, since I sincerely hope you do have something else to fill your 24 hours with in addition to this nonsense of mine, I suppose All Persona, Maybe Half An Hour To 45 Minutes Of 3 Days Of The Time this month might be the most accurate.
Yeah, that's catchy, let's go with that.
8. JUSTICE
In SMTP3, Justice is represented by Chihiro, a classmate and love interest, for Makoto, and Ken, a teammate and love interest, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Nanako, Yu's young cousin. In SMTP5, it’s Akechi, a teammate and douchebag.
Meaning
Justice is pretty much as you'd expect. It's the concept that one's actions receive the appropriate reward or punishment, sooner or later, that they deserve. It's cause-and-effect and Karma, which is more or less like a moral, fateful cause-and-effect anyway.
Persona 3's Social Links for Justice don't really match up to this, though. I mean, I guess Chihiro’s story does count technically, since it shows justice being served to a teacher who carelessly used school funds (he (presumably) gets reported) and to Chihiro, who's a rule-abiding person who was falsely suspected of stealing the money (she gets to get over being fucktardedly shy and also Makoto sexes her up). Still, it's not a great representation, because the main focus of the Social Link is on Chihiro's being idiotically shy and then becoming just a tiny bit self-confident. There's no doubt that this personal advancement is the main part and driving force of the Link, and it really doesn't have much of anything to do with the concepts of Justice. Nor, of course, does the development of Ken’s schoolboy crush on Kotone, unless you see his gaining someone to hold and live for as a just, karmic reward to help balance losing his mother previously, but that’s...really reaching.
Of course, neither does Persona 4's Social Link have anything to do with the arcana. Besides just that Nanako becomes happier and more self-assured because she deserves to be for being a good person, there's absolutely no tie to Justice for her. Now, later in the game, her fate relies on the decisions Yu makes, so you COULD say that she suffers or benefits from his actions, which IS a proper display of Justice...but those events are inextricably part of the plot; they have no tie to the Social Link's subplot. So I can't count them.
Luckily, however, Persona 5 has come to the rescue! Sure, the majority of the Justice Social Link is just Ren and Akechi faffing about at billiards parlors and restaurants and so on as Akechi’s polite little facade gets strained harder and harder from his resentment for Ren’s superiority (and also let’s face it probably the fact that he desperately wants to A-catch-i Ren’s dick in his mouth)...but past all the honestly unimportant prelude comes the point in the Social Link at which Akechi is caught by his own cognitive duplicate in Shido’s palace, and dramatically dies by the hand of a representation of the sins he’s committed for the sake of his petty, childish schemes. Not only does Akechi receive karmic retribution for his murders and maimings, the lousy weak-minded little fraud dies by his own blood-drenched hand. Now THAT, ladies and gentlemen and others, is Justice at its finest. Seriously, chef’s kiss, 5 out of 5 stars, simply couldn’t have been a better representation of a wanker getting what’s coming to him.*
Verdict: Akechi died :D
Worth
Persona 3: Well, Chihiro is a painfully bland, wholly uninteresting namby-pamby wienie whose shyness is laughably over-exaggerated--I was about as shy as it got back in High School myself, and even I would have spoken up for myself if I was being accused of THEFT. Since to describe Chihiro as “cliche” would be to consequently associate an unfair level of unoriginal boring tedium in other cliched characters, we’re gonna be judging Persona 3 on Ken’s story.
Ken’s Social Link had more potential than it tried to capitalize on (the beginning makes you think it will largely be about his missing his mother and moving past that, and the ending seems like that was supposed to be a part of it, but little to nothing is ever said or developed on the subject, which is too bad because it would have developed his character nicely). Still, it’s a good story of a boy who’s unsure of how fast he’s supposed to be growing from a kid to an adult, which is an interesting subject that gets far too little attention, and when it does, it tends to be focused entirely on girls grappling with the question (as seen in certain episodes of Hey! Arnold, The Ghost and Molly McGee, and The Simpsons, or as a major concept behind Puella Magi Madoka Magica), without realizing that boys can have the same concerns and difficulties at the precipices of age. Hell, if you can put aside the anime creepiness of the 17-year-old Kotone returning the 11-year-old Ken’s romantic feelings, the love subplot is kind of sweet, too. I mean, it’s reasonably cute, it seems at least a little realistic (which is more than you can say for most Persona romances), and let’s face it, it’s neither the first nor certainly the worst time this sort of thing’s happened in an RPG. I'm not wild about it, but it's at least not an outright detriment to an otherwise respectable story.
SCORE: 3 (Chihiro’s would have been 0)
Persona 4: Nanako's Social Link is one of the best in the series, both being emotionally engrossing and starring a very likable character, realistically portraying the strong feelings and difficult worries of a child in her position, and realistically helping to cement the bond of family between her and her big bro Yu. The Link manages to create and convey a lot of emotional depth in relatively short time when it comes to Nanako’s thoughts and feelings about her departed mother and her busy father, and if you can come out of this thing not wanting to give the kid a big hug, then you need to go home because you’re not invited to this rant any more. This is a great story that adds so much to an important and adorable character, and a highlight of the game.
SCORE: 4
Persona 5: Shooting the shit with Akechi as he secretly seethes with petty hatred for anyone who’s better than him--which would basically be everyone--is not exactly my idea of fun, and honestly, most of this Social Link is kinda just wasting time. The first 7 ranks could really have been condensed into 2 or 3 scenes, because there’s only so much of substance that you can actually glean about Akechi while he’s doing his polite detective prince facade--some insight, to be sure, but not overly much. You only really see the real Akechi at the end of the eighth scene of this story, in which he finally lets just enough of his mask slip to reveal to Ren with almost trembling rage how much he hates him. And that IS a good scene, not to mention pleasantly vindicating for anyone who could see through Akechi’s Nice Guy disguise from the start, but...well, this Social Link’s driving purpose is clearly to be the primary vehicle for developing Akechi’s character. And to that end, it can only do so much when so much of its time is spent with him while he’s deliberately hiding that character (and even once the charade’s done with, the game rolls Rank 9 and 10 into the same overall plot event, further reducing how much it can do to develop him). That’s not to say that there was necessarily a better way to handle this story, mind you, because the timing of the main plot’s events is what’s necessitating so much time spent futzing around with Pretend Not-Shitty Akechi, but the fact remains that, even if it later parts are kind of okay and its limitations aren’t exactly its fault, this Social Link is still deeply flawed in its pace and barely accomplishes its objective.
SCORE: 1
9. THE HERMIT
In SMTP3, The Hermit is represented by Maya, an online friend, for Makoto, and Saori, a classmate, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's a greedy fox that grants wishes and has magical healing powers...no, really. In SMTP5, it’s Futaba, a teammate and, unfortunately, love interest.
Meaning
The Hermit's about searching within for wisdom and understanding. Isolating oneself from the world to find inner truth is what this Arcana is all about, associating itself with solitude and introspection, but in a soul-searching way. Finally, The Hermit can symbolize a mentor of sorts, but one who doesn't teach or guide so much as simply serve as an example of wisdom, thus still inspiring do-it-yourself soul-searching.
Needless to say, accurately representing The Hermit through a Social Link presents a bit of a logistical challenge. You may as well ask for a rhythm game without music, or a Bethesda statement without dishonesty. Atlus does what it can, however.
Unfortunately, as far as Futaba and Saori are concerned, the writers just aren’t equal to the challenge. Saori may have a stint as a social pariah in Kotone’s side of Persona 3’s take on this Arcana, but the entire story of the Social Link is, nonetheless, about her standing with the rest of the school’s students, and it involves a ton of interaction with others. She isn’t isolated, she’s just not in good social graces, which is a completely different thing, and furthermore, the fact that Saori isn’t socially accepted is a source of discomfort to her, so even this pale imitation of The Hermit’s isolation is seen as something undesirable. You can talk about how she’s closed off her true self from the world and that makes her like a hermit and blah blah blah, but in the end that makes her no more true to The Hermit than several other characters in the game, not to mention the entirety of SMTP4’s main cast. Every part of Saori’s actions, conflict, and rising above said conflict is related to other people.
As for Futaba, she’s basically starting at a point in which she’s vaguely separated from other people, although again not in any way relevant to The Hermit, but this is, again, seen as a negative situation that she wants to correct. Her Social Link is largely about her pushing herself past her social phobias to be able to engage normally with other people in social settings. Not only that, but her personal growth in this Social Link is done with the assistance of another person (Ren), not solely through her own means. Ironically, this is 1 of the Social Links in which Ren has the MOST active role in helping to guide the star through her story and helping her to achieve wisdom. Doesn’t it just figure that the 1 time a protagonist being an aloof observer rather than properly involved in the story would be a GOOD thing, it doesn’t happen!
Persona 3’s Maya is a step up, in that, as a person Makoto meets online in an MMORPG, their interactions by necessity have a component of solitude. Still, Maya DOES interact with Makoto throughout the Link, and even if she comes to a lot of her conclusions largely by herself, Makoto’s interactions with her are still clearly a factor in Maya’s personal growth. Neither she nor Makoto are truly isolated, and Makoto’s detached role in Maya’s finding wisdom would have more significance to this Arcana if it were out of the ordinary, but Makoto’s reserved in MOST of the game’s interactions, so it’s too much of a stretch to say he’s filling the role of The Hermit’s example-setting mentor. Ultimately, this one may be closer to accurate than Futaba and Saori, but it’s still not there.
Yet at the same time, Persona 4's fox really isn't any better a representation. The fox uses Yu to grant people's wishes so that they'll make monetary offerings to the fox's shrine, until finally the shrine becomes prosperous and people begin to regularly donate to it. The problem with this is that, while the fox can't really communicate with Yu, he's still relying on Yu to do everything, just as the people whose wishes need to be granted by and large rely on Yu to get them what they need. This Link actually seems to be MORE focused on social cooperation, extending beyond the standard case of Yu helping the Link's representative, to Yu helping half the town's residents, and those people in turn helping the fox. Neither Yu nor the fox seem to particularly find any wisdom or inner truth through the other’s example, nor are either shown in any way to be doing any soul-searching.
Verdict: In the previous version of this rant, I refused to give a point for accuracy to either Persona 3 or 4, and certainly Futaba’s addition doesn’t improve The Hermit’s situation any. Still, this time around, I want to try to avoid cop-outs as much as I can, so I will, begrudgingly, give this round to Persona 3 for Maya, because she’s at least a little physically isolated from Makoto, and even if it’s more just business-as-usual than intent, I guess the fact that she comes to her own realizations about herself with only a little help from Makoto’s presence is, in the absolute tiniest way, slightly truer to The Hermit than Saori, Futaba, or the fox. But this is the absolute slightest of victories, here. If Persona 6 someday does something, ANYTHING even remotely appropriate to The Hermit, it will IMMEDIATELY secure a win in this category.
Worth
Persona 3: While I wouldn’t call Maya’s story amazing, it is decent, Maya is convincing as a character, and it does have an enjoyable end. Saori’s story, by contrast, is alright overall, but feels very by-the-numbers, and is way, way too similar to the Justice Social Link--Saori’s crippling passivity and Chihiro’s crippling shyness are almost interchangeable,their conflicts are ultimately very similar, and their resolutions are very close. Saori’s a little more appealing as a person, and they do shove some hasty background and depth in for her right at the game’s end, but that’s really not enough to make her seem substantially different from Chihiro, and as noted above, I’m no fan of Chihiro. So Maya’s the one we’ll judge by, and her story of realizing that she’s been using the anonymity of an online persona to indulge in the negativity in her life rather than face her frustrations head-on and rise above them is a pretty good one. It’s funny, but even though this Social Link’s foundation in leetspeak and MMORPGs dates it, its conflict of a game being shut down before its time by its greedy parent company and its message against using your internet namelessness as a way to pass the negativity of your own life onto others makes it arguably more relevant today than it was in 2006, and that scores it a little extra credit, too. Hell, even the cutesy little online romance thing is more tolerable than half the love subplots in this game, albeit largely because Maya has the dignity to refuse to compromise herself by following through with it at the end of the game.
SCORE: 2 (Saori’s would have been 1)
Persona 4: Sad though I am to say it since I’m somewhat fond of foxes, this story has nothing of note about it, nor any lesson to teach, and its main character is barely an entity at all. A meaningful story about an animal character is a challenge, but it’s one that Atlus met adequately with Koromaru in Persona 3, so there’s no excuse for just how empty this Social Link is.
SCORE: 0
Persona 5: This story works significantly better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, and also it’s based on a very unhealthy emotional power dynamic between Ren and Futaba, and for God’s sake man she is CLEARLY your little sister and this isn’t Fire Emblem and frankly there are even actual, biological siblings in this game for whom a romantic relationship would seem more authentically believable and healthy than one between Ren and Futaba...so I’m judging by the platonic version. Come on, man, your shared adoptive Dad even specifically ASKS you not to take advantage of her.
Anyway! While Persona 5’s insistence that introverted people can’t just be left to their own devices and HAVE to be dragged into social activity “for their own good” mildly annoys me, Futaba actually WANTING to improve her ability to function around and with other people makes it less bothersome, and tying this self-improvement to a way of honoring her mother’s memory is a nice touch. This story’s a pretty decent tale of Futaba gaining confidence and autonomy through the training wheels of her big brother’s supportive presence and encouragement, and it’s rewarding to see Futaba succeed in her steps of self-improvement, as well as use her new, growing self-assurance to help an old friend and right a wrong in their relationship. It leaves you feeling good about where Futaba is and how she got there, and it’s a good supplement to the theme of what a great family she, Ren, and Sojiro make to one another that comes up in the main story and in Sojiro’s own Social Link. Good stuff!
SCORE: 3
10. FORTUNE
Also known as The Wheel of Fortune. In SMTP3, Fortune is represented by Keisuke, a classmate, for Makoto, and Ryoji, a classmate and secretly the incarnation of Death (no, really), for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Naoto, a teammate and love interest. In SMTP5, it’s Chihaya, a fortune teller and love interest.
Meaning
Fortune is basically the Tarot representation of Fate in all its inexorable, ineffable glory. It's the alignment of events to bring about what must be, and whether or not you can understand it--and you probably can't--you definitely can't deny it. But although Fate cannot be predicted or accounted for, it IS a wheel, and you’re on it, so it advises you to take heart when bad luck strikes you, for good fortune will eventually come, but also to brace yourself when good luck comes to you, for bad fortune is likewise inevitable.
Persona 3's Social Link on Makoto’s side is a very good representation of this Arcana, but interestingly, it’s very secretive about this fact. Although at a glance, Keisuke's dilemma between becoming an artist or a doctor seems totally unrelated to Fortune, a longer look will reveal that it's not the content of the Social Link that's so important, but the events. Keisuke's destiny is clearly to become a doctor, and the acts of random chance that occur in this Link are suspiciously many and suspiciously timed to push him into that destiny. Every time Keisuke seems to come to a serious internal dilemma about what path to choose, each time he comes to the center of his personal crossroads, there's suddenly a coincidence that screams, "BE A DOCTOR, STUPID!" right at him. The Link perfectly shows its Arcana inspiration in this regard.
In the case of Kotone, it’s still a pretty decent example of Fortune. Even as Kotone and Ryoji become close, Ryoji is unconsciously tormented because some part of him knows this cannot last, knows without understanding that it is his fate to become the herald of the world’s destruction and that this life as Ryoji is just an illusion, no matter how wonderful it may be. Additionally, Ryoji feels an inexorable pull toward Kotone (even if I feel it’s safe to say that his feelings of love for her are at least mostly his own, rather than the result of destiny), because he is fated to be connected to her in all his forms. It’s not as subtle and perfect a connection to the Arcana as Keisuke’s was, but it definitely works well.
SMTP4, on the other hand...I don't see much of a connection. I mean, I guess I can see Naoto's coming to terms with being a woman as symbolic of accepting an unchangeable fate, but I feel like that's kind of reaching.
Now, you’d think that Chihaya being a fortune teller would make her a shoe-in for perfect accuracy to the Arcana, but surprisingly, SMTP5 is kind of the opposite of Fortune. 1 of the 2 founding ideas of this Social Link’s story is that destiny can be changed through strong personal determination, and while that’s a very comforting and encouraging message for the audience, it’s the exact antithesis of what the Arcana is meant to represent.
And yeah, I know that I allowed for SMTP5’s argument against The Hierophant’s group feeling component still counting as accuracy, but in that case, it felt like a perspective that had considered the Hierophant’s components and argued fairly effectively against them in its story, whereas here...there’s really no line of reasoning, no actual example, of why the concept of Fortune is wrong, just a blind and blithe rejection of it altogether. There’s no point made, no work done to explain this denial, the Link just yells “No one tells ME what to do, you’re not my DAD, Destiny!” and storms out to sullenly smoke some cigarettes down by the corner.
Verdict: The point easily goes to SMTP3. Hell, the only competition it had for the win was from itself!
Worth
Persona 3: Both Ryoji and Keisuke’s stories are pretty good ones, but I’m going to judge the game on Keisuke’s story. Interestingly, the reason for this isn’t solely based on its content--I’d say Ryoji and Keisuke’s Links are about equally good in terms of the story and emotions they present. But Keisuke’s stands out to me by virtue of just how cleverly and subtly the writers arranged it to represent the gentle but undeniable hand of Destiny in his personal journey to accepting his Fate. It’s so subtle and elegantly accomplished that I was actually very proud of myself when I figured it out, but once you see it, it’s impossible to deny that it’s there (which is thematic in itself!). The ability to represent the Arcana not within the story, but through the mechanics of its narrative, is a marvelously admirable stroke that Persona manages with both this Social Link, and the one for Persona 4’s take on The Moon (as we’ll see next time). Very cool.
Additionally, this Social Link shows an unexpectedly reassuring and favorable perspective on the idea of a destiny that you can’t change. While most RPGs, particularly JRPGs, fixate on the idea that one’s destiny can be altered with enough screaming, pounding of fists, and gnashing of teeth, SMT Persona 3 gives a refreshing story wherein the gentle pushes of the universe are a good thing. Keisuke is ultimately satisfied and even glad for having finally accepted his future in medicine, and the fortunate events that directed him there also showed the audience how important it was, how much good he could do, in that fated role. It’s a nice change of pace to have someone suggest that maybe Fate isn’t an opponent trapping you in a box, but a benevolent director assigning you the role that’s right to you.
SCORE: 3 (Ryoji’s would have been 2)
Persona 4: This story works significantly better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
Naoto's story isn't bad, but at the same time, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of emotional impact to it, either, and the trip from Emotional State A to Emotional State B is somewhat vague at times. I watch it all play out, and by the end, I'm not entirely sure how we've gotten where we are. It’s fine, just largely unremarkable--which, I suppose, is very on-brand for Naoto.
SCORE: 1
Persona 5: This story works significantly better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
Chihaya is...okay, on the surface. A story of recognizing that she’s been taking advantage of, gaining the strength of will to stand up to her manipulator, and working from that point to make amends for her mistakes is fine enough, I guess. But the Social Link’s message is that you can change your fate with a strong enough will, and the game just doesn’t do anything to convince me that this describes Chihaya. She changed her mind about immutable destiny because of Ren’s strength of character disrupting it, she was too cowed to stand up to the organization’s scammer without Ren’s present support, and she needed Ren as a Phantom Thief to solve her problem for her. At no point has there been any evidence of the determination that Ren keeps attributing to her in their conversations. Yes, showing a satisfactory personal story that conveys the protagonist’s strength of character persevering is tricky when a necessary component is an outsider coming in and using his superpowers to solve the problem...but you know, I didn’t doubt Temperance’s Kawakami’s conviction when she confronted her former student’s guardians, even if their trump card was too much for her to overcome on her own. Nor did Devil’s Ohya seem a lesser journalist for her being put in a situation by her editor that she simply couldn’t escape from. There are plenty of Social Links in Persona 5 which are only resolved by Ren’s heroic resolution, and most of them manage to thread the needle to keep his providence from discrediting their star’s own agency.
So...while I don’t personally dislike Chihaya or her Social Link, the fact that she and it really don’t do anything for me (really, was anyone all that impressed by her?) means that there’s really just no particular positives to outweigh any problems with it. And when the crux of her story is that her will has the power to overturn destiny, the fact that she comes off as a mild little milquetoast right to the end and that there’s really not a lot of evidence of this supposed determination anywhere in the Link...well, that’s a problem that there’s no positive to balance out or outweigh, I’m afraid. It sure as hell ain’t some vapid, outright annoying “I Have A Vagina So Let’s Get Cooking” affair, but I’m afraid that Persona 5’s Fortune Social Link IS still a net negative.
SCORE: 0
11. STRENGTH
In SMTP3, Strength is represented by Yuko, a classmate and love interest, for Makoto, and by Koromaru, a teammate, for Kotone. In SMTP4, it's Kou or Daisuke, depending on which team you choose to join. Both are classmates. In SMTP5, it’s Caroline and Justine, the Velvet Room attendants.
Meaning
Strength is like a combination of The Emperor and The Chariot. Like The Chariot, Strength acknowledges emotional power, but like The Emperor, Strength does not submit to emotions. Rather, Strength conquers emotions and rises above them--not quite using them to fuel ambitions like The Chariot, yet not quite denouncing them like The Emperor, either. Courage and patience are qualities associated with Strength--they represent a recognition of emotion (fear and desire respectively), but also an overcoming of those emotions (courage pushes past fear to decide one's actions, and patience controls desire to wait for something). Mind over matter, will over instinct, that sort of thing. Much like victory and conquest representing The Chariot as a consequence of what it truly symbolizes, Strength is also associated with the fortitude and bravery that come of its focus.
Persona 3's Social Link on Makoto’s side...well, I guess it kind of relates to Strength. Through helping a bunch of kids get fast enough to win a race, Yuko finds inspiration and a goal to set for herself, whereas before she was lazy and unmotivated. That's sort of like Strength's meaning of overcoming emotions--if you count sloth as an emotion, I suppose. But it's really more like The Chariot, I feel--Yuko's finding emotional inspiration in helping the kids, and is turning that inspiration into a focus on her new goal.
I’d say the story on Kotone’s side of SMTP3 is a better representation of Strength. The process of getting Koromaru to open up to and fully trust the protagonist involves a certain patient approach, not trying to push the dog and recognizing that his love for his original master will not disappear, nor be replaced, even as he grows to care for his new friends. The patience of Kotone in not pushing Koromaru emotionally also helps him to trust her enough, overcome his fear enough, to be comfortable in letting her see his scar, which sort of relates to the idea of overcoming negative emotions, which Strength, as I mentioned, is all about.
As far as Persona 4 goes, well, with Kou, there's...really nothing there. I guess if you want to really stretch, his coming to terms with his place in his family and with his friends could be rising above his fears, but...I feel like that's just trying too hard to relate the Social Link to the Arcana. Really, I just don't think there's any particular connection between Strength and Kou's story than roundabout generalities.
With Daisuke, though, the connection is more clearly there. Daisuke's Social Link plot is about him conquering his inner fears and rising above them to enjoy life regardless of its risks, which definitely ties in with Strength's theme of courage and overcoming emotions.
Finally, with Caroline and Justine, there is, once again, very little in the way of Arcana relevance. The Social Link is basically just a rehash of Margaret’s in SMTP4, with them demanding that Ren bring specific Personas to them to satisfy some list whose origins they’re unsure of. If you want to go by the purest surface-level criteria possible, then they’re related to “strength” in the sense that the Personas are what make Ren powerful, and there’s 1 point at which they make some vague comment about the actual Strength Arcana being, like, the point at which the Tarot deck is split or something, which relates to their schtick of being a split being, but even Stretch Armstrong would call counting that too much of a reach.
Verdict: By virtue of Daisuke, Persona 4 wins the round.
Worth
Persona 3: Yuko’s Social Link about struggling to find motivation and direction in her life, and then discovering through coaching some kids that she wants to be an athletic trainer and help people achieve their goals, is nice enough, but not executed well. Too much time is spent in the earlier parts of the story on establishing Yuko’s lack of motivation, not to mention that an entire rank of the Link is devoted to talking about her past love life and her personal drama with a classmate, which has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of this vignette. If more time was spent examining Yuko’s coaching and showing the way she finds value and motivation in her inspiring her team, then this Social Link would feel more meaningful, but as it is, it’s pleasant but unremarkable.
Thus, we’ll be judging on Koromaru’s side of things. The pupper’s Social Link is mostly just him hanging out with Kotone and doing some dog things, but the matter of his mourning his now-deceased owner surfaces at times, as does the question of what Kotone and the SEES team are to him. I like the fact that while Koromaru seems to find some peace with his master’s passing by the end, and while he comes to trust Kotone enough to allow her access to the scar on his belly where he feels vulnerable, his new friends are very clearly indicated to be exactly that: friends to Koromaru, but not replacements for his first owner. He values Kotone and the rest of the team, but he’ll always be the priest’s dog, and the tale of both he and Kotone coming to terms with that is nicely emotional. It has its limits with a nonverbal character who frankly didn’t get as much attention from the plot that he should have (few animal characters do, of course), but it’s still pretty good.
SCORE: 2 (Yuko’s would have been 1)
Persona 4: Honestly, we can go with Kou or Daisuke here, because they’re both solid stories. Daisuke’s tale is a rewarding one of a guy whose self-image is still bleeding after a bad relationship and break-up damaged his confidence so badly that he now can’t bring himself to give his all to anything for fear of the pain of failing in spite of his best efforts. Kou, meanwhile, is a rare occasion where Hiimdaisy’s summary, while still super funny, isn’t giving a character his earnest due, because Kou’s got a great story of a kid trying to define who he is and grappling with his insecurities about being adopted. In both stories, you sincerely root for Daisuke and Kou, and the resolutions to their conflicts feel good and worthwhile. I also like the fact that in each story, it’s the steadfast friendship that Daisuke and Kou share, and Yu’s addition to that dynamic, that pull them through their hardships. Involving the character you didn’t choose as an essential part of the friendship that helps the Social Link’s star find himself is a good decision, because having Kou in Yu’s corner as he tries to help Daisuke or Daisuke backing him up as he tries to help Kou makes Yu’s involvement in feel more genuine and the message of friendship’s power seem more significant. Overall, these are both well-written stories, and if someone wanted me to pick a good, solid representation of a basic Social Link, SMTP4’s Strength might very well be my go-to.
SCORE: 3 (I like Kou’s version just a little more, but both earn the same grade)
Persona 5: The mechanics of this one are the same as Margaret’s Empress Link in SMTP4--you advance it by bringing the attendants specific Personas that they request, rather than simply spending time together.** Thanks to Caroline and Justine actually having personalities (even if they are (intentionally?) cliched), however, their banter for each rank makes this substantially better, and there IS something vaguely like a story involved in advancing this connection. It’s barely anything, just an ever-deepening bit of foreshadowing for the eventual plot twists involving Lavenza, but that’s at least better than the load of nothing we got in the previous game with Margaret. Still, reducing an entire Social Link opportunity down to a few tsundere quips and some clumsily conspicuous hinting is a disappointing move by Atlus.
SCORE: 1
12. THE HANGED MAN
In SMTP3, The Hanged Man is represented by Maiko, a young girl. In SMTP4, it's Naoki, a classmate. In SMTP5, it’s Iwai, an airsoft gun shop owner.
Meaning
Like The Hermit, this Arcana encourages the search of knowledge and wisdom within, rather than from the outside world. Where The Hermit, however, only encourages isolation from others, this one prescribes isolation from the world itself to find truth and understanding. Meditation’s a common representation of this idea and Arcana. More than just this, however, The Hanged Man also represents the necessity of personal sacrifice--that in order to attain something truly worthwhile, one must make a sacrifice, give up something in return. It could be time, comfort, possessions, health, hopes and dreams, anything--it could even be just ignoring your impulses and going against what you want to do. But in the end, what you gain WILL be worth it.
So how's this all fit into the Social Links? Well, it works out very well with Persona 3--Maiko comes to terms with her parents' divorce and comes to realize that her parents do still love her, but to get to this happy conclusion, she has to give up on her (futile) hopes to keep the divorce from happening--yet since her greatest concerns about it were whether they still loved her, sacrificing what she thought she wanted (them not getting divorced) brings her what she really needed (to know that they still love her). In fact, Persona 3 even gives a second dose of relevance after that--Maiko has to choose which parent to live with. She chooses her mother because she feels her mother will need her help and presence more, while her dad is more self-sufficient, but her mother will be moving away, meaning that Maiko won't see Makoto again. She's making the sacrifice of being able to play with her friend because she knows her mother needs her more--again, giving something up for something more important.
Persona 4 does a reasonably decent job with it, showing Naoki reaching the point he wants to where he can finally continue with his life, but having to let the anguish he's been burying inside him out, feeling the emotional pain and gaining the ability to move on from it. Persona 4 also kind of works with the idea of isolating yourself from the world to gain wisdom--he's emotionally detached from the world for a while, after all, and that state is a step toward coming to terms with his sister's death. This interpretation, however, is definitely more of a stretch and less tangible than Maiko’s was.
Iwai is also a good representation of The Hanged Man. He occupies a niche role in a black market from his shop in a secluded alleyway and is very guarded with others, giving him a mild, if tenuous, connection to the Arcana’s theme of isolation. More than that, however, Iwai represents The Hanged Man’s concept of sacrifice for a greater reward--in his past, he gave up a prominent and promising position in the Yakuza to adopt an abandoned child and raise him as his own, and even though Iwai’s whole life at that time had been invested in the underworld, he clearly has found far greater worth and happiness in being a father than he would have in the life he gave up for it. Within the Social Link’s own events, Iwai takes the risk of sacrificing his son’s love and respect for him by admitting the boy’s origins to him, and revealing the shady past that Iwai had before he adopted him...but sacrificing the comfortable and convenient lie of their lives for the stark truth winds up bringing the family closer together, and giving both Iwai and his son greater confidence in the other’s strength of character, and their bond as family.
Verdict: While Iwai is very good competition, I’m going to give this win to Persona 3. Iwai’s got some good examples of making sacrifices that repay better than what was given up, to be sure, but while I’m sure that giving up his life in the Yakuza for a child out of the blue was not easy, it’s Maiko whose sacrifices seem the heaviest and most difficult to make. It takes courage to give up on a comfortable lie as Iwai did, but it’s a tremendously hard and painful thing for a child like Maiko to be faced with giving up on the idea of her parents staying together as a single happy family, and later having to choose which parent to live with when she loves them both is likewise an extremely difficult reality to contend with, somehow seeming like it must have been even tougher than Iwai’s decision to change his life for a random kid. Maiko’s just feel more like real, hard sacrifices, somehow, and I also think that the payoff of her getting something more important than what she’s giving up feels more directly connected, too. Iwai’s a good representation of the Arcana, but Maiko’s a great one, so Persona 3 takes it.
Worth
Persona 3: I REALLY don’t agree with a couple of the “right” answers to dialogue choices in this Social Link, and the ending is very needlessly weird for Kotone. With that said, the story of Maiko coming to terms with her family’s change, and finding reassurance that the important thing about that family, the love that it has for Maiko and the love she has for it, will not change, is a really good story, relatable and frequently touching.
SCORE: 3
Persona 4: Naoki’s story of reaching acceptance of his sister’s death by finally grieving her properly, and moving forward with his life, is exceptionally well-written and moving. Of all Persona 4’s Social Links, in fact, this is my very favorite, even beating out my admiration for and enjoyment of The Moon’s. Man, between Naoki and Yosuke, Atlus managed to get remarkable emotional mileage for its characters out of Saki’s death, in spite of it occurring practically before the story has even begun. Anyway, there’s not much to really say here; Naoki’s story is just an extremely touching, poignant, and perhaps even beautiful story of a boy facing the fact that he’s lost a loved one, and grieving for her in earnest. It’s excellent and I feel not the slightest embarrassment for having cried as I watched it.
SCORE: 4
Persona 5: Helping Iwai re-cut his ties with his past mistakes, and watching as embracing the truth brings him and his son closer together, makes for a good, simple, straight-forward story. There’s a lot more raw, direct worldly ugliness to Iwai’s past than you’d expect a Persona game to acknowledge, even one that makes its whole purpose facing the unpleasant truths of Japanese society, and I appreciate that--the contrast of Iwai’s background helps sell just what kind of world he’s been trying to keep his son above. There’s not a lot here that truly speaks to me, but it’s a solid story of familial bonds and a father’s determination to create a better life for his son than he himself had--even when that fixation begins to get in its own way.
SCORE: 2
13. DEATH
In SMTP3, Death is represented by Pharos, a little boy that only Makoto/Kotone can see, who is secretly the incarnation of Death itself (no, really). In SMTP4, it's Hisano, an old woman. In SMTP5, it’s Takemi, a local doctor and love interest.
Meaning
The Death Arcana is a symbol of great, inevitable change and/or transformation. This generally is in the form of the end of something, but in a transitional way--the end that the Arcana is associated with isn't final or intrinsically destructive, but rather an end of one thing to make way for the beginning of another. The idea of physical death is, of course, symbolically related, but only inasmuch as it’s an excellent representation of the cycle that this Arcana describes, for death of old life makes room for fresh, new life to emerge.
For Persona 3...well, at first, I didn't see too much accuracy. I mean, just throwing the actual concept of Death in to be your Death Arcana's representation doesn't make it an accurate portrayal of the card by itself, and I get the feeling that was Atlus's plan. And the final change that Pharos talks of during the Social Link and later is the advance guard for DOES get averted, so the idea of the change that the Death card symbolizes being unavoidable isn't accurately portrayed. On the other hand, there are a couple times in the events involving Pharos that do qualify--the end of the Social Link proper has Pharos leaving for good, ending his time with Makoto in order to begin a new role--which is the transformation that the Death Arcana describes perfectly. A similar transformation happens later on with Pharos again, too, which again has him undergoing a transformation to end one "life" and begin a new one.
But what really convinced me that this Social Link was, indeed, more than just lazily saying "Here's Death, it symbolizes Death, now go away" was the insight of good sir Ecclesiastes. It was as follows:
"I think Atlus was going for something very specific and meaningful when they joined the Arcana and the concept of Death itself. In terms of both the Arcana and the physical/spiritual state/process of Death, the generally negative connotation comes from a fear of the unknown, and the dread of leaving the familiar. With that understanding, the writers apparently felt that the Arcana and the metaphysical process were too closely related in relation to P3's story to not push them together. Poor Pharos just had way too much ground to cover in his minimalistic S. Link, in my opinion. That's where Ryoji comes in to fill the gaps.
"As Pharos, he's remarkably curious towards change. In terms of Death, he was an interested outsider; Death and dying were meaningless to him in the direct sense, because he is isolated and unchanging, but he was still intensely curious towards Makoto's and SEES' mission, because he has no idea what the future holds.
"As Ryoji, he becomes his own entity, one who develops friendships and truly lives. He also comes to know exactly what the future holds for him, and it means a breaking away from those he's come to love, and the life he's lived so far (the same reasons anyone would fear Death). Yet his destiny is to leave his friends and become this Death, as certainly as people will someday die. It's not ignorant fear on his part, but a sad realization.
"Yet at the same time, he understands it well enough to accept it, and simply wait for it to come. He's in tune with the Arcana's understanding of Death moreso than anyone else, because he knows Death better than anyone, presumably being a witness to its very birth and finality. The fact that he's essentially the harbinger of the Fall (the final Death) wasn't just a case of "lazy" symbolism. I felt they played with his dual nature quite well, or at least well enough."
What can I say? The man's more convincing and insightful than I am, and how.
Persona 4, on the other hand, seems to more or less only try to connect to the Arcana by involving Death in the Link's events a lot, which by itself doesn't mean anything. There really isn't much of a transformation or a transition from an ending to a beginning in Hisano's story, save, I suppose, her ending her consuming grief at the end of the Link and accepting herself and her actions--but it really isn't especially transitional in nature. She's putting aspects of her past to rest, but it's not really with the intent of beginning anew, so it's just not a proper portrayal of the Death card.
SMTP5 has even less to do with the Arcana than 4 does. In fact, it’s kind of contradictory to Death’s meaning. Takemi’s story is basically her finding her footing once again as a doctor and refusing to close the door on her past efforts to create a medicine to save 1 of her former patients. While a part of this Social Link is about her coming to embrace a new way of practicing medicine as a back-alley, small community doctor, the main part is her refusal to give up on the focal point of the previous stage of her life. Hell, even if you want to simplistically restrict the Arcana just to literal death, there’s little connection to it here--Job 1 of being a doctor is to help people avoid dying, and Takemi spends almost all of the Social Link desperately trying to create a medicine to save a specific patient’s life. Even superficially, this Link has nothing to do with its Arcana.
Verdict: No real contest here. SMTP3 takes the win, by virtue of Master Ecclesiastes’s eloquence.
Worth
Persona 3: As long as we count the events that happen in the main story as a direct result of the Social Link, Pharos's story is fairly decent and original, if not particularly engaging. I think Atlus overestimated how attached the audience was going to get to the kid, as well as how intellectually impressive his random interrogations and vague quasi-intellectual musings would seem, but, y’know, it’s still serviceable enough for what it’s aiming to do, I guess.
SCORE: 1
Persona 4: Hisono’s Social link is very moving, fairly original, and quite interesting. It’s compelling as a story of a woman confronting her survivor’s guilt and forgiving herself, and Hisono’s pain and self-recrimination feels real. Pacing’s a bit slow, but the payoff’s more than worth it. Really, I just don’t have much more to say on this: it’s simply a solid, moving story.
SCORE: 3
Persona 5: This story works significantly better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
Takemi turns out to be a surprisingly sympathetic character, and her passion for finding a way to save Miwa even after she’s become a pariah in her field is laudable and heartening. The (misleading) twist that Miwa died is a punch in the gut, and it feels good to rally Takemi back to the cause once that misunderstanding is cleared up. It’s not a thoughtful story laden with insight into the human condition, but it IS a decent little tale that feels good to have participated in.
SCORE: 2
14. TEMPERANCE
In SMTP3, Temperance is represented by Bebe, a foreign exchange student. In SMTP4, it's Eri, a newly married stepmother. In SMTP5, it’s Kawakami, a teacher and love interest.
Meaning
Temperance is the direct result of the Death Arcana--once the great change that Death symbolizes has passed, reconstruction and re-balancing occurs, which is what Temperance is all about--building and rebuilding and finding/creating balance, usually in the sense of improving on an old template. Finding balance and harmony, both internally and with others, are big parts of Temperance--making peace with yourself, accepting others' flaws with their virtues, compromise and cooperation, moderation, that sort of thing.
Bebe, I feel, does live up to Temperance. I feel that he symbolizes the process of rebuilding and bettering that Temperance does after Death--when his aunt, who was the main financial reason he could stay in Japan, passes away, Bebe finds he has to leave Japan because his uncle won't take her place in paying for him to be there. He must use the foundation for his presence in Japan before his aunt's passing--his love for the country--to convince his uncle to let him return, and to do so, he further immerses himself in admiration and participation in Japanese culture by creating a kimono. So in a sense, he's rebuilding his reason to be in Japan to be even better--he hopes that his love for Japan will once again allow him to be there, but this time he's offering hard proof of his cultural adulation. Also, in his part of the ending, Bebe decides to stay in his home country of France for a time, because he cares for his lonely uncle, and decides he'd rather be in Japan of his own ability rather than mooching off of others--which is, essentially, a balanced compromise, another aspect of Temperance. So I do think it works well--although I also admit that it's just a little far enough away from obvious that one could say that I'm reading too much into it. Still, my rant, my interpretation.
Eri works pretty well for it, too. Her story's theme of coming to terms with her sudden step-motherhood involves compromises made by both her and her son Yuuta, learning to be able to give and take, and to express themselves to each other, in order to find the balance they need to be a family.
Kawakami, unfortunately, I can’t say I really see as a good representation of Temperance. To be sure, there are elements there--her story is that of a teacher trapped in guilt and debt as she is made to feel obligated to financially support a former student’s guardians after they (unfairly and grossly immorally) blame her for the student’s death, which definitely works with the idea that Temperance is that which comes after the major shake-up of Death. The fact that she finds it impossible to balance her ability to be a good teacher and to work hard enough to pay this emotional blackmail certainly relates to the idea of balance, and the end of the Social Link has Kawakami fully re-devoting herself to teaching, refreshed and ready to be a better teacher than ever, which also fits with the idea of Temperance leading to rebuilding and improving on an old template. But...the biggest point of this Arcana is the theme of balance, and Kawakami isn’t balancing the conflicting parts of her life by the Link’s end, so much as cutting the toxic part out altogether. Which is a good thing, absolutely! But it doesn’t really align with the theme of compromise, of acceptance of both good AND bad and ability to balance both healthily. And while every SMTP protagonist has a hand in helping his/her friends resolve their conflict, Ren is just too instrumental to this one; Kawakami tries and fails to balance her life and find peace, and it’s only because the Phantom Thieves step in that she’s freed from her unfortunate situation. There isn’t enough of Kawakami’s own will and inner harmony for this story to feel like an accurate depiction of Temperance.
Verdict: Persona 4’s a good representation, but I'm going to give it to Persona 3, because it's got both the compromising aspect, and the rebuilding idea.
Worth
Persona 3: Bebe’s tale is very moving to me. His love for Japanese culture and for being able to remain in Japan in order to pursue his ambitions is a tale that I didn’t expect to connect with, but somehow Bebe’s earnest passion and innocence draws me in, and his friendship with Makoto/Kotone, and the sorrow at parting from him/her, got me quite emotional. I also think that Bebe’s story has an elegant and thoughtful conclusion, bringing us an ending that’s not as blithely happy as we’d hoped and expected, yet has more worth for its bittersweetness and Bebe’s maturity and empathy.
SCORE: 3
Persona 4: Eri’s story of coming to embrace her role as a stepmother and bettering herself as a person is refreshingly different and original, and the execution of that idea's done very well. You feel for her in her distressed confusion at trying to find and understand this new role in her life, and when she finally makes her connection with her new son and not only understands him, but also is able to recognize the misunderstandings that were separating them, it’s a rewarding thing to witness.
SCORE: 3
Persona 5: This story works significantly better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
The exhaustion and guilt that Kawakami suffers under makes her a sympathetic character, and you feel for her as she struggles to keep up with both the work she wants to do, and that which she feels obligated to do. Her frequent interest in Ren’s well-being is a nice way to characterize Kawakami’s teacherly instincts. The conclusion to this Social Link is a really nice rebirth of Kawakami as the dedicated teacher she wants to be. Unfortunately, this Social Link has a significant problem: the major premise is that Kawakami is a good instructor who just needs to have her passion and confidence in teaching rekindled. Yet 1 of the results of pursuing this Social Link is that, in exchange for Ren keeping his mouth shut about her second job (and then later just out of friendship for him, I guess), Kawakami will find ways to give him free time during class to slack off, even going so far as to call his other teachers out of the room with a fake office announcement. Which...is blatantly contradictory to this idea that she’s really devoted to the craft of teaching. And it’s not even like she’s just messing with Ren’s education alone; she is disrupting the education of every student in the room! I still like Kawakami and it’s still a decent story, but this Social Link is definitely weakened by the inconsistency of Kawakami’s character.
SCORE: 1
Tiebreaker: Even though Bebe surprised me by how much I sympathized with him and found substance in his story, I still think Eri’s got the better story, if only by a bare margin.
15. THE DEVIL
In SMTP3, The Devil is represented by Tanaka, a company president. In SMTP4, it's Sayoko, a hospital nurse. In SMTP5, it’s Ohya, a reporter and love interest.
Meaning
The Devil is honestly pretty straightforward--it's the bad side of you, the negativity within, the evil and icky bits of your personality that you don't want to admit are there but affect your actions and deeds every day. Like the Death Arcana, The Devil isn't representative of or represented by the theological figure it's named after. What it IS symbolic of, though, is the inner weakness and darkness that can consume you, and will if you allow it, taking over your life. Vices and problems like greed, ambition, addiction, depression, and the like are its bread-and-butter representations, flaws that you may feel helpless to escape from.
Persona 3's got a strong Link here. Tanaka's been almost completely consumed by the lust for wealth and success that, from listening to his stories of his childhood, started to eat away at him when he was still young. The game shows us, in the here and now, the cancerous shadow within Tanaka in its strongest stage, when almost everything he does is meant to feed his personal evil's needs. Definitely fits the bill of The Devil. And while I know the Arcana isn't necessarily supposed to mean the Devil himself, Tanaka is EXTREMELY caught up in the power of falsehood, using lies and deceit so commonly and so dependently that he himself no longer seems able to tell the difference between being honest and lying--and the Devil is, after all, perhaps above all other things, the Lord of Lies. But, I suppose we won't count that part as technically accurate, cuz the card's not supposed to literally mean the Devil. I guess.
Anyway, looking at Persona 4, we've got a pretty good representation here, too. Sayoko's feelings of loneliness over the fact that all her patients eventually leave her behind have come to dictate how she behaves at her job and bury the reason she became a nurse, to save people, deep enough within her that she doesn't even remember it any more.
As far as Ohya in Persona 5 goes...there’s a connection to The Devil there, but you have to read a LOT into it and kind of ignore the main story of the link. Ohya herself is a decent, even admirable woman, who’s lost her passion for journalism but doggedly clings to investigating what happened to an important colleague and friend of hers, in spite of her superiors wanting to keep the truth of the case covered up. Nothing about that connects to The Devil, of course, unless you want to say that Ohya’s temporary despair is a weakness of character that could consume her...but that’s a bit of a stretch, particularly since it doesn’t take root in her.
But there is 1 weakness within Ohya’s character that has the potential to take over her life, which is not resolved by the end of the Social Link: her alcoholism. While one would assume that Ohya’s predilection for booze would be linked to her despair and stress over the fate of her friend, she keeps cheerfully getting drunk even by the Link’s end, when she’s discovered what she needed to, has her boss’s approval and help in printing her more meaningful articles, and has a plan for exposing the scumbag responsible for her friend’s downfall. Everything is turning around and starting to go right for Ohya, but she’s still drinking. Her alcoholism is not a symptom of her other problems; it’s progressed to being a problem in itself, and it’s an addiction infamous for its ability to consume a person’s existence.
Unfortunately...this reading is a VERY generous stretch to make for the Social Link. The fact of the matter is that even IF this subtle detail was intended to show The Devil lurking under the surface, unabated even by the happy ending, the Social Link still focuses entirely on the presented story of Ohya’s battle for the truth, and the fact that she likes getting wasted is never once earnestly mentioned as a problem. It’s actually a real damn shame, because a story incorporating alcoholism would be an excellent fit to the Arcana, but I’m 90% sure I’m just inventing depth and Tarot accuracy that the Link simply doesn’t actually have.
Verdict: Sayoko's a good representation, but she eventually pulls herself up from her fallen state to remember why she's a nurse, and regains control over her life, while with Tanaka we only get a mere hint that he is still capable of mastering his inner darkness (his charity donation, which might not count if what he said about his reason for giving it is true--but then, when does he ever speak the truth?). The inner imbalance and weakness of The Devil is meant to be one which is, or at least threatens the very real danger of being, all-consuming, so Tanaka’s tiny glimmer of hope is more accurate than Sayoko’s total revival. And frankly, even if my creative alcoholism angle for Ohya was completely on point and intended, I still think Tanaka’d be the truest representation of this Arcana. Point goes to Persona 3.
Worth
Persona 3: Damn that catchy Tanaka jingle. Junes ain’t got nothing on this man. With that said...while I can appreciate the elegance of the way Persona 3 creates their Devil character to be a man almost completely sunk into his darkness with only the slightest hope that his interactions with Makoto might inspire a redemption, the unfortunate fact is that it isn’t a very satisfying conclusion, and honestly, the story itself isn’t all that interesting. It’s admirable how well the writers made Tanaka’s story align with the Arcana, but in and of itself, it’s only so-so.
SCORE: 1
Persona 4: Sayoko's story gives us the same tale of one who lets her fears and vices overcome her as Tanaka’s did, but continues that story to give us resolution. With Sayoko, you see that Yu's presence in her life has truly changed her for the better and given her life back to her, and it feels good to get to that point. She’s an interesting character, her plight is handled pretty well, and a lot of character growth manages to happen within the tight confines of the Social Link, as Sayoko recalls her past, torments herself for what she could have done better for a patient she’d left behind, throws herself unhealthily into her work, and finally finds the truth of what’s been eating at her and what she needs to do. It’s a really solid personal journey.
SCORE: 3
Persona 5: This story works better without the romance subplot, which frankly seems pretty spontaneous and disconnected from the Link’s events as a whole, so I’m judging by the platonic version.
While a lot of people seem not to like Ohya very much, I find her alright. The Social Link may have a slow start, but once it’s revealed that she’s at a low point because of her partner’s disappearance and the fact that she’s been prevented from investigating it, her character and cause become more compelling. Helping encourage and enable Ohya to return to meaningful journalism and discover the truth of her partner’s fate is satisfying as a case of Ren lifting up a fellow social reformer from where she’s fallen, and the fact that the case she’s been fixated on is actually related to the larger events of the game is a nice touch. There’s nothing great or significant here, but Ohya’s tale is nonetheless enjoyable.
SCORE: 2
16. THE TOWER
In SMTP3, The Tower is represented by Mutatsu, a Buddhist monk. In SMTP4, it's Shu, a young student. In SMTP5, it’s Shinya, a young gamer.
Meaning
The Tower is forced wisdom; it's understanding and knowledge that comes to you whether you want it or not, and destroys previous beliefs and perceptions in the process. Your beliefs and understanding are never so infallible and secure that they can't be destroyed by a higher wisdom that proves them wrong. The Tower is like Death on steroids--Death clears something in your life away to allow for something new, but The Tower brings your whole world crumbling to the ground so that something better, truer, and wiser can be built in its place.
Persona 3 does an adequate job with this--Mutatsu's pessimistic views on life and protests against having relationships with other people are beliefs that are gradually broken as he comes to realize that he truly does want to be with those dear to him, and that his egotistical self-reassurances that living alone is better were only hiding his true feelings. All of this comes as a result of Makoto/Kotone’s presence--a boy or girl who Mutatsu can't get to go away and leave him alone, regardless of repeatedly telling the kid not to come back. Thus you have both a greater wisdom overcoming previously held beliefs, and doing so without the holder of said beliefs having any say in the matter, since Makoto/Kotone’s returning presence can't be staved off.
With Persona 4, you pretty much get an equally accurate depiction of The Tower. Shu holds several beliefs about his need to be the number 1 student in his classes and that his mother's love and pride in him is conditional on his continuing to excel. Eventually, he's so desperate to maintain his position that he cheats, and is caught and suspended for it. He then finds that his perceptions on the importance of placing first and his mother's love for him were wrong, and revises his ideas about academic success and family. Pretty clear-cut example of the old understanding being toppled by the new wisdom.
Persona 5’s got a good take on it, too. Similarly to Shu, Shinya is fixated on success and winning, although for him it’s more about both gaming, and general social interactions, rather than studies. Also like Shu, this perspective has come from the example of his mother. Whereas Shu misunderstood his mother, however, Shinya’s perceptions of his mother are completely accurate--he’s learned a toxic mindset of aggression from her being a real, genuine Karen in her natural habitat. Thanks to Ren’s help, however, Shinya is able to come to realize that the example his mother has set is a result of her being an unhappy person, and that there are more important things than merely winning against everyone and everything around you--and that those better things can sometimes only come to those who lose. It’s a representation of The Tower made all the better by the fact that it’s not only showing an example of wisdom coming by tearing down previous beliefs--it’s also actually outright stating that something good can come from the toppling of one’s position at the top of the world. The Tower is basically being represented both figuratively AND...I mean, not literally, I guess, but almost!
This all makes determining a winner here a very pleasantly difficult call. Each Social Link portrays The Tower with almost the same level of accuracy in terms of the first of the Arcana’s main meaning, that being the destruction of previous beliefs and perceptions. So, since they’re all relatively equal on that point, we’ll need to use the second point, the fact that this metaphorical tower’s destruction and the greater wisdom that comes from its destruction are inevitable. I guess we can first disqualify Persona 4, because Shu learns his lesson as a result of his own misguided actions, and while they’re the likely result of his flawed philosophy, they don’t strike me as especially inevitable, which The Tower’s uprooting wisdom IS supposed to be. Yu’s presence could have been removed at any time (Shu himself says in the beginning that he’ll drop Yu as a tutor if he’s not satisfied), so it doesn’t have the same level of unavoidability that Makoto/Kotone do, nor that Ren’s independent decision to change Shinya’s mother’s heart does. So, while Persona 4’s got a good, solid representation of the Arcana, I think it gets edged out first.
Persona 3 vs. 5 is trickier. Ren may have been invited to hang out with Shinya, lessening the inevitability of the wisdom bearing down on the kid, but Ren’s decision to take the betterment of Shinya’s life into his own hands and change the heart of the kid’s mom to be less of a combative shrew leaping at any opportunity to go to war does have an element of being out of Shinya’s ability to control. And as I said, I really like the fact that Shinya’s story is about a kid realizing that being brought down from the top isn’t the end of the world, and in fact can lead to better things, being that this makes it a more literal example of the story of The Tower.
Verdict: Still...I’m gonna give it to Persona 3. His mother’s change of heart is a part of Shinya’s growing into a wiser person, but the largest component is the example that Ren sets, and his words to Shinya, and those are factors that come from Shinya voluntarily hanging out with Ren and choosing to value his perspective. Mutatsu, on the other hand, actively tells Makoto/Kotone to go the fuck away, and the latter simply won’t do as he/she is told. Additionally, much of what helps Makoto/Kotone get into Mutatsu’s head and kickstart his realizing the error of his ways is the fact that he/she reminds the guy of his son, and that’s an instinctive recollection that Mutatsu can’t really control so long as Makoto/Kotone’s in front of him. The wisdom that Makoto/Kotone’s influence and presence brings to Mutatsu which shatters his world perceptions really is something he had no choice in. He was set down the path of Makoto/Kotone/s Social Link advancement without any choice in the matter, and so, even if I like the way Shinya more directly shows the fable of The Tower, I think Mutatsu’s just barely the most accurate representation of this card.
Worth
Persona 3: As a smoking, booze-gulping Buddhist monk that’s lost his faith in connecting to others (which, for his religion, I think would qualify as having lost his faith entirely) and who worked too hard and lost his his wife and son because of it, Mutatsu’s a pretty damned unique and interesting character in concept alone. The Social Link does a good job of weaving the story of his disgruntled, scarred state, and Mutatsu is a kind of frank, tough grandpa-esque old bastard that’s quite appealing. It feels good to get the guy back in the headspace he should be in. The story and lesson itself is a little by-the-numbers even if Mutatsu himself isn’t, but it’s solid, and it’s enjoyable to hang out with this grumpily jolly geezer.
SCORE: 3
Persona 4: Shu’s story is also good, but it’s definitely got a few issues weighing it down. Its pacing, for example--until the very end of Shu’s tale, his major issues aren’t addressed very strongly or at length; it seems like everything comes out right in the last couple scenes. This is also another example of that annoying kind of Social Link where the protagonist seems more like an observer than anything else for most of the time--Yu does eventually earn his keep as Shu’s friend and guide to better things at the end, yes, but until that moment, he seems like little more than observer to Shu’s tale rather than a participant. On the other hand, I can relate to Shu’s struggle with pressure (albeit probably not nearly as much as most of the intended Japanese audience can), and the Social Link’s got a good sentiment and lesson as a whole.
SCORE: 2
Persona 5: Considering what a constantly irritating trope character the “gotta be Number 1 no matter what!” type almost always is, any story in an anime or JRPG that points out that an obsessive fixation on winning is a bad thing is always gonna grab my approving interest. Particularly when said story correctly identifies this aggressive need to be on top as an unhealthy mental state (Shinya) or even a mental illness (Shinya’s mother) in active need of correcting. My eternal hatred for the Vegeta cliche aside, however, Shinya’s got a good Social Link that not only covers a decent character arc that brings him to a healthier, happier place thanks to Ren’s influence, but also does a good job in portraying that difficult place for a kid who knows or has figured out that his parent is fallible, in the wrong, and influencing him in the wrong ways. It’s a good story of a troubled kid who gets the role model he needs, learns that losing isn’t the end of the world, and improves his life.
SCORE: 3
Tiebreaker: I like Mutatsu a little better and think his dilemma has a bit more significance, but Shinya’s tale is more dynamic, has more moving parts being used better, and has a stronger ability to invoke an emotional response, so I’d say that Persona 5’s story is the better one here.
Alright, another part finished! Stay tuned for this rant's conclusion at the end of this month!
* SHUT THE FUCK UP. That scene at the end of the game means NOTHING, do you hear me? Ren’s HALLUCINATING. Akechi is DEAD and that’s FINAL! Bad enough I had to put up with the loser in Persona Q2 because that takes the Phantom Thieves from the part of their timeline where he’s nipping at their heels; I found Akechi tiresome before I even knew who the fuck he was. I refuse to accept that future spin-offs of this game might also involve this loser!
** Yes, there ARE several events in SMTP5 in which you hang out with Caroline and Justine in a more social, friendly sense, much like the dates with Elizabeth in Persona 3, but, as far as I’m aware, these are a separate sequence of get-togethers and completely independent of the actual Social Link, so we don’t count them here. Which is admittedly to SMTP5’s detriment, as these hangouts are quirky, fun, and cleverly written, much like Elizabeth’s had been, and they would have boosted the girls’ score here.
