FRIENDSHIP WITH ADACHI HAS ENDED. NOW MARUKI IS MY BEST FRIEND

I still can't believe you predicted Joker and Maruki got into a fist fight.

In regards to the lead up discussion. There are actually deleted scenes that the player would get when collecting will seeds that would show the palace ruler's desires slowly becoming distorted. There's a really haunting one of Kamoshida freaking out over his first sexual assault and slowly calming down once he's assured by the people around him that he won't face any consequences for it

Maruki is the only final boss in the entire Persona series that is completely, entirely human. This man is on the same level as, like, gods, the crawling chaos, and... literal Death. Man, what a badass.

Honestly Maruki ending up as a cab driver is so fitting - beforehand he decided on the destination you were going, hence the whole prophet and torch thing, now he guides you to where you want to go.

Playing P5R as a psychology student was such a fun experience. You can tell how much time the devs put into Maruki and how dedicated they were to the concepts they tackle. Also, all the thought experiments Maruki brings up (like the cookies) are real experiments that psych classes teach you about.

Somewhere out there, Yu Narukami is wondering why his best friend Yosuke keeps saying he has a girlfriend named Saki.

What gets me the most about the Maruki palace was that he gave you a chance to beat him. If he wanted he could've just change the Phantom Theives' cognition again, or block off Odaiba so they can't enter his palace. Hell, he didn't even need to show up to accept the calling card. He constantly give them a chance to fight against him, because he wants them to understand where he's coming from. I loved that about his character.

He the only final boss i hated punching in the face

When i finished Royal in April, i thought to myself, "I can't wait till Fither finishes it so he can talk about how great Maruki is". Merry Christmas to me.

The ending dialogue in the fistfight and the whole 3d semester was some of the saddest shit since Persona 3

You know the real heartbreaking thing about this game? During the third semester, you KNOW that the door was alive again for a short time

Billy Kametz was the PERFECT actor to voice Maruki.

His English voice really sealed the deal for me. The performance completes what is already a fantastic character

Another great thing about Maruki: he’s just a human and not a god that was corrupted or wants destruction. He feels genuine and is a great character that wants the best for everyone, and it makes him the perfect antagonist for the game. I love how he faces them with “would you rebel against reality even if it meant giving up your happiness?” And it’s absolute genius.

Seeing how the new director did such a great job with the new characters and third semester gets me even more excited for persona 6 when they have an entire game to experiment with

You gave your all, Billy. Your performances as Ferdinand and Maruki will stay with me forever. You can rest now. R.I.P.

One detail I absolutely adore is the fact that “Swear To My Bones” plays during the final fistfight. The same song that celebrates your party members evolving their Personas and gaining newfound resolve as you complete their Confidants also heralds Maruki finally killing his regrets and resolving to face his past and reality as a whole.

Thank you for crediting me, I appreciate it.

The best villains are the ones you could easily see as the protagonist if the game’s ideology was slightly different.

Reminder that Fither completely called the fist fight between Joker and Maruki in a joke video

I almost said yes on January 9th. Seeing Shiho smile for the first time and her cute "bye" at the end.... i needed that. I think we all needed that closure. Especially after Ann's rank 9 seeing Shiho all bruised and so injured she can't walk up the stairs by herself... Futaba looks so happy and Wakaba just fits right in with the family dynamic, but her whole deal was learning how to be more independent. Okumura fucked me up inside. "If there's a man in your life, you need to let me know." "Oh father, is that jealousy I'm sensing?" Haru has never looked happier But what made me say no was Ryuji and the track team, since he said he didn't want to go back in one of his rank up scenes. It felt so wrong to just let him stay there, even if it means sacrificing his leg again

Fun Fact about Maruki's Palace Ruler design: It's suppose to represent the two things Maruki was never able to become in his life: a husband (wedding suit) and a scientist (lab coat). Takuto Maruki has definitely become one of my all-time favorite characters and antagonists too, and you did a great job summing up exactly why that is. Never before have I felt so genuinely conflicted when facing off against the final boss of a video game as I have with Maruki and its because deep down I did sympathize and to some extent agree with his philosophies or at least what he was trying to accomplish. Maruki really made me question if what I as the player was doing was right and seeing Maruki give all of the Phantom Thieves their version of "happiness" was such a heartbreaking moment because even though I wanted those characters to be happy, it still felt jarring and wrong at the same time. I was going through hell in my personal life when I first played P5R and when Maruki posed the question of "if you could live in a reality where you would never have to feel pain again, would you accept it?" really hit me hard. That moment where he comes to visit you on February 2nd and asks for your final decision was one of the hardest choices I ever had to make in a video game. That's why when I faced him at his palace, I chose the option "I'm sorry." I'm sorry it had to come to this. I'm sorry we couldn't agree. And that's what makes his character and story so damn good. Maruki is a protagonist in his own right; he's just someone who had a different way of bringing about what he believed to be right. I could go on, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed Maruki. Great job with the video Fither!

How I justify Maruki's actions and explain how he isn't a bad guy: "he have apple juice..."

Maruki's Eng VA passed away recently... Watching vids of Maruki again... Hits different

pour one out for the GOAT. RIP Billy Kametz, i hope he understood everything he’s done for us with his art❤️

I'm so glad Maruki and the 3rd semester ended up the way they did. Gives me a lot of hope for P6, and that the team will be even better than they were under Hashino.

The christmas gift rejection analogy is spot on. The idea of rejecting someone I like when they are doing me a favor or giving me a gift is just heartbreaking for me for some reason.

Maruki's palace took the place of best palace. I love it so much and made me understand him more. It pained me to fight him but I knew it was the right thing to do.

Ultimately, I agree with Akechi's take on Maruki. If Maruki were a time traveler and he just went back an undid some of the bad stuff that happened to the Phantom Thieves, that would be one thing. If he had the magical power to turn Morgana into a human the same way Teddie gained the power to turn himself into a human ... fine. If he hooked Akechi up with a Phoenix Down so Joker wouldn't have to go to jail ... also fine. He'd be doing the characters a solid. But he basically put the entire world into a prison and stripped it of free will. What Maruki did to Sumire was straight up terrifying. He brainwashed her, and he just never accepted that is what he did. So it is pretty black and white to me that what Maruki was doing was bad and that he's way more dangerous than Okumara or whoever. He's just a likable enough dude that it isn't in your face how warped in the head he is for even attempting his "Actualization" and sticking the entire planet in The Matrix. He's a "Gentle Madman"

I love Maruki to death, and I’ve thought about him daily since I finished Royal. I think one of the fundamental flaws in his wish granting is somewhat in line with the fact that he’s a successor to Yaldabaoth. Eventually, material desires will just lose all value, and the only thing that will make people “happier” from there is taking their burden of free wil

Rest in Peace Billy Kametz 🕯

Agreed that Twitter is complete ass

15:52 Actually there are some unused scenes on Royal that does exactly what you're saying here. They explain more about the palace rulers and important events in their life related to the start of their distortion. I think it was supposed to be tied to the Will Seeds, but it got removed from some reason. You can search on YT the deleted scenes of those Will Seed Memories.

Persona 5 Royal: Nietzsche Edition

We’ll miss you Billy

Rest in peace billy kamats 🙏

I really enjoy everything they did with Maruki too. The thing is though, for me personally, I would have let him do what he wanted. If I had no way of realizing it was fake or had the choice, I'd pick the fake world. I can't magically fix all of my past mistakes that led me to this very much less than ideal life and I can accept that. But... I spent more time than you'd probably think staring at the screen when it came time to make a choice.

I'd take Maruki over any generic god boss

He was the first villain ever that general made me cry over him and his goal. He was a great antagonist to me.

And here i thought i was your favorite.

Dude, I revisted your old Royal videos once I beat it, and I was dead once I saw that shit post where Joker has an MMA fight with Maruki.

Loved the video. For the sake of conversation there's one thing I wanna say you forgot to point out. Maruki had the ability to force you into his reality the whole time. He was always able to just win. But he wanted to give you a choice. He wanted to convince you legitimately. That says so much about his character

Maruki: Breaking expectations AND the tier list.

It really helps if you've experienced counselling or therapy, but *this unassuming character scared me* with how much he reminded me of when I had therapy for anxiety! Virtuously all therapists in media are perverts, idiots or exist so characters can tell their overextended story in flashbacks. Maruki is completely different: He wants to help people understand themselves better, he is careful not to indirectly make them feel scared, everybody feels better after a session and Maruki is only happy when they are.

30 minutes of maruki goodness

Something else I wanna add. Maruki is a foil to Joker. They reflect each other. Both of them went through a lot of suffering, and were brought down by those above them, albeit in different ways. Hell, they even look nearly identical; I don't think that was an accident. They're meant to show the two ways you can face pain, either running away, or facing it head on

What I love about Dr. Maruki is that after defeating Adam Kadmon during his speech he admits it's better for a person to tackle their own hardships, as I see it he fully understands what he's doing he knows people won't get stronger but he doesn't really mind that he just doesn't want them to be sad or deal with anything that would hurt them Dr. Maruki is my fav Persona character mainly because a majority of me agrees with him.

I thought Base 5 had an overarching theme of the power of the youth, and our ability to change the world around us. The phantom thieves being symbols of that, and their actions being metaphorical representation of that theme. It's not the deepest theme, and Persona 5 isn't my favorite story ever, but I think the theme regarding the power of youth, with the final arc of base 5 showing the issues of society's indifference and how we have to strive to change our society to hold people to a better standard and not to just let it slide after their "spotlight" is over. I think there's some deeper nuances worth looking into regarding that. With that said, Royal does do a lot for the themes of OG P5 and recontextualizing those themes with Maruki's own arc. But that's just my stance, I definitely think the final arc definitely picks up the theming by a massive margin in royal.

Definitely love that he’s not necessarily painted as a bad guy but someone with opposing ideals to the phantom thieves

Maruki is one of my favorite characters in any game. I still get chills when I hear Throw Away Your Mask.

you get a like for having this video exist, I'm not even going to wait to hear the points I want to hear Fither talk about P5R

Prolly my favorite things about this is Maruki's transformation. From a god like being who gives people what he thinks they need. To a cap driver who takes people where they need to go.

The fact that he became a taxi driver smybolizes that he let's people choose their own path instead of choosing it for them

to be honest, I believe that pain and suffering are necessary, definitely not pleasant, but without pain and struggle life would have never evolved beyond an amoeba in some pond. Too much suffering of course is bad, but all human evolution and its very nature is a product of struggle and difficulties. If I could do "magic" like Maruki does, I would let suffering exist, but make it always worthwhile, as in, no amount of suffering would be there for its own sake, but always produce positive change.

The two "I Believe" drops were some of the most epic moments I have ever experienced in a game. The start of the final palace infiltration literally gave me goosebumps as soon as that beat came in. The other one during the final moments of the boss fight just embodies the message of the song and the answer of the Phantom Thieves towards Maruki. Seeing your teammates fight knowing how painful it was to accept that the past that had already happened but still chose to look forward and move on towards the future just made me smile :).

Legitimately, I’ve been thinking about Maruki for the past year. His arc is so fascinating. On the one hand, what he does isn’t exactly bad, and if things were different, and if circumstances were different, he would be a member of the team. He almost is. But on the other, his bad ending has him borderline lobotomizing Akechi, and he brainwashes Sumire to some extent. Hell! If you miss the deadline, he basically imprisons Ren and puts him in a coma. You’re rooting for Maruki, but also you realize that he needs to be stopped. And finally, stopping him leads to resolutions for our protagonists, everyone resolving to be better and do better. Man I need to write a thesis about this shit

P4 SPOILERS If you think about it Maruki wanted to make the world and humanity better, wanted to create a new world where everyone would be out of any problem. He’s the exact opposite of Adachi, who was done with humanity and the world, who believed that the world was full of shit so its just better if the humanity just embraced their worst themselves and basically let the world burn down. Maruki still has faith in humanity which is why he wants to fix it, meanwhile Adachi completely lost his faith in it which is why he wants to destroy it. I would LOVE to see this two have a conversation.

Maruki, the man who gave up everything for everyone to have everything and got nothing as a result of that goal

"He didn't fall down into being very angry at the Phantom Thieves in a generic anime villain sort of manner" That was the one thing I was always afraid was going to happen throughout the entire last stretch of the game. If he suddenly flew off the handle that would've destroyed a lot of the work they put into the whole side of Maruki's story. Luckily that didn't happen so everything in the 3rd semester remains solid.

To me, the theme of Persona 5 wasn't even really about Rebellion, it was abuse. Maruki is an extension of that, but in a way, it's because he's your ultimate opposite. Ryuji and Ann can't face Kamoshida, you come along and help Ryuji realize he needs to fight back, then Shiho jumps, and Ann wants to help too. Slowly but surely the 3 of you uncover Kamoshida's secrets of how he's gotten away with his actions, and he's brought to justice for his crimes when he's made to face them in front of the students at the auditorium. Then you meet Yusuke, he's a bit off, but he is also being abused, and he's incapable of even realizing it. You show him some hard truths, despite his reluctance, and help him realize he doesn't deserve that, he doesn't have to just accept it. Makoto? Abused by authority figures always expecting her to play her part, to a point of outright blackmail. Futaba? She was lied to about her own mother's death in a way that traumatized her for years. Every single person deals with abuse in a major way, and every one of them only truly recovers from their abuses when they're reached out to by others who take the time to understand their pain and work alongside them to overcome it. P5R retains all of this and expands upon it, but this alone was enough to actually change me quite a bit as a person. I used to be far more insular and individualistic, I tried to help people, to understand their issues, but I never realized how flawed my approach was. I kept trying to help people improve themselves, acting like by fixing their own issues they could somehow be better off. But let's be real. No amount of self-improvement was going to save Ryuji, or Ann, or anyone else. Improving yourself is great, but you alone only have so much power. Even if you turn inwards and improve in a dozen ways, abusers will still take advantage of you if you don't learn to fight back, and if you're trapped by abusers who rule over you in their area of influence, you're unlikely to ever escape on your power alone. Rather than trying to help them build up a life with an abusive element that would inevitably tear down their successes, I instead needed to help them realize the abuses that're getting them trapped in the first place. I shifted from trying to help directly through funds and actions to helping more via helping them think through their issues and learn to communicate their needs and desires better, as well as their issues. Maruki ties a lot of this together too, because in a way, Maruki was doing what I used to do. He wanted to help the people suffering, but he rejected their suffering in the process. He didn't address the things that abused them, he just helped wipe it away or cover it up. The journey up to that point has been a matter of overcoming your abusers on your own and forging your own path forward in the process. He's offering to give you the end goal, but that end isn't the point. Shido was our foe, but what would've happened if we saved that woman and never got arrested? What would've been the resulting life of any of the other confidants? We needed to be there, without that journey we went on, there'd be no way we could've achieved what we did. There was no dream in Joker's heart to overcome the public's apathy, to show everyone that they can overcome anything, even a way we all choose to oppress ourselves and each other, if we work to end it. Maruki offers us a solution to humanity's woes, but we've never succeeded by being given our solutions, for the ways we found our solutions caused us to grow, and that growth enabled us to do good beyond our own expectations. If we accepted it, we'd deny ourselves the ability to grow not only from our own struggles, but to grow beyond our own desires and dreams in the process. Maruki's utopia can't be achieved alone, no one man can give that to mankind, because if we don't fight to earn it together it won't truly the utopia we desired to begin with. We'd just give away our power once again, taken from a false god that convinced us it could be no better to a benevolent dictator whom sought to give mankind all that they desired. It's a bit odd, but P5R actually helped me become a bit of a Socialist. I know the god in the game is a representation of humanity's apathy, but in some ways, I think that apathy is the fuel for our own current situation. We've enabled the world to take this path of horrors where life is a game and points are used to justify the ability to keep playing it. We can't imagine just working together to end our strife, to slow or even stop our apathetic descent. It helped me realize that if we want to change things, we have the power to do it. No one can come along and change it for us, at most, they can help us realize our own abilities. But in the end? In the end we all have to believe we can win, we all have to fight. It's a long journey, but it starts with tackling the abuses and abusers in your own life, branching our slowly but steadily as you grow your social links and eventually, can defeat enemies/institutions greater than any one of us.

Maruki looks like a side character in a Pokémon filler arc. Something like “let’s meet Oak’s former assistant.”

When the schlock actually ends up happening 😂 I'm so glad you enjoyed Maruki! He does have a really big heart for all people. I like how Royal expanded on the Metaverse in the sense of how making use of the collective unconscious doesn't necessarily have to stem from malicious intent, like how the Shido conspiracy saw use of the Metaverse. As a social work student near graduation, it was great to see P5R try to address mental health issues (especially cuz it's even more stigmitized in Japan). Maruki's counseling is def not the most ethical ehehh... but like you, I really enjoyed the sessions he had w all the individual PT members 👌

Man p5r is my first persona game ever and honestly I loved this character so much. the way he’s written, his English voice actor did an outstanding and just brilliant job, and even just the way he made me ask the same questions pondered in this video! It all makes me love the game and it’s world so much more, he’s honestly the best antagonist I think I’ve ever seen. Edit: also, I love the “I believe” song which plays at both the beginning of the fight and near the ending where you shoot adam kadmon in the face is by far my favourite ever in general, plus the “keep your faith “ and “throw away your mask” are honestly amazing too. Those last two songs make this fight even harder, and to quote a comment somewhere “it’s like the guitars are crying” it’s just a sad fight, I’m not sure what else I can say unless I’m asked about it.

Great, thought-provoking video, made me rethink a lot about the themes of the story you brought up. I want to throw my two cents in about the discussion about suffering. Some points I’d like to make: 1. To me, the issue with Maruki’s world is that it is *logically* impossible. A world without suffering means a world where no one dies, gets hurt, or gets sick, or likely even ages. It’s a world where its impossible to cause emotional suffering, as well, which means that negative emotions like anger, sadness, jealousy don’t exist. (You can see how this quickly becomes impossible to even imagine) Think about every source of suffering in the world, big and small, and what Maruki would have to do to solve it; it quickly becomes an impossible task. 2. Pro-Maruki arguments usually say something like “What, so you *want* people to suffer? Even if they don’t have to? You’re saying suffering is good for us?” My opinion is that suffering of course isn’t good, but it is *necessary* , a part of being human. The world Maruki wants to make is logically impossible. We don’t “need” pain or suffering, they are not *good* for us, but they are simply unavoidable *and* part of how we learn and grow as humans.

Maruki is my favorite antagonist in persona and over all my 3rd or 4th favorite character he can't beat my passion for kanji and goro doe

A gentle madman. Bent on dominating the world, not with pain and strife... Far from it, he dreams of a world where no one has to go through anything hard anymore.

As lukewarm as Royal was on announcement Maruki and that entire third semester really elevated P5 for me as his character and everything that goes on within that semester is some of the best content the persona team has delivered in a long while and well above anything the base game had.

Even though Maruki has become one of my favorite final bosses of all time, I never had doubts about the need to stop it. He was forcing his vision in a global scale, that's called Messiah Complex. He was taking away the growth that people achieved through strugle and pain, a growth he couldn't obtain because he chose to run away and believe that the easy way was good enough. Couldn't accept such an inmature, coward unstable man to rule over reality itself, that was not a happy ending, just the failed dream of a broken man. He even thought that it was ok to misslead a traumathized child into believing she was someone else. He failed as counselor, how could I believe he would succeed as ruler? He wasn't strong enough, and he wasn't ready and the Thieves were the solution to his fear and his refusal to face the truth. I wished there was another way, but I didn't feel bad for doing what had to be done.

rip billy kametz :(

This video really reminded me how great and thought provoking this series can be. I've genuinely missed these kinds of videos about persona from you, hope they return.

Maruki is such a great character. Imagine if he was in smash

The moment I found out about Maruki's true nature and remembering your schlockulation video I was so looking forward to hearing your views on him, glad it eventually delivered

Dude, I can only say that I know that feel. Maruki truly was a friend :(

When you go to rescue Sumire from his palace I figured it was his after thinking about what she said to open it up and I thought that maybe Maruki was actually evil. But when I found out he’s still the same despite having a palace I was taken aback. Giving up everything and fighting so hard for the happiness of others to the point of becoming distorted and creating another reality, he’s just a genuinely good and caring person even if he is misguided in his methods

While Adachi remains to be my favorite persona villain (cause I love viewing/learning the psychology of villains and shit), Maruki is honestly such a well written and executed character. Like holy shit he’s so fucking good he just made my love of psychology heighten so much. I especially love how persona 5 Royal’s third semester genuinely has no correct answer, and you can argue that the bad ending itself is a good ending, while the good ending is a bad one.

So glad you did a video on Maruki. Both him and Kasumi were amazing additions to the P5 cast, and deserve all the praise they get. Maruki is easily the best antagonist of the Persona franchise, and I hope more people take notice of that.

maruki is genuinely my current favorite character from ALL media that I've consumed.

Let's also put in mind that in his palace he saw people as just people unlike other palace rulers He also didnt have those weird yellow glowing eyes thing nor did he look weird... He wasnt a palace ruler shadow the way he looks was exactly the same situation as the phantom theieves where they stood up to their current situation and obtained persona with their outfit...maruki was wearing his persona outfit... Makes him so much different j love it

31:03 this is the main reason I found myself feeling on the fence about stopping Maruki as well. Yes, in the game this is something that must be done, but if this was offered to anyone in reality, I think less people would find it as easy to go against Maruki

I've been waiting so long to see someone else talk about this, feel the same way I do about such a good antagonist. Never have I ever felt so bad fighting an opposing ideology as the embodiment of rebellion

Maruki was fantastically written to a point to where I thought he was part of original p5 content, note I have never played original 5, on another note this video opened my eyes to look at Maruki in a different light, I know he wasn’t evil nor did I feel like he was antagonist some dude who I disagreed that in the end I’m happy that we don’t hate each other because of that

After having recently rewatching the P5R speculation videos, this is great

I agree with you completely on Maruki. I really, REALLY didn't want to fight him but I couldn't let things stand as they were.

Man these themes and concepts are such fascinating discussion points especially when you brought up is forcing happiness and well being on someone something to be frowned upon? Its one thing when you think you know what's best for someone but then it gets messy when its things like going to the doctor or something that really put into perspective just how much stuff there is to dissect

Having new Fither videos too listen to podcast style again is great. I was kind of banking on FE November for that and I then found out its tragically only every 2 years.

Thanks for this video. I appreciate how straight forward you express your ideas, but also with the depth of criticism. :)

I wish they really had given us the Palace Ruler's backstory like they did with Maruki, and apparently that was going to be a thing but they worried about somehow making these objectively bad people sympathetic. But that would be the beauty of it. It would hammer home the idea that evil doesn't just manifest out of nowhere, that these are all normal people who through experiences in their lives have been shaped into what they are now. Even Yaldabaoth follows that logic; the collective unconscious wished for his existence, he didn't just appear because of nothing. Knowing how Shido became what he is now is something I would have loved. Learning how Madarame became corrupted is something I really want to know. What kind of pressures were forced onto Kamoshida that in turn caused him to force them onto his students seemingly tenfold? Kamoshida and Madarame's confessions actually hit me in the gut, because the Phantom Thieves didn't alter their minds, they removed the twisted desires and the one we see at the end is who they truly were before. You don't need to feel sorry for the person as they are now to empathise with what they have become since that can easily happen to anyone, yourself included; and I feel that is Royal's biggest missed opportunity.

I also like the fact that even if you side with him, it's not a bad ending by any means. It's still a legitimately beneficial ending for any side involved, further proving the point that neither sides are in the wrong.

This is the most perfect Persona video I’ve ever seen. It was everything I wanted. Somehow, every single line and delivery you said in it I have thought or said myself. I really thought I was the only person who could definitively defend Maruki in a solid way, but I’m glad I’m not alone. Well done man.

Bro i finished p5r 2 months ago and it was my first persona game, i REALLY cried in this arc, not just because of all the things you commented in the video but because i was too much attached to the characters and i just felt empty when the credits appeared with "Our Light" playing (our light lyrics talks about never seeing someone again). But the point is, i cried watching your video just by remembering what i felt in Maruki Arc. This arc and character are one of the best thing i've ever consumed in fiction

It's been too long since I've heard one of Fither's half-hour long rants about Persona.... Thank you.

Greetings Dither, What a great video. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this masterfully designed character. I just wanted to share a piece of my own thought here: Parting with Maruki for the final time (in the cab) was definitely one of the most touching moments for me (top three at least) in the game, and it is fascinating to me because it was a very short scene and barely anything was said in words. Even without any words, the atmosphere between Joker and Maruki in that scene was so very reminiscent of a real life idea: that even when you fight, argue, and oppose each other on something, you are still friends. It is a new day and all of what transpired is but a memory now. Then, hearing Maruki's parting words to Joker brought a tear to my eye. Hearing that it is never too late to start anew struck a chord in me because it made me about my own life and choices I have made in the past that had very bad consequences for me and others. Of course, hearing that from Maruki was very relieving because we got to see that he is, at the very least, trying to piece his life back together and do things right this time. Overall, this is one of the most powerful scenes in the game to me by far. I think the lack of words between the two was perfect because all they needed was that understanding that things are okay and that life will go on. I have gone long enough, haha. Thanks for reading, whoever you may be. Cheers, co is

all these are my thoughts exactly. Every other final boss in the series, you want to kill them, you want to obliterate them, you want them gone. When I beat Maruki I wanted to pat him on the back and tell him everything is gonna be okay.

This love letter took forever to get here, but gosh was it worth it. Beautiful stuff for a beautiful character.

Words cannot describes how much I love Maruki

Honestly, I wish this game was out when I was still in highschool so I could write on it during my philosophy course. It poses some brilliant counter-arguments go utilitarianism that genuinely made me question my own thoughts on the subject. Happiness is the ultimate goal, yes, but at what cost?

I unironically think he brings the game up an entire point. Marky is so good man

I remember when you made the bonanza predictions video. I had already beaten the game and had to double check the date it was uploaded. I was dumbfounded how accurate it all was

This vid is so good. Love it!