2024 my year fr For more video essays on anime, click here! kzfaq.info/sun/PLshwllJZkgbrU21AkPkj_mxGdiDaPPrpZ&si=imPKnZM9hZ4j8FHl Also check out the Tommylmao Persona Collection: kzfaq.info/sun/PLshwllJZkgbqaJUT5cES6X5XakqIz-BzO&si=EAVk9PNZo5LhfmPi

Gonna be honest the stuff you talked about in the last bit is why P5 frustrated me so badly I put it down and kinds struggle to get back to it. Just to note I am a fan of Persona, P4 specifically got Mr through High School, though I have my reservations with that games politics, it's better than most of its Era IMO. It feels like the game gets really close to a good message but drops the ball so hard. I just don't like the implications the game has that we need to just, remove corrupt individuals, because it never felt like it acknowledged the system that allowed this kind of corruption in the first place. Not to mention some scenes with Ann, and specific social links I find VERY uncomfortable. Still definitely going to be going back to the game after I finish replaying P3 FES since I never got the chance to finish that, as my friend owned the copy I used.

A lot of the things that happen in Persona 5 remind me a lot of real life. I'd like to imagine what Persona 5 would be if it took place in the U.S. American social commentary anime-style.

You listed how Persona 5 kinda presents these topics aesthetically, but I really don't think you gave enough to be able to conclude that it has "many powerful arguments" on them. I don't think that's your fault; I don't think they're present. When making this game, any serious sociopolitical stance was not gonna be prioritised over the aesthetics of rebellion and individualism. As that garbo Cvit video said, Persona 5 is mostly "style over substance".

I honestly think you should drive deepen into the tropics in the video, so we could get your point better. At least for me Makoto being a cop is because she what to fix the sistem by inside at least the game hit me with this notion, we even defeat the god of collectivism using a persona unlocked by collectivism so for me persona 5 is more on the neutral side trying to fix the sistem by using both sides.

So, what you're not quite grasping is the same thing that goes over the heads of a lot of other players as well, which is that P5 is not didactically political as much as it is rooted in the philosophy of Sartre and Camus, specifically existentialism and the literature of L'Homme révolté, The Rebel. For example, you make a big mistake at the start of your video, where you flash the emancipation promotional photo in front of us, dismissing it as "tone-deaf." This is completely and utterly misunderstanding the symbolism of the velvet room's stylizing in P5. In Sartre's philosophy, the TL;DR is that humans are all "condemned to be free" by the virtue of the boundless free will we possess. This is why Joker is the inmate in the velvet room, as opposed to the warm reception the other protags get in their games. Since Joker is forced down a path of rebellion and rehabilitation, we are shackled as the guest, because we have no choice but to be free. Yes, there is an intersection between mild political commentary and philosophy/psychology, but the main allegory is for sure rooted more in established philosophy than any wishy-washy interpretation of changing political dynamics. The message of P5 is true for all of us at all times. We have to put discourse out that moves away from the nonsense take about this game that it's all about "corrupt adults." I'm not saying you're pushing this narrative as well, but it would be good to have a deeper look at what the writers were really saying. They had as much subtext buried in P5 as any game out there!

While P5 does critique modern Japanese society, and thus does criticize aspects of capitalism to some extent, to say the game is overtly anti capitalist seems kinda silly to me. For one, if you do Yusuke’s confidant, the whole thing basically amounts to Yusuke realizing that it’s okay for him to profit off of his artwork, so long as it remains secondary to his actual desire to create. Madarame not only was an artist solely out of self interest, but he actively victimized others in doing so. Generally, the game doesn’t penalize the player for making money, both in the Metaverse as well as the real world. In fact, I feel the jobs you can work are pretty fair. Not only can you come in whenever you feel like, but the managers at the places you can work are generally courteous towards Joker. The only real complaint to be had is the lower pay, but not only is it understandable due to Joker being a minor, the pay goes up rather quickly the more shifts you work, if I remember correctly. Overall, I don’t believe P5 was meant to be political beyond a general anti-authoritarian message. The game critiques law enforcement, the judicial system, politicians, CEOs & big business, the list goes on. I feel people miss the point of the game, and it’s a common reasoning error many people, especially left leaning people make. The problems of capitalism are not a result of inherent flaws with capitalism, but are due to the inherent flaws of human nature. If there is power to be had, whether in a privatized capitalist system, or a heavy handed socialist government, people with corrupt desires will seek it. Shido’s rise to political power wouldn’t have been nearly as worrisome if Japanese government, as well as its society as a whole, weren’t so top heavy and collectivist. The fact that the anti collectivist message of the game would conflict with any socialist, anti capitalist message should itself tell you that no, the game is not anti capitalist. Does it have its issues with modern capitalist society? Yes, but to say it’s overtly against it would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

6:11 amazing video, but this timecode made me actually roll my eyes fam x.x

Never got that Kawakami video :'v

This is a really cool essay! From one essayist to another, I love how you pointed out the very obvious politics that some people are blind too. Persona 5 is very anti capitalist. I’m more biased against Maruki’s reality personally- I study philosophy, music, and English in school so I’m coming at it from a philosophical view. Personally, I would rather not live in a world where my free will is taken away in any sort of sense. I think that’s a very anti-human thing, but, as someone with a lot of physical disabilities, the prospect of having them all healed is very tempting. Great work!

Persona 5 has legitimately radicalised me into being a leftist

Good Video, but I heavily disagree with your last point on individualism and anti-capitalism being incompatible or in a certain way individualist society and ideas being susceptible to capitalism. This shows your lack of knowledge on the subject of individualist socialism and anarchism and misinterpretation of the game. 1. nowhere in the game is there an appraisal of individual power over collective. I don't know if you saw this, but the Phantom Thieves are a Collective and what frees Joker in the end of the game is not his own individual action, but the collective strive for it by his friends and confidants. 2. as I said you should read up more on anarchist and socialist theory. There are many a way one can be an individualist anti-capitalist. If you're interested I recommend "The Right To Be Greedy" and "The Soul of Man Under Socialism"

atlus needs a change of heart better yet their publisher sega

You must be lucky to be with a girl who is just like you

I'd doubt all art is political most could be but a lot really doesn't scream Something is wrong or right

2024 we so back

First!

✋ 'promosm'

I don’t think Persona 5 (both Vanilla and Royal) is political (then again, I’m a Persona and JRPG fan who’s apathetic towards politics), but it does allude to some controversial aspects of Japanese culture and society. Edit: When Mishima set up the voting poll feature on the PAWS, I knew instantly that he was setting the PTs up to be brought down, even if he didn’t know that was going to happen. Edit 2: If I were to be one of the Palace Rulers, I’d likely be similar to Kunikazu Okumura, as my view towards women in the workforce and corporate hierarchy has soured thanks to woke, modern feminism. Edit 3: If you had to ask me whether or not I’d accept Maruki’s offer for a better reality, I’d accept it without hesitation, simply because there were so many things I wanted to be growing up, from an artist (both drawing and digital art) to a borderline 5-star cook, but couldn’t due to a range of factors, from the US education system not motivating me to learn anything to my parents being busy with work and leaving me in a daycare with kids I never knew all that well.