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As of this month, Persona 5 is celebrating its fifth anniversary in North America (note: it will be released in North America on April 4, 2017), and I've written numerous JRPG reviews over the years. The game is so closely tied to my gaming review career that I still can't believe it, five years after I first experienced Joker and the story of the Monster of hearts. But during this time, Persona 5 never left me, and the flame it injected into my heart burned all the time.
Ever since Persona 5 landed in North America in 2017, I've seen new adventures for the Mind Monsters at regular intervals. A year after the release of the main body, "Persona 5 Starry Night Dance" made me dance all night. In 2019, Persona Q2: New Theater Labyrinth put the Mind Monster Gang side by side with the protagonists of the previous game. During the CORONAVIRUS pandemic, I played Persona 5R (I have to say, it was a really moving game when the world was in crisis). Just last year, I met my old friends again through Persona 5: Ghostbusters, and there was even a decent anime adaptation.
Wouldn't it be too often to launch five games and one animation in five years? Maybe, but by the time they launched a rhythm game, I had given up on the idea of expecting the JRPG series to reach new heights. I'm just happy to see Ryuji Sakamoto and Makoto Niijima again, whenever and wherever they are. It's a great relief to fight corruption with your best friends, memories of moments full of bondage, and most importantly – the endless possibilities of a better future.
The Monster of Hearts is a group of super-powered teenagers who enter the supernatural space called the "Otherworld". In it, they find distorted mirror images of corrupt figures with power known as "shadows"; by defeating these shadows in the other world, they are able to force these figures to repent for their crimes in the real world. It's a story of solving problems by going to the root causes and making those in power who create problems repent. The protagonists' actions have evolved from small incidents such as exposing high school volleyball coaches that have violated students to addressing national problems such as corrupt politicians trying to run for prime minister.
As a game of over 100 hours, Persona 5 is without a lack of meaningful scenes. As I wrote these words, it was as if blue, gray, and white ink appeared on my arm, etching Ryuji's mask of the strange bandit group surrounded by blue flames. It has the shape of a skull and is named after his code name in the Otherworld (Skull). The mask in Persona 5 is a symbol of each character's desire to rebel against the power machine, and it is also a symbol of becoming a group of heart monsters with personality masks, fighting for a better tomorrow.
For Ryuji, when he confronts the shadow of Takashida, the volleyball coach of the private Shukugaku gakuen who injured his leg and ruined his athletic career, he really ignites hope for the future. In another world, the high school becomes the castle of Kamoshida, and Kamoshida himself is the king of it, abusing students at will. During the time after Ryūji's injury, he was ostracized at school and lost most of his friends, and he felt that his only way out was to become an outlier bad boy. After awakening the Personality Mask and becoming a member of the Heart Monster Bandits, Ryuji decides to fight for the right thing, no longer suffering for himself, no longer resentful of his surroundings.
The awakening of each character takes a different form, such as rebelling against a father, a teacher, or a criminal who threatens the physical safety of a student. But there's always a constant thread, and that's being aware of the corruption around you and being willing to fight it to the best of my ability, that's always been why I've loved the game so much over the past five years.
Subsequent spin-offs have similarly emphasized these ideas. Persona 5: Ghostbusters takes a matchless game approach to how trauma shapes villains, rather than how heroes like the Mind Monster Gang. Persona 5R brings a real sublimation to every character who now reflects on what they lost while becoming a hero. The fundamental foundation of all Persona games is a clear awareness of the world around them, telling yourself that "things don't have to be this way" and striving for a better future.
For the next five years, we will still remember the spirit of The Persona 5, and no matter what I experience, I will still remember the true meaning of the Strange Bandits of the Heart, which is to always be hopeful about the future. Whether it's an angry track and field master putting on a SKULL mask to rebel against his abusive teacher, or sitting with his friends in ordinary moments and sipping sushi, the essence always shines.
Translation: Yamamuko
Edit: Zoe
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