Sorual

Np. Enjoy the game!

Don't re:com and days happen at the same time? Tbh, I'd play (watch) days first anyway. It contextualizes what the org is doing in castle oblivion.

So I haven't been on here for a good bit but remembered that quite a few people here like the persona series. (and that the only reason IM into the series is because someone here recommended it to me) I recently finished Persona 5. I have developed the habit to write essays about pieces of fiction that demand analysis. I find that writing helps me learn about my own position on a subject. Most recently, I wrote an essay on Persona 5 explaining how it uses Jungian ideas (just like the rest of the series) to highlight the necessary role of the trickster in society. I figured that some people here might be interested in that subject, so here I am posting my analysis. I'm always looking to improve, so if you have any feedback then I would be happy to hear it Its pretty long, so brace yourselves. Here it is: Sometimes truth can only be attained through lies. In Jungian psychology, the Trickster is the one that rebels against the masses and exposes their shrouded ugliness. The Trickster challenges the ideas accepted by society and volunteers as the catalyst for change in the world. The game Persona 5 takes the familiar archetype and encapsulates everything that it means to be a Trickster. Persona 5 uses themes of thievery and social reform to highlight the existence of the Trickster in modern society. One of Carl Jung’s most famous ideas was that of his notion of personality archetypes. All people derive from a set of character skeletons that they give their own skin. For example, the “Wise Old Man” archetype is a familiar trope in fiction. However, just because characters derive from the same skeleton does not mean that their skin is the same. How the character is built upon can make the “Wise Old Man” anything from Albus Dumbledore to Obi Wan Kenobi. One of the most impactful character archetypes however is the Trickster. The Trickster is known as the opposer to social norms; The changemaker. The Trickster sees through the shadow of the public and uses their own deceitful means to expose the folly of man. One example of the trickster comes from African Mythology. Esu is a satirist and is antagonised often, however he plays a pivotal role is the betterment of society. For example, two farmers who live next to each other often quarrelled, but made a promise to never do so again. Esu knew that this was simply a lie the farmers told themselves to get on good terms. Esu took it upon himself to put on a hat, one side white and one side black, and walk in between the farmers. Almost on cue, the farmers broke into hostile discourse. They were insistent that the hat was whichever color they happened to see. At that point, Esu took off the hat and turned it inside out. The hat was in fact red. Both were wrong. Esu revealed the ugly truth behind their empty lie through his own deceitful means. In Persona 5, the main cast of characters form a group called the Phantom Thieves. They gain the power to infiltrate a person’s “palace” which is said to be the manifestation of their “distorted desires”. It exists in a realm called the “Metaverse” which is a manifestation of the unconscious. A majority of the palaces belong to corrupt adults who have manipulated the public to act a certain obedient way with the less-than-reasoned justification that they are the one in the right. Konoshida for example is a successful volleyball coach at Shujin Academy High School. He reasoned that his contribution to the school justified abusing the players on the team both physically and sexually. His palace took the form of a castle. He saw Shujin Academy as nothing more than his territory filled with servants pretending to be students. His desire to abuse his students distorted his perception of the school. What better group of people to expose this folly than the group of tricksters, the Phantom Thieves? By infiltrating the palaces and stealing the “treasure” which is explained to be the source of their distortions, the Phantom Thieves can force a change of heart. By taking the item that first triggered their flawed perception, they can expose the truth. Konoshida, for example, had an olympic medal. He had won a medal for his prowess in volleyball, which was the catalyst for superiority complexes in the future. To understand why this method of exposing the truth is trickster like, one needs to understand how the act was both contrary to popular opinion, but deceitful. Enter Carl Jung’s idea of the persona. According to Jung, everyone has two sides of their personality: The persona and the shadow. The persona is the metaphorical mask people wear in social situations so that they are acceptable. For example, people would wear different masks at a court hearing than at a party. Turning on Katy Perry’s new hit single while the rape victim is their their story might be considered socially unacceptable. People adopt different personas at different times. In many cases however, a person can believe that their persona is their only true self. That is where the shadow comes into play. The shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that is locked away. The parts of people that are socially unacceptable; Their inner demons. If a person denies the existence of their own shadow, then they deny themselves truth. The shadow will only hurt them. The person will struggle with their identity knowing that their shadow exists, but refusing to accept it. This is what Carl Jung illustrates as the journey to “self actualization”. That is, the process of recognizing and accepting all facets of personality. Without authenticity, a person becomes a byproduct of social norms and social norms alone. By accepting the shadow however, the persona can be used as a valuable tool. Without accepting the shadow, one cannot expose truths otherwise unacceptable. By wearing a mask, one can promote new ideas in a socially palatable way. Persona 5 illustrates the idea of a persona in a very direct and literal way. In the Metaverse, personas take the form of beings one can summon for defence. When the characters touch the physical mask the gain when they enter the metaverse, they summon a being as defence against shadows. Shadows are also given physical form. Instead of being metaphorical demons, they are literal demons that the characters must use their literal personas to defend against. This physical conflict illustrates the figurative dynamic to personas being used to suppress inner shadows to an almost staggering degree of direct subtlety. The gamers unaware of the inner dynamic would simply see a fight as a generic boss battle in a video game, but paired with Jungian context, the fights in Persona 5 holds tremendous figurative meaning. Shadows can also be accepted. When knocking a shadow off of its feat, one can attempt to befriend it. Similar to how shadows work in people’s minds, shadows can either be suppressed or accepted. And just like in people’s minds, should the shadow be accepted, the player gains them in the form of a new mask. The shadow becomes a useful tool in the form of a new persona. The persona in Persona 5 is stated to be a manifestation of the character’s rebellious will. The characters in the Phantom Thieves are all tricksters, so their personas represent their tenancies to rebel against social norms. In order to gain their persona however, they had to come to terms with their shadows. Each character had been suppressed or abused by corrupt adults who governed what was considered socially acceptable. Their shadow was their knowledge of their abuse; Their knowledge that they were wrong. The acceptance of the fact that they were wronged allowed them to use their personas not as a cripple imposed on them by social norms, but a tool to invoke their own will. Prior to their personas awakening, The characters surrendered to social norms. Makoto Niijima was an obedient student council president. Ann Takamaki agreed to sexual favors from volleyball “extraordinaire” Konoshida. Like most other people in society, they had surrendered to their socially acceptable self. The face they put on because they were told it was for the best, but knew deep down that it was not. Most NPCs (Non-Player Characters) in the game wear the mask of obedience. Like personas in the Metaverse, the mask of obedience is given physical parallel. In Japan, people wear a face mask to work if they are sick. An overwhelming number of people in the game are wearing face masks. The difference between the face masks and the masks the Phantom Thieves wear post-awakening is the placement. Face masks cover the mouth. NPCs walk around slouched over almost machine like with their mouths invisible. In addition, their eyes are either covered by their hair or not present at all. The NPCs not only refuse to speak out against what can be seen, but refuse to even see it. The Phantom Thieves’ masks however cover the upper part of the face, leaving clear holes for eyes. Within the social setting for the Phantom Thieves, opposition is encouraged. Their personas are that of rebellion. A social setting that allows for such ambition can only be accomplished with the idealistic naivety of teenagers. Indeed, the people in society with the strongest personas, and consequently, the most potential to invoke change, are the youth. The Phantom Thieves adopt the “gentleman thief” trope in fiction. Their costumes in the metaverse are well made. They peruse the palace with elegance. Haru Okumura even sips a cup of tea after defeating a shadow. The player character’s persona is called “Arsene”. One of the most famous gentleman thief characters in fiction is Arsene Lupin from various novels written by Maurice Leblanc. The character Arsene, much like the Phantom Thieves themselves, is a force of good will underneath the law; A Robin Hood of gentleman thievery. The player character’s persona sharing a name with an iconic gentleman thief is characteristic of his trickster archetype. Gentleman thievery is by nature a trickster role. The thief hides their intent behind a facade of good manners and sophisticated attitude, but steals from the foul to give to the needy. Similarly, the Phantom Thieves use their personas, their social mask, to deceptively expose the ugly truths of corrupt adults. By day, the Phantoms fool the public with an appearance of normal high school life. Within their own social circle however, they don their personas, their trickster alter egos, and expose the folly of mankind. A prominent motif in Persona 5 is that of prison and captivity. The Velvet Room, a room that is a physical representation of what the player character feels, is a prison. Near the end of the game, the Phantom Thieves encounter the Prison of Regression, a prison in the metaverse that holds the obedient public’s shadows. The source of the imprisonment is desire. People’s desires to be socially accepted tie them down to captivity. Similarly, desire is also the source of distortions in perception. Konoshida allowed his desire for superiority over his students to distort how he perceived the school. The general public’s desire to be accepted distorted their perception of the world so that it was no longer theirs. In stark contrast to the desires of the public are the desires of the Phantom Thieves: The clarification of perception. A trickster’s work is fueled by their pursuit for truth. Desire is what makes all people do anything. The question becomes whether or not its application will lead to distortion or clarification. Futaba Sakura let desires imprison her. Before she became a member of the Phantom thieves, Futaba was a society shut-it. She never left her room. She was told that her mother committed suicide because of her. Futaba developed a desire to bring her mother back; a desire to atone for what she had done. She had her own palace that took the form of a tomb. She was convinced that her own room was the tomb that she must die in to atone for what she understood as killing her mother. Not only wrongdoing adults can have palaces. Anyone whose desires distort their perception are subject to corruption. Futaba’s desire to atone made her lock herself in her own room. She was, in a very literal sense, a prisoner of her own desire. Freedom is the power to choose a persona. The general public roams the street bearing the same white face-mask. The Phantom Thieves however, wear masks that reflect their own aspirations and preferences. For example, Ann Takamaki has stated that she has always admired aspects of strong female antagonists in fiction. She cites their resolve, independance, and deceitful but clever methods of achieving goals. Ann is infatuated with the femme fatale character archetype. Similar to Arsene, the name of Ann’s persona, “Carmen”, is shared by a famous fictional character that exemplifies a type of trickster. Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella saw the debut of Carmen, the iconic femme fatale. The reference stands as a testament to the nature of Ann’s social self. When Ann awakened to her persona, she became the type of character she has always admired. Her mask became that of her own aspirations. The other characters of the Phantom Thieves were also prisoners at a point, but they accepted their shadow. They realised that they had been wronged; That a part of them was contrary to social norms. When the thieves awakened to their persona, a mask appeared on their faces. In order to gain the power of the persona however, they needed to take it off for the first time. The mask seemed welded onto the characters’ faces. When they took it off, there was blood. Taking the mask off was painful. The removal is symbolic of proving that it can be removed. The pain shows that accepting one’s inner demons may be hard, but can be done. From that point onward, the Phantom Thieves could take their masks on and off as they pleased. There were no longer prisoners. They were free. The masks the Phantom Thieves wore however are still masks. They are the disguise: The paramount equipment for a thief. The Phantom Thieves are merely high school students. Half of the game is simply studying for the upcoming midterms and socializing with other students. Fantasy however, is the first step to change. All ideas were at one point a hope for the future that had yet to come true. When the thieves dawn the mask, they get to play the liberating game of pretend. Ryuji is no longer a failed runner that broke his leg, but Skull, the blunt force of the group. Futaba is no longer a society shut-it, but Oracle, the overseeing operative of heists. The masks they wear when becoming the Phantom Thieves allow them to enjoy their own fantasy. Their idealism allowed to the Phantom Thieves to invoke change. Ironically, it is precisely because of their fantasy that they have such a real impact on the world. It is when society has reached a point of figurative captivity that the tricksters, the Phantom Thieves, need to step in between the two farmers with a deceptively black and white hat. Tricksters are needed to expose Man’s folly and to free society from captivity. Persona 5 not only successfully illustrates Carl Jung’s ideas of personas and shadows, but proves their necessity for the good tricksters to do their jobs. That was it Please let me know what you think or share any ideas on how I can improve. (as well as critique my own analysis if you disagree with it) Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!

lol yea. ive been seeing a lot of games where the inside of the cover says "go to *insert long url here* for the digital manual". like FF type 0 for example. ive been seeing a lot of stuff like that. times ave changed huh?

i get it completly.

I never said there marketing too much. Pugs ps going overboard was bad wording. By overboard I mean their methods. I stated previously in the discussion why their methods leave a bad taste in my mouth. But as I said previously in the discussion, I agree that it's better than no marketing tho. It's just the method that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sorry that it made it sound like I said "Too much". I meant their methods

purhaps your right about it being better then them doing jack squat marketting before. and i know that the youtubers dont do reviews. thats why i mentioned them. there just people that were payed to give the game publicity. i just take issue with nintendo paying popular youtubers to promote their game. i stated that i never had anything wrong with reviews and stated why i know they need to exist. its just the youtubers that dont review that are acting as means of publicity for nintendo not because of the love of the product by the youtubers, but because nintendo payed them with success in their own channel as well as of course, the game. its a win win for both parties. i just feel that the reason behind this publicity (being payed with publicity/the game and not the actual love of the product) is a bit distasteful imo. thats not to say that they dont actually love the product, (im sure many of them think its great) but i dont think smosh games would have put out videos about the new 3ds and MH4U if it worent for them being payed. some might legitametly love the product, but in the end, from what im seein, whats pushing them to make a video is again, the free publicity for their channel given to them by nintendo in exchange for them promoting the product. however, i know this is business. both parties need publicity in order to be succesful. and i understamd that this a a means of perfectly attaining a win win scenario for both the youtuber and nintendo. however it still leaves a meh taste in my mouth. however you guys are right in that it is better than no marketing at all i suppose. sry i missed that.

is nintendo going a bit overboard with hype fuel and mainstream marketting? it seemed to all start pretty recently. around when the new 3ds was comming out. it seemed like they were giving a new 3ds to just about every "popular" youtuber in existance (like ijustine, smash games, black nerd, etc.) and to be honest, it seems like they are only mentioning the good things about the game or system or whatever. first it was the new 3ds, then splatoon, and now mario maker. dont get me wrong. hype is fine. but nintendo seems to be trying really freaking hard to hit the mainstream market. i was thinking that maybe they are even paying the youtubers who they give the things to to do videos on them. and maybe even only mention the good thing. thankfully, i dont think the second part is true because jwittz gave kirby's rainbow curse a sub-par review. so thankfully i know that they arent getting paid to say good things. but still, i feel this might be a bit much. giving all their games to popular youtubers to get th youtubers' fans to buy the game and all that. hype is fine but its just meh for me with what they are doing with the youtubers. i just watch these videos and here them say "its so hype!" or "i love this" and all that. not all of it is good like that (again, jwitts' kirby rainbow curse review), but like 95% of it is really good. obvoisly this doesent apply to reviewers tho. i understand that reviews arent marketting perse unless the review scores are good. and i know reviews are important to have as early as possible. (hense early copies) and at the end of the day, i know. its marketing. they are just doing what is needed for their products to sell as well as possible. and i also know nintendo isnt the only one doing this. i saw a similar think with MGSV phantom pain, but its still seems like nintendo is most prominant. i know what their doing isnt "bad". its really only "good" because it improves their sales. it still feels like the youtubers selling out and nintendo being the ones buying them. it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. but i know, its marketting. everything needs good marketting. (its one of the reasons the wii u wasent selling well. bad marketting) but it still feels like their method is a sellout. even if they might not be paying the youtubers directly with money, they are still paying then in giving them publicity, and of course, the game. and theres no denying that they are most likely doing it to improve the games sales. i know its marketting, but just feels like selling out. sry if i come off as nit-picky or anything. i just wanted to share how i felt and see if i was the only one who felt this way.