WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT OP IMMEDIATELY RESPECTED THIS SMALL HUMAN.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT OP IMMEDIATELY RESPECTED THIS SMALL HUMAN.

Bots looking down on humans is common. We even see it amoung the Autobots. But here, Orion/Optimus still treats Jack like an equal despite having lost his memories of humans and why he respects them so much. He doesn't assume 'oh no a pest got a hold of the key!!' Damn, Optimus to his very core is a good mech who sees all other sentient beings as equals. He doesn't for a second believe himself automatically more deserving of choosing the key's fate just because he is cybertronian and Jack isn't. He actually defers to Jack's judgement. "Are you sure I am worthy?"

I’m not exactly sure if you’ve finished p5s yet but there’s this thing about zenkichi and his awakening is that his shadow makes an appearance, and that it’s actual look is an actual shadow. It’s clear that the shadow is different, but I don’t know why. I’d like to hear your thoughts though

I mean... when it comes to Zenkichi’s awakening, it’s most likely just a new form of visual storytelling (and probably one of my favorites) for dealing with his Shadow and then awakening.

There’s no real subtext like with Sophia or Violet to really prompt the player to go ‘huh, is that how it’s supposed to work?’, hinting that there are some shenanigans going on. So, the short answer is that the devs didn’t want to do the same sort of visual storytelling, and so changed a few things around while keeping the general spirit the same.

...Unfortunately I love to talk, so I’m putting a cut so I can say more.

(More mod rambling about the awakening scene under the cut)

Here’s a fun fact: Persona Awakenings are just really fancy pacts with demons. You call up a demon that corresponds with your soul (literally in 1 and 2), ask for their power, and they give you it. That also means because they’re demons, they can fuck up the awakening badly (like with Toro in P1), or the demons (or Shadows, the terms kind of got conflated) can take over and manipulate you (like with Kandori, Jun, or even Elizabeth in PQ).

...This isn’t actually super important, but it’s a neat bit of trivia. I’m so sorry. I have so much lore and not many people to share it with.

Moving on.

Here’s my opinion: Persona 5 has the best visual Persona Awakenings out of the entire series. Persona 1 has probably the best theme for the cast gaining Personas but not much visual flair, as much as I love P2 the awakenings were pretty lackluster, they barely existed in P3 except for the protagonist, and while Persona 4′s were definitely satisfying, they were also a bit plain. So, Persona 5 with the banger theme and the solid animation instantly shot to the top.

Starting the series from 5, watching Joker’s scene made me go ‘oh shit this series is awesome’, and immediately hooked me in for the 90 hour playthrough.

Still, while Persona 5 probably had the best animated awakenings, they also didn’t explain... what was going on very well? Like the yellow eyes representing their Shadow Selves trying to push outward, and the pain as they try to tame them and hold them back as they reason with their Other Selves so they can finally shoot laser blasts at Jack Frost or Kamoshida or whoever.

P5S just decided to represent Zenkichi’s Shadow Self with his actual shadow, representing how his repressed insecurities and failures are an inescapable part of his life. It looms and talks at him from awkward angles outside of his direct vision (since he’s still trying to deny it in a way), until it comes face to face with him and he can’t look away from his fears and doubts anymore.

So when he finally ‘makes contact’ with his Shadow (therefore accepting it) and declaring the sealed pact, he’s able to summon the coolest Persona so far with the most unwieldly Phantom Gear so far, and it’s great. 

It’s definitely not the most subtle, but it blends the painful awakening process of P5 with the more straightforward process from P4 in order to make a easy to follow, tense scene that isn’t just a straight copy-paste from the previous games formula.

I think these are Cybertronian design and would-be upgraded design, both splendid works by Augusto Barranco. He has wings at the back and a hulkier aspect, but keeping aesthetic proportions (specially the head), slender waist, curvey legs and prominent hips. This should, must have been the upgrade after the Forge.

Seeing Prime’s small smile is good enough for me

And Optimus, despite his role as a Prime, deserves to smile too.

Alright, I'm going to give a very unpopular opinion cuz I've been having a lot of thoughts.

I think that Eiko (from Makoto's Confidant) is overhated, and while not the most likable of people, she is realistically written. She doesn't do well in school, she doesn't have a good home life, and she doesn't seem to have a lot of friends either (she's kind of similar to Mishima almost although from what I remember he never struggled academically). Eiko's lonely, and she doesn't feel valued as a person at her core, which is why she attaches herself to her boyfriend who's very, very bad for her: he makes her feel like somebody.

And that's why she's so defensive when Makoto tells her he's bad news and tells her that she just doesn't understand: she has low self esteem and because of that she'd rather feel like she's worth somebody to someone even if they're toxic than be alone. That's what not being whole and not loving yourself will do: you develop codependent relationships with folks who are not good for you (or even ARE good for you but you rely on their companionship waaaaay too much).

Literally almost every person that I have encountered who dislikes Eiko will say "Oh she's so stupid she should've listened to Makoto." And she should've listened to Makoto, yes, because Makoto was right about Tsukasa being a bad person. But not listening to her doesn't make her stupid. Eiko was in an emotionally manipulative relationship because somebody took advantage of her low self image and once an emotional connection was formed it wasn't easy to break it off. It's very easy to say from an outside view that it's obvious that someone should leave a toxic relationship, but it's not as easy as just up and cutting that bond off, even when you know that it's unhealthy. Eiko wanted a long lasting relationship (and iirc she actually even knows deep down that Tsukasa is bad news but she doesn't want to admit it because she's that desperate for somebody to care about her) and put herself in dangerous situations in order to get it.

The thing that bothers me the most is when people find humor in Makoto hitting her and say that she deserves it. I could understand saying "it was a last resort", but to say that violence is deserved towards someone who's being emotionally manipulated doesn't sit right with me. Makoto hit her because she was angry and frustrated and that is never okay; which is why Makoto then makes amends with her later because she admits that she often acts impulsively and out of emotion (which is immature but she is working on it) and it is a fault of hers. And it's immensely frustrating that a lot of folks think Eiko getting hurt is funny and even warranted, just because she's stupid.

I am not saying that you have to like her or that you're wrong for disliking her, or that if you dislike her it is solely because you do not understand her, so please don't misunderstand. What I am trying to say is I feel like a lot of people DO misunderstand the nuance in her character (and that's not their fault because P5's writing is not always 10/10 let's be real) and because of that they reduce her to "stupid and annoying" when it is not that simple, is all. Eiko is a young woman struggling to find her worth. She's a victim, just like a lot of the cast, and getting through to her isn't pretty or fun because the affects of emotional manipulation are not pretty. (Same with Mishima and his codependency. He's been physically abused by people in authority and verbally mistreated by his peers)

Abuse victims do not recover overnight and they will not always listen right away even when they know that their friends love them and want what is best. It takes time to unlearn codependency. It takes time to unlearn self hatred. It takes time to learn to love yourself and associate with others who genuinely love you too. It takes time to set healthy boundaries if you didn't have them set and let people mistreat you. It's a process and it can be frustrating and I think the fandom as a whole could be more gentle in regards to characters who admittedly are not as appealing character wise but are still hurting and struggling like basically everybody else in the game. That's what P5 is about: rebelling against corruption but also helping and sympathizing with the people who are victims to it.

If you read all of this, thanks for giving me your time. I appreciate it. I like Eiko and I am glad that in the end she was able to try to get back on her feet and I wanted to write about it. Sorry if this is incoherent, I just wrote as things came to me. Anyway, take care of yourselves, and have a good day.

hello and welcome to chadams hot takes, aka zenkichi is hot and im going to make out with him