During the romance scene, he says that “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.” If you try to hang out with him the next day he basically refuses to talk to you, says that it would be a waste and that you should spend time with the others. He’s tried to exist in the world without really living in it, basically living through the most elaborate suicide plot in history, but strays for that for a moment because he’s grown to care for Kotone.īut it isn’t enough to change his outlook completely. Shinjiro, of course, repeats this sentiment.īut he spends time with you anyway, whether you do his romance route or not, defying the path that he’s set up for himself. His impending death and his acceptance of it are so baked into the narrative that the game itself seems confused that you’d try to keep spending time with him. If you try to talk to him after Rank 10, (only possible on 10/2 or 10/3, right before he dies) you get a message saying “It doesn’t seem that your relationship can get any closer than it is… Would you still like to spend time with him?” From a pure gameplay perspective, and from Shinji’s perspective, any other time you try to spend with him is a waste. The game makes this conclusion clear as well: you’re at Rank 10, so there should be nothing more to do. He’s even gotten back the watch that he was sure he’d never see again. He’s done all he can for SEES, for Ken and Aki specifically, and he trusts that Kotone will be fine and will still be happy after he’s gone. And at that point, in his eyes, everything is done. In his last rank, he asks Kotone to take care of Akihiko in his stead. His second to last rank is just him asking Kotone to talk with him as long as possible, so that he can be content with that last happy moment with her before he dies. He tries to get the members of SEES to take care of themselves, because he knows no one else will do it when he’s not there. His social link is basically him getting his last will and testament in order. This character, whose every aspect is so intertwined with death and his coming end, from his Persona’s design to his relationships to others to his every line of dialogue, is forced to live. In P3P’s main story Ken gets most of the same development that he gets in the other versions, but Shinjiro gets more character alongside him. But, uh, the SL takes a turn at rank seven or so, messing with the development it was trying to set up, and cementing it one of the most uncomfortable social links ever lol. (I feel like the movies fix this, but I want to focus on the games for now.) Ken’s social link in P3P tries to address this by focusing on him deciding what kind of life he wants to live as the next step of deciding that he wants to live. He’s pushed to the side for the rest of the game. abandoned after this point? He comes to the conclusion that he wants to keep living in a way that Shinjiro didn’t get to, and then… that’s it. However, I don’t think that this works as well as Shinji reaching that conclusion himself. The resolution Shinji never got in life is transferred onto Ken. Shinjiro’s death serves as a cautionary tale for Ken on how his life could turn out if he keeps devoting himself single mindedly to hate and revenge, without letting himself live and love others. He dies as he planned, even saying “this is how it should be” as his last words. He doesn’t grow past his passivly-suicidal mindset. He doesn’t have a moment where his views are questioned or challenged. They’ve basically both resigned themselves to living as if they are already dead, with Chidori following Takaya’s orders and not ever considering another way of living and Shinji not acting or helping SEES until his past regrets are staring him directly in the face, making him feel like there’s absolutely no other choice.īut while Chidori connects with Junpei and manages to feel the joy she’d pushed away, even if it’s only in the last few moments of her life, Shinjiro just… dies. I think that he can be best compared to Chidori: both live their lives with the overwhelming knowledge of their imminent deaths, avoiding connection with others because of it. Shinjiro’s outlook on life is not as extreme as these characters, but can still be compared to them. The game tries to depict the dangers of not just accepting, but almost worshipping death through the Nyx cultists that show up later through the game. Persona 3 deals with the acceptance of our inevitable deaths, of course, but the enjoyment of the lives we have is a key part of this. However, I’d like to explain why I think it makes the story work better in other ways. I completely get why people don’t like that change, and think it cheapens the game’s messages of death or ruins Akihiko’s arc. The changes that Persona 3 Portable made to Shinjiro and Akihiko’s arcs by allowing you to save Shinjiro from death are understandably controversial. Spoilers for Persona 3 up to October 4th.
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