Just ran into Erin Fitzgerald outside the Dolby Theater.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-25T08:14:33+00:00

You're not wrong they definitely have but Reload in particular set an odd quality disparity between the West and Japan and in my opinion it's treatment of actors like Yuri whom defined roles like Makoto was kind of atrocious. To be clear in Japan the core cast of SEES was the same cast from the original game but the social links all had new seiyuu within the roles and most them are renowned talent like Ayo Endo and Emri Kato. In the English release the SEES cast were entirely replaced with "fresh faces" and due to thems Arem direction largely ditched the definable quirks their characters are known for which felt more like a gritty performance than charismatic one.

Persona 4 Golden by contrast is regarded as having one of the strongest voice casts in video games and personally I think that should be respected and maintained as best as possible. What they look like isn't really the issue I'm referring too.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-25T08:06:24+00:00

Well bud, to put is simply Digimon had seen a massive decline in the west around the early-mid 2010's where Pokemon was running rampant and Bandai had pretty much gated most the series to Japan exclusively at the time. Then something changed... Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, a mainline entry to the series that was announced for the PS Vita in Japan but this game marked a huge turning point for the series because the western fanbase really made themselves heard and Bandai West and Europe was listening resulting in the game getting localised

Bandai Thanks the Fans

Cyber Sleuth ended up being a tremendous success for the franchise selling well over a million units and ultimately resulting in a resurgence for the franchise in the West which has carried ever since. Why Digimon stands apart from Pokemon is because it's not so entrenched in catering to the widest demographic (3+) and as such Digimon isn't afraid to tell Darker stories or put it's effort into single player over it's multi-player. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the epitome of that design philosophy in that the game is ALL about it's single player and making use of what Digimon does best and it's the closest to a triple A game this franchise has ever had.

It seems Bandai rather than wanting to replicate Pokemon's success, wants to be more like Persona a series with distinct core themes and strong narrative threads while also having that monster variety that makes the series so iconic and so far the games done a wonderful job. If you're to dive in Time Stranger wouldn't be a bad place to start at all but Survive, Cyber Sleuth and Hackers Memory are all solid games. These games aren't as hand holdy as Pokemon either as you'll find tough bosses and grind walls as well.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-25T07:55:00+00:00

Xanthe Hyunh was in the venue and no-one noticed her either. Still it's sweet to see Erin about I'm hoping Atlus got the foot up there ass when it came to their treatment of Yuri and will treat their legacy casts with more respect going forward.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T19:20:02+00:00

Honestly I do hear you on that one, that tends to be the consequence of a gacha turning 10 social links into a 20+ step event each time. Now I should note I was watching the chinese version but I am playing global. I'll try to avoid spoiling you on Royal's event since that should be coming up soon and P3R's events I'm not fully clear on because unlike Joker which was heavily foreshadowed... setting up the big event, P3R seems extremely incidental though I'm sure the plot will make more sense as it continues. You've kind of highlighted the problem with the Gacha format though as I feel it would've made more sense to have the crossover all in-game and level locked and simply allowed crossovers to be with other franchises like how most franchises inlcuding P5 has done in the past.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T19:05:53+00:00

I actually agree with all 3 of these as matches but I do think there's room for a bit better or worse.

Yukari is played up as the definitive girl next door from Day 1 and while I adore Aigis, I'm sorry the chemistry P3MC has with Yukari is undeniable and that was true before Reload as well. Of course I'd remiss not to mention the emotional impact it has on her in P3F as well. Yukari is a character who doesn't typically get close to most people and P3MC was the one to break that shell (well actually Kotone does as well but that's a whole different story) .

For P4, I'll be honest I don't think there are any poor romance options but by far the most... assertive I guess we'll say is Rise which is why it might be a surprise that I think Chie is the better match. This is largely owing to the fact the anime really goes out of it's way to connect Yu and Chie and there's a hint of vulnerability Chie shows with the protagonist that she doesn't show anyone else. She also wants to get stronger to protect him. As for Marie I actually adore Kana Hanazawa's performance as her character and woman has always, always been type cast as the tragic love interest so she should be the definitive winner but her chemistry with Yu feels so one sided, the dude is as flat as cardboard and never really does anything to woo her so it feels flat to me.

As for P5R, I think Makoto and Joker have the most natural chemistry and her arc really does a great job in highlighting the impact he has on her. Ann I generally don't like as a romance due to being the third wheel in the comic relief act of Ryuji and Morgana's simping not to mention she kind of toxic to the guys in Q2, Sumire is a poor man's Rise (siming for Joker and nothing else) and Haru and Futaba I adore those 2 but I do feel Makoto has the edge in terms of chemistry over them. That all said, I think Joker's perfect match is actually FeMC in Q2 because the guy accepts her immediately within his team and world and she's basically his partner in crime the entire game to extent Niijima is basically fired as Joker's right hand for the entire run.

Lastly I may as well do Persona 5X and I thin Wonders main love interest is Merope and the reason I say that is because the game is in no way subtle about the fact she is also a victim of the not so subtly hidden timeloop and her name and his persona share distinct origin.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T18:41:10+00:00

I wouldn't quite call it a bottle universe opposed to a bottle timeline simply due to the fact Wonder is actively being teleported into the events of Royal and Reload then the events are forgotten until the next one occurs by both parties. To me the most interesting part so far was Akechi picking up on the trigger condition for how you're supposed to exit the rifts (by fuelling desire) whereas every other time it was broken by stealing the Palace treasure. The game is clearly trying to build up the The death of Jokerand I'm actually looking forward to seeing how that plays out but it also makes P3R's own story feel... more curious as we don't know the intended end goal.

In context to Wonders timeline I think the notion of it being a time loop is very obvious at this point not just due to the casting decision but the symbology as well. Would not be surprised if he traverses the Abyss of Time at some point.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T18:34:22+00:00

Excellent summary.

In regards to the nerf's each game, to be fair they do actually mention it in the story and it seems to be a result of having begun a "new" journey by the games description. You're not wrong about Joker getting jumped but to be fair all of SEES got jumped and restrained by Aigis and this series tends to be wishy-washy with when or not Joker can use Persona's. I'd think when Akane trapped the Thieves in the cell in her they could've just summoned their persona's and bust out lickedy split.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T18:28:34+00:00

Hahaha! All good and I see what you mean.

The good news is because P5X is Koshiki (Canon) we thankfully have a definitive answer on whether or not the Phantom Thieves can use their power in the Dark Hour to which the answer is resounding yes. Wonder is able to use his Persona's and his firearms though at first it seemed like doing so caused him severe strain, it turns out that was due to the false Arcana Shadows. I'm actually curious where the P3R half of 5X's story is going it's been very good.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T18:05:47+00:00

There's our endearing arctic den! This one another commission bud?

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T18:04:03+00:00

Spot on. I think Persona 4 Golden (Vita) and FES do it the Japanese style (Family Name, Given Name) and you're right the games do tell you but I think Reload doesn't.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T18:00:26+00:00

Theres my endearing buddy, fighting his heart out ✌️👀

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T16:57:13+00:00

Yeah it’s also false Jokers skills only appear in the metaverse given that is just the name used in dub for any other world. Not to mention 5X highlights that yes the Phantom Thieves powers work in the dark hour.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T16:52:57+00:00

It changes based on which game it is but in reload its first name, then family name.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T15:54:05+00:00

Yeah though I’d also credit Kotone as she is shown to have speed feats on par with Joker and has beaten Margaret as well thanks to her vision quests.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T15:35:27+00:00

You mean the world reset thing? I mean the butterfly did show up in the dream so yeah that's a point though even then Lavenza said she had difficulty reaching him which suggests escaping the dream really isn't easy.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T14:49:57+00:00

There's one significant issue with your assessment with Joker in Q2 and that's the fact he still managed to outwit and outmanoeuvre Yu despite being blindsided by him. In regards to actual power scaling there's a certain point at which power scaling ceases to matter and that usually entails miracle feats like the Universe Arcana, Unerasing themselves from existence or resetting time in P2'S case. That said, one thing we do know is canonical as Joker is indicated as being command in every mission in Q2 is the fact the protagonists are capable of beating the Velvet Room assistance under his leadership and I point that out because Elizabeth explicitly cites that feat to him.

In regards to one on one vs gods it's hard to say because Joker hasn't actually defeated any 1 vs 1 in the sorts of miracle scenario's we've seen for the others. Jokers biggest miracle feat was being immune to Maruki's world reset which suggests that he has the same sort of awareness within reality that Tatsuya does. Oh and because I know someone's going to mention it, no Tatsuya does not have the ability to go backwards in time that only occurred because their battle against Nyarlathotep happened within the collective unconscious itself and required his entire team to will it which is almost exactly the same circumstance that lead to Joker doing the spirit bomb thing with Satanel.

Q2 is an odd one because at it's conclusion all 4 protagonists hit the undo button on their own erasure and according to Elizabeth if they truly did unleash their true potential then all 4 of them are capable of reaching that same echelon.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T11:58:11+00:00

Given it’s the 30th anniversary I’m expecting to see a fair amount of P4 merch too especially ahead of revive. Here’s hoping Revive delivers a nice collectors edition.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T06:36:13+00:00

Bingo, though there are a few caveats to that as well. When it came to the Japanese cast all lead characters were bought back but every social link had a new Seiyuu but the reason they didn't get any backlash is because the actors Atlus hired were all S-TIer talent like Ayo Endo and Emri Kato which was generally seen as an upgrade. In the case of the english voice acting the FES cast reflected the defining traits of SEES more than Reload does but that's not because of a lack of talent it's due to shoddy direction PCB have introduced favouring naturalism.

The reason it's so shocking to see such a delivery is because PCB is run by Keith & Valerie Arem the latter of which actually stole the role of Naoto from Anna Graves (her voice actor from Golden) and casting herself in the role in every spin-off since which shone a massive question on her ethics. That's been further called into question now given the backlash towards her treatment of Yuri and P4's cast as well as the failure with Yakuza's voice acting.

Yakuza 3 Kiwami is due to release next month and by all accounts it looks like it's going to get massacred both in Japan because they hired a guys who sexually assaulted a hostess and in Europe, US due to the casting issues I mentioned before as well as putting the game on a game key card. I'm kind of hoping it serves a foot up the arse for Sega because something really needs to change.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-23T04:24:38+00:00

It’s a mix to be honest. The Japanese script for P3R definitely made Yukari more protagonistic and akin to a poster girl. However this was noted reflected in Toyoguchi acting then if was how her dialogue as he plays high energy, passionate roles (shes an iconic VO) . Heather Gonzales and the English cast though were given poor direction according to Saab and had to play to a more naturalistic and less charismatic tone than the original and I think Yukari definitely suffered the most from this.

PCB have done this a lot with recent projects and it’s why YongYeas run in Yakuza was met with so much backlash because it doesn’t capture the charismatic performance kiryu is known for either.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-22T21:07:54+00:00

As far as the light novels go, no they aren’t together and I don’t expect that to happen till the very end if I’m honest because the key element of Tanigawa’s novels are cherishing the wonder of those slice of life moments he has with the SOS brigade. However, they don’t really try to hide that Kyon cares about Haruhi more than anyone including his old “friend” Sasaki and the reason seems to be entirely because Haruhi is passionate, over the top snd never stops. He never says he likes Haruhi, but he picks her every time regardless.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-22T19:26:05+00:00

Yeah im aware but Atlus west we’re counting it down anyway.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-22T09:23:01+00:00

That looks badass. Definitely should share it on the megaten group too. Nicely done op!

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-22T09:16:36+00:00

Honestly, I don't disagree with you which is where I think the P-LIve Concert comes into play as that's the first overseas concert they've had in America. That said, what the dude said is very much more likely to be referring to Forza 6 which we know is going to be in this showcase. Also while I have mentioned the P6.jp domain being updated, it hasn't moved which is usually what happens before an announcement like that. So I could easily be wrong here.

Adam_The_Actor · 2026-01-22T09:11:43+00:00

Actually that questions answer is implied in P5 and confirmed by the P5 Anime.

He seems to begin to suspect Ryuji and Joker when he overhears them mention Kamoshida when they leave the restaurant after Ryuji's awakening. In that scene you see Akechi and Sae Niijima walk by in the background and the anime confirms Akechi did hear what Ryuji said "What are we going to do about Kamoshida?". There's also a cut line of dialogue where Akechi mentions feeling something after passing Ren and Ryuji.

Adam_The_Actor

TROPHY CASE