Obviously this is because Yusuke is the second arc after the first one (which introduced literally the rest of the cast) so there really wasn't much place to slot in a Yusuke foreshadowing, but it just means that Makoto ends up having so much of a presence in the leadup to her arc, so that when she finally gets her big moment it really hits home.
On the downside, Kaneshiro as an antagonist really wasn't particularly memorable beyond ebing a generic yakuza extortionist. The game still does a great job at showcasing and implying how terrifying this would be to the youth, but I didn't efel like it had the same sense of dread that someone in a position of authority that Kamoshida and Madarame had, if it makes sense?
Anyway, you guys are here for monster reviews!
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Johanna
"This day marks your graduation from your false self."
- Arcana: Empress
I am a bit disappointed that I was already spoiled about what all the main characters' personas would look, because Makoto's is probably the huge surprise. Everyone else had humanoid, almost JoJo Stand-esque Pesronas, while Makoto... gets a bike. Even the characters, in-universe, are surprised at the random Kamen Rider bike that shows up out of nowhere! Makoto's Persona awakening is also easily my favourite of the four I've seen so far, with that brief shot of Makoto's eyes turning angry-yellow being amazing and there's this one sequence where she, pre-transformation, stomps her ground so hard that the floor tile shattered.
Anyway, Johanna is... a bike! It's a cool bike, with a woman's face on the windbreaker, and while the artwork doesn't show it, when Makoto summons it in game, we've got chains roiling upwards because it's just cool, okay? The package really isn't complete without appreciating Makoto's own outfit, which is this leather-clad, spiky-shouldered, murder-knuckle-duster-wielding badass rider. All she needs is to borrow Ryuji's scarf and she's basically a badass Kamen Rider already! And, yeah, between her, Ryuji, Morgana's henshin pose, and the constant Featherman references, it's clear that the design team really likes the Tokusatsu shows.
So far all the main cast's Personas have been based on thieves of some sort, and Johanna is an alternate name for Pope Joan, a legendary woman in medieval times who was so talented and intelligent that she rose very quickly through the heirarchy of the church. Of course, she's actually a woman, so she had to disguise herself as a man. She eventually became the Pope, but the true nature of her gender was revealed when she gave birth -- and she died shortly afterwards, often noted to by murder. The Catholic Church allegedly removed this record of Pope Joan out of shame.
The story of Pope Joan is an interesting one, and most historical scholars regard her entire existence to be fictional, due to the impossibly long gaps between some events attributed to her. But her lasting impact on pop culture still remained, and honestly, if Pope Joan was real, the idea that her existence was something that the people in power tried to stamp out is definitely something that would drastically reduce or discredit any information about her.
I don't really think Pope Joan is that good of a fit for Makoto personally, other than the general vibes of rebellion... if anything, it fit her older sister Sae even better since she's the one that's a woman chafing in a male-dominated occupation circle. But honestly, the legend definitely features the anti-authoritarian themes of the Phantom Thieves... and honestly, the nuances of the societal and gender-role and religious significance of this Persona's inspiration is kinda lost in the fact that this is a NUKE-SHOOTING POPE BIKE.
Matador
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Death
I got a couple of extra Personas I created out of fusion around the time I got to Kaneshiro's Palace. And I realize that some of these are ones I briefly saw the names of, but since I'm trying to not spoil myself with the appearances of these Personas, and this one is... interesting? The Matador is an undead matador, one of the performers of the ever-famous bullfighting sport in spain. The title is fully matador de toros (killer of bulls), because the traditional way of bullfighting is for the matador to kill the bull. There are a lot of debates on the ethical implications and morality of this bloody sport which I'll not get into, but the traditional sport would feature the bull most certainly being killed... and sometimes the bullfighters too.
The Registry's blurb for the Matador basically handwaves this fancy-looking undead matador as "some believe that matadors who die while performing remain in this world." As far as I can tell via google searches (which only turn out Megami Tensei or Marvel comics characters) no such legend actually exists, so I'm just going to assume that someone in the development team really liked the matador aesthetic and partnering it with the undead motif and the Death Arcana does make for a surprisingly cohesive monster next to the whole 'brutal sport' theme.
Sandman
- Monster Name: Envoy of Slumber
- Arcana: Magician
Huh. Huh! The traditional European legend of the Sandman is a being from European myths that carries a bag of magical sand, who puts humans to sleep with magical sand that he throws in our eyes. The fairy-tale being was popularized by the German work Der Sandmann, as well as Hans Christian Andersen's Ole Lukøje, both published in the early 1800's. Since then the Sandman has shown up in so many stories out there, even being the star of a very gothic and psychedelic Neil Gaiman comic book from DC, and the subject of a badass Metallica song.
The Sandman is also said to 'sit on your eyelids' if you resist, which probably is the mythological attempt to explain the 'my eyelids are getting heavy'. And the nasty rheum gunk in your eyes when you wake up are the remnants of the Sandman's magic from the previous night. Now the Sandman has traditionally been depicted with a sack of sand, and sometimes two umbrellas. Each umbrella represented good or bad dreams, and the benign Sandman will pick one to hold over a sleeping child's head whether they're good or bad.
Other legends with the Sandman has the Sandman be a far more malicious figure, with him tossing sand in the eyes of children that didn't sleep. This is the Der Sandmann version, and German Sandman's sand will cause the eyes to fall off, which the Sandman will then collect and bring back up to the moon.
Just merely being a kid with a bag of sand is very boring, though, and as you can probably tell with a lot of the 'just a human' Personas in this series, I'll just list the inspiring legends and move on. The Sandman in here has one of those carton moons often found in European children's book drawings as a head, though. And those very sinister eyes... yeah, this Sandman is the type to steal bad children's eyeballs to feed to the kids on his moon, not the one that's bringing good dreams to people!
(I am rather surprised they didn't assign the Moon arcana to Sandman, by the way, considering his entire head is a moon.)
Anzu
- Monster Name: Demonic Warlord
- Arcana: Chariot
Anzu, also known as Zu or Imdugud, was a demonic storm-bird from Mesopotamian mythology. Depending on the legend or the carvings, Anzu was depicted as either a massive bird that can breathe fire and water, a half-man-half-bird, or a lion-headed eagle. Understandably, Persona went with the latter since it screams 'weird demonic monster' a lot more readily. What a fancy-looking design this guy is, I love that they gave him blue skin and a red mane, and the rather long gren bird legs makes it distinct enough from it just being another gryphon or sphynx.
Anyway, in his most famous role in the Sumerian myths, Anzu steals the Tablet of Destinies from the Lord of the Wind, Enlil. These Tablets are extremely powerful artifacts that gave the power to contrl fate to whoever possessed them. Panicking at the fact that the evil Anzu has obtained such a powerful item, the supreme god, Anu, tasked everyone to gather the tablets. Depending on the myths, one of the gods succeeded in slaying Anzu (either Ninurta or Marduk, depending on the texts) and getting the Tablets back.
High Pixie
- Monster Name: Prankster Leader
- Arcana: Fool
We are entering the actual enemies in Kaneshiro's Palace now! Some of the monsters we've reviewed before, like Oni, Orthrus and Yaksini, also make an appearance here. And one of the earlier enemies that we meet are the High Pixie, which is the stronger version of the Pixie. They've got metal breastplates and a hairstyle that makes them look like they're cosplaying Super Saiyan Blue Goku.
Not much to say, the Pixie is apparently one of the more iconic monsters in the franchise so giving it an upgraded 'boss' version makes sense. In many legends about the fair folk or any RPG/fantasy setting, fairies tended to follow some sort of complex hierarchy anyway!
Black Ooze
- Monster Name: Pulsing Mud
- Arcana: Moon
Another one that's just a stronger version of an earlier enemy, I'm actually happy that the Black Ooze is just a straight-up 'repaint' of the Slime enemy. It's basically a trademark-friendly version of D&D's Black Pudding, I think? But just like its Slime brethren, the Black Ooze is described as just a mass of bad emotions that failed to become a true demon, becoming a mindless eating and growing monster.
While Madarame's Palace has shown that not all the monsters are thematic, I think the Black Ooze does fit Kaneshiro's personality as 'gluttony' pretty well. I was a bit confused why Kaneshiro wasn't assigned the title of 'greed' because his whole schtick is about squeezing money from people, but a portion of the sin of gluttony is how mindless you are at taking and consuming everything without caring for taste or nutrition... and as we progress through the palace it's very heavily implied that Kaneshiro's oppressing Shibuya with his mafia, gathering all his money and hoarding it for a vague sense of self-satisfaction instead of any actual purpose.
Leanan Sidhe
- Monster Name: Jealous Lover
- Arcana: Lovers
The Leanan Sídhe is a fairy from Irish folklore, who is depicted as a beautiful fairy lover. She is often portrayed as a member of the Aos Sí, the fairy folk, and will live near tombs and cemeteries. She often searches for human lovers, often looking for grief-stricken widowers to give them the comfort of a woman. The lovers of Leanan Sídhe will often have a bright life filled with artistic inspiration... but their lives will be cut short. Later 19th-century legends turned the Leanan Sídhe into having an almost vampiric quality, with the Leanan Sídhe actually being somewhat malicious in draining the life of their mortal loevrs, and driving them into madness and an early death in exchange for inspiration.
And in Persona... she sure is a pretty floating in a dress holding... what is that? Some kind of metal puzzle?
Rakshasa
- Monster Name: Battle Fiend
- Arcana: Strength
Hanging out as another common enemy in this dungeon is the Rakshasa, who are these, uh... maroon-skinned guys with demon horns, twin swords, and a bunch of... pink organic armour or something around their legs, arms and face? I'm actually not sure if those are supposed to be part of the Rakshasa's anatomy or just some kind of fashion. It would be a rather standard design if not for the fact that like the Incubus, the Rakshasa also has an, uh, strap-on. Right on the crotch segment of his loincloth. His is shaped like a drill instead of a dong, but it's a bit surprising to see regardless.
The Rakshasa is a type of unrighteous spirit in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, often born out of wicked humans in previous reincarnations. They are associated with evil acts such as cannibalism, disturbing sacrifices, desecrating graves, possessing humans and the like. They are able to shapeshift, create illusions and cast magic. There are a lot of myths about the Rakshasa, and they are often cast as antagonists in Hindu myths. There are also a bunch of named Rakshasa as well. While the depiction of the Rakshasa in Persona 5 isn't the most accurate look to the 'traditional' appearance of them, the Rakshasas are shapeshifters, so I guess they went with a less culturally-tied aesthetic?
None of this, by the way, explains the drill-dong. I'm not really sure about that.
Queen's Necklace
- Monster Name: N/A
- Arcana: Empress
So each successively powerful 'Treasure Demon' has a different 'treasure' that the ghostly being rises up from! The Queen's Necklace is based on the Diamond Necklace associated with Queen Marie-Antoinette, and the ugly political affair surrounding it led to a lot of accusations being tossed through the many parties involved. I tried to summarize it but it was like three or four paragraphs and I wasn't even half-done with the Wikipedia page... and we're reviewing monsters, not history! Whatever the case, the rumours about this insanely expensive necklace ended up causing the massive disenchantment of the public towards the monarchy, public opinion turning into hatred towards the queen for misusing the kingdom's funds, and eventually led to the French Revolution and the queen's eventual execution.
So why is this in a thieving game? Other than the associations with the crumbling of people in positions of authority, the 'Queen's Necklace' is also the title in one of Arsene Lupin's stories, which, obviously is a major inspiration for Persona 5.
Take-Minakata
- Monster Name: Defeated Avenger
- Arcana: Hanged Man
This guy is the stronger, red-glowing Shadows in this dungeon and is actually rather annoying to fight because the AI is starting to get smarter -- the Take-Minakata enemies will relentlessly abuse the technical damage by specifically targetting whoever gets shocked by his AoE attacks with physical damage.
Take-Minakata fled to Lake Suwa, where he became worshipped by the local Suwa people as Suwa-myojin. Every winter, there is a cracking phenomenon on the icy Lake Suwa that the locals call the 'Passage of God', supposedly to be Take-Minakata leaving his temple and walking across the frozen lake to meet his goddess-wife, Yasakatome. (Science offers a more boring explanation about pressure ridges and whatnot for this phenomenon).
And Take-Minakata is... what a design. I don't know. The minibosses of the dungeon below are impressive and cool and all, but Take-Minakata is just kind of intimidating. Is it the face? I think it's the face. The fact that he's tall really helps, too, and I like that he's only bent down on one knee, like he's just admitted defeat but is ready to pounce into action again. There's the lack of arms and his torso being bound, but that face isn't the face of someone beaten or tormented, no. Just someone that's about to attack and bite your head off. It's that perfect smirk of confidence coupled with the design elements of helplessness like the bindings and the armlessness that really makes this guy stand out to me.
Sui-Ki
- Monster Name: Raging Water Demon
- Arcana: Moon
Okay, so this guy is part of a set, and while he is technically one of the first enemies we fight in Kaneshiro's Palace, I elected to let him hang out with his brothers. The Sui-Ki is one of the four oni that is described in the Taiheiki, a Japanese historical epic. In that epic, during the Heian era, the shogun Fujiwara no Chikata attempted to stage a rebellion against the Imperial rule. Fujiwara no Chikata summoned four powerful oni, each with a power over a different 'element'. However, they were expelled when a Japanese poem about the right of the Imperial dynasty to rule was read.
Three of these demons show up in Kaneshiro's Palace as mini-bosses, and the fourth one won't be available until much later. Sui-Ki is a demon with the power of water, able to create floods with the swing of his arms. What a great design he is, and he really does look quite demonic with that purple skin with wavy accents, the six horns, the ragged long hair and the double-bladed weapon. But the coolest part of Sui-Ki is that face, where... it's not quite a skull. I'm honestly not sure how to describe it, other than the 'lower jaw' is connected to the 'nose' by several strips of flesh that gives the impression of a toothy grin, but it's a fair bit more morbid than that?
Neat-looking enemy, I like him!
Fuu-Ki
- Monster Name: Tornado Devil
- Arcana: Star
...and from the neck down, Fuu-Ki is pretty average as an oni. Light-blue skin, and also a double-bladed weapon. Though Fuu-Ki's blade looks more like a pair of double-bladed kitchen knife instead of Sui-Ki's Thanos sword. Swirling tattoo patterns, a neat enough colour scheme for the clothing... Inoffensive, but unmemorable. But from the neck up, though! That head! That face! Or the lack thereof!
This guy's face just looks like something from Uzumaki or something, with the spiral face being caved in, and Fuu-Ki just doens't have anything in his face but a tunnel of swirling purple stuff. And what a creepy vibe that is! It's one thing to have no face. It's another thing to have a fully formed lower jaw, with fangs and teeth that can't possibly masticate. It really does help to highlight what a demonic creature this is. Good show!
Kin-Ki
- Monster Name: Demonic Warlord
- Arcana: Chariot
And our final four oni guys is Kin-Ki, or 'Gold Oni'. This guy's powers is that his body is so hard and strong that no physical weapon can pierce it. In practice, this gives him resistance to physical attacks and he would even reflect bullets! There's a bit of a sense that the Kin-Ki is the 'boss' among the three 'Ki' onis in Kaneshiro's palace, since you fight Kin-Ki alongside a Sui-Ki and a Fuu-Ki, both of whom you've defeated before.
Pretty neat design, a muscleman made out of gold with an angry statue-esque face. I'm not sure what's going on with his... hair? I'm not sure if that's a giant pillar-like hair like Polnareff from JoJo, if it's meant to represent two large horns, or like a head-crest similar to a Triceratops. Either way it's moot since the whole thing is likely a slab of gold, but it does give Kin-Ki a very regal and distinctive appearance.
Apparently, Kin-Ki in Persona 5 wielded a club, but they took away his club in Royal. The monster designer apparently always intended Kin-Ki to fight bare-handed, but they had to give him a club since they reuse the Oni's animations. In Royal, Kin-Ki gets to beat the shit out of you with his golden bare hands!
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