Persona 3: The Importance of Minako

I explore the writing behind Persona 3 Portable's Minako/Hamuko/FeMC/Ham Child. The female protagonist of Persona 3 was the first protagonist I played as and I have very strong feelings about her. As you may have been able to tell.
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[@LolaLink]

My Patreon Perks changed! Now all my patreons will see videos a day early, and at the $10 mark you can request a mini-written essay about a character of your choice (granted that I have played/read/watched/experienced). Also, have you all played P3P? Vote for FeMC here! pq2.jp/crossovervote/ And check out the sources for this video in the description. I couldn't add external links as cards ):

[@nomadicmaeve1905]

LolaLink i played feMC first playthrough too! she was so much fun, and was probably part of what got me hooked on persona. it was nice to be a female character who had her own unique choices (as opposed to games where gender selection doesn't change anything) and i found her dialogue choices relatable. it makes me sad she's so dismissed and forgotten, thank yiu for making this video :)

[@Crocogator]

I played P3FES first, just last year. Start to finish I was blown away (4 was my first.) Grabbed P3P and am super duper stuck. No money, crappy personas, that's what I get for picking hard. That said, holy crap the writing is way more interesting from the female perspective. I didn't think I could love Junpei more, but this playthrough hammered that home. He's so pure.

[@VelvetMagician]

I just started playing the female route 2 days ago, I do not regret anything. Also the music is so relaxing

[@guthetanuki256]

Wish I could vote but I don't have a Twitter

[@Jimbo139]

I voted for Yusuke

[@TheJadedJames]

As a dude who never played Persona 3 Portable, I really wish Persona 4 and 5 had a female option just because that would be an INTERESTING way to experience the game again. Because of the high school setting especially it would mean characters would have to relate to you in lots of interesting new ways. Being one of the girls in the Investigation Team would result in a new perspective of the group dynamics, and there would be far deeper stakes for a female leader of the Phantom Thieves during the Kamoshida and Shido arcs.

[@goddamnit7230]

It would certainly be interesting though sadly that requires a lot of work and I believe would not be done for simply that reason. I believe it is far more likely to have a sole female protagonist instead in a future game. They would have to rework many things to get this to work and the reason Persona 3 Portable was allowed this was because it had to be rebuilt in the first place. Not only that, but they already had the lead and direction since they were remaking the entire game anyways. Adding a female route likely took far more work than the rest they simply had to bring over. I'm speaking from personal experience and the nightmare of crunch time is existent in the current game industry. I could only imagine the problems that would be added in placing a female character or selectable gender option. Why is that? Good writing. We can certainly generalize and make those protagonists. That is generally what is accepted and taken in games that allow you to have a created character. Many options are generalized from good option, bad option and etc. I don't find this a bad thing and there are games that certainly do this well. Then you have the more focused generalized character such as the Witcher games. You can do good or do bad but it still generally fits with that characters archetype. This is what generally Persona does though in a more limited sense. This character is a character and not an open book. It does this to create focus stories which it is good at doing especially personal ones. Overall, I feel that this series may have a female protagonist at some point the only concern overall while it does have a significant female player base. It still has a larger male player base. I believe this would still generally steer the series in this direction. I agree you are not always going to relate to characters but overall I do not believe it to be a problem if it is a well written character. The reason Persona 3 got this to work was because they handled it incredibly well. They wrote it effectively and I believe did exactly what they needed to accomplish with it. I enjoy it a lot and am replaying Persona 3 FES as well as Persona 3 Portable. I simply do not believe people should say they demand a selectable option. Not saying you are asking for that but that there are reasons(Yes, even if they are not pleasant reasons) for why they sadly do not do so. I believe it can tell interesting stories as like in Persona 5 it could lead to a completely different scenario with Kamoshida. Which I believe it could have written well. This takes a lot of time, effort and money though and in an industry as unhealthy as the video game industry I cannot ask more of them. If things get better for them then I believe we would certainly see these types of things. We are sadly not in that state right now and at the moment, it is cost effective motives which I believe are the reason we are denied this.

[@Stevey2578]

With all the subject matter that the game handles I honestly think it would've been better with a female protagonist, or rather it should've been. If it did it could be one of the best games ever.

[@goddamnit7230]

@@Stevey2578 Absolutely agree. I believe the Kamoshida story would have more impact as well as the police brutality which could have potentially even pushed abuse further than with Akira. Sadly, I believe it would have absolutely gotten attacked by the same people who do not play it. They would call it sexist for a female character to be treated in such a way. And demand women be treated with kids gloves which I believe would potentially destroy any future female characters in the series. Japanese video games and otaku culture has been heavily pressured by internal and external forces to be more "western friendly". I find this worrisome especially since Persona is a game that is about coming to adulthood. And deals with some heavy and disturbing concepts which are often not talked of or simply ignored until it forces its ugly head into society's face. Sadly, I believe someone of higher power is changing the artists hand. Yousuke from Persona 4 was planned to be a gay romance. It went so far into development that they have voice lines of such an event. This means the team likely knew entirely about it and were planning to move forward with art and game direction. Someone of higher power likely prevented it from moving further. Sadly, I believe this is generally what has been happening since Persona 3. I find this unfortunate and the reason I believe we may not get a female protagonist. While women make a large chunk of the Persona userbase which is fantastic! The downside is that they are not the majority. This has made them cater to this part of the fanbase. Not because of the team who works on Persona but because of the money. While I believe any character can be enjoyed by anyone as long as they are written well. The romance options often cater towards the male demographic. Which isn't bad but the focus. While I believe they wouldn't mind making gay relationships. Japan's view of gay relations is much more negative than the west. Though, they would likely try to please Fujoshi fans particularly over gay males. Not that gay men wouldn't enjoy it but would likely target another market. It is strange but I hope they can do more. All I want is for them to write well. I specifically do not want male/female options as I believe it would generalize and not focus the story as it is needed. I want a well written female or male character that is focused with a better cast. As well as no censorship by the leaders influencing the game as well as those that want to censor anything that offends them. I am afraid we may not see those games again as the market focuses more and more in being generalized. Specific stories are becoming rarer and rarer and that harms storytelling.

[@TheJadedJames]

Stevey2578 Yeah, large parts of the story deal particularly with sexual harassment and assault . Characters like Akechi and Ryuji could easily be rewritten as romantic interests in ways that would have deeper stakes for the main plot than any of the girls on the team. I feel like this writes itself so well it is a shame Atlus didn’t try it even when they took an extra three years to add a ton of new content to the game

[@goddamnit7230]

@@TheJadedJames I believe it is due to Japanese business interests solely. Not necessarily Atlas as the team is pretty progressive. I believe Akechi would have made a fantastic romanceable option. Ryuji I am clueless for as personally I do not find him that great as a written character. I believe where Persona 5 fails is in its cast. The social links are not as powerful in comparison to Persona 4. Persona 3 is more comparable but we are talking of games more than a decade apart. Persona 5's party social links are its weakest aspect compared to the other modern games. I believe they needed to do much more depth to the characters. An easy example, would be on Makoto who could have easily been a vigilante kind of character. Seeing her fathers death as the sad failure of the system he engaged in. And taking out her frustrations on people she believed should be locked up indefinitely. While you do help her with father problems her social link is simply odd. Instead of focusing on her feelings of failure as a sister and how she handles her fathers death. We instead get a random friend who we need to save and go on awkward dates with Makoto with. I am just surprised as the writing is generally well done or confidently handled. These ones are strangely I believe the worst in comparison to the other two modern games. Its strength are similar to Persona 3 where the side social links are phenomenally better. Such as Yoshida, Kawakami or Takemi. Akechi and Sai are probably the greatest though I would say they are a mix of group and non group in that respect. I would like gay pairings in Persona 5 or 6. I'm certain if we get a female protagonist that it is absolutely likely in that sense. Simply for the sad reason female homosexuality is much more accepted than male homosexuality. Plus, to cater towards the male demographic again. It is a weird and strange situation overall as I believe numerous things are in effect to cause this decisions. I'm surprised with the success of yaoi in Japan and abroad that they haven't done so. Though, again may be for a variety of reasons. Companies in Japan are very strict and operated incredibly conservative. While Anime, video games, and manga are the outlets of progressive ideas. They are still dominated by conservative companies. Which is why I am concerned for Persona specifically. It deals with the exact opposite I believe these companies like. Western companies have already demanded censorship of persona and sadly it seems Atlus USA is relenting. This causes concern as sadly I believe those that demand censorship do not even play these games. Yet, want to promote a squeaky clean and politically correct alternative. Which is the exact opposite of what Persona wishes to be. It is about the ugly. About the disturbing things that haunt people and their potential futures. I worried if Persona 5 was a female protagonist. We would absolutely see numerous blogs who claim they were progressive hammering and attacking for Persona to even dare place a female protagonist in such a situation. I consider myself progressive and I want stories to be told as the people want to tell them. Silencing them or changing them sadly does nothing but show authoritarian attitudes. Just like the companies who demand the teams to do as they want. One in the same. While a female protagonist would have been amazing. I believe I would have preferred it. I'm not sure if it's no longer safe to do so. Bayonetta is criticized even though it is created by a woman and is a witch who owns her sexuality. Which I believe to be an incredibly progressive message and not only that but promotes motherhood which we rarely see. Yet, still attacked and sadly called sexist. I simply do not want a generalized story. I want a story from a point of view which they have succeeded in doing. Generalized stories are becoming more common and eventually they will be the norm as they soon are. Those are fine but there is still a special kind of story when it is focused.

[@Qinniart]

FeMC 100% had better social links compared to MC. I always thought it was weird that MC didn’t have social links to any of the male members of the team...I mean, they’re a damn team, they work together, you can’t tell me the guys wouldn’t become close friends D:

[@GigglesWithAKnife]

Ahhh omg you're a FeMC fan I love you more now! Im a big fan of your art!! ❤❤❤❤

[@GigglesWithAKnife]

Okay now that I got my gushing out of the way: I really hate how everyone seems to hate that Shinji as an option... I mean whether you choose romantic route or not it's like they forget how awful the original Moon social link was.

[@muffetmissulena6540]

@GigglesWithAKnife, Nozomi will forever be in my mind the worst social link I’ve ever had the misfortune of maxing out.

[@paulswinburne5716]

I have played both of them and i really enjoyed both but i feel like the MC has no social links with teammates because they are more like workmates they are not friends because they only like each other towards the end of the game .

[@ridwanrf6074]

Tbf, persona 3 is the first game from persona series that introduces social link. It has a lot of flaws, for example you can't max any of the girls social link without dating them. They fix a lot of stuff about it in p4. Moreover, they don't fix anything for male mc in p3p, only adding improvement on the girl's side.

[@avathecookie1485]

I like both protagonist

[@LolaLink]

I do too (: I just hold a special spot in my heart for Ham-chan! Thanks for watching ^^

[@BlooperStupid]

I'm confused

[@lucabradley4304]

I like makoto bc he’s good looking (I’m not sorry) but I like FemC bc Akihiko

[@ThiccFurryBoi34]

But which one do you like more

[@ZettoSan]

Fun fact: Atlus ran a character poll in the run up to Q2 and Minako came in first place. I hope Atlus is paying attention when they get around to P6 or a Revisit of P5.

[@amathellamal5792]

Zetto San oh shit! She came in first place? Source?

[@LolaLink]

You've gone hard on some of the comments I didn't have the energy to refute and I appreciate it ❤ thanks for watching and commenting :3

[@amathellamal5792]

LolaLink literally just spent the past minutes freaking out that u replied to me lol. I have a very strong love for ham child and her impacts on the story, that and I really enjoy ur vids and think that they’re very thought out and interesting, so u can imagine how ecstatic I was seeing this pop up in my feed lmao, I thought this vid was really engaging and well made, it even made me see femc in a better light than before which I didn’t think was possible at all given how much I adore her. Amazing job! Mindless Femc hate in general has always annoyed me, but the ones I saw on this vid was especially infuriating, it felt like they either didn’t watch the video or were being incredibly over exaggerative and dismissive. I could see why u didn’t respond to them but I just couldn’t let it stand lol. I’m just really happy with all the surge of high quality femc content, someone even made a mod putting her in persona 5 with all out attack art and everything. So seeing ur vid was just sweet icing on top of the cake. Thanks for the vid and I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for any new vids of yours!

[@momolingah3958]

source wherE??!?

[@Mikura39]

What? The results aren't even posted yet. They said they will announce the results in the upcoming TGS 2018.

[@adamkelly8101]

I like the FeMC protagonist even tho I male. Hear are three reasons. 1. She is one the most unique female protagonist besides the one in the game after innocent sin (forgot the name) 2. I do kinda relate to her because of my happiness. 3. She inspired a lot of female persona fans to get more into the franchise and making people want more female protagonist.

[@adamkelly8101]

Harmoniche Varenya thank you my head did a brain fart and totally forgot her name and the game.

[@lokasocba]

How can you forget Maya? She is a massive easter egg on P3. Oh, only in male protagonist route, nvm...

[@adamkelly8101]

lokasocba I had a brain fart.

[@thebravegallade731]

P1 and 2 protagonist is more of a character than the self inserts of 345.

[@lokasocba]

TheBraveGallade Yes, but what's the point?

[@SamanthaGirlScout]

To add a bit. I think minako helped flesh out the idea of healthy friendships in the game. Like that's such an important concept in general (what with Futaba having her on friends to hang out with, respecting everyone's schedules etc.) But also Junpei's friendship is a wonderful example of having a healthy platonic relationship between opposite genders.... Which feels almost impossible at times due to the socital push for a man and woman to be romantically involved in any interaction that they have. (Which was criticized in his route as well.) Anyways I really enjoyed today's video! Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

[@LolaLink]

Definitely! I could forgive Junpei's stupidity when I realized that, hey, he actually doesn't mean the pervy things he says, especially since you can't pursue that relationship because his heart is commited. It kind of shows that Junpei is trying really hard to be cool or make jokes, instead of being an actual creep. And you learn about his dad. I think all of that is pretty important to his backstory and explains a whole lot. Thanks for watching ^^ I appreciate it

[@cactusalucano4013]

I still should be allowed to fuck Junpei tho...

[@zueism]

I agree! I played as FemC first too and when I jumped to Minato in the second playthrough, I was surprised by the concept of intimacy as being immediately associated with romantic relationships (i.e. the higher level in your social link with a female character would automatically make them interested in you romantically).

[@aoiyoru94]

It's not a "societal push''. If you are really close friends with the opposite gender their will come a time where you'll feel those types of feelings. It'll feel gross as fuck and hopefully you will overcome that urge. But if you were a female and you gave a hint to your male friend you wanted to "bond" with him. He'd do it, but he won't see you in a romantic way thus hurting your friendship. A loooooot of males wouldn't turn down sex with a female.

[@thebravegallade731]

@@aoiyoru94 it's more of a 'genetic push' , it goes both ways, but moreso for men, to breed with the 'ideal mate' and as always, the best wife is also often the (one of your) best friend. Of course the feeling isn't always mutral, and people can be friends, but that doesn't mean that in most cases the bases of romantic attraction isnt THEREA

[@devanis]

I'm a dude and really I found her to be much more compelling than Minato thanks to her maturity, since when I played the game I wasn't a teenage kid anymore I welcomed that in a protagonist, so I was surprised when I saw the hate she got. I got to admit thought seeing her in PQ2 was the biggest fist pump I had in a while.

[@LolaLink]

Same, I played as her when I was 23, so maybe that contributed to me connecting to her as well. It always makes me happy to see other people appreciate her :3 thanks for watching!! Also PQ2 had me so hyped ❤

[@ThatOneLegendEmerald]

@@LolaLink I know right?! I mean, I have never played Persona 3 nor Portable, but I already love Minako! She is such a fun character!

[@nerobiblios4086]

Just to clarify, not to bash you or anything. You love Minako without playing the game? so are all your inferences of her actions based on fan material/fandom made content or let's plays? To me that just seems weird. But no judgement here.

[@devanis]

I did finished the game! What made you think I didn't ?

[@ThatOneLegendEmerald]

@@nerobiblios4086 What I mean is that I love her character design, and I love the many spins that the fandom puts upon the character.

[@stardustnothing6115]

Eyyyy Minako appreciation squad! I’m glad you made this femc is really important to me and I’m glad to see someone who shares my feelings towards her! Great video!!!!

[@LolaLink]

Thanks! :3 I love her so much! And it makes me happy to see other people love her.

[@justaprinny9940]

Im male but I relaté better to her than to a emo

[@arlinrivera1136]

I also am more dragged to FEMC in persona, because she actually grows closer to her friends, and from a different perspective, while the male protagonist is more troubled about it, She hides it from everyone, she is cheerful and energetic, but to me she is always hiding her true feelings and fears for the sake of her friends and team. Btw, yes from Persona 1 we had had 5 male protagonists, but don't forget Maya was the main protagonist from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, and she shared a lot of traits with the FEMC of Persona 3. Maya was confident and cheerful too, always with a phrase of motivation, but people tends to forget her because of the weight that supposed having Tatsuya and Katsuya in her game too.

[@scarletrose8766]

Arlín Rivera actually people keep forgetting that persona 1 and 2 actually exist (cause they arent in the spinoff persona games)

[@arlinrivera1136]

You are right Ren, people forget about them, but not because they aren't in the spinoff, actually is because they were not that popular and, of course, you can't compare the maps, game system and a lot of other things to the improvement that P3 presented. Also, I mention them because of LolaLink, since she told there are 5 male protagonists in Persona, so She was counting those of P1 and P2, but she also forgot Maya (poor Maya). On the other hand, the proof they are in the spinoff is that Mitsuru or her father, I don't remember well, explains in a conversation, that Kirijo Group was once part of Nanjo company, yep Kei Nanjo of the first Persona is the heir of that company, and Theo talks about the club of "rumor", that is a big part of P2 development, but I don't know to which extend the old game is related to the new ones, since yes, they mention Nanjo but, MC plays Shin Migami Tensei online, that is actually one of the old Personas.

[@aikikaname6508]

It’s a real bummer we can’t find eternal punishment where I’m from. And that it’s a sequel so you have to get through p2s gameplay to get to it

[@Saiyef96]

Yeah, I definitely prefer the writing the Female Protagonist’s Social Links than the Male Protagonist. While that’s not to say the Male Protagonist’s Social Links aren’t good, a lot of then just have him be less active, the biggest examples being Kenji’s Social Link (most, if not all, of the Social Link’s dialogue options were either encouraging Kenji to believe his delusions that he was dating his teacher or saying he lying to himself) and Kazushi (most of the dialogue options in his Social Link were telling him to suck it up); however that approach of being less active does work in other Social Links such as Akinari and Mutatsu as they really just need support and someone to listen to their problems while they address them and try to figure out how to deal them. The FeMC has a lot of Social Links which has her be more active, like in her Social Link with Fuuka she starts a Home-Ec club to improve her cooking and with Saori she blocks the door to the School P.A. System so Saori can tell her side of the rumours. That’s not to say the Male MC can’t be proactive (like when he beat up thugs threatening Yukari and intimidated thugs hired to beat up the Gourmet King) but the FeMC’s more proactive decisions and choices in her Social Links really makes her a huge step up from the original Male Protagonist.

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

But she still sucks tho

[@sundowner4076]

I heavily disagree. And arguments about the MC being less active is poor. Akinari is considered the best social link in the original game for a reason, he ties perfectly with the core themes of the game. He’s dying, what could you really do other than just comfort him, over his social you help him grow from someone who was extremely pessimistic about his circumstances, to someone who’s willing to accept his death with open arms, grateful that you comforted him. In times of crisis all some of us really need is someone to listen our problems, and lean on us. Arguing that this makes him the weaker protagonist, when he handles the gravity of death and what it means to live much better, is a poor argument, and disrespectful to the developers original message. Which is another reason why the original ending will always be better than portable.

[@eternalgaming9705]

@@sundowner4076 "The original ending will always be better than the portable one" But.. Don't they both become doors at the end?

[@ashleylee364]

@Sundowner it’s literally the same

[@nisa7431]

Honestly, I like both MCs. For Minako, I like that how she can be close with all of the SEES members (Koromaru was a huge cutie too and have an S.Link with a dog? Bring it on!) and tells the back stories for the male members of why and how they become to be. I like how we can be just casual with the female members, especially Yukari. As a friend, I thought "Hey, she is not as bad as I thought" after playing the FeMC route. It tells us of how comfortable a person is towards different gender (not that there is anything wrong with it). Like Fuuka, she is more comfortable to talk to Minato about her tech hobbies rather than towards Minako. There are people who feel that way and I like how different people could bring out a different amount of security on some matters. For Minato, I really do love his character and how he is towards the matter of 'death'. Like in the movies, he is really apathetic to his own safety or existence but it is a different matter if it is for other people. For his concept, I think it is more to 'doing less could have the potential to help some people and to let them have their space until they are comfortable' but he still looks over them in their times of need. You can also see it in his S.Link with his Magician, where he is there for him until the end of the problem. Both MCs has good characterization, some people may think the other one is above another but hey, let us look out the window for a bit. People have their own strengths and weaknesses, that is it. Same as these two characters, they have their own uniqueness. So none is better than the other. Anyways, love your video on Minako~! It really does captures of who Minako is. She is a happy person but who can tell? A strong person is sometimes being overlooked.

[@razee.8303]

i totally agree :)

[@kinarast]

I relate much much more to the male MC but I don't know if I should try to pick the FeMC or MaMC

[@atniel8023]

Why people have to hate? cant we just accept and enjoy the wonderful writing for both characters?

[@taffmeister584]

Because people hate what they just strongly dislike. I'm not a fan of FeMC and I'd almost say I hate her, but that is how it works, some people don't enjoy what others like

[@amathellamal5792]

RioluTheArtist I’m pretty sure that’s not what this commenter meant, like what you like and dislike what you dislike, just don’t be an ass about it.

[@taffmeister584]

@@amathellamal5792 oh ok, yeah I can see how that works

[@liamevans6440]

But surely the people who hate don't think it's good writing. I mean... shinji surviving a bullet isn't great writing...

[@taffmeister584]

@@liamevans6440 definitely. I think it was just catering to fans of shinji who didn't want him to die

[@n-extrafries-surprise]

#MinakoAppreciationSquad Real talk, I love both protagonists but I hate seeing people bashing on the FemMC.

[@B_A-tr]

I didnt find anything under this #. UFF

[@CABRALFAN27]

Honestly, this is the first I've heard about the FeMC being hated. Most of the talk I've seen about her the past few years have been begging for more content with her, or at worst, saying why they don't think she's that important.

[@lydiaschachair877]

**SPOILER WARNING AHEAD, ESPECIALLY LOVER ROUTES** The way I saw FeMC route being more "happy" was due to a theme I saw in P3P, the butterfly effect. She is the opposite of Makoto/Minato. Blue-Red/Pink for starters. He can be seen as broody and uninterested in much of anything (i.e. following a crab during Operation Babe Hunt in the movies), while in her social links it says (I think it was the older S.E.E.S. boys in general) that she is always happy and excited, fun to be around, etc. He is the number zero, she is the number twenty-two. (Points found in this video, so I won't repeat them) They have completely opposite personalities. Their clothing style are even polar opposites. His is dark and sort of formal (winter) while hers are made of bright colors and is more casual (winter). The thing is though, is that her "death" is just as sad for romantic partners as Makoto's were. Akihiko just finally started truely coming to grips with his sister Miki's death and starting to truly get over it, only to have the one woman he loves (sorry AkihikoxMitsuru fans, I just don't really see them being anything more than coworkers/best friends and possibly the one-off "why not" or under-the-influence fling, or she probably would have been mentioned in Persona:Trinity Soul) die in his arms. He even says "From this moment on, we will always be together." (I may not have the exact words) Ken lost his mother, watches Shinjiro sacrifice himself and take a bullet for him even though he accidently killed his mother, then watches a woman he promised to protect die. These endings are just as heartwrenching as Mitsuru or Yukari (both girls losing their fathers, and now their boyfriends) if not even more so. (I don't remember Fuuka's to be perfectly honest, or if she had one, which is why I didn't compare hers.) Ryoji clearly loves her, and hates that he is the avater of Nyx and that she has to make the decision to kill him. Regarding the whole Shinjiro coma, the watch only saved him FROM THE BULLET TAKAYA FIRED TOWARDS KEN THAT HE TOOK. Nothing is stated at all regarding the inability to contol Castor afterwards, Castor still very well could kill him at any moment and he even says he's still sick. As someone previously mentioned, he easily could have died up there with her. Regarding her canonization, she is canon in an alternate universe (which pretty much has been confirmed via Persona Q 2, which is set in an AU of it's own), just not mainline Persona 3. These are just my thoughts, with evidence as to why I have these thoughts. I apoligize if I forgot something and missed information. It isn't my intention to.

[@lydiaschachair877]

Edits for spelling and adding their contrasting clothing style.

[@mawadda1492]

well said!

[@rukissketchbook9803]

I specially agree with your Akihiko x Hamuko point >:D Very well said!

[@Starwarsdude8221991]

I honestly thought a happy person sacrificing themselves is much more tragic than someone who is already sad something about someone with the a smile at the end

[@MrKiwi24]

As someone who started playing Persona games (finished 5R, 4G and 3maleMC, now playing 3femaleMC) because of quarentine, I didn't know that there was so much hate around the female MC. Her social links were so much interesting and they were better written. As the male MC I've never felt SEES was a part of my life, or even my friends. It felt as though we were a bunch of highschoolers living together and fighting at night. In most recent persona games your teammates aren't just your teammates, they are your friends. But as a female MC, I'm able to get to know Akihiko, Junpei, Yukari and Fuuka as best friends.

[@Lunaria_Vale]

I showed this to my friend who hated her because of everything you just talked about. He was quiet when it finished.

[@RyuChanASMR]

Hear me out : Minako is the first protagonist I played in Persona as well... And I agree with you a million percent. She's lovely- I'm not biased as well. Her route makes everything not so hard like the male route (which is canon) but I love them both. It's just, Minako gave us girl players to experience interacting with male characters that we admire that we can't do on the Male route. She's a saviour tbfh. I love how atlus gave Minako a break specially on PQ2. I LITERALLY SCREAMED WHEN I SAW HER. #MinakoAppreciationSquad here!

[@poxy5122]

basically, you can bang the male characters

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

Kira Diaz you can date Ken that’s so wrong lol

[@cristianmastrocicco4552]

I'm a male, but I love Minako. She is so cheerful and happy, trying to keep her teammates' morale up and think of positive things. But in the end she still accepts her death, and it hurt my heart at the end of the game. She is well written like Minato, and I think they're polar opposites, as someone else said (In my head-canon they are actually twins). It just felt refreshing to play as a female character for once, even if she is not completely canon, but honestly I don't give a shit. If only P3P wasn't half visual novel, she would've been a much deeper character. I don't understand why people hate her

[@pedro2629]

even though I like male mc more (probably due to bias in a way because snarky responses sort of hit home to me) I agree that the female mc route is a nice different perspective(for me because you can talk to Junpei)

[@LolaLink]

I love you can talk to Junpei, it takes him from this kinda pervy dude to a troubled guy trying to relate and make jokes in the only way he can. Thanks for watching :3

[@aigislikes2toast290]

@@LolaLink I still don't think his S. link makes sense within the grand scheme of the game EXAMPLE. When he bitches at you when you've maxed his s.link, like did you're my partner

[@scarletrose8766]

Femc will also show junpei trying to be cool but you also see his frustration like how the femc became the leader and he got called out by mitsuru ..... In short the femc brings all side of things while Yuki does to but in a different way but hence no gay relationship with male to male char you don't get close to male char as much as femc does.... The femc cannot be romantically involve with most female with the only exception of two: Aigis and Elizabeth

[@karinaguardia5159]

I personally like Minako more, but not because Minato it's bad. Minako and Minato are both great protagonists, they both deal with death in different but ultimately similar ways. They are perfect foils for each other and they both make Persona 3 an AMAZING game.

[@kinarast]

Which way? I think we should afraid of death. And I personally don't fear it as much but for people's sake it's worth fearing

[@robrtyxx]

The importance of Minako Everything

[@jm00789]

As a man whose first persona game was Persona 3 Portable, and as someone who when he plays rpgs usually inserts himself into the shoes of the character, this game i didnt. The P3MC i didnt relate to mostly because his coping for his depression was to push people away. Eventually learning to let people in, and in turn finding meaning in life again. That said he wasnt me, he was my baby boy in a crazy world. With the P3FMC i found that i related to her more than the male for a couple reasons, the biggest one i didnt realize until halfway through the game. She has a bubbly personality in general and is a lot more outgoing campared to her her male counterpart. She tries very hard to cheer people on and help them through their struggles, but as i played i noticed the familiar pattern to myself. Ive helped friends whove lost loved ones, stressed because of work or just gone through a bad breakup, and with all these friends one thing remains a common factor. I know so much about them, their struggles, ive checked in on them, and theyve always felt comfortable enough to express their feelings with me. And yet everytime they ask me if im doing ok id say im doing fine even if im not. And when i see the FMC in the game do the same thing, i connected with her. That being said i still dont put myself in her shoes, she is still her own person and not the vessel i use to insert myself in the game. Of course i could be completely off and reading between the lines and seeing things that aren't there. But to me the FMC is a person who hides her sadness by being overly joyful and extra extroverted. Lets put it this way, her backstory is the same as OGMC, so shes passed around from relative to relative after her parents die, thatd mess up any young child. So her personality to me is someone who is cheerful and happy not because she is but because thats what people want. She makes all these friends in order to not feel unwanted. To not feel alone. She tries hard to be the person people want and need her to be with no regard to herself. She is selfless to a fault, putting the needs of others before herself. She is a sad person wearing a happy mask in order to make those around her not worry. Which is why i find her ending more tragic than ogmc. Ogmc dies to protect those hes come to care about and does so with a new found love of life and acceptance of his end. Hes at peace. Meanwhile FMC does the same but not because she found a new love of life. For me she sacrifices herself because she is selfless, all the people she cares about are going to have futures and shes willing to give up her own in order to see that happen. She dies a sad girl happy to find a use for her life, she dies knowing she was needed, she died knowing the unwanted girl her family passed around found a purpose and was willing to accept her fate. She dies at peace Of course i could be wrong and am taking things way out of proportion but meh thats what i see. Minato will always be my baby boy and Minako will always be my baby girl. So when the hell is Elizabeth going to save my precious children!? TLDR: FMC hides sadness by being happy all the time.

[@Iweleth]

Initially Minako was not canon because her story wasn't canon. BUT the Q series is canon, which solidified Theo in Persona canon. And who has been confirmed for Persona Q2? Minako. So it's safe to say that her appearance in PQ2 means she is part of the Persona canon.

[@keriro]

Yeah I thought that too but I didn't know if persona Q was canon so I wasn't sure it was true

[@Iweleth]

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is confirmed canon, and is the game that solidified Theodore as a canon character.

[@jingojango3128]

PQ just has a strange way it's cannon, being that the characters just didnt get to keep their memories when going back to their respective times and universe. But it's great that atlus really hammered it in with P2P as of recent! with all the dlc for P3D i wonder if anyone thought it was foreshadowing for the future

[@Kmkmkms]

Its most likely non cannon

[@derekmartin5340]

I personally just say that there are different canons, when we say "she isnt canon", I think they mean she isnt canon to the universe of the male timeline plus 4 (and maybe 5? I dont think we know?). In the majority of games, the protagonist is usually referred to as a boy. Theodore doesnt really change much because he literally exists outside of reality.

[@Xerxes126]

Personally, I like Emo Jesus more just because I feel closer to him in general. His design, story, and personality really clicked with me the most out of all the persona MCs. However, you made some really great points regardless, and I'm glad Minako resonated with you and made you finish the game as Minato did with me :)

[@LolaLink]

That makes me happy (: as much as I love Minako, I understand if personally you like another character more. It's all preference, and I can see the reasoning of those who like Minato more. If there's valid arguments for both, then there's no reason we both aren't right (:

[@Joueur_3030]

She's my favorite Persona protag (and my favorite fictional character too) because i can relate to her more than the other protag and because she give joy and hope to her friends with her attitude, in every situation

[@XDrumble3]

I think this video was very good at refuting all the backlash towards the FemC. Females and males are different, hence, they are always to act, feel and decide differently when having to deal with a particular problem. Minako and Minato were always opposites, I saw the FemC as literally the way ATLUS marketed it. Another perspective. The way I look at it in a more broken down version is like this. If females can play Persona 3 through the lenses of the "straight-male" and still be able to relate to the protag, it's not far fetched for a male to do the same vice versa. If we complained about "not relating to characters" all the time, we'd be getting into real SJW territories as people of different sexualities and genders or whatever have you will start complaining about their non-inclusivety. The SMT series is very complex, most games in the series having different types of endings (e.g. Law, Chaos, Neutural) these could be interpereted at something which will cause a different timeline or alternate universe. This is why I agree with your multiple universe theory. Finally, it's always best to remind people that Maya Amano was the first female protagonist in the Persona series and is one of the most loved characters in all of the Persona 2 duology.

[@EDILYshiro]

I gasped when I saw this in my recommended, Ham child is a godsend and we should treasure her

[@LolaLink]

Ham child is my favourite child. Thanks for watching! :3

[@susan.b8788]

Tbh I use to dislike Femc for the main reason that Shinjiro didn't die that night if you paired her with him. Which as I result I thought just interrupted Akihiko and Kens character development in a way. However in the end it didn't really interrupt anything. Akihiko still realises that he can't protect everyone with brute strength and learns to let go of his inner inferiority/conflict. And Ken learns to let go of his past pain as well. Regardless of what gender the character is and their story. Also over time I have grown to love Femc. I even ship her with shinjiro too. 😁

[@PhalanxKnight]

Persona is the series that taught me not to be so rigid with canonicity. If a story is good, it shouldn't matter whether or not it fits perfectly into a larger canon. I love her appearance in Q2 (currently playing through it, and she has been a permanent party member since the start), but at no point am I thinking "okay so this must make her canon". I love her appearance in Q2 purely because it is another chance to spend time with a character who means so much to me. The thing I love about the FeMC is the fact she is her own character. She's not just the female version of Minato. The game actually changes the story to fit around her, rather than try to cram her into the pre-existing story. It really does feel like her story, rather than "oh its the exact same story but this time the protagonist is female". Of course, the main story is mostly the same, but smaller things like how the characters react to her is nice. FeMC is always the reason I'll pick the female option in a video game if its available, and I don't think I have seen a video game make its female protagonist feel as distinct to its male protagonist as Persona 3.

[@FungusUSMC]

Daniel Armstrong Atlus was smart about fitting in FeMC into the P3 story. They changed parts of the story but kept the plot the same. Basically, the destination was the same, but the journey was different.

[@ThatOneLegendEmerald]

I love how Persona Q2 straight-up confirms this whole video.

[@sainttan]

Honestly, I don't care if people say she isn't canon, I still love her. That doesn't mean I don't like Minato/Makoto, I just love her close relationship with her team, you can chose if it is platonic or romantic, it's up to the player. Which reminds me of P4 Protagonist Yu, who is my favorite male lead.I feel like the reason Hamuko is shown happy, is to "mask" her true feelings, like putting a brave front. She has much more personality to contrast the male lead, but both have a choice to be an eccentric, passionate, and kind person.Despite Shinji being alive doing the quest, he would still die in the end. It was stated that his health deteriorated and won't survive for long. And about the claim that there was no impact on Aki and Ken to awaken there Persona, yet somehow it still happened, shows it still did affect them greatly to try to make a change.Not being able to relate to her is there own problem. It's just shows they have low comprehension of female leads, and are limited by there own self important bubble. I read manga and light novel, watch anime and cartoon and play video games, cause I love to check out the different perspective of both genders. That doesn't mean I like every protagonist, it depends on the story.

[@novakaiser7949]

I've been putting this one off for some time now, but since I completed the FeMC route, I said mcfuck it and decided to give it a watch. Minako is just a different perspective on the game, the polar opposite of Minato's. Her cheerful and energetic demeanor is good contrasts to Minato, whom is cold and apathetic. Though they present themselves differently, they both are the same deep down. They don't fear their own death, since they came to terms with their own mortality years ago, but fear the deaths of their loved ones. Minato's approach is one of pushing back people by pretending he just doesn't care for them, but he does come to care deeply about his friends, SEES and SLs. Minako puts up the same barrier by pretending everything is all well and good, trying to cheer everyone up, so that they won't discover her fear of losing people. They both find a meaning in life by joining SEES, and both sacrifice themselves to protect the people they love. They're obviously meant to be different people, so I don't think they're just a simple gender swap of each other. Headcanon incoming but, I think they're meant to be twins in P3P. One survives the car crash and becomes the protagonist. The whole multiverse thing you brought up, essentially. That would explain why Ryoji still appears as male in the female route. For Minato, Ryoji represents what he hides of himself far back in his heart, hence why they look so similar (P3 manga makes them look identical with Ryoji's hair down). In Minako's case, Ryoji takes the form of her twin brother, the one who she wishes she could see again, after being away from him for so long. I don't relate to Minako at all, even if I'm a girl. Her personality and behavior is no way near being like me, yet I still enjoyed her route a lot. It was a lot of fun, the SLs were pretty good and I love her design. Does she get too much hate? Yeah, but I think the fanbase makes wayyyy too big of a fuss over her being canon or not. That was never the point of her route. It was simply just to give a different outlook on the game, explore other things, talk to different people, etc etc. I think this video makes some pretty solid points and is well made. Your point of view on this is pretty interesting and it was a pleasure to understand where you came from with it.

[@ithadtobeaname7327]

I didn´t even knew there were people complaining. I played half of P3 ( in like 2014) until i saw that there are additional versions wich extra content...so i thought why not play this extra version from the get go. And i played the start as male already so i decided why not look if being female change anything at all...i mean in some games you can choose gender and it doesn´t matter at any point. I was suprised how much details were changed. And im happy about it. I think its kinda sad P4 and P5 don´t have FeMC but....considering the games are great nonetheless and having both like 100+ hours storys, i can forgive them. EDIT: And kinda made me think when Junpei was like...im the dude...i should be the leader...and he is kinda right about that mostly males are the leaders for a reason i guess...but looking at this situation she is fit to be the leader while junpei clearly isn´t.

[@aaroncallahan119]

Take this as a grain of salt. But I feel like Minako was masking her feelings despite having the same feelings as Minato.

[@LolaLink]

I agree!

[@Lgtb12]

I first discovered the Persona series through P3P and I played with blue jesus for a bit before I decided to go back and choose the FeMC, and today after having played (almost) all the Persona games she is still my favorite protagonist and my favorite character of all of them! Great to see some Minako love being spread around! Subscribed :D

[@LolaLink]

Thanks for subbing :3 I started with feMC then played P5. And as strong of writing and as much as I loved P5, I still found P3P's fem route to be a tad stronger writing wise.

[@Lgtb12]

Definitely. I'm actually replaying P3P right now after so many years, and her dialogue choices are so much fun, all the social links as well, I still dislike how the MC had no social links with the guys in SEES. In my opinion this does much more harm to the story about friendship than a positive, happy-go-lucky character lol

[@cunnyman]

She's an enthusiastic and energetic person. Their group is held together by such a person makes more sense than a gloomy depressed emo boy, a chad or someone like Ren (I seriously have no idea what his personality is... bad P5A and emotionless PQ2 don't help). Minako's PQ2 appearance just explodes with her sheer personality. To think Atlus would make a semi-canon character so dang enjoyable.

[@OwnD1]

Ren feels to me like he’s just a smooth operator who’s overtly stoic. Btw I keep reading that P4’s MC is described as a Chad. Haven’t played it yet, but is he that cool? Lol

[@gur2451]

@@OwnD1 I mean in golden in one of the extra stuff you can do the quiz show you can not get a single point and still win

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

Her personality doesn’t fit with P3

[@luckymagethaumia94]

@@raidoukuzonoha883 care to elaborate why? You can't just say that without providing proof..

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

@@luckymagethaumia94 she’s too happy... the Male MC works because he opens up to people... FEMC doesn’t fit well too cuz she can save shinji which fucks P3s theme hard.. glad this piece of shit ain’t canon

[@theotakufangirl]

I couldn't have said this better myself, finally someone talks good about Minako and it's not hate. Question, why do you think Minako shows up in PQ2 without HER teammates? (besides the whole reason thats to many characters and duplicates) like a legit story reason, cause I got a small theory on that, basically she comes from a timeline where she fails the final boss and everyone dies. So she is going to try and hide that fact all the way through PQ2 and it's going to be painful for her to see them all alive.. and with a different leader. Just my theory tho.

[@scarletrose8766]

The Otaku Fan Girl that could also hint her coming from another universe hence her multiverse theory if PQ2 goes with this direction

[@Gxmwp]

Maybe they'll do a think where the P3 group will have a case of double memories in which they have memories from two different timelines upon meeting her?

[@raphaelkhoury218]

@@Gxmwp or maybe she can influence them and by the ned of the game they are a mix between their development with the male and female protagonist!!!! 😍😍😍😍😉

[@trishahernz7809]

It gave her an arc in pq2. She had an existential crisis and the game pointed out that behind her happy mask, she was quiet and moody like Minato/Makoto. It allowed her to bond with Hikari too.

[@Renjiheart34]

Instant subscribe! Playing as FemC was a dream come true not only because I can also relate to her but Shinjiro is my favorite character and being able to save him is something wonderful ♡

[@TheMetalHeadbangger]

I think it is great that atlus made a female protagonist. I am a dude and i think it is just so cool to see this storie in a difrent perspective. And this not some feminst propaganda, you made great points 🤘and i do not get the hate. This series shows how important it is the look beyond the surface, whit a new proragonist there is tons new insight to be found in p3 characters. So as persona fan i am realy happy for this kind of content. I hope this gets a ps4 release someday it would be so cool. Good vid Lolalink👌

[@TheMetalHeadbangger]

@Kira Kurusu ok maybe i could have Word it better but it is still good content dangit.

[@BunboyGaming]

I found Minako’s story to be more compelling and much better than Minatos. This was huge for me since I’ve played P3 over five times, twice 100%, and twice as FemC. And I found that quite compelling that this game with “female attributes” is more relatable than the original game.

[@LolaLink]

I think that's really cool (: since her story was written as a different perspective for veteran players, it makes sense since it expanded on this.

[@BunboyGaming]

LolaLink Especially since I’m planning on Let’s playing both routes for YT, I’m doing a ton of research, so I replayed both routes for research. And once again Minako’s story held more weight than the original. One huge factor is because the peak of the persona writing is when P4 was released to P4G. This “golden” era was the peak of their writing and it helps that both routes add their own little spins to the game. I find P3P is the “definite” version of 3. I know that’ll get a ton of hate from people but it is quite true.

[@LolaLink]

I feel the same way tbh. A story should always be stronger if talented writers go back and edit their work. Especially after the experience of writing a different game. It basically felt as though the writers had more direction, and I wish they would include P3P content in an HD definitive version because the writing is so strong. At least based on the voting contest for PQ2 right now, Japan seems to be really attached to feMC so hopefully that tells Atlus something

[@sundowner4076]

@@BunboyGaming How so? How did her story hold more weight than Minato’s

[@VelvetMagician]

Yay I’m not the only FeMC fan here. I started my female play through 2 days ago ( and I’m a Guy) But I’m really enjoying playing the game from a different perspective. And yes, she’s Canon to me, to further prove this she’s in Q2

[@VelvetMagician]

And I’m not playing on an emulator I’m playing on my PSP Go

[@Spyno41]

Hell I don't even need to relate to a character, to enjoy them. As long as they're well written, I will like them. Hell i will even like an Eldritch Abomination as well. *cough* Nyarlathotep *cough*. I enjoyed the video and all the gripes that I had of ppl had with Hamuko, you've addressed them very well. Plus it's SMT related. You've earned yourself a sub. Keep it up!

[@serenityskyeVT]

I love FeMC so much. Im glad you hit alot of the points that irk me when I debate about this sort of thing. I relate more to Minato but I find I do have alot in common with Hamuko as well. You hit alot of the points in a way I don’t think could have been hit any better.

[@maramba32]

Both like minako and minato

[@JoaderR]

I love the FeMC. She's awesome. But, I prefer the male one, because of his arc. He goes from not caring about death to caring and seeing the importance of it. But, I also identify myself more with the FeMC, because she's happy. In Persona terms, my happy face is the mask that I use when I'm nervous. So... yeah. I love'em both, but Blue Emohair's arc is better, imo. P.S: Most complaints about FeMC are usually immature so I don't think any FeMC fan should care, unless they make a good argument, of course. Sorry for the text wall Edit: What I'm basically saying is that I couldn't care less by gender as long as the story isn't affected by it

[@JoaderR]

Also, @4:00 I never saw that play. Is it on KZbin?

[@LolaLink]

I mean, that's cool! It comes down to preference, which I think some people forget. Blue hair and red hair aren't trying to tell the same story at the end of the day, so it's hard to compare. But both stories were successful at what they needed to do (:

[@LolaLink]

The musical? Parts of it. But it isnt translated or subbed lol

[@JoaderR]

@@LolaLink Exactly and that's why I love them both. FeMC isn't my favourite MC (sorry, my fave is P5's MC), but I'm also not saying that she isn't great. Only some parts? And not even translated? Awww :c Oh well

[@aigislikes2toast290]

Well, male is about finding his reason through his bonds, female is about keeping hers through her burdens and bonds, two sides of the same coin the Twin Jesus's

[@nerobiblios4086]

As someone whose lost a lot of family members over the years, Minato's perspective on death is very compelling. I don't know about other people, but It takes so much from you emotionally and mentally. Too sad isn't an argument you should EVER use for the loss of life. Different people cope in different ways. Sure FeMC is likable because she's so upbeat even though she's been through the same thing as Minato, but if you wan't a depiction of someone whose lost relatives let alone parents, FeMC isn't the most prevalent in the majority of scenarios.

[@scarletrose8766]

Nero Biblios i do agree you dont have to be an emo to cope with loss death is a natural thing to occur and being emo is not the only way to cope with death...... may work for some may not work for the others.......

[@saeniijimafan69]

I mean, you said it yourself. Different people cope in different ways. Minako (probably) copes by being positive and unyielding, much like being the light in the dark atmosphere (if that makes sense)

[@HopefulBagels]

MY BABY HAMUKO IS FINALLY CANON!

[@MoonStaysServing]

Thank you for this. I only have access to FES, so I was curious about the female protag, and this educated me a lot without being biased or having sexist undertones unlike the other content I've seen on her. I was really offput by Fither's video, since a lot of it came off as harsh or tactless, and it went into a random, highly transphobic outburst that wasn't even related to her that felt very offputting where I just closed the video. I really like Minato and prefer him design and character-wise, but now I have a lot of newfound respect for Minako.

[@GodOfMaddness6]

i first played persona 3 after persona 4 and had a really hard time caring about most of S.E.E.S. the FeMC route is the main reason i love persona 3 so much. it helped me take a closer look at all of the side characters (admittedly the better writing helped ALLOT) and and cared allot more about them by the end of the game. i had an absolute blast trying to roleplay as well. my one complaint is that her tartarus boss theme (danger zone) is not a suitable replacement for masters of tartarus(god dam i love that theme).

[@LolaLink]

I guess since I played FeMC first, Danger Zone has a lot of attachment for me ❤ but yes, the strength of the writing with the relationships seems to have improved greatly by this point and it really made me attached to a lot of the characters. Like Stupei.

[@humzakhan30]

GodOfMaddness6 nah the writing in 4 is shit

[@okanut]

This was a great video! Very well explained and interesting to watch. I really love Minako as a protagonist and was very pleasantly surprised when they brought her back for PQ2!

[@kasumiy2397]

I love this video, I am glad to see people talk good about Minako! Most you see is that oh she changes the story and how they think that its bad, But I think that if you played as the girl first then you might think that way is the best way or its right. I think that if we have something like that then why not just say both ways right or not have any the right way.

[@Faceless_time_traveler]

The reason I like Minako so much ( I'm male btw ) 1-her happy personality in the face of the grim world of Persona 3 is inspiring , it makes me feel that everything will eventually be okay . 2-she is not overly cheerful , she has her moments of feeling depressed , and when that happens , I just like her and care for her more . 3-the option to keep Shinjiro alive is not a plot weakening thing , it's bittersweet . It shows that , while death is imminent , miracles do happen and hope should always stay in people's hearts . I actually think it fits better with the theme of fighting death and nihilism

[@ShinyKyu]

Atlus: *announces Minako in PQ2* Minako: GUESS WHO’S FINALLY CANON, BITCHES

[@mareczek00713]

What you're saying is basically SMT multiverse theory (with which I personally agree) claiming that every part of every game is considered canon in alternate universes. Of course, some multiverses are keeping continuity (f.e. SMT II happens in a world shaped by SMT I Neutral Route, Marie seems to be default P4G waifu due to SMT running motif of tragic love of Izanagi and Izanami being so strong their reincarnations feel attracted and even fall in love regardless of circumstances).

[@LolaLink]

Essentially, yeah. I feel like "non-canonical" in SMT is a whole other beast compared to a lot of different games, lol.

[@nerobiblios4086]

P3P isn't canon because of FES. Which is the definitive version of P3 story (until Atlus makes P3Golden or something). Because it's only in FES that were given the "answer". Sure you can assume that what happens in FES also happens in P3P future, but does it really tho?

[@singoflovesongs]

but that's the thing, she's basically arguing that there's literally no such thing as a non-canonical title because there's a bunch of titles branching off of others like crazy anyways so who cares. so just because the "answer" only happened in FES doesn't mean that the timeline after FeMC's story ended literally right after she died.

[@puffpuffpassmako]

For me, Minako also has the ability to change fate using her kindness. Shinjiro is the perfect example. Makoto never got close with his male members since he was introverted and "didn't really care". Shinjiro did not like him at all, which is hinted at through in game dialogue. Minako however actually makes an effort to get to know Shinjiro unlike Makoto. She breaks through his tough guy facade and gives him back his pocketwatch, which ends up saving him from the fatal bullet. Makoto's story is what "should be". But Minako's story is what "could be". If Makoto took the time to befriend Shinji, would he also survive that timeline as well?

[@MrAxedead]

"Since there's only two of us, don't get too far away from me!" "Tomboys like you are trouble... I Have to keep an Eye on you to make sure you're not doing anything stupid..."

[@AlpalULT]

God I love minako sm and it makes me really happy to see someone defending her!!! you deserve a sub good friend!

[@okanut]

Now playing P3P again on modern consoles, I can definitely say that she is the Persona protagonist I relate to the most. A lot of her dialogue choices feel like things I'd actually say, rather than just picking an option that kinda fits. Showing that people with different genders and personality types in the same story can still be great leaders for their team is fantastic!

[@RubyGalaxyYT]

Thanks for making this, it's nice to find someone who also likes Hamuko for what she is. I love Hamuko for being the force of positivity and pillar for the team in her story, I'm still playing through the game and I really enjoy it more than standard P3. I hope that when the time comes for P3 remastered/remake Hamuko makes it over too. I also really like that you can romance Aigis as Hamuko. I don't understand why you didn't bring it up and am open to being told why, but I think that it could have been added as it is one of the rare instances in persona thats inclusive to lesbians who are looking for a gay romance partner in the games, their are non-binary fans who enjoy persona and do wish for more freedom in who they can romance in the games, and having this one time is a nice thing. That's not to say that the fact that you can romance Aigis as Hamuko is so great that it overencompasses evrything else about their characters, it's more that it's something about these two that are a bigger thing for LGBT Persona fans as it's something that they are potentially looking for as they are ussually starved for LGBT content.

[@LolaLink]

Thanks for watching! To address your question, there are two reasons. One, I wanna talk about this in a video about Aigis to herself. Two, I am on NG+ and my first playthrough I never got to rank up with Aigis. So I want to talk from a place where I play through it. But I do love that she is a love option and I think it's really, really important. My sole reason of bringing up Shinji is basically because people say this to me a lot, so I wanted to address it when counterarguing.

[@RubyGalaxyYT]

Cool! Looking forward to that vid when it comes. Currently I'm on 6/13 on my playthrough, and I stumbled upon an exploit where my team still hasn't become exausted yet, the lowest level character is Yukari at LV 18, where as the rest of my party is at LV 27, so I have almost grinded 10 levels in one tartarus visit, and I'm gaining enough money to keep fighting and gaining more and more money and levels. Having a blast of a time!

[@aigislikes2toast290]

@@LolaLink I think the main thing Aigis teaches us, is that it doesn't matter who the MC is, Aigis loves them for them, there unwavering incorruptible determination to see what needs to be done. It starts off because of death but as Aigis sad herself, It becomes alot more than that. All I can say is that Aigis Ryuji and Chie are CHARIOT as fuck

[@kassies1378]

Wish there was an option for Yukari, the way the writing was written for them 2 had potential (the car incident, the mom calling Yukari for forgives etc)

[@catoust6039]

Thank you so much for this video (^^) P3P was my first introduction into the Persona franchise, and needles to say I absolutely loved it. Hamuko gave me the opportunity to further bond with the all of my male teammates, my favorite S.Link being Junpei's, which is why I'm a little disappointed that you couldn't romance him,but actually this made me appreciate Rio even more. She knows that Kenji will never return her feeling's but she's determine to push through life with a smile on her face. If I hadn't played P3P I probably wouldn't have liked Shinjiro or Yukari as much as I do now, Through the females perspective I was able to get a better look at Yukari and Shinjiro's character and enjoy them much more. (And thank God I'm not forced to be a pimp if I want to Max out everyone's S.Link's like in Fes)

[@LolaLink]

I did like that you could max out without it being romantic. I think I was able to appreciate a lot of the characters more being able to have social links with them, especially Junpei.

[@keriro]

Sameee

[@masteroak9724]

I admit she stood out for me for not being just an alternate skin for the male character with a few lines adjusted to compensate, like every other game in existence. It was nice playing the same with a new perspective that actually differs from the usual nice guy with a harem as per standard of jrpgs.

[@adambatey4707]

I love Minako just as much as I love your videos :)

[@LolaLink]

Thanks for watching :3 and appreciating Ham-chan!

[@1nerdyguy]

I really enjoyed hearing this, I love hearing both sides of an argument before deciding my own views. This has really opened my eyes to looking at themes and characters in anew light that I never thought to try and see them in.

[@RyoHayasa]

I have no idea why this has shown up in my feed. But i'm So glad it did. Thank you for voicing your opinions and ideas in such an articulate way. Like, i love the series, really do, i've convinced a friend of mine to play P3P because of Minako since none of the other games had the option for a female protag. I never knew people..... didn't like her for such petty reasons.... It's a shame none of the other modern personas got this treatment because it would be extensively re-writing alot of the dialogue. Never the less thank you for sharing this i wish you luck with the rest of your content. You've definitely gotten a sub from me. (also who cares who is cannon or not, we should be glad that P Studios is making use of the character still)

[@LolaLink]

Thanks for finding your way here! Although sorry for the feed surprise 😂 The argument she isn't canon is probably the one that bothers me the least. Even if she isn't, that isn't a reason to not like her! I'm very excited she's coming back for PQ2 and I really hope Laura Bailey reprises her role.

[@rubyknights5885]

I like both MC’s of persona 3 Hell I even ship them if it’s physically possible

[@blossommirage4383]

P3P is my favorite game of all time. Thanks so much for this video, you explained what makes Ham so special really well.

[@Kuronosa]

Minako is the starting basis for my own evolving RP character. I just love her, and I'm SUPER GLAD that she's going to be appearing in PQ2.

[@cww2490]

Is she hated? I liked her. And there are mc's and characters I couldn't relate to. Everyone in P4 I felt detached about, where in P3 and P5 I loved everyone.

[@aigislikes2toast290]

I love Minato and Minako

[@LolaLink]

Both! Why not both? Aside from subjective reasons, I don't think it's bad if people relate more to Minato. But let people love the character they love; its existence doesn't make your character exist less. Also I love your Aigis toaster.

[@aigislikes2toast290]

@@LolaLink and Aigis loves them both equally everyone should just be aigis and agree to dislike death and love there fool, I also want to add that I agree with everything, I don't think Minako has embraced being the Messiah, I think it's more like she's kinda embraced parts of death and hides other things behind her gluttonous tendencies.

[@nievesshiratama3964]

I wholeheartedly agree with you here. I too loved her character and social links as this was the very first Persona game I ever played, and it's because this very game I got into learning how to speak English fluently just to be able to understand the story and enjoy it. I owe this game a lot, in fact.

[@cinnamonzor7043]

Screw the haters. Minako is best P3 girl and I absolutely adore her

[@twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

I love both Minako and Minato, they're both so precious. Must protec.

[@raheemaslam7363]

I wish they were twins

[@thismissivemisfit]

I love both the protagonists. They go through the same journey, but I see they come at the end of their True Endings with different results. Minato finally has an appreciation for relationships and how it gives meaning to life, and why that ultimately drives him to sacrifice his life for his loved ones. He is more the infant between the two at the beginning, and I think the anime also did a fantastic job portraying that emotional immaturity. I guess that's why Massiah was shown as his ultimate persona in the end. Minako in the other hand, gets it. She doesn't shut people out completely, and has an openness to her that shows she appreciates life, and even manages to influence people to do the same. And I agree with you on the struggles that she endured in her gameplay has alot on to do with gender expectations and the products of society. These are the struggles I can relate to and made me enjoy her social links the most. It might be a possibility why The Answer doesn't apply to her (or the developers were just lazy to write one for her). From a SMT context, nothing is considered strange in terms of timelines and alternate universes. Thanks to all the easter eggs provided in P3 to P5 and all the Persona spinoffs, I started to explore various theories on it. Even co-wrote a fanfiction for it lol.

[@Winters_it_is]

I'm a guy and a totally had more of a relatance to Minako than I had with Minato. I had previously played P3 and P4. Minako, for me as a individual, allowed me to grow more as a person. Oddly enough even though her experiences were different he choices and what happens I feel like would be what I would say and what would happen. At the end of the game I had more of a relief feeling when *spoilers* passes on. With minato it was more of a last minute acceptance. Minako embraced mortality. At a young age of 5 I questioned death way before other kids. Heck even in HS other teens would run from it. I always had a calm assurance that one day in will die but I do not fear this event. Minako gave me this odd sense of dejavu everytime I began the game. Heck even her melee weapon. I have constantly talked about to friends that in a RPG I would use that. Just something about minako had given me more to grow from than any other RPG game I have played besides Life is Stange.

[@Jay6x]

I think it's just a loud minority in the fanbase that seems to have any problem with the FeMC. I have absolutely no problem with her, and I rather enjoyed my FeMC run in P3P.

[@FungusUSMC]

I never played P3P, but in PQ2 I fell in love with Minako/FeMC. She was wonderfully portrayed with a personality and her own strengths, emotions, and fears.

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

Well play FES THE ACTUAL persona 3 and the majority hate her cuz she fucking sucks and too happy for P3

[@Jay6x]

@@raidoukuzonoha883 I did play FES; just played P3P after. I don't really understand the "too happy" part you're telling me, unless the colour pink, and different bgm tell a different story. She's no different than blue hair boy in terms of personality.

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

Jay6 SHE IS THO ya dumbass

[@raidoukuzonoha883]

Jay6 she’s too happy which doesn’t fit the themes of death and plus she’s in the game that’s not the actual P3

[@GaeaRage0798]

Despite I prefer the Male Protagonist (due to his characterization in the Movies), I also love FeMC because her personality makes a perfect contrast with the male one, and I'm so grateful that she isn't a carbon copy of Makoto/Minato.

[@SirUmnei]

Firstly, the "Timeline" for SMT is explained as simply multiple worlds within the same universe, and not really different realities. The way most timelines explain it is somewhat erroneous; different franchises are part of the same universe, but only have indirect connections with one another. Regardless, this isn't about that, as I don't think this affects at all the main topic of discussion: FemC. To clear it off: I personally think that having a FemC is a good thing. I mean, people who point out that she's a bad character simply because she isn't canon are only giving a sore excuse to say that P3P is useless, bad and just a cash grab. And they're wrong on an objective standpoint (they may still however dislike the game subjectively, but the game isn't bad just because FemC exists). I care not for her personality; it's better for us to have a new character than a carbon copy of Minato/Makoto. The changes they did to the story were OK, but weren't the best choices. I think that if they wanted to change Shinji's fate, they should change other things alongside it, such as Aigis' connection with the MC, Junpei's relationship amongst other good points of interest in the story. The main issue with the FemC is: She's used as a opening point for terrible Fanfiction. She gained bad fame mainly for this aspect. As all know, Fandom for almost anything is mostly cancerous, and their bashing against anything you don't agree with make for a community where you either love something to death or hate it to bits. If were it not for her "Alternate" nature and "Fanfiction-y" background, she'd be just as widely accepted as any other MC. This generates a problem with the main story of the games, as introducing a female character would have to rewrite a LOT of the later games, even more so than they had to rewrite P3. That's not only a lot of work, but it's more prompt to having narration problems. I don't even have to mention Marie from P4G and how she would fare with a FemC, do I? Now, would I like to see more FemC's for other Persona games? Yes, I would. I think that, as long as the FemC makes a discerning impact on the game and isn't just a carbon copy and/or a bad character, and that the story isn't majorly fucked up because of it, I'd love to see other FemC's on Persona, always considering all that I said above. I think that people with a problem with the FemC should just forget about it. I'm not a diehard fan of FemC, nor do I love her to all ends and I think she's the best thing to ever befall the Persona series, hell no. I just think she's simply another effective way to portray a story, and that she's just as much of a character as any other character in the Persona series, and I want more of her in following games.

[@marin0the0magus]

wtf. I know this is a year old-comment, but your main issue with a character is that some amateur 12-18yo writers decided to write fanfiction about her? _Really_? Man, people get really petty with fandoms and things they'll never even read. The background of FeMC is just as fanfictiony as Minato's. I love the implication that you there's no choice but to be male because the MC in P4 represents Izanagi and Marie represents Izanami. I suppose you can't represent Izanagi unless you literally share his gender and sexual orientation. Can't have women loving each other in a game, nope. lol

[@hobojo153alt4]

When people say "she's not cannon" I'd assume they mean In the sense that we know the "main" timeline is the one where Minato/Makoto existed, since they refer to him as "him" in P4 Arena.

[@WolverBean]

Great video. I didn't know people didn't like Minako. I played as her after hearing recommendations about her. I really loved her character and Persona 3.

[@richter9485]

Im glad someone addressed this. Really confused why some dont like her so much. Also she also was my gateway to the SMT/Persona universe as well. Great video ^^

[@ihjtmq]

"..it's almost as if Minako's soulmate was death itself." YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!

[@scarletrose8766]

IHJTMQ technically she kinda gave birth to ryuji which is creepy in some level thou remember thanatos was born out of Orpheus reason why the mc had two different persona at the start eventually The other one had become a being of its own loving his mother in weird way possible

[@Rina-eg7zw]

Amazing video. Kinda makes me want to replay the game (again)

[@catthefanatic5551]

This is the first video of yours I’ve seen, and I love it!

[@LolaLink]

I'm glad you liked it :3 thanks for watching!

[@arcturus64]

Persona Q2 OST - Pull The Trigger. Now she's canon.

[@PeninsulaCity2024]

Generally, I have found that the best protagonsts (or any character for that matter) are usually the ones that invoke a sense of intrigue with their characterization, especially if the game is plot heavy. And if done right, they might not even need a voice to feel real. Protags made to strictly be a self insert or a pawn in the game can also end up having their own captivating personality. Link from the Zelda series, countless RPGs, and even the Doom Slayer are some examples I can think of that demonstrates this. Good, indirect chracterization would be a winner in those instances and it doesn't have to be from NPC dialogue either. Hell, even idle animations have the capcity to say more about the character than any of the NPCs (if the devs go that far with the details that is).

[@mawadda1492]

Thank u for making this video! I also love the femc so much and was surprised that ppl give her so much hate. Now, I wanna buy p3p and replay her route again

[@paulalvinbuquiron5698]

TBF I never really knew about her until Persona Q2, and made me go back to P3 (by watching walkthroughs on both male and female plays)

[@kae1971]

In pq2 I was like, “wow, she legit is like the definition of a self insert protagonist” she felt like we actually inserted our selves into the game. We the player made a point to study and learn about our beloved characters. To understand their struggles and protect them. Always wishing we could possibly do something to change one part of the story and FeMC felt like she’s us. Even if I’m a guy and she’s a girl it felt like, “yeah, that’s what I would’ve liked to do”.

[@weaverssystem]

An interesting video. It seems more as a defense than a discussion, but I understand why. She's also interesting from a meta standpoint, to see them retrace the story with the greater understanding of how to do what they do.

[@LolaLink]

Yeah, this is more a response to those arguments that I've heard frequently. They stuck with me since I joined the Persona community because of her, and honestly it just kind of sucked hearing that negativity as soon as I was excited and wanted to join in the community. But I also wanted to address the points without attacking any one person or video, I just wanted to bring up counterpoints. So hopefully I achieved that. I also agree it's interesting from a meta standpoint

[@IIyana08]

Watching the video and reading the comments gives me a new appreciate going into P3P. It's my first time and I wanted to play as a girl but now I'm far more excited.

[@TheTrueFool5]

Thus persona q2 Came In my honesty as a 14 year old boy I enjoy the Femc

[@lockther9253]

At times I really wonder how a game that theach the player to blow away prejudices and misconceptions can have a fan base so full of prejudices and misconceptions. Really nice video, by the way.

[@masterleng3639]

late on the video but if i had to give a simplified answer to why i love minako much more than minato. Is honestly i kind of related to Minato but i admire and aspire to be like Minako. She has her struggles too but the way she takes it all in her stride and not weigh her down is amazing and the kind of leader i'd want. Also the music, i tell ya, its great, social links were fantastic. She for me, as a guy, is a top tier person

[@RyuX22]

I really appreciate this video being made I love Minako i absolutely adored a lot of the social links. And as a woman i was able to relate a lot to the character, not to say i can't relate to other protagonists in media but it was still nice

[@alantorrico5664]

“I can’t relate to female protagonists” is a strawman people who say that don’t have any really reason to disliked her so they make up something to knock it down, I haven’t played as the female because I only have FES but I can always appreciate a well written character no matter the gender, maybe that’s why my favorite movie is alien? Also great video btw although I disagree about the canon because I think the director even confirmed it but I’m not sure i will edit this post once I check

[@amathellamal5792]

Alan Torrico pq is canon, therefore pq2 most likely will also be canon. Femc is in pq2 so if pq2 is canon so is she

[@peckneck2439]

P3 fanboys don't "hate" her. They do however, feel threatened by her. Why? Because Minato is more relatable to them. A quiet dude who cares about nothing in particular and would rather sit on his ass and wait until sun stops shining hoping that one day happines and success will find them instead of actually going out there and working towards achieving his goals. Minako on the other hand is pretty much a beautiful, smart, supportive and happy girl they wish to be but can't. Basically a character that is completely out of the league of majority of people who are fans of P3. Minako IS a better character than Minato, and this is why she gets hate. Jealousy in it's purest form. And no it's not because m-muh canon or m-muh Shinji or m-muh dark tone of the game. It's literally just fanboys refusing to accept the fact that she is in every single way better written protagonist than Minato which they find more relatable.

[@mattwood9141]

The One this tea bitch I burnt my lip

[@sebotrp]

This. People naturally gravitate towards characters they can relate to and because average Persona 3 fan is a cool, quiet, edgy-ish kinda person then it's only obvious that they would gravitate towards Minato more than Minako. And because Minako IS a better character(By that i mean she's kind of a character you wouldn't mind meeting in real life) than Minato, his fans feel a little jealous of her but try to masquerade their feelings with silly excuses that ultimately don't even matter that much. That being said i would take Minako over Minato any day of the week.

[@amathellamal5792]

The One I don’t agree but I’m curious about what your saying, how is she better written in every single way?

[@naotoinapartyhat390]

You really do bring up good points there. Even though Minato will be my favorite, Minako is a great character, and I loved her story, social links and such. She really doesn't the deserve the hate she gets. All though I did use to hate her, it was mostly her fanbase that threw me off since I did get,, attacked for different opinions. I've decided to ignore that part ater the PQ2 trailer, and hopefully her hate dies down :( This was a really good video, keep it up!

[@LolaLink]

I think it's commendable that you are able to put aside your bad experiences in the past (: and I hope that we as a community can do better in this regard. We steal corrupted hearts (; We all have preferences, and although I do think the overall writing in the p3p fem route is objectively stronger simply because Atlus had retrospection and more experience when it is written, I absolutely understand why someone would like Minato more and I think it's just as valid. Thanks for watching :3

[@symoniarose2820]

Man, I really liked this video! Your points held a lot of merit, and points out a lot of problems in our society. I wish there were more videos like this honestly.