ABItorial: Persona 4, Sympathy for a Killer
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2020
- Play Persona 4.
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#persona4 #persona4golden #spoilers - Ігри
"i started to understand Adachi". Welp, someone worked at retail
Gotta say, working in retail before Covid and during Covid are two different jobs... My god the amount of people who just do not understand that WARES CAN BE SOLD OUT IS FUCKING INSANE.
Lol pretty sure anyone living average adult life with 9-5 job can relate to adachi.
@@IAMNOTRANA Or growing up empty without friends or family
This is so true
@@fridolfgranq After high school that's exactly how I felt. Once I accepted who I was and actually threw myself out in the world, I became aware of how much I actually had. I did have people who liked and did care about me but completely ignored it due to my own self denial and self loathing.
Thats kind of how I see Adachi. He's so unsatisfied with his life situation he completely ignores all the good things he has and isolates himself. His partner and his partners daughter think of him as a family, he had a positive relationship with the MC, and he had the old lady at the supermarket who likes him because he reminds her of his grandchild/son?(I forgot which).
This game has been so influential in my life especially in this day and age.
I think the person in game who can understand Adachi the most is Yosuke. He’s from a city, hated and found Inaba boring, works after school, and is hated by most people in town... but because he has a fear of being alone and in isolation, and because he had to confront his shadow self, he was able to make connections with people. He slowly accepts his flaws and doesn’t delude and isolate himself the same way Adachi did. Instead, by the end of the game and in the canon spinoffs, we see him become a better person, even though he’s still insecure
I know I'm late but I wanna add this as well. He's also the first person you meet and also the first person to accept his shadow.
im also pretty late but there is also the whole thing about yosukes shadow talking about finally having some excitement just like adachi
It's great for yosuke to meet Yu
I always thought to myself that Junpei, Yosuke and Ryuji were the more irrational sides of the player speaking for them
the difference between Yosuke and Adachi is Yosuke is Yosuke wouldn't have gone that far
Im not sure Adachi does have the opportunity to form those bonds and grow through them. You're in high school, the most free time of your life. In japan, worklife is notoriously oppressive. Between workplace drinking culture, overwork culture, and such, people in the kind of 9-5 office job Adachi has simply dont have the kind of free time to have relationships. Its actually a massive societal problem in Japan right now. Adachi is right, he is trapped. The relationships he has are so superficial because he has his job that claims to be 9-5 but you can't really be first out of the office, you'd look like a slacker, so he goes home late and exhausted and underpaid to eat the same discount cabbage soup that's all he can afford in his low-paying desk job at a police station in a town that has no crime so they never get the funding to pay him better and passes out so he can wake up in the morning to do it all over again.
well his job is not really 9 to 5 as Japanese workplace enforces you to work almost 20hr shifts that includes going out with coworkers and your boss to entertain your boss
@@saltystrawberry7778 Thats kind of what I was getting at, though 20 hours is on the extreme side according to some of my japanese friends. He doesnt deepen his relationships because he lacks the time and energy for such.
There's a conversation you can have with Adachi that explains that he spent most of his childhood and school life focused purely on studies and getting good grades instead of socializing and making friends. He mentions that his parents were hyperfocused on making sure he got good grades and only really acknowledged him for his academic merits; hardly a 'tragic' backstory, and one that's still more relatable to most asian households, but it does explain why he has such bad social skills. It also just goes to show that Adachi is actually far more competent and intelligent than he thinks he is; he IS talented, but he never gets any validation for it from his parents nor his peers, so he sees himself as essentially talentless instead of being encouraged to apply himself.
@@SugarPunch But he is applying himself. Look at where he lives: a deteriorating nothing town where everyone who can get out has and all that's left are an aging population and an ever-dwindling youth. There are many towns in Japan exactly like the fictional inaba, and they're some bleak places. He has a job at the police station, probably the best job available in the area. He's kind of stuck. Is he capable of better? Probably. Does he have the opportunity to do better? Not really. Everyone in the scoobies either takes over some family job or just gets out of there, because there aren't really opportunities in Inaba, even moreso now that Junes has moved in to usurp all the local businesses. Adachi, for all he might be capable of, has no way to do that. He's probably barely paying his bills given the whole cabbage soup thing.
Obviously not a drop of this justifies the horrible killing spree. But acting like adachi can just pull himself up by his bootstraps and get out of there, well, it could be as hard as actually pulling yourself up by your physical bootstraps.
@@SugarPunch >Adachi is actually far more competent and intelligent than he thinks he is
Implying Adachi isn't ever narcissistic about his own intelligence.
"I started to understand Adachi"
Was low-key expecting you to say that you started killing people because you got bored too
i mean, we dont *know* he hasn't
@@LowIntSpecimen Well... I-I mean... oh fuck RUN
@@LowIntSpecimen oh no... oh nooooo
in Persona 4 Inaba was like a crazy noisy bizzare town
and Adachi live in society
You know man it's like my name is Yoshikage Kira and shit
@@theblandcharlie822 especially with the theme playing within the video.
This says a lot about our society
TheBlandCharlie
My name is Yoshikage Kira. I’m 33 years old. My favorite color is pink. I don’t like sleeping with the lights off. I HATE AMPUTEES. And I’m a long time serial killer who’s never been caught doing a killing. Duwang.
this reminds me about an anime with a guy who killed for hands
"You wanna know why I did it? Well.... i did it for the vine. I guess that's my reason." -Toro Adachi
Tohru*
It's rare that I see a psycho profile picture
"I did for the lols Yuu, I mean come on! Can't a guy get a laugh now a days? If that's the case then I'll just take some"
Ho don’t do it
its for the lulz
Imagine using psychopathy in its more nuanced context instead of slapping it on every crazy villain.
Who wants to talk about murders?
Don't tell anyone I said this buuuuuut
Yaaaaaay!
Shut up, Adachi!
@@din0696 shut up Adachi!
Oh god here's a funny comparison that popped into my head: Yu is Spongebob and Adachi is Squidward.
Oh.
Oh dear.
Another thing is that he actually did cultivate what he had.
As you can see from the golden anime (It was bad, but it provided good lore bits) Adachi was cultivating his natural intelligence, and as such, sacrificed what time he had to make bonds for education and other things, under the impression that they would help him out later in life. He didn't have a talent, instead he had intelligence comparable to Naoto after honing that thing specifically. If Narukami was someone who honed everything about himself, Adachi is someone who honed only what he saw as most important.
Personally, I view the game as telling both what you're saying as well as a cautionary tale against doing exactly what Adachi did, sacrifice any and all personal relations for studying and other things. Here's an example, I know someone who used to be a good friend, but they studied so extensively that we almost never interacted. In the end, they ignored most everyone who tried to contact him, and now, even though he is a very good A+ student, is widely known within my friend group and a couple others as a massive jackass as well as having little to no human relations. Basically the set-up for Adachi.
Hell, the anime even shows Adachi's points to not just be something he pulled out of his ass during his monologue. He was a great officer, but constantly passed up for someone who had greater talent. He worked his ass off, had all rules on police investigation and all things police related recited and remembered (As shown in ultimax where he straights up recites an article on interrogations) and instead of being rewarded for his hard work, he was passed up for someone younger and with talent. That's also part of the reason why Adachi straight up breaks down during the confrontation, because no matter what the Investigation team says, they aren't able to disprove of what he's saying. Narukami may not have one singular talent, but he has the ability to become a jack of all trades (As shown with his stat chart), Yosuke has a talent for being someone that most of the investigation team can rally with and having decent deductive skills showing that he isn't actually an idiot despite his grades, Chie is a fantastic martial artist with a strong moral compass, Yukiko has great talent for managing and defending the Inn, Kanji has talent in arts and crafts, Naoto in detective work, Rise in natural showmanship and Teddie with being the most knowledgable person about the TV world. They all have talents and abilities most other people lack, and Adachi calls them out for it during his monologue because that's the straight truth to him. They only caught him because of their talents, his game was only prevented because of their talents put together.
As for the whole "Adachi would rather make excuses for his shortcomings and thus not take steps to improve" thing, I agree. The games mechanics outright tells you this if you look hard enough. Any persona can become devastatingly good, though not rivalling the god that is Yoshitsune. You can keep an Izanagi and only use him throughout your entire game, you can only keep a jack frost or nekomata the entire game and they could turn into extremely powerful max stat Personae. The problem lies with the fact that it's an arduous process with little benefit, due to the fact that you don't get any skills for those personae after around level 10. That's why to play the game optimally, you constantly fuse.
Adachi doesn't do this, despite the fact he likely has exactly the same power as Yu judging by the fact his Arcana is also the Fool, just reversed. Adachi stayed with Magatsu-Izanagi for the entire journey, constantly honing his own special skills, that being manipulation. He never made bonds and therefore never gained new power, because he constantly relied on what he already had (See the resemblance to the "Stick with one persona" thing?). Thus, his Magatsu-Izanagi became way more powerful than any Izanagi you could probably create at that time, unless you were in new game plus, but weaker than any uber powerful persona you may be able to fuse, such as Satan. This is something I have to applaud the game for, showing what you are talking about within even its own mechanics.
Another thing about your point on Adachi not attempting to make any bonds, the anime also shows something else. That being he actually did have bonds with both Nanako and Dojima at one point, until Yu ended up taking them away from him on accident. The whole thing could've been avoided, the entire fog murder thing could've been avoided, the attempted mass genocide could've been avoided if Yu had never shown up. He would've found bonds within Dojima and Nanako, and more than likely begin to form newer bonds following suit. He did try, but life took it away from him the moment Yu arrived. That's partially the reason why I dislike Yu so much, because he inadvertently caused Adachi's deeper spiral, which would've been avoided.
Anyways, fantastic video analysing Adachi. Most of the info i presented comes from outside sources like Ultimax or the Anime, but it's still stuff to contribute to the video. Great work.
Imagine disliking Yu for something that wasn't even his fault. The guy just came to live with his family for a year. And no Yu didn't hurt Adachi's chance to make bonds. Judging by how Nanako clammed up and hid when Adachi first came to the house with Uncle Dojima, its safe to say he had never interacted with her as he had to introduce himself as someone who works under Dojima. That already shows that despite living in Inaba for some time already, he had not been acquainted with Nanako. And Yu's arrival didn't do jack shit for his bond with Dojima. Dojima has always been shown to be a hard ass to him with an occasional softer side. Considering how busy the case kept Dojima and how little he and Yu even interacted during the main story (not counting social links that you had to go out of your way to get considering how most of the nights Dojima won't even be available and requiring particular expression stats to advance a lot of his links ), Yu's inclusion to the story did NOT affect Adachi and Dojima's bond. Hell Adachi spent more time Dojima than Yu ever did lol.
So saying Yu is responsible for Adachi not forming bonds is absolutely nonsensical. Stop blaming Yu for Adachi turning out like he did.
Also I like how you said that Yu took Adachi's chance at bonds while conveniently ignoring that Adachi's closest bond was with Yu himself. Yu was the only one who understood Adachi much better than the rest of the characters could. This was why in the true end of Golden Afachi writes Yu a whole letter not only accepting responsibility for his crime, hinting at the true final boss but even wishes him good luck.
I liked your previous points even though some of them felt like reaching but that last statement was blatantly wrong. Dunno why you dislike Yu but saying its his fault Adachi ended up all alone is nothing but your bias. No need to shift blame on Yu for Adachi being a shit person.
To be fair about the fusing bit, I assume Adachi would never be able to do that since he can't enter the velvet room. Fusing requires Igor or a velvet atrendant and Adachi has never even heard of the velvet room. Adachi might've had the same potential to wield multiple personas like Yu, but since he only used the tv world to throw people inside he never considered what he could do outside of wield his persona. All of Yu's extra tricks come from being the player character. He meets Igor, he gets assistance in his first battle, he gets explanations about his growing power and how to shape his arsenal. There's not much Adachi could've done on that end.
@@sammydray5919 ...Huh. Wow, that makes sense.
Admittedly, my memory on the anime was a bit wonky due to not watching it in forever, so some of the information was wrong on my part. Apologies for that. (But uh... They kinda work together. As partners. I'd assume that Adachi has had some moments with Dojima, and while he might not have had any moments with Nanako, one bond, assuming it did exist, could've changed a whole lot. But yeah, I concede the point to you.)
My personal dislike of Yu is more or less because of what he technically is representing, that being a naive kid who has never-ending optimism. And... that just kinda pisses me off sometimes. As a character, I'm fine with him, but what he represents (At least in my eyes)... not so much.
@@princeoflemons212 Wow now I feel like a douche. Sorry if I came too aggressively.
Just curious but what exactly gave you the impression that Yu is a naive kid with never ending optimism?? In the game Yu is a blank slate so whatever characteristics he shows are from the player. Haven't seen the anime in a while but from what I recall he was a nice person but not naive or forever optimistic. In the anime he was a cheeky sarcastic twat and seemed anything but naive. And he had his darker moments too like the boss fight with Mitsuo, him dragging Namatame and almost chugging him into the TV out of sheer anger, hell his final confrontation with his own demons also showed him anything but naive. So where did you get the impression that he is naive and has never ending optimistic (and to be honest no one in the investigation team seems to fit that part). Tho I might be forgetting something so feel free to correct me.
@@sammydray5919
The Accomplice ending, where you choose to join Adachi.
While, yes, the Namatame and Mitsuo fight are obvious exceptions, other than having someone be threatened (Either physically or himself via losing his bonds) he never really loses the snark or wit. Damn you neo featherman, for example.
Personally, the Accomplice ending was what sealed the deal for me. Within the accomplice ending, you end up joining Adachi as stated earlier, but the reasoning was simply "You forged a bond and can't stand to break it", implying that he thought Adachi could somehow change. That, plus his general attitude at Adachi during the two anime fights (Both of which being banter, except Narukami only provided insults and deflections.)
When I refer to him being Naive, I mean him being naive to the fact that not everything can be fixed simply being himself, and the fact he doesn't understand a spec of what Adachi is saying.
...Anyways, you're forgiven :D Other than the coming off strongly thing, I do appreciate you chipping in with your own thoughts
“Adachi isn’t a good villain because he’s *REAL* .”
*terrified screaming*
Adachi is such a realistic villain
@@cj131 not a even slightly
@@cuteflamingo6196 you don't understand his character, his pain, and his overall being. You must silence yourself, brand
@@jamilgonzaga7081 Adachi
Persona 3 and 4 taught me that if another character has the same voice actor as the Main Character, there high chance that a character is a villain.
Emo Jesus and Ryoji, Yu and Adachi...
interesting
Returned to monkey I mean, I don’t know if Ryoji is a villain by his own intentions. It more so happens to be by circumstance that he is pretty much forced into an ultimatum by Ikutsuki (unknowingly), and either delays the Fall through his death, or merges with Nyx against his will. So he really had no choice in the matter to be a hero, or a villain.
Only in English though. In the Japanese one they are two different people!
@@NKG_Grimm literally why i was confused at the original comment xD
“You’re meant to outgrow Izanagi” seems like I am adachi
"So what if I kept my best buddy Izanagi around the whole game."
Does that mean if we keep Izanagi around, he'll eventually learn Heat Riser and all the other endgame skills?
@@Mageman17 if you use skill cards - yes, but not on his own.
I'd feel bad if I stopped using him, he's like a friend to me
God I love Adachi, and not sure if it's controversial or not, but I always appreciated P4A being like "hey man, things might just turn out alright for him too", since like P4 is 100% my happy place escape game lol.
People seem to forget that the point of prison is not only punishment, but rehabilitation. Adachi is a complete scumbag, but seeing him fight alongside the heros was something i didnt expect and I honestly really liked it. It makes us think "maybe he can redeem himself." And thats cool.
...You aren't the first person I've recognized from their adult content I found on UA-cam, and you're certainly not the last at this rate lmao.
"I start to understand Adachi"
Not even a minute later he plays the ost from jojo part 4 Kira's theme
AND I LOVE THAT
The fact that kira even has a similar clothing to adachi,I mean like just a suit with a tie (ofc like kira’s clothing is much more bizzare cuz it’s jojo)
@@kosworker4285 and the fact that kira is a man with decently happy life that wants a peaceful life, while adachi is a man with rough upbringing that wants a fun and thrilling life
Adachi is, to me, a perfect villain because he completely shatters the facade that persona 4 creates. The carefree tone where everyone is friendly, everyone gets along and everyone is full of hope. When I see Adachi, I immediately grimace. Not because he's the bad guy in a game, but because I - in real life - relate to him on an incredibly deep level... and I hate it.
Whenever I see Adachi, the comfort and warmth of Persona 4 vanishes, and all that's left is a bitter guilt and realisation that I am not Yu, I don't live in this ideal world and I can't have what they have. I am an Adachi. It's my own fault of course, I isolate myself from people, but the further down the rabbit hole I go, the more impossible it becomes to return.
I want to defeat Adachi because I want to defeat myself. I want to see the resolution, to see Adachi redeem himself and find out how I can. But the truth is, he won't have that drastic change. While we can get better, it's a slow process that takes effort.
I could also go over how he's a fantastic foil to the protagonist, but you pretty much already did. There are so many angles that you can look at Adachi from, and all of them are done so well.
I may not know you or your situation, but I just want to say that I believe you can climb out of the pit you're in. It's definitely going to be an easy journey, but it is possible. Cliché as what I'm about to say is, but I'll say it anyway, I believe in you. Hope you have a good day.
Adachi has the same voice actor as Yuu. Also like Yuu, he's from the city, and is one of three people to gain a Persona directly from Izanami, so he really had all the potential to become you.
I like to think of Adachi like a school shooter. Rejected and isolated by everyone else who seems happy and just wants to kill the world to pay back the pain.
And don't think I don't see you insert that Kira theme in there.
Also we need to take in consideration Namatame. He has the same powers as Yuu and Adachi, and his heart was in the right place when he was trying to "save" the victims; however, he was also isolated and try to do things his way without help. If had someone to rely on he could actually have saved someone instead of puttin them in danger
I think though the major difference is that Yuu had more time than Adachi to improve and hasn't experienced the real world yet. Adachi is already an adult, so he had less time to himself to improve and has experienced the real world to reach his conclusion. Still doesn't change the fact that he still could have taken the time to improve himself.
@@neonnwave1 You know what Adachi didn't have? A Brosuke.
If he had found a friend the way that Yuu did, he might have not hated the world as much.
@@Vesperitis Not everyone is lucky enough to find a Brosuke.
Hey, there's a vid on that, about how Adachi can be a realistic antagonist, with mention of school shootings and stuff
Forgot the title tho. Maybe it was "inside the mind of adachi" or smth
Had a similar experience when I played P4 for the first time. Took me by surprise to find the "true villain" wasn't some hyper-exaggerated menace all along, and I started "understanding" the appeal of the more understated and subdued villains out there. For every 10-20 "I'm gonna destroy everything!!!" bad guys we get in marvel movies and anime and such, we eventually get 1 or 2 "....I see why this guy is the way they are" bad guy like Kilmonger and Adachi.
While I would love to agree with you, and my experience was similar for the most part, the "true villain" of the game isn't Adachi. It's Inazami, she is a literal goddess, it is a hyper-exaggerated menace... P4 has the power creep problem of most japanese games and shounen animes. When I unlocked the true ending, the game went from a 10/10 to a 7/10 in my head
If Izanami wasn't the one setting the chessboard, Adachi would make sense as a Big Bad. Happen to get a superpower. Uses it to entertain himself. Understandable. Criminally reprehensible and twisted, but understandable!
@@Ramsey276one It would be amazing, but in japan if you don't kill god at the and you're nothing... So many games have this problem. Even freaking Catherine has this problem!
@@diegocm8636 izanami has a very tragic story with her ex lover izanagi so it's a bit more nuanced than your typical hyper-menace
Diego CM Kinda sounds like Hollywood with its explosion fetish and phobia of silence...
"Beaches and Horse"
Tohru Adachi 2008
And shores
It’s important to have hobbies, even if that’s just sitting in front of a computer playing video games. I have a friend who was on the verse of suicide because he had a shitty job and shitty family life. I introduced him to an online game that is based on our childhood franchise, and he was able to overcome his depression with friends he made in the game. His family is still shit, but he gained confidence from his game peers and said I quit to his job, found a better one and his life has been thriving.
Congratulations to both of you.
Okay first off, DAMN that was an effective use of Kira's Theme. Like, well done, that just FELT good to listen to.
As much as Adachi is kind of put on a pedestal as "uwu irredeemable scum mastermind" in later releases, especially in Ultimax outside of his brief talk with Dojima at the end of his route, I really appreciate this more human look at him. Hard as Hell to make a vid like this considering, y'know, analyzing the culprit of a mystery is something that really only appeals when either the culprit is obvious or to those who have already solved it, but damn do you do an excellent job at illustrating the conflict inherent in the character. I love how strongly he parallels not only you, but the entirety of your little friend group - Yosuke's constant insecurity and his desire for something interesting to happen in this crappy backwater town, the position Chie wants mixed with her inner thoughts of using others, Yukiko's contempt for being held somewhere, Kanji's anger and fight-or-flight response to things, how 'done with it' Rise is when she arrives in town, Teddie's inner nihilism and defeatism, and Naoto... oh boy, Adachi HATES that kid like Hell for being everything he's not in the same field (on a surface level). Adachi's such a murky, direct, and ultimately loathesome counterpoint to everyone that just... man, themes work so nicely in Persona 4, don't they?
Really greatly enjoyed this, thank you for making it!
I think Adachi is see as a little more of an anti hero in ultimax you see that he really care about the IT and some of his interaction show us that he doesn’t like the fact that young people throw their life away like this. Even when he says « it’s because the case will be more complicated with more corpse » you can see that in reality he just doesn’t want anyone to die. He also has a ultimate move against Sho when even with his moronic attitude you can see that his defeat to the IT changed him for the better and count on Yu to finish everything. It’s just the fanbase who make Adachi a dickhead without redeeming quality.
@@soraandthegang1066 I think the conflicting thing is that his portrayal later on shows his more human aspects, yet he's committed murder, which is irreversible and to some unforgivable. Yet he still goes through with his "atonement" in the fighting games by going right back to jail. It's evident he is a man of some integrity if he's willing to voluntarily go back and serve his time instead of going back to old habits (even if he is an asshole about it). A lot of his character conflicts with some core human values that people cannot just ignore. Accounting for the events in arena, he's the guy who is doing his time and will never get rid of his criminal record in the eyes of society.
Ironically, this typically brings out a more ugly side from upstanding citizens. Even today you see people still lambast him for the things he did. Adachi even changes for the better and to this day people still cannot forgive him. They even downright slander him with terms like "incel" and such. I'm not even talking about the in-game corrupt police trying to beat the shit out of him in prison, I'm talking real people. He quite literally brings out real human beings' shadows and they don't even notice it. People who don't care about who he is now, but what he was. All they can see is the past him because he's got blood on his hands. Yet you can't really blame them because of the permanent consequences and taboo murder carries.
Adachi will always be a controversial, conflicting character because of the nature of his crime. It will always bring up an important value to question: can you truly forgive a murderer (who has been punished for his crime)?
Adachi is hardly an irredeemable scum mastermind in Ultimax, in fact his motivations and growth throughout the episode are so expertly concealed behind the expectation that he still wants to destroy the world that, when you find out how human his position in the story is, his characterisation strikes you as downright heartfelt.
The scene where Adachi calls Sho a spoiled brat who doesn’t understand anything was such a great callback that really highlights his development. His “redemption” feels completely earned, so you can see why he’d be the one to call out Sho for doing the same thing he did months prior.
Really makes you think about how many balls they dropped with Pancakes in Persona 5: The Overrated edition.
@@JasonGodwin69 I enjoy him for different reasons. I feel that, from a purely antagonist standpoint, he's lacking. But I greatly enjoy how his "redemption arc", so to speak, doubles down hard on his less savory elements to highlight the degradation of his personality. It's one of the times I think Persona 5 capitalizes best on its themes and isn't actively screaming them at you (in spite of his screaming), and one of the things Royal handles best by giving that character an actual conclusion that lasted more than a second. Do I think he's a significantly weaker twist than Adachi? Oh most definitely, but half of that comes from P5 having horrendous narrative framing, and it matters less with P5 being significantly less of a mystery piece.
I like pancakes. They're comfortable and talk shit about me in front of my face. It's fun.
When life gets you down, remember this mantra: don't become Adachi. Ever.
... Honestly, that helps me a lot.
And that ever day's great at your Junes!
@Goliath Online 🤔😐
I had to say this in 2017 when my depression got so bad that I just thought, man... people really suck and aren't worth it. then I thought, I honestly get those dumb anime villain "erase and start over humanity" cause it's like man, there's garbage out there. then I remembered that solves nothing. it's bad depression took a turn towards nihilism and I'm just glad I came out of the other end of it.
Got it, don't shove women into TVs and have them killed by their own shadow demons.
beaches and shores
My first playthrough “throw his ass in that TV”
Second: “wait a minute this game actually has deeper tones going on and I’ve been looking at too much on a surface level? Damn!”
Watching p4 UA-cam videos: “I hate myself”
Ptolemy: Looks like you noticed on time.
Clearly you still have a chance.
I would recommend reading a topic of interest when in doubt or just bored. Even of it's just funny memes even.
"You want to know why I joined the force ?"
"So I can legally carry a gun."
Two of his lines
That line tells you so much about his character, he doesn't give a shit about the ideals the police are supposed to hold, he just wanted to carry a weapon around with no repercussions.
I like your videos. Watched 3 of your persona videos now. Good to see persona content that isn't bad or poorly understands the material
Adachi is probably my favorite persona 4 character. He's so real, it's sweet. He's just a dude who was dealt a bad hand. He's relatable in his struggles, it's unsettling to agree and sympathize with him but it can happen. One of my favorite villains ever
Well now I wasn't expecting to see this.
You never saw it coming
I was waiting for this!
My take on Adachi was similar to yours: Persona's antagonists are always meant to be the antithesis of the protagonist, and to an extent they're also pretty much the same personality whereas the one big difference is their connections to people around them. Persona's main theme is the good ol' japanese cliche of "the power of friendship", but better executed than most. It's not a magical power that gives you the solution to all problems, it's just what keeps you sane and away from a nihilistic view of life where you're one step away of apathy for everyone else. It's a chilling thought really.
Side note: I really liked how the Persona Arena made Adachi understand this, you can see he tries to atone somewhat but he doesn't want to be forgiven. He simply wants a less painful outlook on life. For a fighting game, it had an interesting development that didn't felt like a throwaway or a filler. I haven't bught P5R yet but I hope the Adachi's equivalent there gets a similar treatment.
Well there are kind of 2 Adachi equivalents in P5R. One who was in P5, who's a crazy disaster of a character. The new one is better but the whole thing doesn't last long enough to justify 60 bucks for a mostly-same game. And the new final boss kinda sucks at the end
Sorry to shut you down but Adachi's way better. WAY BETTER. I'm so sorry.
@@cryguy0000 what characters exactly ?
@@theseekerofdankness959 I'm not going to spoil the game for this guy, if you've played the game you should know. If you haven't, look it up
@@cryguy0000 you can always say spoiler, and jump a few lines before saying, but ok
This is one of the reasons I love persona 4. People always talk about how lighthearted P4 is but at its core it shows you the raw ugly truth but doesn’t indulge in it. I can’t be the only one who P4 changed their life for the better, it helped me with social anxiety and made me appreciate my close friends and family.
I love the anime's song Yin-Yang, which is basically Lotus Juice performing a rap battle between Yu and Adachi.
The 2 at their core were blank slate anime self-inserts, but one lived a glass half-empty mindset and grew up to be the worst of adults. Yu was blessed to have so many friends and opportunities, and you can almost pity Adachi who remained lonely and frustrated with life. Society isn't fair, but it's important to be the best of humanity; the hero and leader, and avoid being the worst; the uncaring killer.
This game has loads of symbolism for the "shut-in" people. from mitsuo literally having a shield of videogames to cover his true form (which is just a fetus/baby) to adachi wanting to spice up his life because he wasted his youth. god fucking damnit the lyrics were correct all along, "This aint no game"
I also need a life, help
I've always thought Adachi is a representation of your average, everyday person irl that enjoys trolling and bullying others online because irl is boring and always kicks them in the balls.
We understand Narukami and the gang as it makes sense to accept yourself and move forward to become a better person, and the power of friendship and all that.
We understand Adachi because we grew up.
*Laughs in adulthood dread*
"I did it for the lols"
Also, this video proofs that Kira's theme really goes well in everything.
5:24
WOW
I never really thought about the story and thematic significance of social links until this video. I always thought of them as fun side stories with some gameplay benefits. Now I realize how important it is for the main character's growth and to separate him from Adachi.
Holy shit I’ve never thought about it like that before, he truly did accept himself. Fuck.
After BruTalc's "Inside an Edgelord" video about him, Adachi has been one of my favorite anime villains ever, and i'm always interested to see someone else's take on him. Great video!
Ah yes Tohru Adachi. The most human character in the game
Adachi is a character who I am very fond of. While personally I can't relate to his struggles (yet), he, to me, awakened something within me that I wish to carry with for a very long time. The Drive to grow beyond one's self. This is something Adachi never really had. He was never given or shown a reason to grow beyond his current turmoil. Because of this, he grew to become someone who lost his chance to become happy on his own.
Due to his own apathy, he let himself drown in his loneliness and depression, never taking the steps to develop as person, and instead letting himself become consumed by his own cynicism.
There are times in our lives where most people will go through similar arcs in their life, having to face apathy and fear of development. It's tiring to deal with and boring for most of the time you put into facing it, but that struggle is what makes us better than who we were. Adachi showed me the regrettable, boring, repulsive life I could go through if I refuse to develop myself in all aspects of my life before it's too late.
Because of him, I realized how much easier it is to laugh at life, rather than drag yourself through it. I appreciate him for that.
*Obligatory Adachi Society Joke*
(Did you see the funny?)
My name is Tohru Adachi. I’m 27 years old. My house is in the northeast section of Inaba, where all the apartments are, and I am not married. I work as a rookie detective for the Inaba Police department, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest. I don’t smoke, but I occasionally drink. I’m in bed by 11 PM, and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what. After having a glass of warm milk and doing about twenty minutes of stretches before going to bed, I usually have no problems sleeping until morning. Just like a baby, I wake up without any fatigue or stress in the morning. I was told there were no issues at my last check-up. I’m trying to explain that I’m a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night. That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight I wouldn’t lose to anyone.
4:38 you have Adachi saying "I'll Kill you" & you just have Teddy bopping in the back
GOD I WISH I DID NOT KNOW ADACHI WAS THE KILLER BEFORE STARTING. All of the points you make are so true and he's easily my favorite "not god" antagonist of the series, but it never dawned on me until this video just how much harder it could have hit if I hadn't known. I believe at one point the developers said they crafted Adachi's social link specifically for those who already knew he was the killer, and while it was interesting seeing it play out, I can't help but hate that I missed my chance on this. I thankfully was spared on who we all thought was the real culprit at first, as well as the situation with Nanako, so I had plenty of reason to detest him, but still.
But naw, my need to feel like I HAD to wait for Golden and me having plenty of P4A under my belt before I even got into Persona proper, I had no way of avoiding him all this time. I envy those who just downloaded the Steam version on a whim because it was cheap and heard it was good, I really do.
Though I did manage to avoid P3 spoilers at least, and I'm very grateful for that, because that's easily my favorite story of the series.
Nice Starforce pfp btw, _i see you’re a man of culture as well ~_
Best Persona series villain. That's what this whole video is about. No grand ambitions and whatnot. He might have ended have like Yu, if not for what happened to him and had friends to support him. As what was pointed out in the game by him IMS. Just goes to show that wasted time has very adverse effects. If he talked to some other adult he would get told off saying: you're an adult, man up. Few words but a crit hit. Especially with a troubled mind like his.
Holy hell, this hit closer to home than what I'd expect.
I'm currently at the tail end of my college life, and I, too, get overwhelmed _constantly_ with fear of stagnation, that once I've graduated, I'll be living the rest of my life working just to pay my bills, remaining in a small town and ultimately dying without doing anything remotely consequential to history.
But I'm trying my hardest to change that: I've taken up to try and write stories and both graphics and game design (though admittedly, all of them are self-taught), and I've even tried doing silly things like commentating while playing games, just in case I _somehow_ got into streaming/LPing/VTubing/what have you.
All I'm saying is... Adachi is one of those few villains that I can relate to on a personal level, but I will go through hell if that means not turning out to be like him.
Going off what he said about the contrast of Yu and Adachi, his Social Link Arcana is The Jester, as opposed to The Fool that the hero has in these games. The Fool is always upright: in real life it represents beginnings, and as it grows in the game, it symbolizes not only the bond with his friends, but his growth as a person. But The Jester is essentially The Fool reversed: in real life it means holding back, so it follows that Adachi rejects the very same bonds and experiences that could make him a better person. When Yu truly understands the kind of man Adachi is, the Arcana name changes to The Hunger (or The Lust in Japanese), as if to express that he truly thinks his way is right. And it's only maxed out when Adachi realized how important everyone around him was.
5:26 Why did I bit my fingernails at the first note of this?
What is this i neeed to know. I've heard it but don't remember where.
@@jman6822 Jojo's anime Kira theme
It's disturbing how much I can identify with Adachi now that I am older. I really didn't have this perspective when I first played this on the PS2. I have my ways to prevent myself from falling completely into the same trap as him but it is scary to realize how we all dangle over this pit to some degree. Excellent analysis.
You really moved me man, I worked a shitty job and my life looks like shit, but I can't deny the fact I'm the one to blame for it, and when I see Adachi it truly frightens me, because in his hopelessness and tedium I see myself.
So do your life better like everyone always says. Theres always advice but never any help
Man, that speech in the middle... It hit me like a ton of bricks. The feeling of clocking in and out, day after day after day, thinking to yourself, “is this it?” It’s honestly the most relatable thing I felt in a while... I just hope I can stay far away from Adachi’s path as possible.
Yeah..
I was basically Adachi at some point in my life and it took a lot of effort and meditation to gain the self-awareness and self-respect to admit my shortcomings and want to change.
That's implying I'm not an entirely different or better person, but given time and effort I hope I get there. Which is why I like how in Persona 4 Ultimax Adachi seems to be a little more reasonable but it's not like he's had a complete 180.
I actually got my first full time job right about a month after my first playthrough of P4G, and man let me tell you, I started to see things like Adachi real fast. Working the shitty grocery store hours where you close one night to open the next day, dealing with all the stupid customers that ask nonsensical questions, the 20 minute drive every single day slowly tears away at your sanity.
Adachi needed someone like an adult to have a bond with. Someone who can relate to him on the same level, kind of like Dojima. Even if Dojima doesn't feel the same like Adachi, he was at least the only adult who has a bond with Adachi, so that he can be on the same level as him in a way, and not some kid who doesn't get what Adachi feels.
I really like ying yang song from Persona 4 golden animation that show really the 2 sides of this battle.
Adachi is the best villain ever created in the video game industry. He was so realistic and scary. Persona 4 had the best story and characters and really genius writing
5:25 Using yoshikage kira theme to explain another normal looking killer in small town *based*
Mister'Gremm a Crazy noizy bizarre town
Hearing your personal anecdotes with this analysis was wonderful, I really enjoy your take on things.
Adachi gets crushed by reality whilst Yu makes his new reality from its difficulties. I really respect this narrative on living a lot, it makes the hardships feel worth it. Then again though, Adachi did live to an ideal that fell apart once he got his job and that can be so relatable. When you work so hard that you sacrifice other elements of your life only then to realise the life you desire is still so far beyond your reach...it's an infuriating experience that could drive anyone insane imo.
It doesn't justify his actions but it does explain why he essentially gets backed up into a corner.
Adachi didn't kill anyone, he just threw them in the TV. If they died there, it's their fault.
.....
I love when people go in depth about Adachi because it shows they were just as amazed by how realistic his character is as I was. Like the video mentioned I related more to Adachi as I got older and I think he’s a villain many can sympathize with somehow. It’s to the point where I’ve been led to believe anyone who doesn’t like him as a character is either younger, has lived an extremely gifted life, or just hasn’t payed attention to the story.
This is a wonderful video and I'm glad you made it! There's a bit of a swell of P4 positivity right now that's really nice to see, and Adachi is my favorite character in the game, so this feels like it was made for me.
Adachi is 100% the worst of the worst. But I love watching him work. And his scenes in Ultimax with Sho, who is the "tragic backstory" character to Adachi's everyman, are perfect developments for him. There, he basically sees someone throwing away all that potential, all that talent, just like he did, for their own stupid games. And he rejects it. Because while he fucked up and can't go back, he can keep idiot kids who "hate the world" from ending up like him, a true monster.
Your presentation is just absolutely brilliant!! Especially with the Kira theme.
That part at 7:55, I felt that in my soul man.
So... i'm on the path to become the next Adachi... fml
Now need to find the keys to my door and step out. I need to SOCIALIZE!!!
I swear last year i checked the keys were under my bed...
Bathroom. It's always in the bathroom if it's not under the bed.
I want to personally thank you for making this A.B.I.torial, persona 4 is one of my favorite game and also one of my important video game in my life. Genuinely everything you just said in the video is exactly the things i've been wanted to express to lots of my mutuals about this game. This game is more than just an experience..its a genuine slap on the face of reality.
I love how you connect the game mechanics and narrative and explain them in a pretty video. Awesome as usual.
Another thing about Adachi that I love thematically, that you might bring up, but I love that the truth behind this crazy insane murder case is just that this one guy was bored and wanted to. That's it, no grand takaya esque delusions. Hes not pretentious, hes disturbingly one note in his motives.
9:20 oh damn that's wild! I was just thinking about that the other day, I didnt reach that, but it totally makes sense, that's insane
10:15 OH MAN! I love that. You've grown, adachi hasnt. I got most of the other stuff but I love that line
11:10 oh man I love that... justification? I really like that
My friend just finished it the other day and she loved it
I never thought about Izanagi (and most starting Personas) being something you need to outgrow. It makes sense, though, since Izanagi is the creation deity, just as much a blank slate as the protagonist, but one which should be "painted upon" by the other Personas gained throughout the game.
I just finished P4G just yesterday so this has great timing!
Ok, OF COURSE you had to play the Kira theme from JoJo Part 4. It's a story about a group of stand users trying to find a serial killer in a small town, similar to persona 4. However, the villains are totally the opposite of one another. While Adachi was bored out of his mind to the point of insanity, Kira was perfectly content with living a normal peaceful life. It's just the latter's tendency to murder women for their hands is what made him a murdering villain. I'm just saying that the song fits regardless and I LOVE it!
This is just another reason why I love Persona 4. Thank you for putting Adachi into understandable context.
Adachi did everything wrong but I still love him. He’s an interesting character that I found myself getting attached to in the beginning, but I was rooting for his defeat while just kind of sitting there silently like “Well, that just happened. Damn.”
“The fight its self is practically a joke”
Ameno-Sagiri: I’m about to end this whole Man’s career
The Yoshikage Kira theme was an excellent touch.
But seriously though this video is a perfect explanation of why Adachi is my favorite villain in Persona
I love how you handled the transitions in the video
The Kira theme......you love to see it (or hear it).
Adachi is the prime example of 'Don't let it set in'.
Yes Adachi may be a piece of crap person but he's my favorite character in Persona 4. As such, I love this analysis.
I get how he feels.
Society has this thing where it keeps you down. Individually, people might *want* to help, but few do.
And even if they do, it is often not enough.
I certainly feel the same way he does in areas. I'm certainly "rotting away" , prevented from doing what I want, what I like, what I NEED, by other people, and I'm absolutely powerless to alter this. I've been trying, it's been failing for years and years and years and...
Well, I also think there isn't a future for me. I certainly can't *see* it. So every day is just this empty, hazy mess. I get out of bed straight away, there is no existential "Why even bother?" in there...
Working 9-5 is the best some can hope for, and I can't even achieve that, haha! People stop me, obstruct me - they don't pick me. Because I'm foreign. Because I'm autistic. Whatever excuses they need to feel good about turning away a viable candidate.
I thought I'd go and try streaming, because worse people have been doing good - worse personalities, content...well, nearly 2 years on, I'm still a near-total nobody and it *HURTS* because it was my absolute last chance at anything, I felt like. I still kinda do?
The lesson in the last 2 paragraphs is that *everything* relies on other people. Your path through life is not charted by you, or the decisions you make. Even small things like your birth, family, *where* you were born have more of an influence on your potential than anything you can do.
Honestly, in plainspeak, I'm sort of like an Adachi waiting to happen but with enough self-control to not lash out. I, like any person alive, have the potential to be devious, harmful, etc etc.
The thing is, it's kept in check by this "integrity" thing. Rare and powerful from what I've observed..but nobody seems to give a shit.
So! I'll just continue to rot in complete obscurity, achieving nothing, being nothing, while my long dead dreams get joined by even smaller wants [see the world, friends on it, etc]
And that, honestly, is life.
P.S : P4 PC has Denuvo in it, *do not* buy it . Anti-consumer shit should not be supported.
Our Japanese education system and society make colour less people. Unlike the western education system, our s is more appropriate to be called prison or robot factory. We are all forced to do one thing from very young age ,study , get good grade, go to good high school then good university, and get a Good job. That’s all. There is nothing fun about being alive. That’s why we have one of the highest suicidal rate amongst young and adults. As a individual who has gone through that, I can totally understand why Adachi has become who he is. If i didn’t have good people around me, I could have been like him easily.
Tbh I first played p4g when I was 27, depressed and after 2 burnouts. And when the Adachi confrontations came up I was like "yeah, makes sense" which made me uncomfortable how from all the cast I could relate to the villain the most. Like makes you thinking.
But hey, have you tried to make friends in your thirties living in a foreign country?
Beautiful work as always ABI, I appreciate the personal anecdote. Really helped get the point across, awesome stuff! ^^
This is one of the reasons why i think Persona 4 is the best in the frachise, it has by far the best cast of characters.
They're certainly marketable, though I'd argue the character writing in Persona has been declining with each game after peaking in P2.
P4's cast also suffer from a lack of meaningful development as opposed to P3 because they actually have Slinks.
@@JayAreAitch I really feel like Social Links for the main cast is just a nicer way of saying "Optional character development". I especially felt this way in 5. I missed out on Haru's social link because of her terrible place in the story and due to that I didn't realize she was one of P5's better written characters until after completing it.
@@michaelgrant6899 Except it isn't ever any substantial development, because the events of the slink can't contradict the main plot or vice versa.
Many would kill people if they had a super power that allowed you to get away with it.
PS: The Kira Theme was perfect.
Remember the old Sherlock Holmes quote, "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”
I don't think Persona 4 the game did a good job of showing this. The turn is a bit sudden, and all of a sudden Adachi is just evilly smirking and calling ladies "bitches". It fell a little flat for me. However, the Persona 4 Golden anime, which is pretty flawed otherwise, had an outstanding Adachi episode. Besides a different version of the Yu/Adachi fight that's much more legendary than the original anime, it had several quiet minutes dedicated to Adachi's life. His loneliness and depression came through extremely well from those scenes. Without any corny dialogue, it put you in his mindset. His reaction to his misery is obviously over the event horizon, but it's easy to understand his feelings after that.
Didn't the devs say that the culprit's identity wasn't decided until late into P4's development? That's probably why it felt so sudden, because even they didn't know who it was.
The confidant in p4G tells us everything the anime tells us
It's really a shame that the English Localizations made Adachi call both Mayumi and Saki "bitches" when in the Original Japanese release, he just calls Mayumi a "Worthless woman" and Saki a "brat".
Not that it's better (it's still really mean and mocking) but certainly better than just outright calling them "bitches", imo.
I just realized the surprise of Adachi actually being the killer would be similar to going through Persona 5, wondering who the figure in black is, only for it to turn out to be Mishima. Genius.
*plays Kira Yoshikage's theme in the background*
Me: Perfection.
*Yoshikage Kira's theme starts playing*
Ah, so I'm not the only one who saw the striking connection between these two.
As an extra insult to Adachi before his snap scene its not *just* any teens shredding and demeaning his entire existence. most of them are either privileged in his view at least or have something he wants. Naoto appears very successful in Adachi’s career path while he’s dead-ended, Narukami is the seemingly perfect guy that everyone loves and more importantly he has a way out in that he’s only there for a year, Rise is a literal Idol, Yukiko has the Inn, Yosuke’s dad is a manager at Junes.
I can’t think of anything he would want or envy/hate in Chie and Kanji’s lives other than them being hopeful teens friends with the others and Teddy/Kuma is a shadow
The way the music kicked up when he says “Fuck these kids” kills me every time xD
Are we at rank 10 now?
I didn't know I needed a video like this. Thanks SugarPunch, I always appreciate your work!
What I love about the P4 series of events is that, upon reaching the top of Tartarus in P4au, Adachi acknowledges the bond he's made with Yu and made them stronger, they even summoned Izanagi no Okami or I think we can call it Shin Izanagi, uniting both hope and despair of man.
Holy crap guys, this is one of the best, if not the best content you've produced so far! Kudos!
Makes me wonder what kinda game could be told from someone like Adachi’s perspective. An adult who is fed up with their tedious life, who doesn’t really have any special skills, awakening to a Persona, and starting to form bonds and helping others to grow, while also growing themselves and learning that it’s never to late to change your life and take back your future and happiness. I love the series, but occasionally the high school angle gets a little contrived, especially when it feels like the kids are placing way too much significance on things that as an adult you realize don’t really matter that much. I would just enjoy a new game where the characters are a bit older, and have to face different problems
I love this game so much and I love a video that reminds me of why. It's so beautiful how the social system ties so well to your personal journey and experience in the game.
Fricken great video
Thanks for the effort you put in!
I feel what helped Adachi a bit is that the Investigation Team didn’t really bring up good points.
It's crazy how much your channel has grown and change when we first met. It's only fitting I come back when you do P4 stuff and I agree this game was life changing.
What's especially funny is that we have entire groups of Adachis running around today, and not only are they being accepted but even encouraged by the media and its frantic, fearful acceptance because they fear what will happen to them if they don't...