Takuto Maruki: A Hero At Heart
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- [SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5 ROYAL]
Out of all the characters in Persona 5 Royal Maruki is easily a fan favorite. He is a masterclass on how to write a good sympathetic villain, and poses a host of moral questions for the phantom thieves. Everything about him makes his arc in Persona 5 Royal an exciting conclusion to a great story!
Music Used:
Persona 5 OST Disquiet
Persona 5 Royal OST Another Ideology
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment OST Map II
Persona 5 OST What's Going On
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#Persona #P5R #Maruki - Ігри
Maruki is the reason why P5R has the singular bad ending in all of the Persona series that people might legitimately choose and even prefer despite KNOWING that it’s the bad end.
Imagine not helping /ourguy/ Adachi get away with everything
@@diegobrando492 Absolutely, Adachi only had a bit of a Gamer moment, and deserved nothing but to remain free.
@@ThyFloorestFloor
Based Adachi, he did nothing wrong
Yeah I didn’t do anything
P3's "bad" ending is only bad when you have the knowledge of how the good ending plays out. Dying in blissful ignorance isn't the worst when your only other option is to seemingly die fighting and suffering a painful death
He's not a Hero. He wears slippers to work.
A legend
I dare say that Maruki might be an Anti-Villain.
He tries to take away Freewill from all those who would not blindly accept his ideal world, but he sees this as a service for the sake of everyone.
In fact, Maruki probably used his power more selflessly than I might have if I were given the same power.
Maruki is definitely a fascinating character.
Guys, whatever you do don't accept his reality. Human Morgana will haunt you forever.
*Other villains tell Phantom Thieves their plans for a "perfect world"*
Joker: No, you're wrong!
*Maruki tells Phantom Thieves his plans for a "perfect world"*
Joker: I'm sorry, but you're wrong.
I was so sad when having to fight Maruki and losing the one chance to bring Akechi back, seeing the ending where you accept his deal made it even worse.
Same, except for bringing Akechi back
@@drasconboy6349 yea same. I knew Akechi would pull an Adachi move like the last game so when Maruki offered I just went "yep no give my original reality back"
I was so upset about having to lose akechi that I went for keeping the fake reality, despite knowing it was a bad ending. But akechi's disappointment and anger at my decision, plus seeing sumire's name as "kasumi" and morgana as a human, were almost more painful than not having akechi and their real selves at all. it's an ending that feels so much full of loss, because you lose the reality you've been in for so long, rather than losing a fake one you've been in for like a month, where no one worked to get to where they were.
another case of the classic "good motive, bad method"
Whether or not a given person views Maruki’s actions as just depends a lot on their philosophy, and their own experiences in life. Maruki’s philosophy is called “Hedonistic Utilitarianism”. Which more or less means he believes the pursuit of happiness, and the avoidance of pain are the base factors driving human behavior. And that morality should be predicated on bringing the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. Under this lens, Maruki’s goal is the most moral thing possible, as he seeks to end all pain, and secure happiness for everyone in the world.
I’m not sure what philosophy would describe the Phantom Thieves, but clearly they place a lot of importance on the autonomy of the individual. But that thought alone is what generates conflict with them, and Maruki. Choice, by definition, means having more than one option. And that means there’s always the possibility that a given choice will endanger, if not deplete your happiness. Even the smartest people in the world make mistakes. Albert Einstein helped create the first ever nuclear weapons, because he thought it’d be so deadly that no one would dare use it... He was wrong.
But an even more pronounced factor at play is how a given person perceives suffering. Maruki is a man who believes no matter what you do, there will always be the ever-present threat of some freak occurrence ruining everything, invalidating all your hard work. The Phantom Thieves meanwhile, believe that suffering makes people stronger. That no matter how badly you’ve been kicked to the curb, you can still get back up again. Each one of them has undergone some kind of personal crisis. Joker with his false imprisonment, Ann with Shiho’s suicide attempt, Futaba with the death of her mother, etc. And yet, despite all that, they were still able to drag themselves out of that inner darkness.
All this and more are what defines the player’s view on who’s “right” in this conflict. The differing philosophies of Maruki and the Phantom Thieves lead them to much different conclusions on how the world should be, and that’s why they are drawn into conflict.
You get an A+
The interesting thing is, Maruki admits that overcoming one's problems is how a person grows, he just doesn't want to do it.
You say that maruki's philosophy defines avoiding strife as the reason for human growth, which I agree with. That makes it all the more interesting that he also takes away any possibility of that strife in his reality, meaning there is no potential for human growth. His own experiences and his pain were what led him to be able to change the world as he did, but instead of realizing that that pain is necessary for human growth and development, he just wants to stop it all.
It's simple, happiness = good, suffering = bad. People are just coping because reality is cruel throwing hollow notions like "growth". The fact that free will is an unending debate means there goes the entire "philosophy". If people just willing to zoom out, emphatize and think objectively, they'll actually realize
I can relate so much to Maruki, when you lose the one that you hold dearest, the pain you feel is so horrible, you wouldn't wish it not even to your worst enemy. So I completely understand why wanted to erase that pain from the world at any cost, even if it meant not erasing his own.
She did want to see him again though. He could have reignited a relationship with her but chose to walk away. I'm still trying to understand why.
I love how maruki actually makes you question his and your morality, he is my favorite messiah complex character. He truly is an amazingly made villain I never truly hated him and i love how the game doesn't ever truly let you despise him. It's truly genius in it's character design.
Maruki was more a antagonist than a villain.
@@crowofjudgement4718 that's fair, though what he did to sumire is villainish
I totally agree, I love Maruki and i relate to his desire to help everyone. p5r posed some questions I've never really thought about much
@@jacobh2147 more like it was a temporary solution, what would have happened if sumire had to live like that without having a support system? I think she would have taken her own life or go mad if she had stayed herself I think what maruki did was a temporary nesesity until she had the support to face what had happened
I feel like "twist villains" (villains that come out of nowhere and weren't previously revealed as such, especially those with little/no foreshadowing) get a lot of hate because of Disney's overuse and improper use of the idea. I think that twist villains are pretty annoying when done poorly, but Maruki is a masterclass on how to make a good one. Not only is he sympathetic, with a lot of good points, but he's also very likable, and establishes a close connection with the player before "turning." The best thing about his becoming a villain is probably the fact that he doesn't change as a person for no reason. He's clearly the same person he always was, but finally has the abilities and motivations to enact his will. A cool way I think they used the specific context of videogames as a medium to reinforce the connection between Maruki and the player and him and the Metaverse was though his confidant abilities. I can't count the amount of times I would quietly thank Maruki during a boss fight as Detox kicked in or the SP recovery saved me. I think if more developers used the techniques uniquely available in gaming to add to their storytelling, it would help propel games as a special artistic medium. Sorry for the long comment, and sorry for so many long comments, I just really like this game (I also have this game), this channel, and pointlessly rambling about unimportant things.
Edit: I almost forgot to add this: congrats on 1k! You deserve it, and I'm sure more is to come. You're one of my new favorite channels.
Tbh i never saw maruki as a villain and kinda supported his cause to an extent
We can say you never saw it coming haha
same here
I know for a fact that if I was in jokers position I would of accepted Marukis reality
So you picked the bad ending?
@@allanxgr The good ending, but not the real one...
You know shit got bad when 3waifu switches his pfp to the gentle madman himself, also amazing video about one of the best characters in all of persona.
Figured I'd switch things up on my channel to match my content going forward lol!
And he bribes you with snacks.
You should do an analysis "Throw Your Mask Away" and "I Believe" from P5R Royal. Both Songs are pole opposite from each other, especially with The Phantom Thieves and Maruki. In my opinion, "Throw The Mask Away" represents Maruki's desire to make a world without pain and suffering, while trying to convinced The Phantom Thieves to throw their mask away for Maruki's reality. "I believe" represent Our Heros are stronger then ever. And want to walk their own path, then not being giving one by Maruki.
This is a really cool idea! While I can't say music is exactly my strong suit when it comes to analysis I would love to try it out!
I remember I was infodumping to some friends on discord and analysing throw your mask away. Apperantly I analysed it so hard it went over the discord word limit lol
When i played through royal i was genuinely disappointed with most of the changes and how short the new confidants were, but once the third semester started I came to appreciate the new version so much more to the point where I see the original games plot as significantly inferior to the story during Maruki's palace
Not sure if others said it but Futaba, more than anyone else, is proof that it's possible to overcome truama and important even if you need help. In way what happened with her and what maruki want aren't so different. The major difference and what prevents the thieves from being hypocrites is that Futaba had to learn to move past her trauma with the help of her friends who have just as much trauma. I think this would be the ultimate argument in favor of the thieves.
However an obvious counter-argument to that is that they used supernatural abilities to push her out of that and without it it’s heavily implied she would’ve died
@@josegordo488
Then I suppose you missed the whole point. She had people help her move past it but she still had to move past it. The super natrual abilites are dramatized version of what people can do in real life. This is like saying "Spider-Man isn't relatable because he has spider powers." Like dude.... come on... no need to be that legalistic. The overall point I made was that it's POSSIBLE to move past your trauma. Maybe we might need outside help. Nothing wrong with that but it's still us who have to face it internally but perhaps not alone. So no, my argument does not fall apart sir.
I agree with your points but it still is a morally ambiguous situation to me. Like what about people who are confined to a hospital bed until the day they die or people who suffer poverty and can never find a good job to help feed their families if they have any?
It's one of the things that I absolutely love about this game. There is no absolute right or wrong, good or evil. It's two sides fighting for what they believe is right and both sides have merits as well as negative parts to them. P5R really is a game that makes one think on what they would choose to believe in and I can't really blame anyone for choosing one side or the other. It's why this game is still one of my favorite games of all time. (And I already gave that title to the original P5 when i played it back in 2017).
@@jamesvalkyrie7469
An intresting point to consider. But I'd posit that many wouldn't want to be given that type of help while some maybe would. The problem is that it's one dude imposing that on everyone. And on top of that it's not even real. It's fake. All the happiness is fake. Futaba's mom is dead. It's just like the guardian's of the galaxy game. Yea Peter gets to experience the happiness of a would be situation had his mother been alive. But she's not. As maybe cruel as some would take it I think even those sad experiences are necessary. But again I wouldn't blame people for wanting a way out of the pain. It's definitely tougher but I agree with the idea that I'd rather own up to the pain than live in world where it's fake being fed happy thoughts by some outside being.
The ironic and beautiful thing about Maruki for me was that he tried to wipe away everybody’s problems, but ended up creating the biggest problem. That problem being that there is no reason to live anymore.
Like why should we live if we’re not gonna have anything to do or to solve?
Maruki would probably counter by saying the opposite: What’s the meaning to life if it’s full of problems? Wouldn’t life be more meaningful if we don’t have problems at all?
But that’s the thing. Life is made up of both bad and good. We should strive for the good moments, and accept challenges along the way.
That’s what P5R taught me. There’s meaning in suffering. There’s a reason to why we fight and struggle, and that reason can be found in the harsh but sometimes beautiful reality.
I just wish someone in the party would have pointed out to Maruki: "this wasn't about Rumi; you chose to erase her memory and push her out of your life because YOU couldn't cope with her trauma." I would have liked to see what the reaction to that would have been, and it might have done a lot for my view on the new segments of Royal.
As it stands, although I enjoyed Royal very much, I prefer the original game's ending.
Interesting, I'd define him as the quote from Erich Fromm, "The ordinary man with extraordinary power is the chief danger for mankind - not the fiend or the sadist".
I love these different philosophies clashing in this game. P5r is just so damn good and has sat the bar extremely high for there next installment. keep up the good work!
Ah yes, now we’ve reached the best character in P5R and the antagonist so great and sympathetic that he almost doesn’t even feel like one. Kinda like N from Pokémon Black/White, but if you actually got to oppose his ideals instead of the game being like ‘sike ya’ll, we were evil all along and wanna rule the world’ in the end.
And it’s the game’s 10th b-day in NA too, wowee-
Anyways, one thing I feel lack P5 lacked was a clear moral dilemma since the game overall boils down to “Phantom Thieves good, adults bad.” There was Akechi, but given what’s eventually revealed about him, in the end it was nothing but a red herring. So the addition of Maruki and the third semester to challenge their actions and ideals is an overall solid and welcome addition, and is one of many reasons why I think the third semester has some of the best writing out of any recent Persona game.
Hero at heart villain at execution
I like to think that, in Maruki's position, I would make different decisions, but trying to wrap my head around what a life-changing moment that event in the hospital would be seems impossible, and leads me to have a greater respect for his character.
Sorta supported him. Until I saw how he was mentally manipulating joker in the end game toaccept his reality. He's forcing joker to stop thinking for himself because hes telling him "akechi will dieeee""your friends are happy in my worlddddd". That's probably why akechi was so mad aswell. He hated having his life used against joker. Its fucking cruel.
Reason why he’s a hero at heart
He’s got snacks.
imo Maruki was definitely the best part of P5R, such a great character! I actually had a debate with another content creator, Fither, about Maruki's reality and we discussed a lot of points brought up here. This was an awesome video, well done!
His and Futaba's palace are my two favorite and it's beacuse they felt different all the targets were objectively bad people besides these 2
hell I would say (even though I don't agree) there is an argument that what maruki is doing is right
I really love maruki and the decision of choosing marukis wish or accept reality. It's not an easy choice and some people would pick marukis side and he's not a clear cut villain but after not choosing it I see why it's also really bad to choose his side.
this channel is far too underrated. I enjoyed hearing your analysis on maruki and while I already thought this much contextualy, it gave me a deeper understanding of the symbolism within the palace, a memo i had missed the first time around. look forward to seeing where this channel goes :D
Honestly didn't notice the details in his palace based on his character until you pointed it out. It's like palaces are characters of their own.
I'm just here to say I accepted his reality as soon as possible. But then I reloaded to play it the other way. But.. I chose the dream world without blinking an eye. Living in a world that's too easy is only bad if it will end. To deny it denies happiness to so many people. But I'm also that person who chooses the blue pill.
Well... It's hard coming back to this video.
I would love if you made a video addressing futaba all the characters in this game are so deepSo it’s amazing how much you’re able to cover in that single video
When maruki offered the choice of accepting his reality i was genuinely torn that even reflected my own trauma of accepting true happiness over free will. Maruki is genuinely the best character i ever encountered
I wholly agree with pretty much everything here. For me what stood out about Maruki is that it seems to me that he is basically doing all of this as a massive coping mechanism. It all started with what happened to Rumi, and the way that that got fixed at the cost of his own relationship with her. After that, focusing on other people's happiness became the way he coped with his own loss and pain. Though really, he's unable to deal with it ultimately, as he seems to hold the view that pain is impossible to overcome and will always come back, as evidenced in his response to Sumire choosing to be her own person again - he doesn't believe she can truly be okay while she still feels the loss of her sister. Anyway, all this is the long way around of saying that during the final segments of the game, after the final boss was defeated, I was a total wreck and spent a lot of the time crying and saying "Please, let us save you Maruki!" 😭
Would you consider doing one of these on "Kasumi"? I think that she has a really interesting, if short, arc. This video really knocked it out of the park, so I'm very excited to see ones like it in the future!
It's not off the table but that video will probably take a bit of time to put together. There are some characters I feel really strongly about and already have explored just in my personal playthroughs and there are other characters that I'm not sure how I feel about. Kasumi is definitely one of those characters for me. I really enjoyed her inclusion in P5R and I want to delve deeper into her but she never really hooked me so deeply like Maruki and Akechi did. Suffice it to say I would need to do a bit more research on her to really put together a good video, but I absolutely want to so it will happen at some point!
Next video, rank the best palaces!!!!! Maruki’s included
Absolutely great video!!
Tbh, I'd have loved if there was a NG+ bonus for letting you get the true ending to the game that allows you to use Maruki as a Party Member, Azathoth as his Persona and all.
I still have this game
The legend continues
Enjoying the content! Just found your channel and I really appreciate these deep-dives into the characters. Keep it up!!
I'll be honest... while I do believe that Maruki believes he's doing right by everyone, personal happiness is not something that can or should be defined by a single human being, especially when that person has their own personal hangups that they refuse to get over until the very end.
A reality where no one suffers and everyone is happy is something that simply isn't possible, and having the powers to warp said reality doesn't change that fact.
Bro I found you a bit ago and your videos are great to watch keep up the good work.
Thank you for the content
You are underrated
The hero of another story... tripped into the Bad End...
Wait, someone else fixed that!
XD
Great video! Keep it up!
Maruki my beloved
4:47 considering "on liberty" by mill it's kinda poetic what you said dude. individuals should be rational enough to choose for themselves and he as a counsellor should know that he should guide them to happiness but not force em
I understand some people may not like maruki or Sumire. But I still feel for them personally. If anything theirs just realistic people. And I don’t understand why would someone not at least empathize or sympathize with them. A friend of mine claims they dislike maruki auntie and makoto. And opinions are all fine and all but I think atlas done a great job portraying these type of characters. Especially Maruki of all of them. Even though my favorite is Akechi. Even in Vanilla he was still my favorite. So I was definitely excited I get to play hun more in Royal. A definite touch and added bonus.
This video was very informative I really like the whole analysis you did for maruki. Kind of makes me wonder now that his heart's changed and he really will genuinely move on with his life and let go of the past I wonder if he'll come back one day. with no distorted view of the world and letting people have their free will it makes me wonder one day he'll come back and help the Phantom thieves and maybe even possibly be one himself. he's an antagonist not a villain there's a difference between the two. And like your video said he is a hero at heart he never had any ill will, malice or dark intentions. I think with everything that's happened to him and how his heart's changed and how he's really willing to genuinely move on with his life I hope one day he'll come back and be a phantom thief himself and help the rest of the thieves out. Cuz like you said he's such a well written and complex character and I don't think Atlas created him just to throw him away.
Honestly during that arc even I wondered should take my teamates happiness away I always wanted the best for my team but taking their dreams and wishes just made me (and a lot of other peoples) question my morality.
If someone random come to you and tells you that you don’t deserve to suffer then puts you under there control they have a god complex and want to fool you into following them, this is how religions started by a common sorrow
i never saw maruki like a villain but like a exteriotype of over protecting parent
Hey, great work on these videos. Just catching up on your work.
What is be interested in your thoughts on the parallels and differences between royals and striker.
Since I'm not sure if it's because I played vanilla to death, so was just having the newness, but feel Sophia, Wolf, Akira and Ichinose had more impact to me than Maruki and Sumi.
Especially Akira and Sophia who have pretty similar roles.
In the inevitable spin off that references both I think a conversation between Akira and Maruki would be super interesting. While Maruki had a much better method, both heroes at heart, who lost their way to then learn from the phantom theives.
In fact with Akira being the darker if the two similar to the video on Joker and Crow being two sides of the same coin. Think these fallen heroes are pretty close to it.
For Sumi I think it's the fact she's not as hybrid between the two as I feel she should be, especially in what her day to day look should be.
He id the most well mare character in my whole hearted opinion.
Freedom is the right of all sentient life, and to rob others of struggle is to make a world not worth living in. I'm with Akechi on this Ride or Die and I would rather suffer this life then have my pain taken away from me.
I am, who I am because of rights and wrongs, both done to me and by me. To me, its selfish to think you know what's best for everyone, but equally disingeniuous either to feed a creature till their spoiled or to starve them till they die.
Lmao imagine if they made another persona 5 strikers but it takes place after Royal.
Maruki is extremely well written and I really like him, but that being said I absolutely despise him and spent the whole third semester wishing I had the option to stab him because I will not forgive him for what he did to Sumi
That also being said, I’d accept his reality if he simply brought Kasumi back to life Wakaba/Akechi style instead of taking Sumire’s life away.
I still haven't played Maruki's Palace yet, like I've played the game god only knows how many times but I either lose track of time and forget to level up all the necessary confidants or I take Yaldabaoth's deal but yeah played Royal at least 10 times but I'm following a guide so that I can finally play his Palace.
One thing that bug make me so much
Is how they designed his hair to look maruki evil
I declined Maruki's reality just cuz the human morgana freaks me out
You are correct in saying that Maruki would need to strip humanity of free will to achieve his goals. It's a very biblical imagery, as can be seen in his palace. What he's essentially offering is a return to the garden of Eden, a time before humanity had asserted their free will and thus rejected the benevolent rule of God. You can clearly see that the interior part of his palace is modeled after the garden of Eden, apples included, and it's no coincidence that a trickster whose real persona is literally Sataneael, is the one to ultimately thwart him, mirroring the way Satan tricked Eve into giving to apple to Adam. The devs do a good job of not painting either choice as necessarily correct. The "bad" ending where you accept Maruki's world ins't actually bad.
I honestly don't think there's an objectively correct solution to the dilemma caused by Maruki. Truthfully, neither the Phantom Thieves nor Maruki should be allowed to decide this for all of humanity but both are put in a situation where they have to. If anything, it's a reflection about how much we, as humans, define ourselves through our pain and suffering and are unwilling to let go of it.
You gotta do an episode on Kasumi and Sumire Yoshizawa.
Awesome video dude, you never disappoint. Also I know it’s so incredibly insignificant and I don’t want to sound like an asshole lol but on the off chance you didn’t know “Royal” isn’t pronounced “Royale”
Oh believe me the comment sections of these videos have been sure to tell me how I'm supposed to say "royal" lol! Honestly I know it isn't correct but I think royal pronounced 'royale' in the title just sounds astronomically better so I pronounce it that way. (Also all the angry people commenting about it is good for the algorithm lol!) But that aside I'm happy you liked the video! I hope I can keep making good stuff for you guys to enjoy!
@@3Waifu Sorry again to mention it lmao just wanted to say it in case you didn't know. Again, great content, just keep doing what you're doing man :)
Wish your channel was bigger. Your talking style and breakdowns are really fun to listen to
(Side note: its Royal, not Royale... Roi-uhl)
I'm glad you're enjoying the content! Also don't worry I am well aware about royal vs royale. I simply prefer the way it sounds when pronounced as 'royale' so I continue to roll with that. (also all the comments I get of people trying to correct me are good for the algorithm lol)
One question what about those momentos targets that markui just doesn’t help
I couldn't support maruki after the exam in his palace. He would rather people give up on their dreams than pursue them.
Oh hey this seems familiar.
Согласен, Маруки - наш человек. Кандидат от народа! 2024☝️😩
Oh come on man, i dont have p5s yet. Otherwise, great vid
What a coincidence I just bought it today
Haha I feel that, there shouldn't be any spoilers in the gameplay for P5S if you're worried about that (also if you clicked off because spoilers the gameplay changes to P5R about a third of the way through)
Free will isn't real irl so I see no reason to be against Maruki's world
:)
Free will this, free will that, you seem not understand that it's not proven that free will exists... You "influencers", stop taking a free will as a proven fact.
Definitely didn't like that he was the big boss. Like I have a love/hate relationship with this character because there are plenty non-heroic things that he did that offsets his pros. Sure he's interesting but he's no hero. Just a guy with a savior and god complex.
I think the analysis of Maruki's intentions, feelings and objectives is disproportionately negative. From my perspective, just plainly wrong.