Persona Q Symbolism
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- Опубліковано 18 вер 2017
- An analysis on the symbols found in the game Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. Rei and Zen's story is one on regret, sorrow, atonement and redemption. This takes a close look at their story as well the dungeons, bosses and treasures found in the game and finds their symbolic meaning.
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A light hearted game... About a girl who has died, unintentionally taunted and tortured with the thing she wants most by death himself, and had her memories locked away in order to protect her... A light hearted game guys.
Welcome to Persona, where the Atlas's definition of light-hearted is a punch to the feels
@@daleketchup7434and also a trick ball for the side for the feels
Another reason Zen might have the dual crossbows is because they could look like the hands of a clock.
Was about to say, and you beat me to it.
Iirc, his ultimate crossbows were called "Clock Hands". I remember one of his crossbows had clock in their name, but I can’t remember if it was his ULTIMATE crossbow.
Edit: Just git the item while playing through the game again on Risky. After getting all the Labyrinth Parts (4 key items found on certain floors of the labyrinth within events.), Theodore can craft the Clock Hands, one of Zen's most powerful weapons, which also has a chance of instant kill.
Holy fckinh shit. Broo you broke me
That is a good point
Zen's design also has a clock motif, such as the spikes on his collar mimicking the lines drawn on clocks to mark the time
While I love Persona Q, one of the gripes I had about it was that I couldn't formulate a legitimate reason for why Chronos summoned SEES and the Investigation Team beyond just fan service. But this video helped me understand why they were summoned. Persona Q's main theme is a combination of P3's main theme of 'Memento Mori' and P4's main theme of 'Pursue the Truth' and that is 'Accepting Reality'.
Memento Mori means "remember your mortality", the bigger message conveyed in P3's story being "death is an inevitability so fulfil your desires and live the best you can", something that applies to Rei in both the positive way and negative way. Rei's illness had her confront the harsh inevitability of her death so she desired to live her life the best she can, only to be restricted by her condition from fulfilling her desires. Her treatments and surgeries were, in a way, her trying to live her life. But her stay in the hospital did not satisfy her as she didn't consider that "living"; "living" for Rei being going to school and growing up to find the man she marries, things she can never do. Rei accepted the inevitability of her death but she was prevented from living the way she wanted. This parallels many aspects of P3's story, in particular SEES's response to Nyx. They knew they couldn't win and that death was inevitable but they chose to fight anyway because they wanted the chance to carry on living however small it might be and, by some miracle, they fulfilled that desire to live. Meanwhile, Rei tried to fight and carry on living through her surgeries only to lose and die anyway, failing to fulfil her desire to live and feeling that her life was unaccomplished and incomplete when she met Zen. SEES was summoned because they more or less gained their Personas from that same feeling of incompleteness from tragedy earlier in their lives, wanting to do something with their lives before they die. They turned those feelings that their was life was unaccomplished into strength through their Persona, giving them power and purpose, and they were summoned to show Rei that strength.
Rei's current situation is her ignoring the truth, that she died; living in denial of that fact as well as her feelings about her death and her entire life. She'd rather continue living the fantasy that she's a Yasogami student rather than accept the harsh truth. The Investigation Team all ignored the problems, tried to repress their emotions rather than confronting them and just carry on living their lives; but doing so ultimately causes them to suffer deep down as they're denying their desire for change and resigning themselves to a stagnant life. But while the P4 crew can confront their problems and go back to living their lives, Rei can't as she already died. While Rei wanted to ignore her death and live a happy life with just Zen in the illusory Yasogami High School, she grew unsatisfied living life the same way everyday for years and desired change in going to groups' world. But the harsh truth is that she can never go to their world. The Investigation Team were summoned to show Rei that she has the strength to accept the reality of her death by addressing all the feelings she had about her life; her feelings that she failed to accomplish anything with her life, the pain of being abandoned by her mother and friend, the pain of being denied a future, etc.
Makes me wonder what throwing in "rebel against conformity" would make the theme.
@@mattwo7 Well, there's a reason why Persona Q2 is a completely separate game.
@@demi-femme4821Wouldn't know, haven't played it.
I need a ReiZen to read it all
neat
That awkward feeling when Shido and Zen have the same va
"In some early Jewish lore, Samael is the Angel of Death"
Atlus' cleverness really knows no bounds.
Damn brat! I'll sue!!
Along with brown from p1 and tatsuya from p2
Keith Silverstein is one of my favorite voice actors.
what about...
*TORBJORN, READY TO WORK*
Don't get fooled by the art style or the atmosphere. If it's related to the Shin Megami Tensei series, it's gonna be fricken dark.
I think the fact that Rei is dead is already told at the start when she cannot stop eating. I've heard that bhuddist mythology says that ghosts cannot satisfy hunger and monks often drop food for them.
That's essentially what the demon Preta is.
@@demi-femme4821 ANd just like Preta, Rei is weak to light and resists dark
One error: Its said Reis hair had to be cut off because it would fall out anyway because of her sickness, not because of the surgery (so its implied she had _cancer_ or leukemia)
The bosses also (or could) represent people Rei met in live or well, after life.
*The Queen* - Her mother: coldhearted, selfish, never satisfied once Rei was diagnosed with her sickness. To her, Rei was a broken tool the moment she had to stay in the hospital. (i guess the name 'Nico' was acually intended to mean 'Sunlight/Sunshine' but Rei herself seem to accepted the meaning as 'second child' after her mother didnt came back which also means Rei has an older sister/brother; i wonder who that is o_o)
*The Priest* - The priest who might baptized her and was there during the funeral, who (in Rais eyes) should instead have been there to let her marry her 'prince charming'
*The Doctor & Nurses* - The doctor performing the surgery, the nurse that cared for her (kind nurse) and a nurse she met but didnt do as much as the other one (calm nurse)
*Best Friend* - Her stuffed rabbit, the only true friend she ever had and never let her down, even in death he is helping (wonderland) and fighting (as a boss) to protect and guide Rei through life. If Rei had accepted her Shadow, Best Friend would transform into her persona.
Doesn't the treatment of cancer cause the hair loss and not the sickness itself?
Chemo causes hair to fall out, yes. Even your eyebrows and eyelashes can fall out because of that. The hair lass starts usually 2-4 weeks into the treatment.
I think the Clergyman was also an embodiment of one of her regrets.
Rei: I prayed to God every day, and not a single prayer was answered!
@@animootionsdoesstuff8191 indeed. As far as I know cancer is a condition where the limiter in some of the cells gets broken and they don't stop replicating until removed or dead which is quite harmful but has no reason to cause hair loss.
Yuubi Timbergrim in my personal cannon the nurse is sayako from persona 4
Am assuming Rei was a cancer patient given the clues the game drops
Missrena1000 I think so too
I thought so at first but then I remembered they mentioned shaving her head. As far as I know, patients under chemotherapy don't usually shave their hair and instead let it fall with time. If so, brain surgery seems more likel
@@Yo5463 Maybe that lock of hair was part of the falling hair of Rei after her chemotherapy sessions
@@pablor.sepulveda9929 Yes, if it feel off, it would indicate chemotherapy. But instead it was willingly shaved in one day. Which is why I don't think it likely
I want to fucking cry
I actually cried in some parts of the video help
I've noticed that the song "Maze Of Life" references how that this is Rei's life turned into a maze of the experiences she's had.
Maze of life is a masterpiece man, its message and the song slap so hard, one of my favorites ever
I would interpret Shadow Rei as representing Reversed Death: Undeath, both literal and metaphorical; the inabilty to move on from the past.
I hate to say this, but I really hope Zen and Rei don't return for PQ2, I want there to be a brand new character or two that have equally tragic backstories, or maybe another aspect of death showing mercy. I don't know, I just hope the don't cheap out on PQ2.
Yeah that true but I be surprise if it was a customized character
I kind of agree. I remember someone came up with an idea for an AU where Zen and Rei got to go with the Investigation Team back to Inaba, I just thought that was cool. And I was sad to see them go, even if I did feel like the story focused on them just a little too much.
they can still be there as side characters maybe
Chakra Darrat How would they be there?
it was just an idea
I had a lot of fun with this game, and it was technically my first Persona game (I watched playthroughs of 3 and 4G, since I didn't own a Playstation). It didn't disappoint, and I'm shocked that people dismissed it.
This was also the first one I played ( I've listened to the music from 3, 4, 5 and a bit of Q) and I later played P3 Portable via emulator and Arena Ultimax.
It was because of the very long puzzles in the second half of the game and the flanderization of the characters. Chie and Akihiko were strong examples of this as they focused on their quirks and made it the core personality and identity of the game, and it bothered many people who have played the core series.
I can see that.
ahh i get you. makes sense
I also might add that the bigger enemies (for instance that king enemy from the Group Love Cafe area) attack more than once in comparison to the regular enemies
16:08 That's not Chronos (Embodiment of Time) that's Kronos (Father of The Gods)
You can tell this because only Kronos wields a scythe and eats his children.
Kronos/Chronos was the god/titan of time though, it's the same word/name but with a different spelling. it's where we get the word 'chronological'
@@ashleightompkins3200 Actually Chronos/Chronus is a separate god, A primordial one, depending on who you ask. Like how Eros is either a primordial god or a child of Aphrodite
I usually don't cry, but Rei's backstory hits so hard it hurts
Oh and btw, great video just subbed :)
It's a sad death when the dying never even had the chance to live. I don't blame zen at all for what he did. Though personally if I could, I'd take Rei back and rewrite her life where she recovered from her illness and got to live the life she wanted.
The Merciful Priest being the Lovers reversed could also mean that he has the Devil arcana. The Devil and Lovers are thought to be inversions of each other based on their placement along the fool's journey and while the Lovers reversed represent incompatibility and disharmony (something Rei might feel), the Devil upright represents playfulness and depicts the Lovers in captivity
huh....so Rei and Zen could be the Tower Arcana
well, that's the card Margaret shows to the Persona-Users during the game.
They could also be the Death Arcana. Upright, it represents deep change, regeneration, and cycles. Each ending is but a new beginning. Reversed, though, it means a refusal of change and a willful allowance of stagnation. Zen being this Arcana is rather obvious, what with him being an aspect of Chronos, but Rei...she represents the Reversed meaning.
Kanji’s not gay. 1: He loves anything fluffy
2: he has feelings for Naoto.
He might love flurry’s
There's a lot of gay moments with Kanji, and he was implied to have feelings for Naoto before she was revealed to be a girl. Dude's prolly bisexual but in the end it's up to interpretation
He most likely has a turn on for Naoto's masculinity
this game hurt...now it hurts even more ;-; dear god! this game is good...but it's sad!
7:42
Makoto/yu: **sees shadow** *just walk away just keep going the other way*
This was my introduction to the Persona series... and I still stuck around after my tears dried. This is a definite recommend for anyone looking to get into the Persona series since the only thing they spoil for P3 and P4 is who eventually joins each team, and the opening cinematics and/or box art for each game dose a good enough job of that already.
Another possible way of looking at Rei and Zen's names is that together, they kinda sound like "reason", as in a reason to live... or die? I'm not sure which makes more sense, since I haven't played Persona Q.
Persona games may be somewhat depressing in the end, but they all give such a positive message at the very end. You fall in love with all the characters in the end after spending so much time with them in all their games, and you have to say goodbye to them eventually. Even when the characters here were saying their goodbyes, I noticed they were facing us, the players. They were saying goodbye to us.
Rei's story was so touching. She only realized until the end that she actually was able to make the absolute best of her very short life, and Rei finally could rest in peace happily ever after with her prince charming she always wished for. She realized this with all the friends she made along her journey.
Every single game, Atlus encourages us players to go live our lives the best we can and form strong friendships with the people we treasure in our lives. I love their games so much because of their positive messages to us.
I get emotional every time I watch this video, and by the time I reach this part (14:02), I'm always crying
Gosh at first I thought Q was just a fan service crossover game, but turned out to be up there in quality and story as the main series with great new music. It had me tearing up at the end!
The Chibi artstyle works in its favor as Atlus can deliver heavier themes (and scary environments... The evil spirit club is much nope) without making it too gruesome. I totally loved it!
I'm stoked for the Q2 sequel!
And then no english dubs for Persona Q2 happened
Dude this hit me where it hurts , right in the feels.
Also great video. :D
nice i needed something to listen to on commute keep up the good work.
This was very relaxing to and insightful to watch and listen. I loved PQ and this just brought back good times to me
I loved the video but I have a theory of my own (wall)
As you said the bosses do represents reversed acarnas but that also represents people in rei's life. The Queen of hearts could represent Rei's mother for how she didn't care for her. As we can see in the battle she summons people to protect her it could mean two things, it could mean that she doesn't care on how people feel as long as she is fine in the end, or it could mean that she actually cares about Rei but could be denying it because of other people in her life granted the queen.
The merciful cleric is a representation of Rei wanting to get better she would do anything to live as to even pray to stay alive in the beginning the cleric is acting normal however it starts to wish death upon everyone. It could mean that Rei wanted to die but was afraid to die.
The kind doctor represents the last people she ever saw. Now the name "Kind doctor" isn't a lie when they speak they are trying to keep Rei alive but failed too save her. However she hated the doctor and saw surgery as some sort of torture.
The best friend is a representation of Rei's only friend the nurse and the doll she keeps on trying to live on but she keeps getting worse. This is also shown by the boss coming back with 1 hp.
With the rest of the theory I also agree with it. Also thank you for reading this. This is my first theory let me know how it is
I think the name Philei may be a reference to Philemon from Persona 1 and 2
As selfish as it sounds... I hope persona q 2 is exclusive to the new versions of the 3ds. I'd love to see the outcome of having more room to work with.
This was such a heartfelt game to watch, the first time I saw the story through to the end I was in tears, I applaud you atlus for making such a heartful story and giving rei a chance to truely live
You in Wonderland could also be a reference to Orpheus in the Underworld as not only is Wonderland a classic example of an "underworld" but Persona 3, 4 and 5 all present "underworlds" with Tartarus (which is literally named after a deep (not sure if it's the deepest) part of the Greek underworld no less) , the TV world (which has Yomotsu Hirasaka in it, the border to the Japanese underworld) and the Metaverse (I'm not yet certain if this one has any direct more literal connections to a mythological underworld aside from a pyramid though Mememtos might be based on the version of hell represented in Divine Comedy, with the protagonist symbolically getting farther and farther away from Yaldabaoth's ideal heaven as the game progresses) , though in this case the "underworld" would be the manifested high school as a whole. Additionally the name structure of "You in Wonderland" itself might even be a reference to Orpheus in the Underworld.
I know it’s late but don’t forget that Izanagi and Orpheus have basically the same story to the one your thinking of for Orpheus
As much as I love Persona Q, I realy hope that they give each cast the same amount of screentime in the sequel.
The favoritism shown towards Persona 4 was my one and only gripe with the game.
Having played through the P3 side first and loving it, then going through the P4 side and realising that the empty areas I encounterd with P3 had enjoyable cutscenes but only for the P4 cast, it made me very dissapointed.
? I don't think they were that neglected. I didn't really notice much difference from the dead ends, though it might have been the case (I only remember that one area in the Labyrinth 3); I think that Chronos and his story had a huge connection to P3's Greek mythology theme so, in a way, it felt to me that PQ was focusing more on P3 than P4.
If there is the difference in the frequency of the cast shenanigans, it can be attributed to the bleakness of P3. They are just people brought together by a common cause and they are not really friends, so there is some stiffness between them, especially given when in the timeline PQ takes for the P3 team (since they wanted to include Shinji). Even P4 team mentions that there is some coldness between the others and through interactions with the P4 squad, they learn to embrace their differences. Even if they don't remember once the story is concluded, lol.
In the end, it seemed to me that the weight was put on the P3 team and the game made me appreciate them even more then before. I even played it in the same order as you but I didn't notice anything off. Weird.
@@illusionofquality979 i think it feels more even to me, you do make a good point with chronos (or zen) was the P3 connection so with that in mind rei is the P4 connection
Well.... what do you think about Q2?
@@eduardocordoba4867 It's alright, though it felt a bit rushed. There's the lack of english voices, there wasn't as many interactions between the casts and the ones you had always had you going through the dungeons which was a bit frustrating as I recall. The final dungeon was also noticeably short. The battle system was still very enjoyable though. I'll never get tired of fighting F.O.E's in either game!
That was BLODY DARK.
Well if that is one of the light hearted entries, which is the darkest one in you opinion. For me it was Q in a why
Loved this video
Amazing video
im glad you said you were going to do persona 3 persona's and arcana shadows
As much as I truly dislike the way Persona Q is told, this is a really good analysis of Persona Q's symbolism as a whole.
Yeah a new persona q game would be cool, but then it will include the cast from persona 3 to 5, just persona 4 and 5 or few of the cast form each persona game
What about Persona 2? Hmm...
Come on, I wanna see them again.
All the protagonist from all persona series. Yes including P3s MShe
@@polkadi I wouldn't mind a persona q game with characters from 1 and 2
@@MarxasThomas Q2 being 2 and 5 would have been awesome.
the feel hit everywhere
Are you going to do persona 3, I really like their designs and it would be cool to see their inspirations
I loved persona q and I can't wait for Persona q 2
would you do Persona Q 2? symbolisms?
OH SNAP!!! so GLAD i still got this game
Makes a lot of us wonder what will be the next topic Atlus will cover for Persona Q2. Obviously in Persona Q2 the Persona team will be the ones from Persona 5.
I enjoyed playing persona q and I'm excited for q2
i just realized that zen and Shido from P5 have the same voice actor
*Oh shit*
While I don’t think atlas would do this but since in p5 they phantom thieves were able to bring Morgana back through their cognition they could do the same to both rei and zen.
Half of me doesn’t want this to happen and let them Rest In Peace and the other half says I can’t rule this out yet.
and to think this personal world representative of one's desires where an object fuels said desire would be persona 5's main gimmic
Isn't similar to the story of Persona 1?
Kinda, but not really at all
Well, Maki heals and gets her well deserved happy ending; Rei on the other way...
Hey, I was wondering if you would do a video on Persona Q2 sometime. It has just as much symbolism as its predecessor.
Hey Zamkusen, Persona Q2 is released, and the english version is coming soon. Can you do a Symbolism video about Persona Q2 plz, there's alot of symbolism in this game, and it very intense.
Could you do Persona Q 2? I think that game tells a pretty interesting yet relatable story
I want Zen and Rei as a navigation guide/special persona/Guide in persona 2
I wonder if Keith Silverstein is a fan of the Persona franchise. He voiced at least three characters so he must like something about it, whether he likes the characters he portrays or the people behind the scenes (other voice actors and people who work on the English version of the game).
Are you going to do the symbolism of Persona Q2 as well?
Another reason why this game gets hated is because it has all the characters from p3 and p4 are stereotypes of themselves and people feel that they aren't the characters that they were (p3 especially)
Wasn't this a problem with Persona 4 Arena's story mode? Like with how when Akihiko and Chie met, Akihiko's obsession with protein and Chie's obsession with meat were exaggerated.
Yup, the flanderization of the the characters is unbearable at times and its a recurring issue that fans have with sequels, like Persona 4 Arena. It's so bad there are forums discussing how the P5 cast will be flanderized in the next Persona Q
as i am watching this seeing the meaning of my first name make me feel more proud of it :) '' Victory of the people ''
Can you do symbolism in Persona 4 Dancing All Night?
The 4 labyrinth music forshadows the boss
4:21 Jesus did Ken go through Vietnam or something?
Yep
>Lay down
>Try not to cry
>Cry a lot
I would love for you to make a persona q2 video
I remember I decided to buy the digital copy of this game for my DS. As it turned out I only just barely have enough memory on my card for this game so I deleted almost everything I had installed on my DS including some other games save files just to install this. But man was this game good. The dungeons and puzzles were really fun. Then of course the story is something else. Sadly I had to delete it after I finished cuz I literally can't play anything else while I had this installed but man do I wanna play this again now.
Can you do Symbolisms in Persona Q2?
little girl with cancer gouges out her eyes and death had a crush so he kept her alive the game: equals a light-hearted game
I don't remember any part that says they stay in there for twelve years
Btw Nike is a Persona for Eriko Kirishima from Persona 1 as her first tier Persona
Wait. Tiny Tina is in Persona Q? Astonishing.
I'm wondering if you can do a symbolism video about Persona 4 dancing all night because I think there might be symbolism in The Game such as kanami heart not accepting in what happened to Yuko so I want to see if you can make a symbolism video about it
Are you going to do q2?
Rei story was so sad she really touched my heart
So Hikari's story will do the same for you
@@pablor.sepulveda9929 not rlly, it wasnt Bad but Rei's was better
What was the remix of Light the Fire up in the Night at the end?
Its just a mix of the P3 and P4 versions
even tho i didn't know about zen name that's how I got my name angel of time aka father time aka the grim reaper
the "KIND" doctor does look kind at all, I can see why rei hates hospitals now
Zen is voiced by... Torbjorn?
*B I N G O !*
the labyrints may be a Giant Palace
Fun fact person Q is the only persona game that made me ugly cry
Wait Shen and Torbjorn have the same voice actor? I never would have noticed that
Poor rei😢
I'm only turned off Persona Q because i haven't played Persona 3 yet (on the final boss of Persona 4 PS2), so I'm afraid I'll be spoiled/not have context for its characters when they come up
another theory for rei choosing this name is because of it almost sounding like rhea, despite its different pronunciation.
sorry this is just a speculation though
So my theory of how zen and rei were in that rift was right then. I smaaat
If Cronos is the God of Death in Persona Q, what does that make of Nyx then?
Cronos is AN avatar of death. There are multiple.
i guess i'll go back later. i just got to the evil spirit club labyrinth with p3 rout. i let the game call protagonist Yoshi Koishi
What if rei was the kid that sayako (the devil social link) let die
I hope you come back soon
Please be safe
Do Q2 someday
Rei reminds me of Maya
from Revelations Persona
*Maki
2 things
1 I hope you do a persona q2 meaning
And 2 this video is so depressing
3) Persona Q2 is so depressing, also. Literally, you're dealing with the depressive life of a girl (Hikari) who doesn't want to live
I want Persona Q 2 to be a cross between the Persona 2 and 5 cast because the Person 2 cast is cool looking
The scene at 4:15 makes me flat-out laugh.
Only for this video, it ended thirteen seconds later.
Question so who is the reaper if chronos is death
rei is a "rey" for sunshine
THIS CAROUSELLLLLLLLLLL
SPINS US ROUND AND ROUND
David Larkin SOMETIMES YOU DONT KOW SHOULD YOU STAY OR GET OFF
Personas a Opening is legit fire
'more lighthearted' NO, THAT GAME ISNT.
Once i realized WHAT was going on and WHAT the labyrinths were, i fucking lost it, i closed my 3DS and cried LIKE A BITCH.
4:41 they would do that but how would it be a surprise
Persona Q doesn't get much attention.
It is sold out in my state and there is only 2 copies I can buy if I travel 900 kilometres.