P4 Arena Characters —Reminiscence of Persona 3
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![Due to my distrust of the localization’s use of honorifics, I have decided to turn to Persona 3’s original Japanese for information on how the cast refer to each other. In my opinion, it is quite important for looking into these cultural nuances helps one understand the characters more, as well as get another perspective on the cast’s relationships. Ensuring the accuracy of this information would not have been possible without the help of EirlysTylluan, who was very helpful during the information gathering phase of this endeavor.
Information gathered here was taken from the drama CD, playthroughs of the original Japanese game, and the official manga. The MC is not included in the infographic due to his nature as a silent protagonist. Koromaru, on the other hand, is also out of the graphic for more obvious reasons.
An analysis of the infographic follows under the cut, as well as more name trivia, including how the rest of the cast refers to the two omitted cast members.
[[MORE]]
Fuuka and Ken are very polite, never addressing anyone without an honorific. The former might be because of her upbringing, while the latter is understandably the youngest in the crew, so the respect is a given.
In addition, Ken’s use of “boku” also emphasizes his general deference to others, as “boku” is a less aggressive way of referring to oneself as a guy, as compared to “ore” which is more assertive. “Boku” is also commonly used by younger males, so this should not come as a surprise.
The whole “no honorific” thing is not only limited to Mitsuru, and seems to be the norm among the Senpai of S.E.E.S.
Junpei has nicknames for his peers, though strangely has none for Fuuka. He calls Chidori “Chidorin” on occasion, though for the most part he calls her “Chidori” without any honorifics.
Mitsuru and Yukari eventually move to first name basis after Mitsuru’s Persona evolves.
Shinjirō calls Mitsuru by her first name at one point in time in the drama CD, though that may have been a slip of the tongue.
The fact that Akihiko and Shinjirō are on nickname basis with each other highlights a history together, with their choice of reference alluding to a long-time friendship—though of course this might be common knowledge by now.
Aigis always addresses people with “-san”, probably because it was programmed into her. She does seem to have a sense of who her peers are, for she uses the first name plus “-san” combo with those in her year level, and sticks to surname plus “-san” for everyone else. Mitsuru seems to be the exception to the latter rule, probably because she was developed by the Kirijō Group and the name reference is deference to the fact that she is a younger Kirijō.
Yukari switches between “watashi” and “atashi” a fair number of times, and it would seem that she favors the former when speaking to her seniors, and the latter with her peers, as she tones down her formality when around them.
No one calls Ken by his first name. Lmao.
People are not very consistent when referring to Koromaru, though “Koromaru” and “Koro-chan” are favorites among the cast. Only Aigis calls Koromaru “Koromaru-san”.
Regarding the MC, given the name “Arisato Minato”, Aigis refers to him as “Minato-san”. Mitsuru and Akihiko call him “Arisato”. Yukari goes for “Arisato-kun”, whereas Fuuka uses “Leader”. It is quite difficult to pinpoint what exactly the whole cast uses, for the Japanese have a habit of dropping the pronouns or names when it is obvious who they are referring to. If we were to infer how the rest of the cast refers to the MC, for Ken it would be “Minato-san”, for Junpei it would be “Leader”, and for Shinjirō it would be “Arisato”.
Interestingly, Akihiko refers to Junpei as “Junpei”. It’s quite interesting because the only other people he refers to by first name are Mitsuru and Shinjirō, and the rest of the cast are relegated to a surname-only naming scheme. Such address implies a degree of informality, though funnily, Junpei does not reciprocate by calling Akihiko by his first name without honorifics. This can be attributed to how rare it is for juniors to address their seniors outside their surnames plus a suffix, because otherwise is usually seen as disrespectful.
EDIT: An extension to the original post: http://dimensionslip.tumblr.com/post/48419734998/cecilmurdock-dimensionslip-due-to-my](http://25.media.tumblr.com/9c93faef521596b9a6c6aaa4b91b8344/tumblr_mliflvtOHZ1r8x55lo1_500.jpg)
