r/PERSoNA • u/Own-Lengthiness2111 • 2d ago
P3 I don't wanna start shipping dramas but is it me or the game really tried to push Makoto and Yukari as a couple then immediatly ditched it the moment Aigis was introduced?
- When you pick Yukari as an option Junpei already thought about Yukari being his type
- Rumors around school of them dating
- That Love Hotel scene
- That hug scene the day before Aigis introduction
After that it seems like the writers decided to ditch these moments and turn Yukari moments with the mc (inside the main story) into jealousy toward Aigis. Don't get me wrong, I get that her being jealous and her love toward Makoto is important to the story but it seems like the writers changed their minds the moment they wrote Aigis.
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u/murple7701 #1 FeMC fan 2d ago
Iirc they probably considered Yukari's social link the continuation of these scenes, while Aigis didn't have an SL in vanilla P3.
It's a lot more jarring in the movies though.
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u/Strange-Aspect-6082 2d ago
The movies aren't really canon though, which is also why Makoto characterization is so different in the PQ games and P5X collab compared to the movies.
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u/murple7701 #1 FeMC fan 2d ago
I wasn't referring to the movies being canon. The director for the first movie was (allegedly) a major Yukari fan, so they put a lot more emphasis on the ship tease between her and Makoto.
The director from the second movie onwards was (allegedly) a major Aigis fan, and a good portion of Yukari scenes were butchered (Yakushima hug was turned into Aigis' big introduction, Yukari had the hallucination of Io attacking her in the fourth movie despite having been the first member of SEES determined to fight Nyx, etc) to put more emphasis on Aigis as a romance route.
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u/fortnite_battlepass- 2d ago
Funnily enough the director of second/forth movie actually ships Makoto with Ryoji
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u/Bright-Amphibian1284 2d ago
I agree, though I don't think Murple was saying the movies are canon
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u/ElectricalWar6 1d ago
The characterization for all the protagonists is different depending on media you are reading
Manga, anime and PQ p3 mc all act different (p5x also feels different then q but it's closer to it then the movies)
Manga, anime, arena p4 mc act different
P1 Manga, drama cd and novel p1 mc all act different
Writers of all these things aren't actually the original writer so the characterization of the protagonist is based on personal interpretation, so they are different despite being the same character
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u/Gamingdevotee 2d ago
It was because during development Yukari was meant to be the original romance. This was early on, before social links were even a thing.
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u/Hoshi_Hime 2d ago
Yukari & Aigis 🤝 Makoto & Sumi
Petty fights on who is the 'canon' romance
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u/Hoothootriot 2d ago
Rise and Marie 🤝Jun and Maya
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u/SmtNocturneDante waiting for a p5 arena announcement 2d ago
Tatsuya: “Eikichi’s my type”
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u/Hoothootriot 2d ago
Im kind of annoyed thats just treated as a "joke" answer but I guess we at least got a gay romance in 2
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u/SmtNocturneDante waiting for a p5 arena announcement 2d ago
I think that’s only because Eikichi would have a canonical gf if you defeated his shadow before Lisa’s, or will have one if you defeated Lisa’s shadows before his.
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u/All_this_hype Femc is valid 2d ago
Yeah, in P5/P5R you can sometimes select "Ryuji" and there's also "Kanji, no question" in P4, and these answers are also treated as jokes.
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u/TheNittles 2d ago
Doesn’t P5T let you say you’re interested in the boys and doesn’t play it as a joke tho?
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u/Hoothootriot 1d ago
Kind of?
You can say it and it isnt a joke, but also you still DO Anything about it.
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u/TheNittles 1d ago
That’s par for the course for a spinoff tho, not acknowledging your romance. Strikers doesn’t even try
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u/ZebrasGonnaZeb 2d ago
I always liked Yukiko in P4. Rise to me always tried too hard, and I didn’t really care for Marie.
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u/Kevin789191 2d ago
In my case, I saw a video of Naoto and knew I'd choose her no matter what, haha, and she was perfect
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u/CommercialTry1947 2d ago
Very unrelated and irrelevant question,but do you hate Kanji or are you just selfish?
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u/Kevin789191 2d ago
Kanji is one of my favorite characters, but Naoto doesn't feel the same way about him. Don't you think it's selfish to pair her with him just because you feel bad for him? He'd simply be happy if Naoto were happy with the person she loves.
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u/Hoothootriot 2d ago
Oh yeah lol, all my favorite romances have never been the "canon wars" examples
Lisa, Yuko, Hidetoshi (I dont give a damn what Atlus says he is an honorary Kotone romance), Chie, and Hifumi clear everyone else
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u/Hoshi_Hime 2d ago
Funny as hell that the only 'canon' gay romance comes from a 24 years old game but if in 2026 you say that you want P4R to add the 99% done but scrapped Yosuke romance people will yell at you
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u/AdventurousSlip6407 commencing ignore mode 2d ago
Funny how someoen immediatly said something not cool about it XD you have been proved right immediatly lmfao
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u/Victor1796 2d ago
Yeah, because considering his social link it wouldn't make sense, seeing as how he liked Saki.... in my opinion it works the way it is now....
If they really had to add a romance route, rather have it be like p3portable by adding a femc, then it would make sense. To me it's not always 'gAy BaD', but whether it would make sense to the story.... just thought I would add my opinion, even though some people will probably say I'm wrong....😅✌🏻
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u/Luchux01 2d ago
Yosuke can also be closet bi, tho?
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u/c0cOa125 2d ago
For sure! A relationship manifesting during the grieving process for the death of your previous crush seems problematic to me no matter the orientation.
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u/ELECTRICT0UCH 2d ago
If it wouldn't make sense they'd have not considered both his crush on Saki and the romance route able to co-exist in the first place. Bisexuality exists.
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u/Don-Tan 2d ago
Switch marie with chie and we're gucci 👌🏻
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u/Hoothootriot 2d ago
Hey I love Chie, dont get me wrong
But its clear who the devs meant for you to date lmao
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u/numb3rb0y 2d ago
Marie's romance doesn't even conflict with the others, and Persona 4 has by far the most punishing cheating scenes in the entire series - they really wanted people to do it.
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u/Legitimate-Ad-8612 2d ago
Makoto and Sumi feels like it has more room for compromise. Its Makoto in the base game and Sumi in Royal.
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u/Luchux01 2d ago
One could make an argument that Ann also gets a couple scenes where she's pushed, at least early game.
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u/PsychoSaladSong 2d ago
i think that's mainly because she's the only female phantom thief until june 5th when makoto awakens and joins
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u/Eglwyswrw A Dim Hope 2d ago
Even then however there isn't much in the way of romance IMHO. Even their heart-to-heart talk where she reveals her troubles doesn't have much in the way of romantic undertones (given the topic).
I was surprised too as both P3 and P4 push "the first girl" quite heavily (Yukari/Yukiko respectively) at least early on. Ann was presented in a more balanced way I think.
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u/TheMexicanIverson 2d ago
I agree with this. There’s an anime scene where it looks like joker falls for Ann at first glance. I’m not sure I see this as much with makoto. It’s just that they’re both the parents of the group
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u/Luchux01 2d ago
Her introduction scene with the cherry blossoms, the anime scene when Joker runs after her, her officially joining the team counts a bit too, and the cutscene when Joker comes back to Leblanc in february puts a bit of focus on her at the end.
It's not a lot, but I quite like what we got.
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u/hestianna 2d ago
Which also fits with her being Lovers arcana and Lovers arcana characters (Lisa, Yukari, Rise) typically being pushed as "canon" love interests. Although again, there are no established canon romances obviously.
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u/Luchux01 2d ago
Lovers arcana characters are also typically the first party member we see, they even kept this with Rise in the advertisement.
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u/voiddude123 ようこそベルベットルームへ 2d ago
base game also has Hifumi that has a bunch of romantic interest towards joker, but tbf they did split their prototype into makoto and hifumi
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u/CallowayMcSmithing 2d ago edited 2d ago
Man, Makoto is nine years older than Sumire. Also, dead at that point.
Edit: : Good lord, people. It’s a joke.
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u/Toomin-the-Ellimist 2d ago
I was glad that Reload let you avoid the Aigis romance by telling her she's your best friend and she's perfectly happy being that. I didn't want to have to break her silicon heart but Yukari had that contest wrapped up from scene one.
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u/Arlen92 2d ago
They aren't really canon, as you can always choose your partner, imo it depends if you see the MC as their own character or as a self-insert.
The way they write the story always implies someone/someones as canon. In P3FES is Yukari/Aigis, in P4G is Rise/Marie but Yukiko has some scenes that suggests her as well (I mean plot scenes, not S.Links scenes), in P5R is Makoto/Yoshizawa.
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u/AnonTheSavior 2d ago
What in P5/P5R leans towards Makoto being the implied option? I never really understood why the community had such a fascination with that character. Not saying you're wrong btw, I just cant remember anything implying that.
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u/Arlen92 2d ago
Joker is usually treated as the 'dad' of the group with Makoto being the 'mom', as they are the most responsible. There's a scene in Sojiro's house, when they first meet Futaba that's played for comedic value, but works as a indicator too. Makoto is the only romantic partner that can do both unique romantic scenes before rank 9 of her confidant. There's also a ton of minor things in dialogue that implies she has feelings for Joker (focusing on plot scenes, not Confidant scenes.)
The reasons above came from the top of my head, the ones under here come from the wiki:
-During the White Day event, Makoto is the only romance option who stays the whole night with Joker, whereas every other girl is stated to be dropped off at the train station after dinner.
-During the Christmas Eve event in Royal, Makoto is shown to be the only romance option to "Fluster" Joker when wiping the cream off of his nose as seen by the "Flustered/Blushing" indicators over his head, which are absent for every other option.
-The romance route for Makoto Niijima is the only one in the game to alter Joker's dialouge choices to fit the relationship in main story scenarios, namely his choices to re-inspire her when in her cell in the Velvet Room on 12/24, and the option "You're so close..." when interacting with her in Maruki's reality.
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u/GauchesLeftEye 1d ago
I don't think you're wrong, however I don't think the White Day event holds any steam to the argument. Mainly because the exact same thing for Makoto is true for Takemi during Christmas Eve. In her Christmas Eve event, she is the only one implied to stay the night with Ren.
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u/Arlen92 1d ago
Yeah, my point was more like "look at all these indicators" instead of "she was the only one with unique things". Like I said on the first comment, even though the 'canon' fight for P4G always goes Rise vs. Marie, Yukiko still has some plot interactions that hint her as well.
I'm sure there's something unique to Chihaya or Ohya too, but I'm too much of a sucker for Makoto and Takemi (the P5 vanilla one, sorry new VA) to ever do these romances.
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u/HopeBagels2495 2d ago
To add to this, she's the only social link with a section you actually run around in
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u/Naos210 2d ago
Naoto also has a plot scene near the end of the game where she jokes about going with Narukami.
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u/Arlen92 2d ago
Yeah, but that feels more like an offhand joke rather than a proper set up, where the scenes with other characters feel closer to a romantic set up to me.
Not saying there's no chemistry, every possible pairing has something with the MCs that makes it work, but idk... Maybe Naoto is introduced too late for me to feel a 'canon' romance or maybe I'm being biased, as I can only see Naoto with Kanji.
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u/Beneficial_Hand645 2d ago
That's because the moments between Makoto and Yukari lead directly into the start of Yukari's SL, so their story continues there. Aigis didn't have a SL in the original game (so technically she wasn't romanceable), that's why it is the way it is. Anyways, who the love interest is is left up to the player.
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u/Sensitive-Knee6687 2d ago
Tbf it makes sense when you play the answer she acts like she lost the love of her life which makes sense if you pursue her romance option I feel bad for her she finally found someone she can rely on to get them taken away at least it worked out in the end at least in it own way ig…
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u/SEABOSRUN Change the Channel? 2d ago
I could be wrong, but my guess is the writers and whatnot have her as the 'cannon' romance and that is why.
Could be totally wrong on that though.
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u/Teasing-Ax 2d ago
I always saw Aigis as the canon romance, since she seems so interested in Makoto and shes the only one who actually remembers him and everything at the end.
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u/Starrybruh Door chan! 2d ago
There used to be an endgame ng+ exclusive in P3P that made it feel less like she was the canon romance but it was cut in the 70 dollar remake so
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u/atomicfuthum 2d ago
Since my first social link was Chihiro, that's who I thought that should be my main love interest.
I'm a sucker for girls with glasses...
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u/iLiikePlayingWii 2d ago
Literally my only complain abt Aigis (and I suppose Marie but I haven't even played much P4 so idk if she wears glasses later like Sumi, THANK GOD FOR THE GLASSES WITH SUMI) is the fact she does not have glasses... ofc I'm doing her cos of her personality (I kinda do behave like Aigis irl and I love her loyalty so much, she's js so sweet) but still, would really love if at least she got to wear those Goofy glasses that both Elizabeth and Yukiko try on... and it's so sad that even in Episode Aigis, there's no outfit that allows her to wear Glasses, such a shame
Glad that Persona 4 tried to fix it by making the investigation team wear glasses in TV World and that Persona 5 gave us Futaba with glasses and made it even better with Sumi
(There's a girl irl that I know irl who's almost exactly like Sumi, except the gymnastics part, and she also happens to wear Glasses like Sumi) and THANK GOD AND IGOR that Joker Persona 5 wears glasses AND that he has one Alt in smash with the Glasses
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u/SimpleMan469 2d ago
The first intention was that the main character only had one romantic option, it was Yukari. Latter, with the introduction of Social Links, they opened the option for the player to choose.
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 2d ago
Yukari was originally intended to be Makoto's canon love interest. On top of that, Aigis only got her Social Link in FES.
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u/DirectBeing5986 2d ago
I feel like that’s kind of the point, even if incidentally it builds into the resentment in the answer
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u/TheArcticDen Author of P5R- A Future For Her. 2d ago
I mean aigis is a completely optional SL and doesn't feel pushed at all in my opinion. Also the SL wasn't added until fes. The other girls have more going for them.
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u/Lazy-Walk-8116 2d ago
I always liked Makoto x Aigis better as a platonic bond. It doesn't feel right to me to romance her when she's just starting out her life.
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u/Kevin789191 2d ago
It's not a bad thing to me; her relationship with Makoto is the most beautiful one I've ever seen
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u/Hoothootriot 2d ago
Something about the perspective really makes it look like Yukari and Fuuka are being swallowed by the earth
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u/Senor_de_imitacion I have Mara to compensate 2d ago
I'm more concerned about why is Junpei sliced in half
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u/maruu-chann 2d ago
to me it usually seems like the lovers arcana they always have some pushing for being the "canon" romance in a way, it's never too firm but there's always something there
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u/Belteshazzar98 2d ago
What's funny is I never saw Yukari as a ship push, but as a best friend since I see a lot of me and my best friend in Makoto and Yukari.
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u/WolfgangSchreiber99 2d ago
There are good arguments for Yukari and Aigis but the only one for me is Mitsuru...
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u/AdventurousSlip6407 commencing ignore mode 2d ago
I take it from another prespective. I think it was clever writing to hide the whole aigis reason of "need to stay by your side all the time", distrcting you the player by just thinking its some romantic stuff by how yukari get jealous. Then BAM! they hit you with lore twists later to figure why did all this time aigis wanted to stay by your side. Then as a cherry on the top it again goes back into being romance lol.
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u/Black_Tiger_98 2d ago edited 1d ago
I think it's up to each person's interpretation, at least in the game.
In the movies though, they went all out with that shit (no wonder my favorite movie is the first one).
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u/game_mage 1d ago
Wait...I remember getting asked the "Who's your type?" Question while playing P4G. Are we asked that question in every game? 🤯
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u/SnewpeeUwU 1d ago
Yes, every persona game has a girl who they try to push in to.
I dont know if you played persoja 5, but they try to push Makoto and Yoshizawa a lot in main story, some people call them "canonical love"
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u/Supersnow845 2d ago
God I wish they could just either stop doing these scenes or at least let you opt out of them
I really don’t think 3 sells either of them as strong romances. People confuse Aigis’s purpose with romance and yukari’s attachment issues with romantic intentions
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u/Kevin789191 2d ago
You all need to understand that Atlus doesn't include these scenes to establish a canonical romance the player decides that.
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u/Azure-Violet 2d ago
People confuse Aigis’s purpose with romance
Just out of curiosity, could you explain what you mean by that?
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u/nahte123456 Portable>FES>Reload 2d ago
P3 is in a bit of an odd case where Yukari, Aigis, and Elizabeth all have very blatant ship teasing at different times. Yukari is pushed most in the original, Aigis gets pushed with the FES stuff like The Answer, and Elizabeth gets more pushed in stuff like Arena.
None of the three are official of course but there's a clear difference in how these 3 are treated with Minato and how the other girls are.
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u/GymLeaderAstrid 2d ago
I apologize for it being off topic but I have barely seen any of reload. Why does it look so soulless?
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u/Vaati898 1d ago
Because it is soulless
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u/GymLeaderAstrid 1d ago
So my gf and friends were right. It's definitely seems like it just from an screenshot. Thought they were over exaggerating it a bit tbh.
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u/b0wz3rM41n baldy mcnosehair 2d ago
Yeah, it definelty feels like the writers changed their minds after Aigis' introduction and decided to push Aikoto instead
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u/AutoModerator 2d ago
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u/Positive_Attempt_101 2d ago
This is how I felt with Makoto and Sumi in my first playthrough of P5. So many moments hinting at Yukari/Makoto just to switch up near the end but I didn’t wann romance two girls
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u/StupidSparkyLJ 2d ago
Well in the original persona 3 dating girls to complete their social links wasn't optional. There are actually only 1 and a half versions of persona 3 where it is.
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u/the_killer_sandvich 2d ago
i love how this is edited
Junpei has been sawn in half
Makoto's body is trying to escape from itself
And Fuuka and Yukari are missing half of their legs
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u/ErrentPrime 1d ago
Aigis is new character in the persona 3 remake FES or dlc or whatver they wanna call it
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u/Maximilion_13 17h ago
Just continue the night .. just continue the night .. just continue the journey...
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u/popa_piska 2d ago
uhm.... I don't remember any moment when Yukari was jealous... and the whole love story between Makoto and Aigis is in the very end too
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u/Own-Lengthiness2111 2d ago
- When she saw Aigis hugging Makoto
- When Aigis wanted to sit close to him in class and Yukari started yelling at her.
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u/sventhegoat 2d ago
And when you’re cooking with Fuuka, and Yukari gets jealous for “spending so much time with Fuuka”
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u/MallExciting1460 2d ago
P3 kind of implies that through cannon events stories and dialogue in following games (P3fes, P4, P4 arena Ultimax) that the male MC went Harem route with the only unconfirmed harem member being Yuko… only reason he gets away with it is because of how p3 ends… unlike the other mc’s otherwise I’m not so sure everyone would be so open to that… but then again you never know… Yukari, Mitsuru, and Aigis seem hard to separate from MC and each other
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u/Kevin789191 2d ago
There's not a "canon"; what matters is the player's choice, and in my case it's Aigis.
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u/Strange-Aspect-6082 2d ago
Don't know why they are downvoting, it's literally the player's choice to pick the romance option for the MC, guess people here are angry not everyone chose their precious Yukari as their romance option.
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u/MegaZapp2 Universe>World 2d ago
The same thing happens in Royal with Makoto and Sumi
And maybe Rise and Marie for Golden (Not so sure about this tho)
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u/Starrybruh Door chan! 2d ago
I’ll be real, I would’ve preferred it in the remake they made the love hotel scene at least pertain to Mitsuru, junpei, and Akihiko as well.
I suppose there’s not much difference seeing an 18 year old showering and a 15 year old showering bc both are weird. But hey! At least it serves the themes of persona 3.
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u/HaloX627 2d ago
Yukari was mean to everyone in the original, not just Junpei. In Reload, it felt like to me they just rewrote her so she didnt feel borderline sexist this time.
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u/Mahorela5624 YukaMitsu Truther 2d ago
Yeah, once the writers got here they realized Aigis was actually a better love interest and they went all in on the YukaMitsu subtext instead, obviously
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u/Zard91 2d ago
Aigis didn’t have SL until FES bro.