Dude is literally a mass murderer and horrifically killed parents of, not 1, but 2 of your friends/teammates as they fucking watched.
But because he's an edgy anime pretty boi, that makes him a "complicated, flawed character who just needs wuve uwu".
He basically made Haru's father's brain explode on live television, crying blood in agony, as his daughter was watching. (Granted, dude was kind of a dick, but he didn't deserve what he got and Haru most certainly did not deserve to witness it.)
And even more unforgivable imo: Not only did he make Futaba's mom commit suicide in front of her by jumping in front of a car, he took the extra step of making her say that she never loved Futaba and that this was her fault for no other reason than to traumatize her further. Which it did, and almost psychologically destroyed her for life, as it would for probably anybody.
If there was any justice, his canon death would've just been Futaba and Haru curb-stomping him to death.
And I really fuckin' hate how Royal's ending gives some sort of implication that someway, somehow he's still alive: Fuck. That.
At least in Vanilla he was still dead as shit at the end.
Tl;dr, My final opinion on Akechi: :rip-bozo:
Hearing Futaba screech "AKECHI-KUN! 0w0" at his death was the point where I started called bullshit. It's one thing to be understanding, if not forgiving, of Akechi given muh tragic past. It's another for the gang to almost absolve him and try to pin his crimes entirely on Shido.
:yea:
Realistically: The best case scenario Akechi would've gotten from Futaba and Haru is a shunning, and utter contempt when they were forced to acknowledge him.
"Worst" case: They would've tried to claw his eyes out as soon as they learned who he is. I know I would've.
I disagree. He was my favorite character (Futaba was my other one so I understand where you're coming from) as had the most depth, and also since they insist on making the protags silent-ish most of Joker's character development was also done through comparisons between him and Akechi. By most depth I mean that he develops the most as the story goes on- other characters get kinda frozen after their arcs because for a story oriented game persona has a fatal flaw in that hanging out with the main cast and seeing their individual stories is optional and so can't be referenced later. So right off the bat he just makes the story more interesting with those two things.
One thing I really like about his plot relevance is that what happens on Shido's ship is the first big sign to the thieves of what they're about to see in the depths of mementos. Targeting individual corrupt people is not going to change society like they want. People were more interested in the spectacle than anything and are willing to just ignore whatever isn't interesting anymore. I know it's explained as a god making everyone not care about what Shido did but all these gods come from the human psyche in these games anyway so. After Akechi sacrifices himself for them the thieves go on about how he was "a victim they couldn't save" which is pretty much it- their naive lib child way of going about things will never address the system that failed Akechi and tons of other kids like him. He would've been around 15 when he started working for Shido and the guy figured out that was his son and used that to groom him as a hit man, it's pretty messed up. Doesn't take all the blame off of him but if there was any justice I'd want a kid like that to be rehabilitated. As well as his baby's first (horribly thought out) revenge plan it was also his ticket out of foster care to be in that situation. In addition to all that it's a reflection on how being so isolated from community and being sold the pull yourself up by your bootstraps little orphan mentality really hurts people and is ridiculous to expect.
You're also slightly off about the circumstances of Wakaba's death. Akechi didn't control the where but that's still his fault of course. But the suicide note was done by shido's men not him. It was absolutely to make sure she was never a threat because she was so traumatized yeah. I actually like the theory that Shido is also futaba's dad bc considering the circumstances it's possible unfortunately.... He's also probably kinda guilty about what happened to Futaba because of how he acts around her when he's in the cafe, how he talks to sae about her unethical threatening sojiro, as well as in the anime they have him step in to her aid at one point. Again doesn't change what he did but he's not hopeless as a future adult who has learned better.
Haru's dad idc he wanted to sell his daughter off as a sex slave and also he was anime jeff bezos have fun in hell lmao I think Haru should've shown growth as a character and had issues with Akechi because he stole her choice away in the matter of her father, instead of being like oh no im sad about daddy. She chose to change his heart, which is also a cruel fate so it must've been hard for her, and that was just taken. Kinda sucks.
I also really liked Royal's story and his role there but I don't feel like writing any more than this right now lmao
I agree. I really dislike a lot of the story changes Royal made in general (the new character in particular and the way her mental health was treated really rubbed me up the wrong way)
Atlus stop adding pointless shit to the story in remakes challenge (impossible)
P3 Spoiler:
Shinji is dead. Leave him in peace.
Overall I liked Yoshizawa, but I can agree not everything involving her was handled perfectly.
His only defense is that he was a fucked up teen and maybe could have atoned for his crimes.
What's worse is maybe that could've been pulled off, at least in part, in Vanilla since as far as we know he gave his life to help the Thieves.
But noooo, we couldn't just leave it there and he has to live in Royal... 😒
I never played Royal, and considering how bloated and overly long p5 was, I will never have the time.
Overall I'd say it's worth playing and still great fun, it's just that Akechi living is a bitter pill you have to swallow if you do.
Him “living” is a stretch. Even if he’s alive, the moment he shows his face again (which he totally would because he’s an arrogant little shit) he’d likely get his skull cleaved by Haru.
the fandom fucking loves him of course. as someone who occasionally reads fanfiction, the fact that 90% of the stuff on ao3 is about him being angsty really pisses me off. not only is he a serial killer, he's the servant of a fascist politician who he supports at every step of the way because... (?????) if you wanted revenge and you really can't kill him, do the killings in a way that implicate him and try to tank his approval dumbass!
In fairness, he wants Shido to reach the Sun and then have his fall. Of course, it's dumb, but the game acknowledges how much of a short-sighted dipshit Akechi is when it's revealed he got outplayed by Shido himself.
that's true, but it doesn't make me sympathetic. if someone has an admirable goal and goes about it in the worst possible way thats not sympathetic unless you really put in the work to make it. and atlus just didn't do the work
Yeah that was really bizarre for me. Especially since he directly murdered the parents of 2 of main characters
And not just killing people's parents! If you fuck up in dialogue, he straight up murders the MC! And even if you prevent that, he still murders a mental copy of the MC thinking it's the real one! And the Thieves know he'll do that and plan around it!
