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"Don't let your kids watch it!" - Robbie Rotten This article contains potentially sensitive content that may be discomforting or upsetting to certain users. Reader discretion is advised! Reason: TBA |
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Note: Not to be confused with Makoto from Street Fighter, Makoto Naegi from Danganronpa, or Makoto Yūki from Persona 3.
Makoto Niijima is a playable character that appears in Persona 5. She is a student at the council president of Shujin Academy who lived with her father alongside Sae Niijima since her mother died when both Makoto and Sae were young. Years ago, the dad died from getting hit by a truck in the line of duty leading to Sae having to juggle between handling cases in court and raising Makoto along. In order to retain the 99% indiction rate of her country's courts, Sae also more often than not, found herself having to rig cases with a guilty charge against her will. As a result, she saw both Makoto and their father as a burden and did not hold her in high regard. Makoto also regretted disliking her father and wished that he would still be around. She felt contrite about her sister having to take on the burden of supporting her on her own as it made her dislike her position thus ending up studying hard to attempt to enter a top-notch university and relieve Sae's burden once she graduates. However, no one in school took her seriously.
Why She Rocks
- To get the cat out of the bag, she can be considered to be an outcast due to her being very unpopular at the academy due to her not doing anything to stop Suguru Kamoshida's abuse thus being seen as a selfish control freak according to the other students. As a result, she comes off as a character players can sympathize with. Even her backstory proves it as well since her dad died. To be fair, she was outraged about the abuse and felt powerless to do anything because of the influence Kamoshida held over the school.
- At one point when she finds out about Sae's true nature, she even got into a breakdown. Yes, she views Sae in a bitter manner albeit she tries to attempt to please her.
- Despite being seen as an unpopular student, she chose to ignore it because all she wanted was a good letter of recommendation.
- After joining the thieves, she stopped denying herself as a tool of higher authorities and decided to vow to fight for what she really believes in as a result of triggering the awakening of her own Persona. Even after defeating Junya Kaneshiro, she has a good reason as to why she wants to join the thieves because she wants to be more honest with herself.
- Is mostly a kind person in the game as well as being a serious character at the same time. You better watch out because she takes combat seriously and is brutal out of the Thieves.
- She is pretty useful when it comes to being analytical thinking and strategist and it can help out the Thieves in no time. If you want to see it in action, you're gonna be surprised how many times she correctly deducted how many puzzles in Palaces work on first sight. You can thank her for being a student who does well in school.
- Her confidant involves the protagonist guiding Makoto around the outside world to learn more about society. Later on, she admitted that the expectations of society caused her to lose sight of the outside world and the feelings of whoever is around her. To add some more, Eiko Takao asked Makoto for help because Tsukasa had to pay for the damages after dropping a bottle of expensive sake and learned that Eiko was attempting to break free from her privileged life and even reveal her true nature of Tsukasa.
- For a rough and tough fighter, she does have some cute characteristics in her as well.
- Her being fairly close to Haru Okumura is legit reasonable as both girls want to change the hearts of loved ones who have been consumed by their obsessions.
- Accepted Ann Takamaki's apology for thinking badly of her before and said that she's been projecting her own feelings of guilt onto Makoto, and decides they're even.
Bad Qualities
- Despite being mostly kind, she can be very bossy and harshly critical toward those who don't live up to her expectations. This implies that she could be a perfectionist.
- Has the worst temper in the group.
- Her backstory had her hate her own dad albeit she regrets hating him.
- She was so desperate to prove herself to be useful that she even recklessly charged into Kaneshiro's hideout.
- She does admit that she has a bad habit of getting caught up in emotion.
Trivia
- She does not like her mask. n addition she, while wandering through Mementos, complains about her Phantom Thief attire as well.
- Queen is given the role of "Phantom Thieves' Advisor" for her wisdom.
- Makoto is the only party member to have two summoning poses in battle. The first is when she has Johanna or Agnes, where she "rides" her Persona, while her second is with Anat, which unlike Johanna and Agnes has a humanoid form.
- Her summer uniform's collar has the letters B and J embroidered on it. This is a reference to Boaz and Jachin, two pillars found at the mouth of Solomon's Temple in ancient Jerusalem. These twin pillars are also depicted in the Tarot's Priestess Arcana and are referenced with the letters "B" and "J" seen on the breasts of the boss in Persona 3. Her third-tier Persona, Agnes, has the letters B and J on its sides.
- In the Japanese version of the game, Ryuji and Haru nickname Makoto "Champion of Century's End" as a reference to Raoh from Fist of the North Star. Makoto and Raoh are both specialized in fist fighting and use a mount. This was changed to "Post-Apocalyptic Raider" in the English localization.
- In the English version, Ryuji calls her "The Fist of the Phantom Star".
- Ryuji and Futaba teased Makoto's violent act on foes as "Fist of Justice". Before the departure of a summer trip in Persona 5 Strikers, Ann told Zenkichi that "We've got Makoto to ensure that if [the boys] were to do something she'll unleash her Fist of Justice." Later in Kyoto, Makoto directly treated the four other boys who didn't pay attention to the gender-segregated serving time of the hot spring as voyeurs and unleashed Fist of Justice on the spot.
- Her "Showtime" move with Ryuji in Royal and her C6 attack in Strikers are further references to Fist of the North Star, during which Makoto performs moves indirect reference to the infamous "Hundred Rending Fists" technique.
- Her dance moves from Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are combined with punches and kicks, similar to Akihiko Sanada in Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Chie Satonaka in Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Her dream of becoming a police officer also coincides with the above two, as Akihiko decided to join the police at the ending of P4AU, and Chie has already become a police officer mentioned in Persona 5.
- Her metaverse outfit is a reference to Karmen Rider (mainly the Showa Period). The reference is heightened further by Johanna's motorcycle appearance. "Rider" is also one of the suggested nicknames for her. Makoto also shares the pronunciation of her given name with Makoto Fukami from Kamen Rider Ghost.
- She apparently has a fondness for Buchimaru-Kun merchandise, even though it's no longer sold. This is revealed when Eiko Takao notices her pencil case is a Buchimaru-Kun (and a rather old one at that.)
- n the group text after she awakens her Persona, Ryuji says that it's just like that song "I'm a phantom, on a steel horse I ride...", and Makoto follows up by saying that she's not "wanted", referencing the Bon Jovi hit Wanted Dead or Alive.
- The official Twitter account for the Persona series posted a "Happy Birthday" message for Makoto on April 23, 2017, JST. Her birthday was the first to be announced out of the main cast. Her birthday is on the same day as Reading Day or World Book Day.
- On 7/30, the protagonist can go with Makoto to watch a yakuza-themed movie called "Like a Dragon," and Makoto seems to be fond of its genre. This is a reference to the Yakuza series with the Japanese name being translated as "Like a Dragon". The first game in the series also got a movie adaptation Like a Dragon, or Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- The movie was also mentioned by Makoto in Persona Q2 during a cutscene in the fourth labyrinth. According to her, that was her favorite movie. Hikari has watched it before and was fond of it as well.
- Additional references to the Yakuza series can be found in Persona 5 Strikers. On 7/26, the protagonist can walk up to Makoto outside a toy store and interact with her, prompting the line, “So, ‘Dragon: Like a Yakuza’ is out? *sigh* I can’t just go by myself though....” This references the most recent title in the Yakuza franchise, Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Additionally, on 8/24 in Osaka, Makoto can be found on Ebisu Bridge commenting on how she was at the location where "that guy got shot," likely an allusion to the stabbing of the Yakuza protagonist Kazuma Kiryu during the events of the second game.
- There are 813 books in Makoto's room.
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