Makoto Yūki/Kotone Shiomi (Persona 3)

"Don't let your kids watch this!" - Robbie Rotten This article contains potentially sensitive content that may be discomforting or upsetting to certain users. Reader discretion is advised! Reason: Topics of suicide.

Makoto Yūki/Kotone Shiomi Who cares? Gender: Male Player by choice (Persona 3 Portable) Type: Emo Protagonist (Makoto Yūki) Bubbly Protagonist (Kotone Shiomi) Age: 16-17 Species: Human Portrayed by: Akira Ishida (Japanese) Yuri Lowenthal (English) Marina Inoue (Kotone; Japanese) Laura Bailey (Kotone; English) Status: Deceased Media of origin: Persona 3

Yukari: Our lives out in danger! Do you want to die!?
Makoto: I don't really care... Is dying really that scary to you?

- Makoto, as he has no interest in dying.

Makoto Yūki/Minato Arisato/Minako Arisato is the main protagonist in Persona 3, and a posthumous character in Persona 4 Arena Ultimate. He/She is a transfer student enrolling in Gekkoukan High School in Iwatodai City. He/She is an orphan whose parents died on the Moonlight Bridge in their car during a fatal incident a decade prior to the game.

Per... So... Na...!

Why He/She is Igor's Best Guest

Overall

1. Makoto had one of the most badass awakenings the the entire Persona franchise. A sinister smile pointing a gun at oneself and literally unleashing the demon within him made it all the more terrifying.
2. It's true that Makoto/Kotone is a silent protagonist, can look emotionless, but he/she is very kind hearted and forgiving.
3. The way Makoto/Kotone summons Orpheus/Thanatos/Messiah by shooting himself/herself in the head without dying can look really badass, considering the game's message is about accepting death.
4. While being a silent protagonist, Makoto is very stoic, reserved and calm, sometimes, had no care in the world, not even dying, and gathered by the fact that he remains unmoved even when guns are pointed at him, as well as walking under a green sky and being surrounded by blood pools and coffins everywhere at the beginning of Persona 3.
5. He/She is very well designed. Especially with the emo hair.
6. That goes to saying his/her Personas are not only well designed, but symbolizes their fates in the game.
   • Both genders of Orpheus, are based after the Greek mythology Orpheus.
   • Thanatos, the Greek god of death, represents the theme of the game, and Makoto's fate later on.
   • And lastly, Messiah. It is based after Jesus of Nazareth.
7. Makoto/Kotone gets along well with the members of S.E.E.S, Aigis, Shuji Ikutsuki (until he betrayed the group), Ryoji/Pharos, Elizabeth/Theodore.
8. Unlike Ren and Yu (who both went home to their original hometown after end of their school year and saying goodbye to their friends happily), Makoto/Kotone died on the day of their graduation, resting on top of Aigis' lap (other members of S.E.E.S. in the PSP version).
   • In the following aftermath of saving the world by sealing Nyx, but at the cost of his/her life, making the sacrifice by becoming a door, and preventing the end of all life, Makoto/Kotone spends his/her remaining days until March 5th as a regular highschool student, then lies on Aigis' lap while having their last talk together, and sleeps for eternity.
9. "Personal space, please."
   • "Who cares?"
   • "That's impressive. You chained your nose to your face so you won't lose it."
10. His personality in the game/movies may differ:
    • He is more of a neutral and desensitized character in the games. Like almost nothing fazed him as much anymore since the death of his parents, but develops more as a person depending on the dialogue the player chooses.
    • In the Persona 3 films, Makoto is known to be much darker, sadder, and edgier compared to his personality from the video game and the manga. Unlike in the games, he suffers from PTSD, chooses to isolate himself and prevents making new friends and connections so he wouldn't have to experience losing loved ones again after the loss of his parents.
      • His line in experiencing The Dark Hour for the first time: "I don't really care. Is dying really that scary to you?" goes to show how Makoto is suicidal, and does not seem to be interested in dying and/or being forgotten. Especially in the Falling Down movie, he hugs Aigis and admits he didn't want to do anything with S.E.E.S. anymore after witnessing the death of Mitsuru Kirijo's father.
      • But as the movies progressed, he starts to warm up to S.E.E.S. members by interacting more, and develops relationships. And when his friends were being consumed by the Shadows, Makoto uses his life to become a seal to save his friends and humanity.

Kotone Shiomi

1. His female counterpart, Kotone (referred to as Minako "Hamuko Yūki" Arisato by fans, sometimes FeMC or "Phem See"), can act the opposite. In contrast of Makoto's emo personality, she is very bubbly, funny, upbeat and cheerful. Her dialogue choices exhibit a broad spectrum of emotions, ranging from sarcasm, joking tones, utter seriousness in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth.
   • Kotone also has a sadistic side, like Haru Okumura.
   • She seems to be giggling in joy after knocking out the security guard, all the while scaring the Phantom Thieves.
2. "I'll sell you one for 1000 yen."

Bad Qualities

1. Similar to Ren from Persona 5 and Yu from Persona 4, he/she doesn't speak very often, this is a common thing in RPG games.
2. Although being emo isn't a bad thing, but when Makoto/Kotone first transferred to Gekkoukan High's dormitory, he/she looked uninterested when the civilians turned into coffins or everything around him turned green. He/She just walks in the dorm like it's a normal thing.
3. Makoto/Kotone's sacrifice caused hiccups in the aftermath:
   • In the following events of The Answer, S.E.E.S. had a falling out of whether bringing back Makoto being a good thing, otherwise, Makoto's sacrifice would be in vain. And the disagreements caused some (except Aigis, and Fuuka) of them to turn on each other. They did make up in the end fortunately and went to prevent Erebus from destroying the Seal.
   • In the following events of Persona 5, the Palace rulers (Shido, Kamoshida, etc.) would become slaves to the Holy Grail after their cognition are changed, making it similar to the Apathy Syndrome except their own desires. So in other words, Makoto's sacrifice in preventing the end of the world wasn't enough to have it cleansed, and proves Takaya's, Ikutsuki's, Ryoji's/Nyx's, and even Takuto Maruki's motivations as somewhat morally correct.

Kotone Shiomi

1. She's considered to be one of the franchise's obscure characters.

Trivia

• Makoto (Male) appears as an optional boss in Persona 5: Royal.
• He is mostly right handed, but in the Persona 3 movies, he also uses his left hand to summon Personas, so therefore, Makoto is ambidextrous, like Goro Akechi.
  • Speaking of Goro Akechi, both have personal belongings that are currently with the protagonist (Makoto's evoker currently with Aigis, and Akechi's left glove currently with Ren).
• He/Kotone, Aigis, Yu, Ren, and Akechi are the current known Wild Card Persona users.
• His death at the end of the game is foreshadowed with the "memento mori: remember that you are mortal, remember you will die" message in the intro.
• Makoto never speaks for the most part, only occasionally mentioning the name of the equipped Persona when gearing up for a powerful attack. Arming him with a bow will have him shouting "Come forth!" or "Persona!" when summoning. Even though this variation does not occur in the JP version, equipping him with other weapon types will make him intone differently.
• The music played on his MP3 player appears to be a remixed version of Burn My Dread. The same remix is also used again as background music in the very last battle of the game.
• At the beginning of the scene Awakening (first Persona summon), one can carefully see that Makoto is wearing the SEES armband even though he didn't join SEES yet, of course in later parts of the scene the armband doesn't show. A similar goof occurs on 7/11 - when Mitsuru gathers the group in the dorm and talks about the Kirijo Group, they are wearing their winter uniforms instead of their summer uniforms.
• He is talented at making fox sounds.
• Despite joining art class, his art skills are questionable.
• During the credits roll, for both The Journey and The Answer, Messiah appears behind Makoto silhouette, indicating Messiah is his ultimate Persona. His actions in the game seem to support this, as he sacrifices his life to save humanity from itself. Furthermore, he appears crucified on the Great Seal, alluding to Jesus of Nazareth, the Christian messiah, who died via crucifixion for a similar purpose.
• He holds a distinct honor of being the only protagonist to be capable of wielding multiple weapons (although his default weapon is a One-Handed Sword). However, this was changed for Persona 3 Portable, in which he is only able to wield One-Handed Swords.
• He is also the only character in the series able to use Fusion Raids without another character to assist him. In P3P however, Fusion Raids are now expendable items, and do not require that the specific Persona be around when they are used.
• Ironically, despite the fact that knives are one of the few weapons he can't wield in the game, a knife is the first weapon the protagonist is given to fight within the manga.
• He is the only character, other than his female counterpart, known to use the "The Universe Arcana."
• The Shirt of Chivalry, a type of costume for males in FES and P3P, is noted for the Kanji symbols on their backs that symbolizes the character. Makoto's kanji means "honorable man" (漢), being the field leader of SEES and being able to strengthen bonds through Social Links.
• There are some audio files hidden in the DVD disc of Persona 3 FES that contains voices of Makoto and Aigis shouting the names of the other SEES members Personas.
• When he hears "Jika Net Tanaka," he describes it as an annoying song unlike Yu Narukami of Persona 4 who describes it as a cheery song. This implies that, despite the player's choices, he and Yu have some semblance of a predetermined personality.
• The way the shadow version of him was formed by the regret of SEES members alludes to the Metal Trio from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment manifested in Torifune out of Tatsuya Suou's guilt for breaking the promise with his former friends. While The Metal Trio in P2EP uses the golden version of their own ultimate Personas, the shadow protagonist in P3FES uses the golden version of the S.E.E.S. members' ultimate personas.
• Makoto likely symbolizes the Jesus of Nazareth, as he only has a limited amount of time to live before he becomes crucified on the Great Seal to save all life and humanity from death.
• In Persona 4 Arena, an additional color for Yu Narukami and his Persona mimics the colors of the protagonist and his Persona.
• In Persona Q, should the players choose Persona 4 at the start of the game, before he introduces himself he is referred to as "A Boy with Earphones." In addition, in his Japanese gameplay trailer, his name is written as "Minato Arisato" (likely since the manga was out a while before the movie series so it is his more popular name), while in English gameplay trailer his name is still written as "P3 Hero."
• Makoto is one of only two characters in the Persona series to change ultimate Personas between two separate appearances without it being some sort of upgrade, the other being Eriko Kirishima. In Persona Q, he uses Messiah as his ultimate Persona, while in Persona Q2 he uses Orpheus Telos as his ultimate Persona and Messiah is assigned to his female counterpart.
• Makoto shares the English voice actor as Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto, Dainsleif from Genshin Impact, Ben Tennyson from Ben 10: Alien Force/Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Peter Parker/Spider-Man from the PlayStation 4 game with the same name, Suzaku Kururugi from Code Geass and Adam/He-Man from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 2021 reboot.
  • Kotone shares the same voices as Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan, Tohka Yatogami from Date A Live, and Yoko Littener from Gurran Lagann in Japanese. She also shares the same voices as Rise Fujiwara from Persona 4, Nadine Ross from the Uncharted series, Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket, and Abby from The Last of Us Part II.

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