#all in all i guess it's not strictly a parallel to ryuji- the most i can say is that jo is similarly shown to be more outwardly violent | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

todayisafridaynight · 1 year

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I think the strongest direct Ryuji parallel is just that RGGJo is also a There Can Only Be One Dragon-type bitch. But I honestly don't think it chafes him for the same reasons as Ryuji lol, because there's also the element of Ichi "copying" his design and "doing it better" (in a meta sense, on account of Horitomo handling his tattoo but not RGGJo's.) It's a fun callback and good set-dressing for what amounts to two sons squabbling for their dad's approval.

It's kind of fun to think about for real though, because in Ryuji's RGGO story, the Arakawa Family are tasked with assassinating Ryuji. And Jo's all ready to go but Arakawa makes the crucial decision to assign Ichi to the job instead. While Ichi does Empty An Entire Clip into Ryuji and it's badass as hell, he's also nice enough to get him immediate medical attention, which Jo wouldn't have been. Wild that Ryuji would be dead long before K2 if Jo and Ryuji really had met at that time.

Outside of that... perhaps a hot take... but I think Ryuji would be RGGJo's "type." Because the instant he meets Kagami (Tendo's counterpart, whom I personally prefer to Tendo himself lol) they hit it off. By which I mean RGGJo was blatantly flirting with him and batting his eyelashes going "Oh, you wouldn't want to fight little old me, I'm delicate." And, you know, Kagami's supposed to be The Ryujicore Guy, sort of in the vein of Watase in Y5 but even more so.

And I think the reason they get along so well--they, as "old-fashioned" yakuza, value strength above all else within other yakuza--is also something that transferred to Y7Jo, if his monologue in The Eye Scene is anything to go by. So that's perhaps another parallel with Ryuji that originated with RGGO, although Majima and some others are the same way, so perhaps not.

That's definitely the strongest connection between RGGJo and Ryuji, it's an aspect I was immediately able to pick up on when I was first reading through RGGO (and again, it is really funny from the lens of Ichi and Jo being bickering brothers just pointing at each other and going 'I did it first, you copied me!' and whining to dad about it lmao)

Ryuji's penchant for escaping death's pretty funny (if we want to count him surviving in Dead Souls as canonical, this is twice now): bless Ichiban for reserving his right to kill so we could at least meet Ryuji first (though now I can't help but to imagine Ryuji as some heinous beast they've been tasked to hunt down. I guess Ryuji being so large and having a fur coat doesn't help get rid of that imagination: Arakawa Family hunting trip anyone?).

SPEAKING of unmissable Ryuji traits in RGGO, Kagami was ESPECIALLY an absolute slap in the face for RGG to be like 'hey you guys remember Ryuji'. I almost laughed seeing him, but I didn't hate him of course, I was just surprised they really introduced a character so objectively inspired by Ryuji. I think you're onto something though: they could definitely click if given the chance (and now I do wonder what would have happened if RGGJo was sent to kill Ryuji instead…).

#long post #holder until i think of a tag for these asks #snap chats #i was going to include this in the main body but i thought i might have started to veer off Elsewhere #but in regards to the respect to strength and hierarchy while its true many characters possess that adherence to it #it feels as though ryuji's is the most prominent- at least in the strength aspect. esp with how physically large he is #like mine and nishiki react with violence because of personal reasons (yumi's sister being killed/daigo being insulted)#meanwhile ryuji acts with violence mostly because he sees someone as an inconvenience #tho with sengoku i suppose it was personal.. and to his credit daigo was the one swinging fists first for him to respond #i guess ryuji just has more opportunities to react with violence lmao #all in all i guess it's not strictly a parallel to ryuji- the most i can say is that jo is similarly shown to be more outwardly violent #on that note. completely jumping to a different paragraph in this ask.#all i could be reminded with the kagami paragraph was that 'i'm just a little birthday boy' post ☠️☠️#same energy..#but man what IF RGGJo and ryuji got to meet. definitely a fun What If to think about #in any case ive also got myself laughing at the idea of a hunting trip with ichi and jo now #if ichi cant bring himself to kill nancy after getting attached to her i just wanna know how he'd do with like. rabbits.#not saying im any better no i could never but i'd still want to see it LMAO

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khytal · 6 years

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gonna ramble a little bit about the Phantom Thieves

yesterday marks the day I got sucked into Persona hell one year ago, so-

If you couldn’t already tell or didn’t know, I love Ryuji. A lot. I won’t get into reasons why bc I kinda already dedicated a whole text post to him last month, but yeah. I hope you don’t mind. If anyone says he’s a bad character in the tags of my posts I will...not fight you, but I’ll be mildly disappointed. He’s such a good kid, how could you hate someone with only the best of intentions where it really counts?

Makoto...I think a lot of people relate to her, in terms of the “always doing what they’re told” aspect. At least, I do. Actually, I went through her romance route on my first playthrough (and then hung out with Ryuji on Valentine’s Day, ha-). She’s cool. If it weren’t for Yusuke, she’d be best gi-

And Yusuke, the starving artist himself, is also someone I can relate to. Weird manner of speech, short hair that nearly covers the left eye (or in my case, actually does), art, needing to be taken care of in the way of food...yeah.

I’m still in the middle of my second playthrough, but I intend to pay more attention to Haru because I...kinda neglected her after she became a party member. So my perception of her is essentially the fanbase’s Haru.

Also, I consider Futaba to be like Akira/Ren’s younger sister. She’s adorable?? A precious kid. And...I guess I lowkey ship Yutaba, but mostly I enjoy scenarios where they get along.

I, uh, don’t have much to say about Ann. She’s all right. Definitely an excellent...wingwoman? Wingman? Whichever you prefer. Yeah.

Lately I’ve found that I appreciate Akechi’s character a lot more? Or maybe not appreciate, but become more...aware of the reasons behind his motives. So now I have this “he didn’t deserve anything that caused him to go down this dark path” feeling towards him. Whether he should’ve gotten a redemption arc is an entirely different discussion, one that I’m not willing to engage in.

Honestly Morgana’s okay. I mean he’s kind of an ass half the time, but if I could have a talking feline companion IRL to yell at me, maybe I wouldn’t procrastinate as much. ...Just saying. .....And I’d probably get more sleep.

Akira/Ren’s kind of tricky. Yeah, I do gush over him (like so many people) because goddamn if he isn’t the most badass teenage thief in any video game ever, but going strictly by the game’s canon and dialogue choices, he’s...hm. For all the things he doesn’t do, like lending Ryuji a hand in that ONE PART, he’s still seen as “dependable”. But that’s kinda how he parallels with Akechi--

-Stating the obvious here: Akechi is intended to be seen as a “good guy” with the whole detective-aiding-the-police thing, but is revealed to be a murderer.

-And as a “criminal”, Akira/Ren is the “bad guy” with a caring personality (if the player so wishes). He’s the “hero”, the “protagonist”, and yet he too is guilty of terrible things. Not as bad as murder, but they might as well be nearly as awful.

Uh, the point I’m attempting to reach is that both of them have a “supposed to be good, but does this to contradict that” sort of thing going on.

....Which is why the fanbase’s general interpretation of Akira is so much more likable. We focus on the dorky, charming aspects of his vaguely outlined canon personality, and rewrite his “irresponsible” actions. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, since his personality (and subsequently his actions) are mostly defined by the player anyway.

So yeah. I love Akira/Ren, but specifically the fan interpretation for turning him into a snarky, criminal memelord.

And...........AkiRyu is my favorite ship. While I’m not someone who’ll judge you for preferring a different ship (because...fighting over that is pretty pointless), there are some I don’t like for personal reasons.

#khytal.ks #(hopefully I'll be able to do something special for July 3rd)#(UH)#(NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S RYUJI'S BIRTHDAY)

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