Ryuji Sakamoto

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The native form of this personal name is Sakamoto Ryūji. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Ryuji Sakamoto
Persona character
Ryuji Sakamoto, as he appears in Persona 5
First gamePersona 5 (2016)
Designed byShigenori Soejima
Portrayed byKouhei Shiota (stage play)
Voiced by
Motion captureYu Jurry[a]
In-universe information
AffiliationPhantom Thieves of Hearts
NationalityJapanese

Ryuji Sakamoto (坂本 竜司, Sakamoto Ryūji) is a fictional character in the 2016 video game

Seiten Taisei. He is portrayed by Mamoru Miyano in Japanese and Max Mittelman
in English.

Since his role in Persona 5, he has received generally mixed reception, regarded as one of the less popular characters in the game and receiving hate from some fans of the game, despite others finding it surprising that he ranked so low. His treatment as comic relief, particularly through comic violence, has also been criticized, with writer Kenneth Shepard suggesting that the fact that he was a victim of abuse that is taken seriously in the story is undercut when he is so often the victim of such comic violence.

Concept and creation

Ryuji Sakamoto was created for

Seiten Taisei when Captain Kidd awakens. The decision to use Seiten Taisei as his awakened Persona was due to multiple factors, including his personality and backstory. They also included him because Seiten Taisei in his most famous Japanese depiction is that of the blonde monkey. The fact that Captain Kidd rides a boat and Seiten Taisei rides a cloud similarly was also a factor.[3]

He is voiced in Japanese by Mamoru Miyano and in English by Max Mittelman.[4] Mittelman did not audition for the role, but was given the opportunity by Atlus to voice for Persona 5, submitted for a role in the game. He was discovered by Atlus after he performed a role in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse as the character Hallelujah. Atlus felt that he would be a good fit for Ryuji, with him being told that no one else could voice Ryuji. Mittelman speculated that he would have been given only the protagonist, Joker or Ryuji, hoping that he would be picked for Ryuji. During the voice work, the directors allowed him to do what he wanted to do, though he was unsure if it was because they wanted him to do what he wanted or because he did a good job matching the Japanese performance.[5] Mittelman discussed how much he enjoyed voicing Ryuji due to how "explosive" he was, as well as how justified his anger. He discussed how he put a lot of himself into Ryuji, as he found Ryuji relatable.[6] When asked who of the characters he voiced he related to the most, he picked Ryuji, as he related to growing up with a desire to rebel against authority.[5]

Ryuji Scenario writer and choreographer Teppei Kobayashi for

Junpei Iori from Persona 3, discussing how difficult it was to keep their dance styles from being too similar due to their similar personalities and the fact that Yu Jurry performed motion capture for both Ryuji and Junpei. Kobayashi discussed how Ryuji's personality was still relatively new compared to Junpei's, and the team discussed which traits they would develop in this game. They did not want to focus too much on him being a delinquent, as they worried it would be too similar to Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4, also performed by Jurry in Persona 4: Dancing All Night. He described Ryuji as having the feel of a dropout, but still being earnest and passionate, wanting that to be reflected in his dancing. During a partner dance between Ryuji and Morgana, Ryuji air guitars; this idea was conceived by Jurry.[7]

Appearances

Ryuji first appeared in 2016's

Persona 5: Dancing Star Night, and Persona 5 Tactica. In Dancing Star Night, Ryuji has multiple alternate outfits, including one based on Ryuji Goda from the Yakuza series and one based on Aleph from Shin Megami Tensei II, the latter requiring that they make a backside for the outfit due to one not existing in the game.[8]

Reception

Ryuji has received mixed reception since his appearance in

Persona 5 Royal characters, which left Rock Paper Shotgun writer Kaan Serin shocked, who said that his placement resulted in strong reactions from fans. He suggested that his English voice actor may have helped make him more popular in the west.[9] However, he has also received a lot of hate from fans.[10] The A.V. Club writer Clayton Purdom felt that his archetype did not make sense, and that it caused his plot arc to be confused.[11] USgamer writer Caty McCarthy felt that he defied the archetype, which had previously been used for Junpei Iori and Yosuke Hanamura from Persona 3 and Persona 4 respectively. She discussed how this archetype is "loud and annoying," but Ryuji's personality elevates beyond that, citing his rough background and calling him a "sweet kid" who cares about his friends and justice.[12] In her first playthrough of Persona 5, Kotaku writer Amanda Yeo expected to hate Ryuji due to the negative fan response, thinking that he had done something significant to earn the ire. Yeo noted that there were multiple traits that would make people dislike him, including his interactions with women and Morgana, but also called him "straightforward, honest, loyal and willing to speak up against injustice." Yeo drew comparisons between Makoto and Ryuji, noting that some fans believe that people who love Ryuji would hate Makoto, and vice versa. They disliked Makoto at first, finding her cold, but coming to appreciate her as she developed, much like she did with Ryuji.[10] Fanbyte writer Kenneth Shepard was critical of Persona 5's propensity to use Ryuji as the source of most physical comedy, arguing that him being a victim of physical abuse cast that trend in a negative light. He felt that this took away Ryuji's dignity and downplays Ryuji's abuse.[13] Screen Rant writer John Tibbetts felt similarly disappointed by how much of Ryuji's role is relegated to comic relief, feeling like they undermine both Persona 5 Strikers and Ryuji himself. He felt that the character Akira Konoe should have been contrasted with Ryuji, deriding that the team seemed to only be interested in Ryuji as a joke character.[14]

Yosuke Hanamura confessed his love for protagonist Yu Narukami. He suggested that the change in staff, particularly with the introduction of director Katsura Hashino, was the cause of the series becoming less progressive.[15] Writer Martin Ivančić discussed how Ryuji's linguistic profile served as the representative of "casual/informal vernacular," describing it as "youthful, loud, and energetic, filled with slang and expletives." He suggested that his use of slang and expletives serve to emphasize both his emotional and rebellious nature, contrasting Japanese society, which is more polite and respectful.[16] Writer David Daniel Ribeiro da Silva discussed the choice of associating William Kidd with Ryuji, commenting how it reflected Ryuji's personality due to Captain Kidd's duality of behaving amorally while still seemingly having a moral code. He pointed to various qualities of Ryuji, including "blunt but kind" personality, his tendency to resort to violence and immaturity, and his desire to protect others even if he has to commit crimes as examples of points of comparison. He also discussed their similar backgrounds, namely that both grew up without a father,[17]

A pair of Ryuji's shoes garnered controversy in

yankii, specifically in the bōsōzoku subculture.[18]

Notes

  1. Persona 5: Dancing Star Night

References

  1. ^ Wallace, Kimberley (December 9, 2015). "New Persona 5 Details You Won't Find Anywhere Else". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  2. ^ Shigenori Soejima P-STUDIO Art Unit ART WORKS 2010-2017.
  3. ^ Persona 5 Maniacus.
  4. ^ "Ryuji Sakamoto". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Ryuji & Mona's Voice Actors Chat Without Killing Each Other. FOR REAL! - Max Mittelman Interview". Cassandra Lee Morris. January 26, 2021. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  6. ^ "Persona 5 - Interview with Max Mittelman (Ryuji VA)". Gematsu. November 2, 2016. Archived from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  7. ^ Persona 3 Dancing Moon Night / Persona 5 Dancing Star Night Official Visual Book.
  8. ^ "Interview". Persona Official Magazine. 2018.
  9. ^ Serin, Kaan (January 5, 2023). "Ryuji fans won't be pleased with this Persona 5 Royal character poll". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Yeo, Amanda (August 10, 2017). "In Defence of Persona 5's Ryuji". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  11. ^ Purdom, Clayton (May 2, 2017). "Pt. 4—A definitive, inarguable ranking of Persona 5 characters". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  12. ^ McCarthy, Caty (April 17, 2017). "The Definitive Persona 5 Power Rankings". USgamer. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Shepard, Kenneth (July 13, 2023). "Persona 5 Needs to Stop Using Ryuji as a Punching Bag". Fanbyte. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  14. ^ Tibbetts, John (April 21, 2022). "Persona 5 Strikers' Story Could've Been Saved By Ryuji". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  15. ^ Teitelbaum, Ria (February 20, 2023). "Persona 5 Can't Handle Queer Relationships". Kotaku. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  16. ^ Ivančić, Martin (2023). "A Multimodal Analysis of Immersion in Persona 5 Royal". Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  17. ^ Daniel Ribeiro da Silva, David (2018). "Intersemiotic Translation in Videogames: An Analysis on the Characters of Persona 5" (PDF). University of Porto. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  18. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (October 4, 2016). "The Persona 5 Controversy In South Korea". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
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