The Use of Color in Persona 4 [P4G Analysis]

[Music] now we're going to talk about color theory in my opinion probably the closest analysis ever toes the line towards pseudointellectualism at least that's the feeling in my gut I have troubl shaking but while it may not always have something thought out in every piece of art from every person who's ever done it this is a renowned form of art critique and style that has been part of public art discourse since the turn of the century in 1704 with Isaac Newton's theory of color since then the way we naturally associate emotion and ideas with colors has been studied thoroughly including with special mental ailments that amplify these subconscious feelings like Synthesia which naturally Associates for the person different mediums with each other for example to people with Synthesia things can taste red or sound pink so before you give into your natural implications keep in mind that there is some validity in color theory even on a biological level with the way our brains compartmentalize and Associate things subconsciously and as for the art that created Persona at least if we've seen already through my other analysis videos that the structure and characters are handled mindfully else where why should we arbitrarily decide that we're too good for it and that it stops here especially when and here's the most validating part the people doing the character designs are well-renowned and paid character designers I think we shouldn't dismiss it let's have fun taking color theory to task as we look at the overall design for our main cast of characters in Persona 4 shenoi soima the artist behind Persona 3 through five among obviously countless other Atlas titles who did all the character designs and was the one who decided Persona 3 would be blue Persona 4 yellow and Persona 5 red has already stated how he was mindful with how these colors would present certain emotions he admits that it was semi unintentional with Persona 3 but when Persona 4 rolled around he wanted a happy and more uplifting tone represented by something like a yellow handkerchief of Happiness giving it a cheerful Vibe which of course stands by the color theory interpretation of it but also probably just matches your natural intuition because for most people that's how color theory Works yellow is often associated with things like optimism idealism hope sunshine and summer he also cloaks a dark yellow over the murder scenes to give it this sickish Vibe some negative emotions naturally associated with yellow are illness Hazard and things like deceit so since we have on record soima considering aspects of color theory into his design on Persona 4 I think it's now more than reasonable to draw analysis here in fact Marie in some of her Social Links even makes slight fun of the fact that CH is always wearing greens and Yuko is wearing Reds and pinks so let's jump into the main cast and see some of what their design says about them I'm going to round back to yoske but how about we hit Chi first with our car no Chi is primarily green with yellow stripes the positivity and idealism is something that we already have covered is part of yellow and make sense with ch's positive mentality the fact that she ends up actually dedicating herself to becoming a police officer in her future is something to consider too wanting to help bring up and keep the peace in her town that she's already fought so hard for green is also associated with youthfulness something shown in her childish idea of training by doing Kung Fu moves despite no longer being a kid and actually not putting effort into proper technique other traits like youthfulness and vigor contribute to her energetic nature with green but possibly best of all green stands for Envy heck we even have a common phrase that someone can be Green With Envy Chi's initial character Arc comes from her Envy toward her more classically feminine best friend Yuko and her feelings of insecurity as to not being a great woman in her own eyes being envious of the pretty and ladylike girls unlike herself um also in some portraits she also has a jacket open exposing a white shirt which also can stand for Pure youthful nature interestingly enough and very wholesome is after the time skip there is no green on her person at all the lack of green obviously leads into her character Arc finally overcoming her insecurity and envy through the events of last year and having the yellow present in her other outfits still make it up to rest here it shows that she still has that positivity and idealism turned up even more after facing herself and maturing as a person person blue is now from an occasional minor color the other dominant color on her outfit and I think in this context it represents its meaning of Truth and confidence her gained confidence on who she is as a person and as a woman her gained truth through the trials conquered now back to yoske as I promised yoske is defined through most of his outfits with primarily orange with stripes of red red obviously has association with anger but it also has a connection with passion in general as solima pointed out himself when giving an interview on deciding to give Persona 5 its red color Focus this passion toward the case this even more outspoken anger toward the killer being personally connected to a person killed there The Ore I think balances this as it represents humor warmth flamboyance and enthusiasm yok's warmth and humor is something that defines and makes him sit out from the rest of the group quite strongly having a sort of of radiant Comfort to him in some scenes he's still hot-tempered and drawn by negative desires as well but generally I think this all fits yoske to a te in his true ending appearance his orange and red have melded mostly into a slightly reddish pink color pink is associated often with contentment and of someone who is happy and healthy this innocent relaxed self also fits in with the idea of the inner self conquered and an era of Peace after the game's conclusion Yuko has a more varied primary focus outfit to outfit but generally has a base of red and white which transitions into pink which also fits her Persona Kono hanos sakya who uses fire moves and mythologically is tied to Pink cherry blossom trees even emphasized in her ultimate fire move burning petals I'll attempt not to repeat myself too much as we go on but in yukiko's case red representing love makes sense in the same way that Chi's green meaning Envy did her personal insecurity and wanting to be swept away by someone who can love and take care of her is Central to the conflict of her dungeon the pinks on the other hand while representing innocence as I said before they can also refer to things that are soft delicate and traditionally feminine in nature this makes sense as Yukio is easily the most reserved classically feminine quiet and traditionally Japanese of the bunch I mean she's the only one they went out of their way to give black hair and is repeatedly called things like traditional Beauty other than the obvious connection to an old Japanese Inn once again at the end of the game the red is almost entirely gone from her outfit instead cloaking her in a light gentle blue coming back to trust truth and unity that represents the color there's plenty of other things it represents with her here as well although they honestly just sound like synonyms at this point so I'll leave it there kanji is normally adorned in blacks and dark colors giving us a look at both sides of him from our wrong first impression in game and our knowledge of him when we understand him black can mean obviously as seen in millions of metaphors and examples since the beginning of time ever evil it means fear unhappiness and mystery which all fits the feelings of Curiosities of the early investigation team and town of enaba toward kanji at the early part of the game before rescuing and being his dungeon on the flip side black often represents sexuality power and a rejection of proposed Norms Kani being someone torn and confused by his sexuality and being against societal Norms by being into traditionally feminine interests fits him too well the other colors we see Pop Up in prominence are yellow and purple yellow as we've covered can refer to Joy optimism and hope I think this is the vibe that's given by a black jacket draped over his shirt that inside kanji is a sugar bun of simple happiness a good ideal friend who really cares and is very sensitive but feels too afraid into holding on a facade that keeps that true self hidden the purple as we haven't covered yet can refer to transformation while still holding on to connection to ideas of eroticism and sexuality from his other colors this purple is only seen in the last month of the playable game so his transformation makes sense to show purple all he's gone through and now all he's grown at the end of the game just like every other character we've covered kanji loses his primary color the black representing and associating with his insecurity conquered with exception to his naturally black hair now which could be taken to mean that he has come to grips and accepted who he is no longer putting on a facade the white and yellow also being prominent shows his willingness to show a more authentic trustworthy ideal and joyful self openly after conquering his inner self and feelings over the previous year re kujikawa is overwhelmingly pink and orange both colors we've already covered her energy flamboyance and fancy fitting her tendency to joke and poke fun at others like kanji and the other girls being made apparent the pink being romantic Charming playful and feminine also makes sense for God's sakes she's literally the lovers Arana she's pink which means love it's not that hard to see her outfit ending in primarily blue though with some pink covered in a partly transparent white top the blue and white feels like a theme again and again the truth unity and confidence carries over with our Persona cast together as they come together after conquering themselves and izanami's plot to make them avoid that truth Naro is blue oh so blue she's very blue all the time her hair is blue her hat is blue she's basically basically always wearing blue and forever I think if I were to extrapolate a meaning of this dark blue it would probably be stability since we consistently see that as part of her design it also represents someone concerned with order and security the security also makes sense with her dungeon being a literal secret base all based around security protocols and threats sometimes blue refers to cold in both temperature and perception of socialization someone who is cold reserved and standoffish a description of dark blue sometimes is conservatism not politically obviously but emotionally personally conversing and protecting the self that's something we see a ton with Nao through the game in her inability to properly understand jokes or really converse with others in an open manner in her Shadow Self a yellow tie appears showing a sort of emphasis on the negative traits of yellow jealousy covetousness and idealism although not in a negative way wholesale her final outfit is overwhelmingly white representing the same as the previous to her but note that the outfit design accentuates exposed arms and a more feminine shirt giving focus on her defined bust this also shows how the blue and white she has now has turned into that confidence and self assuredness that she wanted about herself a level of inner peace that she loves and accepts herself as who she is even enough to confidently show herself that way to others now let's try to run a little bit more of an abbreviated speed round for some characters not in our main party nanako is almost always primarily in white with some pink representing Purity innocence and love adachi is cloaked in a dark almost black color representing his identity with a deeper red tie showing his anger red also represents blood when mixed more Darkly rather than bright and colorful and in contrast dojima actually wears a light gray and bright red tie the bright red referring more to positive traits like passion and strength but aggression and anger are still a part of his character there as well the gray or silver is more Earthly grounded and natural I abih focuses on pink and white lives up to her name and general personal Focus as well but you've probably heard me ramble on about her already so if you don't know what I'm talking about check out the video I made on her link and if it's not up hey here's an opportunity to subscribe and turn on the Bell it'll be out soon eventually I think with what I've said you can pretty accurately deduce the general goal of each of the characters outfits from here on out but I thought this would be a fun interesting change of pace and a good moment to focus on the more subtle aspects of professional art whenever it comes to context of story and narrative that you usually don't see a lot outside of school anyways on to the next segment if you haven't subscribed subcribed please turn on the Bell like I said just a moment ago so that you can see all the videos when they come out and to help these videos actually succeed and reach other persona fans please like and leave a comment I appreciate an absolute ton I can't ask for it enough please dear God please uh also if you know any places where Persona fans gather that may find interest in this please share it with them so thank you so much to my patrons and everybody else who allows me to continue going I'll see you soon [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh

Channel: Hiding in Private

Views: 62,643

Keywords: persona, atlus, persona 4, persona 4 golden, persona 4 analysis, p4 analysis, p4g analysis, color theory, The Use of Color in Persona 4, persona 4 theory, p4, p4g, persona art

Id: GAgmxNx6vNk

Length: 14min 46sec (886 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 05 2022