Why is Yosuke #1 in Japan while Ryuji & Kanji are... not even close? (Values Dissonance in Persona)

oh boy it's happened again the latest Persona polls from Japan have brought out more salty reactions from overseas fans over stuff like the protagonist taking the top spot for the 100th time but that's not what we're here for today no today we're talking about why yosuke is one of if not the most popular male party member in Japan and why on the other hand ruji and kanji who are General favorites among westerners hardly get any love in Native Atlas polls now before we really get into it I do want to get the quote fujo bait topic out of the way first this undoubtedly plays a role but honestly I'm not a fan of how dismissively and even misogynistically this argument is thrown around sometimes in actual shame given how the fujoshi subculture is way more complex and even queer inclusive in Native Japan than anglophones on the internet make it out to be I'll get more into this topic in my eventual yosuke video but I'm leaving links to more information on the actual nature of the Japanese fujoshi Community if you're curious below anyway yosuke's popularity goes Way Beyond just being shipping bait for you and I'll be presenting two main reasons why these differences in the polls can be mostly attributed to values dissonance between our respective cultures a topic that just means a lot to me having grown up as fourth generation Japanese American on my dad's side yet also having had a mom who was born in raised in Japan in other words I've been well aware of and have experienced culture clashes since I was very young and just a disclaimer I'm not saying Japan is a complete monolith here nor am I saying one culture is inherently better than another they're all just different I'm just hoping this video can help explain why there seems to be this huge discrepancy between General Japanese and Western audience taste so to start off being a noisy and Rowdy in public is a big no in Japan it doesn't matter if you're being intentionally disruptive or not simply speaking loudly with friends is seen as rude and will get you plenty of annoyed stares since they're supposed to be this understanding that you are sharing these public spaces with other people you see Japanese children learn from an early age to always act in the consideration of others around them in large part due to Japan's collectivist values in other words Society expects you to be able to quote read the room or situation something that I spoke at Great length about in my Futaba video this is doubly important when you're in an enclosed space like the Train the biggest unspoken rule here is that you should never talk on your cell phone even if it's an important call from your family or your boss you can commonly observe someone who does receive a call on the train softly answer with something like hey I'm sorry I'm on the train and we'll call you back later there's a survey conducted every handful of years by Japan's Railway companies on what behaviors passengers find most annoying and as of 2017 noisy and rumpish behavior ranked as number one which is a repeat of the exact same number one ranked nuisance from 2010 survey so this is a long time ago at this point but the way my mom explained it is that since Japanese is such a contextual language one that requires greater attention to grasp the real meaning of what people often leave unsaid apparently it's irritating to only hear one side of the conversation when someone's talking on the phone because then you're unable to deduce how the other person is feeling or expressing themselves unlike a conversation you may overhear where everyone is present on the train that's why it's fine to talk with friends or family who are also on board but not on the phone on an interestingly related note I'd like to bring up two studies albeit not Japanese ones from 2010 and 2013 respectively which found that people are more distracted when overhearing one-sided conversations via calls compared to ones where all parties are present apparently this is due to our mind's tendency to try and fill in the blanks and guess what the unheard voice is saying but anyway the main takeaway I'm getting at here is that you should avoid being obnoxious or bothersome to others in Japan this is why I think the annoyance over rueji loudly blurting out that they are Phantom thieves has less to do with him blowing their cover and more about how he's disrupting the public space around him on another related note the show Bodhi antics of ruji don't Vibe well with General Japanese values either like even the super westernized fourth and fifth gen Japanese American Community I grew up with still put a lot of emphasis on humility and downplaying your individual contributions all the while propping up those of others I've seen a not uncommon complaint about how jrpg characters can't seem to take a compliment but honestly that's just a very Japanese response at the very least you're expected to say oh it really was nothing I still have a lot to learn or this is just a small thing I could do actually insert whoever else's name here is really behind all this incredible work basically something along those lines regardless of how good you actually are or how much work you really put in in other words it's essentially taboo for or someone in Japan to publicly call themselves The Goat with that said yosuke is probably the most self-deprecating and or humble character at least outwardly of all the male party members and the key word here is outwardly he never tries to steal the spotlight for himself like Jim pay does nor is he obsessed with catching the killer for the sake of Fame like ruji with the Phantom thieves popularity as P5 goes on so even though yosuke's Shadow has to do with him thinking he's better than all these Hillbillies out in the country he never outwardly displays this kind of reaction and going back to the whole reading the room thing yosuke is generally the most socially Adept and adhering to Conventional social interactions which is my guess as to why akihiko and yusuke aren't as popular but this leads us to the second major factor that pushes yosuke above the other bro characters and that that's his sense of responsibility to both his family and Society I think the latter can seem exaggerated to westerners but there truly is this kind of expectation in collectivist and confusion influenced countries this societal responsibility expects a person to always be aware of what's required of them at any particular point in their life this value is instilled from a very young age like for example Elementary age children as early as four or five years old are sent out on their own to run simple errands like buying carrots for that night's dinner or something similar and then during the later school years like middle and high school students normally take turns and or rotate cleaning the classroom after school every day a not uncommon scene found in anime or J dramas but beyond things like that the number 1 expectation for teenagers is to behave well and succeed in school why to get into the best college possible since the top corporations and other job offers recruit from those top universities in a process nicknamed Shu katsu I've gone into this in more detail in my Persona 3 and apathy syndrome video but I also plan to revisit this in the eventual adachi analysis but as for yosuke he may not be a top student like Yukiko but he generally gives off the impression of being more focused on his studies compared to characters like jumpei or ruji and kanji I can also see yosuke being the main brains of the party before Naruto joins contributing to this impression as well then beyond this macro level responsibility on the family level yosuke being the manager's son at junez would carry the expectation that he'd fill in and do a lot at the store Japan's culture of Shame means any single individual's actions affect the entire household's reputation this contributes a ton into why hikikomori are such a difficult issue to address as I've gone over in the Futaba and P3 videos filial piety having had such a deep influence on Japanese culture also plays into the whole a good son adds to his father's reputation kind of mentality which yosuke himself fulfills he does all he can at the store even going to the lengths of requesting help from rizae for the juna's concert he also never causes trouble or rocks the boat for his family reputation wise unlike kanji's albeit vastly misunderstood delinquent tendencies that forced his mom to constantly apologize for his behavior actually in general kanji's story and obsession with being Macho and tough is not as relatable or as much of a problem for men in Japan as it is for westerners especially Americans judging from all the advertising marketing and media portrayals of superheroes and jocks that supposedly depict how the ideal man looks and acts in contrast Japan is a collectivist culture where the needs of the group are prioritized over the individual's success and when adding on the humility stuff mentioned earlier it results in a demeanor that comes across as rather soft for lack of a better word to foreigners I've heard from my dad and a few of my guy friends of Japanese ethnicity that they feel kind of at odds pursuing things like promotions in America because the values of our familial upbringing basically contradict advocating for yourself on a related note I think it says a lot that numerous Executives of Japanese businesses over the past few decades have slashed their own pay for mistakes that should be attributed to management an action that's basically unheard of in most individualistic Western countries like the US where CEOs just lay off workers instead though don't get me wrong I'm not saying every Japanese company does this nor am I defending the actually corrupt ones anyway to start wrapping this up yosuke just doesn't really have any particular flaw that would irritate the average Japanese player akihiko and yusuke are rather clueless in many social settings meanwhile ruji and June pay are definitely seen as pretty irresponsible and so on to be clear I'm not condoning the actual homophobic things yosuke did or said but his overall personality traits seemed to hit The Sweet Spot when it comes to Japanese cultural values but now I'd like to know which male party member you find the most relatable or is your favorite and also where you're from if you're comfortable sharing otherwise this was just a short and sweet video compared to my usual Persona analyzes please like And subscribe if you like this check out my other persona analyzes and follow me on my other socials finally I want to thank all my patrons especially big clingy Sam bed Jack Francesco Cento Rego and meowolin platinum rose Malcolm Lowry Unholy biscuit Leviathan 8685 Eden corsaf pavanic Peter Shepard and Andy

Channel: LadyVirgilia

Views: 135,786

Keywords: persona 5 royal, P5, p5, LadyVirgilia, persona 5 philosophy, persona 5 psychology, persona yosuke analysis, persona ryuji analysis, persona kanji analysis, persona bro characters

Id: g7CDnzEfvwQ

Length: 12min 42sec (762 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 02 2023