Q: Is Souji a stranger?

Q: Is Souji a stranger?

Reviewer co426e asks: "You seem to write Souji as some kind of stranger to everyone. He seems the most distant and when they contacted Naoto first instead of their old leader, it made me think. Was this on purpose or not?"

A: Yes.

At least, the answer to the question asked is yes - it was on purpose that Souji is written the way that he is, and that the characters make the decisions that they do.

Seta Souji, the last player in the story, has always been something of an enigma to Chie and the others. He's pretty much unreadable, and he's full of so many mysteries - some small, others not - that no one can ever really tell what's going on in his head at any given moment. With the revelations that start to come in Chapter 46, this should become a little more clear to the reader.

Some of the reason why Souji is so enigmatic as both character and leader is that he's a tabula rasa: in the game, the player can make Souji anything s/he wants: sentimental wuss, womanizing bastard, and anything and all in between. But since no one is ever privy to another's true thoughts, no matter how much is said or expressed between them, I chose to make Souji the pinnacle of that kind of person mystery.

There are all kinds of minor and major conflicts going on with Souji. Some of them he's created for himself, and others are placed upon him by others. Some of these signify that the characters have grown beyond depending him, and others signify that there are still hidden jealousies and mistrusts involved. No one is ever one hundred percent good or one hundred percent malicious; even Shadows have echoes of the truth to them.

Readers who have been paying attention know that Chie is not completely convinced by anything Souji does or says, because she's still more concerned with how he relates to Yukiko and Yousuke (and now Kuma) to give her an unadulterated or unbiased view of what he's actually saying and trying to tell them. Even Naoto - who's usually the first to grasp the answers to these kinds of questions - still doesn't have enough information. But take comfort that the writing of Souji and those around him is no accident. He's meant to be portrayed as an outsider. At least for now.