WARNING! Spoilers through Chapter 55 ("Broken Bonds")!
If you have not read Chapter 55, please do not read this update!
If you do want to read, roll over the following text.
Q: The common question this week (already; I just posted the new chapter on Wednesday) seems to be:
Why the hell is Souji acting this way?!
A: All will be revealed, most of it next chapter.
In somewhat more detail, I've been dropping hints that there was something not-quite-right with Souji since Chapter 46 ("Bushi no Kokoro"). Actually, I've been hinting at his issues since his physical introduction in this story, but readers would have had to have been reading REALLY closely to notice it, so I consider that the source of this conflict first came up in Chapter 46.
Everyone has their own personal demons (or, in this case, gods) with which they've got to contend. (And that's a hint for you.) In my story, a Persona represents a higher ideal of what a person can become. When you face your Shadow and you accept yourself, you open yourself to your Persona. When you face the truest part of yourself, your Persona evolves - just as you evolve - toward the greater ideal of your creation. For seventeen-year-old Chie, that was Suzuka Gongen, a fierce and fearsome demoness of cunning and strength.
But not everyone in the Investigation Team took these steps during the year of the Midnight Channel. One of them got to skip all of that just by signing a contract. (That's hint number two.)
Now, the contract is fulfilled; Souji says as much in Chapter 46. The Compendium of Personas is closed; he doesn't have access to it anymore. (He tells the others this outright, too.) But he's still got his own Persona, right? I mean, that can't be taken away from a person; it's part of who he is. (And there's hint number three, and the rest will have to wait until Chapter 56.)
I had been afraid that I'd been beating readers over the head with all of the hints that I've been dropping for the last several chapters, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I've been too subtle about this whole thing. Not that it really matters, of course, since most of the details regarding this will be revealed in Chapter 56, which at this rate should be in a little less than two weeks.
I hope I haven't given away too much of what's going on in the story so far. But much of the feedback I've received is from readers who seem like they're floundering for clues, so I decided to write this one up.
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I would be lying if I said that is exactly what I expected to happen but I did catch on most of the hints you gave us in the previous chapters. To me, it was evident something was up with Souji and that it was persona related somehow.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the readers should be encouraged to read the entire story again and try to spot what they didn't see or understand last time. That is, to me, one of the joy of reading. And the landmark of a good story is to have some layers that are peeled away to reveal further mysteries. Now, to see how everything unfolds... Can't wait!
At least it didn't TOTALLY come out of left field for some readers. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I kinda noticed that Souji was being more of a colossal dick that even the manga characterized him when he was like, "Nope, none doing. I'm not setting foot in Mayonaka."
ReplyDeleteThe "I'm not going into Mayonaka" moment was actually intended to be read as, "There's a good chance my Shadow will show up if I go with you guys, and that's just gonna make things even more difficult for you guys, so I'm gonna stay behind," not as, "I can't be bothered to go with you." While there are moments where Souji's motives are less-than-sympathetic, that wasn't meant to be one of them. Of course, readers only get to read from Chie's perspective, so it may come across that way. But extrapolating his dialogue only, that should have come more clear.
ReplyDeleteWhatever. Everybody reads the way that they want to.