The Persona franchise has a track record of producing relatable and fascinating characters since its inception in the form of its students. Persona 5 Royal, the franchise's latest installment, has no shortage of these affable students, maybe even containing more than past releases. With so many characters available in the game, it isn't possible to flesh out the backstories of every student seen in the franchise without overloading players. Thus, some intriguing characters like Yoshizawa, who deserve more time in the limelight, have only gotten a smattering of attention as nothing more than side dishes to the main story. Since Persona 5 Royal did so well commercially as one of the best games released in 2020, one can argue that Atlus got its character-focused choices right.
However, as every lover of a good story knows, it would be a shame to not properly develop characters with enough potential to form the main meat of a sequel or spinoff. Too many times, franchises have missed out on opportunities to expand their universe in favor of focusing on the more prominent characters in their series, failing to realize that fans sometimes want to see the slightly-less important characters in action. In the case of Persona 5 Royal, Yoshizawa is one of these characters, as gamers have noted she didn't have a proper integration as one of the Phantom Thieves in the game. If the Persona franchise were to take a chance on Yoshizawa, it could find itself surprised by the commercial benefits.
Yoshizawa's Background
Yoshizawa, who goes by the name Kasumi Yoshizawa, is a new Phantom Thief introduced to the Persona series in Persona 5 Royal. A first-year transfer student at Shujin Academy, she received a scholarship due to her being a prodigy as a rhythmic gymnast. Yoshizawa represents the Faith Arcana and bears the code name Violet as a member of the Phantom Thieves.
Kasumi is one of the characters in Persona 5 Royal that players can romance. To do this, players will need to reach Rank 5 with Kasumi by the game's original ending, Rank 9 with Maruki, and Rank 8 with Akechi before the original ending's deadline. A player must decline Maruki's offer to end the game to stand a chance at romancing Kasumi. Other factors such as having a Persona with the Faith Arcana, buying gifts for Kasumi, and being positively supportive during dialogues with her significantly improve the player's chances of success.
Fans' Grievances with the Treatment of Yoshizawa
Players got the sense that Kasumi never really belonged with the Phantom Thieves, as she was treated almost like an afterthought in Persona 5 Royal. There were several stark contrasts in the handling of Kasumi's character when compared to the rest of the cast in the game. For instance, Yoshizawa has no scene where she gathers with the rest of the Phantom Thieves for much of the game and only has scenes with the Joker. At the other times she is sighted with other characters, her companions are usually the same two people - Dr. Maruki or Akechi. Just like Kasumi Yoshizawa, these characters are confidant additions to the Persona series. It isn't until Persona 5 Royal is nearing its conclusion in the final few hours of gameplay that Kasumi is spotted with the rest of the Phantom Thieves.
This oddity has instilled a sense of disconnect from the rest of her companions in gamers. Kasumi experienced no character development with the Phantom Thieves, so she feels like an outsider in the group to most observers. Atlus may have had sound reasons for this, as developing Kasumi's character with the rest of the Thieves would have meant adding lengthy scenes to the game because of Kasumi's status as a new character. However, omitting Yoshizawa from camaraderie until the end of the game fails to integrate her properly into Persona 5 Royal.
Atlus and Kasumi's Role in the Phantom Thieves
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Atlus preferred a slow buildup approach for Kasumi's addition as a member of the Phantom Thieves, giving her a Persona awakening about halfway through the game but making up a variety of scenes where she does not join the group. Right after Kasumi's Persona awakening, she turned down an offer from Morgana to join the Phantom Thieves, only to request to join the group when they are about to enter Shido's palace. Kasumi's request gets declined by Morgana, who gives the reason that Shido's palace would be too dangerous a task for Yoshizawa's first mission.
This slow buildup - while logically sound as it can be theorized that Atlus did not want to overload its fans with too many new elements at the same time - hurts Yoshizawa's character by robbing her of any meaningful interactions in Persona 5 Royal. The game spent about 100 hours teasing fans with Kasumi's introduction without offering any tangible insight into her character. As a result, her story feels disjointed, as despite her genuine care for the Phantom Thieves, she had no real contribution to the plot of Persona 5 Royal. To fix the problem of Kasumi Yoshizawa's story not being properly fleshed out, Atlus can explore some options.
One of these could be giving Yoshizawa a spin-off game where the main plot revolves around the development of her character. Several franchises like Fallout and Borderlands use spinoffs to expand on stories that appeared sidelined in the main game but were dynamic enough for fans to want more. Persona 5 Royal did a stellar job for the most part, and perhaps not giving Kasumi a bigger role to play was part of the blueprint. However, for such a thoroughly detailed game, Kasumi's character needs to be done justice, and a spin-off could be the remedy.
Persona 5 Royal is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
