バカ軍団ですか

Yu is a bit difficult to say anything general for because his personality and backstory is determined by the player for the most part. That and I also write him so I have my own headcanons, but ignoring that to focus on the general outline of Yu, there’s at least a point of loneliness that’s shared between him and Naoto. The team as a whole are lonely, but Yu is arguably the most obvious, aside from Naoto, a fact that is emphasized more in the anime—which I’m not going to assume Yu writers follow, since you know, customizable protagonist.

For Yosuke, there are at least two big ones, that being reputation and losing someone they knew. Reputation is something I mention a fair amount for Naoto and this pops up for Yosuke in some regard if you go through his Social Link and notice some of the comments the townspeople give him. In this sense, both of them are aware of how they’re perceived and don’t wish to leave a negative impression for their families (Yosuke mentions his dad often, mildly famous Shirogane lineage for Naoto). When it comes to losing someone they knew, Yosuke has Saki, Naoto has her parents. The circumstances are obviously different and Yosuke wasn’t terribly close to Saki, but grief is still a finicky beast to deal with at the end of the day.

This is corny but Chie and Naoto have a strong sense of justice (Takeshi mentioning that Chie was an ‘Ally of Justice’ in elementary school, Naoto is.... a detective....), as well as struggling with femininity. Naoto strongly rejected it until character development, while Chie felt she wasn’t feminine enough. I think there’s potential for them to discuss what it means to them and how to navigate a society that wants to box them into clear labels when people just aren’t like that. When it comes to Chie’s aspirations to become a police officer, I feel Naoto would give her a dose of reality since she’s worked with them, but that’s all I want to say on the matter because this is not the post for it.

Yukiko is interesting because they’re light opposites in a few ways. Yukiko initially didn’t want to take over the inn, while Naoto was eager to become a detective like her family. Yukiko had no problems embracing her femininity, Naoto repressed it initially. I think this topic of femininity is another thing they could discuss, similar to a potential conversation about it between Chie and Naoto, but in a different font. With Yukiko wanting to try new things, grow independent in her own way, I feel Naoto is a decent springboard for it, especially since she’s very independent—perhaps a bit too much so, but this is not the post to talk about it.

Kanji and Naoto are very obvious and I don’t know what to add that hasn’t already been said. They’re opposites in the way that Kanji gravitates towards ‘feminine’ hobbies while Naoto gravitates towards ‘masculine’ hobbies. They feel they’re boxed into society’s expectations in a way that the other IT members don’t have—or rather, don’t have much focus on. I know there’s barely anything I’m saying about this, but it’s one of those everyone knows cases because of all the flashing neon lights that have the subtlety of a truck crashing through a brick wall.

Rise and Naoto both share the fact that they’re showing a version of themselves that catered to what the general population expects of them—in this case, you can argue that’s all of the Persona cast, especially P4. Rise is a manufactured idol, Naoto stylizes herself after the detective she’s read about. Rise couldn’t figure out who the real her was (at first), while Naoto had no problems understanding the Detective Prince was her, although she still had a bit of trouble reconciling with that fact (see that ungodly long Detective Prince meta). While Rise’s celebrity life would trounce Naoto’s, that’s another thing they would have in common, knowing that people wish to peek into their private lives while they don’t want that.

Teddie is a bit hard because he shares the ‘who am I’ question that’s a relevant theme in P4 (and every Persona game), so it’s not really exclusive to him. For the sake of this post, I will say it is probably more prominent with him considering his circumstances, and Naoto, being a teenager and navigating a world where she’s looked down upon for being a child, along with the general confusions that come with playing a role, would sympathize with Teddie’s wish to know who is and find an identity for himself. Besides that, I feel his childish nature could bring a bit of Naoto’s playfulness out (although in a restrained Naoto way, like the time she stuffed sand in his suit).

Marie occupies the same ‘who am I’ thing Teddie has going on, and with her amnesia plot point, I feel Naoto would be very willing to help her figure out who she is. I wish I had more to say but Teddie kinda just occupied the whole bulk of it, sorry.

And he also shares it with Nanako. Naoto wouldn’t be as guarded as she is with the other members of the team, so Nanako is the most likely to see a slightly less restrained and playful Naoto. As I mentioned previously in a post somewhere in the depths of the blog, she sees herself in Nanako, such as the lonely child and being alone in a house (wink wink dead parents. Grandpa Shirogane being busy with cases). She’d try her best to make sure Nanako doesn’t grow up like that.

Dojima and Naoto also have a deceased loved one plot point going on but beyond that, I think both of them are stuck in the past (or at least, my interpretation is). Dojima chases after the hit-and-run and his wife haunting his personal narrative while Naoto chases after her parents. By the end of his Social Link, Dojima is able to look towards the future and because I have the world’s biggest bias for Dojima being a weird parental figure for Naoto, I imagine he would notice that in Naoto given enough time. And to mention the obvious, detectives and the nature of their work, what drives them to take this as a career.