DEBUNKING 30 SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI FAN MYTHS, PART ONE: #1-15

2021 marks the 17th year of Shin Megami Tensei’s existence in the West and while that’s not exactly an auspicious number it’s certainly long enough to have developed its current thriving fan culture. But fans are overzealous things, literally fanatics. Arguments are raised, interpretations are julienned, and hills are died upon over what constitute acceptable concepts for a shared canon of ideas. Shin Megami Tensei is of course no different and over the years its fan wars of attrition have resulted in its own assumed fundamental truths.

However, over this same span of time “truths” of dubious origins have mixed in with the actual facts to an indistinguishable degree for many, negatively affecting how the series is perceived and discussed. So, drawing on my 15+ years of experience with the series, I’ve picked 30 of the most infamous Shin Megami Tensei “fan myths” to debunk one by one. We begin with the first 15, which include some of the series’ more well known misconceptions, including the mysteries of Kaneko’s Twitter account, Doi’s artistic output, and everything about the Great Will!

Before We Begin...

A few things to note!

1. These myths are not presented in order of importance or in ANY order except for a few that build off of each other.

2. For clarity, the quoted statement (Ex. “Kaneko Lives in a Flower Field”) represents the false statement I am refuting. This statement is the “myth.” PLEASE NOTE: The image header for each section may contain a truncated version of the myth; the "Myth's Gist" for each represents the full statement.

3. Most of the time I abbreviate game names:

• Shin Megami Tensei / Shin Megami Tensei II = SMT1 / SMT2
• Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne = Nocturne
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey / Redux = SJ / SJR
• Shin Megami Tensei IV / Apocalypse = SMT4 / SMT4A
• Persona 2: Innocent Sin / Eternal Punishment = P2:IS / P2: EP
• Persona 3 / 4 / 5 = P3 / P4 / P5

And so on and so forth.

4. Sources cited, if necessary, are available at the bottom of their respective sections as footnotes. Additionally, for many myths I included optional non-cited sources providing further context and information.

Most of all, I hope these are informative!

 ________________________

UPDATE (6/5/22): Added some extra links, fixed an image, fixed formatting--general minor stuff.

___________________________

  

The Myth’s Gist: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne’s Jyoji Hijiri is intended by the developers and writers to be a reincarnation of Shin Megami Tensei II’s Aleph.

We begin with the most infamous SMT fan myth of all, one generally presumed to be true but also one of the easiest to debunk. In short, in the Maniacs edition of Nocturne (i.e., the edition initially released in the US) it is explained that Hijiri leads a cursed existence and is doomed to forever repeat observing the birth and death of worlds, due to a “sin” he committed. The nature of this sin is not explained; however, the connection was made to SMT2’s Aleph due to him “being cursed” by YHVH for daring to oppose him. Throw in some vague resemblance between the two characters and you have an archetypal fan theory.

There are numerous reasons the theory doesn’t actually make sense, from narrative contradictions to a complete lack of evidence in Japanese materials. What truly kills it is, ironically, the theory’s true origins: an immense and authoritative Nocturne FAQ written by Ian Kelley before the English version was released (and updated no later than August 2004), which included a blurb with all the described hallmarks of the theory. [1a]  A snippet:

It's never said what Hijiri's crime exactly was, but I strongly suspect that he is a reincarnation of Aleph, the hero of Shin Megami Tensei II. Reason being, the description of the torture that he's going through sounds EXACTLY like what YHVH (ie, God) threatens Aleph with in the Neutral Path in SMTII...  One can only assume that if Hijiri really is an incarnation of Aleph, that YHVH either came back to life and is getting revenge on Aleph, or that he killed Aleph in the final battle of SMTII in the "official" SMT canon. And of course, all the stuff that went on in Aleph's world would have to be in a different Vortex than the one in SMTIII. Keep in mind, there's a high probability that I'm dead wrong on this. :P

Despite Kelley’s humility the idea would only spread from there. But he himself would later discredit the theory in 2013,  saying “I was never really serious about it in the first place and never expected people to latch onto it but welp.” [1b] That’s about as dead as it gets. 

But should you be still unconvinced by the history behind the myth, there's always my analysis from many years ago of how Maniacs' additional content doesn't measure up to the quality of the core game, including how Hijiri's expanded backstory contradicts what was previously established. [1c]

Sources:

[1a] SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI III: NOCTURNE FAQ/WALKTHROUGH, Ian Kelley. 
[1b] SomethingAwful forums posts by Kelley (as “Masakado”; his email in the FAQ also uses Masakado) where he rejects the theory.
[1c] Hijiri, Candles, Freedom: Maniacs' Retcon Woes

More:

• Post initially discussing Kelley as the source of the myth
• Translation of YHVH’s dialogue in SMT2
• Hijiri is NOT Aleph video by Larrue

________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: The Nebiros of SMT1 and beyond refers to the 24th spirit of the Goetia.

Some real-world confusion led to this one. 

In the Goetia [2a] (and the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum [2b]) is a demon named Naberius who sometimes goes by Nebiros. However, the Grand Grimoire contains another Nebiros, this one named a general of Hell and a necromancer. [2c]

So which Nebiros is SMT’s? Not only does Nebiros’ initial design evoke a “voodoo priest” stereotype and thus zombies and the undead, his SMT profiles clearly state he is a necromancer, confirming it is the Grand Grimoire’s. Curiously, in the Grand Grimoire the Goetia’s Naberius (as Naberrs) is listed as a subordinate of necromancer Nebiros, making an easy distinction between the two. For the record, the Goetia’s Naberius has never appeared in mainline SMT.

Sources:

[2a] Goetia, Naberius.
[2b] Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Naberius.
[2c] Grand Grimoire.

More:

• Naberius’ (as “Cerbere”) entry in the Dictionnaire Infernal
• Initial post discussing the differences between Nebiros and Naberius
• Post clarifying more information about Naberius 
  

________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: SMT’s Alice represents the girl of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, the legend of a Swedish ghost named Alice, or some combination of the two.

Neither Carroll’s Alice nor the Swedish Alice (which seems to lack any concrete source and is never mentioned in Japanese profiles) reflect the intent behind her twisted character, easily understood via her straightforward original scenario from SMT1: in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, Alice lives a suspiciously ideal life with her stewards, the Red Baron and the Black Baron, within the bustling and lively district of Roppongi. But it is merely a facade created for Alice by the barons, the demons Belial and Nebiros respectively, and with their defeat Alice and the other people of Roppongi are revealed to have been souls resurrected by Nebiros’ necromancy and subsequently vanish; here, Nebiros being the Grand Grimoire’s necromancer becomes essential context for Alice. A description of Alice from the SMT1 CLUB Jakyou no Yakata fanbook is the best proof:

Is Alice just a little human girl? What relationship does she have with the two demons?

Alice is a zombie revived by Belial and Nebiros from the thoughts dwelling in her body found in Roppongi. It’s impossible to deny that those have a narcissistic side to them, as they love their own figures manipulated by a selfish little girl. [3a]

Moreover, the official Persona World Guidance book from 2001 plainly describes Alice as “an original demon in the Megami Tensei series!” [3b]

Alice’s subsequent appearances in the series have been minor. Revealingly, she returns in SMT2 as a Fiend, clutching dolls of the barons and thus clinging to her non-Wonderland roots. Her subsequent SMT1 remake design is sans dolls but only because it’s finally representative of her original sprite and role in the game as a zombie girl. It is in fact only after the emergence of this latest design that her later appearances take on a Wonderland character, such as card soldiers in her Persona animations and Strange Journey’s Hare of Inaba chase quest. Still, her modern appearances in SMT are (usually) part of the Undead race or within Persona’s Death arcana which clearly reveal that this morbid Alice is quite opposed to Carroll’s lively character to the point that the name seems arbitrary outside of the context of SMT1.

In fact, there is a precedent for a character like Alice in the anime Demon City Shinjuku, where the characters encounter an onryo, vengeful spirit, in the form of a girl whose spirit was unable to rest; freed, her anger dissipates and she disappears, just like Alice did. [3c] SMT’s Alice is thus best considered an original character and any Wonderland associations mere costuming.

Sources:

[3a] CLUB Jakyou no Yakata.
[3b] Persona World Guidance.
[3c] More information about Demon City Shinjuku’s onryo girl

 
________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: The @aqmaAC account is Kaneko’s because he used it a couple times in the past and it still returns follows.

In truth, this account was specifically created to promote Japanese merch manufacturer FuRyu’s Shin Megami Tensei lottery collection released in October 2013 (the one with the Decarabia pillow). The account was created in June 2013 and its first tweet came a month later on July 8. Subsequent tweets either promoted the lottery or talked about how people could tweet using the hashtag #オレオマエスキ (ore omae suki, “I like you”) for the chance that Kaneko might respond. Kaneko appeared on it for the first time on July 23 for about an hour and a half between 7:00PM and 8:35PM JST. He returned on September 19 to respond to more questions for about two hours from the period of 6:21PM to 8:23PM JST. The account has seen no activity since. For each instance, Kaneko likely spent his time in a room with the FuRyu rep and account holder to dictate answers and then washed his hands of it after obligations were fulfilled.

Either the account auto-follows after an average of 12-13 hours or a FuRyu rep with the password is dedicated to an SMT fanbase clamoring for Kaneko. It’s likely the former.

Source: https://twitter.com/aqmaac

 

________________________

  

The Myth’s Gist: Shin Megami Tensei has an extreme, masochistic level of difficulty.

The only thing extreme as far as SMT’s difficulty goes is how overblown the claims about it are. SMT is really no more difficult than any other JRPG series; the difficulty mainly comes from needing to adjust to its unique terminology and systems, like getting the hang of the elemental-based press turn mechanics with the Press Turn System and learning to let go of your allies with demon fusion. Also crucial to learn is that success in SMT is often determined before a battle even begins by which elemental weaknesses you can exploit and which you can defend--emphasizing the importance of preparation for you and your demons through equipment and skill loadouts. Modern SMT battles are not reaction tests a la Final Fantasy’s Active Time Battle.

Of course, SMT games can contain general gameplay clunkiness and difficulty spikes which are, again, not unique compared to other series. The winding dungeons of the SFC games can be tests of patience (with battle gameplay that can otherwise be exploited). Matador and Minotaur are indeed not fights you can brute force your way through like in other RPGs by level grinding; buffing is important, that much is true. But should you fail at a boss, it doesn’t mean you’re no good, just that you need to rethink your strategy or demon party. Really, the greatest barrier to entry for SMT is sloughing off your expectations from other RPGs!

________________________

  

The Myth’s Gist: SMT is about dark stuff like apocalypses and demons and takes itself completely seriously.

Despite what you might have been told, SMT isn’t Dark Souls. Yes, calamity is always close at hand and its main storylines are treated with appropriate gravitas (for the most part) but, being a game series, many more variables come into play for the SMT series as a whole. Even as you witness the main narrative beats in any given game to their ends, you will also have experienced one or more of the following:

• Negotiations with happy-murderous snowmen & moths
• A compulsory dance competition
• Meetings with Michael Jackson and/or Heath Ledger
• A funny penis
• Goofy quests about a demon idol competition or a spurned human demon-lover
• The rantings of the son of a fisherman
• A child-like bogeyman wearing a diaper
• Harassment from a naked purple guy at a bar
• A demon pig’s cartoonish meal
• Bewitching, befuddling fairy magic

And countless more. 

But extra credit must be given to the demon negotiations, the prevalent method SMT uses to randomly inject gonzo humor into the battles that comprise most of the gameplay and yet are largely disconnected from the narrative, foiling possible tonal dissonance. So the idea that SMT is a hyper-serious series is easily proven false just by playing it. SMT games can be grim, but never grimdark.

________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: You can culturally cloister yourself from Japan and its many traditions and perspectives when attempting to understand SMT’s intricacies.

So obviously this myth has never been uttered out loud, but the lack of statements is more than compensated with actions and attitudes present online. In sum: an unashamedly Japanese series like SMT is often interpreted by the Western fandom through its non-Japanese lenses, resulting in frequent misconceptions and falsehoods. You could say this issue is the common thread tying most, but not all, of these entries together! But a subject so potentially extensive as identifying Japanese cultural elements in SMT would need at least an entire article to itself, so here I will limit things to two specific, supremely permeating influences. 

The first is Japan’s own religious system, a unique syncretism of its native religion, Shinto, with its own brand of Buddhism. It combines an imported Buddhist cosmology with its cycles of reincarnation, Shinto’s pantheistic and animist spirit traditions that see nature as sacred, and an interplay and/or equation between Shinto gods and Buddhist ones (some of which are reinterpretations of Hindu deities) into a rich worldview of ideas and imagery. And these three descriptors alone are amongst the most relevant to SMT as a whole:

• The cyclical Buddhist cosmology is apparent in the use of reincarnation in the franchise’s title and plotlines, quite the opposite to the linear, historical progression of Abrahamic religions
• SMT makes liberal use of comparative mythology to link deities from different cultures and regions
• The idea of spirits inhabiting everything excludes exceptional permissions for monotheistic deities.

Basically, if you are unfamiliar with the Japanese worldview yet something about SMT sticks out as odd to you, an element of Japanese religion is likely to explain it three times out of four, or more. 

The second permeating, specifically Japanese influence on the series is Christianity--that is, Japan’s own tumultuous history with it. Introduced by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century, Christianity enjoyed a brief period of limited acceptance in Japan before being deemed a political threat. In more crucial detail:

Caution against Christianity goes back to the medieval period, and is one part politics and another native religious belief. Politically, Christianity became problematic for Tokugawa period policy makers around ~1587 CE after the daimyo ("feudal lords") began converting in order to acquire saltpeter from Portugal, and holding forced conversions of commoners and vassals.

The dilemma of subjects with conflicting religious beliefs threatened to undermine the stability of the government … and so it was viewed as an anti-government religion, leading to a medieval ban on missionaries and mass executions of Christians to suppress the belief system. … In the postwar period when Japan was under [Allied] occupation, Christianity was the religion of the oppressors and renewed missionary efforts proved unpopular. Christianity consistently accounted for just 1% of the population since the allied occupation began and continues to hover in that range.

On religious grounds, Christianity is also an affront to the syncretic Shinto-Buddhist belief native to Japan. Under a Shinto system, emphasis is placed on harmony with nature and one's place as an equal to the animals of the nation. The Christian view of humanity as stewards of the Earth charged with ruling God's creation is incongruous with Shinto's equality between men and nature. Shinto is also a polytheist system wherein divinity lives not above people as a dominating force setting the world in motion, but around them inhabiting each individual aspect of the world. The ethics of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism also hold that life is a karmic path toward entry into paradise, and that cyclic view is at odds with a cosmology in which one enters the world, exits and is then cut off from it in heaven or hell based on affiliation with a deity. The concept of Christ's resurrection is also disturbing from the Shinto perspective on the purity of nature, beauty of transient life and the importance of dying. [7a]

Nonetheless, the roaring, modern post-war Japan of the ‘60s and ‘70s entered a so-called “occult boom” for magic and monsters, followed by other “booms” that brought a healthy appetite for overseas culture and religious knowledge but very rarely for honest practice or conversion; the Abrahamic religions remained for the Japanese a curiosity, but little more. This was a slice of the zeitgeist out of which SMT was born. This is why SMT scenario writer Ryutaro Ito said this about Stephen Hawking (and thus by proxy the SMT character Stephen) in 1994:

The famous theoretical physicist Hawking downright denied God’s existence. His theories start from that point. He became a sensation in the West because he said God wasn’t the one who created the Universe and everything was based on physical principles. He maintained in his books that the Universe wasn’t created by God, but even if we Japanese read the translations of his works, we think this is something obvious. The Japanese aren’t monotheists, so that train of thought is interesting to us. [7b]

From the perspective of those from the Christian sphere looking in, SMT’s interpretation of monotheism--a Law faction that tends to mash Christianity, Judaism, and Islam into one--can seem excessively harsh. But as shown, SMT is from a country where Christianity represents tumult and is neither a dominating cultural force nor is it compatible with its traditional culture. Japanese don’t hate Christianity, it’s just not their preference. This is a story of one bias meeting another and never the twain shall meet, unless you consider the unchanging historical context surrounding Japan’s.

I’m not suggesting you need to learn Japanese to understand SMT. (A little will help, though.) You don’t need to be an expert in Japanese religion or its history with Christian proselytism. But just a little familiarity with the three and suddenly SMT will make a lot more sense, I guarantee you.

Sources:

[7a] Megaten and A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government: Let's Play Shin Megami Tensei iOS by Touya.
[7b] Akuma Daijiten. 

________________________

The Myth’s Gist: Akin to other JRPG series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, or even the Fate franchise, the concepts and interpretations Shin Megami Tensei presents are entirely original and self-contained. It is all “lore” relevant only to SMT itself. 

A relatively recent “controversy” explains how this particular fan myth can go wrong. As Nocturne HD’s English localization refinements became known, they revealed that “Pyro Jack” would be renamed Jack-o’-Lantern, causing a brief and ineffectual online outcry to #BringBackPyroJack and restore the old name. This is despite Jack-o’-Lantern being the intended name for the demon in Japanese, the obvious fact that it is meant to be the Halloween figure of Jack-o’-Lantern, and that the Jack-o’-Lantern name was already corrected as of P5. Somehow it got into people’s heads that “Pyro Jack” was an original character, one to which they were apparently quite attached.

But in reality, a large chunk of SMT’s content, aside from its main characters and scenarios, is deliberately appropriated from real-life sources. Informing players of the fact that Jack-o’-Lantern is not a “Pyro,” among other things, are a few key differences from other RPGs.

The first is SMT’s typical setting of Tokyo, i.e., a real city that exists on the planet Earth and thus it can be extrapolated that other real countries and cultures also exist. This includes references to modern politics and international relations, usually manifested in America (the sender of nukes) and Japan (the receiver of nukes). Though things obviously get fantastical, this real setting grounds SMT in ways other series don’t even attempt.

Then there are the demons, which draw from mythologies the world over--mythologies that are part of real human cultures and have been relevant to said cultures for thousands of years. The demons themselves are fully intended to be manifestations of their characters from myth and legends. Confirming this is that all modern Megaten games and most official books feature compendium profiles of demons’ origins; they imply Atlus is proud of its real-world research and wants its audience to make that connection to metatextual knowledge. Some of the sources Atlus themselves uses for information may be dubious but this still displays an unprecedented impulse towards incorporation of existing source material to enhance the meaning of its “monsters.”

Demon designs play a major hand in dispelling this myth as well--their general reflection of their origins is unmatched anywhere else. Most of Kaneko’s demons incorporate aspects of demons’ myths, appropriate modern expressions of their personal character, or outright copy traditional art. But I can do better than leaving the count at “most”: tallying and grading all of Kaneko’s demons (minus those fully original to SMT) proved that 90% adhere to their respective cultures. [8a] It’s not uncommon to encounter people who dismiss criticism of modern demon designs by saying that “SMT demons were never that accurate” but this data proves them to be reactionary ignoramuses. 

But SMT's insistence on demons being source-based can be a double-edged sword: it deepens the meaning of the demons and their artwork but, being adopted from real cultures, opens the door for criticisms of portrayal that don't exist for other series. No one complains about the lack of accuracy of Final Fantasy monsters to their origins because FF not only doesn't attempt this, it's a series that's wildly different for each installment and therefore it's no big deal for FF's Shiva to be an ice goddess. But since SMT exists on “Earth” and adapts “real” mythologies, for it to claim the ice goddess as its Shiva would be disastrous--incongruous to Indian cultures and the series’ own aesthetic definitions. SMT simply has different higher standards for design work than most other games.

Lastly, beware the contemporary usage of the word “lore” and its tendency to reduce essential narrative information to the level of wiki trivia. It could also not be more wrong when applied to describe demons. A demon’s “lore” is part of the story of its own culture, of humans. SMT games may warn that they are “works of fiction,” but the real-life Tokyo setting and the cultural elements deliberately placed within ensure a metatextual value its RPG peers can’t match.

Source:

[8a] Complete Demon Design Data. 

More:

• Demons by Design
• More information on Atlus telling its players it is serious about adapting mythology

 ________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: There’s nothing stopping personas from joining the ranks of demons in SMT.

While SMT demons appear in Persona due to the inevitabilities of budgets and asset recycling, the inverse has yet to happen. This is because both Persona and SMT have clear, unique rules for the designs of each series, something that can be easily overlooked. Kaneko has explained the differences: 

Let’s take a look at Kali, for example: her depiction in the Shin Megami Tensei series is faithful to mythology, but in the Persona series I prioritised her image, which was supposed to resemble a costume more than anything. For Shiva (Hari-Hara) from Digital Devil Saga I retained some mythical aspects, but ultimately drew him as a different being. [9a] 

A demon is “mythology,” a persona is a “costume,” and a DDS avatar is “some myth, but mostly original.” DDS avatars have also not reappeared in SMT due to their unique, incongruous (with SMT demons) aesthetics and status as transformations of specific characters.

But for demons and personas, think about what each represents. A persona is a “mask”--or, going by Kaneko’s parlance, a “costume”--you wear, therefore it represents “you,” or the user; it is an internal force that swells up from the person using one. Therefore, personas, since Persona 2, have generally been designed to represent aspects of the psyche, fears, personality, etc. of the characters who use them. Think Chie’s Tomoe persona, designed with her tomboyish martial arts athleticism in mind.

But a demon is “something out there”; it is an external, supernatural being that is invading normal reality. Since nearly all demons are based on religious myths, they in turn are designed with the original forms assigned to them by their respective cultures. For an example, look no further than the conniving and independent Lucifer, the Devil in name and form.

The best way to illustrate the differences is something that has been designed as both demon and persona. Beyond the examples of Kali and Shiva, the Greek titan Prometheus has conveniently received both a demon and persona design from Kaneko. Demon Prometheus is an aged humanoid carrying the flame he famously gifted humanity; persona Prometheus is a nearly encased, rock-like being that plays the double duty of Prometheus’ own punishment for his action and user Baofu’s psychological conflicts.

Again, because demons do show up as personas, this issue is, in effect, one way. But adding personas to SMT would only dull the meaningful design philosophies that differentiate and enrich the stories and settings of each series. The definitions can be summed up poetically: a demon is apart from you; a persona is a part of you.

Source:

[9a] Kazuma Kaneko Works III supplementary booklet.

More:

• Demons by Design

________________________

The Myth’s Gist: All of Kaneko’s artwork is entirely the sweat of his own brow, and that art was his only contribution at Atlus.

During the Nintendo days, from 1990’s Megami Tensei II on the Famicom to 1995’s Shin Megami Tensei if… on the Super Famicom, Kaneko was entirely responsible for character pixel art [10a] and promotional art illustrated with analog media like markers. But the switch to the Sega Saturn for Devil Summoner also brought a change to digital art and here we see Atlus begin to hire more artists, including those who would assist Kaneko, mainly Shigenori Soejima and Megumi Shiraishi.

Soejima joined Atlus for 1995’s Devil Summoner and at first assisted Kaneko on digitally coloring demons and character portraits; for certain color-assisted works, he signed his name “SOE.” He also drew character portraits for Soul Hackers and Persona 2 before handling the art direction for the modern Persona series. Shiraishi is first credited in 1996’s Persona and is most notable for being a colorist and finisher for most of Kaneko’s major promotional illustrations from 1996 onward; she signs her name “MEG” circled with a heart. Her current role is “Series Demon Art Supervision,” which as far as I know hasn’t been officially defined but presumably entails overseeing use of Kaneko’s art in 2D and its adaptation into 3D.

And as for Kaneko’s non-art contributions, he admits in an interview for SMT1 that he, and all the other staff members at the time, contributed to its scenario; commonly cited is that him living in Kichijoji at the time is why it is the main character’s home and the game’s starting point. [10b] He has also been Creative Director for Nocturne as well as creating Strange Journey’s scenario. Then there’s Kaneko’s scenario drafts for Shin Megami Tensei IV--however, beyond the Mikado/Tokyo split, those drafts barely resemble the final product so let’s not go starting other myths, shall we? All of this goes to show that Kaneko both made massive creative contributions and received lots of assistance!

Sources:

[10a] Shin Megami Tensei LAW & CHAOS DISC liner notes
[10b] Shin Megami Tensei ~Character Profile~ STEVEN REPORT

More:

• More on Megumi Shiraishi and Soejima’s signature
• Kaneko’s SMT4 draft
• Kazuma Kaneko’s Art Team: Megumi Shiraishi & Shigenori Soejima video by Larrue

 

________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: The prominent black upper lips are an essential element of Kaneko’s design style.

En vogue in the community for the past few years, the black upper lip is undeniably an eye-catching feature of the Kaneko “look.” However, things can definitely go too far when the black upper lip is perceived as fundamental to Kaneko’s style, which would be a gross reduction of his approach to art. And it’s not even a unique aspect, anyway!

The black upper lip has its precedent in anime of the 1980s and earlier where it was used to contrast and demarcate the lower lip and skin of the upper lip; this continues to happen throughout the animation industry and Kaneko was certainly not the wellspring of the idea. It’s important to know that Kaneko himself was an animator during the ‘80s before he joined Atlus, so it’s only natural he’d copy industry techniques. While he always used a contrasting black line of some form or thickness to shape character mouths, the wavy “mustache” lip only became a consistent feature as of Persona 2: Innocent Sin in 1999. But this is still only a single element from the comprehensive innovations that period would bring for Kaneko.

Succinctly and holistically, Kaneko’s matured style from Persona 2 onwards can be described thusly: stylized, proportional bodies akin to Japanese Buddhist statues in their sculpted “hypo-realism”; thin, almost nonexistent lineart with angular features; use of natural colors with soft shading gradations that accentuate defined muscle tones and anatomy; expert and economic color balancing between main colors and secondary colors; subtle use of textures and simple geometric patterning; and unexaggerated, symmetrical “runway” posing and accessorization. Then there are the variable instances that are more about influence than art style: wholesale lifting of classic and classical art and the inclusion of pop culture and haute couture fashion. The black lip would fit in somewhere around “shading gradation” but as you can see it would only be a sub-element of a category. There’s just so many more important and distinct parts of the Kaneko whole. 

The black lip is certainly an element of Kaneko’s art, yes, but one that floats on the surface of the depths. Simply slapping one on an existing design from, say, the Fate series would not a Kaneko illustration make--the design fundamentals are too different. Basically, the Kaneko black lip is best enjoyed while informed! That said... who remembers when Kaneko lashes were the big trend?

More:

• Initial post about the development of Kaneko’s black lip
• Poltergeist0002’s breakdown of Kaneko’s style (in Japanese)

 ________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: Neutral endings can imply future threats from gods/YHVH, therefore Neutral is a path with no actual resolutions and is bad.

Granted, Neutral endings can still be pretty rotten due to poor writing quality and conception but that’s not what this myth is about. Instead, its ideas seem to originate from overly-literal interpretations of certain Neutral ending lines warning about “future crises,” invariably twisting them to involve demons or some aspect of YHVH getting his revenge, even though such things are never explicitly stated. These lines occur in a proper context the following games:

• MT2 (True Ending). YHVH speaking: “I am but one part of an incorporeal entity which controls countless universes. There are much stronger aggregations of consciousness than this universe. Hear? This is not the end. Pitifully, ye have chosen an even more painful path…” 
• Epilogue: “The battle is over. Everyone fought for a new tomorrow. But a new evil will inevitably appear. And thus a new battle will begin. But we must face it with our own strength. For the sake of all mankind…” [12a]
• Nocturne (Freedom ending). Lucifer speaking: “You have chosen to follow your will and tread the path of thorns… like myself. In time, your true adversary will appear before you. Until that day, stay strong…” [12b]
• Strange Journey. Crewmember speaking: “Our mission succeeded, but caution is necessary regarding mankind’s actions, which are the root cause. Humanity’s mission isn’t over yet… right?” [12c]
• SMT4. Masakado speaking: “By your actions, mankind has wrested back their own world. But keep this always in mind. Man is a creature that repeats its mistakes. A day will come again that we must fight. This is but a brief farewell until then.” [12d]

All of these are, at face value, quite vague about the potential repercussions, perhaps with the exception of Strange Journey where the “root cause” of the Schwarzwelt is explicitly shown in the introduction as humankind’s greed and exploitation of the environment; the Neutral victory over Mem Aleph is then Earth’s second chance to get things right. While aware that humans could potentially screw things up again, it is nonetheless a hopeful ending! On that note, the extra scenarios in Strange Journey Redux are poorly conceived and not worth considering. (Why does the--now supernatural--Neutral MC live on the Moon instead of Antarctica where the Schwarzwelt always reappears? Etc.)

I’ve excluded Megami Tensei II from discussions so far but its status as “proto-SMT” makes its True Ending entirely relevant. It has it all, from a Great Will prototype, YHVH’s hollow threat of “an even more painful path,” to an epilogue that warns of a new evil and a new battle. But notice that this “evil” is vague and nowhere is it implied that the threat is supernatural! The writers chose not to define it but instead clearly focused on the theme that humans should harmonize and rely on their own power to succeed instead of using demons. This ending is typically humanist and hopeful and likely served as the model for the similar endings to come.

In Nocturne, “freedom” is synonymous with the real world, as seen in the Freedom ending; every other Reason implies a lack of free will. Thus, Lucifer half-heartedly congratulates you but warns of a “true adversary,” though what could that be in this context? It does not suggest endless cycles of Conceptions. In fact, it doesn’t suggest anything supernatural at all. Hikawa says at the game’s outset that he enacts the Conception to correct humans’ endless “mistakes” and “bloodshed,” and thus the Vortex World is born--similar to why the Schwarzwelt exists in Strange Journey. But the Freedom ending isn’t just another second chance for humanity like SJ, it condemns Hikawa as a hypocrite: his Conception was the actual mistake, resulting in the death of all life on earth and “bloodshed” in the Vortex. In our modern reality where our own reasoning allows us to make our own choices--a freedom within limits that balances “law” with “chaos”--our “true adversary” is ourselves (and the Hikawas of the world). Again, it is hopeful.

In SMT4, Masakado’s warning of fights to come could imply… well, exactly what is difficult to surmise due to the uneven quality of the game’s writing and scenario, which ends with demons still existing but human civilization 99.9% destroyed. Will massive herds of Kelpies trample Tokyo? Will people finally begin to question Masakado’s intentions? Was the warning just repeating a trope from endings past? While all plausible, its Neutral ending where light shines upon Tokyo once more is nonetheless built literally on hope and so, like its siblings, it is clearly its main message.

There is exactly one scenario in the series where Neutral obviously goes wrong and mankind fails to exist in harmony with each other: the transition from SMT1 to SMT2, as a (presumed!) Neutral ending gives way to Law. But there are a few exceptions there:

• SMT1 clearly defines Neutrality as a balance between Law and Chaos
• SMT2 is one of the few direct sequels in the series, thus shifting towards Law suggests a thematically appropriate “imbalance”

Both games’ Neutral endings are further characterized as collaborative efforts to rebuild society and lack any “warnings.” [12e] [12f] (Note: the Aeon Genesis translation of SMT1, known for taking many liberties with the original script, inserts a mild example of a warning in the Neutral ending. [12g])

But what happens between SMT1 and SMT2 is not a war waged by a spiteful deity but something as relatable and realistic as social upheaval--a great example of a breakdown of cooperation desired by Neutral. It’s a very human regime change, in spite of the unrealistic scenario and how it develops.

Literal interpretations of text are doomed to miss the allegories to our everyday experiences that lend fiction its meaning and relevance. Perhaps some players prefer endings other than Neutral because they offer more of an escape from the everyday. But from the amount of content and effort put into them, Atlus does indeed clearly prefer Neutral in most cases and isn’t interested in pulling the rug out from under the audience with a sinister intent. Though a bit cheesy and predictable at this point (and basically a projection of Japanese social harmony), Neutral’s themes of hope and humanity, not supernatural brainwashing or sanctioned violence, offer the best reflection of reality itself. There’s no evidence there’s anything deeper than that.

Sources:

[12a] Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei II Neutral ending
[12b] Nocturne “Freedom” ending
[12c] Strange Journey Neutral ending
[12d] SMT4 Neutral ending
[12e] SMT1 iOS Neutral ending
[12f] SMT2 Neutral ending
[12g] Aeon Genesis SMT1 Neutral ending

More:

• YHVH’s post-defeat empty threats
• Official descriptions of alignments from the SMT1 Official Perfect Guide
  
• Longform analysis of Neutral endings by Aleph

________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: If Masayuki Doi is credited for art in an SMT game, it means he did all the art. 

Likely due to the large influx of new fans from SMT4’s release and a lack of messaging on the part of Atlus West, there has been since then a tendency to overstate Masayuki Doi’s actual contributions to SMT games. Here’s a simple breakdown of his contributions from SMT4 onward:

• SMT4: Main and supporting character designer. This essentially means “human characters with portraits.” He did NOT design the game’s new demons; these were the work of guest artists Tamotsu Shinohara, Yasushi Nirasawa, Keita Amemiya, Kyoma Aki, and Yoshihiro Nishimura.
• SMT4A: Lead character and demon designer, meaning all main characters and also all new demons. Additionally, he updated the artwork for the handful of SMT4 demons that reappeared in the game. Artwork for anime cutscenes is by Ikumi Fukuda.
• SJR: Designer of Alex and the new demons. That’s all. The new portrait art of the crew is credited to Akira Odagaki. Odagaki previously worked on SMT4’s cutscene art and in SMT4A as Doi’s coloring assistant and portrait artist (presumably for alternate expressions).

Doi retains the same role as lead character and demon designer for SMT5. And like what happened with Kaneko in the past and Soejima in the present, Doi already has an assistant in Odagaki! The more things change...

 

 ________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: The God of popular Western religious thought is loving but SMT’s YHVH is not, therefore the latter is corrupted by an unknown force.

For the 2004 Nocturne strategy guide that accompanied the release of the game, questions could be submitted for Kazuma Kaneko to answer. One such question from these primordial English-speaking SMT fans was the big one: “Why is YHVH the series’ villain?” to which Kaneko replied, “I would like you to know that in Megaten, YHVH is not depicted as the embodiment of evil.” [14a]

As far as I can tell through internet archaeology, this answer eventually produced the theory that SMT’s YHVH is somehow “corrupted,” a staple of fan-produced franchise/multiverse timelines that, by their nature, needed to compromise contradictory ideas like YHVH’s “shattered” form in SJ, his relatively benign personality in Devil Survivor, his merciless actions throughout the rest of the series, and this admission of Kaneko’s that he is not “the embodiment of evil.” Therefore, by being corrupted (i.e., by some external force beyond his control), he is absolved of any genocidal mania that may conflict with Western conceptions of a loving god. In this theory, YHVH is either just having a bad day in any given game or the “real” God exists somewhere else. 

Just describing it this way I feel exposes why the “corrupted YHVH” theory has zero credibility. But there’s more to consider. Obviously, there’s the topic of the Japanese perspective: YHVH may not be “the embodiment of evil,” but in Japan there will be a negative bias towards actions of God/Yahweh that conflict with Japanese spirituality, namely violent catastrophes like the Flood and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, to name a couple; SMT’s equivalents are nuclear strikes and SMT1’s own Flood. But then again, Japanese views of YHVH also line up with those of the irreligious closer to home, such as myself. I’m an atheist for other reasons, but even if Christianity is viewed as a positive and “loving” religion, it still ends with Armageddon and the deliberate suffocation of the world; if you’re not part of the club, it seems insane.

Again, YHVH’s actions in SMT may seem “harsh,” but for the most part they echo actual events from the Bible. And SMT isn’t exclusively about Abrahamic religions either but includes deities from around the world. That Atlus chooses to give YHVH and Law so much attention, even if it skews negative, shows a working understanding of the dynamics of historic and modern religion, especially from their own native perspective.

[14a] Q&A from the Nocturne Doublejump guide

________________________

 

The Myth’s Gist: The Great Will and its variants are integral to SMT “lore” and may or may not be the same as YHVH depending on various factors.

Instead of attempting to define what the Great Will is, let’s establish how it and related terms are variously written in Japanese, essential for understanding the concept.

• 無限の宇宙を統括する意識体 (Famicom: むげんのうちゅうをとうかつするいしきたい), “mugen no uchuu o toukatsu tsuru ishikitai”:  “Incorporeal entity that controls countless universes.” A prototype for the Great Will mentioned by YHVH in Shin Megami Tensei II.
• 宇宙の大いなる意志, “uchuu no ooinaru ishi”: “great will of the Universe”
• 大いなる意志, “ooinaru ishi”: “Great Will”
• 大いなる意思, “ooinaru ishi”: “Great Will”
• 大いなる理, “ooinaru ri”: “Great Reason,” [15a] aka “the Axiom” from SMT4A which is its own self-contained idea and is not worth discussing due to the game’s poor writing quality.

You may have noticed that both 大いなる意志 and 大いなる意思 are pronounced and translated the same despite a discrepancy in one of the kanji; there’s a subtle but meaningful difference between them. For 大いなる意志, the 志 implies action and an intention of “will,” therefore it could be seen as the “Great Intention.” In 大いなる意思, its 思 implies thought or a desire to do something, thus it could be the “Great Desire.” Simplified, it’s “action” (志) versus “thought” (思). [15b]

Source: 15b

Direct mentions of the Great Will appear in the following games: SMT2, Nocturne, Nocturne Maniacs, Strange Journey, and Strange Journey Redux; distinguishing between the original and updated versions is important. Raidou 2’s English version mentions the Great Will but that is merely a poor translation on the part of Atlus West and is not in the Japanese version. [15c] Here are transcriptions of and context for every mention of the Great Will, plus the Japanese term used:

Shin Megami Tensei II

• YHVH, on every path after his defeat: “Every time humans shall seek my help, the great will of the Universe shalt bring me forth countless times…” (JP: 宇宙の大いなる意志) [15d]

SMT2’s “great will of the Universe” is not only interesting because it’s a clear evolution from MT2’s “incorporeal entity,” the possession marker (の) implies the “great will” (大いなる意志) is the Universe’s (宇宙), i.e., the Universe itself is the entity displaying its active will. It is also clearly separate from YHVH here.

Strange Journey

• Williams, generic dialogue after Law route lock: “When I think back, we came to this world on the pretext of protecting mankind... We should be ashamed. But we have been touched by the Great Will now. He has corrected our path and led us thus far. Let us defeat Mem Aleph, purify the Earth, and create a paradise together.” (JP: Unknown!)

Williams’ comment would be the only mention of the Great Will in the whole of the vanilla game; because it’s easily missed optional dialogue on a single route, and due to the Raidou 2 error, until it can be verified via the JP version I’m inclined to believe this may not be legitimate. But if it is confirmed it’s just merely odd and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Strange Journey Redux

• Dantalian, in the Womb of Grief: “I may merely be information derived from the Great Will, but I have pride as a demon. I curry favor with none, not even the mother goddess… I faithfully serve only Lord Lucifer, as do all my allies bound to this Prison.” (JP: 大いなる意思)

Dantalian’s claim that he is information derived from the Great Will is a sloppy retcon. In the Schwarzwelt Reminiscences book, original scenario writer Shogo Isogai reveals the origin of the Schwarzwelt and everything in it: the same kind of “information” or data Dantalian mentions is ultimately derived from the humans of our reality; this data, as raw human emotion, is fed to a “data dimension,” which creates the Will of the Earth (地球意思) and from that the Schwarzwelt and the demons within; note that “unknown” demons in SJ appear as scrambled data. [15e]

So to say the Great Will creates this “information” is a blatant contradiction of the original intent, especially in the context of SJ as an ecological cautionary tale. 

Nocturne

• Game Over: “The comfort of death will come for men and demons alike... by the guidance of the Great Will.” (JP: 大いなる意思)

It’s probably fair to say that Nocturne’s Great Will is almost entirely why debates about it exist at all. Here the Great Will seems to act as part of the natural process of death and less as a psychopomp with actual character.

• Kagutsuchi, pre-battle on Freedom path: “Your heart longs for the kingdom of freedom, a world that has no set future... Will you disregard the past sins of the world, to pursue such an ideal? ...The Great Will once granted the world freedom, in hopes that it would evolve to a new level. However, it was that freedom which gave rise to evil, brought darkness, and led darkness the world to destruction... Freedom is the seed of disaster: its sole fruit is ruin.” (JP: 大いなる意思)

Kagutsuchi’s comments to a Freedom-bearing Demi-find offer the most interesting context of all. He is angered by the idea of Freedom’s “regression” to the previous world’s natural order and human free will, since the Conception exists to bring about an entirely new world with different rules. Crucially, Kagutsuchi blames the Great Will--as a separate entity from himself!--for this freedom. 

And commenting on Kagutsuchi, Kaneko casually equated him with YHVH (as an avatar); this means that the original version of Nocturne saw the Great Will and YHVH as separate. [15f]

Nocturne Maniacs

• Lady in Black, end of First Kalpa: “Kagutsuchi rises, matures, and falls in countless other places. There are millions--no, billions of worlds that you are unaware of, and they all experience the cycle of death and rebirth. That is the way of Amala, as determined by the Great Will.” (JP: 大いなる意思)
• Second Kalpa Flauros, first time in 2nd Kalpa, talking about Metatron’s “noble voice”: “It was like the voice of the universe… You weren’t harmed, were you?” (Mistranslation; for “voice of the universe,” the JP uses 大いなる意思)
• Second Kalpa Flauros, post-Beelzebub, still talking about the voice: “That incredible power… it might’ve been the Great Will coming to observe us.” (JP: 大いなる意志)
• Lucifer, pre-battle on TDE: “The Great Will shall curse you for going against his way, and place a heavy burden of atonement on your shoulders, which you shall bear for all eternity. Fear not, for only by receiving that curse can you truly walk the path of conquest. But first, I must know the extent of the power of darkness you hold within. Behold the supreme power of darkness, created by none other than the Great Will himself…” (JP: both 大いなる意思)

Maniacs itself has by far the most references to the Great Will of any game and indeed as many as all the other games combined, all uttered by Lucifer and his underlings.

The Lady in Black tells us that the Great Will is in charge of the Amala Universe, which is curious considering that Kagutsuchi is opposed to what by all accounts is the most Great Will-like Reason. Why would Kagutsuchi then even be capable of opposing the guiding principle of his Universe, filled with countless other Kagutsuchis and Conceptions? Was “Freedom” ever a legitimate Reason and why does it seem like the Great Will bestowed it upon our world itself? These questions go unanswered. 

Flauros is extremely freaked out by the voice of Metatron and compares it to the Great Will; its apparent power makes him wonder if you are all right and even speculates it is a being capable of descending to Amala and observing it. This is a huge change from the passive Great Will seen so far; so big, in fact, we may not be meant to believe the words of this scared, humble demon as reliable. Also unreliable here is the Japanese script. At first, Flauros uses 大いなる意思, our “Great Desire” of thought, but during the later dialogue he switches to 大いなる意志, the active “Great Intention,” which would be the only appearance of this spelling in the game. 

There’s a couple possibilities here:

1. It’s a typo. Easy to believe, and it was even carried forward to Nocturne HD.
2. There’s intent of its own behind it. It was, after all, carried forward to Nocturne HD.

If it isn’t a typo, its specific context is interesting because Flauros is talking about the Great Will descending and observing: taking action, using the action form of the name. However, Lucifer speaks of the Great Will taking action using the “Great Desire” variation instead.

And speaking of, that brings us to Lucifer’s comments from the True Demon path. We learn that the Great Will can curse things for opposing its order (its aforementioned “action”) and that it created Lucifer and his “darkness.” This is seen as further characterization of the Great Will as a non-abstract entity and the strongest evidence that it and YHVH are the same. But this already contradicts most of what we’ve been told.

We know that the Great Will and YHVH are distinct thanks to Kaneko and this builds on the precedent set by both MT2 and SMT2. It’s also established that freedom was bestowed by the Great Will on our world and that this is seen as illegitimate by Kagutsuchi. So the idea that the Great Will would curse someone not for seeking their own brand of “freedom” via the True Demon Ending but because they blew up one of their Kagutsuchis for naught does not require a YHVH to explain. Plus, the idea that Lucifer could originate from a freedom-associated Great Will is not a stretch; Lucifer’s Chaos from past games is freedom from order. Lucifer’s comment in the final TDE cutscene of a “true enemy” is also implied to be YHVH due to game file rips that credit its final, cryptic lines to YHVH himself. [15g]

So what is there to glean from all this? The Great Will isn’t just defined differently with every game release, it’s almost like it’s different in every dialogue box. The definitions of the concept seem to matter far less than its value as a plot device that can be whatever Atlus needs it to be at any given moment. Nocturne Maniacs at once made it a topic of interest and an inconsistent mess of descriptions that contradict those that already existed; mistranslations on Atlus West's part haven't helped, either. Above all, the Great Will remains a vague concept that matters little to any specific game’s plot. If the authors don’t care that much about it, you probably shouldn’t either.

Sources:

[15a] The Great Will and the Great Reason.
[15b] Shingakunet; discussion pf Japanese definitions of “will" (in Japanese).
[15c] Initial post discussing Raidou 2’s mistranslated Great Will
[15d] Translation of YHVH’s dialogue in SMT2
[15e] Strange Journey: Schwarzwelt Reminiscences
[15f] SMT Demons Bible
[15g] Images of Nocturne: Maniacs game file rips

 ___________________________

And that’s 15 myths down! Hopefully for good but hey, I’m a realist.

The next 15 will be available next Wednesday, November 3rd, after daily discussion posts on Twitter and Tumblr highlighting the myths of this initial set! Any help spreading them around on social media channels will be appreciated. Save, print, and share with your family and friends if you feel the need! These myths and misconceptions don’t have to hang around forever!

Thank you and stay tuned!

-Eirikr (on Tumblr) (on Twitter)

NEXT: MYTHS #16-30 | ANGELS, MARA, THE REAL NOCTURNE LYRICS, ET CETERA! >>