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I’m afraid I performed my usual task of speaking before double-checking my facts, and therefore inaccurately portrayed the nature of the Japanese school system within this podcast. I stated something along the lines of most Japanese schools not being public, but it’s more accurate to say they aren’t public as we in the United States know it. Even I learned something as I thought, too late, to double check my facts, as most Japanese high schools are public, though they aren’t mandatory and typically require an entrance exam before acceptance. Despite being public, however, it does seem as if you still pay tuition for public education.

Regardless, I inaccurately described the school system in Japan within the podcast and wanted to clarify it somewhat. Similarly, while there’s no janitorial staff in Japan as we in America think of it, there are maintenance staff responsible for such tasks as mowing the school grounds and handling more complex labor throughout the facilities. Both students and staff, however, take part in cleaning the school.

On one hand, I feel as if there isn’t much more for me to say regarding Persona 5 Royal. I wrote not one, but but two articles on the game, in addition to this podcast and excerpts from other episodes. At the same time, I could probably write whole articles on individual characters and how their arcs examine the themes present in the game. There’s a lot of material here to work with, and I am all the more encouraged to play Persona 4 Golden in order to compare and contrast how each game took similar concepts but executed them with different themes.

Which is why it is always ironic to me that I annually see games press scrambling around a singular, often mediocre game with realistic graphics in a desperate effort to “legitimize” video games as a serious story-telling medium. I can effortlessly think of several Japanese games I played this year that all accomplished this task, and while many of them had moments of goofy humor or somehow featured “out there” plots, they also bore no shame of their status as a video game. Or their anime art style. Or their goofy sense of humor.

I can think of nothing no more legitimate or mature than that.

Do you have your own thoughts regarding Persona 5 Royal? Please leave a comment below or send us an e-mail with your opinions.

Opening theme music by Fallen Prophecy.