An Analysis of Persona 4's Priestess Social Link
Some Persona 4 spoilers follow.
Persona 4 is another one of my favorite JRPGs, for many of the same reasons as Persona 5 is. One of the things I like most is how the cast is richly characterized as flawed but well-meaning individuals who must strive to overcome their weaknesses.
One such individual is Yukiko Amagi, the heiress to the Amagi Inn, a party member and the Priestess Social Link. Her Shadow, or the side of herself that she refuses to acknowledge, is born from her feeling as though she is unable to decide how to live her life, since she will be expected to inherit and manage the inn, like her mother before her. As such, some people consider the ending of her Social Link, in which Yukiko chooses to stay in Inaba and inherit the inn anyway, to be a copout that abandons all her character growth. This essay, however, will prove why such a perspective is ultimately mistaken.
First, some context. As you will learn if you talk to various NPCs, Inaba is a rather boring small town that few young people want to stay in. Many of the local businesses are dying out as a result of being unable to compete with the new branch of Junes, a national department store chain. Yosuke is also rather bored ever since his family moved to Inaba about a year before the start of the game, and his Shadow is born from his desire to have some excitement, and possibly even become a hero.
As for Yukiko, she has had to make sacrifices as a result of her being the heiress to the Amagi Inn. When she was young, she was unable to take home a dog because her family could not own pets, an incident that led to her meeting her best friend, Chie. As a high schooler, Yukiko is forced to keep her schedule open after school, since she often must help her family at the inn. Things become especially difficult after one of the inn's guests is murdered and Yukiko's mother collapses from the stress, thereby forcing Yukiko to spend more time working for the inn. During this time, Yukiko is kidnapped and forced to come to terms with her Shadow, receiving the Persona Konohana Sakuya in the process. Like the other party members, her Social Link is about coming to terms with the part of herself that her Shadow represents.
Now, let us look at the social link itself, going rank by rank.
The Rank 1 event mainly involves Yukiko opening up to the protagonist, so it is not worth discussing in much detail. Like the first ranks for all the party members besides Kanji and Naoto, it is part of the story, so it is mainly an event that signals the start of your friendship with that person.
The Rank 2 event is where the inn storyline begins. Yukiko concludes, based on what her Shadow says, that she does not truly want to inherit the inn, and so decides to leave Inaba and get a job once she graduates high school. Concluding that one's Shadow represents one's feelings is not entirely unreasonable, but it is worth noting that people are more than their shadows. While Chie was jealous of Yukiko's popularity and beauty, and used her to feel better about herself, she also comforted a young Yukiko (likely long before Yukiko became a hit with the guys), and risks her life tosave Yukiko, proving that she is a true friend despite her jealousy.
After detailing her plans, Yukiko somberly says that she must keep them a secret from her mother. While it is understandable that Yukiko would be worried about what her mother would think about her daughter refusing to follow in the family tradition, it also suggests that Yukiko may be guilty about it. While guilt would not be enough of a reason to abandon her plans to leave Inaba, it also suggests that Yukiko has doubts about her decision, which is why she ultimately reconsiders.
Rank 3 involves Yukiko going to the grocery section of Junes with the protagonist in order to learn how to cook (for context, Yukiko's cooking is spectacularly bad, although she gets better). During the trip, she expresses a desire to be more independent, which I will touch on later. Rank 4 has Yukiko ask you to taste-test her food, and realizes it did not go nearly as well as she had hoped. Neither event is all that significant on its own, but they are both brought up later.
At Rank 5, which takes place in Junes' food court, Yukiko discusses her ongoing efforts to earn a job license, at which point a shady reporter comes up to her. The reporter comments on how "the countryside is the dumps," at which point Yukiko politely but firmly says, "I beg to differ," showing that she has a higher regard for her hometown than she initially lets on. After he passive-aggressively comments on her turning down "sweet deals," he leaves.
Yukiko explains that the man was from a "news of the weird" program that wanted to cover her inn, where the first murder victim was staying before her death. Yukiko's mother refused the coverage, which would have proven damaging to the inn's reputation. Yukiko, however, wished her mother had allowed the story, since if the Amagi Inn ended up going out of business, and then she would "feel better about leaving." Interestingly enough, neither of the player's options- "Are you serious?" and "That's selfish"- agree with Yukiko, suggesting that the player character is shocked to hear her say that. If you choose the former, Yukiko says "Yes," and if you choose the latter, she'll admit that the protagonist has a point, but she "wasn't born there by choice."
The Rank 5 event is a significant moment for two reasons. First, it shows that Yukiko still has not fully embraced the idea of making her own choices, since while she has committed to moving out of Inaba, a part of her wants the inn to close so that getting a job for herself will be her only option. Second, it also suggests that Yukiko feels guilty about leaving her family behind, and you wll learn why.
At Rank 6, Yukiko's cooking practice continues, and she brings up how the cooks at her inn help her, but ultimately take over midway through. The "correct" response to Yukiko's observation, which gives the most approval points, is "They care about you," and Yukiko shares a heartwarming story about how the chefs and waitresses teased her about having a boyfriend.
I would like to briefly comment on dialogue choices in Social Links. Since you need a certain amount of relationship points with the Social Link character to move on to the next rank, it behooves you to choose the best possible choices. As a rule, you should avoid being too harsh or judgmental (e.g. saying "You're pretty bad" in the aforementioned choice is not a good idea), and be supportive of the character, but still willing to challenge them when necessary.
Rank 7 has Yukiko come to Tatsuhime Shrine with the protagonist, where she reminisces about the time she spent there with the waitresses, and concludes that she will never return to the shrine once she leaves. If you ask her, "You're not coming back?" Yukiko will say that she "couldn't face (her) parents again" if she did that, showing more guilt and unease about the decision. A waitress named Kasai stops by, and has a friendly chat with Yukiko, whom Kasai calls "Yuki-chan," suggesting that they're highly familiar. Yukiko then talks about how the waitresses and chefs spend their breaks helping her, as well as how grateful she is for her friends. After the rank up, she fears that by leaving, she will be betraying those who have been kind to her.
This is another important step in Yukiko's Social Link, like the event two ranks prior. Not only does it once again touch on Yukiko's unease about her decision, but it also shows how indebted she is to the others at the inn. Perhaps being heiress to the inn involves hard work and sacrifices, but she also has fond memories of it.
At Rank 8, Yukiko mentions that she's set to help clean the inn in preparation for a travel show, only for Kasai to show up and warn her not to be foold- the "news of the weird" people have returned. Unfortunately, the shady reporter and his subordinates have tracked her down, and has an even more embarrassing and sensastionalist pitch than before. As the man continues to insult the inn, Yukiko starts out by politely asking him to leave, then loses her temper and tells him to "(shut) the hell up" and leave. After Yukiko calms down, she says that the inn is like her home, and she does not want it to close.
At Rank 9, Yukiko comes back to Tatsuhime shrine, and announces her decision: she will stay in Inaba to inherit the inn. To quote her, emphasis added:
"I've decided not to leave Inaba. I never really objected to being the inn's manager per se... I just didn't like the fact that it wasn't up to me... I felt that my life was on rails. And I thought running away was the only choice for me... But no longer. I want to protect the family inn. After all, it's near to my heart..."
Essentially, this quote sums up Yukiko's arc. Feeling powerless and unable to make choices for herself, she blames the inn and tries to rebel against what she sees as a burden, only to once again fall into the trap of seeking an easy way out. With the protagonist's help, however, she recognizes what is important to her, and is able to decide to protect it.
At this point, Yukiko asks you what you think of her as- choosing "classmate" or "friend" keeps the relationship platonic, but saying "Because I love you," results in her becoming your girlfriend.
Rank 10 has a bit of dialogue that either has Yukiko cooking for you (as a friend) or visiting your room (as your girlfriend), but the important part comes in the dialogue that stays the same. She says that her desire to become self-sufficient was "presumptuous," since she relies on the support of her inn and the family, and being "raised by such a kind group" made her the person she is. Her romance is somewhat bittersweet, since you will leave Inaba at the end of the game, but she believes that someday, you will return and manage the inn alongside her.
During this event, Yukiko's Persona evolves from Konohana Sakuya to Amaterasu. If accepting one's Shadow is necessary to attain a Persona, coming to terms with one's issues is necessary for the Persona to evolve.
The Golden rerelease of the game adds a new event, which you can access by spending time with Yukiko between the end of Winter Break and the final exams after completing her Social Link. In it, Yukiko will mention that she told her family about her decision not to leave the inn, and they revealed that they knew already. It is a humbling revelation for Yukiko.
"I was surrounded by good people, but I didn't understand that at all. I had myself convinced I had to bear my problems alone... I lied to myself, looked away from small opportunities... and only put my efforts into leaving it all behind..."
Yukiko, declaring that she's surrounded by kind people, decides to support them in turn, resulting in Amaterasu becoming Sumeo-Okami.
Essentially, Yukiko's character arc in her Social Link involves her maturing as a person. She goes from someone who merely goes with the flow to being someone who makes a misguided attempt at striking out on her own for the sake of her own freedom to finally gaining the resolve necessary to become the manager her family's inn needs, and repay everyone who has helped her. Rather than doing what is expected of her, she is actively choosing a path that will make herself and others happy, and this is thus a fitting ending to her Social Link.
Persona 4 is another one of my favorite JRPGs, for many of the same reasons as Persona 5 is. One of the things I like most is how the cast is richly characterized as flawed but well-meaning individuals who must strive to overcome their weaknesses.
One such individual is Yukiko Amagi, the heiress to the Amagi Inn, a party member and the Priestess Social Link. Her Shadow, or the side of herself that she refuses to acknowledge, is born from her feeling as though she is unable to decide how to live her life, since she will be expected to inherit and manage the inn, like her mother before her. As such, some people consider the ending of her Social Link, in which Yukiko chooses to stay in Inaba and inherit the inn anyway, to be a copout that abandons all her character growth. This essay, however, will prove why such a perspective is ultimately mistaken.
First, some context. As you will learn if you talk to various NPCs, Inaba is a rather boring small town that few young people want to stay in. Many of the local businesses are dying out as a result of being unable to compete with the new branch of Junes, a national department store chain. Yosuke is also rather bored ever since his family moved to Inaba about a year before the start of the game, and his Shadow is born from his desire to have some excitement, and possibly even become a hero.
As for Yukiko, she has had to make sacrifices as a result of her being the heiress to the Amagi Inn. When she was young, she was unable to take home a dog because her family could not own pets, an incident that led to her meeting her best friend, Chie. As a high schooler, Yukiko is forced to keep her schedule open after school, since she often must help her family at the inn. Things become especially difficult after one of the inn's guests is murdered and Yukiko's mother collapses from the stress, thereby forcing Yukiko to spend more time working for the inn. During this time, Yukiko is kidnapped and forced to come to terms with her Shadow, receiving the Persona Konohana Sakuya in the process. Like the other party members, her Social Link is about coming to terms with the part of herself that her Shadow represents.
Now, let us look at the social link itself, going rank by rank.
The Rank 1 event mainly involves Yukiko opening up to the protagonist, so it is not worth discussing in much detail. Like the first ranks for all the party members besides Kanji and Naoto, it is part of the story, so it is mainly an event that signals the start of your friendship with that person.
The Rank 2 event is where the inn storyline begins. Yukiko concludes, based on what her Shadow says, that she does not truly want to inherit the inn, and so decides to leave Inaba and get a job once she graduates high school. Concluding that one's Shadow represents one's feelings is not entirely unreasonable, but it is worth noting that people are more than their shadows. While Chie was jealous of Yukiko's popularity and beauty, and used her to feel better about herself, she also comforted a young Yukiko (likely long before Yukiko became a hit with the guys), and risks her life tosave Yukiko, proving that she is a true friend despite her jealousy.
After detailing her plans, Yukiko somberly says that she must keep them a secret from her mother. While it is understandable that Yukiko would be worried about what her mother would think about her daughter refusing to follow in the family tradition, it also suggests that Yukiko may be guilty about it. While guilt would not be enough of a reason to abandon her plans to leave Inaba, it also suggests that Yukiko has doubts about her decision, which is why she ultimately reconsiders.
Rank 3 involves Yukiko going to the grocery section of Junes with the protagonist in order to learn how to cook (for context, Yukiko's cooking is spectacularly bad, although she gets better). During the trip, she expresses a desire to be more independent, which I will touch on later. Rank 4 has Yukiko ask you to taste-test her food, and realizes it did not go nearly as well as she had hoped. Neither event is all that significant on its own, but they are both brought up later.
At Rank 5, which takes place in Junes' food court, Yukiko discusses her ongoing efforts to earn a job license, at which point a shady reporter comes up to her. The reporter comments on how "the countryside is the dumps," at which point Yukiko politely but firmly says, "I beg to differ," showing that she has a higher regard for her hometown than she initially lets on. After he passive-aggressively comments on her turning down "sweet deals," he leaves.
Yukiko explains that the man was from a "news of the weird" program that wanted to cover her inn, where the first murder victim was staying before her death. Yukiko's mother refused the coverage, which would have proven damaging to the inn's reputation. Yukiko, however, wished her mother had allowed the story, since if the Amagi Inn ended up going out of business, and then she would "feel better about leaving." Interestingly enough, neither of the player's options- "Are you serious?" and "That's selfish"- agree with Yukiko, suggesting that the player character is shocked to hear her say that. If you choose the former, Yukiko says "Yes," and if you choose the latter, she'll admit that the protagonist has a point, but she "wasn't born there by choice."
The Rank 5 event is a significant moment for two reasons. First, it shows that Yukiko still has not fully embraced the idea of making her own choices, since while she has committed to moving out of Inaba, a part of her wants the inn to close so that getting a job for herself will be her only option. Second, it also suggests that Yukiko feels guilty about leaving her family behind, and you wll learn why.
At Rank 6, Yukiko's cooking practice continues, and she brings up how the cooks at her inn help her, but ultimately take over midway through. The "correct" response to Yukiko's observation, which gives the most approval points, is "They care about you," and Yukiko shares a heartwarming story about how the chefs and waitresses teased her about having a boyfriend.
I would like to briefly comment on dialogue choices in Social Links. Since you need a certain amount of relationship points with the Social Link character to move on to the next rank, it behooves you to choose the best possible choices. As a rule, you should avoid being too harsh or judgmental (e.g. saying "You're pretty bad" in the aforementioned choice is not a good idea), and be supportive of the character, but still willing to challenge them when necessary.
Rank 7 has Yukiko come to Tatsuhime Shrine with the protagonist, where she reminisces about the time she spent there with the waitresses, and concludes that she will never return to the shrine once she leaves. If you ask her, "You're not coming back?" Yukiko will say that she "couldn't face (her) parents again" if she did that, showing more guilt and unease about the decision. A waitress named Kasai stops by, and has a friendly chat with Yukiko, whom Kasai calls "Yuki-chan," suggesting that they're highly familiar. Yukiko then talks about how the waitresses and chefs spend their breaks helping her, as well as how grateful she is for her friends. After the rank up, she fears that by leaving, she will be betraying those who have been kind to her.
This is another important step in Yukiko's Social Link, like the event two ranks prior. Not only does it once again touch on Yukiko's unease about her decision, but it also shows how indebted she is to the others at the inn. Perhaps being heiress to the inn involves hard work and sacrifices, but she also has fond memories of it.
At Rank 8, Yukiko mentions that she's set to help clean the inn in preparation for a travel show, only for Kasai to show up and warn her not to be foold- the "news of the weird" people have returned. Unfortunately, the shady reporter and his subordinates have tracked her down, and has an even more embarrassing and sensastionalist pitch than before. As the man continues to insult the inn, Yukiko starts out by politely asking him to leave, then loses her temper and tells him to "(shut) the hell up" and leave. After Yukiko calms down, she says that the inn is like her home, and she does not want it to close.
At Rank 9, Yukiko comes back to Tatsuhime shrine, and announces her decision: she will stay in Inaba to inherit the inn. To quote her, emphasis added:
"I've decided not to leave Inaba. I never really objected to being the inn's manager per se... I just didn't like the fact that it wasn't up to me... I felt that my life was on rails. And I thought running away was the only choice for me... But no longer. I want to protect the family inn. After all, it's near to my heart..."
Essentially, this quote sums up Yukiko's arc. Feeling powerless and unable to make choices for herself, she blames the inn and tries to rebel against what she sees as a burden, only to once again fall into the trap of seeking an easy way out. With the protagonist's help, however, she recognizes what is important to her, and is able to decide to protect it.
At this point, Yukiko asks you what you think of her as- choosing "classmate" or "friend" keeps the relationship platonic, but saying "Because I love you," results in her becoming your girlfriend.
Rank 10 has a bit of dialogue that either has Yukiko cooking for you (as a friend) or visiting your room (as your girlfriend), but the important part comes in the dialogue that stays the same. She says that her desire to become self-sufficient was "presumptuous," since she relies on the support of her inn and the family, and being "raised by such a kind group" made her the person she is. Her romance is somewhat bittersweet, since you will leave Inaba at the end of the game, but she believes that someday, you will return and manage the inn alongside her.
During this event, Yukiko's Persona evolves from Konohana Sakuya to Amaterasu. If accepting one's Shadow is necessary to attain a Persona, coming to terms with one's issues is necessary for the Persona to evolve.
The Golden rerelease of the game adds a new event, which you can access by spending time with Yukiko between the end of Winter Break and the final exams after completing her Social Link. In it, Yukiko will mention that she told her family about her decision not to leave the inn, and they revealed that they knew already. It is a humbling revelation for Yukiko.
"I was surrounded by good people, but I didn't understand that at all. I had myself convinced I had to bear my problems alone... I lied to myself, looked away from small opportunities... and only put my efforts into leaving it all behind..."
Yukiko, declaring that she's surrounded by kind people, decides to support them in turn, resulting in Amaterasu becoming Sumeo-Okami.
Essentially, Yukiko's character arc in her Social Link involves her maturing as a person. She goes from someone who merely goes with the flow to being someone who makes a misguided attempt at striking out on her own for the sake of her own freedom to finally gaining the resolve necessary to become the manager her family's inn needs, and repay everyone who has helped her. Rather than doing what is expected of her, she is actively choosing a path that will make herself and others happy, and this is thus a fitting ending to her Social Link.
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