YMMV / The Body Reflects the Heart, the Shadow Reflects the Soul

• Broken Base:
  • The fact that the Phantom Thieves (and thus, Phantom Class Persona-users) are stronger than the Investigation Team or the Shadow Operatives (who are Sage Class). Some say it balances out the fact that the latter two teams have more experience and, in the case with Akihiko and likely the other Shadow Operatives, physical strength while others find this power gap to favor the Phantom Thieves too much in comparison while downplaying the hurdles the other two teams went through.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The blacksmith, Tamotsu Kojima, with his no-nonsense personality and Brutal Honesty, is not afraid to tell Kenzo the dangers of blacksmithing.
  • Monty, introduced in Chapter 40, has quickly become a fan favorite for his interactions with Ayaka, Sho, and Trench.
• Harsher in Hindsight: According to this fic, Russia was hit hard by the Shadow crisis, with Vladimir Putin potentially becoming a Corporeal Shadow by Chapter 15, which was posted sometime in 2021. Hits harder when Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• Heartwarming Moments: Near the end of Chapter 37, Ryuji asks Ann to be his girlfriend; she accepts without hesitation and kisses him. Doubles as a Funny Moment as Mrs. Sakamoto walks in on them during their session and teases them.
• Improved by the Re-Cut: After the first 49 chapters, Raptorclaw has revised Chapters 4 and 5 significantly, which have been met with a much stronger reception. In the original version, Ren was outright hostile (even if it was not much more than an act) to Yu to the point of threatening to kidnap Rise, which readers have found uncharacteristic of him to do. In the revised version, the dialogue between Ren and Yu being less forced and tropey, the former being far less hostile to Yu other than a brief sparring match, and there is overall more natural characterization.
• Jerkass Woobie: From a test subject to comatose to a fugitive, viewed as a pawn by apocalypse bringers and a dangerous criminal by everyone else, it's only with the Outbreaks that Sho finally has anything resembling a regular life. Yet he's still hotheaded and belligerent, even to the point of cruelly joking with Labrys about their past together; she hopes he'll grow up soon.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • RAFO. ^Explanation  Acronym for "Read and Find Out;" Raptorclaw's go-to response when responding to comments asking about characters and future plot points. Expect it to come up a lot when looking through comments or Discord conversations bugging Raptor about what will happen next.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
  • Sho Minazuki in Persona 4: Arena Ultimax was disliked for his obnoxious personality, with some feeling that he encapsulates the term "edge lord." This fic portrays him more as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold with humor that is less reliant on juvenile puns and moments such as protecting Maruki and Rumi from Shadows in Chapter 28, and he has been regarded as a fan-favorite character for this fic.
  • Yosuke was a Base-Breaking Character in Persona 4, especially for his behavior towards the girls and Kanji. In Chapter 43, he shows considerable maturity and stands up for Arisu when a creep harasses her.
• Shipping: There are a few ships in this fic:
  • Yu and Rise. Canonically, the latter's the one who showed the most romantic interest in him.
  • Kanji and Naoto. The Ship Tease between them is prevalent in canon.
  • Ren and Makoto. There's a fair bit of Ship Tease between them in Persona 5 (though Strikers sinks it).
  • Maruki and Rumi. They were engaged in canon (at least before Rumi suffered PTSD from a home invasion). They become a couple again after defeating Eris to remove Rumi's actualization and help her recover from said PTSD.
  • Ryuji and Ann. They get a bit of Ship Tease in Persona 5 and quite a lot in the fic. They become an Official Couple in Chapter 37.
  • Satomi and Atsuko have been in a relationship since before the start of the fic. They're also the first LGBTQ+ ship to be featured.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: This fic takes quite some time to get rolling, with Kenzo only starting his journey in Chapter 9. He gets his actual start between Chapters 19-22 when he finally becomes a Sage Class Persona-user, with most previous chapters focusing on the Phantom Thieves. It is not until the Osaka/Inaba Visit Arc that we have a more cohesive arc.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Many people bemoaned that Goro Akechi would not make an appearance at all, with Word of God simply stating "he's dead" despite the Ambiguous Situation Royal presented in its ending.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Many people felt that there could've been more events that occurred over Summer Vacation, as opposed to the three chapters of filler (Chapters 14-16).

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