Persona 5 Royal character poll has Ryuji fans in shambles

Persona
(Image credit: Atlus)

The results of a Persona 5 Royal character poll have been revealed, and Ryuji's fans are in tears.

Over the past weekend, Atlus and Sega revealed the results of a Southeast Asian-facing character poll for Persona 5 Royal. The results, which you can see in full just below, have protagonist Ren Amamiya first, Makoto Niijima second, and sidekick Ryuji all the way in second-last place, higher only than Haru.

In the comments underneath the Persona subreddit post above, Ryuji's fans bemoan the poll results. The trusty sidekick's fans are wondering how the hell their best boy managed to come second to last in the new poll, and what Southeast Asian players have against Ryuji in particular.

One comment theorizes that voice actor Max Mittleman's performance in the English language dub of Persona 5 Royal wins over plenty of western fans for Ryuji, and it's hard to argue against that. Another commenter writes that Ryuji's perceived vulgarity in Asian languages doesn't do him any favors, unfortunately.

Elsewhere, others are wondering how Haru managed to come in last place in the poll. This one isn't a huge surprise, honestly, as Haru has always typically been one of the less popular Persona 5 character at large, due to her reduced screen time in the original 2017 release when compared to other characters like Ann and Futaba.

No one's particularly surprised that Makoto's finished in second place, however. The kickass honors student has always been a fan favorite since 2017, and one could easily make a case for Makoto being one of the best Persona franchise characters at large.

Don't forget, Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden finally release on modern platforms later this month on January 19. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.