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The plot of Atlus's PlayStation 2 role-playing game ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4'' is centered on a group of high-school students dedicated to capturing the culprit responsible for the murders and kidnappings that happened in their small town of Inaba starting in April 11, 2011. The case is linked by the TV world, a dimension where the characters use alteregos known as Personas to defeat the Shadows, beings that represent people's hidden thoughts that killed the first two victims. The protagonist is Yu Narukami, a high-school student who moved into the town from the city. He is met by Yosuke Hanamura, the son of the local department store manager; Chie Satonaka, an energetic girl with a strong interest in kung fu; Yukiko Amagi, a calm and refined girl whose family owns the local inn; Kanji Tatsumi, a first-year student whose punk reputation hides a softer side; Teddie, a mysterious figure from the TV world who exists in the form of a cartoonish bear costume; Rise Kujikawa, a popular teen idol who has taken a break from showbiz; and Naoto Shirogane, a well-known junior detective who disguises her true identity by dressing as a young man. ''Persona 4'' has been adapted to a manga and an anime series that gave different portrayals to the game's cast, most notably the protagonist who is given his own name and a personality. The game was also ported for the PlayStation Vita as ''Persona 4 Golden'' which expanded various of the characters' stories and included a new one called Marie, a teenage girl linked with the Investigation Team. A fighting game sequel, ''Persona 4 Arena'', features the Investigation Team in a tournament competing against each other as well as characters from the prequel ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3''. Shigenori Soejima acted as the art director for the game and was responsible for the character design. The general approach to designing the characters and ultimately the setting of the game was by drawing from the memory and interpretation of the development staff about a "rural, countryside" setting. Reception of the game's characters are mostly positive, with various characters having been reviewed favorably. This included the characters' realistic personalities and the relationships established across the game. The English voice acting work was also met with a similar response. ==Creation and design== Shigenori Soejima was in charge of designing the characters in ''Persona 4''. With the series now taking place in a fictional rural town rather than a city like in the prequels, the characters with origins from the city had hair styles different from those in Inaba with 1UP.com commenting that Yu's and Yosuke's were more stylish. The non-player characters with whom the player forms Social Links, a game mechanic wherein the player fosters friendships with the characters to unlock more powerful Personas, had no models in their creation, but Soejima had vague memories about their actions based on his experience when first hearing the ideas.〔 However, as a result of adding the mystery element in the game, the staff decided to make the characters act like real people. Therefore, none of them acted in a stereotypical fashion with director Katsura Hashino stating that this was since "the worldview was already pretty far from the ordinary."〔 Each player character's "Shadows Selves" are meant to act out-of-character in their first scene as a result of appearing in the Midnight Channel. While in this state, the Shadows entertained the audience watching the program; when the player encounters the real person with their respective Shadow Self, they behave more coherently. This resulted in the portrayal of one of the more popular character's shadow, Kanji's, to behave in a stereotypically gay manner. At the same time, it also revealed more about his person as a whole. No changes were made to these scenes as they were meant to "depict the contrast between what people appear to be and how they really are."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Persona 4 characters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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