Persona Diamond is a Japanese-American action-thriller RPG video game based on the Persona series, itself a sub-series to the Shin Megami Tensei series. It is developed by Atlus and published by Sega, being released on April 18th, 2023. An upgraded version titled Persona Shining Diamond released a year later on June 21st, 2024.
Synopsis[]
Set in Tokyo, a silent teenager known as Diamond attends the fictional Junjin High as she soon begins to learn that students at Junjin High and people all over Tokyo are suddenly disappearing as she begins to investigate, befriending several other teens while learning of a conspiracy that affects all of Tokyo as well as a strange other world known as the Looking Glass.
Characters[]
Main[]
- Diamond (voiced by Anairis Quiñones) - a silent yet noble teenager who investigates the disappearances of teenagers and other figures throughout Tokyo and Junjin High as she gets warped to the Looking Glass and awakens her Persona, Pendragon, while learning that there are multiple people involved in this conspiracy and it is all tied to the Looking Glass. She is the Fool Arcana of the game.
- Milky (voiced by Lizzie Freeman) - a shockingly foul mouthed and aggressive but adorable rabbit who resided in the Looking Glass as she encounters Diamond and Yasuhiro when they first arrive in the Looking Glass as she learns that something is going on and joins the two of them in their investigations. She has the Persona known as White Rabbit. She is the Tower Arcana of the game.
- Yasuhiro Uyeda (voiced by AJ Beckles) - a quite nerdy and logical but sometimes aloof teenager who finds solace in numbers and equations as he ends up befriending Diamond and gets thrust into the Looking Glass while chasing after her, soon facing the fact that he chose to push away all chances of making friends and decides to try and not blow his chance again. His Persona is known as Flammel. He is the Magician Arcana of the game.
- Kaori Tanaka (voiced by Anjali Kunapaneni) - a depressed and suicidal and somewhat gloomy teenager who like Yasuhiro befriending Diamond although she ended up being kidnapped by Ms. Sera and brought to the Looking Glass as she ends up being rescued thanks to Diamond, Milky and Yasuhiro and after facing her Shadow, which represented her secret desire that she actually wants to live but is too scared to face her problems and her depression, gains a slightly new outlook on life although she tries to be less gloomy and wants to face her problems head on now. The Persona she unlocks is known as Gilgamesh. She is the Lovers Arcana of the game.
- Daigo Yabe (voiced by Greg Chun) - a stoic and focused star football (soccer) player who is primarily focused on the game and is quite serious at times. It turns out that he is being pushed into the role of star football player thanks to expectations that his father set up for him as he is completely afraid of letting him down. He befriends Diamond after learning of his brother's darker path and wants to make amends with him as he joins her into venturing into the Looking Glass. His Persona is known as Sun Wukong. He is the Temperance Arcana of the game.
- Mako Izumo (voiced by Stephen Fu) - a rebellious and sometimes aggressive graffiti artist who believes that all forms of art are sacred and wants to let out his emotions through painting, soon encountering Diamond after she and her party rescued him from the Looking Glass and joins her in stopping this mysterious string of kidnappings. It's revealed that he has a somewhat abusive home life and that his graffiti art is how he escapes from the pain. His Persona is known as DaVinci. He is the Chariot Arcana of the game.
- Teiji Fujino (voiced by Zach Aguilar) - a slightly weird teenager whose parents are spiritual mediums as he wants to be just like his parents, although this causes him to be somewhat of a laughingstock at Junjin High. He ends up befriending Diamond after learning that Noboru Taoka plans on demolishing his parents' shop and ends up becoming the Navigator of the game. His Persona is known as Rasputin. He is the Sun Arcana of the game.
- Yuna Taira (voiced by Emi Lo) - the seemingly snooty and way too busy student council president of Junjin High who turns out to be extremely stressed and hopes what she is doing is truly right. She ends up meeting Diamond after being kidnapped by her own mother and soon gets rescued by Diamond's team as she ends up being convinced to join her team. Her Persona is known as Hester. She is the Empress Arcana of the game.
Supporting[]
- Igor (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - the mysterious and strange benefactor of the Velvet Room who encounters Diamond when she first awakened in the Looking Glass and allows her to be in the Velvet Room, although he allows his assistant to deal with the Personas as he finds Diamond to be fascinating.
- Maria (voiced by Jenny Yokobori) - Igor's apprentice who helps run the Velvet Room, which is themed after a coffee shop here, with her being dressed as a coffee shop employee as she is the one responsible for fusing Personas and upgrading them, sometimes engaging in somewhat awkward small talk with Diamond. She is the Priestess Arcana of the game.
- Shinjiro Oorin (voiced by Daisuke Tsuji) - a slightly stressed sushi chef who runs a sushi bar as he is old friends with Diamond's mother and allows Diamond to stay with him as he tries his best to raise Diamond, although he can sometimes be a little too misunderstanding of her. He is the Hierophant Arcana of the game.
- Hina Oorin (voiced by Kira Buckland) - a naive yet sweet-natured yet extremely intelligent little girl who happens to be Mr. Oorin's daughter as she often likes talking to Diamond, seeing her as a sister due to Oorin deciding to allow Diamond to stay with him, currently attending elementary school. She is the Fortune Arcana of the game.
- Chigusa Furuse (voiced by Faye Mata) - a rebellious and somewhat loner skateboarding student at Junjin High who claims to not want to make any friends and mainly wanders alone skateboarding, although Diamond could potentially start talking to her and start some sort of a friendship with her. She is the Hermit Arcana of the game.
- Ryuto Watanabe (voiced by Kaiji Tang) - a somewhat melancholic toy shop owner whose shop is in a nearby mall as he ends up selling Diamond a bunch of toy weapons, not knowing that these weapons become real in the Looking Glass. In conversations it's revealed that his fifteen-year-old daughter had recently died of Cancer, and he is grieving her. He is the Death Arcana of the game.
- [hanged man arcana]
- Sachio Asato (voiced by Jalen K. Cassell) - a scummy yet somewhat kind-hearted salesman who sells extremely valuable black market level items while befriending Diamond. It soon turns out he once genuinely wanted to help people but didn't have the budget or resources to do so, resorting to more dubious tactics as a result. He is the Devil Arcana of the game.
- Ryuu Hiroshi (voiced by Bryce Papenbrook) - the idiotic and goofy captain of the track team who absolutely loves working out as he finds track to be the one thing that he truly likes, befriending Diamond if she decides to join the track team, possibly being a good mentor to her on the team. He is the Strength Arcana of the game.
- Soshu Hoga (voiced by TBD) - the somewhat rule abiding and sometimes strict head hall monitor at Junjin High who is currently a senior as he wants to make sure that things are perfect and orderly, believing that he is enacting justice upon the school as he could possibly end up befriending Diamond. He is the Justice Arcana of the game.
- Sora Rao (voiced by TBD) - a constantly happy and cheery teenager who also happens to be the head actor in the school's theater club as she has a constantly optimistic outlook on the world and on humanity, befriending Diamond and can possibly hang out with her as well. She is the Star Arcana of the game.
- Senzo Ikeda (voiced by Doug Erholtz) - a somewhat strict and order loving but calm history teacher who sees potential in Diamond but sometimes dislikes it when his students slack off in class. Through hanging out with him, Diamond learns that he is struggling by and also works at a fast-food restaurant, gaining some pity for him. He is the Emperor Arcana of the game.
- Kenmei Fukurou (voiced by TBD) - an extremely anxious and nervous aspiring fortune teller who attends Junjin High as she isn't the best at it and is fearful about the possibility of her doing something wrong, befriending Diamond who helps her become a lot more confident in her work as a fortune teller. She is the Moon Arcana of the game.
Antagonists[]
- Mephistopheles (voiced by Patrick Seitz and also by Anairis Quiñones as the Little Girl) - one of the Lords of Hell who grew easily bored with society as he created the gateway to the Looking Glass and granted Kawada the power to take control of Shadows as he is the game's true final boss and reveals himself after Kawada's defeat at the hands of Diamond. Throughout the game, he shows up under the guise of a younger Diamond and talks to her whenever they either take down one of Kawada's conspiracy members or recruits a new member, making Diamond question if what she is doing is destiny or out of her own free will. He is the Judgement Arcana of the game via the chats through his Little Girl form.
- Hideaki Kawada (voiced by Kyle McCarley) - the young yet sociopathic and monologuing mayor of Tokyo who has been kidnapping residents of Tokyo in order to experiment with their Shadows, learning that he has a gift to take over and enslave Shadows as he believes that he can make a world with no free will and by extension, no crime or pain, with him being the one to guide these flocks of sheep. He has his own Persona that he calls Big Brother, which was gifted to him by Mephistopheles. During the events of the game, he hires Diamond as his secretary for a part time job, being initially unaware that she is the one working to dismantle his conspiracy. In Shining Diamond, he becomes a Confidant in the new Arcana known as the Sword.
- Sakamae Sera (voiced by Laura Post) - a seemingly friendly and bubbly teacher at Junjin High who is Diamond, Yasuhiro and Kaori's homeroom teacher as it turns out she is involved in Kawada's conspiracy, believing that a world without free will, would bring forth peace as she is the one responsible for Kaori's kidnapping as after she revealed Ms. Sera is responsible for her kidnapping, she becomes Diamond's next target in the Looking Glass, attempting to figure out what Sera knows. After the defeat of her Shadow Self, Sakamae gains a change of heart and confesses to kidnapping several students as on her way to reveal who leads the conspiracy to Diamond, she ends up being "accidentally" hit by a car.
- Taisho "Tai" Yabe (voiced by Jonah Scott) - Daigo's older brother who was left to dust and ignored after Daigo's skill at football has been revealed as he grew bitter and resentful at his own brother. This causes him to go down a path in crime and joined the Yakuza, being found by Kawada and given a role in his conspiracy, rising up the ranks of the Yakuza. He was the one responsible for Sakamae being hit by a car and becomes the next target for Diamond to figure out who leads the conspiracy.
- Akihiro Yashira (voiced by Jason Marnocha) - the order obsessed Principal of Junjin High who is also involved in Kawada's conspiracy as he genuinely believes that removing free will is the only way to bring order to the school, having caused the kidnapping of Mako Izumo in order to bring order to "someone built of chaos" while being weary, knowing that Sakamae was given a change of heart and then killed thanks to a mysterious force having stopped Kaori's kidnapping. After the defeat of his Shadow Self, he gained a similar change of heart and resigned from being the Principal of Junjin High, deciding to lay low knowing that Hideaki would learn of his change of heart.
- Noboru Taoka (voiced by Phillip Reich) - the owner of several gas stations throughout Tokyo who believed that he was being haunted by ghosts and visited Teiji's parents to clear himself of the ghosts, unfortunately, they didn't sense a spiritual presence as he grew to believe they were frauds. He is also a member of the conspiracy and thanks to his power, decided to tear down the building Teiji's parents work for, wanting to prove that nobody can con him.
- Arisu Taira (voiced by Laila Berzins) - Yuna's cold and manipulative mother who used to be a massively popular Idol and due to her fame and popularity, is seen as a beloved figure in all of Tokyo. She joins Kawada's conspiracy due to her obsessive need for fame and adoration, deciding to kidnap her own daughter due to Kawada learning that he needs to speed up the enslavement process thanks to "unknown crusaders".
Shadow Selves[]
- Shadow Kaori - Kaori's shadow self who represents her true desires to actually live as she deems Kaori a coward for hiding behind the idea of suicide to "escape from her worries" while unknowingly being prepared to be taken over by Hideaki's gift. She soon faces Diamond, Milky, Yasuhiro and a revigorated Kaori, being defeated but not before transforming into a gigantic and horrific monster made out of maggots. She soon gets overcame and spares Kaori's fate that would've happened if the party didn't act fast enough.
- Shadow Sakamae - Sakamae Sera's shadow self who represents her true desires for power over people, being dressed as a royal queen as her "Lair" is filled with versions of her homeroom students dressed as slaves. She transforms into a gigantic spider-like monster halfway through her fight, being upset that her desires for power might end poorly.
- Shadow Tai - Tai's shadow self who represents his pure hatred and loathing for both Daigo and his parents, resembling some sort of boxer while his Lair resembles a big boxing arena with there being versions of Daigo and his parents that he regularly beats. He transforms into a gigantic and horrific fleshy monstrosity who wears a theater mask in order to "hide his true feelings".
- Shadow Mako - Mako's shadow self who represents his true emotions as he deems Mako a coward for running from all the pain he is facing and using art as a coping mechanism, hating that Mako refuses to let anyone help him and that he hasn't done anything about his abusive parents. He transforms into a tall lanky creature made out of crayons and so many colors. He soon gets overcame thanks to Mako, beginning to understand he should stop trying to run from all of the pain he is facing.
- Shadow Yashira - Principal Yashira's shadow self who represents his desire to make sure students at school are exceeding in their studies, being dressed quite fancily as his Lair resembles a fancy castle with students toiling away at studies. He transforms into a horrific fat monstrous creature partway through his fight.
- Shadow Noboru - Noboru's shadow self who represents his massive ego and hatred of being tricked as he resembles a shogun of a samurai clan with his Lair resembling a feudal castle. He transforms into a gigantic oni partway through his fight, fighting with giant claw slashes.
- Shadow Yuna - Yuna's shadow self who represents her desires to break away from the perfect little box that her mother put her in as she flat out mocks Yuna for being too scared to stand up to her mother and for still going on with being the President of the Student Council and only focusing on that. Partway through her fight, she transforms into a gigantic brainlike creature. She soon gets overcame thanks to Yuna understanding that maybe it's time to finally stand up to her mother.
- Shadow Arisu - Arisu's shadow self who represents her true desires to be back in the spotlight and to have wealth and power, resembling her younger pop idol self while her Lair is structured as a stadium, with countless versions of Yuna around cheering her on. Partway through her fight, she transforms into a gigantic Venus flytrap.