The only bad thing about P5R: The music

[Fyuun]

No matter how much I love P5R and think that P5R is the best game on earth, I simply don't like the music. The singer doesn't fit for the setting and the English lyrics make me always a little cringe when I hear them. P5R is literally a game about teenagers in Japan living a high school life and trying to find their way into the complexity of society.

I expect a singer who sounds rebellious, young, and even a little bit inexperienced with how society works. And most importantly: The whole lyrics need to be in Japanese. P5R is literally set in Japan and everything is about Japan. The moment I first heard that the lyrics are in English, I thought that this was a bug or a strange thing of the Western version. I started my Atlus experience with P5, so I didn't know that for some strange reason Atlus loves to have English lyrics in their ultra Japanese games. Maybe they hope that this will attract the global audience, even though the game is literally as Japanese as a game can be and if you don't want Japanese lyrics, you won't play a Persona game to begin with.

The singer of P5R simply doesn't fit. She sounds serious, experienced, and like a person who represents integrity. She is the exact opposite of what I expected from a singer in a P5R setting. She sounds like she sings in front of CEOs who are discussing an international business deal. Especially the English lyrics make no sense at all.

I'm not saying that the music is bad in itself. I can understand that some people love this music. But for P5R the singer and English lyrics simply don't fit.

Here is an example of what I expected in P5R:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Ph6SZE7j0

It's suffering having such a great soundtrack, but then hearing a voice and a language that simply doesn't fit and which make zero sense. P5R was so close to literal perfection, but the music ruined it.

[zero]

opinions are opinions and all that but i wanna know in what world you think singers design themselves to sing in front of ceo's.

or what specific song your thinking of while you say that.

[Tungstenmike]

L

[Double]

Big disagree. Persona 5's soundtrack is one of the best things about it imo

[Edusama]

Hot take falls short on this one. To each their own I guess

[TotemMX]

Go watch K-on instead...

[Fennel]

While I've only listened to a few voiced tracks as I haven't played the game, I struggle to think of a song that has meaningless lyrics in P5.
Not a fan of your "better" example but that instrumental could be a populated town theme for mainline SMT or Devil Summoners, Persona has a completely different identity to the one you want to assign it.

[El Fuerte]

What? Lyn Inaizumi NAILS Persona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PySxnG3RjNo

Persona 5's soundtrack was a huge part of its viral success. Shoji Meguro is a modern day genius.

[Stoibs]

Dumping on a Persona soundtrack and it's singers? That's a new innovative way to farm jester points I'll give you that.

Assuming this is real though..
The odd emphasis on syllables and pacing of the sentence structure from these Japanese singers emulating English has always been part of the Persona charm, and an intentional choice by the composer (mostly for their own Japanese Audiences so it sounds exotic and subtle enough, but it still resonates well enough with the West too)

Q: You frequently use English lyrics in Persona tracks, particularly in the battle themes. Is this because you're aiming at an International audience, or do you just like the way words sound in English?

A: Apologies to the Western gamers, but to Japanese gamers, because many Japanese don't speak the language and they don't understand the lyrics, the English lyrics blend in as background music. The lyrics are not distracting to the gamer, so it's convenient to use as background music. If the lyrics were Japanese, the players would probably find the music too distracting from the game. Also, [some things] just sound cooler in English.

[Double]

Originally posted by Moluscow:

What? Lyn Inaizumi NAILS Persona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PySxnG3RjNo

Persona 5's soundtrack was a huge part of its viral success. Shoji Meguro is a modern day genius.

Absolutely. Every track slaps hard lol. I don't think they could have captured the essence of Persona 5 any better than they did. It's so jazzy and I love it.

[MaratG2]

Clown

[DrKold]

Eh i dont think its terrible but p3 and 4 had better soundtracks imo.

[TSVStriFe]

Lynn is amazing o.o she did alot of songs for the SMT/Persona series IIRC.

[Neoyoshi]

Wait, what?


You probably won't like any of the music from the Persona series at all if the whole English lyrics thing is what breaks it for you.

https://youtu.be/AcCoPQE6g10

https://youtu.be/BjQHhDTbPCA

https://youtu.be/cBWmvxc4L5I

https://youtu.be/iQBbnP_uutA

https://youtu.be/TeOwcqngDx4

https://youtu.be/B8vzOdkvZVA

https://youtu.be/oL4X0j0l7ys

I personally love music from the SMT/Persona games, but that's just me.

[Alt0153]

p5 music was great, what are you smoking?

[fender178]

Originally posted by Fyuun:

No matter how much I love P5R and think that P5R is the best game on earth, I simply don't like the music. The singer doesn't fit for the setting and the English lyrics make me always a little cringe when I hear them. P5R is literally a game about teenagers in Japan living a high school life and trying to find their way into the complexity of society.

I expect a singer who sounds rebellious, young, and even a little bit inexperienced with how society works. And most importantly: The whole lyrics need to be in Japanese. P5R is literally set in Japan and everything is about Japan. The moment I first heard that the lyrics are in English, I thought that this was a bug or a strange thing of the Western version. I started my Atlus experience with P5, so I didn't know that for some strange reason Atlus loves to have English lyrics in their ultra Japanese games. Maybe they hope that this will attract the global audience, even though the game is literally as Japanese as a game can be and if you don't want Japanese lyrics, you won't play a Persona game to begin with.

The singer of P5R simply doesn't fit. She sounds serious, experienced, and like a person who represents integrity. She is the exact opposite of what I expected from a singer in a P5R setting. She sounds like she sings in front of CEOs who are discussing an international business deal. Especially the English lyrics make no sense at all.

I'm not saying that the music is bad in itself. I can understand that some people love this music. But for P5R the singer and English lyrics simply don't fit.

Here is an example of what I expected in P5R:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Ph6SZE7j0

It's suffering having such a great soundtrack, but then hearing a voice and a language that simply doesn't fit and which make zero sense. P5R was so close to literal perfection, but the music ruined it.

You are 100% wrong there is nothing wrong with the English Lyrics especially in the Casino palace. That is one of the best tracks in the game bar none.