Moments of Truth DAISUKE; Persona 4 social links explained
Facing your true self is a central theme of Persona 4, and many of its best moments are rooted in moments of truth.
I recently explored how Persona 4 balances a warm coming-of-age story with themes of unearthing painful baggage. If you haven’t played Persona 4, you should stop reading this piece immediately and check out that essay, which outlines why it’s a great RPG everyone should try.
If you have played Persona 4 and are ready for some heavy spoilers, by all means continue…
A cool byproduct of researching my previous essay is it gave me fresh insight on social links in Persona 4.
I was aware that friends and family become more forthcoming as you get to know them better. But I never noticed that every social link has at least one moment of complete honesty. Understanding that dynamic helped give me a better perspective on the characters and inspired this series.
The following is a brief of summary of Daisuke’s moments of truth, along with some perspective on his circumstances and behavior:
Daisuke Nagase
Arcana: Strength
Initial Trope: affable knucklehead athlete
Hidden Truth: fears giving his all and failing
Popular, handsome, athletically gifted — on the surface Daisuke seems to have it all. But the truth is he’s quietly keeping life at arm’s length out of fear his best might not be good enough.
Daisuke is fundamentally a decent guy and considerate of others. He takes issue when the soccer team unfairly sticks newcomer Yu with extra chores, and trains him into a player that wins their respect.
Friendship is a central theme of Daisuke’s arc. He’s a friendly face who offers to help when the rest of the team is hostile to Yu because he’s the new kid in town. He’s also close with fellow athlete Kou Ichijo.
Kou is a good friend; the kind who will be honest with you, even if the truth hurts. While they joke around and support each other, Kou also confronts Daisuke for slacking during soccer practice.
Afterwards Kou explains that he is concerned about Daisuke, who is increasingly disinterested in soccer and dating.
Helping Yu train got Daisuke motivated again, but Kou indicates that was only a temporary solution. He suspects Daisuke’s confidence is down because he’s hung up on an ex-girlfriend.
Kou hatches a fairly suspect plan to fix things with a surprise blind date. The date is a bust — Daisuke immediately walks out — but it also brings things to a head, when Kou accuses him of being dishonest about his feelings.
Daisuke initially lashes out a Kou, saying it’s none of his business. But he quickly apologizes and admits that Kou was right — he’s scared of being rejected.
The tension between our true selves and the roles we play is a central theme of Persona 4. Daisuke is concerned that girls will only like the popular guy who is good at sports. But in fairness to the ex-girlfriend, Daisuke never really gave her a chance to know him. That failure to connect and communicate shook his confidence.
Not long after, Daisuke notices his ex girlfriend watching the team practice, and wonders if she has the same feelings of regret. Again, his concern for others provides motivation.
Daisuke confesses how he felt shortly after. And things get a little awkward because she’s moved on and is dating someone else on the team. Even so, she appreciates the gesture — and Daisuke finds the experience surprisingly painless.
Daisuke and his social link are pretty straightforward, but the lesson of his arc resonates because it’s a fairly universal coming-of-age dilemma. The point isn’t whether he succeeds or fails. It’s that he learns either outcome is better than being too scared to try in the first place.
Nathan Lamb is a former reporter and news editor, who occasionally writes about video games for fun. His passions include the Persona series and history. He previously wrote about on the overarching themes of death and mortality in Persona 3.
