Moments of Truth: Hisano; Persona 4 social links explained
Facing your true self is a central theme of Persona 4, and many of its highlights 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 social links become more forthcoming as you get to know them better. But I never noticed that all of them have 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 Hisano’s moments of truth, along with some perspective on her circumstances and behavior:
Hisano Koruda
Arcana: Death
Initial Trope: An older woman in mourning
Hidden Truth: Former caregiver struggling with guilt and grief
All things eventually come to an end. But when the time comes, are we looking back with fond memories or regret? This is the dilemma of Hisano Koruda, a woman who has known — and lost — the love of a lifetime.
A lifelong Inaba resident, Hisano is thoughtful and kind, but carries great sadness. Part of this is mourning the recent death of her husband. But she’s also coping with grief and guilt from their shared experience with dementia.
Caregiving is a major obligation. It can be rewarding, but also very stressful. Many caregivers neglect their own needs and struggle with depression. It’s a hard and often thankless job, and Hisano is still coming to terms with the pain and emotions from her experience.
Yu resembles Hisano’s late husband, and that’s possibly why she takes an immediate liking to him.
Hisano’s husband was a near lifelong partner. He was a traveling child actor she’d see once per year when the troupe was in town. They became pen pals, and eventually he traded show business for life as a field hand alongside Hisano at Inaba.
Hisano describes her husband as loyal and kind. Initially saddened by needing care after illness left him bedridden, he increasingly took out his fear and frustration on Hisano. She was okay with this, but the dementia was another matter. Her first moment of truth is a confession:
This is a very dark moment. Her words indicate coming from a place of anger or pain, but larger context of Hisano and her story suggest it was more not wanting to see a loved one suffer. In any event, she couldn’t bring herself to harm him.
Hisano’s husband lived another three years after that incident, and she had mixed feelings when he recently died.
The second and third statements are not true, but Hisano articulating and owning her feelings is an important step forward. It’s extremely likely that she simply bottled up these emotions before getting to know Yu.
The shortcomings of media and gossip are a recurring theme in Persona 4, and this is a stark contrast to the handwritten letters in Hisano’s story.
When Yu finds old letters from her husband, the poetic affection therein leads Hisano to confide painful secrets about her caregiving experience. A second batch of letters, written by Hisano, lead to a key moment of truth and new perspective:
There’s a sense at least part of Hisano’s guilt is rooted in feeling their love fell apart when things became difficult. But this scene reminds Hisano she never stopped loving her husband.
Hisano’s final moment of truth is an admission that she hadn’t been quite honest with herself.
Acceptance is often the price of freedom in Persona 4. Hisano is facing a hard truth, but dementia and her husband’s death were nobody’s fault; their love ended hard, but it did not fall apart.
Hisano’s story closes with her leaving town to live with her children. She thought she’d lost everything, but she still has memories, her letters, and children who want to be part of her life. Sharing her story with Yu gave her new perspective, and the strength to go on.
Loss is part of the human condition. Even the best lives are likely to include moments that challenge to our core, and beg the question “was it worth it?” Yu’s discussions with Hisano help her remember that it was.
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.
