Persona's gacha game has a villain that could have been handled better, but got turned into a meme instead.
Persona 5: The Phantom X is the newest game in the Megami Tensei franchise. The gameplay follows the good old Persona 5 formula, where you play a high-school student by day and a phantom thief by night. You enter villain's darkest desires – depicted as RPG-dungeons – and get rid of them to cause a change of heart and force them to face the reality of their hideous acts.
The game got mixed reviews, but is still received well enough – especially among fans of the franchise. The major complaints revolve around the game's gacha system, which encourages players to spend money on characters and better equipment. Others didn't really like the story – notably the first story arcs.
A Villain Who Bumps Into People?
Takeyuki Kiuchi – better known as the subway slammer – is the first villain of the game. He appears to be a typical businessman, but his heinous crimes seem to be...shoulder checking people at the subway station? No really! He preys on women at the subway station and then bumps into them. While he is also willing to endanger them – like pushing a character onto the train tracks – he mostly just causes them to trip.
i loved when the subway slammer said it's slammin time and subway slammed all over the place pic.twitter.com/S245pvX1VU
— Axe (@DeJected_Axe) June 28, 2025
With a villain name that could be straight out of a cartoon and a method like that, it's no wonder that many people made fun of him and turned him into a meme. Which is why I'm wondering: was this a good approach? Especially since the issue that is depicted, does exist in real life and is no laughing matter.
The Real Life Bumping Men
The Butsukari Otoko – japanese for "bumping men" – are men who ram into women on purpose. They do this – mainly in crowded places – in order to harass and/or harm their victims. They want it to appear accidental or even frame it as the woman's fault. In 2018 a video of a man went around, in which he was ramming into women. In the wake of this, more victims came forward and the railway company JR East heightened security and increased station staff.
Good Concept - Bad Portrayal
This type of antagonist is nothing new for the Persona franchise. In fact, a lot of the villains in Persona are bad people that exist in day-to-day life – be it creeps, stalkers, or those who abuse their power. This is partly because of the premise of the games. This way the developers can tell stories that are grounded in reality, while resolving them in a stylish action-fantasy way.
The difference between other villains of the franchise and the subway slammer is the portrayal. The concept of the story is great, but some parts – specifically the dialogue – is ridiculous at times. With a nickname like that and lines like "The whole subway's mine for the slammin'. And eventually I'm gonna get you too" the real-world aspect of the story feels disingenuous.
Serious villains in stories are great, and so are meme-villains. Combining the two when trying to hit a serious note just feels off in this case and is doing a disservice to the narrative at hand, especially when it's rooted in reality.