Does that make it any better of a situation? Not really. Is the scene slightly less graphic in its implications? Sure. The punchline is now “isn’t it funny that these gay men made a boy wear women’s clothes, despite the fact that they were clearly making him uncomfortable,” instead of the previous joke that was based on the punchline of “isn’t the implied implied threat of sexual assault, or even rape, hilarious?” They ignore his lack of consent, and overpower him. While Ryuji no longer explicitly says “lemme go,” the scene still implies that the men abduct him to go try on women’s clothing - something he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t feel comfortable doing. The implication is that they want to help Ryuji be more comfortable with himself, but the execution of the scene is still troubling. The scene no longer revolves around the couple pressuring Ryuji into a sexual situation because they are attracted to him, but they do still pressure Ryuj into a situation he isn’t comfortable with, rather than listening to his pleas to be left alone. Ryuji then screams “gaaaaaah” as the game fades to black. All your choices sort of just leave Ryuji to his own devices. Ryuji interjects, “Wait, hey, it’s not like that,” but as the player, you have no dialogue options to help get him out of this situation. “We saw you peeking into Crossroads! Well sweetie, if you’re curious, we’ll help you look DIVINE!” They assume Ryuji wants to start dressing in drag but doesn’t have the nerve to enter the bar. Ryuji decided not to go into the club because he was in his school uniform and, as he points out to Joker in a conversation, would have been kicked out for being underage, but Julian and Angel misread the situation. Rather than accosting Ryuji unprompted, the pair now approach him because they saw him walk up to the entrance of Crossroads - a drag and crossdressing bar in Shinjuku - before he decided to walk away without going in. In Persona 5 Royal, the two gay men are no longer unnamed they introduce themselves as Angel and Julian (or Julie, if you’re “feeling saucy”). I’m not sure Atlus actually improved anything with this update. The new version of the scenes gets rid of one set of problems, but introduces another. Later in the game, the same pair of men show up on a beach, and once again express their attraction to Ryuji, once again causing Ryuji to express his discomfort. It’s a deeply unsettling and unnecessary scene that paints the game’s only two visibly gay men as predators, and the whole situation is played off as a joke. The pair then grab him as the screen fades to black, with Ryuji shouting “lemme go,” confirming the implication that they are dragging him off against his will. In the original Persona 5, no one seemed interested in helping Ryuji before he was dragged off.

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