From what I remember, Izanami says that Ameno was an aspect of her she gave life to as a test, and not specifically her in another form. I forget the exact quote, but something akin to "You fought a part of me" or something. Maybe I should go through and make a dialogue FAQ for this >_>
She says it's part of her very specifically once you hit the true ending path. I just saw it so it's fresh in my mind.
I think we're going a bit too crazy ranking new stuff and will blanket no P4 if it comes up too soon. Ignoring that, though, and assuming, theoretically, that it will be ready for ranking when it comes up:
What bothers you about it, not enough internal/time/doesn't meet standards? It's the best of the new ideas this time, at least for the PC's. It not meeting standards is fair enough, but it's shockingly good in spite of being a Persona title.
Ranks? Just the PC cast for now, minus Souji. Adachi is a massive spoiler and not one you can disguise effectively at all. This changes if we hold off on the game for several more months, but as it stands if it comes up for this period? I'd have serious issues ranking him. I don't think any of the other bosses are worth ranking. Ameno and the final are the same creature, so no go there. The final is massively missable, and that is not something I'd call a strong selling point from an SMT game. Drawing concerns come into play there as well, along with divisional split. Monkey hits on the problems well enough.
The way the bosses come out, waiting and ranking them as a FW package down the line strikes me as ideal, as all of them have problems.
Kunino stuff
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He has precisely zero lines in the game till he appears and is extremely unmemorable up to that point. I found him memorable enough as a boss, but I'm agreeing with your overall kneejerk there. You can also argue it's his shadow and augh. Pass for now.
Far as being Bluelike goes- Is Souji stronger than say Yuna in the DL? Assuming skill inheritance.
SPOILERS BELOW!!!!!!!
She literally says that? From what I've read and remember going through interpretations of:
Izanami gave 3 people the power of persona: Adachi, Namatame, and Seta. She periodically tests humanity's resolve, and in this case, gave power to 3 people to see how they would use it. The first person to really utilize it was Adachi. Adachi's use told Izanami that perhaps humanity had come to the point where it needed "changing". Thus, the fog and Ameno-sagiri were born out of Adachi's desires by Izanami's power (initially rooted in what she gave Adachi). Adachi is in control when he's fought - once defeated, Ameno makes an appearance to test Soji and crew. They've bested Adachi, who was driving the initial push to covering the world in fog. Once beaten, Ameno ends it, as it's been shown that Adachi's way is not what humanity wants, or Soji would have lost. From what I've always interpreted, Ameno was the aspect that grew from Adachi's desires, but is a completely separate entity. This would be the end of the story, as Izanami's "test" is complete - however, Soji and crew keep searching, and now she wants to test them to see if humanity is strong enough to survive as is without more tests. That's all of it in a nutshell, I think.
Taro...is him. First, he's wounded after the battle - in the other "shadow" battles, the PC's are still ok enough to talk, stand, etc. Second, the manifestation of his power is different. He's never used it for anything but tossing people in to the TV. Before the battle, his back is against the corner, and to his knowledge, he's trying to protect people. Remember that the persona's power and potential grows based upon the person - hence the bloody Magatsu-Izanagi of Adachi vs. the glowing Izanagi-no-Okami. Taro's back is to a corner, and remember that he still believes the TV world is safe and good. Hence the appearance of his powered form - he views himself as a saviour (the halo, angelic robe) bringing about peace and justice (attack Unerring Justice, the peace sign he makes during battle), and his form reflects that. Hence, I believe, IIRC, the scene has a bunch of black balls of energy flowing into him. That's supposed to be him drawing the shadows unto himself (the "guardians" of the place) to protect the girl from what he believes are the killers. The form takes his appearance and belief, though, still him in control.
...not sure if I'm arguing for ranking them or not, or just talking about Persona in general >_>
