THE BEST TAKE OF ALL TIME - Tumblr Posts

I feel like the fandom vastly overstates how "crazy" Akechi is in third semester. Navigator Akechi has this feral energy, yes, and he clearly enjoys tearing through Shadows in his All-Out Attack battlecries and in his Showtime, but look at Akechi any other time in Third Sem. He's calm. He's levelheaded. He's the one person Joker can turn to at the start of third sem to be honest, frank, and real about the circumstances they find themselves in. He investigates the situation, is furious but stoic about being let off so easy. His chats during the jazz club show the same philosophical and introspective side of him that showed in his confidant.

It's just... flanderization, to act like all he is is HAHAHAHA WACKY MURDER GUY during third sem. His navigator lines can come across as very extra, but that's just one side of his character, and you can easily read it as him letting loose in battle.

This one line really encompasses what Akechi is really about in third semester, and it frustrates the hell out of me when people act like he's a "fake Akechi" that Maruki made, when the entire point of his role here is that it's him, and it's his choice to defy Maruki's reality, no matter what becomes of him.

That, and if you really want to get pedantic, Tactica confirms it's the real Akechi by having him mention hobbies like bouldering that Joker would only otherwise hear about in third sem. The DLC story is memorywiped, ergo these are Akechi's genuine interests in the Mementos chats and in the Jazz Club scenes.

I think a lot of misconceptions about third sem Akechi really boil down to not engaging in the optional interactions and focusing on the big, in your face moments as opposed to the quieter and more reflective ones, and it's a shame, because it's not even that the people who do this flanderizing hate Akechi per se. It's just a pet peeve. xD