Kei Nanjo
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Kei Nanjo is a playable character in Megami Ibunroku Persona and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. He also appears as a supporting character in Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
Profile
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Nanjo was a student at St. Hermelin High School, later going on to inherit the Nanjo Group after studying abroad.
The children of wealthy parents, Nanjo's parents were quite distant from him while growing up, mostly giving him material gifts rather than spending time with him to the point where he does not remember his mother's birthday. Instead, he was raised by his butler, Yamaoka, whose constant praise and ever-watchful eye had both served as his emotional support and the reason for his high self-confidence. His condescending nature, stiff disposition, and his cool pragmatism in regards to most situations often draws the ire of his peers, particularly Masao Inaba (whom Nanjo refers to as "monkey" or "monkeyman"), who constantly clashes heads with him due to their different viewpoints. Most people tend not to associate with him. However, Nanjo is not as emotionless as he initially seems, displaying grief and rage during some of his lowest points. He also appears to have a strong sense on intuition, distrusting Takahisa Kandori, the head of SEBEC, upon meeting him sometime before the events of Megami Ibunroku Persona.
As he is exposed more and more of the perspectives of others, Nanjo begins to mellow out. He shows more compassion and respect to those around him, displaying remorse for being overly harsh and putting greater value on his bonds. He also becomes less stiff, employing dry humor and engaging with the more light-hearted conversations of his friends. This characterization would carry over in the Persona 2 duology, though his self-confidence does not wane.
Gameplay
- For complete gameplay information, see Gameplay:Kei Nanjo.
Manual
Manual Descriptions | |
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Revelations: Persona | PlayStation: He comes from a rich family and is a rather confident fellow. His confidence has it’s[sic] drawbacks though and his friends can’t associate too well with him. His butler Alfred gave him the emotional support he really needed.
PlayStation Classic: He comes from a rich family and is a rather confident fellow. His confidence has its drawbacks though and his friends can’t associate too well with him. His butler Alfred gave him the emotional support he really needed. |
Persona(PlayStation Portable) | The extremely self-confident heir to the wealthy Nanjo family. He’s very smart, but his arrogant, pragmatic demeanor acts as a wall between him and his friends. His butler Yamaoka, rather than his distant parents, was his biggest emotional support when growing up, as well as the chief source of his current confidence. |
Game Appearances
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Megami Ibunroku Persona
Nanjo is introduced during Masao Inaba's (also known as Mark) bet against Hidehiko Uesugi (also known as Brown), in which the latter claimed that performing the persona game would cause supernatural occurrences. Nanjo, however, wanted no part in it, and waited on the sidelines while Mark, Brown, Yuka Ayase, and Eriko Kirishima formed a square and played the game. To his disbelief, however, a sobbing little girl appears before the entire group, causing all of them to fall unconscious and receive the same dream of Philemon, who grants them their personas. Despite this initial shock, Nanjo quickly gathers himself and decides, along with the Protagonist, Yukino Mayuzumi, and Mark, to head to Mikage Hospital, both to get checked up on after the previous events and to visit their mutual friend, Maki Sonomura. Despite attempting to dismiss him, Nanjo is followed by Yamaoka, driven by concern for his master's health.
- This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)
After visiting Maki, Nanjo and the others soon find the hospital warped into a labyrinth. The party rushes downstairs only to find that Yamaoka had fallen while attempting to protect a nurse from zombies, causing Nanjo to enter a rage and the party to awaken their personas. Unfortunately, Yamaoka had sustained too much damage, and with his dying call for Nanjo to become the No. 1 man in the country, passes away. This leaves Nanjo at a loss for words for their time at the hospital; even after gathering himself, Yamaoka's death would remain with him for the rest of his life. He remains with the party until they arrive at Alaya Shrine, where he leaves with Mark to visit Mikage Police Station while the others return to St. Hermelin High School.
In the SEBEC route, Nanjo eventually rejoins the party at the school, out of breath. He explains that although they were able to retrieve some guns, Mark had gotten captured by demons at the police station with the security card to the abandoned factory to the SEBEC building. From that point onward, Nanjo becomes a permanent party member, providing scathing remarks and insights at the current events throughout.
When the party first arrives to confront SEBEC branch president Takahisa Kandori, Nanjo immediately calls him out for his abuse of the Deva System and even attempts to attack him with his persona, though Kandori merely counters with his own persona, Nyarlathotep, before leaving them with Takeda fighting in his stead. After the party overcomes Takeda, Nanjo expresses his regret at not recognizing the extent of Kandori's crimes before they pursue him. They find Kandori with Dr. Nicholai, who subsequently traps both himself and Kandori in the Deva system in an attempt to stop him. Nanjo argues that they have no idea as to how to stop the machine, and that Nicholai's sacrifice is simply him taking accountability. Maki, Mark, and Elly (if present), however, all argue that Nicholai's life is worth saving and urge the Protagonist to save him, prompting the choice of pressing the red emergency stop or blue accelerator button connected to the Deva System. This choice does not affect the outcome of the story, however, as Aki swoops in to save him.
Nanjo had a similarly negative opinion of Kama Palace and the harem queen, Chisato Kasai, (who he already held a low opinion of due to the seemingly inauthentic reasons she dated Yosuke Naito). He found the art held in the palace to be inauthentic compared to Maki's and decried Chisato for forcing people to admire her art, calling her a "queen with no clothes" [2] upon discovering that she was the harem queen. On their second confrontation, she turns him and the rest of the party besides the Protagonist and Maki into stone in a fit of rage. They eventually return to normal when Chisato has a change of heart after being defeated by the remaining party members and consoled by Yosuke.
When the party endeavors to retrieve the compact piece required to enter Mana Castle, Nanjo slowly suspects that Kandori may be deceiving them. He, however, keeps the knowledge to himself, believing it to be the only way to confront him. His suspicions are proven correct, as Kandori would use the compact to gain control over reality and brainwash the globe into following his ideology of nihilism. Nanjo and the others would then pursue him to the SEBEC building. On this second encounter, Nanjo reigns in his temper, instead taking pity on Kandori and pointing to his hopelessness in the future as the reason for his actions, as well as calling him out for masquerading these fears under the guise of grander notions. This causes the branch president to blow a fuse, triggering their final confrontation.
After Kandori's defeat, Nanjo would reveal that he had realized that the Maki that had accompanied them this entire time was a mere figment of the true Maki's imagination- an ideal Maki- and demands learn of her true location, though Kandori would pass away before telling them. Maki flees upon this news, causing the party to chase her down to her hospital room, where the real Maki appears to be hooked to a machine before disappearing. Although realizing that her life was connected to the Deva System, Nanjo suggests it's destruction, citing the misery it had caused to Mikage-cho and believing it to be a sacrifice for the greater good. Mark, however, rebuts him, stating that Maki's selfless efforts and her friendship were worth at least making an attempt to save her, which the rest of the party promptly agrees with. While still skeptical, Nanjo concedes that "the ultimate decision is made by one's heart"[3] and decides to go along with them. When spoken to later at the Lost Forest, he seems less skeptical and more driven to save her, swayed by seeing the devotion Maki's mother, Setsuko Sonomura, has for her daughter.
The party would find Maki at the heart of the forest, wearing a faceless mask and in a state of utter despair. Nanjo, however, is able to coax her out this state, emphasizing how much all of her friends care for her and the fact that every person has both suffered and caused sufferance. The two promptly exchange apologies before regrouping until Pandora's defeat.
In the epilogue, Nanjo is last seen at peace diner with the rest party, engaging in brief banter before joining Chisato and the other St. Hermelin students to head to the amusement park. His ending observes that he would take up a job incognito as a salesman as part of executive training, causing him to mellow out. It also notes that he occasionally seen sleeping on a train, wearing a tie with "#1" on it.
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Audio Drama Appearances
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Novel Appearances
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Megami Ibunroku Persona: Shadow Maze
Anime Appearances
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Manga Appearances
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Megami Ibunroku Persona
Appearances in Non-Megami Tensei Media
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Trivia
- Nanjo's age, height, and weight vary across different sources:
- The official Prima Strategy Guide for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment says he is 24 years old, 165 cm tall and weighs 52 kg.
- An English press packet for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment from E3 2000 says he is 20 years old, 175 cm tall and weighs 62 kg.
- Nanjo has a crippling weakness to the Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy's Theme- the song leaves him paralyzed, unable to focus on shopping and even pleading for the Protagonist to sing along with him at one point when brought to the Pharmacy in Megami Ibunroku Persona. He claims to have "finally gotten used to it"[4] when visiting the Satomi Tadashi at Mikage Sun Mall, however, near the ending.
- Nanjo mentions both having played the game "code breaker" (one of the games at Judgement 1999) and seeing ballet with Yamaoka when he was small.
Nomenclature
Language | Name | Meaning |
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南条 圭 Nanjō Kei | |
なんじょうくん![]() | ||
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南条 圭 | |
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南条 圭 |
Gallery
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Render of Kei Nanjo in Persona.
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Kei Nanjo Portrait from Megami Ibunroku Persona
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Kei Nanjo Portrait from Persona 2: Innocent Sin
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Kei Nanjo Portrait from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Kei Nanjo Portrait from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Kei Nanjo Portrait from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Kei Nanjo Portrait from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
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Kei Nanjo's flashback Portrait from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Persona World Guidance (2001), CB's Project. Published by SoftBank. Japanese. p. 121. ISBN-13: 978-4-7973-1498-4.
- ↑ "Nanjo: You were so caught in the throes of envy over Maki, you never made a real effort. And this is where it brought you... Forcibly enslaving people. You think this is you at your best? You're a Queen with no clothes! You're deluding yourself if you think their praise means anything. They only humor you out of terror!" Persona 1 (PSP). Developed and published by Atlus.
- ↑ "Nanjo: Heh... You believe in her, eh? Yamaoka said he believed in me, too... Man is an emotional creature, I suppose. We can split hairs all we like... But the ultimate decision is made by one's heart. I'll go in as well." Persona 1 (PSP). Developed and published by Atlus.
- ↑ "Nanjo: Ha! I'm finally used to it! Go ahead and try to brainwash me--it's useless!" Persona 1 (PSP). Developed and published by Atlus.