- Primary Subject: Persona 5 (Character Narrative Analysis)
- Key Update: An opinion feature critiques how Persona 5 sidelines Ann Takamaki's promising trauma recovery narrative in favor of comic-relief fan service and modeling drama.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: September 25, 2026
- Quick Answer: Ann Takamaki is a core Phantom Thief in Persona 5 whose early character arc focuses on reclaiming agency after being objectified by Kamoshida.
Ann Takamaki is one of the main characters of Persona 5, and yet her arc and growth were consistently sidelined to serve as comic-relief fan service.
Persona 5 (and Royal) are my favorite games in the whole franchise, but one thing always rubbed me the wrong way - and it's the way they handled Ann after she was introduced. At the start of the game, she had a powerful intro that emotionally resonated with me, and I was looking forward to seeing how her character would grow.
Spoiler alert: she barely did. Her character was reduced to a red-latex-suit-wearing fan service model, and it's one of the worst decisions ATLUS has made.
Persona 5's Ann Takamaki Deserved Better
When she was first brought into Kamoshida's Palace, I was impressed with how Ann Takamaki chose to embrace her freedom. When she summoned her Persona, she was also reclaiming her voice and her body after being relentlessly objectified by Kamoshida. It set a high standard, and I looked forward to learning more about her character through the different Palaces and Free Time activities.
Sadly, that time in Kamoshida's Palace was the strongest we'd see Ann. And it's the start of the game.
Pretty soon after, Ann became the butt of sexualized gag humor. She had spent her high school life being harassed by Kamoshida, so why did they think it was a good idea to have her "pose nude" (she didn't actually, but still) for Yusuke under the guise of Phantom Thief duty? Why did she have to wear a red latex suit that highlighted her body and have her constantly bending over during combat? It all felt so cheap.
I had expected that Ann would be able to come to terms with her body and sexuality on her own terms. However, the game consistently stripped away her agency for fan service.
As more members joined the Phantom Thieves, the more Ann was relegated to being the pretty airhead of the group who would get ogled by Ryuji or pined on by Morgana. If you decided to raise your Confidant level with Ann, you would sometimes see her do exercises to be stronger, but in the end, her arc was bogged down by a rival modeling drama.
She deserved an arc that reflected the resolve she had at the start. It's a shame that Persona 5 treated its most compelling female lead like an afterthought. In the end, she ultimately got overshadowed by other characters like Makoto Nijima or Kasumi/Sumire Yoshizawa.
What sucks is that in other aspects, Persona 5 is great. The way they handle the other characters' arcs is amazing, and the Palaces are a masterclass in writing. It's a shame the writers fumbled Ann's arc - they failed a character who deserves so much better.
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