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"Everyone has darkness in their hearts, but they fight against it, right? It's true that hope isn't something you come across so easily in our society... But that hardly gives them license to give up! They should be able to stand on their own two feet! ...Anyway, that's what I thought. I hope you were paying attention, class. Something profound like that is bound to be on the final exam."
—Isako Toriumi, Persona 3

Isako Toriumi is a non-player character in Persona 3. She is a faculty member of Gekkoukan High School and teaches composition.

Appearances[]

Design[]

Toriumi has short, light brown hair that reaches to her neck, and dark gray eyes; she wears a white turtleneck-like collar shirt, a brown jacket, brown pants and black high heel shoes.

Toriumi's in-game avatar is a female character that wears gray in the English version and red in the Japanese version.

Personality[]

"All right, Kenji, you'd better not be sleeping back there! You should be ashamed of yourself, taking a nap while I pour my heart into reading this poem! For that, you get another essay along with your regular assignment tonight! I'll expect a slice of cake when you turn it in, too!"
—Toriumi demanding an extra essay and cake from Kenji
Toriumi lecture

Ms. Toriumi teaching a class.

On the surface, Toriumi appears to be a laid-back teacher who complains about her work at the start of a class and is first seen complaining about her having to teach her class about an author she doesn't like and derailing the subject. When privately speaking to the protagonist during her Social Link as "Maya/Y-Ko," however, she becomes a pathological complainer who outright neglects grammar and punctuation, makes many typos, uses expressions such as "lmaonade," "roflcopter," "1337" (in the original Japanese version, she instead mixes Hiragana and Katakana in her online dialogue) and uses many emoticons. "Maya/Y-Ko" speaks in an extremely informal and vulgar fashion unlike the real-life teacher, and constantly complains and badmouths people implied to be other Gekkoukan High School faculty members. None of the other teachers are aware of her badmouthing them behind their backs. She also has a crush on the protagonist but refrained from reciprocating because of social taboos.

Toriumi drinks. According to the Rank 4 Hermit Social Link, she got drunk and passed out at Paulownia Mall where an "older man" heavily implied to be President Tanaka called her a "drunk slut," and Toriumi told him to "shut the fuck up" in return. During a class session near the end of the game, she is also sorry for her class because they aren't of age to drink.[1] In the same confidant event, she also expresses that she doesn't want to be married, but her mom keeps trying to force the issue. The English dialogue has her telling the protagonist that "it is sexist to think that women can only be happy when they're tied down," but in the original Japanese script, she only tells the protagonist that the idea that women can only gain happiness by marriage is an "old concept" (using the "Showa Era" as a metaphor).

Leetspeak

Torumi claims she is a master of leetspeak.

Profile[]

Persona 3[]

Ms. Toriumi is the homeroom teacher of Class 2-F in Persona 3. She is a language teacher for the junior class at Gekkoukan High School.

Social Link[]

Main article: Social Link/Isako Toriumi
"since nobody can see my face on teh intarweb, i could be mean... =(
so i jus have to look @ myself in the mirror and make it rite! ^_^
shyeah rite. =P i never would've figured this out w/out ur help
tatsuya taught me to be thoughtful even whem im not around ppl =)"
—Maya, Persona 3
Online

The protagonist on his laptop.

The protagonist can form a Social Link (Hermit) with her after he receives a copy of an online game from Junpei Iori. Unlike other Social Links, Ms. Toriumi is only available on Sundays and holidays and only goes by the name "Maya"/"Y-Ko." In addition, choosing to play the MMORPG uses up the entire day and not just the daylight portion.

Maya/Y-Ko, convinces the protagonist to use the handle Tatsuya/N-Jima. The protagonist could also say "tell me if you find JOKER." "Maya" and "Tatsuya" talk through Toriumi's grievances at work, and she directly reveals that she has a crush on the protagonist, not knowing that "Tatsuya" is the same person. In her real life, she is reluctant to follow up on it due to social taboos.

Their online relationship starts off harmless, and the unknown player genuinely enjoys chatting with Tatsuya. Eventually, she begins to confide in him about her personal life, and the protagonist discovers she's an adult and a composition teacher. At first, she would complain about the difficulties of her life: her parents want her to get married, while Toriumi herself believes that it's wrong to think a woman can only be happy while being tied down/women can be happy without being married. Eventually, her problems delve into her grievances at work, such as with a person called Mr. E. Her ranting would degenerate for the worst and she'd become more vulgar, badmouthing another called Ms. K, laughing at her for being a "skanky hoe" who uses breast pads.

When Innocent Sin Online administration announces that the servers will all be shut down, she plans on sending her and the protagonist's chat logs to them in order to prevent them from shutting down the game. However, she decides not to as when reading over them, she didn't like seeing herself complain and apologizes to the protagonist before telling him she's quitting the game. Before she logs off, she leaves a message in the sand for him saying "i luv u" where the protagonist takes a screenshot of and makes it his background picture, unlocking the fusion of Arahabaki.

Persona_3_Fes_The_Journey_-_Hermit_Ending(Maya)

Persona 3 Fes The Journey - Hermit Ending(Maya)

Toriumi discovers the truth about Tatsuya.

During the epilogue of the Social Link, the protagonist can go into the school's faculty office to find Ms. Toriumi. After her quitting her MMO, she realizes she's been studying more into how she wishes to teach her classes, stating she didn't want to live just in the present. The protagonist drops his cell phone, which now has the background picture of Maya's message in the sand to Tatsuya. Ms. Toriumi picks it up and sees the picture, shocked and embarrassed to realize he is Tatsuya and cries, revealing that the online gamer the protagonist met in the Social Link is actually Toriumi herself. She (jokingly) claims she will quit the school and never come back, and that she was better off dead, losing her calm personality she usually exhibits in real-life. She then seemingly chills out and thank the protagonist for helping her turn her life around, finding it within herself to accept the protagonist as the person she loves, and tries to ask him to dinner, but storms out of the office after saying "Oh, to hell with this (her online game record being exposed)!", flustered and embarrassed.

Persona 3 Portable[]

As the female protagonist, the Hermit Arcana Social Link is replaced by Saori Hasegawa in the Health/Library Committee. On the date when Junpei would normally give a copy of Innocent Sin Online to the protagonist, he instead ponders on getting back to the game himself after not playing for a while. A few of her problems that are revealed during her Social Link events for the male protagonist, such as her dislike of Mr. Ekoda, are still mentioned during one of the final Social Link events for Saori.

The female protagonist can also trigger the cellphone cutscene during the last parts of the game by completing the Hermit Social Link and completing a request from Elizabeth that concerns Mr. Ono.

Gallery[]

In Other Languages[]

Language Titles
Flag of Japan Japanese 鳥海 いさ子 (Toriumi Isako) Y子 (Waiko)
Flag of South Korea Korean 토리우미 이사코 (Toriumi Isako) Y양 (Yyang)

Etymology[]

  • The name Isako is written in kanji/hiragana (いさ子), which has no special meaning except the kanji "子" means "child." However, when part of the name Isa (3) (いさ) is written in kanji (威佐, 依紗, 依咲, 依沙, 伊三, 伊砂, 伊佐, 以佐, 惟瑳, 意沙, 意早 or 衣咲), it could possibly mean:
    • 威佐 - "prestige, authority, power, dignity, influence, vigor, merit, stature, virtue, pride, dominance, ascendancy/ascendency, ascendance/ascendence, impression, in, domination, mastery, potence/potency, lordship, grasp, control, whip hand, might, force, vis, puissance" (威) (i) and "help, aid" (佐) (sa).
    • 依紗 - "rely on" (依) (i) and "thread, silk" (紗) (sa).
    • 依咲 - "rely on" (依) (i) and "blossom" (咲) (sa).
    • 依沙 - "rely on" (依) (i) and "sand" (沙) (sa).
    • 伊三 - "that one" (伊) (i) and "three" (三) (sa).
    • 伊砂 - "that one" (伊) (i) and "sand, grit" (砂) (sa).
    • 伊佐 - "that one" (伊) (i) and "help, aid" (佐) (sa).
    • 以佐 - "after that, by means of, because, in view of, compared with" (以) (i) and "help, aid" (佐) (sa).
    • 惟瑳 - "consider, reflect, think" (惟) (i) and "polish" (瑳) (sa).
    • 意沙 - "will, intent, attention, wish, purpose, consideration, notice, regard, desire, thought, volition, aim, liking, vein, cognizance, advertence/advertency, count, taste, relish, addiction, bent, gusto, predisposition, vocation, temptation, predilection, proclivity, leaning, flair, aptitude, habit, tendancy, object" (意) (i) and "sand" (沙) (sa).
    • 意早 - "will, intent, attention, wish, purpose, consideration, notice, regard, desire, thought, volition, aim, liking, vein, cognizance, advertence/advertency, count, taste, relish, addiction, bent, gusto, predisposition, vocation, temptation, predilection, proclivity, leaning, flair, aptitude, habit, tendancy, object" (意) (i) and "already, now, fast, early" (早) (sa).
    • 衣咲 - "clothing, garment" (衣) (i) and "blossom" (咲) (sa).
  • Isako's surname Toriumi means "bird, poultry, fowl" (鳥) (tori) and "sea, ocean" (海) (umi).

Trivia[]

  • In the original Japanese version of the game, Ms. Toriumi played Devil Busters Online, which was a reference to Megami Tensei II. The main characters are called Devil Busters and Toriumi used the handle Y-Ko (Y子), which was a reference to Yumiko Shirasagi, while the protagonist uses the handle N-Jima, which was a reference to Akemi Nakajima; Yumiko and Nakajima were the heroine and hero of Megami Tensei, respectively.
    • In the localized English version, the MMORPG is Innocent Sin Online, a reference to the subtitle of Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Her online name, "Maya," is a reference to Maya Amano, as well as her line, "Let's think positive!" The protagonist's online name, "Tatsuya," is a reference to Tatsuya Suou. The change was made due to Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II not being available in North America and Europe.
    • Also, an introductory message by a third party would be sent to the protagonist before he meets Maya in the game. In English, the message was sent by "PHIL," likely short for Philemon that would originally appear in Megami Ibunroku Persona, and in Japanese, "STEPHEN," which is also Japanese for Stephen of Shin Megami Tensei.
    • During the protagonist's first visit to the game, a time frame would be established as part of the story of the game. In English, it's "Spring, the year 20XX." But in Japanese, it's "year 199X, autumn."
    • Y-Ko's new portrait in Persona 3 Reload is not a reference to Maya or Yumiko, it instead is a reference to the heroine from Shin Megami Tensei.
  • In Portable, instead of using Toriumi's normal portrait covered by a pixel-like pattern on the Social Link menu, it will instead be replaced by a more simplistic icon with a floating circle and a vague ovoid body with the same pixel-like pattern. The same happens in Persona 3 FES.
  • In Reload, during Maya's third Social Link event, when she's drunk and complains about her job, the narrative will state that "Maya's avatar danced crazy!", referencing the English localization of Megami Ibunroku Persona: Revelations: Persona.

References[]

  1. Start of day at January 8, in-game calendar


Characters
Playable Male protagonist - Female protagonist - Yukari Takeba - Junpei Iori - Akihiko Sanada - Mitsuru Kirijo - Fuuka Yamagishi - Aigis - Koromaru - Ken Amada - Shinjiro Aragaki - Metis
Social Link Kenji Tomochika - Hidetoshi Odagiri - Bunkichi and Mitsuko - Kazushi Miyamoto - Chihiro Fushimi - Isako Toriumi - Keisuke Hiraga - Yuko Nishiwaki - Maiko Oohashi - Pharos - Bebe - President Tanaka - Mutatsu - Mamoru Hayase - Nozomi Suemitsu - Akinari Kamiki - Rio Iwasaki - Saori Hasegawa - Ryoji Mochizuki
Major Igor - Elizabeth - Theodore - Shuji Ikutsuki - Officer Kurosawa - Takaya Sakaki - Jin Shirato - Chidori Yoshino - Takeharu Kirijo - Kouetsu Kirijo - Eiichiro Takeba - Natsuki Moriyama - Nyx - Erebus - Margaret
Minor Kiyoshi Sakuma - Mr. Edogawa - Mr. Ekoda - Ms. Miyahara - Ms. Ounishi - Mrs. Terauchi - Kikuno Saikawa - Yuu Kimijima - Souta Aizawa - Kyouka Sayama
Cameo Yukiko Amagi - Noriko Kashiwagi - Man Drinking Alone
Location
Port Island Gekkoukan High School - Paulownia Mall - Iwatodai Station - Port Island Station - Naganaki Shrine - Dorm - Moonlight Bridge - Velvet Room
Tartarus Blocks: Thebel - Arqa - Yabbashah - Tziah - Harabah - Adamah - Monad Depths
Abyss of Time Malebolge - Cocytus - Caina - Antenora - Ptolomea - Judecca - Empyrean
Other Kyoto - Great Seal
Music
Albums Original Soundtrack (JP / US / FES / Portable) - Bonus CD - Burn My Dread -Reincarnation- - Spring of Birth OST - Midsummer Knight's Dream OST - Falling Down OST - Winter Of Rebirth OST - Persona 20th Anniversary All Time Best Album
Songs "Burn My Dread" - "Aria of the Soul" - "Want To Be Close" - "When the Moon Reaches for the Stars" - "Iwatodai Dorm" - "Mass Destruction" - "Color Your Night" - "Deep Breath Deep Breath" - "The Meaning of Armbands" - "Deep Mentality" - "It's Going Down Now" - "Changing Seasons" - "Current Net Price Tanaka" - "Battle Hymn of the Soul" - "Kimi no Kioku" - "P3 FES" - "Mass Destruction -P3fes version-" - "Heartful Cry" - "Brand New Days" - "Soul Phrase" - "A Way of Life" - "Time" - "Wiping All Out" - "More Than One Heart" - "Fate is In Our Hands" - "One Single Word" - "One Hand, One Heartbeat" - "One Determination" - "Sound of the Beast" - "Storm for a Butterfly" - "Light in Starless Sky" - "My Testimony" - "Self Redemption"
Archives
Terminology Persona (Initial / Prime / Ultimate) - Persona user - Shadow - Wild Card - Evoker - Attack Properties - Tactics - All-out Attack - Shuffle Time - Dark Hour - Moon Phase System - Full Moon Operations - SEES - Kirijo Group - Nanjo Group - Strega - Artificial Persona user - Suppressants - Apathy Syndrome - The Fall - Death - Who's Who - Phoenix Ranger Featherman R - Plume of Dusk
P3RE: Shift - Theurgy - Combat Characteristics
Lists Arcana - Personas (P3 - FES - P - R) - Shadows - Bosses (P3 - FES) - Skills - Items (Heart Items / Vending Machines) - Status Effects - Elizabeth's Requests - Activities - Calendar - Trophies (Portable / Reload) - Steam Profile Items - Patches and Updates
School Life Daily Life - Seasons - Social Link - Social Stats - Yen - Class - Studying - Movie Theater - Bed - Part-time Jobs - Shrine - Tanaka's Amazing Commodities - Crane Machine - Chagall Café - School Club - Linked Episode - Computer - Refrigerator - Gardening / Books / DVDs / Cooking - Studying - Fortune Telling
Other Media
Games FES - Portable - Reload - Dancing in Moonlight
Productions The Movie - The Movie: Escape from the Dark Hour - the Weird Masquerade: -Ao no Kakusei- / -Gunjou no Meikyuu- / -Souen no Kesshou- / -Ai no Seiyaku- / -Hekikuu no Kanata e- - Persona Stalker Club - 「PERSORA AWARDS」 - PERSORA AWARDS 2 - PERSORA AWARDS 3 - Persora -The Golden Best-
Drama CDs A Certain Day of Summer - Daylight / Moonlight - Character Drama CD Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 / Vol. 3 / Vol. 4 / Vol. 5 - New Moon / Full Moon - Portable Vol. 1 / Vol. 2
Publications Manga - Shadow Cry - Memento Mori - Owari no Kakera - Alternative Heart - Velvet Blue - Persona Magazine - Dear Girls Comic Anthology - Dengeki Comic Anthology - Tartarus Theater - Persona VS
Mobile Games The Night Before - Persona Ain Soph - Social - Escape - Illust Puzzle - Broken Shadow - Aegis: The First Mission - Qix - Chaining Soul - Em
Events Music Live 2008 - Music Live 2009 - Music Tour 2010 - Music Live 2012 - Music Fes 2013 - Music Box 2014 - Super Live 2015 - Livehouse Tour 2015 - Super Live 2017 - Super Live 2019- 25th Anniversary Symphonic Concert
20th Anniversary Festival - 25th Anniversary - 25th FES
Miscellaneous Merchandise
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