Rihito Shimizu is an antagonist in Persona: Tsumi to Batsu.
Appearances[]
- Persona: Tsumi to Batsu: Antagonist
Design[]
Profile[]
Persona: Tsumi to Batsu[]
Rihito is Kazumi Kiba's best friend and fellow student at Seven Sisters High School. In addition, he also serves as a model for Nymphéa. For the school festival, he is talked into accompanying Kazumi to acquire masks for their class's masquerade ball. They encounter Igor acting as the proprietor of a mask shop who allows them to take as much as they need. However, as they return from the shop, talking about Igor bringing up the concept of humans wearing masks (or rather Personas), Rihito suddenly vanishes. A week passes and he hasn't shown back up, which gets Kazumi worried for him.
Kazumi is led to a purportedly haunted abandoned factory where Rihito is said to have been seen. There he comes into contact with not only Rihito, who reveals that he is a Persona-user, but demons under his control as well. Rihito attacks him, claiming to have always hated him. Kazumi's Persona Yama appears at this time to protect him before he is knocked unconscious. Before Rihito could kill him, Kazumi is saved by a small group of Persona-users known as the Factory Family. Before he leaves, he places down a trap containing demons trapped in tarot cards for the Family to face off against. From then on, its revealed that Rihito has become a Reaper for Nymphéa, specifically Yakumo Kusaka, working with them to harvest Personas for their Schwarz System in order to change fate.
Initially, Rihito is presented as an aloof and introspective guy, with a meek and depressive spirit to him. However, after becoming a Persona-user and aligning with Yakumo, he's open more with his true feelings of disdain, rage and bitterness, mostly towards Kazumi due to an incident in their past. As a Reaper, his main priority is seeking to correct what happened when they were kids, to the point that he has become ruthless uncaring towards hurting or even killing others in that quest. He believes letting the Black Book activate fully will 'absolve' him of his sins. Thanks to invoking his Persona's wings, Rihito can fly and his abilities are boosted by his Grim Reaper.
Rihito would face off against Kazumi again, during Yakumo's test run of the Schwarz System, having been goaded into it by Rago. Attacking Kazumi and his classmate, Ito, he only relents when Kazumi requests both head to the Alaya Shrine where the two of them first met each other. In addition to befriending a third person, a girl named Mana Tsuchiya. They hung ever since both Kazumi and Mana noticed Rihito standing by himself looking gloomy. All three played the Persona Game with each toher, which in turn would lead to them gaining Personas in the future. During these trips, Rihito had challenged himself to eventually climb up the tree that Mana always perched. When he finally achieved it, impressing his friends, Mana tried to join him. Unfortunately, the branch she climbed broke and she fell to her death. Rihito's suffered immense guilt and blamed himself for her death, believing he should have been punished for it. However, Kazumi told him not to mention their connection to Mana to anyone and pretend they were never friends. Something that ate away at Rihito for years since he felt Kazumi wasn't even considering his feelings. Yakumo noticed Rihito's pain and convinced him that, after awakening his Persona, unleashing the Black Book can correct his sins, Rihito gave in to his resentment of Kazumi and joined him. It was at that moment the test for the Black Book commenced and Rihito left, warning Kazumi that the Book will be unleashed and humanity can't be saved without it.
Rihito would go on to reap weaker Persona-users to help prepare for the full completion of the Schwarz System with the remaining Reapers who weren't defeated by the Family or taken out for treachery. After Yakumo kidnapped Rinne with the intent to use her Red Book with his Black Book to rewrite reality, the remaining Reapers and a horde of demons confronted the remaining members of the Factory Family in an alternate Sumaru City - a desolate place that is the only thing remaining in an world destroyed. The demons are wiped out, but the Reapers prove troublesome to take out. During their fight, the Reapers begin to turn into monsters due to Yakumo's usage of the book, but Rihito is barely able to stay in his human form. Rihito was ordered by Yakumo to bring Kazumi to the System since his Earth Key sealed off part of the Black Book needed for things to be completed. Between Rihito beating up Kazumi in anger and Yakumo's speech of humanity requiring the Black Book active, Kazumi begins to doubt himself until J.F. intervenes. Freezing Rinne's terminal, it gives her enough strength to teleport Rihito to another dimension to talk.
She reveals the truth of her existence. She both is and isn't Mana. She is an existence born from the Red Book, essentially a Persona made from the memories and thoughts of people had towards the late Mana and being born in her image. In addition, she is also the last key, the Water Key. The key Rihito was meant to hold. Rihito tearfully pleads that, since Mana was here, they could use the Books to make things right. But Rinne, with the song of Humpty Dumpty as a metaphor, claims that she can't be made whole again and he should move forward. Ultimately, Rihito accepts his role as she becomes the last Key and her Persona, Varuna, goes on to become Rihito's ultimate Persona. Rihito, joining forces with the remaining Family, would go on to defeat Yakumo and destroy Schwarz. Rinne's voice could be heard as they finished off their fight, claiming she'll live on in their hearts.
After the battle, she appears before the team to say that the darkness has been banished back into the depths of the Sea of Souls. As a result, the Books can be entrusted to their new holders: Rihito and Kazumi. She says this is Philemon's final promise and departs, leaving humanity's fate once again in the hearts of the people.
In the epilogue, its revealed Rihito has yet to go back to normal life after Nymphea's defeat, instead being shown travelling about Sumaru City when winter finally comes. He smiles and thinks the snow fall is beautiful, with Kazumi's narration reaffirming Rihito has learned that he no longer has to suffer the guilt and burden alone anymore.
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