"Living in Japan, I can't get direct feedback, so it's hard for me to fully understand the overseas popularity. Persona 5 is unabashedly Japanese, going so far as to cover Japanese politics a bit. I can't imagine what kind of response that will garner from western fans. But I keep hearing that they're excited for its release, so I'm interested to see how the story is received overseas. Japanese genre fiction tends to deal with heroes fighting invaders from outside their society. In the west, however, these types of stories typically deal with outcasts within a society. Think Batman and the Joker, a relationship that has always struck a chord with fans. In the same vein, Persona 5 tells a story in which the heroes battle against villains risen from within their own society. Perhaps we'll get a different response from overseas players than we have from previous games. I'm excited and anxious to find out."