It's been a long time coming, but the spiritual sequel/follow-up to the massive JRPG Persona 5 is finally coming west in 2021. Persona 5 Strikers, after releasing for a year in Japan as Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, finally confirms the English dub is complete and coming this February. While complications with the pandemic forced the English cast to record from home, the team was able to prepare a western release a year after the Japanese release. Taking the Phantom Thieves in a musou-Dynasty Warriors direction, Persona 5 Strikers is also the realization of an early Persona 5 development concept that originally envisioned an action game.
Of course, with Persona 5 Strikers basically being a sequel to the original Persona 5, the game's cast features a lot of familiar faces. All of the iconic Phantom Thieves (with a few exceptions, more on that later) will be returning for their roles in Persona 5 Strikers, but they're not alone in this adventure. Without diving into spoiler territory, there are several new additions to the central cast in Persona 5 Strikers, some of which will be joining the Phantom Thieves on their summer vacation adventure. Here are all the confirmed actors in the English dub, as well as all the exceptions from the cast and the reasons why.
Familiar Faces From the Phantom Thieves
Even though Atlus has stated fans can go into Strikers with minimal knowledge of Persona 5, Persona 5 Strikers is still very much a sequel to the base game. Set a few months after the game's conclusion, The Phantom Thieves get back together for summer vacation, before they eventually realize the Metaverse has indeed returned. As a result, all of the original Persona 5 main cast returns to reprise their roles as the Phantom Thieves:
- Joker/Hero: Xander Mobus
- Ryuji Sakamoto: Max Mittleman
- Ann Takamaki: Erika Harlacher
- Morgana: Cassandra Lee Morris
- Yusuke Kitagawa: Matt Mercer
- Makoto Niijima: Cherami Leigh
- Futaba Sakura: Erica Lindbeck
- Haru Okumura: Xanthe Huynh
Additionally, Carrie Keranen reprises her role as the Velvet Room attendant Lavenza. Notably, David Lodge does not reprise his role for Igor (also known as the Warden), as Strikers does not feature the iconic long-nosed Velvet Room proprietor. There's also a couple very important Phantom Thief exceptions to Strikers cast: both Goro Akechi (Robbie Daymond) and Kasumi Yoshizawa (Laura Post) are not returning for Persona 5 Strikers.
The game's director, Daisuke Kanada, clarified that Strikers is considered a sequel only to the base Persona 5, not Persona 5 Royal. In terms of canonicity, Akechi's fate remains the same, Kasumi's character is not considered canon, and the potential events of Persona 5 Royal's third semester never happened in Strikers' canon. That makes sense considering Persona 5 Royal did release after Persona 5 Scramble's Japan release.
Plenty of New Faces In Persona 5 Strikers As Well
Of course, with the return of the Metaverse more hearts to change, the Phantom Thieves will have some new allies to fight alongside. As well as the original Phantom Thieves, Persona 5 Strikers also brings two additional new main characters to the main cast:
- Sophia: Megan Taylor Harvey
- Zenkichi Hasegawa: Tom Taylorson
These two characters, Sophia and Zenkichi, are two Phantom Thief newcomers in Persona 5 Strikers. Like Morgana, Sophia is another character found in this new Metaverse, though her origins are unknown. Zenkichi Hasegawa is from the real world, a police investigator looking into the latest Metaverse incident and how the Phantom Thieves are involved. Any more background on these characters could be considered spoiler territory, but just know that Sophia and Zenkichi will be involved in the Persona 5 Strikers mystery.
Of course, these aren't all of the members of Persona 5 Strikers' English voice cast, as there are several villains and supporting characters who's actors may still be under NDA at risk of spoilers. Not to mention returning supporting characters and cameos, like Sae Niijima or Sojiro Sakura, who's actors have undoubtedly returned for their brief re-introductions in Strikers.
Fans of the original Persona 5 are going to love regrouping with the Phantom Thieves once more in Persona 5 Strikers. Eschewing the usual turn-based JRPG mechanics in favor of the musou action mechanics of Dynasty Warriors, Persona 5 gets the same treatment that made the Hyrule Warriors spin-offs so successful. Plus, considering how long this spin-off sequel has been out in Japan, western fans have been very patient waiting to get their hands on Persona 5 Strikers. Next February, Joker and crew will finally get to share their summer vacation with western Persona fans.
Persona 5 Strikers releases on February 23, 2021, for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PS4.