#bwahhhh its 3:30 am prime majima analysis time

[okitanoniisan]

What do u think of the theory that majima's mad dog persona is the result of the damage that was done to him when he got stabbed in the eye? I did some research on it and I think he would def have frontal lobe damage which causes like instability, and having difficulties between good and bad choices which would explain a lot of things (like mirei ?)

I’m going to tell you straight up that I don’t like this theory. It’s due to one very important reason; simply put, Majima is not deranged.

He isn’t “mentally unstable”, he’s just gone through a lot of trauma that he chooses to cope with by living life “crazier than the rest”.

He’s shown to have a VERY strong moral compass. I don’t think he struggles at all with right/wrong. (He even realizes what he’s done to Mirei is wrong and leaves her to protect her. He doesn’t want her life destroyed if he can help it, likely feels incredibly guilty about hitting her - and for putting her in that situation to begin with - and so he leaves. Mirei specifically states that it was the only time that Majima had hit her.) Majima states a thousand times over that he hates anyone that doesn’t follow the rules. He’s extremely by-the-book regarding just about everything. He goes out of his way to prevent a woman from bringing her dog into Millennium Tower because they have a “no pet policy”.

Either way, it’s incredibly important to remember that Majima’s “Mad Dog” persona is an act; one that he drops frequently. In fact, after Yakuza 2 he really starts to show his true colours, and it’s only during Dead Souls (prime example of “fuck it, the world is ending anyways”, and even still he manages to be somber and serious during most of the game) that we see him act in that manner again.

And I think it’s important to remember that Majima went 2 years without the supposed symptoms of frontal lobe damage. If his behaviour had been a result of an injury, then it likely would’ve happened right away, not that long after. He straight up tells Sagawa that he plans on adopting (primarily) Nishitani’s outlook on life before he does it. It’s a conscious decision, and it’s always been a conscious decision. Majima chose to act the way he did. Once he has a purpose, he stops. He focuses on leading the Tojo Clan with Daigo, he makes business deals and appeases rival clans; he goes off and acts the part of a lieutenant advisor.

Hell, even in Majima Saga you can see the two extremes of his character, and the contrast of his behaviour at the beginning of the campaign (busting into the meeting) vs. the end (dissolving his family in order to appease the Omi Alliance and prevent war between the clans; and he does, much to Sengoku, Takashima and Ryuji’s chagrin). When he needs to be serious, he’ll be serious.

The main difference between Pre-0 Majima and Post-0 Majima is simply that he doesn’t care how eccentric he’s perceived to be anymore. In 0 he’s caged, and when he breaks out, he goes as far as he can with it.

I don’t think that Majima even really knows who he is at all, and that’s why he latches onto acting the way he does in ½. He’s got no one left to care about with Saejima and Mirei gone, so he’s just gonna go apeshit and have fun doing it.

Throughout the series, he goes from Saejima’s Kyoudai to Lord of the Night, to Mad Dog of Shimano, to Patriarch of the Majima Family, to Majima. And you can see it all happen.

Majima isn’t crazy, he’s just really into his role.

#ask ada #character analysis #goro majima #majima goro #yakuza #bwahhhh its 3:30 am prime majima analysis time #yakuza 0 spoilers #yakuza spoilers #im tired as shit sorry if this is as messy as it feels #ada's writing