title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In 1963, a large factory was opened in Veghel in the Netherlands. This factory has currently the biggest production volume of Mars factories and is one of the biggest chocolate factories in the world. Most confectionery products for Europe were produced in Slough and Veghel. The two factories in Slough were located on Liverpool Road and Dundee Road; the one on Liverpool Road closed in 2007, with Twix production moving to the Netherlands and Starburst production moving to the Czech Republic.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: There is one factory outside of Hershey, Pennsylvania, located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The factory in Chicago, Illinois, has its own commuter rail station, simply named Mars. However, that factory will be closing soon. The building will remain in the hands of Chicago's Galewood neighborhood residents.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: Throughout 2012, Mars contributed $376,650 to a $46 million political campaign known as "The Coalition Against The Costly Food Labeling Proposition, sponsored by Farmers and Food Producers". This organization was set up to oppose "Proposition 37", demanding mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In February 2016, Mars stated that it would no longer be using artificial colors in each of its candy products. The company announced that more than 50 of its products would be affected in commitment effort to align with the changing preferences of consumers. The company along with more than 12 others has recently pledged to remove artificial colors from its products. While it has been said that the use of artificial colors in candy, and other products do not pose a threat to human health outright, the preference of natural ingredients by consumers has grown substantially.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: The company was not the first to recently announce that it would be changing the use of artificial flavors in its products. In 2015, food giant, General Mills proposed an initiative that noted that all of the artificial ingredients it was using in its products would be dropped by 2017. This meant a reformulation of many of the cereals, with alternatives that were more suitable to the palates of humans. A key aspect in that proposed initiative was that the cereal, Trix, would no longer have the blue and green colors forming a new iteration of the cereal.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: There have been two different arguments presented about the use of artificial colors in foods. Many studies have shown that their use in food could be linked to illnesses such as ADHD and cancer. There has seemed to be an issue with the use of red 40, yellow 3, yellow 5 and yellow 6 and how they bind to the DNA in humans. Other additives such as Blue 2 have been linked to the cause of brain tumors in rodents and, in 1981, Green 3 was found to be a direct link to bladder cancer. Given the fact that the company will be replacing the artificial dyes in its products, the company has also said that consumers should prepare themselves for the transition process in terms of special packaging and colors being used as to indicate that the changes have taken place. It has been said that the company is not likely to stop using coloring entirely, but that the use of artificial coloring will be going away.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: From May 1, 2007, many Mars products made in the UK became unsuitable for vegetarians. The company announced that it would be using whey made with animal rennet (material from a calf's stomach lining, and a byproduct of veal), instead of using rennet made by microorganisms, in products including Mars, Twix, Snickers, Maltesers, Bounty, Minstrels and Milky Way. The response from many consumers, particularly the Vegetarian Society's request for UK vegetarians to register their protests with Mars, generated extensive press and caused the company to abandon the plans shortly thereafter. Mars switched to all-vegetarian sources in the UK.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In 2007, Mars came under criticism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for funding laboratory experiments on mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits, which the group alleges are inhumane and in violation of the company's own policies prohibiting experiments on animals.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: One study was conducted in collaboration with the Salk Institute regarding angiogenesis and spatial memory, in which mice were given an "ad-lib" diet that included epicatechin, plant-derived flavonoid. One of the experiments involved groups of control and experimental animals, the latter of which were housed individually in cages that included a running wheel for optional exercise for two hours a day. The former, also housed individually, did not have access to a running wheel. Another experiment was the classical spatial memory assay, the Morris water maze, in which experimenters had mice swim in water mixed with white paint that concealed the water depth. The study, which Mars contends was legally required in order for the company to make flavonoid-related health claims, showed that the inclusion of epicatechin in the diet improved memory and angiogenesis, more so if coupled with exercise.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: Mars has been criticized for buying cocoa beans from West African farmers who reportedly use unpaid or poorly paid child laborers. In 2009, Mars announced that the company would work towards only purchasing cocoa from suppliers who meet environmental, labor, and production standards. TransFair USA, an organization which certifies products as Fair Trade, applauded the move and expressed hope that it would include a provision for fair wages for laborers and farmers. In 2010, Mars Inc. received the U.S. Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence. In April 2010, Mars launched the MyCocoaPaper initiative, which claims to provide economic opportunities to women and families in Indonesia by making paper products out of cocoa bark and recycled office paper.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In 2011, Mars and Fairtrade International announced an agreement to introduce the first Fairtrade labeled Mars product and to work together to enable farmers to have sustainable livelihoods and substantially increased productivity. The first Mars product to carry the Fairtrade mark was Maltesers, which appeared in stores in 2012 in the UK and Ireland.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In 2019, Mars announced that they couldn't guarantee that their chocolate products were free from child slave labor, as they could trace only 24% of their purchasing back to the farm level (see below). The "Washington Post" noted that the commitment taken in 2001 to eradicate such practices within 4 years had not been kept, neither at the due deadline of 2005, nor within the revised deadlines of 2008 and 2010, and that the result was not likely to be achieved for 2020 either.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In 2021, Mars was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from Mali who alleged that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. The suit accused Mars (along with Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Olam International, The Hershey Company, and Mondelez International) of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: Mars scored a yellow rating, the second highest of four possible scores, "Starting to implement good policies", on the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard, which rates all the large chocolate companies on their record in eliminating child labour, providing a living income to cocoa farmers and traceability/transparency. In its own scorecard on human rights and environmental credentials, Mars states that it has traced the source of their cocoa to 132,000 of the farms that supply their cocoa.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: In September 2017, an investigation conducted by NGO Mighty Earth found that a large amount of the cocoa used in chocolate produced by Mars and other major chocolate companies was grown illegally in national parks and other protected areas in Ivory Coast and Ghana. The countries are the world's two largest cocoa producers.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: The report documents show, in several national parks and other protected areas, 90% or more of the land mass has been converted to cocoa. Less than four percent of Ivory Coast remains densely forested, and the chocolate companies' laissez-faire approach to sourcing has driven extensive deforestation in Ghana as well. In Ivory Coast, deforestation has pushed chimpanzees into just a few small pockets, and reduced the country's elephant population from several hundred thousand to about 200–400.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: On the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard, Mars scored the second highest of four possible scores for "Deforestation and Climate" and "Agroforestry", "starting to implement good policies". Mars scored a lower rating (third of the four) for "Agrochemical Management", "needs more work on policy and implementation".


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: Many Mars products are household, famous-name brands. Some of these product lines are manufactured by Mars; others are manufactured by The Wrigley Company.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: The company was named by "Fortune" magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, citing the example that employees of the pet food division can take their dogs to work.


title: Mars, Incorporated

text: The company has made donations to Elizabethtown College, which includes a room sponsored by them and a weekly executive lecture series.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" is the sixth installment in the "Persona" series, which is part of the larger "Megami Tensei" franchise. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan in September 2016 and worldwide in April 2017, and was published by Atlus in Japan and North America and by Deep Silver in Europe and Australia. An enhanced version featuring new content, was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in October 2019 and worldwide in March 2020, published by Atlus in Japan and by franchise owner Sega worldwide. "Royal" was later released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in October 2022.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" was developed by P-Studio, an internal development studio within Atlus led by game director and producer Katsura Hashino. Along with Hashino, returning staff from earlier "Persona" games included character designer Shigenori Soejima and music composer Shoji Meguro. Preparatory work began during the development of "Persona 4", with full development beginning after the release of "Catherine" in 2011. First announced in 2013, "Persona 5" was delayed from its original late 2014 release date due to the game not being fully finished. Its themes revolve around attaining freedom from the limitations of modern society, while the story was strongly inspired by picaresque fiction; the party's Personas were based on outlaws and rebels from literature.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" won several awards and has been cited as one of the greatest role-playing video games of all time, with praise given to its visual presentation, gameplay, story, and music. Including "Royal", it has sold over copies worldwide, making it the best-selling entry in the "Megami Tensei" franchise. Several other related media have also been released, including two spin-off games, "" and "Persona 5 Strikers", as well as manga and . The game's cast has also made appearances in other games, such as Joker appearing as a playable character in the 2018 crossover fighting game "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate".


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" is a role-playing video game where the player takes on the role of a male high school student, codenamed Joker, who lives out a single year while attending school in modern-day Tokyo. The game is governed by a day-night cycle and weather systems that determine general behavior similar to a social simulation game. The year is punctuated by scripted and random events as Joker attends school. He can perform part-time jobs and pursue leisure activities or create battle items. These various activities raise character attributes, which grant passive buffing effects during battle. When in the real world, the main protagonist can develop character relationships known as "Confidants"; an evolution of the "Social Link" system from "Persona 3" and "Persona 4". With this system, the main protagonist can converse with and improve his relationship with other characters he meets, with some leading to possible romances. Improving Confidant ranks with party members unlocks various abilities for use in combat, such as the "Baton Pass" ability, which allows the player to directly select another character after a critical hit while granting a temporary attack boost. Improving ranks with non-party Confidants grant other bonuses, such as giving access to new items and equipment and boosting experience point and yen gain.


title: Persona 5

text: Alongside the normal school life is dungeon crawling gameplay of two different types within a realm called the Metaverse: story-specific dungeons called Palaces and a multi-layered, randomly-generated Dungeon called Mementos. Both are populated by Shadows, physical manifestations of suppressed psyches that are modeled after mythological and religious figures. Within Mementos dungeons, the party can fulfill requests from non-playable characters (NPCs) received from Confidant links. While navigating, the party can use stealth to avoid enemy Shadows, and some areas hold puzzles that can be solved using an insight ability known as "Third Eye", which highlights interactable objects and enemy strength compared to the party. When exploring story-centered Palaces, a "Security Level" is present, where the party being spotted or fleeing combat results in security being raised. If security reaches 100%, the party is forced to leave the Palace. The security level can be lowered by launching surprise attacks on and eliminating enemies, and also lowers automatically overnight. Throughout Palaces are locations known as "Safe Rooms". In them, the player can save their game, heal their party, and fast travel to other safe rooms within the Palace.


title: Persona 5

text: As with previous entries in the series, the game uses a turn-based combat system. Battles can be initiated when the party runs into an enemy, or they can launch a surprise attack known as an "Ambush" and gain an advantage in battle. In battle, the party has access to melee and ranged weapons, in addition to being able to summon Personas. Personas are manifestations of the main characters' inner psyche and used mainly for special attacks. If a character strikes an enemy's weakness, they knock the enemy down and are awarded an additional turn known as a "1 More". If all enemies are knocked down, a "Hold Up" is triggered. During one, the party can launch a devastating "All-Out Attack", demand money or items, or enter a negotiation. Negotiation allows Joker to win the selected Shadow over to their side to become a new Persona, though they can only be persuaded to join if Joker is their level or higher. Similar to previous entries, party members can be knocked out, and if the main character is knocked out, the game ends. At times, if a party member is knocked out, they can be captured by enemy Shadows, and is unable to return to the party if the resultant negotiation fails.


title: Persona 5

text: New Personas can be gained from battle through successful negotiation, and different Persona types are represented through different arcana linked to Confidant links. Personas can be combined, or "fused", or otherwise further manipulated within the Velvet Room, a realm Joker visits as part of his journey through the story. In the Velvet Room, Personas can be fused with "Guillotine" fusion processes, with the resultant Persona inheriting skills and stats from its parents. The more skills a Persona has, the more are passed on to the fused Persona. How powerful Personas are through fusion depends on how advanced its associated Confidant link is. Also, Personas can be sacrificed in various ways, also styled after styles of capital punishment. "Hanging" grants a sacrificed Persona's experience points to another chosen Persona, and "Electric Chair" sacrifices one to create a high-end item. A Persona can also be sent into "Solitary Confinement", where they undergo intensive training and gain additional skills quicker than normal. The number of days a Persona must remain to gain strength lessens based on its arcana strength.


title: Persona 5

text: Minor multiplayer elements are incorporated through the "Thieves Guild" feature. Similar to the "Vox Populi" system from "Persona 4 Golden", players have the option of seeing what activities other players did during any given day. Players can send messages to each other, in addition to affecting the Alertness meter in the player's favor, and aiding in battle when a party member is taken hostage by an enemy.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" takes place within the "Persona" universe, revolving around a group of high school students who harness Personas, physical manifestations of their inner psyche. The story begins in April 2016 and spans roughly a year. "Persona 5" is set in modern-day Tokyo with navigable real-world locations within the city, including Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya. Alongside larger environments, there are specific locations that the protagonist can enter, such as shops, restaurants and movie theaters. A major setting throughout the game is Shujin Academy, a high school the protagonist attends. The second major location is the "Metaverse", a supernatural realm consisting of the physical manifestation of humanity's subconscious desires. In the Metaverse, people with corrupted enough desires form their own unique "Palace," which is modeled after their distorted perception of a place in the real world, along with a Shadow version of themselves (their true self) possessing a "Treasure" symbolic of their desires. Returning from earlier entries is the Velvet Room, a place that exists for the growth of Persona users that shifts appearance depending on the current guest; in "Persona 5", it takes the form of a prison.


title: Persona 5

text: The player character is a silent protagonist, a commonplace feature in the "Persona" series, codenamed Joker. He becomes the leader of a vigilante group known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, who change the hearts of criminals and other malevolent people through the Metaverse. He forms it together with school delinquent Ryuji Sakamoto, fashion model Ann Takamaki and Morgana, a mysterious cat-like creature. More people join the group throughout the game, including art prodigy Yusuke Kitagawa, student council president Makoto Niijima, hikikomori computer hacker Futaba Sakura, and cultured corporate heiress Haru Okumura. Also interacting with Joker are high school detective Goro Akechi, public prosecutor and Makoto's older sister, Sae Niijima, and the residents of the Velvet Room, Igor, and his two assistants Caroline and Justine.


title: Persona 5

text: Much of the story is told through flashbacks while Sae Niijima interrogates the protagonist. After the protagonist defends a woman from assault, he is framed for assaulting the man responsible and put on probation, resulting in expulsion from his school. He is sent to Tokyo to stay with family friend Sojiro Sakura and attend Shujin Academy during his year-long probation. After his arrival, he is drawn into the Velvet Room, where Igor warns him that he must be rehabilitated to avoid future ruin and grants him access to a supernatural mobile app that leads him into the Metaverse and the Palace of the school's abusive volleyball coach Suguru Kamoshida. The protagonist meets Morgana, who informs him of the ability to change wicked people's hearts by stealing their "Treasure," the emotional root of their behavior and desires, from the Palaces ruled by their Shadow selves. The protagonist assumes the codename Joker and, together with Morgana and his friends Ryuji and Ann, reforms Kamoshida.


title: Persona 5

text: The group forms the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, stealing corruption from the hearts of adults to reform the city, slowly learning of a broader conspiracy to influence the hearts of Tokyo. They are joined along the way by Yusuke Kitagawa, whom they help to reform his corrupt teacher Madarame; Sae's sister Makoto, who is initially assigned to spy on them but joins after being blackmailed by criminal boss Kaneshiro; Sojiro's adopted daughter Futaba, who sunk into a depressed state after the conspiracy murdered her mother and redirected the blame to her using a forged suicide note; and Haru Okumura, who rebels against her billionaire father's attempts to control her life and his mistreatment of his employees. As the number of the Phantom Thieves' members and successes grows, they attract the public's attention and the police, including Sae and Akechi. The Phantom Thieves' popularity plummets after they are framed for causing Haru's father to go into a fatal mental shutdown by a black-masked assassin, who was mentioned by other targets. Pursuing the conspiracy, the group is joined by Akechi, who convinces them to change Sae's heart.


title: Persona 5

text: After infiltrating Sae's Palace, Joker is captured by the police. Akechi is revealed to be the assassin and attempts to kill Joker, but the Phantom Thieves have already discovered his betrayal and use the Metaverse to fake Joker's death. Aided by Sae and Sojiro, the Phantom Thieves go undercover and deduce the conspiracy's leader to be politician Masayoshi Shido, who has been using Akechi's ability to infiltrate the Metaverse to remove obstacles from his path toward becoming Prime Minister and imposing his reforms on Japan, as well as being the one who framed and pressed charges against Joker. When the Phantom Thieves infiltrate Shido's Palace, they face Akechi, who reveals himself as Shido's illegitimate son and plans to get revenge on Shido for abandoning him and his late mother. Once defeated, Akechi sacrifices himself to protect the Phantom Thieves from a group of enemies, allowing them to ultimately defeat Shido. Despite Shido's arrest and confession, the public's opinion of him remains primarily unchanged, and Shido may be released through the manipulation of his allies. The Phantom Thieves make a final heist to infiltrate the depths of Mementos, the Palace of everyone's hearts, to steal the Treasure at its core. Inside, they discover that the public is in chaos and has chosen to give up their autonomy.


title: Persona 5

text: The Phantom Thieves are ejected from Mementos by the Treasure itself and vanish after witnessing the Metaverse merge with reality. Waking in the Velvet Room, Joker confronts Igor, Caroline, and Justine. Caroline and Justine regain their memories and integrate into Lavenza, their proper form. Lavenza reveals the Igor that Joker has been seeing in the Velvet Room until this point is actually Yaldabaoth, the God of Control, who imprisoned the actual Igor. Yaldabaoth, Mementos's Treasure made sentient, was created from humanity's wish to give up control and be free from suffering. Through a wager made with Igor over humanity's goals, Yaldabaoth had given Joker and Akechi their abilities to see the influence of their actions on society while steering the wager in his favor. Joker rejects Yaldabaoth's offer to return to his world at the cost of his freedom, and he, along with the rest of the Phantom Thieves, fights him. Joker's confidants rally the support of the people, rebelling against Yaldabaoth's control and allowing Joker to awaken his ultimate persona, Satanael, to destroy Yaldabaoth and the Metaverse. After Yaldabaoth's defeat, Joker turns himself in to the police for Shido to be prosecuted. While Joker is incarcerated, the rest of the Phantom Thieves and his confidants successfully help secure evidence of Joker's innocence in the assault charge, leading to his conviction being overturned. By spring, Joker's friends drive him back to his hometown.


title: Persona 5

text: In "Persona 5 Royal", two new characters interact with the Phantom Thieves: Kasumi Yoshizawa, an accomplished rhythmic gymnast who transferred to Shujin at the same time as Joker, and Takuto Maruki, a school counselor hired after Kamoshida is exposed. Kasumi awakens to her Persona after calling Joker to a new Palace in Odaiba. Maruki, in turn, talks to each of the Phantom Thieves, learning their deepest wishes. After defeating Yaldabaoth, a still-living Akechi turns himself over to Sae in Joker's place. At the beginning of the following year, Joker finds reality distorted; Akechi was released without reason, and each Phantom Thief has had their deepest wish granted. Joker, Akechi, and Kasumi investigate the Palace in Odaiba and learn that its owner is Maruki, a Persona-user able to alter reality. Using Yaldabaoth's leftover power, Maruki gained control over Mementos, determined to create a world where everyone's dreams become a reality. Maruki reveals that "Kasumi" is actually her twin sister Sumire; the latter has been impersonating her to cope with her death. Maruki gives Joker time to choose whether to accept his idealized reality. Joker reminds the Phantom Thieves and Sumire of their real lives, and they agree to change Maruki's heart.


title: Persona 5

text: Joker learns from Maruki that Akechi is only alive in the altered reality due to Joker's desire to save him and that whether he continues to live depends on Joker accepting Maruki's world. Joker refuses his offer, and the Phantom Thieves defeat Maruki the following day. Reality returns to normal, and with Akechi missing, Joker finds himself back in prison, but as with the original game's story, he is cleared and released. At their final meeting, having reflected on their rejection of Maruki's reality, each member of the Phantom Thieves chooses to pursue their own future. On the day he is due to return home, Joker escapes tailing government agents with help from both the Phantom Thieves and a reformed Maruki, who is now a taxi driver. At the station, Sumire finds him and bids him farewell. A post-credits scene achieved through specific gameplay requirements shows a person resembling Akechi passing by the window on Joker's train ride home.


title: Persona 5

text: The game was developed by P-Studio, an internal development studio within Atlus dedicated to handling the "Persona" series. Preparatory development began in 2008 following the release of "Persona 4", with full development beginning following the release of "Catherine" in 2011. Development lasted five years. Series director Katsura Hashino was only fully involved in development after "Catherine" was finished, later calling the latter game a test for the next "Persona" game's development. "Persona 5" would be Hashino's last game in the series as the leader of P-Studio, as he would afterwards form a separate internal team called Studio Zero. When production started, the staff consisted of around 40 people. During full production, this number expanded to 70 with 15 planners, 15 programmers, and between 30 and 45 designers. These included lead designer Naoya Maeda, who had previously done modeling work for the "Trauma Center" series. The general development was a challenge for the team, as they intentionally changed their development structure due to the more powerful hardware they were working with.


title: Persona 5

text: While the final game retains the turn-based battle system from earlier entries, one of the early design drafts was for an action-based system incorporating real-time elements foreign to the series. This idea was ultimately scrapped, but real-time command elements were introduced into the battle system, allowing the gameplay to evolve without extensive changes to the core system. One major new addition was unique dungeons with locked layouts as opposed to the predominantly randomly generated dungeons of previous "Persona" games. This was done to better emulate the game's themes and provide veteran players with something different. A returning feature from both earlier "Persona" games and the mainline "Megami Tensei" series was Negotiation. As it was considered a key part of the overall franchise by fans, Hashino decided to reintroduce it after being absent from the previous two mainline entries. The Negotiation system for "Persona 5" was tied into the origins of Shadows as suppressed psyches within the Collective Unconscious. The "Hold Up" function was inspired by scenes in films where the antagonist would hold people at gunpoint and make demands. These functions were incorporated due to the game being in part a celebration of the series' history. In-game weather and environmental elements were all designed to reflect the real world. Dungeon layout was split into three distinct types: the Tokyo overworld environments, "institutions" such as Joker's high school, and dungeon environments. Some segments take control away from the player aside from limited dialogue choices; this was chosen as it reflects the controlled environment of Japanese high schoolers.


title: Persona 5

text: While "Catherine" used the third-party Gamebryo game engine, "Persona 5" uses a specially-created engine. Hashino believed that the new engine would make rendering their ideas much easier, although it would result in a long wait by fans for the game. The event scene software was also developed internally by Atlus, with an estimated 1,160 scenes being included in the final game. The tools for developing and handling them were greatly expanded over the previous two entries so as to better utilize the more advanced hardware. Character modeling, in general, was handled with a specially-developed cel-shader which helped properly translate the character designs into the game, while also allowing for easy adjustment of shaders and lighting effects during fine-tuning. The characters were originally rendered realistically like in "Catherine", but the team felt that it was "wrong" for the "Persona" series. With this in mind, the team did some trial and error before finding a style that satisfied them, doing something similar for the interface and menu design. In contrast to "Persona 4", which has a general deformed look due to the PlayStation 2's hardware limitations on the variety of body shapes, the technology available to the team for "Persona 5" enabled unique customization for all relevant character models. Two different models were used for members of the main cast: a detailed model for real-time cutscenes, and a general-use model for general event scenes and gameplay. "Persona 5" marked the first time a large number of Personas had been rendered in high definition, something which proved a grueling challenge for the team.


title: Persona 5

text: The original story concept was written by Hashino, while the scenario was co-written by Shinji Yamamoto and Yuichiro Tanaka. The initial concept was for a storyline that diverged from the established paths of "Persona 3" and "4", with "self-discovery" and "journey" being its keywords. Originally using the concept of a backpacking trip around the world as a framing device for the story, Hashino decided to refocus on Japan in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. More specifically, it has been noted that the Japanese government's actions in response to the earthquake and tsunami's fallout, along with Japanese citizens' reactions to how the government acted during that time, may have served as partial influences on the game's themes. Following that crisis and seeing how people were bonding in the face of it, Hashino decided to have the story take place solely in Japan, with the journeying being done through the ever-shifting Palaces. Ultimately, the story's central concepts were inspired by equivalent social changes he saw in modern society, particularly in Japan. Hashino also described the central theme of the game as being about freedom and how the characters attain it. He wanted to make the game more "thematically approachable" for newcomers to the series, and to be an emotional experience that left its audience with a strong sense of catharsis and the inspiration to take on problems in their lives.


title: Persona 5

text: The narrative of "Persona 5" was designed like an omnibus, with the antagonists pursued by the party changing regularly. The development team has cited three main stories as inspiration, the Chinese novel "Water Margin", the Japanese crime movie "Hakuchuu no Shikaku", and the Spanish novel "Lazarillo de Tormes". Furthermore, the setting and style was compared to picaresque fiction; the team originally asked the question of how a character like Arsène Lupin III might win appeal in modern society. This picaresque theme was carried over into the aesthetics of Persona fusion and sacrifice, which were themed after styles of capital punishment. Having a more "stereotypical" theme enabled the team to create surprising story developments, mixing contemporary drama with the setting of the "Persona" series. The series' recurring motif of "masks" was used more overtly in the game's plot than previous entries as well, and the game's main locations were based heavily on their real-world counterparts.


title: Persona 5

text: The main characters, according to Hashino, share a mindset that they "no longer have a place where they belong in society", though the events of the game give them a sense of belonging. Hashino stated that while the last few games were about the protagonists chasing the antagonists, "Persona 5" would instead more prominently feature the antagonists and phenomena caused by them chasing the protagonists during the latter's activities. The characters have been described as "juvenile academics," with their activities as thieves being part of the way they break from societal norms and express themselves. Adhering with this concept, the game's main aim was to show the characters finding the courage to go outside the normal limits of society as set by previous generations. In contrast to previous "Persona" casts, the party of "Persona 5" willingly embrace the unfolding unusual events in their role of masked vigilantes rather than being dragged into them. The cast was originally going to be larger with character Hifumi Togo becoming a Phantom Thief, but as the story was already very large, she was relegated to an optional role as part of the Confidant system. Technological advances such as smartphones and the use of social media were integrated into both the story and gameplay due to their growing prevalence in modern society and how the public responds to real-world scandals.


title: Persona 5

text: The characters' initial Personas (Arsène, Captain Kidd, Carmen, Zorro, Goemon, Johanna, Necronomicon, Milady, Robin Hood, and Cendrillon) were themed after outlaws and picaresque heroes to reflect the function and dominant suppressed passions forming the Palace, and also represent aspects of their owners' personalities. Joker's initial Persona was originally the German demon Mephistopheles, but was changed to Arsène as the latter character better fit the game's themes. The cast's ultimate Personas (Satanael, Seiten Taisei, Hecate, Mercurius, Kamu Susano-o, Anat, Prometheus, Astarte, Loki and Vanadis) were based on mythical beings who act as tricksters or rebels. The three main inspirations behind Joker's alter ego were Arsène Lupin, The Fiend with Twenty Faces, and Japanese outlaw hero Ishikawa Goemon. The name of Joker's high school, "Shujin", was chosen because it was a homonym of , the Japanese word for "prisoner". Following a trend from earlier entries, the Velvet Room assistants are named after characters from the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley.


title: Persona 5

text: The use of adults as antagonists was a more overt expression of narrative elements previously explored in "Persona 4". The relation to police activities was also carried over from "Persona 4", but this time with the role of protagonists and antagonists reversed. Several writers have highlighted the parallels between the game's various antagonists with real incidents and figures in different sectors of Japanese society (e.g. political, corporate, academic), and how the game's story and characters serve as social commentary on life in Japan. The game's villains and protagonists were also constructed to be parallels of each other, both groups being misfits trying to shape a world they saw as unsatisfactory or corrupted. This was intended to create moral ambiguity about the Phantom Thieves' actions, causing the player to question their concept of justice and their mission as a whole. In addition, the way a vocal minority online could draw attention to and shift public opinion on events and scandals in the news was cited as an inspiration for the ambiguous nature of the Phantom Thieves' actions.


title: Persona 5

text: The art director was Masayoshi Suto, whose most notable work on earlier games included the user interface (UI) displays. Shigenori Soejima, who had worked on the last two main-series "Persona" games, returned as character designer. The art design reflects the picaresque theme aimed for by the rest of the team. Aesthetically, the team felt that they were picking up where "Persona 4" left off. Its styling presentation was an unintentional reflection on the hurdles the team needed to overcome during development. The teaser image used for the game's announcement was designed to convey a sense of the main characters' being chained down by the rules of the modern world. Soejima designed the logo to convey the high-speed existences of the young cast, while elements such as Joker's Persona Arsène were designed to appear old-fashioned by comparison. This presented challenges as Soejima needed to balance this with a strong sense of style.


title: Persona 5

text: Soejima was working on prospective designs for the game while "Persona 4" was still in development, with his designs evolving as the story for "Persona 5" came together. The first character sketches were submitted in 2012. Soejima worked closely with Hashino so the characters and environments reflected the game's themes. Due to being high school students, Soejima found it difficult to make each main character's uniform design distinctive, so he expressed their individuality through their thief costumes. Joker's design was cited by Soejima as his most challenging recent work. Joker needed to both convey a taste of the game's overall art style and to act as an avatar for the player. As the main theme and narrative of "Persona 5" revolved around crime and vigilantes triggered by Joker voluntarily choosing that path, Soejima needed to convey this while allowing the character to suit whatever dialogue choices the player decided upon. Due to these difficulties, Joker was given multiple designs in a trial and error process to find the best one. As the "phantom thief" premise was a common stereotype in fiction, Soejima initially drew Joker and the main cast in a style similar to shōnen manga, but these designs were scrapped as they clashed with the "Persona" series' realistic aesthetics. As with previous entries, the protagonist is a silent character, so Soejima had to work out a way Joker could communicate without dialogue. His solution was to imagine him as the type of person who made plans but did not share them with others. The Persona designs, being based on characters from literature, were intended to evoke both familiarity and surprise from players. Once the names were chosen, Soejima designed the Personas based on that character. The main aim for the game's environments was to create a sense of realism, with its version of Tokyo being modeled after real world locations.


title: Persona 5

text: As the team considered previous "Persona" games to be "fun" but not well marketed, the UI was designed in such a way as to attract a larger, more mainstream audience. When creating the UI, Hashino wanted to demonstrate how a shift in perspective could alter a dull life into an exciting one in the context of the story. Early UI designs were so "aggressively animated" that it obscured what was happening in the game. As a result, the animations were toned down and text orientation was altered, toning down the UI's graphical elements to present a balance between user-friendliness and style. Following the respective thematic coloring of "Persona 3" and "4" blue and yellow, "Persona 5" uses red, which was chosen to a harsh feeling. Because of this, Suto tested multiple font colors until settling on black and white, as it stood out best against it. Rather than the use of sub-colors like earlier entries, the UI uses only the primary red, black and white colors aside from health and magic point meters, with the menus using a special moving 3D model of Joker which changes position depending on the selected menu.


title: Persona 5

text: The game's animated cutscenes were produced by Production I.G and Domerica, and were directed and supervised by Toshiyuki Kono. Kono was contacted three and a half years before the game's completion by Hashino. Faced with the project, Kono felt a great deal of pressure in his role. "Persona 5" was the first time Production I.G had worked on the series, though many staff at the studio were fans. Despite this, the studio did not change their standard animation process, focusing on characters as they had done for many of their previous projects. The most important part of the cutscenes was getting the character's expressions right, particularly when it came to the general-mute protagonist. The animated opening sequence was directed by Sayo Yamamoto. The concept behind the characters figure skating around the environment was done as a visual symbolization of the overall theme of breaking free of an oppressive force, and was similar to her work in "Yuri on Ice". The scene where Joker first summons his Persona was requested by Atlus to appear "wild", which was difficult as Joker's purpose is as an extension of the player. The blue flame effects related to the Persona were not created with CGI, but hand-drawn by the animators. All the anime cutscenes together were estimated to consist of over an hour of footage.


title: Persona 5

text: The score was composed, performed, and produced by series sound director Shoji Meguro. Further contributions, among other general sound design, was handled by Toshiki Konishi, Kenichi Tsuchiya, Atsushi Kitajoh, and Ryota Kozuka; all of them having previously worked on the series as well. Meguro was given full creative freedom to work on the soundtrack and over a roughly three year period produced about 80% of the total tracks. Seven tracks were performed in English by Lyn, a jazz and soul music singer. Her first performance in a video game, Lyn claimed that the most difficult part of her contributions was performing a rap segment in the opening theme, "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There". The lyrics were written by Benjamin Franklin, while the ending song, "Hoshi To Bokura To", had lyrics written in Japanese by Shigeo Komori.


title: Persona 5

text: To express the game's mood, Meguro incorporated strong acid jazz elements into the score. He also wanted to make the music sound more realistic than previous entries, aiming to match the visuals. Meguro also changed the way the music flowed when compared to the last two "Persona" games. Instead of the opening and ending themes being conglomerates of the overall score, he described the entire score as a single continuous work. A recurring musical element was described as a "do-la" syllable; the opening uses "so la re mi" on strings as a hook, which then leads into the "do-la" syllable for other tracks, including the normal battle theme. While he was creating the music, Meguro received positive comments from Hashino when he made early tracks created for an internal demo.


title: Persona 5

text: A three-disc soundtrack was released in Japan by Mastard Records on January 17, 2017. Upon its debut, the album reached fifth on the Oricon charts with sales of over 29,000. The album features 110 tracks with commentary from the sound team, while the cover and liner note artwork were designed by Soejima. In addition to the soundtrack, a 19-track disc featuring a selection of the game's main themes, "Persona 5: Sounds of the Rebellion", was released as part of the North American and European collector's edition bundle. The complete soundtrack later received a localized English release on iTunes on April 18, 2017, and on vinyl later that year by iam8bit.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" was first announced with a teaser trailer in November 2013, alongside spin-off games "", "", and the PlayStation 3 port of "Persona 4 Arena Ultimax". The game was originally announced for a late 2014 release exclusively for the PlayStation 3. During a Sony press conference in September 2014, it was announced that the game would also be released for the PlayStation 4 and that it had been delayed into 2015. According to director Katsura Hashino, the game was delayed to fully develop for the PlayStation 4, and improve the general quality of both versions. The first gameplay trailer was shown during a special livestream on February 5, 2015. The song used in the first gameplay trailer is an instrumental version of the main theme. A Blu-ray Disc containing an exclusive trailer was bundled with first print copies of "Persona 4: Dancing All Night" in Japan on June 25, 2015. During a special livestream at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, it was announced that the game would be delayed to late 2016. Speaking in a staff interview, Hashino apologized for the delay and stated that it was necessary to deliver a high-quality product without having to hold back in terms of content.


title: Persona 5

text: In April 2016, Atlus launched a countdown that ran until May 5, 2016. Shortly after, a special livestream was announced titled "Take Tokyo Tower", which coincided with the countdown date. During the Take Tokyo Tower livestream, a trailer revealed the game's final release date. "Persona 5" was released in Japan on September 15, 2016. Along with the standard edition, a "20th Anniversary Edition" was released, which features all downloadable content (DLC) based on "Persona 3" and "Persona 4", a five-CD best-of album set featuring music from all six main games in the series, and the official artbook for the game by Soejima. In honor of the game's Japanese release, the series-focused variety show "Persona Stalker Club" featured a new programming block titled "Persona Stalker Club V". To promote the game in Japan, Atlus partnered with AKG Acoustics to release limited edition wireless headphones based on the one Futaba wears in-game. The headphones were released in December 2016 and came with box art designed by Soejima, as well as a music CD featuring two remixed tracks from the game by Meguro and Kozuka. Certain in-game character apparel, such as jackets and tote bags, were also released in Japan in February and March 2018.


title: Persona 5

text: Following its release, character costumes and additional Personas were released as paid DLC. The costumes include those incorporated into the "20th Anniversary Edition" based on "Persona 3" and "Persona 4", in addition to new costumes based on the characters of "", the "Persona 2" duology ("" and ""), "Shin Megami Tensei If...", "Catherine", "Shin Megami Tensei IV", "", "Persona 4 Arena", and "Dancing All Night". The costumes are accompanied by arranged battle music from each costume set's respective game, which replaces the default battle theme based on what costume Joker wears. Some of the key Personas from "Persona 3" and "Persona 4" were released in bundles that include a new design and the original design of each. In addition, PlayStation 4 themes and avatar sets were released based on the central characters of "Persona 5". An additional difficulty setting known as "Merciless" was also released as free DLC.


title: Persona 5

text: Pre-order bonuses and its initial North American release date of February 14, 2017 was announced a week before E3 2016. Its release in Europe and Australia set for the same date was announced the following August. In November 2016, its release was pushed back two months to April 4. The stated reason was that Atlus wanted the game to be at its highest possible quality. Atlus USA published the game in North America. In Europe and Australia, it was published by Deep Silver. As with previous "Persona" games, the English localization was handled by Atlus USA and led by Yu Namba. According to Namba, the team began with a "blank slate" when choosing the English voice cast, as it was a new setting for the "Persona" series. Localizing "Persona 5" was described by Namba as a massive project with the largest staff yet dedicated to the series. As project lead, Namba made the final call on issues brought up by the team during the localization process. The localized script was estimated as being 50% bigger than that of "Persona 4 Golden". In English-speaking regions, the ""Shin Megami Tensei"" moniker was dropped from the title. For the English release, the Japanese dub was made available as free DLC.


title: Persona 5

text: Upon its worldwide release, Atlus published a set of guidelines for streaming footage of the game, noting that streamers who shared footage past a certain in-game date "[did] so at the risk of being issued a content ID claim or worse, a channel strike/account suspension". The guidelines were widely perceived as threatening, and were criticized by many in the games press and streaming community. About three weeks later, Atlus apologized for the tone of its original guidelines and revised its policy, extending the amount that could be streamed considerably, though some critics continued to argue that even the revised streaming policy remained unfriendly to the game's fans and counterproductive to its success.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5 Royal", released in Japan as "Persona 5: The Royal", is an enhanced version of the game, in a similar vein to "Persona 4 Golden". This version features an additional Phantom Thief member named Kasumi Yoshizawa, a new Palace, a new area of the city (Kichijōji), new music, additional plot and social elements, a playable third semester, and support for the PlayStation 4 Pro, alongside many other changes and additions. In a first for the series, "Royal" features subtitles in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It features a new opening sequence directed by Yuichiro Hayashi and produced by MAPPA, and as with the original game, Domerica co-produced the new anime cutscenes. Atlus first teased the game as "Persona 5 R" in December 2018, with a full reveal in April 2019. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019, and worldwide on March 31, 2020. The game also released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 21, 2022. These versions were ported by Atlus owner Sega.


title: Persona 5

text: Sega published "Royal" in Europe and Australia, taking over from Deep Silver who published the original in those regions. Upon release, "Royal" received numerous character costume sets and Personas as paid DLC. Costumes include those based on the characters of "", "", and "", and of the characters from the Velvet Room. Additionally, Kasumi received costumes matching all previously released cosmetic DLC as part of her own bundle. Personas added include those from "Persona 3" and "4" and a new one created for "Persona 5 Royal". The returning Personas include a new design and the original design of each. A Battle Bundle was also released that, aside from including items to assist in combat, also features a challenge battle mode. All DLC from the original game was also made available as a free download for owners of "Persona 5 Royal". The paid DLC created for "Royal" was included for free in the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions. The game supports Xbox Play Anywhere on Microsoft platforms, but the PlayStation 5 version does not offer upgrade path or save data transfer from PlayStation 4.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" has been cited as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, receiving "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic. "Famitsu" gave it a positive review, with the game garnering a near-perfect score. "PlayStation Official Magazine – UK" described it as "an unabashed masterpiece". "IGN"s Andrew Goldfarb said "Persona 5" "stands out as an extraordinary, memorable experience and easily one of the deepest JRPGs of the last decade". "RPGamer" said that "With "Persona 5", Atlus has once again proven that it is the master of the modern JRPG. With terrific style, addictive gameplay, and an engaging, thought-provoking story". One of the aspects that was highly praised was its graphical style and art direction. "IGN" listed it as one of the best contemporary role-playing games.


title: Persona 5

text: The quality of the English localization was one of the few aspects singled out for criticism, with "Polygon" describing it as "aggravatingly mediocre". Another was its treatment of LGBT topics. Kenneth Shepard noted in "Paste" that the only characters to exist outside of the game's thoroughly heteronormative setting are a "lecherous" gay couple who are treated as a joke, which led him to conclude that "Persona 5" sees gay men "at best as a joke and at worst something revolting to be feared". These scenes' dialogue were altered in the Western version of "Persona 5 Royal". Writing for "Gayming Magazine", Shepard opined that "Royal"s localization changes were appreciated, but the game was still broadly uninclusive to LGBT identities.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5 Royal" received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic, garnering an even higher score than the original. The game is the third-highest-rated PlayStation 4 game on Metacritic alongside Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us Remastered". "Famitsu" praised "Persona 5 Royal" newer elements. Michael Higham of "GameSpot" lauded the new music, characters, and the added third semester, saying that it solves one of the original game's shortcomings of ending abruptly. He concluded his review saying that "Royal" refines an already great game and builds on what was best about it with a great new story and that it is "an unforgettable and empowering RPG that should be recognized as one of the best games of our time." "IGN"s Leana Hafer said "Royal" is "a living master class in how to take an already amazing game and amp it up to the next level." She commended the improvements to the Mementos dungeons saying "The fact that Atlus has made Mementos feel so much more alive is a massive improvement by itself."


title: Persona 5

text: The game received a boost to pre-order sales following the delay of "Final Fantasy XV", which was originally scheduled to release the same month as "Persona 5". Sales went up on Amazon Japan by 450%, bringing it to second place in their best-seller charts behind "Tales of Berseria". In its first week of release, the PS4 version reached first place with sales of 264,793 copies, while the PS3 version reached second place with 72,974, resulting in total sales of 337,767 copies. This made "Persona 5" the fastest-selling title in the series' history, surpassing "Revelations: Persona", and together with "Pro Evolution Soccer 2017" pushed sales of the PS4 up significantly over the previous week. It was later reported by Hashino that combined physical shipments and digital sales had reached over 550,000 copies by September 2016. Within three weeks of its launch in Japan, the game became Atlus' best-selling game in the country.


title: Persona 5

text: Outside of Japan, it was the biggest debut for any "Persona" game to date, with packaged sales five times better than "Persona 4". On the PlayStation Network in April, the game topped the PS4 charts, and was third on the PS3, with Atlus announcing that it had shipped 1.5 million copies worldwide. By November 2017, that number had risen to over two million, which made it the best-selling game in the series. The success of "Persona 5" contributed to increasing annual revenue for Sega, the owner of Atlus, in 2017. At the 2018 PlayStation Awards, it received the Platinum Prize for topping a million sales in Asia. Worldwide sales had risen to over 3.2 million copies by December 2019, not including "Royal".


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5 Royal" shipped over 400,000 copies in Japan by December 2019. This brought total sales of "Persona 5" and "Royal" to over copies worldwide by December 2019. In February 2020, "Royal" topped the Media Create sales charts in South Korea and Taiwan. In the United Kingdom, "Royal" debuted at number five on the sales chart. "Royal" had sold over 1.4 million copies by July 2020, bringing the total sales of "Persona 5" and "Royal" to over . , the game has sold over copies worldwide, including "Royal" copies.


title: Persona 5

text: When the game launched on additional platforms in October 2022, the Nintendo Switch version placed in second at 45,998 physical copies sold, and PlayStation 5 version placed in seventh at 5,051 units during the week from October 17 to October 23, according to Japanese publication Famitsu. In the United Kingdom, the re-release of "Royal" debuted at number six on the sales chart, with 79% of the launch week sales coming from the Nintendo Switch version. By November 30, 2022, the PlayStation 4 version of "Royal" had sold 2.3 million copies, and the ports to other platforms had sold a combined one million copies, bringing total sales of "Royal" to 3.3 million copies, and combined sales of all versions of "Persona 5" to 6.5 million copies.


title: Persona 5

text: Total combined sales of "Persona 5", "Persona 5 Royal", and the spin-offs "Dancing in Starlight" and "Strikers" totaled 8.3 million by November 2022.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5" won two awards at the Japanese 2016 PlayStation Awards. At The Game Awards 2017, it was nominated for the show's "Game of the Year", "Best Art Direction", "Best Score/Music", and "Best Role Playing Game" awards, winning "Best Role Playing Game". It was named the second best game of 2017 by "GameSpot", behind "". In "IGN"s 2017 end of year awards, it won "Best RPG", and was also nominated for "Game of the Year", "Best PlayStation 4 Game", "Best Art Direction", "Best Story", and "Best Original Music". The game was also nominated for "Best International Game" at the 2017 Ping Awards, and for the "Best Music" and "Best Style" awards by "Giant Bomb".


title: Persona 5

text: It was ranked as one of the best games of 2017 by "Eurogamer", "Polygon", "The Verge", "GamesRadar+", and "Electronic Gaming Monthly" end of year lists. Ray Porreca of "Destructoid" named it his fifth favorite game of 2017. The website also nominated it for "Best PS4 Game" in its 2017 Game of the Year Awards. Staff of "Game Informer" named it 2017's "Best Role-Playing Game", as well as "Best Narrative" and "Best Cast". In their reader's choice awards, it was voted "Best Role-Playing Game" and came in second for "Best Sony Game" and third for "Game of the Year". The game won the Tin Pan Alley Award for "Best Music in a Game" at the New York Game Awards 2018. It was also nominated for the "Best Visual Art" award at the Game Developers Choice Awards. In addition, it was nominated for "Role-Playing Game of the Year" at the 21st Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and for "Excellence in Musical Score" and "Excellence in Art" at the 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards. The game was nominated for "Best Game Music Cover/Remix" at the 2019 G.A.N.G. Awards.


title: Persona 5

text: "Persona 5 Royal" won the award for "Best Music" at the "Famitsu" Dengeki Game Awards 2019, where it was also nominated for "Best RPG". It was nominated for "Best Role Playing Game" at The Game Awards 2020, but lost to "Final Fantasy VII Remake".


title: Persona 5

text: Prior to release, a standalone anime special titled "Persona 5: the Animation -The Day Breakers-" aired on Japanese television on September 3, 2016. Created by A-1 Pictures, "The Day Breakers" is set during the events of the game, being portrayed as a "sub event" separate from the main narrative. A manga adaptation by Hisato Murasaki began serialization online from September 15. "", an anime television series based on the game's events, was produced by CloverWorks and began broadcast in April 2018. "", a rhythm game for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, features the main cast of "Persona 5" and was released in 2018. The cast is also featured in "" for the Nintendo 3DS, also released in 2018. Alongside teasing "Royal", Atlus also announced "Persona 5 Strikers", a hack and slash game developed by Koei Tecmo's studio Omega Force, with gameplay based on their "Dynasty Warriors" series. It was released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2020 and worldwide in 2021 for those platforms and Windows. Its plot acts as a direct continuation to "Persona 5". Stage play adaptations under the title "Persona 5: The Stage" have been performed in Japan, with original music composed by Atsushi Kitajoh.


title: Persona 5

text: Joker appears as a playable character via downloadable content (DLC) in the 2018 crossover fighting game, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". The game's director, Masahiro Sakurai, is a fan of the "Persona" series and stated that Joker was emblematic of the approach that he wanted to take with "Ultimate" DLC, adding that he wanted characters that were unique and fun to use within the "Super Smash Bros." environment. Other characters and series elements have also made appearances in "Dragon's Dogma Online", "Phantasy Star Online 2", "", "Sonic Forces", "Puzzle & Dragons", "Granblue Fantasy", "", "", "Another Eden", "Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore," "Dragalia Lost," "Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania", "Alchemy Stars", "Soul Hackers 2", "", and "NieR Reincarnation".


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia (; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the South Pacific Ocean. The total land area of French Polynesia is , with a population of 278,786 (Aug. 2022 census).


title: French Polynesia

text: Among its 121 islands and atolls, 75 were inhabited at the 2017 census. Tahiti, which is in the Society Islands group, is the most populous island, being home to nearly 69% of the population of French Polynesia . Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital of French Polynesia. Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.


title: French Polynesia

text: Hundreds of years after the Great Polynesian Migration, European explorers began traveling through the region, visiting the islands of French Polynesia on several occasions. Traders and whaling ships also visited. In 1842, the French took over the islands and established a French protectorate that they called "" (French Establishments/Settlements of Oceania).


title: French Polynesia

text: In 1946, the ' became an overseas territory under the constitution of the French Fourth Republic, and Polynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship. In 1957, the ' were renamed French Polynesia. In 1983 French Polynesia became a member of the Pacific Community, a regional development organization. Since 28 March 2003, French Polynesia has been an overseas collectivity of the French Republic under the constitutional revision of article 74, and later gained, with law 2004-192 of 27 February 2004, an administrative autonomy, two symbolic manifestations of which are the title of the President of French Polynesia and its additional designation as an overseas country.


title: French Polynesia

text: Anthropologists and historians believe the Great Polynesian Migration commenced around 1500 BC as Austronesian peoples went on a journey using celestial navigation to find islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The first islands of French Polynesia to be settled were the Marquesas Islands in about 200 BC. The Polynesians later ventured southwest and discovered the Society Islands around AD 300.


title: French Polynesia

text: European encounters began in 1521 when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing at the service of the Spanish Crown, sighted Puka-Puka in the Tuāmotu-Gambier Archipelago. In 1606 another Spanish expedition under Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sailed through Polynesia sighting an inhabited island on 10 February which they called Sagitaria (or Sagittaria), probably the island of Rekareka to the southeast of Tahiti. In 1722, Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen while on an expedition sponsored by the Dutch West India Company, charted the location of six islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago and two islands in the Society Islands, one of which was Bora Bora.


title: French Polynesia

text: British explorer Samuel Wallis became the first European navigator to visit Tahiti in 1767. French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville also visited Tahiti in 1768, while British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769, and observed the transit of Venus. He would stop in Tahiti again in 1773 during his second voyage to the Pacific, and once more in 1777 during his third and last voyage before being killed in Hawaii.


title: French Polynesia

text: In 1772, the Spanish Viceroy of Peru Don Manuel de Amat ordered a number of expeditions to Tahiti under the command of Domingo de Bonechea who was the first European to explore all of the main islands beyond Tahiti. A short-lived Spanish settlement was created in 1774, and for a time some maps bore the name "Isla de Amat" after Viceroy Amat. Christian missions began with Spanish priests who stayed in Tahiti for a year. Protestants from the London Missionary Society settled permanently in Polynesia in 1797.


title: French Polynesia

text: King Pōmare II of Tahiti was forced to flee to Mo'orea in 1803; he and his subjects were converted to Protestantism in 1812. French Catholic missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1834; their expulsion in 1836 caused France to send a gunboat in 1838. In 1842, Tahiti and Tahuata were declared a French protectorate, to allow Catholic missionaries to work undisturbed. The capital of Papeetē was founded in 1843. In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, changing the status from that of a protectorate to that of a colony. The island groups were not officially united until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1889.


title: French Polynesia

text: After France declared a protectorate over Tahiti in 1842 and fought a war with Tahiti (1844–1847), the British and French signed the Jarnac Convention in 1847, declaring that the kingdoms of Raiatea, Huahine and Bora Bora were to remain independent from both powers and that no single chief was to be allowed to reign over the entire archipelago. France eventually broke the agreement, and the islands were annexed and became a colony in 1888 (eight years after the Windward Islands) after many native resistances and conflicts called the Leewards War, lasting until 1897.


title: French Polynesia

text: In the 1880s, France claimed the Tuamotu Archipelago, which formerly belonged to the Pōmare Dynasty, without formally annexing it. Having declared a protectorate over Tahuata in 1842, the French regarded the entire Marquesas Islands as French. In 1885, France appointed a governor and established a general council, thus giving it the proper administration for a colony. The islands of Rimatara and Rūrutu unsuccessfully lobbied for British protection in 1888, so in 1889 they were annexed by France. Postage stamps were first issued in the colony in 1892. The first official name for the colony was (Establishments in Oceania); in 1903 the general council was changed to an advisory council and the colony's name was changed to (French Establishments in Oceania).


title: French Polynesia

text: In 1940, the administration of French Polynesia recognised the Free French Forces and many Polynesians served in World War II. Unknown at the time to the French and Polynesians, the Konoe Cabinet in Imperial Japan on 16 September 1940 included French Polynesia among the many territories which were to become Japanese possessions, as part of the "Eastern Pacific Government-General" in the post-war world. However, in the course of the war in the Pacific the Japanese were not able to launch an actual invasion of the French islands.


title: French Polynesia

text: In 1946, Polynesians were granted French citizenship and the islands' status was changed to an overseas territory; the islands' name was changed in 1957 to (French Polynesia). In 1962, France's early nuclear testing ground in Algeria was no longer usable when Algeria became independent and the Moruroa atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago was selected as the new testing site; tests were conducted underground after 1974. In 1977, French Polynesia was granted partial internal autonomy; in 1984, the autonomy was extended. French Polynesia became a full overseas collectivity of France in 2003.


title: French Polynesia

text: In September 1995, France stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear testing at Fangataufa atoll after a three-year moratorium. The last test was on 27 January 1996. On 29 January 1996, France announced that it would accede to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and no longer test nuclear weapons.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia was relisted in the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories in 2013, making it eligible for a UN-backed independence referendum. The relisting was made after the indigenous opposition was voiced and supported by the Polynesian Leaders Group, Pacific Conference of Churches, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Non-Aligned Movement, World Council of Churches, and Melanesian Spearhead Group.


title: French Polynesia

text: Under the terms of Article 74 of the French constitution and the Organic Law 2014–192 on the statute of autonomy of French Polynesia, politics of French Polynesia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic French overseas collectivity, whereby the President of French Polynesia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of French Polynesia (the territorial assembly).


title: French Polynesia

text: Political life in French Polynesia was marked by great instability from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. The anti-independence right-wing president of French Polynesia, Gaston Flosse, who had been in power since 1991, had supported the resumption of the French nuclear weapons tests in 1995, and had obtained from his longtime friend and political ally Jacques Chirac, then president of France, a status of expanded autonomy for French Polynesia in 2004, failed to secure an absolute majority in the 2004 French Polynesian legislative election, resulting in deadlock at the Assembly of French Polynesia. Flosse's longtime opponent, the pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru, whose pro-independence coalition had won one less seat than Flosse's party in the Assembly, was nonetheless elected president of French Polynesia by the Assembly in June 2004 thanks to the votes of two non-aligned Assembly members. This resulted in several years of political instability, as neither the pro- nor the anti-independence camps were assured of a majority, depending on the votes of smaller non-aligned parties representing the interests of the distant islands of French Polynesia (as opposed to Tahiti). Temaru was toppled from the presidency of French Polynesia in October 2004, succeeded by Flosse who was toppled in March 2005, succeeded by Temaru again who was toppled in December 2006, succeeded by Gaston Tong Sang, a close ally of Flosse.


title: French Polynesia

text: On 14 September 2007, the pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru was elected president of French Polynesia for the third time in three years (with 27 of 44 votes cast in the territorial assembly). He replaced former president Gaston Tong Sang, opposed to independence, who lost a no-confidence vote in the Assembly of French Polynesia on 31 August after the longtime former president of French Polynesia, Gaston Flosse, hitherto opposed to independence, sided with his long enemy Oscar Temaru to topple the government of Gaston Tong Sang. Oscar Temaru, however, had no stable majority in the Assembly of French Polynesia, and new territorial elections were held in February 2008 to solve the political crisis.


title: French Polynesia

text: The party of Gaston Tong Sang won the territorial elections, but that did not solve the political crisis: the two minority parties of Oscar Temaru and Gaston Flosse, who together had one more member in the territorial assembly than the political party of Gaston Tong Sang, allied to prevent Gaston Tong Sang from becoming president of French Polynesia. Gaston Flosse was then elected president of French Polynesia by the territorial assembly on 23 February 2008 with the support of the pro-independence party led by Oscar Temaru, while Oscar Temaru was elected speaker of the territorial assembly with the support of the anti-independence party led by Gaston Flosse. Both formed a coalition cabinet. Many observers doubted that the alliance between the anti-independence Gaston Flosse and the pro-independence Oscar Temaru, designed to prevent Gaston Tong Sang from becoming president of French Polynesia, could last very long.


title: French Polynesia

text: At the French municipal elections held in March 2008, several prominent mayors who were member of the Flosse-Temaru coalition lost their offices in key municipalities of French Polynesia, which was interpreted as a disapproval of the way Gaston Tong Sang, whose party French Polynesian voters had placed first in the territorial elections the month before, had been prevented from becoming president of French Polynesia by the last minute alliance between Flosse and Temaru's parties. Eventually, on 15 April 2008 the government of Gaston Flosse was toppled by a constructive vote of no confidence in the territorial assembly when two members of the Flosse-Temaru coalition left the coalition and sided with Tong Sang's party. Tong Sang's majority in the territorial assembly was very narrow, and he was toppled in February 2009, succeeded by Temaru (supported again by Flosse).


title: French Polynesia

text: Oscar Temaru's return to power was brief as he fell out with Gaston Flosse and was toppled in November 2009, succeeded by Gaston Tong Sang. Tong Sang remained in power for a year and a half before being toppled in a vote of no confidence in April 2011, and succeeded by Temaru. Oscar Temaru's fifth stint as president of French Polynesia lasted two years, during which he campaigned for the re-inscription of French Polynesia on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. Temaru lost the 2013 French Polynesian legislative election by a wide margin, only two weeks before the United Nations re-registered French Polynesia on its list of non-self governing territories. This was interpreted by political analysts as a rejection by French Polynesian voters of Temaru's push for independence as well as the consequence of the socioeconomic crisis affecting French Polynesia after years of political instability and corruption scandals.


title: French Polynesia

text: Gaston Flosse, whose anti-independence party was the big winner of the 2013 election, succeeded Oscar Temaru as president of French Polynesia in May 2013, but he was removed from office in September 2014 due to a corruption conviction by France's highest court. Flosse was replaced as president of French Polynesia by his second-in-command in the anti-independence camp, Édouard Fritch, who was also Flosse's former son-in-law (divorced from Flosse's daughter). Fritch fell out with Flosse in 2015 as both leaders were vying for control of the anti-independence camp, and Fritch was excluded from Gaston Flosse's party in September 2015, before founding his own anti-independence party, Tapura Huiraatira, in February 2016. His new party managed to keep a majority in the Assembly of French Polynesia, and Fritch remained president of French Polynesia.


title: French Polynesia

text: Political stability has returned in French Polynesia since the split of the anti-independence camp in 2015–2016. Tapura Huiraatira won 70% of the seats in the Assembly of French Polynesia at the 2018 French Polynesian legislative election, defeating both Oscar Temaru's pro-independence party and Gaston Flosse's anti-independence party, and Édouard Fritch was re-elected president of French Polynesia by the Assembly in May 2018. By 2022, Édouard Fritch was the longest-serving president of French Polynesia since Gaston Flosse in the 1990s and early 2000s.


title: French Polynesia

text: Between 1946 and 2003, French Polynesia had the status of an overseas territory (', or "TOM"). In 2003, it became an overseas collectivity (', or COM). Its statutory law of 27 February 2004 gives it the particular designation of "overseas country inside the Republic" ("", or POM), but without legal modification of its status.


title: French Polynesia

text: Despite a local assembly and government, French Polynesia is not in a free association with France, like the Cook Islands with New Zealand. As a French overseas collectivity, the local government has no competence in justice, university education, security and defense. Services in these areas are directly provided and administered by the Government of France, including the National Gendarmerie (which also polices rural and border areas in metropolitan France), and French military forces. The collectivity government retains control over primary and secondary education, health, town planning, and the environment. The highest representative of the State in the territory is the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia ().


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia also sends three deputies to the French National Assembly in three constituencies, the 1st representing Papeete and its north-eastern suburbs, plus the commune (municipality) of Mo'orea-Mai'ao, the Tuāmotu-Gambier administrative division, and the Marquesas Islands administrative division, the 2nd representing much of Tahiti outside Papeete and the Austral Islands administrative subdivision, and the 3rd representing the Leeward Islands administrative subdivision and the south-western suburbs of Papeete. French Polynesia also sends two senators to the French Senate.


title: French Polynesia

text: The defence of the collectivity is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces. Just over 1,000 military personnel are deployed in the territory – centred on the Pacific-Polynesian Marine Infantry Regiment (RIMaP-P) – along with modest air transport and surveillance assets. The latter include three Falcon 200 Gardian maritime surveillance aircraft from French Naval Aviation, which are to be replaced by the more modern Falcon 2000 Albatros starting in 2025. The former is composed of two CN-235 tactical transport aircraft drawn from the Air Force's ET 82 "Maine" transport squadron.


title: French Polynesia

text: Three French Navy vessels are based in the territory, including: the surveillance frigate , the patrol and support ship "Bougainville" and the coast guard vessel "Arago". Flottille 35F of French naval aviation deploys a detachment of two AS 365N Dauphin helicopters in Tahiti. The helicopters carry out a variety of roles in the territory or may be embarked on "Prairial" as required. In late 2023 or early 2024, "Arago" is to be replaced by "Teriieroo to Teriierooiterai", a vessel of the new "Félix Éboué" class of patrol vessels. The French Navy will further reinforce its offshore patrol capabilities in the region by deploying a second vessel of the class ("Philip Bernardino") to Tahiti by 2025.


title: French Polynesia

text: The National Gendarmerie deploys some 500 active personnel and civilians, plus around 150 reservists, in French Polynesia. The patrol boat "Jasmin" of the Maritime Gendarmerie is also based in the territory.


title: French Polynesia

text: The islands of French Polynesia make up a total land area of , scattered over more than of ocean. There are 121 islands in French Polynesia and many more islets or "motus" around atolls. The highest point is Mount Orohena on Tahiti.


title: French Polynesia

text: It is made up of five archipelagos. The largest and most populated island is Tahiti, in the Society Islands.


title: French Polynesia

text: Aside from Tahiti, some other important atolls, islands, and island groups in French Polynesia are: Ahē, Bora Bora, Hiva 'Oa, Huahine, Mai'ao, Maupiti, Meheti'a, Mo'orea, Nuku Hiva, Raiatea, Taha'a, Tetiaroa, Tupua'i and Tūpai.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia is home to four terrestrial ecoregions: Marquesas tropical moist forests, Society Islands tropical moist forests, Tuamotu tropical moist forests, and Tubuai tropical moist forests.


title: French Polynesia

text: The five administrative subdivisions are not local councils; they are solely deconcentrated subdivisions of the French central State. At the head of each administrative subdivision is an ' ("State administrator"), generally simply known as ', also sometimes called ' ("head of the administrative subdivision"). The ' is a civil servant under the authority of the High Commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia in Papeete.


title: French Polynesia

text: Four administrative subdivisions (Marquesas Islands, Leeward Islands, Tuamotu-Gambier, and Austral Islands) each also form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia. These are called ' ("districts"). The head of a ' is the ', known as ' in French ("territorial administrator"), but the Tahitian title ' is most often used. The ' is the direct representative of the president of French Polynesia's government who appoints him or her. The Windward Islands, due to their proximity to Papeete, do not form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia.


title: French Polynesia

text: The 5 administrative subdivisions are themselves divided in 48 communes. Like all other communes in the French Republic, these are municipalities in which local residents with either a French or another EU citizenship elect a municipal council and a mayor in charge of managing local affairs within the commune. Municipal elections occur every six years on the same date as in the rest of the French Republic (the last municipal elections took place in 2020).


title: French Polynesia

text: 30 communes are further subdivided in 98 associated communes which have each a delegate mayor and a registry office. These 30 communes were subdivided in associated communes either because they have a large land territory (particularly in the larger islands such as Tahiti or Nuku Hiva) or because they are made up of atolls distant from each other (particularly in the Tuamotu archipelago), which led to the creation of associated communes for each inhabited atoll.


title: French Polynesia

text: 17 communes (out of French Polynesia's 48 communes) have banded together in three separate communities of communes. These indirectly elected intercommunal councils are still relatively new in French Polynesia, and unlike in metropolitan France and its overseas regions it is not mandatory for the communes in French Polynesia to join an intercommunal council. The three intercommunal councils in existence as of 2022, all formed on a voluntary basis, were:


title: French Polynesia

text: These communities of communes, as elsewhere in the French Republic, are not full-fledged territorial collectivities, but only federations of communes. From a legal standpoint, the only territorial collectivities in French Polynesia are the overseas collectivity of French Polynesia and the 48 communes.


title: French Polynesia

text: Total population was 278,786 according to the August 18, 2022 census, 68.7% of whom lived on the island of Tahiti alone. The urban area of Papeete, the capital city, has 136,771 inhabitants (2017 census).


title: French Polynesia

text: At the 2017 census, 89.0% of people living in French Polynesia had been born there (up from 87.3% in 2007); 8.1% had been born in Metropolitan France (down from 9.3% in 2007); 1.2% were born elsewhere in overseas France (down from 1.4% in 2007); and 1.7% were from foreign countries (down from 2.0% in 2007). The population of natives of Metropolitan France living in French Polynesia has declined in relative terms since the 1980s, but in absolute terms their population peaked at the 2007 census, when 24,265 lived in French Polynesia (not counting their children born there). With the local economic crisis, their population declined to 22,278 at the 2012 census, and 22,387 at the 2017 census.


title: French Polynesia

text: At the 1988 census, the last census which asked questions regarding ethnicity, 66.5% of people were ethnically unmixed Polynesians, 7.1% were ethnically Polynesians with light European and/or East Asian mixing, 11.9% were Europeans (mostly French), 9.3% were people of mixed European and Polynesian descent, the so-called Demis (literally meaning "Half"), and 4.7% were East Asians (mainly Chinese).


title: French Polynesia

text: Chinese, Demis, and the white populace are essentially concentrated on the island of Tahiti, particularly in the urban area of Papeete, where their share of the population is thus much greater than in French Polynesia overall. Despite a long history of ethnic mixing, ethnic tensions have been growing in recent years, with politicians using a xenophobic discourse and fanning the flame of nationalism.


title: French Polynesia

text: All the indigenous languages of French Polynesia are Polynesian. French Polynesia has been linguistically diverse since ancient times, with each community having its own local speech variety. These dialects can be grouped into seven languages on the basis of mutual intelligibility: Tahitian, Tuamotuan, Rapa, Austral, North Marquesan, South Marquesan, and Mangarevan. Some of these, especially Tuamotuan, are really dialect continua formed by a patchwork of different dialects. The distinction between languages and dialects is notoriously difficult to establish, and so some authors may view two varieties as dialects of the same language, while others may view them as distinct languages. In this way, North and South Marquesan are often grouped together as a single Marquesan language, and Rapa is often viewed as part of Austral subfamily. At the same time, Ra'ivavae is often viewed as distinct from them.


title: French Polynesia

text: French is the sole official language of French Polynesia. An organic law of 12 April 1996 states that "French is the official language, Tahitian and other Polynesian languages can be used." At the 2017 census, among the population whose age was 15 and older, 73.9% of people reported that the language they spoke the most at home was French (up from 68.6% at the 2007 census), 20.2% reported that the language they spoke the most at home was Tahitian (down from 24.3% at the 2007 census), 2.6% reported Marquesan and 0.2% the related Mangareva language (same percentages for both at the 2007 census), 1.2% reported any of the Austral languages (down from 1.3% at the 2007 census), 1.0% reported Tuamotuan (down from 1.5% at the 2007 census), 0.6% reported a Chinese dialect (41% of which was Hakka) (down from 1.0% at the 2007 census), and 0.4% another language (more than half of which was English) (down from 0.5% at the 2007 census).


title: French Polynesia

text: At the same census, 95.2% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they could speak, read and write French (up from 94.7% at the 2007 census), whereas only 1.3% reported that they had no knowledge of French (down from 2.0% at the 2007 census). 86.5% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they had some form of knowledge of at least one Polynesian language (up from 86.4% at the 2007 census but down from 87.8% at the 2012 census), whereas 13.5% reported that they had no knowledge of any of the Polynesian languages (down from 13.6% at the 2007 census but up from 12.2% at the 2012 census).


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia appeared in the world music scene in 1992, recorded by French musicologist Pascal Nabet-Meyer with the release of The Tahitian Choir's recordings of unaccompanied vocal Christian music called himene tārava. This form of singing is common in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and is notable for a unique drop in pitch at the end of the phrases, a characteristic formed by several different voices, accompanied by a steady grunting of staccato, nonlexical syllables.


title: French Polynesia

text: Christianity is the main religion of the islands. A majority of 54% belongs to various Protestant churches, especially the Maohi Protestant Church, which is the largest and accounts for more than 50% of the population. It traces its origins to Pōmare II, the king of Tahiti, who converted from traditional beliefs to the Reformed tradition brought to the islands by the London Missionary Society.


title: French Polynesia

text: Latin Rite Catholics constitute a large minority of 38.3% of the population (2019) which has its own ecclesiastical province, comprising the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Papeete and its only suffragan, the Diocese of Taiohae. The number and proportion of Catholics has increased significantly since 1950, when they represented 21.6% of the total population.


title: French Polynesia

text: Data from 1991 revealed that Catholics were in the majority in the Tuamotu Islands, Gambier Islands and the Marquesas Islands, while Protestants formed the majority in the Austral Islands and several of the Society Islands such as Tahiti. This diversity is due to the fact that Protestant missionaries (from England and the United States) first came to one group of islands, and after French colonisation the Catholic Church spread to several more scattered islands, but also to the main island of Tahiti.


title: French Polynesia

text: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had 28,147 members . Community of Christ, another denomination within the Latter-Day Saint tradition, claimed 9,256 total French Polynesian members as of 2018 including Mareva Arnaud Tchong who serves in the church's governing Council of Twelve Apostles. There were about 3,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Tahiti , and an estimated 500 Muslims in French Polynesia.


title: French Polynesia

text: Due to the island location and the fact that the French Polynesia produce a significant array of fruits and vegetables, natural local produce, especially coconut, features in many of the dishes of the islands as does fresh seafood.


title: French Polynesia

text: The Polynesian traditional sport va'a is practiced in all the islands. French Polynesia hosts the an international race between Tahiti, Huahine and Bora Bora.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia is famous for its reef break waves. Teahupo'o is probably the most renowned, regularly ranked in the best waves of the world. This site hosts the annual Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition, the 7th stop of the World Championship Tour, and is scheduled to host the surfing events of the 2024 Summer Olympics.


title: French Polynesia

text: There are many spots to practice kitesurfing in French Polynesia, with Tahiti, Moorea, Bora-Bora, Maupiti and Raivavae being among the most iconic.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia is internationally known for diving. Each archipelago offers opportunities for divers. Rangiroa and Fakarava in the Tuamotu islands are the most famous spots in the area.


title: French Polynesia

text: Television channels with local programming include Polynésie la 1ère (established in 1965) and Tahiti Nui Television (established in 2000). Channels from metropolitan France are also available.


title: French Polynesia

text: The legal tender of French Polynesia is the CFP franc which has a fixed exchange rate with the euro. The nominal gross domestic product (or GDP) of French Polynesia in 2019 was 6.01 billion U.S. dollars at market exchange rates, the seventh-largest economy in Oceania after Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Guam. The GDP per capita was US$21,615 in 2019 (at market exchange rates, not at PPP), lower than in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, and New Caledonia, but higher than in all other independent insular states and dependent territories of Oceania.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia was severely affected by the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and subsequent Great Recession, and experienced as a result 4 years of recession from 2009 to 2012. French Polynesia renewed with economic growth in 2013, and experienced strong economic growth in the 2nd half of the 2010s, with an average real GDP growth rate of +2.8% per year from 2016 to 2019, before being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which has led to another recession.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia has a moderately developed economy, which is dependent on imported goods, tourism, and the financial assistance of mainland France. Tourist facilities are well developed and are available on the major islands. Main agricultural productions are coconuts (copra), vegetables and fruits. French Polynesia exports noni juice, a high quality vanilla, and the famous black Tahitian pearls which accounted for 55% of exports (in value) in 2008.


title: French Polynesia

text: French Polynesia's seafloor contains rich deposits of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper that are not exploited.


title: French Polynesia

text: In 2008, French Polynesia's imports amounted to 2.2 billion U.S. dollars and exports amounted to 0.2 billion U.S. dollars.


title: French Polynesia

text: There are 53 airports in French Polynesia; 46 are paved. Fa'a'ā International Airport is the only international airport in French Polynesia. Each island has its own airport that serves flights to other islands. Air Tahiti is the main airline that flies around the islands.


title: French Polynesia

text: In 2017, Alcatel Submarine Networks, a unit of Nokia, launched a project to connect many of the islands in French Polynesia with underwater fiber optic cable. The project, called NATITUA, is intended to improve French Polynesian broadband connectivity by linking Tahiti to 10 islands in the Tuamotu and Marquesas archipelagos. In August 2018, a celebration was held to commemorate the arrival of a submarine cable from Papeete to the atoll of Hao, extending the network by about 1000 kilometres.


title: Come and See

text: Come and See (, "Idi i smotri"; , "Idzi i hliadzi") is a 1985 Soviet anti-war film directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova. Its screenplay, written by Klimov and Ales Adamovich, is based on the 1971 novel "Khatyn" and the 1977 memoir "I Am from the Fiery Village" (), of which Adamovich was a co-author. Klimov had to fight eight years of censorship from the Soviet authorities before he could be allowed to produce the film in its entirety.


title: Come and See

text: The film's plot focuses on the Nazi German occupation of Belarus, and the events as witnessed by a young Belarusian partisan teenager named Flyora, who—against his mother's wishes—joins the Belarusian resistance movement, and thereafter depicts the Nazi atrocities and human suffering inflicted upon the Eastern European villages' populace. The film mixes hyper-realism with an underlying surrealism, and philosophical existentialism with poetical, psychological, political and apocalyptic themes.


title: Come and See

text: "Come and See" received generally positive critical reception upon release, and received the FIPRESCI prize at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. It has since come to be considered one of the greatest films of all time; in the 2022 "Sight & Sound" directors' poll, it ranked 41st.


title: Come and See

text: In 1943, two Belarusian boys dig in a sand-filled trench looking for abandoned rifles in order to join the Soviet partisan forces. Their village elder warns them not to dig up the weapons as it would arouse the suspicions of the occupying Germans. One of the boys, Flyora, finds an SVT-40 rifle. The boys' activities are noticed by an Fw 189 reconnaissance aircraft, flying overhead, which becomes a recurring image or sound during the film, usually accompanied by indirect artillery bombardment by German forces.


title: Come and See

text: The next day two partisans (one curiously dressed as a German military policeman though he speaks Russian and is probably wearing a captured uniform) arrive at Flyora's house, to conscript him. Flyora becomes a low-rank militiaman and is ordered to perform menial tasks. When the partisans are ready to move on, the partisan commander, Kosach, says that Flyora is to remain behind at the camp. Bitterly disappointed, Flyora walks into the forest weeping and meets Glasha, a girl working as a nurse in the camp, and the two bond before the camp is suddenly attacked by German paratroopers and dive bombers.


title: Come and See

text: Flyora is partially deafened from the explosions before the two hide in the forest to avoid the German soldiers. Flyora and Glasha travel to his village, only to find his home deserted and covered in flies. Denying that his family is dead, Flyora believes that they are hiding on a nearby island across a bog. As they run from the village in the direction of the bogland, Glasha glances across her shoulder, seeing a pile of executed villagers' bodies stacked behind a house, but does not alert Flyora.


title: Come and See

text: The two become hysterical after wading through the bog, where Glasha then screams at Flyora that his family is actually dead in the village, resulting in the latter attempting to drown her. They are soon met by Rubezh, a partisan fighter, who takes them to a large group of villagers who have fled the Germans. Flyora sees the village elder, badly burnt by the Germans, who tells him that he witnessed his family's execution and that he should not have dug up the rifles. Flyora, hearing this, attempts suicide out of guilt, but Glasha and the villagers save and comfort him.