The beauty of the Persona series isn’t just found in the stylish graphics, fun characters, and glorious turn-based battle system. No, there is a flashier and arguably more stunning aspect of the Persona games: the soundtracks. The music is half of the fun in the Persona games, giving its identity and setting it apart from the other JRPG series that exists. A huge reason for the wonderful soundtracks we have is because of the star of this Lotus Juice Persona guide.
I remember booting up the first Persona on my PSP and being wowed by the music that instantly greeted me. Even though I wasn’t a fan of that game, the soundtrack stuck with me and is still memorable even to this day. Thanks to the music, I kept going and played every main series game over time. That is why I am especially grateful to the composers and musicians behind the music, such as the focus of our Lotus Juice Persona guide.
Bottom Line Up Front
Lotus Juice is a 42-year-old musician, rapper, vocalist, and composer from Japan. His real name is unknown as he goes by his stage name, Lotus Juice. He was made famous during the Persona 3 era, writing some of the iconic songs and performing them for that soundtrack.
He made a recurring appearance, contributing to future games like Persona 4 Dancing All Night, Persona 5 Royal, and many more. Outside of the Persona series, he also helped bring to life the music and opening songs in several popular anime series like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Black Butler, and Noragami.
Lotus Juice Overview
I still remember taking a huge risk diving into the Persona series for the first time. Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of gamer friends, and the few I had were mostly into FPS games like Halo. But I discovered a newfound love for JRPGs in high school that gave me an interest in the Persona games.
With my recently purchased PSP at the time, I finally took the plunge and bought the first Persona game. I was, admittedly, disappointed since it wasn’t for me, but there was something that always stuck with me even then, and that was the music.
The opening song that plays as soon as you load up the game is the most sensational and contagious song I can’t help but dance to every time I hear it. This soundtrack alone was the reason I continued checking out Persona games. In fact, it was the series’ music that finally carried me all the way to Persona 3, the first game in the series I truly enjoyed.
It just so happens that Persona 3 is my favorite game in the series — no surprises there if you’ve read my previous articles here — and it is due to the overall package that it has. A huge reason why the music in that game is so good is because of the one and only Lotus Juice.
The middle-aged musician may not do too much these days, but he was once the entire reason why the Persona soundtracks were as iconic as they were. If you’ve played any of the Persona 3 games or the recent Persona 5 Royal, you are certain to know his music.
He left a legacy on the entire franchise that has made it known as one of the best-sound video game series around the world. It is primarily because of him that we have so many Persona concerts and CDs these days.
History
Lotus Juice was born in Japan on November 15, 1979. The 42-year-old musician (at the time of writing this) has never revealed his real name but continues to go by his stage name, which is Lotus Juice. As for the source of his strange name, I honestly couldn’t begin to tell you what his name is supposed to mean.
It appears to be a primarily random name that he picked, but it stuck long enough to be what everyone knows him by now. He is considered one of the prominent pioneers of incorporating the rap genre into anime and video games.
It wasn’t long until his relatively underground music career led to him being discovered by Shoji Meguro, the fabled lead composer of the Persona series for Atlus. His debut came in Persona 3 when he collaborated on several tracks for that game, some of which he led vocals to and others he helped write.
Eventually, this led to him working on more games and even a ton of anime, making music for various products. In the process, he released two albums, but he isn’t done anytime soon. We know that he is currently in the midst of creating his third standalone album.
It is unknown if any of the songs from that album will be used in future games or anime projects, but there is a strong chance it could happen.
Works on the Persona Series
But you’re here for the main event, and that is Lotus Juice’s work on the Persona series. That is what he’s most known for anyways and why he is even famous in the first place. He was first brought on during the development of Persona 3 to create the song Mass Destruction.
While there, he also made a couple of other songs that he lent his vocals to for Persona 3, including Burn My Dread and Deep Breath. Of course, you likely already know that Persona 3 was just the base version of the game, and Atlus tried to dig out as much money as it could from this singular game.
That is why it came out with not just one but two more versions later on: FES for the PS2 and Persona 3 Portable for the PSP, the latter of which is where I originally played the game. Lotus Juice added some exclusive tracks to both of those versions and continued this trend down the line.
Following his time with the Persona 3 trio of titles, he later created a new theme for the remake of Persona 2: Innocent Sin for the PSP. That was followed by his work on some spin-off Persona games for the first time, including Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Persona Q, and Persona: Dancing All Night.
He took a few years off from making Persona music then, only returning to make new arrangements of his previous songs for Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight. This was followed by some brand new songs again in Persona Q2.
His final time working on the Persona series to date was creating some new tracks for Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers. Oddly enough, he didn’t make any music for any of the mainline Persona 4 games or the original Persona 5.
What is relatively cool is that he didn’t leave his work to only the Persona games. Still, he contributed to the anime adaptations, too. He wrote and performed songs for the Persona Trinity Soul anime series, Persona 4 The Animation, its Golden sequel, and several of the Persona 3 movies. The Persona 3 movies are especially recommended for fans of the series.
It stands to reason that there could be a connection between Atlus, likely working hard on Persona 6, and Lotus Juice, currently in the midst of this third album. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of those songs shows up in the next mainline series game, but we will have to wait and see for now.
My Favorite Track
At the end of the day, Lotus Juice has made a lot of music for the Persona series alone, excluding all of the tracks he made for anime. So, it can be a little bit overwhelming when trying to check out what he has made and what you should listen to.
If you have a favorite game that he has made songs for, I recommend you start there. Otherwise, here are a couple of tracks that I particularly like from Lotus Juice. For me, my favorite track of his has to be Wiping All Out from Persona 3 Portable.
I am a little biased since this was one of the first tracks that I heard from him. Still, I think it does a great job of capturing his rapping style while also having music in the background that just screams Persona. The jazzy nature mixed with the rap vocals makes for a brilliant mashup that shouldn’t be ignored.
In addition to that one as my favorite Lotus Juice song, here are a few more Persona tracks that I like from him:
- Take Over: Persona 5 Royal
- Our Moment: Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
- Mass Destruction: Persona 3/FES (Remix)
- Dance!: Persona 4 Dancing All Night
It might be hard to find the physical CDs or streaming of these songs, so feel free to just look them up on YouTube or in the games they are in.
Other Recommended Lotus Juice Works
At the end of the day, there is so much more to Lotus Juice’s career beyond just the music he made for the Persona series. If you are into anime at all, there is a whole lot more where this came from. You can enjoy his rapping expertise and jazzy music style in a bunch of other places.
Here is the complete list of all of the anime series besides just the Persona games that Lotus Juice has worked on in some capacity. You may be surprised by some of your favorites that appear on this list:
- Black Butler
- Bungo Stray Dogs
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
- Kamisama no Memo Choc
- Katana Gatari
- Magic Kaito
- Noragami
- Soul Eater
- The Irregular at Magic High School
Of those particular anime, there are a few that I would recommend that you watch. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is the obvious one that I know a lot of people passionately love. I only have a little bit of experience with this over-the-top series. Still, I do know that Lotus Juice makes some excellent songs for this series that perhaps fit him better than anything else.
In addition, the limited music he made for The Irregular at Magic High School is highly underrated. This series alone is one that I don’t see talked about enough, and I think more people should check it out. He didn’t do a whole lot for that particular series, but it was more than enough.
There is also Soul Eater, which is a series that I have always wanted to get into. I know a lot of my friends liked it quite a bit, and the little music that he made for that series is wonderful. He hasn’t worked on too much anime in recent years, so hopefully, that changes soon enough.
Lotus Juice Persona Guide:Â FAQs
Question: Is Lotus Juice in Persona 5?
Answer: No, Lotus Juice isn’t in the original Persona 5. However, he did make several songs for Persona 5 Royal that were all exclusive to that particular version of the much-beloved JRPG.
Question: What is Lotus Juice’s real name?Â
Answer: Lotus Juice’s real name seems to be Kenji Nakamura from what I’ve seen, but there is no evidence of this other than a few sites that I have found, so take that for what you will for now until we have better confirmation. It doesn’t list his real name on the official Lotus Juice English website, so TBD here.
Question: Is Lotus Juice Japanese?
Answer: Yes, Lotus Juice is Japanese and was born in Japan. He still lives in Japan to this day, making Tokyo his home.
Where to Learn More About Persona Development
Lotus Juice is still one of the most underrated Japanese rappers and musicians out there. There are still far too many people who are sleeping on him. This is likely due to the fact that he has only worked on Persona titles in the video game industry, plus a bunch of anime. But I can’t blame the guy for knowing what he loves and sticking to it. I mean, same, honestly, when it comes to the Persona games.
But at the end of the day, we will have to wait and see when Persona 6 is inevitably announced whether or not he is involved with that title as well, but I fully expect him to be. In the meantime, be sure to find out more about Kazuma Kaneko, one of the leading developers and masterminds behind the Persona series and all of Atlus’ works.
- Persona 5 Manga Guide: Where to Find All Persona 5 Manga - April 2, 2023
- Persona Tarot Cards Guide: Where and How to Buy Persona-Themed Tarot Cards - April 2, 2023
- Ishtar Persona 5 Guide: How to Unlock Ishtar in Persona 5 - March 29, 2023