Kotone Shiomi

Overview

In Persona 3 Portable, the second remake of Persona 3, it is possible to choose the sex of the main character. The primary focus of the storyline for the female protagonist is mostly the same as that of the original male protagonist of Persona 3 (also playable in the portable version), though specific events in the story and in Social Links are altered in sometimes significant ways to fit with the character's gender. The other SEES members also treats her differently than her male counterpart, Yukari especially, who sees her as an incredibly close friend.

The female protagonist has no official name. Some fans have referred to her as "Minako Arisato" or "Hamuko Arisato", coined by the American and Japanese fanbases respectively as references to "Minato Arisato", the name by which the male protagonist is called in the Persona 3 manga adaptation. These names are purely fan creation though and should not be considered official.

The heroine has XXII written in pins in her hair. XXII (22) is an alternate placement of The Fool tarot card, putting it at the opposite end of the deck to the male protagonist's card position of 0. Her default Persona is a female version of Orpheus.

The new female protagonist is voiced by Marina Inoue in the Japanese version. She has previously voiced Yoko in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan, Shu in Blue Dragon, and Alicia in Valkyria Chronicles. In the English language version, she is voiced by Laura Bailey, who previously voiced Rise Kujikawa in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4.

New Social Links

The female protagonist has a new set of Social Links separate from those of the male protagonist, including two all-new characters not seen in previous versions of Persona 3; Saori Hasegawa and Rio Iwasaki, who respectively represent the Hermit and Chariot arcana Social Links. It is also possible for the female protagonist to form romantic Social Links with male members of SEES, such as Akihiko. Unlike the male protagonist, all members of SEES save for Shuji Ikutsuki and Koromaru are viable Social Link options. The female protagonist is also not required to max out specific personality traits in order to begin the Social Links with Yukari Takeba or Fuuka Yamagishi.

In addition to the above, when playing as the female protagonist, the player will have the choice to keep Elizabeth as Igor's Velvet Room attendant, or to play through the game with the new male character Theodore at his side.