Rio Iwasaki

Profile

Rio Iwasaki is a Social Link character in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable. Exclusive to the female protagonist's storyline, she takes the place of Kazushi Miyamoto as the representation of the Chariot arcana. A student athlete, she is the head of whichever sports club the player elects to attend (tennis or volleyball). Her Social Link first becomes available on April 24th, the day the player is first allowed to join one of the sports clubs.

Rio's Social Link

Rio was appointed the leader of the sports club by the other club members prior to the player's arrival, and she takes her role seriously. However, she is dismayed by the fact that no one else appears to be taking the club as seriously as she does, and she snaps at other students when she notices them slacking off. When she hears them discussing a group date with more interest than their practice, she becomes angry and the other members all walk out in response, leaving Rio and the protagonist to practice by themselves.

As the protagonist spends more time with Rio during practices, she learns that Rio has difficulty with expressing her feelings. In particular, she can't understand why the other girls get so excited about dating. During one practice, Kenji Tomochika stops by to ask if either of them had seen Ms. Kanou, the girls' club adviser. When pressed, Kenji reveals that he had gotten tickets that the teacher had wanted, and is dismayed at the idea that she had already left school for the day. Rio, who has known Kenji since they were little, is flustered, as she begins to realize that the feelings she has for Kenji have grown from a simple friendship into love. However, she tries to put them aside, as she has no chance competing with Ms. Kanou as long as Kenji remains infatuated with older women.

At a later practice, the rest of the team returns. Realizing that they had acted foolishly, they ask Rio to forgive them, and Rio in turn musters her courage and apologizes for being so hard on them. Noticing a change in Rio's demeanor, the other girls wonder what's gotten into her, and Rio lets it slip that she's in love with Kenji. The team encourages Rio to confess her feelings to Kenji while she still has the chance, and Rio leaves practice in order to do just that.

Not knowing that the other team members are watching her as she confesses, Rio speaks with Kenji and manages to ask him how much he likes her. Kenji responds that he likes Rio about as much as ramen. The team becomes furious at this response until Rio tells them that Kenji considers ramen one of his favorite things in the world. Accepting Kenji's rejection, Rio returns to practice with the weight of her confession off of her shoulders and a much lighter heart. At the conclusion of her Social Link, Rio realizes that even though training is important in excelling at sports, friendship with her teammates is also important.

Trivia

• When the students of the Gekkoukan High School take a field trip to Inaba, Rio can be seen interacting with a younger version of Yukiko Amagi from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 at the Amagi Inn.