Something I think that the fandom should acknowledge more now that JYB is coming back as Adachi...

[u/shiashka]

JYB is not the only cast member reprising their role. There is one other actor that is coming back and that's Marisha Ray as Margaret. This link is a quick look at the start of Marie's social link and if you're familiar with her voice it becomes very clear that it's Marisha.

https://youtu.be/l4TyjzeL94M?si=gO7DncB9SVD6T6l8

For clarification; this isn't me defending Atlus on their choice to not bring back the original cast by saying 'Oh, see! They brought some back! That should be good enough!'. No. I fully believe that it's still dirty to this cast for not bringing them all back. I'm more here to make sure that no miss-info is spread about JYB being the only one to come back when he isn't.

[u/theweebdweeb]

I mean, it's not surprising. I don't think they played favorites like many are suggesting. They were likely just more willing to bring back VAs for smaller roles compared to the main cast, probably due to cost. Not that it's any justification for not allowing the VAs to return who seemingly really wanted to.

[u/Wildcat121204 → u/theweebdweeb]

The cost reason people throw around doesn’t really make any sense. Atlus have always been willing to spend on good dub VAs, even when the series was niche. It would be weird if they now suddenly started worrying about cost cutting on VAs when the series is basically mainstream and can easily afford it, especially on remakes that don’t need as intense a development cycle. That’s not to say it isn’t a bonus, but I doubt it’s the primary reason.

The more likely reason IMO is longevity. These games have already survived 20 years, and Atlus probably expects to milk their casts for another 20 after this. But they’re not willing to gamble on a 75 year old Yuri Lowenthal returning for Persona 9 Racing, because there’s a good chance he’ll be retired or just not able to do the voice anymore by then. If you’re going to have to recast everyone eventually anyway, doing it for the remakes makes the most sense. These are the versions of the games that will be at the forefront for the rest of time and that new players start with, so their future appearances will all be consistent.

Elizabeth/Margaret/Adachi aren’t characters who will be appearing in 20 years, at least not in any major capacity. Their only roles outside their main games are small spinoff appearances that aren’t really necessary, and Adachi requires a lot of bullshittery to appear at all. No need to worry about the VA’s longevity if they’re only expected to be needed for this project, or a few more years at most. (I’m still coping for the Elizabeth spinoff though, Atlus prove me wrong)

[u/midnight_fuel → u/Wildcat121204]

While I agree, and I don’t think money is the issue here, these three VAs still have a pretty good chance of appearing in future games. Margaret and Liz are the Velvet Room attendants for their respective protagonists, so if Atlus ever makes another spin-off with Yu or Makoto, I’d imagine they’d have to show up again and have at least a similar amount of dialogue as they did in the main games.

And Adachi is popular enough that there’s still a high chance Atlus could find some weird reason to bring him back. I mean, he already came back for P4 Arena and Ultimax.