Persona 3 Reload players are first introduced to Junpei Iori as a friendly, goofy, “comic relief” character always primed with the perfect joke or quip for any situation. As Persona 3 Reload’s story progresses, Junpei goes through major changes as he falls in love, copes with loss, and ultimately faces the end of the world alongside his SEES companions. As a longtime Persona fan, actor Zeno Robinson was thrilled to step into the role of Junpei and reinvent the beloved character, who he describes as his favorite in the series.
Robinson spoke to Game Rant about how he initially discovered the Persona series, what drew him to the role of Junpei, and how he portrayed Junpei’s humor, the major changes he undergoes throughout the story, and his bonds with the rest of SEES. To no surprise, Robinson loved playing Junpei and is beyond thrilled to get to be a part of Persona 3 Reload’s cast. He is also excited for fans to continue discovering and experiencing the game with its recent release for the Nintendo Switch 2.
How Zeno Robinson Discovered Persona
Robinson’s first exposure to the Persona franchise came when he was hanging out in the video game section at Anime Expo in the late 2010s. There, he saw attendees playing fighting game spin-off Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and he was immediately drawn to the game’s “fast-paced combat and anime kids with swords fighting each other with cool CRT TV motifs.”
A self-described “completionist when it comes to games,” Robinson immediately dove deep into the Persona franchise. While he loved Persona 4 and Persona 5, it was Persona 3 FES that captured his heart. As he said,
“The further I got into the game, the more I fell in love with it. The music was fire, and of course, it was voice acted by all my voice-over GOATS!! And then the story ended up being way darker than I thought, which I loved. It was the heartfelt, nuanced, and multilayered examination of death and mortality, but also the immeasurably precious gift that is life.”
When Atlus hosted a poll asking which Persona game should be remade, Robinson voted for Persona 3, and then auditioned for the remake when it was announced. When he learned that he had been cast in the role of Junpei, he found it “absolutely crazy.” The actor admitted that he “kinda refused to believe it until [he] walked into the studio on the first day of recording.” Robinson felt “deeply blessed” to become a part of his favorite entry in one of his favorite game series of all time, and especially in the role of Junpei Iori, a character he had felt drawn to ever since he first played Persona 3 FES.
“When I think of myself at Anime Expo all those years ago, dreaming of being in a Persona game one day, to not only being in one but my FAVORITE one, and then going on to do a panel at Anime Expo is a crazy emotional full circle moment for me. It’s hard to find the accurate words, but I am deeply, deeply blessed and endlessly grateful to everyone at SEGA ATLUS, and PCB, and my team for giving me that shot, and helping me fulfill that dream.”
Zeno Robinson “Found Junpei’s Soul” And Let His Heart Guide Him
Robinson was drawn to Junpei from the very first time he played Persona 3 FES, naming him as one of his favorite characters in the Persona series alongside his “first girlfriend” Yuko Nishiwaki. When portraying Junpei in Persona 3 Reload, Robinson strove to make the character his own while also honoring previous portrayals of the character. “I wanted to make sure to approach it how I would approach the character,” Robinson said, “but I also wanted to keep the heart and soul of who he is at the forefront of my mind.”
He asked himself how to balance what had previously made Junpei so beloved with his own interpretation of the character, to appeal to audiences who loved the Persona 3 protagonist’s best friend without simply copying what came before. Robinson discussed the answer he ultimately found:
“And I think at the end of the day that meant being guided by my heart, just like Junpei is often guided by his. He has a big heart and is fun-loving, bombastic class clown. I wanted to break him down to what he was, to who he was at his core, and perform from there. His heart, but also my own at the same time too.”
At the center of Zeno Robinson’s performance as Junpei Iori in Persona 3 Reload is the emotional journey the character goes through. Junpei begins the game as the protagonist’s best friend who has a joke ready in every situation. He thinks highly of himself and fantasizes about becoming a legendary hero. As the story progresses, Junpei undergoes major development — he falls in love with Strega member Chidori Yoshino, faces and accepts the reality of the world ending if SEES fails in their duty, and emerges from his experiences a vastly changed man.
Zeno Robinson focused on portraying the changes Junpei undergoes, seeing the journey and its effects as the core of the character:
“In a game where a central theme is death, and characters are symbolically dying through the Evokers to summon their Personas…I wanted to see Junpei’s arc as another form of death. It very much is an ego death, as an ‘old Junpei’ dies to pave the way for the ‘new Junpei’ we see at the end of the game.”
The third pillar of Junpei’s character, besides his enduring humor and his life-changing journey, is his bond with the other members of SEES. Robinson felt that his ability to effectively portray that bond was strengthened by his existing friendships with the rest of Persona 3 Reload’s cast. “When we were recording, I just brought all that real-life experience with me,” Robinson explained. “I mostly just channeled talking to my friends, all of whom I love and admire deeply.”
Robinson shouted out his fellow SEES members whom he worked alongside in Persona 3 Reload:
“When you play, you hear me as if I’m talking to Alejandro [Saab], Suzie [Yeung], Aleks [Le], Allegra [Clark], Heather [Gonzalez], Justice [Slocum], or Justine [Lee]… Over time, the closer and deeper their bonds developed in the game, the closer and deeper my bonds became with the rest of the cast…I love you guys on the cast so much. I’m so honored and blessed to be in this cast with you. I want to celebrate sharing this game with you, and I am honored to stand next to you all as teammates, friends, peers, and SEES.”
What’s Next For Persona And Zeno Robinson?
Both Persona 3 Reload and its Episode Aigis DLC received positive reviews, selling over one million units in the first week after release. In October 2025, it was announced that the game would be ported to the recently released Nintendo Switch 2 console; the Switch 2 version of the game was released on October 23, 2025. Following the success of Reload, Atlus has announced plans to remake Persona 4 under the title Persona 4 Revival.
Fans of Zeno Robinson’s portrayal of Junpei in Persona 3 Reload can find him involved in several other projects. He is portraying Jabber, an antagonist in the anime Gachiakuta, which is being released by Crunchyroll. Additionally, Robinson can also be found in the live-action web series The Comic Shop, created by Cheyenne Ewulu, the gaming talk show Checkpoint: The Show, and the audio drama Project Super Crush.
The Comic Shop and Checkpoint: The Show are currently available on YouTube, while Project Super Crush is releasing on Spotify. Robinson also plans to be involved in many more projects in the future, saying: “I love telling stories, and I’m so honored that you all have allowed me to tell this one with Junpei.”
- Released
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February 2, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17 / Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
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P-Studio
