Cafe LeBlanc and Arsene Lupin
Though Persona 5 is a game about high school life, growing up and rebellion, it’s also about thievery and high-stakes adventure. As such, you’ll find references to famous thieves and anti-authority figures. One of them is actually staring you right in the face quite early with Cafe LeBlanc. This serves as the protagonist Joker’s home and is owned by Sojiro Sakura. It’s also used as a home base by the Phantom Thieves to plan heists. So it’s rather fitting that the name is a reference to Maurice LeBlanc who authored novels starring Arsene Lupin. Lupin was a “gentleman” thief and master of disguise, and has often been featured in films, TV shows and even inspired anime characters like Lupin the Third. Of course, LeBlanc’s name is only the beginning when it comes to Lupin references.
