*Note that this article contains MAJOR spoilers for Persona 5 Royal.*
When Persona 5 Royal was first announced and Atlus promised a series of changes to the original, critically and commercially acclaimed Persona 5, I, like many other fans, hoped one of the additions would allow Joker to pursue a romantic relationship with one (or many) of the male characters in the game. Unfortunately, Atlus decided not to implement that; and, when it came to dating, opted instead to add another dateable female character and keep Joker's romantic options limited to the girls.
However, one of the other big changes they implemented was overhauling Goro Akechi's confidant from an automatic one to a manual one. With this change came the expansion of Akechi's character and, by consequence, an expansion of Joker and Akechi's relationship.
Which brings us to this piece, which is all about how, in overturning Akechi's confidant, Atlus accidentally gave Joker an official boyfriend in Persona 5 Royal.
Examining Akechi's Confidant
Now there are a number of reasons why I believe Joker and Akechi are gay for each other, but the biggest one has got to be the way Akechi's confidant is structured compared to other characters.
Even from the beginning, Akechi's confidant is unique. When it begins, Joker comments "It seems the detective Akechi has taken a liking to me..." This is different from his reaction when beginning a confidant with other characters, where Joker will usually say something along the lines of, "I can sense a bond of trust coming from [x]" or "I've made a deal with [x]." From their initial interactions, Joker can already tell the way Akechi is treating him is special.
Dates Upon Dates
When Akechi's actual events begin, it becomes even more clear that Atlus structured his entire confidant differently from the other characters. While Joker spends the majority of his time with other confidants listening to their problems and helping them work through a major obstacle or internal struggle (e.g. helping Kawakami find the strength to stand up to her blackmailers, helping Ryuji to reinstate the Shujin track club, helping Sojiro to get closer to Futaba, etc.), Akechi and Joker spend their time together simply getting to know each other and exploring a variety of different locations together, from a café, a jazz club, an arcade, and even a bathhouse!
In other words, from a player's point of view, it pretty much feels like the two of them are just going on dates together.
Heck, even Morgana nearly makes a comment hinting about the romantic nature of their relationship when Akechi invites Joker out to the aquarium!
Now, obviously part of this is due to story-related reasons, as Akechi's major internal struggle is his relationship with Shido and his secret identity as the infamous Black Mask. Neither of those details can be revealed until their appropriate moments in the story.
However, you can't deny that the series of events between the two feels incredibly reminiscent of a couple in the early stages of their relationship.
Hidden Love Confessions
Fans have even argued that both boys even have their own separate love confessions throughout the course of the game.
Akechi's comes during the famous Rank 8 of his confidant when he challenges Joker to a one-on-one duel in Mementos. After Joker wins, Akechi then tells him, point-blank to his face, "I hate you."
Yes, "I hate you" might sound like the exact opposite of a love confession, but let's look at the context here: Right after Akechi says this, he goes on to list a ton of qualities he finds attractive about Joker. And then he gives him (well, more like dramatically tosses him) his glove in an act of declaration for a future duel the two have to look forward to.
Additionally, remember that throughout their confidant, Akechi is constantly telling Joker that he finds him interesting, remarkable, unique, and all other kinds of words that imply he thinks Joker is one-of-a-kind.
Akechi's "I hate you" refers to the fact that he's finally found someone who is different than anyone he's ever met, someone who challenges every belief he's ever had, someone who he wants to continue spending time with because of how it makes him feel, and someone who makes him want to keep improving himself for the better. As someone who grew up in extremely unjust circumstances, with no real source of love from anyone, he doesn't know what it feels like to care about someone or have someone care about him. The reason Akechi "hates" Joker is because he doesn't know how to react to these new and unfamiliar feelings of love.
In other words, Akechi might just be a tsundere. But moving on...
Joker's "confession" comes much later in the game, during the third semester right after he sends Maruki his calling card and learns the true nature of Akechi's survival.
You can read an entire essay here about how Joker's "This isn't small potatoes." line is really a love confession disguised behind a Russian proverb, but essentially the gist is that Joker uses some pretty esoteric Russian knowledge to demonstrate how much he understands and loves Akechi.
Since Royal's update last month, this line has been changed to "This isn't 'trivial'!", but the gist is still the same. It's a love confession: Akechi's life isn't "trivial" to Joker because he loves him. End of story.
Goro Akechi, Joker's Unofficial Boyfriend
Atlus may never give players the actual chance for Joker to date male characters in Persona 5, or any other spin-off and sequel games. But, by expanding Akechi's character in Royal, they did unintentionally give fans a full-fledged romantic relationship between Joker and Goro Akechi.
Persona 5 Royal is available now, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.