Despite being the student council president, Makoto is an extremely unpopular student at Shujin Academy; due to her not doing anything to stop Kamoshida's abuse, she is considered by all the students to be an arrogant, selfish control freak who knew about the abuse but chose to do nothing about it because she only cared about getting a good letter of recommendation. While she does give off the impression of this during the Phantom Thieves' first few encounters with her, these rumors are ultimately revealed to be just that: rumors. In truth, the abuse outraged Makoto, but she didn't feel like she had the power to anything about it. In fact, Makoto holds no real authority in the school, with her position merely making her a glorified tool for the principal to use however he sees fit.