Summary
: It’s 7/1, and after something like two months we’re finally finishing The Gallant Rogue.
: We get a glorified tutorial informing us that the diner now has a drink that boosts Charm. I don’t believe we’re ever going to order it, even though it brings back memories of the Persona 3 MC drinking dozens of cups of Pheromone Coffee to boost his charm.
: By water, he means the squirt gun he’s about to blast Morgana with.
: “A variety of heroes battling for dominance - truly an epic time. Charismatic rulers and warlords with the command of a thousand men may have their own appeal…”
: “…But personally, I think that the strategists who support them can’t be ignored. Now then, Kurusu-kun. In the book, Zhuge Liang of Shu is famous for his exploits during the Battle of Red Cliffs…”
: This is one of those things they put in just for Dynasty Warriors fans, isn’t it?
: “He’s also the inventor of the baozi, a kind of round dumpling. But their original name was based on their appearance. What’s the meaning of the original Chinese phrase that these dumplings’ name came from?”
: Baozi are white dumplings that originated in China but have since migrated to a number of different areas - including the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. There’s even a Uyghur-specific one.
: They have a number of fillings, but most of them involve pork. The Uyghurs apparently have one that’s cooked in tandoor and filled with lamb… if they offered me that in chicken I’d probably eat it.
: There’s also apparently dessert ones with custard or adzuki bean paste inside, which I’d also eat.
: “That is correct. Its original name, mantou, came from a phrase meaning ‘a barbarian’s head.’”
: “At the time, one region’s barbarians would use a person’s head as an offering to soothe the deity of a flooding river. But Zhuge Liang made a baozi in the shape of a head as a substitute.”
: They called it “the sacred swirly”.
: “These days, you can find baozi with cute faces on them. If you think about their origin, it’s not too far off the mark.”
: Now, if they had one with steak in it, I’d be all over that… even though that’s basically an empanada. The taco place near my house that used to have those closed down and I hate it.
: “I never knew strategists came up with cooking, and not just strategies… Makoto’s our strategist. Wanna see what she can cook up?”
: Right after school, we drop off The Gallant Rogue and pick up Speed Reader.
: We then make a stop at the bookstore in Shibuya and buy everything that’s on sale.
: Near the train station in Shibuya, there’s a lottery stand. You can actually do daily or weekly draws here (using the different windows) but the middle window sells Summer Mammoth tickets.
: As far as I understand it, the Mammoth tickets always win, so there’s no reason not to buy one.
: Today, we’re going to start Makoto’s confidant. You need Knowledge at Rank 3 in order to do that. Makoto is one of the five confidants that requires a max-rank social stat to finish.
: We already know about two of the others: Sojiro (who needs maxed Kindness) and Iwai (who needs maxed Guts).
: “Up until now, I’ve been the quintessential honor student. I believe I’ve been handling my position as student council president with ease as well.”
: “A-and I don’t mean that in a boasting way, that’s simply how I’ve thought about it. …But in the end, I was unable to make any kind of impact with either Suzui-san or Kaneshiro.”
: “Turns out there’s no use for a rule-abiding honor student when things get tough. Now that I’m a member of this team, I want to do everything I can to help you all.”
: Oh, that’s right! Speaking of students, I had someone contact me on Twitter to explain that I was actually right about the word “Shujin” meaning “Prisoner”. It’s apparently one of those things where there’s multiple ways to spell the word.
: According to them, it’s a painfully obvious pun that gets harped on a lot in the Japanese script.
: I’m honestly kind of glad I didn’t understand that when I played the base game. There was this period at the start of the base game, before I understood how bad the writing is, where I actually thought the writing was okay, and that kind of thing would’ve ruined it for me had I understood it.
: “I think… I-I will need to broaden my horizons somewhat.”
: “My first step will be to learn more about the other students. But… I struggle with that. There seems to be a disparity between my tastes and those of my peers…”
: “I knew it… I don’t even know where people like to go for fun… it would be nice to have a grasp of such concepts. Plus, the student council must be responsible for understanding the student body they serve, right?”
: “I-I don’t mean that in a surveillance way, I just want to know them as people. I may be a phantom thief, but that’s no excuse for me to start ignoring my presidential duties.”
: “Now, back to the topic at hand… where do people usually go for fun?”
: For some reason, this entire scene feels like it’s the writers trying to understand Kids These Days ™.
: “I enjoy the movies myself, sometimes. I think I’d prefer somewhere I’m unfamiliar with… oh, I know! How about the arcade? I’ve never actually been to one.”
: “Do you think you could take me? I’m not sure if it will broaden my horizons per se, but simply studying won’t get me anywhere.”
: How much do you want to bet that this is one of the writers trying to live out their dumbass teenage romance fantasies?
: “Thank goodness… I think I would have been totally lost in there had I gone by myself. Well, let’s get going.”
: “There are more girls here than I expected. Hey, over there… you play by aiming the gun at the screen, right? That actually seems somewhat realistic.”
: We’ll learn all about that game in a different confidant that we can’t do yet. I’m not even joking when I say there is an entire confidant about that game.
: “I-if it’s okay with you… do you think you could teach me?”
: This is incredibly painful to read. It’s incredibly reminiscent of Ready Player One and all the cringy excerpts from it that got posted when the movie got announced.
: I mean, it’s not quite as bad because if this was the RPO author Joker would start making out with Makoto right there as every single person in the arcade lines up to high-five him because he’s so awesome, and then he’d say something like “This is just like the time I got the high score in Pac-Man”.
: They could’ve, you know, put some actual visuals in here of Makoto playing the game, but instead they’re making masterful use of the Allanson “tell, don’t show” technique.
: Somehow, I knew people would want me to pick this last one.
: “Of course that was just a game, but… I wonder if I could apply some of the techniques I learned here during battle.”
: The thing is, there is a sizeable portion of the P5 fanbase who is very into Makoto. Somehow, I have a feeling they’re part of the same group that bothered to watch Ready Player One.
: It’s also too bad there’s no way to LP a book because I would dunk on that shit if I could.
: “Perhaps going somewhere I don’t normally frequent is what helped me come up with that idea. You know, it may only be a little bit… but I think I’m starting to understand how people pass time.”
: “Interesting. I would’ve never even thought about coming here before.”
: “I… Hey, do you think you could help me out again later? I might be able to give the team more ideas if I can gain increased knowledge outside of my studies.”
: “Thank you. Perhaps it won’t be immediately… but I’m sure I can be of use.”
: What’s really stupid is that it’s entirely possible that Joker is Makoto’s boyfriend when this cutscene happens.
: This ability is more about seeing enemy skills than it is about item drops - there’s no steal mechanic in this game the way there is in Final Fantasy.
: “I’d like to go there as well. No! N-Not for my own purposes… to tell you the truth, I recently got a report that one of our students was spotted there… I’m skeptical, but… I’d like to confirm firsthand for myself.”
: We haven’t been doing his confidant, but Mishima is now located in Shinjuku at night. Because of course he is.
: “Well, it’s getting late. Let’s head home.”
: “It’s always hard for me to come to places like this on my own, so you’ve been a big help. I’ve had all kinds of new experiences today… and it’s even been a little fun.”
: “Yeah, thanks. I feel a lot better with you helping me through this.”
: “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you. Careful on your way home. I’ll call you later.”
: Tonight’s a special night in that it’s one of the few nights where there’s a follow-up with a Persona 4 character on TV.
: This is another way that we know Persona 5 takes place in 2016. Rise actually just turned 21 - her birthday is June 1st, 1995.
: Tonight’s another Kawakami night.
: Joker’s like “Oh my god, I cured horny!”
: “…My boss found me a part-time job that pays better than this one.”
: “Takase-kun’s guardians keep increasing their demands… so this is just what I have to do.”
: “What I want…? Takase-kun’s guardians say the only true way to apologize to Takase-kun is by paying them. If that’s not true, then what’s the right thing to do here…?”
: “I wonder if I can escape all this if I quit being a teacher. People like me have no right being a teacher. If I quit on my own, I won’t have to pay them…”
: “That’s why I’m going to quit both my teaching job and my maid job… what do you think?”
: What he’s thinking is “I wonder if the whole maid outfit thing is part of the cure for horny. Does she get an employee discount on those? I’m gonna need a few. Do they make them small enough to fit a cat?”
: “That’s what I decided… but did I really decide it on my own…? Now that I think about it, it’s too late for me to stop being a teacher. If I really felt bad for what happened, I would’ve resigned the day he died.”
: “And yet, I still felt the need to teach… I wonder why I feel that way even now.”
: Basically, Kawakami is slowly warping into Ms. Saeko.
: “…Kurusu-kun. Oh, that’s right… I decided the way to apologize to him was to make sure there won’t ever be another student like him.”
: “Because I might’ve been able to save him if I hadn’t been afraid of rumors or labels back then. I wanted to become a teacher who takes care of her students. That’s the mindset I had!”
: “But now, I spend all my free time at part-time jobs, just so I can continue working as a teacher. I put the critical work of a teacher on the back burner, so I could make ‘apology’ money.”
: “That’s where it all went wrong… I can’t make things right with Takase-kun like this…”
: I mean, unless we’re talking anime. Anime’s one of those mistakes that I don’t think you can fix.
: “I’ll be the teacher I aspire to be… that’s the right way for me to make amends to Takase-kun. From here on, I refuse to pay them any more money!”
: “And that is my answer! …Well, what do you think?”
: “You can’t get the right answer from someone else. It can only be found from within. …I learned that from you. In a way, you’re MY teacher. …Haha, just kidding.”
: On our next visit (on 7/8) we’ll be hitting Rank 9 with Kawakami, which opens up the option to date her. Naturally, I’ll be showing off both versions of her Rank 9 and Rank 10 cutscene.
: There’s something I want to explain about dating in this game. I’ll talk about that when we get to the phone call.
: “Especially to you. I averted my eyes from you because you were labeled, just like Takase-kun was… but from now on, I’m going to protect you to. As your teacher, I will never betray you.”
: “Leave it to me! I can be decisive when it counts! I’ll speak with the Takases. I’m not going to run anymore. Everything should be fine as long as I talk to them face to face.”
: “All right, it’s time for me to go. Thank you. See you later.”
: Okay, so about the dating thing. Earlier in the LP, I had mentioned the possibility of having a vote to determine who “Straight Joker” winds up dating. As it turns out, that’s unnecessary.
: The reason is that there’s actually no penalty whatsoever for dating multiple people at once, just like in real life. This is how we’re going to be able to see all the Valentine’s/White Day cutscenes.
: While the canon route is that Joker is gay and dating Yusuke, behind the scenes I’m actually going to be dating everyone at once in what I call the “Reverse Lisa Silverman” technique.
: “Oh, wait… I was supposed to stop working as Becky by today.”
: I like to think that one of the writers was reviewing the script and just goes “Uh, boss? All the phone calls with Kawakami kind of make no sense.” and the boss going “Fuck it, just go with it.”
: “…To be honest, I always kind of knew in my heart I couldn’t go on like this forever. But I felt so stuck facing it alone. It’s thanks to you that I actually figured out what I need to do.”
: “Come on… you realize you can’t feed me lines like that anymore. …But I haven’t given you any proper appreciation yet, so… thank you, really.”
: We get some free time, so let’s read a book.
: Yes. From what I remember, this reduces all but a handful of books to one reading session, meaning we can now optimize stat gains from any day where we get a seat on the train.
: “I told them… that I’m not going to pay them any more money! I’m quitting my part-time job too! Although I’m still in talks with my boss about it.”
: “I’m going to devote myself to being a great teacher! No matter what others say, I won’t waver. So, thank you for giving me such good advice. I just thought you should be the first to know…”
: “It’s what I decided, for Takase-kun’s sake. I’m going to make sure there won’t be any more students like him, who…”
: “I’m not going to run or hide! I’m going to spend my time taking care of my students.”
: I wish the writers had come up with slightly less… I dunno, stupid situations for their characters to be in.
: Like, hear me out here. What if the case was that Takase killed himself and the guardians blame Kawakami for it, even though she reported it?
: The guardians spread this rumor about Kawakami being a “death teacher” who drove a kid to suicide, and the only place she could find a job is Shujin due to the principal being evil. He pays her a rock-bottom salary knowing she’ll never be able to find another teaching job.
: Kawakami can’t sue them because she has no money and has no way of proving that the guardians are behind the rumor, and she has to take the maid job just to survive because it’s about the only place that’ll hire her outside of Shujin.
: Oh look, I’ve just written a somewhat more believable scenario that keeps the same story elements but doesn’t make Kawakami look like a complete idiot.
: “I’ve decided that that’s the best apology I can make to Takase-kun. Paying money to you two is not the solution, to say the least!”
: I’m pretty sure the use of the term “sex worker” here exists only because the English language doesn’t really have a way to describe what Kawakami does. I explained this in a post a while back.
: I think it would’ve been more responsible to just have him say “About your little stint in fuzoku” and then explain what that term means for the people not playing in Japanese.
: “Stop… please.”
: “Haha… I guess I can’t quit my part-time job just yet.”
: “I know! But what am I supposed to do…? … What about the Phantom Thieves…? Would they even help someone like me? No, that’s impossible. Haha…”
: “I can’t do this anymore…”
: “Haha, I could never forget them. I send them money every week… wait, why? You don’t intend on doing something, do you?”
: “Please don’t. A Shujin teacher asking the Phantom Thieves for help would be… I’m sorry. I was so excited to tell you what I had decided… and then it ended up like this… just forget everything, okay?”
: “…I guess I’ll never be able to change. Y-yeah, haha… Class is about to start… I need to go.”
: And now we’ve got all but one of the Mementos requests we need to go back in there. The last one is Chihaya’s.
: We then trade in Speed Reading for Zorro, the Outlaw.
: “I am in your debt. It would be rather difficult to go by myself. Now then, our destination is Inokashira Park. Let us go.”
: Right after I finish this update, I’m going to post the first Gay Yusuke Route update, which takes place at the same time and in the same place as this event. It will attempt to show this event from Yusuke’s perspective.
: Joker is, of course, doing this just to see what Yusuke’s reaction is. His boyfriend is already in the boat with him, after all.
: “I have missed the opportunity for a truly wonderful subject… that aside, I must thank you for your help today. This is the ideal location for my next motif.”
: “Perfect… this is it. My previous painting captured only one aspect of the heart: desire. As such, I was unable to arrive at a truly authentic representation…”
: “That is why we have come today. I shall paint a second aspect… the burning passion between man and woman! Fittingly, our theme today will be… the wonders of love!”
: “You too will have an important role here. While I draw, ensure the boat remains as steady as possible amid these devilish ripples.”
: “They are akin to Adam and Eve… yet in time all lovers must come to know the pain of separation… separation is the natural end to any such relationship… but even beyond that, love endures.”
: “Precisely… this is the truth of the human heart! It will make the most wonderful painting! It shall be adored by all who gaze upon it! It may even be given top prize in the next exhibition!”
: “Wait, now is not the time to be thinking of such trivial matters!”
: “I must capture your profile!”
: “Rejoice, for I shall preserve your beautiful love so that all coming generations may bask in its glory. Once I complete this painting, you will become new legends in the art world… a modern Adam and Eve!”
: “A man and a woman intimately swaying in a dinghy of dreams… the blush of their cheeks, the bashful looks… yes, this is the love I was so emphatically searching for!”
: “Familial…? So that overflowing passion was just a figment of my imagination? It seems my bias has caused me to overlook the truth of the matter…”
: “Love is a broad, multi-faceted beast… this only serves to prove how narrow my perspective can be. Hm, romantic love and familial love… the two may be nigh indiscernible depending on one’s point of view.”
: “Perhaps… the truth of the heart lies in the eye of the beholder. Akira, I feel as though I’ve learned something today!”
: Oh wow! We’ll have to check the Cutscene Viewer as soon as this update is over.
: Joker just looks at them and nods. They’re SO CLOSE to getting it.
: This cutscene is so close to being the start of a gay romance route as-is that I have to wonder if they had planned one and scrapped it.
: Just recently, there was a group who delved through the code for Persona 4 Golden and found out there was supposed to be a gay route with Yosuke, which was cut before release but I believe had the script still in the game.
: “What are you talking about? Ah well… come, it is about time we return home. Please row us back to shore, Akira.”
: “It would seem I understand nothing of love after all. Though I’ve progressed by one step, there is no doubt I will face many difficulties moving forward.”
: “When will I fully understand the heart? Even if I ever do understand it, will I truly be able to draw it…?”
: “You’re right. I’ve no intention whatsoever of giving up. I will do everything in my power to get past this. Anyhow, today was a significant use of time. Impressive oarsmanship from your end, as well.”
: Tonight, we have to buy the stone that we could’ve bought last time, but the game wouldn’t let us.
: “I remember you… you had a very abnormal destiny, as I recall. Please, take a seat.”
: “For that much, it’d better not only change your fate, but also give you incredible luck. If you do end up buying one, we should go home and test it out.”
: Translation: Buying the stone takes time because Chihaya’s confidant is not exactly the best from a design perspective.
: The Holy Stone is an accessory, and I forget what it does. We have no reason to equip it. Also, that’s 100,000 yen down the drain.
: “It’s the smart thing to do, considering this is the only way to avoid misfortune. It’s already charged with a happiness aura, so you’ll feel the effects right away. Don’t forget to recharge it with moonlight every three days.”
: Gotta activate those almonds every three days now.
: “Please stop by again and let me know how your fate changed. Goodbye…”
: “I was just about to close up shop, but I forgot to turn the stove off. I guess you start forgetting things more the older you get…”
: “Last time we went to that fortune teller, the chief won the lottery… I wonder what kind of luck we’ll have this time around.”
: We just wasted a hundred thousand yen on a broken magic stone. You have no idea how mad I was when I played the base game and got to this part, because money in the base game was much harder to come by.
: “Hey, do you mind looking over the shop while I-”
: “Th-The stone shattered!”
: Clearly, this is Morgana’s fault for overcharging the crystal with his thirst for human women.
: “What’s gotten into you?”
: “Huh? This tastes… salty! Hey, the Holy Stone is just salt!”
: “…Akira? What’s going on?”
: “You’re salty? That reminds me, I was just about to head out and grab some salt for the shop. I’ll be back in a bit.”
: “Hm… I think this is technically rock salt. I’ve seen the chief grinding some up before. Wait, in that case… maybe the Holy Stone is supposed to help you get better at cooking!”
: I had one of those salt lamps before - not because I thought it had any health benefits but just because. Turns out, those melt all over the goddamn place when it gets humid out.
: Ruined the shelf I had it on, which was just a cheap collapsible bookshelf I didn’t pay anything for. That salt does NOT come off once it sticks to something.
: Look Morgana, you broke it with your goddamn horny and now you’ve got to replace it.
: “B-But, um… maybe if your cooking improves, your fate will change just like she said it would… … I guess it really doesn’t make any sense, huh…”
: “So, that Holy Stone was really just a phony in the end! That fortune teller’s name was Chihaya, right? She clearly has some kind of mystical power… but this is just unacceptable.”
: “…We need to go complain to her!”
: We get an invitation from Ryuji to go to Ichigaya, which I don’t believe we’d get if we were on the reload-heavy 100% route because we’d already be done with Ryuji’s confidant.
: Even on the route I’m using, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to do it, because we don’t really need the confidant points.
: I’ve seen one of these before on Game Center CX - I forget which episode it is, but there’s one where Arino goes to a fishing pond like this.
: It’s a bit too artificial for my taste - the ponds are totally man-made and the fish are stocked.
: “…Hey, doesn’t meetin’ in a place like this look like we’re talkin’ some shady business? I like it.”
: “Like, ‘we’re regular high school students durin’ the day. But at night…’ you know what I mean!? Man, this is gettin’ me pumped up!”
: “…Oh crap, she’s comin’ this way.”
: “Why are you sitting around like old men? Why don’t you go out and do something more exciting?”
: “Wha- Look who’s talkin’!”
: sigh “Adults need time to themselves to unwind and clear their thoughts. You’ll understand soon enough, when you start working in the real world.”
: “Wow… soundin’ real old there, Kawakami.”
: “That’s MS. Kawakami to you!”
: Seriously, you’d think that Atlus would tone down the whole honorific thing given that they knew they were going to exporting the game and that these lines wouldn’t translate well.
: I just realized that Kawakami is wearing a jacket in the middle of July. It’s not like this scene can happen in the winter - this is the one day it’s scripted to occur.
: I have to wonder when Smash Ultimate takes place in the Persona 5 timeline, because I’m just picturing Joker and Ryuji giving each other a thousand-yard stare and reminding each other of their shared secret - they both know Donkey Kong is real but can never tell anyone.
: Joker once asked Donkey Kong if Lanky Kong was real, and DK’s only response was “It’s better if you don’t know,” communicated entirely through a mashup of the DK Rap.
: “I see. So when you get jaded like Kawakami, you’ll just naturally attract fish… uhh, I don’t think that’s right.”
: “It’s a nice, sunny Sunday. I didn’t think I’d be stuck fishing with you two on my day off. sigh Two troublemakers, and their no-good teacher… I guess we’re perfect for each other.”
: “She keeps on gettin’ fish even as she nags… I’m impressed!”
: None of these points matter. Kawakami will automatically reach Rank 9 once we complete the Mementos request, and from there will automatically reach Rank 10 without any input from us.
: And I bet you thought I forgot to grip and sip. We had to wait until the night period because we had to accept Ryuji’s invitation last night.
: Some sip to remember, some sip to forget the time they were leaving Final Destination and overheard Diddy Kong asking Donkey Kong if Lanky was actually dead, to which DK replied “We checked the grave but it was empty”, again using a mashup of the DK Rap.
: “I, Toranosuke Yoshida, will someday find a way to address your concerns in Nagata-cho… oh, Kurusu-kun. How’s your schoolwork?”
: “By the way, what’s your opinion about our current government? I feel that they’re wrong, so I plan on addressing that during my speech.”
: “I’d like you to listen to it, so you can give me your honest opinion.”
: “However, the current administration refuses to discuss their plans for the future… can we really accept such an utter lack of transparency?”
: The game doesn’t say it outright yet, but Shido is the bald Hideki Kamiya-looking guy who showed up in Joker’s flashbacks and again on the TV in the SIU Director’s office.
: “So he’s claiming those who have made mistakes in the past shouldn’t get a second chance? What can I say to that?”
: “…Yes, I am ‘No-Good Tora’ and I have made mistakes. Yes, I am unpopular and powerless. But that has nothing to do with my arguments! These are things I learned from all my hardships.”
: “You can ridicule me all you want, but I will continue to oppose what is wrong with this world!”
: “The highlight, though, was your yelling.”
: “That’s very promising. But don’t overdo it. You should avoid making enemies whenever possible. …Okay, that is all for today.”
: This guy turning completely around after one speech is giving me flashbacks to Ni no Kuni 2.
: “Please wait! Thank you! …That is all I wanted to say.”
: “I learned something from your dauntless spirit today. I have a bad habit of getting flustered whenever someone calls me No-Good Tora.”
: We know. You’ve said so already.
: “But you see me as someone of value, so I refuse to cower to criticism in front of you. Today you taught me that I must have more confidence in my arguments.”
: No new abilities this rank, but that’s fine - we already have the best abilities Yoshida can give us. The rest are all very situational or only good if you’re not grinding at all.
: “My way of thinking changes when I’m with you. Perhaps it’s the influence of your youthful spirit. Ah, my apologies. It seems we’re out of time.”
: “Thanks to you, I’ve remembered something very important. Now that I think about it, ever since the scandal… I’ve felt alone and helpless. Like the whole world was against me.”
: “Perhaps I got too used to the constant judging and critique, but… I realized I’d overlooked something crucial. I’d forgotten the people who support me… and how encouraging it feels simply to be in their presence.”
: “Perhaps it seems too obvious, or too trite, but… I hope you remember to cherish that, too.”
: “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I will engrave it into my heart. I can’t let myself forget it again. Well, I’ll be counting on you for my next speech, too. See you soon, Kurusu-kun.”
: Next time, we’ll see ANOTHER More Like Yusu-Gay scene, get Chihaya’s Mementos request, and then go into Mementos in as painless a way as possible. Right after this update, I’ll be working on the first More Like Yusu-Gay.