Colors Flying High - Let's Play Persona 5 Royal

Okay, so here’s the vote I want to put up:

Under the normal 100% schedule, what happens is that we do Kawakami’s Rank 9 event on July 8th. Unfortunately, we don’t do her Rank 10 event until the 27th - this is because we don’t really need her ability until right before we’re about to go into the dungeon.

This presents me with a problem. There’s two different versions of the Rank 10 cutscene: one for if you’re dating Kawakami and one if you’re not. If I do the Rank 10 event as scheduled, that means I have to play through roughly three weeks of game twice.

The other problem is that I feel like the Rank 10 cutscenes lose a little bit of their impact if you don’t see them relatively soon after the Rank 9 cutscenes… and if I do it in order, there would be probably several real-time months of updates between the two.

So here’s your options:

Option 1: Non-Canon July 9th: Under this option, I’ll use footage I’ve already recorded where I do Kawakami’s Rank 10 cutscenes on the night of July 9th. Both versions of the Rank 10 cutscene would be added to the next update, leaving a hole on July 27th where I’m actually doing the Rank 10 event in the canon run.

Option 2: July 9th on July 27th: Under this option, I’ll still use the July 9th footage but save it until July 27th, so the updates will still take place purely in chronological order with no skips - the only difference will be that the date in the corner will read the 9th instead of the 27th.

Option 3: Romantic Now, Platonic Later: Under this option, we’ll do the Rank 9 Romance and Rank 10 Romance scenes (which are obviously non-canon because Joker is gay) now, and then the Rank 9 and Rank 10 Platonic scenes on the 27th.

  • Non-Canon July 9th
  • Chronological Order
  • Romantic Now, Platonic Later

0 voters

I hope in Persona 6 the Phantom Thieves have Captain America in Spider-Man: Homecoming style TV spots where they’re all spins chair around “I may be a thief, but even I know that stealing is wrong”.

(As for the poll, all the options seem equally fine to me.)

Joker’s is just him going “I may not be a cat, but even I know animals being horny for human women is wrong. Spay or neuter your pets.”

In other news, I tried P5 Scramble and kind of hated it. The only good part is that it has a remix of Last Surprise that’s not bad and I grabbed a FLAC of. I’ll probably post it during the next dungeon.

The police never found any leads on who deafened the entire red-light district by setting up hidden airhorns with a remote-controlled trigger throughout the area.

Click Here for Update 40

timrodresized: We start the 7th off with a reminder we really don’t need. I don’t know why they didn’t code it so that if you’ve already beaten the palace, the game just skips these.

Kawakami: “Not like that means I’ll put up bamboo decorations and write my wish on a piece of paper though. I’m not feeling it this year.”

Kawakami: “Oh, but there’s a traditional food associated with Tanabata, just like chocolate for Valentine’s Day. All right, Takamaki-san. Tell me what is traditional Tanabata food. I’ll give you a hint - it’s based on a certain motif in Tanabata’s myth…”

timrodresized: Apart from that line sounding awkward as hell (“Tell me what is Tanabata food?”) it also kind of doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for her to be asking that.

timrodresized: I mean, it’d be kind of like asking a room full of American students what Groundhog Day is. Everyone knows what Groundhog Day is, but no one wants to admit it.

timrodresized: For the record, Groundhog Day is the day where a bunch of designated Groundhog Wizards attempt to summon their dark gods to take over the world and bring in the end times.

Ann: “Huh!? Oh, uh, yeah! I mean-”

Morgana: “Hey, Lady Ann is obviously panicking! Be a good guy and help her out!”

Ann: “Traditional food? Sorry, Akira. Help me out…! So Tanabata’s about gods crossing a starry sky to reunite once every year. It might have something to do with…”

timrodresized: This is the part that REALLY doesn’t make sense. There’s almost no way Joker wouldn’t know what it is outright.

Ann: “Oh yeah! They gotta cross the Milky Way to get to each other! So if the traditional food is something inspired by the Milky Way…”

timrodresized: What’s strange is that neither Orihime nor Hikoboshi have ever been demons in an SMT game. You’d think they would’ve done something with that.

timrodresized: What they’re talking about is flowing soumen. I wish there was some way you could do that with burgers. I mean, theoretically you could do that with hot dogs and boiling water but boiling hot dogs is a crime against humanity.

Ann: “Yeah, I could see that! The Milky Way’s like a long white bundle of them, right? The traditional food of Tanabata’s gotta be soumen noodles!”

Kawakami: “That’s right. The traditional food for Tanabata is soumen noodles. Originally, in China they ate a baked good that we call sakubei in Japanese to appease demons.”

timrodresized: As far as I can tell, sakubei is some kind of cake. It doesn’t help when trying to look it up that Sakubei is also a last name.

Kawakami: “Over time, that pronunciation went from sakubei, to sakumen, to soumen - a wholly different food. Going with the theme of calming demons, soumen on Tanabata is sometimes called ‘demon guts’.”

timrodresized: According to Wikipedia at least, the same thing is kind of true of the word for Tanabata, which (according to them) was originally used to describe a cloth craft made by Shinto shrine maidens.

Kawakami: “Go restore your strength with some seasonal food and get ready for your exams.”

timrodresized: Two points to Ann’s confidant and some knowledge.

timrodresized: We then go back to the library to grab a new book. I don’t know why the guide has us do this, because we don’t wind up reading it.

Kasumi: “Um, I want you to come shopping with me. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle this on my own, you know? Please help me out! I’ve got to hold up my end of our deal!”

timrodresized: Another thing I didn’t really think about was how half the confidants have this weird transactional quality to them.

timrodresized: You have Kawakami with the whole “maid service for secrecy” deal, Maruki with his “mental training for research help” thing, Ohya with her “headlines to help John Persona for stories” bit… and it’s kind of a wonder Joker has any meaningful relationship with any of them.

Kasumi: “Now, we’d better get going. The item in question is in Kichijoji. Shall we?”

timrodresized: I had to get a new pair of glasses recently. My old ones looked just like Joker’s (and no, I didn’t get them because of that) but the frame broke. I wanted to just get the same frame but not broken, but they don’t make them anymore.

Kasumi: “I’ve been wanting to come here for a while, but I never had the chance to drop by.”

Kasumi: “Yeah! I want to get my dad a present. You seem like a real glasses buff, so I wanted to get your advice. Could you try on a couple pairs for me? I’d like to get some visual reference.”

Kasumi: “Thank you so much! Let’s see… how about this pair?”

timrodresized: This entire scene is full of references to Persona 4. The glasses Joker has on are the same ones the Persona 4 protagonist wears while in the TV world.

timrodresized: I’m also reasonably certain that the green glasses on the rack behind Joker are Chie’s.

Kasumi: “What do you think?”

Kasumi: “I know, it’s so fashionable! And it’s good that it’d help your vision, too. This could be a good one… hmm…”

Kasumi: “Hmm, right - maybe a little too hip for my dad. But your input’s been really helpful so far! Would you mind poking around with me for a bit longer?”

Kasumi: “Thank you! This is actually kind of fun! Let’s pick up the pace!”

timrodresized: I feel like these ones are also probably a reference, but I don’t know to what. They look kind of like Baofu’s glasses when we met him in Innocent Sin.

timrodresized: And now we know what Joker’s shadow would look like if this was Innocent Sin.

timrodresized: And here we have a slightly less anime-looking version of the Groucho glasses that Teddie gave to Chie in 4.

Kasumi: “Sorry… I can’t decide. A lot of them are good, but none of them have really clinched it for me yet…”

Kasumi: “You know, you’re right! I’m the one who has to make this call!”

Kasumi: “I don’t know how to describe it. It just seems perfect for my dad somehow.”

timrodresized: And she picks a pair that are very similar to Yukiko’s. They don’t have the little rainbow stripe on the side, but they’re the same otherwise.

timrodresized: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man wear red glasses before.

Kasumi: “Yes, I think I can be confident in this one. In fact, I know he’ll like it!”

Kasumi: “I ended up with a great present. All thanks to you, Kurusu-senpai!”

Kasumi: “Hee hee… well, I’ve still got to make it up to you. Let’s go practice at Inokashira Park after this!”

Kasumi: “…If I’m being honest, trying to pick out glasses was really setting off my anxiety. All I could think of was what’d happen if I couldn’t choose, or if I chose wrong…”

Kasumi: “I mean, I already failed in gymnastics. And my cooking turned out bad, too. After cracking under pressure so many times, I kind of figured I’d just ruin everything again.”

Kasumi: “The more I thought about it, the more… empty I felt. Like I wasn’t even me anymore.”

Kasumi: “So even you know how that feels, Kurusu-senpai? It’s not just me… I think I’m starting to understand what my coach was telling me. It’s easy to say you’re in a slump, and write yourself off.”

Kasumi: “But maybe ‘finding out who I really am’ is also about finding new depths to myself. It does make me feel a little down, but at the same time, I feel like I’m closer to getting my confidence back.”

Kasumi: “And having your support makes me even more determined to make that happen.”

Kasumi: “This is strange… I don’t know if I should be feeling like this. I want to give my best performance, but it’s like I’d be doing it for you as much as for myself… o-or something like that!”

Kasumi: “I’m still working on it myself, but I hope we can keep helping each other, too!”

timrodresized: If we didn’t already break the game enough, now there’s this. I don’t know what a Chaines Hook is and looking it up only gives me walkthroughs for Royal.

timrodresized: Anyway, Chaines Hook allows us to not only ambush enemies from a distance, but also adds on a status effect - either Dizzy, Confuse, or Fear.

timrodresized: I have kind of mixed opinions on this. Persona 5 is already a pretty easy game, and I feel like making the game even easier wasn’t necessarily a great idea.

timrodresized: Even in the base game, by this point we would’ve already seen the hardest bits the game has to offer. It’s all kinda downhill from here in terms of difficulty, which I think is one reason that a lot of people hated all the dungeons after the one we’re about to go into in the base game.

timrodresized: +5 max HP.

Kasumi: “So I already gave my dad the glasses we picked out today. And it suits him even better than I imagined! He was so happy with them!”

Kasumi: “Thank you! I think this helped me feel a little more confident! And thanks to you, I even feel like my gymnastics are going to go better now.”

Kasumi: “I’m sick of wasting my time worrying. Whatever I’m up against, I’m just gonna give it my best shot. But actions always speak louder than words, right? I’ll prove I’m not all talk!”

Kasumi: “Okay, I’d better go. I hope we can talk again later!”

timrodresized: When we get back to Leblanc, Morgana gave me a reminder about “all the sooty clothes you have”, so I went to Kichijoji and discovered I had a bit of a collection from running over Shiki-Ouji in Mementos.

timrodresized: I also discovered here that the clothing grab bag seems to restock once a day - but what I’m going to do is save the points for just before the final dungeon when the final tier of armor unlocks.

timrodresized: We have a crossword puzzle tonight, and the answer should absolutely be “marijuana” but Atlus are cowards.

timrodresized: This is probably in because of the Purdue Pharma lawsuit (yet another example of Connecticut ruining everything, as Purdue Pharma was based in Stamford) which had sprung up in 2007 but didn’t get a resolution until 2019.

timrodresized: I like that we’re getting all these Thieves Den points which are absolutely useless because there’s nothing to really spend them on.

timrodresized: And now it’s time to actually start Chihaya’s confidant.

Chihaya: “Fine, let’s hear it. Please sit down.”

Chihaya: “Her boyfriend stopped abusing her? I don’t believe it! But even if he did stop, her fate should still be heading down the path to misery, without changing!”

Chihaya: “What!? The sequence of arcana has completely changed! ‘Death’ has moved far off into the future…”

Chihaya: “Nrgh… no, no, no! This must be some sort of trick! What are you, a scam artist? You made a deal with her boyfriend or something, didn’t you?”

timrodresized: I read this and I was like “Wow, this could be a Yakuza substory” and then I remembered that it kinda is. There’s one in Yakuza 3 with a fortune teller except you beat her sons up.

Chihaya: “Then what did you do!? Did you plunge him into Tokyo Bay, or cram him into a metal drum and dump insects on him? You must’ve taken some sort of extreme measures!”

timrodresized: He called Nishino Kanako. As it turns out, there actually is a fan translation group for that now, though it’s not quite as good as the ones released by the artist for the earlier volumes.

Chihaya: “Well… you certainly do seem like just an ordinary high school kid. But there’s no way that could’ve happened… without you breaking the law. I mean, how could an ordinary high school student change the course of fate?”

timrodresized: It’s like she hasn’t seen fully two-thirds of anime.

Chihaya: “…Fine. I’m just going to have to verify your power. The very power that reversed my tarot card prediction! This is quite a serious situation for a fortune teller like me. I need to get to the bottom of this.”

Chihaya: “You won’t have to do anything. Just sit next to me while I tell fortunes. And if another unopposable fate happens to appear… then I’ll test your power.”

timrodresized: Translation, she has a second Mementos request that happens later. I’m not sure why she wasn’t the confidant that advances purely off Mementos requests instead of Mishima.

Chihaya: “Th-this is a very serious issue on my end! Oh, I know… I’ll read your fortune! Please? I’ll even prioritize your readings over my regular customers.”

Chihaya: “Besides, I’ll be able to provide much more accurate predictions once I get to know you better! How does that sound? Is it a deal? sigh Otherwise, I won’t be able to go on…”

Chihaya: “You will? Really!? Okay, then, I look forward to verifying your ‘skills’! Please don’t blow me off, okay? We made a deal, after all.”

timrodresized: Is she… questioning John Persona’s street cred?

timrodresized: I think I said earlier that Luck Reading doubles stat gains. That’s actually incorrect - it gives you a 50% bonus. A luck reading costs 5000 yen and lasts a single day.

timrodresized: Naturally, you can combine this with things like Craft of Cinema to get massive point gains from DVDs - which is why we haven’t been doing a lot of DVDs recently.

timrodresized: If we were going for the reset-heavy 100% route, we’d have done this a while ago. I might still try to see if I can fit in extra readings outside of what the guide has just to get those few extra points.

Chihaya: “If it’s really possible, then…”

Chihaya: “Oh, it’s getting late! Let’s close up shop for today. It’s past your curfew.”

timrodresized: I just got back from P5 Strikers and I’m so happy to be back.

timrodresized: The PC port is borderline unplayable due to a number of known crashes and a memory leak, so I’ll be avoiding it until I can get it for around the same price as I did P5D.

Chihaya: “Phew… hah… I forgot to get your contact info! Phew… there we go!”

Chihaya: “I’ll be contacting you soon, so please come for the verification test, okay? I suggest you don’t try to get out of it. Or else, who knows what kind of black magic I’ll have to resort to…?”

Chihaya: “Great! Now our deal is official! Sorry for taking up so much of your time. Please be careful on your way home. I’ll see you soon.”

timrodresized: Instead of reading the book we just got from the library, we’re instead going to read a blatant reference to Marie Kondo. This book was in the base game, but I didn’t recognize the reference at the time because no one outside of Japan knew who she was.

Morgana: “Is this book really about cleaning? Or is it training you to become a monk?”

timrodresized: Joker immediately realizes that Morgana does not bring him joy and throws him in the trash.

Morgana: “Cleaning as a way to speak to your heart… I’ve never thought of it that way…”

timrodresized: Five points in Proficiency.

timrodresized: The convenience store sells Soothing Soba now, which I buy only because you can trade it to the guy in Kichijoji.

timrodresized: We’re spending our afternoon with Ann. Strikers establishes that Joker hates crepes, but of course that doesn’t matter because Strikers isn’t canon.

timrodresized: There’s people who think it is and Royal isn’t, and they’re so very, very wrong.

Ann: “I have the worst luck…”

Ann: “Oh, an email. Looks like it’s from the agency. I wonder what they could want… huh…? Mika!? At Skytree…? Where’s that!?”

Ann: “They want me to head over for a shoot now… feels pretty familiar, doesn’t it? Basically, this men’s magazine is running a Mika special to try and capitalize on her recent popularity.”

Ann: “But apparently, she asked for me specifically to star alongside her for the shoot. I wonder why…”

Ann: “Hold on though… why would you trick someone you admire? Well, I guess I won’t know what she wants unless I head over! Have you been to Skytree before? How do you get there…?”

Ann: “Oh, and… c-can you come with me? Actually, I’ve already decided for you. You’re going. Come on!”

Ann: “You asked for me, right? Wow… I barely recognize you. Did you lose weight? Or maybe change your makeup?”

Mika: “The theme for today’s shoot is ‘the elegance of woman’. So, I conditioned my body to be more elegant.”

Ann: “Wh-what do you mean?”

Mika: “Controlling what you eat, how you move… that’s all. It may sound easy, but it’s pretty tough. You have to write down everything you eat, making sure to check the nutritional and caloric content.”

Mika: “I even hired a personal trainer to take special note of my diet and oversee my exercise regimen.”

timrodresized: She attempted to make the leap from Basic Bitch to Advanced Bitch. It didn’t end well.

Ann: “Whoa… that’s amazing! Does that mean you don’t get to eat double chocolate crepes?”

timrodresized: Nah, Metal Slug 3 established that it takes like six bites to get that powerup.

Mika: “Not to mention the other stuff I do! I take herbal medication, wear warming socks, do pilates and yoga…day after day… how many squats do you think I do in a week!?”

timrodresized: When I was recording this, I read the line as “herbal socks” and I was like “Shit, they make those now?”

Mika: “Ugh, a natural beauty like you could never understand how much work I put into my modeling!”

Ann: “You know, it’s kinda embarrassing getting complimented like that…”

Mika: “Sorry, did I say natural beauty? What I mean was natural airhead.”

timrodresized: Ah yes, the famous “my head itches” pose.

Ann: “I see now… this is a test… well, I’m not gonna lose!”

timrodresized: And of course, Ann counters with the “Mime in an invisible box” pose. Someday I hope to win a fight by just going completely silent and pretending I’m in a box.

timrodresized: What the fuck are these poses?

Ann: “M-Mika!? Why are you doing this? I thought you looked up to me!”

Mika: “You should have known that was a lie… but I guess you’re just as naive as you look. Anyway, stupid amateurs like you really piss me off. You better not drag me down, okay?”

timrodresized: And now the “I dropped my contacts and can’t find them, could you please not move?” pose.

timrodresized: What I hate is that if this was Persona 1 or Persona 2, Mika would absolutely be a boss fight. I mean, she kinda is given Chisato and Kama Palace in 1.

timrodresized: There’s also a boss fight in Strikers that is basically Mika only she’s Ann’s age and has this whole stupid pastel Alice in Wonderland thing going on.

timrodresized: It offends me because at no point does the Alice boss ask anyone to die for her, at least not out of what I saw before I stopped playing.

Ann: “Grrr…!”

Mika: “Introduce me, pleeeeease? :heart: Mm-hm, mm-hm! The owner even invited me to dinner! Y’know, working with all of you just makes me so… happy! :heart:

Ann: “Um… I’m heading home…”

Ann: “Is that why she was mad at me? Wait, so the real reason she requested me was just so she could be mean… If that’s the case, I probably deserved everything she did…”

Ann: “… I’m… I’m so pissed off! Mika had to work super hard every day to get to where she is now. She worked out, watched her diet, made friends with everyone…!”

Ann: “She couldn’t rely on connections like I did… she didn’t become a model just for the heck of it. Her resolve, her knowledge, her fashion sense… they’re all on a totally different level from me!”

Ann: “Mika is amazing. Mika is… Mika is strong! But me? I’m nothing! Just thinking about that makes me so angry… I feel like I could explode!”

Ann: “This whole time, I’ve just been pretending to model. It was like the clothes were wearing me… I mean, that’s what I always thought being a model meant! …But I was totally wrong.”

timrodresized: So one, this cutscene is like twice as long as it had any right to be. Two, I think Ann has modeling confused with the plot of Kill la Kill.

Ann: “A real model draws out the beauty of the clothes they wear… casts a stunning magic on them… a real model is flexible, beautiful… and strong. Well, I’ve had enough pretending!”

Ann: “Right! I’ll give it my all! I’m gonna take the world by storm… just you watch, Akira!”

Ann: “This is the perfect time for sweets! But no, I won’t eat them! I mean, I will… but not today! You eat some for me, Akira! Later!”

timrodresized: This is starting to feel like an Allanson Monologue. She’s talking a lot, but saying very little.

Ann: “Well, I’ll say it again! I’m taking the modeling world by storm, and I don’t care what I have to do to get there! Obviously that means dieting, cutting back on food, and no matter how tough it is, I’ll do any workout!”

Ann: “Yup! I’m so sick of feeling how I did today! …This is a first for me, actually. Feeling this pissed off, I mean. Usually, even if I have a crappy day, I just get over it by having snacks, watching TV and sleeping it off.”

Ann: “But this time, it’s different… I want to change. Tomorrow, I want to be better than I am today. Okay, gotta start my stretching session! I’ll talk to you later. Bye-bye!”

timrodresized: Before we do Kawakami’s upcoming Rank 10 cutscene, we first want to do a couple of things to avoid a permafuck.

timrodresized: First, we need to go to Chihaya. She gives us an early look at who our next opponent is. Medjed is the Persona 5 universe’s equivalent of Anonymous.

timrodresized: One thing I neglected to mention about the Luck Reading is that it only boosts one stat at a time. You’d basically need a guide to make full use of it, because there are days where you’ll get stat boosts and not know ahead of time that you’re going to get them.

timrodresized: Next, we need to use the Luck Reading (picking Kindness) and feed the plant.

timrodresized: In this case, we get seven points to Kindness from feeding the plant as opposed to the five we usually would.

timrodresized: And now it’s time for our first Rank 9 confidant event. This will give you a pretty good idea of how the rest of them go… at least for the dateable ones.

Becky: “Takase-kun’s guardians came to my house today and apologized to me! They told me I won’t have to send any more money! And that they’ll return everything I paid them.”

timrodresized: She knows. She absolutely knows.

Becky: “Anyway, it’s such a relief. They apologized about Takase-kun… and admitted that what they did was terrible. They even told me that I am a good teacher. And so, I decided to reall quit my part-time maid job today.”

Becky: “I’ve been talking to my boss about it ever since I was hospitalized. It took a while to work out who would cover my shifts. I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”

Becky: “Now I can finally make a fresh start as a teacher. I can take care of my students and earn their trust. That’s the ideal teacher I aspire to become. I bet I’ll be an old woman by the time I achieve my dreams.”

timrodresized: Kawakami is now midway through her metamorphosis into Ms. Saeko.

Becky: “Yeah, you’re right. I’m still within the demographic age range of what’s considered ‘young’.”

Becky: “I was always able to rely on you, Master. You helped me come to a lot of realizations, because you were such a good listener. Thanks again.”

timrodresized: Where’s the “Never do that again” option?

Becky: “I could always become your personal maid, riiight? …Just kidding.”

timrodresized: On Rank 9 events, at least with the female confidants, you will always rank up midway through the event. Once you’ve reached this point, it’s safe to discard your same-arcana Persona.

timrodresized: I believe that once you hit Rank 9, you automatically hit Rank 10 the next time you meet the confidant. We are now unable to permafuck on Kawakami’s confidant.

Becky: “Can you handle the cleaning on your own? I’m pretty worried about the state this place is in. I feel like you don’t put much thought into your diet either… besides, won’t you be lonely? Hm?”

Becky: “giggle …I take it you get lonely easily? …But you shouldn’t say stuff like that so casually, okay? Some women may misunderstand your intentions.”

timrodresized: This thought will always pop up immediately before the split between the “friendship” route and the “romance” route. We are doing the “friendship” route first.

timrodresized: The top option sets us on the “friendship” route. Let’s pick that.

Becky: “That was pretty honest of you. You’re quite the problem child, but you’re still a good person. I’ll protect you, as your homeroom teacher.”

Becky: “Oh, and of course I’ll keep my initial promise too. The one about slacking off in class.”

Becky: “On my way home, I remembered everything. All the old memories from when I decided to become a teacher. Like when I was going through the courses for it, or my first year as a teacher…”

Becky: “Back then, I would’ve done anything for my students. I felt like I was capable of anything. But somewhere along the way, I forgot about all that. Reigniting your original resolve is easier said than done.”

Becky: “Thanks. Somehow, when I hear it from you, it makes me feel like I can do anything… weird, huh? From now on, I’ll support you as your teacher, so you can rely on me as much as you want, okay?”

timrodresized: You might ask where Kawakami’s other Rank 9 scene is. What I’m going to do is make a separate update for that, because I understand there are people who do not want to see it.

timrodresized: I will also put her Rank 10 romance route cutscene in there, so that if you don’t want to see that, you don’t have to.

timrodresized: I’ll do the same for any romance cutscenes between Joker and an adult, because again, I understand that can be unsavory to people. Any updates with content like that will have a red “CW” on the header so that you can avoid them.

Sae: “And yet he simply turned himself in - even confessed all his crimes. The Phantom Thieves…”

Sae: “I hope she hasn’t fallen under their influence…”

Usami: “It seems like some of our students had been victimized by them, so we can breathe easy for now. I’m thankful to the police for arresting the perp, even though they’re just doing their job.”

Usami: “By the way, ‘perp’ is police slang. You might have heard the stars in police procedurals say it. It’s short for ‘perpetrator’.”

Usami: “Speaking of stars… can you answer this question, Kurusu-san?”

timrodresized: What the fuck is this, Professor Layton? Are you going to make me rearrange matchsticks next?

Usami: “That’s correct.”

Usami: “By the way, there are rumors that the Phantom Thieves took down the perp this time - Kaneshiro. I remember their name with that bit on Madarame, as well as the incident in May. Is this a new urban legend?”

Usami: “Anyway, please prepare for your tests starting Wednesday, and don’t be distracted by rumors like that.”

Morgana: “Looks like we succeeded in changing Kaneshiro’s heart! A lot of people are talking about the Phantom Thieves too!”

timrodresized: This scene will always happen the day after you do Kawakami’s rank 9 event. It is the same regardless of which route you chose.

Kawakami: “I saw a lot of errors on the previous test, so please be more careful in the future.”

Kawakami: “Excuse me! No sleeping in class! Today’s examples will be on your entrance exam, so make sure you know them.”

Ryuji: “People’ve been makin’ a huge deal of it since the police announcement!”

Yusuke: “This is quite the turnaround. All of a sudden, people are expressing their long-standing belief in us.”

Ann: “So this is why Makoto told us to post the calling card anywhere that might stand out.”

Ryuji: “Pretty smart move on her part. Oh… where is our amazing Miss President?”

Makoto: “I’ve been called into a meeting with the principal. There’s no need to worry though. More importantly, there is a special on TV about the Phantom Thieves!”

Ann: “Huh? What did it say!?”

timrodresized: It was an hour of people being very confused as to who John Persona is.

Makoto: “They were talking all about our calling cards.”

Ann: “For real!?”

Makoto: “Anyway, my apologies about today. I’ll have to see you all another time.”

Yusuke: “Who was that?”

timrodresized: Joker tells him it was John Persona calling to order a pizza.

Yusuke: “I hope all this excitement doesn’t place us on the police’s radar.”

Ryuji: “It’ll be fine! No way they’d find out about that weird other world!”

Yusuke: “True, but… do you remember what the fake Kaneshiro said towards the end?”

Ann: “Yeah, he said we’re not the only ones doing it…”

Ryuji: “Eh, not gonna let it bother me. Far as we know, he was just pullin’ that shit out of his ass.”

Yusuke: “I hope that’s the case…”

Ryuji: “Anyways, in your face, Akechi! Now whaddya wanna do about our next target!?”

Ann: “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Still, people might expect a lot from our next move considering how excited they’re getting.”

Ryuji: “We can’t just pick any old schmo now.”

timrodresized: And then they basically picked any old schmo. No, seriously.

Yusuke: “There is no need to hurry though. Counting Kamoshida, we’ve claimed three consecutive victories, right? We should just lay low and wait for all this excitement to blow over.”

Ryuji: “Good idea! We can make it a welcomin’ party for Miss President too. By the way, that briefcase? It’s pretty damn expensive! Let’s sell it and drop the cash on our party!”

Morgana: “Wow… seems like the ‘lay low and wait’ idea has gone completely out the window.”

Ann: “So we can count you out then, Morgana?”

Morgana: “Uh… what are you talking about? I was just saying we should try and keep our party on the down low.”

Ann: “Hahaha, that’s the spirit. Well, I’m gonna let Makoto know!”

Ann: “…Hi, Makoto? There’s something we forgot to tell you! So- Oh…”

Yusuke: “What’s wrong?”

timrodresized: Joker tries to figure out the best way to signal Ann to turn off speakerphone so he can tell them not to let her know he brings Morgana to his exams.

Makoto: “If you wish not to stand out, you had best not get bad grades, okay? That is something I simply would not be able to overlook as student council president!”

Makoto: “For now, behave and concentrate on your studies. We can have fun once finals are over… understood?”

Makoto: "I believe in what I wrote. ‘The Phantom Thieves are just.’ "

timrodresized: What she doesn’t talk about is that the original sentence was “The Phantom Thieves are just four high schoolers and a cat.”

Kobayakawa: “Have you figured out who they are?”

Makoto: “No, I’m nowhere close. However, after considering all the facts, I concluded there are no errors in their acts or principles.”

Makoto: “Thus, upon deeming them to be on the side of justice, I have decided to end my investigation.”

Kobayakawa: “But that’s impossible!”

Makoto: “Impossible? May I see the evidence you have that leads you to believe so?”

Makoto: “There will be no need for that. I intend on getting into a good college by my own merit. Please excuse me.”

Kobayakawa: “About that… yes, I am making progress. However, I have stumbled upon some difficulties. Still, why would someone as important as you be interested in a petty case like this?”

Kobayakawa: “N-no! That’s not what I meant! I will investigate with all the resources available to me. Of course… um, I should be able to let you know relatively soon. Yes, I will bring good news…”

Makoto: “Hi, Sis. You look tired… is everything okay?”

Sae: “Don’t worry about me. How about you, Makoto? Have you been keeping up with your studies?”

Makoto: “Yes, of course. Though… what is the point of studying?”

Sae: “… What do you mean?”

timrodresized: “I mean, you studied and you’re not even a romance route, and then you spent an entire night asking a high school kid stupid questions.”

Makoto: “I was just wondering what will be waiting for me at the end… even if I manage to push through tough entrance exams, I’m still thrust into a competitive society…”

timrodresized: Hmm… could this be foreshadowing? I feel like we saw a place where the word “Success” was plastered all over the walls… but where was that again?

Makoto: “Isn’t this the man the Phantom Thieves sent a calling card for? I heard he confessed all his crimes.”

Sae: “Even the police couldn’t figure out why. It really… was out of nowhere. This would only make sense if his personality changed… but that would be impossible.”

Makoto: “Why does it matter? The police still caught him in the end, right?”

Sae: “I had plans set for a promotion, but no one can take credit for his arrest now with that confession. …Not that a child would understand.”

timrodresized: Who are you talking to? Is it me, because I already know what the plot is. Seriously, by this point I had kind of figured out most of the remaining plot.

Makoto: “Promotion… You’ve changed, sis. But I’ll be okay. …I finally found a place where I belong.”

Morgana: “This new teammate of ours is pretty promising! We’ll be able to do even more now!”

timrodresized: Before we do the canon version of events, we’re going to do the non-canon version. Ordinarily, we’d be doing this on the 27th, but I’m going to do it early. This is so that I can record both versions of the cutscene without having to play through three in-game weeks multiple times.

timrodresized: I also want to do this to explain the third item on my list of things I hate about this game. The first is the thing that caused me to not finish the plot, the second is that the writing is very repetitive and dull in spots.

Kawakami: “That’s actually been happening a lot lately… I wonder if they see me in a new light now…? I need to work hard so I can make up for all the times I let my students down in the past.”

timrodresized: For the record, none of the answers in the Rank 10 scenes matter - this includes the party member Rank 10 scenes, which is surprising given that the max rank for party member confidants is now 11.

Kawakami: “Oh, do I sense some jealousy? Haha… that’s really cute. So, um… now, this is coming from me as your teacher…” an awful thought occurred to me the more I spent time with you."

timrodresized: Oh shit. She knows.

timrodresized: Joker grabs his stash of cup noodles and jumps out the window.

Kawakami: “And the state of your room! You need to stop slacking. I mean, look at how dusty this place is. I put up with the mess because you were my client, but you need to thoroughly clean in here!”

Kawakami: “I’m currently in the process of eating better myself. I only have cup noodles every other day now! There are just some things you have to prioritize over your studies, you know?”

timrodresized: All of the adult confidants will eventually figure out that Joker is part of John Persona. Even in the canon we’re setting, Kawakami is actually not the first to do so.

timrodresized: See if you can guess who it is. We’ll find out when we hit their Rank 10 in a few months.

Kawakami: “That whole thing with Takase-kun’s guardians worked out way too good for me. And you’re the only one who knew about my situation.”

Kawakami: “Hm, well… don’t worry. I have no intention of telling anyone. There are a lot of stories about the Phantom Thieves but in the end they help people like me, right?”

Kawakami: “I just thought you were a problem child with a criminal record… but now I know better. I’ll support you 100 percent!”

Kawakami: “You’re not just a student to me. You’re someone special who helped me realize my path as a teacher. A new path where I’ll never abandon any of my students…”

Kawakami: “Right!? For my students… and for you!”

timrodresized: Please make sure to click the next music link before reading on. I don’t normally suggest that, just please do it. I’ll tell you when to close it.

Music The Path Is Open

timrodresized: Shoji Meguro made this song for Persona 3, and it was so good that it stuck around in both Persona 4 and Persona 5. Even Hashino couldn’t fuck that up. I’ll even post the final text thing real slow so that you can get the full effect.

timrodresized: “The ultimate secret of Temperance, aka straight edge.”

timrodresized: Okay, you can turn it off now. Like all confidants, reaching Rank 10 with Kawakami unlocks one of the Ultimate Personas. Ardha is level 84 and is a very solid physical/nuke Persona… though at that point you’re not far off from just fusing Lucifer.

timrodresized: Now, I’ll need to apologize, because I’ve lied just a little bit. The Path is Open isn’t in Persona 5.

timrodresized: You have NO IDEA how pissed I was when I found out that it wasn’t in P5 - not even a jazz version of it or something. They kept it for both Persona 4 and Golden.

timrodresized: The worst part is that they didn’t replace it with anything. There’s just fucking nothing there. They turned the Rank 10 events from a special thing into… just another fucking confidant event.

timrodresized: What fucking killed me about it was that they had all this really good music and then just completely dropped the fucking ball on this even though THEY HAD A SONG THEY COULD’VE USED.

timrodresized: What kills me even more is that they didn’t fucking fix it for Royal, because this game’s a goddamn cash grab!

Kawakami: “I don’t want you to flunk your exams. I’m going to go the distance with you!”

Sae: “This new ally you gained was Makoto!? Just tell me the truth!”

timrodresized: This scene makes less sense when you realize that there’s a good chunk of the player base that wound up dating Makoto and Sae somehow doesn’t know by this point.

Sae: “Makoto… that’s preposterous. If what you say is true… was Makoto also running from the police when you were arrested!?”

Sae: “Now that I think about it… she did start talking a lot about the investigation from summer onward…”

Sae: “Makoto aside, you mentioned one other important detail. Did Kaneshiro really say there was someone using the Metaverse besides the Phantom Thieves?”

Sae: “Those words could just be taken as you shifting blame to this other person, you know.”

Sae: “There are two possibilites: either you’ve simply been trying to confuse me with your lies… or everything you’ve stated is true. Have you been telling me the truth from the very start?”

Sae: “Does that mean you’re placing your trust in me? …Then again, I am investigating a ‘thief who steals hearts’. Very well. No matter how absurd it may seem, I’ll reevaluate my stance on believing you for now.”

Sae: “In return, speak the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It’s a fair deal… is that acceptable?”

timrodresized: And now we’ve got one of the only two confidants we actually need to fuse Lucifer. Judgement gets us all the ingredients we need, and then we need to unlock Lucifer himself through a different confidant.

Sae: “We’re running out of time. Let’s move on to your next target… actually, I should rephrase that; they targeted your group first, didn’t they?”

Sae: “We have no pictures. Even their names and identities are unknown. If what you told me is true, then this ‘Nav’ thing you’ve mentioned wouldn’t have worked in this case. How did you target them?”

Sae: “Tell me everything.”

timrodresized: Believe it or not, we’re still not quite done with this update. We have the canon version of the events that transpired on 07/09 to go through still. Let’s meet the other confidant we need to fuse Lucifer.

timrodresized: The guide I’m using doesn’t tell you to do this, but I get a Luck Reading on Knowledge. The reason for this is that most visits we’re going to make to this new confidant get us two points to Knowledge.

timrodresized: At 5,000 yen per, it’s kind of a high price for one extra point… but that’ll add up and we have the money.

timrodresized: Meet Hifumi Togo. I used to think she was the best girl in the game, and I have no idea why.

Hifumi: “Strange, hm? I did receive approval to do so though. Experimenting with new tactics is best to do alone in a place like this. …Well, I suppose that doesn’t sound terribly plausible to someone who doesn’t play…”

timrodresized: Joker replies with “Whoa, are you saying I don’t have game? I totally have game. I’ve got like five different women trying to date me and none of them realize I’m gay.”

Hifumi: “Don’t mind me; please go ahead and pray.”

timrodresized: Joker pulls open his jacket, revealing his “Lucifer Is My Homeboy” T-shirt.

timrodresized: Hifumi Togo is a chuuni who is like, borderline Haruhi Suzumiya territory. She’s about two seconds from becoming a Yu-Gi-Oh character at any given moment.

timrodresized: So anyway, let’s talk about Hifumi. There’s an art book for Persona 5 that outright states she was initially intended to be a party member.

timrodresized: The idea was that she was supposed to be a sort of foil to Makoto and that Makoto wasn’t supposed to be THE SMART GIRL, but then they walked that back for some stupid reason.

timrodresized: I know for a fact that there was a significant portion of the fanbase that was quite upset that Hifumi didn’t make it in as a party member in Royal, but that would require downgrading Makoto from SMART GIRL status and we can’t possibly nerf Hashino’s dumbass girlfriend character.

timrodresized: Oh, right. The Megami Tensei wiki claims that Hifumi is in the church because she’s named after an actual shogi player by the name of Hifumo Kato, who is a Catholic.

Hifumi: “…Huh? Um, you don’t necessarily have to learn from me, you know… there are other options… such as playing online.”

Hifumi: “Well then… um… so… you like shogi?”

timrodresized: By this, he means he wants a motorcycle so he can play 5Ds IRL. He’s gonna roll right over Kaiba.

Hifumi: “Like me…? You’re a bit strange… but thank you. Um… okay, just a quick game then. Twenty seconds per move… if that’s all right with you.”

Hifumi: “…I’ll start. …So this is your skill level, huh? The dragon which governs the blue sky has fallen into my hands. How do you intend to survive this?”

timrodresized: “I play whatever the most recent ‘buy me, I’m overpowered’ card is that hasn’t yet been banlisted.”

Hifumi: “To concede is an act of admitting that you have lost, with grace. If you aspire to become a shogi player, I recommend that you take your study of the game to heart.”

Hifumi: “Thank you for playing… well then, that will be all for today. If it’s all right with you, may I request another match sometime?”

timrodresized: This part I don’t quite understand. She wants to play shogi against a guy who has no idea what he’s doing?

Hifumi: “I feel… a gambler’s spirit emanating from you. Which is strange, since your style of play is that of a complete novice…”

Hifumi: “Huh…!? Oh, I-I’m sorry… however, I will instruct you under one condition. You become my playing partner so that I can research new moves. Is that agreeable?”

timrodresized: I’m not sure how you’d “research” moves in a game like shogi. As far as I understand it, shogi is one of those “solved” games like chess where every possible move has been analyzed by a computer.

Hifumi: “Thank you very much… well then, it’s a deal. I’ll teach you how to play, and you’ll assist me with my new moves.”

timrodresized: Wait, what? The palaces are basically the definition of “going loud” except that combat is magically silent because it takes place in a separate screen.

timrodresized: All of Hifumi’s abilities are named after concepts in shogi. As far as I understand it, Koma Sabaki is this idea that every piece has a role and your strategy builds around that.

timrodresized: We get three points to knowledge - two base plus a third from the luck reading. I’m honestly not sure why the guide doesn’t have you do a luck reading, since we do it for aojiru a few times for the same cost-point gain ratio.

Hifumi: “Before you head home, would you like to exchange IDs with me? There’s no obligation, of course…”

Hifumi: “Thank you. All right then… let’s see… ah, yes, it went through. I’ll let you know if I come up with any new strategies.”

timrodresized: And that’s it. Next time, we’ll spent two days going through a bunch of big long cutscenes that I would probably just skip if I could because they exist solely to justify the plot of the new content in Royal and kill the pacing.

Summary

timrodresized: Now that we’ve seen the platonic version of Kawakami’s Rank 9 and 10 cutscenes, let’s see what happens if we make a horrible mistake.

timrodresized: Note that even if you pick the bottom option, that’s not the point of no return.

Becky: “…Do you understand what you’re saying? This situation isn’t normal. I’m a teacher, and you’re my student, you know?”

timrodresized: Picking the top option will put you back on the platonic route.

Becky: “N-No way! Wait, um, that’s not what I meant by ‘no way’ but… whaaat!?”

Becky: “Wait, um. Okay… okay… okay… okay… okay… time! I need more time! I mean, you’re both a student and a master, while I’m a teacher and a maid. This doesn’t make sense!”

timrodresized: I mean, it did if you were one of those medieval nobles with like a dozen children not counting the ones from your spouse.

Becky: “Right? Let’s save this discussion for next time, okay!?”

timrodresized: Unlike the platonic route, there is no phone call for the romance route.

Kawakami: “Well, I’m completely done with that part-time job! Oh, and my students! I’ve been giving them all a lot of advice…”

Kawakami: “So… um… about that talk we had… you know, about whether or not we should date.”

Kawakami: “Can’t you seem a little more sad about it!? I was so happy… when you shared your feelings the other day… I finally realized how I felt. But… I’m a teacher… and you’re my student…”

timrodresized: Straight Joker has never not been horny. Even Morgana fears him.

Kawakami: “You’re in a tricky situation as it is. If we get caught, suspension would be just the beginning. I’m restraining myself because you’re so special to me…”

Kawakami: “No, I’m not. Considering the feelings I have for you… Arghhh! Why are you so okay with this? Now I feel dumb for trying to back away!”

Kawakami: “I had every intention of saying goodbye to you… oh, fiiine.”

timrodresized: The rest of the scene is word-for-word identical to the platonic version up until a point, but before I get there I’d like to talk about why you can even do this in the first place. It has to do with Persona 3.

timrodresized: In Persona 3, there’s a social link where the protagonist plays an MMORPG styled after Innocent Sin. He plays as “Tatsuya” and meets “Maya”, who clearly likes him.

timrodresized: At the very end of the social link, the MMO shuts down and by pure accident, the protagonist finds out that the person crushing on him in the MMO was one of his teachers.

timrodresized: That event is played more as a joke than anything, and at one point the teacher almost asks the protagonist to dinner but then IMMEDIATELY rejects it as a bad idea.

timrodresized: Hashino was not listed on the writing credits for Persona 3, but all he did was steal the idea and then went “What if Persona 3… but horny?”

timrodresized: And I mean, in a game without Kamoshida as a villain, I could almost understand doing that, except that’s not the worst part of it.

Kawakami: “I went from being a teacher to being a maid to dating a high school student. So… as someone who went from being my master to my boyfriend, do you have any requests for me?”

Kawakami: “I’ll obey them, you know… even though I’m no longer a maid.”

timrodresized: In the base game, Kawakami was significantly hornier than she is in Royal. There was also a scene that implied a sexual relationship between Kawakami and Joker.

timrodresized: In Royal, they had to change a scene later on specifically to address that where Kawakami outright says that sex is going too far. That’s how bad it was.

Kawakami: “Don’t be so conceited. You’re younger, so you should rely on me. Here… by all means.”

timrodresized: I would’ve had Salty Vanilla also do a version of this scene with Yusuke in the maid outfit, but they’re busy enough as-is.

timrodresized: My reaction exactly.

There’s a Mementos request in August that’s just called “Who’s Been Assaulting People?” and I’d like to think that at some point in late July there’s a request called “Who’s Been Setting Up Elaborate Water Traps in Shinjuku Targeting Horny People?” and Joker won’t take that one because he already knows who.

radiant historia voice i have to think about this one carefully

Clearly they removed The Path is Open so the Radiant Historia bad end music can play if you pick the romance route.

You forget, P3 also had the Social Link where your classmate wants to date his teacher and you have to say “yo thats rad af dawg” or you’d get less points toward ranking it up

Woah woah woah woah Sae. Are you telling me, that drugging a teenager up with enough chemicals for a rhino to find enlightenment and then asking him a bunch of leading questions about the things he must have done and the help he must have had could result in a story that is strange or inconsistent?

Also is not telling Ann the other girl hates her and is setting her up a requirement to 100%? It’s not impossible that she just doesn’t realize the obvious but not telling her feels cruel.

Unfortunately, yeah it is. That’s the “correct” answer in that it gets you the most points. It’s one of the reasons I feel like they should’ve had more of a branching story style where there are no right or wrong answers - sort of like what they initially tried to do in SMT 1.

Oh, right. I forgot about that.

timrodresized: For this one, I’m not going to actually write anything. The idea I gave Eligap was something like “the priest talks about rebirth and hope, and maybe Yusuke realizes that he’s the one who needs to change his world and finally admit who he is before he can get over his slump.”

Click Here for Update 41

timrodresized: It’s July 10th, and now the opinion bar is significantly higher than before.

timrodresized: You might be wondering why we haven’t touched Sojiro’s confidant in a long time. The reason is that a lot of it is locked off until after we start the next dungeon.

Sojiro: “Huh? It’s not right? …Not cute? That was the one the staff recommended to me though… won’t that printer do?”

Sojiro: “Huh? It’ll do, but it’s not it? …Okay, I’ll be right over.”

Sojiro: “This might take a while. I’m leaving the store to you. Lock up for me if I don’t come back.”

Sojiro: “Something like that… sheesh, what a handful.”

obs64 2021-02-21 22-16-35-85

timrodresized: “I mean, apart from our- I mean their- writing quality being kind of all over the place, sure.”

SIU Director: “But to think the Phantom Thieves would honestly attempt an absurd idea like social reform… you’re absolutely right. I’m not pleased about the general public’s support of them either.”

SIU Director: “There’s also the danger of the Metaverse being exposed with their continued actions… actually, there is one countermeasure he brought in that seems usable.”

timrodresized: I’m surprised it took Superintendent Chalmers here this long to think this plan up.

SIU Director: “…Ah, I thought as much. I had a feeling that it was too brutal for it to be his own idea. Still, to think you’d go through such elaborate detail to crush them…”

SIU Director: “Their actions must be that much of an eyesore for you. I sympathize with what you’re going through. Well then, we’ll clean this up quickly and put it behind us.”

SIU Director: “Yes. A grand undertaking like social reform is beyond a group such as the Phantom Thieves. Only a select few are worthy of changing the world. And who better than the future Prime Minister… sir?”

Ryuji: “Gotcha! We’re gonna come over right now about the you-know-what. Seeya!”

Ann: “That’s not why we’re here! We need to study for finals!”

Makoto: sigh “Why am I here too?”

Ryuji: “You’re one of us now, so of course you gotta help us. We’re in trouble if you don’t teach us, you know?”

timrodresized: Clearly, Ryuji never met my Persona 4 protagonist who got the top slot in every exam that wasn’t the first set and never studied.

Ryuji: “Ohoho, oh, I’ll hold you to that! Wanna see who gets the higher test scores?”

timrodresized: I’m pretty sure in the next round of exams that we get the “good but not top score” result, so it’s going to be us. I haven’t recorded it yet.

Ann: “Let’s leave those guys be…”

Makoto: sigh “I couldn’t ask the last time I was here… but what is this place? The storekeeper doesn’t seem to be around…”

Ryuji: “It’s where this guy lives. He’s got complicated circumstances… we can tell her about it, right? Actually, tell her yourself.”

Ryuji: “Ann, Yusuke and me are pretty much the same too. I mean, it’s not as bad as this guy’s though. There’s just something we can’t ever put up with. That’s why we all become Phantom Thieves.”

Morgana: “Hey, don’t forget me.”

Ryuji: “I know, I know. We’re all part of the team. By the way, Makoto, ain’t there someone you can’t forgive either? Like, a heart you wanna change?”

Makoto: “…That’s a secret.”

Ryuji: “Ooh, there’s someone like that? You could just tell us, you know. You don’t gotta be so cold.”

Makoto: “That aside, do you have any intention of studying for the exams?”

Ryuji: “Not really…”

Makoto: “It’s fine if I leave then?”

Ryuji: “N-No, I’m just joking! Please teach us…”

Ann: “Leave vocabulary and long sentences to me. I suck at proper grammar, though…”

Ryuji: “Even if we study English, it’s not like I’m gonna use it in the future.”

timrodresized: Yeah, I mean, who even uses English? Everybody knows Esperanto is where it’s at (Esperanto is not, has never been, and likely never will be ‘where it’s at’.)

Morgana: “When it comes to you, your Japanese is questionable too.”

Ryuji: “Aw shuddup!”

timrodresized: It’s so you can dunk on stuff. “The Medium was a game designed by people who had some very strange and dated feelings regarding mental illness and felt that Allanson Monologues could stand in as a replacement for storytelling.”

Ryuji: “It’s impossible! I can’t memorize all these formulas… ain’t there a good way of cheatin’?”

Makoto: “…Why don’t we take a break?”

Akechi: “The question is what the Phantom Thieves actually did. If they tampered with a suspect’s heart, it casts doubt on the authenticity of any confession.”

Akechi: “We can’t deny the possibility. There’s no doubt that the Phantom Thieves are exposing hidden injustices in society. However, if this is done by sidestepping the law, their way of thinking is very dangerous.”

Akechi: “Yes. They’re no different than the criminals they target. This cannot be overlooked.”

Ryuji: “I see,” my ass. Why the hell’re we bein’ treated as the bad guys?"

Ann: “Just let them say whatever they want. More people are starting to understand that what we’re doing is right, after all.”

Ryuji: “When I’m walkin’ around in town, I hear a lot more people talkin’ about us too. And the forum’s been full of hype! Do you think we made it big time?”

Morgana: “Don’t get pompous over dealing with some street thug. Save it for after we deal with a bigger target.”

Ryuji: “We just gotta take down a bigger one, yeah? That was the plan from the start, anyways!”

Makoto: “True, it may be best if we start thinking about it.”

Ryuji: “I bet we’ll find one in no time. The wind’s blowin’ in our direction and everything! I feel like we won’t lose to anything right now.”

Makoto: “Well, we’ll decide on that eventually. We need to overcome our exams first. Now then, break time’s over! Let’s get back to-”

timrodresized: You might’ve noticed that this is a lengthy cutscene where not a whole lot is happening. Trust me, it gets worse.

Ryuji: “Where should we go? I feel like I’ll study better if I got something to look forward to.”

Morgana: “The last one was a buffet at a hotel. We haven’t gone anywhere since.”

Yusuke: “…Hm!? A buffet!?”

Ann: “Where would be good? Hey, what about fireworks!? A fireworks festival!”

Ryuji: “Oh yeah, it’s that season, huh!”

Makoto: “That sounds good to me.”

Yusuke: “It’s hard to ignore a buffet, but I’ll take the beauties of summer. Still, I demand that we feast during the festival as well.”

Morgana: “Do you guys own a yukata? Will you wear a yukata!?”

Ryuji: “Doesn’t a fireworks festival sound good? You think so too, right?”

timrodresized: I get this is a thing that happens in real life, but like… why is this dialog here? What purpose does it serve?

timrodresized: I mean, the cutscene has a purpose that we’ll see in a second, but there’s no reason it needed to be this long.

Ryuji: “C’mon, you gotta be more active! All right, fireworks festival it is! Let’s look for a good one!”

Makoto: “Study comes first, though. I won’t let you off if you fail any of them. Are we clear?”

Ryuji: “Y-Yes, ma’am…”

timrodresized: I also don’t get why, like… they put this entire thing into the game specifically for phone calls and didn’t just use those portraits.

timrodresized: Meet our next target. At least she understands the Featherman hierarchy - Red always goes next to Black.

timrodresized: We actually saw her in an earlier update when I was dicking around the school.

timrodresized: If you thought the last Mementos update was long, the next one’s going to have a whopping 9 requests to do.

timrodresized: We spend the night finishing ICU, and this is the only actual gameplay we are going to have for at least the next half hour.

Akechi: “…I didn’t expect the Phantom Thieves would suppress a man that even the police had trouble with. The fact they have so much support online is worrisome. I’m in a bind since I previously denounced them.”

timrodresized: Get used to this, because this is going to be a recurring thing.

Akechi: “All the interviews these days ask me about that. …Still, can we really say the Phantom Thieves are on the side of justice with just this example?”

Akechi: “Haha, thank you. But… I notice you’re not saying the Phantom Thieves are right. I suppose that was an unfair way to phrase it.”

Akechi: “I was originally investigating the mental shutdown incidents. …Don’t you think it’s similar to the change of heart that the Phantom Thieves are doing?”

Akechi: “Now that I think about it, their actions mirror the mental shutdown cases, with the rate of victims. It’s impossible not to see a connection there…”

Akechi: “…Ah, sorry. I don’t want to make you late. I’ll see you again.”

timrodresized: Don’t you love how Akechi is the only one who gets confidant events outside of his actual confidant? Because I don’t.

Morgana: “Thanks to Kaneshiro spilling the beans, that organization is falling like a house of cards. Hehehe… we’re getting more and more famous!”

Maruki: “I know some of you rely on all-nighters, but I can’t recommend it. That really messes up your information retention.”

Maruki: “Oh, speaking of! Do you guys know the difference between short-term and long-term memory? The simple answer is that short-term memory’s more temporary. Contextual. But long-term memories stick with you.”

Maruki: “In the short-term, you’re working with a hard limit. You retain only… six, maybe seven pieces of information.”

timrodresized: This is a hypothesis put forward by George Miller in his 1956 book “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”. I know this because I had a teacher in high school who was a less annoying version of Maruki.

timrodresized: Miller’s theory has been challenged several times since he originally published, mostly by people claiming the number is much lower than that.

Maruki: “But your brain’s capacity for long-term memory is huge. It might even be infinite, according to some theories. Okay, so… Kurusu-kun! What do you think about all this?”

Maruki: “Short-term memories only stick with you for seconds at a time. That said… how long do you think you can retain long-term memories?”

Morgana: “So he wants to know how long you keep long-term memories, huh…? This is a tricky one. What is long-term memory, anyway?”

Morgana: “Yeah. It was something like that! So anyway, you keep them for a long time. The question is, how long. Maruki mentioned something about the amount of memories you could store, right? Something like…”

Morgana: “Yeah! If you have theoretically infinite space for them… then theoretically, you’d be able to retain them for…”

Morgana: “Yeah. I think so too. …So that’s it. Long-term memories will never really fade away!”

Maruki: “That’s right! I’m impressed! Basically, stuff encoded into your long-term memory never really goes away. Short-term memories become long-term memories through reiteration.”

Maruki: “It’d be great if you could encode all the test answers to long-term memory, huh? Ah well. Can’t always get what you want.”

timrodresized: And now we’re about to see why I didn’t do the reset-heavy route.

timrodresized: If you’re doing the reset-heavy route, you need this chalk dodge. We just happened to get it, but keep in mind the last save point was last night and you need to answer Maruki’s question right to not permafuck.

timrodresized: Anyway, that’s our gameplay for this update.

Makoto: “Heading home? Its rare running into you at this hour. Oh, that reminds me - do you remember the counseling Dr. Maruki’s offering?”

Makoto: “It seems to be growing quite popular. I saw someone heading into the nurse’s office just as I was leaving the school… the teachers say he’s well worth his time here, but I have a feeling there’s more to his popularity than just talent…”

Makoto: “Hm? Oh, you’re talking about the exams coming up. No need to worry there. My study routine’s rigorous enough that I’m not panicking over it.”

Makoto: “…I appreciate the concern, but how about yourself? Depending on the exam scores, there may not be a fireworks festival for anyone to attend - were you aware?”

timrodresized: I hate that they have to justify every single thing in Royal because otherwise it makes no sense. Keep in mind that what most of these extra cutscenes are doing is trying to justify Royal’s plot.

Makoto: “I’m joking. But make sure you study well, all right? I need to buy some more test prep booklets on my way home. See you later.”

Kasumi: “What a pleasant surprise. Are you headed home too? Same here - I don’t have club practice today. That reminds me, there’s something I want to report to you. Would now be a good time?”

Kasumi: “Thank you. Why don’t we find a seat somewhere?”

timrodresized: And now it’s time for this cutscene to get real pointless, real fast.

Akechi: “And you are…”

Kasumi: “It’s been quite a while, Akechi-san.”

Akechi: “And the same for you… Yoshizawa-san, right?”

Kasumi: “My father works at a TV station. Have you seen ‘Good Morning Japan’? My father’s the director.”

Akechi: “I’ve been brought onto the show as a guest a number of times now. That’s how I ended up becoming acquainted with Yoshizawa-san. I didn’t know you knew her as well, Kurusu-kun.”

Kasumi: “He helped me out of a jam before, and now he’s been offering me guidance.”

timrodresized: I think this entire scene is kind of emblematic of the issues Royal’s writing has, and why Kasumi as a character was just kind of a bad idea.

timrodresized: The writers for Royal knew that the base game had issues with certain party members barely getting screen time, and knew that adding in a new character would screw with the balance, and they tried to make it work by just… adding more writing.

timrodresized: In the process, they killed the gameplay to cutscene ratio in a lot of places. This is one of them.

Akechi: “Helped you out of a jam, eh? I see… so, what were you two up to?”

Kasumi: “Oh, right! I was just about to share some exciting news. It’s nothing to keep secret, so I may as well spill it now. About that summer competition I mentioned to you before?”

Kasumi: “This only feels like the beginning to me, though.”

Akechi: “Isn’t your club’s team considered to be quite prestigious? And you’re their representative? I must say, that’s extremely impressive.”

Kasumi: “Thank you! I’ll do my best to make everyone proud.”

Akechi: “I’ll be cheering you on as well. Ah, I have an idea - since all three of us are here, why don’t we go somewhere as a group? We can call it our little celebration for Yoshizawa-san’s success.”

Kasumi: “That would be wonderful! does that work for you, Kurusu-senpai?”

Akechi: “That settles it. Would you mind if I chose the place? There’s a wonderful little cafe I know about…”

Kasumi: “Of course! Lead the way!”

timrodresized: It’s actually iced coffee, Colette. It’s great how that’s the only scene anyone remembers from Tales of Symphonia.

Kasumi: “Good point. Well, some people say coffee can cool you off, even when hot, so I try to avoid that too. I had this image that you enjoy sweet things, Akechi-san - is that untrue?”

Kasumi: “I swear I saw you eating fried sweet bread on TV just the other day…”

Akechi: “It’s all part of a marketing strategy. That sort of stunt is an easy crowd-pleaser.”

timrodresized: If only we were in December right now. There’s something that Atlus does in the expansion content that could very easily be described this way.

Kasumi: “You seem to have your own bases covered as well.”

timrodresized: I’m gonna be real here, I stopped reading the dialog like ten minutes ago. When I recorded this I had to go back a few times because I’m like “What’s the question again?”

Akechi: “Haha, you’re more innocent than I had expected.”

Kasumi: “I’ve been wondering: how do you two know each other?”

Akechi: “His social studies class visited the set of a TV show I appeared on.”

timrodresized: This is getting dangerously close to Allanson writing and I don’t like it.

Kasumi: “Ah, that’s right. Second-years got to go to a TV station.”

Akechi: “He and I exchanged our opinions during the shoot and his way of thinking intrigued me.”

timrodresized: I faulted the Allansons for this, and I’m going to fault Atlus for it: describing things I’ve already seen and fully understand is bad writing. Stop fucking doing it!

Kasumi: “I can definitely see that! Kurusu-senpai’s take on things often helps me as well.”

Akechi: “That reminds me, Yoshizawa-san. You had mentioned that he’s been providing you with some guidance.”

timrodresized: She just fucking said that!

Kasumi: “Yes - just like you said, his way of thinking is intriguing. I figured I could benefit from his input.”

Akechi: “In that case, let’s play a little game. Would you mind if I posed the same question to you that I first asked him?”

Kasumi: “No, go right ahead.”

Kasumi: “The Phantom Thieves? You mean in the case that they do in fact exist, yes? I admit that the assistance of others in need is a truly great act… but I simply can’t agree with their methods.”

Akechi: “I see. Care to explain why?”

Kasumi: “I suspect the Phantom Thieves’ existence isn’t going to be beneficial in the long run.”

Akechi: “How so?”

Kasumi: “Well, for example, when someone’s faced with a problem to overcome, I believe they need to do it themselves. Getting help from others is totally fine, but in the end, it takes a person’s initiative to truly create lasting change.”

timrodresized: Let me explain to you exactly what is going on here. What they’re trying to do is justify the plot of the new final dungeon, several months before we actually go there.

timrodresized: Now, this is a game that expects that I’ve forgotten things people said not even minutes ago. How do they expect me to remember this in 40 hours at the end of the game?

timrodresized: Why does this sound like the writers for Royal really didn’t understand what it is the Phantom Thieves do?

timrodresized: I can’t tell if Kasumi is supposed to sound slightly robotic here, or if that’s just a bad localization. It’s probably the latter, given this game’s localization history.

Akechi: “I see… So, in the sense of a person’s growth, their actions actually hinder it. Quite an interesting take on the matter.”

Akechi: “Haha, quite. I’d say it’s equally as unique as your own opinions.”

Kasumi: “Wait… could you actually be a fan of the Phantom Thieves, Kurusu-senpai!?”

Akechi: “I didn’t mean to start an argument. I just can’t help myself sometimes. Let’s change the subject to something a bit lighter.”

Kasumi: “I’m sorry, I should probably get going… if I’m away from home too late, my parents will begin to worry.”

Akechi: “Right, then let’s call it a day. Good luck on your competition.”

Kasumi: “Yes! Thank you! Well then, see you later!”

timrodresized: Before we do anything, Sakai has a decent sword for Yusuke that he’ll trade for the Soothing Soba we picked up a few days ago.

timrodresized: After a quick trip to Chihaya to get the extra point in Knowledge, it’s time for Hifumi again.

Hifumi: “You think to protect yourself with that paltry defense? Hahaha… useless! Awaken, dragon! Let your shadowy hellfire consume them all! Dark Inferno Rook!”

timrodresized: Joker activates his trap card, which he uses to special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon in defensive position.

Hifumi: “Can you hear them? The wailing of dying soldiers, echoing throughout the battlefield. With an incompetent king, a soldier cannot show his true bravery. Time for you to suffer!”

Hifumi: “At last, everything is in place… my right hand trembles as I release my full power!”

timrodresized: I feel like Hashino had no more of an idea of how shogi is played than I do, so he just watched the Yu-Gi-Oh anime and went “Meh, close enough.”

Hifumi: “…Check.”

Hifumi: “Ah, I did it again… it’s an embarrassing habit I have. During a match, I, um… I tend to get very aggressive. It’s as if I assume the role of a queen of a kingdom…”

Hifumi: “I-It is…? …You’re a strange one, indeed. My father had me do image training exercises when I was younger, to help me learn the rules. I gradually began to view the shogi board as if it were my own kingdom…”

Hifumi: “I had fun coming up with stories and strategies for my, um, subjects. However… I’ve heard that people make fun of me on the internet.”

Hifumi: “People think that I’m weird, or that I’m an otaku, or that I’m just crazy… I mean, I can’t blame them… certainly, I think I’m weird too.”

timrodresized: Joker looks at her, goes “It’s okay,” and then opens his jacket to reveal one of those arm deck holder things you see in the YGO anime. “I too believe in the heart of the cards.”

timrodresized: Then they both laugh when he describes Ryuji’s collection of heavily-modded Beyblades.

Hifumi: “Your positivity is… a welcome relief. I may be able to learn more from our matches than I thought.”

Hifumi: “That will do for today.”

timrodresized: I have no idea why Joker’s arms are like that in this one shot. I looked back at the video I took and it just kinda happens.

Hifumi: “Do you read weekly magazines…? Um, well, I’m doing a photoshoot for one…”

timrodresized: By Persona 6, all the female social links will be idols who are also magical girls.

Hifumi: “You’re quite perceptive. I thought you’d be surprised if you saw it on the newsstand, so I wanted to let you know beforehand. In all honesty, I’m very reluctant to do it…”

Hifumi: “But… if I can draw more attention to shogi, maybe the sport will become more popular… at least, that’s how I’m justifying it to myself… I have an interview scheduled for tonight as well, so let’s end here for today.”

Morgana: “A summer festival, huh… you think they’ll have any A5 beef there?”

timrodresized: I’ve never had wagyu beef before, but it seems really overpriced for what it is.

Morgana: “Well, you should worry about finals first. Once those are over, it’ll be summer vacation, so stay focused!”

timrodresized: The funny thing is that there’s an adult party member in Strikers. The party member is a cop, because of course, can’t have any anti-police messaging in an Atlus game.

timrodresized: I doubt I’ll ever get that far because Strikers is just… bad. The balance sucks and every boss fight is like fighting Kaneshiro ten times over.

Inui: “Behind Kaneshiro’s arrest are the ‘Phantom Thieves’, the mysterious group that changes people’s hearts. If I recall, there were similar rumors back during that business with Kamoshida-kun.”

Inui: “Help the weak and crush the strong… truly a modern legend of the gentleman thief. In the long history of humans, the gentleman thief has been seen briefly during times of turmoil.”

Inui: “Now then, please look at this picture, Kurusu-kun.”

Inui: “He did something during the Sengoku period that had him and his family boiled to death. Do you know what he did?”

timrodresized: There’s a scene in the earliest Lupin III anime where Lupin meets Goemon and throws a firebomb at him because “I mean, it worked on his ancestor!”

Inui: “That’s correct. Ishikawa Goemon is Japan’s most famous thief… he’s very popular, and some called him a gentleman thief. By the way, the Goemon bath comes from his name.”

timrodresized: I couldn’t really find a good picture of one, but a Goemon bath (the Japanese term is “Goemon-buro”) is a one-person bath which is shaped like a cauldron and is usually recessed into the ground.

timrodresized: You sometimes see this in anime where people use steel barrels instead - I know Suikoden 2 does this when you first get the bath house.

Inui: “Only stealing from the rich and powerful, and sharing with the poor… Goemon’s exploits have been documented in many forms of media, like kabuki and novels.”

timrodresized: And well, the entire Ganbare Goemon/Mystical Ninja series.

Inui: “Rebellion against Hideyoshi, whose campaign had failed; propaganda by the government to sully his name… the gentleman thief Goemon may be no more than an illusion made by varying motivations.”

Inui: “In actuality, most heroes and gentleman thieves throughout history are something like that.”

Morgana: “Let’s make sure people don’t think we’re just an illusion. But before that, you need to study for the exams that are starting tomorrow.”

Maruki: “Oh no, everyone’s permitted to stop by whenever they like! I know the phrase ‘counseling session’ can make some people nervous, but don’t be.”

Maruki: “Considering you’re the student council president, I’d rather they didn’t force you to come here at all, actually.”

Makoto: “Well, I was advised to come, but I still chose to do it on my own.”

Maruki: “Oh, good! Glad to hear it.”

Makoto: “But please, there’s no need to be concerned about my being here. Feel free to discuss anything with me.”

Maruki: “Ah, right. So I shall. Heh, you’re sounding more like the counselor here than I am.”

timrodresized: It’s like they purposely got the two most annoying characters in the game and put them in the same room just to make me hate the writing more.

Makoto: “Oh, not at all - in fact, quite the opposite. I’m actually a bit of a mess, and I always have to turn to others for help.”

Maruki: “Well you sure had me fooled. Even still, getting help isn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, it’s wonderful that you have a support system.”

Makoto: “Indeed… especially lately. I feel like I can’t do anything right by myself nowadays.”

Maruki: “Did something go wrong for you?”

Makoto: “Yes, but it’s nothing major. I’ve come to understand all too well that it’s a bad idea taking on more of a burden than one should.”

timrodresized: So if you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve gone through a substantial amount of cutscene without really learning anything new.

timrodresized: Believe me when I say there is a point to all of these dumbass therapy cutscenes, and the point is unbelievably stupid.

Maruki: “You really do seem like someone with a mature sense of responsibility. However, that may be why people around you - especially the adults who should be protecting you - rely on you so much.”

timrodresized: I think the writers kind of forgot how old Makoto is. Her listed birthday is April 23rd, 1998 - meaning she’s 18 for the vast majority of the game. Giving her this kind of talk at that age (when she’s meant to be starting to gain independence) is just… weird.

timrodresized: In fact, the writers kind of forgot a lot when it comes to ages. Canonically, Makoto is a senior in high school. She’s in college when Strikers starts in Summer 2017. Ann and Ryuji, who were born in 1999, are sophomores. I don’t quite get how that works.

Makoto: “Adults… who should be protecting me? Had I been clever enough to understand that earlier, things may have gone a bit differently for me.”

Maruki: “You think so? Ah… you live alone with your older sister. I see. Pardon my saying so, but it seems you’ve been through quite a lot.”

Makoto: “Honestly, it only felt like the norm to me. But our lack of adult guardians has to have been hard on my sister - even now as well… and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard for me, too.”

timrodresized: Surprisingly, nothing has ever been said about Makoto’s mother, even in side material.

Makoto: “…In fact, now that I think about it, I may well have grown up to be a bit uptight because of that.”

Maruki: “Is that so… and are you doing okay now? Is your support system adequate?”

Makoto: “It’s not as if I have a team of employees or anything, but I do have people that I’m able to rely upon well.”

Makoto: “Of course, I’d never think of them as replacements for my father or my sister. No one could replace either of them.”

Makoto: “What I’ve lost won’t ever come back. I just need to keep my chin up and push towards my future.”

Maruki: “Mm, I like the way you put that. No one can ever be replaced… yet we need to keep pushing towards our future.”

Maruki: “Should anything come up that you want help with, I’ll be there to support you… though my skills are pretty limited.”

timrodresized: After a quick trip to Chihaya for a luck reading, we’re going to spend the afternoon with Ryuji.

Ryuji: “Hehehe… you prolly didn’t realize it, but I recorded Yamauchi’s whole convo back at the monja shop! I’m a genius, I know.”

Ryuji: “Anyways, uh… I might need some backup here. Can you stick around?”

Ryuji: “Dude, chill. I just wanna talk. Listen. This here is what’s really goin’ on with the track team.”

Ryuji: “It’s Yamauchi’s voice, ain’t it? And on top of that, shit’s gone down just like he said.”

Ryuji: “Proud?”

Ryuji: “…So you trusted what he was sayin’ about Nakaoka 'cause of stupid crap like that?”

Ryuji: “Like hell I don’t know! How long were we runnin’ together, huh!? I went through all sorts of shit with you!”

Ryuji: “Who’re you livin’ your life for? Your parents? Teachers? Society? Maybe you should stop tryin’ to live for them, and just try livin’ for yourself.”

Ryuji: “You think you gotta betray people to be proud?”

Ryuji: “If that’s seriously what you think, you’re wrong! Nakaoka. You knew something was up with Yamauchi too, didn’t you? I mean, the bastard’s never been interested in track before…”

Ryuji: “But you kept quiet. You knew he was walkin’ all over you, and you just let him do it.”

Ryuji: “…You missed runnin’ that bad? Y’know, it ain’t so scary not havin’ a place you belong. You can kinda be free that way. If anything, I’m more scared of bein’ a crappy person.”

Ryuji: “I mean, I used to be like you guys… afraid, lyin’ to myself… that is, before I met this dude. I don’t wanna insult you guys or nothin’, but I know you’re prolly real pissed about all this…”

timrodresized: I like that the way this captured, it looks like Ryuji is being tiger dropped.

Ryuji: “You saw that, right? That was some serious violence!”

Ryuji: “Naw, man. I’ve been takin’ good care of this face, and look what ended up happenin’ to it. Either way, they’re prolly feelin’ way better now. I think they’re gonna be just fine together.”

timrodresized: Persona 4 also had this weird thing about male relationships being centered around fights and it’s like… no, that’s not really how it works.

Ryuji: “…Thanks.”

Ryuji: “You’re tellin’ me. You just sat around while I got my ass beat… for real though, you were a big help. You were pushin’ me to be cool that whole time.”

Ryuji: “It’s kinda like I was doin’ a sprint… and you were runnin’ next to me.”

timrodresized: “Look, Ryuji, is this gonna be one of those Jesus things, because I told you we can’t fuse Messiah without the DLC.”

timrodresized: And now it’s time to send Ryuji to the own zone. Yes, this is the “correct” answer points-wise.

Ryuji: “Brutal! Just forget about the beatin’ I took, okay!?”

timrodresized: Endure is an ability like Harisen Recovery that every party member gets. Atlus kind of got their shit together for P5 and toned down enemies with instakill spells, but this is still nice to have.

Ryuji: “Anyways, let’s head home. I think my mouth’s bleedin’, so we’ll hafta eat some other time. Later!”

Ryuji: “Gah… man, my jaw’s still kinda messed up. But it’s a good kinda pain, you know? Like just after a workout.”

Ryuji: “They’re gonna have to handle the rest, but… I think they’ll make the right call. Seein’ them havin’ a real heart-to-heart talk… they got a good team.”

Ryuji: “…I hope so. Still a long way from how things used to be, but… I did all I could. Man. If those guys are really gonna go for this, I gotta step up my own game.”

Ryuji: “I’m gonna up my pace, so you better be ready for it! 'Kay, later!”

timrodresized: And this is why I visited Chihaya earlier. This will bring us up to a total of three extra points in Knowledge beyond where we’d otherwise be.

timrodresized: Oh, I know this one!

timrodresized: The first word I saw in the letters was “Israel” for some reason.

timrodresized: Looking at it, you could also make “Rompers”, which yeah I suppose so.

Akechi: “You went to that cafe with Yoshizawa-san the other day, right? It’s been getting quite a bit of buzz lately, you know.”

Akechi: “I was hoping we could discuss things over some tea, but…”

timrodresized: These lines weren’t in the original game because Akechi was an auto-confidant, and I’m almost positive this is a dig at the players.

timrodresized: The thing is that in popularity polls in Japan, Akechi consistently ranked higher than most of the actual playable characters… largely with people who treat him as sort of the unofficial LGBT romance route.

timrodresized: I say “LGBT” rather than “Gay” because a lot of the Akechi shipping material involves genderflips where either Akechi or Joker (or sometimes both) are genderflipped or trans.

timrodresized: There’s also a lot of weird shit with like, love octagons where Joker and Akechi are dating but are also dating the female version of each other and several other characters at the same time.

timrodresized: None of this stuff exists with any of the other characters to any significant degree, outside of Yusuke getting a lot of gay/bi fanart.

Akechi: “But you? I expect you’ll pass muster easily.”

Akechi: “No, I only learned about it recently. Fads tend to be fairly similar, so I’m more curious about its popularity than its taste. Well, why don’t we give it a try?”

Akechi: “I actually enjoyed that more than I thought I would.”

Akechi: “Uh-oh. Looks like I’ve been spotted.”

Akechi: “She’s just here for the cake, I’m guessing. I’m sure she doesn’t mean any harm, but I don’t want to cause any trouble for the store…”

Akechi: “Looks like I’m out of time. I wish I could’ve relaxed a little longer, though. We should go.”

timrodresized: Oh, he’s done PLENTY wrong.

Akechi: “Sorry, but I think it’d be best to leave. I’m only going to cause problems if I stay. A shame I don’t have glasses like you. Maybe I would have been able to get out of this situation.”

timrodresized: Is Akechi’s hair prehensile or something? How the hell did he go from it being messy to being styled again?

Akechi: “I suppose I’d better learn to watch what I say around you.”

Akechi: “Well, you saved me. I daresay such crude means would never have occurred to me. Still… there’s no knowing how things may go unless you give it a try, hm?”

Akechi: “I think I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Thank you.”

Akechi: “Looks like our coffee’s gone cold. Why don’t we order new ones?”

Akechi: “But you certainly surprised me today. I can’t believe we got out of that with such a basic trick. It was an interesting experience, but… I definitely don’t want to go through that ordeal ever again.”

Akechi: “I saw firsthand what happens when I’m too careless with my words around you.”

Akechi: “…You have a twisted concept of ‘fun’. Though if you dressed as me next time, I think I might agree. I could use a stunt double.”

Akechi: “You and I aren’t terribly different in height. I’m sure my clothes would fit you. If we do this, it’ll have to be carefully planned, of course. I’ll be dictating everything, from hair to accessories.”

timrodresized: Oh, right. I realized just now that I’ve never explained why I hate Akechi so much. The answer is that like many characters in this game, he is a direct ripoff of a character from an earlier game.

timrodresized: The problem is I can’t say which.

timrodresized: And that’ll do it. Next time, we’ll do exams, witness yet another pointless Maruki cutscene that exists solely to justify Royal’s plot, and go to the fireworks festival.

Maybe this game would be better if it actually had an antagonistic yet not evil authority figure in charge of the public opinion campaign on the other side, possibly voiced by J. K. Simmons, pounding their fist on their desk and yelling, “THOSE PHANTOM THIEVES ARE A MENACE!

Also I’m gonna… I’m gonna assume the writers were making a joke about short-term memory retainment by asking you questions about the stuff Maruki literally said two text boxes ago. Or maybe they knew it’d be a challenge because players would zone out whenever he was speaking.

I just realized the Phantom Thieves have more than 30% popularity. They have enough public support to take over the country. Let’s! Do! Some! Totalitarianism!

Yeah it’s called Soul Resurrection.

Sir. SIR. it’s called a Duel Disk. デュエルディスク.

yea it is weird its pretty terrible who would come up with this and then say ‘yes this is what i want to do’.

oh. right. that guy.

A support system? Oh no, does that mean Makoto’s G R O W T H I S B E I N G H I N D E R E D

High school in Japan is three years iirc. So when the game says ‘senior’ it means a third-year student.

There’s a lot of stuff like that in the script for Royal, and the only sense I can make of it is that it was a rush job on corporate’s part… even though they knew the Persona 5 base game script had issues that resulted from being pushed out the door during the Atlus/Sega merger.

They actually DO have this… in Strikers. The cop party member has a boss who as far as I know isn’t actually evil but is all “We’ve gotta get those Phantom Thieves off the streets!”

Look I’ve never watched the YGO anime or engaged with it at all outside of seeing people playing tournaments when I was still playing Pathfinder. Just be glad I didn’t call it a Card Fan.

Click Here For Update 42

timrodresized: Today, we actually get a unique conversation at the subway platform. I don’t know why the writers didn’t do more of these and less of… what they actually did.

Ryuji: “I just heard this, but apparently we’re havin’ a summer festival soon! I heard there’s gonna be shit like kebabs, steaks… the hot stuff! Dude, I am so PUMPED!”

timrodresized: In the grim future of 20XX, there is only meat, and the looming shadow of barbecue.

Ryuji: “Well, duh! What else would you want? Oh man… I can’t stop thinking about meat… piping hot, juicy meat… oh man, now I’m hungry. Let’s get going already!”

timrodresized: Joker instinctively pulls out his air horn because even if Ryuji isn’t horny, it’s close enough.

timrodresized: The next few days are nothing but exams, so let’s do this.

timrodresized: Well, fuck. I hate geometry. I have not even the slightest idea how you’re supposed to go about solving this.

Morgana: “This looks tough, but let’s calm down and think it through.”

Morgana: “Ugh. Baozi, in this hot weather…? Well, never mind. I think this came up in class. They were invented by that famous guy from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, right?”

timrodresized: I’ve read a bit of ROT3K but I barely understood it or remember much apart from the most major characters. Lu Su was an adviser to the Kingdom of Wu and led Sun Quan’s army until he died.

timrodresized: Cao Cao on the other hand was the head of the Kingdom of Wei and also a bloodthirsty tyrant. His recipe for Baozi would probably involve stabbing the shit out of people.

Morgana: “Yeah. The strategist of Shu. I think the story was about a river overflowing somewhere Zhuge Liang visited. And they were offering something to quell the river…”

Morgana: “That’s it. A crazy story… and that’s how he came up with the baozi, right? This master strategist came up with the baozi to…”

Morgana: “Yeah. I think you’re right. The baozi were invented as an offering to a river spirit, to replace the tradition of offering severed heads! You finished in time!”

timrodresized: Orihime’s Silk would make so much more sense as a name. Starry Canal sounds like one of those small towns in Florida.

Morgana: “You’ve seen all these before. You’ve got this, all right?”

Morgana: “This is going good. Looking forward to seeing your score.”

timrodresized: And here I bet you thought we were done with pointless cutscenes added for Royal. Nope!

Maruki: “Congrats on surviving finals. Today was the last day, right? Say, would you happen to have some free time right now? There’s something I’d like to discuss - I promise it’ll just take a moment.”

Maruki: “Thanks! I know you’re exhausted, so I’ll make this quick.”

timrodresized: He doesn’t make it quick.

Maruki: “It sure has heated up now that the rainy season’s passed. I just know my electric bill’s going to start climbing this month… anyway, as I’d mentioned, there’s something I’d like your opinion on.”

Maruki: “Well, I suppose that’s technically accurate. I’ve had something on my mind lately, and I want to hear your take on it. Okay, here goes…”

Maruki: “Oh - this is all hypothetical, mind you, but imagine there’s somebody for whom you have high expectations. They’re trying their absolute hardest to meet those expectations.”

timrodresized: Is this about Hashino, because the answer is “Fire the entire management chain at Atlus and get someone more competent so this shit doesn’t happen again.”

Maruki: “Now, this person receives an awful lot of special treatment from people so they can perform to the best of their abilities. So, what do you think those people will do if the expectations leveled on this person aren’t met?”

timrodresized: Oh, I know! I know! They’ll spend a year doing an LP dunking on their most recent game because they refused to localize the PSP version of Eternal Punishment!

Maruki: “Yep, that’s definitely true. When you work as a counselor… you always think ‘I have to help this person so their heart doesn’t break’ but… that’s easier said than done.”

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is that you don’t want to unbreak their heart… or their giraffe?

timrodresized: I have no idea if I used that song already but it’s about on par with the quality of Maruki’s writing. Macross was a mistake and Macross Delta was a bigger mistake.

timrodresized: Realistically, if Maruki was a song, it’d be The Space Between by the Dave Matthews Band. The local radio plays that all the time when they need to fill air.

Maruki: “This world really is a callous one. No matter how much positivity or dedication a person has… just a bit of influence from their peers can easily mess with their heads.”

Maruki: “Every time I’m confronted with such a situation, I can’t help but grasp the limitations of therapy as a profession.”

Maruki: “I see - you’re approaching reality from a rational point of view… no, it could actually be that you understand reality’s unfairness, yet you’re willing to stand up for it.”

Maruki: “That may be the reason you’re at this academy now.”

Maruki: “What I meant was, if we want to truly help people stuck in a predicament like that, we need a fundamental solution.”

timrodresized: And then Maruki pulls out a crystal skull and talks about how he needs to steal everyone’s hopes and dreams so he can power an alien spaceship underneath Tokyo.

Maruki: “Hmm… nothing really comes to mind at the moment. This is just a thought, but what if we got the Phantom Thieves to change our hearts?”

Maruki: “Maybe have them shift our feelings so we won’t lose to this unfair reality? It would ultimately be for the positive.”

timrodresized: So what you’re saying is you want the Thousand Year Kingdom of God. Joker, shoot him.

Maruki: “Haha, good point. You’re right. Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. I seem to have lost track of the time. I should be getting back to my work. Our conversation’s been very enlightening. Thank you.”

timrodresized: I wish I was joking when I say that it will not even be a day until we run into another one of these stupid cutscenes.

Ryuji: “I can get back to actually sleepin’ in peace…”

Makoto: “Huh. You must have been studying pretty hard if it kept you up at night.”

Ryuji: “Nah, I was up playin’ video games. Slackin’ off is just too much fun…”

Ann: “I know, right!? I kept cleaning my room instead of studying! It might even be TOO clean now…”

Yusuke: “You two are perfect exemplars of what escapism can mean.”

Makoto: sigh “And I can only imagine what the end result will be.”

Ryuji: “Whatever, it’s over with now. Who cares about that anymore!? What’s real important is the Phantom Thieves’ popularity! Ain’t it amazin’!?”

Ann: “It kinda feels like our time’s finally here!”

Yusuke: “I have even heard people excitedly speculating about our next target. We will have to choose carefully.”

Makoto: “There’s no need to hurry. We should spend some time thinking it over.”

timrodresized: Keep this in mind, because we’re about to witness something tomorrow that will not make any goddamn sense.

Morgana: “You sure are on top of THESE kinds of things…”

timrodresized: Tonight is one of those nights where we’re forced to sleep early.

Ryuji: "You remember, the one I told you about?

timrodresized: I got really, really fucking confused here. I assumed that Ryuji was talking about the fireworks festival on the 18th, but no. He’s actually talking about a new cutscene added for Royal.

Ryuji: “Aw, c’mon - we’re all tired from the tests an’ shit, but just gimme a sec! I completely spaced on it until now, but the festival’s tomorrow. So, you wanna go?”

Ryuji: “Hell yeah! I knew you’d be down! Let’s make sure to invite Yusuke too. He’s always down to chow. …I diiiid just remember they said it might rain tomorrow, though.”

Ryuji: “Eh, whatever! No way’s it gonna rain on a day like this. See ya tomorrow!”

Morgana: “How would HE know whether or not it’ll rain? Sheesh, all worked up over a silly little festival… full of food… of all kinds…”

Morgana: “Well, I suppose you deserve to enjoy yourself, but be sure to keep a low profile, all right? Anyway, let’s get some sleep. Oh - and, uh, no sleeping in, got it? I’m gonna skip breakfast for this.”

Yusuke: “Mm…”

Ryuji: “Wh-what? Why’re you starin’ at my face?”

Yusuke: “Ryuji - I have a favor to ask.”

Ryuji: “A favor? Sure, you need some money for food or somethi-”

Yusuke: “Not this time. I’ve actually been mulling over a new battle tactic for a while now… and I’d like you to lend a hand in bringing my idea to fruition.”

Ryuji: “Ooh, a new move… that sounds badass! I totally want in!”

Yusuke: “Well, it’s merely a rough idea at this point, but…”

timrodresized: As it turns out, you actually can view the Showtime attacks when you unlock them in the Thieves Den - only they’re pre-rendered and in some cases have video glitches (Ann and Morgana’s has a mouse cursor visible). Time to go borrow some footage.

timrodresized: Ryuji and Yusuke’s Showtime is called “Inglorious Beefbowls” in the US version and “That Man Did This For A Beef Bowl” in Japanese. The Japanese title is a reference to the film “Violent Cop” which is basically Dirty Harry if it starred Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi).

timrodresized: The US title makes no sense because the scene here is a direct reference to a scene in Violent Cop.

timrodresized: I’ve only seen this scene in English. Ryuji sits down and goes “I’ll have… the usual.”

timrodresized: In English, Yusuke’s VA goes “I’ve put my soul… into this bowl!”

timrodresized: Anzu? What the hell are you doing here, get back in the Persona deck!

timrodresized: I wonder if the magic wishing star can fix the fact that Ryuji is trying to fire a pump-action shotgun with one hand.

timrodresized: Yusuke somehow manages to land a hit directly on the grenade, which is not how grenades work.

timrodresized: This, by the way, is what we call ludonarrative dissonance because we all know that Anzu would’ve oneshotted Ryuji with Garudyne.

timrodresized: I think you should have one with Joker instead. The good news is that all of our current party members now have a chance to proc a Showtime if they’re baton passed to.

Ryuji: “Wasn’t that, like… way more detailed than some rough idea?”

Yusuke: “Ha- I don’t deserve such praise… I would merely prefer to add a splash of beauty to an otherwise barbaric battlefield, so to speak.”

Ryuji: “Sick! So, all we gotta do now is see how the Star reacts to your idea, right?”

Yusuke: “We should consult Jose about this soon. However, I can feel my appetite growing after describing my idea…”

Ryuji: “…Same here.”

Yusuke: “It’s as if we’re walking around in an enormous sauna…”

timrodresized: I should point out that not only is Yusuke wearing long sleeves, there’s a scene in Strikers where he goes to the beach wearing a jacket. In August.

Ryuji: “Whose bright idea was it to come here?”

Morgana: “Yours…”

Yusuke: “A TV crew, eh…?”

Ryuji: “We should grab our kebabs and get outta here.”

Yusuke: Hey, is she talking about us?

Ryuji: “What the -”

Morgana: “What do we do, Akira?”

Yusuke: “Good point. We’ll look even more suspicious if we panic now.”

Morgana: “They got us!”

Ryuji: “Aw, hell… okay, I’m gonna ham it up and make some real cringey comments so they can’t use any of the footage.”

timrodresized: To get an idea, Ryuji’s Japanese VA starts doing this sort of weird old man voice.

timrodresized: Joker starts doing his real weird John Persona thing. “Yes. I am John Persona. I enjoy meat and meat by-products. Meat is an important part of every meal and a well-balanced breakfast.”

Ryuji: “Uh… I’d say that we’re really lovers of fruit! Oh, and sweets! Sweets are just to DIE for!”

Ryuji: “Phew, that was too close…”

Yusuke: “That was truly cringeworthy, but are you certain they won’t air any of it?”

Ryuji: “I’m pretty certain she thought that was a broadcast disaster. We oughta be okay.”

timrodresized: Joker pulls out his air horn through reflex alone.

Ryuji: “Oh, right! My kebab!”

Yusuke: “Standing around in this sweltering heat was rather trying.”

Ryuji: “And almost all the good stuff was already sold out…”

Morgana: “I didn’t even eat breakfast this morning. I’m starting to get lightheaded…”

timrodresized: This reminds me of this time I went to an “Asian Festival” and the only food there was American-style Chinese food.

Yusuke: “Even still, an occasion like this seems to make everything taste delicious… how mysterious.”

timrodresized: I looked it up because I was wondering if kebabs are uncommon in Japan, and no, they’re apparently very popular in Tokyo and have restaurants all over the place that serve them.

timrodresized: What I’m saying is that Joker could probably find one in Shibuya without having to come out to… wherever this is.

Morgana: “B-But look, Akira - at least we have shaved ice!”

Ryuji: “Welp, we came all the way out here, so we might as well go check that thing out.”

Yusuke: “What thing?”

Ryuji: “I heard they’re building some kinda huge-ass stadium or somethin’ nearby. Wait, was that what it was?”

Morgana: “You don’t know what you’re talking about, do you?”

timrodresized: I know that this is another cutscene that was probably written as a confidant event but that Atlus felt the need to shoehorn in for some reason.

Yusuke: “A stadium… well, such buildings often have intriguing architecture - I’d love to see it for personal reference.”

Ryuji: “Yeah? Then c’mon, let’s go.”

timrodresized: So okay, what was the point of that cutscene? Can anyone tell me what that cutscene did to advance the plot?

Ryuji: “They barely even started?”

Yusuke: “We seem to be premature speculators.”

Ryuji: "I guess this is what people call ‘jumpin’ the gum.’ "

Morgana: “Jumping the gun.”

timrodresized: You would think that Ryuji’s last line would have him saying “jumpin’ the gum” in English to go with the whole “He’s not very good at English” bit. He says it in Japanese, and Morgana corrects him in Japanese.

timrodresized: I feel like it’s just overdoing the whole “Haha Ryuji is dumb” thing to a level that it didn’t really need to go to.

Ryuji: “There ain’t nothin’ to do here - you wanna go grab a bite somewhere?”

Yusuke: “Sorry, I’m considering picking up more art supplies. I have a summer assignment to work on.”

Yusuke: “…Also, the summer festival drained all my coffers. Even if I did grab a bite, all I could order would be water and a hot towel.”

Ryuji: “Ah… in that case, we probably oughta just call it quits for today.”

timrodresized: Okay, are you ready for this cutscene to go from zero to negative sixty in record time?

timrodresized: Kasumi is rapidly turning into this game’s Poochie. "Anytime Kasumi’s not on screen, someone should be asking ‘Where’s Kasumi?’ "

timrodresized: She’s not in Strikers not because Strikers was made separately from Royal but because she and Maruki are both aliens and died on their way back to their home planet.

Morgana: “Don’t you think she’s acting strange? You know, she did mention something about a meet earlier.”

Ryuji: “Uh, ain’t you guys headed home?”

timrodresized: Run, Yusuke! Save yourself!

Ryuji: “Huh? Welp, see ya, then.”

Yusuke: “Yes, catch you later.”

timrodresized: Am I the only one who thinks Kasumi’s neck is kind of weirdly long?

Kasumi: “Y-Yes. Did you come to see the stadium too?”

Kasumi: “Same here. I needed to give myself a pep talk.”

timrodresized: With the plot? Yeah, and Atlus could’ve just fixed it instead of doing… whatever this is.

Kasumi: “Sometimes, when things get me down, I come here. Although, that doesn’t really answer your question, does it?”

Kasumi: “I know this may get in the way of your plans, but would you be willing to join me for lunch?”

Kasumi: “I’m always like this after a meet. In all honesty, I’d like to keep going… but any more will end up harming my performance.”

Kasumi: “Simply put? It was a disaster. I’ve been feeling like I’m getting back into the natural flow of things, thanks to you, Kurusu-senpai… but when the moment of truth arrived, my body still wouldn’t move the way that I wanted it to…”

Kasumi: “Yes, I’ve really hit a wall with this. Something similar happened to me in middle school - but back then, I had someone by my side that kept me going…”

timrodresized: You probably don’t remember (because holy shit I looked back at my first couple of updates and what the shit was I even thinking) but we actually already heard about this from someone else.

Kasumi: “I promised her we’d take the gold for our routines across the world… but I can’t stop worrying about my lack of improvement lately.”

Kasumi: “I’ve really been throwing myself into practice, but I wonder if even that won’t be enough…”

Kasumi: “Kurusu-senpai…”

Kasumi: “You just keep on rescuing me, don’t you?”

Kasumi: “Okay! No more brooding! There are still meets left this year. I’m going to start from scratch and train as hard as I can. Thank you so much for listening to all that!”

Kasumi: “Now I feel like I’ve been recharged, mind, body, and spirit- … well, at least my mind and spirit are recharged!”

Kasumi: “The best way to stave off hunger is with some vigorous activity! I’m going to jog home - take care!”

timrodresized: After the fact, I thought about it a little bit and I think I can explain why that entire cutscene exists. I think what’s happening is that it’s the writers trying to address the issue of Makoto kind of taking over everything to the point of all the other party members existing solely to agree with her.

timrodresized: I guess they figured that if they gave the other party members more screen time, people would get so bored they’d stop paying attention.

timrodresized: I think that’s the only good part of that entire cutscene - even the writers acknowledged that Mishima is kind of unlikable.

Morgana: “Are you kidding me…? I hope Lady Ann and the others haven’t found out…”

timrodresized: There’s also an optional IM conversation you can miss if you don’t go through your IMs.

timrodresized: I think we all know that if Joker wasn’t busy with confidants he’d take Yusuke out to a very expensive dinner.

Morgana: “Sorry I couldn’t catch it for you. I always forget how short my arms are as a cat…”

timrodresized: Tonight, we’re going to get the single biggest social stat boost we’ve ever gotten.

timrodresized: First, we grip and sip for two points in knowledge. Ordinarily, this would be grounds for a Luck Reading for the extra point… but we’re using that for something else.

timrodresized: Next, we make a stop at the DVD store to pick up a bootleg of The Walking Dead, which I imagine was made in Turkey and stars some random middle-aged guy the directors picked out of a bar.

timrodresized: And NOW we do our Luck Reading… for Charm. Why Charm, you ask?

timrodresized: We are going to watch a godawful romance movie.

timrodresized: In just this one night, with the bonus from Craft of Cinema, we get ten points to charm.

Ann: “I guess girls like me want that perfect, romantic kind of love you see in the movies.”

Ann: giggle “Thanks for going along with it. Now that I think about it, that movie wasn’t geared toward guys at all, huh? But I’m glad you came with me! You’re such a good friend!”

timrodresized: Is there a term for being friendzoned by someone you never intended to date anyway?

timrodresized: I was kind of hesitant about doing the 18th in this update because this is where the big long exposition dump was in the base game.

timrodresized: Ann ignoring the fact that Joker is not likely to be able to see the fireworks without his glasses on. Then again, it would’ve been great if at the last boss they had a cutscene where the boss breaks Joker’s glasses and he’s just like “You do realize I just wear those for looks, right? They’re not even prescription.”

timrodresized: Joker stands up from his meal. “Excuse me, I think the cat needs a bath. A very long, very cold bath.”

Sojiro: “Oh yeah, there’s a fireworks festival today… if you’re going, be careful. Those things get insanely crowded.”

Morgana: “It’d be nice to watch the fireworks with the chief someday. We could watch them right here at Leblanc… actually, no we couldn’t.”

Morgana: “Right when we were about to leave too… who is it?”

timrodresized: Translation: We’ll be finding out who the next target is by the end of today.

Morgana: “What could he mean by an insane group…? Hm… let’s think about this after we get back. We don’t have much time, so let’s get going.”

timrodresized: That’s right, our next target is the Insane Clown Posse.

Morgana: “The holiday means it’s as crowded on here as it is for morning rush hour…”

Morgana: “Wait, so all these people are going to the fireworks festival!? Huh… this should be fun…”

timrodresized: The scene transition thing on the subway changes for certain holidays.

Morgana: “I feel like I’m being baked…”

Ryuji: “Those girls are way too late…”

Yusuke: “It must be taking time for them to put on the yukata. Why aren’t you two wearing one?”

Ryuji: “I don’t got clothes like yukata. But man, you look way too normal in that.”

timrodresized: “I Don’t Gotta Yukata”, the hit Italian-Japanese comedy starring Mamamia Amamiya.

Ryuji: “Ah, by the way… the exams…”

Morgana: “I bet you got a big fat F on them.”

Ryuji: “Shuddup! We- we don’t know that yet!”

obs64 2021-03-03 20-29-38-36

Ryuji: “Are we… getting hit on!?”

timrodresized: I’d like to imagine Joker handing Yusuke an air horn, only to have Yusuke pull a belt of them out from underneath his yukata.

Ryuji: “Waitin’ around’s a pain, so can we just go with these chicks?”

Ryuji: “We’ll both apologize to the others later!”

Ryuji: “How could you!?”

Ryuji: “Uh, well… that’s…”

Ann: “You know, Yusuke’s such a pretty boy, but he is really missing out because of what he says.”

Makoto: “I guess, but he’s more likeable since he stays true to his ideals. Definitely more than somebody I know.”

Morgana: “I heard that Ryuji’s pretty much failed his exams.”

Makoto: “Oh?”

Ryuji: “Mona, you little-”

Ann: “Hey, it’s gonna get crowded if we don’t get going.”

Yusuke: “Agreed.”

timrodresized: Man, that’s a QUALITY shot of Ann. Where’d her nose go?

timrodresized: Oh man, I lined those up PERFECTLY. No idea how I did that.

timrodresized: I don’t understand this shot at all. It’s not like anything was visible but a bit of her leg.

timrodresized: There’s a lot that implies that if you don’t wind up dating Ann, she dates Ryuji instead.

timrodresized: Pictured - two couples and the third wheel.

timrodresized: Oh look, it’s Haru. What’s she doing being escorted into a limo?

Ann: “I guess everyone had the same idea… what’s up?”

Makoto: “Mm, I think I just saw someone I know…”

Ann: “You mean the girl in that black car?”

timrodresized: Girl in the Black Car sounds like the title Sierra would’ve used for an award bait ending song if Jim Walls had the opportunity to make Police Quest IV.

Ryuji: “Well, she’s got a ride… time to show your skills, Mona! We need you as a car!”

Morgana: “It’s not possible in the real world!”

Ryuji: “We made such a commotion with the public, and this is what we get? Laaaame. Aren’t heroes that lurk in the shadows boring?”

Ryuji: “I wanna change the world with a loud bang, like a huge firework! …Then again, we aren’t gonna find someone bigger than Kaneshiro that easily.”

timrodresized: If I didn’t have standards I would put that one Katy Perry song here, but I have standards.

Yusuke: “The rain is letting up. Though it’s regrettable, we should go our separate ways for today.”

Morgana: “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

Sae: “I see. In that case, I have ways of making you talk.”

timrodresized: It’s fine, Sae will just drug him and have him brought to a black site for interrogation.

Sojiro: “Huh? What’s that supposed to-”

Sae: “Thanks for the drink.”

Sojiro: “H-Hey! We’re not done here yet!”

Sojiro: “It’s nothing. It’s past closing time. Clean up the place.”

timrodresized: And here’s our next opponent, a blatant reference to Anonymous.

Sojiro: “The Phantom Thieves again…?”

Sojiro: “Justice, huh?”

timrodresized: This is a direct reference to a slogan that pre-dates Anonymous as a “hacktivist group”, and was used on 2008-era 4chan when they’d raid people.

timrodresized: The original being “We are Anonymous. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

timrodresized: Anyway, this entire thing feels like a painfully out of touch writer trying to “connect with kids these days”

Akechi: “I don’t know the details, but there’s no doubt that they were provoked by the Phantom Thieves. Whether it’s a sense of rivalry or a simple attention grab given the recent trends, I cannot say…”

Akechi: “Regardless, it’s quite a nuisance.”

timrodresized: Metal Gear?!

Akechi: “Both Medjed and the Phantom Thieves are nothing more than groups that uphold an egoistic justice.”

Sojiro: “What a stupid thing they’re getting riled up on… Phantom Thieves, huh? What in the world are they? You know about them?”

timrodresized: This feels like when I was a kid and Pokemon became a thing, and you had all these adults asking “Pokemons? What’re those? I don’t get it.”

Sojiro: "What are they stealing though? I’m still having trouble getting that part… well, it’s about time I go home. Make sure you lock the place up. Also, about the stuff in the fridge - "

Sojiro: “…Well, I guess it’s fine. Just don’t use too much of it.”

timrodresized: Shut up, Makoto!

timrodresized: God I hate these over-long IM things where they just restate the same thing like thirty times.

Morgana: “A world-class target, huh? If we can change Medjed’s heart, it’ll most definitely affect Mementos.”

timrodresized: Before we end the day, there’s another optional IM conversation. I’m not sure if this existed in the base game or not.

timrodresized: This is kind of a dumb ongoing joke where every event Yusuke attends gets rained out.

timrodresized: We have to craft tonight for proficiency points. I wound up getting the extra point, and then…

timrodresized: We weren’t supposed to rank up until the 21st. Higher proficiency also means more chalk dodges - I believe at proficiency 4 you’re more likely than not to dodge it.

timrodresized: This means we’ll have a few extra nights near the end of September, which is good because I have a lot of stuff I need to show.

timrodresized: Next time, we’ll get our exam results, continue to be under budget and ahead of schedule on social stats, and still be nowhere near the next dungeon.

Joker starts quoting the entire Superman/Clark Kent speech from Kill Bill Vol. 2 verbatim, only in first person. “Akira Kurusu is my critique of humanity.”

Anime girls stopped having noses years ago. Noses are unnecessary for moe.

Sojiro “Did…did you actually just say ‘Ve have vays off makink you talk’?”

John Persona likes the shade. He likes to throw the shade.

Also the whole talk with Kasumi and all her portraits there are pretty much everything that distracts and bothers me about this art style they’re using. Shading everything so people’s skin tone is darker around their mouths makes me feel like no one’s washing their face, and I’m also getting distracted by the fact her forehead looks like it’s in direct light and her neck is slinking into the shadows.

Summary

timrodresized: I think what the writers for this game didn’t realize is that Anonymous wasn’t really a “hacktivist” group at first. They also weren’t, for the most part, actually hackers.

timrodresized: What’s funny is that almost every time the real Anonymous tried something like that, they wound up being wrong.

timrodresized: They tried it in 2014 after the murder of Michael Brown, in an attempt to ‘dox’ the officer involved. What they wound up leaking was the name of an unrelated officer in another town.

timrodresized: I forgot that I mentioned once already that you can’t get the top score unless you already have your knowledge maxed out and answer every question correctly.

timrodresized: We were not supposed to rank up in charm until the end of the month.

Ryuji: “Hey, it’s not my fault my scores suck, right?”

Ryuji: “You don’t gotta throw the truth right in my face like that… anyways, there’s somethin’ more important here! Mishima…”

Mishima: “You wanted to ask me something about the internet, right?”

Ryuji: “Yup. I’m gonna be straight with you here - do you know who Medjed is?”

Mishima: “You weren’t kidding about being direct. Well, I suppose the news about Medjed and the Phantom Thieves has caused quite the commotion… they started out as hackers of justice, but now they only look out for their own self-interests.”

timrodresized: This is more or less how the real Anonymous operated, except they just kind of got progressively dumber as time went on and people started co–opting the name.

timrodresized: I hadn’t read much about their recent exploits, but one of the last “hacks” they made news for was “hacking” NASA trying to prove… I dunno, some conspiracy bullshit. What they got was a bunch of material that was already publicly accessible.

Mishima: “…That’s all I know. They were the group I texted Kurusu about yesterday.”

Ryuji: “I see…”

Mishima: “Nobody’s sure who actually belongs to Medjed. Well, it looks like things’ll be exciting this summer. It’ll be the Phantom Thieves’ world debut, no?”

Ryuji: “Dude…”

Mishima: “Don’t worry, I’ll be rooting for the Phantom Thieves. I’ll get the forum mobilized as well. Now if we’re done talking here, I really must be going. I’ll see you guys later.”

Morgana: “So that was fruitless…”

Ryuji: “Wonder if anyone else got any info.”

Ryuji: “No luck…”

Morgana: “Medjed, hm? It seems like we won’t be able to deal with them by ourselves.”

Kawakami: “Settle down! We’ve had many strange incidents: the psychotic breakdowns, students being dragged into crime rings… hence, Principal Kobayakawa has instructed all teachers to caution the student body.”

Kawakami: “This is inconvenient for us too, you know? Having to find things to warn you about so suddenly…”

timrodresized: There’s an interesting fact I didn’t know about this character here, mostly because I can’t play the PSP version of Eternal Punishment: her father’s Japanese voiceactor is the same guy who did Baofu in EP PSP.

timrodresized: The chalk drawing of Akechi has been replaced with the John Persona logo.

timrodresized: Regrettably, we have to spend the afternoon with Makoto.

Makoto: “Both myself and Akira-kun here saw you there. Based on where you were heading, we assume you’re working at a store called the After School Salon. How is it, working there?”

Makoto: “Hm. So you’re sure nothing strange is going on?”

Makoto: “I see… beyond that though, why are you working there? How’s your financial situation?”

Makoto: “O-Oh, I see…”

timrodresized: What answer was she expecting? Does anyone work for any reason that doesn’t involve payment?

Makoto: “Mega… pamper?”

timrodresized: And then that one guy with the diaper from the Yakuza substories in 6 and 7 bursts through the wall. “You rang?”

timrodresized: Joker: “Ma’am, under the Geneva Convention the only things I am required to tell you are my name, rank, and that I am not and have never been horny.”

Makoto: “Right. It was nothing more than an errand I asked him to accompany me on. At any rate, don’t mind him. As for you… I don’t plan on telling anyone.”

Makoto: “I was just worried you were getting wrapped up in some shady business, so I asked him here for support.”

Makoto: “Huh? You know Buchimaru-kun…?”

Makoto: “Well, it was given to me when I was still in elementary school… I’d like to buy a new one, but they’ve stopped selling Buchimaru-kun merchandise.”

Makoto: “Um… isn’t that a full circle?”

timrodresized: They call her Makoto because when you see her you’ll turn 360 degrees and walk away.

Makoto: “O-oh, um… okay. Wait, he’s not my boyfriend.”

Makoto: “She was all over the place… honestly though, I’m in shock. She thought I was a robot…”

timrodresized: We all know that the correct answer is the bottom one, and that Joker looks her right in the eye and goes “Beep boop, I am Makoto, I am the smart girl. I run on having too much time on screen.”

Makoto: “Yes. That’s why you’re helping me. You know, I believe what Takao-san said about me is how others think as well. I thought I had changed after the incident with Kaneshiro, but perhaps it wasn’t enough…”

Makoto: “That aside, it was almost inspiring to meet someone so distinct from myself. I’m going to try to look at things a little differently from now on. And, well… I think that will help me break out of my shell.”

Makoto: “I’ll be interested to speak with Takao-san some more now that I have her contact information. Perhaps I can correct her misconceptions about you… and as always, I’ll let you know if anything important happens. Well, see you later.”

Makoto: “I got a message from Takao-san earlier. She turned out to be quite a fan of Buchimaru-kun. It was crazy to see a picture of her entire collection. She even has a bunch of Buchimaru-kun emoticons!”

timrodresized: It’s very strange to me that a Japanese teenager would be using the phrase “emoticon” in 2016. I’m pretty sure by that point, “emoji” had become the internationally-used term for those.

Makoto: “Huh…? Yeah, I guess you’re right. I didn’t expect to bond over something like this, though. I’m pretty shocked, to be honest… though I’m still a little worried about that store she works at.”

Makoto: “I’ll try a little harder to get through to her about it. I might come to you for more advice later. For now, I’ll let you go. Talk to you later.”

timrodresized: Joker responds with “Yes, you totally should. In fact, come to Leblanc and let’s talk it out over iced coffees and text Makoto with everything we learn.”

timrodresized: There’s a missable (and largely pointless) reward you can get from Sojiro for getting a high score on exams.

Sojiro: “Oh? You have a good look on your face. You can have this. Look at your face with it.”

timrodresized: The Dandy Mirror gives you the Counterstrike ability when equipped, which gives you a 15% chance to counter physical attacks. It doesn’t stack with the other counter skills and is garbage when things like Null Phys exist.

Sojiro: “You actually are pretty smart, huh. You showed me. Studying is good and all, but men need to keep up their looks too. Looking clean is important.”

timrodresized: Nobody tell that to the Magic the Gathering crowd. Seriously, I used to be able to smell where the MtG tables were at gaming cons.

Morgana: “It’s one bad thing after another with this company. Hmm, I wonder if they’re cursed or something.”

timrodresized: We’re spending tonight with Chihaya, because now that Kawakami is done she’s the next priority.

Chihaya: “Oh, you needn’t mind him. That’s just my apprentice. If anything, you can think of him as a human-sized stuffed animal. I mean, look how fluffy his hair is.”

Chihaya: “I take that to mean something else has happened with your job?”

Chihaya: “In that case, let’s ask the tarot! Show us the truth, O divine power…”

Chihaya: “Yes… I’ve seen everything. Hm, the cards have appeared in reverse. In other words, it seems as though your business is doomed to failure.”

Chihaya: “I’m sorry… but in this case, it appears your fate is inescapable.”

Chihaya: “What are your thoughts? Were you even listening? What can we do to help this woman who is so oppressed by the savagery of a male-dominated work environment?”

timrodresized: “Look, we’re going to need to smash capitalism. Get me the biggest guillotine you can find.”

Chihaya: “What? It’s a little idealistic to expect that will actually work… incidentally, what would you say if you wanted to encourage her?”

timrodresized: The guide told me to pick the second one, but it’s not worth any points anyway. Besides, we couldn’t pick that last one or this would just be Gurren Lagann.

Chihaya: “Don’t be so irresponsible! That’s simply not an option! How can you expect her to overturn that which is inescapable!?”

Chihaya: “H-Huh…? …You’re far too irresponsible, Kurusu-san! Her misfortune has already been made clear! The cards will surely back me up on that…”

Chihaya: “I-It seems the sequence of cards has changed… her financial future is now appearing as extremely successful! What did you do? Are you… are you psychic? Did you use your powers to change the order of the cards!?”

Chihaya: “My divine power is capable of sending people like you down to the depths of hell, you know! Yes… that has to be it. That’s the only way this could happen… fate cannot be changed. Fate is absolute… that is how it must be.”

Chihaya: “That may not be such a bad idea… but if that possibility were the truth, how would I keep my Holy Stone business intact?”

Chihaya: “…A-Anyway! You’ve change the flow of destiny twice now, both times coming before my very eyes… it seems this verification process is turning out to be much more meaningful than I expected!”

Chihaya: “So I’m going to get right to my question! You’re currently standing right in front of your house, correct!?”

Chihaya: “See, that’s exactly what my reading told me! Fate is absolute after all! If everyone could reverse their fate as easily as flipping a table, life would be easy!”

timrodresized: I’m getting horrible flashbacks to Umineko no Naku Koro Ni. “Turn the chessboard around! Prove the existence of cake! You can’t because cake is magic!”

Chihaya: “This… this is why I believe I need to conduct these verifications with you. So please promise me you’ll stop by my booth again! Okay, I’ll talk to you later.”

Justine: “To think you would relax under such circumstances. Either you’re quite bold… or quite foolish.”

Igor: “One with an ‘unseen’ form, hm? It seems you’ve been targeted by troublesome company.”

Igor: chuckle “I’ve been enjoying this endless dispute over ‘justice’. However, it will soon come to an end - and through the appearance of an unexpected force, of all things. Engaging with formidable enemies is also part of your rehabilitation. I ask that you overcome this.”

Igor: “After all, you must hone your powers… and become a magnificent thief…”

timrodresized: The next couple of days are going to be almost pure cutscene - in fact, in the base game, you’d go through the next few days with zero input of your own.

timrodresized: However, this part is probably my favorite out of the entire game - mostly because it’s about as close as Persona 5 gets to being Persona 4.

timrodresized: Strikers also goes for a tone much more similar to this part than to the rest of P5. I’d probably enjoy it if the gameplay wasn’t shit.

Akechi: “I didn’t think Medjed would pounce on the Phantom Thieves. Interesting things keep happening this year. The influence of John Persona knows no bounds… I underestimated it, honestly.”

Akechi: “I wonder what the public thinks of this. Are they entertained? Or perhaps inconvenienced?”

Akechi: “Entertained, huh… a luxury for the uninvolved. I know they mean no ill intent. So this is what the public thinks… whoops, I don’t have time for a conversation. My attendance has been poor due to interviews lately.”

timrodresized: There’s this sort of menacing theme that plays during cutscenes with the palace bosses that plays here, and I don’t know what it’s called.

timrodresized: Now, there’s a reason they picked the name “Alibaba” (it’s a kanji pun of sorts on their actual name) but I have to wonder if it was meant to be a reference to Baofu, as Baofu spends the entirety of Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment pretending to be Taiwanese.

Morgana: “Hm? You can’t reply back? I don’t know what this is all about, but we should probably let everyone know about this.”

Makoto: “Seems so…”

Yusuke: “How were we found out?”

Makoto: “He may have traced our chat log…”

Yusuke: “How careless of us…”

Makoto: “But how would he have known all these details with just that?”

Yusuke: “Do you think that there is another cause?”

Makoto: “Yeah. I’m not sure why, but that’s the feeling I get.”

Ann: “Hey, is it that easy to look at someone else’s chat log?”

timrodresized: I mean, we’ve technically been doing that the entire time, so…

Makoto: “I don’t know much about it myself, but… it’s probably not impossible, I think?”

Ryuji: “How’s it done?”

Makoto: “Maybe they extracted our phones’ data?”

Ann: “Why’s Akira getting an error when he tries to reply?”

Makoto: “Perhaps the receiving end doesn’t exist?”

Ryuji: “That’s possible?”

Makoto: “Don’t ask me everything. I told you that I don’t know much about it.”

timrodresized: Can they hack souls? Are they… Soul Hackers?

Morgana: “I see. I don’t really get it.”

Yusuke: “Then, is this person Medjed?”

Makoto: “I doubt it, considering he says he wants to ‘deal’ with them. That is, only if we take his words for face value.”

Yusuke: “True…”

Ryuji: “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if we got this guy on our side?”

Makoto: “But we know nothing about his identity at all. We can’t trust him.”

Ryuji: “I don’t think it’s a bad deal though…”

Yusuke: “Even if Alibaba turns out to be a criminal? I am not helping anyone of that sort.”

Ryuji: “Oh, right. That wouldn’t be good…”

Morgana: "The ‘I’ve prepared the necessary tool’ part makes no sense either.

Makoto: “He knows an awful lot for it to be a prank.”

Ann: “If he knows who we are, won’t we get caught?”

Makoto: “No. If he wanted to report us, I think he would’ve done it already.”

Yusuke: “He must have some sort of objective of his own. He did offer us a deal, after all. I’m certain he’ll contact us again.”

Makoto: “There’s no telling when he’ll do so, though… it’d be best if we stay together. If something happens, we can act at once.”

Ann: “Yeah. So, somewhere we can wait and hide for long hours…”

Ann: “Good evening. We were thinking about putting together plans for our summer.”

Sojiro: “Hm? Is that a new face I see?”

Makoto: “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Makoto Niijima. I hope we’re not being a bother.”

Ryuji: “She’s our student council president.”

Sojiro: “Niijima…?”

Makoto: “Is something wrong?”

Sojiro: “…Nah, it’s nothing. A student council president, eh? I’m stunned. I hope he’s not causing you too much trouble. I’m Sojiro Sakura, but everyone just calls me Boss.”

timrodresized: That’s… not entirely accurate. The Japanese voiceactors pretty clearly call him “Master”.

Sojiro: “This old man’ll get going and leave you kids be. All right, the store’s all yours.”

Ryuji: “Oh, come on! It’s in English!”

Ann: “Let me see…”

Medjed: “The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our question. This proves that we are just. People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves.”

Ryuji: “What!? That’s bullshit!”

Yusuke: “Keep listening.”

Medjed: “We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.”

Ann: “…That’s what it says.”

Ryuji: “What does that all mean!?”

timrodresized: Means that boy needs therapy.

Makoto: “They’re saying that they’ll target sympathizers of the Phantom Thieves.”

timrodresized: In reality, I don’t think Anonymous ever caused much in the way of actual financial damages - most of the numbers cited by companies like Paypal (which they took down for an hour at one point) were either theoretical or money they spent on security consultants. This came up during a criminal trial of an Anonymous member.

Ryuji: “Why the hell are we being singled out?”

Makoto: “Perhaps all they care about is labeling the Phantom Thieves as crooks. That all this wouldn’t have happened had the Phantom Thieves not existed.”

Ryuji: “That’s complete bullshit.”

Morgana: “Talk about a troublesome organization that we’ve been targeted by…”

Ann: “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

timrodresized: Given how dumb some of the people operating under the Anonymous umbrella were, you could probably just put a text file called “JOHN_PERSONA_REAL_IDENTITY.txt” somewhere and they’d think they struck gold.

Yusuke: “It’s certain we can’t do anything about this on our own…”

timrodresized: I mean, it did have that red seal on the back… this must be the point where Joker canonically gets invited to Smash.

timrodresized: On a side note, I wish I had a clean version of that video in Japanese because FUCK the English voices for this game they’re fucking godawful.

Morgana: “It’s rare for you to get something like this.”

Ann: “Anything else in there!? Who’s this from anyway?”

Makoto: “There’s no stamp on it. Someone must’ve directly dropped it into the mailbox here.”

Yusuke: “Could it have been Alibaba?”

Morgana: “That reminds me, he did mention something about preparing the ‘necessary tool’… don’t tell me… is this what he was talking about!?”

Ryuji: “What the hell’s goin’ on here?”

Makoto: “All we can do at the moment is wait for Alibaba’s orders. Let’s brace ourselves and stand by… in case anything comes up.”

Ann: “Oh dear…”

Morgana: “He can look forward to whatever he wants, but we have no means of striking back against Medjed. We’re gonna be in deep trouble if we don’t do something…”

timrodresized: This would be another bedcat night in the base game, but instead we get to watch our bootleg of The Walking Dead. I wonder if it sucks less than the real thing.

Morgana: “Ugh, talk about a dead man walking. I saw dogs in there too, but… not a single cat. Phew, what a scary world… I wouldn’t want anything to do with that.”

timrodresized: 5 points to Guts. We’ll be levelling Guts up tomorrow night.

timrodresized: I didn’t know Chris Redfield posted on the Phan-site. “Dear Phantom Thieves, Leon refuses to help me continue the Redfield bloodline can you please make him and Claire get together?”

timrodresized: Good morning, you uncanny-looking anime giraffe.

Kasumi: “Every day is so hot. I empty my water bottle so fast… by the way, summer break is coming up. Could I ask what your plans are, Senpai?”

Kasumi: “Oh, so you’re not the type to make plans in advance, I see! Then maybe we’ll have a chance to practice some more! I’ll be sure to give you proper instruction! Just let me know whenever you’re available, Senpai!”

Kasumi: “Oh, the train is here. Let’s get going then!”

Morgana: “So it really was from this guy…”

Morgana: “Tell him. We need the name of the target.”

Morgana: “So he threatened you, then just took off!? And Sakura…? I feel like I’ve heard that name before… in any case, we should let everyone know about this.”

Ann: " ‘Futaba Sakura’?"

Makoto: “Wasn’t Sakura…”

Ann: “It’s Boss’s last name!”

Yusuke: “Does he have any family?”

Morgana: “Does he?”

Ryuji: “For reals!? How laid-back are you!? Wouldn’t you normally be introduced at least? I mean, you ARE living at his place.”

timrodresized: Technically, we’re not. Sojiro has a house up the street from Leblanc - I think I showed it off in an earlier update, but we’ll see it again soon.

Yusuke: “Well, his situation does make things more difficult…”

Makoto: “Perhaps he thinks that the name alone is enough.”

Morgana: “That makes sense.”

Makoto: “I believe it’s adequate for us to think that this is the doing of someone close by.”

timrodresized: I mean, unless it’s like the AI girl in Strikers who can use bitcoin magic to order things online. I just cleared the first palace boss in Strikers. It took me 25 minutes.

Ann: “I see.”

Makoto: “I don’t know how Alibaba got a hold of Akira-kun’s smartphone information. However, since he’s ordering us through chat, I do feel as though he’s taunting us.”

Ryuji: “You mean, this might just be a prank?”

Makoto: “I mean, look at his demands. Pay me if you don’t want me to leak who you really are - that I’d understand. But he’s telling us to steal someone’s heart without explaning why.”

Yusuke: “So we’re being tested?”

Makoto: “Regardless, I think we should ask Boss about Futaba Sakura once.”

Morgana: “That’s probably for the best. There’s nothing else we can do at the moment, and Chief might have an idea on what this is about too.”

timrodresized: I don’t know why Morgana calls him “Chief” and everyone else calls him “Boss”. I didn’t really pay attention to see if they use the same term in Japanese or not.

Makoto: “I’ll check the school’s roster just in case.”

timrodresized: Keep this in mind for about… oh, two seconds from now.

Sojiro: “Why do you know about that?”

Sojiro: “It’s got nothing to do with you. I’m going home. Make sure you lock up the place.”

Morgana: “Looks like it’s a hit.”

timrodresized: More crafting tonight. We have a shitload of lockpicks so I make some useless garbage. Do we get the extra point? Hell yes we do.

Ryuji: “Tomrorow’s the end of the first semester, but we still got all this lame shit comin’ up…”

Morgana: “If you don’t take care of all this ‘lame shit’ you can kiss your summer vacation goodbye.”

Ryuji: “Oh yeah, about this Futaba Sakura girl… if she’s related to Boss, think people livin’ nearby would know about her?”

Morgana: “That’s some keen intuition coming from you, Ryuji. You should have made use of that on your exams.”

Ryuji: “Ugh, I never wanna think about exams ever again… anyway, askin’ around in your neighborhood might be the fastest way to figure this shit out. Then again, I doubt it’ll be that easy. It never is…”

Ushimaru: “There’s an urgent assembly on Monday. We’ll be taking attendance. There’s been an unusual number of strange incidents this year. Don’t do anything stupid over break.”

Ushimaru: “Got it? Don’t go someplace shady like the red-light district, and don’t go to the beach after dark.”

timrodresized: I’m tempted to just re-write Ushimaru’s lines in Hank Hill’s accent because we all know he’s just Anime Hank Hill.

Morgana: “I wanna go to the beach. I wanna jump in some cold water… seems like we won’t be having fun on our summer break for a while…”

timrodresized: There’s another stupid info-gathering thing here and I’m going to skip all but two pieces of it.

timrodresized: This guy SHOULD know who Futaba is, because she sold him something a few months back. Remember the video game console we bought? That was Futaba’s.

Morgana: “The chief buys a lot of food, far more than enough for one person living alone. Let’s check out all the shops where you can buy food!”

timrodresized: And so we do, and it is a complete waste of time.

Sojiro: “So you’re the one who tipped him off about Futaba. You really shouldn’t have done that. I have no intention of talking to you about Wakaba.”

timrodresized: Assuming you’re into a certain corner of Japanese internet culture, you’d know what Futaba’s name is referencing as soon as you saw this line.

timrodresized: Futaba is named after Futaba Channel, also known as 2chan. That’s the imageboard, not the text website. Wakaba is the code base that powers 2chan.

timrodresized: Futaba Channel was what moot modeled 4chan after - I think he even used some of the Wakaba code to do it. Their beige-and-pink style sheet (seen above) is still available on 4chan today under the name “Futaba”.

timrodresized: Also I’m really, really hoping that >548084196 is right. Just imagine Innocent Sin with a coherent plot and a good writer.

Sae: “Tipped off…? What are you talking about? Back to the matter at hand… your parental authority will have to be suspended. I take it you’re okay with that outcome?”

Sojiro: “What!?”

Sae: “Considering the state of your daughter and your family overall, there are no points in your favor. Would you like to take this to domestic court? Our chances of victory are roughly 99.9% though.”

timrodresized: Cognitive Psience. God that word sounds dumb.

Sojiro: “Tch… fine… you win.”

Sae: “Thank you. I will contact you at a later date.”

Sojiro: “I doubt you’ll find anything you want to hear though.”

Sae: “That’s fine. It will be up to us to decide whether the information you give us is useful or not. Next time I come here, it will just be for a nice cup of coffee.”

Sojiro: “That woman is real good at pissing people off… what’s with that look? You got something to say?”

Sojiro: “This doesn’t involve you.”

Sojiro: “That’s enough! Just behave yourself and keep going to school if you don’t want me to throw you out of here. You got that? Lock the store up.”

Morgana: “Moreso, our conjecture that Alibaba is connected to Leblanc seems to have a pretty solid foundation. Oh, and didn’t they mention ‘cognitive’ something?”

Morgana: “…I wonder what the Chief is hiding. We can’t really presshim on the subject though, especially after he mentioned throwing you out.”

Morgana: “She said ‘abuse’… would the chief really do that? It’s gotta be some kind of mistake, right?”

timrodresized: We spend the night finishing our bootleg of The Walking Dead.

timrodresized: We remain on schedule for stat gains, and now we have enough to start Iwai’s confidant. Next time, we’ll eat sushi, get complained at by Akechi, and see a spooky ghost. We’ll also finally learn, in one day, who Futaba Sakura is and what her deal is.

I am thou, thou art I…
Thou has turned a vow into a blood oath

Thy MOOSE shall become the wings of SQVIRREL
and break the Saturday morning of thy cartoon block,

Thou has awakened to the ultimate secret of BULLWINKLE, granting thee infinite power…

Nah, you want to see something fucking horrifying?