Click Here for Update 41
: It’s July 10th, and now the opinion bar is significantly higher than before.
: 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.
: “Huh? It’s not right? …Not cute? That was the one the staff recommended to me though… won’t that printer do?”
: “Huh? It’ll do, but it’s not it? …Okay, I’ll be right over.”
: “This might take a while. I’m leaving the store to you. Lock up for me if I don’t come back.”
: “Something like that… sheesh, what a handful.”
: “I mean, apart from our- I mean their- writing quality being kind of all over the place, sure.”
: “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.”
: “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.”
: I’m surprised it took Superintendent Chalmers here this long to think this plan up.
: “…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…”
: “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.”
: “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?”
: “Gotcha! We’re gonna come over right now about the you-know-what. Seeya!”
: “That’s not why we’re here! We need to study for finals!”
: sigh “Why am I here too?”
: “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?”
: 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.
: “Ohoho, oh, I’ll hold you to that! Wanna see who gets the higher test scores?”
: 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.
: “Let’s leave those guys be..”
: sigh “I couldn’t ask the last time I was here… but what is this place? The storekeeper doesn’t seem to be around…”
: “It’s where this guy lives. He’s got complicated circumstances… we can tell her about it, right? Actually, tell her yourself.”
: “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.”
: “Hey, don’t forget me.”
: “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?”
: “…That’s a secret.”
: “Ooh, there’s someone like that? You could just tell us, you know. You don’t gotta be so cold.”
: “That aside, do you have any intention of studying for the exams?”
: “Not really…”
: “It’s fine if I leave then?”
: “N-No, I’m just joking! Please teach us..”
: “Leave vocabulary and long sentences to me. I suck at proper grammar, though…”
: “Even if we study English, it’s not like I’m gonna use it in the future.”
: 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’.)
: “When it comes to you, your Japanese is questionable too.”
: “Aw shuddup!”
: 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.”
: “It’s impossible! I can’t memorize all these formulas.. ain’t there a good way of cheatin’?”
: “…Why don’t we take a break?”
: “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.”
: “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.”
: “Yes. They’re no different than the criminals they target. This cannot be overlooked.”
: “I see,” my ass. Why the hell’re we bein’ treated as the bad guys?"
: “Just let them say whatever they want. More people are starting to understand that what we’re doing is right, after all.”
: “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?”
: “Don’t get pompous over dealing with some street thug. Save it for after we deal with a bigger target.”
: “We just gotta take down a bigger one, yeah? That was the plan from the start, anyways!”
: “True, it may be best if we start thinking about it.”
: “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.”
: “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-”
: You might’ve noticed that this is a lengthy cutscene where not a whole lot is happening. Trust me, it gets worse.
: “Where should we go? I feel like I’ll study better if I got something to look forward to.”
: “The last one was a buffet at a hotel. We haven’t gone anywhere since.”
: “…Hm!? A buffet!?”
: “Where would be good? Hey, what about fireworks!? A fireworks festival!”
: “Oh yeah, it’s that season, huh!”
: “That sounds good to me.”
: “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.”
: “Do you guys own a yukata? Will you wear a yukata!?”
: “Doesn’t a fireworks festival sound good? You think so too, right?”
: I get this is a thing that happens in real life, but like.. why is this dialog here? What purpose does it serve?
: 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.
: “C’mon, you gotta be more active! All right, fireworks festival it is! Let’s look for a good one!”
: “Study comes first, though. I won’t let you off if you fail any of them. Are we clear?”
: “Y-Yes, ma’am…”
: 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.
: Meet our next target. At least she understands the Featherman hierarchy - Red always goes next to Black.
: We actually saw her in an earlier update when I was dicking around the school.
: If you thought the last Mementos update was long, the next one’s going to have a whopping 9 requests to do.
: 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.
: “…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.”
: Get used to this, because this is going to be a recurring thing.
: “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?”
: “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.”
: “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?”
: “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…”
: “…Ah, sorry. I don’t want to make you late. I’ll see you again.”
: Don’t you love how Akechi is the only one who gets confidant events outside of his actual confidant? Because I don’t.
: “Thanks to Kaneshiro spilling the beans, that organization is falling like a house of cards. Hehehe.. we’re getting more and more famous!”
: “I know some of you rely on all-nighters, but I can’t recommend it. That really messes up your information retention.”
: “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.”
: “In the short-term, you’re working with a hard limit. You retain only… six, maybe seven pieces of information.”
: 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.
: Miller’s theory has been challenged several times since he originally published, mostly by people claiming the number is much lower than that.
: “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?”
: “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?”
: “So he wants to know how long you keep long-term memories, huh…? This is a tricky one. What is long-term memory, anyway?”
: “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..”
: “Yeah! If you have theoretically infinite space for them.. then theoretically, you’d be able to retain them for…”
: “Yeah. I think so too. …So that’s it. Long-term memories will never really fade away!”
: “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.”
: “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.”
: And now we’re about to see why I didn’t do the reset-heavy route.
: 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.
: Anyway, that’s our gameplay for this update.
: “Heading home? Its rare running into you at this hour. Oh, that reminds me - do you remember the counseling Dr. Maruki’s offering?”
: “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…”
: “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.”
: “…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?”
: 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.
: “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.”
: “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?”
: “Thank you. Why don’t we find a seat somewhere?”
: And now it’s time for this cutscene to get real pointless, real fast.
: “And you are…”
: “It’s been quite a while, Akechi-san.”
: “And the same for you… Yoshizawa-san, right?”
: “My father works at a TV station. Have you seen ‘Good Morning Japan’? My father’s the director.”
: “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.”
: “He helped me out of a jam before, and now he’s been offering me guidance.”
: 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.
: 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.
: In the process, they killed the gameplay to cutscene ratio in a lot of places. This is one of them.
: “Helped you out of a jam, eh? I see… so, what were you two up to?”
: “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?”
: “This only feels like the beginning to me, though.”
: “Isn’t your club’s team considered to be quite prestigious? And you’re their representative? I must say, that’s extremely impressive.”
: “Thank you! I’ll do my best to make everyone proud.”
: “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.”
: “That would be wonderful! does that work for you, Kurusu-senpai?”
: “That settles it. Would you mind if I chose the place? There’s a wonderful little cafe I know about…”
: “Of course! Lead the way!”
: It’s actually iced coffee, Colette. It’s great how that’s the only scene anyone remembers from Tales of Symphonia.
: “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?”
: “I swear I saw you eating fried sweet bread on TV just the other day…”
: “It’s all part of a marketing strategy. That sort of stunt is an easy crowd-pleaser.”
: 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.
: “You seem to have your own bases covered as well.”
: 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?”
: “Haha, you’re more innocent than I had expected.”
: “I’ve been wondering: how do you two know each other?”
: “His social studies class visited the set of a TV show I appeared on.”
: This is getting dangerously close to Allanson writing and I don’t like it.
: “Ah, that’s right. Second-years got to go to a TV station.”
: “He and I exchanged our opinions during the shoot and his way of thinking intrigued me.”
: 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!
: “I can definitely see that! Kurusu-senpai’s take on things often helps me as well.”
: “That reminds me, Yoshizawa-san. You had mentioned that he’s been providing you with some guidance.”
: She just fucking said that!
: “Yes - just like you said, his way of thinking is intriguing. I figured I could benefit from his input.”
: “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?”
: “No, go right ahead.”
: “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.”
: “I see. Care to explain why?”
: “I suspect the Phantom Thieves’ existence isn’t going to be beneficial in the long run.”
: “How so?”
: “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.”
: 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.
: 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?
: Why does this sound like the writers for Royal really didn’t understand what it is the Phantom Thieves do?
: 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.
: “I see… So, in the sense of a person’s growth, their actions actually hinder it. Quite an interesting take on the matter.”
: “Haha, quite. I’d say it’s equally as unique as your own opinions.”
: “Wait.. could you actually be a fan of the Phantom Thieves, Kurusu-senpai!?”
: “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.”
: “I’m sorry, I should probably get going.. if I’m away from home too late, my parents will begin to worry.”
: “Right, then let’s call it a day. Good luck on your competition.”
: “Yes! Thank you! Well then, see you later!”
: 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.
: After a quick trip to Chihaya to get the extra point in Knowledge, it’s time for Hifumi again.
: “You think to protect yourself with that paltry defense? Hahaha… useless! Awaken, dragon! Let your shadowy hellfire consume them all! Dark Inferno Rook!”
: Joker activates his trap card, which he uses to special summon Blue Eyes White Dragon in defensive position.
: “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!”
: “At last, everything is in place… my right hand trembles as I release my full power!”
: 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.”
: “…Check.”
: “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..”
: “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..”
: “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.”
: “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.”
: 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.”
: Then they both laugh when he describes Ryuji’s collection of heavily-modded Beyblades.
: “Your positivity is.. a welcome relief. I may be able to learn more from our matches than I thought.”
: “That will do for today.”
: 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.
: “Do you read weekly magazines…? Um, well, I’m doing a photoshoot for one..”
: By Persona 6, all the female social links will be idols who are also magical girls.
: “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..”
: “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.”
: “A summer festival, huh… you think they’ll have any A5 beef there?”
: I’ve never had wagyu beef before, but it seems really overpriced for what it is.
: “Well, you should worry about finals first. Once those are over, it’ll be summer vacation, so stay focused!”
: 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.
: 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.
: “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.”
: “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.”
: “Now then, please look at this picture, Kurusu-kun.”
: “He did something during the Sengoku period that had him and his family boiled to death. Do you know what he did?”
: 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!”
: “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.”
: 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.
: 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.
: “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.”
: And well, the entire Ganbare Goemon/Mystical Ninja series.
: “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.”
: “In actuality, most heroes and gentleman thieves throughout history are something like that.”
: “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.”
: “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.”
: “Considering you’re the student council president, I’d rather they didn’t force you to come here at all, actually.”
: “Well, I was advised to come, but I still chose to do it on my own.”
: “Oh, good! Glad to hear it.”
: “But please, there’s no need to be concerned about my being here. Feel free to discuss anything with me.”
: “Ah, right. So I shall. Heh, you’re sounding more like the counselor here than I am.”
: 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.
: “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.”
: “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.”
: “Indeed… especially lately. I feel like I can’t do anything right by myself nowadays.”
: “Did something go wrong for you?”
: “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.”
: 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.
: Believe me when I say there is a point to all of these dumbass therapy cutscenes, and the point is unbelievably stupid.
: “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.”
: 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.
: 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.
: “Adults.. who should be protecting me? Had I been clever enough to understand that earlier, things may have gone a bit differently for me.”
: “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.”
: “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.”
: Surprisingly, nothing has ever been said about Makoto’s mother, even in side material.
: “…In fact, now that I think about it, I may well have grown up to be a bit uptight because of that.”
: “Is that so… and are you doing okay now? Is your support system adequate?”
: “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.”
: “Of course, I’d never think of them as replacements for my father or my sister. No one could replace either of them.”
: “What I’ve lost won’t ever come back. I just need to keep my chin up and push towards my future.”
: “Mm, I like the way you put that. No one can ever be replaced… yet we need to keep pushing towards our future.”
: “Should anything come up that you want help with, I’ll be there to support you… though my skills are pretty limited.”
: After a quick trip to Chihaya for a luck reading, we’re going to spend the afternoon with 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.”
: “Anyways, uh… I might need some backup here. Can you stick around?”
: “Dude, chill. I just wanna talk. Listen. This here is what’s really goin’ on with the track team.”
: “It’s Yamauchi’s voice, ain’t it? And on top of that, shit’s gone down just like he said.”
: “Proud?”
: “…So you trusted what he was sayin’ about Nakaoka 'cause of stupid crap like that?”
: “Like hell I don’t know! How long were we runnin’ together, huh!? I went through all sorts of shit with you!”
: “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.”
: “You think you gotta betray people to be proud?”
: “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…”
: “But you kept quiet. You knew he was walkin’ all over you, and you just let him do it.”
: “…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.”
: “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…”
: I like that the way this captured, it looks like Ryuji is being tiger dropped.
: “You saw that, right? That was some serious violence!”
: “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.”
: 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.
: “…Thanks.”
: “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.”
: “It’s kinda like I was doin’ a sprint.. and you were runnin’ next to me.”
: “Look, Ryuji, is this gonna be one of those Jesus things, because I told you we can’t fuse Messiah without the DLC.”
: And now it’s time to send Ryuji to the own zone. Yes, this is the “correct” answer points-wise.
: “Brutal! Just forget about the beatin’ I took, okay!?”
: 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.
: “Anyways, let’s head home. I think my mouth’s bleedin’, so we’ll hafta eat some other time. Later!”
: “Gah.. man, my jaw’s still kinda messed up. But it’s a good kinda pain, you know? Like just after a workout.”
: “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.”
: “…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.”
: “I’m gonna up my pace, so you better be ready for it! 'Kay, later!”
: 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.
: Oh, I know this one!
: The first word I saw in the letters was “Israel” for some reason.
: Looking at it, you could also make “Rompers”, which yeah I suppose so.
: “You went to that cafe with Yoshizawa-san the other day, right? It’s been getting quite a bit of buzz lately, you know.”
: “I was hoping we could discuss things over some tea, but..”
: 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.
: 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.
: 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.
: 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.
: 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.
: “But you? I expect you’ll pass muster easily.”
: “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?”
: “I actually enjoyed that more than I thought I would.”
: “Uh-oh. Looks like I’ve been spotted.”
: “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..”
: “Looks like I’m out of time. I wish I could’ve relaxed a little longer, though. We should go.”
: Oh, he’s done PLENTY wrong.
: “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.”
: Is Akechi’s hair prehensile or something? How the hell did he go from it being messy to being styled again?
: “I suppose I’d better learn to watch what I say around you.”
: “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?”
: “I think I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Thank you.”
: “Looks like our coffee’s gone cold. Why don’t we order new ones?”
: “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.”
: “I saw firsthand what happens when I’m too careless with my words around you.”
: “..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.”
: “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.”
: 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.
: The problem is I can’t say which.
: 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.