Click Here for Update 75
: “Well, it shouldn’t be a problem for you. This has been so easy I might start yawning… you did perfectly. I can’t wait to see your score.”
: And we’ve gotten the top score on exams.
: Futaba IMs us here, but because this entire day is a cutscene and I missed the shot, I had to take it at the end of the day.
: And now it’s time for yet another shoehorned Maruki scene.
: “Ah, you’re the third-year Okumura-san, correct? So good to see you. Please, have a seat.”
: This is exactly how they have it in the game dialog boxes, and it makes it sound like she has a younger sibling or something. She doesn’t.
: “I’m sorry… I did come here because I wanted to, but I’m not exactly adept at saying what’s on my mind.”
: “Oh, that’s perfectly fine. I’m not all that great at chatting with people either.”
: “Oh?”
: “…Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that. How about some snacks? No need to be modest here.”
: “Thank you - I’m all right, though.”
: “…”
: “…”
: You know, there was a time when I thought this game abused ellipses less than Persona 1 or Innocent Sin did.
: “Ummm… I must be pretty weird, right? I came here for counseling, but I can’t seem to say anything…”
: Speaking of Haru, I didn’t know this when I was doing the Okumura boss fight update but Okumura also has an unused Will Seed cutscene.
: “Not weird in the least. Just take your time. We’ll go at whatever pace you need. And if you still don’t feel comfortable by the end of our time, well… just have some tea and head on home for the day.”
: I also found in the same playlist the “confidant broken” cutscenes that weren’t used, and some of them are just fucking hilarious. One of Kawakami’s is telling her you have a boyfriend.
: “I do enjoy teatime… perhaps I’ll feel more relaxed if I think of all this in that way.”
: “Thinking of this as just sneaking away to relax with some tea would probably help you feel more open.”
: You cannot sneak with tea. I’ve tried.
: “Relaxing with some tea… I do that quite often, but on my own…”
: “Do you find that more relaxing?”
: “The people closest to me in my life… they don’t really feel like people I could sit and enjoy some tea with. Even my family was always focused solely on work..”
: Ryuji probably doesn’t drink tea, Futaba would insist on dumping a pound of sugar into it, I don’t think cats can have tea, Yusuke is incredibly picky about where he gets his leaves from, Joker only drinks coffee, and Makoto doesn’t know how to boil water because otherwise Sae would interrogate her over it. So yeah, she’s right.
: “So… was mealtime essentially the same setup as teatime?”
: “…Yes. Meals where we actually ate together were almost always uptight dinners at work-related events.”
: What is this, Duke Crabtree’s marriage counseling?
: “I see… I’ve never been to upscale social events, so I’m not sure if I should ask this, but… well… didn’t you ever feel lonely?”
: “Why don’t we call it a day now? Feel free to stop by again, anytime you like.”
: “Oh! Yes, I do apologize. It seems I extended this teatime much longer than I had intended.”
: “Hahaha, no problem at all - if anything, I’m happy to hear it. I’ll make sure to pick up snacks that pair well with tea.”
: “I suppose plants do need watering, after all. Ah, I know. You should go help Haru, Akira. I’ll let the others know.”
: “Oh, Akira-kun… have you come up here to assist me? You, um.. heard that, didn’t you? giggle How embarrassing. I’m not worried about the garden, in case you were wondering.”
: “It’s just.. so much has happened to me lately.”
: “… Well, perhaps I could share this with you.. I mean, it would be nice to have someone who is aware of my current situation in life.”
: “But… I don’t know the first thing about business direction or fund management…”
: This is an unlikely, but not impossible scenario. Most large companies don’t have their CEOs as majority shareholders, and usually if they do they have it arranged specifically so this kind of thing doesn’t happen.
: “I am. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s just… I know I’m the president’s daughter, but I never thought I’d actually end up involved in company business…”
: “Because of that, lately I’ve been meeting with all the various officers and lawyers my father employed. They’ve been giving me advice on all the things I’m not entirely sure about. Assets, stocks..”
: “It’s clear some people only want to get on my good side though. I don’t know who I can trust… they try to sound comforting by saying ‘don’t worry’ or ‘leave it to me,’ but… it feels like they’re really only being nice so they can get their hands on my bank account.”
: In reality, the company’s stock value would probably be plummeting as the company scrambles to put together a buyout offer to have Haru sell her shares back to them.
: “I…I never realized I could be this distrustful of other people..”
: “Ah, I’m sorry for ranting on about this matter. It feels as though doing so has helped me calm down a bit though. The only people I’ve consulted with up to this point have been employees…”
: “But I think what I needed was someone closer to my own age… closer to my own viewpoint. Um.. if it isn’t too much trouble, could we speak about this again some other time?”
: Yes, this entire cutscene is just to let us know that Haru’s confidant is available. This isn’t even her Rank 1, which we do on 10/31.
: “In return, I’ll… hm… what can I do to help you…? I don’t have any unique talents…”
: “How about this? You know, gardening. I’m actually quite skilled at it. A few years ago I even managed to grow a tropical fruit on the balcony at my house.”
: “To be honest… this is what I do when I’m alone, to take my mind off of everything that’s happened… oh, that’s right. I stored some vegetables in the refrigerator down in the home economics room..”
: "There’s not much consistency to their colors or shapes, but… "
: “You’ll find out once you eat them! giggle Just kidding. It’s mostly normal things like tomatoes and zucchini. They’re definitely unique though…”
: “Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask of you. I’d like to get Sakura-san’s opinion on my vegetables. Do you think I could bring my next harvest over to your cafe?”
: “Thank you. I’m sure Sakura-san will give me his honest opinion. I’ll make sure this next harvest is particularly good. Well then, shall we head over to the hideout?”
: " sigh I think I’m screwed for real this time. I couldn’t concentrate at all…"
: “Ugh, again? It’s so damn loud!”
: “More importantly, what’s this you want to talk about?”
: “You said that something was on your mind before, but were you able to figure out what it was?”
: “Huh? Aren’t you the real one though?”
: “Oh, uhh… the guy who called himself Medjed after me isn’t the one from the other day!”
: Now, if you’re like me, you’re probably extremely confused as to what the fuck she’s talking about. She’s talking about the fake Medjed from her plot arc.. two months ago.
: “What do you mean?”
: “The code written by that guy the other day is different from any of the past Medjed.”
: “And that means…”
: “A code is like your fingerprints. No matter how you try to disguise it, your own quirks appear in it. The one from the other day was all cut and pasted with no consistency. No skill at all.”
: I’m not entirely sure where she would’ve gotten ‘code’ from, considering all the fake Medjed did was uh.. make vague menacing threats.
: “But aren’t there multiple people across the world that are part of Medjed? Couldn’t it have been done by someone that joined recently?”
: “How do I put it? That code was not done by anyone interested in cracking. At all. At the very least, there’s no way it was an official Medjed member.”
: Does Hashino understand what Anonymous actually is? There’s no “official membership” in Anonymous. That’s the entire point.
: “So someone used the Medjed name to provoke the Phantom Thieves? For what purpose?”
: “Could they have been doing it for fun? It was around the time our group started getting popular, so maybe they wanted in on the hype…”
: What if.. Hashino really has no idea how to write a plot?
: “Hm?”
: “Perhaps they used the Medjed name to make the Phantom Thieves known…”
: “What? That makes no sense.”
: It kinda doesn’t. What if the real Medjed (the ones who aren’t Futaba) came out and said the person who challenged John Persona isn’t with them? What if the party had called their bluff?
: “I actually thought the same as Makoto.”
: “Why’s that?”
: “Know how I said that code is like fingerprints? I found those same fingerprints somewhere completely different.”
: “Where’s that?”
: “For real?”
: “Before summer vacation, the access counter was made to be much higher than the actual number. Same with the rankings. Particularly the time when President Okumura ranked first.”
: “So then, the one who provoked the group and the one who tampered with the site are the same person?”
: “…I think I’m starting to see the big picture. Both Medjed’s provocation and the tampering of the website brought attention to us as a result. On top of that, our reason for targeting Okumura was influenced by the public and the rankings…”
: “The perfect timing, and the perfect target. If both of those had been set up..”
: “…It would all make sense.”
: “So, the culprit was planning to put the blame on us from the start? No way…”
: “This is all hypothetical. We lack any hard evidence…”
: “W-We gotta be overthinkin’ things. I mean, we’re talkin’ both the rankings AND Medjed! Everyone made a big deal about it! If this was all set up… then… what kind of guy did we make an enemy of?”
: “There’s no point in getting anxious over speculation. Regardless, we’ll be falsely charged at this rate, and with murder. We must overcome this.”
: “But, we don’t even know who we’re up against..”
: “Hey… you think we’re fallin’ into another trap, even at this very moment?”
: “Indeed, we don’t. It’ll be more dangerous jumping to conclusions and assuming we figured it out. Even if this is the actions of a meticulous enemy, we’ll just have to get back at them.”
: “We need to find clues.. no matter what.”
: “I was told you recommended this reassignment yourself, sir. Why would you choose someone as inexperienced as myself?”
: “When the case of the Shujin principal was ruled a suicide, you thought to reopen it.. and you proved its connection to the Phantom Thieves. This is based primarily on that achievement.”
: “…I’m honored, sir.”
: “The Phantom Thieves issue is now a national crisis. Expectations are exceedingly high for us public prosecutors, as we are the executors of justice.”
: “Personnel and planning will be up to you on this case. You will also have the police under your command.”
: You uh, kind of already implied that by saying that she’s in control of pretty much everything. It would’ve made more sense if you said this first, then the bit about the police being under her command.
: “You’ve yet to give an answer… will you accept the task of eradicating the Phantom Thieves?”
: “I will give it everything I have.”
: “We’ll have to prepare a higher position for you as well in the event that you succeed. I don’t wish to apply extra pressure on you… but I assume your odds of success are high.”
: “Naturally, failure to accomplish this task is unacceptable. Do you understand?”
: “Of course! I will live up to your expectations, no matter what it takes!”
: “Hi, Sis. Should I warm up dinner for you?”
: “No, it’s okay.”
: “How about a bath?”
: “No need. I just came home to get a change of clothes.”
: “Are you going to stay at work then?”
: “I’ve been entrusted with a very important task.”
: That’s borderline Allanson dialogue right there. I could understand if Makoto asked something where Sae might have a reason to dodge it, but it’s a fucking yes or no question.
: “You look awful though… aren’t you tired?”
: “As an adult, there will be times when you will accept an assignment for which failure is not tolerated. It’s all over for me if I can’t win this.”
: The thing is, if what you’re trying to show is that Sae is so preoccupied that she’s ignoring Makoto entirely, why have her even respond to Makoto’s first two questions?
: “Still, if you were to collapse from exhaustion…”
: “Don’t worry though. It will all be over soon.”
: “What do you mean?”
: “Is that the important task you mentioned?”
: “It’s none of your concern.”
: Trust me, just wait and see what happens. It’s going to be in this update, and it’s one of the dumbest and most nonsensical cutscenes in this entire game.
: It’s one of those Law & Order spinoffs that get cancelled after one season because Law & Order’s primary audience is geriatrics who can’t understand anything that isn’t SVU.
: “…E-Everything’s going to be fine. Unless they know about the Metaverse, there’s no way they’ll get any info on us.”
: I don’t normally post what’s on the TV, but I found one of the lines kind of funny.
: This might sound strange, but it’s actually happened.. in the US, at least. According to Gallup, there was a point in 2013 where Congress’s approval rating was at 9%.
: The government just can’t handle John Persona.
: We have another night where we can’t do anything, so let’s continue making progress toward Knowing the Heart.
: “So, you’ve finished reading Heroic Revelations. You looked a bit crazy studying so hard. In any case, I’m sure you’ve gained a lot of wisdom from reading about historical figures!”
: “Everyone’s talking trash about us…”
: “The police are here at the school, so be sure not to get in their way. Oh, and… for various reasons, the school festival got moved to the 25th. There was talk of canceling it, but we couldn’t just do that.”
: “I’m sure the preparations will be rough, but don’t push yourself too hard.”
: Remember that dumb cutscene I was talking about? It’s coming up right after this.
: “You two will go together.”
: Didn’t Makoto just say they were interrogating people individually?
: “Huh? Why together?”
: “Why? They’ll probably have one of you wait outside. That’s how they’ve been doing it so far.”
: Here’s the thing about this cutscene. Ann isn’t in it past this part. They could’ve cut this entire explanation, because it doesn’t matter.
: It’s like they wrote two versions of this cutscene - one where Joker and Ann get interrogated together and one where they don’t, then decided to just keep everything even if it made no sense.
: “Those are the instructions the detectives gave us. Just don’t say more than is necessary and try and get it over with quick.”
: There really should’ve been a “…” option here so I could make Joker look intelligent by not talking to the police at all.
: Come to think of it, where are the parents in this? You’d think that at what’s apparently a private school that there would be parents rushing to sue the school over something like this.
: Joker: “Congratulations, you discovered my boyfriend. Was it the dozens of pictures of our Paris trip that we posted online that did it, or did you only need the ones from our Hawaii trip?”
: The real question, though, is why they’re bothering with these interrogations if they already know that the victims of the people John Persona targeted are all hanging out together and/or dating each other. I guess it could be a scare tactic, but there’s far more effective ways they could’ve portrayed that if that’s what they wanted.
: Now, here’s what I want to ask you. What do you think the point of this cutscene was? I’m asking because I honestly don’t know.
: I’m pretty sure what they intended was to use this to ratchet up the tension, but it just doesn’t work. Remember, the police are interrogating EVERYONE at this point and it’s not even clear that they suspect Joker of anything.
: Really, all this cutscene does is talk a lot, but not say anything.
: Reference material for what? You didn’t even ask him anything.
: “It seems we were all asked the same questions.”
: “That’s how they get you. They do that on purpose, then wait for someone to slip up.”
: I could understand if they had asked it like “Do you know Yusuke Kitagawa and Haru Okumura?” because that’d give them room to prove a lie I guess, but they didn’t do that at all.
: “I hope you didn’t.”
: “…It was prolly fine. I woulda been done for if they saw how sweaty my hands were, though.”
: “To think my name would come up as well…”
: “Sounds like we can’t take the police lightly either.”
: “Hey, didn’t you think that detective guy was scary?”
: “Especially those eyes… it was like they were smiling, but not…”
: “I’m sorry for all of this.. it’s because of my sister.”
: “That’s not true, Mako-chan.”
: “It’s not as though I hadn’t predicted this would happen… but now that it’s become reality, I’m unsure of what to do…”
: Oh, don’t you worry. She’s already got one of her SMART GIRL plans coming up.
: “We need to make sure we don’t draw suspicion, and work to clear our names.. right?”
: “…Right.”
: “It ain’t your fault, Makoto.”
: “I’m gonna try to see how far along this investigation really is.”
: “I’m worried about the police too, but as of now, anyone in this city could be a mole..”
: “We were so popular too…”
: “Haru, can I ask you to search your father’s belongings for clues about a possible culprit? I.. I know it may be tough on you…”
: “No, it’s okay. Now isn’t the time for me to look away.”
: Hoo boy. I uh, just went and recorded the bit for the next update and had to order an emergency Yusu-Gay because I forgot there’s a date scene in it.
: That’s okay, because I’m going to need probably half a day to record all of the possible date scenes due to Royal being shit. We’ll see that in the next update.
: “Why!?”
: “It will allow us to gather without drawing suspicion. Plus, trying to blend in will only do the opposite.”
: “Ugh… fine.”
: “I agree. The more time I have to kill, the more time I’ll spend worrying about all this stuff. No matter what happens.. I don’t want to regret my decisions.”
: “Don’t jinx it!”
: “It would be no surprise if they came directly to our homes for questioning. They showed up at your school, after all… I should remain cautious.”
: “For now, the best option is to stay on the defensive… but we won’t make progress at this rate. Let’s try and figure out who the real culprit is somehow, okay?”
: “Of course…”
: We spend the night reading The Art of Automata, which is poorly translated.
: Karakuri are a type of puppet made out of clock parts that move. In modern times, you’re most likely to see that word used when talking about business processes.
: “They call it karakuri, but aren’t they really just dolls?”
: And with that, that’s my thirteenth update for the month. I’ve been meaning to talk about that - basically, I took a new job that has not assigned me any actual work to do, so I decided to turn this LP into my job.
: I was on a call with the VP this morning and she was dumbfounded that the company isn’t meeting productivity goals. I wonder why that could be? Anyway, I decided to work some overtime and get this update out before month end to meet those goals.
: Next time, we’ll see a 40-minute cutscene that got extended by 20 minutes thanks to Atlus’s Lightning and Maruki deciding that their extraterritorial rights are too powerful to let the cutscene end.
: The next update will take.. a while, because I have to record this 40+ minute cutscene six times to get all of the school festival dates. There are no save points.
: …I need a vacation.