Click Here for Update 13
: When we go to the calendar, there’s a new poll in the bottom-right corner. This will update periodically as we follow the rise and fall of John Persona.
: Someone needs to tell the website operator that we’re John Persona, not the Phantom Thieves.
: The Big Bang Burger challenge is the equivalent to the Rainy Day Beef Bowl in Persona 4. It raises all of your stats by 2 for only 500 yen, which is freaking amazing. However… we can’t do it until the end of the month.
: The reason is that while the mega-burger is great, it’s actually kind of bad for grinding individual stats. Plus, we need to do a couple of things to unlock a confidant with a strict time limit.
: “A huge burger, huh? Interesting. I bet giving that a go will increase your Guts.”
: This is a very, very bad line to have left in. While the burger does increase guts, there are far better (and cheaper) ways to train guts if that’s what you need… and we don’t really need it right now anyway.
: “The gist is, don’t go around talking about the incident. That’s all. The police are still investigating Mr. Kamoshida, so I can’t say anything myself.”
: “As a teacher though, I’m ashamed for not having noticed that a student was suffering like that. I’m not defending him, but as a colleague, he just seemed like.. well, a normal person.”
: This is actually more or less true for a lot of sexual abusers.
: “Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real. I guess people can have multiple sides to them.”
: “The teachers have it rough, huh?”
: “Oh yeah, I just remembered something I learned about psychology. They say that humans have several different personalities hidden in their subconscious.”
: “Different personalities?”
: “Oh, to be clear, I’m not talking about multiple personality disorder. These different personalities can be a different gender or a different age from you.”
: “I mean, if you think about how gods and monsters in myths were first based on the human image… if you actually saw one of those personalities with your own eyes, it might look like a monster.”
: Yes game, I know what a Persona is. I’ve only played all but one of them.
: “Mm-hmm…”
: “Well, I’m just saying what I’ve heard. It feels like I just how understood what I learned long ago.”
: This gets us two free Knowledge points. We didn’t even have to answer a question!
: " ‘I wanna make my friend apologize for not returning the stuff I lent him.’ Ugh, deal with that yourself!"
: “That’s prolly a normal reaction for now, but… they’ll see soon enough! If we can take care of two or three famous guys, people’ll have to believe we exist.”
: “So about those big shots.. we don’t have any leads yet, right? Plus there’s that rumor about you two threatening Kamoshida too..”
: “Looks like you’ll just have to live a normal, honest school life for the time being. Still, make sure you stay prepared just in case anything comes up, all right?”
: “I’ll keep an eye out for info on any big shots that might be comin’ around.”
: “And I’ll try to dig up some dirt online.”
: “We went and formed the Phantom Thieves group, but we can’t even find a target.”
: “There, there…”
: “I guess sometimes things just don’t go the way we want 'em to.”
: “You saw the state Kamoshida-kun was in, didn’t you? It’s as if his personality has completely changed. Something is definitely wrong here.”
: “I’m not sure I follow…”
: Like all the other party members, Makoto’s portraits were almost entirely re-done from the base game. In the base game, Makoto had only one pose: it’s the one you see above. You can kind of tell where the new ones were added because they stick out.
: “From what I’ve heard, it appears as though some students were meddling in his business. If they did something to him.. who could they be?”
: “Are you saying that these students may have caused Mr. Kamoshida to change?”
: You know what’s weird? Why is it that they left the Japanese honorifics in half the time, but then drop them?
: “That is what I wish to know… even if it takes some probing into student matters. I would like you to look into this for me.”
: “It is true that there are many rumors regarding Mr. Kamoshida, but… do you mean all this talk about those Phantom Thieves?”
: “It is undeniable that Mr. Kamoshida has changed in some way. I’d like to have a grasp of the cause.”
: More awkward lines.
: “Oh…”
: “I will continue speaking to Mr. Kamoshida myself. Unless you find whomever did this, these irresponsible rumors will likely never die down. Don’t you agree?”
: Here’s my problem with this scene. Kobayakawa is pretty much straight-up acknowledging that he believes there’s some kind of supernatural force at play here, rather than the simplest explanation of “a couple of kids found out about the abuse, went to Kamoshida, and told him he could either turn himself in or they’d go to the police.”
: Now, this would work if this game acted like it was a sequel to SMT If and had like, fliers around the school warning people about demons. The principal would have no idea if Kamoshida had been possessed or if there was a mundane explanation for it and wants Makoto to look into it before he goes hiring a devil buster.
: I forgot the game reveals that this early, but Makoto is Sae’s younger sister. There will be a lot of parallels between them and Tatsuya and Katsuya Suou in Persona 2, both thematically and otherwise.
: “Th-thank you..”
: “Your lineage must certainly play a part in this excellence. Your sister is still young, yet she holds an admirable position at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, no?”
: Sae clearly graduated from the same school as Athena and Apollo in Phoenix Wright, because I think she’s in her early 20s.
: “…Yes.”
: “Haha, how wise. It’s no wonder you’re our student council president. I’d appreciate if you’d look into this as soon as possible. I ask that you begin at once.”
: Way to say the same thing twice in the same line.
: And oh look, the principal is part of a shadowy conspiracy.
: “Man, I really can’t wait to keep living this double life” is something no real person has ever said.
: For that, we get a piece of chalk thrown at us.
: “Have you seen that Phantom Aficionado Website?”
: Are you ready for Mishima to become the second worst character in this game?
: “I’m the one who started it.”
: “Um… you guys are the Phantom Thieves, aren’t you?”
: If Mishima figured this shit out, Makoto will probably be on our ass tomorrow.
: “…Sorry. Although… if things really are as I think, I should keep it a secret. Kamoshida used me, and I did some horrible things to you guys.”
: “This isn’t much of a way for me to apologize for it.. but if there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know!”
: “That’s… all I needed to say. It’s not just Kamoshida. There are tons of evil adults out there.”
: Everyone over 30 is the devil, I read it in 1965.
: “But I’m sure the Phantom Thieves will do something. They can’t let this end after just one target.”
: “That’s why I wanted to make a forum where people could post their problems.”
: “There are probably a lot of people who have high hopes for the Phantom Thieves’ next move. So I’ve also implemented an anonymous poll on the site.”
: “I wanna work on this forum so eventually it’ll be packed with tons of supportive posts. I’d really like to help out in the Phantom Thieves’ acts of justice! Can I, please?”
: I think what Atlus was trying to go for is the whole idea of an attorney never asking a question they don’t already know the answer to.
: Mishima’s confidant is special. Unlike the others, you never need a matching Persona for it. His confidant will rank up every single time you spend time with him.
: “Geez, it was a little awkward tryin’ to figure out when to walk over here.”
: “So that forum is Mishima-kun’s…”
: “Has he figured out our identities!?”
: “Even so, I think it’ll be fine. He seemed to be playing it cool.”
: “I guess we should have a little chat about this later.”
: “I will say though… a forum where people can post problems may prove unexpectedly useful.”
: “Anyways, we gotta get lookin’ for a new target.”
: “And we need to stay sharp until we manage to find one. Once we do, we’ll have to head into another Palace, so we should prep our equipment and -”
: Oh boy, exams. Exams in Persona 4 were never really that useful. Doing well on them got you S-Link points for all of your main party members, only by the time you could do really well on them you’d already maxed those out if you were going for 100%. That’s pretty much also the case here.
: “Judging by that reaction, I’d assume you’re going to struggle this time too?”
: “It’s not like you’re any better! All you’re good at is.. English!”
: You heard it here first, folks. Ann is absolutely not Lisa Silverman with a different hairstyle because she can speak English (she absolutely is Lisa with a different hairstyle).
: “I’d rather that than be bad at every subject!”
: “Even your Japanese is questionable at best, Ryuji.”
: I got back on the whole “let’s learn Japanese” train a few months ago. I’m honestly convinced that Japanese’s days as a language are numbered. In fact, I’m kind of amazed it still exists at all given how clunky it is.
: “What’s questionable is whether you’re really even a human. Ha! Good comeback, huh?”
: “Let’s discuss this with our fists!”
: “Bring it!”
: “Will you two stop it!?”
: We need to do a couple of things before ending the day, namely buying all the books from the bookstore. Medjed is Persona 5’s name for Anonymous.
: We also need to get a copy of Beverly Hills 90210. I don’t know that I’d call anything about that show realistic.
: Now that we’ve accomplished those goals, it’s time to talk to Ann. Notice that Ryuji’s logo is on the back chalkboard. I got a close-up in case someone can translate it.
: “It’s Shiho. Well.. I went to visit her in the hospital. She.. she said she was sorry.”
: “Sorry for not telling me about Kamoshida.. about all the things he was doing to her.”
: “But it was my fault too. I didn’t realize how much trouble she was in… I wasn’t there for her… so I apologized as well.”
: I haven’t mentioned it I don’t think, but I kind of hated Ann’s confidant. It’s as much about Shiho as it is about her.
: “All of this happened because of how weak I am… that’s why I believed Kamoshida’s authority outweighed Shiho’s own ability to earn her starting spot.”
: “Akira, do you remember the last time I talked to you like this? When I got that phone call from Kamoshida… and cried.”
: “I felt so alone… scared, even. But because you were there for me, I decided not to go.”
: “I was a little surprised at how pushy you were about it.. but I see now you just wanted to help. …Thanks.”
: “You’re so kind, Akira. Back then, people used to call me all sorts of names.. ‘prissy bitch’, ‘Kamoshida’s girl’.. I got tired of it pretty quickly.”
: There’s a pretty sizeable chunk of the fanbase that has cranked out a surprising amount of fanart of Ann being gay, and honestly I think that would’ve just been better if it was in the actual game.
: “But to tell you the truth, someday I want to be able to take labels like that in stride.”
: “Hey, um.. Personas are the power of the heart, right? That means if my heart get stronger, my Persona will too.”
: This is the game trying to tell you something in case you haven’t played Persona 4. In Persona 4, maxing out your S-Link with a party member caused them to get their ultimate Persona. The same is true here.
: “So.. I want to strengthen my heart. And I want to use that strength to help the people around me.”
: “I hope we can save people from trouble, just like we did when we changed Kamoshida’s heart. Though honestly.. I don’t even know what ‘strong’ is.”
: Akira goes “I’ll show you what strength is!” and proceeds to order a jar of pickles to the table, which he opens after only six attempts.
: “But I’m going to find the answer. I promise.”
: The game goes through a lot to try and set you up with Ann as your romance choice.
: “Huh? Really..!?”
: “Thanks! I feel like I’m a little stronger already! I guess that doesn’t really count though, huh?”
: Just like Ryuji, Ann gets an ability that can reset negotiations with certain shadow types.
: “A strong heart.. hm… how about this? I won’t get any refills on fountain drinks! I mean, they’re free, so not getting any would mean you have a strong heart!”
: “…Is that not right?”
: “Now I feel like I have a better idea of who I want to be. Also, I’m going to think of how I can strengthen my heart.”
: I dunno, have you tried learning Cantonese and having an unhealthy attraction to a gay guy?
: “If I think of anything, I’ll let you know. I hope you’ll join me again next time!”
: “Yeah, I’m counting on you! You’re such a nice guy!”
: “Oh! how bout you help me come up with ways to train my heart? Just lemme know when a really good idea hits you, okay?”
: Oh, or maybe you could try getting really into kung fu. Drop the whole whip thing and just use your fists.
: Even though we only just got the ability to go outside at night what, a week ago? Sojiro will now let us go outside of Yongen-Jaya at night.
: What we’re going to do next is something that, as far as I know, there’s no way to know you have to do unless you’ve already tried to do it.
: Remember the politician we saw outside the train station? He’s a confidant. The thing is, he won’t let you spend time with him unless you’ve worked the beef bowl job twice. The beef bowl job takes place at night, so this is the first time we can actually do it.
: This sounds a lot like my job, where we spent the entire year having so much work that no one could keep on top of it but also lost several people and had a hiring freeze put into place.
: As you can see, our politician friend is here - he’s the guy in the suit and tie directly to the right of Joker.
: This gets us 3,600 yen and three points in proficiency. The only reason we’re doing this is for the confidant: Toranosuke’s confidant is one of the only ones in the game with a time limit that ends before the last day.
: While I’ve normally been trying to keep days together in updates, I’m going to have to split this one between two updates. The reason is that after the upcoming cutscene, there is a tutorial that is very long and made longer in Royal.
: The pollen warning is actually a dungeon thing, but we won’t be seeing it.
: “People are really talking about the Kamoshida incident. No one in this car knows that we’re the ones who did it…”
: “Anyway, today we’ll be talking about The Tale of the Bamoo Cutter.”
: “Most theorize it’s the oldest story in Japan; for some, it’s the oldest science-fiction story in the world.”
: This is from a card game that is now mostly dead because it sucked, but it’s probably my favorite depiction of Kaguya because she’s just kind of “Yeah fuck it I have Star Wars tech but I’m going to dress like I’m Imperial Japanese just because I can.”
: It’s also like, one of a handful of cards from that game that I don’t have. I played it for like a month before realizing how bullshit it was and that the only reason anyone liked it was for the anime girls.
: “But if you ask me, it’s the oldest story in Japan about a terrible woman. I mean, Princess Kaguya gives her suitors absurd tasks, demands fancy gifts, then runs off to the moon.”
: “Some men lose their fortunes, some are humiliated, and some even get serious wounds or go blind.”
: “Women like Princess Kaguya actually show up in a lot of stories from around the world.”
: “Now then, Kurusu-kun. You’ve probably heard that a woman who uses her wiles to lead people to their doom is a femme fatale. So what’s the literal translation of the phrase ‘femme fatale’?”
: This is probably a bitch and a half to answer in Japanese, but it’s almost insultingly easy in English.
: “That is correct. The answer is ‘fatal woman’. In French, of course. Some famous examples are the witch Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legend and Queen Salome from the Bible. Not to mention the wild, seductive dancer of opera, Carmen.”
: Game, I fucking get it. You didn’t have to do this with Personas 1, 2, 3, or 4 because I could look this shit up for myself except when I couldn’t because you used a Chinese mythological figure with a name transliterated into Japanese or something.
: “There ain’t even a hint of a hint about a new Palace.”
: “We can’t get everything online. Finding a post with a name and location is asking a lot..”
: “Guess we just gotta find one ourselves then!”
: “Are you seriously suggesting we look for a target that even the police have overlooked?”
: “…Yeah, you’re right. We should prolly just hold off ‘til exams are done with, huh? We can wait and see for a little longer, then worry about comin’ up empty-handed if it happens..”
: “We’ll get outta here once we’re done chattin’. Anyways, what’s Miss Council President want with us?”
: Oh right, she’s also the class rep. Hmm.. short-haired female class rep.. where have I seen that one before? Could it be that Hashino is a fucking hack and just made a less-interesting version of Yukino with Tatsuya’s backstory tacked on and hoped no one would notice because no one ever played the earlier games? Nah, couldn’t be.
: “The troublemaker, the center of gossip, and the infamous transfer student. Hmm, interesting combination.”
: “By the way… it seems as though you got to know Mr. Kamoshida pretty well.”
: “Yeah, y’know he’s only been here a month or so.”
: “Hm… I heard Mr. Kamoshida used a volleyball team member to spread details of your past record. Don’t you hate him? Mr. Kamoshida, I mean.”
: “What’s all this about? My friend here’s an upstanding guy.”
: “I don’t mean to offend. Many students have been shaken up by what happened with Mr. Kamoshida.”
: “The rumors about that odd, calling card-esque posting aren’t going away, either.”
: If you ever play this game yourself, here’s a fun thing to do. Any time Makoto comes on screen, just hit the fast-forward button until she’s no longer visible.
: “I didn’t expect someone like you would care about that tactless stuff, Niijima-senpai.”
: “I dunno that it was tactless. Anyways, we done here? We can’t leave if you keep talkin’ to us.”
: “At least try to understand my position. Being forced to deal with this horseplay…”
: “Horseplay!?”
: Just like her sister, really.
: “What was that about?”
: “…She’s onto us. That girl seems rather sharp. We should be cautious of her.”
: “She really pisses me off!”
: “Talk about a pain in the ass.”
: “That reminds me… study hard. Especially you, Ryuji. There are bound to be traps that will need to be solved with brains.”
: He acts like Eikichi didn’t completely defeat a laser hallway by admiring himself.
: “Keep in mind that everything you do in your daily lives has an impact on your abilities.”
: “True, studying won’t be so bad if we just think of it as helping us prepare to be phantom thieves..”
: “I guess you got a point. But man, it’s just so lame.. I was all fired up about helpin’ people, not about studyin’…”
: Next time, we’ll see Persona 5’s equivalent of the Abandoned Factory. We’ll also see someone’s fetish in action, a dumb Ghibli reference, and grind to level 15 just to make the next dungeon even more of a joke.
: Once we get the ability to freely go out at night, the “walking around” theme changes from the instrumental version to vocals. This is one of the better songs on the OST.