Kids at work giving
me grief over coming
in hungover… #ugh
[quote]
a debut CD release and a model shoot! everything’s happening so fast… my life is full of surprises now. x___x
[/quote]
Oh don’t act like you didn’t deserve it, Maiko. “Giving me grief” is underselling “I needed literal magic medicine”.
Anyway, today we’re going to tackle Tsubasa’s first sidequest, but first let’s take a lap around Shibuya and catch up on some other stuff.
Like Yashiro! He’s hanging out near Illusory Shibuya, if you feel like you haven’t been demeaned enough recently.
Just down the street, the maid from Cafe Seiren has a quest for us. She’s modelled off of Ilyana, a mage from Path of Radiance whose personality can best be summed up as “I like to eat.” At least she’s on brand?
Welcome… Thank you for stopping by.
I came up with a new item, so our customers here at Seiren can relax… It’s a Yakisoba Latte, but it’s wildly unpopular, it seems…
I was hoping to make something more medicinal, to soothe the mind and body. Would you mind helping?
Of course.
All right, thank you! So I’m thinking we use a…rather controversial ingredient - Maca Leaf! But I’ll need three of them, mind you. Just let me know when you get them all.
If we didn’t already have four of them, this could be remedied by walking 15 seconds down the street to the Hee-Ho Mart. They’re not even that expensive!
Thank you so much! I’m going to take these into the kitchen right now and test out my idea! Oh, and if you like, you can have a fresh cup! I’ll be waiting for you…
And sure enough, there’s a new drink in the menu. Why don’t you tell us about it, Food Critic Itsuki?
Such tart, earthy tones signal not only the pinnacle of taste but also the height of digestive and metabolic reinforcement.
It also brings Itsuki and Touma’s luck up to “Good”, if that’s something you really need.
[quote] Itsuki, I need your advice on something!
I’ll be waiting in front of the cafe. could you come by whenever you have time? please?[/quote]
Why, what a coincidence! That’s where we are right now! Let’s go see what she wants.
Sure. What’s wrong?
It’ll be awkward talking about it here, so let’s go inside the cafe.
But… I can’t shake hands with people… I-It’s normally not a problem, but when I think about doing that at a public event, I get nervous.
Uh-huh… Well, why don’t we practice a bit?
…That’s pretty bad.
I have…social anxiety…
Man, if that’s what she does when it’s Itsuki, her problems go way past a little public anxiety. She’s going to need more than just a little practice to get over this one.
Hrgh… Hey, Itsuki. Do you have any ideas on how I can gain more confidence?
It’s…probably best if you just interact with as many people as possible. …But it’d also be weird if an idol suddenly walked up and asked, “May I practice shaking your hand?”
Oh! What do you think about freebie marketing?
Huh?
Handing out free samples might be good practice for interacting with people you don’t know.
I see! Ehehe, you sure are smart, Itsuki!
Plus, you can probably expect a better turnout since you’ll be advertising your meet-and-greet.
It’s decided then! I’m gonna go get ready at once!
I suppose that some impromptu exposure therapy isn’t the worst idea in the world, although I’d imagine this would be more likely to have her end up curling up in a ball because of her anxiety rather than helping her get over it.
[quote] I’m ready to go!
I’ll be waiting for you at the crosswalk near the station!
[/quote]
But hey, she’s ready to do this, so who are we to say no?
You’re gonna get over this no matter what, right?
Of course! I’m gonna go do my best. Make sure you watch!
Why, there’s someone right now! Let’s see what you’ve got, Tsubasa.
Itsuki! S-Someone’s coming! H-How should I go talk to him?
Briskly and full of energy. Probably.
I’ll be holding a meet-and-greet soon! P-Please come by!
Forgive the sudden jumps in this section, this is literally how it’s presented in-game, with the constant jumping between Itsuki and handing out the invites.
Good. Keep at it. This time, try changing how you hand it over, depending on the person.
How I hand it over? …Okay, I’ll try!
You could just not think too much into it and hand it normally.
P-Please come to my meet-and-greet!
(Yes!)
You’re on a roll. …Then again, it still doesn’t feel natural yet.
Hmm… My facial expression might be too stiff… All right, I’ll focus on that next time!
Just smile a bit!
I’ll be holding a meet-and-greet soon! I’d love if you would come to it.
Yeah! I think I’m getting the hang of this! I’ll try the next one myself.
And from here it’s just a supercut of her talking a bunch of different NPCs and giving out all her invites. You overcame social anxiety in just a few minutes! Itsuki is just that good.
Looks like you’re over your social anxiety.
My what now?
Ohhhhhhhh! Th-Th-That’s right! I was handing out free samples to get over my social anxiety! I was so preoccupied doing it that I completely forgot about that part!
Come on…
But a meet-and-greet’s the same idea, isn’t it? You’re supposed to give it your all in that short period of time. I understand now!
Tsubasa Oribe’s soul as an entertainer has achieved a new awakening… Tsubasa’s inspiration has taken form as a new Performa: Hand’s Warmth!
Ehehehe… I did it!
Door of Connection unlocks a new SP Attack for Tsubasa. It’s disgustingly good! But we’ll talk about that in a second.
You’ll be fine. What’s truly terrifying is when one grows numb to that feeling. The tension you feel is a good sign. You worked hard for this, Tsubasa. Have more confidence in yourself.
Y-You’re right! Thanks, Caeda! Tsubasa Oribe is off to the greet-and-meet!
Waaaaah!
God only knows, Caeda. God only knows.
The actual meet-and-greet is more or less glossed over. It’s basically just Tsubasa up on the stage shaking hands with all the NPCs she saw in the first bit.
…Mostly, anyway. 
Welcome back. A lot more people showed up today than I imagined.
Mm-hm! Tons of people who accepted my free samples came too! It’s all thanks to you helping me! I couldn’t have done it without you, Itsuki!
So, how’d it feel doing a meet-and-greet?
Ehehehe…
What’s up?
Handshakes are like magic. I did get nervous, but I felt as though I was truly connecting with my fans through the palms of our hands. It’s not just about singing and dancing. Connecting with people is important for an idol too.
Speaking of handshakes… I’d like one too. I want to experience the results of all your effort.
H-Huh!? …Okay.
Tsubasa Oribe has grown as an entertainer and has become “Madcap Idol”! Tsubasa acquired the Special Performance Debut Smile!
So, let’s talk about Debut Smile real quick. Those of you familiar with the Persona series are probably aware of a skill called “Heat Riser” (or Luster Candy, as it’s called in Strange Journey and SMT IV). It’s universally considered to be the best buff skill in the game, due to the fact that it combines Tarukaja, Rakukaja, and Sukukaja, buffing your attack, defense, and agility all at once. This is somewhat balanced by the fact that it’s usually expensive as hell (Usually around 50 MP a pop, although SMT4: Apocalypse jacks it up to 100 because???), single-target, and can’t be obtained until very late into the game.
Debut Smile is a full-party Heat Riser, except if you traded the attack boost for a Mediarama, for 1 SP. It’s not quite as ludicrously broken as it could have been, but it’s still far and away the best defensive skill in the entire game.
There’s one more quick thing we can do, by examining the bookcase again.
First, we can grab the magazine featuring Tsubasa’s photo shoot.
More importantly, this is how we access the DLC costumes. Let’s see how Tsubasa fared at the fashion show.
Tokyo Millennium Collection: Tsubasa
It’s a…sexy Santa outfit. Yeah, sure, let’s go with that.
You must be tired, Miss Santa.
Yup, I’m pretty exhausted! Still, it went by in a flash!
So…um… Wh-what do you think of my Santa costume!?
I think you looked really good wearing it out there. It was cute.
R-R-R-Really!?
Yeah.
He said I looked cute in it…! I gotta buy these clothes at once!
Tsubasa?
O-Oh, it’s nothing! Really! Nothing at all!
