It feels weird reading this after beating p5 how far we came. Also girls volleyball I now am scared of the coach
Is q and arena worth viewing lps for.
How does one LP Arena?
It does have a decent story with Labrys but it also has individual story modes that have minor variations with each other. Depends on how much you like that.
Q…probably is best experienced via LP. When a Persona game’s highlight is dungeons, something is off.
Arena looks too power of friendship for me especially compared to 5 which was friends are only that if they help you commit grand larceny. I suck at fighters so that’s why
Still this LP encouraged me to go download a rom for p3p and play it on my phone. Ah nostalgia
One of the main draws of Arena and Dancing’s story for me is that they show the Persona 4 characters at their best: after they have been shaped by the events in the original game. You also get to see what everyone is doing now, aside from Yu of course.
In Arena, Labrys is kind of like Aigis, but she’s the center of the story so coming to terms with being an anti-shadow suppressant weapon is explored more deeply. They did a good job with exploring a character like that.
Dancing is definitely a bit more power of friendship for the middle part of the story mode, but the rest of it is pretty good. Yes, the premise is pretty silly, but they made a great story with it in the end.
Q does have the problem with the dungeons being really long. Which is fine if you’re into the Etrian Odyssey style of game, but it gets tiresome otherwise. I haven’t finished this game myself for this reason. The story I’ve gone through so far is good and the interactions between P3 and P4 characters are great. Some people have criticized it for the characters acting rather odd (especially Teddie who is in full flirt mode), but the thing is that these characters were pulled out of their timelines not too long after the whole team was together. So they are not the endgame/fully maxed social link versions of the characters.
Ultimax… had major writing issues due to there being eight writers on the game. It had a great premise with a Persona user who was forcibly given an alternate personality and with P3 and P4 characters coming together, but it was pretty disjointed and didn’t go much of anywhere. The Adachi story was good though. And the fighting itself was good too.
I suppose. Though to be fair flirt Teddie was creepy and unfunny from the start
After dealing with the Priestess, we’re naturally tired because of the… difference in the event to, like, everything else since the Magician. At least this time we maintained consciousness!
I believe a path that was blocked is now open…
I thought you would like to know.
…I wish you a safe journey.
The phone call has ended.
This is going to be useful and relevant and worthwhile… at some time in the future.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Today we’re hanging out with Kaz and we can’t even watch Tanaka’s or anything.
I guess it’ll make me mentally tough.
Kazushi seems calm.
I’m not trying to bag on myself or anything, but this calm exterior is just an illusion…
Kazushi seems a little embarrassed.
I get even more nervous when I think about winning…
Winning isn’t everything.
So, you’re telling me to give up? …I don’t know if I can do that, man…
But, I know where you’re coming from.
Today, your friendship has grown stronger.
So, uh, just to give you an idea of how useful this would’ve been if we needed it: accepting the invite gives you 5 points alone and then getting the dialogue option “right” gives 30 points. Make that 45 with a Chariot persona. Yes.
We didn’t even remotely need it, though. This dialogue box just means that next time we hang out with Kaz, the S.Link will rank up. It was going to anyway, though.
This could be quite damaging to the reputation of the monorail company.
Even though it was a Shadow that caused all the trouble, I still feel sorry for them.
Luckily, no one was hurt.
Oh. and by the way, I heard there was some trouble on the monorail last night.
But that’s a separate matter now, isn’t it? Ahahaha…
Well, if you want to go to Tartarus, then I’m not going to stop you.
But if you do go, just treat it as a light warm up.
But, if you’re stronger than they are, they’ll run away.
And remember, even if you don’t have the first attack, you can still knock the enemy off balance.
…Did I just have a really evil look on my face? Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare ya.
It was so far off course after the Dark Hour ended.
I bet they had no idea what happened to them.
The last train, Anehazuru, failed to stop at the red light and went beyond its stopping point. Police and the monorail management are still trying to determine what caused the incident. Though the train overshot its mark by over 2,000 feet, no one was injured. Monorail management are suspecting the train driver, and are holding him for questioning. In the meantime, they are promising to make every effort to reduce the monorail accident rate. For now, service on the Anehazuru car will continue as normal.
I do appreciate that the game acknowledges that the monorail train in no way could have been moved back to where it was at the beginning of the Dark Hour. Would’ve been easy to just never mention it.
Came to the Velvet Room to check out new requests, but we’ve ended up with something… else.
I’ve been asked to inform you about the Persona Compendium.
You may register any of your Personas in this book, and for a fee, you can withdraw them at any time.
Please speak with me to view the compendium.
…It seems you enjoy a challenge.
Don’t worry. You’ll find my fees for withdrawing Personas very reasonable.
Well then, we’ve finally unlocked the Compendium so let’s give it a look-see!
Since we’re playing on Hard here, these prices are… emphatically NOT reasonable which is part of the point. Note how these are the base versions of everything and not the updated versions that we have on hand.
This is what updating it does for the prices. Thankfully, the prices are only based on the level and nothing else from the looks of things. It… is still pretty silly though. This will eat far, FAR more Yen than the social stat gains from the arcade etc. could ever dream about. Exciting!
Gonna need this guy very soon, so I made one right now (Orpheus + Nekomata).
So, what about the new requests? Well, there’s no “take Elizabeth to [place]” this time so why even bother.
There ARE a few for Tartarus stuff, and this one is an easy one to deal with. These “create [Persona] with [Skill]” requests are the requirements for getting Social Link/Confidant confidant ranks for Empress in Persona 4 and Strength in Persona 5. Here, they’re just things we can do for free things.
Jack Frost with Dia is easy, mercifully. We can make Jack Frost in a few ways but the way that involves the least money for us is Ara Mitama + Angel.
Jack ends up getting to level 10 which is nice but even nicer is that he has 11 Magic already. And at level 11 he learns Ice Boost which is going to make him really useful if/when he gets there.
Well done. Your reward for this is a Special type of armor.
Your appearance may change dramatically when wearing it, so why not try it on?
Why not try finding it as well?
The Chivalry Shirt is just lying around in a treasure chest in the middle part of Thebel. You can see what it looks like right now, in the Portable version of the Priestess fight, if you really want to know.
This, uh, we’ll get back to this.
Since this is also a questline, we unlock a new one by getting the Jack Frost one completed.
Valkyrie is level 11 so she’s gotta wait, unfortunately. We’ll definitely be doing this one as soon as we can, though.
And now we’re back to school like nothing happened. Because for most people, it kind of didn’t.
That was crazy though, the day before yesterday.
I’ve never had that kinda thrill in all my life…
Don’t you think it’s been getting more exciting lately?
Not really.
Dude, are you crazy!? We’ve got the power of Persona!
Plus, we won the battle and saved the city…
How sweet is that!?
Well, uh, hmm. I’m sure we’ll do fine…
If you paid attention during class and studied diligently at home, you should have no problems.
Hmph… If you choose to neglect your duty as a student and waste your life in idleness, then be my guest…
In my day, society was nowhere near as rich and abundant as it is today…!
That’s why we worked so long and hard; to better our lives. Can you young people say the same? Hmm?
Our society’s material wealth has come at the cost of its spiritual wealth…
In “Ise Monogatari,” on the contrary…
You stayed up and listened to the lecture…
And so it begins. This is something we’re going to be getting a lot of, in the hopes it’ll get where we need it…
Oh and, uh, Kenji sure has changed a bit huh? Yeah, so, this is the last week before exams so all of our school S.Links are not available at this time.
This limits our options quite a lot, at the moment but later on it’ll be less noticable.
To compensate for this disparity, we’re going to, uh, I dunno deal with the one that we can do easily I guess!
My wife just left for Gekkoukan.
I’ll wait here for a while.
Well, she won’t be gone long. Why don’t you keep me company, Makoto-chan?
Are you thirsty? Here, let’s share this.
…Wait, where are the cups? I’m afraid I’m completely useless without my wife.
Mitsuko looks pale.
What happened?
Seem you have Makoto-chan worried too. You oughta know better than to walk that far at your age…
Bunkichi seems worried.
Here, drink this, dear.
And here’s one for you, Makoto-chan.
The persimmon tree by the walkway, at your school…
My wife heard a rumor that it was going to be cut down, and she almost fainted.
Do you know anything about it, Makoto-chan?
Now, you have me worried.
You’re so kind, Makoto-chan…
I’m worried too. I tried to look into the rumor, but…
I think I was “barking up the wrong tree…”
Makoto-chan, if it’s not too much trouble, can you tell us if you hear anything about the persimmon tree?
It seems Mitsuko is counting on you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
Please let us know if you hear anything about the persimmon tree.
After saying goodbye to Bunkichi and Mitsuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.
Could you look into it? It shouldn’t take long.
I asked Akihiko and Iori, but judging by their responses, I doubt they were taking me seriously.
This isn’t an order, just a favor. If you have nothing else to do, I’d appreciate this. Thanks.
This is a new addition for FES/Portable. It’s something we’ll definitely be checking out everytime it pops up.
So be careful. If you get distressed, you won’t be able to dodge, and your defenses will go down.
You’ll also suffer a lot of damage.
When this happens, don’t mistake it for an ailment.
Computers ain’t my field, dude.
All I know how to fix is a TV. You just smack the top and voila!
She wanted one of us to check on it.
Huh? Me?
No way! I don’t know anything about that stuff.
I’ll leave that stuff to the tech-heads. Why don’t you do it?
Family and friends are overjoyed that they are returning to normal. That’s all the news today. Tune in next time, for Action News.
So, upstairs in the command room if we examine these computers we can watch something that was caught on camera…
Silence
I should investigate whether this means it’s finally begun…
Monorail…
giggle Heehee…
Oooh, I must make a note of that one…
Luck played an uncomfortably large part in the victory…
For Shadows to work in a group to overrun large machines is unprecedented…
The engine…
Hee hee hee…! What’s with me today!? I’m on a roll!
Oh yeah, better write that one down too…
One should always wear bright clothing at night…
Whoa, I’m getting a little off subject… but who cares!?
Hey… I should write all these down and show them off the next time everyone gets together!
…
Hee heeee! This has nothing to do with the status report anymore, but I’m having a blast!
Let’s see, what else…
The recording ends here…
End
Th-Thanks, Ikutsuki. That sure was, uh, something alright.
Honestly, Ikutsuki’s terrible, terrible puns are so bad that it becomes amazing. Just for the sheer dedication to them being terrible if nothing else.
Anyway, we want to get as much Academics as possible so we really cannot drag out this Tiredness very long at long. There IS a chance for it to get cured by like bathrooms and stuff but I’m not taking any risks.
There’ve been fewer new cases of Apathy Syndrome the last few days.
Senpai said it’s probably because we beat that Shadow.
Wouldn’t that be great if it was true?
Our efforts paid off.
I think so, too. It was dangerous, but I’m glad we did it.
We shouldn’t get carried away, though, cuz we have midterms next week.
Let’s just hope nothing like that happens again until midterms are over.
Provided the UI isn’t lying to us, that’s probably a reasonable presumption. At least this early on, anyway.
En route to the exit, we can find Kenji by the shoe lockers. I don’t know why it’s always this guy who’s just hanging around on-screen but sure.
The exams aren’t too far away, so I’m goin’ straight home today.
Studying at the library is just too boring…
At home I can watch TV while I study.
For better or worse, Kenji certainly seems to have the kind of work ethic I had in high school.
But that just means that we really can’t hang out with anyone at school, so back to the bookstore we go!
I’m sorry for troubling you about the persimmon tree…
I’ll ‘root’ out the truth!
Good one, Makoto-chan!
It’s really nice having you around… I can make stupid puns whenever I feel like it!
…That persimmon tree is a reminder of our son…
Before his death, he was a teacher at Gekkoukan High School…
He planted that tree on graduation day with the students in his first class.
That tree is about to bear fruit…
Why now…? Why do they want to cut it down now?
Don’t worry.
…Thank you, Makoto-chan.
Mitsuko seems very appreciative of your support.
Wow, Makoto-chan, you’ve really captured her heart!
You must be popular with the ladies! My wife’s no sucker, after all!
I feel I’m looking at myself when I was in my prime!
It seems Bunkichi and Mitsuko have grown to trust you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
Oh, and take this. It’s left over, but it’s still good…
Take care.
After saying goodbye to Bunkichi and Mitsuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.
Midterms are coming up, you know…
So, I’ll have to pass today. …Sorry.
Yukari has left.
This doesn’t exactly stop us from going to Tartarus or anything, but it does mean it’ll be just us and Junpei and, uh, that sounds like a terrible idea! Gonna pass on that for a while, then.
So, if an enemy distresses you in battle, you won’t be able to use your Persona.
Most intelligent enemies will try to use this tactic, so please be aware of it.
I guess I should study too…
…starting tomorrow.
Do your homework, Junpei.
This is kind of amazing, really. Considering the very different array of things we’ve seen on here, in order for there to be absolutely nothing that Makoto counts as intereting is pretty remarkable…
I guess that just means we get to the mall marginally quicker this time around.
Which in turns brings us back to studying in our room. We can, theoretically, get a decent amount of Knowledge out of this week and almost double that if we were to spend every day in the Library…
But that’s actually a terrible idea and will, on its own, make our overall goal here actively impossible.
Gossiping: I heard the road suddenly collapsed, and the guy’s car fell 30 feet straight down!
Listening: Wow, I’ve never heard of anything like that before… Is this school haunted?
Gossiping: I know, right!? I think I just felt a chill go down my spine… I should go to the nurse’s office.
Listening: Th-The nurse’s office!? The same place that staffer is resting? Are you kidding me? He’ll give you that weird medicine. You might end up feeling even worse!
The first bell has rung.
Just in case you didn’t know that Edogawa is really bad at his job and that this is usable, the game finally decides to tell you that very obliquely. Would’ve been nicer earlier, really.
The Earth rotates once every 24 hours…
All right, don’t fall asleep or anything. It’s basic, but it’s an important premise for the rest.
Let’s see… Hmm… Makoto?
How fast would you say the Earth rotates near the equator?
About 1,700 km/hour.
Flip to the next page… Oh, this is an application. Let’s skip that and… Hm, that’s an experiment. Okay, um…
You gave the correct answer!
Charm’s probably be hanging around at rank 1 for a bit longer, since we’re not exactly focussing on it just yet. It’s not super important for the time being, is the thing.
I don’t know what to do with her… So I’ll just leave her hanging.
I think I would be satisfied just to stare at him from afar…
sigh What should I do…?
I don’t think I mentioned it before, but this particular sidestory is one that has been in every Persona game from 3 onwards. It’s… certainly something, and it IS going to go somewhere eventually.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Anyway, today we can’t actually get a rank up out of Bunkichi and Mitsuko. We needed 20 points to get to rank 6 from 5, but the previous scene with Omoikane gives a maximum potential of 14. This is something that’ll be more of an issue later when we need to spend days just gaining points instead of gaining ranks. It’s inconvenient but there’s nothing more we can do about that.
Hit the books.
Are you serious, bro!?
Isn’t saving the world more important?
C’mon… Yuka-tan wants to go…
We DO have exams next week…
But, what the hell… I’ll go.
Yeaaah! Now, we’re talkin’!
This is the last chance we have before exams to go to Tartarus with Yukari around. So, going to Tartarus today is something that we… aren’t going to do. Got more important things to do right now.
Well, there’s a skill that can make someone become enraged.
It’s a status ailment; anyone can go berserk.
Both your attack power and your attack speed will increase, but you won’t be able to defend yourself, so you can get really messed up.
So if you become enraged, be careful…
There are weapons that will increase your attack power, and armor that will strengthen your defense.
You can cover all kinds of weaknesses this way.
Just be sure you don’t equip any weak weapons or pieces or armor.
It’s all about the balance, man. Balance.
When you’re charmed you will attack your team members and heal your enemies.
I wonder if I’ve ever been charmed before. A person who’s been charmed doesn’t remember it happening…
The hospital settled with the patient for over 1 million yen. Next up, the summer weather forecast…
Eh, we have no reason to care about the weather forecast here, so we just kind of leave at this point.
So our pattern mostly doesn’t change. Just gonna grind that Courage and also Academics for very different reasons.
Today is a good Academics day netting us 6 points (4 from the Arcade and 2 from studying), though that’s something we can only realistically do twice a week…
1 Like
Thursday is a very light day with no talk outside school or anything.
So we’ll just jump right on in to the next Hierophant scene!
So, would you please cheer up…?
I understand their reasoning…
But, if that tree is removed, I feel like the memory of my son will vanish with it…
Please stop quarreling.
…We’re fine. We’re not fighting. I was just fretting…
Sorry to make you worry.
“Mitusko”? Can’t say I’ve noticed all that many typos here, so this somehow really stands out.
…Apparently. the rumor was true… They really are going to cut down the persimmon tree…
So, we went to the school to say goodbye.
But, that just reminded Mitsuko of our son’s death…
Bunkichi and Mitsuko seem really depressed.
It’ll be okay.
See, dear. That’s exactly what I said!
If you keep crying all the time, then what will your admirers think?
Right, Makoto-chan?
A smile has returned to Mitsuko’s face.
You feel Bunkichi and Mitsuko’s great appreciation.
Your relationship is stronger now!
My wife will be happy to see such a handsome young man.
Here, take this for when you get hungry.
After saying goodbye to Bunkichi and Mitsuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.
You can study anytime. We need to get stronger ASAP.
Me n’ Hermes will take down the next big Shadow ourselves!
Go hit the books.
C’mon, gimme a break, man…
How are your grades, Iori?
How are yours-- Never mind. I already know.
Man, now I don’t feel like doing anything at all…
Just in case you somehow didn’t quite get the message that Mitsuru is very smart and Junpei is very not, here’s it with all the subtlety of a brick to the face.
This ailment is known as fear.
Fear may immobilize you, or make you flee from battle.
When you are in this state, you will be unable to control your own mind.
Admit it, Makoto–you’re hooked!
I guess that online game I gave you really got you going, huh?
No sense in keeping 'em both, so you can have the old one.
Here y’go. I’ll take you on anytime!
Alright, now that we’ve got this for Elizabeth, I’m sure she’ll be happy with her new PSP COMP.
Yep.
Man. you’re a good student. I’m not… I never study.
Meanwhile, Yukari is going to be studying every single day for the rest of the week. Do your homework, Junpei.
The dollar is now valued at 114.9 yen, a slight increase from before.
Remember a couple days ago when there was nothing interesting on the news? This is all we get from it today. Apparently Makoto is kind of interested in economics in the most minor, milquetoast way possible.
Are you familiar with the Antique Shop in Paulownia Mall?
They carry all sorts of things, both ancient treasures and worthless junk.
What’s more, I’ve heard the shop’s owner has an interesting ability…
She calls it… weapon fusion.
However, the shop seems to still be closed… I look forward to its grand reopening.
Just in case you really haven’t been poking around anywhere, Elizabeth lets you know about the Antiques Store now. We saw it was closed a while back, and it reopens on June 9th so that’s a day to look forward to!
Anyway, we’re here to give Liz a not-PSP.
I’ve heard these have special mechanisms that make the player forget about the passage of time…
How frightening…
How does it work…? Does it send slight shocks to addle your mind…?
I don’t think I’d like to try this anymore. Please take it with you.
Like the Exorcism stuff from before, this is just single-target instant death but this is Curse elemental and not Expel.
Next requests we’re going to get done are probably the ones that require Tartarus excursions.
Chronologically it might be the other “talk to someone in the Dorm on the right day” quest, but Tartarus seems more likely.
Of course.
Ah, just as I suspected. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your grades…
They gotta be a bit better than merely “good”…
To be honest, I’m not as well prepared as I should be. I’m still preoccupied with monitoring Shadows.
At any rate, the number of incidents have decreased since our last mission.
If we can continue to defeat them, we may be able to rid the public of their fear…
However, every time a new Shadow appears, it seems to be more powerful than the last.
And even after Akihiko returns to battle, we still won’t be at full strength…
The bell’s going to ring soon, so make this quick!
In this scene, the family is sitting down to dinner. Doesn’t it warm your heart?
Now, who wants to answer a question? Today’s the 15th, so I’ll pick… Makoto.
One of the items on the menu for the family is “pan.” How would you translate this to English?
Bread.
Good job! “Pan” means “bread” in English. The term “pan” came from Portugal to Japan a long time ago.
We’ve still got a couple minutes left… Oh, in today’s newspaper…
You gave the correct answer!
Charm’s still lagging behind at Rank 1 but it’s fine. It’s fairly close to Rank 2 at this point if I’ve been doing my halfassed napkin math correctly. We’ll get it by the time it’s relevant I’m sure.
Pre-Exam week is nearly over, so we’ll spend time with someone else soon I’m sure. But for now…
Mitsuko is crying.
Why’s she crying?
Don’t worry. She’s crying because she’s happy.
She always cries at happy events, like the day we first met!
All the graduates from my son’s class have gathered at the school.
I sure didn’t see anyone at the school doing that, but maybe I just didn’t quite go to the right places since I beelined for the entrance…
They say the tree is a memorial to their former teacher… They don’t want it to be cut down.
That’s great.
Many of them came to our son’s funeral…
It’s been so many years… but they still remember him…
They’ve given their precious time… sob for our son… I-I don’t know what to say…
…Makoto-chan, were you the one who called them all?
What are you talking about?
There’s no need to be modest, Makoto-chan…
You “da man,” Makoto-chan! Incredible…
Bunkichi and Mitsuko seem to think that you’re the one responsible for the petition.
They seem very appreciative.
Your relationship is stronger now!
Someday, I’d like to go have a drink together…
But, let’s wait until you’re legal.
See ya later, Makoto-chan.
After saying goodbye to Bunkichi and Mitsuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.
To do good in a competition or on an exam, you need to practice or study a little every single day.
And that’s all that’s new in the dorm today. Yes, really. It’s a lowkey evening, rather than morning, for once.
At least we hit Courage rank 5 now. Fearless is bizarrely only the penultimate rank, and not the final one. Yeah, I dunno.
As for Academics? Well, this IS the week before we get to midterms, so I’m gonna keep that one secret for now…
Ah well, this is the last day we can realistically work towards that sort of mini-goal!
Not feeling well?
huff The opposite, actually.
The doctor said I’m almost fully healed, so… I couldn’t wait to get some exercise.
But, that means I’ve got to start training now.
…Yeah, gonna be honest here: waiting for Akihiko was a big motivator behind not diving into Tartarus this week.
50 sextillion times 1,200? …60 septillion? Multiplied by… 1,820? 10 octillion, 920 septillion!?
…
These numbers are too big to fit on the blackboard… Errm…
Oh! I was using the wrong equation. If you plug the numbers into the correct equation…
…Wuh? H-How… I don’t… but…
What a beautiful equation this is!
Huh? The exam…? Oh, right, the exams start next Monday.
It’ll cover up to page 34. This formula won’t be on it.
It’s so beautiful, though… Maybe I should put it on the exam, too.
Kidding! Kidding! Don’t give me that look…!
You stayed up and listened to the lecture…
A day when we get a lecture in school AND the Quiz at the arcade AND get to study? This is a big day for Academics alright!
I wanted to tell you the good news as soon as possible. It’s about a customer who came by earlier…
Who do you think it was? Here’s a hint: “signature.”
A diehard Bunkichi fan?
…Yeah, I wish! Actually, it was one of the organizers of the campaign to save the persimmon tree.
He said, “Let’s protect the tree together!”
…AND he’s gotten a lot of signatures from students who were in our son’s class.
That’s great.
He was loved by everyone…
Of course! He was our proud son!
I’m sure he’s just as happy as we are…
Alright! Makoto-chan, let’s go to Gekkoukan right now!
I have to tell my son the good news!
Let’s go.
Sweet! That’s music to my ears!
I’ve never been so excited about a walk before!
Bunkichi and Mitsuko seem to have taken a liking to you.
…I certainly hope so by this point!
Your relationship is stronger now!
Alright, dear, we’ll be back. Thanks for watching the store.
It’s a good thing most people don’t seem to be aware that Makoto’s an orphan otherwise they might ask questions about Bunkichi, huh?
No, I don’t.
Very well. Spend tonight and tomorrow night studying for the exam.
Is that just coincidence, or is he that big of a slacker?
Akihiko, it’s Junpei. He’s been living here nearly a month; you know the answer by now.
Okay, so maybe that’s not true. I started out fine, but then I got lazy.
I don’t know how everyone can study so much…
It’s so popular that the 50 sweet rolls, one to a customer, were sold out within the first five minutes…
It’s, uh, certainly something that apparently a snippet of a news story about a bakery being Pretty Good is considered worthwhile.
I dunno, I just find it interesting that what ends up being determined to warrant showing is kind of very varied.
It really helps give an idea on what Makoto’s personality is outside of being a kind of asocial enabler.
Hopefully we’ve gotten all that studying out of the way, since we’re not doing it today! It WOULD be worth a good 6 points without the arcade or cinema, but…
Oh my goodness! I can’t believe its wonderfulness!
But wait, there’s more!
We’ll throw in 2 Diet Food for only 5980 yen!
Sub-6000 yen for a new sword AND a couple diet pills? Sign me up!
Alright, that’s the important stuff today done and dusted.
Akihiko, much like Yukari, is just holed up in his room. He’ll probably be fine, really. Junpei…
You can hear Junpei complaining loudly about his homework…
Junpei sure is being Junpei. At least he’s actually doing his homework, which is nice.
Mitsuru’s gonna ace this test, I’m sure, so she’s worrying about something else.
This is the perfect time to train. It’s so quiet…
Though she clearly hasn’t heard Junpe–
…except for Iori’s screaming, that is.
…oh. I guess she has, after all. Maybe even from here; it sure seems like he could pull that one off.
Wait, hang on… I nearly forgot!
how does this keep happening
One of these days, we will finally catch an episode. One day!
Probably should’ve made a Hermit persona here in hindsight (we could’ve done but I just forgot), though we can get away with not doing it at least.
so ummmmmm… i’m drunk! xD
Oh really? o__O
save me tatsu! i’m sick of my job! no tiem to party T__T
3 beers an counting!11 will u hold my hair bakc? heheh
rawr, i even have to work from hoem this weekend… =(
Of… of all the writing errors, this is the one you correct?
nvm -_-;;
dun worry, i’m on a break u know =P
Maya danced funky?!
Maya’s avatar sat down.
it didn’t use to be liek this T_T i never had to work weekends
but lately i cant get motviated to get ne work done @ work. =/
So you don’t like your job?
Maya seems proud.
it has been 8 yrs tho… maybe i’m jus bored? =/
ugh… sumtimes i wish everything would slow down a bit… ^__^;
why do i play this game even tho i hav better things to do? lol
i dun talk liek this irl, i swear! its jus an online habit =P
I suppose I should type correctly like this, but im jus lazy, eheheh
Maya’s really opening up to you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
that type of thign could get me fired for reals! o_O
dun tell ne one, k? i can’t get firediwanna keep my job! -_-:
hmm… i better get back to work, huh? nite! ^^
Maya’s player signed off.
You decided to log out as well.
So, that was our final week before midterms. Hopefully we’ll get a good score. Let’s positive thinking!
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Proper spelling online is truly the leetest of things to do. Man, that dates the game. Now Maya would probably be pulling somewhat outdated memes out of her butt.
Well, I suppose it’s time for midterms to begin today. Should only last a few days, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal…
Or it can take up the entire week, sure. Not like it’s going to matter anyway.
Gossiping: Come on… You don’t need to lie about it every time. By the way, did you hear? Our PE teacher was hospitalized.
Listening: Whoa… Wait. Who cares about our PE teacher? C’mon, we’ve got 5 minutes! We can memorize 10 vocab words!
The first bell has rung.
Boy, is this kinda last second attempt at cramming far more my speed.
And, uh, this was a very frequent result from that, yes.
Welp, there’s that day go…ne… wait, seriously?!
Yeah, seriously. During exams we get no free-time during the day nor at night.
I sort of understand why, but it’s quite silly. One question (if that) and day over!
Speaking of questions, though, the previous one was straight up taken wholesale from class. This one changes the answers around somewhat.
Occasionally, we’ll be asked something that is the opposite of what we were asked before.
We had to answer what water low in calcium and magnesium was for class, so it does require remembering that at least.
And this one is something that was mentioned during an Academics increasing lecture forever ago way, way back near the start of the game.
Gotta remember that happening AND what the answer was AND hope you didn’t skip it by taking a nap (don’t do that).
Just like that, though, since each day is taken up this week goes by VERY quickly.
If the doctor gives me the O.K., I’ll be able to fight with you guys again… finally.
By the way, I have a favor to ask. You’ve been doing a great job leading the team in Tartarus…
Would you mind continuing after I come back? That way, I can concentrate on building my strength.
I don’t mind.
I already talked to Mitsuru, and she was okay with it too. Good luck.
I dunno, I always felt like that after I was done with my exams. Sometimes it was accurate, sometimes it… really, really wasn’t. 
As a nice mercy, now that we’re done with our exams we get to actually do things on Saturday. The first time I ever played this game… 9 years ago… I was fully expecting to get shunted to either Saturday evening or even Sunday. Understandable why, I’m sure.
Added bonus: people at school are like actually available and stuff now!
I, um… sort of overreacted… and I, um… Just wanted to say I’m sorry…
I-I get really nervous when I, um, talk to people… especially boys…
I-I know it’s bad, but… I-I can’t help it…
Chihiro seems to be very self-conscious…
OH! It’s cool, I know how to fix this!
I’m male.
S-Sorry, I won’t be a very good Student Council representative if I’m like this…
…I have to try harder to overcome this phobia.
Somehow that didn’t work?! I know, I’m shocked too!
Right, fine. Okay. Let’s see… it is Saturday so we COULD go back to the bookstore… again… but let’s be sensible about this. We just regained the ability to work on school links, so who’s available today? It’s a Saturday…
So our options are limited. Fortunately, we don’t need a Strength Persona right now, though we will need one soon…
I don’t think we’ve seen this place at all on-screen yet. I’ve walked past it once or twice trying to find folks on Sundays but that’s all.
Even though I eat lunch everyday, I still get hungry after practice. I consider this an early dinner…
I’ll still eat dinner when I get home, though…
I really have to stop eating between meals, or I’ll gain tons of weight once I’m not so busy with the team…
Hey, Makoto-kun, do you think I eat too much?
Not really.
I agree! I just eat a little more than your average girl, right!?
I’m sure I burn off the extra calories during practice!
You live in the dorm, right Makoto-kun? Not to pry, but…
You must love being around good-looking girls like Mitsuru and Yukari…
Not necessarily.
Really? So, not all guys like the same thing? Honestly, I wouldn’t mind being more like them.
I know she means Mitsuru and Yukari (etc.) here, but the way its worded in context makes it seem like she wants to be more like, say, Junpei…
…Not that I’m desperate for attention or anything.
Maybe I should go on a diet… I’m lazy, but it’s the only way.
…I’ve decided! I’m gonna stop eating between meals! My first goal is to tone up my arms!
Did you hear that, Makoto-kun? You’re my witness.
Yuko has told you about her resolution.
Your relationship is stronger now!
Let’s go.
Yeah, otherwise I might be tempted to order something else. blush
Alright, let’s go.
After saying goodbye to Yuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.
Congrats, man!
I need to catch up on my training. I’ve slacked off for a whole month.
Shouldn’t you take it easy, though? You don’t wanna reinjure your arm.
I’ve already wasted precious time.
Yukari DOES get an exclamation mark above her head too, here, though since Akihiko managed to catch Junpei’s attention…
We did!? Sweet!
Is it a girl…?
Actually, it is. She’s a junior who goes to our school.
Yamagishi…? Oh, that girl in 2-E…
She gets sick a lot, from what I heard… I don’t see her at school very often.
She was at the same hospital as me. That’s how we found out about her.
But, maybe she’s not cut out for battle.
I had an Evoker made for her, too…
I was gonna offer her some private lessons…
Wh-Why’re you lookin’ at me like that? C’mon…
I dunno, something better than that.
Not really.
Are you serious? You’re such a strange guy.
Or, did you want her to join instead of me?
…
Sorry, that’s a tough question to answer. Just forget I said anything.
He’s just happy.
Yeah, you’re right. He got this big smile on his face after he heard that a girl was coming.
Well, I guess it would be nice to have another girl in the dorm.
However, it can’t be helped if she’s weak and unable to fully participate.
The man’s computer was also seized in the raid.
Hm, so let’s think. We just got Akihiko back in the party, we’re running low on money, we have a bunch of quests to finish with a deadline for those in like 2 weeks… we just lost 1 week to exams…
I think it’s time we went back to Tartarus!
With Akihiko in the fray, we now have a full party of 4 and always will do. How nice!
He joins at level 12, which is notably higher than we could ever dream of being right now without absurd levels of grinding.
Aki’s a bit of a mixed bag, really. As his baseline will let you know, he’s a very generalist kinda guy; he can sort of do everything and he’s not really BAD at anything. Notably he’s a good source of Strike elemental damage to finally round those out, he can heal, he can do Electric stuff and he’ll be able to debuff later as well. Yeesh.
Do you remember how I said Tartarus was divided into different areas?
I discovered through Penthesilea’s power that the first barrier is gone now.
I suspect that the others will disappear too, eventually…
Therefore, I’d like to make reaching the top our goal.
You never know what the future may hold, and getting to the top of the tower is the most logical step.
I’ll let you decide on an appropriate pace, but the sooner the better. I’m counting on you.
Whew, jeez, okay. So, first order of business then:
This dreadful thing. It can only be equipped by girls, so that’s Yukari and… Yukari. +1 Strength is not really super necessry or useful and its defence is double what she has by default at least?
Also it’s needlessly creepy and changes Yukari’s model to be… this. It’s weird and I don’t get it.
Just gonna stick to the Rash Guard when it matters. Or maybe something else if we find decent armor before the next boss.
And now we can progress further on up, just like we’ve been informed twice. Let’s see what lies ahead…
The second block, as expected. So long Thebel, we’ll see you… almost never. Almost. Gotta go back for one thing still.
I’ll try to see what’s up ahead. Hold on…
…Sorry, but I’m experiencing difficulties, possibly because of the distance…
I need more time… You may proceed for now…
Alright, so now we can run around… Thebel?? No, game, you’re wrong. That’s weird, stop lying.
Mystery New Block is not named Thebel. All versions do this, though; I don’t know why, since Elizabeth’s requests tell you the real name already.
A new Block brings with it, new opportunities for lots of money jeez. More in this one case than we’d realistically get from 3 before…
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
But the real important thing here is the new Shadows! There’s nothing BUT new Shadows around now, in fact.
This is the only time we’re going to run into Grieving Tiaras though. Not like it matters since they’re kinda weak pushovers.
Sure, they’re weak to Ice but jeez that’s ridiculous.
These things are a bit more interesting and important. They’re potentially nasty bastards since they have Mudo access, and their only weakness it Expel which we could have easily but it requires grinding an Angel and, uh, nah.
These guys generally appear in groups of 3 and Elizabeth wants 3 drops from them for good measure. These ones are not guaranteed to happen, annoyingly.
Expel being the only weakness is not a big deal though, since Akihiko doesn’t really care. He’s kind of a Crit Machine at this stage and that speeds up so, so much. One of the benefits of coming in at Great status!
It pushes his damage with a basic attack upto around 70 and makes Sonic Punch an easy one-hit kill here.
The thing you’ll probably sort of notice here is that Ice is quite a common weakness. Makoto is the only source of that right now, and weirdly the game was kind enough to give us Ice Boost already via Jack Frost.
The other thing of importance is that because everything here is level 9+, we actually get real EXP values now! It took long enough!
Oh and gems drop semi-frequently too. Except when you want them. And we will want them. Gems are important!
We also start to get Rank 2 Minor Arcana cards which are a tangible upgrade over Rank 1 by a noticable amount. Can’t complain about that, nope.
We also get to see what happens if a Shuffle Time would give a Persona that we can’t actually use. It’s a silhouette and then it just disappears. Shame. Archangel here is level 10, so we’re close to it at least.
Hey a Red Shadow! Akihiko mentioned this before; these things are fairly uncommon/semi-rare but very worth fighting whenever they crop up…
Though it’s probably better if they DON’T get the Advantage. Revolution is helpful for us as well, though, since it increases the chance of getting a Crit for… everyone. Everyone.
Not like these things really need it though, when they’re doing this on Neutral before proccing a Crit. Yeesh.
Meanwhile, when we hit their weakness, it’s not a particularly good amount of damage.
Though, they are also weak to Expel if you have a means of doing that effectively. Resisting Strike is a minor inconvenience, really. Note that they’re level 19 as well; Red Shadows are always the highest levelled thing you can encounter in the Block outside of bosses.
This means they give really, really good EXP for the area. This is without a Suit of Wands card as well…
It’s easily enough to push Makoto to level 10, though, and that lets us have a stock of 8 instead of 6 now.
Floor 18 is really low on new content, sadly. There’s, uh…
Oh, Black Ravens turned up here. They’re really weak, though.
A single Zio is an easy, easy one-shot. Shame, but it’s really not that big a deal. Black Ravens are straight-up the weakest things in the Block anyway. (Grieving Tiara’s are a close second though)
On 19F, Mitsuru decides to let us know that we can leave and come back to lower floors if we need to grind. Uh, nah, we’re okay thanks.
So, Arqa is the name of the second Block. It’s named after Arka from the Kabbalah; it’s one of the seven lands of the lower world where Cain’s sons reside. Thebel was also from the Kabbalah being named after Tevel, which is the name for our world. Which is also where the world “Thevel” mentioned before comes from.
…Except just to make it more confusing, Arqa spelt like this is also a thing. It’s the third of the Seven Earths of Islam, and is generally considered to be functionally the same thing as the Arka from Judaism as mentioned above.
Anyway, uh, that’s a small shadow meaning it’s one thing, meaning I know exactly what it is…
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Bestial Wheel is a bit of an awkwrd thing if you don’t know what you’re doing. Being a solo Shadow that is pretty strong (16 Strength and Endurance; 10 everything else) it’s basically the Grave Beetle for this area. Except dangerous because it takes that 16 Strength and uses it to throw down Power Charged Assault Dives. Yikes.
Mercifully it’s weak to both Elec and Wind so we can quite easily deal with this if need be. Since getting up requires turns and being a Strong Solo Shadow, it’s not exactly immune to ailments either…
Although, thanks to a quirk in the turn order, it goes immediately after Makoto here. So he can knock it down with Zio, do something that ISN’T an attack and then it wastes its only turn getting up. Repeat until fight’s won.
…Wow, this is a rare mechanic. So, sometimes this happens and, uh, it’s kind of exactly what you think really.
There ARE limitations to what you get from the second draw here, and picking a Blank card voids your initial pick as well.
Double Up draws only have Blank cards and Persona from the normal pool for the area. It’s generally easy to avoid the Blank at least, which means our 1.2x EXP boost from the Rank 1 Wand before is completely safe. Hurray!
On the 20th floor, Mitsuru finally finds the next boss and it’s still quite a ways away at the 25th floor. Well, we’ll get there eventually.
A Black Raven got lucky and lived since I tried to auto it and it dodged Akihiko. Welp. Poisma is single-target with a base 25% chance to Poison. Notably, Black Ravens have 4 Luck so uh…
Of course Junpei gets Poisoned. I’d be more surprised if he didn’t.
Poison deals damage at the end of the turn, though it cannot kill anything. It only ever drops you to 1HP. Boring.
It even persists after battle, though it really doesn’t matter at all. Dis-Poisons and Posumudi are kinda common as dirt.
On the 21st floor, Mitsuru lets us know about some new Shadows as of this floor. I’m not exactly sure that’s accurate though, since I think the “new” Shadows here CAN appear from 17-20F as well, just rarer.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Anyway, the stuff we run into regardless of its status as “new” or not includes the Heat Balances from the monorail. They can appear in upto groups of 4 and are slightly stronger than they were before, though not by much. We just can’t one-shot them now, basically.
They sometimes appear with this thing, though. Wild Beasts are a minor annoyance to deal with on account of their only weaknesses being Expel/Curse. They’ll cast Tarukaja sometimes and then Sonic Punch dudes.
Though they have 2 Luck and are sorta also weak to Ailments so, uh, whoops.
Laughing Tables also make a return appearance after popping up on the monorail! They really like Ice spells so of course they burn quite easily and are immune to Ice for good measure.
That’s it for the 21st floor. On the 22nd, Mitsuru just continues to doubt our capability for the boss coming up. Jee, thanks Mitsuru.
We also run into another pair of Steel Gigas. Since we’re a higher level now their EXP isn’t as good, though it’s still the best by far.
The 23rd floor gives us this message which doesn’t really make a whole lotta sense, but sure. Okay. A floor is expanding. Whatever you say, Mitsuru.
Weirdly, she’s not exactly wrong since the rooms here are almost all these large open squares. It makes it easy to sneak up on things or just run straight past 'em at least.
…And we get 3 Old Lanterns from the Phantom Mages in one fight here. I would be happy about this, but I had 2 already that dropped 1 at a time until now.
Absolutely fuck all happens on the 24th floor. Even Mitsuru’s dialogue is just “boss is closer than it was before.” Good, thanks.
So we’ll skip to the 25th floor where the boss is waiting.
Turn on the Terminal, leave for the full heal…
And also we need to give Elizabeth these Lanterns. Absolutely worth it for the reward, if you ask me. And you definitely did.
31k is nice and we’ll be using this, uh, right now because fucking hell the Compendium is expensive this early.
So, we’re gonna make a Valkyrie out of Forneus (our best source of Tarukaja right now), Orpheus AND Angel. No matter how many times I rerolled skills, she would insist on always inheriting Bash which sucks but whatever. At least shes gonna give us Mabufu which her 7 Magic can definitely use really well. Yup!
More importantly, this is another one of Liz’s fusion requests dealt with.
A fine specimen it is. Well, you have done as I asked.
The reward I’m going to give you this time has an unusual effect.
If you are strong enough to control this Persona, then please give it a try.
He’s level 24, so we’ll be waiting a bit for this one too!
Speaking of waiting, next she wants an Oberon that’s been levelled up. Sure, okay. Oberon’s base level is 15 so once we get there and also get Emperor to rank 3+ this one will just solve itself automatically.
We’re currently level 11, so let’s make a level 9 persona that will run rings around everything else. Yomotsu-Shikome is kind of a good early game Persona since she has no weakness, is quick, can cast magic effectively and also she starts with Auto-Tarukaja now that we’ve got Strength to rank 3. It’s exactly what it sounds like; Makoto starts the fight Tarukaja’d. For free.
With Shikome prepped, we’ll go deal with some uppity tables I guess. We don’t NEED her for this, but it feels better to have her than to not.
Magician Crying Table x3 url=http://polsy.org.uk/play/yt/?vurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAhjWy7ydjok[/url]
Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone
I think we know the deal by now, since this is the fourth time and all.
So, these Crying Tables are weak to Ice. We can win pretty handily already, considering both Jack Frost and Yomotsu-Shikome have both Bufu AND Ice Boost.
Honestly, probably a good idea to not let the AI interfere at first/at all in this fight. As Junpei will gladly demonstrate, the tables drain Fire.
And as Akihiko learns, they’re also immune to Strike for good measure. They also resist Slash and Pierce, though Elec and Wind are neutral.
Attack-wise, well, they’re fire elemental tables. They cast Maragi, frequently.
They also cast Agilao, arguably more frequently. Also they have Fire Boost so, uh, maybe don’t use Jack Frost or anything else with a Fire weakness. This is why I brought Yomotsu-Shikome, yes.
If you really want the AI to help out, probably just have Junpei run support so he can Rakukaja folks and early-on help with healing if its necessary. Akihiko can contribute damage with Zio, if you use him right and focus on downing tables and let him only attack ones that have stood up. Yukari can do the same with Garu and they can both heal effectively. Not enough to keep up with 3 Agilaos a turn, mind, but it’s something?
Crying Tables are level 14 so, uh, we don’t get that great EXP out of them compared to what we’re used to. They also have 260HP and 260SP so they’re kinda flimsy too. Apparently they can cast Poisma and do some decent physical attcks but Poisma is fairly rare and I don’t buy that Magicians with 16 Magic would opt to use their lower Strength all that often!
They were guarding… a Bead Chain, huh? Feels like a step back after the Soma (because it is), but it’ll still come in handy I’m sure.
…Sucks that Yukari had to go and get tired after fighting the Tables but that means Junpei and Makoto won’t be far behind now, so we’ll take a bit of a respite I guess.
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Well, let’s see. Yukari is Tired right now, but no one else is. We can push this a little further, I’m sure.
Mitsuru’s thoroughly useless right now, so we’ll just see what’s up from hereon in.
Red Shadows are still around, and are just Steel Gigas x2 fights still. That’s not gonna change for a while. They’re still the best thing to fight for EXP though.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
A bunch of the Shadows have been replaced wholesale now. There’s some carry-over, but like half from before the fight against those 3 Tables are gone.
Anyway! Spurious Books were on the train before, but they’re slightly different to before. For starters, they are weak to Elec now and not Fire!
Dancing Hands are ALSO around now, as regular Shadows. Sometimes Tartarus bosses are going to become random fights, sometimes they aren’t. As a general rule, if it appears in a group of 3 it will reoccur; if it’s solo, it won’t. This isn’t perfect but it’s a good rule of thumb.
They’re much closer to their incarnation on the train than the boss fight, though. Still not quite a 1-to-1 since they have higher Magic here and can use Bufula.
Venus Eagles are also just hanging around, but their resistances are very different to before. Not weak to Pierce, don’t even Drain Fire!
A-Aki, are you… okay?
Right… uh, that’s…
I guess since everyone’s Tired at this point, and Akihiko’s showing it more than anyone else, we should definitely just up and leave now.
Sunday’s come again already? Exam week really messed with that perception.
Tanaka’s selling a piece of armor this week, that presumably forms a weird set with that Katana from before. This one ALSO comes with 2 Diet Food. Definitely gonna buy it, of course.
Speaking of the Katana, it’s by far the strongest weapon right now. It doesn’t have Juzumaru’s +20HP effect, but using it anyway.
I’m not even annoyed any more. This is just… natural, really.
There’s no one else in the dorm, so we’ll go out and about to see if we can find 'em.
…Nope, no one’s around anywhere today. Weird. At least we can see that the Cloth sells for a decent chunk, relatively, AND we got it for free without having to track down Gold Shadows.
Maya is not signed on.
Maya entered the area.
…ugh, its like all she cares about is marrying me to some dude >=/
Why don’t we get married?
Maya seems happy.
dun worry… >:D i still have sum spunk left at my age, lol 
it’s sexist to think women can only be happy when they’re tied down. -_-#
the other nite, i got a lil drunky, and i kinda passd out @ Paulownia…
i told him to stfu, dammit!! >=(
OTL …sry, kinda got off topic. i guess i’m a little tired =_=
but i do feel better now! xD
here tatsuya, this is for u
Maya used a Heal Potion on Tatsuya.
But there was no effect…
i’m trying to say thx for listening to all my bitching 
Maya feels like she can open up to you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
if you see him, don’t be nice! >=/ u’ll know cuz he talks like a woman
alrite, i better go pratice being a good housewife for tatsuya! <3
Maya’s player signed off.
Well, that’s going to be relevant later I guess…
You decided to log off as well.
Well, now we get to see if we hit 1st place or not…
Junpei looks like the world is about to end.
What happened?
Well, exam scores will be posted today, so…
He said he’s gonna beg for a higher score…
Like that’s gonna work.
I hear she’s kinda weak… but that’s just a rumor. I wonder what she’s really like.
Either way, having another Persona-user can’t be a bad thing!
If she ends up being really bad, I guess she can just warm the bench or something.
Excellent, now we’ll know how well we did on the exam.
Damn, that’s the second best result. This still has a benefit at least…
Still not enough to get to rank 2 though? Really thought that’s what would’ve pushed it over the edge…
Let’s go over the test now. The first part was the kanji dictation section…
How could any of you have got this part wrong? It was a gimme! I swear, you make me embarassed to be your teacher!
The next portion was the short essay, reacting to a passage about bullying in schools.
You could have complained about the bullying at Gekkoukan, right?
…I’m kidding, of course. There’s no bullying here… None whatsoever. I’m not getting into that.
Okay, on to the next section. Many of you got this part wrong.
Now, pay attention. You were asked to write the correct conjunction in each case…
The correct answer was “and,” but I gave partial credit for “however.”
You stayed up and listened to the lecture…
Notably, I don’t think we were even all that close to rank 3 to begin with for Academics. It’s easy to blame failing to get there on me playing fast and loose with extending Tired/Sick status but that’s only part of the issue.
Well, I’m sure we’ll be able to get it high enough for things in the future so we’ll worry about that later.
For now, we’ll just find someone who we CAN hang out with and I think Kaz is just the guy.
Unsurprisingly, Kaz didn’t turn up to practice this time either…
You see Kazushi…
Wh-What’s up…? You’re probably wondering where I’ve been…
The hospital again?
You remember what we talked about last time? …Of course you do; you remember everything…
I just got back from the hospital… They had the results from my last exam…
H-Hey… Makoto. I…
D-Dammit! …I can’t–
Nothing here that counts as dialogue, which is fairly annoying. We’re picking the first option, of course.
Thanks, Makoto…
S-Sorry to be such a pain…
…F-Funny, huh? I was trying to tie my shoes, and I fell…
It’s a good thing you were around… If it had been someone else, then the rest of the team would’ve found out…
Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.
Kazushi seems appreciative.
Your relationship is stronger now!
I have to train even though practice is over… The big meet’s not that far off.
…You’re leaving right? Later dude, let’s train together sometime…
You decided to go back to the dorm.
I’m glad the exams were easy…
Going to Tartarus really tires me out, so I can’t focus on my studies like I used to.
Well, I guess that makes sense, since I’ve been spending all my time studying.
I like how Akihiko says this like there was something better he could’ve been doing with his time when he was spending it just recuperating anyway.
Oh, by the way. Mitsuru won’t be back until later, so we won’t be going to Tartarus today.
Well, that’s fine. I wasn’t really planning on it anyway.
Aw, just leave me alone, man…
When we spoke to her, she said her favorite thing about the game was being able to talk to the kids.
Yeah, I can believe it. Both parts of it, even.
And now we’ve finally hit Charm rank 2. I swear we’ll be using these for stuff other than exams sometime in the future!
Hey, how’d you do on the exams…?
I’m satisfied.
Seriously…?
Man, I’m a laughing stock… After the results were posted, I heard these two cute girls talking…
Well, I won’t let it get to me!
We might be getting another girl on our team anyways!
…Yeah, I’m really not sure where anyone would get the impression that Junpei has a one-track mind. I don’t see it.
Nothing else going on today, so we’ll skip right to the important stuff.
Hello.
I was able to say hi to you!
I’ve been telling myself not to be afraid, but the more I think about it, the more scared I get…
I hope somehow I can get better at this…
Let’s go out.
…I-I’ll think about it, okay!?
I’m beginning to think that we can’t actually hang out with Chihiro at this point. It’s been 3 attempts that have all been systematically shot down.
Perhaps somewhat expectedly, Hidetoshi’s hanging out over by the Faculty Office when there’s no student council I see.
There’s no meeting today… My day just doesn’t feel the same.
Don’t you agree?
S-Sure…? Anyway, we need to hang out with someone. I guess seeing Kenji’s plan go up in flames is a good option.
Alright, first of all…
Never leave 'em hanging, that really makes 'em mad.
Oh, and NEVER break a promise. That’s, like, the worst thing you could ever do.
And remember, chicks get jealous easily.
If your chick sees you walking home with another chickm you’re dead, dude.
…Not that I have to worry about that. Emiri is the only chick I need.
Y’know what, I changed my mind. Kenji doesn’t deserve attention right now.
We’ll hang out with our other injured sports buddy instead.
It’s for you, but he didn’t know your address.
It says. �Come to Iwatodai Station.� What is he thinking? He skipped practice today, too!
After practice, you go to Iwatodai Station.
In a rare moment for him, Makoto actually genuinely runs here. Odd, that.
Y-Yuko was pissed off, huh? …Since I missed practice.
I should’ve told you before, but… um… the results…
The doctor said if I keep this up… I won’t be able to walk anymore…
He said I put too much strain on it during practice. How pathetic…
Well, I just want to win…
Suck it up.
…Y-Yeah! That’s what I was thinking!
Every minute, every second is critical! I don’t have time to waste!
I promised to be the number one athlete in Japan.
Is it that important?
Well, it isn’t just about me…
He can’t walk right now…
…but if he goes through rehab. he might be able to recover!
He says it hurts too much. though, so he doesn’t want to do it…
I made a deal with my nephew that–don’t laugh, alright–
So, I have to win this meet to make it to nationals.
What about your knee?
I-I appreciate your concern… but… I can’t worry about that now…
Sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you… especually the depressnng conversations…
It’s tough to keep it all inside. You were the only one I could talk to.
Kazushi has opened up to you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
…tell her to talk to me directly. I don’t wanna put you in the middle of this, Makoto.
You decided to go back to the dorm.
Okay, bye!
I need to get back into the swing of things. I can’t leave all the fun to you guys.
Eh, we’ve already been to Tartarus this week. Maybe later?
The tower reaches to the skies…
sigh It’s going to be a long and arduous journey.
I can get in close to attack, so I hardly ever miss.
But, my attack power isn’t that high. I mean, I’m strong…
But there’s no way I can do more damage than a sword.
It would be nice if a girl who’s in the same grade as me joined…
Hey wait, where’s Junpei? Don’t tell me… He isn’t, is he?
You hear Junpei yelling and shouting.
Oh wow, he really is. He’s actually hiding in his room! He’s too scared/ashamed to face Mitsuru after bombing the test. I wonder if he’ll also learn from this…
The economy seems to be on the rise again… Though a touch of inflation has led some consumers to complain.
Oh right and it’s the 26th of May, so that means we can do something for Liz today.
What are you talking about? Is this some sort of riddle?
Triangular sword… A triangle…
It’s not exactly a triangular sword. but the blade’s cross-section does resemble a triangle.
I have a few in my room. I’ll fetch one for you.
One swift fade to blue later…
Do you plan on taking up fencing?
If so, I can give you lessons once I have some spare time.
Can’t use this as a regular ol’ weapon in Tartarus before/after taking it to show Elizabeth, sadly. Even though it’s a sword. Don’t question it, okay?
A triangular sword… Yes, this meets the requirements for my request.
This epee was once used for the final rounds in fencing matches.
Fencers wore white uniforms so that blood from struck blows would be more visible.
Along similar lines… do you know why my clothes are blue?
…I will ask my master for the true answer.
Please accept your reward.
Now then, since we’re going to be at Paulownia Mall when we leave anyway…
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
This guy wasn’t around before. I wonder if he’s who Maya told us about. I also swear I’ve seen him somewhere before. Hmm… nah, I’m overthinking this.
There must be some handsome young man who will drive the housewives wild…
Right here.
Where? I don’t see anyone. For heaven’s sake, quit wasting my precious time!
But, he does not seem to be interested in you.
Well, this is what it looks like when we run face first into a stat lock I see! Gonna need to keep an eye open for a Charm level of Smooth. Which I will definitely remember, and not promptly forget.
Before we worry about that, though, we might as well finish working on Courage since it’s already so close to being done.
I gotta admit, I feel kind of relieved that I haven’t hit Academics 3 yet anyway. It’d suck if we were very close to it when the exams dropped, but it’s seeming pretty likely that we were still quite a ways off. Oddly relieved by that one.
Anyway, uh, let’s see. We should probably spend some time soon hanging out with someone new. We’ve got a few that we just kinda instantly backburnered after all…
“Gee, there certainly isn’t any bullying here. We brought it up out of nowhere, but it isn’t happening nosiree.” I bet bullying totally isn’t a plot point at all.
I just realized that the whole “man who talks like a woman” thing is definitely a localization issue, where they translated that but didn’t localize his dialog in any special way. Which is fine, there isn’t really a non-awkward way to do that in English, but they didn’t realize that they should get rid of that reference or provide a different quirk.
Also, lmaonade. I’ve never heard that one anywhere else.
Fairly close to the end of May already. We do need to finish Arqa in Tartarus soon though…
But we’ll worry about that later, I’m sure. For now, we have a quick day. No pre-school chatter, no lessons, just a skip right to the end of the day. Not complaining at all.
Not very many obvious options to hang out with today, so I suppose Yuko sounds good to me.
Can you hang on a sec? I’ll finish the story after I put my shoes on.
How childish…
Yuko is standing by the shoe rack with a strange look on her face.
What’s wrong?
Oh, it’s nothing, really…
It seems like something is bothering Yuko.
It’s the same stupid prank again…
…Phew, they’re safe.
It wouldn’t be funny if I had gum all over my shoes.
Do you know who did it?
I have my suspicions, but I don’t plan to confront her.
Yuko seems disgusted.
I was pissed off at first, but then I just got used to it…
…But if I catch her in the act, I’ll grab her and slap her.
…Hey! That was a joke, okay? Don’t take it so seriously.
I’m not like that at all! Alright?
You left school with Yuko.
Like I thought, brains are just as important as brawn…
No, we’re not dating. He’s just a friend from the team.
Black Socks: …You don’t have to hide it. I’m surprised you can get such a handsome guy. Maybe I should become a team manager too.
You’ve got the story all wrong, like usual.
White Socks: Maybe you should quit. You have to do so much running, after all…
So these two folks don’t even have names but are meant to be generic High School Antagonists as far as Yuko cares. Stellar.
Black Socks: Oh, stop. Her boyfriend might hear you.
…If you wanna give it a try, I won’t stop you, but I wouldn’t bother if you’re just looking for a boyfriend…
Because being a team manager isn’t easy. You won’t have time to be sticking gum on the shoe rack.
Of course not. It was just an example.
…What’s wrong? Did I say something to offend you?
Black Socks: …N-No.
White Socks: H-Hey… We should get going now…
The two girls disappeared…
…Let’s go sit down.
No worries.
…Thanks.
…Maybe I should tell you the whole story…
That girl with the black socks… She went to the same middle school as me.
Back then, there was this boy on the basketball team who asked me out, and we started dating.
But, he was seeing her at the same time!
She blamed me because I was the manager of the basketball team. Does that make any sense at all?
That gum on my shelf… It was probably her. She still holds a grudge.
Girls can be so unforgiving sometimes…
Are you mad?
I’m honored.
Um… How can you say that with a straight face? And how many other girls have you used that line on?
When it comes to relationships, you should never play with a woman’s emotions.
Trust me, I’ve been there before.
…You know, if people see us sitting together like this, they may think we really ARE dating…
Yuko seems embarrassed.
Your relationship is stronger now!
By the way… That guy I was going out with… I broke up with him a long time ago!
…You probably figured that out already, huh?
Well, obviously. Not sure I necessarily care though; it’s not like it’s my business.
S-See ya later.
Yuko ran away.
…You decided to go back to the dorm.
Not everyday that Ikutsuki’s here, so we’ll definitely remember to talk to him at least!
It is quite difficult to find someone who has the potential.
Would you feel more assured if you had more team members?
I’m okay with who we have.
But, if any of you become ill, the strength of the team will drastically decrease.
Depending on so few members puts us in a very precarious position.
But, its skills don’t really change that much…
Is that why my grades are so low…?
Haha… I was just joking…
sigh Now I’m depressed…
Status lowering skills are very useful.
Power isn’t the only thing that wins battles…
Heh… I can’t believe my Persona is actually teaching me something.
Though the weather is colder this year, many tourists are still enjoying the early island summer.
Yukari and Mitsuru just repeat stuff from before, so there’s no point in worrying about that. Disappointing, really.
We should be getting fairly close to maxing Courage now. Should.
Academics keeps proving itself to be a lot further off Rank 3 than I expected. It’s… not really a bad thing, honestly.
About what?
About Fuuka Yamagishi, of course. I haven’t given up hope that she’ll join our team.
Dude, her face looks so familiar.
She does look kinda weak, but it only makes me wanna protect her, ya know?
N-No… I can’t say that I do.
Oh dear… after spending all that time in the Nurse’s Office already I am worried about where this is going.
In this class, I’ll ease all your worries. It’s psychotherapy through magic!
All right, everyone, be very, very quiet. No talking… Silence!
Were you surprised to hear me bring up magic?
Not as much as you would think.
It’s a recent proposal, so it’s not well known yet…
Study hard, and I can beat your weak minds into shape! Eeeheehee…
Now then! Let’s get on with our first lecture, on the basics of magic.
Who can use magic, and who cannot? That’ll be our starting point.
Well, even Junpei can but he’s not very good at it…
Some of you might think that magic lets you do absolutely anything…
Pulling pranks on people, hurting your enemies…
It’s true of both eastern and western sorcery…
Those with wicked hearts will either be powerless, or be driven to ruin.
There’s one more thing that can’t be forgotten When learning magic.
That is… a “master.”
You should aspire to become as good as your predecessors, especially if you’re studying difficult magic.
When you begin your training, you’ll have to live in two worlds at once: the real world, and the dark realm.
If you can’t distinguish between the two. you’re headed for certain disaster.
That’s why the presence of a master is of the utmost importance!
With that in mind, I’ll move on to meditation, a standard practice in magical training.
I’ve got some handouts for you…
If you’re interested in the subject, try meditating before going to bed.
Slowly recall the events of the day… It’s like traveling back through time.
If you can do that flawlessly, you may just make a good magician. Eeeheehee…
That’s all for today!
This feels like it was earned for the exact opposite reason to usual. Goddamn it, Edogawa.
Oh well, let’s see what we can accomplish today shall we?
Um, the other day, when you, um, asked me out…
I-I’ve been thinking…
Um, if it’s okay with you, would you, um, like to…
Let’s walk home together.
O-O-O-Okay!
Um, then, I’ll go get ready…
I mean, um, I’m glad you’re willing to… b-but…
Just relax…
sigh Y-Yeah… I-I’m not very good at talking t-to boys…
There are a lot of guys in Student Council, so I-I should work on that…
…Oh! School is almost out. Let’s go.
…Oh! I-I’m sorry! I was just thinking about… what to say…
I was trying to come up with a topic you might be interested in, Makoto-san…
…but I couldn’t think of anything…
This is… Iwatodai Dorm. right? You live here, Makoto-san?
You should have told me!
S-Sorry!
I knew we were going the wrong direction. but… I-I couldn’t bring myself to say anything…
Th-Thank you very very much for… um, making time for me, Makoto-san.
Chihiro seems to appreciate your company.
Your relationship is stronger now!
A mysterious voice rings in your head…
And with that, she immediately runs away. Must not be many trains left at this point… even though we were able to get one at midnight…
The number of victims seems to be on the rise again… Apparently, the decline was only temporary.
Huh? Does that mean that no matter how many Shadows we defeat, more will just keep coming?
If that’s the case, then what’s the point of fighting…?
Our efforts have prevented the crisis from escalating.
I guess you’re right. …Ya know, it’s kinda creepy when you think about it…
If we couldn’t use our Personas, then the whole city would be crawling with zombies…
I don’t know the details, but it’s causing some sort of unforeseen error.
If you have time to examine it, I’d appreciate it.
This is effectively just a(n optional) reminder that there’s a thing to check out there. There’s nothing new added at the moment, don’t worry.
Junpei and Akihiko are hanging out on the second floor for a bit of a change.
Of course. Why would you ask such an obvious question?
Well, y’know… I was just thinking it might be nice to get some kind of thank you…
From the ladies, at least…
Junpei… Junpei, please. Focus man. This is a bit more important.
I know that makes things harder.
But, if we don’t fight, then more people will become victims of the Shadows, like The Lost.
We ARE making a difference, though. We’re making the city more peaceful.
According to his doctors, he was a victim of Apathy Syndrome.
Well, at least it was nice while it lasted…
With how quick Courage ranks up anyway, it should hit max before the next full moon. Should. I’d be more surprised if it doesn’t.
Academics is just gonna keep on being a bit of a slog to get anywhere, I see.
…Especially with stuff like this sabotaging tomorrow’s gain. At least we get an extra Courage point now.
Studying having a chance to self-sabotage like this is really weird but until we max Courage I am going to remain okay with it.
Gossiping: What, like bullying him? Poor kid… What’s his name?
Listening: I don’t know… All I heard is that it’s really a problem. I thought our school was peaceful, too, but I guess it’s not so much.
The first bell has rung.
oh god why are you back
Mr. Ekoda left work early today, so today’s lecture will be a little different. He looked fine, but he claimed he didn’t feel well…
Make sure you know what you’re eating, everyone, before you take a bite.
Last time, I related some basic magical knowledge…
Today, I’ll add to that with a discussion of meditation. But first, let’s review the ways that magicians meditate.
To heighten your creative impulse, the source of all magical power…
Carefully observe a real-world object and recreate it in your head to the last detail.
That’s the Western style, but I’d also like to talk about the Eastern style of meditation.
Modern magicians adapted Eastern meditation for their own original style.
Those are the basics of Eastern meditation.
You don’t need much to meditate. All that’s required is a quiet environment and some time.
It doesn’t take long, but you should allot at least 15 minutes for it.
Now for the practicalities… First, your posture. Choose a position you’re comfortable in.
You can also meditate while sitting on a chair. Any position will work, as long as you’re relaxed.
Once you can breathe comfortably, cover or close your eyes and relax.
Now that you’ve prepared yourself physically, let’s focus on your mind and soul. Imagine a symbol… Perhaps a large tree, or the moon.
If you wish, it could even be the god of your own faith.
However, do not empty your mind.
…So what have owe learned? To practice meditation is to imagine some sort of symbol.
The imagined symbol is there for other reasons besides helping the meditation go smoothly, however.
It can be very dangerous to plumb the depths of your consciousness…
By keeping a clear symbol in mind, you can avoid plunging over the edge.
Go ahead and try meditating if you’d like. That’s all for today.
This really feels dirty and wrong. This so shouldn’t give Academics but it does.
…And now for something different.
Friend: And?
She freaked out and started crying.
…Like it was the end of the world. You should’ve seen the look on her face… It was priceless.
Friend: Oh my gawd!
I’ve never laughed so hard in all my life!
Gossiping Girls: Hahahahaha!
Don’t they have anything better to do?
Friend: Huh…?
What voice? I don’t hear anything.
Friend: …
What’s wrong, Maki? Maki!
Friend: …
Are you okay!?
Friend: Sorry… What were we talking about?
I can’t stand girls like that…
Well, that sure was… something I guess.
Now, what are we gonna do today? We have a lot of options…
She must have some kind of iron will to follow me around this much.
She’ll probably be a detective or something when she grows up.
He just threw a rock at a bird resting on that branch!
That’s so cruel…
Anyway, uh, we’re close to the gym but we’re also close-by to something else…
We haven’t been in here yet. There’s other rooms along this corridor too but we can’t get into any of them…
There’s a note on the door.
We need Academics rank 2 or higher to read this note. If we can’t do that, then we can’t enter the room. Yeaaaaah this one’s pretty arbitrary. Oh and we also need our Hierophant S.Link to be at rank 3 or higher just for good measure.
The foreign exchange student you met at the bookstore is busy sewing.
It’s been a while, I forget; did we give him our name? I don’t think we did…
I 'aven’t seen you since ze bookstore!
I am very 'appy!
You know my name?
Yes, I asked ze teacher, my sensei. We are in ze same grade!
Sure, okay. Whatever you say, Andre.
Zis eez tanoshii, very fun! Would you like to try?
It seems Bebe wants you to join.
Sure.
Honto!? Really!? Arigatou, thank you!
But, now I am 'appy!
You have joined Fashion Club.
You now understand Bebe a little better.
A mysterious voice rings in your head…
Well zen, Makoto-sama, goodbye! …Oh, by ze way…
I was wondering 'ow you bid farewell in Nihongo–Japanese…
…Let’s be honest, they pretend like there’s four options but there isn’t. There’s only one.
Hasta la vista.
You decide to go back to the dorm.
…Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD, Akihiko!
I don’t suffer much damage from electricity. But, ice is a different story…
If my Persona is another side of me… and ice is my weakness…
Is it just me or does there seem to be a connection there?
I don’t really care.
Be careful…
Not caring is a form of bullying.
Not really sure I agree but sure, okay, whatever.
The water was tested and found to be radioactive, but fortunately, it did not leave the plant.
This sure seems important but, uh, since it’s an aside on the telly it’s not really that big a deal. Weird.
…Bah, I guess my math was a little bit off. Alright, fine. Guess we’re not gonna get max Courage before June but that’s not really a big deal.
Speaking of June, we’re really unnervingly close now to that 6/6 deadline for Liz’s one request that still has it. And it is the one for getting to document at the top of Arqa… guess I know what we’re doing next.
How has Mr. Edogawa not been fired. What kind of tenure does this man have that he keeps his job after basing a lesson on magic.
Am I the only person that likes that dude?
I was really expecting this to be either still Tired or, more likely, to get Sick. Well, there goes that free Courage…
Listening: Oh, yeah! The one who was lying on the ground this morning, right? I hope she just ran away from home… But I feel like this is the start of something big.
Gossiping: Yeah… There might be reporters and camera crews and stuff. sigh I don’t want to deal with it.
The first bell has rung.
Classmate: Yeah, they haven’t got a clue…
Student: Isn’t that bizarre!?
Everyone is talking about a rumor.
So, did you hear the details?
I’m not interested.
Stop acting like you don’t care.
You really should hear this…
Nobody knows what happened, and supposedly, she’s still unconscious.
This is a tough case, even for Junpei Iori, Ace Detective.
Ace Detective?
…Are you stupid or something?
…
Hey! I resent that.
Anyway, where’ve you been?
I was talking to the teacher.
She seemed okay then…
Whoa… Now, that’s really strange.
End
So that random scene from before was relevant to… this, huh? I guess we’ll end up finding out more about this sooner or later…
For now, we’ve got very valuable information to learn from Yuko.
I heard there’s a monk who goes there. He even drinks and picks fights!
I can’t believe a monk would do something like that…
That’s what I heard, at least.
I suppose this can go on the pile of things to look into later, along with the Gourmet King and I think that’s it for outstanding intel right now.
So it can help begin to rebuild the pile.
Anyway, we’re here and we have Valkyrie still so let’s put her to use.
I’m not as tall as you, so I can’t walk as fast…
…I was just joking; I don’t mind. Do you think I’m acting weird?
Well if I didn’t before, then I sure do now.
I’m used to dealing with big dumb jocks from working on the team. giggle
Heeey!
Do you know him?
Yup. He lives across the street from me.
…After the last scene with Yuko, this is seeming like a big ol’ random non-sequiter, huh? Don’t worry, it totally definitely isn’t. Honest!
Yellow Shirt: Ms. Nishiwaki!
(some things can absolutely be translated better. this is one of them.)
…This is no place to be playing tag.
It was okay this time, since it was me… but what if you had bumped into a stranger?
Go play at the playground.
Yellow Shirt: They said they’ll move if we beat them in a race, but we’re only fourth graders! We can’t win… So, we had to play tag here instead, Ms. Nishiwaki.
I’ll let the “Ms.” slide this time, but only because I feel sorry for you…
…Alright. come with me.
Blue Skirt: This field is soooo big!
If you see any strangers, run away. And boys, make sure you protect the girls. Promise?
Blue Shirt: We promise!
Practice until the big hand is on the 12, and don’t touch anything around here.
I’m gonna have a look around…
Yellow Shirt: Let’s run!
Wait, come here for a second…
and don’t lift your legs so high, or you might pull a muscle.
Yuko is teaching the kids how to run faster…
Give it a try! Believe in yourself!
Yellow Shirt: Wooohoo! Check this out!
Blue Skirt: …Me too! Me too! Come help ME, Coach!
Blue Shirt: I’m gonna win for sure!
Uhhh… not quite so sure you should be looking so down as you say that.
But… I’ve never been a coach before…
…Am I doing the right thing, Makoto-kun?
It’s up to you.
What am I waiting for…?
I’ll do it! I’ll be your coach!
But, I’m not gonna go easy on you guys! And no one’s allowed to quit, either! Got it?
Kids: Got it, Coach!
Checkered Skirt: Is that your boyfriend, Coach? Is he gonna teach us too?
What? Uhh… Don’t worry about that.
Think positive! If you think you’re gonna lose. you will!
Don’t be afraid of them just because they’re sixth graders!
Kids: Whatever you say!
You watched Yuko as she coached the kids.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you so long…
…But, is there any chance you’d be willing to help me train them?
I only know a little bit about racing… and besides, you’re pretty athletic…
I’d be really grateful.
Well? Will you help me? Pleeease! I’ll be lonely coaching them all by myself…
You sense that Yuko really trusts you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
But, I’ll make up for it one of these days.
You left school with Yuko.
Oh, I guess this did have absolutely nothing at all to do with the previous scene. Kind of a weird progression here.
People can be so immature, sometimes. I mean, it’s just a ghost story.
…dammit yukari no this is not the time
I’ll prolly just watch a little TV and then go to bed early.
Yeah, you don’t say.
Mitsuru is training and Yukari has a “weird” feeling…
Tch, I wonder what that means…
Actually, that’s quite common.
Dealing with Shadows has a tendency to enhance other… senses.
Junpei’s up on the second floor again, along with… Yukari?
All I said to her was that someone might be in her room… or under her bed… or in her closet.
I mean, come on, that’s nothing to get all worked up about, right?
What? You scared her!
Yeah, I guess you’re right.
All she’ll probably see is one of those big-ass cockroaches. …Well, I guess that would be pretty scary too.
I’d be happy to sleep with you, if it helps…
sigh Maybe I should call the police, or better yet, Mitsuru-senpai…
Please… Anything but that!
Mitsuru, of course, is back up on the fourth floor again.
The others appear to be busy as well, so let’s postpone going to Tartarus tonight.
For extra luck, try sticking your thumbs up all day long!
Well, this fits no one we know this time. It’s not even close to being relevant to this point in time either.
Well, there’s no Tartarus so we might as well see if we can find this monk I guess.
Bartender: …Well, I guess you can stay. Just don’t cause any trouble, alright?
How generous. Well, let’s see… there’s no monk near here at all. Hrm…
But there’s a bit of an upstairs area where we can find this guy hanging out all on his on. He sure looks like a monk with a cigar at least.
The lazy-eyed monk is drinking.
This had to be rank 2 before we could do this. It makes more sense than the requirement for Andre before at least.
…Booze! Where’s my booze?
I don’t got nothin’ to say to anyone who doesn’t have any booze.
Sure, why not. Let’s do this!
Bartender: …Oh, it’s for the monk upstairs, huh? I see. In that case, how 'bout you do me a favor first… Can you go around and take everyone’s order? If you do that, I’ll bring a drink upstairs for him.
A couple folks in Escapade are switched around for this.
It’s also not really all that complicated. Four folks around the bar have orders now.
Just gotta remember that, and it’s always the same so it’s really quite simple.
There’s a bit of obfuscation from some of them changing their mind once (or twice) but it’s easier than an actual dedicated minigame could be.
That’s all of 'em so we’ll head on back to the bar and tell the bartender.
Bartender: …So, what was it you wanted? Oh yeah, a drink for that monk upstairs. I bet he wants brandy again. Okay, I’ll take it to him.
That must have impressed him, because he started talking with you…
What’re the employees here thinkin’, lettin’ you in…?
…Well? C’mon, kid, sit down. Havin’ to look up at ya is strainin’ my neck.
So, you wanted to see where adults spend their time, eh?
Just take it easy, kid. You’ll be legal before ya know it. No need to rush.
Actin’ like an adult only makes ya look more like a kid.
What’s a cigar taste like?
…Like leaves. It may sound funny, but I can’t describe it any other way. I just smoke cuz it clears my head.
You seem to be optimistic about the future…
Well, don’t get your hopes up too high, kid. That way you won’t be disappointed when things don’t work out.
Cuz then you’ll hafta smoke and drink just to get through the day…
…Always bein’ taken in by the police for questioning…
…I’m gonna remember your face, kid. And next time you come in here, I’m gonna have you thrown out. Got it?
You became acquainted with the monk.
A mysterious voice rings in your head…
And we don’t even know the guy’s name yet or anything. Honestly makes this somehow even more impressive than Maya…
Well, when you’ve had your fill, go home… and don’t come back.
You decided to go back to the dorm.
Man, we’re not even going to get a Tower persona until we’re over level 30. Probably won’t be seeing this guy too often until then…
Although, hanging out with a drunk monk would give us a good power boost by then… hmm…
Worry about that one later, I guess!
Just the one set of shoes here, but it also comes with 1 Diet Food for good measure. Nice and cheap (less than 4k!) so definitely gonna get me them pills… er shoes, and their Evasion bonus. Yeah, that’s it.
The school makes us send them updates on how things are going here at the dorm.
See, that’s what Mitsuru’s doing right now.
It may just be a coincidence, but something doesn’t seem right about it.
What do you think, Makoto-kun?
It’s just a coincidence.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
It just isn’t normal, but I have no idea what’s going on…
Hmm, yes. I see that Mitsuru’s update writing is going very well indeed. Seems to be doing as good as I do on an average day.
I’m still holding out hope that we’ll finally get to see at least a part of an episode sometime. We’ve had two months of failures, but who knows…
Some people got hurt, so you know word is gonna get out all over town about this one.
So, today is Sunday. As a result of that, we won’t get to Tartarus today or do anything at night because, well…
the weathers nice today huh? let’s go outside! (> ’ ')> ingame, duh
Traesto! &=( ^o^)/
A gray-colored sky stretches as far as the eye can see.
A barren wasteland lies before Tatsuya and Maya.
Maya is stretching.
The air is nice, even tho the world has ended 
pshyeah right… it’s just a game… we should go lvl or sumthing
i’m so lazy irl tatsu… i havnt even gotten dressed or put on makeup T_T
Maya stands at attention!
Mr. E is such a stupid eh so bee!! t(-__-t)
Don’t you mean S.O.B.?
see!? u understand!! wooooo! tatsuya and maya ftw! xD
Maya seems happy.
Maya is looking around.
there were alot of dupers an goldfarmers, but still… =/
its good tho cuz it lets us talk about personal things rite? >=p
…maya IS a shy girl, u know… :
: lol
…oh noes! u can’t figure out what my job is can u? O_o
A drunken master?
well being drunk does make me stronger =P
…i wish.
Maya is enjoying herself.
hey! i just figured sumthing out o_O
when i complain to u, i feel better afterwards! xD
from now on we HAVE to group together promise, k? >=|
Maya feels comfortable telling you about her real life.
Your relationship is stronger now!
it’s been 2 months o_O
…That is insanely gross!
Maya’s player signed off.
don’t mention that “SOB” stuff, k? its our little secret! >_>
Maya’s player signed off.
You decided to log off as well.
…There seems to be a sense of restlessness in the air.
Really? I didn’t notice.
You don’t feel it…? Well, I just hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Shadows.
Akihiko said we may be receiving a new member, but we don’t know when we’ll be attacked…
So remain alert at all times.
So, we’ve been dragging our feet with the Student Council a bit. Should probably do something about that, since we did kind of get shanghai’d into this anyway.
You help out on various Student Council projects.
The hours fly by as you work on the tasks.
Some students feel the school uniform should be abolished, and they’re recruiting supporters…
It’s a waste of time.
You’re right about that.
They think life without rules is freedom. It’s ridiculous, plain and simple.
Without rules, the whole system will collapse. They’re mistaking selfishness for freedom.
Hello Hidetoshi, welcome to SMT. We generally call that the Chaos route, though that probably doesn’t quite exist in the same way here.
…Sorry, I may have overreacted.
I hate people with no common sense. Sometimes, I can’t believe the things that come out of their mouths.
I don’t mean you of course. I just want you to understand where I’m coming from.
It seems you’ve gained Hidetoshi’s trust.
Your relationship is stronger now!
You decided to go home.
Story Time
gonna recommend watching this one
You know how last week, that girl was found by the front gate?
H-Hey! C’mon… Nobody believes that stuff!? …R-Right?
So, what is this ghost story about?
Wha–!?
It-It’s probably made-up… so why bother!?
I’m interested. Go ahead and tell us.
Uh…
Junpei leaned forward and spoke in a mysterious voice…
Oh my. This is going to be special!
…There are many strange things in this world…
According to one story…
The other day, this friend of mine–let’s call him Shu…
He said to me, “Junpei, I saw something strange.”
He sounded serious, so I asked him what he’d seen.
He said it was about the girl in 2-E…
I couldn’t believe it.
She’s not the kind of girl to be out at night…
But Shu was as white as a sheet. He insisted it was true…
Then, it hit me…
And that’s why they found her lying on the ground by the gate!
I felt a chill run down my spine, and I broke into a cold sweat…
Yes, there are strange things in this world…
I think it’s worth investigating.
Wow, I didn’t know you were afraid of ghosts, Yuka-tan. That’s kinda funny.
Hey, watch it!
We’ll each ask around for the rest of the week.
I’ll prove to you that this ghost story is just an urban legend!
Then, I’ll let you guys handle it.
Just make sure you sleep with one eye open…
End
Goddammit Yukari! I just want to get this done and now we’re pushing it really, really close to the deadline and it’s almost entirely your fault!
However, there may be ghosts haunting the school…
Everyone at school knows about it… and soon everyone in town will too.
So many inquiries from parents and reporters alike…
Why? Well, just go check out what she’s doing, and you’ll know right away.
T… Turn the computer on first.
So I’m going to pass on Tartarus today.
For those who are fighting, the light has not yet broken through. That was our special report. Coming up next, the news.
We did it. We finally did it! Max Courage on the first day of June. That’s a little slower than I would necessarily like but that’s because of rescheduling earlier.
To try and get this up to Rank 3 in time for the midterms. Didn’t work out as I’d have liked, but we’re still ahead of the necessary curve for the time being so that’s fine.
…This however is not. Normally I’d reset here just to not get this but getting thwarted from going to Tartarus for one last day due to terrible RNG is just pretty great really.
It’s you…
I’m glad you remembered me.
And the next ordeal will be upon you. So, be careful.
…I’ll come again.
Great, so the next full moon is also an inevitable boss fight. Welp!
…So much for maybe having a chance to go to Tartarus today.
Ya know what…? From this day forward, I’m gonna do my best!
At?
Duh! The ghost story! Did you already forget what we talked about last night?
…You’re hopeless.
You better find out as much as you can, too… Remember, you only have until Friday!
I’m counting on you, Makoto-kun.
I really wouldn’t count on me for that, because ghosts don’t exist.
Of the “Ugetsu Monogatari” stories, I’m particularly fond of the one about the ghostly wife.
Such an eerie, yet poignant story… Speaking of which, I know a good ghost story. Would you like to hear?
“There’s a girl right behind you!”
Frightened, they ran back home. But he started to hear scratching noises each night…
And a faint voice, saying… “Let me in… Let me in…”
But as far as he knew, the room adjacent to his was vacant.
One night, he decided to knock on the wall where the sounds were emanating from.
Hmhmhm…
Right next to his ear, the voice came loud and clear… “I’m here!”
I’m just dreading the day he’ll say he wants to marry some poor girl…
Oops, there’s the bell. Okay, class, that’s all for today…
…Okay, no, this one makes even less sense than the lessons on Magic and Meditation.
…well never mind then. Not gonna use that door anymore if Andre is just gonna stand there, staring at it. Waiting. That’s kinda creepy!
we dont have a justice persona but is fine we dont need one yet and also i just want to get away from here now
You browsed through the used book store with Chihiro.
Don’t worry about it.
If you say so… But, um… thank you…
I was so busy searching through the books… I’m sorry if I ignored you, Makoto-san…
Um… I’m sorry I took so long…
This place has so many interesting books, I was having trouble deciding.
…Do you read much, Makoto-san?
I don’t read very often.
This isn’t Persona 4 or 5. Not only is there no mechanical benefit to reading stuff, there’s nothing to read!
Yeah… With the internet, it’s kind of a waste of money to buy books.
Chihiro seems a little sad.
We may be disturbing other patrons.
Yeah, I hear sometimes this asocial, introverted blue haired guy wanders in here. And that’s basically it.
Um… Makoto-san?
Is it boring to hang around with, um, a nerd like me?
Not really.
I-I’m glad to hear that. I’ve been worried about it for a while…
T-Today, I was able to, um, be myself with you, Makoto-san.
Th-That’s a big step for me… Thank you.
Chihiro seems grateful for your time together.
Your relationship is stronger now!
G-Goodbye…
You decided to go back to the dorm.
The Lost are everywhere, and it seems like it’s only getting worse…
Plus, there’s those freakin’ rumors goin’ around school…
We need to let off some steam.
I would 100% be down for that. Unfortunately, I am not in a condition in which it’s realistically doable. I blame Yukari and that one weird kid.
However, there is still no explanation for it.
So I believe it’s worth researching. Please let me know what you find out.
But, she seems to be doing research on them.
Is it the power of the Junpei Zone?
Huh!? What did you just say!?
Oh shit… I pissed her off…
Even if we don’t learn anything from it, it still seems like fun research.
I’ll be looking forward to the results.
Yeah, it’s Junpei’s fault…! Everything’s his fault…!
The Junpei Zone!? Psh! You really are dumber than you look!
At the close of trading today, the price per share had gone as low as 4,242 yen.
Since we’re not getting to go to Tartarus… again… and with max Courage we have to do something new.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
This’ll do. We’ve been to the cafe before, but never for its real purpose.
…You feel people looking at you.
Is this an effect of the coffee…?
This is marginally cheaper than the Karaoke was but it’s just as effective. 300 yen a day doesn’t seem like much, but it’ll add up over time.
We only have 4 days left to Tartarus now, so we really need to get a move on there. We’re definitely going to get that done immediately now. I mean, it’s not like Yukari’s going to obstruct it for the rest of the week because that’d be stupid and bullshit.
1 Like
May is done, so I think it’s time for a quick jaunt through another timeline once again, don’t you?
Since not every day will be unique to this reality, we’ll just hit the highlights as per usual.
Oh, guys can’t really come to places like this with each other…
Junpei seems a little embarrassed…
Where do guy friends go?
Uhh… Karaoke, Wild-duck Burger, the manga cafe…
…
Still, this is some damn good coffee.
You can tell that the guy who owns this place is really picky about the beans.
He probably roasts them all differently using special waters for each type…
Even before Persona 5 came into being, we had Coffee Trivia. Completely okay with that!
You know a lot about coffee.
Heheh… I just really like coffee. That’s all.
Oh yeah, what did you order, Kotone?
Hot cocoa.
Oh, hot chocolate? That’s a girly drink.
The two of you chatted about different things for a while…
By the way, are there any guys you’re interested in?
Well, that changed gears quickly!
If you want I’ll totally help you out. It’d be fun being your Cupid.
Oh yeah, what about Akihiko-senpai? You know girls are crazy about him.
You’d better be careful that he doesn’t play you!
Wait… Akihiko-san’s not that type of guy, so you don’t need to worry.
Actually, why don’t you try and get him? Seriously?
A transfer student swoops in and steals the heart of the boy every girl wants…
Don’t you think that would be totally cool?
Haha, it’d be something right out of a manga.
Maybe I should give it a try, then.
Ahaha! What do you mean by “then”!?
Well, if you’re serious, feel free to talk to me about it.
The two of you chatted about different things for a while…
You feel like you understand Junpei a little better now…
Man, I really enjoy being around you, for some reason.
Well, let’s head back.
You and Junpei went back to the dorm together.
We have no choice over this one. Unlike before, this is a scene we get no matter what on the 8th of May.
You haven’t joined any committees yet, have you?
Does student council not count…?
I know this is sudden, but there’s some positions that just became vacant that I’d like you to take on.
I mean, students are obligated to join a school committee.
I’ll let you choose which one you’d like to join.
Well, if I have to pick right now… uhhh…
That’ll do.
Library committee.
All right, thank you. Well, go on over to the library after school today.
…You joined the library committee.
You must go to the library after school is out today…
Freedom is illusion, and we are all shackled to fate.
Allow me to introduce Kotone Shiomi from class 2-F to you. She’ll be joining the library committee.
If there’s anything you don’t understand… Oh, let’s see… Hasegawa!
You’re on duty today, right? Teach her how to get around here.
Well then, I’ll leave the rest to you.
Understood.
Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t notice.
Please feel free to go home. I’ll take care of the rest for today.
We’re really sorry. See you later…
The other members leave…
They’re all just very busy…
Um… Let’s see, where should I start explaining things to you…?
…Oh, I’m sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself yet.
I’m very pleased to meet you.
Heh… There’s no need to be so formal. I’m a junior, just like you.
You don’t have to be so polite to me.
But that senior a moment ago…
Did you notice?
I’m the oldest student in the school right now.
Gee, I wonder what her problem that we’ll have to talk through is going to be about…
…That’s why the upperclassmen all speak politely to me.
I really wish they’d stop… but I’ve pretty much given up about it.
…Still, considering that we’ve just met, it’d be nice if you didn’t feel you had to be like that around me.
…Could you just try?
Of course I can!
You get a mature and quiet impression of Saori, probably because she’s older than you.
Whew boy, so, it’s not a big surprise that there’s more than two different S.Links this go around. The vast, vast majority of the changes are generally agreed to be for the better (don’t really see any people clamouring for more Kenji, for example). Saori is the exception. Most people would think that she’s worse than “Maya” for the Hermit and I… kinda agree, really. I know I’m normally contrary and snooty about SMT opinions but this time I am the mainstream. Sorry.
We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we do get a couple of days off before exams.
First, let’s go over how to check books out. Each book has a barcode on the back cover, so…
You were taught the skills you need in order to perform your duties as a member of the library committee.
You spent time with Saori in the library until it was time to leave…
Minor sidebar: since we have manual control, after beating up The High Priestess we don’t get new AI commands. We still totally could but we don’t. Instead, we get this extra bonus.
It’s like an All-Out Attack but not. It focuses on one target that is not yet knocked down and, well, knocks that Shadiw down. It’s not very exciting but it comes up sometimes.
Also, the prices for the compendium here are identical to the prices in Hard in FES. Maniac isn’t actually any more difficult (it’s easier in fact!), it’s just the hardest here because it doesn’t let you have NG+ goodies carry over. Doing it fresh means, uh, basically nothing really. At least it sounds fancy.
Anyway, where were we? Right, hanging out with cool new people.
rio please sleep at home and not in class
You can hear Rio’s coaching voice…
Short Hair: Rio, can we take a break yet…?
Huh? But we’re just getting started!
Short Hair: But we’re all tired! It’s not like we’re gonna make the finals or anything anyway!
I see someone needs to watch Haikyuu!!
We could if we tried!
Club Members: Huh…?
The club members look at each other in confusion…
Club Members: …
The club members fall into a sullen Silence…
Member: You’re the only one that wants to take it that far…
…Who said that?
Club Members: …
Rio sighs…
Hair Buns: …I don’t think we’re in the mood to keep going today. Let’s just go, guys.
But the bell hasn’t–
All the other members leave…
Wh-Why don’t you leave too? Looks like practice is over for today anyway…
I’ll be fine on my own…
I can’t leave you alone.
…You’re so weird.
You and Rio finished practice together…
Ah, it’s almost time… Um… About today…
Is it always like this?
…Yeah.
Rio laughs…
All I want is to play volleyball.
…
Oh, I shouldn’t be saying this to someone who just joined up.
If… you wanna play volleyball, it’ll be a lot of work. But you’re welcome to change your mind if you want.
Rio laughs…
You feel like you understand Rio a little better now…
I’m so hungry. Why don’t we go grab a burger or something?
After finishing up with the club, you decided to stop by a burger place before returning to the dorm.
Like, okay, I kind of get that there’d be some people here who just signed up because Student Club Is Mandatory or whatever, right? But the entire club is a little extreme. There has to be something else to it than that, surely…
Oh well, worry about that later. For now, we’ll hang out with Yukari since we can do that.
I dream about having a room just full of flowers one day.
Hey, what’s your favorite flower?
Garde you gave me a list and its not on it? wow that sucks
I like gerbera.
Oh, I like those too. It’s like they’re cute, but full of energy too.
I like how they come in so many different colors.
…Back in the day, my house used to be filled with flowers.
My mom really liked flowers, so she always bought a lot of them. She’d decorate with the ones I’d pick, too.
That’s probably why I like them so much… But for a while, there was a time that I didn’t like seeing flowers.
They would bring back memories… And they reminded me that what is beautiful can quickly wither away.
It’s appropriate that we’re in high school, because this is some textbook high school level philosophy right there.
But, I don’t feel that way lately. I even feel like getting some flowers for my own room.
chuckle I wonder why… I don’t really understand this myself.
Yukari stares at the flowers with a nostalgic look in her eye…
You feel like you understand Yukari a little better now…
Excuse me! Can you make me a big bouquet for something like 3000 yen?
…Huh? No!?
You decide to purchase a small bouquet and return to the dorm…
Y’know, I’m thinking we keep this SEES train rolling right on along…
Plus it’s nice to have a Magician S.Link available here that doesn’t annoy me.
Ramen or a meal… Maybe a beef bowl… Oh wait, what about takoyaki…?
Uh, what do you want to eat?
Ramen!
Ooh, you’re up for it, too?
Okay, let’s go.
Junpei is looking at a middle-aged man standing off to the side…
He’s also yelling something…
Do you think he’s okay?
He’s fine.
Junpei grimaces…
The drunk notices you looking at him and approaches you…
Whaddya want…? Get outta here.
Junpei looks disgusted.
Did something happen, Mister?
Kotone! Just leave him alone! Let’s go!
Junpei seems to be in a bad mood…
I mean you’re a girl… It’d be bad if anything happened to you!
sigh Uh… Sorry.
I… don’t like seeing drunks like that.
Junpei laughs dejectedly…
You…
…
I know that this’ll make me sound like an ass…
But I kinda envy you…
That’s not true!
Oh… Sorry.
You must’ve had good parents.
…Sorry.
Honestly, I know the music notes are just a visual cue for “you got points” and all, but between that and the happy music I’m getting some real tonal dissonance right now.
The ramen you ordered arrived.
But, the heavy atmosphere makes it taste oilier than usual…
He’d just sit there and drink, all by himself.
…
And every time he did, he’d get violent over the stupidest stuff…
…
But… it doesn’t hurt at all anymore.
No really, what? This music is super inappropriate for “Junpei’s dad was a drunk and also beat him sometimes.”
Also, man, that is one hell of a bomb to just drop on someone like that.
When I was a kid and I acted up, I’d get spanked and it would really hurt.
…
Whoa… Sorry for bringing that up. I must really be boring you.
Bored is the wrong word for it. By, like, a lot. It’s a good thing this is in the timeline where the main character actually can do empathy.
C’mon, let’s talk about something fun!
Junpei laughs…
You feel like you understand Junpei a little better now…
munch munch
You and Junpei returned to the dorm together.
So, this Sunday we’re gonna do something a little bit different. We’re gonna use this thing here. This is the first time that’s happened, but the long and short of it is…
It uses your daytime slot to give you 10 points with the person you choose.
There’s also a random event that is actually random.
Since it costs 100 yen to use, we just made a profit out of this. Nice!
Junpei still acts like a creep when he finds out about Fuuka, but at least here we can double-team him with Yukari. And it’s deserved, let’s be honest.
Right, anyway, back to school we go!
…Most of the members are missing…
No clue.
Girl’s Voice: Excuse me! Could I borrow some of you guys’ tape?
Well, here’s an unexpected surprise. It’s a girl we’ve definitely never met before, honest.
…Doesn’t look like you have too many people here today, huh.
…Yeah.
I wonder where they heard about that group date…
Seriously, I don’t know if I should be appalled or jealous…
Hey, you idiot!
Oh… Ohhhhhh… You didn’t know…
Sorry, I heard the girls in the tennis club talking about it at the shoe lockers…
So, everyone went to that?
That’s stupid…
…You’d get angry if we told you.
She also got angry because you didn’t tell her. Perfect plan.
Of course I’d get angry!
W-Well, calm down…
You call a group date “taking a breather?”
Yes! I don’t expect someone who’s never been in a relationship to understand it, though!
And what’s with that attitude of yours all the time!? Who do you think you are!?
What…!? I’m your leader! You’re the ones that nominated me! Or did you all forget about that!?
If we knew you’d turn out like this, we never would’ve nominated you!
No, wrong argument! Abort mission! Abort mission!
Screw this! This isn’t worth my time… I’m done with this stupid club.
You’re a pain in the ass, and I don’t care about keeping up with you. I bet everyone else is gonna quit, too.
The other members left…
Hey! I’m not done–
…
…It’s not your fault, Yuko.
…Hey, I know that I’m butting into another club’s business here, but…
You… really should make peace with them. I’ll try and help, too…
They’re the ones that are wrong.
Uh… That’s true, but…
…Oh.
The .girl approaches you and whispers something in your ear…
She doesn’t know how to interact with people sometimes… To be honest, I’m kind of worried about her…
I try to lend a hand when I see things aren’t going great, but I don’t know much about your club…
Nice to meet you.
Yuko left, still concerned about Rio…
…Sorry, but I want to be left alone right now.
Not gonna do it.
Haha… You really are strange.
Rio seems hunched over and sad…
You feel like you understand Rio a little better now…
No, you didn’t miss anything there and neither did I. That’s really just how it ends.
Speaking of ends, since it’s easier to get a reward in this reality, we managed to get something from Mitsuru even without coming first.
It’s just a small set of cards for upgrading our Personae, mind you.
Since each card does Luck and another stat, we can upgrade all five stats. Strength, Magic, Agility and Endurance once and Luck four times. Gonna hold onto these for later, though. When something actually warrants them, I’ll… probably forget I have them to be honest, but you never know.
We would hang out with Yukari again here, but since it’s basically identical to Rank 3 in the “main” timeline we’ll hold off on that for now I think.
So, instead, we’ll hit up the last thing that is unique in this version of May. And that means more Junpei.
C’mon, eat up!
Junpei is awfully generous…
Thanks for the food!
Yeah, dig right in!
…You look like you’re in high spirits, like always.
Junpei seems relieved for some reason…
Were you worried about me?
I, uh… what?
…?
What is he talking about…?
…You decide to ask him about it.
Uh, well…
Junpei seems hesitant to speak…
Guess I shouldn’t have brought it up…
…Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.
Um… Don’t get mad at me, okay?
What did you do, Junpei?
…Supposedly, there are these photos of you going around.
…That’s pretty weird!
There are other girls in them, too, but you’re right up in the center, so…
I think whoever took the pictures was aiming specifically at you.
That’s disturbing…
Yeah, seriously.
I mean, school is a public place, but it’s kind of like peeping on you.
Kind of, nothing. We’re getting into some real major violations of privacy with this one. Dang.
One of the guys in a different class found it.
He came over to me and was like, “Isn’t this the girl in your dorm?”
Junpei looks troubled…
Still, you must really be popular. This kind of thing isn’t normal.
That is really not helping!
I’d have to find who it was and kick his ass if that happened, heheh…
…
But seriously… Be careful, alright?
Junpei seems genuinely concerned about you…
You feel like your bond with Junpei has grown a little stronger…
…Well, I’ll think about it. Don’t let it bother you too much.
But man, photos…?
Oh… No, never mind, haha…
You and Junpei talked for a while before heading back together.
Well, that ended on a bizarrely heavy note. At least it was made pretty clear that despite coming across as a scumbag a lot of the time, Junpei DOES have the ability to actually be a cool dude and not creep on people just because they are girls. Alas, this is relegated to the S.Link Zone but it’s nice to know it’s there all the same.
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You’ll notice that I very rarely actually bother resting early at night. It has a few small niche uses, but they don’t come up overly often. I’ll probably do it more often now that we have maxed out Courage and all, since there’s no reason or benefit to stay Tired any more.
Hey, are you looking into that ghost story?
A little…
I know you’re lying, man. As for me, I’ve got better things to do… I say just leave it to Yuka-tan.
Besides, I have plenty of scary stories up my sleeve.
I bet you pissed your pants when you heard that story the other night. They say it’s true, though.
Today seems like a light and relaxing day, and it mostly is. Mostly. We’ll be spending some time at Student Council stuff I guess, almost entirely so I don’t forget it exists until way later.
That you can’t find Hidetoshi hanging out anywhere to talk to instead somehow does that. I’unno.
After that weirdly ominous message, the nonspecific teacher up and leaves just moments before we enter on-screen. Sure.
Hey, what did he mean by “for both our sakes”? What’s he talking about?
He just wants to create a better school environment, so he offered to help us.
Just like how the President asked Makoto-kun to join Student Council.
What!? You can’t decide something like that without the President’s permission!
He is staring at Hidetoshi.
What happened?
…and th-that teacher wants us to look for the one who did it…
Chihiro spoke in a hushed tone…
…Look. you have two choices. Either help out and prove you’re trustworthy, or refuse and raise suspicion.
I think that’s quite the false dichotomy you just presented there, Hidetoshi.
We sure have to deal with a lot of B.S. around here, don’t we Makoto-kun?
It seems like Hidetoshi is counting on you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
And just like that, Hidetoshi walks off to… probably do some detective work or something.
Needless to say, the unimportant unnamed guy here takes umbrage with that.
…Teacher’s pet!
He chases after Hidetoshi.
Not really our problem though, especially if he’s really all that unimaginative.
I-I better go tell the President…!
You decided to go home.
Yeah, you go have fun with that I guess, Chihiro.
We’re just gonna go chill at the dorm for the time being.
It’s so true… These girls came up to me and started talking about those rumors and…
…I got such a headache. Ugh, I can’t wait until those rumors go away.
They’re all just wasting their time.
I think if you talk to random folks around the school, they do mention stuff related to this. It’s not particularly interesting or worth our time and effort really though.
No, I didn’t.
That’s what I thought. You seem like you’re too busy to be bothered with ghost stories.
Yes, busy. That’s it.
However, there is still no explanation for it.
So I believe it’s worth researching. Please let me know what you find out.
However, experts predict that there won’t be as much rain, leading to water shortages in the summer. For our next story…
We’ll take another look at the Apathy Syndrome. There are now over 70 cases, and…
Let’s see, right now we’re running very close to a full moon and the deadline for one request is uncomfortably closer…
So, back to Tartarus we go!
Also got these neat new shoes that give a whole buncha evasion. Thanks, Tanaka! Definitely gonna give these to, uh, Junpei? Yeah, sure, Junpei.
And a new piece of armor for Yukari, and only Yukari. It’s not quite as defensive as the High-Cut Armor, but it doesn’t have awkward cosmetic changes and it’s not much worse. Apron it is!
So, let’s see if we can finish off Arqa this time around, yeah? Or at least most of what remains. We could probably come back once more before we run out of time for the Old Document if we really need to at least.
Apparently there are different Shadows as of the 27th floor, according to Mitsuru. There is exactly one new Shadow from this point and some of the low level chaff is removed so we have 5 less Shadows now than before, overall.
Dekaja in item-form is theoretically nice. It removes debuffs from the enemy, sure, but they have a short finite duration in this game, the AI isn’t super great about remembering to refresh them when it’s necessary and besides there aren’t many buffs we can’t counter otherwise anyway. Dekaja and Dekunda aren’t super-great for once, but have their moments.
Sadly, there’s not overly much new between the Crying Tables and our next pit stop along the way up Tartarus this time around.
That’s not to say there’s nothing of course. We can find some nice new things in the briefcases around here.
Like this, it’s a decent armour upgrade for most people and this one rolled a +1 to Strength as its added effect. I’m gonna give this one to Akihiko.
Attack Items are kind of… not super great? Their damage keys off your active persona, so this one could be useful between Auto-Tarukaja and Ice Boost but it still wouldn’t be all that great or anything. Later on I’ll probably just sell these.
On the 30th floor, Mitsuru finally can tell that we have a boss fight some ways ahead. Since no one is even close to Tired yet, we should be able to get there pretty easily.
And even if we literally just get there and nothing else, I’m not sure I’d call this one a waste of time.
Powerful new bow for Yukari AND a chance to inflict Panic? She doesn’t use her basic attack often or anything but this is still very nice.
Mitsuru, no. Wrong. Bad. That is the worst idea! Remember, you get Tired by the number of fights you do. 10 fights on this floor of Arqa (31) is the same as 10 fights on floor 2. Except worse because it’s less worthwhile.
Speaking of worthwhile, hello there Little Golden Friend. Let’s say hi!
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
With rare shadows, it’s generally a good idea to know the turn order in advance. They always go first so if they stick around past there, you really want to not let them get a second chance to flee.
They’re unscannable but whatever. As a rare shadow, they’re weak to a random element and should be immune to Expel/Curse.
Not like it really matters though. Rare shadows generally follow a simple stat pattern: 99 Agility and Luck but 1 in everything else. Including Endurance. So a basic attack from anyone can effortlessly tear through them if it hits.
Treasure Coins are 100% worth getting here. The Wealth Coin was kind of relatively “eh” at 3000 yen but this is a major step up. Since they sell for 10,000. And we’ll be leaving Tartarus today with 3 of these things.
Oh and the one actual new shadow is a Raven. They can cast Garula but that’s not really a big deal. What is a big deal is that in FES they can use this:
This one’s a bad example since it’s Panicked but, uh, if it wasn’t?
Yeah, that just did over 80 damage to Akihiko. With a Light Pierce attack. They didn’t have Double Fangs in the original release, instead opting to have Dodge Pierce instead. This change makes them actually kinda threatening instead of an annoying inconvenience. I approve!
Floor 33 puts us almost to the boss fight, it seems. I was going to snarkily say that the “estimate” is accurate because it’s wrong but uh, no, it’s not. Mitsuru is actually right; the fixed floor is floor 36 and I misremembered slighly.
There’s four possible rare treasures in Arqa, and they’re all equipment this time around. Three of them are exclusive to the area from floor 17-24 so once you hit the Crying Tables this is the only rare treasure you can find from then on.
It gives you Counter even if your Persona doesn’t have it, which is something I guess? It sells for 4000 yen though, so I might end up doing that instead if we get another.
On floor 36 we have one shadow instead of three, huh? That’s a bit weird but also worrying. The Rampage Drive in Thebel was by far the most dangerous thing in the block and he came alone…
This thing looks kind of like a statue, but don’t let that deceive you…
Not because it’s secretly made of paper or anything, oh no.
Empress Change Relic (Portable) (Portable Special)
Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone
So, fun fact about this fight. The Wiki in its infinite badness recommends being level 17 for this fight. That’s ridiculous and would take forever; we’re currently level 13 and have been fighting just about everything along the way. Yeaaaaaah.
Anyway, the Change Relic is very powerful and almost unfair in her strong meanness. We’re gonna want to debuff her immediately and try to keep at least one buff or debuff active basically the entire fight if possible.
See, this is another fight that kind of hates Junpei for some reason. I don’t know what it is about this guy but Tartarus really does not like him existing.
No, she doesn’t resist Slash. She’s just THAT durable. She has 20 Endurance which at this point is kind of a lot!
Akihiko right now is stronger than Junpei and Sonic Punch has a higher base damage than Cleave anyway (70 vs 30).
…It doesn’t deal that much more damage, though.
So, the Change Relic is KINDA mean. She’s not the first Shadow with mid-tier spells (Dancing Hands and Vicious Ravens have access to Bufula and Garula respectively, for example) but she is way, way stronger than either of them could pretend to be.
This is vs Neutral resistance following a Tarunda. Yes, really. I told you this fight hates Junpei and this is half of it.
The other half is that she has 22 Magic. Fucking hell.
Despite that, Yukari could probably solo this fight if that was an option. Probably. It still wouldn’t be easy, but she’s still gonna be stuck on healing duty here because the Siren’s Song alone would not make this fast in a damage race.
Because, naturally, the Change Relic is immune to Wind. She also has no weaknesses, and nulls Expel and Curse, of course. I’m fairly sure she’s immune to pretty much every ailment we would think of using right now. I’m sure there’s one or two that might work but they likely wouldn’t help much anyway.
Like so with the Shock. Junpei having Rakukaja kind of helps but if he’s using it, that’s realy a wasted turn of his.
Now, Shock IS kinda useful since it boosts our Crit rate and she CAN be critted giving us an AOA which is 100% worth taking in almost all situations here. Although if its Makoto who knocks her down and her turn is immediately after his then you pass on it, of course.
Anyway, the rest of her moveset is kind of mean and nasty too. Magarula is kinda sorta terrifying to consider for the most part.
The smallest of mercies with it is that she cannot get One Mores out of it (in vanilla/FES), because it’s multi-target. I completely spaced on this before but a MT spell needs to hit every target’s weakness for that to be possible.
Poison Mist is a thing that she’ll either really like to spam or mostly ignore for a while. Neither is particularly ideal but a turn spent on this is a turn spent not almost certainly murdering someone.
She only has 10 Luck anyway, and it has a base 25% success rate, so it an work out really well. It can also lock you down superhard if it hits everyone.
So, remeber what I said before about her being a statue potentialy being deceptive? Yeah, uh, turns out Relics are secretly iron maidens. She “only” has 14 Strength which is something we can at least outdo without absurd grinding at least.
Speaking of which…
No, I’m not gonna do that, that’s dumb. Instead, I’m gonna try out the weaker alternative. See, the wiki recommends going to level 17 because that’s when you get a strong Persona that resists Wind (…you also get one at 15, for what it’s worth; I even use Gurr in the Portable videos!). If you’re gonna do that though, should just go a little further to 18 and grab the first that nulls Wind instead. Don’t, though, that’s dumb. Real dumb.
If you’re a sensible person and think that level of batshit stupidity is too much (hi), it reommends Alp instead. That’s ridiculous and wrong and let’s see why.
Many people also recommend benching Junpei. More understandable beause his weakness can get you killed dead, but I still disagree.
So, Alp. This is without Tarunda but is on a Resistance. Yes, it takes the damage down from ~130 to ~100. Yukari meanwhile is over there taking like 15 at most. Alp sucks, fuck Alp.
Just in case you get too debuff happy as well, the Change Relic CAN cast Dekunda in some rare niche cases. Usually if you stack all 3 or if one wears off and there’s another still active, but she doesn’t do it often though.
The real main man I brought for this rodeo is one of the Grand Dukes of Hell, Berith. 16 Strength is likely the best we’re gonna get here, and he can buff and debuff quite liberally. Double Fangs can help a bunch if you Rakunda the Relic early since it’ll take off ~100 of her 850HP which saves a ton of time. Rebellion is also pretty nice for if you wanna go Crit Fishing, which I legitimately considered trying at one point (but didn’t) just to save time.
(She also has 500SP, so don’t bother trying to wait that out.)
_Now, even with Neutral resistance to Wind and 15 Endurance, Berith is still not gonna make this fight a cakewalk. He’s mostly gonna be running support, honestly. _
So, most of the damage is gonna come from Aki and Junpei using their strengths to wear her down. Yukari is gonna focus on patching people up where she can and Makoto’s gonna be throwing out debuffs mainly.
It doesn’t add MUCH damage on any given hit, but it adds up pretty fast.
It’s about a 25% damage increase from just Rakuda alone, which is pretty dang nice honestly.
Completely wrong gem to try and use, but it’s also a Mid-Tier spell and she’s Neutral to Fire so let’s see how well this works!
Oh, that’s… kinda underwhelming, really. Shoulda just used Double Fangs instead.
You’ll notice that I’m playing real fast and loose here. I don’t really bother curing the Poison right now since it’s not worth the hassle. It saps our health really quick, sure, and when combined with Physical skills makes Yukari’s healing somewhat less reliable but it’s fine, we got this.
…There’s really no point in holding onto these things, honestly. We’re low on health, a Magarula now would kill everything except Yukari and we’ll get plenty more anyway so whatever.
_Oh, I forgot to mention that the Change Relic can be an annoyance and cast Rakukaja sometimes. Usually only starts when she gets below half health and will occasionally try and make sure it sticks around so she CAN waste turns if you immediately Rakunda afterwards. _
When she gets low on health, she might also cast Dia. Normal, base Dia mercifully. It heals less than Akihiko and Junpei can do per round, so it’s really not a big deal. It just drags things out a little big longer.
I probably spent way too long talking about this fight, but for my money the Change Relic might just be one of the more dangerous Tartarus bosses overall? She’s super mean for when she’s placed, could easily oneshot anyone if she really wanted you, your supplies are sort of dependant on luck with item drops and while she can be made pretty easy it requires either being super overlevelled or coming way later when you can replace Junpei with someone else. Who is probably going to be overlevelled for this fight anyway.
…The Coin of Queen is a Persona stat boost. +3 Agility, +2 Luck. It’s kinda nice but Agility is, in my opinion, the least wortwhile stat so it could be way better.
End
Now that the fight’s over, we’ll cure the poison, heal up and carry on. Could totally have ignored it, warped down to the 1st floor and then come back as good as new but uh… I kinda forgot.
Treasure here is sort of nice. The Soma is fantastic and is absolutely part of why I felt no shame in using a Bead Chain since this is way better.
Traesto Gem is nice but fairly eh. It’s got its uses, but the Access Point usually isn’t hard to find if you really want to get out anyway.
So, heading on up we go! We’re still only level 13 just to give you an idea of how ridiculous that grind to level 17 would be.
We only see Shuffle Time persona upto level 14 at this point (hi Pyro Jack, I’d recognise your silhouette anywhere!) so we’re firmly around where we’re expected to be right now. We will hit 14 before leaving at least.
_It happens the same time as Makoto finally gets Tired, which is… inconvenient but really not a big deal. _
Especially since we’re at the end of the block already. Huh. This was definitely longer than Thebel, sure, but we only had two boss fights.
Definitely not complaining, mind you. I’d rather this be the end than needing to faff around again on the 5th or 6th just to finish off the last few dregs.
I am beginning to see a bit of a trend with how these things go, though. If the 3rd block…
…when we can get into it… follows the trend, then I’ll feel much more confident in it. Gotta wait to test that out, though.
You may be wondering how these documents ended up in such an unusual place…
I believe that answer lies within the tower.
That is a great non-answer, Liz.
Please accept your reward.
A 100% heal on revive is nice and all, but it really doesn’t work out as equivalent to getting to the Old Document.
Oh well, level 14 means we can make Zouchouten, who kinda owns. Wouldn’t have brought him to the Change Relic despite that though, thanks to that Wind weakness. Still 18 Strength + Assault Dive (reminder: base power of 90!) is kinda terrifying when coupled with Rakunda and that we have Berith and Yomotsu Shikome for Auto-Tarukaja purposes. He’s definitely gonna see a lot of general combat use, I reckon.
Not right now, though. We’ll stick with Berith for the time being since it’s marginally quicker. Gonna run through Thebel solo to try and find something.
…Huh, found the little bastard on the first cycle immediately on the 4th floor. Totally okay with that!
Since we’re here, we might as well finish up at least one of the two outstanding requests we have left.
It’s a relatively quick one and honestly if I did these sooner, it might’ve made the Change Relic easier but meh. It can be a tedious pain to track down rare shadows.
That Shadow is very rare, so I’m sure the item was difficult to obtain.
This time, I have a special reward for you.
It may look like a toy, but I’m sure you’ll find it useful.
This really is VERY useful!
As an added bonus, since this is part of a quest chain, we can go onto the second one already. Definitely gonna do that now, we are still in Tartarus and all…
But mainly just because these rewards are insanely useful, holy shit. I’m gonna hold onto this for now, but I will give it to Yukari later. For the moment, it’s best in our hands.
…Also found this guy on the first run through Arqa. Definitely okay with that!
Yes, that was a basic attack while Tired. I know he has 1 Endurance but fuck me sideways nearly 400 damage is ludicrous right now.
We just need 1 of these, so we’re done already too. Hurray!
Also grab this while on the way out. I totally forget to see if it’s better than what we have or not though, oops.
The Treasure Hand is more difficult to defeat than the Wealth Hand, is it not?
I never thought you’d be able to fulfill this request.
See the Toy Bow above? Yeah, it’s that but a 2h Sword this time. Definitely gonna give this to Junpei when we get the chance!
We can even see the 3rd quest in the chain already. We’ll deal with this when we get access to the 3rd block, of course.
For now, we’ll leave Tartarus and come back when we have a Pyro Jack to get that request done I guess. Until then, a full moon approaches but we a decent chunk of downtime still. We should probably relax for a bit now.
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After the fairly lengthy stretch in Tartarus before, we’ll be spending the next few days definitely just relaxing with folks. Definitely.
This sucks… I spent so much time thinking about ghost stories that now I’m having nightmares…
Don’t overdo it.
Don’t worry. I’m fine.
But, there’s so many stupid rumors going around that it’s tough to put them all together.
I did get some useful information, though. I’m gonna look into it more today.
Yeah, good luck with that I guess. We’re not gonna bother because there’s no reason for us to care.
But, hey, since we are Tired we should try and get rid of that in a way that doesn’t use time. If possible.
It’s really unlikely to get a condition improvement from the bathroom, but somehow we snagged it the first try. I was fully expecting to need to opt for that in lieu of studying tonight, so that’s useful.
But, hey, we’ve got a Justice Persona now so we can make some progress with Chihiro I guess.
That’s honestly kind of impressive. Like, I’m really curious how that even happened!
I was chosen for this job without my consent… I never asked to be Treasurer…
…That just raises further questions!
…B-But, if I didn’t join Student Council, I would’ve never met you, right!?
I-I’m s-sorry…
If you’re gonna flirt with each other, do it outside…
…I’m bored. My hand hurts from holding this pencil…
…Dude, really? C’mon.
…Hey, not so loud…
…C’mon, gimme a kiss! Please!
You’re so annoying…
…sigh Okay, fine…
Well, at least that made them leave? God, now THAT would be awkward to have to deal with.
…Wh-Where do they think they are!?
How rude.
That’s right, Makoto-san! I agree!
no but seriously pda is obnoxious
This is supposed to be a place of learning… and they’re still just kids!
I say this as a member of Student Council…
Everyone is watching.
Let’s discuss this in our next meeting!
I agree.
If you’re on my side, Makoto-san, then I have nothing to fear!
…Oh no, I…
…I shouldn’t be talking so loud in the library…
I-I don’t care if they stare at me, but, um… What about you?
I… that was fast? Remember how this S.Link started with androphobia and her being really socially awkward? This is Rank 3. Talk about your 180s, Bunny!
I don’t want you to get picked on too, Makoto-san…
Chihiro seems to be worried about you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
You decided to go back to the dorm.
Yeah, okay, see ya!
Since we’re intentionally not bothering, because really who cares, I think we can be honest here.
Really good.
C’est magnifique! Please keep up the good work.
Yeah, kinda.
Yeah.
That’s what I thought. Well, good luck with your research.
Ooh, it’s been awhile! Seems like this is a monthly segment.
Today’s subject is a 20-year-old lady. with a beauty mark near her mouth.
…Next is news. Pain, pain, go away!
So, Trish’s third guest is Maki Sonomura. As a main character from Persona 1, it’s quite inevitable that she’d return in Persona 2 in some way. She’s Very Important in Persona 1, though she spent the early game being in the hospital with Anime Disease. Following the events of the SEBEC Route (beyond the events at the hospital in the very beginning she does not appear in the Snow Queen stuff), she went on to become a therapist. Her Primary Arcana was The High Priestess, and her default Persona was Maso, a Chinese Goddess of Fishermen. She was a playable character in Persona 1 but only an incidental NPC in both Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment.
I do wish the Who’s Who stuff happened in 4 and 5 as well, but I guess acknowledging games before Persona 3 is relegated to spin-offs and DLC.
(and that If… is basically just a glorified Persona 0 gets zero acknowledgement ever)
The next Full Moon is visible here now, huh…
Let’s talk about it some more tonight…
I don’t feel like it.
Hey! No ditching!
I heard some interesting stories, so make sure you’re there, okay?
Did you two ask around, like we said?
Huh? We had something planned for today?
I know, I know! I’m just kidding! Man, you have such a short temper…
Then, we’ll meet in the lounge after school. Don’t forget!
Yes, Ma’am…
Well, at least we have some time before then at least. Now, what to do…
…I guess I went through the wrong door and now Andre has decided for me!
You’re having a good time hanging out with Bebe.
Let’s go to ze Sweet Shop, Makoto-sama…
Zis is my first time going, so will you teach me?
Sure, let’s go.
Ohhh! You are ze best! Thank you, arigatou!
Well zen, shall we go?
We’ll go togezer, my tomodachi! My friend!
You decide to go to the Sweet Shop with Bebe.
Disappointingly, we don’t actually get to see inside. We just catch Makoto and Andre as they’re leaving…
But I really like how apparently it’s a delectable time. Way more fitting if we were still inside the store at this point!
I am so 'appy, ureshii! I love ze culture of Nihon! Japan eez sugoi, amazrng!
Yeah, Japan is great.
Hai! Hai! Yes! Yes!
Japan’s culture eez number 1, ichiban! I wish I was born 'ere.
I want to learn everyzing about Nihon and become Japanese!
Zank you for bringing me 'ere, Makoto-sama. Arigatou!
I must tell 'er zat I 'ave made a great friend! Tomodachi!
Bebe seems truly grateful.
Your relationship is stronger now!
I would like to ask you more about Nihon…
I do like that Andre does use whatever you answered before. It’s a small detail, but one that would be really easy to just not bother with.
You decide to go back to the dorm.
Wow, you’re really into this.
Of course. I got lots of good info.
Oh, so that’s what’s important, huh?
Hmph. First off, let’s talk about how this rumor got started…
Just in case you don’t remember, that girl is a nonspecific girl from 2-E who went MIA one night and then reappeared outside school unconscious the next morning.
But, why did the rumor spread so fast, if this was the first time anything happened?
Uhh, let’s see… well, um… even though we’re totally meant to know the answer to this via talking to people, I guess, we didn’t bother with that. It’s still super-obvious though; no one’s died and ghosts don’t exist.
There were three victims.
Correct!
But yeah, I was surprised when I found out the reason…
Over the next few days, there were two more similar incidents.
Next. The victims are in different classes, and they don’t seem to be connected.
However, they did have one thing in common. What was it?
What is this, a quiz show?
Do YOU know?
They hung out together.
Yup, that’s right!
Not just once or twice, either.
…Stupid question, but how late is late?
It can’t be just a coincidence…
Field research? Are you kidding?
Yeah, there’s this one place where the three victims were regulars.
Something about that seems familiar…? I’m not sure, but I think we’ve seen it before. But I really can’t tell for sure.
Oh, you’re familiar with it?
You can’t go there!
I’ve heard some nasty rumors about that place!
You’ll come, right?
Sorry, count me out.
Aw, come on!
Junpei’s just exaggerating.
I mean, don’t you think we’re getting in over our heads?
Up until now, all we’ve done is take orders. Does that feel right to you?
I know what you mean, but… Man, did you have to say it like that?
I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?
Okay, we’ll go tomorrow night, then.
You agreed to go to the hangout tomorrow night.
End
Well, I’m looking forward to not getting to do anything tomorrow then. Gonna have to adjust my plans there I guess…
I’m really not. It was information gathered at the speed of plot by Yukari, so we never had to do anything.
_Well, Yukari had what might be a dumb idea and Junpei was apparently trying to be the voice of reason. _
…Something here seems really backwards.
Tomorrow, I’m going to put a stop to that stupid Junpei Zone thing.
I hope you’re not too freaked out, Makoto-kun.
Junpei’s really freaked out.
Oh, don’t worry about that. He’s always freaked out.
I dunno; I’m really not sure that he is.
All these thugs get together… It looks like a reunion for ex-convicts.
Hey, aren’t we planning to go there tomorrow…? Shit… We’re in serious doo doo.
Fears related to the recent nuclear power plant accident have led to record sales for the devices…
So, let’s see… what to do? Hmm, oh I know!
Let’s go hang out with an old monk that smokes cigars and gets wasted.
I told you not to come back here… Hmph, kids…
Well, I don’t care as long as you don’t get on my nerves. Here, take a seat.
…So, what’re you doin’ here, kid?
None of your business.
Ha, you’re absolutely right! It isn’t any of my business!
But watch your mouth, kid. You shouldn’t be sayin’ somethin’ like that to an adult…
If you were my son, I’d give you a swift kick in the ass.
You don’t have to revere me, but at least show me some respect.
I’m sorry, um…
And don’t forget to put “san” at the end.
The world’s not a forgiving place, kid. You gotta show other people respect.
Mutatsu lectured you…
You felt kindness behind his harsh words.
I think that’s just the brandy, y’know.
You understand Mutatsu better now.
…just go home, alright? And don’t ever come back here.
You decided to go back to the dorm.
So, yeah, Mutatsu is pretty damn great. It’s just a bit of a shame that he’s one of the slower S.Links to rank up, and for the most part having a Tower persona doesn’t help.
But the first Tower persona is over level 30 so that’s a long ways off anyway…
Aside from this aside, there’s nothing that happens today until after school. Might as well just skip to important stuff then.
Chihiro seems like a good idea right now.
Purely because we don’t actually get a rank up out of it. This is the second time this has happened now, huh?
Like with Bunkichi and Mitsuko before, we just need the one time slot to push it to being a rank up at least.
But that’s enough of that. We have Yukari’s Terrible Plan to deal with now…
What’s your hurry? …I still think this is a bad idea.
How could you be afraid of ghosts, but not be scared of this…?
It’s easy to get freaked out by something you can’t see, don’tcha think?
sigh Big deal, so it’s a little “dangerous”…
Come on, it’ll be an adventure!
Keep Yukari’s attitude in mind. This is very important.
Check out those rags… They’re from Gekko High.
Oh man, this is worse than I thought…
Uh… Well, I…
Hmm, Yukari’s attitude immediately changed from one guy taking a couple steps, huh? Not much of a surprise, really.
And, of course, she instantly opts to hide behind Makoto…
Beat it, Goatee…
G-Goatee? Oh, y-you mean me…
She says, cowering behind someone.
H-Hey! Are you nuts!? Take a look around you!
I’m not blind, ya know.
Yukari, c’mon. You’re sassing wrong!
What was that?
She just called us “scum.”
Tough Chick’s Friend: Let’s get 'em. Who cares where they’re from!?
She’ll wish she was never born!
Hahahahaha! Oh, that’s so clever! Hahahahahahaha!!
These guys are the worst…
You oughta learn to shut that trap of yours.
Man, I feel sorry for you, Goatee. This bitch is a pain in the ass… huh!!
Ugh!
Junpei…!
if you poke the bear, you’re not allowed to be surprised when it tries to maul you jeez
Got anything to say before I beat it to a bloody pulp!?
Oh, hey it’s uh… you. That guy.
Alright?
Who do you think you are, dumbass? You want some too!?
sigh Do I have a choice?
That’s it, you’re goin’ down!!
gasp Shit…
That’s right… You’re from Gekko High too, aren’t ya!?
I thought you were one of us…
I don’t remember if I mentioned it or not before, but Shinjiro is voiced by Grant George. Among many other roles, he voiced the protagonist of Persona 1 (in the PSP remake) which is kinda neat. Oh and Officer Kurosawa in the one scene he had with actual dialogue which is… something, I guess.
I don’t remember swearing a blood oath.
You son of a bitch! You just crossed the line! You think you’re going home alive!?
Sure do.
Uh… S-Screw this…
Hahahahaha! What a loser!
You better grow eyes in the back of your head!
Well, at least they left easily enough at this point.
Silence
You idiots!
Get outta here. This place isn’t for you.
Shinjiro’s even more than willing to take his own advice. How nice!
Wait!
We came here for a reason!
Did Aki tell you to come here?
No, he didn’t.
…Hmph.
Um, yeah… How’d you know?
Those girls who wound up in the hospital were here talkin’ shit every night…
Fuuka…? You mean Fuuka Yamagishi, from 2-E? They were picking on her?
I hear it’s all over the net, too.
Fuuka’s spirit…? Wait, what do you mean by that!?
You guys don’t know?
…Wait, what?!
She hasn’t been home in over a week.
Don’t you guys go to school!? How do you not know this?
Are you serious!? I thought she was out sick…
But, she’s missing!?
So much for the ghost story. Mr. Ekoda is the homeroom teacher for 2-E, right? Does he know about this…?
It’s you who can’t let go…
Nothing… That’s all I know… Satisfied?
…C’mon, show some appreciation.
…You’re very kind.
Huh?
I, um… Never mind.
No need to tell me twice! Pretty sure we’ll never see this place again at this point. Not seeing any need to come back at least.
End
As a nice bonus, we do still get to do some stuff today. Can’t say I expected that, honestly.
It began with a ghost story, and has developed into a serious situation.
We have to do something…
I’m not sure we do, really. There’s not really much we could do about a normal missing person’s report.
If Shinjiro-san hadn’t helped us, we’d be…
Shit! I’m never going there again!
I mean, I’m proud of you guys for trying to gather information, but be a little more careful next time.
Um, I’m not so sure.
But, he wouldn’t have saved us if he wasn’t a nice guy, right?
I just don’t know why he’s trying to act so mean…
The yen is now 115.12 to the dollar, down from last time by 0.11 yen.
Nice to have an economic update occasionally, I guess. It’d be something that grounds the more supernatural stuff if we didn’t have, uh, about half the game that does that anyway.
Oh well, let’s spend more time with Mutatsu because he’s pretty damn great.
Even Buddha’s not that forgiving. Alright, that’s it. I’m gonna hand you over to the bouncer and…
…Well, there’s no Buddha in this world, so… Alright, kid. Stop lookin’ at me like that and sit down.
…How come you’re always alone when I see ya? Don’tcha got any friends, kid?
I don’t have any friends.
Either ya like being alone, or ya got problems… In any case, well said. No hesitations whatsoever… heheh…
Don’t worry if ya don’t have any friends. Most of life’s troubles have to do with others.
…Let’s define a “friend” as… someone you hold dear.
People always want somethin’ in a relationship. They only really love themselves.
You don’t call someone who doesn’t like you your friend, do ya? No, you don’t…
Which means, in this world, there’s no one you can hold dear.
At the end of the lonely road of love, kid, you’re the only one left standin’ there.
Gotta admit, I wasn’t quite expecting nihilism to pop up so early.
But, you see those dames over there, the ones on the dance floor?
Mutatsu, my man, I like you and all but I will not help you with that.
Mutatsu seems to trust you.
You understand Mutatsu better now.
Go home for now, kid. You’re gonna come back again anyway, even if I tell you not to, right?
You decided to go back to the dorm.
Eventually, yeah, but we won’t quite be back to speak with Mutatsu again for a while now.
No super deep reason for it or anything, just gonna work on some other stuff for a bit first.
This is for a mechanic that we haven’t gotten to yet (but we could have in theory). Even if we did, though, Perfume sure ain’t useful for way longer.
…I nearly didn’t buy this one, honestly. Just shy of 4000 yen is kind of a lot for 1 Perfume and 5 Medicine. I still bought it, because hey never know, but this is one I wouldn’t blame anyone for skipping.
So even if a Shadow finds you first, you can still get the first strike.
But even though your speed is fast, your range will still be short, so be careful.
I can’t say I particularly like using fist weapons with Makoto. I dunno, the short range on the map messes me up a decent amount. Plus they’re seldom the best available weapon anyway.
_Also, general summer wear is kinda great for everyone but Mitsuru’s outfit is once again the best. _
(shame she has nothing new to say)
…And now, the news.
I really hope that the Phoenix Ranger episode previews are based on real sentai show episodes. Because I so wanna watch that one, jeez. It seems like something that Kamen Rider Fourze would totally do
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Both Yukari and Junpei are hanging out at the shrine today, huh? And I see they’ve made a new friend.
Are you friends with Yukari-san and Junpei-san?
Yep, you got it.
He lives in the same dorm as me and Yuka-tan.
Really? I didn’t know boys and girls could live in the same dorm.
Umm, uhh, well… It’s like…
We’re exceptions! We’ve got good reasons for sticking close…
I’m pretty sure the kid doesn’t understand why there’s normally gender segregation when it comes to things like this. Because he is a child. So it’s not like we need to worry super hard about explaining things.
He’s a lot more reliable than Stupei.
Besides, I’m way more mature than Ken. Don’t you think?
Just met the guy so I can’t really answer that one fairly. So, I guess going from what we know, might as well be overly literal for now.
You’re more mature.
See!? You hear that, Yuka-tan? Even Makoto thinks I’m more mature than that kid!
I’m probably gonna regret that sometime in the future, but Junpei is definitely older and therefore physically more mature at least. 
Especially Yukari-san! Her advice is very useful.
Well, since we’re here we might as well spend a bit of time hanging around here…
This’ll do nicely. It’s pretty much necessary for the +10 points (Arcana Boost doesn’t work here), but at least this way we don’t lose an important day for it.
Naturally, we don’t have anything new at the dorm in the evening. So we’ll just go relax and drink coffee for a bit.
…Y’know I can’t help but notice now that tomorrow is a full moon. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though. I doubt anything’s gonna happen this time.
1 Like
Alright, so, today’s probably gonna be a lengthy one…
You decide to ask the teacher about the missing girl, Fuuka Yamagishi, today…
This could’ve happened any time, really, but we just learned about it so the timing here is all sortsa awkward.
Same reason as you.
Mr. Ekoda, I’m here to ask you about a student named Fuuka Yamagishi…
I-I never thought it’d turn out like this…
Fuuka…
Wait… You’re that girl…
What did you do to Yamagishi?
Hold on, Mitsuru… This isn’t an interrogation.
You wouldn’t want to give her the wrong idea.
Fuuka… She… She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time…
Then, I realized… She’s an honor student, but deep inside, she’s the same as us.
I knew exactly which buttons to push. We were just messin’ with her that day, too!
We took Fuuka to the gym… and locked the door from the outside…
What!? You locked her in!?
But, she never came back… and the next morning…
…she was found lying on the ground by the gate.
I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked…
We all freaked out. Starting that night, we all went looking for her.
I see…
By the way, Mr. Ekoda… All this time, you’ve attributed Yamagishi’s absences to “illness.”
What was your intention?
I was thinking of the students, of course.
You mean, you chose not to report this to the police for the “good of the class.”
It, it was in her best interest.
I wouldn’t want her records to be stained by something like this. Her parents agree!
He’s supposed to be talking about Fuuka here, but it could easily be interpreted in context as referring to Natsuki instead. Because he clearly doesn’t actually give one iota of a shit about Fuuka.
How despicable…!
gasp I-I didn’t… I was just…
…Anything at all.
…
A creepy voice. …Right before each of them went missing. They said it was calling their name.
Oh, man…
Senpai, could it be…!?
Until now, there was no way of knowing how or why some people are conscious during the Dark Hour…
Also something to do with getting a Persona but only maybe sometimes.
This whole thing has made me realize… They’re clearly targeting humans.
Shadows are the enemy of mankind.
If you hear the voice, tell us immediately.
And don’t leave the room, no matter what. If you can do that much, you should be okay.
…Don’t worry, Yamagishi should be alright as well.
T-Tonight!?
We’re going to rescue Yamagishi. If my guess is right, she’s still inside the school.
It’s not necessarily super obvious, but Yukari’s just locking the door here. Can’t have the real student council interrupting this particular club meeting!
Um, I don’t get it… Is Fuuka inside the school somewhere?
And why at night? At midnight, this place turns into–
Exactly.
Then, ever since Fuuka got locked in the gym, she’s been stuck there…?
But, that was ten days ago!
That means…
Not necessarily. We can’t jump to conclusions.
Now that you mention it…
This is only a theory, but I think time may function differently with respect to Tartarus.
It’s possible she’s still alive.
Wow, ya think so!?
Uh, but the Dark Hour is pretty brutal… We can barely handle an hour; how’s she gonna last ten!?
That’s true… And, even if she’s still alive, we might not be able to get to her…
…I have an idea. Let’s try to enter Tartarus exactly how Fuuka did.
Is that really gonna work…?
Honestly, I have reservations. If something goes wrong, you could all end up lost in Tartarus too. But…
I’d never forgive myself. If you guys don’t want to go, then I’ll go by myself.
Senpai…?
…Alright.
I agree. And we won’t know until we try.
Cool, we get to sneak into the school!
Heheh… In that case, I know just what to do…
End
Whew, that was just the prelude to the main event, huh…?
Unlike last month, we do get to do something today. It gives us a respite before we move onto the rescue mission.
So, what’s more light and relaxing than Kaz potentially ruining his career and ability to walk!
Varsity: Yeah, he’s not trying as hard as he usually does.
JV: He thinks he’ll make it to nationals like that…?
Rather than deal with any real work though, those two guys just walk off.
The only thing they’re good at is waving their sticks around…
Kaz! The coach wants to see you in the office!
That’s, uh, I don’t think that’s Yuko??
Kaz has left.
Um, Makoto-kun…
…Um, never mind.
You decide to leave and go back to the dorm.
The coach just called me to the office to tell me he’s worried about me…
I’m not accusing you of telling him. but… damn! What should I do? I think he knows…
How’s your knee?
It’s sore, but I made it through practice today.
He said I’d have to quit the team if I’m hurt. But, I told him I’m not…
I’ve already missed three days! Now, I’ll have to work even harder!
You need to toughen up.
You’re right. I have to stop making excuses… It takes guts to win!
…I decided that I’ll take my chances for my nephew’s sake…
If that happens, Makoto… I want you to be the next captain.
You’ve gained Kazushi’s trust.
Your relationship is stronger now!
Th-That’s just the worst-case scenario, though, okay!?
I’ll keep my promise and win at the regional meet as well as at nationals! Then, I’ll give my knee a rest.
But for now, I’ll do whatever it takes!
You had a serious talk with Kazushi while walking home.
What’s wrong?
I can’t get a hold of the Chairman.
I guess we can handle it ourselves.
There’s one problem, though.
No need to worry. I’ve got it all set to go.
Set to go…? An explosive?
We don’t have time to waste. Let’s go.
…Nah… All I did was unlock a door…
One quick fade to blue later…
Is that really something to brag about?
So, you unlocked it earlier… Tres bien!
No time for compliments. Let’s go.
Tray Ben…? What’s that mean? That’s not English, is it?
_Oh Junpei, you sweet summer child. _
Anyway, yet another fade to blue.
Aww, you scared?
No!
…Stupei.
Stop callin’ me that!
Quiet.
I don’t like sneaking around…
Akihiko and I will check the janitor’s room. You three check the Faculty Office.
After that, we’ll meet in the main hallway. Got it?
The Faculty Office, huh…?
Hey, maybe we’ll find some test questions! Heheh…
Maybe I should go to the Faculty Office, too… It sounds interesting.
You mean like breaking into the school in the middle of the night? Because, whew boy, do I have some bad news for you…
If so, then expect to be severely punished…
It-It was a joke! I’d never do something like that! Ha, haha…
Come on, Mitsuru… Lighten up a little.
End
Silence
Whew, okay, so we start in our classroom here because that’s a sensible place to have finished our conversation I guess?
There’s really not much to this right now, but there is one minor thing we can do that isn’t progress.
If we try and go to the bathroom, we still can but it annoys Yukari. Just trying to fish for Great condition but no dice, unfortunately.
Shame, because that might be nice tonight. Oh well! Heading on downstairs we go.
The footsteps are getting closer…
Th-There’s someone else here…?
Of course there are other people here.
…Even if they are amazingly and blisteringly incompetent.
The footsteps faded away…
Do you believe in ghosts?
Um, of course not. We already know it’s not a ghost.
And besides, I’m not THAT afraid of–
It’s been less than half a minute since that guard walked away. I know he’s bad at his job, but he absolutely heard that right?
…Right?
M-My cell phone!? Why now!?
sigh Sorry about that. It took me by surprise!
You get scared so easily.
… Whatever.
Silence
Well, let’s see… the faculty office is just to our right but meh I’m bored. This isn’t what I was expecting. Let’s just go home instead.
Oh, well, uh, never mind then. Faculty office it is!
What does it say on this one?
Morgue.
What, are you trying to scare me or something?
…Trust me, you’ll pay for that.
Okay, let’s go. We’re supposed to meet them in the main hallway.
I don’t know why you have to do this particular part manually. There’s nothing else in the interim, so…
The Operation Sta– Er… Troubled
Sure did.
Ya know, I heard a scream that sounded kinda familiar…
What, you actually did? I was just kidding…
You wanna make somethin’ of it!?
Keep it down.
We’ll divide into teams again.
…Why? What? Why? This… this actively serves no purpose and doesn’t help at all.
Once the Dark Hour has begun, I’ll determine Yamagishi’s position.
I’ll go.
You should come, too. You can take the lead, like always.
Um, then, I’ll be the third–
Wait a second…! Remember how I accidentally screwed up on the monorail?
Oh, come on! It’s not always about YOU!
Besides, you didn’t “accidentally” screw up.
Sweet! Thanks!
Um, n-no, it’s fine.
It’s almost time.
“Almost” nothing. Just like that, the Dark Hour begins anew and this is gonna be a very unique experience, I bet.
Meanwhile, back at the dorm…
sigh …I’m all alone, after all… Fuuka…
Hm…?
…calling me…
I… I have to go… tell her I’m sorry…
…
Fuuka…
We still haven’t heard back from them… The transceiver’s sensitivity is set to high, too…
…
O-Oh yeah, that girl, Natsuki… I hope she’s okay at the dorm…
But, we couldn’t possibly bring her here, and one of us staying behind was out of the question.
Someone staying behind to make sure Natsuki doesn’t get attacked by a Shadow is out of the question. Which is why Yukari came to… stay behind and not do anything. Sure, okay. Planning!
Yeah… I guess so…
…
…But, we’re all here for Fuuka’s sake–
This is Mitsuru. I’ve confirmed your position.
You’re higher up than I expected… You’re barely in communication range.
Is everyone alright?
Akihiko! Come in, Akihiko!
…Is he out of range? I’m starting to get worried…
You open your eyes…
Your mind feels fuzzy.
You wonder where you are…
No, it’s not? It’s the second time. It’s the first time we’ve spoken outside of the dorm. Silly ghost kid.
Where are the others?
Don’t worry, you’ll see them soon.
But, we don’t have much time to talk.
You should hurry… She’s waiting for you. You guys will need her.
Okay, then… I hope we can speak again.
End
…distance… too far. …can’t provi-- …back up. … You got s-- …from Akihi-- …
Communication has been lost.
So, Floor Iunno is… not randomised. It’s also not really all that empty, though it might as well be.
There’s a few shadows hanging around that are all small which means…
They’re solo Shadows. Mostly ones we’ve fought before, though thanks to the broken communication we can’t even scan these ones.
The Soul Dancer here isn’t weak to Ice which they normally are, though. It’s not like it really matters all that much.
There’s also some Shadows that we haven’t fought (yet…?) but they’re not as common. There’s really no reason to bother fighting anything here though.
Fights just exist here to waste Makoto’s SP and that’s basically it. They don’t even give you half-decent EXP.
At least we can find 1 Snuff Soul (and 1 Medicine!) per floor here, which is guaranteed and kinda nice.
Midway through the floor, Mitsuru manages to get through a little bit again.
But just a little. Someone, or something, else manages much better though…
Anyway, of course there’s more than the one floor here.
Where am I…? Why am I here…? Please answer me…
Communication has been lost.
Floor IGotNothing 2 is also a fixed floor, nicely enough. It starts off with a big ol’ open area that if we cut across to the top-left (on the minimap) we can dodge this Shadow here and another one that exists to be a waste of time.
Is someone there…? Please answer me…
Communication has been lost.
Third Floor WhoEvenKnows starts us off by meeting back up with Junpei and Akihiko, nicely enough…
Silence
Man, we were worried about you.
I don’t think we should enter Tartarus this way again…
Oh yeah! Did you hear a voice while you were in here? Uh, kinda like–
Th-That’s it! That’s the voice! It sounded like it came from behind us…
Never fear, Junpei’s here!
I’m glad you’re okay… Come with us.
Looks like we made the right decision. I’ll see if I can contact Mitsuru.
Where are we…? I was at school, and then…
Well… It’s a long story. I’ll explain after we get outta here.
…No good. All I hear is static.
Oh yeah, are ya hurt? Have you run into any monsters?
So, there ARE strange creatures in here, then…
Are you serious!? How’s that possible!?
Whaddya mean? Are you psychic?
Maybe even stronger, since Mitsuru’s Persona is more battle-oriented.
Hang on to this.
Akihiko just casually ends Fuuka an Evoker. Sure, okay then…
gasp B-But, this is…!
Think of it as a lucky charm. It’s not really a gun.
Alright, let’s get outta here!
Awesome, now to just give Junpei the Spiked Bat and pop a Traesto Gem and… I can’t yet? Damn it.
…I’ve never seen it so bright.
Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon.
Of course, the same can be said for humans.
That would explain Yuka-tan’s mood swings.
Was it?
I think so… Why?
Hey, did you see the moon on the night the dorm was attacked, back in April?
It was full.
Mitsuru, are you there!?
Hey, can you hear me? Mitsuru, come in!
…Be caref…
Mitsuru!? Mitsuru!!
…What is this thing…?
Dammit!!
Wh-What’s going on!?
…We have to hurry!
H-Hey! Wait for me!
Along his journey, the Fool begins to grow and thus meets the Empress. A strong mother-figure in life, the Empress represents motherhood in both the literal and the abstract. The creation of life, showing care and attention and also a reminder to not get ahead of yourself. Embrace life and enjoy your time.
After learning this lesson, the Fool meets the Emperor. The more masculine counterpart to the Empress, where she is meant to be motherhood, he is meant to be fatherhood. Things are predictable and have a rigid structure to them… this includes the way the world works. Authority is important and as one’s father, the Emperor IS authority. He can guide, protect and provide or assume power and control accordingly…
Ugh… uh…
What’s going on!? Nothing’s working!
Oh shit! They look pissed!
Why the hell is SHE here!?
F-Fuuka…
Wait! What are you doing!?
Please, get out of here! It’s dangerous!!
I… I wanted to tell you… I’m sorry…
The shorter of the two Shadows raises its sceptre and takes aim towards Fuuka. In return, Fuuka… draws her Evoker…
Wait! That’s not a weapon!
…!?
Silence
And so we return to the animezone for the first time in quite a while…
Natsuki is understandably terrified of what’s going on right now.
The sceptre-wielding Shadow shows no mercy and immediately takes a swing at Fuuka and Natsuki…
Fuuka pulls a Makoto here and fires off her Evoker. (no kickass music accompanying this one though)
The Shadow’s attack just hits… a giant shield of some kind…
And the attack is deflected so hard, the Shadow itself is repelled and bowls over the other one for good measure.
Who, in turn, loosens his grip on Mitsuru and she goes flying across the room.
_Fuuka’s summoning of her Persona is more low-key and the least intense Awakening in the (modern) series. _
_It’s not going to be high on most people’s lists, but I think it works really well. _
She’s not trying to attack; she’s trying to protect herself and her… classmate. She’s not an aggressive person, she seems to lack any kind of malice. As a result, her Persona is pure defense and support…
…I’m alright. Be careful… Normal attacks won’t work on these Shadows.
And all of our instruments have been destroyed…
She’s referring to her bike and radio over by the stairs.
Just stay still! Besides…
That Which Comes From The Darkness
Is that the voice…!?
I… I can sense these monsters’ weaknesses, somehow…
For real!?
…Just as I thought.
…I get it now. Yamagishi, can you assist the others?
I’ll do my best!
Stay back, Mitsuru! We’ll take care of this!
Two bosses for the price of one, huh? Alright, let’s go!
III. Arcana Empress & IV. Arcana Emperor (Portable)
As Shadows, the Empress and the Emperor represent the Reversed side of their respective cards.
The Empress can be considered a representation of femininity in general, which includes things such as beauty and health. A very subjective way of displaying half of that is immediately apparent from her appearance. The other half…?
The Emperor in reverse is merely going through the motions. Actions are done because they are the done thing rather than a desire to do them. A feeling of a lack of direct control and that things are not in their proper order.
Anyway, uh, the fight itself? Yeah, these guys are… well there’s two of them.
That means we’ve gotta try pretty hard here just to survive, right?
Makoto’s been the only one to go so far, but these guys are bosses so they’re probably pretty fast.
Sure, the Empress is beaten already but that’s not much of an indication of anything. She only had 500HP which is laughably low at this point.
The Emperor hurts when he hits, most of the time. His skills are lethal and can give an unprepared party an instant game over.
_…If he ever gets to use them. _
Yeah, so, this fight is actually kind of a colossal joke. Both the Empress and the Emperor have absurdly low stats, next to no HP, are easy to one-round by accident and while they have one (1!) potentially dangerous attack between them, they have a slew of weaknesses that makes them colossal jokes.
_The Empress has, uh, an interesting resistance pool to say the least. Look at that. Weak to all Physical elements but nulls everything else. _
_Her moveset is almost kinda clever, honestly. That thing about Reversed Empress possibly being a representation of ill-health means she uses some ailments. _
Bewilder inflicts Distress (25% base chance) on a single target. Distress is pretty nice to have since it increases damage dealt, increases crit rate on top of that AND Distressed enemies might do nothing or try to flee.
In this case, it means we maybe waste a turn casting Patra.
She can also inflict Fear (25% base chance), also on a single target. Fear is both a lesser Distress and a more potentially lethal one. It’s weird in this fight since the main reason for caring about Fear is not in either of their repertoires.
In terms of single-target DAMAGE, all the Empress has is this. She bops someone with her sceptre for… rather bad damage. That’s weird.
Multi-target damage is relegated to two spells. She can cast Magaru…
…or Magarula. She chooses the latter a bit more often, of course.
But, uh, its damage leaves something to be desi–
Okay, so Junpei has Rakukaja here sure (so I don’t accidentlaly win the fight) but he still took LESS damage than Akihiko. She’d barely break 100 on Junpei. What the hell?
Let’s see…
Okay, so she has 500HP as mentioned above. Her SP is… a lot. It really doesn’t matter, honestly. Stat-wise, she has 11 Strength, 11 Magic, 11 Endurance, 11 Agility and… 1 Luck. No wonder her ailment skills miss almost all the time.
So, what about the Emperor then? He starts off even more underwhelmingly. Weak to all magical elemental damage but immune to Physicals is an interesting path to take.
His representation of being the Reversed Arcana is more noticable in his attack animations (which you have no reason to ever see). His movesets are stiff and clunky and like they’re being forced out. It’s also kinda clever.
Attack wise, he has less variety than the Empress. He can use Fatal End to hit a single target with Medium tier Slash damage (base power 230!).
…It’s bizarrely underwhelming for that, though. It’s technically possible for it to kill someone, but its damage is low and it can be made much lower still.
But he also has Swift Strike. And this IS unironically a possible fight changer. It hits “one to three” times…
Except, uh, the funny thing about that? It’s 1-3 hits… per target. Yeah, Swift Strike here is kind of ludicrous! If it just random targets 1-3 hits total, that’d still be fairly good and strong but as is? It’s very powerful even in the Emperor’s weak hands.
Anyway, uh, you see that damage it did on Junpei? Yeah. Each hit has 95 base power, has 80% accuracy and a 3% chance to crit.
Since it rolls NoH at sorta random, there is a bit of RNG to how much of a dickpunch this is. It could hit Makoto 3 times and that’d be a bit of a problem even with Rakukaja and Tarunda in play!
…But as the name implied it’s Strike elemental and we just made Zouchouten recently and he resists Strike. It wasn’t an intentional precaution, though, because I had to purposefully let him get a turn anyway.
The other thing they can both do is this. Paradigm Shift is unique to this fight, and this fight alone.
It’s quite simple what it does, but it’s also mildly annoying.
_It means this fight is sort of secretly a barrier change boss fight! My favourite! _
…It’s not realy that big a deal, since they start with a ton of weaknesses anyway. It just changes them at random. This is meant to be a showcase of how much better a navigator Fuuka is than Mitsuru, since her analysis gets finished faster and shows more info. In practice, eh, it doesn’t really come up.
…But, y’know, for a gigantic pisstake of a squash match they give some fantastic EXP. They’re also level 16 (Change Relic was 17) so, uh, that’s not just wacky scaling.
Also, while I remember: the Emperor is slightly statistically different to the Empress. His HP is 750, his SP is really big but could be 0 for all the difference it doesn’t make. He has 11 Strength, 11 Magic, 11 Endurance, 11 Agility and 1 Luck.
…Huh, I just got some weird deja vu.
Don’t worry, it’s over.
Fuuka… You…
A-Are you alright…?
Yeah…
Thank goodness…
It’s alright. She’s just exhausted.
Fuuka… Fuuka, I…
Where did these two Shadows come from?
From somewhere outside of Tartarus, just like before…
I see…
Don’t worry, she’s not like us, so she won’t remember any of it.
The good news is, she didn’t fall victim to the Shadows, even though she obviously heard their call.
She should be safe from now on.
That doesn’t seem fair…
Actually, I don’t think it’ll matter.
I’m sorry, Fuuka… I’m so sorry…
I think she’s learned her lesson.
I’m sorry… sob
…Sure, whatever you say game. Definitely wasn’t easy. Nope.
Your team survived another dangerous fight.
It seems like the trust between you all has grown…
Didn’t get a Fool rank this time though, huh.
You learned a new tactic!
In terms of general AI settings, this one is probably the best. It means the AI prioritises chaining knock downs where possible to get an AOA. It’s very useful for randoms where you don’t have a Persona capable of doing the job somehow. It’s less effective in boss fights for obvious reasons, though.
You wonder about the mysterious boy who appeared again…
You are too exhausted to make any sense of it right now.
You decide to rest as soon as you get back to the dorm…
End
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