Persona 3 FES: An Asocial Experiment

Mitsuru and Junpei for me as well.

Alright, so today is a Full Moon. I guess this is gonna be a long one…

An Unpleasant Premonition

Better than ever.
Wow, you’re amazing!
We’re going to have a quick meeting tonight about the operation.
So, please return to the dorm immediately after school.

You should return to the dorm and prepare yourself.

Unlike last time, we don’t get a chance today to spend time on anything more low-key and relaxing beforehand.

Dark Hour Scouting

The Voice Someone Calls

…Just a moment…
I found it! I sense a strong presence!
Hey, we were right!
Or so it would seem.
It’s located in Iwatodai… inside a building on Shirakawa Boulevard.
Hmm, Shirakawa Boulevard…

In pairs…
…Oh, I get it.

Lucia gets despawned at this point, since her job’s done.

I’ve heard about it, but…
That’s where all THOSE hotels are. That explains a lot!
You’ve heard about 'em, right Fuuka? Where people go to… you know…

The rooms are a bit fancier, that’s all.
Aw man, that’s it?
I don’t know about this… Maybe I shouldn’t go…
You’re just like a little kid, Yuka-tan…
Wh-Whatever!
Fine. Let’s go.

I think given the context, you might wanna pick better words…

So, who’s gonna take the lead?
I don’t see any reason to change leaders now.
And Yamagishi, I want you to handle support during the operation.
I’ll do my best!
Alright, then I’ll let you decide on the rest of the team. Let’s do this.

End

Alright, now we get to pick our team for the operation for the first time. Yukari’s forced herself into the party right out the gate, though…

And, like promised, she can’t be removed. At least we can still change her gear now and give her that a Thunder Charm.

But, please be careful.

As you’d expect, of course, Ikutsuki’s just here for like moral support. Which is fine, really.

Anyway, Akihiko gets to go back on the bench for tonight. He’s sort of used to it, but he’s not got an injury to blame this time!

But there’s no time to dwell on that. Let’s begin the operation!

A Deep Mentality

And we’re just, like, immediately teleported to the first floor of the hotel. Sure, okay. Definitely can’t complain about that.

We can find Room 101 immediately, but alas we can’t put anything in there. It’s also the only room on the first floor…

But, well, we can’t go in any room really. There’s nothing at all on the second floor, and the third floor is mostly empty as well.

The very visibly striking Hierophant’s Chamber, between the chimes and the curtains and the golden door, is the only thing of note at all right now. So, we’ll head on in, then…

That Which Comes From The Darkness

As the Fool continues his journey, he is over time exposed to beliefs and cultural traditions. Throughout his education, he meets the Hierophant - the wisened Papal figure who understands the knowledge and mysteries and can interpret them accordingly.

Well, let’s get this over with!

V. Arcana Hierophant
no portable video of this fight right now for, uh, reasons. its definitely not because i cant be arsed right now, honest

Master of Shadow

A clear religious figure, wearing clerical vestements, the Arcana Hierophant is the representation of the Reversed Hierophant. The misuse of knowledge and religion to trick people and gain followers…

…In this case, representations of those ill-gotten followers are just part of his design. The stick-figure creatures are this representation and are not separate targets.

Anyway, uh, the Hierophant is definitely the hardest of the Full Moon fights we’ve had to contend with so far. A very high bar to cross, I’m sure. He’s not exactly the most varied of folks to deal with, though.

He really likes Zionga, of course, but he can’t kill anyone with a single use of it. Even Yukari survives (albeit only just), though that’s not really a good situation to be in.

Oh, and he can just pelt everyone with Elec for good measure.

Yukari being forced in, and so kind of a liability here, is why I grabbed a Thunder Charm for her, yes.

He’s very reminiscent of the Priestess, appropriately enough, in that his only real resistance is that he repels Elec. Not like this is something that’s going to come up with this party but hey.

When it’s a safe prospect, he’ll use those cardboard cutout dudes to make basic Strike attacks. This is usually on a One More for, well, sensible reasons and so he can capitalise on someone (Yukari) being downed.

In that situation, it does real damage and is a bit of a nuisance but not really a real threat. It’s not like it comes up much after all.

If he’s not doing that, he can do whatever but he mainly ues Prophecy of Ruin.

An appropriately titled skill with a pretty simple, but effective, animation that…

Well, it’s multi-target Fear. Much like when the Empress tried Fear, it’s not because he can capitalise on it in a nasty way.

…But it’s multi-target and Luck is his best stat, so it can just shut-down your entire party entirely at random and thats just plain obnoxious. Especially when you remember that you take more damage AND are more likely to be critted.

If there are any buffs in play, at all, he can also just use Dekaja. It’s not super-common with just the one but it becomes more and more likely the more there are.

He can also use Sukunda, and uh… that’s it as far as debuffs go. Weird choice, really.

Finally, he can be a gigantic rudeboy and just use Swift Strike.

…Which since he only ever did it to me while Fear was in play, means that its a massive ol’ death sentence rather than a very mean move. Even though he only has 14 Strength.

Anyway, the strategy for this guy is dead simple. Auto-Tarukaja means we have a damage boost on Makoto out the gate. Rakunda gives that to everyone and boosts Makoto’s damage further. Notable skill Getsu-Ei, which already has 120 base power, is kinda really good this early for obvious reasons I would hope.

But between the Tarukaja and Rakunda it averages 200dmg a hit (presuming its 10% base crit rate doesn’t happen). The Hierophant has 1500HP, so this adds up quickly. The other 3 can add a little over 200 if they all attack, so it doesn’t take too long.

…Especially if someone manages to slip in a lucky crit since an AoA adds another ~350 damage easy.

So, the Hierophant still isn’t exactly super-difficult but he can be a bit rude. His stats aren’t super great at 14 Strength, 16 Magic, 16 Endurance, 15 Agility and 18 Luck but at least he’s not super-boring unlike the rest of the Full Moon Shadows up 'til now.

But he still gives an Absurd Amount of EXP, and thanks to Fuuka getting a new skill, we CAN now see if buffs/debuffs are active and what they are. It’s a default feature in later games (including Portable) but it’s not a big deal really.

End

A Deep Mentality

You succeeded once again.
I’ll be waiting outside for you.

Kinda weird that it didn’t just cutscene us out of the building after the fight, but whatever. We can just walk out ourselves, I guess.

A strong force seems to be holding it shut.

It’s not the same one you defeated!
But… Where is it hiding?

Well, let’s take a look around I guess. I feel like another Shadow would be very apparent, but whatever.

Time to look around the room a bit, to see what stands out. The bed was pretty obvious as a focal point, but the Hierophant was there so the other Shadow couldn’t really be.

So, I guess we’ll just go around clockwise then. There’s not much over here though.

…Not here. But I would argue that having giant windows that let you see into the bathroom is itself pretty unusual!

This isn’t remotely unusual, though. We are in the Dark Hour after all.

And the Shadow isn’t hiding in the crapper. Well, that just leaves one thing…

Hm?
Is it just me, or is there something strange about this mirror?

Well, it doesn’t seem to reflect us…

Oh and there was a screenflash so I’m going with “yes?”

Under A Loving Moon

Silence

Welp, we’re back in the land of animated cutscenes…

…for a shower scene. Great. I’m sure this is what everyone wanted.

And, yeah, this is pretty much the entire reason Yukari gets forced into the party for this one. It’s really dumb.

Thankfully, it’s short.

The Voice Someone Calls

You hear the shower running in the bathroom…

You don’t remember why you are here…

(Where was I?)

It feels like you had something important to do…

A strange voice rings inside your head…

Something about this sure doesn’t seem like Orpheus…

Voice: Enjoy the moment… That which cannot be felt is merely a dream… The present is all we have.

(That’s not true…)

Voice: The future is but a fantasy, memory a fabrication…

(I can’t give in…)

Voice: Pleasure is what you truly want. You stand before the doorway to bliss. You cannot deny you instincts… Embrace your desire…

(Now’s not the time…)

You have regained control of your thoughts…

The shower in the bathroom has been turned off.

gasp

Glad to see that Yukari’s back to normal as well. Though, uh, it really could’ve been in a better circumstance.

Can you two hear me?
What’s going on?
I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you sooner…
The Shadow was interfering with your thoughts…
And you all got seperated…
The enemy is still in the same room. Please regroup and hurry there.
…Did you hear that, Yukari?
…Uh, sorry… Yeah… I heard you.
Um… Did something happen?
No! Nothing!

If you tell anyone… I won’t ever speak to you again.

End

A Deep Mentality

Its power is blanketing the whole building.
I’m pretty sure it’s in that one room you were in before…
But, it somehow sealed the door, so I don’t think you’ll be able to get in.
I’ll try to find out if there’s a way to break the seal…
Please join the others. They’re on the floor above you.

We do get control back here, but there’s nothing else that happens when we only have the pair so…

I didn’t know there was another Shadow…
Anyway, you okay?
How about you guys?
W-We’re fine! Nothing happened!

They’re giving off the same energy as the Shadow!
Maybe the seal will vanish if you break the mirrors…
I remember this one mirror we saw on the 3rd floor was different from the others…
When I stood in front of it, I felt kinda strange…

Alright, so we just need to go around and break mirrors, huh?

Well, there isn’t one in the room on the first floor so we’ll start with Room 201 I guess. It’s right there and all.

Naturally, there’s a mirror right in here so we’ll just give this a bit of a break.

It just… cracks, like immediately. A bit disappointing, but whatever.

But then we get this and shunted back downstairs.

So, it’s not actually ALL mirrors. We can still break wrong mirrors, get sent back here and Fuuka’ll give us more hints to it. But, really, it’s not that difficult.

So, we’ll go back to the second floor and try to find a mirror we are meant to break this time around.

But, hey, there’s smaller Shadows hanging around now that we beat the Hierophant.

…Unfortunately, they’re all massively outdated at this point.

Well, the mirror in Room 205 sure looks different. It’s yellow and doesn’t have our reflection in it. Mainly it’s the creepy yellow that gives it away though.

That and the black gunk it oozes once broken. Can’t say that helps either.

There’s only one mirror to break on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The one up on 3rd is in Room 304…

And with that, we can head on back to the Hierophant’s Chamber. Nice and easy.

That Which Comes From The Darkness

As the Fool matures along his journey, he comes across two new challenges different to that which he has faced in the past. His natural maturity leads to a powerful urge for sex with another. He realises that he desires a relationship… his journey leads him to attempt to become one of a pair of Lovers.

Naturally, then, the Lovers card mostly primarily represents love and relationships. It also more generally can be attraction in all forms; a representation that something will cross your path. Whether it be a person, a new idea, a life-changing event…

I had to come to this disgusting place! Now. you’re gonna pay!

VI. Arcana Lovers
you probably cottoned onto why i skipped the portable versions of these by now, but since we’ll CLEARLY be spending more time at this event in the future, it just made more sense to stagger 'em for once.

Master of Shadow

At first glance, the Lovers seems to be a pretty overly literal representation of their Arcana. But, remember the pattern; they have to be the Reversed Lovers. They already tipped a forced pairing with their antics seperating people before…

And looking at them clearer, it’s easy to see why they split the way they did. They have no strong basis for their choices and instead focuses on the biological sex and nothing more. There is no true union to make a complete whole.

It’s not super-apparent in most angles, but you can clearly see that inside their heart-shaped cage-like body, they contain the astronomical symbols for Mars and Venus. These are traditionally used to represent men and women, respectively. That’s how you can tell that they made their choices on the most spurious of reasoning.

Anyway, how are the Lovers in a fight? Well, resistance-wise you can see that they’re very boring and have no apparent strengths or weaknesses.

…In terms of actual attacks, the have Maragion of all things. It’s kinda clever if you think about it, and it would disincentive using Mitsuru (since this is one you CAN avoid) if it happened with any degree of frequency.

As you would expect, their main assault is primarily ailment based. Pulinpa’s not really the first one that comes to mind though, huh? Lovers have 19 Luck so it’s not too bad an idea in theory.

…Life Drain is a weird-ass move for them to use. It deals 35 damage and heals them for the same amount. It’s just so rare, it happened once in half an hour of trying to get them to use all of their skills.

Oh, and they do also have Spirit Drain but that didn’t happen at all and is even more irrelevant from their perspective.

This is a bit more like it, though! They can use Holy Arrow to be clever. Pierce damage AND Charm wrapped up in one.

The damage isn’t a big deal, but the Charm is a major problem. Obviously.

It’s a bigger problem in this fight in particular than most others, though. Especially because the AI has a dumb secret.

Yukari has Charmdi. She also has a few Dis-Charms in her personal inventory. The AI when told to heal prioritises HP over everything else. It does this in some weird nonsense situations as well.

Like this one. It seems “reasonable” since Makoto is at about half-HP but Yukari is casting Dia here on Junpei.

Yes. Really. If someone gets Charmed, its better to have Makoto heal it, even though that’s a giant waste. If Makoto gets Charmed, then better hope Yukari is feeling co-operative to heal it otherwise that’s effectively just a straight up game over.

Why?

Because Lovers has a nasty Almighty skill called Heartbreaker.

It’s pretty hard-hitting across the board regardless, but it deals 150% damage to anyone Charmed. It doesn’t get used all the time, of course, but its very frequent.

Oh and naturally Lovers also have Marin Karin just for extra odds at proccing Charm.

Really, though, losing this fight is some really bad luck and nothing else. We’ll deal with it the same way we dealt with the Hierophant but with the added bonus of Lovers not having Dekaja. They have 1500HP, 15 Strength, 16 Magic, 17 Endurance, 15 Agility and 19 Luck for quick reference.

The Voice Someone Calls

Thanks for your help. The enemy was sly, but you did well.
I did what I could.
And you too, for withstanding the enemy’s mental assault.
Alright, let’s call it a night.

About that thing you mentioned the other day…

Fuuka nods.

Cool, tell me later.
Alright! We should head back, too.

I didn’t do much, really.
Yeah, whatever…
Who cares, anyway…?

I’m gonna guess you do right now, since you brought it up?

Hey, why do you have to be like that? Don’t tell me you’re jealous.

Shut up!
What’s up HIS butt?

Silence

It seems like the trust between you all has grown…

You learned a new tactic!

Pretty much exactly what it sounds like, really. Just focus exclusively on blitzing something down, though it doesn’t really focus on anything other than direct damage. Includng knock downs, even. There is a bit more of a focus on buffing than Assign Target, though.

But, wait, what’s this?

That was quite a show.

Their fighting style is positively fascinating…
And it seems they’ve gained new recruits, too.

Yes… That’s an excellent idea.
Considering that he shares our fate, it would be prudent to seek his opinion.

You expect that there will be fewer victims for a while.

But, you are too exhausted to think about it now.

You decide to rest as soon as you get back to the dorm…

1 Like

Since we just had full moon antics, we’re auto-tired which we’re going to put to use today. And not for the normal reason we used to either.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

Listening: Sounds cool to me! I wanna go to the sea, the mountains, everywhere! But, before that… we’ve got finals starting on Tuesday.
Gossiping: Ugh, I’d forgotten about that. But that means a break is after the exams! And summer vacation is just around the corner!

The first bell has rung.

Ah, right. Exams are coming up very soon now. Hmm. This is going to present a problem twice over - schedule issues, yes, but also we’re gonna get a lot of classroom scenes this week. Eep.

Well, maybe “pain” wasn’t the word I’m looking for. English phrases are pretty tricky…
Now, let’s talk about comma splices. I’m sure you’ve heard all about them before, but to review: a comma splice is when two independent clauses are joined by a comma, wuth no conjunction.
Okay, Makoto! Here’s a question for you… Dun dun dunnn!
Which of these phrases is incorrect?

It’s basic English grammar and even if you’re not super great at something that you’ve never really thought about before, context makes it VERY obvious at least. Hurray!

“I failed, It’s over now.”
Whoa! I didn’t think you’d get it! Good for you!
That’s a comma splice. Got it? If no one has any questions, let’s move on.

It’s important to remember at this point that answering these correctly gives Charm points. That we, uh, don’t need any more. Still gonna be getting them right because it’s more useful to do so, overall.

…Or maybe we could just skip these scenes wholesale from now on, but that has some issues. Namely with how they help with exams which do matter still. Doing well on your exams IS important.

I am now your mother, apparently.

Anyway, we’ll deal with that in the future. For now, we can see immediately that we need to reschedule stuff… is what I’d say if this wasn’t a Wednesday. Kaz isn’t around then. Whoops.

But, yeah, week before exams so we can’t do school S.Links anyway. So, first we’re off to the Nurse’s office to do a thing.

Or, rather, to NOT do a thing. We have to be Tired (or Sick!) to not just get kicked out of the office immediately. If we are Tired/Sick, we get this option like normal and drinking Edogawa’s fucked up experiment shuts us out for the day and means we can’t do what we want until we come back when we’re Tired/Sick again in the future.

In short (too late), we’re not drinking anything.

That normally quiet mouse went squeaking out of here with energy!

I’m not sure it’s safe to drink, but here, take this. It’s some old medicine I found lying around.

Well, this is actively definitely harmful rather than just a terrible idea. What the FUCK, Edogawa?

…The only mercy here is that no one is going to be taking this medicine anyway.

Decided to try the bathroom now to see if we’d luck out and get a status upgrade out of it. Now we can study tonight as well as do… whatever else we’ll be doing.

And, from what I can tell, he has no personality.

Oh, and this little sidestory has updated too. We’re no longer on the roof and I guess “he is a dickhead who throws rocks at birds” and “picks his nose when he thinks someone isn’t looking” is all we know about the other guy.

I don’t even realize she’s around anymore.

Meanwhile, he’s… well, he’s definitely incredibly weird and probably not all that healthy either. It’s really fucked that Edogawa is the school nurse, because clearly someone competent is necessary around here.

The Poem for Everyone’s Souls

It definitely would be, yeah. Old Medicine is really absurdly bad.

May I try some…?
Oh…! The way it feels going down my throat…
What an amazing concoction… I feel as though it could almost kill a man… This is very impressive medicine.
Please accept your reward.

At least our reward for giving Liz objectively terrible medicine is some rad medicine. Cures all ailments across the entire party. Possibly handy!

My favourite dumb thing about this, by the by, is that the Megaten Wiki in its infinite dumbness seems to think these don’t even exist. Yeah, I dunno.

Anyway, it’s interesting (to me) to note that we have access already to the next set of sidequests. Normally we don’t get these until Liz gives us a call about Tartarus.

Anyway, let’s talk about some of these for a sec. We’re gonna feed a cat! We’re gonna feed the heck out of a cat! This is a bit more involved than it sounds, though…

This one we can’t do yet, because it requires a minimum level of 27 to do. Yes, really. But it’s also the next one in a quest line so it was only unlocked by giving Elizabeth the awful medicine.

And this one is… simple but interesting. It gives us a Bus Stop Sign which has a new icon we’ve never seen before on it. It’s clearly a gag weapon, but it’s… an axe…? We don’t have any party members who can use axes… I guess Makoto’s unique weapon type, along with his versatility, is an axe. That’s kinda rad and also I wanna beat stuff up with a bus stop sign.

So we WILL be going back to Gekkoukan to get some music in a moment, but first we have to buy some cat food. The pharmacy sells very fancy cat food purely for this one quest, which is cute and cool. We’re buying 4 cans or whatever they are.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

So, we want music from the school. Music room is a tempting idea for obvious reasons, but that’s used for a club so that doesn’t work here. Instead, we’re going to the PA Room up on the 2nd floor (next to the Student Council).

You hear bizarre music playing inside.

Male Student’s Voice: …“Gekkoukan Boogie”? Why does the school have music like this…? …Must be a teacher’s theme song or something. …Crazy. chuckle

Well, that’s an interesting idea but I think this’ll do the trick quite nicely.

Male Student: Huh? This music? I have no idea what it’s for, but it says “Gekkoukan Boogie” on it. Huh? You want it? …Are you serious!? Sure, you can have it. We don’t have any use for it, anyway… Here… Now, get out of here, before you get me in trouble.

Alright, so before we take this back to Elizabeth, we’re going to head to the Port Island Station for a moment because there’s been a bit of a change there lately.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Until relatively recently, there was a barrier on the left-hand side that shut us out from the cafe area. And more importantly, those stairs in the corner.

They let us get to a place that we’ve seen a couple of times before now, at last. More importantly, there’s a cat hanging out here.

He seems to be very weak. Maybe he’s hungry…

We’re gonna be giving 'em some top-tier Super Cat Food!

The cat slowly started to eat.

Weak cat: Meow… Meowww…

The cat is purring loudly. It seems happy.

That we can and DEFINITELY will do. Can only feed the cat once a day, so we’re done here for now.

The Poem for Everyone’s Souls

Which means we go back to Elizabeth!

…Do they play this often in your school?
Oh… The lyrics are included inside…


…Um, I’ll listen to this later.
About the reward… I have prepared something different for you this time.
A simple, yet sturdy metal frame, with small lettering on the placard… I believe it’s called a Bus Stop Sign.
I’ve heard that in your world, they can be found all over the place. I’d like to see some of these signs In their natural environment someday…
Please accept your reward.

Alright, NOW we’re done with Liz for the time being.

So, the Bus Stop Sign can only be used by Makoto and it’s the latest “joke” weapon naturally. That means it’s top-tier for the time being and is most likely going to be glued to Makoto for a long while yet.

But for the here and now, uh, we can’t do school S.Links so I guess we’re off back to the bookstore for a while.

Joy

There are two k’s…
I know, I know!
I just forgot to write the second one.
I feel bad for Makoto-chan and all the people who’ve been campaigning to save the tree…

I’m writing a letter–something I haven’t done in ages. But, I can’t remember how to spell half these words!
Am I finally losing it? I used to have an amazing vocabulary.
What’s it about?
Sorry, can’t let you see it. Top secret.

I’ll tell you when the time comes, Minato-chan.
Well, aren’t you curious?
I can’t wait another minute.
…We feel the same way.
Everyday, we just can’t wait to see you!
Lately, I even feel smarter! Maybe I should go back to school…
Just kidding.

It seems Bunkichi and Mitsuko are counting on you.

Your relationship is stronger now!

Well, uh, the next time probably won’t be several months from now so that’s reasonable!

After saying goodbye to Bunkichi and Mitsuko, you decided to go back to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm

About what?
Oh, um, there’s something I have to clear up.
Everyone must be tired after the mission…
Please get a good night’s rest…

So, I guess this is about that secret thing that Yukari asked Mitsuru to look into before. I really wanna know what that was…

Tch… whatever…

But, well, first we have everyone else to talk to. Junpei is acting really pissy right now. Joy…

Just take it easy for now.

Sorry, Akihiko we can go to Tartarus tomorrow, but we won’t be.

Mysterious vandalism has occurred at the hotel Champs de Fleurs. Mirrors in the hotel rooms were shattered. Though the hotel had many guests, none of them saw the culprit. Some guests have also reported theft in their rooms. Police are currently investigating the incident.

Depending on who looks into it, they might already know the answer but be unable to do anything about it.

I wanted to say something earlier, but I didn’t want everyone else to hear.
So, sorry…

Oh, I heard you did a great job last night, Makoto-kun!
Keep it up!

The girls are upstairs and man, Fuuka, you are REALLY bad at this.

Like Akihiko said, Mitsuru’s not around right now so all that remains to do something. Since it’s a Wednesday, that means we go to the Arcade to play Who Wants To Be A Millionaire or something.

And since we got lucky with the bathroom, that means we can double-down on our Academics gain today and get 6 points. Which is not even really all that close to enough for a level.

But +6 is something we can only potentially do two days a week, so who knows when we’ll hit the next rank right now.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

Listening: It’s because the building wasn’t built that long ago, so everything is still gleaming. You know, I heard from my parents there was an explosion here 10 years ago. They replaced the building after that, but… There’s more to it, too. Around that time, a lot of students stopped coming to school. Maybe that’s why they put up the new building… To start with a clean slate…
Gossiping: An explosion!? Did someone screw up in chem lab or something? That must have been a dangerous lecture…

The first bell has rung.

In 794, the Heian-Kyo was established. In 894, they abolished imperial embassies to China…
I might put this section on the exam next week… I’m feeling lazy.
Anyways, on to feudalism. Listen carefully, because this has to do with the origins of the samurai.
I choose… you, Makoto! Let’s see if you know.
What law served as a foundation for the development of feudalism?

I, uh… I genuinely have no idea. So, I’m just gonna guess. :v:

The Konden Einen Shizaihou.
Good, you remembered. It’s got a very long name, doesn’t it?

The farmers got lazy. Not that that’s unusual for any era… But that’s all for the Heian period.

So, now that we’re done with school stuff for the day we need to do the most important thing.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Gotta feed the cat some more. It’s still not done but it’s slowly getting there day by day.

Now that we’ve got the most important thing done, let’s go be friendly to the elderly again.

Which isn’t for the last time. We need a lot more points than the previous scene could give… so much so that this didn’t push us to the threshold either! I do believe that’s the first time spending time as a non-event hasn’t been sufficient for a rank up.

Oh and NOW Elizabeth lets us know we can climb higher in Tartarus. We already had the sidequests available though, so okay I guess.

Iwatodai Dorm

They are employing more dangerous attacks, as well…
So even though we have a lot of time until the next full moon, we had best use that time wisely.

I agree. I am definitely going to invest my time very wisely.

Well, what time of it I can anyway. Exams do steal a week automatically which kinda sucks.

But, there are exams next week, so you should focus on them.

So, we won’t heal or support…
You’ll have to do that, Makoto.
Do your part.

Natto has become surprisingly popular overseas. Called “Miracle Beans” in foreign countries, they sell five times what they do in Japan. A well-known natto producer said, “Good thing I kept making it!”

Natto sucks and is hella gross, sorry. You can disagree if you like, I won’t stop you, but you’re wrong.

But, it’s not good if everyone is out of step because they’re all trying too hard…

The girls are up on the… third floor. Huh. I think this is the first time we’ve stopped on this one.

She would probably do just about anything to annihilate the Shadows.
But, don’t you think that’s a little obsessive?
Yeah, maybe.
There are a lot of old sayings about maintaining balance in your life…
They also warn against being too obsessive.

Alright, so now that we’re done at the dorm we need to figure out what we’re gonna be doing tonight. Hmm, let’s see it’s not a quiz night so we’re not off to the Arcade…

Tanaka isn’t around on Thursdays…

Wait, Thursday? I’ve got it!

Mutatsu, my other old friend!

This Mysterious Feeling

Hey, don’t get me wrong, kid. It’s not like I was lookin’ forward to seein’ ya or anything.

Gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting the chain-smoking, drunk old monk to the be The Tsundere and yet.

What’s the deal with your hair, kid?
Is that what’s in style nowadays? Doesn’t it get in your eyes?
…My son kept his hair long too.
You should cut it. No, better yet, shave it all off… smooth like me.
Yeah, that might look cool.
Hmph, you don’t get it, kid.

I’m not talkin’ about fashion here; I’m sayin’ you’d be better off without your hair.
Oh, sure, you’re young and good-lookin’ now, but just wait…
I mean, look at me. I’m old and ugly… My cheeks sag like a damn bulldog’s.
…That’s life, kid. People get old. Someday you’ll be just like me…
You’ll look in the mirror and think…
Damn, I was handsome back in the day…
Here’s a little trick so you don’t lose hope in the future.

You’re gonna lose your hair eventually, kid, so why bother with it now?
Bald is beautiful. You just wake up in the mornin’ and go. No fuss.
I can even give you money for the shave.

You saw through Mutatsu’s harsh words and felt his kindness.

You understand Mutatsu better now.

Well, ya can’t sleep here, kid. Go home.

You decided to go back to the dorm.

Reminder that we’re still about like 8 levels out from the first Tower persona. That seems really close, but it’s still likely gonna be a bit of work to get there at the moment.

And we’re gonna keep on gettin’ that free Academics boost because it’s right here after all.

Awkwardly, we don’t even start exams until Tuesday. That might be useful though, thinking about it…

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

I plan on using the word “magic” in a very general sense.
But today, we’ll talk about the single most magical place and time.
Today’s topic is the magic of medieval Europe.
There are a lot of materials pertaining to western magic, from books to folklore.
We’ll cover all of it, including the changes it’s gone through.
As I mentioned last time, European magic has its origins in paganism.

Some well-known examples are…
Kabbalah, the study of the mystical aspects of Jewish texts.
Gnosticism, a Christian sect founded by Simon Magus, the Sorcerer.
Greece’s philosophy and natural sciences were the fruits of magical researchers…
The same was true of Islam’s scientific advances, which surpassed Europe’s at the time. Now, as for the circumstances of magic in this age…

Magicians bravely reached up for a connection with the gods…
Are you all awake? You’re not daydreaming, right? Eeeheehee.
A little test, to see if you were listening… Get it wrong, and you’ll get a scary guardian angel. Sebna uru quah…
Who should I choose…? All right, Makoto, I ask thee.
What is the mystical study of Jewish texts?
Kabbalah.
Very good. The magicians of the age achieved great things…
Particularly the famous “grimoires.” Grimoires are collections of a wide range of magical texts, and…

Okay, in all seriousness here: the stuff Edogawa “teaches” is kinda genuinely interesting. Or, rather, it would be if it wasn’t in one-sentence long text boxes that kinda go fairly slowly. And also if it wasn’t just eyerolling and weird to have Edogawa be so consistently bad at his job.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Gotta feed the cat some more. He’s slowly getting better thanks to the power of Expensive And Fancy Food. Awesome

We could spend the day at the bookstore, but right now that’s kind of a waste. We know we won’t rank up yet and we’ll get better timing to go back there later on. So, what to do…

We haven’t really spent time with Maiko since we gave her some takoyaki and cola.

I was waiting for you! Let’s play!
Okay.

Joy

It’s up to you, kay? Your choice!
Jungle gym.
Oh boy! I’m gonna climb way up high, okay?

But, I don’t wanna go home yet.
…I don’t like it there.

Maiko seems sad.

Can’t we stay together for a little longer?

Maiko seems to enjoy hanging out.

You got to know Maiko, the grade-schooler.

The Power of the Heart

A mysterious voice rings in your head…

Troubled

…they fight a lot.
They’re going to get a divorce, huh?
I tell them I want us to be happy, but they don’t listen.
They probably hate me, too.

…Hey, we can play again later, right? I think we’re friends now.
I have cram school on Sunday, but I’m free the rest of the days.

You decide to go back to the dorm.

Man that’s… pretty much the kinda thing I would expect from a small child’s S.Link really. At least if it’s a consistent through-line and not dropped after like rank 3 I mean.

Iwatodai Dorm

…I better go study, since exams are coming up.

So, Junpei is actively avoiding us. That’s… not really a good sign, huh?

A miraculous flower which only grows once every 100 years has bloomed. It seems to be responding to the other strange events in town.

I do like the implication that this isn’t a year it was supposed to happen. It takes almost a month for the Dark Hour to amount to 1 day of time, though, so that can’t very quickly or easily cause that kinda discrepency.

Oh and Junpei is the only person with something new to say today. And it’s new because it’s nothing. Thanks, Junpei.

And with today being a Friday, that means we can go hang out with Mutatsu again.


Although we’re still at the stage where no matter what, we’d need a scene-free time to get a rank up. Mutatsu is a bit awkward but he’s a night link so it’s fine since we don’t really have much to do at night.

Academics are still a thing, and still aren’t Rank 4 which is kinda amazing. You’d think it would be by now.

I reckon we’ve got enough time for one more day.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

Uh, exams are pretty soon… Have you been studyin’?
Yeah.
…Seriously? Like I care…

It all began from infighting among the Taira clan. Their conflict escalated until the Imperial Court intervened.
Masakado was pursued by the Imperial Court, and had no choice but to openly oppose them… The result was known as the War of Masakado.
Makoto… You don’t look anything like a samurai, but let’s see if you know this one.
What title did Taira No Masakado claim for himself?
Imperial Prince.
Correct! This will be on the exam next week, so be prepared!
Let’s skip forward a little to the Kamakura era! At last! The samurai’s presence begins to be felt in history!

And of course, its founder was Minamoto no Yoritomo. I can’t believe we’re finally here!

Masakado was born in 903 and died in 940. So, uh, we skipped forward “a little” alright. Almost 300 years is only a footnote, right?

It’s from Akihiko.

“He has something to tell us.”

“We’ll meet on the 4th floor as soon as everyone is back.”

So, I guess we’ll have a small plot scene this evening. Alright, sure. But first!

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

The cat is purring loudly. It seems happy.

The cat seems to have regained all its energy by eating the cat food.

It seems you won’t need to come and feed it anymore.

I’m glad that the cat is healthy again, but man it’s a shame that now we just ignore it forever. It makes sense for Makoto specicially, sure, but it’s still pretty awful!

The Poem for Everyone’s Souls

Thank you very much. I can feel the relief in the depths of my heart.
I hope it prospers forever and ever…
Please accept your reward.

Masukukaja in an item form. It’s, uh, nice I guess? There’s no request we can do right now that doesn’t involve going to Tartarus in some way, so we’ll get around to that at some point I guess.

…Well, there’s Vetala which I might be able to finagle a way to get but it’s definitely easier when I have funds to use again.

And, sure, Maiko’s gonna be our main pre-exam week S.Link now. Makes sense to me!

Joy

Sure, let’s go.
Yay! I can’t wait! I wonder which toy they’re giving out today…

You decide to take a trip to Wild-duck Burger.

…'Cause Mom and Dad never argue when we go out to eat.
They never used to argue! You have to believe me…
But, why would they get a divorce?
Why don’t you ask them?
I asked 'em already and they said it was a matter for adults only.

Maiko is about to start crying.

I don’t want them to get a divorce!
…Do they really hate me that much?
Divorce is dumb! I hate it!

Maiko is sobbing loudly.

sniff I’m sorry… I know it’s embarrassing when I cry…
I’ll try not to cry anymore.

Maiko is trying her best to smile.

Your relationship is stronger now!

Thanks for playing with me today.

You returned to the dorm after walking Maiko home.

From The Shadows

Troubled

It was a difficult operation.
I see. They’re getting tougher…
But, it’s not all bad news. I called today’s meeting because–

Before we go on, I’d like to ask Mitsuru-senpai something.
Me…?
Since I joined, so many things have happened…
I went along with it, without really understanding what was going on… But now, I need to know.
I’m gonna ask you straight out…
You’ve been hiding something from us, haven’t you, Senpai?
You act like you don’t know anything about the Dark Hour and Tartarus…

What accident…?

Fearful Experience

There was an explosion near our school, and a lot of people died… It must’ve been big news back then. You know about it, don’t you?
…Yes.
Luckily, no students were injured. But around the same time, a large number of students were recorded as absent.
…Seems like more than just a coincidence.
What do you mean?
I dug up some old school records, and found something interesting.

Sound familiar?
You know, like the girls who bullied Fuuka…

There has to be an explanation! What really happened on the day of that accident?
The Kirijo Group built our school, so you must know something! Tell me the truth!

It, uh, seems like it’s been relevant from before the start?

But…
…It’s okay. It’s not your fault.
…Alright. I’ll tell you the whole story…
The Shadows have many mysterious abilities.

We think of them as our enemies, but what if we could somehow use them to our advantage? They would be a source of unimaginable power, wouldn’t they?
What…?
Fourteen years ago, one man pursued that line of thinking…

My grandfather.

Silence

Suddenly, we’re in the anime-zone…?

My grandfather was obsessed with Shadows. He wanted to harness their power, and create something extraordinary.

Harness their power?

He assembled a team of scientists, and over several years collected a significant number of Shadows.

He what!?

Damn, that’s freaking crazy!
However…

Ten years ago, during the final stages of the experiment, they lost control of the Shadows’ power. Consequently, the nature of the world was altered.
You mean…

Yes… Tartarus and the Dark Hour…

gasp
gasp

Fearful Experience

These are the Shadows we’ve been encountering on nights when the moon is full.
Is that why they’ve appeared in different places?
Wait a minute… If what you said is true, then why did our school turn into Tartarus?
gasp …Don’t tell me…

…Yes.
Then… those students who were hospitalized…
I’m afraid it’s just as you’re thinking.
Port Island must have been an ideal location for them.

As you guessed, the experiment ten years ago was conducted at Gekkoukan High School.

Does that mean…
all we’ve been doing is cleaning up their mess!?


You knew too, didn’t you, Senpai!?
They’ve just been using us!

That’s not true.
I have my reasons…
Think what you’d like… It was my decision not to share that information.
…I’m sorry.
I never intended to deceive you.
Convincing you to join SEES was my highest priority.

How could you…!?

I…
Mitsuru… Don’t.

Silence

Yukari… It’s those in the past who are to blame.
And they lost their lives as a result of what they did…

But…

It’s been ten years since that incident… No one knows why those Shadows suddenly returned.
But, since they’re active, at least we can find and destroy them…
Do you realize what this means?

Troubled

Exactly!
That’s what I was going to tell you earlier. See, it’s good news, isn’t it?
Is that true!?
There’s evidence to support it.
Now, our true battle begins.

Regardless of what’s happened in the past, we must fight to protect the people.

And there are many mysteries still surrounding Tartarus.
Why did such a gigantic structure appear in the first place? The answer must lie within it.

End

Iwatodai Dorm

It, uh, it always feels weird having a scene that seems like it’s the end of the day but whoops we have a bit extra afterwards. It’s kinda jarring in a way.

But, well, we can take advantage of this to ask Ikutski some stuff.

12 Shadows?

Its power was immense, far greater than any of the Shadows currently insude Tartarus.
Experiments were performed on it, and an unfortunate accident took place, dividing the entity into 12 Shadows.
These Shadows only appear during a full moon.
How did the public react?

…and the media placed full blame on the Kirijo Group for the tragedy.
They singled out one researcher in particular, declaring him the main culprit behind it all.
Whether this was actually true or not was not the issue…
The public was looking for someone to vent their hurt and anger on.
So they chose him, even though he was a victim himself.
Their wrath was unparalleled. The darker side of mankind was most certainly on display during that time.
About Mitsuru-senpai…

So, Mitsuru wasn’t born with the ability to summon a Persona; she was forced to learn how.
About Akihiko-senpai…

In fact, Akihiko joined us when he was only in middle school.
At that time, we had a third member as well.
…But, I digress.

Whew, that was a lot more optional exposition than I expected.

No matter what happens, you can always protect yourself, right?
sigh You’re always so confident… I wish I could be like that.
Junpei-kun…
The only thing anyone knows about Tartarus is that it creates Shadows…
Other than that, we’re all in the dark…

Hm? Us?
Oh, since Junpei-kun doesn’t understand what’s going on, I’m going to review it with him.
But, if we defeat all 12 Shadows…
…then I won’t have any more use for my Persona.
Man, it’s such an amazing power… I can’t let it go to waste…

Today’s subject is a man in his 20s with a yellow cap.

…Next is news. Pain, pain, go away!

[timg]http://lpix.org/2923241/Mark[/timg]

Today’s guest is Masao “Mark” Inaba, who is in a group of 2 whole people! He was in the original Persona game, as a playable character during the SEBEC route, who does not appear in either Persona 2 game since he is busy being an artist in New York. Which is a bit of a shame since he can dance funky.

…Right, and uh you definitely know about this but in Revelations: Persona (the US release of the PS1 version), this is Mark:

Yes, this is real. And, yes, his dialogue was rewritten to be AAVE. Because obviously.

Anyway, Mark’s primary arcana was the Chariot and his default Persona was Ogun. An interesting choice for a main character’s default but hey.

I’m gonna mention this now because this is when I made the connection myself: the dates each episode of Who’s Who has aired has been the relevant character’s birthday. Go back and check if you want.

Meanwhile, in 2009, Yukari, Mitsuru and Akihiko have all shut themselves up in their rooms. That’s why we can’t Tartarus today and instead are off to study via the Arcade.

And, uh, actually studying. That helps too.

But it looks like we’re not getting to Academics 4 before the exams, which is unfortunate but not really a bit deal in the end. Hopefully.

We could give it one last shot on Monday, sure, but that’s definitely more of a “well if we have to” kinda thing. After all, that’s a good time to go to Tartarus if we get the chance.

1 Like

Welp, we’re at our last two days of freedom before we run fullforce into a week of finals.

Sign o’ the Times

Troubled

Hm…?
Hmph… Why’re you here?
If you came here to try and convince me, then forget it.
…It’s nothing like that.
I just wanted to see how you were doing.
Huh?

It’s been almost 14 years since we met at the orphanage…

Back then, it seemed like we had all the time in the world.
Heh… You haven’t changed one bit.
If you wanna get all sappy, go do it with your other friends.
…What was that!?
It’s rare for you to think about the past. Usually, you just charge ahead like a damn fool.
So obviously, there’s something on your mind.

I do reminisce sometimes… But, what’s the point?

!
No shit?

Akihiko nods.

To be honest, all I’ve been thinking about lately is getting stronger.
But yesterday, someone made me question my reason for fighting…
Your reason for fighting, huh…

…I’m not like you.
…Man, I can’t believe I’m the one getting lectured here.

Well, see ya around.

Meanwhile, somewhere else but presumably at roughly the exact same time…

…Can I talk to you for a moment?
Senpai…
Oh, please come in.

No, I didn’t skip over anything there. Mitsuru just walks in, sits down and immediately cuts right to being midway through a thought.

Oh, I-I’m sorry for doing that without permission…
Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. But, I do have a special favor to ask of you.
I want you to find out as much as you can about that incident ten years ago.
But, very little was made public…

You mean, hack into their system?
That’s illegal.
I’ll give you my ID and password. You’ll be free from accountability.
I want to know the truth, in detail.

So, she’s going to be using valid login credentials to normally log on and view the stuff that you could view on your own anyway…

Senpai…
Of course, I’ll understand if you refuse.
Okay. I’ll see what I can do.
Are you sure?
…I appreciate it.

After all, despite my good intentions, I did drag you into this without fully explaining.
Certainly, you must be a little angry with me…
Not really.

That… answers nothing. It’s not even remotely relevant, even!

That’s why they’re so tough on me…
It’s really hard for me to be at home…
But here, I feel important, and I can help you and the others…
So, why should I be angry?
You’re right, Yamagishi. We do need you.
No one can take your place.
U-Um…
Thank you… I’ll see you later.

Meanwhile, elsewhere again…

It’s fairly close to where Akihiko went, though.

Tch!
That’s good…
That’s what we’ve been fighting for…
So, why am I so pissed!?

How nice of them to wear their uniform on a Sunday, so we could tell they were students even with the nameplate also telling us that. Really thoughtful of them, that.

Friend: Seriously. But, at least we’re seniors now… We won’t be wearing these stupid uniforms much longer.
Student: Yeah, I’ve had enough of this. I just wanna get accepted to college and start having some fun.
Friend: That’s IF you get accepted, don’t forget.

I’M the reason…
I was like, “Fighting is my duty.” But hell, it’s all I’m good for.
If it weren’t for that…
I’d be worthless.
Haha, my duty…? What a buncha bullshit.

Dammit! Nothing I do is good enough!
sigh

Meanwhile, again… just one remains at this point after all…

Seems like my worst fears keep coming true…
Am I stupid to believe in things like trust and friendship…?
Dad…
This old letter of yours…
I must’ve read it a thousand times since it came last spring…

Tomorrow, I’ll bring this letter to the opening ceremony for the Moonlight Bridge.
It’ll be stored in a time capsule, and sent to you ten years from now.
Yukari… You’re so small right now, but in ten years, you’ll be sixteen. You’ll be in high school.

I know you’ve been sad because I have to work so late, but you still always greet me with a smile.

I’ll be starting on a big project soon, and I’m happy to be receiving so much recognition for my work…
But, I swear to you that nothing is more important to me than you and your mother.
Yukari… Are you remembering to enjoy life?
Are you still bright-eyed and hopeful, like you are now?

…Well, I hope this letter brings a smile to your face.
Love, Dad

I won’t turn my back. I won’t be like Mom.
Not ever…

End

Well, that was some… very disparate and different scenes of the rest of the gang. Junpei’s was the most… filler-y feeling though, by far, which is a bit of a weird shame in a way.

Current Net Price Tanaka

But, hey, this IS our first Sunday since like the middle of June that we’ve been able to buy anything off Tanaka so let’s see what he’s got. A sweet new pair of boots! …And some diet pills… for 10,000 yen. Yeesh.

…Well, footwear is what I seem to have the worst luck in getting in Tartarus (and I never bother buying equipment from the police station because I’m both a cheapskate and an idiot), so I’ll take 'em!

Iwatodai Dorm

I appreciate this being upfront, but it’s a Sunday and we never Tartarus on Sundays anyway. Also it’s the middle of the day we couldn’t Tartarus for hours.

Everyone seems to be studying…
I mean, I haven’t seen anyone around, so they must be studying, right?
I’m not sure…
Yeah, neither am I.
Maybe they’re not just studying…

I feel like we’ve been punished by a divine entity in the most passive aggresively minor way possible at this point. It’s just… every single time. Without fail.

Oh, and everyone else is in their rooms now. Except Akihiko who’s outright nowhere to be found. How odd!

They don’t have anything super-interesting to say though (that Junpei is actually studying is surprising). We’ll take advantage of the peace and how we don’t need to leave the dorm for once to just go back into our room to play a dead video game.

Instead of, uh, leaping backwards through time a little bit to do that.

Joy

nowadays i just log on to MMOs with bedhead and all (liek today lol)
but when i was little, ppl said i was a real cutie -_-;;
guess i missed my chance rite? nobody thinks i’m hawt ne more T_T
…do men only want younger women? be honest w/me =3
Guys like younger chicks.
yeah, i thought so. everyone knows it but it sux to hear for real… orz T_T

Considering what you’ve mentioned before, that’s… not just “bad,” that is actively a crime.

Maya seems pretty happy.

but i didn’t make sense? i should know better–i teach composition!! o_O;;
mkay, i’ll be calm. i’ll compose my bitching carefully for you :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
one of my coworkers is really pissing me off. i’m trying to avoid her @_@

its been a while but that kinda thing sticks w/u, u know?
ne way, she said she needed some advice, but then she just started bragging! >=(

and she acts like its nuthing! omg, rite?
i hate skanky hoes liek her! just give puppy-dog eyes and guys do whatever!
she even stuffs her bra!! lol
Just calm down.
talk about fake, rite? what kind of woman has to use pads for her boobs?
i’m fine w/ massaging in teh shower and drnking more milk. all natural :wink:

omg for reals, i saw Ms. K running in late one time, ok?

…theyre fake for sure >=)
…an my school is FULL of teachers like taht! --;
man tatsuya, talkin to u is better than getting a massage =P ::blush::
complaining online is now an important part of my days off ^
^

Maya likes talking to you.

Your relationship is stronger now!

…but after what i said, i might go to hell ne way o_O;;
well… i rented sum DVDs, sooo… later, tatsuya! thx for chattin

Wait, DVDs?! The overdue fees on those things gets kinda ridiculous! I hope it’s the first time, so they’ll waive 'em…

Maya’s player signed off.

You decide to log out as well.

Alright, so that brings us along nicely to our last day before exa–

The Voice Someone Calls

So, how’s life as a Persona-user?
Something’s missing.
I wonder what… I hope you find it soon.
I remembered something else about the coming of the end…

Ten years ago, if I remember correctly.
Hey…

A Persona is like a mirror.
Which means, a Persona-user can never escape from his true self.
Regardless, I will stay with you…

Kinda… weird to get that from this, huh? Also, real nice of Pharos to tell us he remembered a thing happened in the past. But not what said thing was.

No matter, though. We’ve got one last day of freedom before we lose the rest of the week to finals. Joy.

Want to be Close (Reincarnation)

Listening: What am I going to do if I fail again? I wish the school wouldn’t post our names…
Gossiping: Yeah, that’s the worst part. You get a bad grade, and everyone looks at you like your dog just died…

The first bell has rung.

I… uh… maybe…?

Summer vacation is just ahead, so study hard!
Summer is beach season! Shaved ice! Wheeee!
It’s also the hottest season, so don’t neglect your health, okay?
Oh, by the way, there’s a popular event in Japan in the summer that can be a little scary…
It’s a girl’s chance to get closer to the boy she’s interested in.
It’s called Kimodameshi!

Anyway, enjoy your summer, and make sure you come out of it with some good memories!

Still not another level… well, not much we can do about that now. But it’s the last day before exams so our options are as limited as ever.

Fortunately, we DO have options so it’s not a big deal!

Joy

Have you seen Striped Shirt?
We were playing tag, but… It’s no fun if I can’t find him.

You don’t look so good… Are you sick?

Huh? S-So, you are sick?
Ha ha, no. I’m kidding. You’re so easy, Maiko.
No fair! I’m an innocent girl, so I actually believed you!

I’m Maiko’s friend.
So you’re the guy she was talking about. I wondered what you were like…
Are you “too old” to play with kids, or are you still young at heart?

You can eat with us too, Striped Shirt!
Nah, I’m okay, thanks.
I’ll see you guys around.

He’s gone…
I ususally see him around the sthrine on Sundays.
I see him on the way to cram school, too.
Yay! It’s takoyaki time!

You decided to go with Maiko to get takoyaki.

I remember one time Dad burned his mouth on this takoyaki!
…'Cause I put too many in his mouth at once.

And then he snorted, sending me flying out of the encouter!

Maiko suddenly fell silent…

Troubled

…Dad doesn’t spend much time at home anymore these days.

Oh! Do you think he’ll come home for my birthday?
Don’t worry, he’ll be there.
Y-You really think so!?

I mean, I know Mom will buy me presents, but still…
…She hasn’t asked me what I want, yet.

Maiko fell silent again.

…If they really loved me, then they wouldn’t get a divorce.

Maiko seems to enjoy spending time with you.

Your relationship is stronger now!

If I don’t do laundry, the house will be a real big mess!
See ya!

Maiko took off, so you decided to go back to the dorm.

Summer Plans

Silence

An awkward silence fills the room…

Um…
Y-You know, it’s almost summer break. Do you have any plans?

Man, it sure would be nice!
Somewhere in the south, where the water is crystal clear!
But first, we have exams to worry about… Ugh, what a drag…
Now, now. You’ll be fine.
But yeah, I’d love to go somewhere famous for its beautiful beaches, like Okinawa.

Mr. Chairman… I didn’t realize you were here.

Mitsuru, your father will be vacationing in Yakushima during the break.
He will…?
You’ll all have some time off after exams, right? Why don’t you go and pay him a suprise visit?

Joy

YES! Beach babes, here I come!
sigh Men.
How about it, Mitsuru?
But… my father is a busy man; I don’t want to ruin his vacation.
Haha, don’t worry…
No father would be upset with a daughter who came all that way to see him.
You’ve all done a great job. You deserve to relax for a while.


Alright.
I guess everyone needs a break now and then. Let’s do it.
Woohoo!
Hmm, the beach…
I should design a special training regimen.

Everyone seems excited about the trip…

Dude, I’m stoked!
I have to go buy a swim suit.
Hey, don’t worry, I’ve got an extra pair you can borrow.
Nice try, man.
Are you going to swim too, Ikutsuki-san?
I’m afraid I can’t.
I’ll turn to dust if I’m exposed to d–

Silence

Uh…
Sorry about the other day…
I got a little carried away…

In a way, it’s only logical that we go to Yakushima.
The Chairman said that no one who was responsible for the accident is still alive, but…
in reality, there is one witness who survived.
There is?

Senpai…

End

Gotta admit, it’s nice to have a plan for the summer that isn’t “um, hang out with old people and a grade schooler some more and also live in Tartarus.”

Iwatodai Dorm

Now. you will all need to concentrate on your final exams…

Um…?

You’re always cracking jokes.
Hahaha… This is no time for humor.
But, I’m happy to see everyone has a smile on their face.

For extra luck. try wearing your shoes on the wrong feet!

I dunno, that sounds both painful and awkward!

Anyway, Junpei’s up on the second floor all alone.

Right now, I have to concentrate.
How do you stay so calm all the time?
It seems like all you do is wander around and talk to people.

And once again, the girls have shut themselves up in their rooms. Welp, so much for Tartarusing before the exams…

Which, as you can see, presents a bit of a problem! Money really isn’t normally a bit deal or anything but Hard mode haemorrages the stuff at a disgustingly fast rate.

Fortunately, I had some trash I could sell to get Hua Po +3 Strength (the most meaningless and trivial of increases) but that’s all.

We’ve always got free studying in our room at least, but that’s not ideal…

Fortunately, we have one - and exactly one - chance to go to Tartarus soon.

Yukari’s spending a bit of time working on being a better general healer, I see. Her Magic is pretty okay for the time and she can heal everyone at once which is nice. Shame that her first Medium spell is single target healing but it’s a good sign anyway.

Junpei is, well, Junpei. Notable is that he’s got Great status so he can deal decent Phys damage AND has an improved Crit rate just for that little bit extra oomph.

Akihiko, likewise, is Akihiko’ing. He’s the only person without a stat over 20, which isn’t as big a deal as it sounds but it bugs me anyway. At least he can debuff and will be able to do so better soon. His healing skills have fallen pretty far behind though, just because he can only cure ~60-70HP on a single target which is woefully inadequate.

Mitsuru is Good. Her skillset is still small but focused and she’s close to solving her own potential SP problem without needing to be fed items or returning to the first floor all the time.

As before, and for maybe the last time, vote for :siren: the one person who gets benched. :siren:

It’s really impressive that all of your party members contemplated their personal woes on the same night. It must have been a national holiday.

My vote’s for benching Akihiko.

Alright, it’s time for our most difficult challenge to date… Finals.

And, like the mid-terms, it’s gonna steal effectively a full week of our time. Great.

During the Test…

Dowsing

I know it’s been a while a this point, but I’m sure you still remember the answers to all of these. They were all mentioned in class at some point or another.

Octopus

Also, each day is taken up by one question like before. This is going to be a recurring trend everytime we get to exams.

Minamoto No Yoritomo

Needless to say, I will be getting all of these questions right because they’re not really difficult but feel free to give it a try yourself if you want. It’s a bit meaner in that I’m not including the answer options but, uh…

I went, I learned.

They’re not really required for three of them so whatever.

I hope you got them all right, because I sure did!

oh and yes i skipped the day transitions between the questions because they don’t mean anything there

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

Well, last day and Junpei’s being… friendly, huh?


Thank god today’s the last day of exams…
How’ve you been doing?
Don’t ask.
I can’t wait to let off some steam…
Dude, don’t you just love summer?

During the Test…

This might very well be a good sign. It sure feels more optimistic than what we got at midterms at least! I think there’s a better possible result, though… but I might be thinking of vanilla again.

Summer Begins Here

Joy

The dark days of testing are finally over! The sun is shinin’ bright!
So, how’d you do?

Well, that pretty much answers the question.
Psh, a real man doesn’t dwell on the past…
I’m thinking ahead to Yakushima!
Oh yeah, that’s coming up soon, isn’t it…?
Are ya ready?
How 'bout you?
Me? Um, not really…
I guess I should be more enthusiastic, huh?

Sounds good! Where we goin’?
If you need to buy a swimsuit, I’d be happy to help!
As if.
Alright, gimme a sec. I’m gonna go grab my stuff from the locker room.
…Oh, I’ll invite Fuuka too.

I know I’ve been kind of a dick lately…
but we’re still cool, right?
Don’t worry about it.
Thanks, dude.

Alright, let’s get going.

Freedom at last! What should I do now!?
Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll think of something.
Hell yeah, I will!

Really, Mitsuru is more conspicuous here by her absence…

Ikutsuki-san called me.
I think he wants to talk about a new candidate.
Does that mean another person is going to join?
Maybe…

Do you think you can stay after school with me for a mandatory study session? There’s, like, no one–
Oh, you’re going back to your “home” home today, huh?
Okay, then never mind.

It’s alright. Let’s go.
Sorry, I’ll see you all later back at the dorm.

I’m really surprised at how much she’s changed.

Silence

Adolescence is such a wonderful thing! So full of vibrancy!

Oh, hello. I just stopped by to pick someone up.
I might as well introduce you to him now.

Troubled

Hey, it’s that kid from the shrine!

Anyway, Ken is voiced by Brianne Sidall who I know pretty much entirely for being Tsukasa in .hack// and Gimmy in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

Oh, hi, Ken-kun. What’s up?
You know him…?
He doesn’t leave during the break because of his… circumstances.
Oh, I heard about that…
Something about his parents…

It happened two years ago.
…Right now, one of his distant relatives is paying for his school expenses.
But, staying at the elementary school dorm all by himself isn’t proper for a child his age.

To OUR dorm!? Do you really think that’s a good idea!?

Then, he’s the new candidate…?
Yes…
But, as you can see, he’s still just an elementary school student. So, it is merely a possibility for now.

Um… yeah.
I’ve heard a lot about you… You haven’t lost a boxing match yet.
Yeah, well… It’s nice to meet you.

End

Iwatodai Dorm

And we’ll be spending most of it on a real vacation!

Yakushima, here we come! I can’t wait for Monday!
And then, one week of school ‘til summer break!
Frickin’ awesome, dude!
Aren’t you getting a little carried away?
I mean, the trip is only for a few days, and we’ll still have to fight Shadows over summer break.
In other words, we can’t afford to stop training in Tartarus…
I know, I know!
But, my energy level is so high during summer, no one can stop me!
Anyway, tomorrow I’m gonna start packing, so if we’re going to Tartarus, then let’s do it today.

This is genuinely a good idea, because July has a dark secret with Tartarus that will fuck you over if you don’t know about it in advance…

Heck yeah!
Impressive. You seem to have a lot of free time to spare, even though you had finals.
I hope you did well on them.

Really, the key word is “had.”

Although, I was a little disappointed about the price…
It turns out the fare for the ferry wasn’t very fair.
But, when I told the lady selling the tickets that, she just ignored me.
sigh I was a little hurt after that.

goddammit, ikutsuki

You said it, brother.
Yeah! We’re gonna have an awesome time!

I’m getting so excited now!

I wish “someone” would learn from his example.
I wonder why he’s like that…

It would be nice if Ikutsuki stopped making incredibly shitty puns, yeah. But at the same time, that’s what makes Ikutsuki, well, Ikutsuki.

…with us.

And Akihiko is sat all on his own, and is oddly saddened that Ken is gonna be living here for like 2 months.

It’s dealing with the many cases of Apathy Syndrome over the last few months. Cultural anthropologists are investigating the causes, and…

Alright, so we’ll be going to Tartarus naturally. Nice to stretch our legs after 5 days of exams.

The Voice Someone Calls

Alright, so before we do our proper ascension, I’m just gonna climb up from the 2nd floor to the barrier as just Minato. This is so I can grind yen (and I guess maybe also things to sell as a bonus) without fighting anything.

The Poem for Everyone’s Souls

We get to just under 100k from that one trip, which is good enough for now. This lets us take Hua Po and… something else I had (Take-Minakata most likely) already to flip into Vetala for that request.

Well done. You have fulfilled my request.
I have a different reward for you this time.

If you’re strong enough to control this Persona, then give it a try.
Please accept your reward.

The Sugar Key is a clever reference to Digital Devil Saga (1 specifically), where you needed to get this from Titania at the white castle at Co-Ordinate 136. That let a Pyro Jack open a giant treasure chest which enabled you to go and fight King Frosty at the top floor.

Anyway, here it just lets us fuse King Frost when we reach level 30. Ideally by then we’ll have a higher Emperor social link rank but who knows.

Next in our chain of fusion requests is an Orthrus but that requires us to be level 28. Notable that this gives us equipment and not access to a new Persona…

Anyway, that done we need to ascend higher in Tartarus before we can do anything else for Liz so we’ll be taking this party tonight.

Gonna take down that barrier and head on up…

We did it. We finally made it to the third block!

tartarus_0d03

So, the third block of Tartarus has this kinda cool appearance. I dig it, personally.

Plus the stairs look like they’re from a ghost ship or something. It’s kinda rad.

Anyway, Yabbashah - like the previous blocks - is a Hebrew word. In this instance it means “dry land,” and it’s also the name of the 5th world in the Kabbalah.

Oh sweet, we found the golden Shadow here really quickly. I just put that down as “if this happens, it’s a bonus.”

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out

So, we’ll just cave its skull in with a bus-stop sign.

There’s the one Bronze Medal we need for Elizabeth’s request. I guess Mitsuru’ll be getting a Steel Pipe sometime soon after all.

Anyway, we’re done a fight here so we’ll deal with them now I guess.

Creation Relics are a bit weird, in that they’re very Wind heavy but can heal, cast Light instant death… or self-destruct. Sure, okay.

Also, they’re weak to Dark and generally come in groups of 3. Pale Rider just so happens to start with Mamudo…

Oh and they drop the Relic Fragments we want 5 of for Elizabeth too.

Killer Twins are, uh, Twins I guess. They have one clear gimmick but we have easy Maragi access and also Junpei, even though he doesn’t ever get Maragi himself.

Indolent Mayas are, uh, Mayas I guess. They might very well be the most relatively weak one of the lot so far. I’unno.

Silent Books are maybe a little bit more dangerous since they can just (try to) kill everyone, or inflict Poison. That’s… something, I guess.

Dogmatic Towers are similar, but lack the instant death, ailment proc rate increase and also weaknesses. That they’re immune to 3 things, one of which is an instant kill even, is a bit annoying but managable.

Remember Lustful Snakes from before? Yeah, they turn up here. The’re the same as they were in the second half of Arqa.

Mach Wheels aren’t all that difficult, even though they could be on paper. Tarukaja + Power Charge means Double Fangs could tear through anyone effortlessly, but that takes forever and being weak to both Yukari AND Akihiko means they’re gonna die in 1 round.

Oh, and our requisite Big Boy With Lots of Health is the Avenger Knight. He’s, uh, annoying but weak to Expel so we can just Hama him. Gigantic Fist is very terrifying though…

And, of course, this is a new section of Tartarus so our Shuffle Time cards can go up to rank 4 now. EXP gives 1.8x bonus, equipment is ~70-80 attack (so, equal to what we had before) and coins gives around 4000 yen.

It’s amazing how quickly it scales towards making Wands the only real choice.

tartarus_0d03

Anyway, let’s get our real climb on. On floor 67, Fuuka tells us that there IS a boss somewhere but she doesn’t know where. Thanks, Fuuka.

Floor 68 lets us get the Pleiades bow sometimes. This is… honestly a really good bow.

We’ve had the Toy Bow for a while, and this is both stronger AND gives +4 Magic for good measure. It’s less accurate but still higher than the norm. We’re definitely gonna give this to Yukari right away.

On Floor 70, Fuuka finally figures out where the boss fight is. The 72nd floor seems a bit closer than I’d have expected since we started Yabbashah on the 65th but I’m okay with that.

Ah, there we go. I was beginning to worry that the Red Shadow for this area wouldn’t show…

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out

Wild Drives are… honestly kinda bastards right now. They have 35 Strength and 33 Endurance…

So this means we can’t really do that much damage to them with anything.

This unfortunately includes All-Out Attacks!

And this is what they can do with a basic attack. Just by default. Yikes.

But, hey, level 34 so that means they’re worth A Lot of EXP especially when you add Wand cards (this was just from rank 3, even).

Plus we need 3 Greasy Gears for Elizabeth anyway, so we’d have to deal with them sooner or later. Just glad to get it done now.

And, of course, the 72nd floor is 3 enemy Shadows. Sure, okay. I sorta expected that, though.

Just gonna take the Terminal Point back down the 1st floor for that free full heal and also…

The Poem for Everyone’s Souls

The Supreme Hand is a rare foe, indeed. Congratulations on tracking one down and defeating it.
Well, this proves you are getting stronger. I’m glad to see that.
Please accept your reward.

Oddly, the Steel Pipe is a one-handed sword. Sure, okay.

You know, it’s a shame, really, that humans only believe in what they can see.
The statues those fragments are from were made from people’s feelings…
Have you ever thought about why your Persona looks as it does?
Please accept your reward.

Medical Powder is just improved Medicine. It’s, uh, fine I guess? Might just end up being sold for scratch down the line but who knows.

You obtained these from a particularly strong monster…
In fact, you are much more formidable now than when you first stepped into this room.
I will have to think of harder requests for you to fulfill.
Please accept your reward.

At least the 70k is enough to push us over 300,000 which sounds like a lot… but it won’t last very long at all.

And from getting the Bronze Medal, our next Rare Shadow hunt is… in the 4th block. For a weapon that is also a new weapon type. Welp, can’t even PRETEND to do this one for at least another month so.

So, our trio this time are… 3 wrestlemens. Pretty sure we’ve had that before…

Strength Furious Gigas x3 (Portable)

Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone

Okay, so let’s get this out of the way right now…

The Furious Gigases are like the beetles from before. Yes, they are mechanically weak to Wind however they also resist it. A lot. They might have 30 Endurance, but…

Yukari - Yukari - can do quadruple the damage Garula can with a basic attack.

They’re also immune to Fire (and Resist Elec), and if you ever scan them… Junpei will stand around and Wait if he’s set to do anything BUT Heal/Support. They are neutral to all 3 Phys elements, but they have a nasty secret.

They have High Counter which means there is a 50% chance of them effectively reflecting any given Slash/Strike/Pierce attack. Yikes.

Anyway, skillset wise… their basic attack can do almost 500 damage. If it crits, but still. That’s horrifying (and only in Hard mode).

…They can use… Life Drain…? I, uh, I genuinely did not know that until now. Wow.

Power Charge is a given, though. And also insanely scary.

Sukukaja is the closest thing there is to a real breather move from these guys. I will gladly accept!

Rebellion is a bit of a double-edged sword. It mainly benefits them, though, because of High Counter which is why they have no qualms using it.

Oh and they also have Gigantic Fist. Remember this, from the Avenger Knight random?

Over 500 damage. Over 500 damage. Gigantic Fist is heavy Strike damage, which means it has a baseline power of 315 and it also has a base 15% chance to Crit. Tartarus bosses kinda don’t fuck around if you give them a chance.

Oh and they’re not really susceptible to ailments, much. Boring.

End

But, well, they only have 500HP. Set Yukari to Full Assault and she will cast Magaru and hey if Minato also has Wind magic then you win in 1 round courtesy of 2 All-Out Attacks. Or maybe the 2nd if turn order isn’t friendly to Yukari.

Furius Gigases are really giant Hulk Hogan shaped paper tigers, and I for one am glad. Later Tartarus bosses get genuinely terrifying and I’m really looking forward to it!

Our floor treasure is a single Precious Egg. This gives one person back all their SP. I can think of one major use for this , but it’s not for a long, long time (and it’s arguably better done with a Soma anyway) so…

That’s all we’ll do in Tartarus for now. We’ll go back to finish off Yabbashah in a bit. First, we have the time to be lazing on a Sunday afternoon…

Current Net Price Tanaka

…Y’know, I was looking forward to not buying from Tanaka today. This pushes us back below the 300,000 Yen mark but the Mage’s Mark should be worth it. I hope.

Since we had exams before, we didn’t get the new shoes until now. And they’re a very good evasion boost over what we had in the past. Simple, but effective.

Iwatodai Dorm

Viewers will only be able to see 25% of the sun from Tokyo, and 18% from Osaka. As a result of the eclipse, the temperature will drop slightly.

No one’s in the dorm so we’ll run to the TV and… get here either too early or way too late. We even missed the next episode preview!

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Yukari and Fuuka are over at the Port Island Station hanging out by the cinema, I see.

Although, I don’t think it’s this shop’s selection…

Yukari, that’s… that’s a fountain and a cinema. They, uh, they don’t…

It could just be that I’m not up for a new swimsuit at all.

I’ve never bought a bathing suit besides the school one.
But I don’t think Yukari-chan is really up for this…

And Fuuka pretty much just echoes Yukari’s sentiments, huh. Sure, okay.

Fortunately, Junpei’s also easy to find.

I asked Akihiko-san, but he doesn’t give a rip about fashion.
So it’s up to you, dude! Tell me what I should bring!
A one-piece bathing suit.
I thought of that once. It’ll get a laugh, at least!

That’s the plan!

But, sadly, we can’t find Akihiko or Mitsuru anywhere, so we’ll go and spend the day with Maya as per usual.

Joy

Maya is walking nearby.

i’m not even complaining today or ne thing… so rare =P
but i have to tell tatsu cuz he’s my MMO partner! i’ll be brave --;;
*^
^*
…i’m so lame! i’m blushing for reals!!
oh noes… now i’m starting to get sweaty =/
Hurry up and tell me.
oh, hey tatsuya hehehehehehe xD

Maya seems to be enjoying herself.

Maya seems to be embarrassed.

i’m kinda…“interested” in sumone from school >_>

Well, you did sorta admit to being okay with this particular crime before…

OMG i said it!!!1 O_O;; :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
none of the male teachers r even in my league, so i gave up looking for b/fs @ work

goin for younger guys is kinda new for me >_>
What is he like?

i luuuuuuv watchin his expressions in class xD is that bad?

“Bad” is an understatement…

Maya seems to be having fun.

he’s one of my students! =x

…Hang on a minute…

maybe i can abuse my power and convince him i’m a guidance counselor >_>
oh btw, u don’t need to be jealous he’s jus sumone i like, rite?
tatsuya is the only game partner for maya ^^; no worries

Maya cares about you.

Your relationship is stronger now!

…It’s a coincidence. Like the Pascal thing in SMT1. Yup. That’s it. It’s an SMT1 reference buried in the Persona 2 stuff.

> You failed to convince anyone.

alrighty tatsuya, i gtg let’s positive thinking!

Maya’s player signed off.

You decide to log off as well.

Fortunately we’re going to leave on vacation today. I could certainly do with being anywhere but here right now…

I didn’t think the Hermit social link would get worse, but here we are.

So, vacation sounds nice. Let’s do that!

It’s time for you to get ready…

It’s a little longer than maybe expected though, huh. We’ll be leaving Yakushima and back in Iwatodai by Thursday evening, huh?

Yakushima

Ikutsuki already paid the fairly unfair fare for the ferry, so we get to just skip to being on the boat.

Hahaaaa! Awesome!

There it is… Yakushima!

Well, Junpei is enjoying himself and thinks this is gonna be fun.

Everyone else is either oddly upset or overly serious…

And in Yukari’s case, actively annoyed for some reason.

Tranquility

It’s like we’re in an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Fabulous…

Maid: And you must be her schoolmates, correct? Welcome to the Kirijo vacation home. Please follow me.

Um, is this the right place?
Dude, real-life maids…
I knew she was from an important family, but this definitely confirms it…

It’s good to see you.

And he just… leaves, without saying a single word. Odd.

Was that…?
…her father?
Dude, talk about scary!
He’s not gonna make us walk the plank, is he?
Don’t be stupid…

Sweet! This is gonna rock!

It’s right there. Dude, this place rules! Come on, let’s go!
What, already?
I mean, sure, but let me get changed first!
Then, I’ll see ya there.
I’m not gonna waste a single minute!

Joy

Yup! Summer’s here!
Darn… There’s nothing out there I can use as a marker… Too bad. I was hoping for a good swim.
You must be joking… We come all the way to the beach and you’re gonna train?
What’s wrong with that? You got a better idea?
Damn right, I do! It’s summertime at the beach! I’ve got the perfect activity!

It takes a lot of confidence to pull off a swimsuit like that!

Next up is Contestant No. 2, Fuuka Yamagishi!
…Wow, Fuuka, I had no idea you were so… I mean, you should wear a swimsuit more often!

Oh come on, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about!
Heheh.
Stop that creepy laugh, you perv!
And here’s our final contestant…

Wow… Mitsuru-senpai, you’re beautiful…
Yeah, your skin is flawless! Did you already put on sunscreen?
N-No, not yet…

I’m not interested.
Yeah, like I believe that.
Man, this is great! I’m in heaven!
How 'bout a swim!?
Buh buh buh bump ba baaa! Charge!


Whoa, it’s cold!! Hahahahaha!!

The uneasy feeling went away…

End

Silence

Welcome to the beach! It’s apparently a fun place to be? Let’s see what everyone else thinks.

I came here often when I was young, but I don’t remember it looking quite like this.

Our operations during the Dark Hour put a lot of stress on us. You should relax a little, and rest up.

Akihiko, oddly, acts as a temporary makeshift save point. Might be a good idea to use his function since we don’t get many chances to save around here.

Also he lets us leave when we’re done.

Heheheh! You like it? You like that, huh?
No one can resist splashing girls at the beach! Heheh, I’m gonna splash more water on youuuu!
You–! H-Hey, you’re gonna pay for that! Take this!

And, uh, that’s it. There’s nothing else on the beach but two sidepaths - one that’s an exit and one that we just can’t use.

So, we’ll just speak with Akihiko to leave early.

We’re going to stay here for a little while longer.
I’ll see you later.

Yakushima at Night

Troubled

I’m glad that you’re in good health…

Takeharu Kirijo is voiced by Derek Stephen Prince, which is cool. That name should sound familiar…

I’m sorry for bringing such a crowd…
…I heard you told them about the incident.
Why did you hide it so long?
…I wasn’t hiding it…
I’ve told you time and again; none of the blame is yours.
But…

The Nanjo Group is something from Persona 1 and 2. It’s good to know Takeharu and co. used to know Kei; we’ll cover some Nanjo stuff a few months more down the line, most likely.

You must learn to trust in others, Mitsuru.
There are things in this world that cannot be accomplished alone, no matter how many sacrifices you make.
…Yes, Father.
You accessed our database, didn’t you?

I’m… I’m sorry.
Bring them here. All of them.
I had no intention of concealing the truth from them. I’ve made prepartions to disclose everything.
There’s a girl named Takeba in your group, correct?

Father…?

One fade to blue later…

Fearful Experience

Well, it’s true… We adults are to blame.
If I could’ve atoned for it with my life, I would have done so…
Now, I have no choice but to rely on you.
What my father wanted to create with those monsters’ power…

That’s what he was trying to do?
Imagine if you could control the flow of time… eliminate unwanted events before they occur.
With such a device, you could shape the future to your liking.
Damn, that’s insane…
However, under my father’s direction, the research began to stray from its original goal.

Now that I think about it, his madness may have resulted from his struggle to break free from that…
It’s only natural that you want to know the truth… and it’s my duty to tell you.

This is the only exisiting footage of the accident, recorded by a scientist who was at the scene.
I pray that this recording reaches safe hands…
That voice…!?

It’s Liam O’Brien!

This experiment should have never even been conceived…
I’m afraid what I’ve done will result in an unprecedented disaster…
But if I hadn’t, the entire world may have paid the price…
The entire world?
Please, listen carefully…

To end this nightmare, you must eliminate all of them!
I am to blame for this.
I knew the risks, but I was blinded by the promise of success… And so, I didn’t raise any objections…
It is all my fault…

…Dad…
You mean… that was…?

Father…

But, we are the ones who are responsible. We pushed him to continue the research.
The Kirijo Group is to blame for his death.
I… I can’t believe it…
So, that means… my dad caused it all…?

It was all his fault…?
Y-You okay?
So, that’s why you were hiding this…?

No, Takeba, I…

Silence

Um… Shouldn’t someone go after her?

Will you go…?
…Sure.
…Thank you.

Living With Determination

This is too much…
Remember what I told you at the hospital…?
How my dad died when I was little…?
You understand now, right…? He died in that incident.
Nobody knew the truth, so there were all sorts of rumors…

We even had to move a few times.
That must’ve been tough.
…Yeah.
But all this time, I kept telling myself it wasn’t his fault.
I loved him a lot, and I believed he’d never do anything wrong.
I received a letter back in the spring. It was from him, written ten years ago…

That only made me believe in him more…
When I found out I had a special power, I thought it was fate.
I was scared, but I thought if I cooperated with the Kirijo Group, I might find out what really happened.

That’s not true.
Haha, you’re just trying to make me feel better.
Why does reality have to be so harsh…?
I tried so hard to fight my fear, and this is what I get…
Maybe I’m just jealous of Mitsuru- senpai.

Haha… I’m a horrible person, aren’t I?
Don’t blame yourself.
Hmph. Well, you’re just Mr. Perfect.
Nothing ever fazes you.

You think you know me!?
You don’t know anything!
I’m sorry…
My head’s a mess…
I’m so afraid…
I don’t know what to do anymore… I’m totally lost…
Tell me… What should I do…?
Don’t lose hope.

Ya know, you really are one-of-a-kind.
…I’m sorry for acting like this. You’ve lost your parents, too.
But, I’m alright now… I’m used to dealing with stressful situations.
Anyway, thanks for listening.

I came cuz I wanted to.
Oooh, you’re such a gentleman… giggle …Thanks.

Silence

It’s almost… gasp the Dark Hour, so you should get back.
Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s right…
…Hm?
Um… Did I miss something…?
I-I almost forgot… It doesn’t matter where you are when the Dark Hour comes…
Well, duh.
You know, I’ve been thinking lately…

It’s like trading away your innocence…
In exchange for power, you can no longer look away from the things you don’t want to see.
So, I guess I’m stuck with you guys, huh?
Yup.
Now that that’s settled, let’s get back!

So, welcome to Yakushima. It’s a big ol’ series of plot scenes. Lots and lots of them.

…and also the worst day of the game but we’ll get to that… next time…

1 Like

So, are you ready for the most bad bit of The Journey? I know I’m not…

Beach Patrol

Joy

I never thought a walk in the woods could be so enjoyable. You can’t do this in Iwatodai.

Junpei was acting like such a pervert yesterday, and I didn’t know how to react…
It’s probably a good thing we came out here by ourselves…
Huh? …Oh, yeah.

Huh, can’t say I expected anyone to get a call. Especially in the middle of the woods… how does she even get reception…

Please continue.
Well, I’m at the lab here on the island…
And a machine that was considered inoperable suddenly left the facility on its own…
A machine…?
What kind of machine is it? I need detailed information to locate anything other than Shadows…

A combat vehicle…? You mean like a tank!?
We’re not currently with the others, so it might take some time for us all to assemble.
I see…
Well, regardless, I want you to handle this as soon as possible. I’m on my way there now.
If the target cannot be captured, do we have permission to destroy it?

What…? Then how are we supposed to stop it…?
Just do your best. I’ll call you again later.

Meanwhile, Yukari’s been trying to also call someone…

Don’t worry about it. Let’s go back and get our equipment.
Then we can have Yamagishi’s Persona scan the area. Although, this island is quite large…
Geez! Where could they be!?

The Jomon tree referenced here is a very real tree. It’s also several thousand years old, which is pretty cool.

It looks like Fuuka’s handwriting…
Aw man!

That’s just not right!!
Well, it is your fault.

I’m glad someone else said it.

Whaddya mean? I-I just wanted to lighten up the mood…
I don’t want to hear it.
Well, it doesn’t matter, anyway…
We’re on our own now, just the guys!
If you’re outta ammo, you pick it up on the battlefield! That’s one of the most basic military tactics!

And there it is…

“Babe Hunt”?
You mean, like, pick up girls…?
Whaddya think, Akihiko-san? With you on the squad, we’re guaranteed to succeed!

Akihiko is clearly hesitant…

What do you think about this?
Sounds like a hassle.
You’re right, it does sound like a hassle…
Then, what’re we gonna do the rest of the day?
Come on, guys! It’ll be fun!

What!? WHY!?
You said yourself this is an operation.
Aw, man, that’s bullshit!

End

I fully intend on taking this as seriously as I feel it deserves, don’t worry.

Deep Breath Deep Breath (Reincarnation)

So, this isn’t just one extended cutscene but it might as well be. We just get to walk along the beach…

And while I really want to just leave, because this is weird and awkward and Bad… Junpei’s a jerk and doesn’t let us.

So we’re forced to play along. Great…

Let’s go hit on 'em!

I would really rather do Anything But This, but… let’s just get this over with, I guess.

Let’s move in for the kill!
This is my area of expertise, so listen up…
First off, think of something to talk about–something they might be interested in.
Give them an easy question to get the ball rollin’. That’s the golden rule.
Somethin’ like, “Where’re you from?” or “Havin’ fun?”
Pretty soon, you’ll be tossin’ questions and answers back and forth like you’re playin’ catch.
I’ll start things off, and you can ask the questions, alright?
…Here we go.

Havin’ fun?

Deep Breath Deep Breath

Hey, no need to be shy… We don’t bite.

Come on, cut us some slack…
We just wanna talk.
I thought you said you were an expert…
Hold your horses… I’m just getting warmed up. Watch and learn…
So, ladies, are you in college?

Nope. Not us.

Green: …Seriously? You sure look like high schoolers from here.

cough S-Sorry, that’s a lie.

Green: Oh, really?

Well, we were invited to our friend’s vacation home…
Pretty cool, huh?

Orange: Good for your friend.

I guess we’re just lucky…

Yellow: Yeah, lucky you. …Whaddya want, anyway?

Nothing.

Green: Then, take a hike.

Well, that went about as well as could reasonably be expected, let’s be honest.

Hey, I did my best!
What about you, Senpai!? You think you can do any better? Come on, show us what you got.
Wh-Why should I?
Well, you’re supposed to be a tactical master, right?
And, isn’t it our duty to help each other succeed?

I guess you have a point there.

Deep Breath Deep Breath (Reincarnation)

Can you give me a hand, Makoto? I’ll set the pace, of course.

I’m not sure if this is optimism or idiocy. Frankly, with this ““plan””, the line between the two is borderline non-existant…


What are you waiting for, Akihiko-san? Show us how it’s done.
…Just keep your mouth shut.

Nobuko: Yeah, I think so. Wow, Yoshie, you can see from there?

…That’s my cue.

S-Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask you something…

Yoshie: …Yes?

Um… Are you here alone?

N-No, not at all…
We just thought that if you’re bored, you might wanna talk…
We could get to know each other better.

Yoshie: Um, that’s what it means to hit on someone.

Deep Breath Deep Breath

Nobuko: We were bored anyway, so why don’t we just play along? Hey, you guys are kinda cute.
Yoshie: Nobuko!
Nobuko: Hey, how old do you think we are?

Around 20?

can we maybe just give up on this now before this manages to get even weirder?

Nobuko: Wow, you made my day… even though I know you’re just trying to flatter us. To tell you the truth, we’re older than that…

Oh, really? That’s too ba–

I wasn’t aware we brought Kenji with us…

Yoshie: You’re a pretty smooth talker for someone so young. How old are you guys, anyway?

We’re in high school.
I’ll be graduating next year.

Nobuko: That’s a bummer… We’re not astrologically compatible…
Yoshie: Look, it isn’t gonna happen, so just give it up. You don’t even seem like you’re having fun talking to us.

Right, it’s boring.

Nobuko: I’m sure he was just joking.
Yoshie: Why are you being so nice to them, Nobuko!?
Nobuko: Are you kidding? When was the last time we were hit on?
Yoshie: Hey, let’s head back… They’re waiting for us.

Th-They? …You mean, you have boyfriends?

Nobuko: Oh, yeah, sorry. Did we forget to mention that? Well, gotta go. We’re having a barbeque at the villa. You can come if you want.

…Uh, n-no thanks.

Yoshie: See ya.

That, uh, went “fine.” I don’t think you really get to complain considering how awkward this entire thing is inherently.

Man, we looked like a bunch of idiots!

Dude, you were his wing man! Where was the support?
You let them slip through our fingers!
Seriously! Get your act together, man! Next time, I want results!

Does there really have to be a “next time”? Can’t we just, like, I dunno… not?

Deep Breath Deep Breath (Reincarnation)

Okay, fine… let’s just get this over with I guess…

Well, what are we waiting for?
Excuse me, miss…

Are you alone?

Lady: …Yes, I’m completely alone. By “alone” I mean “single.” Incidentally, I saw you hitting on those girls. How’d it go?

It was an utter failure.

Lady: Oh, really? That’s a shame. Have you considered any… alternative approaches?

I really don’t think this is the time or place for a Hercules joke.

Do you have to say it like that?

Lady: Hahahahaha! That’s so stupid it’s funny!

H-Hey, that’s not my “A” material…

Lady: How do you expect to get a girl with that kind of attitude? You boys have no balls.

Excuse me?

Lady: You heard me.

Deep Breath Deep Breath

Lady: Be open to the possibilities… Especially you, you cute young thing…

M-Me?

Lady: Yes, you. I can tell you lack experience.

Lady: but even more timid.

H-How’d you know?

Lady: Well, if you’d like… I’d be happy to show you a thing or two…

S-Seriously!?

I’m in!

Lady: But… I don’t know if I can handle all three of you, so… Who will it be?

Junpei can go.
That’s right. I’m the only one who’s worthy!
I’ll show you that I’ve got balls!

Lady: Tee-hee, then I’m sure we’ll have fun.

Hey, wait…
Whaaaat!? Are you trying to ruin my summer of love!?

So, this has been Insanely Awkward and Dumb so far, it’s not really been super-terrible to the point of being the worst part of the game, right? Sure, but let’s change that.

Lady: …!? I-I missed a spot!?

Uh… Are you a…?

incredibly offensive stereotype that probably wasn’t okay even in 2006? Yes. Yes, she is.

even the fucking namecard is bullshit what the hell

Moving veeeeeeeery swiftly on before this gets even worse

One Last Bow

Joy

sigh
What’s wrong? I thought you weren’t interested in picking up chicks.
If I’m in a match, I want to win.
I know what our problem is… You can’t control yourself.
What!? Don’t blame this on me!
I’m just stating the obvious.
B-But, you haven’t scored either!
What did you just say…?

Junpei and Akihiko continue to bicker…

Enough already! Leader, whose fault do you think it is?
It’s both your fault.
I won’t accept a stalemate! It’s either him or me!
Yeah!

What’s the matter? …You see something?

Silence

He sees an anime cutscene! Oh my…

A very brief one, but still.

It really just exists to show us one character…

So I’m sure she won’t be even remotely important.

Joy

Talk about saving the best for last…! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
Man, she’s cute…
I agree…

Considering the entire day so far has been just casually existing to ruin this plan whether through just getting people angry, being really bad at everything or just straight up transphobia, I can’t even begin to guess where this is going to go from there…

This is our last chance to make up for failures…
But this time we should try one-by-one instead of all together. We’ll have a better shot that way.
Sounds like a good plan.
Alright, then let’s decide the order! We’ll go clockwise, starting with the winner.
Ready…? Rock, paper, scissors!

The results are the same no matter what.

Yeah, I win!
Okay, I’ll go first, Akihiko-san will go second, and you’ll go last. I’m up!
Wish me luck!

So, um… do you come here often?
My name’s Ju-Ju-Junpei.

She has a dialogue portrait and is voiced by Karen Strassman, but she’s clearly not important so it’s a clever bait and switch.

Don’t worry, I-I just want to talk.
I mean, it’s more fun than standing here all by yourself, isn’t it?

…That’s a VERY weird word choice.

O-Oh yeah…?
You are not the one.
Wow, he got shot down faster than I expected…

Heh… Don’t worry about me.

Is your question directed at me?
Oh, um, yeah, I like the ocean, too.
Hey, I heard that triathletes who train at the beach perform better than those who practice indoors.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Yeah, obviously. It’s way easier to do two-thirds of it provided its not a terrible beach.

Wow, he’s actually having a conversation with her! Although, something’s not right…
That type of information is irrelevant to me.

It doesn’t matter how long you talked to her!

Hey, stop crying! You’re making me feel bad…
…So, that’s our status.
If you can’t pull this off, I’m gonna be traumatized for the rest of my life.

I’m really not seeing much of a downside to this right now.

We’re on the ropes, but it’s not over yet…
It’s all up to you now.

Good afternoon.

I couldn’t hear what he said…
But she looks surprised… We should go over there.
You are…

Once again, that’s some really weird word choice you got there…

Silence

Well, what’re you waiting for? Go after her!
But, it wasn’t my fault.
Go tell her you’re sorry!
If you don’t, we’ll all be in trouble! Go on, man. You can catch her if you hurry!

End

This is such a waste of time, but fine whatever.

Silence

We’ll just head on into the Forest, which is a giant linear path in which nothing happens. It’s as exciting as it sounds.

Anti-Shadow Weaponry

How nice of her to stick her head out like that. If she didn’t, we never would’ve seen her…

She must be the one who has been watching you.

I have found you.

My highest priority is to be with you!

What’s going on…!? He didn’t even say anything to her!

Um… What’re you doing in the middle of the woods, in your swimsuits…?
You have no idea what we’ve–
Huh!?

Listen, we’ve encountered a problem.
I’m sorry to interrupt your vacation, but I need you all to go back to the house and prepare for battle.

Troubled

“Aigis”…? I’m pretty sure there’s meant to be an “e” in there.

Regardless, one fade to blue later…

So, what happened to capturing the tank?
Oh, that’s been taken care of.
Come here, Aigis.

I have been assigned to SEES, effective immediately.
No way… It’s like she’s… alive.
This is unbelievable…
She’s so cute, but… she’s a robot…

Well, she’s more of an android in that case but even so don’t even think about Junpei-ing this.

Aigis was the last to be made… and she’s the only one that still remains today.
An Anti-Shadow weapon… Does that mean she…?

She suffered major damage in combat and has remained in the lab ever since.
It’s still unclear as to why she suddenly reactivated herself this morning…
Well, I hope you will all get along.
An Anti-Shadow weapon with a will of her own…
This is amazing!
Um… By the way…
When I saw you earlier, it seemed like you knew him…
Yes, it is very important for me to be by his side.

Or maybe she’s still half-asleep… This is quite interesting…
Hmm…
Well, I can ponder this later.
Oh, I forgot to tell you all…
You can participate in a wide range of recreational activities here.
There’s a tennis court, a pool table… even a karaoke machine.
Would you care to hear me sing?

End

And with that… wonderful(?) offer, the day finally draws to a close and I guess we gained a new party member…?

Only 2 days of Yakushima left, so let’s see what lies ahead for us, shall we?

Me, a few updates ago: Man, Junpei is a surprisingly good character despite the usual idiot archetype, and he may have good character development later in the game.
Me, now: I hate Junpei.
Me, three seconds after the scene started: Actually Persona 3 is bad.

At least we’re done with the mandatory Worst Persona Scene, right?

I think there’s one or two other low points, but at least those are only “wacky hijinks” that don’t include any “awful stereotypes of different people are weird/funny” moments.

Two days of Yakushima left. On the plus side, it’s going to have to try to get worse than the first half of yesterday…

Joy

It’s too bad we have to go home tomorrow… I’d totally stay longer if I could.
But, I can’t complain… A lot of cool things happened while we were here.

We were all up so late last night…

Nah, it’s nothing like that. We just came here to have some fun.

One could argue that this is the most important mission of all, really. It sure seems like this is something we desperately need after the past 2 days at least.

Do you understand what it means to “have fun,” Aigis?

Exactly! Wow, you sure know a lot about us humans.
Alright, let’s take one last dip before we leave!
Uh, hold on, Junpei-kun…

Oh, I’m sure she’s water-proof.

It is best that we all engage in this activity together.

That reaaaally depends on how you define “enjoyment.” Not everyone needs to swim to have fun.

Ugh, do we have to…?
We should join them.
Okay.

We’ve been quite busy during our time here, but it looks as if we can relax a bit today.
Hey, Akihiko-san, c’mon!
It’s your turn!
My turn…? What are they doing?
laugh I’m glad to see everyone is having so much fun.
I’ve already told you what time the ship will be arriving tomorrow, yes?
I’ll most likely head over to the port early, so don’t be late.
Okay, I’ll let everyone know.
Until then, enjoy the last day of your vacation.

Well, it makes sense that we’d get one of these at some point in Yakushima all things considered. I’m not entirely sure this scene was the most appropriate but it works at least.

It’s also… the end of the day. Huh, that’s basically the same as if we spent it with Maya but less awkward.

Shinjiro and Friends

Fearful Experience

You mean those three? Wow, they’re freaky!
Shut up! Let’s go!

Why do they always run and hide when I approach?

Perhaps it’s that gun you carry. Or perhaps it’s the grenade Jin is tossing up and down like a baseball. Or maybe it’s something else.

They’re like back alley rats.
…Beats me.

I’ll pay you the same as–
Hold up.

Your acquaintances have been busy lately.
I’m referring to their activites on nights when the moon is full.
They’ve spent a great deal of time in the tower as well. Why did they take this burden upon themselves?

Is it because they are your friends?
No! I’ve got nothing to do with them.
Then, tell us.
Tch… I don’t know the details, but…
Supposedly, if you destroy all those creatures…

You mean… they intend to eliminate the Dark Hour?
Y-Yeah… Why?

They wish to destroy the Tower of Demise as well!?
Tower of Demise…?

Yeah, uh, that’s… different. Dunno what this guy’s on about.

…Who wouldn’t wanna take out that damn tower?

…Yes, yes.

And with that, the three of them leave. Notably, the gothic lolita friend has still only said a whole one thing amongst all their appearances. Weird.

Hmph… I can’t go back…
Not after what happened.

End

Jeez, Shinji is so mopey. So, so mopey. He makes Makoto look personable and upbeat.

Iwatodai Dorm

And now we’re back at the dorm, huh? I guess that makes sense; we were gonna be back today anyway, so we just skipped the boring part of the return trip.

It seemed to take forever to get back…
Yeah, it was a tiring trip.
Please rest up so you’re ready for the next operation.

It’s fine, we have 2 weeks. Plenty of time. Plenty.

Yeah, yeah.
I don’t have any plans for summer break, so I can fight Shadows all you want.
…Wow, you must really be bored.
…Sh-Shut up, Yuka-tan.
Whatever.
We just have to defeat those last six, and it’ll be all over.
The Lost will get better, and everything will be back to normal, right?
That’s why we have to try our hardest.

It’s super nice to be back, honestly. The vacation was sort of nice at the end, but it was mostly just really stressful for everyone.

Most noteworthy is that Yukari is sitting away from everyone again, for obvious reasons. Junpei is as well, which is somewhat less easy to tell why.

Most souvenirs are worthless… Snow globes, key chains, postcards…
However, this is one souvenir from Yakushima that is tres bien.

Where are the others?
I assume you are referring to the other anti-Shadow weapons…
Well, there were many created. You could say they were Aigis’s sisters.

So, like, did literally everything happen 10 years ago? It sure seems like it…

Aigis has been quite lonely since then.
Why is she in human form?
Personas are created from human minds.

The only real issue was the form the weapon would take…
If the form of the weapon was a tank, for instance, the weapon’s mind would recognize itself as a tank…
However, a tank is not a living entity.
This is crucial, you see, because the mind of a non-living entity will not process human thoughts correctly…
…So it will not function properly, and it will soon become corrupted.
However, a mind placed inside a form that closely resembles a human body will recognize itself as a human being…
Thus allowing it to easily adapt to human thoughts.
Therefore, Aigis and her sisters were built in the form of human beings.

That’s a lot of words to justify why the robot looks like a teenage girl. Not really sure if it’s something you should try to justify, but it’s there.

Very well, I shall be by your side at all times.

It seems she is unable to understand ordinary feelings and conversation at the moment…

But, uh, she’s a… robot… This seems really sudden, too. We just met and it took jumping through so many hoops to get to S.Link more realistic and reasonable people.

It’s so much different than before.

Maybe we should skip going to Tartarus tonight and just rest.

Yeah, fair. We can Tartarus soon enough, after all.

I don’t. I mean, you’d really have to be looking for a robot to figure that out.
As long as she acts normal, no one will suspect a thing.

Yukari, she’s very blatantly an android. Yukari, she has hooves. You do not have to try very hard to see that she is a robot.

Super cute…
I don’t think I’ve ever met a machine that was so cute before.

There are now 115.12 yen to the dollar, an increase from last time of 0.15 yen.

Good to get an ecnomic update after our Beach Adventures.

But, now what are we gonna do… it’s a Thursday and we explicitly cannot go to Tartarus, so that leaves us with one option…

Let’s see what Mutatsu is up to, why don’t we.

This Mysterious Feeling

I’m always here… It’s my “home away from home,” heh…
…Hey, are you alright, kid? You know, money-wise?
High school kids don’t have much money, do they? At least, I never gave much to my son.
I have enough.
Is that right…? Hmph, I guess you kids have ways to make money nowadays.

You’re not doing anything illegal, though, are ya, kid? …Not that I care.
…Now, gimme a straight answer…
Is there anything you want right now?
Yes.
Hmph, I should’ve guessed.

Materialistic desire can lead to aspiration, but still…
When you get to by my age… Hmph, never mind.
You work to make money so you can have a better life, but to make enough money you gotta work all the time…
…So you never get to enjoy that better life you’re working so hard to have.
…Quite a paradox, isn’t it?
…Do you know what the average lifetime income of a white-collar worker is?
…Including a retirement fund and an annual pension?

Thanks to me, you learned somethin’ new today, eh, kid?
Now, don’t waste your life workin’ all the time tryin’ to get rich; just take life as it comes.

You saw through Mutatsu’s harsh words and felt his kindness…

You understand Mutatsu better now.

I wish I could buy back all the time I lost…

You decided to go back to the dorm.

It’s honestly kind of amazing that we’ve gotten Mutatsu to Rank 5 already, and we still can’t even pretend to make a Tower persona. I thought I’d have one by now, at least.

…and now my studying is mocking me, I swear. Rank up the first gain after finals?!

Plus, uh, for whatever reason we have 2 days of school before the school summer break begins. I don’t even know why.

Silence

Please wake up.

Troubled

Mission accomplished?
The paper on the wall says, “Do things five minutes early.”
Therefore, I woke you up five minutes prior to the triggering of your alarm clock.

That girl disappeared, and we can’t find her anywhere. Think you can help us out?
She might’ve gone out on her own, like she did in Yakushima…
I am not a girl… I am Aigis, and I am here.
Huh…?

That’s unlawful entry!
Didn’t we tell you to stay in the command room at night!?
I propose to be on standby in this room from now on. Is this acceptable?
What!? N-No, it’s not acceptable!
If there is a problem, then I will address it promptly.

Well, don’t just sit there! Tell her!
You can’t stay here.
See? He agrees.
…I will do as told.
Tch…
Alright, I’ll have a room prepared for you on the third floor. You can stay there.
Oh, and don’t leave the dorm by yourself, okay?
I will do as commanded.
sigh I’m tired…
I have practice this morning, so I gotta go…

I comprehend.

If she wasn’t a robot, I would take this as a Digital Devil Saga reference considering Gale seemed to never comprehend.

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

After we defeat all the Shadows and the Dark Hour disappears, what’s gonna happen then?
There will be peace.
Well, yeah, but…
Regular people don’t even know about the Dark Hour, right?
That means no one will ever know about anything we’ve done…
That kinda sucks, don’t ya think?

It’s not really surprising that it’s a recurring trend, but I do sorta like that Junpei is consistently focussed on being considered a hero. Much like with Yukari’s reactions at Yakushima, it’s a very real and human thing.

But let’s see how we did on our finals, sure why not.

…Still not top, by one day most likely… but it’s better than before. Not good enough mind you, but it’s closer.

That’s the only thing that happens in the middle of the day, so we’ll just…

Go shopping, because I misremembered slightly. Gonna buy a watch that costs 16,000 despite doing absolutely nothing.

The Poem For Everyone’s Soul

Such craftsmanship…
I absolutely adore things made of platinum…
It’s quite extraordinary… You are fortunate to have such things in your world.
Please accept your reward.

That’s a lot of souls to munch on if we run low on SP. I’m definitely not gonna complain at all about this.

And, of course, clearing that quest unlocked another one. Homunculi can be found in Tartarus, albeit in rare chests, or we can just… go buy one.

Well, once we get a Sapphire we can anyway.

There’s also something fun we might be able to do once we get at least one Homunculus that, if it works, will essentially give us infinite money. Kinda. Sorta.

…Well, not really but it’ll mean we can save Diamonds for stuff that actually matters.

But that’s in the future. I think it’s time to swallow our pride a little and give Kenji false hope that we give a shit about him, since we might never see him again (God willing).

Joy

Sorry, man. I’ll have to pass.
Why?
I forgot I have to go check out that cram school today. Sorry, man.

Kenji seems apologetic.

So, I don’t have time to eat ramen.

Surprising to see Kenji actually being serious about things that matter for once. An unironic good job there, my dude.

I have 30-year goals.
Whoa, dude! I didn’t know you were so serious about your future!

I never really thought about my future until Emiri told me I should. She said I’d end up a loser if I didn’t.

…Oh there’s the catch, okay. As nice as it would be to just be relieved that Kenji is listening to a teacher, it’d be less weird if this clearly wasn’t added to his weird “plan.”

But, the future’s a long way off, dude. I mean, first I have to go to college, right?
All of Emiri’s students go to good colleges.
She must be thinking about our future together…

> Kenji is delusional.

Kenji is talking to himself.

You should think about your future too. You don’t want to end up a loser, do you?
That’s why we gotta work our asses off, man! For our futures!

Kenji seems to be sincerely worried about your future…

Your relationship is stronger now!

Kenji ran off.

You decided to return to the dorm.

Like, okay, to be fair: for Kenji that wasn’t really bad. It could’ve been worse. It could’ve been a lot worse…

Iwatodai Dorm

I dunno, I came like 8th I guess maybe?

Not bad.
That’s great! I’m happy for you.
Did you see Mitsuru-senpai’s score? Wow, she’s amazing.

Dude, those freaks with Apathy Syndrome will be everywhere… Wait, I mean “The Lost.”
I prolly shouldn’t complain about 'em, since it’s not their fault. It’s those damn Shadows…
It is possible to end this…
Six Shadows remain.
If we can eliminate them, the Dark Hour will vanish.
Yeah, that’s true…
So, what you’re trying to say, Aigis, is that fighting is more important that studying, right?
…I agree 100%!

At least Junpei’s not hiding in his room ashamed and scared this time!

If you did poorly, you may have to attend summer school…
I did fine.
That’s very good.
Well, let’s see how the others did.

How would you classify the facility known as “school”?
Boring.
I must disagree with that assessment.
Analyzing your facial expression, categorizing “school” as boring is inaccurate.

Thanks, Aigis. Helpful as… I can’t really say “always” here though, huh?

Defeating Shadows is more important than getting good grades!
Any time spent studying could be used to go to Tartarus and–
Don’t get carried away… You should still study.
You can learn from a defeat… But sometimes that is the hardest lesson.

I am kinda curious how Junpei actually did. It’s clearly better than last time since he’s sat downstairs, but still not exactly good otherwise he wouldn’t be insisting on it not mattering…

With all that happened, she still managed to do great on her exams.
She can filter out distractions and focus on the task at hand. sigh I wish I could do that.

Personally speaking, I find it mostly easy to filter distractions. There’s some that are really difficult to manage, though, and the most difficult of all is myself.

Well, don’t worry if your grades weren’t that good.
With everything that’s been going on, I’m sure you did the best you could.

Just don’t forget to train.

Akihiko manages to still be Akihiko even when it’s not really relevant.

Ah, we’ve just received this bulletin. More Apathy Syndrome patients have been sighted. They seem to be relapses of the same patients from the previous months…

So, tonight is a really good night to go to Tartarus but nah we’re not gonna do that. No big reason why, I just don’t feel like it!

Fridays in general are light on options so Mutatsu, how’s it goin’!

We really need a Tower persona here, on paper, but it’s not a big deal in practice since we can just hang out with Mutatsu 4 nights a week in theory.

Gonna hit the books for good measure, though since we just ranked up this is gonna feel like a slow grind again.

Last day of school before the summer that is summer!

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

Ya know, if you think about it, we’re pretty lucky to be living in the dorm…
Mitsuru-senpai, Yuka-tan, and Fuuka… They’re all hotties, don’t ya think?
I guess.
Hey, c’mon, dude! Be honest! This is guy talk!
But ya know, it’d be tough to be more than friends with any of 'em…

I bet she only dates uber-nerds.
Yuka-tan is pretty damn popular, so she could prolly get any guy she wants…
And that just leaves Fuuka… But, she’s super shy… You’d have to be really careful…
Hey, don’t tell any of them I was talking about this, alright!?

Despite that conversation seeming to just be Junpei being Junpei, in reality he was giving us very unsubtle hints on how to - spoilers - start a S.Link with them. Y’know, just in case Fuuka already being doable by now didn’t make it clear enough. Granted, Yukari and Mitsuru do have 2 requirements to Fuuka’s one…

…but first, Edogawa.

Your regular teacher has fallen ill, so I’ll be substituting today.
Summer vacation begins tomorrow… That’s what happens when you let yourself get careless. Eeeheeehee.
Today, I’ll give an introductory lesson on alchemy, a branch of magic focused on attaining wealth.
Do you like money? Of course you do… Who among us doesn’t?
It’s human nature to want what one doesn’t have. There’s no escaping it.

Uh, Edogawa… King Midas… He, um, he wasn’t… He wasn’t real.

Sure, there were maybe 3 different kings at different times called Midas but they’re not what he means and you know it.

It wasn’t their dream to gain gold like King Midas, by touching things…
Rather, they conceived of converting cheap metals, such as iron or copper, into precious gold.
That is alchemy.
Whatever their incentive for creating the science, it’s certain that alchemy has significantly influenced history.

Around 500 A.D., it was further developed in Arabia, which became the center of alchemical studies…
The science later gained popularity in Europe as well.

This form of alchemy seeks to make an elixir of immortality, instead of a magic recipe for gold.

I tried to look up and verify this claim, but all I could find was information on Ranma 1/2 and Full Metal Alchemist. So, uh, it miiiight be true but it’s probably not and most likely just a reference to the latter because alchemy. And also anime.

Either way… the most important substance in the practice of alchemy is mercury, or quicksilver.
It was thought that mercury could be used to create the Philosopher’s Stone, which would in turn generate gold.
Alchemists performed endless research, using various kinds of equipment and experimental methods.
Today, people believe that if not for the alchemists’ trial and error, there would be no chemistry as we know it.

In a way, it’s one of the greatest tragedies of world history…
Now, alchemy has also influenced human psychology.

Welcome to Persona, we’re gonna talk about Jung at some point. It was inevitable. This time it’s just a bit brief, at least.

…In conclusion, I think it’s a shame to give up on alchemy when we’ve come so far.
It’s better for young adults to strive for unusual goals. that they might lead more exciting lives.
After all, from the perspective of ancient peoples. modern scuence may as well be magic or alchemy.
If you work very hard, you might be able to discover your own form of magic.
But I think that will do for today. Enjoy your summer.

See, Edogawa is bad at being a proper teacher but he touches on interesting ideas and while I dislike him, I can’t bring myself to dislike him.

Joy

Well, this is… different.

Since you’re a transfer student, you probably don’t know about the upcoming competition, right?
Well, on August 2nd, there’s a big tournament.
I want you to compete, so start training!
You’ll be going up against a monster named Hayase, but you can handle it. This year, we won’t lose so easily!
Make sure you come to school from July 27th to August 1st, alright?
I’m gonna make you work like you’ve never worked before, so be ready!

…I really didn’t get to decide anything. We got shanghai’d into this! Stupid railroad-y DMs…

Want To Be Close (Reincarnation)

But we’ll worry about that later, for now, uh, let’s talk to Yukari. She’s been here for months and we haven’t even said “hi” once.

We are really bad at being friends with our alleged friends, huh.

I want to tell you something…
…in private.

As you no doubt expected, having Max Charm is one requirement for getting Yukari’s S.Link which is why we got that done a while back.

…Um, can we go to the rooftop?
Sure.
Thanks, I wanted to talk to you.

Yukari seems embarrassed.

You decide to go to the rooftop with Yukari.

Joy

Oh, never mind.
What is it?
Sorry. Well, um…
Y-You might have forgotten about it already, but…

It’s only been a few days, so we definitely remember. More important is that - as this makes very clear - the second requirement to getting to start Yukari’s S.Link is to be past the events at Yakushima.

I just wanted to say I’m sorry.
It’s been bothering me for a while.
It’s hard not having a regular family, ya know?
Everyone else has a mom and a dad…
Why do we have to be different…?
Why us…?
Sorry, I didn’t mean to lump the two of us together…

At least, that’s what I thought.
Haha. Is that just wishful thinking?
That’s how I really feel, though.

Yukari has opened up to you.

The distance between you has narrowed…

The Power of the Hearts

A mysterious voice rings in your head…

Joy

You decide to go back to the dorm.

A Decision

Fearful Experience

Didn’t expect to see these guys again so soon…

Incidentally, I see that they’ve again added a new ally to their ranks.

Makes no difference to me.
It seems that what you told us before about their intentions was true.
How lamentable…

It is up to each individual how he will use the strength granted him…
But, to erase the Dark Hour would be denying the very power they possess.
We cannot tolerate that.
Do whatever you want…

…What’re you gonna do?
I know they asked you to come back.
You’re startin’ to piss me off.

And if you’re on their side, then you’re going down too.
Like I said before… it doesn’t concern me.

End

I can’t wait to actually get to meet these people for real, rather than see them doing things when we’re not around. That they’re explicitly plotting against us makes them the closest thing we have right now to real antagonists.

Iwatodai Dorm

Meanwhile, back at the dorm we have inherited a small child for the next couple of months.

I’ll try to stay out of everyone’s way, so don’t mind me.

Don’t talk with him about anything regarding Shadows.

I… think that can be arranged, yes.

I am able to communicate with him at any time.
Please permit me to do so.

This is definitely a bad idea. We’re not talking to Ken about real Persona stuff, so letting him talk to the robot that is an Anti-Shadow Weapon seems… like it would cause issues.

Just try to get along with him, okay, Makoto?

I think he’s precocious.
He is, but that’s what makes him cute.

I just moved into the dorm. I’ll be staying here for the summer.

Yeah, we met before. Kinda. How canon some of them were is debatable, mind.

I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about him…
Maybe it’s that he’s more mature than I am…
What do you think?

He won’t.
Oh, I’m so relieved… Thank you.

He has the potential to obtain a Persona in the future, sure, but he doesn’t have one right now. He’d be actively unable to help. Why would we ever involve him in anything?

A recent fashion Show in Milan had an unusual theme: “Life in Space.” Those attending watched supermodels wear space suits down the runway, and ate delicious Space food.

So, tonight we won’t be going to Tartarus. Mostly because tonight is a Saturday and so we have two better options.

We could go increase our link with Tanaka, or…

We can become more nerdy than ever before. Scince we still don’t have max Academics, for obvious reasons, we’ll focus on that.

At least for a little while, in places. We should be able to get this done completely before it comes up again… I say now, tempting the fuck outta that fate.

Anyway, sometime over the next week we will be going to Tartarus. The deadline for Elizabeth’s request is rapidly approaching after all!

Yukari snagged Diarama last time, so we can see what this does for her. She no longer has Dia, which is a wonderful decision for pure AI controlled party members. Outdated skills are replaced on the spot.

Plus she’ll get Recarm next which is nice and all but it’s better for Makoto to have, in theory, since if he dies it’s game over anyway. Of course we also have items to do the job fine.

…Plus 29 Magic thanks to the Pleiades is quite a lot. Granted that does mean she’d have 25 without it, which is still fairly impressive in its own way!

Junpei’s not quite as straight up powerful numerically, but his attacks are more powerful since he’s not relying solely on one first tier Wind spell. He’s not gonna get Agilao anytime soon, which is fine since he’s Junpei and all.

Kill Rush is a marginal damage increase over the newly replaced Assault Dive (110 vs 90) but it hits 1d2 times. That more than makes up for it.

Akihiko’s still lagging behind, as he is want to do. At least he’ll definitely get Rakunda before we reach the next boss fight (if he even gets fielded I mean). That’ll possibly help, since if the pattern of post-Thebel areas holds true it means we have a single Shadow to deal with next…

Mitsuru is completely identical to before, since she got benched. She’s decent enough to make up for it without issue though, of course.

Aigis is a bit, uh, special. As a robot all of her equippable gear is wholly unique to her (except Accessories). Even her weapons are Aigis only, for obvious reasons. Plus she has a unique mechanic for good measure!

Mechanically, she’s a bit of a tank and focuses on buffs and… her resistance is Pierce, which is kinda clever. Plus she’s weak to Elec which is also clever. Her skills are Strike elemental though, which is odd, but she has Kill Rush and Swift Strike so she is terrifyingly good on paper. And, yes, that’s including her Strength being equal to Akihiko’s despite being several levels higher. Which is obviously objectively bad.

So, we have 5 folks now and only 3 slots to fill. Aigis is new, so she’ll be coming along for the ride to see how effective she is in practice. There are 2 slots left to fill, though…

:siren: Which 2 people are gonna fill 'em? :siren:

I’m voting for Akihiko and Yukari.

I vote for Junpei and Mitsuru. Yukari is good enough that we can catch someone up, and Polydeuces sucks so Akihiko’s out.

So, our summer stay-cation begins today but right now it’s just another Sunday.

Iwatodai Dorm

Tanaka’s not selling anything worthwhile today, so we’ll keep our money.

I’m a little nervous about living here…

Almost everyone is hanging out in the dorm, but only Ken has updated dialogue here. A bit unusual, but whatever.

And before the news begins, Feather Condor has a message for you all!

Hopefully this one isn’t just lies. I’m still sour about last time.

Feather Condor: After all, you’ve got me looking out for you! So don’t worry! We’ll meet again next week!

…And now, the news.

Oh, it was just about Apathy Syndrome. I guess it is getting close to the Full Moon now…

But, hey, remember how I said almost everyone was inside? There’s one exception. Yes, just one.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

I dunno what it is about that guy, but my “Junpei-sense” is going crazy around him.
Either he’s a little punk, or he’s WAY more mature than I am…
I dunno, man, is it just me?

Well, I mean, I don’t have a Junpei-sense so that might very well just be you. Don’t really know the kid well enough to say one way or the other on the rest, though. Depends where we’re setting the bar, maybe?

…Oh right, it’s Sunday and all so we should maybe just see what Maya wants. It, uh, can’t get much worse at least.

Joy

Although we initially planned to allow “Innocent Sin” to run indefinitely…
…recent feedback has shown that player participation is not adequate to continue.
We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this causes for active players.
However, the servers will remain open until the official end date.
We hope that you understand and that you enjoyed your time with “Innocent Sin.”
Sincerely, -“Innocent Sin” staff

You mean an SMT MMO is closing?! Say it ain’t so. I can’t IMAGINE anything like that.

Maya faces away from you.

it said their cancelling innocent sin. …think its for real?
No way!
i know rite!? how dare they! >=/

Maya is getting all worked up.

i finally found a place to let out my frustation and now this!!!

Maya gets closer to you.

I, uh, I’m fairly confident in this one…

I think so.
yeah… we can meet each other in different ways I guess >_>
maybe there will be another MMO or we could hook up irl, but still =S

Maya seems sad.

NO! we have to stop wasting our tiem!

You’re… gonna stop playing before the servers go down?

What are you planning?
…oh dun worry tatsu. i won’t do ne thing dangerous >_>

Maya seems a little happier.

Given some of the things you’ve casually admitted to, this surely falls under the banner of “dangerous.” Not for me, mind, but hey.

if they knwo this game is important to us, maybe they’ll reconsider =D
even tho tatsuya’s just some lonely kid and maya likes to bitch too much… :wink:
that shouldn’t matter!!!1

Something tells me you might be in for a bit of a surprise…

don’t worry, maya will protect u! we’ll always be partners, k?

It seems Maya cares about you.

Your relationship is stronger now!

don’t mess w/ maya & friends or u’ll regret it! MwahAHaHhaHa!
next time we’ll celebrate our victory, k? bai!

Maya’s player signed off.

You decide to log out as well.

Y’know, I get the impression Maya using her chatlog won’t really help much on this one. I’unno, call it a hunch I guess.

July’s dark secret reveals itself today, I guess. Sort of. It already did before though.

Namely it repeatedly has extended periods of time where you can’t do whatever you want!

Want To Be Close

I can only hope that this one is going somewhere. For all its fault, Yakushima did give us a lot of things implicitly. And Aigis.

You won’t win a point off of Mamoru Hayase like that!

But right now all it’s doing is reminding me that we haven’t spent time with Yuko in, like, ages.

Iwatodai Dorm

Mercifully, it only steals our daytime slot and not the whole day. We can’t really do too much during the daytime since we don’t have school anymore, but we still have options!

No sweat.
…Oh, yeah? You’re tougher than I thought.
…If you think you can handle it, let’s go to Tartarus tonight.
We have less than two weeks to get ready, and I’m sure the next Shadow will be stronger than the last one…

…What do you mean “if”? Of course I can handle it. Just who in the hell do you think I am?!

But it’s kind of weird when a little kid is doing it…

I see that Akihiko and Ken are… bonding…? Sure, let’s go with that.

I heard you’re undefeated with them on.
Yeah…
It’s no big deal, really…

But, I can totally understand how he feels. I mean, Akihiko-san’s won his last 16 boxing matches.
Every little kid should look up to him. He’s like a hero, don’tcha think?
Totally.
sigh I wish I was a hero.

Don’t worry, Junpei, we already knew that.

I am not heavily equipped, and my damage output and accuracy rating are both average.
Because a gun is a long-range weapon, I will not fall during an attack.
A gun is best suited to those who require stability in their weapon.

That’s certainly one way you could look at it. Another is that no one else uses a gun to avoid unfortunate accidents, or because this is Japan and getting a gun is both really difficult and hella illegal. Doubly-so when you’re a high schooler.

Today’s subject is Trish’s type of guy! He’s smoking hot, and still in his 20s!

…Next is news. Pain, pain, go away!

Ooh this one’s easy!

Tatsuya Suou is the main protagonist of Persona 2 as a whole, being the player character of Innocent Sin and the deuteragonist of Eternal Punishment. On its own that doesn’t make him the protagonist, no, but the duology’s subtitles do. The Innocent Sin is something that Tatsuya does, and the Eternal Punishment is something that only he truly goes through…

But, this isn’t a Persona 2 thread so we’ll leave it there (for now?). His Primary Arcana was The Sun and his initial Persona was Vulcanus.

Oh and also he’s bisexual, and because Persona 2 is rad this is just a minor thing that isn’t a major character trait or a thing that he gets mocked for or anything. He’s just a guy who happens to be bi.

The Voice Someone Calls

But, anyway, Tartarus! We don’t have anything to talk to Elizabeth about yet, so we’ll just gather our party, switch some gear around and head on up.

The Mage’s Mark restores a fixed 3SP a turn which sure doesn’t sound like a lot but it helps way more than it sounds. Giving this to Mitsuru for sure.[/i]

tartarus_0d03

So, we’re on floor 73 which means that this isn’t true. Thanks, Fuuka.

Before we carry on, though, we’re gonna pick a fight with something. This’ll do.

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out

“Orgia” here is most likely referring to the ancient Greek practice of overly ecstatic worship in some sects. This was particularly true when it came to gods like Dionysus, and it may or may not have involved rigorous amounts of sex.

…why yes, it IS also where we get the word “orgy” how did you guess

Yes, please.
In this mode, my limiter is temporarily disabled.
Thus, my offensive capability increases significantly.

Furthermore, once Orgia Mode has been activated, it cannot be canceled until I overheat.

Orgia Mode only lasts for a short while, so timing is crucial.
That concludes the tutorial.

We don’t really have a frame of reference to how much of a “significant” increase it is, but it’s just a flat 150% damage boost. It lasts for about 3-5 rounds and then Aigis is thoroughly useless for a while.

I, uh, I don’t really use it all that much personally. We’ll see it in action later at least once. Possibly not much more than that, though. We’ll see!

tartarus_0d03

So, y’know how last time we got the Pleiades in a rare chest? Yeah, uh, it turns out…

That’s pretty much par for the course with the regular weapons we can find too. The Pleiades is only rarer than stuff like the Silver Saber because it has ~10 Attack more and +4 Magic instead of the +3 here.

We’re still totally gonna be giving this to Mitsuru immediately though.

On Floor 76, Fuuka opts to let us know that, yes, there IS a boss fight to be had. But it’s quite a ways away. Thanks, that’s helpful.

Skipping on up to the 78th floor wherein we hit another thing with a bus stop sign. Because that’s awesome.

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out

Namely because 78F is where we get the newest batch of enemy Shadows. Devoted Cupid here is both the rarest and also the weakest, so whatever. It’s hilariously weird how it has regular old Dia though.

Jupiter Eagles aren’t quite the most common, but they have some fun potential to be annoying if they ever got turns. Mercifully, they don’t so they don’t get to use that Masukunda at all.

The most common new Shadow is the Golden Beetle, which kinda stretches the definition of “new” a bit, yeah. Significantly weaker than it was the last time we saw it, for sure, but it’s still the tankiest normal Shadow around these parts.

Well, excluding the Avenger Knight but that’s weak to Hama so I think that’s fair.

And lastly, we have the Ardent Dancer who on the one hand has both Marin Karin and Sexy Dance. On the other hand…

Ths is very common. Very, very common.

tartarus_0d03

On the 80th floor, Fuuka figures out where the boss fight is. The 85th floor is a bit more a trek after the previous fight on the 72nd, but it’s not really that big a deal.

The Two-handed Sword gets a weird buff in Portable, as you may or may not recall at this point.

It’s not so much that it’s made stronger, per se, but it’s available WAY earlier for some reason. We’ll be giving this to Junpei later on if I remember.

And, well, that’s all that happens until we hit the 84th floor. Normally I’d skip this one too but we get a rare treasure here…

Namely, this thing. This is sort of decent armor, but it’s particularly noteworthy in that it is also what Liz is gonna give us when we make an Orthrus with Dodge Slash.

Yes, really. It’s kind of a downgrade over what we already have, even! I’ll be giving this to Makoto though, so that his vest can go to Mitsuru. That way she gets a proper upgrade and also returns to having a decent character model again.

…Or I could’ve waited like a minute longer and given her this instead. It’s 64 Def so it’s less than the Bulletproof Vest though.

But I’ll still give it to Makoto for convenience. The lack of a +2 Strength isn’t that big a deal.

And that’s that, so now we have our fight on the 85th floor.

This is normally where we’d check in with Liz but the only remaining sidequests, that aren’t Orthrus, require us to get past this Shadow so let’s get right to it!

Hierophant Fanatic Tower (Portable)

Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone

Honestly? No, it really kinda isn’t.

It’s kind of a bit of a slog to fight, but that’s not at all the same thing. For example, this? This is the most damage Mitsuru will ever manage to contribute.

This guy resists Slash and Pierce, sure, but he reflects Ice. And Fire. And Elec. Fucking hell, that just leaves Strike and Wind…

So, what can the Tower do? Well, not a lot that’s really threatening. Sure, it can Poison Mist to try and Poison everyone with his 20 Luck (his worst stat)… and he has Poison Boost for good measure… but it’s such a non-issue I wouldn’t care.

It’s basic attack might very well be the most on-paper dangerous thing it has, which is really weird. And that’s mostly because it can Crit for less than the previous musclemen.

Everyone who isn’t Mitsuru is going to be helping out with their (de)buff capabilities sometimes and also Strike attacks mostly. Which is a problem when this annoying boy also has Dodge Strike to just mock you when you try it.

Realistically you’re gonna be fighting this guy with Wind spells and basically nothing else, because he doesn’t have Dodge Wind.

Unfortunately, I only have Garula on Pale Rider which isn’t necessarily a problem but…

Oh and of course he has Mind Charge. It sure seems like every Tartarus boss lately has had a Charge skill.

Notably, the Fanatic Tower is lacking in that he doesn’t have a Heavy tier skill. He only has Zionga and not Ziodyne.

Which is fine with me, but it doesn’t really make a difference because I’m packing an Elec nullification. Thank you, Take-Mikazuchi!

Oh and of course he has Mazionga as is required.

The lack of Ziodyne just means he can’t maybe seriously injure Mitsuru. Akihiko is, well, Akihiko so he takes barely anything. I’m immune so this guy can’t really kill me barring bad luck and… Aigis is weak to Elec but takes sub-50 damage anyway. Granted, this IS after a Tarunda but that’s still sub-100 whereas Mitsuru loses nearly half her health.

This may or may not be because Orgia Mode was enabled at the time, but I don’t think that gives a defense buff as well. I can’t say I’ve played around much with it, though.

…Oh and Overheating is a bad thing for Aigis since it takes her rad defenses and completely and utterly demolishes them. Yikes!

Sometimes when the Fanatic Tower is feeling particularly smart, he’ll cast Elec Break on someone and… forget to capitalise on it entirely.

And that’s it. The Fanatic Tower is a long fight because of his 2000HP and his array of annoying resistances but he sure ain’t a hard fight.

Noteworthy is that so long as you have Emperor at rank 3+, you can kinda just not give a shit and remove his Ice repel entirely.

He’s also clearly weaker than most at this point since he only has 24 Strength and 25 in Magic, Endurance and Agility. Weird.

End

tartarus_0d03

At first blush, it sure looks like we’re only getting the one treasure this time which is a bit of a weird decision, don’t it?

Compared to the last few, this is definitely a good thing. It gives us another cleared request when we’re done, potentially nets us a lot of money later and, uh, acts as a buffer to any nasty instant kill game overs that aren’t “and then it crits for eleventy billion damage.” Again.

Around the corner from there, we have the requisite Soma as well. This was apparent on the map as well, I think.

We just have a bit more to climb as Fuuka remains perplexed by the most simple and obvious pattern. It’s almost like this happens everytime we near the end of a block…

And sure enough! We’re not gonna leave just yet though.

We need to collect this, since it IS the entire reason we’re here at all right now.

I’m not at all sure why Elizabeth cares about whether or not we collect these. They serve as sort of markers for our progress through the tower, sure, but…

The Poem For Everyone’s Soul

We are one step closer to the truth.
You know, it seems like people write about both good and bad experiences in their diaries, doesn’t it?
Have you ever thought about that?
Please accept your reward.

The rewards for these sure don’t seem to match just how much of a time consuming ordeal they can be, huh. It’s just, like, spend ~3 hours running through Tartarus for 3 full revivals is nice and all but it’s not at all proportionate.

An artificial creature created by man…
It lives only to die, unaware of its sad plight…
Thank you for showing me such a rare thing.
Please accept your reward.

This is technically the same amount of effort, sure, but it’s a better reward. And also it was part of a chain so we got a bunch of stuff, really, there. I dunno, it seems weird that the game always gives you a Soma but expects you to do it in a time limit for something worse.

Anyway, we’ll give up Mithra and Lamia to make Orthrus now. We don’t really need Lamia any more (we have Hermit at Rank 9 after all) and Mithra’s kinda super outdated so…

Yeah, it’s not a good Orthrus but I so don’t intend on ever using him anyway so I don’t really care.

You have fulfilled my request.
For your reward, I have selected a special piece of armor.
I think it will suit you well.
Please accept your reward.

Oh, Elizabeth, you shouldn’t have.

No, really, you shouldn’t have. It’s not like this is ever gonna get used. We already have one, even.

The Homunculus request was the last one in that chain, but there’s more fusions to be had. Like Oberon before him, Oumitsunu’s request will just sort of solve itself once we hit level 30.

There’s only one more request we can do right now, so we might as well since we’re already here.

Just gotta grab one of these from Yabbashah first. It’s easy to get despite being a “rare” treasure; it spawns on the 74th floor (and a couple others) which means we just use the Terminal to go to the 72nd, run up two floors and search there. Didn’t find it? Use an Access point or Traesto and try again.

I heard that this katana, moving independently of its owner, lopped off a gangrenous limb in one swipe…
What a boisterous katana this is! I’d like to see that someday.
Please accept your reward.

+4 Strength and +2 Luck sure isn’t bad at all. Could always just trade gems for it though.

But, hey, with that we’re back to having every quest done that we realistically could right now. There’s only 3 still open and they require grinding to level 30 (nah) or being at a later date than we are now.

Oh and huh the Kunitsuna is better than the generic Two-hander so I guess Junpei gets a bit of a HP buff again for a little while.

And we’re done with Tartarus for now! Hurray!

…Sadly, we’ve still got this for the next few days so we’ll just have to deal with that I guess.

Iwatodai Dorm

People seem to have calmed down a bit, despite the media… But, there will be serious problems if we don’t end this.
We must defeat the last six Shadows, beginning with the one we anticipate on the next full moon.
If the number of The Lost continues to increase, this city will fall into chaos.
I don’t even want to imagine what that might be like…
Y-You’re just exaggerating, right?
…Then again, maybe not.

It… sure seems like an exaggeration, but it’s really kinda hard to tell for sure to be honest. Could sorta go either way.

Then that means…
Shadows existed before Tartarus and the Dark Hour ever appeared.
So then, how long have Shadows been around…?

That’s actually a really good point. The Dark Hour and Tartarus came into being because Mitsuru’s grandpa decided to try and control Time and messed up. But where did Shadows come from…?

And we haven’t been to Tartarus very often.
So please prepare yourself for the next full moon.

Have you noticed?
Yeah.

Kinda hard not to, really.

I wonder why… Maybe he just doesn’t get along with kids.
I mean, Senpai IS kinda awkward in social situations.

And there’s nothing on TV, so we’re done here for tonight. But what to do, what to do… it’s a Tuesday and we have options…

So for the first time in like a month or so we can spend time with Tanaka again!

This Mysterious Feeling

Sounds fun.
I had a splendid time! I still laugh thinking about it.

I doubt you’d understand how I feel, since you’re still young, but…
A high school reunion is a very important event…

I, uh, I though for a moment there Tanaka was going to NOT be a dickhead and I got kinda worried. Fortunately(?), he managed to return to normal.

For example, I ran into a classmate who used to make fun of me for only having rice in my bento…
…and another fellow who once strung up my holey socks on the flagpole.
Now, they both look at me with envy. Their annual salary doesn’t even compare to my monthly income!
My business is on a roll, and my private life is also very satisfying.

Don’t think I would extend this offer to just anyone.

You sense that President Tanaka has strong feelings for you.

You feel like you understand him a little better now.

I actually had kinda forgotten. I guess when you have half a million in your wallet that tiny amount stops mattering.

…But half a million is also a paltry sum that I don’t expect to last very long so…

My time is worth at least a hundred thousand yen per hour!
Think of all the free advice I’ve given you!

President Tanaka left with a grin on his face.

Tanaka’s definitely in a good mood, since he didn’t even make a silly joke revenge threat this time. Weird.

And we just have to hit the books a little tonight before we go to bed. Can’t stay up too late since we do have sports training to do for the next few days still. Yay…

Orgia Mode never really felt worth it to me. It might be useful in moderate random fights that will end before overheating, but it’s useless in long battles like bosses unless you are able to use a support character to draw attention away from Aigis when she’s overheated to compensate for the major defense debuff. The loss of being able to do anything else after activating Orgia Mode means you have one fewer option to throw out an emergency heal or something.

Even if you are willing to do that, it doesn’t feel like the average damage output would greatly exceed just continuously making normal attacks. HP physical attacks would probably also be better just for the flexibility.

I definitely end up forgetting about that mode for those reasons. Maybe there’s a tactic that can make use of Orgia Mode effectively in certain situations, but I don’t see it.

I can’t believe the Hermit social link is going to end with Maya incriminating herself over an MMO. A strange way to end it, but I suppose it’s not undeserved.

Atlus seems to have a habit of underpowering potentially-cool moves. Orgia Mode reminds me of various skills in Etrian Odyssey, which look really cool when you see them on the menu, but are actually kinda useless when you see the exact percentages elsewhere. 150% damage increase is super not worth Aegis Aigis becoming prone for a number of turns. Doesn’t seem like it’s much good for a last-second push in damage either.

We’ve got more of that sports practice stuff to do, before we can do things that actually matter.

None of the scenes for it have been particularly long or anything, which is something I guess.

Iwatodai Dorm

She said she’d be here by midnight.
…Maybe we shouldn’t go to Tartarus tonight.

I am absolutely completely okay with that, since we don’t even need to at this point.

I am weak against electricity, but incredibly strong against piercing attacks.
Yukari-san is also weak against electricity.
We have many similarities.

Such as…?

I know you want to go because there’s going to be a full moon soon, but…
…please forgive me.

Yeah, uh, that doesn’t sound too difficult here.

Since Mitsuru isn’t here, Akihiko isn’t right now either. Ken’s shut himself up in his room for some reason, so we can’t talk to him either.

It’s a very mysterious illness that affects those with unstable minds or psychological problems. Its victims can only groan, and they don’t eat or talk normally. Researchers still don’t know what causes it, but we do know that people can recover from it…

Oddly enough, that always seems to happen following a full moon for some reason. It’s hard to say why for sure.

Paulownia Mall

I finally remembered to sell all the unneeded equipment, trash items and… apparently I had a Treasure Coin? I sure didn’t think I did. Well, I’m definitely not gonna complain.

I was VERY tempted to make Junpei a Basic Katana out of Power to give him a really useful added effect but, eh, we’ll do something better later.

Around now is when I was rather bluntly reminded that this Academics grind we’re in the midst of is to get it to Rank 5. For some reason I thought we were already there, but nope.

It’s not really a big deal since we have plenty of time for it and all but that’s just a really annoying thing to remember.

A Guardian

And, huh, I guess we’re gonna get to talk to Pharos today. Probably just about the Full Moon in 8 days.

The Voice Someone Calls

I detect a Shadow! Please hurry to the 4th floor!

There’s a Shadow in the city. Yamagishi found it by chance.
But… the moon isn’t full yet…
Actually, it seems to be just a normal Shadow.
However, it IS outside of Tartarus…

I’m sure he can handle it alone, but let’s get ready just in case.
Gotcha!

The console beeps.

Yes, this is Fuuka.

What’s wrong? Is it a powerful one!?
No, the Shadow’s been defeated.

What happened?
The little fella’s been injured… I wanna save him if we can.

I would guess Ken, but that makes absolutely no sense and Akihiko wouldn’t play a dumb variation of Japan’s favourite pastime, The Pronoun Game, in that case…

Beats me.
At any rate, let’s go.

Remember that dog we saw all of once ever before now? Well he’s back!

Koro-chan!

You know this dog?
Yeah, everyone around here does…
We have to help him!
First, we must stop the bleeding.
Man… He’s one tough fighter.

Wait, does that mean… this dog’s a Persona-user!?

Those flowers… They must be for the priest who died in the accident.
So, he really was guarding this place…
Uh, Aigis? Don’t tell me you can translate dog language too…

This fella really is a rare breed.
Confirmed.
…He’s not the only one.
Alright, let’s report to the Chairman, so we can conclude this mission.

At this hour? That’s… sure, okay.

Good job, boy. You’re one amazing dog…

End

So, yeah, a dog just kinda casually kicked a shadow’s ass. That’s a thing that just happened.

And with that one cool thing done, we’re back to normal stuff again.

At least we do seem to be going somewhere with this, though.

Iwatodai Dorm

Unfortunately, the number of victims has been increasing lately.
Let’s do our best to stop it!

Gotta wait for that week to pass before we can do that though. If we could stop Apathy Syndrome without that, the problem wouldn’t really be.

The wound was severe, but fortunately there wasn’t any damage to his internal organs.

Good to know Koromaru’s gonna be okay. :unsmith:

First, a robot can use a Persona, and now a dog can?
What’s next, a monkey?

Well, they weren’t a Persona user but Junpei clearly hasn’t heard of Oliver before…

He must be a pure breed.

I really don’t see the relevance here. Like, at all.

Do you think the priest who passed away saved him?
I think so.
The bond between a human and a pet is so beautiful.

I am able to receive similar images from all livmg things.
They are weaker versions of the voice communication human beings use.

He protected what he was supposed to protect.
He’s a good dog…

So… why are you so upset by that…? What.

Hey, Lisa’s back!

“Wai” is used when you want to say, “Hey!”
That’s all for this week! Back to the news!

Been a while since we got to see Lisa turn up on-screen giving random Cantonese lessons, but I for one am glad it’s a semi-recurring bit.

Ken’s still shut up in his room, for whatever that’s worth.

It’s a Thursday and we’re not off to Tartarus, so that means we get to spend time with Mutatsu again.

Although, as you might recall from before, it IS just spending time since we didn’t have enough points to get a rank up.

That’s nicely fixed itself now though, so the next time we see Mutatsu it’ll net us another rank.

But for today we’ve got another Dark Hour event! This one’s got to be what we’d expect.

The Voice Someone Calls

Yep, mostly back to our normal night time events of being bugged by a small child.

It’s becoming quite lively around you.
So, how are you getting along with the others?
Not bad.
I’m glad to hear that.
…It is one week until the next full moon.
Are you prepared…?

Oh good, that makes two of us.

However, you should still remain cautious.
I’ll come to see you again.

Pharos has disappeared…

But, of course, before we can even pretend to worry about the Full Moon coming up in a week…

We’ve got more of this to deal with. Not much more, but still… more.

Iwatodai Dorm

My friends get scared when they see them.
People don’t even feel safe walking around town.
We have to do something about it.

And, yes, we will do something about it. In 6 days, when we can.

I’ve been researching the possibility for a long time, but I never thought it was true.
I mean, can you imagine? A dog using a Persona! A dog! I’m…
Pet-rified.
Oh! You read my mind!
Hmm, I didn’t know you were so funny.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not that we get to out-Ikutsuki Ikutsuki, but I will take that opportunity every day of the week anyway.

I try to stay up as late as you guys, but I’m always the first one to fall asleep.
What do you guys do when you’re up so late?
Study.

Well, it’s not a lie. At least as far as Makoto’s concerned.

Wow… High school must be really hard.

The problem particularly affects Apathy Syndrome victims, since they are unable to move…

This seems like such an obvious concern that it’s a bit of a surprise that it hasn’t come up before, really.

Moving on from that, we’ll head right on back to a nightclub to hang out with a rad monk.

This Mysterious Feeling

Hey, can ya help me out, kid…? I don’t feel so good…
Dammit… I can’t believe I let this happen…
Ugh… I’m in bad shape…
You should go home.
Yeah, you’re right, kid… I should go home and sleep…

But, even if I go home…

The Heart Sutra is a very well-known Buddhist scripture. It might be the most famous, even.

Before, no matter how much I drank, all I needed was a cold shower to snap outta it. Guess I’m gettin’ old, heh…
It’s times like these I wish I didn’t live alone…
What about the others?
Others? Heh, you mean other monks?

…If ya think about it, livin’ alone’s probably the best thing a person could do…
You don’t hafta wait for someone else to get outta the bathroom when ya need to go. My son took forever in there.
…Yeah, livin’ alone is the way to achieve peace and serenity!
…All things visible are bound to change and disappear…

And yet, they’re all different from each other. All things in this world are unique.
To put it simply…
No matter how hard you try to live your life right, someone else can always mess it up.
All things are unique, yet they are not singular…
Maybe you’ve messed up my life a bit, too. Heheh…

You saw through Mutatsu’s harsh words and felt his kindness…

You understand Mutatsu better now.

Oh, yeah, about the memorial service…
The kid was only 19… a random murder victim. What a harsh world we live in…
You be careful on your way home, okay, kid?

You decided to go back to the dorm.

Mutatsu, you’re cool and all but maybe - just maybe - getting plastered tonight wasn’t the best idea.

Oh well, not like that’s really my problem anyway. My biggest problems right now are the looming full moon, the sports thing and needing to hit these books.

Last day of practice. This better have been worth it!

Want To Be Close

You’re doing great, Makoto-kun!
You’ve beaten everyone on the team! I’ll be rooting for you! Good luck!

Welp, we’re officially the best in the Kendo Club. Y’know, as opposed to before when we were officially the best in the Kendo Club.

Iwatodai Dorm

Well, you better win.
…Watch out for Mamoru, though.
He’s a tough competitor.
Hey, I’ve heard that name before…
He’s pretty famous, bro. I saw him in a sports magazine.
Dude, guys like him are insane… You’re gonna get your ass handed to you on a platter, so what’s the point?
Well, I guess the full moon is coming up soon, so you can think of it as training.

I mean, it’s not like it’s even comparable so I’m not sure it’d be very effective.

Yes, very.
I understand how you feel, but Koromaru has a professional veterinarian tending to him, so he’ll be fine.
You should be focusing your attention on the full moon that is coming up.

Well, for some reason it reminded me of something Mitsuru-senpai was talking about.
Normal Shadows don’t appear outside Tartarus…
But, there are irregular ones that do.
Only our senpai have seen them.

I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. I mean, yes, if you discount all the Shadows that appear outside of Tartarus only irregular ones appear outside of Tartarus.

And apparently the Full Moon fights don’t count as irregular…?

It will learn both support skills and physical abilities.
I will be a valuable ally on the front line in battle.

How do you drink your coffee, Makoto-san?
With hot sauce.

You mean, like hot sauce used to make your food spicy?
You’re just kidding, right? I mean, no one would put hot sauce in their coffee… would they?

Does Makoto really seem like someone who would joke?

I mean, really now. Hot Sauce Coffee is serious business and you shouldn’t take it lightly.

Make sure you have enough water, and keep your energy up! Now let’s join our regular reporters back in the studio.

If they hadn’t been found in time, they could have died, so be careful out there…

Not much left to do tonight, so we’ll just get some last minute studying in.

We’ve got the dumb sports tournament thingy tomorrow to deal with and then hopefully a few days of proper respite before the full moon…

1 Like

It’s been… a bit too long since we went down an alternative leg in the trousers of time, huh? Fortunately we can finally change that.

Before we focus on July though, there’s this one scene at the end of June that just… didn’t play last time, even though it should have done. I dunno. :shrug:

So to fix that, I just sorta replayed the entire game from scratch because whoops I didn’t have a pre-July save because I am brilliant at things.

After School

A-Are guys allowed to go in there…?
It’s completely okay.
I-I see. Then… let’s go.

You shared some cake with Akihiko.

That was rather sweet…

Did you not like it?
Oh… I mean, I don’t hate having sweets…

And… I heard that girls like eating sweet things, so…

Still, it was like having a lump of pure sugar in my mouth…
Yukari sometimes gives me sweet snacks once in a while.

…But that’s not important right now.
Um… Are you still hungry? Want to get some real food?
It doesn’t have to be something sweet…

…?

It’s the two girls from the other day…

Buns: Like, stop stealing all the single guys when you’ve already got one for yourself!

The girls glare at you with the intensity of a thousand suns…



As you can see, I’m here with Kotone right now.
We’ll have to talk some other time.
Let’s go, Kotone.

Heavily Made-Up Girl: Huh? Hey…!

…“Cutting menchis” means to glare at someone in a challenge, basically. To find that one out, I had to look at actual Japanese dictionary stuff because apparently they sorta forgot to translate it. Great, wonderful.

But before I found that, I learned that Menchies is an ice-cream brand and Google really wanted me to see a ribbon cutting ceremony.

…Sorry about what happened back there.
It’s not your fault, Senpai.
…I’m glad to hear you say that.
All this about me showing off and taking someone’s girlfriend…
There are people in my class saying things about me, too…

It seems Akihiko has been going through a lot, himself…

…I had fun today.
It’s nice to have sweet things once in a while.

Maybe you could make me something sweet sometime.
Like… Pancakes sound good.
Pancakes?
…I like them.
Haha, does that seem like the kind of food I wouldn’t like?

Akihiko laughs self-depreciatingly…

You feel like your bond with Akihiko has gotten a little stronger…

You went back to the dorm together.

Alright, NOW we experience the alternative July.

And we’re starting off the month with Rio, since we haven’t really seen her much as of (relative) late.

Joy

Your classmate Kenji approaches the two of you…

You again? What do you want now?
Umm…
…Huh? Are you the only guys here?

Would it kill you to stop being so sarcastic all the time? It really isn’t cute at all.

So, who are you looking for?

Even when we’re not focusing on Kenji’s terrible plot thread, he manages to somehow get it crowbarred in.

Yeah, but she’s never here. She doesn’t care… She doesn’t even know the rules of the game.
Well, a sophisticated woman like her wouldn’t care much for children’s games in any case.

I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Ack! Don’t waste that pretty face of yours by getting all red like that.
Y-You shouldn’t say stuff if you don’t mean it.
But man, where could Ms. Kanou be?
She wasn’t in the faculty office, either…
…No idea.
Do you know, Kotone?
Maybe she went home already.
Really? You think so, too? Aw, maaaaan. I’m so bummed I could just fall over and die here.
Why’re you looking for her?

Kenji shrugs…

Isn’t she just using you?
N-Now way! Ms. Kanou’s not that kind of person!
She’s so beautiful and mature and sweet that I can’t help but–

Kenji blushes…

That… is a really bad “blushing” effect. I know, PSP, but still.


Why do you like her?
…Huh?
You’re such a kid, Rio-san…
Listen up, okay? It’s got nothing to do with logic or reason…

It just happens…?
But seriously, don’t tell anybody about this, got it? I don’t even want you and Kotone-san talking about me! Okay!?

Kenji leaves…

It looks that way.
He doesn’t make any sense at all…

oh god no

You feel like you understand Rio a little better now…

C’mon, we can’t let someone like him get to us! I’ll round up the balls.

You and Rio finished your practice, then you went back to the dorm.

Well, this seems to slowly be turning in a bad direction, as is fitting of its nature as a S.Link here… but did it really have to be in the direction it’s going to be? There is no escape from Kenji dragging everything down…

Junpei looks very serious…

But at least we have a weirdly decent Magician link available instead.

:siren: Junpei Iori: The Magician :siren:
yes click that definitely do it

Warm Feeling

So, uh, Persona 5 got a lot of credit for being the first modern Persona game to include voice acting in its Confidants because people both misunderstood that ranks 1 and 10 being voiced meant everything was. And also because people forgot that Portable exists and did it first. :v:

Granted 5 does do it for every Confidant, but that’s not the point.

Ugh, I’m no good at this… Where do I start?
Going to confess your love?

Uhh, well… I had something serious to talk about.
I want you to have this.
I never had much I was that attached to, but I always held onto this for some reason.

I used to keep my house keys on that.

So when it turned out I was gonna get to live at the dorm, you wouldn’t believe how happy I was.
I thought after that… I could turn my back on it all.
So I kept this keychain and house keys stashed away, since I figured I’d never have to use 'em again.
But after a while… I didn’t like the way I was trying to avoid stuff.
I knew the problem wasn’t gonna go away just 'cause I wouldn’t look at it… and that I was lame for ever thinking so…
…That’s why I dug these out.

Then again, I’m still kinda chicken…
If you hold onto those for me, it’ll be like you’ve got my back for it…
That way, I’d have the guts to see him.

Junpei’s hands are trembling…

Hey, listen… You can talk to me too, if anything’s bothering you, all right?
And I’m not saying so because I wanna be the guy people turn to. It’s just, you don’t have to do everything yourself.
You and the rest of the gang were there for me, and I’m here for you the same way.
Don’t forget that… Okay?

You sense strong affection from Junpei…

You sense a bond with Junpei…

The Path Is Open

Warm Feeling

Surtr’s a Fire Giant, not a god. Jeez. We can make him whenever we make it to level 52, so uh… Magician caps pretty early!

And it’s not because it makes me kinda like a superhero or anything.
It always bugged me, that weakness I knew was there inside…
But I feel like I can change.

Or worse, I mighta done the wrong things with it…
So… thanks.

Geez, listen to me, goin’ on like that!
C’mon, let’s eat! You want some more green onion barbecued pork?

You and Junpei spent a long time talking about all sorts of things…

End

So, Junpei was Cool and Good here. and you probably even noticed that we didn’t get railroaded into a bad romance or anything. More links need to be like that; Junpei seemed like a Pretty Decent Guy here, and I loved that he was introspective and able to realise that he was just running away from his problems. He’s not all perfect and fixed now, because growth never ends. He’s started his own Journey at least…

Note that we will be spending time with Yukari here, and this IS a scene that is very different from its counterpoint in the “main” run…

Joy

Ramen, beef bowl…

This place is full of fattening stuff!
Ugh! It’s getting to the point that I’m starting to feel a bit…

Have you heard about it? I’ve heard that it’s on top of the sales charts right now.
Oh, but do you think people downstairs will hear? I think you have to jump around and stuff…

Yukari is looking your way as she talks to you…

…?

A car comes speeding down the road as Yukari steps into the street!

Crisis

Eek!

Th…anks…

That was scary…
I was scared, too.
Yeah…

Yukari still seems stunned…

Oh… You’re hurt…

Why…
Why’d you help me!?
…What were you gonna do if you died!?
So it’s okay if you die!?
That’s not what I meant!
I mean… I mean, you’re… you’re our leader!

And… what would I do if you died?

Yukari looks like she’s about to cry…

You sense affection from Yukari…

No, you didn’t miss anything. Ranks like 3-6 are functionally the same between the two versions. A few things are a bit different, but the content is the same.

Joy

Haha, I keep bombarding you with all this personal stuff all the time.

Sorry, I’m a little confused…
Haha, I’m a kid, aren’t I…

I’m… gonna head back…
Sorry…

Yukari ran off…

You decide to go back to the dorm…

It seems weird for this scene to not really exist outside of an alternative dimension. It’s also weird just how late it is, really. It feels like it could be a REALLY early rank in both and yet…

Oh welll. Next up we have more, uh, Fuuka…? Sure, Fuuka.

Joy

Fuuka seems depressed…

Oh… Sorry.

I keep messing up…
It’s not a problem with how I make the recipe… How do I put this…?


I’m always like that.
It’s like, I’m bad at imagining things in a positive way…
I keep imagining that nothing is going to go right…
If only there was something I was actually good at…
You’re good with machines.
…I’m surprised you remembered.

When I was young, it was my dad’s hobby to work on complicated music equipment…
He’d fix things like broken amplifiers and headphones where one side would be broken.
I loved watching him working on those things when I was little…
That’s… probably why I became good with machines.
But, I don’t think I could use machines to repay everyone’s kindness…
When we really need help with fightning or technology, we have the Kirijo group’s support…
I want to find something that only I can do… Something that people would rely on me for…
I’ll help you find it!
giggle Thanks.
You really are our leader after all.

Oh, we should make something before it gets too late.
If we want to make something that we can take back to everyone, I think cookies would be best.

You decide to make cookies today.

You mixed the ingredients…

…kneaded the cookie dough…

…cut out the shapes…

…and took them to the oven…

…The cookies were pretty easy to make.

Huh? Are you done already?
I’m still measuring the flour…

H-How?!

…In order to avoid staying here late into the night, you insist on helping Fuuka cook.

Huh? You’re putting the flour in this basket? But it’s falling out of the bottom.
Oh, so THAT’S how you melt butter quickly!

All the cookies survived.

giggle That’s amazing, it came out right.
It wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t here…
But it actually came out right! For the first time ever, something I cooked actually tastes good!

Fuuka is giddy with excitement…

You feel like you have gotten even closer to Fuuka…

I caused you all this trouble again…
But I’m the one that wants to help you…
Anyways, I’ll try harder next time.

You cleaned up the room and headed back to the dorm…

We’re gonna take a brief detour into Tartarus, but it’s nothing too major here.

tartarus_0d02

We just got some folks to rescue is all; first lad is on the 51st floor well before the Change Relic fight, thankfully.

The woman he got dragged in with isn’t quite so lucky, though. She’s up on the 61st which puts her just before the barrier, yeesh.

That done, I completely forget to go get our rewards right now so we’ll hang out with Rio instead.

Joy

Aren’t you going to practice?
Oh, Kotone…
Yeah, I was going to… but I can’t get myself to move…

Rio looks like she’s about to cry…

She doesn’t seem like her usual self, so you decide to ask her what’s wrong…

But… I heard Ms. Kanou, too…

They seemed to be getting along great.

Rio mumbles quietly…

No, I am very sure that isn’t going to happen.


It can’t work out… They’re a teacher and a student. There’s no way.
He’s such an idiot. He’s just being toyed with!
He’ll just end up hurt in the end…
Why… Why’d he choose someone like her…!?
Why…

Rio’s eyes brim with tears…

They don’t suit each other.
Why…?

Dangit, Rio. You were supposed to be cool!

Why…?

Rio begins to cry…

I… didn’t know I was such a nasty person.
I’ve got these terrible feelings inside me… I hate myself…
What is wrong with me?
That’s what love feels like.
Love…?

Rio weeps weakly…

I’m such an idiot…
I didn’t know… all this time. By the time I realized it, it was too late…
Haha, how stupid of me…
Try telling him.
No way…

I know that I don’t have a chance…

Rio desperately tries to hold back more tears…

Let’s be honest; there’s only one real choice here.

Haha… Thanks…

You feel you’ve gotten much closer to Rio…

I’m going to go home…
I’ll be able to smile tomorrow… Act like you don’t know anything.

You saw Rio off, then headed back to the dorm.

Fortunately, immediately afterwards I realised that whoops I shoulda gone to see Kurosawa so we’ll do that now.

The, uh, the 40,000 Yen is sorta definitely nice but the Shirt of Chivalry is MASSIVELY outdated by now. That’s obtainable in Thebel. I don’t even know why you get one here. It just… is so pointless.

A Deep Mentality

So, how about that full moon? There’s one obvious thing that’ll have changed later, but right out the gate we have a clear difference. Namely how random Arqa shadows are hanging out before we even fight the Hierophant.

Speaking of the Hierophant, he looks way less imposing here than he did before.

Which is fine, since he’s the same as before and quite the jobber.

Kick his ass, move swiftly on to learn that oh no Lovers are still around somewhere.

Poke the mirror and carry on through the mindgames that are identical until…

The Voice Someone Calls

…?
Huh!?

I think it’s a trap…
A trap? Man, they really caught us off guard! This coulda been bad!

Junpei ran back into the bathroom…

It seems Junpei’s mind had been clouded too…

Oh, I can finally reach you!
Can you two hear me?
I hear you.
I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you sooner…
The Shadow was interfering with your thoughts…
And you all got separated…
The enemy is still in the same room. Please regroup and hurry there.
Junpei-kun, can you hear me?
Y-Yyyeah, I hear ya!
Um… Did something happen?

Well, maybe we could try this again some other time…
Hahaha, just joking…
…Let’s go.

A Deep Mentality

So we will do just that. Learn about the seal on the door, meet up with the others…

Mitsuru still gets hyper-defensive if you ask if they’re alright. Considering Lovers’ MO, that seems a bit off but whatever.

Mirrors are in the same spot as before, run around break 'em and we get to meet the second boss hurray.

We can defeat it this time! Hang in there, everyone!

Manual control kinda neuters Lovers one gimmick since we don’t have to worry about the AI forgetting to clear Charm. Whoops, no Heartbreakers here.

Gonna skip ahead from here again to just after everyone starts to leave. Junpei gotta get moody, after all…

The Voice Someone Calls

There’s a somewhat sullen tone in Junpei’s voice…

Worried about me?
I wouldn’t say that, but…
Meh, like it really matters…
Dude, what’s the matter with you?

Shut up!

Junpei trotted off quickly…

Yeaaaaah, Junpei’s just as annoyed he’s not gotten to be the leader but for, uh, very different reasons than a bruised ego. Thanks, Junpei…

Well, uh, that done we’ll go see what Saori’s up to next I guess. It’ll be… something, I’m sure.

Joy

Wow, is that how that teacher is?
Heh, I didn’t know at all.
I learn so much when I talk to you…
I never get to hear all these rumors that go around the school…

Saori seems to be having fun…

A boy comes in and stands in front of Saori…

He seems to be smirking for some reason…

Oh, umm… Takaoka-kun. How can I help you?

Oh, I wonder where this is going to go.

…Okay?
Seriously? Then, how about today?
I still have some things to do there today, so…
Aww, I’ll wait around. Let’s go once you’re free.
Oh… Okay then.
Well, I’ll be waiting in the classroom.

The boy leaves…

Do you get along with him?
…I don’t really know him.
But if he really wants to go out with me, then…
Stand up for yourself!
Heh… It’s not that big a deal.

Saori laughs as if she just heard a funny joke…

…That, uh, that’s really not a good thing.

If there’s someone willing to take the lead, I’ll gladly follow…

If I can find someone who needs me, I’d love that person with every fiber of my being.
…Do you think it’s wrong to think that way?
I can understand that.
Really? Heh… I’m happy to hear that.

You feel like you understand Saori a little better now…

…I should get going. I did promise after all…

You did your duties in the school library committee and said goodbye to Saori…

Welp, I guess we’ll see the obvious conclusion to this… thing whenever we hang out with Saori again.

Oh and if you’ve noticed the calendar in the corner here, then yeah. We’ll be taking a brief respite here but that’s mainly because, well, July’s not really got a lot of super-new content; it’s primarily frontloaded is all, which makes sense since July’s free-time is also heavily frontloaded!

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Alright, time to pick up where we left off. I really didn’t expect to split July in two quite like this, but here we are.

And also here’s Akihiko for good measure.

After School

Man, it’s crowded in here. Is there a promotion going on?
That reminds me, the other day Mitsuru…

A small boy sitting with his family at the next table begins screaming…

The mother’s voice is getting louder as she argues with her child…

It’s reached the point that your ears are hurting…

Senpai, should we leave?
Huh? Is something wrong?

Akihiko is surprised…

It seems that Akihiko wasn’t bothered by the commotion at all…

The family at the table next to you has gotten embarrassed and begins to leave.

The child’s screaming slowly recedes into the distance…

Akihiko is absentmindedly watching them off…

He’s just a child.
Then you shouldn’t hold it against him that he’s acting like one…

Akihiko suddenly falls silent…

Warm Feeling

Do you think I’m… strange?
You’re charming.
Th-That’s not what I asked.

Sometimes people tell me that I’m a weird guy, or that I act kind of strange…
Normally, I wouldn’t let that kind of thing get to me…
But back in the day…

It’s not like I could do anything about that…
That’s why… I wanted to show them that they were wrong.
Psh… That doesn’t matter now. That all happened back when I was a kid anyway…
…I mean, the orphanage wasn’t all bad, either.

Akihiko smiles gently…

Oh, sorry… I don’t think I ever told you.
I don’t have any parents. My sister and I grew up in an orphanage.

We’ve even seen a couple hints about this already, even in the main playthrough. The most obvious one was during one of Aki’s one-to-one conversations with Shinji, naturally.

…That reminds me, you don’t have parents either.
Ah, sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up…

No, wait… I think that might be why I wanted you to hear what I had to say about this.
…Because I think I can depend on you to understand me.

Akihiko smiles wryly…

You feel like you understand Akihiko a little better now…

You returned to the dorm with Akihiko.

It’s nice getting to see stuff lieke this from Akihiko sometimes. Helps flesh him out a bit, too.

Anyway, uh, now we’ll have our first real skip through a large period of July since there’s not much else we can do that’s new. We’re rapidly approaching finals again, after all, so we’ll pick right back up immediately afterwards.

Joy

I was just in a bad mood and I took it all out on you…
I know it wasn’t too cool of me…
It’s okay.
Alright… Thanks.
Let’s go back to how things used to be between us, okay?
Alright, let’s get going.

Not overly different to how it was before, but it shows that no matter what Junpei can realise that, yeah, he messed up and apologises for it of his own volition.

But, hey, the most important difference is, like, A Lot Of Yakushima so let’s enjoy a vacation!

Silence

W-wow, so many tropical plants…!
Take a look at that one…

But the atmosphere is still heavy…

Um…
I-It’s totally amazing, huh! Man, this is so awesome… I’m not even kidding!
Junpei-kun…
sigh

This is just a mini-scene to replace the animated cutscene, since they don’t exist here for space reasons.

The scene at the mansion is the same, minus character models, which is sensible enough. The beach…

Joy

Yup! Summer’s here!

You can tell even at this distance that Junpei is extremely excited…

But yikes, what’s with Akihiko-senpai’s swimsuit…?
I can feel my face getting red just looking at it…

…?
Something wrong, Yukari?
That’s a pretty… small… swimsuit…
What, don’t you know?
Swimsuits like this reduce water resistance and–
Oh, that’s okay… It doesn’t need to be justified.
…Hey Junpei, what’s the matter? You look even dumber than usual.

Yuka-tan’s wearing a more aggressive model than I had imagined!

What!?
And check out our leader! She’s one cute mermaid herself!

Thanks!
Maaaan, the beach is so great. I love this place!

Fuuka and Mitsuru’s relevant bits are functionally identical to before, so we’ll gloss over them for sensible reasons.

Akihiko and Junpei are whispering to each other…

Huh!? Really!?

Maaan, really? No joke?
What’re you two smirking about?
Nothing?
…Okaaay.
Man, this is great! I’m in heaven!
How 'bout a swim!?
Buh buh buh bump ba baaa! Charge!
Whoa! I’m not letting you win that easily!

The bit about Aigis spying on us from off-screen still happens, naturally.

The general dialogue is mostly the same, but Akihiko mentions relaxing under the parasol. This is because he doesn’t function as a way to leave/save any more.

He just hints at the parasol being a save point, which I guess is nice for if you’re not using these icons for one reason or another.

But that’s all there is today and the Aigis stuff is the main event anyway.

Yeah, Yukari’s event plays out the same but without the option to give her a hug which… you’d really think they’d keep.

The initial dialogue goes the same, but you get Yukari mentioning this outright because, well, no character models any more.

Joy

…But what about Akihiko and Junpei’s terrible antics?

Man, what lazybones! The ocean’s not gonna sit around and wait for us, ya know?
You’re right. Once the sun sets, the water temperature drops, tiring you out much faster.
Huh? Uhh, I guess… Is that what you’re worried about…?
That reminds me. One of the maids gave me a letter as we were leaving…
Whoa, hey, Junpei!

No buts! I ain’t letting any love letter from a lovely maid slip through my fingers!
How dumb can you get?
Uhh, let’s see here…

…Huh!?
It looks like Fuuka’s handwriting…
Aw man!
We’re at an island resort in the middle of summer! Why don’t they go to the beach!?
That’s just not right!!
Well, it is your fault.
Whaddya mean? I-I just wanted to lighten up the mood…
I don’t want to hear it.
Well, it doesn’t matter, anyway…
We’re on our own now, just the guys!
If you’re outta ammo, you pick it up on the battlefield! That’s one of the most basic military tactics!

“Babe Hunt”…?
You mean, like, pick up girls…?
Whaddya think, Akihiko-san? With you on the squad, we’re guaranteed to succeed!
Nah, I’ll pass…

Wh-What!?
Hey, I’m not judging you. Most guys would rather back down than lose.
All right… we’re doing this!

Huh…?

Commence the operation!
Loser? Whaddya mean loser?

…You mentioned it first. You explicitly turned it into a competition. Which, arguably, makes this event even worse somehow. Fortunately!

Wait, we’re gonna go hit on them separately!?

…Oh, I see. You’re here with your boyfriend…

Notably, for starters, each scene here is heavily truncated and only shows one side of the - very brief - conversations.

Say, do you know the most efficient swimming technique? The butterfly stroke uses your leg strength to…
…Oh, I-I see.

Oh, don’t worry. I’m really good at it.
Huh? You’re trying to get a tan? I’m in the way…? Oh, 'scuse me, then…

And the best part is that it even removed the transphobia that didn’t need to exist in the first place. A much better scene all around, really.

Whaddaya mean…?
That indirect approach of yours isn’t gonna help you score…
What?
So you’re saying I should use cheesy come-ons like yours?
Honesty is the best policy!
I mean, who wants to listen to a guy drone on about muscles and…

What’s up? You see something…?

Yeah, Aigis is still just hanging out on the pier for whatever reason. The scene here is the same as before, but without the irrelevant RPS bit.

When it gets to the part when Makoto went to talk to her, however, it diverges slightly.


Awww, she took off…
…It wasn’t because of us, was it?
Who knows…
Wait, she’s heading into the forest!

Why, you think there might be bears or something?
I… don’t know about that, but… We should go after her!

Troubled

…I really wanna know how that happened.

…?

You sense a strong gaze, more palpably than before…

It’s a girl…

She must be the one who has been watching you.

Hello.
I was correct…
I have found you.

I have been searching for you.
My highest priority is to be with you!

It doesn’t seem like she wants to let go…

Junpei and Akihiko have arrived…

Even then, it doesn’t seem like she plans on letting go…

That explains why we got the cold shoulder…

This is also surprisingly good for a modern Persona game. Just a “oh, I see, okay” and then immediately moving on. Things like this really stand out because they feel like they were written by someone different entirely and that’s a very good thing.

Huh!? Junpei!?
What are you doing here!? We’ve been looking all over for you!
Um… What’re you doing in the middle of the woods, in your swimsuits…?
You have no idea what we’ve–
Huh!?

She says I’m her priority.
…What?
Listen, we’ve encountered a problem.
I’m sorry to interrupt your vacation, but I need you all to go back to the house and prepare for battle.

And from there, the scene ends the same way as before.

The second part also plays out identically, but it’s really weird that Aigis walks in, we get “this is Aigis” and… she’s not on-screen. I dunno, that just strikes me as weird.

Joy

The 3rd day’s beach scene is mostly the same as before, but the end has a very large and very clear divergence…

Got it.

Akihiko-sempai!
This again…? I guess we should go too, Kotone.

Aaaaaack!
Junpei-kun is down!
Alright, here’s our chance for an All-Out Attack!

I’ve been waiting for this!

Whoa, whoa, time out! I seriously can’t take much more of this…! Gyaaaaah!

You had a fun time with your friends at Yakushima…

With Aigis joining, things are likely to get livelier…

SEES’s determination in battle has been enhanced…

Also, yeah, new mechanic unlocked and this one is backported from Persona 4. Key difference is that this is unlocked for everyone, as opposed to requiring it to be done piecemeal. HP death is definitely more likely than normal against bosses thanks to being on Maniac, but like it’s generally because it’s a massive oneshot even at full HP anyway so…

The Yakushima vacation has ended. You returned to the dormitory…

Skipping way ahead now to when we get told about Sports and, yeah, that still happens but I feel like it makes more sense here? I dunno. That might just be me, since we’re in a volleyball club and all.

And, hey, let’s have one last hang out with someone before summer hits and, uh… Fuuka? Sure, Fuuka sounds good.

Joy

Various sweets are in the book that Fuuka brought for today…

Based on the ingredients you have on hand, you decide to make cupcakes.

D-Do you think I can make something that difficult…?
Let’s make it together.
O-Okay. I’ll try my best not to get in your way!

Let’s do this. Let me know if I do something wrong.
Um… First I need to sift the flour, right?

…H-How?! How do you make a mistake even remotely close to that.

That’s sugar.
Huh? …Oh, you’re right.
It was white, so I thought it was flour… Th-Thanks for stopping me.
Um, I sift it into the bowl and then mix butter in…
…Should I use my hands to mix it in? I know that you use your hands when making hamburger patties.
Use a whisk.

You had some leftover bananas, so you tried mashing them in, even though the recipe didn’t call for it.

…You poured the batter into the cups. All you need to do now is bake them.

A light, sweet smell permeates the room.

…Whenever I try that…
You did your best, too.
Kotone-chan… Yeah, thanks…

giggle They’re delicious.
I’m so happy that I was able to make something so difficult. …It’s all thanks to you, Kotone-chan.

Fuuka seems to have gained some self-confidence…

Together, you’ve overcome a difficult task, and you feel as if you’ve grown closer to Fuuka.

I don’t want to enjoy them at all once… I wish they’d last forever.

You cleaned up the room with Fuuka and headed back to the dorm…

Time

Just one last little thing here. For whatever reason, the sports stuff gets pushed forward by 1 whole day to August 1st instead!

Oh, and obviously we have Rio yelling stuff instead of Yuko. Makes sense, though.

But we can’t end there, so we’ll just go forward a tiny bit more.

This scene isn’t different, but you can see Koromaru look even cuter and better.

That’s it. That’s the entire reason for this.

…Oh shit, I nearly forgot. There’s a full moon in like 5 days. Uhh…

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