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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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…
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.
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.
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…
A mysterious voice rings in your head…
You decide to go back to the dorm.
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.
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…
Which 2 people are gonna fill 'em?
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.
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.
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… 
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!
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.
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.
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]
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!
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.
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
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…
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
And, huh, I guess we’re gonna get to talk to Pharos today. Probably just about the Full Moon in 8 days.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
Junpei Iori: The Magician
yes click that definitely do it
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. 
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…
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…
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!
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.
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.
…
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.
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.
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.
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…
…?
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.
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…
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.
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!
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.
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…
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.
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…
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.
…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!
…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.
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.
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…
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…
Indeed, writing in P3P was greatly improved due to intentionally adding younger staff to the writing staff since P3. The FeMC route in particular was directed by Azusa Kido, who had coordinated a lot of the P4 social links. She was too busy with PQ to have as much involvement in P5’s scenario, unfortunately.
Source: part C here.
Just got a few days to go before the Full Moon…
And, of course, our Sunday gets spent on having to do Sports.
Crisis
no really
The opening ceremony has begun.
Athlete: …to compete fairly and uphold the ideals of good sportsmanship!
The roar of the crowd fills the air, as the participants put their hearts into competing.
Soon, it will be your turn.
You ready to do this!?
Root for me, Yuko.
Okay! Leave the cheering to me!
Oh, yeah… Here, take this, Makoto-kun.
If you use it, you won’t be tired anymore.
I’m pretty sure that’s both against the rules and actively illegal.
You can only get this if you ask Yuko to cheer for you. That makes this dialogue choice way more relevant and important than many in these kindsa scenes end up being.
Since this is your first big event, let me give you some advice.
Just give it everything you’ve got!
It takes guts to win!
Don’t give in to fear!
Kazushi has given you some advice.
Alright, dude!
Go for it!!
Whoa! Dude!
Your body feels light as a feather because you worked so hard during summer vacation.
One fade to blue later…
The competion has ended.
…and fade right back in.
You did great, dude!
Looks like all your hard work paid off.
They say Hayase annihilates his opponents.
I thought people were just exaggerating, but man, he’s insane!
We could sure use someone like him on our team…
Aghhhh!
Next time, we won’t lose!
Hey, isn’t that him?
Dude… you were good.
I’ve been practicing.
Yeah, I can tell.
Hey, I was thinking…
Sure, I don’t mind.
Cool.
You still need to work on your technique, but if you keep at it, you could be really great.
I think you might help push me to test my limits.
Stop by sometime if you feel like it.
My name’s Mamoru…
Nice to meet you.
You’ve met Mamoru Hayase, a rival from another school.
See ya around.
And with that, he leaves and… we don’t get a new Social Link…? Huh, that sure seemed like it was gonna be one.
Hmph!
If you see him again…
tell him this…
Next time, I’ll kick his ass!
Calm down, Kaz.
Good job today, Makoto-kun!
Let’s get outta here.
You decide to leave with your teammates.
It’s no big deal.
It’s quite impressive, considering you’ve also had the Shadows to contend with.
That’s great, Makoto-kun!
Not like SOMEONE I know, who doesn’t participate in any activities…
Blah, blah, blah… Here we go again…
Anyway, we have more important things to worry about…
It’ll be a full moon soon, right?
Yeah, next Thursday, the 6th.
Make sure you’re ready.
Personally, I’m feeling pretty ready as we are now. Time’s not quite so generous, though.
Let’s go to Tartarus, man!
Well, he does have a point there.
I don’t know how comfortable I am with a dog getting all the credit, either.
Alright, make sure you get me when you go to Tartarus.
We’re not going to Tartarus today. We’re not going to Tartarus tomorrow. We’re not going to Tartarus any day before the 6th.
So, to avoid any similar mistakes in the future…
I’m going to do visualization training so I can react to any situation.
I will do my best to support you all.
Ah yes, good ol’ Image Training. A classic anime staple that… makes no sense at all most of the time, really. It sorta does for Fuuka, at least.
…Dammit, not only did we miss the early day airing because of a dumb sports tournament we didn’t even win, we missed the 6pm re-airing as well!
Icarus and… Garuda…? Sure. Sure, okay. Tokusatsu gonna keep on doin’ what it does I guess.
But that’s next Sunday. This Sunday, we’re gonna mourn missing the show with a cool monk friend.
…Yep, shoulda seen that one coming. This is gonna be a bit of a trend with Mutatsu since by now the link really expects us to have a Tower person, but uh that’s still a few levels off.
We’re also not even all that close to Rank 5 academics if my terrible math skills are accurate.
Which they may very well not be.
But, hey, we’re in summer now and we finally have a genuinely free day!
Since this is a Monday, though, we can’t buy stuff off Tanaka. I’m sure he’s ever-so-distraught over this.
This is sure to increase as I progress.
A high level of endurance is crucial in battle.
You may have already heard of it: southern Miami, in the USA! Let’s see what they have to say!
Nothing else new inside the dorm. Ken’s shut himself in his room again, and Junpei is out somewhere.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Mamoru’s already hanging out opposite Bookworms. He’s gonna be here, basically, every day from now on. So, uh, we’ll just ignore him for the time being.
Let’s go to Tartarus and level up some, man!
Junpei’s hanging out at the mall, and is really jealous of Koromaru. He got to kill one Shadow and suddenly everyone seems threatened of him.
But, he’s not the only one of note here. Just because we’re not at school right now doesn’t mean sidestories are gonna stop existing.
Then what…? I don’t know why, but I get anxious when that happens.
Wait a sec… Am I obsessed with her, too…?
I was wondering what he’d do with his gum once he’s done… And he spat it into the fountain!
So disgusting… What is he thinking!?
That is incredibly gross! She was already questioning what good qualities this guy even has, and it sure seems to be a continuing trend.
So, uh, let’s just not deal with anything else and play video games.
Naturally, this is just a simple spend time event, again.
But next time we hang out with Maya, it’s gonna be a rank up event.
But, as with all Maya things, that steals the entire day so…
I don’t want to get heat exhaustion, so I’m gonna stay in here.
Yes, I am.
Well, there’s no need to worry. He’s doing fine.
You should return your focus to Shadows.
There’s really nothing to focus on re: Shadows right now.
As for stuff inside the dorm, both Junpei and Akihiko are out today. Junpei just repeats what he said yesterday, though, and Akihiko… is nowhere to be found.
But there is this. Which, uh, I completely forgot about because the game sure forgot to inform us about it as well. I’unno.
By which I totally definitely mean I didn’t forget at all and was definitely saving it for a day that’d be mostly empty. Yep. Definitely. :sweatdrop:
Silence
So this was recorded in the midst of finals just before Yakushima, huh…
I wonder if I should have gone for the one-piece suit instead…
These halter top bikinis look almost like underwear…
It feels weird to have my belly button exposed…
But there wasn’t much of a selection with the one-piece ones…
I wonder if I should ask Yukari-chan for one last opinion…
Although… I don’t really exercise, so I probably wouldn’t look very good standing next to her…
Oh, right! I have just the thing!
It said online it was very effective for its price, so if it helps even a little before we leave…
Now let’s see… How do I turn this on…?
I-It tickles! Hahahaha… What am I gonna do!? Hahaha! Ahahahahaha!
Oh… It’s Mitsuru-senpa–hahaha! I-I have to answer the door…!
Yes! I’m… I’m… heehee, coming!
Do… do you get it?
N-No, not at–hee-hee… No, not at all… hahahaha…!
Well, as far as wacky anime misunderstandings go… it could be worse?
Oh, Senpai…!
I-Is this… what it means… to train… your abs…?
Aaaah! Heeheeee! Someone help!
The recording ends here…
End
Well, moving ever-so-swiftly on from… that.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
I have to go to cram school… but I’m not going.
Will you play with me?
Sure.
I do appreciate that we have a bit of an excuse for why we can still hang out with Maiko, even though it’s really not needed.
And, yet again, it’s not even a scene. Boy did we hit a lull in things at the start of summer, huh?
Let’s kick some ass, man!
We couldn’t find Akihiko before, but he’s here now so let’s see what he has to say.
How’s your training going?
Good.
Well, keep it up. The Shadows are getting stronger.
Also, whoops, I forgot to check the TV earlier today apparently.
For extra luck, get yourself stuck in the train doors on purpose!
That, uh, doesn’t really sound like a good idea to me but what do I know.
Anyway, it’s Tuesday which means we get to see what Tanaka’s got to say. And it’s guaranteed to be, uh, something.
…do you notice anything different about me?
Like what?
…Are you blind!?
President Tanaka seems offended.
I had an appointment at the spa for facial peel… Isn’t my skin simply radiant now?
I’m afraid it’s all part of the job; I have my fans to think of…
Well, I was expecting Tanaka to be telling us about some mean shit he did. Not quite like that though! That’s just gross.
Let me give you an analogy…
President Tanaka seems to be thinking.
…Vegetables! Perfect!
Imagine an organically grown cucumber that looks deformed…
Compare that to a cucumber that looks perfect, but was grown using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Which one do you think the supermarket would stock?
The one that looks good.
That’s the simple truth…
President Tanaka seems to be thinking.
Awkward-shaped cucumbers are difficult to stack, so stores prefer nice straight ones.
So, why do consumers still buy these cucumbers when they know the truth?
Simple. People trust what they see. Appearance matters most.
That’s why, as much as I hate spending money, I buy expensive ties to win people’s trust…
About me dressing like a slob and not showering everyday…
Don’t tell ANYONE! I can’t afford to have people start believing I’m ordinary!
You sense that President Tanaka has strong feelings for you.
You feel like you understand him a little better now.
…Well, I guess I can trust you. Run along, now…
You said goodbye to President Tanaka.
I do kinda like that switch at the end there. It’s nice that it pretends that Tanaka’s gonna do his old schtick, but then spins it into “no Tanaka really is being nice.”
I’m, uh, sorta beginning to question what we’re gonna do at night when this is finished. I have a few ideas but we’ll see what happens when we get there.
Last day of respite before the Full Moon…
Let’s do our best.
This illustrates that we are society’s only hope.
This time, the pledge leader was a student from another winning school…
I feel like the implication here is meant to be that it’s Mamoru, but it really could be anyone.
Anyway, Akihiko and Junpei are out somewhere again. Akihiko can’t be found, like before, since he’s busy doing a train.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
It’s like we should have our own theme song, y’know? “Who you gonna call? Shadowbusters!”
Just leaves the question of what’re we gonna do for the day? Wednesday means we could spend the entire day boosting Academics for a +10 boost overall, but nah. We do not really have the time for that, so…
He said he can only come on Sundays, but I can’t come that day.
I want to play with him, too…
…But, today I’ll play with you!
…At least Mom and Dad didn’t forget about my birthday this year…
They remembered!
Nobody could forget you.
Course not!
…We haven’t really eaten together as a family for a while.
We used to eat dinner together every night…
How come Mom and Dad don’t get along anymore?
Maiko is absorbed in thought.
I know! I’ll just ask them why they wanted a divorce.
I’m going to do whatever it takes to get my parents back together!
You’ll do what you can to help, right?
Maiko seems to really like you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
So, maybe we can play again some other time.
You returned to the dorm after saying goodbye to Maiko.
Are you ready?
Yep.
Me too.
Let’s do our best!
We’ve been as ready as we’re gonna get for a while now, so…
Thanks.
Good luck on the next one as well. I’ll be counting on you.
This mission’s gonna be tough…
I’unno, they’ve all been fairly easy so far. I don’t imagine that’ll change any time soon.
But, of course, today IS Wednesday so…
…it’s not +10 Academics, but it is still +6. Not a very flashy last act before the Full Moon but eh.
Speaking of the full moon, though!
It is the next thing we have to contend with, so let’s see what folks can do. Yukari is still really lacking in offense, but is pretty solidish support. Definitely the best healer we have, if only because she has Media which no one else does, though.
Junpei is the same as before, which is pretty okay. He’s lagging a bit since he doesn’t have any fancy big equipment boosts to his Strength, and he sat out the previous Tartarus run, but he should be fine.
Akihiko’s still busy Akihiko-ing. He’s pretty okay at support, but his offense is really lacking right now. He’s not really behind Junpei in Strength, but his lack of variety there is his biggest problem.
Mitsuru is, well, Mitsuru. She’s very one-note but it is a competent one-note. Her Magic is only 1 behind Yukari, but she has mid-tier magic.
And, finally, Aigis is pretty much unchanged from before. That she hit level 30 is a nice bonus but it didn’t matter much.
Unlike before, we have all 3 slots available for whoever we want to bring.
So, the question is which three get to come along?
To be fair to the rest of the characters, I too saw Koromaru and realized he was the best.
I’m going with Yukari, Junpei and Mitsuru.
So, today we have a Full Moon to deal with. Alright, let’s get right to it!
You decide to stay home today and conserve your strength.
In The Shadow of A Warring Moon
Any luck, Yamagishi?
Yes, I’ve located it… and this time, it’s not just an ordinary one.
Now, that’s more like it.
But, there is one thing that’s strange… It seems like it’s underground… almost 10 meters.
It must be in some kind of basement…
According to my records, there is no structure in the area that matches those criteria.
The military?
…Is that true?
Well, the architectural and geographic data for the area were uploaded into her memory bank.
Then again, the information hasn’t been updated in a decade.
That is correct.
Uh, wouldn’t that be a good idea?
So, how should we interpret this?
There’s no way of knowing without actually going there…
The situation is still unclear at this time.
Therefore, we will wait until we arrive to determine who should be deployed.
Agreed.
Understood.
Then, let’s go.
It is, and it took long enough! But… someone’s missing.
Who are these guys!? Lucia didn’t sense a thing 'til now!
We’ve been keeping an eye on you…
From what we hear, you’ve undertaken a “righteous” battle to save the world.
You’ve gained new allies, yet this land still crawls with sin.
Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always…
But, why the hell would you wanna stop us!?
Simple…
…And we can’t let that happen, now can we?
Power…?
Don’t tell me you’re Persona-users as well!
Why don’t you use that pretty little head of yours for a change?
And the Dark Hour is a frontier that is ours alone to explore… just like the Tower of Demise…
THAT’s your reason!? …Are you crazy!?
There’s no telling what will happen if we don’t do something about the Shadows!
What difference does it make…?
No one can predict the future, anyway.
But, that is all beside the point…
Surely you will acknowledge the sense of significance the Dark Hour has given you.
You think I like this!?
Is it not so?
…Huh?
…
I don’t enjoy this one single bit.
You’ve each got your own reason for fighting.
And that makes you all hypocrites!
So I say, to hell with you!
On his way out, Jin kicks… a winch that’s just slightly offscreen.
Have fun in there.
We will be all right.
Rather then wasting our energy, I suggest we deal with the Shadow first.
You’re right. If we lose our cool, then they win.
Alright, let’s concentrate on our original goal. We can look for a way out after we’ve won.
Everyone, prepare for battle.
End
So, the military base-ish area is pretty simple. We’ve got our pseudo-hub here to gather our party…
And so this is who it’s gonna be this time around. The only thing we’re missing is someone (other than Makoto) who can debuff.
Also Fuuka can tell us something that’s kinda obvious, since every Full Moon fight has been pretty different already.
It’s moving slowly downward.
Chase after it!
The underground area is a very linear path, sure, which is sensible but we can see just enough to not make it a boring straight line.
Oh and there’s this, I guess.
I have worked until my fingers bled for the sake of our country, as well as my family’s future…
But still, our task has not been completed. It’s such a bitter pill to swallow.
Yet, even if the sky burns red, we shall not surrender…
It’s really the only thing of note in this room, so we’ll head further downwards.
This place seems to have been some kind of weapons depot.
I’ve never seen so many weapons before…
All designed to kill…
But, I guess that’s the reality of war…
It’s hard to believe that a time like that actually existed…
This area doesn’t even have the small side-areas, but it still has a bunch of, like, old weapons and literal junk.
Oh and a second note.
I hope that it will be of some use to our allies in the future. I shall lock it tightly.
I hope our comrades who aren’t here to celebrate this day are looking down and smiling at our achievement…
To my mother, my wife, and my children…
Forgive me for leaving this world so early, but this is for all of your futures…
The path leading further downward has few obvious quirks to it. The treadmarks are very obviou and clear, sure, but there’s also that the entrance is not a door but like something just smashed through the wall.
Chase after it!
The apparent first thought would be “oh the Shadow did that,” but the support beams make it clear that, nah, it’s a pretty old hole.
This path is even simpler, though, and has nothing else at all of note to it.
It’s waiting in the next area!
Be careful!
Now, THIS area also is clearly not really part of the military base, but it still has some man-made structures in it. Between those and the dead guy who’s been here for a very long time makes it pretty clear that this is something that was dug out about 10 years ago as well, and was just… unfinished because, well, everyone died somehow.
oh and there are regular shadows hanging out here
The Wild Drive here is the only one we’ve seen before, since they’re from the next part of Tartarus.
So, uh, if you need to level up for the boss fight they actually made it doable for once. Rather than being the stuff we’ve already fought, or outright easier, for the first time.
There’s only 2 on the screen at a time, so you’d need to run back and forth a bunch and it could get resource intensive so I didn’t bother.
That Which Comes From The Darkness
It happens a bit less than you’d think, but it’s always nice when there’s some build-up to the Shadow.
It’s using the tank as armor!
I dunno. Tanks don’t generally have four legs…
But, hey, at least it’s clever how the turret it is head and all. Fighting a Shadow that is a sentient tank in a military base is probably the most cohesive design of the Full Moon operations so far.
???. ??? ??? (Portable)
hey if you’ve been ignoring the portable videos watch it this time because its very different and ONLY doable in portable outside of grinding a fucking ton
Master of Shadow
Why am I sensing two entities…? It doesn’t make sense!
So, uh, that is definitely pretty weird. I’m sure it’ll be clarified in like a second phase of the fight or something.
Rather notable is that even Fuuka can’t tell us this thing’s level, name or even Arcana. That’s very, very new!
It doesn’t have too many tricks, unfortunately. It can Poison everyone, which at this point is more of a nuisance than a real threat.
Or it can, y’know, fire a giant fuckoff shell out of its turret.
It does a decent amount of damage, because Hard mode and all, but it’s way less than we’re used to seeing bosses do with basic attacks at this point. It can’t even one-shot Yukari and she’s made of paper.
Or it can use Kill Rush.
Which is either less damage than a normal attack or about 60 points of damage more. Not a lot, but enough to get a kill.
From our perspective, Getsu-ei is still a really good attack that’s marginally the highest damage we have right now. Y’know, outside of our own multi-hit attacks like Kill Rush or better. And, honestly, maybe even then. Boosted mid-tier magic comes fairly close to Getsu-ei, all things being equal, but it still slightly loses out. Not by enough to matter but the number is smaller…
It’s also worth noting that while the Shadow can be critted, you cannot get a One More since it’s immune to Knock Down.
Anyway, on its third turn the Mystery Shadow always uses the skill Separate.
It’s pretty clear what it does; the Meta Knight looking dude sticking out of the tank flies out, still holding the giant tank rifle.
And the tank itelf gets up on its hind legs and is ready to kick ass!
VII. Arcana Chariot; VIII. Arcana Justice
They seem to be coordinating their attacks, too. Please be careful!
Really, that this was Chariot and Justice was pretty clear from Fuuka’s initial summation. That she said Justice first made it obvious (since the next numerically IS Chariot…) and then, there was two Shadows in one thing…
As the Fool matures into an adult, he begins to understand himself and forms a truly strong sense of identity. His mastery over the self is his first “victory”: his inner control grants him a strong willpower and an assertive nature.
The Arcana Chariot shadow continues the trend of being symbolic of the Reversed Chariot. As a form of strength and victory, it’s overly literal as it is a Type 3 Chi-Nu tank that was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War 2. It was, uh, actually never used in combat because it was designed to be used as a defensive measure if Japan was invaded by any of the Allied Nations. Combine this with how tanks are, by their very nature, inflexible and can only approach a situation one way and the Arcana Chariot is a pretty simple step on the journey, all things considered.
Oh and it continues this further in combat by, well, not really being all that strong and mostly throwing ailments at you.
It’s only the annoying ones as well, since it likes to use Poison, Panic and Fear but doesn’t really do anything with that.
It CAN use Torrent Shot to hit someone with Pierce damage but that’s its best play.
Having achieved a victory, and thus mastery, of the self, the Fool continues onwards to a new world. As he crosses from the old to the new, the Fool must replace the laws he used to know and live by with those that he will now be living with. From the internal, to the external…
The Arcana Justice is, unlike the Justice Arcana, not going to be meaningful towards a large change with the pattern of the Shadows. It’s a pretty simple reversal of the Justice arcana as per usual; rather than representing reason and logic in the face of conflict it has a rather simple approach. One that involves using a tank’s cannon to murder people. On top of that, the unified form of the two involves Justice driving around the Chariot; at first that’s just “oh, the Chariot is a chariot haha,” but it’s pretty simply not a just action. Instead, it’s a show of force and control.
Also, uh, Justice is by far the most dangerous one here. Makes a good reason to blitz the fuck outta it ASAP. Torrent Shot hits 2-3 times on a single target…
Or it can use Myriad Arrows. Which is, well, very simple.
It is Swift Strike, but Pierce elemental. And stronger.
Or he can decide to just go “pfft nah fuck you” and hit someone with Hama.
And if you stupidly let one have a turn when it’s alone, they cast Samarecarm. Which, y’know, brings back the other one back with full 1500 HP. That’s so fucking mean and spiteful, it’s kinda great. Briefly.
Anyway, on the 3rd turn of them being split apart, they use both their turns simultaneously to Unite back into one being.
Not much of a big deal, since rather nicely… you cannot end the fight with them merged. Removing the combined form’s 1500HP auto-splits them back in two.
At which point they have 1HP each. Both Chariot and Justice have 1500HP, and their remaining HP gets averaged for the united form whereas when it splits its remaining HP is given to both Chariot and Justice. Since it usually first splits around the 750HP mark, both Chariot and Justice will have ~750HP.
5001 EXP is such a specific number. I’m pretty sure letting one get rezzed a bunch does not increase it, otherwise I would… still not bother because chain killing it would be tedious as fuck. So, I could be wrong on account of having never done that for sensible reasons.
Well, we have our last stock upgrade at last from this. Can’t really complain about that one.
Meanwhile, back at the dorm, Ikutsuki’s just kinda been sat around waiting for us to get back I guess. See, he’s way better at sitting here than Natsuki was.
Good work. You may return.
Wait. There’s more…
It’s pretty obvious that Mitsuru’s referring to Takaya here. He sure does seem like the leader of that friendly little trio.
…And he wasn’t alone.
They appeared quietly during the Dark Hour and seemed to be aware of our activities.
Hmm…
Did they say anything that might give us a clue?
Come to think of it…
Strega…?
…
Thank you.
I have one final thing to report…
Ah, I see.
Since the threat has been eliminated, I’ll send someone over as soon as I can.
I’m sorry… We’ll be waiting.
…
Silence
It seems like the trust between you all has grown…
You learned a new tactic!
I have, uh, genuinely never used this before. It seems really pointless and redundant when you can focus folks on a one target if you really want, or just use Full Assault for convenience. It might have some niche use somewhere but it really seems like a downgrade to me. I’unno. :shrug:
They seem to be Persona-users, as well.
…
In any case, you succeeded in defeating the Shadow this month, too.
You expect that there will be fewer vicitms for a while.
You are exhausted, so you’re eager to get some rest…
End
Well, hey, summer vacation! Let’s see, what are we gonna do now that the Shadow of the month has already been dealt with…
This is, uh, the first time we’ve been Tired as a result of the full moon but not needed it for anything. Welp, that’s potentially inconvenient. For like a day, but still.
Huh, ths is different. Almost everyone is hanging out right upstairs.
Since Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai are not here, let’s not go to Tartarus today.
Fuuka, it uh… it’s like noon? Maybe? We’re obviously not going to go to Tartarus.
That’s basically what those Strega people were saying, right?
But, last night was even worse, since we ran into those Strega guys.
Man, they really piss me off.
However, the members of Strega also appear to be our enemies.
So, please be careful.
Ken’s the only one in the dorm who’s hanging out downstairs right now.
Isn’t that odd?
How could they all get better at exactly the same time?
…
It’s probably a bit odd, but it’d be odder if it wasn’t the fifth time it’d happened by now. This is a monthly thing, but somehow no one’s noticed the clear pattern yet…?
At the time, many people wrote wishes for them to recover… And as of today, the number of Apathy Syndrome victims has been decreasing. It looks like the wishes came true, however belatedly.
Before I forget, we’ll take a look at what Kurosawa has for sale. The equipment is mostly stuff we could find in Tartarus, and he doesn’t sell any weaponry for Aigis (in Portable he does though!) but he does now sell…
Swimsuits. For 300k each. They do have the highest defense available but, uh, they are swimsuits. They change models in Tartarus as you’d expect. The Sundress is for Aigis, of course, and is the only armour available for her.
They’re absurdly expensive, and they’re really not worth 300,000 a piece.
We’ve got new requests for Elizabeth already, which is nice. There’s not overly many of them either, which is pretty convenient.
First, we’ll make an Oumitsunu since we’re level 30 now. He even gets to level 34 which is more than what Elizabeth wanted, so that’s one from before done already.
It’s an impressive Persona… You have done well.
I have an interesting reward for you…
If you’re strong enough to control this Persona, then please give it a try.
Please accept your reward.
Nata Taishi’s level 37 and pretty okay. We might use one at some point in the future, since he has some nice skills. Would be more likely to use on in vanilla though, since there he learns Gigantic Fist but that’s not the case here.
Next up in the quest line is a Black Frost. He’s level 34 so we can’t do it yet, but notably this one has no other requirements. That’s because even if we WERE level 34+ right now, we couldn’t make Black Frost. It’s literally impossible; we need something that we don’t have yet.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
We’re gonna step out for just a minute and head to this shady backalley again. Our cat friend is still hanging out here and has gotten pretty chubby!
But we’re here for Que Sera Sera instead.
Young Man: I bet this’ll be popular!
Bartender: …Hey, aren’t you still in high school? You’re not s’posed to be here. …Hm? You look like you’ve been around the block a time or two…
Bartender: …It’s my own little concoction. I’m hoping to expand our clientele.
Bartender: So, whaddya think? Good, huh?
Not bad.
Bartender: Right? I knew you’d like it. Tell ya what… I’ll give ya a bottle of it, on the house. I’m gonna go home and catch some Z’s. Come back when you’re legal, and I’ll let you try the good stuff!
Well, we just got a bottle of alcohol free booze. Purely because its name is Elizabeth. Yes, really.
“Queen Elizabeth”… I suppose it does share the name “Elizabeth”…
But, if they were going to make this type of drink, I wish they would have consulted me first. …Oh, well.
It’s non-alchoholic, isn’t it? I’ll try it later.
Please accept your reward.
The Aroundight is a one-handed sword that’ll be a nice upgrade for Mitsuru, probably.
I’m just sorta guessing here, since it’s a decent upgrade in power AND it gives a bonus 30SP.
Unlike last time, this doesn’t open up any new requests so we’ll do the inevitable and see what antics Elizabeth can get up to at the shrine.
Now that I’m actually here, I sense mysterious presences… But they are markedly different than Shadows.
Oddly, she doesn’t comment on the Shiisaa statues. You’d think she would, really.
The innumerable coins Elizabeth is pouring in are shaking the offertory box.
…I have finally finished presenting my offering.
Though I usually do not reside in this world… I wonder if I, too, may receive “divine grace.”
I wonder… This system of monetary offerings is very similar to that of the wishing fountain.
There are many places in your world for supplicants to request good fortune…
You live in a wondrous place…
I’ve heard of this game, where people entrust their destiny to a slip of paper, and exult in the risk…
I see… There are many possible destinies written on them.
Well then… I’d like to experiment with this for myself.
Please wait here while I work on obtaining all of them.
A-All of them?! But a single one takes up the entire day and it’s RNG and…
You decided to wait until Elizabeth is satisfied…
It’s probably for the best that no one else is here right now, otherwise at this point Elizabeth would look positively weird.
Er, moreso than normal I mean.
The inner self is exposed to any true god… Their magnanimity of spirit excuses all…!
And that being the case…
Intriguing…
One must first claw one’s way to the top before relaxing in luxury…
Try something else.
That was a lot of fun.
I’d definitely like for you to continue the lessons, and teach me to play with the other equipment.
Our next goal, I think, should be the proper use of this jungle gym over here.
Fade to blue, and… uhh…
How did you get in…?
You had fun with Elizabeth.
…
To be honest, I’ve wondered lately…
Is this world enjoyable to me simply because of the novelty of the stimuli it presents…?
It could also be that I…
In any event… I believe I’ll open negotiations With my master to bring a horizontal bar into our room.
I’d like to accompany you again sometime, if you wouldn’t mind.
You headed back to the Velvet Room with Elizabeth.
End
I must say that the harmony between religion and recreation was indeed superb.
I am currently in negotiations with my master about introducing a set of horizontal bars here.
If I should win his favor, please stop by to make use of them.
Ah yes, and for a reward… i have something very special for you.
He comes in the form of a beast, yet possesses knowledge beyond that of any human…
Try him out and see for yourself the wisdom it may grant you.
…I’d like it if I could walk with you again in your world someday.
Please accept your reward.
Thoth is, uh, level 41 so that’s a long, LONG way off so far. He has some really nice skills that we’ll want, for sure, even if he’s not all that great by that point.
But, hey, with that, we’ve now finished all the requests that don’t involve Tartarus. Again. Hurray…?
Yes, really. It’s that quick and easy this time around.
So, we’ll just head back to the shrine and talk to Maiko.
M-My dad, he–
…Waaaaaaaaaaah! sob
You wait for Maiko to calm down.
I don’t know what to do…
That’s terrible.
I know it is! Why would Dad do that? …Why?
All I did was say I wanted to know the real reason they were getting a divorce.
…They told me I was too young to even understand it.
So I kept asking, but then Dad got angry and… and he…
Wow. Wooow, that’s insanely not cool and why would you even blame a 7 year old for that. What the hell, lady.
I’m not sure they love me anymore…
I bet they wouldn’t care if I wasn’t even here at all!
That isn’t true.
Are you… sure? But then, why are they so mad?
What if I ran away from home…?
I want to find out… how they really feel about me.
If they love me, then they’d try to look for me, right?
I think maybe, just maybe, Makoto should be responsible for once and, I dunno, not do that?
I know you won’t tell.
Maiko seems to trust you a lot.
Your relationship is stronger now!
You went back to the dorm after parting with Maiko.
We’re not gonna bother going back to the dorm, though. There’s nothing new there, since we already saw everything there earlier in the day. It hasn’t changed since, for once.
So we’ll just skip right to hanging out with Mutatsu at the nightclub.
I’m feelin’ down today, kid. So listen to what this old monk has to say, will ya?
…Those folks downstairs, they’re probably around your age, eh?
It looks like they’re havin’ fun drinkin’ and dancin’, don’t it?
But, if you look closely, their eyes say otherwise.
I bet they come here to relieve stress. But, I wonder if anyone of 'em are actually enjoying themselves…
Stress won’t go away unless you take care of its source. …You can forget about it, but it’ll always come back.
This place is more like a refuge for me than a club.
If those kids really wanna relax, we should switch the music to the Heart Sutra, and…
…Hey! There’s a microphone over there. Bring it over, kid! I’ll perform a live sutra reading.
I don’t think you should.
…Don’t underestimate me, kid. My reading of the Heart Sutra will change your life!
But, I guess you’re right. This place is too small to recite it properly.
I have a son… He’s about the same age as those kids down there.
He’ll be 21 this year… if he’s still alive, that is.
Perhaps because he was thinking about his son…
You understand Mutatsu better now.
Well, it’s not like I’ve got high hopes for the future anyways…
All things are unique, yet not singular.
…Oh, sorry, kid. I’m done talkin’.
Go home before it gets too late, alright? …I’ll see you later.
You decided to go back to the dorm.
Since we’re Tired thanks to the Chariot and Justice stuff last night, and the bathroom didn’t clear it unfortunately, we’ll just be going to sleep early tonight.
Well, we TRIED to sleep anyway…
The end won’t be brought about by anyone in particular…
It’s coming because there are many people who wish for it… as if it was destined from the start.
But, doesn’t that seem like a strange thing to wish for?
No one wants that.
Are you certain?
Well, enough about that for now.
There’s something else I wanted to tell you today…
Soon, the poisonous flowers will bloom…
I don’t know whether or not this has anything to do with the end, but you should be careful.
I’ll come again if I find out anything useful.
That’s what friends are for, right?
Y’know, I think I’m seeing a bit of a pattern with Pharos. He went from Rank 1 to Rank 3 and now to Rank 5, skipping over 2 and 4…
At least even with Pharos’ interruption, we’re no longer Tired. This’ll be useful, I’m sure.
Oh and we can go higher in Tartarus as of today. It’s something we’ll do later, since we have plenty of time for that.
Silence
But we have something else that happens, first thing in the morning.
I’m sorry to bother you while you’re resting, but can I have a word With you?
Just a minute.
That’s okay. Just listen through the door.
That’s it. Well, see you later.
It seems Mitsuru has left.
Now we can just do our usual rounds and talk to everyone before we do… something or other.
It seems that their goal and our goal have intersected.
But, next time they get in our way, I’m going to beat them down.
That’s all there is to it.
I just don’t think we should have to study during summer vacation.
I’m sorry, Yukari. That’s unfortunate that you’ve gotta deal with that. We kinda did pretty alright so we’re safe.
They must be very powerful to be able to slip through her “net.”
Who are they…?
…Why would you think that we’re the only ones? The entire time from the very beginning, we’ve been gaining new members because we found new people who can use Personae. This is a recurring trend. We even learned there is A DOG who can use one a few days ago!
We don’t know much about them, but…
…we do know that they are definitely our enemies.
And they’re filled with malice and hostility.
Southbound traffic will be packed until the 15th, while northbound traffic will be congested from the 20th to the 21st.
Since we’ve already cleared out everything for Elizabeth that we could, we’ll just head on over to, uh…
Maiko, of course. We don’t really have much in the way of options, right now, for obvious reasons.
I can’t handle it anymore!
Mom and Dad just keep fighting…
I yelled at them to please stop fighting so much.
…But they just told me to leave them alone.
…
So I made up my mind! I have to run away from home!
Calm down.
…You’re right. This is no time to be selfish.
…But I made up my mind, and I’m going to run away!
I’d better start packing soon…
So… What do you think I need to pack if I’m running away from home?
You don’t need that stuff.
Really? Wow! Running away is easier than I thought!
Now… I just have to decide when I can sneak out.
Maiko is deep in thought.
Either way, I’m going to try!
Don’t worry, I’m going to be just fine, okay?
Maiko seems to enjoy your company.
Your relationship is stronger now!
This is gonna be great!
It takes a lot of hard work to get ready to run away…
You walked Maiko home and returned to the dorm.
Hey, uh, maybe Makoto could like do that more? It’d be a good idea…
The Good, The Bad and the Doggy
I dunno. But, the alarm’s not ringin’…
Koro-chan!?
Are you okay!?
…Where’d you get this collar?
Wait… Does that mean he’ll be going into battle?
It was a surprise for me as well. But according to the tests, it’s quite possible.
In fact, it was the Chairman’s suggestion. …We’ll be looking after him here in the dorm.
Is that okay with you, Koro-chan?
Woof!
Man, you’re one loyal dog.
Woof!!
Hey, make yourself at home…
The more the merrier, right? Who cares if you’re a dog?
Alright, I’ll take him for a walk. It’s summer break after all!
Yes, it is.
…E-Excuse me…???
I’ll see to it that you graduate.
H-Hey… Good one, Senpai. You almost had me there.
Oh, it’s no joke.
Notably, she says “all of us” which includes herself. So this is thoroughly unrelated to the threat from before about poor grades. So, this ISN’T Junpei’s fault!
I know how difficult its’s been balancing school and our late night excursions.
You haven’t had much time to study. I apologize for that.
That’s why the Chairman agrees that this is a good idea. …I thought I told Takeba and Yamagishi.
So, yeah, this is what Yukari was on about earlier.
Are you serious!? This is the first I’ve heard of it!
Um, sorry… I forgot to mention it.
Hey, with your grades, you should be thanking her!
Yeah, right.
Sigh This sucks.
Don’t you think?
Totally.
W-Well, it’s only for a few weeks, so let’s make the most of it…
W… Weeks?!
End
Okay, so, we don’t have the best Academics, sure… but we still study basically every night.
Use this time to increase your Academics.
As we do. Virtually every night.
Are we going to buy dog food, or cook homemade meals for him?
The Pharmacy sells cat food, so it probably sells dog food too. I haven’t seen any in there, sure, but I haven’t really gone there to buy anything either.
No matter how strong you are, if you don’t study your opponent, you can’t win.
It’s the same with school… If you don’t study, you can’t pass your test.
We’ve passed twice. Notably, we’ve gotten increasingly better results!
Why, there are rescue dogs, seeing eye dogs, narcotic detection dogs…
Let’s put our trust in Koromaru.
I cat believe he didn’t make a dog pun.
…Wait shit hang on–
Koromaru seems satisfied.
Maybe you should take him for a walk tomorrow…
Now there’s an idea! Junpei presumably has done that today, like he said he would, after all.
He is close to his enemy when he attacks, so he is very accurate.
On the other hand, he does not inflict a great deal of damage.
That completes the analysis of Koromaru-san’s battle style.
Since Koromaru uses daggers/knives that he holds in his mouth, the Bone that we can get from Liz (remember that?) is clearly his joke weapon.
Don’t you agree?
Yeah.
sigh I feel like I’m gonna become one of The Lost…
It’ll be a lot of fun having him around.
Oddly, Ken doesn’t think its weird that Koromaru has a shock collar, little wings, is wearing a t-shirt or has a red armband on it that says SEES. Aren’t we supposed to be keeping this kinda stuff a secret? Remember when that was a thing?
Anyway, hey look, it’s a Saturday so its a double Academics night.
We’re still not rank 5 but we are very, very close now. At this rate, we should be able to get it in a couple of days or so.
Well, we’ve got a day to do a whole bunch of stuff before we have to do bonus extra more studying. Thanks, Mitsuru.
Hey, Tanaka’s selling a spear! Buying that for sure. Much like the Bus Stop axe, this is something only Makoto can use. Unlike the Bus Stop Sign, this is a spear.
Spears are my personal preferred weapon type to use. I’m sure anyone who’s played the game before saw that one coming, honestly.
Its name is Cerberus.
It is proficient in fire and darkness skills… Very fitting for the guardian of Hades.
I’m also sure that no one at all is surprised that Koromaru’s persona is Cerberus. It’s a very obvious choice, honestly, and it couldn’t be Orthrus (the other obvious choice) since we have him in our stock already.
Also, note that according to Aigis he has Fire skills. Hmm… I’m sure there’s totally definitely not going to be an overlap problem here.
…And now, the news.
This is 100% a coincidence, but it’d be funny if the tokusatsu show was dealing with a Shadow in the sense we’ve grown used to by now. It’s obviously just an actual shadow but hey.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Yukari’s hanging out at the mall, where Junpei usually is huh? She’s got the right idea for sure, though.
My brain, on the other hand, is all junky and dirty, and it feels bad.
Stupid summer school… I can’t believe this…
Junpei’s just sitting around outside the… flower shop? We’ve seen him here like once before, so it’s not completely unexpected but it’s still unusual.
This is where we’d skip to whoever we’d be spending time with (usually Maya because Sunday), but first we have something else to do.
Since that Striped Shirt fella is just sat around the shrine. He’s only here on Sunday, like he told us before.
Your soul must be burning brightly.
He’s been here a bit of a while, but we’ve never had the chance to come here since we got Academics 4 which is what we need.
The me that I see reflected in your eyes and the real me–if there is such a thing… How far apart are they?
Almost zero.
Hmm… That works.
The thin young man seems happy for some reason.
I have a fountain pen… It uses red ink–blood red.
My pen is my supporter, my spokesman, and my friend. However, it seems to have disappeared…
Without it, my screams are silenced.
Apparently, the young man’s fountain pen is missing.
So, yeah, despite requiring an Academics that’s at least rank 4 that just lets us run into a wall. Thanks, Striped Shirt.
But, white fur and red eyes sounds kinda… familiar…
We’ll worry about that later. First we have this guy to finally talk to, I guess.
Let’s go eat.
Sure.
Let’s see who can eat faster… The loser has to run a hundred laps around the city! Ready?
Mamoru is full of confidence…
You accept his challenge!
Much like the guy at the shrine, we need rank 4 to deal with Mamoru. Unlike that one, we’ve had Courge 4 for like what feels like basically forever.
Mamoru is eating takoyaki at an extremely fast pace.
This seems like a good opportunity for an eating competition.
What is your eating strategy?
It literally doesn’t matter, but sure whatever. Let’s just get this over and done with.
Th-That’s the lightning swallow technique! Daunting, but quick!
gulp gulp Yum! gulp
Mamoru began to forego chewing as well!
Whew… Looks like a tie.
I’m impressed, Makoto! Not many people can match my speed.
I thought I could win.
Uh-huh. Sure, you weren’t Mamoru.
Mamoru seems impressed.
You had a lot of guts challenging me at takoyaki, though… I’m impressed.
You have a lot of potential.
Mamoru recognized your potential.
Star Athlete Mamoru Hayase has become an acquaintance.
A mysterious voice rings in your head…
As promised, I’m going to start my laps around the city. You can do whatever you think is best.
Fortunately, the dumb deal was “the loser” specifically and not “the person who doesn’t win.”
You put up a good fight today! See you around.
You decided to go back to the dorm.
It’s about his exercise…
Could you take him out for a walk at night, if he seems to need one?
I think we can definitely manage that, yes.
There will be nothing I can do to help you.
So, study hard and do your best in summer school.
It sure is a good thing the only person (here) who’s grades are higher than ours is Mitsuru, huh…
After we defeat the rest of the Shadows, we’ll become ordinary high school students again…
And it we fall behind in our studies now, we’ll be in big trouble later.
Considering the pattern has been “all of them except Magician and Priestess come in pairs,” it seems pretty likely that we’ve just got two months left…
Damn right…
I’m jealous of Koromaru, since he doesn’t have to do any studying.
All I have to do is become a dog! Then, I won’t have to go to summer school either!
Woof! Woof!
pant pant
Koro-chan is trying to say something…
I bet he’s complimenting me for being so smart.
I bet he’s laughing at you, saying how stupid you are… Stupei!
Oh. That’s right!
Not Junpei’s terrible idea, but Koromaru’s right here and he’s an albino shiba inu and he has red eyes!
You spot something under Koromaru’s paw…
Arf! Arf!
Well, we know exactly what we’re gonna do with that. Probably gonna be next Sunday, though.
For the rest of tonight, we’ll just go spend time with Mutatsu while being all too aware that the first Tower persona is level 31.
Every. Night. Mitsuru.
Goddammit.
Fortunately, there IS something else we can do after being forced to waste time on something less effective than our current method of studying.
Namely, there’s a requisite Festival event that we can participate in. Technically this is optional, but we will be attending it anyway.
Some people are gonna give us a call to ask if we wanna attend with them, naturally.
Quite notably, it’s just all the girls from school that we have S.Links with.
We can go with any one of them, or…
We could just turn down everyone and go on our own, like a weirdo loner.
They’re all valid options. Even Chihiro. It doesn’t affect anything too majorly at this point, so there’s no downside to picking whichever of the five options you want.
Remember, we are going to go no matter what. It’s just a question of…
Who with?
I’d be nice if you could actually, like, help Maiko. At all. The silent protagonist treatment isn’t good for this kinda situation.
I’m voting for Yuko. Always stick with the Kendo pals.
Well, we all know what’s coming on up ahead this week. And apparently more…?
Summer school, everyone’s favourite thing I am sure.
So, this is a dumb thing that I dislike. We get +2 Academics like if it was a normal class, or studying at night or whatever.
And it uses the entire day, including our Evening, like it was a Hermit scene or an exam. We get +2 Academics a day. That’s +12 in a week, which doesn’t sound so bad (that’s 1/5th of an Academics rank…)… except we can get +12 in two days, since we get +2 from Studying and +4 from the Arcade. And then we get an extra +2 from every day we don’t Hermit or Tartarus or are too tired/sick. So, we always get more than +12 a week.
point is its dumb but hey at least edogawa is here to make it… longer… fuck
You must all be very curious students to be taking this course over the summer.
…I’m not really sure what to make of that. Eeeheehee…
Well, let’s talk about something interesting today.
All you future magicians will want to pay close attention… Eeeheehee…
Originating in 15th century Europe as normal playing cards, tarot cards evolved into tools of divination.
A variety of different versions of tarot card decks exist, including the Marseille and Rider decks…
The Tarot de Marseille is the original version of the Tarot deck and the most well-known overall. The Rider-Waite deck is the most well-known among English speakers, and has a slightly different order to the Tarot de Marseille. Notably the Rider-Waite deck uses the order the Persona games use, since it has Justice as card number VIII and Strength as XI, when the Tarot de Marseille has them the other way around.
The Thoth deck is… quite different in a few ways. It renames some cards, draws from very different ideas and so massively changes the meaning of a couple cards.
First, let’s talk about the composition of the deck…
The modern 78-card tarot deck is divided into two parts.
There are 22 Major Arcana–the face cards–and 56 Minor Arcana, or number cards…
The Minor Arcana are also sometimes called pips.
The Major Arcana feature a variety of illustrations on their faces.
And, right away, Edogawa reveals that he doesn’t know the Thoth tarot deck at all. The final Major Arcana in Crowley’s deck was The Universe, and not The World.
So, since Edogawa’s going to run through a rudimentary explanation of the Marseille/Rider-Waite tarot, it’s worth just taking a moment to reflect on just how very… very on the nose this scene is gonna be.
Each Major Arcana represents a stage on that journey…
an experience that the individual must incorporate to realize his oneness.
They are all important, so let’s take a look at each of the 22 cards, one by one.
The next card, The Magician, represents action and initiative… but also immaturity.
Thoth deck renames the Magician to the Magus. It’s a minor change, but it’s worth caring about anyway.
The Priestess represents contemplation and inner knowledge.
Notably, The Priestess IS the name from the Thoth deck. Marseille uses The Popess and Rider-Waite use The High Priestess instead.
The Empress represents motherhood and the life it brings forth.
The Emperor is an opposing card. It represents fathering and relates to leadership and decision-making skills.
The Hierophant represents formality and knowledge, and stands for religion.
Marseille uses The Pope.
The Lovers card represents choice. Here, the individual’s consciousness has finally surfaced.
The Chariot represents victory for the individual, but only a momentary one.
Justice represents the knowledge of what is right, and what is wrong.
As mentioned before, Justice is only here in Rider-Waite and later in Marseille. Justice doesn’t exist at all in Thoth, instead being replaced by Adjustment. Adjustment represents balance and conscious results from action, and the wisdom that comes as a result.
The Hermit represents the individual’s search for answers by looking inward, deep inside his heart.
Fortune represents fate, and the opportunities that come with it.
Rider-Waite and Marseille call it Wheel of Fortune instead of “just” Fortune, but that’s all.
Strength represents both passion and self-control. It is depicted as power with reason.
Strength is replaced in Thoth by, uh, Lust. In part it represents power, sure, but it’s also vitality and energy. Enjoyment from life when passion is applied.
The Hanged Man reflects the individual’s inability to take action.
Death is considered a transitional card…
The old ends, and the new begins.
Now, let us continue along the path, following the transition.
Temperance is the balancing of opposites. Opening his eyes to the world allows the individual to grow…
Temperance doesn’t exist in Thoth either, since its been semi-replaced by Adjustment already. XIV in the Thoth deck is instead Art, which is… completely different. It’s alchemy, and mathematics. The ability to combine and solve; to take something and turn it into something precious.
And as the Devil represents, he then faces temptation…
At The Tower, his values collapse on him. It seems as if he no longer has anything to believe in, but…
…he then finds a glimmer of hope, represented by The Star; and he is suffused with a serene calm.
Fears arise, and he follows the dim path in his heart with trepidation…
But he is rewarded with a bright future, represented by The Sun, which signifies true achievement.
Judgement awaits the individual at the end of his journey, as he looks back on the path he has traveled.
Judgement is replaced by something else in the Thoth deck, but we’ll cover that one later. It’s, uh, special.
It also grants the ability to stop time!
That is the growth of an individual as explained by the tarot cards.
…Perhaps all this talk about life doesn’t hit home with you young folks just yet, hm? Eeeheehee…
Now, you can use all 78 cards to divine the future in detail…
but most people only use the 22 Major Arcana.
Okay. Next, let’s talk about how to tell fortunes using the Major Arcana.
First, you will need to shuffle the cards. If a card is reversed, its meaning will change, so it’s important…
The class continues…
Despite the heat, the lecture continues…
Well, that was an actual scene which is at least vaguely different.
Wednesday and Thursday are just “Academics up” with nothing else to it. Notably, we’d be rank 5 by now if we weren’t forced to do this and nothing else. But we were, so we aren’t.
Thanks, Mitsuru!
How are you all handling the heat? …I could brew you some of my special tea if you’d like. Eeeheehee…
Now, let’s continue with our special summer study–The Truth Behind Magic.
Most of Edogawa’s lessons are pretty, uh, memorable but I straight up forgot this one even existed. I really don’t know how.
I assume all of you have at least heard of Kabbalah, yes?
It is known as the mystical study of the Hebrew scriptures, but…
as I have mentioned before, it has had a great impact on western sorcery.
It has been said that to learn the secrets of magic, first you must truly understand Kabbalah.
So, who was the person who formed this incredible ideology known as Kabbalah?
Well, according to legend, it was Moses.
But in reality, it was formulated by a group of rabbis long, long ago.
Edogawa with the subtle slam of all of Judaism there, jeez.
However, because it consists of such a complicated coded system…
Kabbalah did not become known to the western world until much later.
Now, it is important to note that there are many different ancient methods of deciphering Kabbalah.
For example, there is “Gematria,” the interpretatioin of text by replacing letters with the numbers they represent.
There is “Notarikon,” where you take a letter from each word to form another sentence or thought.
There is also “Temurah,” a method where letters of words are replaced, thereby giving the sentence a new meaning.
All these different methods make it difficult to fully comprehend Kabbalah.
Most illustrations depict it as a chart shaped like a tree.
Once famous depiction makes it an anime prettyboy with long-silver hair and a sword bigger than Robert Wadlow.
The 10 stages represented by the Sefirot…
and the 22 paths connecting them represent the stages of Creation God formed from his own self,
as well as the direction in which humanity should evolve.
Where did we come from? Where are we going? These answers lie in the Sefirot.
When training your magic, it’s important to picture the Sefirot every so often.
And when you are meditating, you should focus on the Sefirot as well.
So, if you’re looking for inspiration, try your hand at the Sefirot. Eeeheehee…
By the way, did you all notice that I said there were 22 paths?
Yes, that’s right. The same number as the Major Arcana I spoke about earlier. Eeeheehee…
Now, continuing on, according to the Sefirot, the world is broken up into four stages…
The class continues…
Oh, before I forget…
I’m thinking of doing demonstrations using Tarot cards.
But I won’t have time for that during the lecture… If you’re interested, stop by after school.
Everyone is welcome. Eeeheehee…
I’ve never really bothered with this either. We’ll definitely take a look at 'em later on.
And as an added bonus, we get to rank 5 Academics today. That’s how I know we should’ve gotten it on Wednesday!
And despite Fuuka saying this would be “weeks”, it’s just the one week actually.
And we get Saturday to do whatever the hell we want with. Hurray!
Definitely.
Really? Well, I probably won’t go.
I’m in a bit of a financial crisis. Plus, I don’t have anyone to go with.
Sadly, we don’t get the Persona 5 option to hang out with Ryuji Junpei instead of anyone else.
I am looking forward to wearing the special item of clothing called a yukata.
This will be a new experience for me.
Where do they get the energy?
I’m so tired… I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight…
But, don’t worry. We’ll be able to go soon.
“Soon” is a relative term. We won’t be bothering with Tartarus juuuuust yet, naturally.
The man riding on the portable shrine was knocked off. He was uninjured, but three of the shrine bearers underneath him were hospitalized. The inebriated man said “If you’re pissed off, try being the one on top.”
I don’t… understand…?
Anyway, Koromaru has a special mechanic that we were sorta told about before!
He seems to want to go for a walk…
Aigis can go with you tonight.
We can walk Koromaru at night, sometimes! We don’t even have to go alone, necessarily.
There are reasons to go alone sometimes, but when the option is there to go with someone else… why wouldn’t you do that instead?
He’s able to go on his walks, and come here with his friends…
For what reason is it required to clothe oneself in a “yukata”…?
I would like to infiltrate the site tomorrow to investigate this matter further.
Aigis smiling looks very… unnatural and creepy. I’m pretty sure that’s intentional, at least.
Shall we return to the dorm? Let us come again, Koromaru-san.
Needless to say, provided it doesn’t clash with my schedule for stuff we’ll be walking Koromaru a fair bit. Because hell yeah, good dog, best friend.
While I could genuinely keep count of our points to rank 6 (since we hit rank 5 exact and all), there’s uh really no point to that.
So, like Junpei said, there’s some festival thingy today.
Hey, did you know that the Summer Festival is being held at the Naganaki Shrine?
Wanna go with me?
Sure.
Really!? Great!
You have decided to go to the Summer Festival with Yukari.
The shrine is filled with people eating food and playing games.
I didn’t know they make ones like that.
I should have looked harder…
You look good already.
Wh-Wha–!?
…Why, thank you.
I didn’t expect you to say that, so I bit my tongue.
Yukatas are pretty skimpy, if you ask me.
They’re nice in warm weather, but they don’t offer much protection, and they take some getting used to.
…I guess women in the old days were just tougher.
Oh, wait, that stand right there…!
Mmm, smells sooo good…
…I guess it is dinner time, huh?
That explains why I’m so hungry.
…I don’t think I can finish it by myself, so will you help me?
Umm… Can I have extra seaweed and shaved bonito? And easy on the mayo!
Takoyaki Vendor: It’ll be ready in just a sec! … …Here ya go.
Thanks!
Yukari seems excited.
giggle
Apparently, Yukari… doesn’t mind… that? Well, that’s weird and is a clear holdover from vanilla.
See, here could get an invite from all 4 girls (as mentioned before). Vanilla only gives you the one invitation, from whichever of the 4 has the highest S.Link rank.
Yukari, please. Where are your manners? Don’t talk with your mouth full.
…
Yukari is trying to say something…
Sorry… I shouldn’t have talked while I was eating.
I was trying to say that it tastes like Octopia’s. Ya know, the place by the station?
Maybe she works at both places…
…Either way, it tastes good.
There’s clearly some left, and it was “good?” Which is why it… goes right in the bin.
At least now we go back to the left.
…which you’d have seen before. How did you miss it?
I’ve never seen these before…
Hey, there’s a dog mask. Wait… Doesn’t it look like Koro-chan?
…Oh yeah, this is his real home!
Sorry, Yukari I’m more interested in the Master Joker masks that they apparently have (for a subtle background Innocent Sin reference) and also the Phoenix Ranger Featherman team!
…Although, the shop isn’t really related to the shrine. …Maybe I’m just imagining the similarity.
Attendant: All you do is pick a ball! It’s easy! And, everyone’s a winner!
A game, huh… Wanna give it a try?
…He says everyone’s a winner…
I’ll watch.
You picked a ball from the bottom.
Attendant: Oooh… Let’s see what you’ve–
So, like, this is obviously a scam but… he gains nothing out of it, so… why? There’s no buy-in, not even a ticket thing, so there’s no benefit to this other than being a dick.
And if you don’t want anyone to actually win, just don’t put in a winning ball!
Attendant: Well, here’s your prize… You won a Jack Frost Doll. Please come again!
also, wow, mixed signals much buddy
Wow, Makoto-kun!
This is probably the first time I’ve seen someone walk away with a prize…
I was hoping we’d see some of our classmates here, but I guess not.
I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed.
I was hoping, and expecting, to see Aigis and Mitsuru but alas…
…But, we had fun anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.
We should go somewhere else sometime soon.
giggle
And with that, our little festival… date?.. comes to an end.
Silence
It’s weird that was pretty stock, when things that have less impact and relevance (classroom lectures) got major rewrites between Vanilla and FES. I don’t even know.
But, now we’re back to our normal routine, huh?
…Is what I’d like to say, but now we have some other stuff available.
I heard they’re having a horror flick marathon.
Sounds pretty cool, huh? So whaddya say? Let’s go, man.
Sure.
You serious? Nice! See you later then!
Kenji seems excited…
You have decided to go to the movies With Kenji.
We don’t actually need to do this. It’s just functionally the same as hanging out on an available day that doesn’t give a rank up. Kenji’s here is completely skippable, for whatever that’s worth, but we can’t really avoid him forever so sure. Why not.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Alright, dude. Let’s get some seats in the front.
The biggest difference between this and normal hang out scenes is that this gives us Social Link points AND Social Stat points. It’s +4 to one stat depending on the movie in question (this is Courage so it doesn’t even matter).
After saying goodbye to Kenji, you decided to go back to the dorm.
…Don’t you agree?
It’s brutal.
It’s always like this during this time of year.
Anyway, there won’t be another full moon until September, right after summer break ends.
…It’s like planning for exams, huh?
Well, at least there are only four Shadows left… We have to hang in there.
Pretty close to being done with that whole thing, yeah. We’ll get there soon enough…
Well, he usually eats vitamin-enhanced dog food…
…but sometimes we feed him our leftovers.
It’s important that he eats a balanced and nutritious diet.
It was a great cultural experience.
I really wish we could’ve seen that, but alas… …NG+…
Usually beef bowl.
…Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.
sigh That bummed me out…
I mean, I know I burned it, but I didn’t think it was THAT bad…
He wouldn’t eat it!
Ahahahaha! That cracks me up!
But… I’m sure she’s a little down…
sigh I don’t know what to do in this kind of situation…
I didn’t hear anything on the news about it, so no one must have noticed that Aigis is a robot.
She must’ve been in stealth mode…
I know it’s obvious anyway, but remember when this was a secret? And Ken wasn’t supposed to know?
Has Japan become a subtropical climate? By all indications, this week will be another humid one. This is in addition to all the disasters worldwide, such as hurricanes and tsunamis…
Now, it’s a Monday so our options are pretty limited. We could go to Tartarus, but that’s now our only real option and… we’re not gonna do that, so…
We’ll just head off to our bedroom and have a quick study session. Like we always do.
So, we had Kenji and Courage yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised if today’s film is a Charm boost.
And it’s Bebe for good measure. We haven’t spent time with him in a while.
You are in luck!
Zey are showing French films!
It eez ze perfect opportunity for you to learn French! Ne?
Sure.
You can go!? Yatta! Zat eez great!
Bebe seems happy…
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
One of the scant few that actually matters, for the Social Stat points.
Zat was fun. I 'aven’t 'eard my 'ome language in a long time.
We should do it again! Next time, samurai films!
You decide to go back to the dorm.
Fighting the Shadows is our priority, but you should still study some during the daytime.
We’re not studying in the middle of the day, Mitsuru. There IS a reason to consider that, but there’s only one day (with our schedule) in the whole game that makes it even remotely possible. Yes, really.
Please carefully consider what you feed him.
Today’s subject is a man in his 20s, With a sour face–Uhm, I mean a handsome salaryman.
…Next is news. Pain, pain, go away!
Reiji Kido is the requisite antisocial delinquient character from Persona 1, with rad US flag gloves. He’s a playable character, but because Persona 1 is weird about things, you have to jump through a buncha hoops to even have the option be available. He’s, in theory, the best character in that game but he ironically gets worse overall later. Character-wise, he’s pretty simple unfortunately, since he’s an optional character (even by Persona 1’s standards) but he still has some major importance to the SEBEC route of the game. Because obviously, right? Outside of one scene at the beginning, before the route divide, he doesn’t appear at all in the Snow Queen events.
He has two Primary Arcana (Devil and Death) which is reflected in his initial and ultimate Personae. His initial persona is Bres, of the Devil arcana, one of the kings of the Tuatha De Danann from Irish lore. His ultimate Persona is, uh, Mot, of the Death Arcana… who’s kind of a downgrade, oddly, in my opinion. I’unno, that might just be me though.
Anyway, Koromaru is understandably upset over being fed Yukari’s trashbin burned remains (two days in a row, it seems).
But, hey, today’s Tuesday which means we get to spend the evening with Tanaka.
It was with a young man not much older than you. Guess what he said…
He said, “Thank you.”
Oh, really?
So… you do care. If this wasn’t a common mistake, I could totally buy this as subtle character development, but alas.
…After all, we don’t even sell real products.
But then, he told me he quit his part time job and was going to study to become a public prosecutor.
He said I was an example of a negative role model. As if!
Maybe I’m overracting, but what if he does become a public prosecutor and puts me behind bars?
Lord knows what they would do to me in prison!
…Would you still come visit me if I was in the slammer?
President Tanaka seems upset.
You feel like you understand him a little better now.
Apparently, kids these days aren’t as naive as we thought…
President Tanaka left.
I guess Tanaka can (accidentally) be a force for good, but it seems weird that this is something he never considered before. I get the whole idea, but man.
So, like, we have about half a month until the next full moon. We’re not super-pressed for time, or anything, but this seems like a good time to Tartarus for the first time.
Yukari still only has first tier attacks, but second tier healing. She’s super-close to getting Recarm which is… cute, I guess? It won’t really matter much, in theory, but hey. Also 30 Magic is kind of a lot.
Junpei’s sorta falling behind at this point, in theory. That he doesn’t get any upgrades for 5 levels and then it’s just Agilao is really worrying, considering.
Akihiko is, well, Akihiko. His offense and restoration are rapidly falling behind, because of both his bleh stats and that they just aren’t all that strong. At least he can still contribute with debuffs, which is something I guess.
Mitsuru’s, well, the same as before right now. Her Magic isn’t quite on par with Yukari’s, but she can make up for it by having Bufula which straight up does bigger numbers anyway.
Aigis is a decent enough tank, still, and like one fight away from getting Rakukaja. Taken a while, but she did start at level 30 which is a little high so, fair enough.
And now we have Koromaru. Koromaru has a base 125 Evasion. That is roughly double the highest available for anyone else right now. Koromaru also has the most HP out of everyone, period, but because of that he has the least SP. He is Yukari’s mirror, but he’s also a dodge tank.
Oh and his highest stat is Agility, but his offense is roughly on par with Akihiko and Aigis, so he has a lot of overlap in a way. Also note how he’s immune to Fire and Dark. Everyone else only has one elemental strength, and they only resist it. Koromaru is too cool for that.
Now, there ARE times and reasons why you would want Junpei instead of Koromaru. There are also times and reasons why you would want Aigis instead of Koromaru, but those are much more obvious.
You know the drill by now, I’m sure. Unlike before, Koromaru is not guaranteed a slot, so…
Three slots to fill; who’s coming with?
On one hand, Koromaru’s the highest level. On the other hand, there’s no way I’m not voting for the dog.
Koromaru, Mitsuru and Akihiko.
Alright, so now we know what’s going on at this point, I guess.
And the first person to ask us on a movie date this time is… Keisuke…?
Uhh, who’s Keisuke?
hang on ive got my notes here somewhere, uhhh…
…
…
…
Oh! The Fortune kid! Wow, we haven’t seen him at all in forever. Uh, oops?
They’re showing a nature documentary marathon.
It looks really interesting… Maybe we’ll learn something new.
Sure.
Oh, yeah, no, nature documentaries. That sounds super interesting…
Oh, great! Then, I’ll see you later!
Keisuke seems excited.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
For what it’s worth, this is inexplicably +4 Charm. Yeaaaaah.
Well, we should get going.
After saying goodbye to Keisuke, you decided to go back to the dorm.
I’m sweatin’ like a pig.
It’s all in your head…
The heat will only affect you if you allow it to.
…
…Of course, there are limits to that theory.
Ugh…
No one in here has anything new to say, and the only real difference is that Ken’s shut himself up in his bedroom again. Kid’s more of a shut-in than Makoto.
We’ve got a few highlights of the game…
At least the TV’s updated which is… something, I guess?
Ah well, at least we have our 6 Academics to get for the day.
…And because I’m an idiot, I just now noticed that the message from studying and the message from the arcade are different.
And it makes the studying one, ironically, gramatically incorrect. Genuinely didn’t noticed that before now, since I don’t really look at them at all.
Silence
Anyway, today starts with… a look at what Junpei’s doing…?
Shoot, it’s already the 20th. Summer break’s almost over…
…Too bad there’s nothin’ to do.
sigh This place is so boring.
Boy, it sure is convenient that she wasn’t at the military base before, otherwise this might get awkward.
And what do you know? This is her first line of dialogue since the first appearance of Strega way back when. And even then, she said all of one thing.
I can’t see. …Move.
Uh… Sorry.
Uh, nothing. …My bad.
Okay, Junpei, buddy. It’s 2009; gothic lolita fashion isn’t that uncommon.
And, what the hell is she drawing…?
Man, I’ll never understand art.
Oh, well…
So, yeah, that’s that scene I guess. Our movie hangout today is with…
…no one. We don’t get any calls today, which is the entire reason I bothered to go with Kenji in the first place, yes.
I never see that guy doing any homework…
Junpei-kun said he’s going to do his all at once. How are you planning to finish yours, Makoto-kun?
Little by little.
Good, that’s the easiest way to do it.
I’ve been doing my homework every day, so I’m almost done with it.
I think/hope that’s implicitly what we’ve been doing whenever we study at night. I’unno, it makes sense to me at least.
However, it is weak against light.
So, please be careful of Hama skills.
Fortunately, as far as weaknesses go, instant death isn’t that big of a deal overall. Most Shadows don’t use 'em, and even then the ones that do, uh, don’t get turns so…
Apathy Syndrome cases are increasing.
We must do something about this…
We, uh, can’t do anything about it for another 2 weeks.
Huh, and today’s TV is more Lisa. Always a nice surprise whenever that one happens.
“Fanna” means, “I don’t want to!” When you’re getting up for work, that’s “Fanna!”
That’s all for this week! Back to the news!
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
Huh, she’s still hanging out here doing her art thing. And she doesn’t yell at us, which is… unexpected. Junpei’s nowhere to be found, though.
I lost it.
That excuse won’t work. The teacher will just give you a new assignment and make you stay after school.
Then you can’t come to Tartarus!
That’s… two completely unrelated thoughts, Yukari. That’s not how either of those things work.
Oh, and this NPC story is also over in the strip mall now. Sure, okay.
I’m gonna stop following him. This is so disappointing!
The last thing I need is another guy like him.
What should I do? I can’t just keep doing nothing!
Maybe I should go ahead and talk to her, y’know?
So, when I rewound time a bit to do the thing we’re obviously going to do, I remembered to go check the console and… I guess the game’s just given up on informing us of any new recordings. Great, thanks.
i will probably consistently forget this is a problem
Silence
At least this time, I remembered at a semi-reasonable moment I guess.
I’m sorry, I can’t help but notice that this was recorded on the 13th of August. And Akihiko’s calendar already has August crossed off. What.
Is my way with girls really no better than Junpei’s…?
How could they treat me the same as his lame pickup lines…?
Is… Akihiko reading some kind of self-help book…? That’s, uh, pretty unexected.
Well… I can’t think of many examples, but I can do that much at least…
“Careful: Making others laugh and being laughed at are two entirely different things!”
…
“When people speak to you, do you try to respond with pure logic and reason?”
I… wow. Reminder, FES was released in 2007 and it just slammed modern day internet rationals. That owns.
…
Tch… You gotta admit, they’ve got a point…!
“Try testing yourself by speaking as if you’re asking a female friend or co-worker to your favorite store.”
…“Favorite store?”
“The two most important things are to smile, and have a good sense of humor!”
…
I’m going to the Beef Bowl place, wanna come with…?
Humor… Humor…
I think it’s pretty telling, and a great piece of character building and informing, that the first joke that comes to mind is a shitty pun.
And also that Akihiko looks pained to even try and say alone, never mind to anyone else.
Nrrrgh…!
That’s it! Screw this!
The recording ends here…
End
There sure doesn’t seem to much of a pattern to the order we’re getting to see these snippets, huh? Aside from the first one being the control room itself, they’ve all been folks’ bedrooms which is kinda creepy… though it’s also something we’ve known since the very beginning was possible so, uh.
Let’s just play this dying MMO some more.
Maya isn’t in the area.
A mysterious light engulfs Tatsuya.
A gray-colored sky stretches as far as the eye can see.
A barren wasteland lies before Tatsuya.
Maya is staring into the distance.
…i should apologize
Oh, no worries.
no tatsuya, if u keep being nice i won’t ever move fwd =S
Maya seems determined.
remember how i said i would send our chat log to the admins before? >_>
Oh good, she’s learned to not send a log full of self-incriminating evidence. I guess that’s growth…?
Is that why you’re sorry?
kinda, but… i meant sumthing else too ._.
Maya seems nervous.
Maya is kicking the ground.
Yeah, most people wouldn’t when they realise they admitted repeatedly to being a teacher, wanting to fuck one of their students, being more than willing to explicitly abuse their position of power to do s–
…Goddammit, Toriumi Maya.
u shouldn’t have had to put up w/ me doin that. im sry m(_ _)m
sum teacher i am, rite? =/
i kno it’ll look like i’m chickening out an stuff, but…
You have no idea just how wrong that is, do you.
This is sudden…
…its kind of a bad habit, but i’m sure this is the rite thing ._.
Maya seems upset.
since nobody can see my face on teh intarweb, i could be mean… =(
shyeah rite. =P i never would’ve figured this out w/out ur help
tatsuya taught me to be thoughtful even when im not around ppl =)
Maya really trusts you.
Your relationship is stronger now!
Arahabaki got a bit of a buff here. In the original, he was level 54 (yeaaaah), but now they’re level 60! …Regardless of which version, though, you’ll probably want to gain at least 1 level over what the fusion bonus gives them. For reasons.
i drew something in the sand for u
check the ground once i log off, k? ^^;
its kinda embarrassing, but i worked real hard on it
if u upload a screenie to ur cellphone, u can keep it always!
…
remember, let’s positive thinking!
…
gg, tatsu. thx 4 everything
Maya’s player logged off.
A message is written in the sand.
You took a screen cap and emailed it to your phone.
> You have obtained Evidence.
You stored the memories of Maya deep within your heart and logged off.
Added bonus: we can leave the house on Sundays for real now. And we don’t lose evenings (when we do an S.Link) any more. Hurray!
There’s a sports movie marathon at the strip mall in lwatodai today.
Maybe we’ll learn a new way to inspire the team. Whaddya think? Wanna go?
Sure.
Alright, it’s a date! See ya soon.
No, Yuko, it’s n… nevermind.
When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars
+4 Courage that we didn’t even need. Thanks, Yuko.
Let’s head home since it’s getting late.
After saying goodbye to Yuko, you decide to go back to the dorm.
You look really bored, Junpei…
What’s wrong with that?
It takes a lot of maturity to fully appreciate boredom.
Yeah, you’re REAL mature…
Look who’s talkin’, Yuka-tan!
You’re the one who’s afraid of ghosts…
Sh-Shut up, Stupei!
Junpei almost had a point there. He was so close. So close!
You know those “gothic lolitas,” right?
Well, I saw one drawing all this weird shit in a notebook.
She seemed like she was living in a different world, dude.
Actually, my dog ate it.
That excuse won’t work on your teachers. They’ll just give you more and make you stay after school to do it.
Then you won’t have any time to go to Tartarus.
Yukari, you have seen the teachers at your school right? Pretty sure it’d work on most of them. Might even make Edogawa go on a long spiel about the magic properties of dogs or whatever.
…Also that’s still not how either of those things work.
This is most likely because Koromaru-san is fast himself.
Taking him for a walk can be quite tiring.
Fortunately, for Aigis apparently, he doesn’t want a walk tonight. It’s something of a subtle character bit, but I like how Aigis has been standing by Koromaru more often than not so far.
It was just lying around so I took a look at it.
Those clothes featured seem to be very expensive. You must need a lot of money to be a female.
“Woman,” Ken. The noun is “woman.” You can’t use an adjective as a noun.
Unless you’re wearing one of a small select group of terrible hats, I mean.
He’s talking nonsense again.
Something about gothic lolitas and art…
Anyway, we could totally do hang out with Mutatsu today, but I think we’ve got something better to do. Koromaru might not want to go for a simple, everyday walk…
But we’re off to Tartarus, so he’ll get a workout anyway.
Just gotta get past that pesky “barrier” thing, first.
I’d be more surprised if they were static, Fuuka. Jeez.
…Wow, we immediately find the red Shadow this time, huh? Welp, let’s see what this has in store for us then.
Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out
Champion Knights are pretty underwhelming, honestly. If you’ve brought Yukari, then you can decimate them immediately. If you’ve brought a thing with Wind at all, you can decimate them immediately. It’s pretty disappointing, really. They might survive an AOA, but if so they’ll have like 10HP left so…
That’s 1400 exp. Without a Wands card. Fucking hell.
Also, hey, a Request item for Elizabeth. We want 4 of those before we’re done here, which… sure thing.
And since we fought a thing, let’s keep this Shadow train rolling. They’re pretty dang weak, because they are Maya, but they can be potentially annoying with that Diarama. I say “potentially” because it’s predicated on them getting turns. Which, spoilers, they don’t.
Also, hey, new part of Tartarus means we can get rank 5 cards now. Cups heal more, Swords give outdated equipment, Wands straight up give double EXP for a fight…
Coins are inexplicably not as shit as the previous cards imply. Rather than being ~5000-5500, it’s 7000-9500. Still not exactly great, but it’s learning. At last.
Justice Swords are pretty simple, and also pretty easy to deal with. They’re one of the more surprisingly straightforward Shadows in a while, really. Hit it with Wind and it crumples and dies, yawn.
Ice Ravens are…n’t. They resist Ice, sure, but like that’s it? They use multi-target Dark and Wind, and single-target Strike. What. Doesn’t even resist Dark for some reason?!
At some point during all this, Makoto (and thus Fuuka) hit level 32.
This ability will only work after you’ve analyzed an enemy.
Be sure you analyze the enemy so the battle would be easier.
Fuuka can now use Third Eye!
It’s, uh, honestly it just tells you if you’re about to smack into something you shouldn’t. It’s not super useful or anything, since it only comes up for Makoto and once you’ve analyzed something once, it does it immediately if you just press the button again. It’s a useful(ish) shortcut, but so are things like: memory, notes, the Analyze screen.
Mind Dice sure live up to their name, I guess. They use two mind-affecting ailments and can either single or multi-target both which is… something, I guess. Unfortunately, they are dice so they die as soon as you look at 'em funny.
Oh, right, and Wild Drives hang out here too but they’re pretty par for the course at this point and we can destroy 'em without much hassle.
Anyway, all that done let’s give Fuuka’s BGM function a try for the first time. Kinda been ignoring that, huh? I suppose we’ll go through 'em in order over time, so for now Track 01 it is!
The Snow Queen 
okay no but seriously this is rad and cool and good and its a persona 1 remix and my second favourite version of this track
On the 91st floor, we get some upgraded shoes that are… legs? Oh, I get it. This is an upgrade for Aigis.
Just in case it’s not obvious, which it usually is, the description tells you outright that it’s for Aigis too. With this, she has over 1/3rd the Evasion of Koromaru! Good job, Aigis.
Still on the 91st floor, we get another equipment upgrade. This one isn’t for Aigis though.
It’s a pretty decent upgrade for whoever gets it, and I ended up giving it to Mitsuru for… some reason that I don’t really remember right now.
On the 92nd floor, Fuuka lets us know that, yes, there is a boss but she doesn’t know where it is yet. Thanks, helpful.
Nothing else of note there, but on the 93rd floor we get an almost real amount of money. This is like a quarter of a Persona that we’re 10 levels too high to be really using any more!
Okay, but in all seriousness: if you’re not playing on Hard, this is kind of a lot. Money troubles don’t really exist otherwise, because the Compendium isn’t more extortionate than Tanaka sure seems to be. I knew this’d happen though, and it’s not really THAT big of a deal overall. It just means I need to spend some time occasionally grabbing some extra cash here and there, no big deal.
Also on the 93rd floor, we find an axe that is actually an axe!
On the one hand, it’s a pretty potent weapon and gives +2 Strength for good measure. On the other hand, it’s not a Spear so whatever.
On floor 95, Fuuka lets us know where the boss is. I think she first found it on 93, but I generally skip past her interstitial dialogue pretty fast (because its mostly filler and irrelevant).
On the 96th floor, we find another equipment upgrade purely for Aigis. I guess they thought you’d do the previous bit entirely before she joined? Which is really weird and doesn’t make much sense…
It’s not much of an upgrade, really, but it lets her be better at eating damage. I guess it counts enough to warrant using, sure.
Nothing else of interest happens until the 98th floor, where the requisite fight is. So we’ll just take a trip back downstairs to fully heal because Makoto has like 5SP left. I am really good at resource management, I promise.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I requested this item.
That’s not what matters, though. What’s important is that you defeated the Champion Knight.
I am thrilled to see you getting stronger…
Please accept your reward.
Terrible non-explanation aside, this is a pretty nice upgrade for Aigis.
The SP increase is pretty much irrelevant, though, since she’s a Physical attacker in every way and her only SP skills are buffs which… don’t really use all that much.
While we’re here, we might as well make some new Personae. Like Eligor. We finally got to make goddamn Eligor! He hits level 34 via fusion, which is enough for him to learn his final skill… that he can learn via fusion. He can get to level 36 with maxed Tower, but his next skill after this is at level 37. It’s really fucking annoying how P3 does that for almost everything.
Anyway, Cruel Attack is really REALLY good and lives up to its name. It has a base power of 225 and a 99% Accuracy. It’s pretty decent Pierce damage, right? Well… sure, but it deals a bonus 1.5x damage to any Downed enemy. Yeeesh. Combine this thing with Power Charge and you can really hurt things that don’t nullify(+) Pierce. It’s not the best Pierce attack, but there’s only like 3 that outclass it. One of which is a special skill anyway. Yikes.
Anyway, boss fight hello.
Magician Magical Magus x3 / (Portable)
i dont say this often, but it’d be quicker to just watch either video this time yeesh
Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone
Oh, that’s adorable. You think they’re a threat!
So, the Magical Magus are… probably the easiest Tartarus boss? Maybe? I AM including the Intrepid Knight in that, and remember: he’ll beat himself for you.
The Magus here are weak to Fire, and Eligor learns Maragion at Lv32. Granted he has a bad Magic stat (still higher than their Endurance (17) though!) and they also resist Fire, but…
They have 700HP. Yikes.
They drain Ice, which is a bit of a telling clue.
Unfortunately for them, their Agility is balls (15) and Koromaru exists. And has Agilao. Sure, his Magic isn’t great either but it doesn’t need to be.
We still do more than half their max HP in a single AOA, and so they die without ever getting a turn. Yes, really.
End
But, fine, let’s say for the sake of argument that they get turns (which you have to go out of your way to let them do).
Of course, they can Mind Charge. It’d be weirder and more surprising if they couldn’t at this point.
What a surprise, they have Bufudyne. They also have 35 Magic so this is probably gonna hur–
Uh, oops. King Frost exists so we’re virtually invincible here.
They also have Mabufula for that mildly inconvenient multi-target damage.
Makarakarn seems an odd choice, but they DO resist Slash, Strike and Pierce so Magic is the only real way to deal with 'em.
They could also cast Ice Break if they ever remember, but I autoed the fight to the point where I nearly won by accident and they never did it once (which, uh, is pretty telling since killing 1 takes an average of 14 basic hits…) so, I guess they really want this to be an unlosable fight. Thanks for being completely terrible, Magical Magi!
Don’t even give that great EXP for a boss fight any more (that’s 184 EXP for each Magus, yeesh), but at least the Sapphires might help? Maybe?
And the item they were guarding is an Egg. I’ll put it on the pile with the others. You’d think Makoto was prepping for Easter or something, with all the eggs we have now.
Anyway, that’s all we’ll get done in Tartarus for now. We’ll be back later to clear out the next bit of the sector, though. We have a lot more movies to go see before then!
