Persona 3 FES: An Asocial Experiment

I vote for Junpei and Mitsuru. Yukari is good enough that we can catch someone up, and Polydeuces sucks so Akihiko’s out.

So, our summer stay-cation begins today but right now it’s just another Sunday.

Iwatodai Dorm

Tanaka’s not selling anything worthwhile today, so we’ll keep our money.

I’m a little nervous about living here…

Almost everyone is hanging out in the dorm, but only Ken has updated dialogue here. A bit unusual, but whatever.

And before the news begins, Feather Condor has a message for you all!

Hopefully this one isn’t just lies. I’m still sour about last time.

Feather Condor: After all, you’ve got me looking out for you! So don’t worry! We’ll meet again next week!

…And now, the news.

Oh, it was just about Apathy Syndrome. I guess it is getting close to the Full Moon now…

But, hey, remember how I said almost everyone was inside? There’s one exception. Yes, just one.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

I dunno what it is about that guy, but my “Junpei-sense” is going crazy around him.
Either he’s a little punk, or he’s WAY more mature than I am…
I dunno, man, is it just me?

Well, I mean, I don’t have a Junpei-sense so that might very well just be you. Don’t really know the kid well enough to say one way or the other on the rest, though. Depends where we’re setting the bar, maybe?

…Oh right, it’s Sunday and all so we should maybe just see what Maya wants. It, uh, can’t get much worse at least.

Joy

Although we initially planned to allow “Innocent Sin” to run indefinitely…
…recent feedback has shown that player participation is not adequate to continue.
We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this causes for active players.
However, the servers will remain open until the official end date.
We hope that you understand and that you enjoyed your time with “Innocent Sin.”
Sincerely, -“Innocent Sin” staff

You mean an SMT MMO is closing?! Say it ain’t so. I can’t IMAGINE anything like that.

Maya faces away from you.

it said their cancelling innocent sin. …think its for real?
No way!
i know rite!? how dare they! >=/

Maya is getting all worked up.

i finally found a place to let out my frustation and now this!!!

Maya gets closer to you.

I, uh, I’m fairly confident in this one…

I think so.
yeah… we can meet each other in different ways I guess >_>
maybe there will be another MMO or we could hook up irl, but still =S

Maya seems sad.

NO! we have to stop wasting our tiem!

You’re… gonna stop playing before the servers go down?

What are you planning?
…oh dun worry tatsu. i won’t do ne thing dangerous >_>

Maya seems a little happier.

Given some of the things you’ve casually admitted to, this surely falls under the banner of “dangerous.” Not for me, mind, but hey.

if they knwo this game is important to us, maybe they’ll reconsider =D
even tho tatsuya’s just some lonely kid and maya likes to bitch too much… :wink:
that shouldn’t matter!!!1

Something tells me you might be in for a bit of a surprise…

don’t worry, maya will protect u! we’ll always be partners, k?

It seems Maya cares about you.

Your relationship is stronger now!

don’t mess w/ maya & friends or u’ll regret it! MwahAHaHhaHa!
next time we’ll celebrate our victory, k? bai!

Maya’s player signed off.

You decide to log out as well.

Y’know, I get the impression Maya using her chatlog won’t really help much on this one. I’unno, call it a hunch I guess.

July’s dark secret reveals itself today, I guess. Sort of. It already did before though.

Namely it repeatedly has extended periods of time where you can’t do whatever you want!

Want To Be Close

I can only hope that this one is going somewhere. For all its fault, Yakushima did give us a lot of things implicitly. And Aigis.

You won’t win a point off of Mamoru Hayase like that!

But right now all it’s doing is reminding me that we haven’t spent time with Yuko in, like, ages.

Iwatodai Dorm

Mercifully, it only steals our daytime slot and not the whole day. We can’t really do too much during the daytime since we don’t have school anymore, but we still have options!

No sweat.
…Oh, yeah? You’re tougher than I thought.
…If you think you can handle it, let’s go to Tartarus tonight.
We have less than two weeks to get ready, and I’m sure the next Shadow will be stronger than the last one…

…What do you mean “if”? Of course I can handle it. Just who in the hell do you think I am?!

But it’s kind of weird when a little kid is doing it…

I see that Akihiko and Ken are… bonding…? Sure, let’s go with that.

I heard you’re undefeated with them on.
Yeah…
It’s no big deal, really…

But, I can totally understand how he feels. I mean, Akihiko-san’s won his last 16 boxing matches.
Every little kid should look up to him. He’s like a hero, don’tcha think?
Totally.
sigh I wish I was a hero.

Don’t worry, Junpei, we already knew that.

I am not heavily equipped, and my damage output and accuracy rating are both average.
Because a gun is a long-range weapon, I will not fall during an attack.
A gun is best suited to those who require stability in their weapon.

That’s certainly one way you could look at it. Another is that no one else uses a gun to avoid unfortunate accidents, or because this is Japan and getting a gun is both really difficult and hella illegal. Doubly-so when you’re a high schooler.

Today’s subject is Trish’s type of guy! He’s smoking hot, and still in his 20s!

…Next is news. Pain, pain, go away!

Ooh this one’s easy!

Tatsuya Suou is the main protagonist of Persona 2 as a whole, being the player character of Innocent Sin and the deuteragonist of Eternal Punishment. On its own that doesn’t make him the protagonist, no, but the duology’s subtitles do. The Innocent Sin is something that Tatsuya does, and the Eternal Punishment is something that only he truly goes through…

But, this isn’t a Persona 2 thread so we’ll leave it there (for now?). His Primary Arcana was The Sun and his initial Persona was Vulcanus.

Oh and also he’s bisexual, and because Persona 2 is rad this is just a minor thing that isn’t a major character trait or a thing that he gets mocked for or anything. He’s just a guy who happens to be bi.

The Voice Someone Calls

But, anyway, Tartarus! We don’t have anything to talk to Elizabeth about yet, so we’ll just gather our party, switch some gear around and head on up.

The Mage’s Mark restores a fixed 3SP a turn which sure doesn’t sound like a lot but it helps way more than it sounds. Giving this to Mitsuru for sure.[/i]

tartarus_0d03

So, we’re on floor 73 which means that this isn’t true. Thanks, Fuuka.

Before we carry on, though, we’re gonna pick a fight with something. This’ll do.

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out

“Orgia” here is most likely referring to the ancient Greek practice of overly ecstatic worship in some sects. This was particularly true when it came to gods like Dionysus, and it may or may not have involved rigorous amounts of sex.

…why yes, it IS also where we get the word “orgy” how did you guess

Yes, please.
In this mode, my limiter is temporarily disabled.
Thus, my offensive capability increases significantly.

Furthermore, once Orgia Mode has been activated, it cannot be canceled until I overheat.

Orgia Mode only lasts for a short while, so timing is crucial.
That concludes the tutorial.

We don’t really have a frame of reference to how much of a “significant” increase it is, but it’s just a flat 150% damage boost. It lasts for about 3-5 rounds and then Aigis is thoroughly useless for a while.

I, uh, I don’t really use it all that much personally. We’ll see it in action later at least once. Possibly not much more than that, though. We’ll see!

tartarus_0d03

So, y’know how last time we got the Pleiades in a rare chest? Yeah, uh, it turns out…

That’s pretty much par for the course with the regular weapons we can find too. The Pleiades is only rarer than stuff like the Silver Saber because it has ~10 Attack more and +4 Magic instead of the +3 here.

We’re still totally gonna be giving this to Mitsuru immediately though.

On Floor 76, Fuuka opts to let us know that, yes, there IS a boss fight to be had. But it’s quite a ways away. Thanks, that’s helpful.

Skipping on up to the 78th floor wherein we hit another thing with a bus stop sign. Because that’s awesome.

Mass Destruction / Wiping All Out

Namely because 78F is where we get the newest batch of enemy Shadows. Devoted Cupid here is both the rarest and also the weakest, so whatever. It’s hilariously weird how it has regular old Dia though.

Jupiter Eagles aren’t quite the most common, but they have some fun potential to be annoying if they ever got turns. Mercifully, they don’t so they don’t get to use that Masukunda at all.

The most common new Shadow is the Golden Beetle, which kinda stretches the definition of “new” a bit, yeah. Significantly weaker than it was the last time we saw it, for sure, but it’s still the tankiest normal Shadow around these parts.

Well, excluding the Avenger Knight but that’s weak to Hama so I think that’s fair.

And lastly, we have the Ardent Dancer who on the one hand has both Marin Karin and Sexy Dance. On the other hand…

Ths is very common. Very, very common.

tartarus_0d03

On the 80th floor, Fuuka figures out where the boss fight is. The 85th floor is a bit more a trek after the previous fight on the 72nd, but it’s not really that big a deal.

The Two-handed Sword gets a weird buff in Portable, as you may or may not recall at this point.

It’s not so much that it’s made stronger, per se, but it’s available WAY earlier for some reason. We’ll be giving this to Junpei later on if I remember.

And, well, that’s all that happens until we hit the 84th floor. Normally I’d skip this one too but we get a rare treasure here…

Namely, this thing. This is sort of decent armor, but it’s particularly noteworthy in that it is also what Liz is gonna give us when we make an Orthrus with Dodge Slash.

Yes, really. It’s kind of a downgrade over what we already have, even! I’ll be giving this to Makoto though, so that his vest can go to Mitsuru. That way she gets a proper upgrade and also returns to having a decent character model again.

…Or I could’ve waited like a minute longer and given her this instead. It’s 64 Def so it’s less than the Bulletproof Vest though.

But I’ll still give it to Makoto for convenience. The lack of a +2 Strength isn’t that big a deal.

And that’s that, so now we have our fight on the 85th floor.

This is normally where we’d check in with Liz but the only remaining sidequests, that aren’t Orthrus, require us to get past this Shadow so let’s get right to it!

Hierophant Fanatic Tower (Portable)

Master of Tartarus / Danger Zone

Honestly? No, it really kinda isn’t.

It’s kind of a bit of a slog to fight, but that’s not at all the same thing. For example, this? This is the most damage Mitsuru will ever manage to contribute.

This guy resists Slash and Pierce, sure, but he reflects Ice. And Fire. And Elec. Fucking hell, that just leaves Strike and Wind…

So, what can the Tower do? Well, not a lot that’s really threatening. Sure, it can Poison Mist to try and Poison everyone with his 20 Luck (his worst stat)… and he has Poison Boost for good measure… but it’s such a non-issue I wouldn’t care.

It’s basic attack might very well be the most on-paper dangerous thing it has, which is really weird. And that’s mostly because it can Crit for less than the previous musclemen.

Everyone who isn’t Mitsuru is going to be helping out with their (de)buff capabilities sometimes and also Strike attacks mostly. Which is a problem when this annoying boy also has Dodge Strike to just mock you when you try it.

Realistically you’re gonna be fighting this guy with Wind spells and basically nothing else, because he doesn’t have Dodge Wind.

Unfortunately, I only have Garula on Pale Rider which isn’t necessarily a problem but…

Oh and of course he has Mind Charge. It sure seems like every Tartarus boss lately has had a Charge skill.

Notably, the Fanatic Tower is lacking in that he doesn’t have a Heavy tier skill. He only has Zionga and not Ziodyne.

Which is fine with me, but it doesn’t really make a difference because I’m packing an Elec nullification. Thank you, Take-Mikazuchi!

Oh and of course he has Mazionga as is required.

The lack of Ziodyne just means he can’t maybe seriously injure Mitsuru. Akihiko is, well, Akihiko so he takes barely anything. I’m immune so this guy can’t really kill me barring bad luck and… Aigis is weak to Elec but takes sub-50 damage anyway. Granted, this IS after a Tarunda but that’s still sub-100 whereas Mitsuru loses nearly half her health.

This may or may not be because Orgia Mode was enabled at the time, but I don’t think that gives a defense buff as well. I can’t say I’ve played around much with it, though.

…Oh and Overheating is a bad thing for Aigis since it takes her rad defenses and completely and utterly demolishes them. Yikes!

Sometimes when the Fanatic Tower is feeling particularly smart, he’ll cast Elec Break on someone and… forget to capitalise on it entirely.

And that’s it. The Fanatic Tower is a long fight because of his 2000HP and his array of annoying resistances but he sure ain’t a hard fight.

Noteworthy is that so long as you have Emperor at rank 3+, you can kinda just not give a shit and remove his Ice repel entirely.

He’s also clearly weaker than most at this point since he only has 24 Strength and 25 in Magic, Endurance and Agility. Weird.

End

tartarus_0d03

At first blush, it sure looks like we’re only getting the one treasure this time which is a bit of a weird decision, don’t it?

Compared to the last few, this is definitely a good thing. It gives us another cleared request when we’re done, potentially nets us a lot of money later and, uh, acts as a buffer to any nasty instant kill game overs that aren’t “and then it crits for eleventy billion damage.” Again.

Around the corner from there, we have the requisite Soma as well. This was apparent on the map as well, I think.

We just have a bit more to climb as Fuuka remains perplexed by the most simple and obvious pattern. It’s almost like this happens everytime we near the end of a block…

And sure enough! We’re not gonna leave just yet though.

We need to collect this, since it IS the entire reason we’re here at all right now.

I’m not at all sure why Elizabeth cares about whether or not we collect these. They serve as sort of markers for our progress through the tower, sure, but…

The Poem For Everyone’s Soul

We are one step closer to the truth.
You know, it seems like people write about both good and bad experiences in their diaries, doesn’t it?
Have you ever thought about that?
Please accept your reward.

The rewards for these sure don’t seem to match just how much of a time consuming ordeal they can be, huh. It’s just, like, spend ~3 hours running through Tartarus for 3 full revivals is nice and all but it’s not at all proportionate.

An artificial creature created by man…
It lives only to die, unaware of its sad plight…
Thank you for showing me such a rare thing.
Please accept your reward.

This is technically the same amount of effort, sure, but it’s a better reward. And also it was part of a chain so we got a bunch of stuff, really, there. I dunno, it seems weird that the game always gives you a Soma but expects you to do it in a time limit for something worse.

Anyway, we’ll give up Mithra and Lamia to make Orthrus now. We don’t really need Lamia any more (we have Hermit at Rank 9 after all) and Mithra’s kinda super outdated so…

Yeah, it’s not a good Orthrus but I so don’t intend on ever using him anyway so I don’t really care.

You have fulfilled my request.
For your reward, I have selected a special piece of armor.
I think it will suit you well.
Please accept your reward.

Oh, Elizabeth, you shouldn’t have.

No, really, you shouldn’t have. It’s not like this is ever gonna get used. We already have one, even.

The Homunculus request was the last one in that chain, but there’s more fusions to be had. Like Oberon before him, Oumitsunu’s request will just sort of solve itself once we hit level 30.

There’s only one more request we can do right now, so we might as well since we’re already here.

Just gotta grab one of these from Yabbashah first. It’s easy to get despite being a “rare” treasure; it spawns on the 74th floor (and a couple others) which means we just use the Terminal to go to the 72nd, run up two floors and search there. Didn’t find it? Use an Access point or Traesto and try again.

I heard that this katana, moving independently of its owner, lopped off a gangrenous limb in one swipe…
What a boisterous katana this is! I’d like to see that someday.
Please accept your reward.

+4 Strength and +2 Luck sure isn’t bad at all. Could always just trade gems for it though.

But, hey, with that we’re back to having every quest done that we realistically could right now. There’s only 3 still open and they require grinding to level 30 (nah) or being at a later date than we are now.

Oh and huh the Kunitsuna is better than the generic Two-hander so I guess Junpei gets a bit of a HP buff again for a little while.

And we’re done with Tartarus for now! Hurray!

…Sadly, we’ve still got this for the next few days so we’ll just have to deal with that I guess.

Iwatodai Dorm

People seem to have calmed down a bit, despite the media… But, there will be serious problems if we don’t end this.
We must defeat the last six Shadows, beginning with the one we anticipate on the next full moon.
If the number of The Lost continues to increase, this city will fall into chaos.
I don’t even want to imagine what that might be like…
Y-You’re just exaggerating, right?
…Then again, maybe not.

It… sure seems like an exaggeration, but it’s really kinda hard to tell for sure to be honest. Could sorta go either way.

Then that means…
Shadows existed before Tartarus and the Dark Hour ever appeared.
So then, how long have Shadows been around…?

That’s actually a really good point. The Dark Hour and Tartarus came into being because Mitsuru’s grandpa decided to try and control Time and messed up. But where did Shadows come from…?

And we haven’t been to Tartarus very often.
So please prepare yourself for the next full moon.

Have you noticed?
Yeah.

Kinda hard not to, really.

I wonder why… Maybe he just doesn’t get along with kids.
I mean, Senpai IS kinda awkward in social situations.

And there’s nothing on TV, so we’re done here for tonight. But what to do, what to do… it’s a Tuesday and we have options…

So for the first time in like a month or so we can spend time with Tanaka again!

This Mysterious Feeling

Sounds fun.
I had a splendid time! I still laugh thinking about it.

I doubt you’d understand how I feel, since you’re still young, but…
A high school reunion is a very important event…

I, uh, I though for a moment there Tanaka was going to NOT be a dickhead and I got kinda worried. Fortunately(?), he managed to return to normal.

For example, I ran into a classmate who used to make fun of me for only having rice in my bento…
…and another fellow who once strung up my holey socks on the flagpole.
Now, they both look at me with envy. Their annual salary doesn’t even compare to my monthly income!
My business is on a roll, and my private life is also very satisfying.

Don’t think I would extend this offer to just anyone.

You sense that President Tanaka has strong feelings for you.

You feel like you understand him a little better now.

I actually had kinda forgotten. I guess when you have half a million in your wallet that tiny amount stops mattering.

…But half a million is also a paltry sum that I don’t expect to last very long so…

My time is worth at least a hundred thousand yen per hour!
Think of all the free advice I’ve given you!

President Tanaka left with a grin on his face.

Tanaka’s definitely in a good mood, since he didn’t even make a silly joke revenge threat this time. Weird.

And we just have to hit the books a little tonight before we go to bed. Can’t stay up too late since we do have sports training to do for the next few days still. Yay…

Orgia Mode never really felt worth it to me. It might be useful in moderate random fights that will end before overheating, but it’s useless in long battles like bosses unless you are able to use a support character to draw attention away from Aigis when she’s overheated to compensate for the major defense debuff. The loss of being able to do anything else after activating Orgia Mode means you have one fewer option to throw out an emergency heal or something.

Even if you are willing to do that, it doesn’t feel like the average damage output would greatly exceed just continuously making normal attacks. HP physical attacks would probably also be better just for the flexibility.

I definitely end up forgetting about that mode for those reasons. Maybe there’s a tactic that can make use of Orgia Mode effectively in certain situations, but I don’t see it.

I can’t believe the Hermit social link is going to end with Maya incriminating herself over an MMO. A strange way to end it, but I suppose it’s not undeserved.

Atlus seems to have a habit of underpowering potentially-cool moves. Orgia Mode reminds me of various skills in Etrian Odyssey, which look really cool when you see them on the menu, but are actually kinda useless when you see the exact percentages elsewhere. 150% damage increase is super not worth Aegis Aigis becoming prone for a number of turns. Doesn’t seem like it’s much good for a last-second push in damage either.

We’ve got more of that sports practice stuff to do, before we can do things that actually matter.

None of the scenes for it have been particularly long or anything, which is something I guess.

Iwatodai Dorm

She said she’d be here by midnight.
…Maybe we shouldn’t go to Tartarus tonight.

I am absolutely completely okay with that, since we don’t even need to at this point.

I am weak against electricity, but incredibly strong against piercing attacks.
Yukari-san is also weak against electricity.
We have many similarities.

Such as…?

I know you want to go because there’s going to be a full moon soon, but…
…please forgive me.

Yeah, uh, that doesn’t sound too difficult here.

Since Mitsuru isn’t here, Akihiko isn’t right now either. Ken’s shut himself up in his room for some reason, so we can’t talk to him either.

It’s a very mysterious illness that affects those with unstable minds or psychological problems. Its victims can only groan, and they don’t eat or talk normally. Researchers still don’t know what causes it, but we do know that people can recover from it…

Oddly enough, that always seems to happen following a full moon for some reason. It’s hard to say why for sure.

Paulownia Mall

I finally remembered to sell all the unneeded equipment, trash items and… apparently I had a Treasure Coin? I sure didn’t think I did. Well, I’m definitely not gonna complain.

I was VERY tempted to make Junpei a Basic Katana out of Power to give him a really useful added effect but, eh, we’ll do something better later.

Around now is when I was rather bluntly reminded that this Academics grind we’re in the midst of is to get it to Rank 5. For some reason I thought we were already there, but nope.

It’s not really a big deal since we have plenty of time for it and all but that’s just a really annoying thing to remember.

A Guardian

And, huh, I guess we’re gonna get to talk to Pharos today. Probably just about the Full Moon in 8 days.

The Voice Someone Calls

I detect a Shadow! Please hurry to the 4th floor!

There’s a Shadow in the city. Yamagishi found it by chance.
But… the moon isn’t full yet…
Actually, it seems to be just a normal Shadow.
However, it IS outside of Tartarus…

I’m sure he can handle it alone, but let’s get ready just in case.
Gotcha!

The console beeps.

Yes, this is Fuuka.

What’s wrong? Is it a powerful one!?
No, the Shadow’s been defeated.

What happened?
The little fella’s been injured… I wanna save him if we can.

I would guess Ken, but that makes absolutely no sense and Akihiko wouldn’t play a dumb variation of Japan’s favourite pastime, The Pronoun Game, in that case…

Beats me.
At any rate, let’s go.

Remember that dog we saw all of once ever before now? Well he’s back!

Koro-chan!

You know this dog?
Yeah, everyone around here does…
We have to help him!
First, we must stop the bleeding.
Man… He’s one tough fighter.

Wait, does that mean… this dog’s a Persona-user!?

Those flowers… They must be for the priest who died in the accident.
So, he really was guarding this place…
Uh, Aigis? Don’t tell me you can translate dog language too…

This fella really is a rare breed.
Confirmed.
…He’s not the only one.
Alright, let’s report to the Chairman, so we can conclude this mission.

At this hour? That’s… sure, okay.

Good job, boy. You’re one amazing dog…

End

So, yeah, a dog just kinda casually kicked a shadow’s ass. That’s a thing that just happened.

And with that one cool thing done, we’re back to normal stuff again.

At least we do seem to be going somewhere with this, though.

Iwatodai Dorm

Unfortunately, the number of victims has been increasing lately.
Let’s do our best to stop it!

Gotta wait for that week to pass before we can do that though. If we could stop Apathy Syndrome without that, the problem wouldn’t really be.

The wound was severe, but fortunately there wasn’t any damage to his internal organs.

Good to know Koromaru’s gonna be okay. :unsmith:

First, a robot can use a Persona, and now a dog can?
What’s next, a monkey?

Well, they weren’t a Persona user but Junpei clearly hasn’t heard of Oliver before…

He must be a pure breed.

I really don’t see the relevance here. Like, at all.

Do you think the priest who passed away saved him?
I think so.
The bond between a human and a pet is so beautiful.

I am able to receive similar images from all livmg things.
They are weaker versions of the voice communication human beings use.

He protected what he was supposed to protect.
He’s a good dog…

So… why are you so upset by that…? What.

Hey, Lisa’s back!

“Wai” is used when you want to say, “Hey!”
That’s all for this week! Back to the news!

Been a while since we got to see Lisa turn up on-screen giving random Cantonese lessons, but I for one am glad it’s a semi-recurring bit.

Ken’s still shut up in his room, for whatever that’s worth.

It’s a Thursday and we’re not off to Tartarus, so that means we get to spend time with Mutatsu again.

Although, as you might recall from before, it IS just spending time since we didn’t have enough points to get a rank up.

That’s nicely fixed itself now though, so the next time we see Mutatsu it’ll net us another rank.

But for today we’ve got another Dark Hour event! This one’s got to be what we’d expect.

The Voice Someone Calls

Yep, mostly back to our normal night time events of being bugged by a small child.

It’s becoming quite lively around you.
So, how are you getting along with the others?
Not bad.
I’m glad to hear that.
…It is one week until the next full moon.
Are you prepared…?

Oh good, that makes two of us.

However, you should still remain cautious.
I’ll come to see you again.

Pharos has disappeared…

But, of course, before we can even pretend to worry about the Full Moon coming up in a week…

We’ve got more of this to deal with. Not much more, but still… more.

Iwatodai Dorm

My friends get scared when they see them.
People don’t even feel safe walking around town.
We have to do something about it.

And, yes, we will do something about it. In 6 days, when we can.

I’ve been researching the possibility for a long time, but I never thought it was true.
I mean, can you imagine? A dog using a Persona! A dog! I’m…
Pet-rified.
Oh! You read my mind!
Hmm, I didn’t know you were so funny.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not that we get to out-Ikutsuki Ikutsuki, but I will take that opportunity every day of the week anyway.

I try to stay up as late as you guys, but I’m always the first one to fall asleep.
What do you guys do when you’re up so late?
Study.

Well, it’s not a lie. At least as far as Makoto’s concerned.

Wow… High school must be really hard.

The problem particularly affects Apathy Syndrome victims, since they are unable to move…

This seems like such an obvious concern that it’s a bit of a surprise that it hasn’t come up before, really.

Moving on from that, we’ll head right on back to a nightclub to hang out with a rad monk.

This Mysterious Feeling

Hey, can ya help me out, kid…? I don’t feel so good…
Dammit… I can’t believe I let this happen…
Ugh… I’m in bad shape…
You should go home.
Yeah, you’re right, kid… I should go home and sleep…

But, even if I go home…

The Heart Sutra is a very well-known Buddhist scripture. It might be the most famous, even.

Before, no matter how much I drank, all I needed was a cold shower to snap outta it. Guess I’m gettin’ old, heh…
It’s times like these I wish I didn’t live alone…
What about the others?
Others? Heh, you mean other monks?

…If ya think about it, livin’ alone’s probably the best thing a person could do…
You don’t hafta wait for someone else to get outta the bathroom when ya need to go. My son took forever in there.
…Yeah, livin’ alone is the way to achieve peace and serenity!
…All things visible are bound to change and disappear…

And yet, they’re all different from each other. All things in this world are unique.
To put it simply…
No matter how hard you try to live your life right, someone else can always mess it up.
All things are unique, yet they are not singular…
Maybe you’ve messed up my life a bit, too. Heheh…

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

You understand Mutatsu better now.

Oh, yeah, about the memorial service…
The kid was only 19… a random murder victim. What a harsh world we live in…
You be careful on your way home, okay, kid?

You decided to go back to the dorm.

Mutatsu, you’re cool and all but maybe - just maybe - getting plastered tonight wasn’t the best idea.

Oh well, not like that’s really my problem anyway. My biggest problems right now are the looming full moon, the sports thing and needing to hit these books.

Last day of practice. This better have been worth it!

Want To Be Close

You’re doing great, Makoto-kun!
You’ve beaten everyone on the team! I’ll be rooting for you! Good luck!

Welp, we’re officially the best in the Kendo Club. Y’know, as opposed to before when we were officially the best in the Kendo Club.

Iwatodai Dorm

Well, you better win.
…Watch out for Mamoru, though.
He’s a tough competitor.
Hey, I’ve heard that name before…
He’s pretty famous, bro. I saw him in a sports magazine.
Dude, guys like him are insane… You’re gonna get your ass handed to you on a platter, so what’s the point?
Well, I guess the full moon is coming up soon, so you can think of it as training.

I mean, it’s not like it’s even comparable so I’m not sure it’d be very effective.

Yes, very.
I understand how you feel, but Koromaru has a professional veterinarian tending to him, so he’ll be fine.
You should be focusing your attention on the full moon that is coming up.

Well, for some reason it reminded me of something Mitsuru-senpai was talking about.
Normal Shadows don’t appear outside Tartarus…
But, there are irregular ones that do.
Only our senpai have seen them.

I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. I mean, yes, if you discount all the Shadows that appear outside of Tartarus only irregular ones appear outside of Tartarus.

And apparently the Full Moon fights don’t count as irregular…?

It will learn both support skills and physical abilities.
I will be a valuable ally on the front line in battle.

How do you drink your coffee, Makoto-san?
With hot sauce.

You mean, like hot sauce used to make your food spicy?
You’re just kidding, right? I mean, no one would put hot sauce in their coffee… would they?

Does Makoto really seem like someone who would joke?

I mean, really now. Hot Sauce Coffee is serious business and you shouldn’t take it lightly.

Make sure you have enough water, and keep your energy up! Now let’s join our regular reporters back in the studio.

If they hadn’t been found in time, they could have died, so be careful out there…

Not much left to do tonight, so we’ll just get some last minute studying in.

We’ve got the dumb sports tournament thingy tomorrow to deal with and then hopefully a few days of proper respite before the full moon…

1 Like

It’s been… a bit too long since we went down an alternative leg in the trousers of time, huh? Fortunately we can finally change that.

Before we focus on July though, there’s this one scene at the end of June that just… didn’t play last time, even though it should have done. I dunno. :shrug:

So to fix that, I just sorta replayed the entire game from scratch because whoops I didn’t have a pre-July save because I am brilliant at things.

After School

A-Are guys allowed to go in there…?
It’s completely okay.
I-I see. Then… let’s go.

You shared some cake with Akihiko.

That was rather sweet…

Did you not like it?
Oh… I mean, I don’t hate having sweets…

And… I heard that girls like eating sweet things, so…

Still, it was like having a lump of pure sugar in my mouth…
Yukari sometimes gives me sweet snacks once in a while.

…But that’s not important right now.
Um… Are you still hungry? Want to get some real food?
It doesn’t have to be something sweet…

…?

It’s the two girls from the other day…

Buns: Like, stop stealing all the single guys when you’ve already got one for yourself!

The girls glare at you with the intensity of a thousand suns…



As you can see, I’m here with Kotone right now.
We’ll have to talk some other time.
Let’s go, Kotone.

Heavily Made-Up Girl: Huh? Hey…!

…“Cutting menchis” means to glare at someone in a challenge, basically. To find that one out, I had to look at actual Japanese dictionary stuff because apparently they sorta forgot to translate it. Great, wonderful.

But before I found that, I learned that Menchies is an ice-cream brand and Google really wanted me to see a ribbon cutting ceremony.

…Sorry about what happened back there.
It’s not your fault, Senpai.
…I’m glad to hear you say that.
All this about me showing off and taking someone’s girlfriend…
There are people in my class saying things about me, too…

It seems Akihiko has been going through a lot, himself…

…I had fun today.
It’s nice to have sweet things once in a while.

Maybe you could make me something sweet sometime.
Like… Pancakes sound good.
Pancakes?
…I like them.
Haha, does that seem like the kind of food I wouldn’t like?

Akihiko laughs self-depreciatingly…

You feel like your bond with Akihiko has gotten a little stronger…

You went back to the dorm together.

Alright, NOW we experience the alternative July.

And we’re starting off the month with Rio, since we haven’t really seen her much as of (relative) late.

Joy

Your classmate Kenji approaches the two of you…

You again? What do you want now?
Umm…
…Huh? Are you the only guys here?

Would it kill you to stop being so sarcastic all the time? It really isn’t cute at all.

So, who are you looking for?

Even when we’re not focusing on Kenji’s terrible plot thread, he manages to somehow get it crowbarred in.

Yeah, but she’s never here. She doesn’t care… She doesn’t even know the rules of the game.
Well, a sophisticated woman like her wouldn’t care much for children’s games in any case.

I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Ack! Don’t waste that pretty face of yours by getting all red like that.
Y-You shouldn’t say stuff if you don’t mean it.
But man, where could Ms. Kanou be?
She wasn’t in the faculty office, either…
…No idea.
Do you know, Kotone?
Maybe she went home already.
Really? You think so, too? Aw, maaaaan. I’m so bummed I could just fall over and die here.
Why’re you looking for her?

Kenji shrugs…

Isn’t she just using you?
N-Now way! Ms. Kanou’s not that kind of person!
She’s so beautiful and mature and sweet that I can’t help but–

Kenji blushes…

That… is a really bad “blushing” effect. I know, PSP, but still.


Why do you like her?
…Huh?
You’re such a kid, Rio-san…
Listen up, okay? It’s got nothing to do with logic or reason…

It just happens…?
But seriously, don’t tell anybody about this, got it? I don’t even want you and Kotone-san talking about me! Okay!?

Kenji leaves…

It looks that way.
He doesn’t make any sense at all…

oh god no

You feel like you understand Rio a little better now…

C’mon, we can’t let someone like him get to us! I’ll round up the balls.

You and Rio finished your practice, then you went back to the dorm.

Well, this seems to slowly be turning in a bad direction, as is fitting of its nature as a S.Link here… but did it really have to be in the direction it’s going to be? There is no escape from Kenji dragging everything down…

Junpei looks very serious…

But at least we have a weirdly decent Magician link available instead.

:siren: Junpei Iori: The Magician :siren:
yes click that definitely do it

Warm Feeling

So, uh, Persona 5 got a lot of credit for being the first modern Persona game to include voice acting in its Confidants because people both misunderstood that ranks 1 and 10 being voiced meant everything was. And also because people forgot that Portable exists and did it first. :v:

Granted 5 does do it for every Confidant, but that’s not the point.

Ugh, I’m no good at this… Where do I start?
Going to confess your love?

Uhh, well… I had something serious to talk about.
I want you to have this.
I never had much I was that attached to, but I always held onto this for some reason.

I used to keep my house keys on that.

So when it turned out I was gonna get to live at the dorm, you wouldn’t believe how happy I was.
I thought after that… I could turn my back on it all.
So I kept this keychain and house keys stashed away, since I figured I’d never have to use 'em again.
But after a while… I didn’t like the way I was trying to avoid stuff.
I knew the problem wasn’t gonna go away just 'cause I wouldn’t look at it… and that I was lame for ever thinking so…
…That’s why I dug these out.

Then again, I’m still kinda chicken…
If you hold onto those for me, it’ll be like you’ve got my back for it…
That way, I’d have the guts to see him.

Junpei’s hands are trembling…

Hey, listen… You can talk to me too, if anything’s bothering you, all right?
And I’m not saying so because I wanna be the guy people turn to. It’s just, you don’t have to do everything yourself.
You and the rest of the gang were there for me, and I’m here for you the same way.
Don’t forget that… Okay?

You sense strong affection from Junpei…

You sense a bond with Junpei…

The Path Is Open

Warm Feeling

Surtr’s a Fire Giant, not a god. Jeez. We can make him whenever we make it to level 52, so uh… Magician caps pretty early!

And it’s not because it makes me kinda like a superhero or anything.
It always bugged me, that weakness I knew was there inside…
But I feel like I can change.

Or worse, I mighta done the wrong things with it…
So… thanks.

Geez, listen to me, goin’ on like that!
C’mon, let’s eat! You want some more green onion barbecued pork?

You and Junpei spent a long time talking about all sorts of things…

End

So, Junpei was Cool and Good here. and you probably even noticed that we didn’t get railroaded into a bad romance or anything. More links need to be like that; Junpei seemed like a Pretty Decent Guy here, and I loved that he was introspective and able to realise that he was just running away from his problems. He’s not all perfect and fixed now, because growth never ends. He’s started his own Journey at least…

Note that we will be spending time with Yukari here, and this IS a scene that is very different from its counterpoint in the “main” run…

Joy

Ramen, beef bowl…

This place is full of fattening stuff!
Ugh! It’s getting to the point that I’m starting to feel a bit…

Have you heard about it? I’ve heard that it’s on top of the sales charts right now.
Oh, but do you think people downstairs will hear? I think you have to jump around and stuff…

Yukari is looking your way as she talks to you…

…?

A car comes speeding down the road as Yukari steps into the street!

Crisis

Eek!

Th…anks…

That was scary…
I was scared, too.
Yeah…

Yukari still seems stunned…

Oh… You’re hurt…

Why…
Why’d you help me!?
…What were you gonna do if you died!?
So it’s okay if you die!?
That’s not what I meant!
I mean… I mean, you’re… you’re our leader!

And… what would I do if you died?

Yukari looks like she’s about to cry…

You sense affection from Yukari…

No, you didn’t miss anything. Ranks like 3-6 are functionally the same between the two versions. A few things are a bit different, but the content is the same.

Joy

Haha, I keep bombarding you with all this personal stuff all the time.

Sorry, I’m a little confused…
Haha, I’m a kid, aren’t I…

I’m… gonna head back…
Sorry…

Yukari ran off…

You decide to go back to the dorm…

It seems weird for this scene to not really exist outside of an alternative dimension. It’s also weird just how late it is, really. It feels like it could be a REALLY early rank in both and yet…

Oh welll. Next up we have more, uh, Fuuka…? Sure, Fuuka.

Joy

Fuuka seems depressed…

Oh… Sorry.

I keep messing up…
It’s not a problem with how I make the recipe… How do I put this…?


I’m always like that.
It’s like, I’m bad at imagining things in a positive way…
I keep imagining that nothing is going to go right…
If only there was something I was actually good at…
You’re good with machines.
…I’m surprised you remembered.

When I was young, it was my dad’s hobby to work on complicated music equipment…
He’d fix things like broken amplifiers and headphones where one side would be broken.
I loved watching him working on those things when I was little…
That’s… probably why I became good with machines.
But, I don’t think I could use machines to repay everyone’s kindness…
When we really need help with fightning or technology, we have the Kirijo group’s support…
I want to find something that only I can do… Something that people would rely on me for…
I’ll help you find it!
giggle Thanks.
You really are our leader after all.

Oh, we should make something before it gets too late.
If we want to make something that we can take back to everyone, I think cookies would be best.

You decide to make cookies today.

You mixed the ingredients…

…kneaded the cookie dough…

…cut out the shapes…

…and took them to the oven…

…The cookies were pretty easy to make.

Huh? Are you done already?
I’m still measuring the flour…

H-How?!

…In order to avoid staying here late into the night, you insist on helping Fuuka cook.

Huh? You’re putting the flour in this basket? But it’s falling out of the bottom.
Oh, so THAT’S how you melt butter quickly!

All the cookies survived.

giggle That’s amazing, it came out right.
It wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t here…
But it actually came out right! For the first time ever, something I cooked actually tastes good!

Fuuka is giddy with excitement…

You feel like you have gotten even closer to Fuuka…

I caused you all this trouble again…
But I’m the one that wants to help you…
Anyways, I’ll try harder next time.

You cleaned up the room and headed back to the dorm…

We’re gonna take a brief detour into Tartarus, but it’s nothing too major here.

tartarus_0d02

We just got some folks to rescue is all; first lad is on the 51st floor well before the Change Relic fight, thankfully.

The woman he got dragged in with isn’t quite so lucky, though. She’s up on the 61st which puts her just before the barrier, yeesh.

That done, I completely forget to go get our rewards right now so we’ll hang out with Rio instead.

Joy

Aren’t you going to practice?
Oh, Kotone…
Yeah, I was going to… but I can’t get myself to move…

Rio looks like she’s about to cry…

She doesn’t seem like her usual self, so you decide to ask her what’s wrong…

But… I heard Ms. Kanou, too…

They seemed to be getting along great.

Rio mumbles quietly…

No, I am very sure that isn’t going to happen.


It can’t work out… They’re a teacher and a student. There’s no way.
He’s such an idiot. He’s just being toyed with!
He’ll just end up hurt in the end…
Why… Why’d he choose someone like her…!?
Why…

Rio’s eyes brim with tears…

They don’t suit each other.
Why…?

Dangit, Rio. You were supposed to be cool!

Why…?

Rio begins to cry…

I… didn’t know I was such a nasty person.
I’ve got these terrible feelings inside me… I hate myself…
What is wrong with me?
That’s what love feels like.
Love…?

Rio weeps weakly…

I’m such an idiot…
I didn’t know… all this time. By the time I realized it, it was too late…
Haha, how stupid of me…
Try telling him.
No way…

I know that I don’t have a chance…

Rio desperately tries to hold back more tears…

Let’s be honest; there’s only one real choice here.

Haha… Thanks…

You feel you’ve gotten much closer to Rio…

I’m going to go home…
I’ll be able to smile tomorrow… Act like you don’t know anything.

You saw Rio off, then headed back to the dorm.

Fortunately, immediately afterwards I realised that whoops I shoulda gone to see Kurosawa so we’ll do that now.

The, uh, the 40,000 Yen is sorta definitely nice but the Shirt of Chivalry is MASSIVELY outdated by now. That’s obtainable in Thebel. I don’t even know why you get one here. It just… is so pointless.

A Deep Mentality

So, how about that full moon? There’s one obvious thing that’ll have changed later, but right out the gate we have a clear difference. Namely how random Arqa shadows are hanging out before we even fight the Hierophant.

Speaking of the Hierophant, he looks way less imposing here than he did before.

Which is fine, since he’s the same as before and quite the jobber.

Kick his ass, move swiftly on to learn that oh no Lovers are still around somewhere.

Poke the mirror and carry on through the mindgames that are identical until…

The Voice Someone Calls

…?
Huh!?

I think it’s a trap…
A trap? Man, they really caught us off guard! This coulda been bad!

Junpei ran back into the bathroom…

It seems Junpei’s mind had been clouded too…

Oh, I can finally reach you!
Can you two hear me?
I hear you.
I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you sooner…
The Shadow was interfering with your thoughts…
And you all got separated…
The enemy is still in the same room. Please regroup and hurry there.
Junpei-kun, can you hear me?
Y-Yyyeah, I hear ya!
Um… Did something happen?

Well, maybe we could try this again some other time…
Hahaha, just joking…
…Let’s go.

A Deep Mentality

So we will do just that. Learn about the seal on the door, meet up with the others…

Mitsuru still gets hyper-defensive if you ask if they’re alright. Considering Lovers’ MO, that seems a bit off but whatever.

Mirrors are in the same spot as before, run around break 'em and we get to meet the second boss hurray.

We can defeat it this time! Hang in there, everyone!

Manual control kinda neuters Lovers one gimmick since we don’t have to worry about the AI forgetting to clear Charm. Whoops, no Heartbreakers here.

Gonna skip ahead from here again to just after everyone starts to leave. Junpei gotta get moody, after all…

The Voice Someone Calls

There’s a somewhat sullen tone in Junpei’s voice…

Worried about me?
I wouldn’t say that, but…
Meh, like it really matters…
Dude, what’s the matter with you?

Shut up!

Junpei trotted off quickly…

Yeaaaaah, Junpei’s just as annoyed he’s not gotten to be the leader but for, uh, very different reasons than a bruised ego. Thanks, Junpei…

Well, uh, that done we’ll go see what Saori’s up to next I guess. It’ll be… something, I’m sure.

Joy

Wow, is that how that teacher is?
Heh, I didn’t know at all.
I learn so much when I talk to you…
I never get to hear all these rumors that go around the school…

Saori seems to be having fun…

A boy comes in and stands in front of Saori…

He seems to be smirking for some reason…

Oh, umm… Takaoka-kun. How can I help you?

Oh, I wonder where this is going to go.

…Okay?
Seriously? Then, how about today?
I still have some things to do there today, so…
Aww, I’ll wait around. Let’s go once you’re free.
Oh… Okay then.
Well, I’ll be waiting in the classroom.

The boy leaves…

Do you get along with him?
…I don’t really know him.
But if he really wants to go out with me, then…
Stand up for yourself!
Heh… It’s not that big a deal.

Saori laughs as if she just heard a funny joke…

…That, uh, that’s really not a good thing.

If there’s someone willing to take the lead, I’ll gladly follow…

If I can find someone who needs me, I’d love that person with every fiber of my being.
…Do you think it’s wrong to think that way?
I can understand that.
Really? Heh… I’m happy to hear that.

You feel like you understand Saori a little better now…

…I should get going. I did promise after all…

You did your duties in the school library committee and said goodbye to Saori…

Welp, I guess we’ll see the obvious conclusion to this… thing whenever we hang out with Saori again.

Oh and if you’ve noticed the calendar in the corner here, then yeah. We’ll be taking a brief respite here but that’s mainly because, well, July’s not really got a lot of super-new content; it’s primarily frontloaded is all, which makes sense since July’s free-time is also heavily frontloaded!

1 Like

Alright, time to pick up where we left off. I really didn’t expect to split July in two quite like this, but here we are.

And also here’s Akihiko for good measure.

After School

Man, it’s crowded in here. Is there a promotion going on?
That reminds me, the other day Mitsuru…

A small boy sitting with his family at the next table begins screaming…

The mother’s voice is getting louder as she argues with her child…

It’s reached the point that your ears are hurting…

Senpai, should we leave?
Huh? Is something wrong?

Akihiko is surprised…

It seems that Akihiko wasn’t bothered by the commotion at all…

The family at the table next to you has gotten embarrassed and begins to leave.

The child’s screaming slowly recedes into the distance…

Akihiko is absentmindedly watching them off…

He’s just a child.
Then you shouldn’t hold it against him that he’s acting like one…

Akihiko suddenly falls silent…

Warm Feeling

Do you think I’m… strange?
You’re charming.
Th-That’s not what I asked.

Sometimes people tell me that I’m a weird guy, or that I act kind of strange…
Normally, I wouldn’t let that kind of thing get to me…
But back in the day…

It’s not like I could do anything about that…
That’s why… I wanted to show them that they were wrong.
Psh… That doesn’t matter now. That all happened back when I was a kid anyway…
…I mean, the orphanage wasn’t all bad, either.

Akihiko smiles gently…

Oh, sorry… I don’t think I ever told you.
I don’t have any parents. My sister and I grew up in an orphanage.

We’ve even seen a couple hints about this already, even in the main playthrough. The most obvious one was during one of Aki’s one-to-one conversations with Shinji, naturally.

…That reminds me, you don’t have parents either.
Ah, sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up…

No, wait… I think that might be why I wanted you to hear what I had to say about this.
…Because I think I can depend on you to understand me.

Akihiko smiles wryly…

You feel like you understand Akihiko a little better now…

You returned to the dorm with Akihiko.

It’s nice getting to see stuff lieke this from Akihiko sometimes. Helps flesh him out a bit, too.

Anyway, uh, now we’ll have our first real skip through a large period of July since there’s not much else we can do that’s new. We’re rapidly approaching finals again, after all, so we’ll pick right back up immediately afterwards.

Joy

I was just in a bad mood and I took it all out on you…
I know it wasn’t too cool of me…
It’s okay.
Alright… Thanks.
Let’s go back to how things used to be between us, okay?
Alright, let’s get going.

Not overly different to how it was before, but it shows that no matter what Junpei can realise that, yeah, he messed up and apologises for it of his own volition.

But, hey, the most important difference is, like, A Lot Of Yakushima so let’s enjoy a vacation!

Silence

W-wow, so many tropical plants…!
Take a look at that one…

But the atmosphere is still heavy…

Um…
I-It’s totally amazing, huh! Man, this is so awesome… I’m not even kidding!
Junpei-kun…
sigh

This is just a mini-scene to replace the animated cutscene, since they don’t exist here for space reasons.

The scene at the mansion is the same, minus character models, which is sensible enough. The beach…

Joy

Yup! Summer’s here!

You can tell even at this distance that Junpei is extremely excited…

But yikes, what’s with Akihiko-senpai’s swimsuit…?
I can feel my face getting red just looking at it…

…?
Something wrong, Yukari?
That’s a pretty… small… swimsuit…
What, don’t you know?
Swimsuits like this reduce water resistance and–
Oh, that’s okay… It doesn’t need to be justified.
…Hey Junpei, what’s the matter? You look even dumber than usual.

Yuka-tan’s wearing a more aggressive model than I had imagined!

What!?
And check out our leader! She’s one cute mermaid herself!

Thanks!
Maaaan, the beach is so great. I love this place!

Fuuka and Mitsuru’s relevant bits are functionally identical to before, so we’ll gloss over them for sensible reasons.

Akihiko and Junpei are whispering to each other…

Huh!? Really!?

Maaan, really? No joke?
What’re you two smirking about?
Nothing?
…Okaaay.
Man, this is great! I’m in heaven!
How 'bout a swim!?
Buh buh buh bump ba baaa! Charge!
Whoa! I’m not letting you win that easily!

The bit about Aigis spying on us from off-screen still happens, naturally.

The general dialogue is mostly the same, but Akihiko mentions relaxing under the parasol. This is because he doesn’t function as a way to leave/save any more.

He just hints at the parasol being a save point, which I guess is nice for if you’re not using these icons for one reason or another.

But that’s all there is today and the Aigis stuff is the main event anyway.

Yeah, Yukari’s event plays out the same but without the option to give her a hug which… you’d really think they’d keep.

The initial dialogue goes the same, but you get Yukari mentioning this outright because, well, no character models any more.

Joy

…But what about Akihiko and Junpei’s terrible antics?

Man, what lazybones! The ocean’s not gonna sit around and wait for us, ya know?
You’re right. Once the sun sets, the water temperature drops, tiring you out much faster.
Huh? Uhh, I guess… Is that what you’re worried about…?
That reminds me. One of the maids gave me a letter as we were leaving…
Whoa, hey, Junpei!

No buts! I ain’t letting any love letter from a lovely maid slip through my fingers!
How dumb can you get?
Uhh, let’s see here…

…Huh!?
It looks like Fuuka’s handwriting…
Aw man!
We’re at an island resort in the middle of summer! Why don’t they go to the beach!?
That’s just not right!!
Well, it is your fault.
Whaddya mean? I-I just wanted to lighten up the mood…
I don’t want to hear it.
Well, it doesn’t matter, anyway…
We’re on our own now, just the guys!
If you’re outta ammo, you pick it up on the battlefield! That’s one of the most basic military tactics!

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

Wh-What!?
Hey, I’m not judging you. Most guys would rather back down than lose.
All right… we’re doing this!

Huh…?

Commence the operation!
Loser? Whaddya mean loser?

…You mentioned it first. You explicitly turned it into a competition. Which, arguably, makes this event even worse somehow. Fortunately!

Wait, we’re gonna go hit on them separately!?

…Oh, I see. You’re here with your boyfriend…

Notably, for starters, each scene here is heavily truncated and only shows one side of the - very brief - conversations.

Say, do you know the most efficient swimming technique? The butterfly stroke uses your leg strength to…
…Oh, I-I see.

Oh, don’t worry. I’m really good at it.
Huh? You’re trying to get a tan? I’m in the way…? Oh, 'scuse me, then…

And the best part is that it even removed the transphobia that didn’t need to exist in the first place. A much better scene all around, really.

Whaddaya mean…?
That indirect approach of yours isn’t gonna help you score…
What?
So you’re saying I should use cheesy come-ons like yours?
Honesty is the best policy!
I mean, who wants to listen to a guy drone on about muscles and…

What’s up? You see something…?

Yeah, Aigis is still just hanging out on the pier for whatever reason. The scene here is the same as before, but without the irrelevant RPS bit.

When it gets to the part when Makoto went to talk to her, however, it diverges slightly.


Awww, she took off…
…It wasn’t because of us, was it?
Who knows…
Wait, she’s heading into the forest!

Why, you think there might be bears or something?
I… don’t know about that, but… We should go after her!

Troubled

…I really wanna know how that happened.

…?

You sense a strong gaze, more palpably than before…

It’s a girl…

She must be the one who has been watching you.

Hello.
I was correct…
I have found you.

I have been searching for you.
My highest priority is to be with you!

It doesn’t seem like she wants to let go…

Junpei and Akihiko have arrived…

Even then, it doesn’t seem like she plans on letting go…

That explains why we got the cold shoulder…

This is also surprisingly good for a modern Persona game. Just a “oh, I see, okay” and then immediately moving on. Things like this really stand out because they feel like they were written by someone different entirely and that’s a very good thing.

Huh!? Junpei!?
What are you doing here!? We’ve been looking all over for you!
Um… What’re you doing in the middle of the woods, in your swimsuits…?
You have no idea what we’ve–
Huh!?

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

And from there, the scene ends the same way as before.

The second part also plays out identically, but it’s really weird that Aigis walks in, we get “this is Aigis” and… she’s not on-screen. I dunno, that just strikes me as weird.

Joy

The 3rd day’s beach scene is mostly the same as before, but the end has a very large and very clear divergence…

Got it.

Akihiko-sempai!
This again…? I guess we should go too, Kotone.

Aaaaaack!
Junpei-kun is down!
Alright, here’s our chance for an All-Out Attack!

I’ve been waiting for this!

Whoa, whoa, time out! I seriously can’t take much more of this…! Gyaaaaah!

You had a fun time with your friends at Yakushima…

With Aigis joining, things are likely to get livelier…

SEES’s determination in battle has been enhanced…

Also, yeah, new mechanic unlocked and this one is backported from Persona 4. Key difference is that this is unlocked for everyone, as opposed to requiring it to be done piecemeal. HP death is definitely more likely than normal against bosses thanks to being on Maniac, but like it’s generally because it’s a massive oneshot even at full HP anyway so…

The Yakushima vacation has ended. You returned to the dormitory…

Skipping way ahead now to when we get told about Sports and, yeah, that still happens but I feel like it makes more sense here? I dunno. That might just be me, since we’re in a volleyball club and all.

And, hey, let’s have one last hang out with someone before summer hits and, uh… Fuuka? Sure, Fuuka sounds good.

Joy

Various sweets are in the book that Fuuka brought for today…

Based on the ingredients you have on hand, you decide to make cupcakes.

D-Do you think I can make something that difficult…?
Let’s make it together.
O-Okay. I’ll try my best not to get in your way!

Let’s do this. Let me know if I do something wrong.
Um… First I need to sift the flour, right?

…H-How?! How do you make a mistake even remotely close to that.

That’s sugar.
Huh? …Oh, you’re right.
It was white, so I thought it was flour… Th-Thanks for stopping me.
Um, I sift it into the bowl and then mix butter in…
…Should I use my hands to mix it in? I know that you use your hands when making hamburger patties.
Use a whisk.

You had some leftover bananas, so you tried mashing them in, even though the recipe didn’t call for it.

…You poured the batter into the cups. All you need to do now is bake them.

A light, sweet smell permeates the room.

…Whenever I try that…
You did your best, too.
Kotone-chan… Yeah, thanks…

giggle They’re delicious.
I’m so happy that I was able to make something so difficult. …It’s all thanks to you, Kotone-chan.

Fuuka seems to have gained some self-confidence…

Together, you’ve overcome a difficult task, and you feel as if you’ve grown closer to Fuuka.

I don’t want to enjoy them at all once… I wish they’d last forever.

You cleaned up the room with Fuuka and headed back to the dorm…

Time

Just one last little thing here. For whatever reason, the sports stuff gets pushed forward by 1 whole day to August 1st instead!

Oh, and obviously we have Rio yelling stuff instead of Yuko. Makes sense, though.

But we can’t end there, so we’ll just go forward a tiny bit more.

This scene isn’t different, but you can see Koromaru look even cuter and better.

That’s it. That’s the entire reason for this.

…Oh shit, I nearly forgot. There’s a full moon in like 5 days. Uhh…

1 Like

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.

2 Likes

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.

Joy

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.

Iwatodai Dorm

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…

Iwatodai Dorm

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:

The Result of Insecurity

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?

Iwatodai Dorm

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.

This Mysterious Feeling

…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…

Iwatodai Dorm

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!

Joy

…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.

Iwatodai Dorm

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.

:siren: So, the question is which three get to come along? :siren:

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

The Voice Someone Calls

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.

Crisis

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

Basement

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.

A United Front

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.

The Voice Someone Calls

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…

1 Like

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.

Iwatodai Dorm

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.

Paulownia Mall

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.

The Poem for Everyone’s Soul

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.

The Poem for Everyone’s Soul

“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.

Elizabeth’s Third Date

Joy

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

The Poem for Everyone’s Soul

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.

Troubled

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.

This Mysterious Feeling

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.

The Voice Someone Calls

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.

Iwatodai Dorm

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.

Troubled

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.

Iwatodai Dorm

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.

Joy

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.

The Power of the Heart

A mysterious voice rings in your head…

Joy

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.

Iwatodai 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…

:siren: Who with? :siren:

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.

Want To Be Close

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.

Iwatodai Dorm

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.

Joy

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.

Iwatodai 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.

Iwatodai 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.

This Mysterious Feeling

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…

:siren: Three slots to fill; who’s coming with? :siren:

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.

Iwatodai 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.

Troubled

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…

Iwatodai Dorm

…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?

Iwatodai Dorm

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

Self-Reflection

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.

Joy

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!

The Path is Open

Joy

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.

Iwatodai 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…

The Voice Someone Calls

But we’re off to Tartarus, so he’ll get a workout anyway.

Just gotta get past that pesky “barrier” thing, first.

tartarus_0d03

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.

The Poem For Everyone’s Soul

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!

1 Like

2 weeks exact until the full moon, so we should probably go to Tartarus sometime soon. But, eh, it can wait a while. We could’ve even done that before (not even really close to tired), but it’s not super important just yet.

They’re showing a war movie marathon today…
Sweet, huh!? So, are you in?
Sure.
Yeah, dawg… It’s gonna be awesome! I’ll see ya later.

Kaz… Kaz, please. I’m… sorta… glad to see you again, but c’mon.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

I’m sure you’re surprised to hear that this is +4 Courage.

…Gotta run. Later, bro.

You decide to go back to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm

I guess it just seems different because we’re on break.

Well, maybe? It is a fortnight exact, so there’s generally more visible folks with Apathy Syndrome out and about now.

The more victims there are, the stronger the Shadow.
Based on our data thus far, the next Shadow will most likely be stronger than the last.

There’s also the simple reasoning of how they seem to appear piecemeal, rather than all simultaneously, thus they have to get stronger because where one was slain, the next may thrive.

Or something. I never claimed to be good at this.

But, I’m here, so we can still go to Tartarus.

Oh, yeah, great. Thanks, Akihiko.

…We’re not going to Tartarus today.

Yukari and Fuuka are up on the second floor, just hanging out here. Ken, meanwhile, is in his room. Again.

What do you think will happen to us if the Dark Hour disappears?
We’ll go back to normal.
Yeah, that’s what I think too.
Those Strega guys said our Persona abilities will disappear without a trace.
So, we’ll probably just go back to being ordinary high school students.

There are only four Shadows left… We have to defeat them and stop the damage they’re causing to society.
I’ve read some of those blogs…
A girl wrote about the suffering she experienced when she was one of The Lost…
And some guy posted a message about his parents becoming victims…
It’s so sad…

I feel like it being colloquially referred to as “Apathy Syndrome” just made slightly less sense. Until now it seemed to fit fine, and yet…

More importantly, Koromaru wants to go for a walk! This is a Saturday, so it’s normally an arcade night, but…

Joy

So this is my last high school summer vacation, huh…? I don’t feel like that’s good or bad…
I do have some regrets, though.

You spoke quietly with Akihiko…

Well, we should get back. It’s nice enough at our dorm too, right?

I’d be surprised if it wasn’t, really. It’s 4 stories, has cable, I guess heating and air con…

It’s not quite the Arcade’s quiz, but at least we can do what I can only surmise is homework or whatever. It makes sense to me, at least.

It’s so weird having a Sunday now. It’s, like, freedom from our usual rigamarole.

And we could totally even use it today to do whatever we want! And I recommend you probably do that. It’s a free day.

They’re having a tear-jerker marathon…
I just love movies like that… So, will you come With me?

Obviously this is gonna be Charm, and we already maxed Chihiro’s S.Link as well. We have no reason at all to bother doing this.

Sure.
Thank you! I can’t wait!

Chihiro seems excited.

…But we’re doing it anyway, because fuck it. Why not.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Are you ready? Let’s go get seated.

Thanks for coming with me. We should probably get going, though.

After saying goodbye to Chihiro, you decide to go back to the dorm.

And that was definitely worth wasting our daytime slot on Chihiro. Yep.

Iwatodai Dorm

Why is school temporarily closed during the summer?
It’s customary.
Interesting…
…Then, school resumes the following month.
…I comprehend.

…Also, Ikutsuki’s here today apparently. Sure, okay.

Oh, you think that I don’t know anything about fashion because I’m a researcher, right?
No, not at all.
Good. You understand that it’s not prudent to judge a person based on preconceptions.

It’s more that I have never thought about it before. Because why even would I. C’mon, man.

You should really consider strengthening the team.
Now that Koromaru has joined us, there are more members to choose from.

We could technically form 2 full teams, even! Provided Makoto is on both teams, and thus ensures that he wins the Minority Rule game gets the most EXP. Or, something.

…And now. the news.

Fortunately, they’re Phoenix Rangers so they probably all have Amrita (or at least Stondi, or Dis-Stones) and thus don’t have to worry about Petrification.

Tonight, Junpei’s hanging out upstairs with the girls.

Yes! We have an important mission!!
I think homework is also an important mission…
Yeah, and I’m sure Senpai would agree.
…Hmph.

I genuinely want to see Junpei try that line on Mitsuru at some point. See how well it goes for ya, buddy.

What an idiot. He’s only making things worse for himself…

…but doing our summer vacation homework is just as important.
In fact, it may be more of a priority because of the time constraint…
That’s right… Have YOU been doing your homework, Junpei?
Of course! Who do you think I am!
…Alright, ya got me! I haven’t done any of it yet!

What? Don’t look at me like that!

Do your homework, Junpei.

Hey, wouldn’t you know it? Koromaru wants to go for a walk again tonight! Unfortunately, no one else wants to come with. Fine, their loss.

Joy

Ohey, Bunkichi! We, uh, kinda haven’t been by the store in a while, huh? Probably should do that sometime soon before I forget.

You’re quite a rascal, walking around late at night like this!
Say, who’s that with you…? Don’t tell me that’s Makoto-chan’s…!?

On the one hand, I really wanna know who/what he thought Koromaru was. On the other hand, I really… don’t.

Either way, with that Koromaru is off to the shrine proper for a bit.

Meanwhile we just sorta hang out with Bunkichi and do a normal S.Link style hangout, which is nice.

We even get +10 towards the next rank outta it. I think this is fixed to be +10 no matter what, though. It doesn’t matter here, but it might for a more general playthrough.

You decide to go back to the dorm with Koromaru.

Definitely need to back to Bookworms sometime soon, but I dunno when we’ll get around to that really.

My September notes are already kind of a borderline unreadable mess that I’ve had to rewrite like four times.

Eavesdropping

Troubled

Anyway, today begins with… Ken doing things?

I’m sorry, but I won’t take no for an answer.

You know, another new Persona-user joined us… and he’s not human.
…What?

He’s incredibly loyal… Up 'til now, he’s been guarding the spot where his master was killed…
despite the bad memories.

But, it’s been two years since then…

How long do you plan to beat yourself up over it?
You’re always at that spot behind the station, even though you don’t hang out with the crowd there.
It doesn’t matter.

What difference does it make if I come to terms with it? It won’t change anything.

Shinji…
That’s enough, already.
I just want to forget it ever happened.


It can’t be…

So his name is Shinji, huh…?

End

Iwatodai Dorm

Anyway, we don’t get any calls from anyone at this point to go the movies with them. The Film Festival thing IS still ongoing, though…

The formatting is tricky… I’ll have to do some research.

“You should relax during summer vacation”…
That is what I was told. Thus, I am devoting all available processes to relaxation.

Mitsuru is busy being, well, Mitsuru and Aigis is being… Aigis, alright.

Maybe he’s exhausted from the heat, like Junpei…

Speaking of Junpei, he’s mysteriously MIA today. Akihiko’s off-screen somewhere too, but he just had a cutscene. Ken apparently teleported back into his bedroom since then. Junpei’s just… nowhere.

Critical Woman: Don’t say nonsense like, “If you leave them alone, they’ll recover…”!
Doctor: We’re doing our best to take care of the Apathy Syndrome. But all we can do right now is–
Critical Woman: That’s what you keep saying!
Moderator Whew! It’s getting as hot in here as it is out there, but that’s all the time we have for today. Coming up next, the news.

My friend texted me, saying she was bailing on our plans to go to the Film Festival.
It must have been some emergency! She was so excited about it…

Yukari seems interested in going to the Film Festival.

Wanna go with me?
Hm? With you?
Well… Sure, why not?
I hope you’re into the kinda stuff they’re showing today, cause we’ll be seeing a lot of it!

Yukari seems happy.

I probably shoulda checked to see what the theatre would be playing, honestly. I kinda forgot to do that though.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

So it might be kinda manly for you… I don’t know about this.

I… what.

Yes, really. This was an Academics boost. Just, uh, just keep that in mind.

You know… There really are times in life that you have to get by on willpower alone.
But I’m still young… I probably haven’t seen anything that hard yet.
Wow, it’s getting late. How many movies did they show?
The baseball one, the judo one, the military basic training one… Oh, the shot put one! How could I forget?
The shot put sequences kinda lost me. but all the scenes after that with the main guy running were incredible.


…I’m being weird, huh?
I’m getting hungry. Why don’t we grab a bite somewhere and head back to the dorm?

You decided to go back to the dorm with Yukari.

Iwatodai Dorm

There must be something I can do to pass the time…
Work.
chuckle Good one.

Do your homework, Junpei.

It is your decision whether the same team members fight in every battle,
or if different team members fight in each battle.
Either way, please think strategically when you are selecting your team.

I have the best strategy for this. I’m a great long-term planner!

Maybe he’s suffering from the summer heat like Junpei-kun said…

I’ve been doing it little by little, but for right now. I’m going to take a break from it.

I think he’s got heat exhaustion. Poor kid…
He should go outside and play. You know, have some fun, build up some stamina.

Honestly, even though we know it’s wrong, I do like that folks - including Junpei - are attentative enough to pay attention and see that Ken’s acting differently today.

Anyway, today is Monday so we’ll just head on up to our room to get in some late night studying as per usual.

We still don’t get invited by anyone else to the movies, so we’re officially done with that. No, not the Film Festival.

But I could never achieve it, because there was so much else in the way.
But I’ve made up my mind… the next chance I get, I’ll do it.
My mind is clear.

It’s not at all obvious what Ken’s referring to here, but at least we can see immediately that Junpei’s theory was wrong. But we already knew that, so…

Haha. I’m just kidding. I really had fun today… I’m glad I came!
Thanks for inviting me.

Yesterday, Yukari. You mean yesterday.

Is it the heat or something?
Kids are supposed to be outside in the yard, playing with the dog. Though there’s no backyard here…
Hey, we have a dog! I could be playing with him now!

Dangit Junpei. At least you… actually, damn, I can’t complain about that.

You look bored. Did you finish your homework?
…Well, you’re one up on Junpei.
I actually want to switch up my workout plan, but the heat is killing me…
Wanna go to the Film Festival?
Film Festival, huh? I didn’t know about it 'til Junpei told me.
C’mon, let’s go.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Oh well. Let’s give it a shot.

This one’s +4 Courage, by the way.

His hands were on fire…
And he must have jumped eight feet!
It looked like he was suspended from the ceiling.
I guess that’s why they call it “wire-fu,” huh?
They must have been on some kind of amazmg training program…
But they never show those parts! Arrgh!
Tch… I gotta train even harder…!
I’m gonna do squats all the way back on the monorail!

You decided to go back to the dorm with Akihiko.

Iwatodai Dorm

Please be careful that you don’t get heat exhaustion.

She says, with a big ol’ smile on her face…

Once school starts, you won’t have much time for anything else.
So, if there’s something you want to do, you should do it while you’re still on break.

Akihiko is genuinely the only person in the dorm this evening that has updated dialogue. Yeah.

So let’s just go see Tanaka, since it’s Tuesday and all.

This Mysterious Feeling

She was a kind of girl that men dream of–drop dead gorgeous.
But, no matter how attractive she was, I was repulsed by her dedication to charity work.
You’re not going to donate?
…Well if I say no, the tabloids will tear me to shreds.

President Tanaka seems annoyed.

Damn, Tanaka. I take from that if you knew that the cash was more likely to go to rich dudes in the first place, you’d be more inclined to donate…?

I pulled myself up out of squalor to get where I am today!

That’s what I had always dreamt of. But to tell you the truth, now I have too much money.
Profits are booming, but I’m so busy I don’t have time to spend a dime…
Maybe I should train someone to take my place.
I could teach them my business philosophy and help them master my management techniques…

It would probably cost me a fortune, but if it works, then I could sit back and relax in my massage chair!
How 'bout it? Want to become my successor? I’ll even let you join the Tanaka family…
…Just kidding. People would think I’m a weirdo if I adopted a boy as old as you…

Despite his odd sense of humor, you sense President Tanaka’s strong feelings towards you.

You feel like you understand him a little better now.

President Tanaka left.

Y’know, I remembered this being ever-so-slightly earlier. Not by much, just not the 9th. Guess I was off a bit. Happens!

It’s not a big deal, after all.

Since we have time, we’ll go for at least one more day.

Iwatodai Dorm

I need to figure a way to bust out punches like the ones in the movie…

Akihiko is thinking hard… You decided to leave him alone.

I would definitely love to see Akihiko punch like that.

Furthermore, it appears that if he does not go today, he will not be able to go at all.
Please listen to Koromaru-san’s request, Makoto-san.
Arf!
Let’s go.
Arf!
Koromaru-san is very happy.
I, in turn, am happy for Koromaru-san.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

So, we’re going to the movies with Koromaru today. And it was his idea. And we’re watching hotblooded shounen anime, apparently.

whine
Arf! Arf!

Koromaru can’t wait any longer.

You enter the movie theater with Koromaru.

Koromaru seems disappointed…

whine

Koromaru seems sad…


Woof…

You promise Koromaru to buy the DVD for him when it’s released…

Woof! Woof!
Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!

Koromaru seems very happy!

After walking Koromaru, you decided to go back to the dorm.

…Not gonna lie, most of the reason I even bothered with the movies was so I could have a justification for doing Koromaru’s movie date.

So if you’re going to Tartarus, count me in.

Obviously enough at this point, we’re not going to go to Tartarus tonight. Sorry, Akihiko.

This poses a problem…
I will not be able to stay by your side when you are at school.
That worries me…

Well, someone has to stay here and look after Koromaru.

Prepare yourself for it.

Well then, I guess he’ll be heading home soon…
Even though he wasn’t here for very long. it’s still gonna be sad to see him go…

Honestly, I think we might be able to get Academics maxed just in time for going back to school. Maybe.

We’re halfway there, but it’s still got a bit of a ways to go. It won’t be easy, but I don’t do things because they’re easy. That much should be obvious at this point.

But that’s not really important right now. We just wanna get it done before our next exams, anyway, and that’s when it’d be most important. And we can DEFINITELY get it before then.

1 Like

Well, we’re just a few short days away from… being back to school…

Iwatodai Dorm

Just watching him is making me sweat!
Makoto-kun, can you get him outta here?
Sorry, Yuka-tan… I didn’t mean to freak you out…
Here, I’ll give you half! But you gotta use my chopsticks, cause I didn’t bring any spares.
Why would I want any!?
Anyway… This whole summer has been scorching… I can’t concentrate on my homework With this heat.

I see Yukari’s never managed to enjoy something as simple as a curry before. Oddly disappointing, in a way.

Merely standing in one spot does not seem to count as relaxing.
Today, I am observing everyone’s actions so that tomorrow, I might relax in the correct manner.

Well, yeah. Anyone here could’ve told you that otherwise The Lost would be the most relaxed folks ever!

It’s likely that the outage was caused by students planning their summer vacations…

I gotta hurry or I’ll miss the trailers!
But I gotta eat first, or I’ll faint on the way over…
Oh, hey, Makoto. I’m thinking of catching some flicks.
Wanna come along? The lineup today is choice, man!
Sure.
Sweet!
Just gimme a minute to finish eating!

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

It’s kinda weird to see a movie with another guy, but… I’m getting pumped all the same!
Let’s go! Oh, don’t let me forget the popcorn with extra butter!

No, Junpei is not mid-blink here. He’s, like, thinking or something.

Why couldn’t I have been born in the U.S.A.?
By now, I’d have been all…
Saving the babes!
Fighting for my country!
And everyone would be like–

You decide to go back to the dorm with Junpei.

Did you expect Junpei to secretly be a westaboo? No? Don’t worry, he probably isn’t because as far as I remember this never comes up again. :shrug:

Speaking of Junpei, the only thing of note in the dorm is that we can walk Koromaru today. Definitely gonna do that, then.

Joy

Don’t wear yourself out, okay?

A guy watches something like that, and he feels like he can take on the world!

Like, sure, but it did give a Charm boost…

…But the coolest part was how the heroine understood the main dude by the end.
Even being a super badass would suck if no one knew about it…

You spoke with Junpei for a while.

Well, wanna go back?

So, out of curiosity I did count it out and it would be completely possible to get Academics maxed. On the 31st of August. If we spent every day, including this Thursday, doing nohing but getting Academics.

That’s dumb, so of course we won’t be doing that. I’d rather do things.

Silence

I apologize for the interruption, but do you have a moment?
Coming…

The Chairman will be here tonight.
We’ll meet on the 4th floor as usual.
That’s all.

Well, uh, the last time that Mitsuru came around like this was when Koromaru joined the party…

Iwatodai Dorm

I wanna be that badass someday!
If they keep playing the same movies, I swear I’ll go see them, like, ten times.

Junpei is not interested in seeing any other movies.

Dangit Junpei, do your homework already. Don’t just watch Die Hard on loop all day!

The elementary school children who took a bicycle trip around Japan have returned. The kids are tanned and happy, and their families are overcome with joy to have them back…

I will relax until then.
Do you have any suggestions on how to relax, Makoto-san?
Let’s go to the movies.
The… movies?
I see… So going out is considered to be relaxing. too.
Then let us go and relax.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Oh, great, we’re gonna be watching a Naruto movie…

Does this refer to opposing platoons of ninjas on the screen?
According to Junpei-san…
“Ninjas are the coolest of the cool!”

I would’ve been more surprised if Aigis’ scene didn’t end with us gaining Academics, honestly. That said…

Ninja is the ultimate status that a man can achieve.
In combat. the power of their body is equivalent that of highly advanced special weapons.
They were war machines, with unparalleled fighting skill.


Was it an ice age?

Perhaps the proliferation of the Internet?

An enigma I may never resolve…
Thank you very much for today.


That was a humorous joke.

You decided to go back to the dorm with Aigis.

Of course, Aigis learns weird, awkward, bad habits…

Troubled

You must be kidding…
After running several tests, we’ve learned that he has more then adequate potential.
I called this meeting so that I could introduce him, since he’ll be joining our squad.
B-But Mr. Chairman, he’s still in elementary school.
Besides…
Besides… what?
His ability is quite promising. With the proper training, he could be a big help.
But, is HE okay with it?

I believe I can be of some assistance…
Now, I finally know why I was given this power.
…So, as you can see, it was his own decision.
Nice to meet you all. I’ll try not to get in anyone’s way.
Nice to meet you, too.

It may be hard at times, but stick with it.
Yes, got it!

Something was obviously gonna happen, but… really? We really have Ken joining SEES now? Can he even fight?

Iwatodai Dorm

His age worries me, though…
We will need to keep a close eye on him.

He is quite brave for his age.
When I was in elementary school, I was a real scaredy cat.
I used to cry and run away when a bee would come near me.

Ikutsuki telling us about himself as a crybaby child is really weird.

I promise to do my best.

He’s young. but he thinks like an adult.

…Yeah, so, the Omega Spear we’re using is meant to be Ken’s weapon. But spears are too good for Ken, so we’re using them. :colbert:

Really…? That’s unusual…
Yeah, it’s not as easy to handle as a sword…
I wonder why he chose that.
Most likely because of his size.
A spear evens out the disadvantage he might have against a taller enemy.
That makes sense. I’m not surprised Ken-kun thought of that.

If he sticks with me, I’ll show him how it’s done! He can call me Junpei-senpai.
Stop acting like a little kid… Ken-kun’s more mature than you are.

They make quite a pair. Junpei-kun is the silly older brother, and Ken-kun is the reliable younger brother.

I… really, REALLY can’t see it.

Yeah, Ken couldn’t ask for a cooler older bro than me!

Oh, right… Since he’s not in any clubs, this is his first chance to be a senpai.

Koromaru’s too busy today hanging out with Ken to go for a walk or anything, so we’ll need to find something to do. I guess we could go to Tartarus to see what Ken can do, or whatever, but nah.

We’ll hang out with Mutatsu and see this for the first time. It’s so nice to finally have.

Pretty sure it just saved us an extra day of having to spend time without a rank up too. Thanks, Eligor!

Since we won’t quite get max Academics by the end of the month, it’ll still take a bit of time later.

That’s really not a big deal, though, and something we can easily work around.

Troubled

Next year, I’ll be a senior…
Huh? That girl…

Uh, w-well…
I mean, I’m surprised you remember me.
Same here…
Well, you kinda stand out in that dress…
So… What are you drawing?

Uhh, no reason…
I was just thinking, it must be nice to have something you’re really into.

Oh, yeah?
…Still, I’d like to see it when you’re done, okay?

Iwatodai Dorm

A kid’s resolve can be much stronger than an adult’s…

But on the day of the show, the audience was completely empty. It seems most of the ticket-holders had contracted Apathy Syndrome…

…I’ll do my best as a SEES member.

I’m sure you will, kid. I’m sure you will.

…Just kidding.

dangit aigis

Although he’s still a child…

Every year, I wish I’d finished my homework in July, but somehow I never actually do it…
But I bet Junpei hasn’t even started.
He can beg all he wants, but I’m not gonna let him copy off mine.

Oh wait hang on, I nearly forgot!

Much better; there’s that problem solved.

I think he wasn’t sure how to bring it up…
…But I’m glad he’s looking better now.
Wanna go to the film festival?
You want to go with me?
…Sure, that sounds fun.
I was actually thinking about going, because the theme today seems interesting.
This will be fun!

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

So the last time I passed by this theater, I asked the ticket clerk.
He said, “It’s a science fiction story that could really happen.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not very interested in mowes Where people travel in time or cast spells…
I’d rather see movies that make you think, “10 years down the road. this could happen.”
Like the way everything around you gets more and more high-tech.
That’s my favorite kind of SF…
Oh, sorry! I got a little carried away… We still haven’t seen the movie yet.
I hope we can get good seats.

Oddly, this is a Charm boost. Yeah, I dunno.

Did you see that iron!? It got rid of wrinkles on their clothes in half a second…
To get that much heat out of an iron so quickly, you’d probably have to keep it charged…
Though it wouldn’t have to be with electricity… It could be a gas hybrid…
Or maybe they have a totally new energy source… but how would they power the iron with it?

Fuuka really sure does care way too much about a small, minor background deal at best.


gasp
S-Sorry!
The movie got me all excited, so… I got carried away thinking about it.
…Let’s see another movie together sometime.

You decide to go back to the dorm with Fuuka.

Iwatodai Dorm

As expected, The Lost are increasing in number.

We’re still not entirely ready for whatever’s coming up at the start of September here, but we’ll get to that sooner or later.

There’s going to be a full moon soon.
I hope you are prepared to be busy again.

This enables him to compensate for his small stature and fight bigger enemies.
Indeed, a spear is the perfect weapon for Amada-san.

He must be having a hard time with Ken-kun fighting in the battles…

Fortunately for both of them, we’ve had a whole zero fights since Ken joined yesterday.

Akihiko-senpai is very kind, which is difficult to tell from his appearance.

Its hit rate is high, but the amount of damage it does is minimal.
I have to attack enemies little by little…
So, please don’t get mad if it takes me a long time to defeat them.

If it takes that long to take care of anything, something has gone wrong.

That’s for you to discover.
Yeah, you’re right… I have to discover it on my own…

It’s weird seeing Junpei get this introspective, not because it’s Junpei or anything. We’ve seen before that he can definitely do that with the right motivation. No, what makes it weird is that this is clearly related to the gothic lolita from Strega that he’s seen twice ever.

I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but…
…he should really be concentrating on his homework.

Can you do it?
I’m your man.
Good. I’m counting on you.

It occurs to me that after this, we’ve gone with more than half of everyone here. Just Yukari, Mitsuru and now Ken to go with us on a walk with Koromaru.

Joy

I’m thinking about trying my own all-night movie marathon now…
I’ll rent DVDs of all the movies I missed out on, and watch them all back-to-back.
That’s the kind of thing you can only do on summer vacation.

Personally, that’s the kind of thing I could never do - summer or otherwise - so more power to ya, I guess.

You spoke with Fuuka for a while.

I should let him in the bath with me when we get back.

That sounds like a really bad idea, but what do I know.

The nice thing about nearly having maxed Academics is that very soon it means we’re basically guaranteed to have a borderline perpetual Great status for Makoto at least.

The Voice Someone Calls

Makes sense that Pharos’d turn up at this point, since we do have a week 'til the full moon and all.

Are you ready…?
Only a few trials remain…
…So, be careful.
I look forward to seeing you again.

Pharos disappeared…

If we didn’t have more movie stuff to probably deal with now, we might be a bit at a loss for what to do today. Might.

Iwatodai Dorm

Tanaka’s selling a very nice accessory today, though! We can actually buy this from Be Blue V already, and have been able to for a while, but it’s worth buying from Tanaka since it’s roughly half the normal price.

Plus it’s Ice Amp in an accessory, and why would you NOT want that? Sure, it doesn’t stack with the actual Amp passive but we can’t get any Amp skills directly for a while still.

He’d better get started on that homework, or he’ll be in trouble.
As for me, I’m all done now! Time for some fun!

With so many films on one ticket, the price ended up being very low.
Is Iwatodai the only place that holds festivals like this?

It sure seems like this is something that’s pretty much required in tokusatsu stuff basically everything, so it was a question of “when” rather than “if.”

…And now, the news. The Apathy Syndrome that’s becoming more widespread…

It’s inevitable when one has a month off that there will be at least one day with a clear schedule.

I… I have to question your definition of a “month off” if it consists of one free day.

Hmm… What should I do?
Wanna go to the movies?
Hm… the movies…
I just remembered that I received VIP tickets from a distributor…
…I think I’ll make use of them.
All right, let’s go.

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

It should be an interesting experience. Shall we enter?

Once again, completely expected from Mitsuru but given “romance movies” it’d be understandable if you thought it was Charm.

Isn’t it quite a coincidence for the man to find her, when he had no idea where she was?
And why would he wait until the last moment to announce that he’s secretly a prince?

And the ending… It stopped right when the prince and the woman settled down. But what about after that?
If they had shown the real life of royalty, I assure you it wouldn’t have been a happy ending.
They didn’t show the most difficult parts.
…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so critical of the mowe you wanted to see With me.

I suppose I enjoyed it on some level, since I was able to relate to the characters so strongly.

Mitsuru seems a little embarrassed.

You decided to go back to the dorm with Mitsuru.

Iwatodai Dorm

Those people–“The Lost”… They’ve been increasing…
I wish there was something I could do.

Wait 6 days and you might be able to. Someone definitely will get to then, at least.

More important today is that we can spend the evening with Koromaru and Mitsuru!

Joy

It must be something akin to a hometown for him…

Today’s movie did have its charms.
…Does it seem out of character for me to say something like that?

You spoke quietly with Mitsuru…

Well then, let’s go home.

There’s really not much left to this. I’m pretty we sure we definitely finished our summer homework that apparently exists a while back by now.

Welp, last day before summer ends. I’m sure something nice’ll happen today.

Troubled

That’s because you keep coming back.
I’m Junpei.
What’s your name? You live around here?

Rather than answer though, she closes her sketchbook and gets up to leave.

I said, “Wait”! You’re hurt!

But, you’re bleeding, for cryin’ out loud!
C’mon, show me your hand. You need to put some pressure on it.
Why are you in such a panic?
Are you crazy? Anyone would freak out over this.
You need to see a doctor. …You want me to go with you?

…You’re weird.

Huh?
That’s my name. You asked, right, Junpei?
…I’m almost done with the picture.

Unless it’s literally a Rorschach test or something, then even Junpei will technically understand it. Sorta. He’ll be able to figure out some interpretation of it at least.

Iwatodai Dorm

I’ve only ever seen employee previews before… I’ve never had a chance to see a movie start to finish before.

That is… really weird. Not quite the weirdest thing I’ve heard before, but it’s not exactly normal either.

I’m sorry about all the extra attention we got because of my VIP tickets…
Anyway, thank you for inviting me.

Children will return to school tomorrow for a new term. To get rid of those sad faces, we suggest…

Well, since it’s the last day…
I was wondering if you had any plans.
I-I was just curious. It’s no big deal…

There’s really no need to be tsundere over summer plans of all things. Jeez.

…You want to go to the movies?
S-Sure!

When The Moon’s Reaching Out Stars

Oh, I wouldn’t have recognised it then. Still need to finish Harakiri Sunshine first.

Err…
I-I wasn’t really looking forward to this, you understand…
I was just bored, and I thought it would pass the time.
Oh no! It’s starting!
Quick, we gotta get good seats!

Seriously, kid. Drop the schtick, it’s not working for you.

Oh! Did you see the part where Amoebaman gets captured!?
And, and the part where he was in that underground prison, but Morus Signal came to help!
And they had him tied up, and the bad guys were about to shoot him, but then the whole team–!
…Ahem.

I’m more of a fan of Red Axe personally, but I can totally see the appeal.

B-But it’s all just fake…
…Hee hee.
I had a lot of fun. Thank you very much for inviting me along.

You decided to go back to the dorm with Ken.

Iwatodai Dorm

I think this goes without saying, but please make sure you’re prepared.

We’re still not really prepared. Gotta do more Tartarus first, but we’re still not gonna do that juuuuust yet.

Well, it has powerful light abilities.
Which means it is weak against darkness skills, like Mudo.

Fittingly, then, Ken covers the last magical niche we were missing. Technically, we have all elements covered outside of Makoto in some way now. It’s a little bit of a stretch for Pierce in particular, but Junpei can do it sorta so it’s not just “well some people do it as a basic attack.”

He probably gave up on finishing his homework…

Unless he really thinks he can get it all done in one night…

She’s definitely a weirdo…

In-universe, Junpei is the only person here who’s even met Chidori AND knows her name for good measure. To me, she seems like the least weird out of all three members of Strega, but that’s not saying much.

But that’s all we’ve got tonight. Nothing noteworthy to do on Monday nights, except Tartarus and pfft that can wait a bit.

First, we gotta go back to school. Well, it’s been long enough and this’ll give us back our S.Link variety so it’s not really a bad thing. I guess.

Speaking of Tartarus, we’ll should go deal with that in the next few days. That means we should have time to deal with it next time.

Yukari’s, well, the same as before which makes sense. Her stats are still pretty high, but without anything better than Garu, both available and currently visible, she’s rapidly falling behind.

Junpei is falling behind faster, but that’s pretty much entirely because I can’t be arsed grinding folks on free days and whenever we’re done with a real run. Thanks to EXP scaling though, this should fix itself if it matters.

Akihiko’s in a simpilar position, but debuffs are always useful so he’s a bit better than it seems. Plus his next skill is Zionga which helps with his bottomed out damage potential.

Mitsuru’s a one-woman wrecking machine. If something can’t be hurt by Ice OR Ailments, she’s still good support and can even be self-sustaining. Plus next she’s gonna get Tentarafoo just to make large groups of enemies a bigger non-issue as well.

Plus, y’know, those Varuna Bracers are a really good choice for Mitsuru right now for obvious reasons.

Aigis is good at tanking and can buff to mitigate damage across the board. Her damage isn’t bad either, and she’s a level away from getting significantly better; Fatal End is Slash damage with a base power of 230. That’s more than Kill Rush at its best or 2/3rds of Swift Strike’s potential damage. Only “downside” is that it hits a single target.

Koromaru is like one level higher than before, but that’s it. He’s pretty much fine at what he needs to do, though.

Compared to our past couple new party members, Ken is a bit underwhelming. He’s not a robo-tank like Aigis, or the best at dodging AND eating damage like Koromaru but he lets us get more spears (most import is Nihil Spears!) so he’s got that going for him at least.

He’s also a sorta-generalist like Akihiko, but he’s lacking in debuffs. He can use Hama for instant death, Cruel Attack for potent Pierce damage (especially on Downed targets) and Zionga to compete with Akihiko for Elec coverage.

Notably, he’s one level away from Diarama to cover healing a bit as well. Oddly, he only has two more skills to learn after that.

Same deal as usual, though this time we’ll shake things up a little bit:

:siren: Which TWO members of SEES do you want to come to Tartarus? :siren:

Ken since he’s new and Mitsuru since she’s good.

Well, it’s time again to take a brief romp through an alternative universe. That’s always fun!

And we’ll be starting things off with two real, full days of things. I know, I’m surprised too!

New Days

Remember Persona 4? Of course you do. You wouldn’t be playing this if you didn’t play that one first! It was the first game in the series after all. :sigh:

…Hyperbole aside, there is absolutely no reason for this to even be a thing really. It’s such a lazy hamfisted thing (P4 did the same too, but at least made it semi-relevant but not really) that I just have to roll my eyes. And I would still be doing the same thing if this was, say, Seven Sisters instead, yes. Difference is that won’t happen because that involves acknowledging Persona 1 and 2 exist outside of cutesy references, whereas Persona 4 is/was milkable for easy money, so people who played that can get the “reference.” And, hey, that’s fine. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere, and all, but the Persona 1/2 stuff is incidental background details that are optional. The Persona 4 stuff is plot mandatory and cannot be missed, and it’s not a cute little sneak preview thing either…

I realise I’m almost certainly more eye-rollingly annoyed by this than it warrants, and you almost certainly don’t care anywhere near as much. If it was less in-your-face about it, I probably wouldn’t be as bothered by it really.

A joint practice with the students at this school is scheduled for today and tomorrow…

There’s no convenience stores nearby, and no clubs either.
I want all of you to be on your best behavior, okay?

Gekkoukan Students: It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Yasoinaba Students: It’s a pleasure for us too!

Might as well try going all the way to the mountains for our runs.
Our region’s pretty flat, so this’ll be good practice.

Yasoinaba Students: …Aren’t we supposed to like, bond in a fellowship? Why’s she bringing up stuff like basic drills…?
Gekkoukan Students: Who’s the liar who said that this’d be a paradise with hot springs…?

Afterwards, let’s do a couple sets of muscle training, and then a match.

Girl’s Voice: How about… the losing side cleans up afterwards?

Anyways, wouldn’t you guys take the challenge more seriously if there was something at stake?
That’s true.
It’s not like you guys usually care about winning anyways, so why not?
…Are you saying that’s how our team is?
Well, maybe you’re right.
Alright, then not only will the losing school have to clean up… let’s add 10 wind sprints to the bet!

Gekkoukan Students: It’s up to 10…!?
Yasoinaba Students: We can’t lose…!

Okay, time for the sprints, then!
…Me too?
Of course. This was your idea.
Yes, Ma’am…

The fellowship ended without any problems…

Wanna wash each other’s backs later?
Sounds like fun.
This is so fun! Last year’s fellowhop wasn’t too far from our school.
This place is so laid back… I love it.
That shopping district seems pretty lively, though. What a peaceful town… It’d be nice to live here.

At that moment, a girl noticed you and came over…

The Amagi Inn sent me to get you.
Huh? Oh, th-thank you very much.
Um… You don’t work there, do you?

So, yeah, almost the entire reason this exists is for this one cameo that adds nothing and if it was removed you wouldn’t miss it.

It was mentioned in-thread already, but if you’re playing Portable as Makoto instead, then you get a clunkily added Persona 4 reference at the Yakushima beach. So,
y’know, it is always mandatory and there’s nothing you can do about it. Why? Because Persona 4 is popular or something, I guess.

The hostess’s daughter… So does that make you a junior hostess?
Cool!
Oh, are you in high school?
No… I’m still in middle school.
You’re in middle school and you’re already helping with the family business…? Man, talk about responsible…
So are you going to inherit the business?
That… I don’t know yet.

Remember how in P4 this was a core part of her character? Well, this is pretty much the equivalent to an anime filler scene so we can’t have anyone have a different personality trait. She was conflicted when she was 16 and it sort of mattered, so she’s gotta be conflicted when she was 14 and it didn’t.

…Hey, don’t stick your nose in other people’s business!
Yes, Ma’am… Sorry. People are always telling me I’'m nosy…
Oh, that’s all right…
It’s fun chatting with people from outside town…

Oh, Kasai-san. Car keys…? Why would I… Huh? What’s this?

Yukiko pulled something from her pocket…

…It seems to be car keys.

Kimono-Clad Woman: No worries. Well, I’m heading out to get some groceries.

Oh, do you want me to go instead?

Kimono-Clad Woman: N-No, that’s fine! No need to send you on that kind of errand, Yuki-chan! Plus, they’d be too heavy for you… By the way, Chie-chan stopped by. She said she needed help with her homework.

Oh, okay.

Kimono-Clad Woman: …Oh, are you all guests? Forgive me for ramblng on like that. I’m a waitress at the Amagi Inn. I hope you enjoy your stay tonight.

The waitress left…

I’m sorry about the wait. Shall we go? This way please.

Like A Dream Come True

So huge… So luxurious…
Is it really okay for people like us to stay here? Won’t we get a scolding?
From who?
Huh? Umm… The government?

…And hey, this isn’t your room, Yuko.
Yeah, about that! You gotta hear this!

Kaz… You mean Kazushi?
Wait, he’s here too?
…Huh? Wasn’t Kazushi supposed to take part in the tournament?
I was supposed to stay behind… to sort of look after him. He’s injured, so we’re trying a hot-springs cure!
I’m gonna get the most out of this trip by clearing up my skin, too!
Huh…
…Wait. Did you say you were in the same room?
Kazushi… is a guy, right?

Ms. Kanou’s assigned the rooms, right? What the hell was she thinking?
Just stay in our room.
Man, I owe you for offering. If I couldn’t sleep here I would’ve had to sleep out in the hall.
…Er, I mean I’d have kicked Kaz out into the hall, of course.
By the way, Kazushi’s injured…? Is he okay?
No, it’s pretty bad. That’s why we’re relying on the hot-springs cure…

He’s such an idiot! A total dumbass! He got me so worried!
…Sounds like you two are perfect for each other.
What? You gotta be jok-- Wait, what time is it?
Oops, it’s time for Kaz’s medication. Well, see you later!

She’s kinda like… a mom. Though I know she’d hate it if I told her so.

After taking a bath with everyone, you lazily talked about random things on the futon…

What, like boyfriends?
Yep, exactly!
Well… I’d be confessing my love if there was anyone I really liked.
I’d prefer a thin guy, but he’d have to be athletic…
And there’s no one at our school who fits that description.

Yeah, uh, without Makoto there that’s mostly true it seems like. Of course, that’s still sorta one…

What about Kazushi?
No way.

Uhh, but I do have this feeling…
This is just an if, okay?
IF Kaz and me don’t end up finding someone for a long time…

That, uh… that sure is a thing that can totally definitely just sorta kinda happen by accident. Yep.

Ack, what should I do!?
What kind of premonition is that…?
I mean, he’s completely useless without me.
There’s no way he’ll even remember where he keeps his underwear.
Imagine him getting old all alone and eating nasty convenience store food every day!
It’s just so sad!
That’s quite an imagination.

…So, what about you, Kotone-san? You’ve got someone you like, right?
Yep.
Oooh! Who!?
It’s Akihiko-sempai.

The really popular guy, right? Wow, you beat the odds!
…Oh, but you guys live in the same dorm, don’t you? So you have an advantage over everyone else.

Trust me, it really doesn’t help.

Well, if you put your mind to it, I’m sure it’ll work out!
You two seem like you’re having fun… I really don’t get that sort of thing…
Ugh, I don’t want to think any more about a future with Kaz.

Hmm, that’s fine with me, but I don’t scare easily.
…I do know a lot of stores, though.
Let’s hear 'em… Although the way you say that is already giving me goosebumps.
O-One sec!

Yuko left the room…

Just shut it! Hey guys, I brought him!

Yuko dragged your classmate Kazushi into the room…

It’s okay. Just stay here, all right?
…Okay, Rio. Do your worst.
Is he your good luck charm?
N-No! I just… wanted him here.
A future with Kaz, eh?
No no, I never said that!
You’re supposed to tell scary stories with four people! That’s the rules!
C’mon… Hurry up and let’s go in order!
…Alright, I’ll go first.
This story’s about the tunnel we passed through today…

Ack, don’t choke me! Get off! You’re stepping on my foot, too!

The lights come back on.

Whew… The lights are back…
Wh-Where’s the phone!?

Yuko started calling somewhere…

Hello, front desk?
Um, about the blackout just now…
There…


Oh, thanks…
What’re we gonna do!? That was a real supernatural phenomenon…
Lights always turn on and off, though.
Are you an idiot!? The fact that they went out without anyone touching them means…!
Ughhh, let’s just stop talking about it! I’m pretending that never happened!

The remote for the lights is on the ground near your feet…

You decide to keep quiet about this…

A noisy, but fun, night passes…

New Days

Well, thanks a bunch for all your help. We’ll remember what we learned here and keep trying our hardest.

Gekkoukan Students: Thank you very much!
Yasoinaba Students: Have a safe trip back.

Yeah… I just didn’t get any sleep…
I saw… people’s faces in the walls…
You’re just exaggerating… Want me to give you a piggyback ride if you’re not feelin’ well?
…You moron! Your leg’s hurt!
What’re you talking about!? I’d rather give you a piggyback ride!
Haha. See? You’re exaggerating again.

Oh, thanks for taking the time to come see us off.
She said she saw people’s faces showing up in the inns’s walls.
Ack, you idiot!
Oh, you saw them too?
There’s always a few at old inns, so there’s no need to worry.
Always… a few?

That was definitely not a joke…
C’mon, let’s go home.
Well, then I must part here. Please have a safe trip back.

Yukiko left…

She… came over here just to… ??? and then leave. I really don’t follow this.

I mean, she was real cute… Maybe she was the one!
Really cute girls are ghosts? That’s all the proof I need to know you’re human.
What? Say that again to my face!
Hey, stop tryin’ to step on my foot!
…Oh, that reminds me. I got a call about the tournament a moment ago.

Oh no, no Niimura!

…wait, who’s Niimura?

Not only that, they couldn’t find him at his house, either.
Does… that mean he’s missing!? Did he run away from home? Maybe he was freaked out about the competition?

Or, wait… Is it because of that Apathy Syndrome thing…?
No idea… hopefully he shows up soon. He was a great guy…
Yeah…
…A-Anyways, let’s go home! C’mon, let’s do our clap and put this to bed!
Why’re you the one leading the clap…?

And so, the joint practice trip came to an end…

Iwatodai Dorm

Were there any cute girls at their school?
There was one beautiful girl.

There’s no “no” answer. Even though we never actually saw anyone that wasn’t that one cameo.

Seriously!?
Man, I should’ve gone with you guys.
Is that all you ever think about…?
I mean, the moon’s almost full. You shouldn’t be joking around like that.
Yeah, next Thursday, the 6th.
Make sure you’re ready.

We’re not skipping all that far ahead, right now. We do have some Tartarus stuff to do before we have to worry about the Chariot and Justice fight.

Namely, there’s a couple more folks to rescue. This random lady on the nicest floor…

And then this random schmuck on floor 83. That’s it for these guys.

And our rewards for bothering to rescue them are… sorta useful, I guess. Divine Grace is a theoretically nice skill, since it doubles the amount of HP that (Me)Dia(rama) heals. It doesn’t have long-term use, of course, but it can be nice to have.

Nothing’s different about the full moon, of course, so we’ll skip past that and go hang out with Theo.

Third Date With Theo

Joy

I see… I’m sensing mysterious presences here… They’re different from the Shadows.
See, there’s one behind you…

…Behind you!?

Now then… The first order of business is to worship at the shrine, correct?
Give it a try.
I think I will. You can watch from right there.
First, I put the coins in this wooden box…

Theo pulled out a wallet while saying so.

…!?

It’s a bit disappointing that Theo repeats this bit from Liz, but it sorta makes sense.

After which I must immediately swing the rope…
Lastly, I call out my wish…

…Hmm.
This isn’t good… I’m drawing a blank on what to wish for.
But it would be improper not to call out a wish…

Theo began praying enthusiastically…

I wish that my dear friend Kotone remains…

Theo fell silent…

W-Would you perhaps mind… not listening?
It’s odd, I admit, but for some reason I don’t feel comfortable knowing that you’re listening…

Theo is mumbling…

…Theo seems to have concluded the ritual by whispering his wish.

Everything will be all right now. You’ll be protected for all eternity.
Do you intend to pray for anything?
For the worlds’ safety.

You put your hands together and prayed.

…It isn’t mandatory to call out one’s wish?
If that’s so, then why didn’t you…
Well, never mind.
Excuse me… I’ve been wondering since our arrival, but these structures over here… Could these be…?

Theo is gazing at the park built near the shrine.

Is this… a house?
You play with them.
You… play with them…?

Play…!?
H-How does it work?

Theo’s eyes are glistening…

I-Is it like this?
And like this!

Theo eagerly stood on top of the horizontal bar…

It’s… quite difficult… to maintain… one’s balance… on these…
It takes practice.
S-So I see.

Theo is desperately trying to keep his balance…

…?

Theo jumped down.

…Why are you laughing like that?

You spent an invigorating afternoon with Theo.

Thank you for a fulfilling afternoon today as well.

I must let you go home soon…
But…

I wonder what this is… I don’t… understand either.

…Let us return.
Ah, we’re approaching the stairs. Please mind your step…

You returned to the Velvet Room with Theo.

End

At least Theo’s still pretty fun and uniquely interesting in a way.

Next we’re skipping ahead a week to after Koromaru’s joined the gang.

Which means that we can finally put this Dog Food we made, for some reason, to good use!

After School

Koromaru seems happy…

Wait!

Koromaru is waiting patiently…

Koromaru is waiting patiently…

whine

…You’re starting to feel sorry for him.

You gave into his pitiful look and gave him the “okay”…

Arf!

Koromaru began eating while wagging his tail!

munch munch

Koromaru keeps eating…

It’s delicious, huh?
Woof!

Koromaru is still eating…

Arf…

Koromaru has finished eating and seems satisfied…

Paw-five!

Arf.

Koromaru put his front paw on your hand…

…He seems a bit proud.

Koromaru doesn’t seem cautious about you… It seems he’s gotten quite attached to you.

You sense a faint bond with Koromaru…

Instead of getting a S.Link with Yuko, Kotone gets to hang out with Koromaru. This is the best S.Link.

The best.

Koromaru is stretching contentedly…

You spent a peaceful moment with Koromaru…

Silence

Next thing of note is that summer festival. That’s certainly something, alright.

No thanks.
Aww, alright. Oh well… See ya.

Sure!
All right, then I’ll see you later.

You have decided to go to the Summer Festival with Akihiko.

After School

The shrine is filled with people eating food and playing games.

There’s a lot of people too… Make sure you don’t get separated, okay?
I’ll be okay!
Haha, don’t be mad. I wasn’t trying to treat you like a little kid.
Now, let’s go pay a visit to the shrine first.

Akihiko seems to be having fun…

You didn’t have to wear a yukata here, you know?
Oh, er…
I didn’t mean… well, um…
It… makes it hard to look directly at you.

It seems Akihiko is very happy to see you wearing it…

…Something smells good.
Takoyaki, huh… Wanna share one? It’s my treat.
Excuse me, one takoyaki please.

Takoyaki Cook: Say, is this your girlfriend? Ahh, the good ol’ days of youth.

…uh, that sure is a surprisingly angry reaction

Oh… Um…

Akihiko quietly put a takoyaki in his mouth.

…!

It seems to have been hot…

But I came out victorious in the end.
Here, eat up.

You shared the takoyaki with Akihiko as he egged you on to dig in…

You walked around the different shops together…

It’s not super easy to see, but the Master Joker masks are still there. As are the Phoenix Rangers.

500 yen, huh…?
I can actually afford these now.
…They were too expensive for me to buy when I was a kid.
When I came to festivals, I’d just wander around and go home because I couldn’t buy anything.
Now I actually have the money…

Game Attendant: All you do is pick a ball! It’s easy! And everyone’s a winner!

Lucky Draw, huh…?
I’ve always doubted whether it’s really possible to win the stuff on display.
Give it a try, Kotone. I’ll pay for it.

You stuck your hand inside the big box that the game attendant held out to you…

The box is filled with individually numbered balls…

You stirred the balls around before picking one out.

Game Attendant: Whoa! Congratulations!

Game Attendant: Here’s your prize. It’s a Jack Frost Doll!

Obtained Jack Frost Doll

It would’ve been amazing if you’d won first place…
Though I’d hate for you to use up all your luck here, of all places.
Oh, you’re the one who drew the win, so the prize is yours.
…I’m saying that you can have it.

The sky is covered in darkness.

It’s completely dark out. Looks like we’ve been here for quite a while.
I had fun taking a breather today. …Thank you.

You decided to go back to the dorm.

And we’ll take a bit of a break ourselves here. I didn’t think that’d be needed for August, but alas…

1 Like