Part 2: 04/08/09 - 04/09/09

Want To Be Close



A lot of days start with a mini-scene at the school gates. They're usually important or relevant for... something.

Listening: Oh, um... something about... a bathroom?
Gossiping: N-No! Not that one! I mean the one about the first-year student!



Gossiping: If her mother tries to talk to her, she only mutters to herself, "It's coming... It's coming...!"
Listening: Huh. How about that.
Gossiping: You don't believe me...?

> The first bell has rung.



Ugh... why him?
I'd rather teach Utsubo Kubota.
He became famous as a singer, but he's also produced fine literature.
I wonder why it's not in the textbook. Well, I'll just bring Kubota's book next time.
...Hey, Junpei! Were you listening?
Who did I say was my favorite author?



(Psst! Who does she like?)
(Utsubo Kubota.)



Eheheh... Well, you know how I like to pay attention!
(Man, you saved my bacon, Makoto!)

> You hear your classmates whispering...



> You became slightly more popular.

...I think we all know for one reason or another that this does not work like that at all.



But what makes it more relevant and worth caring about is that the classroom segments are a free and easy way to increase our Social Stats. We'll want to raise these pretty consistently because they're very, very important.



When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars



Makoto gets to walk home alone today. Junpei's over there hanging out with that one guy from in front of the notice board yesterday.



> The strip mall is lively in the evening...

The real purpose of these scenes are to let you get an idea of where things are located. It's not GREAT at it by any means, but it's nice to have.

04/08 ~ Night: Chairman of the Bored
this covers, uh, the entire rest of the day so probably just watch it

Iwatodai Dorm





Good evening.



"Ikutsuki"... Hard to say, isn't it?
That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes...

Ikutsuki is a gigantic dork, it's pretty great. He's voiced by Dan Woren, who is maybe the least prolific VA out of everyone who's been creditted.

Please, have a seat.



However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment.
Is there anything you'd like to ask?



We get to ask as many/few of those three as possible, so let's just do the lot.

Why are you here?



Well, to be honest, I do have other business here.
Speaking of which... where's Mitsuru, Yukari?
She's upstairs.
As diligent as always. Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello...
Is there anything else?
Who else lives here?



you, Yukari here, Mitsuru,



I hope you all get along.
Any other questions?
The other night, I saw...





...
You were probably just tired. I wouldn't worry about it.

> Something doesn't seem right...

Do you have another question?
No, I'm good.



Now, if you'll excuse me...
You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early.



...Please forgive the bad pun.

...Y'know what? No. I don't think I will. That was awful!

......
...You'll get used to his lame jokes.

Silence



So, that was weird and goofy. How about a tonal shift? That sounds good. Let's do that.

Fearful Experience



So, how's he doing?



Mr. Chairman, do you think he's...?
Well, let's wait and see for now.



The Dark Hour
if you skipped the link before, DEFINITELY don't now!!

p3ct004_01



Right now, we're just... elsewhere.



Wherever this is exactly, there's a lot of people who clearly don't want to be found for one reason or another.



Pretty easy to extrapolate that much from how this is clearly a back alley of some kind.







The preceeding program was brought to you by Kirijo Electronics, bringing you the future.



At the sound of the tone, the time will be 12 o'clock AM.



*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*



I gotta say, THIS guy with blue hair reacted much more like you'd expect in this situation.



He's actually panicking and sweating and everything. It's not just "oh this is a thing I guess."



Sure on the one hand, from this guys perspective suddenly "EVERYONE IS COFFIN!"



On the other hand, Makoto still experienced that, random blood pools, no electricity... almost everything this guy does.



This being the sole exception. Makoto didn't have this.







Whatever this is, it's kinda creepy. It looks like the Venom symbiote except also totally kind of not.



What makes it for me, personally, is that it's leaking into/out of the guy's eye sockets aughhhhhhh



The Voice Someone Calls





During this time, an ordinary person Transmogrifies into a coffin, and is oblivious to all that occurs.

I don't know why Ikutsuki is expositing to people who should already know this. There's a better spot for this to happen later if they really need to explain it.

Then, he must be...
As you can see, he's retained his human form.



The only question that remains is whether or not he has the potential.



Scary...
In any case, we should continue to monitor him for a few more days.
Yes, Sir.
I feel kinda bad, though, spying on him like this...



So while this is happening, there's something else occurring.



At the end of a non-specific location, there sits a single blue door...



Which opens into a blue elevator.





Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man.

The Poem For Everyone's Soul







The two members of the Velvet Room here have VAs pulling double duty. Igor is voiced by Dan Woren and Elizabeth is voiced by Tara Platt.

This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter...
It's been years since we've had a guest.



Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place...
Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room.
You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so.
I only ask one thing in return...



Is this a dream?
Precisely... You are fast asleep in the real world as we speak.
This visit of yours is merely a dream.



Hold on to this...



'Til we meet again...

End

Silence





> However, it's time to go to school.

That was all fun and games alright, but now it's time for what really matters: high school!

Want To Be Close



The sky is blue... We're young... What more could we ask for!?
I think you need rest.



Forget the ol' Junpei...!
This is the REAL me!
You should cheer up, too. After all, you've got ME as a friend.



I'll be teaching you about good old Japan all year.
Some people say Classic Lit isn't relevant to everyday life, but oh, how they're wrong!



> You feel tired...



It's very - VERY - important to always stay awake here. We COULD sleep and have a 75% chance to get that Great condition thing from before, but...



Wake up, children! Now open your textbooks, class.



It's a very interesting story. You youngsters might call it, "da bomb."
...*sigh* I can tell you people are "zoning out"...

> You stayed up and listened to the lecture...



This is VERY important to get as often as we can. All the social stats are required for things but Charm and Courage (the third and final one) go up quickly. Academics is a slow, SLOW grind.



To get Charm or Courage a single level it takes, I think, 18 points. Academics takes about 60. Yeesh.

When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars



As far as the walk back to the dorm here goes, uh, it's this one screen and that's it. Welp.

> The station is bustling with students on their way home...

04/09 ~ The Dark Hour



This clock gets to turn up, hit 12 and break apart a lot. A lot. It's honestly kinda tedious and annoying after a while.

...Be thankful you won't see it as much.

The Voice Someone Calls



...The same as last night.
Hmm... Very interesting.



Memory loss... disorientation...
But, this subject is rather unique. He hasn't exhibited any of the common symptoms.
But... we're treating him like a guinea pig.
I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. I heard he's your classmate...



Yeah, I guess. But, still...





...Is that you, Akihiko?



Crisis

Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk... It's chasing me...
I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there.



Does that mean... he's bringing that thing here!?
Mr. Chairman!



...R-Right! Be careful!





Senpai!?
I'm alright.



This is no time to joke around!
It's one of them, Akihiko?



Screen shakes a lot from here, so...



Shadow

What the...!? ...You've gotta be kidding me!
Mr. Chairman, please head for the command room!
Takeba, go upstairs and wake him up! Then, escape out the back.
But, what about you two?
We'll stop it here.





What are you waiting for, Yukari? Go!
I-I'm going!



> You hear a commotion down the hall.
> You decide to go take a look.





Sorry, I'm coming in!



Okay.

Big ol' screen shake again. This is gonna happen a looot more still.



Wait!
...Take this, just in case.



Not gonna ask questions about this. Mercifully, it's even automatically equipped.

...Okay, let's go!







Y-Yes! I hear you!
Be careful! There's more than one enemy!
The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!
What!?



*gasp* L-Let's pull back!

End



Do we have any choice but to go further up?

Not really, so that happens automatically and then the screen shakes. Again.



What are we going to do!?



That's a good question, since we have actual control over Makoto's actions now. How nice.



We can talk to Yukari but, uh, this is all she has to say.



Downstairs... They're fine, right?



Not really anything else on this floor, so we'll head on up to the 3rd people.



What was that!?

More shaking...

It's getting closer!
K-Keep moving! Hurry!!



Following Yukari's idea, the pair do go through that door...

The Magician & The Fool's Awakening
Yeah, so, absolutely 100% highly HIGHLY recommend just watching this



I think we're okay for now...

It's at this point it becomes clear that the screen shaking was because whatever we're dealing with here, it was shaking the entire building itself...





Back to the anime-zone we go, and we start with Yukari freaking out even harder.

What?!



Persona Invocation











At the start of the journey, the Fool met the Magician. The Magus is the represenation of the active, conscious awareness and creativity. He has power, confidence and determination.



When The Magician understands what they want, their determination is a signifier of their commitment towards achieving/completing/obtaining it.

Those monsters... We call them Shadows!





Having found determination herself, Yukari draws her gun and attempts to shoot... herself... with it.



Though it achieved something, the mess of tendrils and a mask, the Shadow, was not exactly affected by it. Mostly because she missed with... something.



So, she tries again...

Silence



And gets cut off by the Shadow knocking the gun from her hand.



And the gun lands in a puddle of blood, right next to Makoto...







Go on...



There!



Mitsuru and Akihiko, using that weird surveillance system, find Yukari and Makoto on the roof and begin to head up there.



Wait.











Makoto, uh, is understandably worried about what's going to happen when he pulls the trigger...



But very quickly calms himself and does so.

Per... so... na.

Unavoidable Battle







Thou art I...



And I am thou...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...



I am Orpheus, master of strings...





As we suspected...



Makoto looking confident in this scene looks incredibly sinister, huh...



Grk... Ghhh... Aaaaa....









...Pretty sure that's not meant to happen!







But, hey, whatever just happened doesn't really matter too much right now. It's still 100% on Makoto and Yukari's side and is kind of a giant badass.







It just bisected this thing in one shot, jeez.



Silence



Another one doesn't even get the courtesy and instead just gets crushed like a bug.



And just as quickly as this thing appeared...





Orpheus reforms and it's gone.

The Voice Someone Calls



What on earth is that!?
......



> Orpheus regained its original form.



Not quite...





Two more, much smaller ones, managed to avoid getting obliterated?

Magician Cowardly Maya

Mass Destruction



First fight and it's the main character solo against two things, huh?

...Sorry, I just got the weirdest case of deja vu right now.



There's not much we can do right now, but it's fine. Bash is the only skill we have and it's more than good enough for this fight.



It costs 8% of our HP and is an easy, easy one-shot.



Even if it misses, it's not the biggest problem since the Cowardly Maya can only do a basic melee attack.



Our basic attack is nearly a one-shot, even. It's not quite enough, though, since they have 42HP. Hardly matters, really!

After The Battle



They give more than good enough EXP for the moment, and don't drop anything here. It's fine though.



That 20EXP is enough to get Makoto to level 2. Notably this only increases HP and SP.



But it also lets us make level 2 Personae whenever we get the opportunity to do something with that.



More relevant in the immediacy is that Orpheus hits level 2 as well. I'll cover what stats mean and all that stuff later, don't worry.



For now, all that matters is that Orpheus learns Agi (single target Fire spell). For a brief moment, you see after this that he learns Tarunda at level 6 and then nothing else.

Silence



Fight over and adrenaline gone, Makoto simply collapses presumably from exhaustion.





Come on...!
Say something!



Can you hear me!?
Please...!
Answer me!