Part 113: THE DAY BREAKERS Part 1: Peer Pressure’s No Good, Kids
Let’s step back a bit. Well, a bit more than a bit. A few months, to be precise…
Music: Disquiet
My station has conducted a poll on that subject…
(dude on the left is talking here)
Where’d it come from?
Oh crap, it’s got a loud voice! 
Oh, I guess you’re just not using a disguise, huh Chief?
Hey! Makki!
A calling card?
Phantom Thieves of hearts? Are you kidding me? 
I’m telling you, it’s a crappy world we live in. 
Ann, you okay? That stance doesn’t look comfortable.
Gah! Yusuke’s lips are both non-existent and too fucking prominent!
Music: Life Will Change (Instrumental Version)
THE DAY BREAKERS Part 1: Peer Pressure’s No Good, Kids
So, yes, we’re doing “PERSONA5 THE ANIMATION: THE DAY BREAKERS” for our intermission. This is a one-episode OVA (original video animation) that covers the team (at this point just the initial four and Yusuke) trying to fulfill a Mementos request (specifically the creatively-named request “Phantom Thieves VS Burglary Ring,” the target of which was Kazuya Makigami, who was part of a burglary ring targeting restaurants, in case you’ve forgotten). Also worth noting: “PERSONA5” in the title there as one word, nice.
It’s pretty clear just from the minute and a half we’ve gotten through so far that the art is… um… not good? I don’t like blaming the people who make these things because I know the conditions must be agonizing, so I’ll instead say it was probably rushed to hell and back, considering this aired September 3, 2016, less than two weeks before the game’s Japanese release. I’ll avoid harping too heavily on it for that reason, but I’ll still capture some of it for your enjoyment, because holy shit are there some great bad faces in this thing. Sadly, no Double Chie.
I’ve been wanting to cover this since the Mementos visit where we actually got through this request, but I never did, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity, especially to commemorate the thread's anniversary yesterday!
For some godforsaken reason, the only thing I can think of looking at Akechi here is that fucking “Here comes a special boy” Achewood strip.
Music: Alright
Most, if not all, of the music is ripped straight from the game.
A detective who’s also a high school student, Mr. Goro Akechi! 
I’m just going to come right out and ask you… What do you think of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts? 
...I believe they should be brought to justice in a court of law. 
Sorry! Silly me, losing my key…
They start making out for... some reason.
Y-Yes, sir!
I love that he keeps saying thank you even as the dude’s closing the door in his face.
Totally dissing me! 
*beeping*
Despite the art problems I mentioned before, this thing is honestly pretty interestingly directed: the picture in the second image above starts moving and zooms into the shot that becomes the third image.
I’m getting the feeling this dude doesn’t want to be here, considering they sarcastically call him “Boss” and he can’t stop fucking grimacing every time he’s onscreen, but maybe that’s just me.
Music: Suspicion
Are you gonna be much longer, Makki? Hold on. Just one second… 
If only they weren’t too stingy to install our security system… ...then this never would’ve happened to them. *laughing* Uh… I think you guys should hurry it up… All right! Get going! (in English) Hurry up! 
BEER
The group inexplicably decides to honk the fucking horn as they peel out, alerting the entire neighborhood to their presence.
Carana Extra
Mission accomplished! (I have no idea who says this line for the record)
Me and Hashi-yan find shops with lax security on our computers at work… 
Y-You’re talking kind of loud, you know… We’re BFFs forever! Yeah, sharing the same fate and all! And if you ever turn on us… 
The entire group clicks their tongues and motions their thumbs away from their necks.
After a second, Maki makes the same gesture.
Well, it’s guys like him that you gotta worry about. 
A dog barks noisily in the background.
Uh, wow, man. This is a big-ass room. Like, look at that bed, it’s massive! Not just in Japanese terms, either! It’s easily twice his height!
Maki places something inside the drawer.
The literal translation of the original Japanese version of the Phan-Site is the “Ask the Phantom Thieves Channel,” so close enough.
If… If only the others… would just disappear...
The sounds of Maki’s quickening heartbeat are audible.
Goddammit Maaku, we really gotta work on that Proficiency when we get back to you.
You’re not Mr. Ushimaru! Imposter!
The rest of the class begins laughing.
Music: Wicked Plan
Ah, the good old days of just fucking doing and saying whatever the hell we wanted out in public, without a care in the world.
Shibuya these days. There’s extortion, beatdowns… A gang of crooks that rips off restaurants, even! 
Gang of crooks? Sounds like bad news… 
It’s this post on the Ask-a-Thief Channel… 
Stop breathing down Maaku’s neck, Ryuji.
I did look into it myself… Seriously? “I’m gonna end up dead...”Why doesn’t this kid speak up? Like there aren’t tons of options, like going to the police?Ryuji, you’re a Phantom Thief. NO COPS.
Hey, come on. Lower your voice! Maybe this choice of hideout was ill-conceived? NAH.
(whispering) Hey, my bad. We need to take care of this before it’s too late. I should mention that Yusuke’s Japanese voice is fucking absurdly deep. It’s only like an octave higher than Other Noted High Schooler Jotaro Kujo, whose Japanese voice is already the deepest sound audible by humans. Hilariously, both are portrayed in English by Matthew Mercer.
Wait, what? How did we find this dude? If we have his name, then I guess, but why would he give us his own name instead of the target’s? And if we have any of their names, shouldn’t we just be going into the Metaverse? We don’t generally do more investigating than we have to, which is kind of a flaw with our methodology, to be fair.
Another pretty good shot, here.
Music: Suspicion
“Yo, should we have our burglary meeting with that weird kid with the glasses just staring at us from behind that tree?”
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”
You serious? Both of you? 
The thing is, our security firm, see… Well, you know. Thanks to that geezer of a painter everybody’s raving about now… Thanks to him, our company’s toast. Looks like the Phantom Thieves taking down Madarame had some negative repercussions for the security company he hired.
If you’re fired, we won’t get any more leads for these easy gigs! 
This is so messed up! Why should I have to suffer collateral damage? Well, but don’t you worry. I’m gonna find our next part-time gig, all right? Hey, no need to go overboard or anything…
Morgana, why your head so smol
Another neat artistic choice: the last five images are one continuous shot from Maaku’s perspective, starting with the moon, panning down to the house (with Maki), and crossing the street to the pole. It’s nifty.
And we’ve found… the house of the dude who called us? How does this help us? Also, why is Maaku’s Shujin badge so blurry? Well, whatever. We’re only a third of the way through this OVA, so we’ll check back later for more.