surgeworks

08 - July 1 | Table of Contents | 10 - August 1
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Alternate Title: Field Trips

Last we left off, it was the evening of 7/11 and Mitsuru had just revealed that Kirijo Group’s past involved experimenting on school kids with mind-eating monsters.

In the dorm, Junpei is pretty annoyed at us still. We’re probably so calm, he says, because we can do anything, and compared to us, he’s just a mediocre fighter. I’d be more annoyed at this if he weren’t right—this game does have a very hard “main character does everything better than everyone” tract, and Junpei’s powers are mediocre.

Though Mr. Tanaka is out, we go play the quiz game.

7/12. We get a scene at the TPI back alley, where Akihiko is meeting with Shinjiro again. Through Akihiko’s exposition, we learn that Shinjiro’s been his friend since the orphanage, along with Miki, his sister, and used to play around here. Shinjiro tells him to get lost and go have a Tragic Backstory Time with his other friends. The two do their whole ‘chained to the past’ bit, until Akihiko brings up that we supposedly have a way to get rid of Tartarus and the Dark Hour now. This gets Shinjiro’s attention. They chat a bit before Akihiko leaves.

Calm Down, Edgelord: 15

Oh, that? That’s gotta be the third or fourth time I’ve heard them chat about the chains of the past. It’s not new at all.

We change to another scene, back at the dorm. It’s Mitsuru, who wants to come into Fuuka’s room for a chat. She’s noticed Fuuka’s researching skills, and calms her down when Fuuka thinks she’s being given shit for digging up Kirijo’s history. Rather, she has her own favor to ask.

Basically a repeat of Yukari’s—she wants as much info as possible on the incident ten years prior. This time though, she’ll have access to the Kirijo Group’s database via Mitsuru’s ID and password. Fuuka agrees to help. We find out, when Fuuka is asked if she resents Mitsuru for chaining her to SEES without full explanation, that Fuuka’d rather be here than at home, as her parents are very tough on her thanks to their over-achiever relatives.

Another scene! Junpei’s at the TPI station movie theater. He’s struggling with some doubt about the mission, as if Tartarus and the Dark Hour come to an end, that’ll be an end to the mission they’ve got that’s allowed him to feel powerful, be important, and have fun. Even then, he struggles with feeling inferior to us, who he describes as on another level.

It’s Yukari’s turn for a scene. She’s a tad worried, wondering if believing in trust and friendship is naive. She’s holding an old letter from her dad, and re-reading it again. He went to some sort of opening at Moonlight Bridge, but before he did, he put this letter in a ten-year time capsule. He was also appointed Head Researcher under Kouetsu Kirijo. He seems to have been a very loving dad, and hopes that a smile is on her face in present day.

She resolves to keep her hope up, for her father’s sake.

We are finally given control. First thing we do is go feed the cat for the fourth and final time, and return to Theo for our reward, which is Yukari’s summer outfit. We then go to the shrine for a fortune for Yukari’s Social Link, and get 500 yen.

At the dorm, Junpei is short with us again. We go hang out with Mutatsu.

He promptly attempts to be responsible for five seconds and have the bouncer throw us out, but loses his wind halfway through. He asks if we get fun out of pestering an old monk who’s been left by his wife and kids, and wonders if we have any friends and why we’re always alone when we come here. We lie and say we have no friends. Though surprised, Mutatsu’s impressed we didn’t hesitate to say so. He then tries to comfort us by saying most of life’s troubles come from other people around you anyway. According to him, relationships happen because people want something for themselves, not others. He delves into quite the depressing speech, remarking that the only one looking out for you is you. He does work up a grin by saying he’ll be our friend if we can get one of those dancers over here, so the man’s got a sense of humor. Rank up! Mutatsu then tells us to get lost, since we’re clearly tired and are going to come back no matter what he says.

Dark Hour cut-in!

CREEPY BOY, YO.

Pharos has arrived to ask how we’re doing. He also remembered something else about the coming of the end—it has to do with an incident ten years ago. You know. The incident that took our parents. In case you confused it with another one.

*inhales* I am this fucking close to adding a hand-holding count. It’s like this game thinks I need everything spelled out for me. Stop telling me shit I already know or could have figured out even brain-dead.

He then also reasons that Personas are like mirrors, and thus Persona-users can’t escape their true selves. Sorry, I disagree. The psychological theories this game draws on dictate that a Persona is the shield from one’s true self and designed for that very purpose.

Pharos then says we are his friiiiieeeeeeeennnnnnd, to remind us that we have a Social Link with him, which ranks up to 3—completely skipping rank 2. That’s what happens when this game decides to show us Pharos seven or eight times before actually starting his Link.

Bad Game Design: 30

7/13. We’re reminded that final exams start tomorrow. We stay awake through Ms. Terauchi’s squeeing to gain knowledge, and then visit Maiko. She is crying again.

She’s sick of all the fighting her parents do and pleaded with them to stop, but was brushed off, so she’s doing it—she’s running away. We roughly ask her if she’s sure about this, and she says yes, but asks what she needs to pack. After snacks, she lists her damn health insurance card, holy shit. Yeah, sure, sounds good. All that’s left is to do the actual running. Though, she does get a little down, as she’s going to miss us. RANK UP! She’s looking forward to her mom and dad having to work together to find her, and waves us off.

That night, the lounge is filled, but quiet. Akihiko breaks the silence by asking if we’re hungry, Fuuka wonders if we all have any plans, and Junpei readily says he’d love to go to the beach, and then moans about exams.

Ikutsuki interjects, saying that Yakushima is open. Apparently, Mitsuru’s dad is going to be vacationing in Yakushima during the break, and he suggests we go pay him a visit. Junpei promptly jumps up and celebrates; everyone mostly has the same sentiment, although Mitsuru is wary—her dad’s busy, and she doesn’t want to ruin his vacation. As for us? Beaches are fun, let’s do it! Mitsuru relents, and it’s set: we’re headed to the beach. Though, while everyone gets excited and chats, she hurriedly heads for her room.

She’s interrupted in the hallway by Yukari, who apologizes for giving her a rough time yesterday. Mitsuru informs her that Yakushima is a good idea, because Ikutsuki is wrong—there’s one living witness to the accidents, and that’s her father.

We go to study in our room.

7/14. Final exams start.

What form of natural magic was used to find water sources? (Dowsing).
7/15: Some Europeans call this creature “devilfish” and refuse to eat it. (Octopus).
7/16: Who established the Kamakura Shogunate? (Minamoto no Yoritomo).
7/17: Which is an example of a comma splice? (I went, I learned).
718: Junpei meets us outside school, a tad uneasy, and we don’t bother him about how he does. We, on the other hand, do great.

After class, Junpei whoops because he’s done—I quite understand his joy. He aced P.E., at least. He and Yukari talk about the Yakushima trip, and she invites us, Junpei, and Fuuka out somewhere. She leaves, leaving us alone with Junpei, who…

...apologizes for his recent asshat attitude, saying it wasn’t cool of him to take out his bad mood on us, and we forgive him, and he wants it back the way it used to be. More and more, Junpei surprises me with his maturity. On occasion. Sparingly.

The four of us meet with Akihiko at the gates. Apparently, Ikutsuki may have found a new candidate, and knowing who it is, I seethe. Natsuki catches up with Fuuka, asking her for help studying, and backs out seeing that she’s with friends, but Fuuka decides to go with her. As she walks off, Ikutsuki himself comes up. He’s brought someone.

It’s Ken Amada. He doesn’t leave for vacations during the break due to his ‘circumstances’. Yukari pipes up that it’s about his parents. It was only him and his mom to begin with, and his mom’s DEAD.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 23

You can stop now anytime, P3P. I’ve already had enough.

Unlike us, it was only two years ago. One of his distant relatives is paying for school expenses. Taking pity on him, Ikutsuki’s brought him to our dorm for the summer. See, he has ‘the potential’.

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 16

There’s literally no reason to keep doing that.

Ikutsuki himself points out that he’s still an elementary school student, so it’s still ‘merely a possibility’. That’s code for ‘he’s joining the team, just not right now’. And I have to take issue with that. He’s ten years old, max, and under no circumstances should he be involved in any sort of horrific monster-fighting whatsoever. Ken takes to Akihiko, who he’s heard about and looks up to.

We get back to the dorm, where Junpei, bouncing up and down, mentions the Yakushima trip is Monday. Akihiko is very distressed about Ken living with us. We go play the quiz game.

7/19. We draw fortunes at the shrine for Yukari’s Link, and get 1,000 yen.

At the dorm, nothing happens, so we go to Club Escapade to meet with Mutatsu.

He mentions our bright skin, comparing it to the shininess of his bald head, and mentions trying the bald look to us. Probably grinning, we mention we’ve always wanted to try that. Mentioning self-care and preparing for later life, he lets us know to not expect anything, and thus not ever be disappointed. We RANK UP! We head home.

7/20. Time for vacation!

We’re on the ferry, and Junpei is looking out over the waves, excited to see our destination.

He’s alone though, as there’s still an uncomfortable silence hanging over SEES. He does try valiantly.

When we get to Yakushima, we’re in for a surprise—Kirijo has a mansion there, and it is definitely as decked-out as the word ‘mansion’ implies, complete with maids that talk in unison. It isn’t long before Mr. Kirijo himself walks out, bearing an eyepatch.

Mitsuru greets him, only for him to walk away without a word. This doesn’t get Mitsuru down, who invites us to make ourselves comfortable. Junpei? Already heading out onto the beach, while Yukari and the rest of us get changed. We meet him and Akihiko out there later.

The rest of us wonder what the hell Akihiko’s wearing, and like Kanji would later in P4, it’s a speedo, showin’ off the package. Yukari is...noticing, to say the least. I should mention that 3D or no 3D, this game’s portrait of Akihiko does not paint the picture of ‘buff boxing enthusiast who can pull off wearing a speedo’.

Junpei, wearing his hat backwards, begins perving.

“Maaaaan… Talk about a feast for the eyes, haha. Yuka-tan’s wearing a more aggressive model than I had imagined! Could her boldness come from the confidence that her club training has toned her bod!?”

“And check out our leader! She’s one cute mermaid herself! Those curves she usually keeps covered up are lookin’ good! I can’t tear my eyes away!”

WISTLH: 25

Dude. Five points, because that was appalling. He could’ve just said “Wow, you look hot!” and I’d have taken it in stride. Instead, he delves into perversion with the air of a guy judging a swimsuit competition. I’d have at least bitched him out were it me. Actually, let’s make it seven, one for each sentence.

WISTLH: 27

Oh, but he’s not done. Fuuka walks up for her turn at the swimsuit competition judge’s panel.

WISTLH: 30

She is joined by Mitsuru.

WISTLH: 35

He does it in whispers with Akihiko, by the way, probably because it’s Mitsuru he’s dealing with now. When Junpei expresses surprise at his answer to the question of his type, Akihiko hurriedly tells him to keep his voice down. Those two go headed off into the water, but we seem to be uneasy. Is someone watching us?

We’re then handed control. Talking to Junpei reveals him to still be perving on Mitsuru.

WISTLH: 38

Yes, I am still going point-by-sentence.

There is also nothing to do here. We can talk to castmates for flavor commentary. We can try to go into the woods, but Junpei will drag us back. We can save at the umbrella, which really could’ve been done through an onscreen prompt. We can go to the Kirijo summer home, and only to advance the plot. I’m not sure why we were handed control at all.

Bad Game Design: 30

At the mansion entrance, Mitsuru meets up with her dad, Takeharu. He’s very no-nonsense, but isn’t mad that she told us about the incident, but rather that she hid it for so long. “Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection”, he quotes at us, which I find a tad ironic considering how much better our MC is supposed to be than everyone else. He also lets us know that ‘there are things that cannot be done alone, no matter how many sacrifices you make’.

Oh, really? I’ll remember that for later.

He also saw through the trip and knows she’s accessed the database. He wants her to bring all of us here, so he can drop more exposition on us.

The scene then transitions to the reception room, where everyone is gathered. Takeharu begins his drone, starting with the fact that his father wanted to create a time manipulation device. However, the project’s original direction changed under his father, who began to express nihilism, and went mad. He then begins playing ‘the only existing footage of the accident, recorded by a scientist who was at the scene.’

Um, wasn’t the accident a colossal explosion? Shouldn’t both he and the camera have been annihilated? And how would he have known, if he was far enough away to survive it, to have a camera on anyway?

Ill Logic: 11

Actually, it’s a recording taken by a man who Yukari recognizes by voice, since the quality of the video is so poor. It’s her dad.

According to him, Grandpa Kirijo has become obsessed with a ‘loathsome idea’. Papa Takeba has done something to throw it off, afraid that if he hadn’t, the world would’ve taken the brunt of the damage. We also find out that no, the explosion has already happened, resulting in the dispersed Arcana Shadows. He insists that they all be eliminated to end this ‘nightmare’. Then a large explosion happens, presumably the one he implied had already happened.

Ill Logic: 12

Which didn’t damage the camera or the video in any way besides cutting it off there.

Ill Logic: 13

Papa Takeharu assumes, along with the whole of Kirijo Group, responsibility for the corruption and the accident, spearheaded by Eiichiro Takeba, Yukari’s dad—she’s quite shocked to learn that he did it, though he was pushed by the project. She gets upset at this being hidden from her, and angrily refuses Mitsuru’s explanations, or her pity, before running off. Mitsuru being unable to face her, we’re asked to go after her.

We find Yukari on the beach. She opens her heart to us, as Living With Determination plays. She explains that she’d stood up against all the unsavory rumors about the Kirijo incident, even being forced to move due to hostility a few times, and believed in her father’s innocence for so long, that it’s crushing to find out he was not only guilty, but in charge of the whole thing. She tells us about the letter, and how it strengthened her belief in him. She agreed to fight alongside SEES with her Persona, thinking that if she swallowed her fear, she’d find out what really happened.

Well, she knows now, and she wishes she didn’t. She also admits to feeling jealousy and resentment in her heart—why her father, and not Mitsuru’s? She’s sure that makes her a horrible person, and tells us to stop acting like we have all the answers when we disagree. She apologizes, and confesses that she’s a mess and doesn’t know what to do anymore.

When asked, we tell her to take her time. Though it takes her a minute to get back in the spirit, she soldiers on, and thanks us, laughing despite her eyes being red from crying.

The tender moment is interrupted by Junpei, who tells us that everybody’s waiting—oh yeah, it’s almost midnight, isn’t it? Yukari uses that to reflect. Gaining a Persona is like losing your innocence. You can’t be blind to the Dark Hour or its contents, and can’t look away from what you don’t want to see. Thus, she reasons, she doesn’t have much choice but to keep up with SEES.

We go back, though that feeling of something watching us takes over again.

7/21. That day, we go with the other girls to see a large cryptomeria tree, which the game tells us is considered a world heritage site. Fuuka’s having fun, though Yukari and Mitsuru, not so much. Mitsuru gets a call, and it’s Ikutsuki. According to him, he’s at a lab on the island, and it turns out a machine has gotten loose that was considered defunct. Fuuka says she can locate it, but she’ll need more info, and he says it’s a combat vehicle designed to combat shadows. Mitsuru asks if we should destroy it if we can’t capture it, and he doubts our ability to do so. His doubt offends me.

Meanwhile, on the beach, Junpei’s alone with Akihiko. When Junpei finds out they went to go see some stupid tree, Akihiko reminds him he acted like an ass yesterday and probably didn’t endear himself, depriving himself of any more SEES bikini babes. So, it’s just them. Time for things to get gay! No, just kidding. This is the fabled ‘Operation Babe Hunt’.

Akihiko isn’t enthused, despite Junpei’s insistence that he’ll be useful in picking up girls. That changes when Junpei turns it into a competition, tapping Akihiko’s nerve. Loser—presumably whoever gets less girl attention—buys dinner from the ramen shop when they’re back in Iwatodai.

Junpei tries hitting on a girl, only to find out she’s here with her boyfriend. Akihiko doesn’t have much more success, which, being familiar with his inexperience, we knew would happen—poor dude babbles on about swimming techniques. Junpei’s next attempt goes south as well, as the girl wants a tan, not boys rubbing sunscreen on her. When the two meet up, it’s 0:0. Junpei mentions that Akihiko won’t get anywhere trying to make small talk, but he points out that Junpei hasn’t done much better with his grinning goofball routine.

Junpei, however, spots a gorgeous girl on the pier.

Short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, vacant stare. Hot. The two of them resolve to make up for their poor run by getting her attention. Junpei strides up, attempting to flirt, though he stutters. The blonde chick repeats his name with an odd, mechanical tone, then states she’s looking for ‘a human’...

*seethes*

...And bluntly mentions that Junpei isn’t that human. Brutally shut down, Junpei returns to Akihiko. His turn! Not that he does any better. ~~Being a robot~~, she has no use for athletic information. He shuffles back, but insists he won, having talked to her longer than Junpei did. The girl’s attention is drawn to something in the woods, whereupon she takes off. Not done being rejected, Akihiko and Junpei worry about her heading into the woods alone and go after her.

Back in the woods, we’ve gotten separated from the other girls. Right on time, blonde chick shows up. Uncomfortable, we ask if we can help her, only to be assaulted. Blonde chick mentions she’s found who she’s been searching for as she bear hugs us. Please stop.

She declares in her mechanical monotone her ‘highest priority is to be with [us]’. Oh, god, stop.

Junpei and Akihiko arrive, just in time to see what they can only presume is lesbian action. The other girls arrive soon after. They ask why we’re being hugged by a lesbian robot-I-mean-perfectly-human-girl, and Mitsuru mentions we need to prepare for battle. Of course, Ikutsuki himself practically teleports in to tell us that’s not necessary. What a coincidence.

He introduces this robotic girl as Aigis. Taking us back to the mansion, he explains her to be the anti-shadow weapon, and he’s assigning her to SEES right now. Junpei promptly has a crisis about her being cute, but a robot. Ikutsuki explains that anti-shadow weapons like her were created to combat uncontrollable shadows ten years ago, and she’s the only one still around. Some questions:

So nobody human had Personas after all?
Why is she the only one left?
Why were these anti-shadow weapons made to look like teenage human girls?
No, seriously, guns work on shadows. This robo-chick has guns in her arm.
Which begs the question, why the teen girl look or a Persona? Setting actual military weapons on shadows would’ve made just as much sense and probably would’ve been less expensive than programming a complex AI into a bunch of mechanical girls.

Yes, Aigis (they mispronounce it, by the way, now and forever. Her name is based on ‘Aegis’, which is pronounced ‘ay-jis’ or if you really want to be generous, ‘eey-jis’) can use a Persona. Palladion, it’s called.

*steeples hands*

*looks directly at Atlus*

*quietly takes a glance at the rest of this spork so far*

Atlus, would you mind telling me how the hell you justify this? So far, this game’s been fairly passable with Jungian psychology so far, and decent with tarot. This game’s Personas are no different than Persona 4’s—an incarnation of one’s personal facade. An aspect of one’s personality made manifest. Would you mind telling me how a goddamn robot, human girl-shaped or not, is capable of using one?! A machine that is not human, does not have a personality, and does not have an ego or any reason to hide aspects of herself?

There is no justification for this. This is just another “robot gains human condition” cliché. I’m goddamn sick of that cliché! I am especially sick of the “robot that happens to look like a cute human girl gains the human condition” version of the cliché! Even setting aside my own personal of intolerance of the trope, you went over the edge by trying to give her a Persona. You could’ve at least waited until she generated a human soul to give her a Persona to go with it! That would’ve at least slightly made sense within the context and internal logic of this story! But you didn’t, so it doesn’t!

This robot girl’s very existence is a ‘fuck you’ to Persona. I don’t know who at Atlus was responsible for Aigis’ creation, or her injection into a perfectly ~~good~~ ~~terrible~~ sort-of-decent story that functioned without it, but I hope they’re happy rolling in their riches, rather than fired, like they should’ve been.

*Sigh*

Sorry to rant like that, but I’m still not done. As you’re all aware, there is a count based around this very character. It’s Aigis I’m Stuck With You. But, I have yet to properly explain it. What earns a point for this count?

Basically, when any of the following criteria are met:

Aigis’ existence or behavior violates internal logic.
Aigis is put in a spotlight or to the fore of other characters, or given superior importance to them.
Aigis’ relationship to the MC is put ahead of that of the other characters’, or made out to be more special or important. This includes when she does something stalker-ish.

And yes, this will happen a lot.

So! The induction of this count happens with how many points already?

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 03

One for Aigis’ usage of a Persona not making sense from a psychology standpoint, one for Aigis’ usage of a persona over guns not making any sense from a logic and weaponry standpoint, one for Aigis’ design as a human girl not making any sense whatsoever besides sating some horny developers…Oh, and those also get Ill Logic points too--

Ill Logic: 16

One each for Aigis’s violation of personal space, and the description of her nonsensical ‘highest priority’ sticking her firmly within our box of things vaguely connected to us.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 05

And I’m certainly angry enough to give them more points, but we’ll wait. They’ll come.

According to Ikutsuki, she suffered major damage in combat and has been in the lab ever since, and he lets us get acquainted. Fuuka is amazed at such a life-like machine, and Yukari makes note that she seemed to know us. Aigis once again responds it is very important she be by our side.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 06

With that, and some other unimportant chatter about why that may be, we head to 7/22.

We come to the beach with everyone, Aigis included. Junpei is down that this is the last day of our vacation, and Aigis asks if we have a mission here. Junpei responds that we’re just here to have fun. Surprisingly, she gets the concept of ‘fun’, sort of. Before we can spend too much time splashing around in the water, Ikutsuki reminds us of when the ship is leaving. That’s code for ‘all story-related events here have been covered, so no more fun for you’.

In the water, Aigis has severely misunderstood the meaning of ‘water gun’. Yukari and Fuuka take part in splashing Junpei stupid, and our enemy is down. All-Out Attack?

> Attack
> Relent

Our vengeance for perversions past has arrived! We get a RANK UP for our Fool Social Link! We’re informed that this comes with a bonus: party members will jump in the way of mortal blows for us.

And so ends the trip to Yakushima. When we get back, it’s 7/23, although we ourselves haven’t done anything today and have transitioned straight to evening. We’re in the TPI back alley, where thugs are having fun, except Shinjiro, being a loner. Poor dude doesn’t seem to be doing so well.

Who should walk up but Evil Shirtless Jesus Lookalike and his cohorts, Evil Nerd and Emotionless Gothic Lolita? ESJL notes that he’s in great pain. Shinjiro, and the other thugs, recognize these three, and the others are spooked and leave.

Villainous Cancer: 05

I suppose that’s to indicate to us that Takaya and his friends are well-known as being very dangerous. Fair enough, since I wouldn’t have assumed the emo princess, evil nerd, and the pale shirtless man who looks like he’d take less effort to snap than a pencil, were dangerous without some help.

After calling them rats—

Villainous Cancer: 06

—ESJL orders Evil Nerd to give Shinjiro his capsules. Apparently he needs these to handle whatever illness he’s suffering.

He thanks them, saying he’ll pay them with the usual, but they cut him off. They want information, not money. ESJL asks about SEES, wanting to know why we explore Tartarus and go out on full moons. Shinjiro stays silent, though ESJL says he knows and just won’t say. Accused of being friends with them, Shinjiro denies it, though ESJL is adamant he cough up. Cornered, Shinjiro fesses up what he learned from Akihiko—apparently if all twelve Shadows are destroyed, Tartarus and the Dark Hour will disappear.

The idea of eliminating the Dark Hour is very distressing to ESJL, who can’t understand it, nor getting rid of the ‘Tower of Demise’ as well.

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 17

There’s no reason at all for ESJL to have a second, even edgier name than ‘Tartarus’ for the tower that replaces our school at night. Even if you could provide an in-story reason, it’s useless to the audience. Shinjiro is as confused at his reaction as we are. The three of them then leave. There’s a Villainous point in there, but it’ll be awarded when this is elaborated on further.

Shinjiro says that he ‘can’t go back, not after what happened’, in a way that makes it sound like he’s thinking about it.

We then transition back to the dorm, where Junpei mentions he doesn’t have anything to do for the summer and is free for Tartarus trips, which Yukari picks on him for. Aigis is here, and we try talking to her, only to be informed that she’s still pretty far from human and thus we can’t Social Link with her yet.

So let me get this straight—she can have a Persona, which not only requires a shadow and a facade to mask it, but is made stronger by Social Links...but isn’t human enough to have a Social Link of her own?

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 07

We actually can ask Ikutsuki, who is also present, why Aigis is conveniently shaped like a cute teenage human girl. According to him, in order for an implanted Persona to be used by a mechanical wielder, it must recognize itself as human, or at least human-like, and can’t do that if it’s a tank. Nice try buddy, but that still doesn’t fix the ‘she’s a robot and has no personality, dude’ part. Or why you didn't just use an actual tank.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 08

Yukari suspects no one will know she’s a robot, because you can’t tell by looking at her as long as she’s wearing human clothes. Yeah! I mean, it’s not like she sounds painfully robotic as soon as she opens her mouth, right? Or has feet ending in metal hooves that wouldn’t wear shoes well, right? But this is a point to be awarded at a different time…

With nothing else to do, we head to the mall to talk to Tanaka. Once there, he talks about a class reunion his alumni got together. We say that sounds like fun, and he fortunately agrees with us, saying he had a great time. That’s….different. Not for the reasons we think, though. According to him, a high school reunion is a good chance to show everyone else how much their lives suck after all the years in comparison to yours. It was fun for him, showing up all the bullies and jerks who used to give him a hard time in high school. RANK UP!

Oh yeah, and we’re still not getting back our 40,000 yen.

7/24. We wake to a robotic voice wishing us good morning.

We naturally ask Aigis what the hell she’s doing in our room waking us up—where she repeats her ‘highest priority’ drivel.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 09

No sooner than this would Yukari knock on our door to report Aigis missing. Shocked, Yukari rightfully calls Aigis out on unlawful entry, not that it matters to her. She was told to stay in the command room at night…but proposes to stay in this room at night. Everybody say it with me: hell no. Yukari actually treats this as a possibility and we’re given the choice to allow it. Once more, with vigor: hell no.

Aigis I’m Stuck With You: 10

To not mention that, somehow, I doubt that option would’ve been extended if Aigis had been wearing the fiber filaments of a man.

Exam results are posted today, and—wait, we’re already back at school?! We’ve only been out of school for a single week! Teenagers in Japan have it hard, holy shit…

Junpei meets us outside the gate to murmur his hesitance about ending the Dark Hour again. We get our exam results at lunch time, to find out we got the highest final exam scores in the class. What’s on the schedule for today? Hanging out with Yukari, as it happens.

She takes us to Paulownia Mall, where she hopes to get a pair of earrings and offers to let us pick them out for her. We unashamedly propose to get a matching set, but our ears aren’t pierced, so Yukari decides to go with matching chokers instead. Cue another phone call from her mom! This one is a tad more lukewarm than the last one, but not great. According to Yukari, her mom’s in distress and wants to reconnect, and refuses to remarry until Yukari forgives her.

We ask if she can forgive her mother, and she’s not sure, saying it’s a bit more complex than that. Apparently, the ten years since her dad died, they’ve barely seen each other—just phone calls. I want to say ‘holy crap’, but then there’s Ken Amada over here just being a self-sufficient ten-year-old. Of course, she mentioned earlier they moved a lot, so it’s likely they live together, they just don’t interact much. Yukari worries about seeing her mother again, and speculates that maybe deep down, her mom misses her dad. Yukari starts to sympathize with her mother, saying that maybe she needed someone to lean on in the wake of the devastation. Her mom, Yukari thinks, wanted to forget the same fear of becoming close to people that’s plagued Yukari. She still calls this weak, but decides not to look down on her for it. In light of this change of heart, we RANK UP. That done, we go buy friendship rings together.

At the dorm, Aigis asks us how we’d “classify” school. Answer ‘entertaining’, and she adopts that mindset. Answer ‘boring’ and she disagrees based on our expression. Answer ‘nothing’, and she says that’s wrong and just states our classification systems must be broken. Mitsuru reminds us we might have to attend summer school if our grades weren’t good, but we shouldn’t have to worry about that. Oh, and apparently we still are on vacation, we just had to go back today only. We go spend time with Mutatsu.

Mutatsu’s a little worried about us, saying high schoolers are tight on money these days and wondering if we’re short, mentioning he never gave much to his son, but we tell him we’re alright. He’s impressed, though he hopes we’re not doing anything illegal for cash. Out of left field, he wonders if there’s anything we ‘want’ right now, and this is sounding suspiciously like an old man tempting a desperate student, but it’s not. We say there’s nothing we want, painting the picture of a perfectly content person, astounding him. Mutatsu laments that, being a white-collar worker in his day, working to make money didn’t leave much room to enjoy life’s liberties. Though, he takes care to inform us we needn’t spend our life trying to get rich like Tanaka over there. Having seen a bit more of a closed-off guy, we RANK UP. We head back.

7/25. Junpei meets us at the gates to inform us that summer vacation starts for real this time, and it’s time to meet cuties at the beach...again. We wish him luck, but our answer is apparently unenthusiastic given his response. Edogawa is substituting again, and I’m sick of him. He talks about alchemy, the practice of combining elements to transform them, usually into gold, or a source of immortality. This dude tries, of all things, linking Carl Jung’s psychotherapy studies to the Philosopher’s Stone. That was not in my Pearson text when I took Psych. We stay awake, though, for knowledge!

After class, Ms. Kanou comes by to tell us about a fellowship our volleyball team will be doing at another school. Roughly translated, this means that in two days, we’ll spend a week practicing, then leave for the other school. Oh joy, the game wants to take away a week of our time. We spend time with Fuuka today.

Cupcakes are on the recipe for today. Though she’s apprehensive, we assure her we’ll make them together. She promptly mistakes sugar for flour. Having some spare bananas, we throw them in too, and Fuuka’s surprised we can improvise like that and not destroy anything. We assure her she did her best, and the cupcakes come out great. RANK UP!

Before we can get back to the dorm, it’s time for another scene at the TPI back alley. The Three Stooges are back, ready to antagonize Shinjiro again. They noticed Aigis, and confirm that they are going to interfere in SEES’ plans. ESJL then describes erasing the Dark Hour as denying the power of Persona.

….?

What?

How exactly has ESJL come to that conclusion? I think it’s safe to assume they’re Persona-users too at this point, but do they not realize Personas aren’t confined to the Dark Hour? Machines like Aigis were using them before the Dark Hour existed, and Fuuka was fully prepared to use hers in the morning on Yakushima.

Shinjiro expresses his disinterest, but Evil Nerd bares his tiny teeth, threatening Shinjiro should he try to join SEES and stop them. You know, even if I didn’t have my spoiler-ey knowledge that these dudes combined wouldn’t last ten seconds in a fight with Shinjiro alone, I’d still call that a blatantly bold assumption. Right now, it’s six combat Persona-users and Fuuka, with more coming in soon, versus the Evil Trio, who have so far only succeeded in threatening people who are helpless to oppose them.

Villainous Cancer: 07

Seriously, Atlus. If you wanted these guys to be taken seriously as antagonists, try not making them look like their balls are bigger than they can carry. Shinjiro is no more impressed than we are. End scene.

Oh god, Ken’s at the dorm when we get back. Please go away, gremlin. We go out to the arcade for a quiz game.

7/26. Summer vacation officially starts. Bebe calls, and even though he’s not on the schedule, we decide to spend time with him anyway, since we haven’t for over a month and won’t for another month still at least. He takes us to the book store at the strip mall, though he still remains a tad depressed. We give him some banana cupcakes to cheer him up.

At the dorm, nothing is happening. Let’s go hang out with that monk.

Mutatsu doesn’t seem to be doing well today, and asks for our help. We tell him he needs to get home and sleep, an assessment he agrees with. But, it’s more complicated than that. He has a memorial service to conduct, including reciting the Heart Sutra, and he’ll have a hangover. Before, he was able to shake one off with a cold shower, but not so much these days, and he says he dislikes living alone. We ask if there’s no other workers at the temple to help him out, and he confirms there aren’t—he’s the only one managing his small temple. He engages in some cynicism about living alone being preferable, but then gets deep. ‘All things visible are bound to change and disappear’. According to him, this and the rest of the saying means that you can try all you want to live a seamless life, but someone else can always mess it up with the slightest effort. He openly wonders if we’ve messed up his life, but it’s clearly an act hiding appreciation. RANK UP!

Mutatsu says the memorial is for a kid who was only 19, a random murder victim, and laments that it’s a harsh world. He’s going home to sleep, and we should too, and we’re reminded to be careful.

7/27, we—wait, shit. Almost forgot.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 24

For the murder victim we hear about. Anyway, 7/27. Special training for volleyball begins today, so we can’t do anything after school. At the dorm, Ken gushes over Akihiko-senpai, and Aigis tells us about her gun-fingers. When I check, she’s several levels ahead of everyone else, and has physicals and a buff, but her greatest asset is high endurance. We study.

7/28. More volleyball, then down time with Tanaka.

He asks if we notice anything different about him—he’s had his hair revitalized. He admits to being something of a slob at home, but dressed to impress when out and about, and uses this to launch into a frankly quite spot-on analogy about people only trusting or buying what looks good, nevermind any downgrades on quality. He then threatens us not to tell anyone about him being ordinary. Or at least, he adamantly tells us not to. He’s about given up on the ridiculous threats by now. RANK UP!

7/29. After volleyball practice, Aigis informs us that she’s weak to electricity as she’s a robot, but resists Pierce. This is terrible, which I’ll remark on later, but for now, quiz game.

Dark Hour cut-in!

It’s not Pharos for once. It’s Fuuka, who’s woken us to tell us she’s detected a shadow active on the city and to get to the 4^th floor. It’s not a Full Moon Shadow, just a normal one, but it is outside Tartarus. Akihiko went to track it to its location at Naganaki Shrine. Akihiko rings in to tell us not that it’s a dangerous enemy, but that it’s already been defeated…? He mentions a ‘little fella’ that’s been injured and he wants to save. So, we head over.

The ‘little fella’ in question turns out to be Koromaru! Poor pup, you guys remember him, right? And he wasn’t caught in the crossfire, either—it was him who defeated the shadow. Aigis, who can apparently speak dog, says that Koromaru was protecting the shrine, a place of peace, and Junpei wonders if a damn dog can use a Persona. Despite it being the Dark Hour, Mitsuru says she can arrange for a vet. I’d just like to tell everyone to keep this part in mind.

7/31. Volleyball practice, then dorm down time. There, Aigis mentions she can sense ‘images’ from Koromaru, and other living things, that suffice where speech fails. Junpei complains that first a robot and now a dog can use a Persona, an exasperation I very much agree with. He asks ‘what’s next, a monkey?’ No, but a bear, a shadow, and a cat can. Mitsuru mentions Koromaru’s wound is severe, but no internal organs were damaged, so he’s stable. Junpei isn’t the only one feeling overshadowed by a dog—Akihiko is also struggling to accept that a dog protected something better than he could. We go spend time with Mutatsu.

He’s feeling down, and wants someone to listen to him. He’s got some insight on the people downstairs—young, full of life, but stressed in their eyes and their daily lives and possibly not even enjoying themselves. He correctly says that stress doesn’t go away by avoiding it, but treating the source, and admits that the club is more like a refuge for him than enjoyment. Trying to be upbeat, he decides to perform a live reading of the Heart Sutra! Though we inform him this may not be the best idea. And yet, he’s undeterred, though he decides against it due to the club being too small a venue.

Mutatsu finally confesses a denser problem than a dull life. He has a son, about the same age as the people in this club. He’ll be 21 this year, or at least Mutatsu guesses, since as far as he knows his son isn’t even alive by now. Rank up!

Dark Hour cut-in!

THIS TIME IT IS PHAROS. DAMN IT ALL.

He tells us literally nothing new. No, seriously. ‘You doin’ okay with your friends? Okay cool. Full moon in one week. Eh, let’s not pretend it’ll be hard. Bye.’ Not even a rank-up. Guess what that means?

Calm Down There, Edgelord: 18

7/31. More volleyball training. We go to see Mutatsu again this evening. He is clearly drunk off his ass. Drunk enough, apparently, to think we’re his son. We curiously repeat his self-reference, ‘Dad?’, and Mutatsu takes it in stride. ‘We’ apparently usually call him an old bastard, until ‘we’ need some money. He says he thought we’d been in an accident, and not to make us worry. He asks what we were doing out so late, and we claim it was with friends. A girl? He wonders so, but is ballsy enough to congratulate us—like father like son, it seems.

He chooses that time to sober up. Despite this undoubtedly being embarrassing, he takes it well enough, and we RANK UP. He regrets missing all those anniversaries and birthdays due to being busy with clients, and wonders if his family felt like he did just now, waiting for someone. We ask him to clarify, and he means his wife and son, who left him four years ago. He’d stay out late and then get in arguments with his wife, but now he doesn’t know what to do with himself if he goes home, so he just stays here and drinks. We call him out on running away, and he owns up to it. Mutatsu is quite stricken by the fact that he hasn’t heard from her since, and she must’ve gotten over him, and that he has no idea where they are or if they even miss him. We split.

8/1. Time for our trip to another school! Wheeeee…..wait a minute—what’s that music? Is that New Days playing? Yes, we’re at Yasogami High, part of the set of Persona 4!

Yuko promptly butts into Rio’s order-barking to make a bet—losing volleyball team cleans up after the match. Rio’s down for that, but adds ten wind sprints to it. Predictably, the Yasoinaba team kicks our ass. After that, we’re supposed to be staying at a local inn. Who should come by to discuss that but tiny Yukiko Amagi?

She’s still in middle school right now, but she’s been sent to get us. One of the Amagi Inn staff members comes to chat, letting Yukiko know Chie stopped by, hoping for homework help.

Later, at the inn, Yuko is still with us despite this not being her group. Rio tells her to scamper, but she pleads to be allowed to stay—by some conspiracy, she got placed in the same room as Kazushi, one of the male volleyballers she manages. He was supposed to be in the tournament, but is here due to being injured. Yuko rails on about what an idiot and a kid he is, which Rio pokes fun at by implying they’re great together. It’s then time for Kaz’s medication, so she scampers. Rio calls her the mom friend, and after we get a bath, Yuko is back. And what else to talk about but boys! She claims there’s no one she likes, though when she gives her description, Kaz of course matches it. When Rio points this out, Yuko sticks her tongue out, but worries that she might end up married to him anyway—after all, the dude’s helpless without her.

When asked who we like, we draw interest by saying it’s a secret. Rio’s not on board to share, so we move away from that subject and swap to ghost stories. As if the point weren’t hammered in enough, Yuko literally drags him—Kaz, that is—back to this room so she has a man to cling to if she gets scared. The lights go out, and Yuko quite literally is caught clinging. More fun hijinks ensue.

8/2. There’s an unseen practice at the Yasoinaba school, and then it’s time to go. Yukiko, who is also present, teases Yuko about being so easily scared. Yuko somehow comes to the conclusion that she’s a ghost, based on her cuteness. Despite the setup being weak, Kaz does use this to assure her she’s definitely a living human. 911, yes, there’s been a moderate injury.

We get back to the dorm. Four days left until the Full Moon, everyone says. We go to spend time with Mutatsu again.

We tell him, roughly, that that’s the way the cookie crumbles. He considers retiring, though we push him to hang in there a little longer. His thoughts turn to his wife and son. Strictly speaking, they never divorced, and he does own the temple now. Why not retire there, with them if possible? He struggles to admit it, but he really is thinking about asking them to come back. As a matter of fact, he’s already making plans. And should this go through, we probably won’t be seeing much of him anymore. He pretends to be glad to be getting rid of us, though it’s easy to see through. RANK UP! We head back.

He opens by apologizing for the awkward last meeting. With that out of the way, Mutatsu remarks while looking a tad distressed that as long as he looks solemn and recites sutras well, he can make easy money as a monk, or so he thought, and this is why he begged his parents to hand him the temple. Unfortunately, people die every day, and death anniversaries fill the days when they don’t.

DEATH IS INEVITABLE: 25

So he’s a lot busier than expected, virtually 24/7.

We tell him, roughly, that that’s the way the cookie crumbles. He considers retiring, though we push him to hang in there a little longer. His thoughts turn to his wife and son. Strictly speaking, they never divorced, and he does own the temple now. Why not retire there, with them if possible? He struggles to admit it, but he really is thinking about asking them to come back. As a matter of fact, he’s already making plans. And should this go through, we probably won’t be seeing much of him anymore. He pretends to be glad to be getting rid of us, though it’s easy to see through him, and we RANK UP! We head back.

And here is where we stop. This was a bit of a long post, but it was for the best, I think. Next post, we have Tartarus and a Full Moon Shadow to look forward to.

All too soon, we’re back at the dorm, and it’s 8/3. And here is where we stop this post for today.

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