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vashtijoy · 1 year

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news from NG+: 7/9

So on 7/9, Akechi has his post-Kaneshiro-takedown flail about the PTs in the morning....

... only to then send you one of his obligatory text invitations in the evening—that's to say, he always texts you on 7/9, and he always has that tantrum in the morning.

For me, that text is confidant stage 4, but other examples of the 7/9 text I've seen have been non-rank-up invitations, I think because I blew him off for Kawakami that once. shamefaced sorry, Goro.

Do what you will with this information. I love that he's clearly been stewing about it all day. "I can't believe he's interfering with my plans/catching up with me/shitting up the Metaverse again/pushing me out of the public eye when I haven't been in it FIVE MINUTES/ugh that SHIT that piece of TRASH i HATE him i HA... this is absurd. I'm being absurd. I will ask him on a date. Yes. I will investigate him over crepes, he will never suspect a thing hahahAHAHA."

That corner he's tucked away in is the back of the Ginza Line Gate / Teikyu Building, by the way:

He's literally found a nice, friendly wall to tuck himself behind, to check his phone and have his tantrum. He's facing the stairs, but unless someone comes up the stairs, nobody can see him. Nice little detail.

Another nice detail is that I already had a feeling he uses the Ginza Line—it, of course, runs between Shibuya and Akasaka Mitsuke, where the TV studio is. By the time you get this sequence, you've probably already met Akechi at Yon Germain, which is further back in shot below the blue sign—so both his appearances at the station are here.

Actually, the station platform you run into him on is also the Ginza Line platform—Aoyama-Itchome (where Shujin is) is between Shibuya and Akasaka.

Those two women chattering in the background, by the way, are the Middle-Aged Lady and the Young-Looking Woman, the latter of which has a daughter at Shujin, and spends the year talking to her friend about how hot Akechi is and, apparently, stalking his ass:

Middle-Aged Lady: So Akechi-kun was saying on TV... The Phantom Thieves are dangerous, aren't they? Young-Looking Woman: Yeah, Akechi-kun! The way his eyes look to the side is pretty sexy... Young-Looking Woman: I love the way he runs his hands through his hair too... Middle-Aged Lady: Did you hear what I just said? You really like younger guys...

The last thing you might have missed on 7/9 is that, after his abortive conversation with Makoto earlier in the day ("the Phantom Thieves are justice and I'm afraid I know nothing c:"), and getting hung out to dry by the SIU Director, you can also find Principal Kobayakawa moping to himself on Harmony Alley:

So yeah, big conspiracy energy in Kichijoji on the evening of 7/9.

#persona 5 #p5 meta #goro akechi #the other weird as fuck thing tho #is that all the guides are like #'akechi is in kichijoji 3-5 evenings a week'#he's fucking not #i've seen him there like three times as of mid-july #he is BUSY BOY and not easy to get hold of

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vanivenivici · 9 months

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I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not but I never agreed with the idea that Goro can’t handle spicy food. Like I get where it comes from but think about it: the takoyaki was so obviously spicy that every single one of the Thieves noticed it. There’s no way Goro didn’t know what he was doing. It was just so ungodly hot, beyond normal limits hot, that he couldn’t take it.

So I propose: Goro has a remarkably high spice tolerance, actually. He was going to show the Phantom Thieves just how cool and formidable he is by taking their obviously spicy takoyaki and eating it without flinching. They’ll be so impressed. It’s just too bad Ann’s class has no earthly clue what they’re doing. He’s such a loser I adore him.

#persona 5 #goro akechi #P5 thoughts #i’m rambling #sorry I’m thinking about p5 even MORE than usual cause I’m fucken. IN Tokyo rn #and we have to take the train through Kichijoji every night to get home #I can’t believe they made persona 5 in real life that’s crazyyyy

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cake-apostate · 1 year

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Kichijoji in Shin Megami Tensei I and Persona 5 Royal

I may be late to the party, but I just discovered something.

This is Kichijoji in Shin Megami Tensei I. Keep in mind that the Super Famicom came out a little more than two years before this game did, so graphics are primitive. Those two red things are houses (Kazuya lives in the one to the north), those purple lines are the train tracks and the purple shack is the train station, and those yellow tubes are the mall. Inokashira Park is a bit to the south, out of frame.

For the longest time, I wondered about why the mall was such a weird shape. Why a tube? Then I remembered that the iOS version called it the Arcade rather than the mall; turns out that 'arcade' can also mean 'street covered by an arched roof lined with shops.'

This isn't a building, no matter what it looks like on the inside. I'm guessing that high, arched ceilings would have been a hassle for a place you only visit once.

(Also, if you see the inside map, it's more of a T block than a + sign, which is why there's no east exit. Later versions had it as a T block, but you don't really get the same 'tube nestled in buildings' sense. It's also not an arch anymore.)

This is Kichijoji in Persona 5 Royal. Other sources show that it's clearly based on Kichijoji Sunroad Shopping District. The station is right behind you.

Thanks to this Reddit thread, I have this picture of where things from SMT I correspond to in real life (I added the red markings). We can see the shape of the t-block surrounded by buildings.

I found some interesting stuff when checking with Google Maps.

First, the train station (circled in red on the right) is more to the east than the south. You can see it better in the newer versions, but it looks like the in-game map was rotated. At this point, though, I'm mostly impressed that they got 'there's an entrance right next to the station' right; I'm not going to complain about the orientation.

The second interesting thing: that's Kichijoji Sunroad, circled in red on the left.

See that alleyway on the left? That's not an alleyway. That's one of the entrances to the Arcade. It's the 'south' entrance you see in SMT I.

If Joker was just allowed to go left, we could have seen a revamped version of the Arcade from Shin Megami Tensei I.

(I personally think it would be awesome if Joker could purchase the same sort of things as Kazuya could, in approximately the same locations. The knife shop and the 'antique' store might be weird, though; since the Phantom Thieves explicitly don't use real weapons, I guess they could be gift shops rather than equipment stores. Even if it would be cool if Joker at max Charm could get the antique shop owner to sell him real guns, it wouldn't fit with the themes of the game.)

#shin megami tensei #shin megami tensei 1 #shin megami tensei i #persona 5 royal #shin megami tensei persona #smt1 #smt i #smt 1 #smti #megaten #megami tensei #persona 5 #p5 #p5r #kichijoji #smt persona

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ancient-day · 9 months

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Muhen talking about jazz and bebop.

#me sprinting through kichijoji every month and going right to him to hear the latest #muhen #muhen persona 5

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a-mel-tomelts · 2 years

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For newcomers to P5R

It’s been barely a month since the release of Persona 5 Royal on other platforms. Officially freeing it from the chains of being Playstation exclusive.

What it improved from the Vanilla?:

You are given significantly more time in the real world compared to Vanilla. Evenings are not going to waste now, because you can spend time inside of Leblanc making it efficient to raise Social Stats by reading, watching DVDs or playing videogame which are available after baying a console from the second-hand shop in Yongen-Jaya.

There is a new place called Kichijoji! Ther eyou can play Darts to raise your Baton Pass level, which now i available from the beginning and doesn’t require the Confidant Rank. Billiards, to raise your Technical damage when an enemy doesn’t have a weakness. Or spend time with Akechi and a new Royal girl, Kasumi.

Thieves Den, or, My Palace in Japanese, is a place which doesn’t add to your game time, is a fun area where you can watch videos, concept arts, customize or play Tycoon. Everything gets open with you moving forward through the plot or raising Confidants. I greatly advice you to raise every Confidant to rank 10 because then on a New Game+ you will get unique interactions between characters. Be it Takemi and Kawakami, Iwai and Shinya or my favourite, Akechi.

To gain coins to open stuff, you can get achievements or play aforementioned Tycoon. A cool card game that is WORTH. Best game. Bought P5R just for this game. And you can play with your favourite Phantom Thieves!! But fyi, Akechi can’t play with certain character for… plot reasons. You will understand later why.

As for the story, Royal adds a complete new third semester that becomes accessible after reaching rank 9 with the Councillor Confidant, Takuto Maruki. You don’t have to raise Confidant with Akechi, which in the original was automatic, or Kasumi - but it will make the third semester better if you do. Mostly I recommend raising Kasumi’s Confidant if you are going for Royal content immediately. If you want to see Persona’s original ending, then scrap hanging out with Maruki. Kasumi would be a bit of a waste without a third semester but the decision is yours. Akechi though? If you want to make your strangers-to-rivals-to-friends fantasies true, just spend time with him. I swear, even without shipping thing his Confidant is awesome. Rank 8 absolute slayer and keeps bringing me chills down my spine every time. (Althought it’s confirmed he has a crush on Protagonist by one of the developers)

Other few changes:

Guns are now not limited to Palaces but battles, making them easily accessible at any new battle without worrying to waste them.

New Showtime ability that becomes available along with the plot. Showtime is a special attack of two characters from your party. The best ones involving Joker are the ones available only in third semester which means almost at the end of the game. Sadge.

New portraits for the characters.

Book for fast reading which allows to read two sections instead of one is now available in your School library instead of Jinbocho bookstore on the first of July(7/1)

A new game, Featherman Seeker is available in Akihabara game shop. I recommend playing all the games but this one in particular after December Palace.

More welcoming interface when crafting infiltration tools.

Grappling Hook. Best thing, thank you Sakurai-sama.

Persona now has traits when fusing or catching them. Traits are the ones similar to Pokemon. An additional passive skill that can strengthen your Persona if you have a build for it.

A Red Alert for Velvet room which helps itemize shadows for an evolved version of an item and fuse into a more powerful version of a Persona. On the second and third attempt of doing something, though, you’ll get an accident for better or worse and then get kicked out instantly. But then you are free to come back at any time and trigger the Red Alert again with the help of Fortune Confidant, Chihaya Mifune, or by just killing shadows.

Places have been changed for the better and Bosses gained new abilities and attacks. Which I would describe without spoilers as:

Lust is really your sin, huh, Atlus?

BRICK. Cough I mean- BATOP PASS. BATON PASS. BATON PA-

Money money money. It’s so funny-

Pyramid: Press X to win

Hey it’s actually pretty g- *uncanny mr fantastic*

And I think that sums up the whole experience. Lol. Feel free to ask me about the game. I’ll be glad to!~

Ply a reel SMT gam.

#persona #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #p5 #p5r #Kichijoji has the music from SMT #I really recommend listening to all the versions of Kichijoji #Just let me talk about Persona #I like the game even tho writing sometimes is #yeeeeeeeeeeeeeet #read my other posts #hifumi best girl

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sl33py-g4m3r · 12 days

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Shin Megami Tensei I, III, NINE & Persona 5 Royal - Kichijoji (Mega Mix)

This theme arranged or not, sounds like home to me. This and The Eastern Kingdom of Mikado’s theme anyway, and the barracks too.

#youtube #youtube video #music #music arrange #kichijoji #kichijoji smt #Shin Megami Tensei #Shin Megami Tensei III #Shin Megami Tensei NINE #Persona 5 Royal #Just wanted to share #not mine

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demifiendrsa · 2 months

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Persona 3 Reload: Expansion Pass | Announce Trailer

The expansion pass for Persona 3 Reload will be available to purchase on March 12, 2024.

The full Expansion Pass content lineup is as follows:

Wave 1 (March 12, 2024)

Persona 5 Royal Extra Background Music Set

Persona 4 Golden Extra Background Music Set

**Tracks:

“Life Will Change”

“Beneath the Mask”

“Kichijoji 199X”

“Gentle Madman”

“I believe”

“Keeper of Lust”

“Blooming Villain”

“Victory”

“Backside of the TV”

“Game”

“Junes Theme”

“Heaven”

“Long Way”

“Revelations: Mitsuo”

“The Almighty”

“Results”

Wave 2 (May 2024)

Velvet Costume and Background Music Set

**Tracks:

“Electronica In Velvet Room (“P4D” ver.)”

“Battle Hymn of the Soul (t.komine REMIX “AT 1st” P3D-EDIT ver.)”

“Battle Hymn of the Soul (Daisuke Asakura Remix)”

“Battle Hymn of the Soul -USH ver.-“

“Dance Hymn of the Soul (Disco In Velvet Room)”

Wave 3 (September 2024)

“Episode Aigis: The Answer” – The final chapter of Persona 3 Reload

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exvaltiora · 10 months

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persona 5 text feature is fucking fake because you know that akechi would be blowing up akiras phone like "hiiii !! :3 im in kichijoji rn ^__^ wanna meet up ?? <33" and akira would respond like Yeah

don't misunderstand me i know for a fact that akechi is king of formal texting but he's no.1 emoticon user in akiras dms

#shuake #akechiposting #p5r #persona 5 #goro akechi #akira kurusu

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adachimoe · 4 months

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Persona 3 Reload x Keio Railway

This blog has temporarily become a "Look at this cute Persona 3 Reload collab artwork" blog. Atlus posted the latest P3R collab, which is with the Keio Railway in Tokyo.

(These character poses are from the new main key art that was posted on Twitter earlier.)

The Keio Inokashira route between Shibuya and Kichijoji (As Seen in Persona 5) will have special trains with P3 Reload decals/wrappings. Announcements for these trains will be recorded by Maaya Sakamoto (Aigis's VA).

There's also a stamp rally (As Also Seen in Persona 5 with Jose lol) and you can take photos with large cutouts/standees of SEES at the stamp rally locations.

There is also a merch store, of course. The merch uses the SD graphics of SEES as train conductors plus the art from the new visual. You can see all of it in Atlus's news piece or on the pop up shop's page.

I want an acrylic standee of Koromaru in his little conductor uniform...

#persona 3 reload #persona merch

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satoshi-mochida · 2 months

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Persona 3 Reload Expansion Pass announced, includes ‘Episode Aigis: The Answer’

From Gematsu

ATLUS has announced the Persona 3 Reload Expansion Pass, which will culminate with the story expansion “Episode Aigis: The Answer” in September.

The full Expansion Pass content lineup is as follows:

Wave 1 (March 12)

-Persona 5 Royal Extra Background Music Set

-Persona 4 Golden Extra Background Music Set

-Tracks:

“Life Will Change”

“Beneath the Mask”

“Kichijoji 199X”

“Gentle Madman”

“I believe”

“Keeper of Lust”

“Blooming Villain”

“Victory”

“Backside of the TV”

“Game”

“Junes Theme”

“Heaven”

“Long Way”

“Revelations: Mitsuo”

“The Almighty”

“Results”

Wave 2 (May)

-Velvet Costume and Background Music Set

-Tracks:

“Electronica In Velvet Room (“P4D” ver.)”

“Battle Hymn of the Soul (t.komine REMIX “AT 1st” P3D-EDIT ver.)”

“Battle Hymn of the Soul (Daisuke Asakura Remix)”

“Battle Hymn of the Soul -USH ver.-“

“Dance Hymn of the Soul (Disco In Velvet Room)”

Wave 3 (September)

“Episode Aigis: The Answer” – The final chapter of Persona 3 Reload

Expansion Pass Announce Trailer

English

youtube

Japanese

youtube

#Episode Aigis: The Answer #The Answer #Persona 3 Reload #Persona 3 Remake #Persona 3 #Persona series #Atlus #Gematsu #Out of all that I only want The Answer part of it. XP #Youtube

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vashtijoy · 1 year

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@pugs-cats-bb-8 tagged on my 7/9 post:

#persona 5#goro akechi#it's funny that you say he's hard to get a hold of#the first day he's available is 6-13#and he's available 10 times leading up to mid-July#plus his rank 3 is dependent on having R.3 charm And Knowledge plus no rain#even though I'm sure that cafe has a slight awning#he says the charm and knowledge is because his fans won't except any less#I think Akechi's just picky and playing hard to get#he's only available 39 times in the whole game#September is the worst month with 4 days of availability#October is a close second with 5 days#best months are August and November with 8 and 7#throw in a double stat block and a weather block for R. 3#an aquarium date dependent on ranking up Ohya And doing Futaba's palace as soon as it opens#R. 6 having a date block#R. 7 having a date block And stat block of Knowledge R.4#plus if you want the best ending and his third tier you have to pick specific choices#he's also very picky in presents#only 6 presents give 3 notes#2 presents give 2 notes#and the rest give one note#this boy is very complicated

That is invaluable information, and a level of attention to detail of which I can only dream tbh. So, in that spirit, I went back and replayed the whole of June and half of July, to get a complete calendar of Akechi interactions. Here's what I learned:

Apart from Saturday, there doesn't seem to be any real "you can find him on these days" schedule. Between June 10th (confidant 1) and July 12th (the date I got confidant 5 on my live playthrough), there are 9 days when you can find Akechi in Kichijoji, and those days are as follows:

all three possible Saturdays;

3 out of 4 possible Wednesdays. The other, 6/15, is rained off—though he doesn't show up even if you're doing confidant 2 rather than 3, and of course he shows up for confidant 2 on 6/13 in the rain;

once each on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday;

never on Friday or Sunday.

The week of 6/13 only has one day when you can find him—the Monday, when you can get confidant 2 and then he vanishes for the rest of the week. If you (say) don't get confidant 2 on 6/13, he still won't show up on 6/15 (his regular Wednesday slot) to offer it again;

The weeks of 6/27 and 7/4 each have two opportunities to meet him;

The week of 6/20, on the other hand, has three opportunities, and he will text you twice;

Once you're time-locked on the confidant, he will no longer appear in Kichijoji, and he will not text you to hang out;

If he's not time-locked, he always texts on Saturdays, so it looks like you're his big night out. Heavens, Akechi, the wild life you do lead.

so does he vanish for months in the summer?

Over in this post, I talked about how Akechi vanishes for most of September and October, in the runup to Joker's murder. There just appear to be no plot notes that bring the two of you together.

If you do confidant 5 on 7/2, and confidant 6 when it unlocks on 9/3, that looks like another two-month gap—but actually, there are various choreographed events that break it up:

train station meetings on 7/11, 7/20 and 9/2;

the lunch with Yoshizawa on 7/11;

the Medjed meeting with the PTs on 7/18;

the aquarium date on 7/29;

there is then a month's gap before the Leblanc trauma dump on 8/28—interesting, since this mostly overlaps with Futaba's Palace. Which Akechi doesn't know about, so it looks like they've vanished as planned.

So they have a lot going on in July even apart from the confidant. But in August, in the summer, they're out of each other's hair, until he comes back for 8/28 and confidant 6. What's going on? Is this actually a longer disconnect of three months after confidant 5, broken up by setting up the Okumura plot? Does he think Joker gave up as he predicted, when faced with a difficult opponent like Medjed? (disappointing) Is it something else entirely? Or does he just have a busy August?

@pugs-cats-bb-8 mentions in their tags that September and October are Akechi's worst months for availability, which corresponds with his vanishing from the plot for those two months as shit falls apart. If August, by contrast, really is the best time to find him, it suggests he's not intentionally avoiding you then so much as the plot is just not throwing you together.

It looks like, in theory, confidant stages 2-5 are meant to be done by the end of July, when the game schedules a lot of other social stuff for you.

here's the calendar

June M T W T F S S 06 07 08 09 ! 11 12 * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 x * 24 x 26 27 28 * 30

July M T W T F S S 01 x 03 04 05 * 07 08 x 10 11 *

x—days when Akechi texts you to hang out. *—days when you can find Akechi in Kichijoji, but no text. !—the TV studio. Confidant 1.

Days when the game will always stop you doing anything in the evening (and so you could never meet anyone) are struck out.

Days in red are days he didn't appear in this replay (where I nailed all the dates), but did appear in my real, current playthrough (where I'm about a week behind). Note that 7/9 itself is one of these days—if you get confidant 5 on 7/2, he will not then face you on 7/9 after his tantrum.

Here's a summary list of events:

6/10 Friday—the TV studio. Confidant 1.

6/13 Monday—available in Kichijoji. Confidant 2.

6/22 Wednesday—he texts you in the evening. Confidant 3.

6/23 Thursday—available in Kichijoji. (no rank up)

6/25 Saturday—he texts you in the evening. Confidant 4.

6/29 Wednesday—available in Kichijoji. (no rank up)

7/2 Saturday—he texts you in the evening. Confidant 5.

7/6 Wednesday—available in Kichijoji. (but not if rank 5)

7/9 Saturday—he texts you in the evening. (but not if rank 5)

7/12 Tuesday—available in Kichijoji. (but not if rank 5)

also, we dreamed of him

Also, playing back to check certain days I missed to voluntary Metaverse activity, I found out you can go to bed early and have a dream that raises your stats or your confidants! So that's worth knowing. If you got this far down, here are some entertaining dreams.

"I dreamed that I was being chased by a gigantic Akechi... I'm glad that was just a dream."

"I dreamed that Akechi and I went to the beach, but the waves washed away my swimming trunks... I'm glad that was just a dream."

"I had a dream where I was in a quiet café, asking Akechi for advice... I feel a little closer to Akechi."

I think you may have a better chance of getting "good dreams" if you are ranked higher with the confidant.

#persona 5 #p5 meta #goro akechi

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brightknightblog · 5 months

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A Guide to Persona 5 Royal Confidant Requirments

Persona 5 Royal saw an additional semester and the return of the Phantom Thieves following its initial release on September 15, 2016. Here is your guide to Persona 5 Royal in case you need to review anything you missed or are having trouble understanding even years after the game's October 31, 2017, release.

It's always a good idea to review before diving into the additional characters and confident rank requirements! In Persona 5, you take on the role of a teenage kid who was wrongfully accused of a crime and serves out his probation in Shibuya, Japan by living in a cafe's attic under the owner's care. As the game progresses, players come across characters who have also been harmed by sinister adults, which opens up a method for forcing them to confess their wrongdoings. With a runtime of 110 hours, this synopsis hardly covers the entire game, but it does cover the main idea.

Confidant Requirments

In Persona 5 Royal, to enjoy the extra semester there must be certain confidant ranks reached to obtain the true ending. Two new characters, Kasumi Yoshizawa and Takuto Maruki, and one returner, our favorite detective, Goro Akechi.

Goro Akechi

This edition of Persona 5 includes the chance to hang out with Akechi, unlike the original game. To receive the true ending, players must:

Raise Akechi's Confidant rank to 8 before November 17

Remain loyal to your friends during the rank 7 hangout

Don't worry if you end up stuck at rank 6; most players will experience this until November. You can find him in Kichijoji outside the Penguin Sniper Lounge. Typically, this will continue until rank 6, when he will be located at a Cafe Leblanc booth. Usually, Akechi is available on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Kasumi Yoshizawa

Kasumi is a new addition to the cast in Persona 5 Royal, and with this comes her rank requirement:

Raise Kasumi’s Confidant rank to 5 before the end of the year.

Despite how straightforward this may sound, Kasumi is more busy than any other character in the game when it comes to her schedule. To reduce the possibility of running out of time, it is best to hang out with her every chance you get. During the day, she can be found in Kochijoji, and until the third semester, her rank remains locked at 5.

Takuto Maruki

Another new addition to the cast is Maruki, the school counselor brought in due to Kamoshida. His rank requirement is:

Reach Maruki’s Confidant rank 9 before mid-November

To access the third semester, Maruki's confident rank is necessary. After school, you can find him outside the nurse's office. Although there are more opportunities for sessions with Maruki, it is also advised to hang out with him whenever he is free due to the long period in which he is unavailable.

As Persona 5 Royal introduces new personas, a brand-new palace, and an emotional rollercoaster for every player, the game's allure never fades. Remember to have fun exploring and getting to know the new (and original) characters in the new edition. Just remember to raise those confidant ranks and get to work in the metaverse!

#persona 5 #persona 5 royal #guide #gaming

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whoneedsapublisher · 1 year

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Transformed into a Tryst

I just finished Persona 5: The Royal the other day (I played the original back near launch) and I was inspired to write some Shuake, inspired by another tumblr post.

Words: ~2000

Summary: Platonic outings to western restaruants were fraught with social pitfalls, apparently. Or so Joker claimed.

Also on Ao3

*******************

Goro Akechi was not entirely sure how he’d ended up in this situation.

“Amamiya,” he said. His face was a perfect mask of civility, as always, but he wondered if perhaps by now Joker knew him well enough to see through that. “You were listening to what I said during our previous meeting, correct?”

“Of course,” Joker adjusted his glasses. It wasn’t something he did out of any practicality, given that Akechi’s research had uncovered that Joker had 20/20 vision, so it must be either for effect or some kind of nervous habit. Akechi strongly suspected the former. “I always pay attention to what you say.”

There was a curious edge to that last statement. It was part of why talking to Joker was always so interesting, despite how infuriating Akechi found him. He was never quite sure exactly what was going through Joker’s head. Akechi was sure that he’d played his part perfectly. That the Phantom Thieves had accepted him as one of them, or at least a temporary ally. Everything was going according to plan. And yet, somehow, that offhand phrase from Joker almost sounded like a warning. A careful reminded that Akechi needed to watch his words, lest he give himself away.

Regardless…

“I take it that you recall the part where I said I hate you then, right?” Akechi said.

“I do,” Joker replied, unfazed.

“Then why are we at this western themed steak restaurant together?”

Joker shrugged nonchalantly. His bag sat on the floor next to him, and, as far as Akechi had seen so far, Morgana wasn’t hiding in it this time. It really was just the two of them.

“You tell me,” Joker said. “You accepted the invitation.”

…Well. He certainly had him there. It was true- even if he was playing friends with the Phantom Thieves currently, he didn’t need to go this far to build their trust. He could have claimed he was busy, at the very least. It wasn’t if this was a team meeting, where he had to show up to put on an act of sincerity. He could just claim he had something else he had to do, like he had all those times Joker had run into him in Kichijoji.

And yet he’d accepted this invitation anyway.

The waiter appeared, saving him from answering for the moment.

“Hello! Welcome to the Outback Steakhouse. Can I get you any drinks or appetisers for today?”

All of a sudden, there was a mischievous gleam in Joker’s eyes that Akechi had learned to watch out for. This time, hopefully, he wouldn’t have his hair mussed. “I’ll have a large strawberry kiwi lemonade. With a couple’s straw, please.”

“Ah…?” the waiter said, looking uncomfortable. Well, of course he did. He couldn’t tell how to take Joker’s comment. He’d delivered it with that deadpan tone that he loved to use for his strangest jokes. The waiter didn’t whether Joker was serious, and clearly wasn’t comfortable being unclear how to act in this situation. And probably wasn’t all that comfortable with the idea that it might not be a joke.

Akechi faked a smile and managed a disgustingly false polite laugh. “Ahaha, Amamiya, you’re always such a joker.” He turned to the waiter. “He’ll be fine with a regular straw. As for myself, I’ll have an iced tea. And could we also have a blooming onion, please?”

“Right!” the waiter said, looking relieved. “Strawberry kiwi lemonade, iced tea, bloomin’ onion. Coming right up.”

Ugh. He actually said it bloomin’, complete with the twee apostrophe. Doubtless a requirement of the job, but it still made Akechi slightly nauseous at the simpering corporate submission of it.

“Thank you,” he managed, complete with a thankful smile.

“Uh oh,” Joker said, as the waiter strolled away out of earshot.

“What?” Akechi said.

“This was just a platonic event,” Joker said, leaning forward and tenting his fingers in front of his face. “But by ordering the “bloomin’ onion”, registered trademark-”

Ugh. It was like Joker could tell how much the blasted apostrophe and corporate precision irritated him, and had doubled down on it just to get under his skin. And yet, Akechi couldn’t quite decide whether to be irritated at it, or amused at the sardonic overcompliance.

“-You’ve transformed this outing irrevocably into a romantic tryst.”

“Is that so?” Akechi said, flashing a fake smile. “Well, I’m glad that I know for next time to just get the onion rings.”

“So long as you’ve learned, I’ve done my job,” Joker said, continuing his absolutely deadpan delivery. “Just make sure to be careful. You’ll get people’s hopes up.”

“Perhaps I should tell them in advance that I hate them, so that they’ll have realistic expectations,” Akechi siad.

“Probably won’t be enough. There’s all kinds of love, you know.”

How the hell would Akechi know? What the hell would he know about LOVE?! Akechi could feel his rage boiling, but he forced it down. Let Joker make his little quips about love and friendship. It would make the moment when he died in a rotten jail cell, alone and hopeless, all the sweeter.

“Thank you for your advice, as always,” he said. “I hope none of the entreés on this menu will give any kind of unspoken signal.”

“Let me check,” Joker said.

That was another thing Akechi despised about Joker.

He really could be damn funny.

*******************

“Here again? What, do you actually like this overpriced foreign garbage?”

Once again, Akechi found himself sitting in an Outback Steakhouse with Joker. A Joker who managed to be quite the wildcard indeed, considering how he’d managed to weasel his way out of certain death, and then defeat Akechi with his little friends.

And then it had been Akechi’s turn to weasel out of death. Although the method was… uncertain.

“I thought it would make a nice bookend,” Joker said. “This was the last place we went to before our little mutual betrayal.”

“Mutual? Please. You don’t need to sugarcoat it and pretend like there was an equivalence there. I betrayed you, and you stopped my plan succeeding. I don’t recall you violating the deal we made.”

“Didn’t I? We promised to steal Prosecutor Nijima’s heart, didn’t we?”

“Hmph. And who was it that stopped you doing that? Don’t pretend like I didn’t do all the actual backstabbing.”

It was so like Joker to twist things like that. To soften Akechi’s cruelty down to a rivalry between them. To turn his serial killings into Shido’s fault. Akechi didn’t need any of it. He’d made his own choices. He didn’t need Joker’s cheap mercy, that kind hand that he’d stretch out for any sad puppy that crossed his path.

“I guess I can’t argue with that,” Joker said. “So as payback for betraying me, I’m dragging you to this foreign restaurant you don’t even like, and I’m not even going to treat you.”

Akechi smirked.

“That’s an awfully petty revenge, isn’t it?”

“I’m not that creative,” Joker said. One of his more outrageous lies, but as usual, delivered completely deadpan.

“Fine,” Akechi said, picking up the menu. “I’ll humour you this time.”

One last time. Before they saw Maruki tomorrow, and gave him the calling card. The end of their new “deal”. Where they’d part ways again.

A waiter appeared and spouted the same corporate boilerplate as last time. This time it disgusted Akechi even more. This was supposed to be Maruki’s saccharine world of unrealistic perfection, wasn’t it? Where no one had to be sad. Which meant this waiter wasn’t suffering through spouting this drivel because he had no choice, he was alright with this.

Or Maruki had screwed up. Considering that Akechi had spotted more than one homeless man during his investigation, and they seemed less than elated at living on the street, it was clear that their so-called god-like entity was far from omniscient.

So far, anyway.

“I’ll just have water,” Akechi said.

“Okie dokie, hokie pokie!” the waiter said, and Akechi’s eye twitched at the folksy twee of it all. “How about you, pardner?”

Joker’s eyes had that gleam again.

God, Akechi hated it. The way that it always made him a little bit curious about what Joker was going to do next, like a moviegoer gripping the armrest and leaning forward as the camera zoomed in. It irritated him.

“I’ll have a lemonade,” he said. “And a Bloomin’ Onion.”

“You have a short memory,” Akechi said, as the waiter wandered off to deliver their orders to the doubtlessly grease-soaked line cook that spent their days in Maruki’s “ideal world” in the kitchen of this damn restaurant.

“Oh? I think my memory’s pretty good,” Joker said. “Otherwise how would I remember you talking about pancakes for such a long time?”

Akechi made a sour face. That was a reminder that he didn’t need.

“You forgot what you said last time about the appetisers here,” Akechi said. “You were quite clear about the supposed hidden meaning of that fried onion you’ve so blithely ordered for us.”

“I didn’t forget,” Joker said.

Akechi paused momentarily.

There was a sudden seriousness to Joker that make Akechi think this wasn’t just another one of his jokes. This wasn’t him playing games with their relationship for his own amusement.

Akechi should tell him in no uncertain terms that his feelings hadn’t changed since he challenged him to a duel. If anything, he hated Joker even more, seeing his mix of compassion and conviction as he dealt with his brainless brainwashed bunch of bandits. Soft. Too soft. If he was going to respect their delusional acceptance of Maruki’s world, he should let them rot in it, and if he was going to tear them free he should bring their false lives down around them in flames. That gentle guiding touch infuriated Akechi.

The two of them were too opposed. Too different. Akechi would never bend to fit into Joker’s idealistic little world. Joker would never break to join Akechi in his anger.

He should get up and leave. To laugh in Joker’s face for this pathetic farce.

If for no other reason than it would make Joker less fond of him. Hopefully, even make him angry at him. So that when the time came, if Akechi was right about how he’d evaded death, Joker would make the right choice. Not one clouded by his stupid affection towards someone who had used and betrayed him.

“If you’re expecting a kiss at the end of the night, you’d better take Maruki’s offer to join his world of dreams,” Akechi said. “Because it won’t be happening in reality.”

“That’s okay,” Joker said. “You’re probably a bad kisser anyway.”

“Maruki couldn’t manipulate me. Don’t think that your second rate reverse psychology will fare any better.”

Joker grinned at him.

That hateful, infuriating smile. Like he looked at Akechi and saw someone he wanted to stay beside. Someone who mattered to him. Not some distant celebrity. Not a burden. Not a tool.

Akechi couldn’t stand it.

*******************

Joker paused before saying it. That pause was the longest in Akechi’s life.

“We’re stopping Maruki,” he said. His tone was flat, but it wasn’t the deadpan delivery of a joke. It was matter of fact. Resolved. Determined.

Akechi smiled.

He should have known. This was the man who’d put his life on the line to save someone who tried to kill him. That would take a promise to a murderer seriously. That would hold on to a dead man’s glove, hoping that they might still get to duel again, one more time.

Of course he’d choose such a disgustingly selfless option when it was put before him.

“All right,” Akechi said. “I’m relieved to hear it.”

His eyes hardened. “I will never accept this form of reality. I’m done being manipulated.”

He still remembered the leering face of the cognitive Akechi. Remembered the disgust at seeing himself in Shido’s twisted view of him as a disposable lapdog, ready to be put down if it tried to bite its master. He wouldn’t let himself become that kind of puppet under Maruki either.

“Let’s go back… to our true reality.”

In the peace of the grave, he’d never have to think about what could have been.

#persona #p5 #p5r #shuake #persona 5

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