October 31
You have the chance to work with Yosuke and get some Halloween costumes from Junes. I didn't have time to waste this playthrough, so I did the Death Social Link again. Like with some of Ai's events, you have to do a brief sidequest first- in this case, you have to go to Daidara and pick up the letters from her husband. Old Man Daidara has a quandary- it's rude to just throw them out, but if he hands them over to the recipient, he'll admit to reading them- so he has you do the latter in his stead.
Death Rank 7
Hisano's surprised and a little happy to see the letters from her husband, but plans on burning them, leaving to get some matches. As she leaves, no matter what you do, you end up reading them, seeing some romantic poetry on them.
Hisano comes back, and reveals the depth and source of her feelings of guilt. He "fell ill" and forced her to work to support the family, but Hisano took it in stride, even when he took it out on her, saying that she'd vowed to support him "in sickness and in health." Of course, all that changed when he forgot her, continually treating her like a stranger day after day. Hisano contemplated putting him out of his misery, but ultimately saw this as his "punishment" for forgetting her. Hisano apologizes, and asks you to throw away the letters.
Evening
Nanako comes down with a fever, and you give her some medicine. She realizes that your departure is coming up in the spring, but hopes to spend the winter playing together.
November 1 Since Naoto was the furthest behind of all my Social Links, I decided to level hers up.
Fortune Rank 4
Naoto gets another card from the Phantom Thief, challenging her to recover her possessions. She's unwilling to get involved, until you accuse her of running from a challenge. She then changes her tune, realizing that leaving the card with the police would jeopardize her family's honor, and decides to catch him with you.
Evening I spent some time with someone this evening- I'm not sure who, but it might have been Naoto.
November 2
Fortune Rank 5
Naoto mentions that the cards came from Shiroku, and its proprietor recognized the man. She notices something on the card, which happens to be invisible ink, and if you do this link early enough (i.e. before November 5) Nanako shows up and helps out.
Evening
I spent some time working on a model.
November 3
I ate the Beef Bowl at Aiya.
Evening
I went to tutor again.
Tower Rank 4
In a moment of uncharacteristic humility and a sign of his increased trust in you, Shu actually admits that he's good at memorizing English, but doesn't know it very well. Of course, he also reveals his cynicism when he observes that his teacher doesn't seem to know or care about the difference between learning and memorizing, declaring that teachers are nothing more than arrogant people who judge students solely by their test scores. He notes that the transfer student has good grades, but not better than his(which may or may not be the truth, given his response in Rank 9), which means that everyone else sees him as a disappointment, and dislikes him for his arrogance.
The best response is to tell him he isn't the only one who has this problem, which gives him perspective and gets you a Courage increase. He wonders if your school is interesting, but knows that you'll have graduated by the time he gets there (which suggests he's only a first- or second-year).
November 4
Since it was raining, I went to Chagall. It's a coffee shop run by a man who's the younger brother of Mutatsu from Persona 3, and once you go there, you can get a Skill Card from your currently equipped Persona. Unfortunately, since the first visit is essentially a tutorial, you get Dia regardless of what Persona you have equipped, a card that is almost completely worthless. There aren't a lot of skills that I use this for, since most of the ones I like are either fairly easy to get through fusion or unavailable, but if you use Alice here, you can get Mind Charge.
Evening
Nanako tries turning on her kotatsu, but it appears to have broken down, causing you to plan to buy one.
You watch the Midnight Channel, but can't figure out who it is. Yosuke's disturbed by the idea of another kidnapping, but calls for a meeting.
November 5
The group hits a dead end trying to identify the person, since no one on TV is especially famous except for a politician who visited Nanako's school to ask about the fog, and who returned to the city. Teddie, meanwhile, has other concerns, since he got handed the midnight shift as punishment for sleeping in the housewares section, and suggests that the person on TV is fairly small, but no one else knows for sure, and decide to check again later on.
Evening
Dojima gets home with another threatening letter for you. He's willing to let you and Nanako buy another kotatsu, then hands you the letter. It's another warning, saying "if you dont stop this time someone close will be put in and killed." After you finish, Dojima snatches the letter away and, his suspicions confirmed, demands answers as to how you're involved with the case. Even if you choose to tell the truth, Dojima won't believe you (although it's unclear what you say and how), and says he should have asked you about this earlier, for your sake. He then decides to take you in for questioning, telling Nanako that they're not fighting and asking her not to wait up for her. Nanako's not convinced, though, but you can then reassure Nanako or choose not to do so- her reaction in the latter case is heartwrenching.
Some people accuse Dojima of being Out of Character in this moment, and disregarding the Character Development from his Social Link (although it should be noted that you never get back to talking about the case in it), but in a sense, I think this only makes sense if you complete his Social Link. Having come to cherish what a true family is, he's determined to do what he must to preserve it, even if that means taking you, the one who helped him realize that, in for questioning, or pursuing the man who kidnapped his daughter. Perhaps he's overcome his fear of his relationship with his daughter falling apart, by realizing that distancing himself from her is causing that to happen, but now, he's faced with what he fears the most.
At the station, you're in a room with Dojima and Adachi. Your cell phone rings and Dojima confiscates it. He asks you about why you'd get a letter like that, but still refuses to believe you, (although given the circumstances, namely, that you're with the actual killer, it might be best not to say too much). After you apparently protest that it's the truth, Dojima refuses to listen, is disappointed that you don't trust him, and has you stay the night before storming out. Adachi says he wants to believe you, and says that Dojima does, too, which is why he sees this as protecting you. Adachi starts to say that Dojima was looking into the first case again, before hearing a slam on the door outside, evidently Dojima listening in and telling him to shut up, so Adachi complies.
At Junes, Yosuke is forced to help out with Teddie, who cheerfully says that it's because of Teddie's own inability to work hard enough. Yosuke then gives Teddie a cell phone so they can reach him. As a demonstration, Yosuke calls you to remind you to watch the Midnight Channel, but doesn't reach you. Teddie asks to go see Nanako, at which point Yosuke realizes that she's probably alone, and Yosuke seems willing to see her. After another failed attempt to get your cell phone, Yosuke calls the Dojima residence, and hears about you being taken to the police station. As Teddie talks with Nanako, Yosuke realizes that it was another warning letter, and takes the phone back to talk with the others.
At the police station, midnight comes, and you see the image again, this time recognizing it as Nanako. Unfortunately, without your cell phone, you can't contact the others. As How NOT to Write a Novel points out, the advent of the cell phone forced writers of fiction set in the present to adapt accordingly, although there are justifiable cases in which characters who would have a cell phone can't use one, like if they're being held for questioning and had their phone confiscated.
Meanwhile, things go From Bad to Worse as a man finds and apparently abducts Nanako.
Chie calls Nanako, and asks how it could be her on the Midnight Channel, prompting Naoto to point out that the politician who made the news used Nanako as an anonymous source. Naoto suspects that even before Nanako's photo was released in the evening paper, people in the town knew full well who she was, a possibility Naoto deeply regrets failing to consider. The gang is taking action, though, with Naoto heading to the Dojima residence and everyone else heading to the police station.
The guys burst into the police station, informing you and Dojima that Nanako is missing. Dojima calls Naoto and realizes that the front door is open and no one is inside the home. Once Dojima's shock and horror fades, he orders the police to set up checkpoints, and sets out to find the killer, unwilling to wait for the top brass, even though Adachi tries to convince him it may be too late.
Adachi is dismayed at how things turned out, but is reluctant to release Yu without a reason. The girls then arrive, and Adachi gets even more distressed, prompting Kanji to yell at him for hesitating in such a dangerous situation. After calming Kanji down, Naoto decides to go over the situation, starting with the fact that Nanako let her kidnapper in, meaning that it isn't a stranger. If you suspect it's a classmate, Naoto will rule out the idea that it could be someone in elementary school, and if you suspect it's a friend of Dojima, Adachi will tell you Dojima doesn't have any. They widen the possibility, and suspect that the culprit is someone who transported using a car no one would notice- a delivery truck.
Adachi's skeptical about what you, a bunch of kids, came up with, but then looks over the people from the first case, and sees a deliveryman- Taro Namatame, rushing off to tell Dojima. He complains about Dojima chewing him out, and the others worry about how Dojima will fare.
In a cutscene, Dojima pursues Namatame's truck until both lose control of their vehicles. The group rushes over and finds Dojima lying on the pavement, prompting Naoto to call an ambulance and Adachi to call backup. Naoto observes the scene, and sees a TV inside the truck. With that in mind, it's clear what happened- Namatame escaped into the TV and took Nanako with him. It's too dangerous to follow him, though, so you decide to go tomorrow.
At the hospital, Dojima is in a sorry state, but he's worried about Nanako, knowing that if anything happens to her, he won't know what to do except get revenge on Namatame.
November 6
This time, there's no need for any investigation. You all know that you're going to save Nanako and capture Namatame, so the Fool Social Link goes up another rank.
You then find Nanako's dungeon, which looks like "a story-book version of Heaven," and is related to Nanako missing her deceased mother.
You may notice subtle changes in the appearance of some of the floors as you go higher up, such as different walls in Void Quest. Here, while the lower floors seem to be in the middle of the day, the higher ones seem to be at dusk.
After a few floors, you hear Nanako's voice as she tries to reassure herself that she's all right, and Kanji notes how depressing this is, but the others tell him they have to greet her with a smile. Over time, though, you stop hearing Nanako's voice and start hearing Namatame's, showing his desire to bring people to a paradise in here.
Eventually, you come to a mini-boss.
- SUB-BOSS: World BalanceParty: Yu(62), Yosuke (62), Chie (62), Yukiko (62) Rise (62)Personas: Kikuri-Hime (67)
This boss is fairly simple, and alternates between charging up and using elemental skills.
At the top of Heaven, you confront Namatame, who has Nanako with him. He recognizes you all as the people he "saved" and is determined to save Nanako, too, even though neither the Investigation team nor he understands what the other is saying. You're asked to keep him talking about his motives, but you will ultimately have to demand that he let Nanako go, even though Naoto says this is a bad idea. Eventually, Namatame loses his temper, allowing the party to get the drop on him and force him to release Nanako, who passes out. Namatame then demands that you give him back and goes One-Winged Angel.
- BOSS: Kunino-SagiriParty: Yu (63), Yosuke (63), Chie (63), Yukiko (63), Rise (63)Personas: Kikuri-Hime (69), Siegfried(67), Kali(50)
This boss is arguably more difficult than Shadow Mitsuo, but it's easier to take advantage of him.
After losing a fair amount of his health, he will use Quad Converge, an ability that results in one element doing more damage while the others are fairly weak in comparison. Unfortunately, you don't know which one it is, but there's a trick. If you have everyone reflect spells, Kunino-Sagiri's first attack will hit him for almost 2,000 damage. I didn't quite have enough to finish him off, so I mainly put it on Yukiko while having the other party members attack him. Unfotunately, since I had fewer Ice abilities, and Kali was fairly low level, I couldn't do as much damage to him.
In the next phase of the battle, he stops using Quad Converge and starts using Control on various party members, which turns them against you for three turns. You need to be mindful of which characters' weaknesses they can hit and prepare accordingly, while also keeping up the offense.
Finally, the most difficult part of the battle comes when Kunino-Sagiri uses Control on everyone besides the main character. For this part of the battle, my favorite strategy is to use a "tank" Persona to protect against the party's attacks. Ideally, the persona has these qualities in that order of preference.
- Immunity to physical attacks. Kunino-Sagiri always uses physical attacks, and Chie's physicals are more dangerous than her magical abilities.
- No weaknesses. This would be on top of the list, but for the fact that I can guard against attacks, and can put up an Evade (Element) skill.
- Elemental resistances to Fire, Wind and Ice, in that order.
- Self-healing abilities, such as Regenerate.
Once the party members break free, Kunino-Sagiri stops using Control, and the battle gets significantly easier from there. He does have a fairly powerful Almighty attack known as Unerring Justice, though, and tends to spam that at the end (it was a bit easier to keep up with the damage on playthroughs where Yukiko had Mediarahan), but he does eventually go down.
After you're finished, you bring Nanako and Namatame outside, calling for an ambulance and police. At the hospital, where Nanako isn't allowed any visitors, everyone laments their inability to do more to protect Nanako save Kanji, who forcefully tells everyone to get a hold of themselves, calming them down for now.
Jester Rank 7
You check up on Dojima, who's immensely relieved by these turns of events. Adachi, who's in the room, suggests that you go home, noting that you look terrible, perhaps showing that there's a part of Adachi that does care about others.
