May 14
Not much happens at school today. Since it's raining, and will continue through the night, everyone realizes that the Midnight Channel will be on, and hopes that no one will show up on it, or if they do, there will be a clue of some sort. It's a bit unfortunate that you can't do anything, but given that it's a rainy day, your options will be limited, anyway.
Evening
Like other nights in which you watch the Midnight Channel, the only activity you can do in the evening is going up to your room to watch it. You see a figure, but neither you nor Yosuke can identify it.
May 15
The Investigation Team meets at Junes, which they dub their special headquarters. They discover two things from the fact that the image is blurry- the victims aren't necessarily Always Female, and the person (who seems familiar hasn't been kidnapped yet. Chie repeats those observations out loud as though she's making a major deduction, getting a laugh out of Yukiko, who laughs harder when Chie calls her a "crazy hyena."
Evening The image is still unfocused, but you can conclude that it's probably Kanji from the news.
Yosuke then asks you which girl you like. There's no benefit for choosing a specific one, so the useful choices are "Both," which increases Understanding, or "Neither", which increases Courage. Since Understanding is somewhat harder to come by, I chose the former, and Yosuke thought it was a good mindset that would help me get more girls.
May 16
The Investigation Team discusses how Kanji's the person on TV, and it's revealed that, surprisingly enough, Yukiko was acquainted with him when they were young. She proposes talking to him at the store, and Chie suggests that might be safest.
The textile store owner is talking with a young detective (Naoto Shirogane) about the case. After Naoto leaves, the owner greets Yukiko, implying that she's known her and her mother for a long time.
Inside the shop, the Investigation Team notices a familiar looking scarf, and Mrs. Tatsumi notes that Mayumi bought a pair (presumably for herself and Namatame), but only actually chose to take the women's one, leaving the other for the store to sell. One has to wonder whether Mayumi chose to break up with Namatame, or simply refused that to avoid drawing suspicion. Their conversation is interrupted by a deliveryman, and Yukiko promises to come again.
Outside, Kanji and Naoto are talking, and Kanji's a bit confused about Naoto being "interested," in him despite both of them being boys, but not entirely unhappy with it (If you've played the game, that has a great deal of meaning in retrospect). Kanji then notices the poorly concealed Investigation Team members and forces them to run off.
After composing themselves, the Investigation Team realizes that under their assumptions, Kanji's mother would seem to fit the pattern, but Kanji is the one on the Midnight Channel. Yukiko points out that the same thing happened with her, since her mother fit the profile, but Yukiko herself was targeted. They realize that they'll likely have to rethink their strategy, and Yosuke asks Yukiko for her number, only for her to ignore him.
Evening
It isn't raining, but you have to rest for the stakeout tomorrow. Annoyingly enough, there are many days like this, in which you can't do anything in the evening because you have to prepare for the next day (which also tends to be a day in which you don't have any free time at all).
May 17
At the gates of Yasogami, the Investigation Team stakes out Kanji, who came "in zone" with his "mother-issued rations" in handnote , but had to leave before he was spotted. Kanji meets up with Naoto, who leads him away. You then split up into teams, and no matter who you choose, you go with Yukiko.
Yukiko comes over with some drinks, wondering whether the killer will show up. You have the opportunity to offer to protect Yukiko from the killer, but only if you have 3 or more Courage. That said, she's determined to do what she can on her own because she owes you her life, and with that, the Priestess Social Link begins. You can ask her for her number, and this time, it's easier to muster the Courage.
Meanwhile, at Samegawa, Chie and Yosuke try to eavesdrop on Kanji and Naoto. They don't accomplish much apart from getting themselves caught and awkwardly trying to lie their way out of it, and the encounter ends with Kanji chasing them around the pavilion.
Chie and Yosuke come back and report their failure. Kanji happens along on his way back home and while he's quite irritated to see you all again, he also indicates that it may not be entirely your fault. That said, he's set off again when Yosuke asks if he's seen anything strange lately, and forces the team to retreat for the day, with Yosuke colliding with the textile shop on his way.
Evening
When you go up to your room, Yukiko calls and informs you that Kanji has gone missing, something she learned from his mother when she called on inn business. Mrs. Tatsumi isn't too worried, since it happens all the time, but Yukiko realizes that this probably means he's been kidnapped.
On the Midnight Channel, Kanji, clad only in a towel in an in-game scene, announces a show called "Bad Bad Bathhouse," which he calls "a superb site for those searching for sublime love that surpasses the separation of the sexes. Yosuke calls, and he's too flustered to speak clearly at first, but decides to meet tomorrow
May 18
In class, you meet to discuss the news about Kanji being captured, and conclude that each person's dungeon is tailor-made for them. Concerned about what would happen if rumors spread, and angry at the kind of person who would do this, Chie plans to save Kanji, crush the killer, and then crush the killer and send them to hell, amusing Yukiko. The Fool Social Link goes up to Rank 3- it progresses more slowly than most of my others, but I never found many useful Fool Personas.
In the TV World, there's a complication. Teddie knows that someone fell in, but doesn't know where, so he needs you to find information on Kanji. So begins the first "investigation" session, which takes multiple days and must be completed before you can gain access to the dungeon.
You then set out to investigate Kanji. Investigations about missing people tend to take multiple days, and most of the time, you'll hear when you can't go any further. For me, that came after speaking with Kanji's mother, who told me about Kanji talking with Naoto, and then going to Junes and finding out Naoto wouldn't be coming by today.
With that in mind, I went and turned in my quest, completing Hermit Rank 2 and using up my afternoon.
Evening
I advanced Nanako's social link again.
Justice Rank 3 Nanako hears that her father's coming home, and goes about preparing dinner. Unfortunately, the Dojimas are out of pickled radish, so you have to go to the store to get more. Your rank goes up to 3 before you set out, something that occasionally indicates that any choices you make afterward have a risk of reversing or breaking the link. That doesn't happen here, but this event doesn't have a happy ending.
You get home to find Dojima there, upset about you going out regardless of your reasons. Here, you have three choices, two of which are gated behind stat checks, but there's a twist- "Hear Her Out," doesn't seem to do much good, as Nanako complains that her dad never listens. She calls him "stupid" and runs off, further upsetting him, and while he's willing to listen, he isn't too pleased with you, either. The event ends on a bit of a depressing note, and it seems Dojima comes off a bit less sympathetically in Nanako's link than he does in his own.
May 19
I picked up the next quest in the Hermit series, which is one of the few that can be done in a single day. Unfortunately, I didn't have the Meat Gum that I needed to cure the woman of her cravings for snacks, so I couldn't complete it.
I went to Junes and talked with Naoto, who told me that Kanji had "a complex." That was enough for Teddie, but I decided to hold off on going into the TV to advance the Sun Social Link.
Sun Rank 4
After practice, the president decides to close up early, causing Yumi to protest, saying the bell hasn't rung yet. The VP tries to calm her down, but Yumi only gets angrier, and says that the VP never gets roles because of that. The bell then rings, and it seems that all the club did in the extra time was argue.
Yumi stays behind and asks if she's wrong- rather than say that she was, or agree with her, the best response seems to be "It was how you said it." She then says that she'll practice at the riverbank- anywhere but at home, since her mom's taking care of her dad. She tells you to forget about it, and the best option is to refuse. Yumi, faux-offended and touched, vows to keep going.
Evening I did some studying.
May 20 I fused Xiezhai and Titan in order to create Phoenix. My new creation had some skills that would prove useful, such as Kill Rush, Me Patra and Dodge Ice. Most importantly, it's also immune to Electricity, which makes it effective against Shadow Kanji.
I then went into the TV, and entered the new dungeon, in which the party members complained about the steam. The enemies in Kanji's dungeon are more challenging, and some, like the Gigases, don't have any easily exploitable weaknesses.
When you get to the third floor, you see Shadow Kanji, who, like Yukiko, is inviting men to his sauna before walking off. Teddie tries to make a "bear naked" pun, only to find that not even Yukiko finds it funny. This is another one of those "set piece" floors with a fixed layout, although the only notable thing is that there's a locked door that you can bypass with the key you get from the mini-boss.
The seventh floor is another setpiece. after following one of two paths in an almost circular hallway, you find there's only one way forward, and it takes you past a mini-boss.
SUB-BOSS: Rampaging Gigas
- Party: Yu (21), Yosuke (21), Chie (21), Yukiko (22)Personas: Phoenix (23)
This battle is somewhat similar to the Avenger Knight battle in that your foe charges up to deal attacks that are essentially one-hit kills. Be sure to have Yu guard and debuff the boss to reduce its attack, which can often mean the difference between a party member living or dying.
After defeating him, you get the Bath House Key, which opens the locked door on the third floor, and marginally shortens your trip up.
On the eleventh floor, you find Kanji. Shadow Kanji taunts Kanji over how girls don't understand someone who doesn't conform to "manly" ideals (although it's later pointed out that the guys weren't any better). No one quite knows what to say, so Kanji denies his Shadow and causes it to attack.
BOSS: Shadow Kanji
- Party: Yu(23), Yosuke (23), Chie (23), Yukiko (23)Personas: Phoenix (28)
Shadow Kanji can be quite difficult, since while you have Yukiko, Shadow Kanji also has strong attacks, backup of his own, no elemental weaknesses, and no telegraphs to his attacks.
The first order of business is to take down the Nice Guy and Tough Guy. The process is significantly helped by the fact that they're weak against ice and fire, respectively. Unfortunately, both of them resist Wind, and this, combined with the fact that Shadow Kanji uses an Electricity attack (Mazio or Fanatical Spark) roughly every other turn means that Yosuke's little more than a liability here. To make matters worse, Shadow Kanji likes to buff himself if he gets an extra turn, and on my previous Very Hard playthrough, he used this and Assault Dive to one-shot Yu.
Shadow Kanji also likes status ailments, but with a twist. Forbidden Murmur inflicts poison on the guys, while Roar of Wrath inflicts Rage on the girls. The former inficts a small but noticeable amount of damage, while the latter, despite making Chie somewhat stronger (offset by preventing her from using skills) makes Yukiko useless, and this is where Me Patra comes in.
After the battle, Kanji's seemingly defeated Shadow arises once again, since Kanji's still rejecting it, but Kanji solves that by punching his Shadow in the face, admitting that it's a part of him and saying that anyone who looks like him should be able to take a punch. With that, he accepts his Shadow, but unlike the other victims, who collapse with some grace, he falls flat on his back.
Outside, Kanji feels much better, but still needs rest, even if he still wants answers. Yosuke decides to take him home- most kidnapping victims get shown home by the Investigation Team members of the same gender.
Evening
Dojima tells you about how Kanji was found and asks about what you were doing outside the textile shop, which isn't exactly a popular destination for high school students (if you try to go in, you're told you have no business there). I chose to say that a friend took me there, causing Dojima to conclude that it was Yukiko, even if he remained suspicious.
