May 21 Having saved Kanji on the second day, and only having to spend one day inside the TV, I was rewarded with the ability to spend the next two weeks on Social Links. Today, I chose to spend time with Kou.
Strength Rank 5
This time, Kou doesn't come to practice, a bit like Yumi does after the first few events of her social link. You track him down to the roof, and the best option is telling him he has some nerve. He notes that oddly enough, now that his family is letting him play ball, he's not so sure he wants to anymore. After some musing about people who enjoy life, he seems a bit happier when you suggest doing something fun with him.
Evening
I spent time with Dojima. In most Social Links, you'll inevitably come to a point at which even if you make all the correct choices, you'll be unable to advance the link without spending time with the person.
May 22
Before you can go anywhere, Nanako recruits you to do some gardening. Essentially, if you plant some seeds, they sprout within a few days. You can increase the yield by maintaining the garden, which spends time but gives you relationship points with the Dojimas. The garden's a good source of extra items, but isn't too important to your success.
Today, I decided to pursue Yukiko's social link.
Priestess Rank 2
You meet Yukiko out of the bookstore, and find out that she's studying for job licenses. Unusually for Social Links, she begins by making a fairly surprising admission- instead of inheriting the inn, she wants to move out of Inaba and get a job after graduating (Since Yukiko's easily smart enough to do well in college, even if many Inaba students are pessimistic about their chances against city kids like Yu, I wonder if she doesn't consider that option because she can't afford it on her own), having concluded that her Shadow's desire is her desire, something that brings us back to the point that Shadows are only one part of the person in question. After her pride over saying such a thing fades, she realizes that she'll need money for this and she can't tell her mother. If you picked up the envelope-making job, you can tell her about it, but otherwise, she'll look at the board (One would think that the translator job would be less conspicuous, since she could say the dictionaries and such are for school.
Evening
My spending time with Dojima the previous evening paid off and I was able to go up a rank with him.
Hierophant Rank 4
Dojima asks you how you like your coffee. Contrary to the Hiimdaisy comic, in which he insults any of your choices, and throws the cup at your head if you ask him to surprise you, he responds best to "Surprise Me." If you tell him he doesn't have to do that, he says that it's the only thing he did around the house while Chisato was alive.
After this touching and personal look at Dojima, he, after hearing about a woman being hit by a car and killed outside Okina, insists that you turn off the TV. Nanako explains that it reminds him too much of his wife's death. Nanako still seems sad about how he won't talk about it, even if you completed her link by now.
May 23
The nice part about Yukiko's social link is that it advances quickly early on, and the time after Kanji's dungeon is a prime opportunity to advance it. As such, I did it again today.
Priestess Rank 3
Yukiko goes shopping for food, determined to learn how to cook for herself. You get points by encouraging her and expressing confidence in her, although it takes Courage to actually taste-test her food. By comparison, Fuuka, Yukiko's predecessor as the Priestess Social Link, required maxed courage for guys, and above average courage for girls, although Junpei seems to imply that Fuuka's shyness was the main reason. By comparison, Yukiko's self-confidence is already growing, as she wants to not only be self-reliant, but also have others rely on her. Of course, for now, it seems as though Yukiko's sense in ingredients is lacking, as according to her, the inn never asks her to buy ingredients (they could send her with a list), and asks where to find lobsters.
Evening
I went to Aiya and ate the Mabo Tofu, which gave me a boost to Courage.
May 24
With Drama club in session, I chose to advance the Sun social link, even if very little of the middle portion of the link takes place at the club.
Sun Rank 5
At this point in the link, you mainly interact with Yumi in the hospital, and if you don't advance the link, you spend some time practicing (getting the Expression boost in the process) before spending time with "the despondent Yumi," and getting relationship points. You also notice Yumi unusually depressed and forgetful about practice.
After Yumi doesn't show up to practice, you find her in the hospital. This time, her mother actually was hospitalized, since after working from dusk until dawn (single motherhood is no easy task, after all), she goes to visit Yumi's father. Yumi knows that her mother will be released soon, but is frustrated, since her problem is self-inflicted.
Yumi then worries about the possible implications for her, such as possibly having to drop out of the play and get a job to support the family, a bit like Mamoru in Persona 3. As selfish as it may sound, Yumi does have a point that her parents are putting a burden on her. Luckily for her, she's not in this alone, and you can say that you support her for relationship points.
Evening
I read "English Made Easy." Books like this and Expert Study Methods use up three nights, but give bonuses to stat-boosting activities, making them worthwhile if you intend to use the jobs to develop your stats. Some of them can be useful, but others, like 100 Ghost Stories, may not be as useful if a lot of that stat is derived from other sources (in that case, spoiled food, optional bosses and so forth).
May 25
New jobs are available today, including two more nighttime Social Links (Devil and Tower). Unfortunately, they have steep requirements for Diligence and Understanding, respectively, so they're hard to get at first, so I instead decided to advance Adachi's link for now.
Jester Rank 2
Adachi complains about how hard it is to cook after work for a single guy. As someone who's also a single adult with a full-time job, I find the sentiment understandable, even if it's largely undercut by how much Adachi slacks off. You can ask about whether anyone cooks for him, and he'll admit that he had a girlfriend until a little while ago, who was good-looking with a bad attitude. Adachi likes cute girls, but wants them to be good cooks.
Adachi's luck runs out, and he runs into the old woman he was trying to avoid last time, prompting a "Shit..." out of him. She turns out to be a well-intentioned but slightly (albeit unintentionally) obnoxious type, who talks Adachi's ear off and offers him nimono. Once she's out of earshot, Adachi explains that she's taken a shine to him because her son has the same name as him, even though he's significantly older than Adachi and she isn't much like Adachi's own mothr. Adachi sends out mixed signals, outwardly being annoyed with her, but implying that it isn't entirely bad.
Evening
I read "English Made Easy" again.
May 26
Priestess Rank 4
Yukiko offers you a lunchbox that's the fruits of her efforts, and which takes Courage to eat, since she never tried it herself. One way or another, you end up tasting it, and find it disgusting, but again, being encouraging is the best approach. Nanako shows up, but by this point, Yukiko realizes her lunchbox didn't turn out well at all, and so decides not to feed it to Nanako. Nanako encourages Yukiko to do her best, before leaving for Mai's house. There's one more option, and as long as you stay positive and don't bring up the quality of Yukiko's cooking, Yukiko responds well.
You get Divine Grace, a passive skill that increases all healing by 50%. It's very useful at lower levels, but later in the game, when all of Yukiko's best spells (Diarahan, Mediarahan, Samarecarm and Salvation) heal to maximum health, it no longer matters whether that amount is increased.
Evening
I finished "English Made Easy." Spending three evenings on the book is a small price to pay for making my evenings translating more productive.
May 27
For the first time, I went to day care, getting a boost to my Understanding in the process. Despite meeting Eri and Yuuta- a stepmom and stepson, respectively- I didn't establish the Temperance Social Link this time. I did, however, learn that Yuuta, while energetic at play, is distant from his stepmother, a woman from the city (the daycare supervisor badmouths this aspect of her while talking to someone from the city).
Evening
I translated, and with the help of the book I read, I got another rank in Expression.
May 28
I went to the daycare center, and found Eri on the way back. Eri talks about how Yuuta is her stepson, and they were distant even though she'd married his father six months ago. She apologizes for talking about her troubles, but points out that there are few she can talk with about this. With that, I established the Temperance Social Link.
Evening
I talked with Dojima. By this point, I think I told him about my part time job, and he easily (albeit reluctantly) agreed to let me go out and do it. After doing so, I decided to do his social link again.
Hierophant Rank 5
Dojima's looking for a newspaper article, and while he appreciates your offer to help, he says he'll do it himself. Nanako, comes in, sick to her stomach, a problem that apparently has happened before (which indicates that Nanako is not in the best of health). Dojima's about to handle it, but then gets a call from someone named Ichihara, so he urgently runs off and leaves you to deal with Nanako. Hours later, he gets back, and, evidently in a bad mood, doesn't want to hear what you have to say, but apologizes.
May 29
Apparently, there's an event with the sports club in which you can invite them over and get a book if your Strength rank is below 4, but I didn't see it this time.
I hadn't done Yosuke's link for a while, so I decided to spend time with him.
Magician 3
Yosuke takes you to the city, which reminds him of where he used to live. You can joke with him about how he sounds like Teddie for some points, but none of the responses to his complaining about spammers (the only people who still contact him) do any good. He tries to put a positive spin on his time in Inaba, saying he has a purpose for being there, and you, who's possibly his first real friend, but he's not ready to admit his insecurities yet.
Evening
I did some more translation work.
May 30
Once again able to advance Yukiko's Social Link, I decided to get hers up another rank.
Priestess Rank 5
Yukiko discusses how she's studying for a job license, and with the money from her job, she's trying for all the ones she can. While Inaba students are apparently less than confident about their chances at getting into college compared to students from the big city, Yukiko seems intelligent enough to have a good shot at getting into a good college.
At that point, three men show up, and Yukiko suddenly turns cold, apparently annoyed at the fact that they're still there. The man, not at all put off, says that public transportation is inconvenient and there's nothing to do. Yukiko, despite her apparent burning desire to leave Inaba, takes umbrage with this statement, perhaps suggesting that she cares more for her town than she lets on. The man then leaves, with a snide remark about Yukiko turning down a good offer.
Yukiko points out that the man was from a TV news crew that wants to put on a show titled "Hot Springs Getting Too Hot For The Amagis?", something her mother wanted no part in. Yukiko, however, muses that if the inn agreed to it, it would likely ruin their reputation and causing them to close, meaning that she wouldn't feel as though she's abandoning them. You can express disbelief or call her out on being selfish, neither of which makes much difference, but both of which indicate that the main character's shocked to hear what she's saying. They also indicate that perhaps, Yukiko isn't so sure of her decision if she wants the other option to be ruled out. That said, she's made up her mind, knowing what she wants to do and who she wants to help.
Yukiko gets the ability to slap someone, curing Enervation, Rage and Panic, if her turn arrives and someone has those (although a bit of RNG seems to be involved regarding whether it triggers and who she uses it on). It's a nice freebie, and, like the chance to help someone up, she can use it again if she gets a bonus turn.
Evening
Since Adachi's Social Link progressed into the night-time phase, I could invite him over. Conveniently enough, if you go to Junes in the day, you'll see if he's available at night (which depends on Dojima not being home).
Jester 3
Adachi complains about how early stores close, and before long, the old woman finds him again. This time, though, he has a way out- he lies and says that you're inviting him over. You can offer to do so for real, which he appreciates. Adachi briefly expresses nostalgia for the days when, as a student, all he had to do was study hard (although it's implied that he's not really nostalgic even for that), and says having a job is tough.
May 31
Chariot Rank 4
Chie continues her training, at which point a guy who's known her a while approaches her, asking about how she gives herself all these self-appointed titles. You can agree with him, say it's none of his business, or tell him off. Since the latter ended up requiring Courage I didn't have, I chose the former, hindering my progress with Chie. It turns out that the guy's name is Takeshi Konno, a Childhood Friend of Chie, whom she hasn't seen in a while, and he has a crush on Yukiko. Chie seems down as she leaves (the summary suggests that it's because he doesn't see her as a woman, which I didn't see), and you can choose one of a few ways to comfort her. She describes him as nothing but an old classroom, but also implies that they used to be on better terms.
Chie gets Ice Boost. It's decent while you're still using Ice attacks, but since Chie only gets Bufu, Bufula and Mabufu, eventually, they stop being useful for anything other than knocking enemies over.
Evening I went to Aiya and ate Mabo Tofu for a Courage boost.
June 1
Without many options to advance my Social Links, and in need of Diligence, I spent time practicing basketball, getting Diligence in the process. Spending time with social links to gain the points to advance is more palatable when you get stat points out of it.
Evening
I went to Aiya and had the noodles, which boosted my Diligence.
June 2
Since it was raining, Yumi was the only option available, but I wasn't ready to advance her link yet. As such, I spent time with her, getting some Expression points and the promise it would advance next time.
Evening
Unfortunately, Aiya was out of Beef Bowl ingredients, so I decided to work at the Shiroku pub. The way it works is that you get a boost in Diligence, plus one other stat depending on which customer you talk with (or two if it's a rainy day). There was only one customer here, an intelligent-looking young man, meaning I got a double boost to Knowledge.
June 3
With yet another rainy day, I decided to turn in my latest quest and go up to Rank 2 of the Hermit Social Link.
Evening
I washed dishes at Shiroku again, getting my Diligence up a rank in the process, passing the threshold needed to unlock the Devil Social Link. I talked to the grumbling man and got some points in Understanding.
June 4
I went back to the TV and did some level grinding, since it was the last day to save Kanji and I'd already done so.
Evening
You watch the weather report and the Midnight Channel. Meanwhile, someone seems to be watching your efforts, and evidently doesn't sound pleased.
