Moments pages are Spoilers Off. All spoilers below are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
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In General
- In general, our heroes don't have their personas to fight shadows. Which means that all they have to rely on are guns, melee weapons, and their wits. To make matters worse, no personas mean no healing magic. In other words, if someone gets badly injured, the possibility of death is even greater.
- Since society itself has all but collapsed with only a few isolated settlements, there are now laws or police to enforce said laws. Meaning that the people the Phantom Thieves go against are much worse than they would normally be now that are effectively no consequences for their actions.
Introduction
- The first chapter opens with the Phantom Thieves searching for a new place to live after their home at Yongen was destroyed by bombs. The manage to find an abandoned villa that's been picked clean; however, it wasn't always empty. As they search the place, Ren discovers the rotting corpses of the previous occupants. The group surmises that they were killed then robbed by raiders. This is the harsh reality of a post-apocalyptic world with no laws.
- During their first supply run after claiming their new home, Ryuji searches the basement of a nearby abandoned mansion. While he's scrounging for supplies in the dark, he is alerted by a strange gurgling noise. He at first thinks it's Morgana playing a prank on him, only to turn around and come face to face with a shadow. Remember, that the Phantom Thieves don't have their personas to fight shadows with. So when Ryuji only manages to stagger it with a point-blank shotgun blast, he has no choice but to run for his life.
The Kamoshida Arc
- Kamoshida builds himself as a hero among the nearby settlements who takes in and mentors young men and women at his own settlement in the abandoned Destinyland theme park. In reality, he rules his settlement with a brutal iron fist and he regularly abuses those under his care. He treats the young men as his personal punching bags and forces them to be his Child Soldiers. The young women fare much worse under his care as they are kept locked in his own personal dungeon where he forces them to be a part of his harem.
- It's revealed to Ann by Mishima that her dear friend, Shiho Suzui, is one of Kamoshida's prisoners. Shiho, due to her friendship with Ann and the fact that Ann continuously rebuffed Kamoshida's advances, bears the worst of Kamoshida's cruelty. It's heavily implied that she was frequently isolated, beaten, raped, and tortured by being deprived of food and water. When Ann finally rescues Shiho, she is covered in bruises from Kamoshida's beatings.
- When Ann infiltrates Kamoshida's palace in an effort to get close to him, Kamoshida sees through her ruse and knocks her unconscious. She wakes up later tied to his bed. While nothing actually happen, the implications alone are disturbing. Fortunately, Kamoshida left her alone after his guards captured Ren and Ryuji, giving her an opportunity to escape her bonds. That is, until Kamoshida returns to his chambers, leaving her alone in the room with him.
The Madarame Arc
- While playing shogi against Hifumi, Makoto senses that something is off about Madarame's gallery. She starts her game by making small talk with Hifumi by mentioning her former home of Jinbocho. As Hifumi opens up to Makoto, she lets it slip that she can't leave the gallery. Makoto tries to press her for more information, but Hifumi suddenly makes her final move and pleads with Makoto to stop. Makoto concedes defeat but she can't shake the feeling that whatever Hifumi is hiding, she is clearly terrified about it.
- While investigating Madarame's gallery, Ren and company discover a hidden trail leading towards the nearby woods. At the end of the trail, they discover Madarame's dark secret: numerous bodies of Madarame's former apprentices in various stages of decay. They surmise that Madarame has been killing his apprentices when they are of no further use to him and if they don't act soon, Yusuke will suffer the same fate.
The Kaneshiro Arc
- While investigating New Shinjuku, the Phantom Thieves learn that the Yakuza, led by Junya Kaneshiro, have been trapping people, mostly women, in large amounts of debt. Those who are unable to pay off their debts are then forced into prostitution. To make matters worse, Makoto is then kidnapped by Tsukasa after confronting him about Eiko. When they arrive at Kaneshiro's bank, he delivers an ultimatum: pay a four million yen ransom or he'll kill them and sell Makoto as a sex slave. Ren begs and pleads for him to release Makoto, even offering himself as a hostage, but Kaneshiro doesn't budge. They're forced to leave Makoto behind at the bank, completely at Kaneshiro's mercy.
- Tsukasa then threatens the Phantom Thieves to never interfere in his business again because while Kaneshiro promised that he would not harm Makoto while she was his prisoner, he made no such promise.
- While the raid on Kaneshiro's bank is underway, Ren separates from the group to find and rescue Makoto and Kaoru. He finds Kaoru, but Makoto is nowhere to be found. Kaoru then reveals that Kaneshiro took her to the vault. Kaneshiro then proceeds to taunt Ren over the intercom, revealing that by breaking their end of the agreement, he has no reason to keep Makoto alive. The last thing that Ren hears before the speaker cuts out is a single gunshot.
- After Kaneshiro actually shoots Makoto during the fight against him and his bodyguards. Ren flies into an Unstoppable Rage and proceeds to give Kaneshiro a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. The whole experience to Ren feels like being under a haze and he is completely unaware of what's happening until he hears Makoto screaming his name. By the time he snaps out of it, Kaneshiro is laying dead on the floor with his face completely bashed in. Ren is horrified by what he is capable of under his blind rage.
- After rest of the Phantom Thieves manage to finish off the remainder of Kaneshiro's goons, they are treated to the sight of their bloody aftermath. They witness dozens of bullet-riddled corpses scattered all over the courtyard and blood pooling everywhere. Iwai's statements sum up the feeling:
- Iwai: “It’s never a pretty sight to behold the aftermath...”
- Once Ren and Makoto catch up with the rest of the group, they all look towards them with joy and relief. However, their looks of relief soon turns to horror. Ren is at first confused by this until a shocked Makoto literally points out a gunshot wound on Ren's stomach. Ren can only mutter a simple "Oh," before he collapses to his knees.
The Medjed Arc
- The Phantom Thieves one day come home to find a mysterious note attached to their front gates with an ultimatum: Give Alibaba over to Medjed to stand trial or their identities and location will be revealed to everyone. Suddenly, their once secret hideout is no longer secret.
