The episode begins outside the courthouse, which the group confirms is Sae\'s Palace. Akechi says that as a result of Okumura\'s death, the Phantom Thieves are public enemy #1, and while Ryuji protests that they were framed, Makoto says they don\'t have the evidence they need to exonerate themselves.
Akechi then points out that the police will likely fabricate evidence, and will eventually investigate Shujin and the Sakura residence. The leader of the investigation is Sae, and Akechi believes that by bringing the \"out of control\" Sae to her senses, he\'ll be able to stop the process. Akechi says that the investigation will be on November 20, and given the nature of the investigation, the police won\'t do so any earlier. He says they have enough time, albeit no time to waste, since they don\'t know about the inside of the palace.
Akechi gets out his smartphone, and Futaba seizes it, saying she\'s always wanted one like it. As she plays with it, Makoto distracts Akechi by apologizing for Futaba, but he seems to be aware of her eccentricities. Makoto promises to send Akechi everyone\'s contact info later, and Futaba hands back the phone after commenting on Akechi\'s good personality and good looks being \"cheating.\"
Akechi then asks for the keyword, and Ren suddenly says \"Casino.\" Even if they could only have a two-line exchange for this, leaving out the part in which they deduced it, it would have made more sense for Makoto (Sae\'s younger sister), to say it, since she was the one who recalled Sae likening the courthouse to a place of competition.
The opening theme plays.
The group then is amazed at the appearance of the casino, and Makoto then mentions her sister\'s metaphor. As the group begins to infiltrate Sae\'s palace, they discuss Akechi\'s code name and decide on Crow.
Once inside, they realize that they\'ve already been considered threats and notice that Akechi\'s mostly white outfit doesn\'t fit his name. They then notice that as \"glitzy\" as the casino looks, the cognitive people look surprisingly normal. Akechi\'s a bit confused, but then says he can piece it together, saying that he saw the robot employees in Okumura\'s Palace, and noting that Sae has a relatively undistorted view of people. Akechi asks about the calling card, and Morgana provides a brief explanation, saying that they need it to make the Treasure appear, so it\'s not just for show. Akechi comments that he\'s right on the money, but Makoto says this isn\'t the time for that.
The group is interrupted as Shadow Sae and two minions show up, saying she was expecting uninvited guests. Makoto says \"Sis...\", shocked to see her sister\'s Shadow, but Ryuji\'s glad they can get it over with. Shadow Sae then says that they don\'t have what it takes to fight her, since she\'s the #1 player, a title she earned by constantly winning. She then says that they\'ll have to make it all the way to the manager\'s floor in order to face her, where the Treasure is located. Makoto asks why Shadow Sae is doing this, and she says that she wants a fair fight. Essentially, this fuses the first conversation with Sae with the one you have with her on the Member\'s Floor.
Shadow Sae teleports away and into the elevator, and Ryuji tries to follow her, but learns that he needs a card. They then set out to get a card, but encounter Ose. Akechi activates his Persona and shoots Ose with an arrow, defeating him in one hit. The group\'s doing well at the moment, but they suspect they\'ll be ambushed, and go back for now.
Sojiro finds the calling card while cleaning Futaba\'s room, resulting in his eyebrows twitching.
In Leblanc, Akechi notes that cracking the Palace will be \"a gamble,\" and asks if Ren has any experience with gambling. Ren says no, but Akechi isn\'t surprised, saying that the \"aboveboard\" way he plays chess is proof of that, and is confident that he\'ll win once again.
Futaba runs into Leblanc and hides behind Ren, followed by Sojiro, who apologizes for \"speaking harshly.\" Sojiro reaches out to take Futaba\'s hand, but she runs out of the store. Ren picks up the calling card, which Sojiro dropped, only for Sojiro to snatch it away and tell him to close up shop when he\'s ready. Akechi, obviously concerned, says it could be bad.
Already, I think Sojiro did a much better job of handling this in the game, which is one reason why he\'s more popular than Dojima. After finding the card, Sojiro immediately questions Ren and Futaba as to how they\'re connected with the Phantom Thieves (although he doesn\'t initially realize that both are Phantom Thieves). They sit down and have a long conversation about how he realized that Futaba had suddenly changed, how Madarame\'s pupil Yusuke left the Sayuri with them, and how he\'d suspected that Wakaba had been killed. He then resolves to protect both Ren and Futaba.
The Phantom Thieves meet at school the next day, and Ryuji is immediately worried about what happened, while Morgana points out that the manager could find out that they\'re Phantom Thieves at any point, although Ren notes that Sojiro hasn\'t said anything. As for Futaba, she texted them insisting that she\'s fine, although they realize that she\'s holding back for their sake. They then realize that they\'ll not only have to deal with the Palace, but also with Futaba.
Of course, in the game, the answer is obvious by now- Sojiro had agreed to shelter the Phantom Thieves the morning the 30 million yen bounty was announced.
At Leblanc, Ren\'s helping out when Youji Isshiki arrives, cheerfully greeting Sojiro, who is not happy to see him. Youji is surprised that Sojiro opened a store, suggesting that business must be good (at one point in the Confidant, Sojiro remarks that the state of the cafe doesn\'t say much about his ability to pay Youji back).
In stark contrast to how in the game, Youji made some veiled threats and insults that were more cryptic (such as saying that Sojiro\'s \"generous\" to hire Ren, and wishing he\'d show that generosity to Youji\"), he explicitly says that Sojiro needs to pay him child support, and claims that he ran the numbers, proving that he should still have money, even though Sojiro says he used up Wakaba\'s inheritance and insurance money.
A word about Sojiro\'s Confidant. The first four events can be accessed fairly early on in the game, as early as the Kamoshida arc, but the latter three fifths of the confidant is off limits until Futaba joins. As such, some of the references are more cryptic early on, such as the \"scientific genius\" who perfected Sojiro\'s recipe, the \"her\" Youji is talking about, and the person who called Sojiro. A lot of this could have made for good Foreshadowing if the early parts of the confidant had been done earlier on.
Youji immediately brings up Futaba\'s status as a shut-in, something he hadn\'t learned until late in Sojiro\'s Confidant. He says that with all the evidence, as well as his status as a blood relative of Futaba, he\'d win in court. Sojiro angrily says that he\'s \"using Futaba as a bargaining chip for money,\" but Youji says this isn\'t the case, as \"it isn\'t good to assume such things.\"
A somewhat significant part is left out. At one point in Sojiro\'s Confidant, Futaba walks in on Sojiro arguing with Youji, and immediately freezes up upon seeing her uncle. Youji tries to point out that this is proof that Futaba\'s emotionally disturbed from her bad home environment, but Sojiro points out that she\'s afraid of him.
In Sae\'s Palace, the group deals with the dice game, but keeps losing every time, resulting in their chips dwindling. Makoto says there\'s a pattern, and Akechi says that Futaba should be able to find it, but Futaba says she can\'t focus. Haru reassures her, saying everyone has off days.
Sojiro leaves a plate of curry outside Futaba\'s room, saying she needs to eat. He goes back to Leblanc and tells Ren about how Futaba\'s mother came up with the recipe. He says that Futaba refused to eat it when she was traumatized, since it reminded her of her mother, but he persisted in making it until she was willing to eat it again. He mentions that when Ren and Futaba\'s friends helped her get out of her room, he thought she was starting to recover.
He then adds that Youji was Futaba\'s uncle, who was the last relative who took her in. He says that he treated Futaba \"like garbage,\" making her sleep on the floor and not allowing her to bathe. Sojiro then paid Youji off so that he could take custody of Futaba, even if all he did was offering Futaba curry in hopes that she\'d come out. He wonders if blood is Thicker Than Water, but Ren says that Youji just wants money.
Another very significant part is missing. After Futaba hacks and finds that Youji is deep in debt, she plans on using this information to thwart any attempt to take custody of her again. Sojiro\'s angry with Futaba, saying that since hacking is illegal, the evidence is inadmissible in court, and adding that he already knew about Youji\'s debts.
Sojiro then changes the subject and wonders if he\'s no good as a guardian, upsetting Futaba, who assumes that he doesn\'t want her. She angrily storms off and then says that since she has Ren, Morgana and the other Phantom Thieves, he can just play with his coffee beans. Sojiro then wonders if he really didn\'t do anything for Futaba, and Ren can reassure him.
Ren meets up with Futaba in the attic, who immediately regrets saying what she did to Sojiro. She says she\'s grateful to Sojiro for everything, and that she wanted to stay with him. She also suggests that perhaps Wakaba did, in fact, love Sojiro. Sojiro comes up, and they both say what they needed to, managing to reconcile. After Futaba leaves, Sojiro turns to Ren and apologizes for constantly telling him to keep his head down, and suggests that instead of teaching him coffee and curry, he should have been teaching him how to not make the same mistakes.
Back to the anime. Akechi texts Ren, saying that he\'s concerned about Futaba. Ren then asks Akechi to change someone\'s heart, and Akechi agrees, saying that Futaba\'s slump is his problem, too.
In the subway, Ren\'s surprised at how \"cooperative\" Akechi is, and Akechi explains that he wants to get back at rotten adults, too (which may explain why Akechi\'s so cooperative when it comes to dealing with Mementos targets, even though they\'re unrelated to his deal). Akechi then tells his story as an illegitimate child passed around from home to home, and asks Ren to keep it secret.
Back in the attic, Morgana tells Ren that Futaba\'s uncle is \"a miserable son of a bitch,\" and they need to protect Futaba, and Ren agrees.
Ren goes home to Yongen-jaya, and sees Youji being beaten up by some people, presumably loan sharks, and does nothing to help.
At Leblanc, Ren is about to bring something up to Sojiro, when Youji stops by and makes his ultimatum (incidentally, his repeated visits in the game do show that personal character aside, he\'s surprisingly persistent). Sojiro refuses to pay the money or give up Futaba, and Youji starts to leave to get Futaba, once again reminding Sojiro that the blood relative is at an advantage in court. Akechi comes in, and says that Youji would be in trouble, showing him that he wasted his child support in bad investments. Youji insists that he can do whatever he wants with his niece, but Sojiro refuses to give him a single yen, and tells him to Get Out!.
Youji, angered, takes a swing at Sojiro, but falls on his behind (as opposed to on his face), as Ren steps between him and Sojiro. This is starkly different from how, in the game, he tried to hit Futaba, blaming her for his debts coming to light, and possibly suggesting that he was guilty of physical abuse against her in the past. Removing Futaba also removes Ren trying to protect her, as well as the subsequent discussion of how Ren is once again putting himself at risk to protect a girl. Sojiro actually admires it, and wishes he could have protected Futaba instead.
In any case, the outcome is the same. Youji threatens to sue, and leaves. Sojiro merely scoffs, and the scene ends right there.
The part in which Futaba asks to change Youji\'s heart is cut out, as is the solo Mementos mission. By reducing Futaba\'s role, the anime takes away some of her agency and her desire to protect Sojiro. It also removes Youji\'s Freudian Excuse, as well as some indication of what sort of relationship the Isshiki siblings had.
The next day, the two investigators from domestic court stop by, and Futaba isn\'t present. They then inform Sojiro that Ren\'s accused of attacking Youji, and Sojiro\'s accused of abusing Futaba. Sojiro points out that Youji fell on his own, and the accusations of abuse are lies. The female investigator, who\'s probably the less reasonable of the two, points out that Ren has a history of violence, and asks if Sojiro has been properly supervising him. Before letting him answer that question, the female investigator also mentions that Futaba hasn\'t been going to school. As Sojiro\'s tongue-tied, Morgana slips off.
Futaba sits in her own room, wondering what she\'s doing, at which point Morgana calls out to her, saying that it\'s an \"emergency\" involving Sojiro.
The female investigator continues asking if Sojiro did anything to Futaba, and Ren says \"He made curry\"; one would think that he\'d have a better answer. Sojiro calls Ren an \"idiot,\" while the female investigator is confused.
Futaba then comes in and says that she was shuffled from house to house before being brought to the Sakura residence. She then says that while she was a shut-in for a long time, she got better with everyone\'s help, and is happy to live with her dad, surprising Sojiro.
The male investigator then asks Ren how he\'s doing, and if he\'s suffered while with Sojiro, at which point Ren says \"Not at all.\" The male investigator says that Ren has a good record at school, and while there have been bad rumors about him, they\'re clearly false. The female investigator asks if it\'s such a good idea to let things go, but the male investigator smiles and says she\'ll understand once she has more experience.
After the investigators leave, Sojiro asks about the calling card. Futaba explains that she needed the Phantom Thieves to steal her heart in order to recover from her trauma, and Sojiro asks if that means Ren\'s a Phantom Thief. Morgana\'s worried, but Sojiro mentions that he isn\'t surprised, mentioning that it\'s strange that a shut-in like Futaba would go to the beach, or become friends with Ren so quickly. He also mentions Yusuke leaving the Sayuri, as well as his status as a pupil of Madarame. Sojiro concedes that he might be wrong about this, but if he isn\'t their secret\'s safe with him, before serving curry. Futaba\'s glad to have it, since \"It\'s Mom\'s flavor!\" (In the game, she\'d resumed eating it earlier, and said she regretted waiting so long).
The next morning, Sojiro tells Ren that Youji\'s giving up on Futaba. He then says that Ren can have the chessboard, since he and Akechi are the only ones who play. He tells Ren to be careful as he leaves; it\'s worth noting that after Ren\'s secret gets out, in the game, Sojiro\'s noticeably worried, despite initially coming off as cold toward Ren, a proof of his Character Development that didn\'t come off here.
Ren and Akechi play chess again, and Akechi wins yet again. As Akechi leaves, Ren throws him the black king, and tells him to keep it until next time.
Futaba analyzes the dice rolls and helps the group win enough chips to proceed, earning their praise.
The ending credits play.
In The Stinger, Sae repeats the obvious- that Ren had only three weeks to change her heart, and that someone ended up betraying him.
This episode was highly disappointing, since it cut out a lot of the best parts of Sojiro\'s Confidant, and doesn\'t seem to have any intention of adapting Futaba\'s Confidant. The episode did have a decent way of having Akechi provide his backstory, but in the end, he was shoehorned in once again, and his intervention was entirely unnecessary, given that Sojiro had already figured it out.
