#takami shimotsuna

[p5x-theories]

And here's the full 4.2.1 video posted today, without subtitles (if you're seeing this post first, you can find my English subtitles here!)

More information about Version 4.2.1 from the post today:

Synopsis of the update's story content: "The Masked Warrior's Struggle: In order to find a way to beat her magic recording device, everyone dug out more secrets in the depths of Shimotsuna's Palace. It turns out that there are many more dirty crimes hidden by her. When everyone was filled with indignation, a familiar figure appeared in front of them. Why is "he" here? Why does he serve the demon who once destroyed everything...?"

Based on the spelling of her name in Chinese, Berry's Persona II can be confirmed as Thelxiepeia

They're updating the system for crafting custom Revelation Cards

Wonder's got another new knife, and unsurprisingly, this one works well with the Curse status effect

Yukimi Fujikawa and Seiji Shiratori are being added as playable Tycoon characters, and Bui, Riddle, and Igor are getting card skins:

[amyfevernight]

can't believe atlus just shadow-dropped kamoshida's sister

[larranciaa]

is she a diddy blud

[p5x-theories]

More information about Kiga High, 4.0, and these characters, from the livestream:

The light grey color and clean look of the uniforms are described as representing Kiga High's educational philosophy: "Maintain the thirst for knowledge and walk gracefully on the road of life."

Shouki Ikenami is confirmed to be a third-year at Kiga, and Japanese/Italian. His parents are famous actors, and were stage actors in high school (like Shouki is now), which may have influenced his "mysterious and artistic temperament"

Aran Hirano is a "very talented art student", and confirmed to be the author of the Phantom Thief Family manga, which is stated to have sold over five million copies. They call her a "top-notch comics master". She is a first-year at Kiga; he says he "won't spoil it for now" when asked whether she'll join the team later on

Version 4.0 is called "The Melancholy of the Masked Actor." About Chapter 4's plot: It's the start of Kokatsu's school festival, and Kokatsu Academy wants to take this opportunity to liven up the campus. This year, they've decided to have an exchange activity with Kiga High, bringing both schools' drama departments together to cooperate on a "professional-level stage performance" at Kokatsu's school festival. The performance will be based on part of Phantom Thief Family.

He jokingly describes Phantom Thief Family using the actual Phantom Thieves: "In the warm and beautiful Phantom Thief Family, our protagonist Motoha Arai stands at the center of the stage. She's an excellent phantom thief. To her left stands her sister, the beautiful phantom thief Riko Tanemura. On her right is her brother, the phantom thief and former protagonist Wonder. And standing behind her is none other than Shun Kanou. He plays the role of the three thieves' mother."

Takami Shimotsuna is a "super popular gossip editor" at a large publishing house. "She is a person who belongs to the entire entertainment industry" (runs the entire industry?), a strong woman that no one dares to offend.

The man next to her is 逢坂大地 (possibly Daichi Aisaka, though there are a lot of ways this name could be read), Shimotsuna's current secretary.

It's said that the two of them make some "major changes" to the school festival

Chapter 4 character concept art

[nicorenarin]

Depravity of the Media: An Early Look at P5X's Fourth Arc

(Keep in mind, I'm using screenshots from BuffMaister's playthrough of the game, so there will be very wonky translations, but it's the best I have.)

After many months of the glorious Katayama-Akashi Arc, P5X finally progresses onwards as we reach what is currently dubbed as the 'Shimotsuna Arc', focusing on the new Phantom Thief, Shoki Ikenami, and the palace ruler, Shimotsuna Takami. The former is the son of two-accomplished stage actors, whilst the latter is an extremely powerful media mogul who has an... apparent attraction, let's say, towards Ikenami and other male members of the party like Shun and Wonder.

First off, the bar is often quite low for the Persona series when it explores the possibility of older female characters and younger male characters in relationships, take the Devil social link from Persona 4, the Hermit social link from Persona 3 and... well, a good chunk of Persona 5, that most people tend to scrub from their minds when discussing the series' social life aspects. Whilst P5X is no stranger to including romance options with older female characters (that even the writers don't appear to like), Shimotsuna, however, is treated like the predator she is made out to be and the situation early on is called out for being extremely uncomfortable. So, fair enough! In the mainline games where this would be probably laughed off, it's treated as it should be.

Shimotsuna is made out to be quite a depraved and vile woman from the moment we meet her. She threatens to jeopardise Ikenami's career, (something we'll return to later) takes pictures of the group without their consent, and refers to her secretary (who seems to be another important character in this arc), Daichi Ousaka, as a "dog" and her as his "owner". She is the classic example of a high-profile influencer of sorts using her power and connections within the media to both ruin lives and take hold of them. This is where we dive into the main themes of this arc; the media itself, and how it can ruin lives.

We learn from Ikenami that whilst his parents are seperated, the two are still in love, just seperated by country. An article (that's heavily implied to have been written by Shimotsuna) implied that Ikenami's mother had cheated on his father. Due to the nature of the scandal, Ikenami's mother's career was ruined, with it getting so bad she had to return to Italy, not allowed back in Japan again due to fear from the media. This is something that I don't remember P5 exploring a lot outside of Mishima and the Phan-Site, that being how the media can manipulate reality itself, almost subconsciously. With enough power and influence, forged realities can then become the truth in people's eyes. This tore Ikenami's family apart, it made him a target of bullying, and whilst Ikenami remained close with his mother, his father became a shell of himself. It already makes the early beginnings of this arc incredibly personal.

Ikenami even states in a conversation with Wonder and Shun that for the longest time, he hid his true feeling away from his parents, playing the good child who wanted to be an actor just like them. In a world where false stories tore his family apart, he himself put up a false smile to keep his family together.

When we get into the palace, Shimotsuna's Shadow resides in the 'Anthill of Pride', a fairytale-like land where those who work underneath her are seen as ants, mere workers who serve their queen. It matches her position in the media, whilst some of the puzzles within the palace require Wonder to "praise" Shimotsuna in order to temporarily transform into an ant with a construction helmet, further symbolising that Shimotsuna sees those who praise her as simply servants willing to serve a greater purpose.

Even Shimotsuna's weapon of choice, a wand of sorts is referred to as a "magic recorder", reminiscent of her phone in the real world that she uses to capture damning evidence to then publish to the world. She's able to use this wand to turn some of the party members into magazines, symbolising that to them, they're nothing more than an image on an article, words underneath a headline, all to push her own agenda against the world.

Ultimately, we end this first part of the arc with Ikenami's awakening and Shimotsuna forced to retreat further into her palace, and with the preview of the next part featuring both Daichi and Aran, it's exciting to wonder exactly where this arc will go. There's one thing for sure though, and it's that we're going to dive even deeper into how depraved and desperate the media can get, what distances they'll go to get a story, with the consequences for the Phantom Thieves potentially being critical if things go wrong. The stakes are only getting higher and higher.

[p5x-theories]

I finally managed to dig up the Palace ruler security icons! I know how these files are named now, so I should be able to grab them whenever a new Palace is added to the game in the future.

[p5x-theories]

Version 4.0 wallpapers!

[p5x-theories]

Here's the start of Chapter 4 trailer with English subtitles!

This trailer confirms the new teammate's full name as Shouki Ikenami (codename Luce), the next Palace ruler as a woman named Takami Shimotsuna, and also confirms the recurring pink-haired girl's name as Aran Hirano.

Manaka Nagao is also shown as the next Phantom Idol, confirming her codename is Ange.

[p5x-theories]

New "event" images in Version 4.0; these are used for flashbacks, as well as visions that Wonder has.

Based on how they're named, I think the first two images are one flashback/vision, the third is its own flashback/vision, and then the other six are part of another flashback/vision? But the last six images may be broken up further, I'm just guessing.

I do know the blonde woman is Shouki's mother (I found her 3D model- more on that later), so I assume the dark-haired man is his father?

[p5x-theories]

Here's the sneak peek for the next part of the story that you get after completing what was added in v4.2.1! The text:

Ousaka is coerced by Shimotsuna and abused day after day, unable to resist. Can the Phantom Thieves save him from the hot water he's in?

At the same time, their infiltration of Shimotsuna's Palace is also underway. Everything seems to be going well, but a sudden unexpected obstacle still brings anxiety and confusion...

If they continue, things might get even more dangerous. Can the Phantom Thieves overcome these numerous trials and change Shimotsuna's heart?

[p5x-theories]

Here's the Version 4.2 trailer with English subtitles!

[p5x-theories]

New main story assets added in Version 4.2.1!

The first information file-like image says "Daichi Ousaka, affiliated with IDL Factory" in Japanese, while the heart over his image appears to say "Strategy Completed" in Chinese.

The second file-like image has two notes in Chinese written over the picture of Daichi, which seem to say "He's so sexy here" and "His abs are cute". The text underneath seems to say "Cute, cute little Daichi ♥", "Complete control ♥", "If you don't obey, your dear president will be finished ♥".

The only thing readable on the third file-like image is the header, which has the name 古溝風雅 (possibly "Kazami Komizo"?), and the label "IDL Factory Research Student".

[p5x-theories]

Takami Shimotsuna's portraits and cut-ins in Version 4.0!

[p5x-theories]

Palace Rulers

(last updated 7/13/25!)

This post will be a quick rundown of each Palace ruler in the main storyline of the game so far. Note that characters with plot-relevant Shadows, but that did not have their own Palace, are instead on the NPCs info post!

The first Palace ruler is Takeyuki Kiuchi; his Shadow is also known as Cupid. Kiuchi is a confirmed Menace, known as the Subway Slammer (Collision Man in other languages), who violently runs into women while passing through train stations. He used to be a baseball player, but was forced to quit and become an office worker instead. His Palace takes the form of a baseball stadium. He is linked to the sin of Lust.

Kiuchi’s distortion revolves around blaming women for the problems in his life, after an elementary-school-aged Motoha embarrassed him while he was still an athlete, and later a scandal with a woman got him kicked off the team. He’s stated to have mixed together feelings of lust with a desire for domination/“revenge”, and treats women the way he does as payback for the women that he believes wronged him in the past.

After talking to his Shadow, it’s revealed he considers baseball the only thing he was ever good at. When he thinks there’s nothing left for him, Motoha reminds him what he actually liked about the sport, then convinces him to turn himself in and start fresh, and maybe get back into helping coach kids’ baseball teams later on.

[In Wonder’s visions, Kiuchi pushed a mother and her baby down a staircase, killing the baby. When he’s later arrested, he seems to be having a breakdown about being a murderer, and how there’s no coming back from this for him.]

His Treasure was a giant golden baseball in the Metaverse, and turned into an everyday rubber baseball in the real world.

The second Palace ruler is Hiromu Miyazawa; his Shadow is also known as Aegipan (or just Pan, in other languages). Miyazawa is a confirmed Menace, related to the vicious bad reviews he gives restaurants, leading to their closure. He’s a popular food critic, and is also known as the Flavor Swordsman. His Palace takes the form of a Japanese castle-themed movie set. He is linked to the sin of Vanity.

Miyazawa’s distortion revolves around his desire to be an actor, and his inability to get protagonist roles or be taken seriously in supporting roles due to his appearance. He explains he had to throw away his pride to get roles, and eventually moved into food reviews instead because people liked his harsh reviews, so he got more fame and money. This pursuit of money eventually led him to extorting restaurants for good reviews. His Shadow is obsessed with being the protagonist of the “movie”.

After talking to his Shadow, it’s revealed he treats the chefs that he reviews so badly because he’s jealous that they still have pride in their work, and are genuine to themselves, when he gave up his own pride and dreams. The ramen Shun made for him made him feel this so strongly he cried. Shun tells him he can start over and be more honest this time, after turning himself in, and Shun will treat him to ramen again even if he’s penniless.

[In Wonder’s visions, Miyazawa won the rigged contest he challenged Shun to, which led to Shun being declared an official phantom based on Miyazawa’s lies about Shun’s behavior. He mocks Shun even as Shun is informed his father figured died of a heart attack in the hospital.]

His Treasure was a golden film reel in the Metaverse, and turned into a movie ticket in the real world.

One of the rulers of the third Palace is Kumi Katayama, class 2C’s homeroom teacher (the class Wonder and Motoha are in), as well as their math teacher. She seems to be the math teacher for class 2D (Shun and Tomoko’s class) as well. Her Shadow is also known as Kiskil-lilla. Katayama is a confirmed Menace, known as the Rush Rider, who bikes recklessly and injures people while dressed as a Cyler Eats deliverywoman. Her Palace takes the form of a dam that is being pushed beyond its limits and falling apart, though it’s later discovered it isn’t solely her Palace. She is linked to the sin of Wrath.

While she’s somewhat strict and no-nonsense during class, she seems softer outside of this, and asks Motoha and Wonder about Shun when Miyazawa’s video worries her. Shun seems to regard her highly, saying she’s a passionate person, and trusting her to listen to him. Katayama is also shown repeatedly to care deeply about the wellbeing of all her students, both present and former, and will go out of her way to help them. After Akashi (see next) comes to Kokatsu and begins to target her with his new policies, she becomes more desperate and stressed. Her Shadow reflects this, being painfully puppeteered by Shadow Akashi into attacking her students against her will.

Katayama is also revealed to have been a famous delinquent as a teen, and friends with Masa. This is presumably when she cultivated the biking skill that she now uses as the Rush Rider, and it's mentioned she once biked all the way out to a dam when having a bad day. After talking to her Shadow, it's revealed that she desperately wants to be a good teacher, but fears she's too caught up in what she wants, rather than what the students truly need. Still, her care for her students is entirely genuine, to the point where Shadow Katayama would rather die than attack them.

[In Wonder’s visions, Shadow Akashi sends so much electrical power through Shadow Katayama, to force her to keep fighting the Phantom Thieves, that the real-world Katayama dies.]

Her Treasure was a copy of a manga about bad teachers in both the Metaverse and real world.

Katayama was confirmed to be getting a Confidant added in Version 4.4.1.

The second ruler of the third Palace is Kei Akashi, an educational consultant who comes to Kokatsu Academy, later revealed to be blackmailing Dean Yamanashi to get this position. His new policies target Katayama in particular, as he’s using her as bait to draw out the Phantom Thieves. His Shadow is also known as Demogorgon, and while he is a Palace ruler, he ultimately acts as more of a parasite, preying on Katayama and using her as an energy source (later attempting to do the same with Dean Yamanashi’s Shadow as well). During his Shadow fight, he's confirmed as a Menace, the Unscrupulous Consultant. He is linked to the sin of Gluttony.

It’s later revealed that Akashi used to work at a TV station, filming documentaries about dams, and was screwed over by a superior he trusted that stole his show pitch. After Akashi lost everything, a distorted voice (implied to be Magatsukami) approached him and influenced his worldview, convincing him this world is eat-or-be-eaten and his only option was to “eat” others before they can “eat” him. Akashi dedicated everything to this person, and basically only went on living for their sake, leading to his distortion.

After the Phantom Thieves defeat his Shadow, Akashi is confirmed as a phantom in the real world, and a strange whale and Shedim appear in the Metaverse, and force his Shadow to go berserk. The Phantom Thieves still manage to beat him in the end, with Riko in particular convincing Akashi to keep living, but then Akashi is attacked (implied to be another person’s Shadow turned berserk) in reality, and the next day he's reported as dead on the news.

[In Wonder’s visions, they don’t get through to Akashi, and he attacks Riko with a knife in the school hallway right in front of Wonder and Motoha, implied to kill her and then likely himself.]

His Treasure was the trophy that his show pitch won (which he was never given, due to the theft) in the Metaverse, and turned into his old TV station ID card in the real world.

The ruler of the fourth Palace is a woman named Takami Shimotsuna. She's the editor-in-chief of a large, famous publishing house called Shuubunsha, and particularly known for writing articles for Shuubunsha's gossip magazine, the Weekly Bakuro. However, it's an open secret there that her articles and "scandals" are all fake, just inflated and twisted versions of the real facts meant to ruin people's lives and sell magazines as she sees fit. Her Palace takes the form of a fantastical, castle-like anthill, of which she is the queen ant, and all her coworkers are her worker ants. She is linked to the sin of Pride.

[p5x-theories]

Assets related to Takami Shimotsuna and her Palace, in Version 4.0!

[p5x-theories]

I find it incredibly interesting how Shimotsuna's palace ruler design was used as a placeholder for Okyann's real world model almost two years before the fourth palace arc was even teased. I wonder if they were ever one character at any point?

Well, I wouldn't say that for certain, because they're very different designs:

Shimotsuna's is clearly more European fantasy-style, with some insectlike elements, whereas both the real world and Shadow version of the model used for Kayo in the first beta are very traditional Japanese in style. So at the very least, the models themselves are definitely not the same.

But as for the idea, in general, that Kayo and Shimotsuna may have originally been the same character... I can kind of see where you're coming from there. As a fashionable gossip editor, Shimotsuna seems to have some aspects in common with Kayo, just enough that I could imagine they may have been the same character way further back in development. Maybe back then, the fourth Palace was going to be Kayo's, after all? Or maybe Shimotsuna just originally had a more traditional Japanese appearance, and they changed that when they decided the Palace was going to be an anthill? It's certainly interesting to think about, though hard to really prove.