#(( academics ;; ᵗʰᶤʳˢᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵏᶰᵒʷˡᵉᵈᵍᵉ ))

[dolgelo]

[ Mitsuru’s idea of romance is a deeply inaccurate one, despite what she may say or try to convince you to believe - at least till Arena, which is to be taken into considerations for the mere fact that no traces of romance or mentions of it are present there. her Social Link is definitely rushed at some parts, I guess starting from Rank 7-8 onwards. and while full of flaws and with the whole fiancé matter be tossed off in a matter of days  ( consider you can begin interactions really really late in game, even with your Academics maxed out you will probably end her SLink some days before the final Boss ) , it still gives the impression Mitsuru really has no objective idea of how romance works.

even though the choice of making her datable only if you have your stat of Academics maxed out was most likely made for gameplay/challenge reasons alone, it still reflects the idea of touching an almost perfect level of knowledge -- which Mitsuru admits she finds attractive and worthy of her time. she’s student council president, Gekkoukan’s golden girl and irradiates an aura of utter intimidation and respect -- so much that Akihiko’s fan club keeps their distance too, when needed. combine it with her very picky tastes, her sense of rigidity and her lack of time, and you get almost the impossible picture to replicate, in reality. which person could ever meet all the requirements and still be a peer of her ?

Mitsuru has grown up with little to no true realistic images of love around her, and while not too uncommon, it could have had a toll on her psyche - especially if you pile up the duty of a Kirijo and the next successor as CEO of her family company to that too. her parents didn’t marry for love but fell for one another with time, but her mom left when she was still too young. aside from that, she says she used to read romance novels, classic ones, but that was the extent of it. the first time she speaks of romance in-game is when she is seen searching for books of that kind in the library, and can’t understand why the idea of marriage seems to ‘annihilate’ romance and is barely told in books and novels. 

“I’m not very good at romantic relationships. I have no spare time to devote to another.”

“Marriage is a social construct and must be carefully thought out. There are fewer books about marriage and family life than romance ones. Is marriage worth the sacrifice?”

“Wherever I run, the road will lead to regret. [...] I have put forth many times more effort because I am a woman, and what has it brought me? Marriage to a complete stranger, having my name and group stripped from me, expected to conceive a heir...”

Mitsuru distinguishes love from marriage and can’t seem to link the two concepts at the time of Rank 7; coming from the representation of the Empress Arcana, meant to represent family, nurturing, and even marriage, it gets even more powerful. she is certain that no love could be ever involved in her case or in most marriages in the long run, and that that one feeling can be instead found easily in the more, for her, frivolous, simpler dating aspect -- one she was never granted, in her teen years, the privilege of experiencing, because of her betrothed.

yet she is described as a fan of romantic and adventurous stories, she is seen extremely lovable and caring in that little time she actually does show it for the protagonist. I think she’d be happy too at the protag being in love, genuinely so and deeply too - har em route doesn’t exist in this house, with someone else  ( or akihiko too, whenever I feel masochistic and and you fancy some pain and “what’s this feeling?? funny bc we’re friends right ? right?” scenarios SIGH, which can be applied to mitsuru too - but perhaps when much older than her p3 self AAAA ). i think her main issue, in p3 times, with it is that she’s more in love with the concept of love than actually having true sentiments of passion. 

that is also why I think, to change her perspective, she would need and prefer someone way more down to earth; while she’s mostly immersed in her novels, caged concepts and so on, the simplest and even sometimes most common aspect of romance, fights too, could really open her eyes on how the world does seem to go. her Persona goes from an unconquerable Amazon who finds her demise for love, to a powerful Queen and mother (for artemisia of caria) / goddess of freedom, nature and womanhood (for artemis) and that must also be taken into consideration ] 

[dolgelo]

For mothers day, a question: how is Mitsuru's relationship with her mother?

[ OOO thank you so much for this question, kind anon !  you are enabling one big book here ahaha, but let’s see, i may need to add one read more if things get a bit out of hand but yea !  this is an interesting subject… 

it’s canon information at this point, just what kind of woman Hanae Kirijo is. considering how motherly Mitsuru happens to be, once she had enough room and time to cultivate such bonds and getting to know her friends, one’s first thought could be that her own mother figure had happened to be one extremely kind and sometimes strict, present parental figure. it is not that correct though: we know for certain Hanae is extremely ill and she was forced to leave the Kirijo household when Mitsuru was still a baby/child to get treated overseas - returning home once in a while for important occasions. 

it is unclear when she left Mitsuru and Takeharu exactly, but I guess some math is in order and could help us, haha. Mitsuru is born of May 1991. Persona 1, whose antagonist’s story is bound to Kirijo and Mitsuru’s grandfather’s  ( we can say he was one of the biggest influences behind Kouetsu’s Kirijo’s nihilism and search for the Plumes of Dusk )  happened in the autumn (?) of year 1996; Mitsuru was 5. plus, Persona 2  ( and by that time Kouetsu was conducting already Persona experiments on children and on Shadows, Mitsuru was a victim as well )  happened just a bunch of months prior to Kouetsu’s violent death in the lab explosions in Port Island. in the CD DRAMA where Hanae stars, she sees Mitsuru in a mourning kimono and tells her daughter that  “kimonos have started to look good on you”; it implies she must have seen her way younger daughter wearing traditional clothes once, and that might not have been something not as elegant as what we might have imagined - perhaps due to the young age of such recurrences. after all, the Kirijo family seems tied to very old fashioned traditions, it made me think the episodes Hanae could have been referring to might have been ceremonies of good fortunes for children, of ShichiGoSan. that would mean Hanae was around when Mitsuru might have been three, but not anymore when she was older than five.

it means that, effectively, Mitsuru really had not much time to bond firmly with her own mom. she mentions, in the same CD DRAMA, of how her little rebel, smaller self would go out of her way to bring her mother and father some fruits as gifts, from the garden trees at her mansion, but that was it. I have no doubts that Hanae remained a very important figure in her growth, though. she is shown as a very kind and affectionate woman, despite the frequent memory losses and tiredness she presents. she loves Mitsuru dearly, and frequently mentions how important she is for her. I have no doubts this kind of strong love is returned fully. one could say Mitsuru is much like a mother figure to her friends also thanks to this too. the dream and desire of being raised more thoroughly by her mom might have influenced her behavior in a way she wouldn’t be able to even admit.

moreover, Mitsuru really looks up to her mother for the marriage issue. she mentioned in her Social Link how she intended, at first, to follow her parents’ path in marriage, behaving their same way and accepting an arranged agreement, that would have seen her being wife to a man she barely knew for political strategies. Hanae confesses to Mitsuru the same happened to her but that, at the same time, Takeharu “was the only one I have ever loved.”  inside her heart, I’m sure Mitsuru hoped to be maybe as lucky as her mother and father. which definitely isn’t the case with her fiancé. in the same scene, though, Hanae gives her courage, saying she “can find her special person at any given time” and that she wants to know of this special person as soon as she can, in a way also encouraging her to perhaps… look further. I’m sure Hanae would approve everything that could make Mitsuru happy, a marriage of love included ! 

Hanae swears of trying and take care of the mansion in Mitsuru’s absence, once Takaharu dies. despite college keeping her busy for the time being, I see Mitsuru trying to spend as much time as she can with her mom. ill or not, Mitsuru is already so close to her, that could only make the relationship grow even stronger than before. reading together, conversing while drinking a good cup of tea. they happen to be very similar - in appearance and in character. loving and caring to represent a sort of guide… it’s a beautiful, solid bond. and I’m sure it will shape Mitsuru’s personality even as an adult. 

one funny note is that Hanae is against her daughter driving the motorcycle though, I guess in fear she could get hurt - and not due to that being not a very lady-like activity. she is, still, aware of the experiments Mitsuru underwent as a kid, of the Dark Hour and of Personae while still being surprised when subjected to such phenomena, a clear hint that she left before Mitsuru was chosen as a test subject but that she was kept informed of her child’s status and health, one way or another. from Takeharu, I suspect, who was against the procedures and tortures as well. in the same CD DRAMA we see her almost intentioned in wearing the Dark Hour Ring and following Mitsuru through the cursed hour, but Mitsuru intervenes and tells her it would only make her feel sicker. she does it anyway which is surprising to everyone, Kikuno and Mitsuru included, even though it debilitates her more than her illness does already. ]

[dolgelo]

So just to double check, no one thought to connect the mental shutdown incidents with that Apathy Syndrome thing a few years back? Why are the SIU getting paid again?

[ ooo idk how to reply to this because it was so sudden !  like… ic or ooc ?? so i’m sticking with ooc given this is mostly speculation… and because i feel my muse wouldn’t have explained this much ahaha

i guess the take they decided to stick with was to distance the mental shutdowns from previous similar episodes like the ones you see in p3 and p3-trinity soul  ( that although i hate it is kinda considered by at.lus somewhat later ehh )  is a completely fresh one. in the sense it’s aimed to also people who, probably, at the mention of Apathy Syndrome would have gone “and what the heck is that??” ahahaha which is not great but understandable. especially if you consider how many new fans got to know persona by its last chapter. it could have been a nice cameo/reference, but i digress. and the reason is simple.

little to very few people know what happened in Port Island from 2000-2010; just to be clear, the time in-between Tartarus’ first time rising on the island, and its destruction and all of The Answer happening, Seal and all that jazz. aka also the time people preyed by Shadows on the loose, whose soul would be ‘eaten’, would be called, by mass-media, victims of this so-called Apathy Syndrome. a conditions S.E.E.S. could revert by, each month, destroying one of the Arcana-Type Shadow. the remaining members of S.E.E.S. all remember their fight, struggle and mission  ( one of their main objectives was to help Apathetic people regain full health, the Syndrome would have possibly brought these innocents to consider and commit su icide, like the movies clearly show us )  in spring 2010. who knows what the rest of the world does remember though.  if you think about it, no further details on collective memories of those times are mentioned.

in arena, however, the Syndrome is mentioned and discussed multiple times. as it is present in numerous files that some characters like Mitsuru, Aigis, especially Naoto, and so on do read and discuss. the idea i got is that there are no proofs it existed, besides those documents filed by the Public security and the Kirijo Group, who willingly accepts police to investigate its past  ( Ergonomics )  and its deeds in exchange of the ‘’’’’liberty’’’’’ to create Shadow Ops. 

so i guess it’s a bit more complicated than that. and you also have to take into consideration how corrupt the whole law system is, in p.5 - that’s one of the main themes. and considering the SIU and its CEO you really don’t end up being too surprised ahahah mental shutdowns are a tad different from Apathy Syndromes but the essence is, indeed, the same. Shadow consumes Shadows, recruiting more of their own kind, one way or another. Takaya, in fact, does control the Lost by creating Nyx Cult almost the same way politicians in p.5 did use the mind of these new ‘Lost’ so commit the most atrocious actions or let them die too  ( Shujin’s director’s scene did really remind me of the very first minutes of p3 spring of birth )

BUT i have no doubt this will make its way into a possible Arena game, though, as a theme, since at lus likes recycling this story so so much ahaha. if the SIU did fail to notice that  ( or did hide it from the public eye once again, i doubt they had not read some reports: Shadow Ops is allowed to operate thanks to federal laws and links with the police forces after all )  i doubt Mitsuru and together with her Shadow Operatives would have overcome such a situation. it’s the capital we are talking about, with Okumura’s death being basically aired live on TV – in a fashion that did resemble the way humans, in p3, were consumed by Shadows during the Dark Hour. don’t worry she got your back ahahah ofc there’s also the stupidiest option around to consider: maybe it’s just a plothole i’m filling here ahahah

anyway this was way too long but !! im all for meta questions, THANK YOUU YOU gave me a sparkle. the meta powers !  discussing about these themes can be so good !

TL;DR  too corrupt to do anything ever remotely sane or logic or to link the two episodes together. probably, a new arena game will have it revealed as i doubt Shadow Ops, still operating I HOPE FOR THE LOVE OF NYX, overcame those similarities. after all, S.E.E.S. lived through them and risked to lose their memories and lives due to Apathy too. also p.5 gently coping p.3 stuff is also a recurring theme, and anyone denying this probably should play p.3 again hhh that may be also why  ] 

[dolgelo]

PROS OF DATING MITSURU:

your friends won’t probably believe you at first when they find out, so you’ll get to see their reaction at the news. who the heck wouldn’t or didn’t dream of dating her at least once ?  don’t lie to yourself, friend.

she’ll personally care of your appearance so that you’ll always look presentable and proper, just in order for whatever occasion or recurrence.

that being said, she’ll be always properly-looking and beautiful, she’ll always smell great and so sweetly and it’s perfect. she is. she’s stunning 24/7, bright as the sun.

powerful woman who won’t be treated poorly or as an object by your side means you also acquire a personal fighter, you can sleep easy when night comes... mostly. she’s not a princess huh not a cutie girlfriend ohno.

you’ll be one of the very few privileged people who’ll witness her becoming a blushing mess. worth gold.

mere material aspect, but Kirijo is synonymous with wealth. basically you also acquire a maid staff at your service too and a personal family stylist as well.

motherly mitsuru just for you.

she will care for your academic career just to assure you the best possible future, now it gets only amplified. she’ll want you to succeed in what you are pursuing and will never stop supporting and aiding you whenever you’re in that specific need.

she’d surprise you with little but elegant dinners and presents on special, private occasions because she’s like that and would want anything to go smoothly. she’s also a romantic at heart so you can expect a lot <3

to see her more relaxed than she’ll ever appear anywhere else.

Yakushima. wow.

you’ll get to experience how warm and compassionate she can be, while everyone just thinks you are together with the ice queen, frigid business CEO. rude :/ you win it all though, they’re just fools.

you can see her practice fencing everyday... i wish it was me.

expensive gifts and expensive food.

no executions if you see her with no clothes. it’s a progress.

motorcycle trips whenever you both desire. she’s pretty adventurous so things like that being proposed would get her so so happy, especially if to be shared.

Mitsuru. she’s Mitsuru Kirijo.

CONS OF DATING MITSURU:

constant danger, for her and your life if things do settle down in the couple. the Group didn’t use to be the most honest one back when her grandfather was in charge and police forces still don’t trust her. Mitsuru in Arena has canon bodyguards escorting her mostly everywhere, all women, all armed in case something would happen to their mistress. she too is shown being able to handle real guns well. so, you’re in for one hell of a ride. not to count the dangers she’d still be in with fighting stronger and stronger shadows.

she’d hardly start physical contact, especially when still not used to it. so it means one has to be patient and help/guide her, she knows very little about contact in general, not to mention romantic kinds. you must be ready for awkwardness, especially at first. once she gets more comfortable though, this con is going away !

same for most things we’d call normal and that she never experienced. losing your patience because, say, she remains in awe inside a cinema will gain you a slap across the face.

dating her means absolute committment.

‘‘holding hand is already so embarrassing i could die... but kissing... oh, no sorry, i wasn’t thinking anything perverse, i swear !  ’’  ( Mitsuru, PQ, wedding scene ); yeah, good luck.

events you won’t care about but that she has to attend with you because of her job.

Persona secrets to keep -- unless you are part of Shadow Operatives as well.

you’ll be subjected to Mitsuru’s jealousy fits when needed... she is extremeeeeely jealous and would rarely forgive some ‘’’’’’errors’’’’’’. if you want to stay with her, you must behave... who wouldn’t though, omg, do you have a death wish...

be ready for gazes of jealousy from other Rich MenTM shooting right at you.

maid stuff can’t only be a positive side yknow......

loss of your surname if wedding is in the air.

general VIP problems and expectations for the heiress of Kirijo you must respect too.  

[dolgelo]

[ thinking about it... you know the scene where, in Mitsuru’s social link, the fiancé starts insulting Takeharu right in front of her and protag, saying how happy she should feel now that he’s dead and cannot be there anymore to guide her so she now must  - theoretically -  give her whole self to the men of the Group because, eeeehhh a woman in charge???  and to him of course, since the wedding date was supposed to come earlier than expected, now that the Group had no real chief ?? yea all that mess. that just makes her feel so miserable and shameful before she literally snaps at him in the middle of the Mall and breaks the marriage contract right into his face.

what if he was resentful towards him ??  because either that, or he’s too stupid to think she’d approve and say Takeharu would be better off dead than anything else. what if Takeharu genuinely didn’t want him as her main suitor but was somehow forced to agree with the Group ?  he was CEO but Mitsuru states it’s not just him, and from the very beginning we’re led to think it’s a real round-table full of seemingly awful, old men that  1) don’t trust her or Takeharu that much, probably due to Koetsu’s past influence;  2) don’t want a girl so young in charge without a husband guiding her and thus chaining her, “stripping her away of her name and purpose”;  3) have to agree on major decisions, especially when the CEO is no more, like the wedding date or the chosen suitor himself, given it’d be a marriage of convenience. 

mitsuru’s mom, for instance, in the CD drama seems way looser on the matter than anyone else - encouraging her daughter to actually pursue any true feeling she might have. and she got to marry Takeharu through an arranged marriage, a very happy one as Mitsuru says -- yet still one. we don’t know what her father felt about it, while we know he wanted the best for Mitsuru regardless, especially in order to keep her away from Persona business as much as he could... so it might be he was against the decision and this influenced how the suitor did see him, and consequentially, Mitsuru too. i doubt she would have accepted him or anyone else she felt she would have never loved, to be her husband... but it’s interesting to consider what role did her father play in all that, aside from the one who needed to actually give her away ]

[dolgelo]

[ hello darkness my old friend. you should talk abt mitsurus thoughts and feelings on shinjiro. we've gone thru a little bit of that ic, and in chat but. never too much yknow. so basically, anything from first impression to their time together in SEES in the beginning, to the tragedy, to the time they were more distant, to when he joined again and yet again another tragedy. and anything additional if you wanna. also why she always goes (gasp) aragaki! in the cd dramas whenever he's brought up ]

♕ ♕THIRST  FOR  KNOWLEDGE||      always  accepting    

[ you asked for a book. you also get an actual encyclopedia (i wish ahahaha!) ]

[ you asked the questions of the century, congratulations. also get ready, this talk will have lots of trio feelings, which are, by now, one of our primary causes of heartache and screams and distress and ahhhngst and other lovely things of that kind !  

i always say how both Akihiko and Shinjiro were the first real friends she ever had  ( after Kikuno, which has become a maid and that occasionally tried to protect her in all the wrong ways possible, like adding drugs into her tea to make her sleep the whole next day, while SEES was going to be killed by some guards– so yeah ), and I seriously doubt anything or anyone will ever make me rethink of that at this point. since  atl us  is an as s??? as we all know already, we have discussed some problems of years and timeline, sure, but that doesn’t change a bit what those three lived through together and what brought them closer.  it’s funny to think both the orphans  ( Akihiko more than the other though, perhaps )  were probably followed around by the Group or even Mitsuru herself, in an attempt to find their potential and recruit them. not to mention those three all attended the same junior high, they must have met once or twice in the hallways - not to mention they’re all of the year 1991, it only raises possibilities.

i think chances of first recruiting one first, instead of the other, were basically the same. 50 : 50. maybe the boxer was first proposed to join because of his afternoon clubs and activities, aka sports club. we can’t be sure of it, but we know for certain that after Akihiko accepted to join the newly born SEES, he told his best friend / basically twin brother ahah. Shinjiro, as you said multiple times, might have felt entitled to protect and keep an eye on him. something that might have also affected his power of heart, persona or resolution to fight such supernatural enemies. and i can’t see Mitsuru be displeased by this fact. the more the merrier !  especially if you want to climb up a tower full of Shadows. yet she grew closer to both of them, way more quickly than how she did in the game for example with Yukari, Junpei or the protagonist itself… and I think it was, indeed, for friendship. a genuine sentiment she might have never felt before !  the boys were already closer for all the years spent together, she was the stranger in there. but again, she had offered them a mission and a new reason to be useful and powerful.

bound by their powers, it was inevitable for her to get curious. she must have yearned for friends since forever, yet she was seen as the spoiled and powerful daughter of Kirijo, an heiress, a brilliant student, “lonely throne” – as naive as she appears during that time, she might not even be able to recognise evil intentions from apparently good ones, when relating to people or trying to approach them  ( she tried to hit on some yakuza thugs on the beach, he saved her ), maybe because of her upbringing. she might have at first seen Shinjiro as the nosey guy, the one asking to join to stay with Akihiko… but nothing actually negative or that would have made the girl take her distance actually. trust is eventually built, and with trust, then, also respect, admiration and way lighter feelings. controlling as she wants to appear, she might have tried to get the upper hand of the situation of the dorm, sometimes, acting all mighty and firm. even with bad results, ahah, but she was the leader back then. it was her job. he’s always been kind to her, strict at times – but it’s their nature. their. they are similar, under that specific light; they often try to act like the older one of the situation, try to help when needed. he might be a little bit calmer than her - he doesn’t strain himself too much, when fighting inside of Tartarus and gets worried when the other sound tired after a battle - suggesting vacations even !  and I’m sure she saw that, in him. positive vibes, good impressions. he might have been a bit rough or direct while talking or while scolding her or anyone else actually, but I can’t imagine mitsuru being scared/irritated/annoyed/frightened by such a thing. again, because that’s pretty similar to what she sometimes inspires too, in people, and she’s aware of it. 

the rest goes under a cut or I’ll break tumble.

often, mitsuru recalls how she was the one often stopping the boys from fighting like children throwing a stupid tantrum at their age. to devolve into four-years-old, ready to turn every small thing into a hugely important challenge and fight. that’s her merely trying to be the older sister of the situation, an opportunity she never had - but then you also have the girl getting into trouble at the beach and presenting herself on the sand and under the hot summer sun with complete uniform and high heeled boots, and poor Shinjiro thinks maybe she’s not that brilliant and perfect as people depict her. it’s a complicated and interesting kind of friendship, and that makes it even better. i am positively sure they had started, at some point, considering SEES their second family. and its members their dear brothers and sisters. it might not have taken them a lot of time, because of their age, their stories and the will of fighting together for something special, something that made them special !  not to mention those years are the most important years of mental and emotional development, too; that could have only helped the bond grow stronger than a common one between two or three students of their age. yes, because they also attended the same school, the influence they had on each other and the impression of unity they might have given, even unintentionally, with the formation and hidden truth of the Extracurricular Squad, on other boys and girls must have been very important and hard to ignore. not to mention Mitsuru is, basically, the daughter of the one basically founding the school. the prestigious name and possibly influence might have also helped the two boys, as well. which can only be positive. 

and so times pass, and responsibilities only pile up for those gifted kids, y’know. and this double life they got keeps on repeating itself as day and night alternate each time; they don’t get the attention and recognitions they might deserve but at least their power is used for good purposes and to save more innocents from Apathy. I do think this reality would have continued anyway, with no complications if the infamous accident of Ken’s mother hadn’t actually happened. although having described by her POV many times what her feelings for the horrible things happened that night are. confusion, depression (the birth of her bangs on the eye) and fault. as she blames herself for the many things that happen to the protagonist and the other members of SEES in the game, she can’t help to find herself to blame for their situations, like it happened when accepting, for example, Yukari’s accusations with little intentions of defending herself, in July 2009. same goes for Shinjiro: they could have read some signs - they were certainly there, with Akihiko too and prevented, in some way, that a life was lost because of a Persona – the mean that allows them to fight and the entities she personally needs to eliminate the Hour and atone for her family sins. and so, SEES fault, too. after all, he was a Persona user, part of the group backed up from the Kirijo Corporation as a whole. 

once it happens, it’s over. we discussed this too, she’d give up at some point. forcing people to make something that important for her is not in her style: she’d prefer filling the void and missing presence on her own. distant, yes, I believe they’d still be friends but of course with no more frequent contacts at one time. maybe he kept on going to school, given Akihiko mentions Shinjiro to be in his last year of high school but not atteding it anymore, in 2009. on her part, an attempt to reenstablish dialogue might have happened but I believe Akihiko to certainly be the one that would have gotten closer to him during that diffciult time. first, because they’re way closer than Mitsuru and Shinjiro might have ever been before – second, due to, as always, the sense of guilt they complete trio, one way or another, had the misfortune to taste and experience more than one time. they keep the room for him though, untouched if not just cleaned up for necessities and hygiene, and years pass.

given i still know not a lot about the novel Owari no kakera I’ll refrain from saying a lot about the years that separate the tragedy of Ken’s mother to the arrival of the protagonist in Iwatodai. except that Mitsuru and Akihiko can’t keep fighting alone. not only 2 kids and their personae in Tartarus, fighting against flocks of Shadows already sounds like a suicide mission, but the arrival of Yukari doesn’t really help given she still has doubts summonning Io by the start of the game. force is required and they don’t have it anymore. I still doubt Mitsuru would feel something comparable to hate in the boy’s regards,though; maybe regret, hard feelings of minor importance. she’d still see him a friend and ex member - she’d give him support if he asked for it. and so, of course, she’s happy, glad and relieved on having him back in the ranks, to fight Shadows. but can you imagine the pain Akihiko and her had to endure, in knowing they had dismissed completely the matter of the anniversary of the tragedy? in the movies, it’s still very clear that they DO NOT want Ken to join SEES; they give in under the pressure of the other members. they look not convinced. and have no peace when, on Oct 4 they remember of the fact happened 2 years prior. I guess that, whatever might have heppened, even with Shinjiro returning back in shape the next spring, it would have been still pretty hard to forget the mistake, the fact they hadn’t ONCE AGAIN read the signs that could have stopped, let me say this, drama from happening once again.

The gasp! In the cd drama, all we we get is some playful moments… telling us just how close close and special they were and still are for each oth–A FEMINIST!! ]

[dolgelo]

[ it’s HC TIME. that aaaa i’ve missed. it’s been a while since the last one i posted here. 

we all know Mitsuru got her persona between the years 1999 and 2000. although I’m definitely more convinced it’d be the latter, given that she is seen wearing pretty summerish clothes and her grandfather died in the middle of september 1999 for the explosion of the lab; meaning he couldn’t accompany takeharu & co. inside of Tartarus since it still didn’t exist by then. so, yes, she awakens to her Potential naturally, despite the experiments conducted on her, years prior the event, and she defeats a Shadows by the entrance that tried to attack her father.

and since it is now known and kinda obvious that Persona do have a huge impact on people, some official books saying even they’re the voice of their consciousness and that their own thoughts are received into the User’s mind as if they were speaking to them like normal people would, Penthesilea too did the same, especially during the awakening process. think about it by recalling the scenes of p-5 ones. not to mention the first awakening seems to be, in all cases a pretty tiring if not physically dangerous event. just duplicate it all, given Mitsuru was just a child back then.

and the VOICE. i hc it had her mother’s tone and volume. Penthesilea was a young amazon girl, so there wouldn’t be any problems. for how i see it - and always did, the impact which the concept of family and love both have on Mitsuru is the greatest thing. not to mention the core of her assigned arcana tarot as well. her mother was estranged for various reasons when she was even younger than the child awakening to Penthesilea. as much as her el.ectra complex would allow her to feel about Hanae, her mother, Mitsuru loves her a lot. misses her the most. her own motherly side, which is renewed and definitely appreciated by anyone that ever saw it, is nothing more of the self-desire for it, of the idealization of the perfect one her mother never could give her and that she, overall, never received herself. mother is god to a child, let me use this quote right here. mitsuru is no different.

on the other hand, our Penthesilea can be quite talkative ( especially because Mitsuru is seen evoking her even outside the dark hour, in the real world, her presence and dominance over her psyche are strong ), but never a bother. it’s the little voice suggesting her what to do or not inside her head, at times and guiding her when using her support and navigator weak skills. she doesn’t mind it  -  the sensation, because of the voice, can be quite soothing, when Mitsuru isn’t angry of course. the familiarity with her “true self” also made controlling the Persona easier - thus explaining her strength.  with Artemisia, things don’t change a lot either. the only big difference is the frequency of the episodes in which Mitsuru can “feel” her voice, and the increased power and control. even her is able to be evoked on normal circumstances  ( kyoto bath and execution, anyone? )  and instead of being the chatty type, is more composed and serious, adverting Mitsuru of any dangers or perils around her. both Penthesilea and Artemisia though are able to locate potential Persona Users. it’s probably thanks to those that Mitsuru can not only feel the aura one has around them but wheter or not they are able to summon a Persona; probably how she even individuated Akihiko to recruit him back in middle school. thank you @ Personae. ]    

[dolgelo]

sorry if you havr written something on this before but are there any differences in how mitsuru reacts to mc/femc's deaths?

[ oh hi anon! i actually can’t remember having analyzed the differences in the ending of a route and the other… you have given me an amazing idea. so thank you, hopefully what i think will make sense. i’ll divide it in two parts, one for femc and the other for male mc. so i can just be much easier to categorize the two hcs/meta. even though i don’t believe there are many important differences…

femc route.i do believe there are quite some different for Mitsuru, in the two routes. and, with no pretenses to know all, i’’ve still studied both and understood the female routes gives Mitsuru the opportunity to talk more. open herself up towards Minako (or whatever you choose to call the protagonist) about her own world, her status as a woman and her fears and doubts about the concept of marriage. so, of course, she gets closer to Mitsuru. i think what really changes is how Mitsuru views one, then the other; two different ways, too. for, although one can interpret it as they much prefer, for example, Mitsuru does not nurturing romantic feelings for the female protagonist. when instead, what she finds, is a sister.

“It’s like a got a little sister”

and family it is. for her, the leader becomes a sister to protect. to defend from all that is bad, while also knowing that said, quote, “little sister” is able to deal with most dangers on her own. something that does make her really proud, too. it’s a different concept from love. much closer, family doesn’t come and go, it remains – and although i believe that the same would have happened in minato’s case, romantic interest or not, Mitsuru opened up a lot more with Minako, the bond is definitely closer. easy to notice it during the social link: Mitsuru doesn’t talk about her predictable future. sentences she doesn’t pronounce with mc. why she does? because Minato can understand her better, she’s a woman too.

“I have put forth many times more effort than others so that no one could look down on me because of my s.ex… and yet what has that brought me? Marriage to a complete stranger, having my name and group stripped away from me, expected to conceive an heir…”

she would react dramatically. just like she does when remembering the promise while on the stage. she loses a friend, part of her new family, her confidant, her “little sister”. she has lost all the family she had, back in November, it’s safe to assume this would be a, maybe slightly weaker than Takeharu’s, similar reaction. aigis could be able to tell SEES, make them understand. but yes. they all have lost so much. minako, her happiness and cheerfulness, and leadership. it’s a lot.

regular mc.for minato, i think it depends on the social link route. whether or not, it remains a considerable loss. that would make a difference in the way Mitsuru would grieve. the romantic side of the route one can choose (while i hope atlus with a remake gives us the option, like p 5 to choose between a normal ending of a social link or else), would change matters a little bit. because of the rooftop scene you can unlock, with Mitsuru, even when she’s seeing first hand how badly it’ll end, she promises to bring it all back: the good times, the hardships… the possible love. and while he just goes, she stays by his side and talks about loving once again, and other stuff like that.

in arena ending she mentions, when asked by yosuke, of a partner she did have. and it’s debatable still, if she was talking about minato or her fiancè. she is cold, with no tone almost when answering him.

“I used to have a person like that, once, in my life. It’s over now.”

plus some comments on how she’s not looking for love, currently. we don’t know who she was talking about. could be minato, could not be it. especially since p.3 doesn’t really hint of such a pairing (atlus has bias, you have to admit it) and he’s never mentioned in future games by them with similar terms. 

i’ll soon play the answer for myself, for now i just saw videos of it. and mitsuru siding with yukari (which is pretty dumb, for reasons i’ll explain on another post, another day), to bring back the dark hour, death and shadows (i told you it was dumb) in order to see minato again, though, is almost out of character for her. of course she desires to see him again, but the whole act of getting on yukari’s side is, how she later says, a mean to thank her for the support gotten on the riverside of kyoto. it means she doesn’t accept the death, anyway -- i’m not saying she despise the idea of minato back. in fact, i think she wouldn’t have hesitated in bringing him back if no dark hour or shadows were involved. love route or not.

usually she expresses grief in a predictable way, we all have seen that. in the case of mc/femc deaths, she wouldn’t behave differently. STILL, given the father’s death did make her character develop, she knows how to get out of such a mood now. she’ll need time... but hey ]