Let's Play Persona 4: Everyday's Great at your Junes!

Yesterday was weird, wasn't it?

Today is a sunny day. The brightness fills our classroom.



Yousuke: Given the pattern so far, Kanji's already inside the TV...
Yukiko: I wonder what the Midnight Channel really is...
Yousuke: Hmm...
Chie: At first, I thought it was one of those "paranormal" things, but when I gave it a try... it was real. Turns out it's actually connected to another world...
Yousuke: If there's a rumor going around, that means a bunch of people are watching it.
Yukiko: How did the rumor go...? If you stare into a turned-off TV on a rainy night...
Yousuke: No one in their right mind would try something that ridiculous, don'tcha think? Unless someone urged them to. But if you actually try, it does work. And not just once. If this rumor spreads and everyone starts watching the Midnight Channel...
Chie: It could cause a huge panic...
Yousuke: If Teddie is right, the missing people themselves create the stuff we see. So it's not random. It's specifically related to whoever goes missing.
Chie: *sigh* Yukiko had a show too, but she doesn't remember doing anything like that.
Yukiko: Um, this might be a little off subject, but... The culprit is probably watching the shows that come on... right?
Chie: No doubt. He's probably sitting back and enjoying-- Wait a sec... I bet he IS enjoying it! He's probably laughing his head off watching the "show" that comes on after he throws people into the TV!
Yousuke: Ahhh, I get it. Yeah, it's definitely possible. Ugh... Now when I think of the killer, I get this image of a total sicko! "I wanna see everything about you, Yuki-chan!"
Chie: Urgh, ugh, ugh! Wait, so if people saw Yukiko's show, do you think people were watching what happened to me too!?



Chie's wrath!

Chie: Guys! First we save Kanji! Then, we crush the killer! Finally, we crush the killer and send him to hell!! Got it!?
> You've all strengthened your resolve to save Kanji...



This is another milestone in the game, so our Fool social link gains another rank.



Chie: Uh... I know...

Determined to rescue Kanji just like we rescued Yukiko last time, everyone heads into the TV.



Teddie: Oh... Yep. I think someone's here.
Chie: You think...? Do you know where he is?
Teddie: I dunno.
Yukiko: We think it's a boy named Kanji...
Teddie: I dunno...
Chie: What's wrong? Not feeling well?
Teddie: Well, I sniff and I sniff. But I still can't tell where the smell comes from.
Yousuke: Aren't you thinking too much about too many things? I mean last time, you were wondering about who you really are and how long you've been here.



What JRPG character takes an insult just like that!?

Chie: Whoa... He's seriously down about this...
Yousuke: If you can't figure out where Kanji is, we're in deep trouble. We can't just wander around aimlessly in a place like this...
Teddie: I know what might help! You should give me a clue about this Kanji person! It's just a feeling I have. I think I could concentrate better with it.



Chie: Yeah, it's not like we know him that well.
Teddie: I just need some sort of hint... Something that tells me what he's really like.
Yukiko: Why don't we ask around and find people who know Kanji-kun personally?
> Teddie may be able to grasp Kanji's location if he gets more information about Kanji.
> But what kind of information does he need...?
> You decide to ask around town about Kanji...

The next part is just a game of walking around the town talking to every NPCs. It's sort of like a tag chain, where the first NPC will give you a clue to the second, then to the third, etc. The annoying part is that you can only talk one of them each day, and when we're still "gathering information", the party members won't be available for social links. In theory, they're busy gathering information too, though it's always Pockets that does all the work. Because of this, even though we generally waits until rainy days to go into the TV, sometimes it's worth it to just go into the TV early on when there's no rain to open up the party members' social links again.

At least the chain for Kanji is intuitive.

First, let's go to the shopping district. Look, a new book is coming out soon!



We can also see the party members at various locations in town.



Up in Shopping District, North is Kanji's mother's textile shop. Kanji's mother is standing there, worried.



Textile Shop Owner: Sheesh, I wonder where he's wandered off to now. He's always like this. You know, there was a small boy who came asking about him not too long ago. I talked to him too, but I haven't seen him around lately.
> A boy who talked to Kanji... Could it be the small boy from before?
> ......
> If it was him, and he was with Kanji, he might know something.
> You decide to search for the boy...

I guess she isn't that worried!

The boy from before is our next tag. He's at Junes occasionally, but certainly not today.



Customer: Ah yes, I've seen him. He's been hanging around here lately. Even asked me all this stuff about that... incident. He was just over there a little while ago, but... Maybe he'll be back tomorrow...?
> You decide to return here tomorrow...

And that's all we can do today! Instead of sitting around wishing the boy would show up today, let's go do some errands for some people -- the fox, for example.



Unlike reporting a quest, accepting a quest doesn't cost us a time slot, so it's a good idea to do it the day after we turn a quest in.



> It's written in thin, lady-like handwriting...
Ema: I want to clear my mind of snacks. I want to hate them.
> It seems the fox wants you to fulfill the wish written on the ema on its behalf.
> Could it be thinking that if wishes are fulfilled, then more money will be put into the offertory box?

Of course it does! We've gone over this sinister scheme.



Locating the quest NPC is a simple matter of walking around the town and look for an NPC that wasn't there before. Like this one.



Slim Woman: I'm channeling my mental energy in order to control my urges... I mustn't want snacks... They'll just make me faaaat... Shiroku Store is my enemy... Remember all that dieting and exercise... Do you wanna have to do all that again? Must shun the snacks... Ahhh! Snacks... I want to eat snacks! *sigh* I wonder if there're any bad-tasting snacks. Actually, it doesn't have to be bad... Maybe if it were just odd-tasting, I would stop thinking about them...? I want to distance myself from those Shiroku snacks...
> Perhaps she's the one who wrote the ema request the fox showed you.
> It seems she is looking for a snack that isn't like the snacks that she's currently craving.

We need some bad-tasting snacks to give this woman. Where can we find some?

Nothing immediately comes to mind, so let's go do some other errand.



Long-haired girl: What kind of books do I read? I read a lot of different genres, but I admit I have a lot of animal-related books. Stories and novels are good, but what I really like are photobooks and books with animal facts. It's fun just to look at them, isn't it?
> After you asked that question, she began talking about her goal for the future. You listened intently...
> You heard something that might prove to be useful! You should report back to her admirer...

Geez, the guy himself could just go an talk to her. This isn't that hard! In a sudden plot twist, the girl will fall for Pockets, I tell you!

Pockets doesn't forget to ask important questions first.



Male Student: If he's not from school, I don't think I'd notice him. D-Did you ask her? What did she say?
> You tell him what you talked about with the girl on the rooftop.
Male Student: I see, so that's how it is...
... I see. Ah, sorry! You really help me out, though. Here, take this.



Have you ever wondered why characters around town have so many dungeon items to give you? Because these items are sold at Shiroku, of course! As to why Shiroku sell these dungeon items, I guess we'll just never know. Presumably they're daily mundane items that do something outside of the dungeons.

Writing up the dialog lines for the characters made me realize something that I didn't realize when playing. Different characters' lines have different 'personalities' to them. Yukiko doesn't talk a whole lot, but when she says something, it's insightful. Chie talks a lot, and it's often to complain, to express anger, or to express cluelessness about the situation (or, also, concerns about Yukiko). Yousuke is the calm and composed guy among them, and his perspective is more subjective and less emotionally-driven than Chie.

Moving on with the story. Completed quests are grayed out in our quest list, and quests we haven't received are shown as "No Quest."



Uncompleted quests are yellow and have notes about what they ask.



That's all errands we're doing for today! Now let's go hang with Yumi.

... except that Yumi isn't around. Wait, today is Wednesday! Oops, it looks like I was looking at the wrong line when reading the schedule, so I actually gave you the vote choices for tomorrow instead And so I'll go with the second-most popular choice. But first, we need a suitable Persona.



Today is also a Skill Change day. During a Skill Change day, some skills will spontaneously change into other skill. We can get a really valuable skill early on this way, and so some players treat those days as the prime fusing days. The outcome is really random, though, so I tend not to count on it.



Now, let's go to see Kou.



Practicing basketball gives us a Diligence boost.



P.E Teacher: Whatever. Hey, good news --- you're getting a team manager.

Maybe it's just me, but there's something really wrong about a teacher saying "Whatever" to his students.

P.E Teacher: Now you guys won't have to take turns doing all the work anymore. You can thank me later! Go on, introduce yourself.



P.E Teacher: Great! You can take it from here. I'm going home!



Ai: I wouldn't be caught dead watching out for a bunch of sweaty guys.
Kou: Huh? Then why'd you...?
Ai: I've missed too many days of school. But they'll let me move up if I manage a team. But don't expect me to put any effort into it. For the most part, I'm not even gonna be here. Well, seeya. Or not.



Kou: Anyway, I'm hungry. Let's grab some food.

Sometimes, the prereq for a social link is certain ranks in another social link. This is what we call a social link "flag". Ai's social link cannot be started until we've seen this event, and it happens at Strength's rank 4.



Daisuke: ... How'd it go?
Kou: What, the dream? Oh, you mean with my family? Well, it's... complicated.
> Kou is laughing...
Kou: Daisuke told you all about it, right, Pockets? My family's pretty interesting. Arranged marriage for political gain are pretty standard with us. Just the other day I was greeting people at one of those high society gatherings. Can you imagine? Me, at one of those things?

A little humor won't hurt, right?



Kou: Aha! So you can tell how refined I truly am, Pockets?
> Kou laughs jokingly...
Kou: Anyway, if you ever run into anyone in my family, don't tell them I eat here or talk like this. At home, it's nothing but studying, tea ceremonies, and lessons. To them, I'm the prim and proper "Kou-sama."
Daisuke: "Kou-sama"?
Kou: Yep. That's what they call me. I know it sounds crappy, but hey, they feed me and give me an allowance. I need to do my part too, y'know.
Daisuke: I don't know, man...
Kou: Ahh, it doesn't matter. It might all be over soon anyway. We're an old-fashioned family, so the Ichijo name has been passed from generation to generation. But the last male of the family, my dad, didn't have any kid to pass the name on to. Well, they weren't going to let the Ichijo name just up and die, so they adopted me. And then what do you know? My dad ended up having a kid after all. A girl. I guess you could say she's a little sister to me...



Kou: "Cheer up"? C'mon, I've got more cheer than I know what to do with! See, just look at me.
> Kou grins.
.....
Kou: It's better this way. Becoming a successor would be a major hassle... And really, it should go to a blood relative... Sorry. Didn't mean to put a damper on the mood. C'mon, let's eat!
Daisuke: ... Yeah.
> Your heart-to-heart talk with Kou and Daisuke showed you their trust...



> You talked about practice with Daisuke and Kou.
> After saying goodbye, you decided to go home.

Back home, only Nanako is around. Dojima isn't here today (but he'll be around tomorrow).



Unfortunately, I prepared to socialize with Dojima, not Nanako, so Pockets doesn't have any Justice Arcana Persona with him =/ Ah well. We'll still spend time with Nanako.



Nanako: Oh, ummm... Big bro...
> Nanako is fidgeting.



Nanako: Okay! Ummm... well...
> Nanako looks relieved.



Nanako: So you're just like me. Oh, but I have you now, so...
> Nanako is smiling cheerfully...
Nanako: A while ago, Dad told me... That our family won't get any bigger...



> Nanako beams at you with a smile that covers her entire face...
> Through that smile, you feel your relationship has grown deeper...



Nanako: Let's talk, big bro! Umm... I wanna hear about your school!
> Nanako has begged you to talk to her...
> You decided to talk about various things.
> It has gotten late, so you put Nanako to bed and went to your room.

And that's it for today! Tomorrow, we'll hang with Yumi and Dojima.

There is, however, still a mystery: Where do we get an odd-tasting snack?

Does the shadowlands not have odd morsels like Tartarus does?

Incidentally, Worm, you could have wrapped up that "I wish I didn't crave snacks" quest (and not turn it in, if you wanted to do something else) that same day if you wanted to.

I couldn't, actually. I tried Chie would just talk about Kanji and this boy. I think it's because the team is in the middle of gathering information, and the team members just won't talk about anything else.

But now that I'm forced to wait, I'm starting to see these mini quests as good opportunities for audience input too.

From the fridge, of course! Give her one of Nanako's science experiments or whatever else shows up in there!

Or maybe a mega beef bowl?

The search for Kanji continues. There's no rain for at least a few more days, so at least we have a bit of time.



According to the weather report, we won't have to worry about the fog for a while.



Yousuke: Yeah, it's not going to do anyone any good if we get anxious. Let's be sure to use the time we have until the next foggy day to our advantage so we can save him for sure!

At school, something exciting happens today. Excited for Pockets, at least. Maybe not so much for Yousuke.



Yousuke: Argh... The awful moment of truth... Oh well. Wanna check it out?
> You decided to check the test results.

Everyone's test results are posted publicly on the chalk board downstairs, just beyond the lockers near the entrance to the school building. So not only can every student sees what every other student's test score is, but any random person visiting the school also has access to this information the moment they set foot into the building! Nothing like public shaming as an incentive.

Or public praising, in Pockets's case.



Yousuke: Wow, nice! Good going, Pockets! You're so smart...

Pockets is only in the top 10 and not top 1 because at the time he was taking the exams, he only had 2 levels in Knowledge instead of 3. Still, he's no failure at this. As promised by the teachers and the game, he becomes more "intimate" with his school friends.



Perhaps as a result of this newfound fame, some school friends not-so-subtly hint that they want to hang out.



Yumi: We have practice today! You'll be there, right?



I kind of wanted to try out accepting an invitation now, as Yimothy said, but unfortunately we have no Sun persona currently, so that would be counterproductive.

Yumi: I see... Well, it's your choice. But make sure you don't forget what I've taught you!
> what will you do after school...?

Pockets's popular not just with the ladies.



Daisuke: Kou looked kinda down... So uh... take care of 'im.
> Maybe you should show up to basketball practice after school...

So many things to do, so little time to do them!



Now let's go get that Sun persona.

But before that, there's something in the fusion forecast for today!



Don't we need a Justice Arcana? Bonus EXP is good, Maragi is good, so let's do it.



We already have a version of ArchAngel without Maragi, so we register this new version. Then we do what we came here for.



Oh, and also gather information for Teddie. Right.



Slender Young Man: Many people from the town come and meet here. It's a very convenient location, isn't it...?
> Wasn't this the boy who met with Kanji some time ago...?
> He may know something about Kanji...
Slender Young Man: ......? You're asking if anything seemed strange when I spoke to Kanji-kun, yes...? Hmm. Very well. It seems to be an urgent matter, so I'll simply tell you. If you're asking about recent events, then yes, there was something out of the ordinary.



Slender Young Man: After I said that, his expression changed all of a sudden... I was quite surprised. On that basis, I believe his actions were somewhat forced and unnatural, throughout the time I was with him.



> It seems Kanji has a complex or something of that nature...
> Kanji's purported reaction to the phrase "odd person"...
> Maybe this is enough of a clue for Teddie to go on...
> You should report to Teddie as soon as possible.

Hey, I could tell you that from the beginning, too! No need for all this running around to hear something we already know.

Upset with the pointless gathering of information, we ignore Teddie and go to drama practice instead.



> You participated in the acting exercises.
> You thoroughly practiced expressing a variety of emotions...



Every time I read this, I always wonder whether practicing expression a variety of emotions is required to be more expressive in real life, too. Something like sitting in front of a mirror all day trying to make an empathetically sad face and saying to yourself, "This emotion is sad and empathetic. I make this face whenever someone tells me their grandfather just died."

Also, Rough to Eloquent is quite a leap!



Yumi: I'm going to have the lead role this year! Can you help me with my part later?



Non-drama Club Member: There was a call from the hospital!

(also, isn't "Non-drama Club Member" just a really odd specifier?)



Yumi: Huh!? Oh, no, it's okay... I-I'm going!
> Yumi ran out of the room.
Drama Club Member: The hospital? I wonder what happened... I think we're all too worried to get any more practice in... Let's call it a day!
> Did Yumi go to the hospital...?
> ...You decided to go see.

Pockets's kind of nosy, you see. Here we call it "no consideration for privacy." In Japanese high schools, he's probably considered a sweet and considerate friend/potential boyfriend.



Yumi: What is HE doing here!? Why are you here with him!? You didn't collapse! You lied to me! I can't believe this! Tell me what's going on!
Yumi's Mother: ...Yumi. He's the one who collapsed, not me. But I knew you wouldn't come if I told you that. So, yes, I did lie to you. I wanted you to see him.
Yumi: Mom... Do you think I want anything to do with that man!?
Yumi's Mother: No. I know you've suffered a lot. I feel responsible for what happened, too. But, you see... It was his last request. ...He doesn't have much longer. That's why he wanted to see you...



Yumi: He's a complete stranger! He's not my father! Mom, you and I... He abandoned us both! And now what? Now that he's on his deathbed, he expects us to forgive him? Don't give me that crap!
Yumi's Mother: ...I've made up my mind. I'm going to stay by his side until he passes away. Letting him die all alone would be too cruel to think of...







Yumi: How can you...!? We've been abandoned, for crying out loud...!





Yumi: You... Eavesdropping on people's private conversations! You're a real sicko...!
> Yumi seems at a loss.

Alright. At this point, it's pretty clear that Yumi is quite dramatic, and Drama is a quite dramatic social link. How fitting! So, perhaps it's only appropriate for the social link and the situation, but many of Yumi's dialog options suck. Take this one, for example. And the previous one too (in the classroom where Yumi was told that her mother just collapsed). On my first time ever playing with this social link, I saved and reloaded quite often because Yumi reacted negatively to the option I chose. I thought it may have been one of those social links where you had to be a jerk for the girl to like you. But no! All options equally suck. Yumi's just that hard to please, and will insult you, make a big deal about small details, and go on and on about her problems and never ask you anything about yourself just like that. As an example, if we had choose "What are you talking about?" instead, her reaction would have been...



Also, it may be just me, but Yumi's reaction throughout the whole social link is very off-putting and childish to me, despite her more-mature appearance compared to her Music counterpart. It's also cliche on top of that. I guess that's the reason why I never liked this social link.

And yes, she's even worse than Ai. At least Ai cares about her friendship with Pockets, eventually.

Yumi: ......
Mom didn't collapse... When I got to the hospital, it turned out that the person in bed is the man who used to be my father...
......
He abandoned my mother and me... about ten years ago. He found another woman... He's a dirty sleazebag. And now he comes crawling back to his "daughter" because he's dying? Yeah, after getting dumped by his bimbo... Talk about shameless... *sigh* This sucks so much... I'd forgotten him after all this time... His name, his face, his very existence. I completely blocked him out! Even worse, Mom's going to look after him until he kicks the bucket. She's being stupid. How gullible can you get!? HE left HER, understand? Now he's a hand-me-down from the other woman who dumped him when he got sick. They're both pathetic...!



Yumi: Shut up! What do you know about me...!?
> Yumi hangs her head.
Yumi: I'm sorry...
...I'm sorry. I've calmed down.
......
What are you even doing here? All this... It must be hilarious to watch, huh...?
> In some small way, you were able to help comfort Yumi.
> You feel that your relationship with Yumi has deepened slightly...





> You walked home with Yumi. She seemed to be filled with gloom.

Back at home in the evening!

... so, it looks like I made another oversight. Remember how I said Dojima would be available tonight? Well, it turned out he isn't! At first I thought the schedule is just wrong, but no, actually, Dojima's only available if we've done the current rescue mission. If the kidnapping hasn't been solved, then there's still work to do at the police station, and thus Dojima works late every night and poor Nanako is left alone. Pockets's choices do affect people around him!

(... nah, not really, it only affects Dojima's availability. Oh, and the party members' availability)

Well, let's see...



Nope! All the other suggestions involve going to the TV world or waiting for a rainy day, so we can't try them now.

Nanako is here, but...



So it looks like our plan for the evening fell through because Dojima is busy at work. Now Pockets sort of understands what it's like to be Nanako.

So, uh, what should we do this evening? And tomorrow?

This evening:

- Study? (Raise Knowledge)

- Fold envelopes? (Raise Diligence)

- Translate? (Raise Expression)

- Fold origami cranes (Raise Understanding)

Tomorrow afternoon:

- Go to the TV, try to rescue Kanji

- Work at the day care: raise Understanding, talk to Eri

- Start the Moon social link with Ai Ebihara (the basketball team manager). Starting this social link is a bit complicated, and since we're way behind on the earliest possible start day, I'm not really sure whether the event will get triggered tomorrow and whether it will use up the time slot or not. So if you choose this option, specify your second choice, too!

- Study?

- Fish?

Tomorrow evening:

- Hang out with Nanako?

- Study? (Raise Knowledge)

- Fold envelopes? (Raise Diligence)

- Translate? (Raise Expression)

- Fold origami cranes (Raise Understanding)

Vote vote vote!

Origami cranes sound nice.

And then fish and Nanako?

raise diligence tonight

Tomorrow rescue Kanji and then hang out with Narako

Translate, Moon Link/Day Care, Nanako

Dealer's choice for tonight

Tomorrow start moon if you can otherwise hit up the daycare, then Nanako in the evening

Study (seeing someone not get top in the exam irked me far more than I expected it would), Moon, Nanako.

Cranes, Day care, Envelopes

I thought it was pretty common to not get top in the first midterm? The next exams, though, are easy to do well in due to more time.

I think it's just my completion complex kicking in. Like, in P3 or P4 I was never anything less than top in each exam because it was just...something I did.

Speaking of which, that's one small thing from P3 that I wish was in P4: the ability to check your classmate's scores too.

I keep wanting to talk about P3 in this thread because its my only connection to the series...

But I won't.

This...exists? Is it in FES or only in P3P?

I guess in P4, it's not hard to tell where everyone stands in the class ranking

Something I miss from P3 are the random recordings.

And you can talk about P3 here, if it's relevant! Just make sure to put spoilers where appropriate

That ability is not in P3P (as far as I can tell) it's not really spoilery just going to say that I've taken two sets of tests and only ever been in the Top 10

I don't remember this either.

It's at the very least in FES. It doesn't explain their exact score but you can look at how they did generally. Like Mitsuru is always top of the seniors, Akihiko always does reasonably well, same with Yukari. Junpei is always pretty low until his character development at which point he gets better. Aigis always tests terribly.

Huh! I somehow missed this and I've played through FES 3 times. I'm amused that Aigis does so badly. You wouldn't expect that.

Yeah, all of these are predictable, except for Aigis. I'd guess that she tests better in the natural sciences and terribly otherwise, but the game doesn't make that distinction.

Where do you see the scores anyway? The board downstairs?

Yep. Same place you can look at your own. Also, I think Aigis test horribly because all she really knows about are shadows and she never really bothers to learn anything else.

Oh hey, I'm on page 2. How did this happen?

Anyway, pre-PAX, PAX and post-PAX made me kind of busy and prevented me from using my desktop (which is where the game's at), so there hasn't been an update for a while. My update schedule should be more regular now, hopefully!

To continue where we left off: huh, I made another mistake it looks like, because folding cranes is not currently on the list of things we can do. So I settle for one of the other options.



> ...
> You had a hard time translating expressions in the foreign language...



"Make up a joke that fits" sounds like it should be a solution, but this option only confuses Pockets more. So we go with "literal translation". Or it could be a thing where sometimes it harms, something it helps. I never thought about these too carefully.

> Though you were unable to translate the joke, you achieved your goal...
> You earned 2000 yen from your translating job.



Another day to deal with the mystery! School is uneventful, Pockets doesn't even remember it. He quickly finds himself strolling around town playing with cats.



He also stops by the velvet room, and this turns out to be a skill change day.



There are rules about skill change: skills that belong in a group will only get changed to another group at the same tier, and so on. I read about it once on some guide, but I never paid it too much attention. Many players swear by skill change days, but to be honest I've never put in the time and effort to exploit it. Sure, it may give me some valuable skills early on, but it's not like I'm struggling in the dungeon.

That said, I did put in some effort to fuse random personas.



Mahama is nice! But I think we can get Mamudo somewhere at level 19, so it's not exactly rare.



Dodge Wind is also nice, but we should be able to get Null Wind pretty soon.



This is just uninspiring.



So is this.

After that, we're out of personas. We'll need to summon some of them back for dungeon crawling, but for now, lets just get Angel for Nanako's social link this evening.



Now back to school! Ai hangs out around the locker area on certain days such as today. Let's talk to her.



Ai: Huh? ... With you? ....
> Ai is staring at you intently...

Ugh. That's kind of scary. Must be because she's a ghost.



(she isn't a ghost)

Ai: You should skip your afternoon classes next time. We'll go somewhere far away.



Here we learn what overabundant Courage is really good for.

Ai: I'll invite you to come with me when I feel like it.

Ah, well, I guess that's that! Let's go work at the daycare. At least that will give us some gold to summon back those Personas. But first, we need a Temperance persona.



Speaking of money, what happened to that origami folding job? I was sure we had it...



But I guess not. Moving on, then.

Yuuta: I'm the champion! No going easy on me!
> Once again, the children tug at you from all directions.



As it gets later and all the children's gone home, we see Eri again.



Yuuta: ... No! You don't have to come pick me up!

With that, Yuuta runs away.



Eri: *sigh*



That's why we're working here, right?

Eri: When you become a father, you'll probably help raise your kids... Like those fathers in TV dramas... I'm jealous.
> Eri looks sad.
Eri: *sigh* It's so tiring... I don't hate him, but...



Eri: ... Of course I do.
> Eri is looking down...



> Eri smiled weakly...
> You felt like you could understand Eri's feelings of loneliness a bit...



Not that other social links are awkward or anything, but I feel like Pockets's silence is especially appropriate in Temperance's link. Eri is, after all, a pretty typical woman, if not a bit stereotyped.



Other mother: It's been getting dangerous lately. As a mother, I wouldn't leave my child alone. Even if the new caretaker is young, right?
Eri: ... Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Then... if you'll excuse me...
> You finished your job and went home.
> You earned 5000 from your day care job.

Some social links are just kind of, you know, sad, with not much to be said afterward. This is one of them.

Nanako is at home alone again in the evening. Since Kanji is still missing, Dojima spends all evenings at the station.

With a Justice persona, we hang out with Nanako.





We spend some more time with Nanako without a rankup.

If you're thinking that Nanako's link takes a lot longer to rank up than the other links, you're right. The amount of music notes required for each rank is not the same throughout all social links. The earlier night time ones (so, Nanako and Dojima) require more since they're the only two in the evening for a long while. It also depends on the person. Nanako's more shy and reserved, so it takes more time and effort to get to know her.

Voting for tomorrow!

Afternoon

Yousuke and Chie would be available today, but they're not because they're still around town looking for information on Kanji, without knowing that Pockets's gotten everything needed. So we're left with...

- Go to basketball practice: hang with Kou and Daisuke, raise Diligence.

- Work at day care: get some money, hang out with Eri, raise Understanding.

- Rescue Kanji! It's a sunny day.

- One of the things you can do during the day, like study or fish.

The Empress social link should also start tomorrow, but we don't have the prereq for it if I recall correctly.

Evening:

Dojima would be available today if we've saved Kanji, so that option's there if we do that during the day. Otherwise.

- Study, raise Knowledge

- Fold envelope, raise Diligence

- Translate, raise Expression

- Fish?

Day care / Fish

Rescue/ Dojima!

Y'know, I'll second that.

Even with me voting for fishing? I'm disappointed.