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

A vote for Temperance!

I dunno, it does kinda seem like a good idea to rescue Yukiko.

We're not penalised for it, right? Might as well.

I vote we never rescue her!

I think we all get the gist of these here persona games.

No reason to make WormRider go through all 2000 hours of gameplay now.

Temperance and read A Great Man again.

Well, there's opportunity costs involved.

The odd Yousuke Rank 2 scene is like that because the text system is wildly different in Japan than America. You can see it in some animes too where they're texting what to us looks like an email address. It's just an odd culture/tech development difference between us.

Yeah. And although this is true for everything, the opportunity cost is larger for going into the TV on days without rain because 1) certain rainy monsters drop rare materials but they only appear on rainy days and 2) almost no one wants to hang out on rainy days, so there's a limited number of things we can do on those days and going into the TV is one of them.

It's another day to go to school. Pockets hears that there are new jobs posted on the bulletin board.



Chatty Girl: I wonder if there's anything there I can make some easy cash with.
Braided Girl: Hmm… I don't think you have the Diligence to handle a job that takes a lot of time.
Chatty Girl: That's so mean! Maybe I don't… But, I bet I'll be more diligent if I get a job! I bet you wouldn't do too well with a job where you have to work with others because you lack Understanding, huh?

Today in class, we learn about ancient civilizations.



Ms. Sofue: Mesopotamia means "the land between the two rivers" in Greek. In other words, the civilization was built between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Mesopotamia, Indas, Egypt, Huang He… All of the four great ancient civilizations rose from river land. The rivers provided many blessings, which allowed the cultures to flourish. Mesopotamia had some distinctive laws… Mr. Hanamura, wake up! Pop quiz! What was the commonality among the four great ancient civilizations!?

We help Yousuke cheat, as usual.



This is mostly about whether you've been reading the classroom dialog. The game also tries to trick us into choosing the wrong option, "between rivers", but we're not falling for that!

Ms. Sofue: Hmph, I guess you were paying attention. You're right, civilization began near rivers. You should keep those words in mind. "Civilizations" and "by the river." It'll be helpful when you need it. Anyhow… I'm glad you got it right. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." …You'd be in big trouble if you were in Mesopotamia.
Yousuke: …What's she mean by that?
I owe you big time for this, Souji. I better stay awake next time…

And we get the usual rewards!



After class, the game wants us to check out the job board, so we do that.



There are a few jobs available here, but we don't have the prereq for some of them. Among the ones we can take are the envelope folding job.



This one doesn't pay very well, but it doesn't have any prereq. Also it's the reliable way to gain Understanding in the evening.



If we try to take a job we're not qualified for, like this one...




... the game won't let us.



The other job we can take is on the other page.



It says "Understanding required", but that's totally a lie. It has no prereq, and raises Understanding.



Our schedule is slowly filling up!

Today is in fact Saturday, so we can start working right away. On his way to the bus stop to go to work, Pockets notice that there's a poster for the next book on sale.



The bus stop tells us when there's somewhere we can go.

At the daycare center...



Boy: Mister, do you have a girlfriend?
Girl: Don't ask him that, you creep!
Boy: Let's play tag, Mister! You're it!
> You survived the children tugging you in every direction.



In the end, every kid got picked up except one.



Day Care Supervisor: How are things, Souji-kun? Has everyone been picked up? Looks like Yuuta-kun is still here. It's always like this, though…

Right as she says that, a woman shows up. Yuuta quickly runs to Pockets's side.



Boy: …Whatever.
Woman: Are you… one of the supervisors? I see… I'm sure Yuu-kun will cause you trouble, but please take care of him…

The woman leaves with Yuuta, and we gossip with the daycare supervisor.



Daycare Supervisor: He's full of energy during his play sessions… Maybe too much energy. But once she arrives, he's a totally different kid… She's his stepmother, so I guess it can't be helped. Yuuta-kun's father got remarried to that woman you just met. I heard she's from the city… I really don't know what she's thinking. Perhaps that's why Yuuta-kun is a troublemaker at school, too… The other day, he…
> The caretaker continues gossiping…



Oh, uhm... it looks like we have to go through an "introduction" first before we can start that social link. Ah well. At least we earned 4000 yen, and the social link is there ready to be started!

At home, Nanako also talks about part-time jobs. If you haven't noticed, the theme of the day is Jobs.



Then Pockets goes back to his room and read A Great Man again.





Woohoo! Our first stat increase! We're half way to being able to start Moon!

The next day is a Sunday.



As Pockets is contemplating what to do, he gets a phone call.



Kou: If you're bored, let's hang out. I'll call up Daisuke too. How's that sound?

Occasionally, people will call and ask Pockets to hang out on Sunday. Sometimes these Sunday dates can give more music notes to several social links. Sometimes we can rank up during them, but not always.


So, what do we do today?

- Accept Kou's invitation and hang out with Kou and Daisuke: this is a unique Strenght event

- Hang out with Yousuke: we can usually find him at Junes on Sundays

- Eat steak or something

We can also just be a recluse and stay at home to and spend all day to...

- Study: increase Knowledge

- Read A Great Man: increase Courage

- Fold envelopes: increase Understanding

I'd also note that the Persona forecast for this day is "Skill Changes", one of the more valuable ones. We won't be able to take advantage of this if we choose to hang out with Strength. On the other hand, it's questionable how many personas we can fuse with our limited budget and there's always other Skill Changes days!

Hang out with Kou and Daisuke.

What is Pockets wearing at daycare? Did he put a dress on over his normal clothes or is this another Japanese custom?

It's just an apron. Beneath it, he's wearing the same white sweatshirt and jeans he wears when he watches the Midnight Channel at home. You just don't see where the apron ends because of the camera angle.

You had me at "unique".

More time with Kou and Daisuke!

Short update today!

Pockets agrees to spend Sunday with Kou and Daisuke.



The venue is again Okina station. This seems to be a popular out-of-town hangout place.





It's kind of funny that when we were here with Yousuke just a few days ago, the conversation was just the opposite of this.

Kou: Is the town you come from as backwater as Inaba then, Pockets? I bet you had way more to do than go to Junes, though.
Daisuke: Hey, I like Junes. It's super convenient, and they've got like, everything. That Yosuke dude is hilarious, too.
Kou: Huh? What does Yosuke have to do with anything? Although now that I think about it, aren't you friends with him, Pockets? The four of us should hang out sometime.
> The three of you have a good time together…

This event is not rank-up-able, so Pockets just goes home after that. A rank-up from 2 to 3 can be done pretty much immediately if we always carry a Persona of the right arcana, so before we already had enough for rank 3 and because extra points don't carry over to the next rank, this event is kind of a waste in some senses. On the other hand, this event is unique --- unlike social link scenes, if we miss this we'll never see it. Additionally, Strength will ask Pockets out on Sundays a few more times, and on certain days Pockets will gain something valuable (but not social-link related) if he attends. So, you'll never know!

After that, it turns out there's also an evening phase. Oops. I never polled this, so I'll go with what was voted for last time.

But before that, we check the weather channel.



Ominous rainy days ahead of us! After 3 days of rain, it will definitely become foggy. If we don't rescue Yukiko by Saturday, it's game over.

Chie thinks the same thing.





But, being a man of clear priorities, Pockets has to first finish his book.





No more courageous books for the time being, it looks like!

Now, for the next day!

April 25

1/ Afternoon:

- Join a cultural club: cultural clubs are open for new members tomorrow! In our case, we will join the Drama club unless suddenly Music receives a few more votes. This will also start a new social link, Sun.

- Work at the daycare: this will start the Temperance social link --- for real this time!

2/ Evening:

Since we finished the book, there's only one thing to do here: study.

Join the club.

Club time!

On his way to school, Pockets overhears the two girls talking about clubs.



Chatty Girl: You're welcome to join, even if you're already in a sports club. Hmm… Which cultural club should I join?
Braided Girl: Huh? You mean you joined a sports club after all that whining? And now you're trying to join a cultural club!? Don't say you're confident just because you wished for luck in your exams!
Chatty Girl: Look, colleges look more at your extracurricular activities than your grades, right? I think I should be joining clubs so I can show that I'm a real team player!

I was kind of surprised to read this, because colleges looking more at extracurricular activities is a very American thing, and is not the case pretty much everywhere else (especially not Japan). Then I figured it's probably a localization thing.

We run into Chie at the school gate, too.



Chie: Hey, have you been checking the weather report? It's not gonna be good by the end of the week! Will there be any fog...?



Chie: ... I know! Let's save her!

Before we can join a club, though, we must first survive an in-class quiz. They're all wearing their PE uniforms, but you can tell which one is Yousuke by his unique hair.



Mr. Kondo: Just because it's such nice, warm weather doesn't mean you have time to be drowsy! It's dangerous to fall asleep sometimes, you know that? I mean, you could get mugged, or a thief could sneak into your house! Hey, Pockets!



Answer: 8AM.

Mr. Kondo: Yup, as Pockets says, mornings are the most dangerous time! You should be ready to react to anything in the morning!
Hm? You don't care because you're at school by that time?
…… Well, alright! Lets shake the sleepies out with a little endurance training! Line up, ladies and gentlemen! Let's take a jog around the school!



I kind of wonder where these questions get their statistics, but I guess we'll never find out!

After class, the game reminds us of our options this afternoon.



First thing first. We go to the faculty room. It's on the first floor, where the first-year students are.



As luck has it, King Moron is inside.



Mr. Morooka: Ohhh, no! I know what you're really after! You're just trawling for girls, aren't you? Admit it! Listen up! A club is supposed to be...



Mr. Morooka: The cultural clubs? You'd better not be interested in them just so you can meet girls, Mister! …You can join either the drama club or the band. Both clubs meet on the ground floor of the Practice Building. Go find them yourself! Before you go… The culture clubs meet on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday! So are we done here!? Go home already! Are you staying at school to hang out with a girl later on or something!?

Geez, what is his problems with girls?

We can go straight to the Practice building. Eager to do this, I forgot to go to the shopping district and buy the soda cans for the week. Ah well, there's always tomorrow!



The music room is at the end of the hall.



There's a practice going on, and Ayane (who you will never get to know!) is struggling to keep up.



Anyways, that's not why we're here. We find the drama club in the meeting room.



Looks like there's a practice going on, too.



Male Student: Ready? The sixth chick cheek's shixth cheep… Argh!

That's a hard tongue twister! Took me several tries to say it. But someone else can say it easily, it looks like.



Brisk Student: You're still not saying it correctly. Come on, you're our club president.
Male Student: Oh, a new guy? You're Pants, from second year, right? The transfer student? I see, I see. Welcome to the drama club! I'm the club president, Nagai. And this is…

Yumi Ozawa: I'm in the second year, same as you. It's nice to meet you.
Suspicious Student: Yumi, are you trying to get your hooks into the new guy already?
Yumi Ozawa:Huh? Not in the slightest. Anyway, let's continue practicing.
Drama Club President: We don't have a stage, and we haven't decided on a script yet, so we're just training. I'm sure you'll catch on. Our club meets on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
Kind Student: We're not gonna throw you out if you don't show up, but the more you train, the better you get, right? I think being in the drama club helps you learn how to express yourself more eloquently. Oh yeah, I'm the club's vice president. I'm not really much help, though…
Drama Club President: That's okay, Maaya. I know you put a lot of effort into it. Besides, you're so cute…
Drama Club Vice President: Don't call me Maaya in front of everyone!
> it seems to be a friendly club…

I didn't get the screenshot, but there are two pink hearts floating above them just right before it says "it seems to be a friendly club."

Yumi is tired of them.



A little bit later...



Yumi: That was good! You've gotten a lot better than when we started!
> Yumi seems proud of you.
Yumi:Huh! School's over already! Everybody's already gone! I didn't even notice…



Given how Yumi is, I just had to choose this!

Yumi: I'm glad to see you can take orders.
> Yumi smiles cheerfully.
Yumi: Well, fate must've brought us here. Let's do the best with what we have.
> You joined the drama club and became acquaintances with Yumi Ozawa.
> Yumi is enthusiastically devoting her time to acting…
> You feel a faint bond forming between Yumi and yourself…



A new social link! To hang out with Yumi and advance this social link, we must go to Drama practices. Going to drama practices also "greatly increases" our Expression. Additionally, the drama club meets even when it's raining. It's one of the very few things we can do when it rains, and one of the only two social links available on rainy days (the other one is Hermit). In my playthroughs I tended to only hang out with Yumi/Ayane on rainy days for this reason.



Yumi: I have a DVD you can borrow. It'll definitely help your technique.The other members in the drama club don't watch this kind of stuff, or even talk about it…
> Yumi passionately discussed acting as you walked home together…

It's the evening, and Nanako is watching TV again. We save the game, and conspicuously avoid looking inside the fridge. After all, we're determined to study this evening.



No double for us this time, either.

Voting for the next day!

Tuesday, April 26

1/ Afternoon:

- Go to basketball practice, hang out with Kou: also raise Diligence

- Go to drama practice, hang out with Yumi: also raise Expression

If we'd already rescued Yukiko, Chie would also be available to hang out today. But currently, she's still worried about Yukiko and only wants to go into the TV.

2/ Evening:

There's nothing we can do but study and avoid the fridge.

Kou and study

I'll vote for going into the TV.

My vote is to spend time with Kou, and go rescue Yukiko on Wednesday.

I think we have slightly more Diligence, right? So more Expression would be good.

This is a pretty crazy Chie-face.

Hang out with Yumi!

Oh no, a tie! What do I do?

Strength sounds useful for rescuing kidnapped maidens.

Pockets sees Chie on the way to school.



Chie: Looks like it's gonna start raining tonight. *sigh* I've never had to worry about the weather 24/7 like this. I can't sleep at night, either. I think I'm starting to suffer "weather neurosis" or something...



(As far as I'm aware, the choices in the early morning conversations don't really make any difference)

Chie: Yeah... I know... Let's hurry.

Speaking of Chie, someone has problems answering questions in class today, and it's not Yousuke.



Mrs. Nakayama: Supposedly, it knows how to search the change dispenser of the vending machines. How amazing is that? Even animals can learn the value of money… I guess I'll have to keep my wallet more secure from now on. Students, at your age you might not understand, but money is very important! You can't do anything without it! And you know, smarts don't guarantee wealth. …Anyway, I guess I should do what they pay me for and lecture you. Let's see, we left off talking about the properties of whole numbers… Oh, here's an interesting one. A natural number that's half the sum of its positive divisors is called…? Come on, look at the third page of the handout. What's the answer, class?
Chie: Huh? I can't find my handout…



This one is kind of a hit-or-miss for people. If you don't know it, then you just don't. I took number theory in college, so this wasn't a problem for me.

Answer: It's a perfect number.

Mrs. Nakayama: Right, a perfect number. Satonaka-san, please come pick up an extra handout if you don't have one. Now, about these perfect numbers… The first one is six, then 28… Then we jump to 496, and then the next one is 8,128. For your information, no perfect number that is also odd has been found yet. That's why these numbers are so special.
Anyway, let's move on. This is the Mersenne Prime. It's really quite…

Then, it's lunch time...



Since we plan to go to basketball practice today, we decline.

Kou also comes up and says something.



As a side note, whenever a schoolmate comes up to Pockets during lunch and asks him to handout, we know that that character is ready to rank up. At the lower ranks, we rank up at the rate of 1 rank/time slot so this doesn't matter much, but when we reach the higher ranks, it will be slower.

Before we go to basketball practice though, there are a few things to do. Like ordering soda for the week...



And helping out a classmate...



Male Student: My first thought was, "This is horrible! I'm stuck with King Moron as my homeroom teacher!" But, now… My spring… It isn't over just yet…



Male Student: Alright! Well, what I want you to do is... Do you know that girl from our class who always goes up to the roof? …I want you to go see what she's up to. No! Th-That's not what I meant! I, uh… I just wonder what she does up there, that's all. Think you can ask her for me? Like, what's her hobby…

And so Pockets Pants, heroic matchmaker, begins his journey to the roof.



What a unique hobby! But before we could ask what she's been doing on the roof, she didn't want to talk to us anymore.



Guess we'll have to come back tomorrow! Anyway, it's finally basketball time. First we get more diligent.



Then we hang out with some friends.



Kou: Let's grab some grub!

As Kou says that, Daisuke from somewhere runs toward us.



Kou: Alright, let's get changed, then head over to Aiya... Oh damn! I forgot, I can't!
Daisuke: What are you arguing with yourself about?
Kou: Sorry, I just remembered some personal stuff I gotta take care of. You two go on ahead. Sorry, guys!

Kou leaves us behind with Daisuke.



Daisuke: Today's the day he goes before the almighty "House of Ichijo." Hm, well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I told you. In fact, I could use your help...
> Daisuke looks serious...
> You head to Aiya and listens to what Daisuke has to say...

This is Aiya, the restaurant right next to where the job board is. We'll see more of it through the Strength social link, and Pockets will also come here on a few rainy days to eat in the rainy day challenge.

Daisuke: I don't really like talking behind his back like this, but...



Daisuke: Yeah, thanks.
> Daisuke nods somberly.
Daisuke: It's about Kou's family. He lives by himself, but his parents' place is like, right next door.

How does this even happen? I mean, a high school kid leaves by himself when his parents' place is just next door? =/

Daisuke: Once a week or so, he drops by there, like he did today. His family is -- what's the word I'm looking for -- distinguished? Very traditional, very strict. You'd never know just by looking at him, though... The head of the Ichijo's family is Kou's grandma. They follow her orders like she's the law. Problem is, the old crone doesn't approve of him playing basketball. She calls it "barbaric."



Daisuke: Yeah...
> Daisuke nods and sighs.
Daisuke: He's been forced to quit a lot of things since he was a kid. But not basketball. He can't give this up.



I'm not sure what we can do here, but Pockets never says no to a request for help!

Daisuke: Okay... I'm glad I came to you.
> Daisuke looks relieved.
Daisuke: I'm glad I can rely on you.

But he hasn't done anything!

> You sense Daisuke's trust in you.
> After worrying about Kou with him, you feel your relationship with the pair has grown deeper...



And so the conflict starts!



Daisuke: ... I forgot I used up my allowance.
... H-Hey, how about some zha-cai? Those are good.



Yeah, I'm not sure what they are either.

> You talk with Daisuke for a while about school.
> You decided to go home after saying goodbye.

By the time we get home, it's started raining. Just look at the weather icon!



Nothing to do here, so we again avoid the fridge and goes upstairs to study.





A double increase! But wait...



Yay!

Tomorrow is a rainy day! As for voting:

Wednesday April 27

1/ Afternoon:

- Actually the only thing we can do is to go into the TV, so we'll do that.

2/ Evening:

- Actually when we go into the TV, we'll be too exhausted that night to do anything But wait, there's that fridge we've been ignoring!

So... yeah, I guess there aren't really any vote

Actually something we can do other than going to the TV is to eat at Aiya. Eating at Aiya costs 3k and will give an increase to 3 stats. So if you want, you can choose that instead!

Nah, we've been skirting far too close to the deadline here. Let's save Yukiko and have SUPER MEAT later.

Go into the TV.

I have been playing basketball for many years and I have yet to hear of someone polishing a basketball. Mopping the floor, sure, though I don't understand why the school's janitorial staff wouldn't do it.

I'm starting to find Nanako kind of creepy. I hope she does something other than watch TV and memorize ad jingles at some point.