UPDATE EPP TATSUYA ADDITIONAL SCENARIO

SPOILERS FOR P2IS AND P2EP YOU DUMB FAGGOT, WHY THE FUCK HAVEN'T YOU PLAYED THEM YET

Hello, SMTG. Here's a summary of the first two parts of the first Tatsuya episode. By the way, some of these might be slightly wrong and Tadashi's style is rather poetic and fond of lesser used kanji, so sorry in advance for any mistakes. If there's anyone to double-check, I'd gladly listen.

Interestingly enough, Shiori is living in the same place as Maya and Ulala, Lunar Palace in Kounan. She lives by herself in such a big place and urges Tatsuya to make himself comfortable, showing him his room and the room with a TV he might want to use. Tatsuya says nothing and his long shadow that falls on the floor tells the story of his state of mind - confusion, rejection and, last of all, solitude. He does his things by himself and plans to disappear, like a shadow in the dark. But Shiori won't let him. What happened ten years ago makes this not only his story, but -their- story.

I'm really slow, yeah, mainly because I'm only editing and retranslating some stuff now. Probably one more part after this.

We're at Club Zodiac now! Shiori approaches Anna and gives her a card from her notebook, with her full name and profession - police officer. Above the writing is her photo, showing a blunt face she doesn't like.

Shiori introduces herself as working for the juvenile department of the Kounan Police, but Anna tries to avoid her, saying she only came to go to the toilet. Shiori's words, however, make her stop and turn. She came to tell her something, yet Anna seems to misunderstand. Shiori then reminds us of Anna's past as an athlete, her subsequent fall out of grace and her efforts to find a place where she belongs.

Back to the present, Anna finds out that the guy whose car hit her, Kaneda Taisuke, has been killed. Shiori notes this is the first time Anna's expressionless face, unfitting for age, shows a bit of life. She has an alibi and they both know, but what Shiori wants is to find out whether Anna has heard about the JOKER; she hands her a piece of paper with the words "You're next." Anna doesn't seem to know anything and Shiori explains the whole curse and mentions that a similar paper was found in Kaneda's house. It seems the JOKER always sends a note like this, unbelievably enough, just as the rumours say. Anna realises they think she wanted that dude dead but tells them to do it themselves next time. (really unsure about this sentence though)

Anna then realises that the address on the paper is Shiori's and shows, as the latter duly notes, her second expression of the day. Shiori confesses she actually gave JOKER her own name, making Anna lose her cool exterior, and asks Anna is she has tried to calling her own number. Even though it wouldn't normally connect, it did now and despite the silence someone had certainly answered. When Anna wants to find out why Shiori used her own name, she answers that she couldn't have possibly used someone else's and starts bombarding her with questions (how was it for you? does the JOKER only kill other people? doesn't he ask for a reward? have you ever seen his figure? could his hair look like a lion's mane? didn't he look around 27-28-years old?) All these questions make Anna retreat into herself again and she tells Shiori to just ask the JOKER himself, because if he's real, then he'll come to kill her and basically refuses to get involved.
After some introspection (sensing anxiety in Anna, remembering photos of the murder victims, thinking about unveiling the JOKER's true self), Shiori decides to solve the case with her own strength. She then confronts the blond man about the VIP floor; he tries to trick her, saying it's being renovated, new owner, etc, but Shiori subtly threatens him about suspending the club's business, until he decides to let her in.

Small explanation here about this type of clubs that would normally close at midnight, but they now last until the morning and host a lot of shady business, etc. The man gives her two keys and she gives him her business card, instructing him to announce her over the phone if someone else wants to go to the VIP floor and to call sergeant Suou in case she doesn't get out until morning. Shiori gets ready to go, pondering that even though she doesn't know what's beyond the door, she does know -him-. Just as she's about to leave, Anna comes again and finds out that the victims were only targeted when they were alone, which is obviously Shiori's strategy. Anna believes her and when she's instructed to go home, mentions detective Suou. If he'll come that night, Anna is to tell him what he told Shiori and explain anything he might not understand. This is when no.501 is first mentioned, since Suou doesn't think Anna would have tried to contact him.

After this, Shiori enters the VIP floor which she realises was supposed to be a secret as long as no.501 was here. This is a place only influential customers can use, having been bought by the Taiwanese mafia. Walking along the gaudy walls, Shiori calls her own number and the phone rings five times until someone picks up. It seems the rumours were true after all. She finally reminds him to kill Minashiro Shiori and decides to uncover his identity the same night.

Some random stuff that didn't make it -
- Shiori acts kind towards Tatsuya, no-nonsense towards Anna (in the beginning) and towards the blond man whose name escapes me.
- the shadow thing is namedropped a couple of times in the beginning in relation to Tatsuya; the second one is rather interesting, "like a shadow lost in the dark, together with the sunset"
- Shiori likes observing and mentioning Anna's facial expressions; I tried to capture that, but seeing how this is a rather shitty summary, I couldn't really reproduce her way of talking. It's kind of funny though, the way she's like "aha, another expression"
- I really like Tadashi's writing style and it makes me think Persona 2 would make a pretty cool full-length novel. By the way, does anyone know the author of the two or so novels?
- forgot to mention that Club Zodiac was Kasugayama's before Taiwan took over, but eh, we knew that
- Shiori is pretty awesome but fuck does she have a lot of inner thoughts about stuff we already know. Also, pic related

>Thank you.
>I'll only dance until morning.
>If I survive, that is.

Haha, time for Tatsuya POV! (had more than four hours of sleep this time and it shows)

This time we're in the garage of the Suou family. That one scene from the ending of IS reappears and confirms it's the moment Tatsuya remembered everything - him belonging to the Other Side, what had happened there and, of course, his dear friends: Maya, Yukki, Eikichi, Lisa; Jun too...Their vows, the friends he had been separated from, he was looking at them and Maya...Maya was smiling at him and talking.

>Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?
>Sorry, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain.
>Oh...hey, have we met before?

Tatsuya remembers the promise he had made with Jun, that he'd protect that smile. And yet, he had failed. The first time, ten years before; the second time, in -his- world; the third time...
Full of remorse, This Side's Tatsuya ran away and decided to go to sleep.

>If I don't see anything, if I don't hear anything, if I don't feel anything, without destroying the peaceful life everyone's gained... maybe then will I feel at ease.

Nevertheless, -he- couldn't overlook that.

>Something's voice: Run away from your sin, it's all right if you hide. But you surely know what is going to happen to this world. Oh, puppet pulled by the strings of fate, no one can run away from the jaws of the soul's darkness. I'll be waiting. I'll be waiting...

>In my dream, -he- branded my right hand with a mark. Tracing the sin, a mark of someone entranced by shadows.

Tatsuya decides there's only one thing he has to do: fight them by himself. He's the only one -he- can do what he likes to. But he won't let -him- hurt Maya or the world his friends are living in. And even then, it won't be easy; that is why Tatsuya is willing to give everything he's got in exchange for burning -his- entire world to ashes. That is the only way he'll be able to redeem himself.

This Side's Tatsuya's phone suddenly rings; it's not his brother, but he remarks that the relationship between them is the same on both Sides.

The call is from Anna. He knew that This Side's Tatsuya hangs out with her, but he is now the Tatsuya of the Other Side. He can't reply to her either. It takes 10, 20, 30 calls until he has no other choice but to answer. He's borrowed this body, so he'll contact Anna too.

Anna is worried because she thought Tatsuya had been in an accident. She had been waiting for This Side's Tatsuya at Zodiac and now answers with relief and doesn't blame him for anything. The only one who can hear this kind of voice is This Side's Tatsuya, because Anna is his precious friend, like the ones Other Side Tatsuya had; this thought makes Tatsuya's heart hurt.

Anna tells him about the strange detective woman who gave JOKER her own name, then went to the VIP floor and asked Nakamura (blond guy, aha!) to contact Tatsuya's brother in case she doesn't get out until morning. Anna advises Tatsuya to stay at home because she's going to check on things.

Hearing her say the JOKER's name is quite shocking to Tatsuya though, especially after fighting her on the Other Side. However...

>Don't do it, Yoshizaka. Don't go in under any circumstance. I will. I'm going to the club right now. Don't get close to the JOKER.

Anna is suprised by hearing Tatsuya call her by her last name, but decides to listen to him. He's worried both about her and the other woman; getting worried about using the right name will have to wait.

Tatsuya recalls how on the Other Side his best friend Jun's memories got distorted by -him- and how he donned the JOKER mask. But Jun protected their last promise, gave up his memories of the Other Side and started living peacefully on This Side as Kashihara Jun.

Not Jun, but someone else has become This Side's JOKER, repeating the murders all over again as -his- pawn. Tatsuya remembers the last stanza of the Oracle of Maiya and realises the same thing is going to happen to This Side too because -he- knew from the very beginning what decision they were going to take.

Concerned about Anna's words, Tatsuya grabs his helmet and, in the dark of the night, heads on his bike towards the city, resolving the destroy -his- imperfect petty tricks and, lastly, -him- too.

Random stuff!

- Tatsuya inner monologue in the beginning is really, really sad and full of regret. Having it voiced would have been amazing.
- I'm happy we got to see Tatsuya and Anna talk to each other, even though it's the wrong Tatsuya; seeing them take care of each other is really nice
- the Japanese term for scatterbrain is fucking impossible - おっちょこちょい - occhokochoi. Seriously, Japan.
- the Voice likes using old Japanese and my dumb got the best of me at some point, so I couldn't understand whether it's telling Tatsuya to wait or saying it will wait. Pic related
- ok, who else thought Shiori was talking about Suou dad? Because I definitely did. It does tie several subplots nicely though.
- two major emotions: love and concern for his friends and big sis and sheer and utter hatred towards Nyarl. The way Tatsuya oscillates between the two is quite powerful

>His petty tricks of messing with the laws of cause and effect are imperfect, so I'm going to rip them to shreds.
>And lastly, him too...

As soon as Tatsuya arrives at Zodiac, he is greeted by Anna, who runs towards him slightly dragging her right foot behind. He's obviously displeased that she's still there but Anna apologises and explains everything. As soon as she stops talking, Nakamura, an aquaintance of This Side's Tatsuya intervenes and mentions both Katsuya and Shiori. Tatsuya asks for the key and the whole story. Nakamura says he told him everything and how he was instructed to call the detective in case someone gets in. Tatsuya says it's ok if he doesn't call; he takes the woman's card from the counter and memorises her name and phone number. The next moment, he quickly takes the card and burns it to ashes. Nakamura thinks it's a trick and even the eyes on Anna's unmovable face are wide open: they couldn't see Apollo's arm.

When Tatsuya asks for the key, Nakamura hands it nervously, saying it's the only spare he's got; he forgot the other one in the staff room. Tatsuya then goes behind the counter and takes a wooden sword, because, hey, this is that kind of club. This Side's Tatsuya knew Nakamura used it for self-defense, and, obviously, so did the Other Side's Tatsuya. Nakamura panics when he realises Tatsuya wants to go after the JOKER; Tatsuya then mentions things might get troublesome if it's the same as the Other Side and Nakamura just doesn't understand anything anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK6qbqq-D30

When he wants to leave, though, Anna confronts him about things getting rather strange; he silently compliments her sharp woman's intuition, thinking she's got things half right. However, it's only natural to have suspicions. This Side's Tatsuya is more open towards them. In a clumsy imitation, Tatsuya tries to laugh it off. But still, this is not like him.
Anna understands though and doesn't move, so the only thing Tatsuya can still do is tell her the truth.

>I am me. Is there anyone else you can see here?

So he does, explaining about the wound on the back of the Other Side him that has started appearing on This Side too, a sign that the two worlds are beginning to merge. Anna listens without laughing, raising her eyes to him. She's tall for a girl, but even so, she's still a head shorter than him.

Tatsuya tells her it's dangerous and urges her to go back home. Anna lowers her gaze and wonders if that person will get killed, saying she told her terrible things.
Tatsuya has no idea what she's talking about, but doesn't want to hurt her. It's not her responsibility that things got this way. It's the other person's. He comforts her, saying he came specifically not to let her die. Anna worries about Tatsuya's plans, but he answers he has to pay for his sin.

Nakamura asks him to stop ruining the club and to take care of his precious sword.
Tatsuya decides to enter the VIP floor and promises himself he won't let anyone hurt anymore and that this time he will end it all.

He notices how Zodiac's corridors are now done Chinese-style compared to the cheap constellation patterns on the Other Side.

He's attacked by several monsters he's never seen before: neither bats, nor bees or ants. Ghastly creatures that inspire uneasiness.The demons start making sounds, and all Tatsuya can understand is "Biyakii", "Baiakuhee", "Ia ia Hastur", but he realises they belong to -him-.
When the demons die, they turn into a violent burst of foam similar to dry ice, leaving behind a terrible smell.

No time to complain though; he needs the other key from the staff room. He takes care not to break anything, for Nakamura's sake. As soon as he sees the staff room he runs towards it. He can hear faint music from the inside, and thinks that Shiori might be in there, but he's not sure whether she's still alive. He knocks but there's no sign that the door is open; bringing the key was a good idea. Another secret room, but no Shiori inside.

A normal detective wouldn't make it this far and Tatsuya is also bothered that the only police force member that she wanted to be contacted was his brother.Something's not right...no way, what if there's a connection between the police and the JOKER?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVYT1h4U4iQ

As he approaches the table with the key, dirty tentacles extend towards him accompanied by a nauseating stench that fills the entire room. Tatsuya hasn't seen this kind of demon before either. Somehow, the demons from This Side look more grotesque than the ones on the Other Side. Bad taste.

>Ia! SHUB-NIGGURATH!

Like an octopus, like a twisted tree, its body spews a viscous liquid from countless mouths and its fangs make all kinds of sounds. Its black goat legs complete an appearance that would drive an ordinary person insane.

Before Tatsuya kills the demon, we listen to his inner thoughts about the collective unconscious (...really Tatsuya, this is not the time). There's stuff we already know, about archetypes, etc.

Gods and demons do not dwell in heaven or in the underworld, but in the hearts of humans. Personae train both the body and the soul. The fact that he can expertly use the sword and is not afraid is thanks to his Persona.

Gods and demons aren't the only archetypes that sleep inside people's hearts. If the collective unconscious is the place where the hearts of all humans are reborn, perhaps master swordmen and gun experts and even he can enter somewhere. (not sure about this one, but kind of fits when we're thinking about historic figures?)

>However, you and I are unnecessary existences on This Side. Shall we go back?

Tatsuya is already in a hurry; he has to end it soon or the stench of the demon will make him suffocate.

>No matter how many Personae I use, if I can't breathe, I'm dead.

He somehow manages to get rid of that thing and flies out of the room. If Nakamura sees the state of this room he'll start yelling but Tatsuya gave his best. He only wishes This Side's him won't get all the blame.

>Tatsuya used the VIP floor key

Notes and stuff.

- was it mentioned in the original that Anna was dragging her foot behind? Because reading that was sad and unexpected.
- Nyarl's new demons accurately look like eldritch abominations (described them a bit when Tatsuya first meets those winged demons) and finding out how they die was pretty interesting
- I realised I forgot to correct their names/ what they said too. So I think it's Byakhee or something.
- Tatsuya calls that first fight "warming up"
- that second tentacle demon is literally described to smell like night soil, but I couldn't quite figure out how to add that he smelled like shit, so yeah. Also, his descriptions was pretty detailed; makes me wish we could see Persona 2 in HD
- I know I've said it before and that no one cares, but I really like the friendship between Anna and Tatsuya; it's refreshing to see that a boy and a girl can be close without anything romantic between them

Holy shit SMTG I just finished the first part. Thought it was never going to end.

>This dream again...I'm fed up with it.

Lately, investigating no.501 after work has also meant almost sleepless nights for Shiori. Even now, leaning on a wall of the VIP floor, she can see the golden butterfly fluttering about the round chamber encircled by pillars. He seems more fragile than usual, but she doesn't know why. The butterfly then turns into a mask-wearing man who always only asks for her name. She has seen it many times in the past because her older brother had pestered her to try a strange incantation.
As usual, the butterfly disappears and the masked man shows himself. His voice, neither that of a woman nor that of a man is hard to hear and his shape is flickering: you can see through him. What's more, the red tinge between the pillars moves more erratically than usual.

>No matter how many times you ask me, I won't tell you anything.

No one will believe her, even though she says the truth. She saw it. What she wants to know is his name, if the rumour that he's Sudou Tatsuya is true. The culprit of those serial killing ten years before is the son of the minister of foreign affairs, Sudou Tatsuzou. That means Sudou Tatsuya was identified by a policeman. Yet there's no proof of that.
She wants to prove that the JOKER and the criminal from ten years ago are the same person and to discover his whereabouts.
It took her ten years to get to this point.

The dream and memories become mixed up.
She uses the key and turns the knob. The door opens silently, the lights are off and on the dark dance floor is the shadow of a tall person holding a circular weapon, similar to a katana. She aims her gun next to the shadow's head and raises her voice, asking him to drop his weapon.

>Shadow: Miyashiro Shiori, huh.

She warns him again and the shadow stiffens a little but lets go of its weapon which Shiori kickst away. She tells him to put his hands behind his head and to get on his knees and the shadow silently complies. She can't let her guard down. The victims aren't only executed; they can also be bitten to death.She doesn't know what kind of other weapons he might be holding and if he shows even the slightest hint of resistance, she's going to shoot.

But truth is, she knos that even if no.501 is the culprit, he won't be judged; he's crazy, so he'll be institusionalised and countless months will pass until he leaves the hospital. He'll then be left free again in this corrupt world without receiving any kind of punishment. In this country, insane people who commit crimes do not undergo a trial. This kind of persons are considered mentally unsound until the very end. They won't be treated as culprits.

Using bindings on them has been done countless times, yet human rights activists opposed. Then what about the rights of the victims? What happens to the stolen rights of the mourning family who one day suddenly lose their ordinary but happy life?
The aggressor wasn't in a right state of mind. They are not fully accountable for their acts
A lost future with our loved ones.

>Shadow: Are you crying?
>Shiori: M-my eyes tend to water when I'm tensed!

The shadow tells her the weapon is just a wooden sword but Shiori wants to find out his identity. He calls himself Suou Tatsuya and she realises the 17-18-year old boy does resemble sergeant Suou. However, she's confused. Is he his son? Why is he here? Is he the JOKER? She asks for proof and notices Tatsuya refers to himself as if his wallet belonged to a different person. Shiori finds his driving license and is finally sure that Tatsuya is who he says he is, even though there's something different between the boy in the photo and the one in front of her. It's the eyes. There's something about this boy's eyes. It's like they suck you in. Do children have this kind of look? Resignation and understanding, he seems detached...
Answering her questions, Tatsuya explains that he knows her name thanks to the business card and seems surprised that she knows his father.

Things are going to get intense now

Shiori still thinks Tatsuya has something to do with JOKER, but he assures her that all he found out was from Anna and that, at this rate, Shiori might actually get killed by him.

>About that note? If you get it, then please leave right now.
>You don't get it, with that gun...

Tatsuya doesn't manage to finish his words because a fruit knife comes from the wall next to them and aims for the back of Shiori's head. Luckily enough, Tatsuya is really fast and he manages to grab her and hold her close. The ten centimetres long blade has gone through the entirety of the wall. Shiori is amazed by both the unknown person's force and by Tatsuya's speed.

>How long have you been there?
>Voice: From the very beginning, stuuu-pid.

The man's voice is right behind her and no.501 proudly boasts to his alcohol bottle how he was about thinking how to kill the woman but got interrupted. Shiori realises she had been alone in the dark with him until Tatsuya came, even though she had made sure there was no one else in the hall. Shivers run down her spine.
Without a moment's delay, Shiori takes her gun and points it towards the new other man.

>The face from ten years ago hasn't changed at all. There's no mistake, this is the man. The boy who stood besides Takuya's defiled body...That insane smile, impossibly to forget.
As expected, this guy was no.501. Sudou Tatsuya...I finally found you.

>>9502705
>Takuya
Shiori's brother, I presume?

>>9502868
Wait, I didn't mention that? Her younger brother. Damn, omissions, typos and bad formatting...what's next.

>Sudou: Ihi! So we meet again for the first time, stupid brat. The voices told me everything, about you and about the Other side.

He tramples the sofa in the middle of the floor and throws out his chest, taking a gulp from the dangling bottle of dry gin. His mane of unkempt hair, with patient clothes from some hospital, and a coat hanging on his shoulders; it all makes for a bizarre outfit. There's a Japanese blade in his hand and Shiori thinks this is reason enough to arrest him.
Tatsuya however heads towards Sudou without a hint of fear and before Shiori realises what's going on, he's holding the wooden sword she had kicked away. Confused, she steps back.

T: So you're This Side's JOKER.. Sudou Tatsuya. That's something -he-'d do.

Shiori realises the two had met before, but Sudou also said this was the first time. Who's -he-?

>S: You've changed, you've changed. Until that person awakens huuh. I'm not the real JOKER, you know. You should be the one who knows this beest.
>T: That's right. Jun isn't a filthy murderer like you. You're Sudou Tatsuya. You can't replace JOKER.
>S: Hyaha! Is that so...It's exactly so. That person wouldn't show such a filthy face. Thanks, stupid brat. There's a mask, you knooow, JOKER's mask.

Sudou chuckles and takes another gulp from the bottle. Alcohol drips down his neck, soaking his blood-stained clothes. That person...Replacement for JOKER...Shiori wonders what the two actually know.
Tatsuya actually encourages Sudou to start over, saying it is not too late. Shiori, however, reminds him the man is a criminal, a crazy one at that. She knows she isn't speaking from the position of a detective anymore, but she can't help it. Even if Sudou is rehabilitated, Takuya won't come back. Her outburst surprises Tatsuya, but he has not time to comment on that because Sudou starts his speech.

>S: You know the first law of thermodynamics, right? The energy of the universe is constant. only the shape differs. That's how it is. Me and him have the same destiny. If one's happy, the other one will have bad luck. You, you eat, don't you? If you can't eat it all, you throw it away, don't you? Just like that, there are people who die because they have nothing to eat. E'rrywhere in the world, you know. Yeah, now you get it. The voices are coool huh. Voices. That woman's little brother, you know, he was your replacement.
>T: My...replacement?
>S: You changed destiny that day because you ran away. In exchange, he got killed by me. Get it?

Tatsuya and Shiori listen to his story without tearing their eyes from one another. Takuya was that boy's replacement...?

>Listen, the phone. I'll kill Amano Maya.

As soon as Sudou says this, Shiori see the shape of a crimson man rising from Tatsuya's body at the same time with Sudou's black one. Both shadows violently lock their swords and clash in a similar manner above Tatsuya's and Sudou's heads. They're surrounded by flames.

>S: This is JOKER, the Persona born from your sin! What do you think, it looks just like you! Hyahahahahahahahha!
>T: Dare to lay one finger on Maya and I'll certainly find you and kill you. No matter what, no matter what world you're in!
>S: Whose fault is it that that woman died, haah? Whose fault is it that the Other Side got blown off huh!
>T: Shut up!
>S: You killed everyone. Poor thing, just like me. Look at it, look at my Persona's happy face! Loser! Murderer!!
>T: Sudouuu!
>S: Good, be angry! Get even more angry and get drowned in the voices too! Voices, voices! Vooooiceeeesss!!

Sudou disappears.

Stopping in the middle of the burnt floor, surrounded by smoke, Tatsuya slumps his shoulders as water from the sprinklers rains over him. In front of them is Sudou's sword.

>In the rain, a lonely silhouette recalling a lover lost long ago . A lonely figure...A lonely figure, as if cut off from a painting holding that title. Perhaps what I caught a glimpse of earlier was nothing but a dream.

Sudou ran away and since then, Tatsuya has remained still. Shiori silently approaches him and eventually he picks up Sudou's sword and grumbles.

>T: Your little brother's name was..
>S: Takuya. If he were alive, he'd be the same age as you.
>T: When did he die..
>S: On a humid summer night. On X day X month, ten years ago. On the grounds of a temple from Rengedai. I was the one who found him. Sudou threw Takuya's head in a bush and ran away.
>T: On that day...how could this happen...

Tatsuya looks miserable and Shiori thinks he resembles the golden retriever she and Takuya raised when their mother got angry. But this boy isn't a dog raised by people. She sees in him a wounded lion separated from his pack...
Shiori then tells him how the only other persons to see Sudou were Tatsuya's dad and one other policeman. Tatsuya's dad however was considered too dangerous so we all know what happened. She wants to stop talking, but she also wants to exchange information and work with him. Shiori feels that if she doesn't do this, she will fall into an endless hell.

The boy in front of her barely manages to stand on a hedge as thin as the blade of the sword he's holding. It really isn't right for such a young boy to wear this kind of expression.
Shiori then confesses that she only found the truth about his father recently and that she had resented him all that time. He was the very reason she had decided to become a detective. Now, though, she knew he was a splendid policeman. Shiori apologises that Tatsuya and his family had to bear the sin for protecting her from Sudou. It's regrettable...

>It's regrettable...

Shiori realises that the one to open the hardened door of his heart isn't her, but Maya.

>I'm sorry. What Sudou said was true. It's my fault your brother died...

Even at that time she still hadn't understood how heavy burden of his sin was.

Notes and stuff

- ok where do I begin. Please don't take the entirety of this translation as extrmely accurate or whatever. Sometimes I still had problems with syntax and some kanji (hard to read!), so yeah
- I feel the need to address Sudou's voices first because I burst into laughter every time he mentioned them, especially "The voices are coool huh. Voices."; he doesn't actually say voices in Japanese - he talks about denpa (electromagnetic waves); but it fits, because denpa is used for people who are, well, out of it and, in the beginning, for those who claimed they could hear voices.
- how old is Persona-sama and who started it? Sounds like an urban legend, but there's got to be a starting point. Also, Shiori seems to have the potential, yet she doesn't want it. Heh.
- also, nice information about Phil's voice
- when Shiori first meets Tatsuya, she actually tells him he's violated the Swords and Firearms Control Law
- her inner monologue following that, about crazy killers and their rights was long as fuck and it kind of sounded like Tadashi was criticising Japan...(Shiori says "in this country" several times)
- almost forgot, before that was something about bullets, their number and speed, but all those terms kind of lost me, sorry. I just hope Atlus will pick EPP up one day because this scenario needs a translator with actual experience
- she's also surprised Tatsuya can see her crying in the darkness (perhaps thanks to Apollo?)
- the part where Shiori notices that Tatsuya refers to the wallet as if it weren't his is because he never claims the stuff is his; he "thinks" "the" license is in "wallet". It's pretty neutral
- by the way, Shiori still uses the standard procedure, telling him to raise his hands, spread his legs, etc
- things go like this prior to Sudou's appearance: Shiori and Tatsuya banter -> Tatsuya takes her gun and holds her to his chest -> knife -> hyahaha
- reading Sudou's lines in Japanese is amazing. He's so utterly insane it makes me wish we got more antagonists like him. Also, there's a small bit after the first law of termodynamics I couldn't figure out at all. It basically said the same thing as the following lines, but things related to Physics have always been one of my weak points, so..
- the Persona battle is described from Shiori's point of view, hence the shape, shadows and so on. I found it interesting that she refers to Apollo as "shape" and JOKER as "puppet"
- the part with the lonely figure is her watching Tatsuya again
- she notices that the fire alarm never rang
- nice comparison between Tatsuya and a lion (a 獅子 - shishi- is also a left-hand guardian dog at a Shinto shrine)
- next update will be next week, although I don't think they'll be daily anymore. I'll do my best though!

TUNE IN MONDAY

Sup SMTG, guess who got back earlier than expected.

This part is pretty uneventful, but we get some insight into Suou dad's and Shiori's thoughts.

The following day, at Aoba Park, Shiori gives a middle-aged security guard the recording she made the previous day. Suou dad listens in amazement. It's only natural. Shiori wouldn't have believed it either had she not seen Tatsuya's and Sudou's Personae. The voice recorder holds Tatsuya's Tatsuya's words about the Other Side and about what might happen on This Side and Shiori mentally apologises for breaking her promise of silence. Suou dad is stumped when he hears about Personae, but if rumours come true, then...
Shiori takes out a lucky charm from her police ID card - it's a student card Tatsuya gave her which is said to protect one from JOKER; it has lately become a rumour among students and, truth be told, Sudou hasn't approached her since then. But no matter how you put it, it still sounds unbelievable. Adults need their adult reasoning. She then tells Suou to see it for himself at Parabellum, which, according to rumours, sells this kind of things.
Shiori then talks a lot about guns (seriously, Tadashi, stop it) and mentions she's got a big gun because obeying the rules won't help protect her against Persona and demon users. Suou is amazed that that's the real thing. So yeah, she's going all out.

>>9652104
I think Tadashi wants to write a wild west story.

>>9652261
Or an espionage one.

They talked during lunch break and Shiori feels sorry she kept him so long, but now they need to return to the main point. She tells Suou Tatsuya is still pursuing Sudou and that he's the only one who can do something. He believes that since he's the only one to get his memories back, he has to do something. However...Suou asks her about Katsuya. Katsuya doesn't know anything yet but it seems he's heading Maya's way. Tatsuya told her he doesn't want his family and friends from the Other Side to get involved, so he left home. Shiori thinks this is something the police, and not a child, should do. On the other hand, they both know the police can't be trusted.
Suou wonders about Togashi, but Shiori replies he's linked to Sudou Tatsuzou. It's obvious that Director Shimazu will hinder the investigation in order not to secure Sudou Tatsuya.
Clutching his head in his hand, Suou suddenly looks ten years older. Knowing that until this very day, he has to be legally supervised for participating in criminal activities after having been betrayed by his best friend must be painful. Somehow, this man still believes in Togashi.
Shiori says that right now, the only one who can defeat Sudou and protect the world is Tatsuya and admits that what she is saying is selfish. However, she can't let him carry this heavy by himself; she will support him as much as she can. Tatsuya needs the help of an adult who knows what is going on.

Even if killing Sudou might be called self-defense, it's still killing. No matter what kind of horrible person is the other one, the fact that he has taken someone's life will remain in Tatsuya's heart forever. Shiori decides that she won't let him do it alone and will share the burden.
She's worried that Suou won't let Tatsuya do his thing. Suou rises and the look of pain disappears from his eyes. He has chosen to watch over the son who is fighting against such a cruel destiny. Suou leaves Tatsuya to Shiori and says he'll talk to his wife and abandon the investigation. Shiori thanks him and bows deeply: now it's going to be a bit easier for Tatsuya to move. He's a kid who stands out though - it would be better if they removed any unneccessary obstacles, seeing that he's going to move all around the city.
Suou blames himself for his own carelessness and the way it affected his sons. He apologises to Shiori and says that in order to protect his family, he had to submit to Tatsuzou's threats. And now look at the situation she's in...

>The growing connections around Tatsuya look like an insane mandala of models a spiteful artist drew just to laugh at him. At first glance, each person seems disconnected, but, passing by someone else, they draw a map of similar relations. What about us, who unknowingly string our names together in there, what conclusion awaits us after these ten years?
>All the unbearable loss and despair, all the piled up feelings of sadness and anger, no one was ready for them. But there is still enough time to rise and stand straight. Don't dare make fun of humans.

Shiori, however, says she would have done the same thing as Suou had she been in his place. Besides, she is now glad to have joined the police. She met Tatsuya and is now able to lend a hand to the children who unfortunately commited sins without knowing the rotten society created by adults. Shiori wishes for a world where children like Tatsuya can live smiling. That is obviously an adult's job.
A woman announces that a blimp from the Air Museum is up in the sky and a man notes that the rumour was true after all. They both go to see it. Even though Shiori and Suou can't see it, they've also become sure that the rumour became true.
Speaking of which, just a bit earlier she had head a fire engine's siren. Shiori doesn't know why, but she has a feeling Tatsuya is riding on that blimp.

>Shiori: Please do it to the very end, Tatsuya...So you won't have any regrets afterwards.

Notes and stuff

- this one was short; contrary to popular opinion Suou dad had no idea about Persona and whatever
- it's kind of sad that he never managed to reconcile with his old friend and still being under supervision is shitty
- Shiori is pretty obsessed with the idea of adulthood; I tried to put in every reference she made about this being an adult's job, adults being better at this, etc etc; there's also a line in the beginning, when she breaks her promise - "Sorry, Tatsuya, adults are all right with telling lies."
- did I mention she calls Tatsuya "Tatsuya-kun?"
- important when it comes to the timeline - this happens in autumn (Shiori mentions the autumn breeze)
- Shiori carries the awesome gun in her coat and shows it to Suou who promptly asks her to hide it again
- Suou was eating anpan and drinking milk

Welcome to another part where nothing really happens and Tatsuya finds out things we already knew! Looks like we're getting a lot more action next time though.

A couple of hours later, Tatsuya returns to Lunar Palace. He announces this out loud, even though he knows Shiori is still at work, but entering someone else's house without saying anything would feel strange. He heads straight for the shower to wash the salty ocean water off.
Tatsuya knows that killing Sudou isn't the end. Maya hasn't given up either. It seems that she followed his and Sudou's trail together with Katsuya, Ulala and the others. He hoped they'd give up after saving Yoshizaka in the clock tower and finding out about the emblem rumour...but it was naive of him to think this. That warning itself was just like adding more fuel to the fire. Tatsuya muses on what happened with Anna, Jun and Sudou and regrets the fact that even though he didn't want to involve anyone, Jun still got caught in all that and remembered his face.
-He- must be already planning his next move. Tatsuya's sure he still hasn't departed one milimetre from the line -he-'s drawn.
Getting out of the shower, Tatsuya puts on the jeans Shiori got him and his suit in the dryer goes to his room, throwing himself onto the only piece of furniture, the sofa. Even though the room is bare, he's thankful that he's got a place to sleep and from where he could rush to Maya's place in case something happens. This is more than enough.

On the other hand, he doesn't want to involve Shiori in this anymore, but can't stop himself from remembering about her little brother, who was killed in his place. He was killed ten years ago, on the same day him and Maya were locked in the Araya shrine on the Other Side. Stuff we already know about the Other Side, they lost, Maya was revived in a new world where they had to rewrite history, so their meeting ten years ago was erased. Shiori's little brother was killed in order to fill that hole. Tatsuya understands now. Realising how history was changed is a present from -him-.

>Damn it! God damn it!

He pulls his hair. Tatsuya loathes -him-.

>Unforgivable. I want to kill him. I want to put an end to it.

He digs his nails in the mark left by -him- on his right hand.
The sudden sound of a phone ringing makes him return to his senses. The answering machine's response message is a tired voice similar to Maya's.
It's from a certain phone from Shiori's room.
But this is strange.
The one who answered doesn't talk, but he doesn't hang up either; he's just silent.
The door is slightly ajar and Tatsuya approaches it when an unexpected male voice starts whispering into the phone, asking Shiori to make contact with Katsuya.
The phone call and its message give Tatsuya a bad feeling. Jumping to his feet, he barges into Shiori's room and turns on the TV.

On the Other Side, -he- sent various people to their own destruction by turning rumours into reality and bringing anxiety among the population.
Playing with the JOKER rumour, especially since Tatsuya defeated Sudou, is a declaration that he will mess up This Side too.
Rumours and news are now a clue of -his- involvement.
He changes channels and sees Wang Long Chizuru who is talking about kegare and states that envy, hatred and the JOKER curse are no good because people will be turned themselves into JOKER. Tatsuya is in shock.
The TV announcer realises that JOKER does not select any particular individuals.
Tatsuya's heart starts beating violently and all the hairs on his body stand up. The memories from the Other Side and the knowledge of what has awakened on This Side start flying through his at a dizzying speed and he finally understands the meaning of Sudou's last words and of the earlier incident with the answering machine. The man who called knew both that Shiori had contacted JOKER and what Chizuru had mentioned. He was also implicitly warning her of the danger of becoming a JOKER. Tatsuya has no idea who he was, but that man knows what is going on. But he can't deal with it alone. That's why he asked her to contact his brother. Shiori told him she managed to mislead the police officers involved in the Sudou investigation, so perhaps this man is part of the police too.

Tatsuya calls Shiori, thinking that, even at the best of times, the JOKER still attracts society's attention. When this TV programme is broadcasted, it will become a rumour in the blink of an eye. It's only a matter of time until JOKER will appear all over the city.
Normal people would laugh at this programme. But what happens when a reknown fortuneteller talks about it? There will obviously be many people who will decide that this is either laughable or plausible.
Directly transmitted from people to people, anxiety and anger will spread like an epidemic and will end up substituting reality. This way, people destroyed the Other Side when curses became common knowledge, all according to -his- plans. The same thing is happening on This Side too.
Shiori isn't answering and the earlier message still bothers him. Tatsuya returns to his room, grabs Sudou's sword and flies out of Shiori's house. He has to find her before she kills anyone.

Notes and stuff

- the Maya voice thing confused the hell out of me in the beginning, because I thought Tatsuya was actually talking about her answering machine
- the part where he gets really angry at Nyarl came all of a sudden and it was rather distressing; almost sounded like he was getting hysterical
- who's the mystery man? Togashi perhaps?
- pic related is the announcer, they actually bothered to give him a face
- he's fighting and killing people with Sudou's sword...
- the next part takes place two days later and is at the laboratory with Eikichi. It's going to be super long (200+ screenshots), so I want a little input: should I split it up or should I post it all at once?



EPP guy here, I'll dump the last half of part two in a couple of days, I'll try to finish it as fast as I can. Luckily enough, there's a lot of dialogue, so things should flow easily. I stumbled upon some pretty depressing lines though. Oh yeah, and the main point - I'm dumb and forgot to mention the dates. Stuff doesn't happen from one day to the next, there are actually some timeskips. Here's a short timeline, as far as I've translated

Autumn 1999
13.xx -> Tatsuya recalls his meeting with the gang that triggered his memories
-> Shiori meets Anna
-> Shiori and Tatsuya meet Sudou for the first time + fight + we find out about Takuya
-> Shiori and Tatsuya decide to collaborate

02.xx -> Shiori meets Suou dad and shows him the recording + he finds out about Persona and rumours coming true
-> blimp fight + Jun meets Tatsuya again + Sudou is killed + Tatsuya finds out about the multiple JOKERs
04.xx -> Eikichi meets Tatsuya again + lab stuff + to be continued

Oh boy can't wait to see how bad all these arrows look

TUNE IN EVENTUALLY I GUESS??