#the detective akechi is berserk!

[yunoteru4ever]

Sakae Esuno's "Railway Angel" ( 鉄道天使 )

As previously promised, I've finally scanned in all of Sakae Esuno's "Railway Angel" — his first-ever published manga. Esuno submitted this one-shot story to Kadokawa in 2001 as part of an annual contest. He was awarded the "Ace Next Rookie Mangaka Encouragement Award," and the story was subsequently published in the September 2001 issue of Monthly Ace Next (月刊少年エース).

The story herein is both written and drawn by Esuno, who would of course go on to create Mirai Nikki/"Future Diary," Big Order, and more. And as far as I'm aware, this is the first time this story has ever been made available online. (It's only the Japanese original for now; y'all will have to wait for a scanlation somewhere down the line. Apologies.)

LINK TIME:

[yunoteru4ever]

I still have not read my German copies of the manga, but I wound up flipping through all the volumes to look for this chapter, and WELP — it is, of course, not there. Just as you say.

Back when I made that post, I called it 'Chapter 10' because it was the 10th monthly release of the manga. Assuming every issue contains one chapter of the story, that would be chapter 10. By my estimation, that means that if this was published in Shonen Ace, that puts this crossover story in the issue labeled February 2018... if it was even in the normal physical magazine and not some other offshoot. So I guess I need to keep an eye out for that one... if we can find/obtain a copy, we can try to confirm that.

I got the images for that post from a site that was sharing raw, untranslated scans of numerous manga monthly. Of course I don't have all the original images anymore, and that site is now gone. :(

Searching for a Future Diary Crossover

Calling out to the Future Diary community 🗣🗣I’m asking for help once again.

In today’s installment of things that keep me up at night, we have yet another piece of Future Diary media that has yet to be translated. For context, the author of Future Diary, Sakae Esuno, has written four original mangas in the following order: Hanako and the Terror of Allegory, Future Diary, Big Order and Detective Akechi is Berserk. The latter of these is the only one that hasn’t had an official English translation, and the only fan translations available are for chapter 1 alone. With that out of the way, let's get into the subject of this post.

The Future Diary x Detective Akechi crossover is a side story that was written after the release of volume 1 and 2 of Detective Akechi. It features the main characters of not just the two aforementioned stories, but all of the four mangas created by Sakae Esuno, making this his second and biggest crossover work. I found out about it through this post a couple of years ago and kept it on the backburner, until I decided to add it to the list of future translations I wanted to tackle. I thought it wouldn’t be too big of an issue since it seems like a short story that will be easy to find… oh my naivety.

According to the post above, the story seems to be situated in chapter 10 of Detective Akechi is Berserk. However, when I go into that chapter of the manga… it is nowhere to be found. In fact, it is nowhere in the manga. So, we have two options here: either the story is in an updated version of the manga (one different from mine), or it was published somewhere else. The first crossover Sakae Esuno wrote, which involved Future Diary and his first manga (Hanako and the Terror of Allegory), was originally released as a standalone piece, so maybe that’s the case for this story as well. That theory seems to be backed up by this tweet I found from Shonen Ace’s account.

The photo in the post is the first page of the crossover, and the bubble on the top-left corner claims that this is a special project to celebrate the release of volumes 1 and 2. If we take a look at the bottom-left corner, we see that this is page 103… of what? This is clearly a digital scan, so it’s not a regular Shonen Ace magazine issue (since those aren’t released digitally). It’s also important to note that in each volume of Detective Akechi, the page numbered 103 does not have this story, and in fact, that page is always situated in the middle of a chapter. This means that we’re dealing with a digital release that isn’t in the original manga.

Another confusing thing is that chapter 10 is the first chapter of volume 3, which would not coincide with it being on page 103. It would also be a discrepancy for the dates, since that tweet was from January 31st, 2018, and volume 3 was released in September 2018, meaning that the crossover was released before volume 3 itself.

More evidence for this would be the fact that I found a blog from someone who owns a physical release of this crossover, as seen in the following pictures.

The blog entry was from February 2018, so the crossover had to be released, both digitally and physically, before volume 3. Another thing to note is that, while the blog doesn’t contain much information, it does say at the end that they “unexpectedly came across the crossover while thumbing through the pages.” Pages of what exactly? We don’t know. What we do know from this is that the crossover was released between January and February 2018, before Detective Akechi finished publication, and it was probably featured in an unrelated issue of something (like a magazine) according to the blog entry.

So my question is then… where was this released? Shonen Ace? Another magazine? An updated version of the manga? I can’t seem to find the answer anywhere, as there’s practically no information about it online. And I’m still confused as to why the original poster mentioned chapter 10. I feel like I’m probably missing some information here, and that’s why I wanted to ask the community: does anyone know where this crossover was originally published?

PD: While the blog had plenty of images, it’s missing a few pages and the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired. So even with those images, I can’t create a proper TL. Anyway, I’ll keep this project on the backburner until I find more information about this. And also… I’m not planning to translate all of Detective Akechi, just the crossover because of Future Diary. I’ll be honest, Detective Akechi is by far my least favorite series of Esuno’s. It is practically an ecchi with the sheer amount of fan service that it has. And while normally this wouldn’t upset me… there’s a lot of scenes where the female characters are being straight up assaulted. It’s so heavy-handed at times that it really takes away from the story. I’m not a puritan by any means, after all, Future Diary has some questionable scenes too, but not to the point where it’s basically softcore porn. When it comes to my work (whether it be art or translation), I like keeping it SFW. So, even if it’s Esuno’s, it’s not something I’m inclined to work on.

[yunogasaikinnie]

My review and rating of The Detective Akechi is Berserk.

Despite the sheer amount of fanservice and scenes where the female characters get assaulted, it's actually an amazing manga that's a tribute to Edogawa Ranpo's works.

I'm rating it 10/10, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in Sakae Esuno's works.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Personas' Unique Skills

All this talk of Maruki made me think of the special skills that individual Personas can have. These are clearly born from some strong aspect of the User. Something strong enough to define them as a person. So to determine what counts as a Unique Skill(tm) I consider the following:

No other Persona in their respective games is able to do it.

Almost never included among the skills you can use during normal combat.

Users can just use it whenever without needing to power-up or receive a boost.

It's related to the User's personality and/or journey.

Must have possessed it from the moment they awakened to their Persona. It was a package deal.

Users can or have been shown to use it passively in their daily lifes.

Off the top of my head, here are the Personas with Unique Skills, though feel free to add more if you remember any:

MOT

Belonging to Reiji, it possesses a fear aura. Unlike everyone else on this list, this actually made Reiji's life harder. Useful while trying to be an edgy teen, not so much as a salesman.

AKUMA

Belonging to Kenta, it can create desire in people. He used it to make himself a successful salesman. You gotta respect the hussle.

NIGHT QUEEN

Belonging to Tomomi, it's less of an original power it had and more what it mutated into. By separating itself from Tomomi due to the Demon Mirror, the Night Queen could (potentially) bring an "eternal night" into the world. Maybe her original skill as a Persona was a weaker version of this. Maybe darkness/shadow manipulation. Something to go with her name.

VULCAN AND APOLLO

Belonging to Tatsuya, they could slow down time and give him brief bursts of super strength. This made him ridiculously OP in Tatsuya's Scenario, soloing entire quests while the main plot was happening. Then again, he was running on NG+, so maybe it was a mix of both.

PERSEPHONE

Belonging to Musubu, it could brainwash people like a parasite, with the infected spreading the brainwashing to other people and growing stronger as the number of infected grew. Strong enough to create pocket dimensions.

PENTHESILEA AND ARTEMISIA

Belonging to Mitsuru, Penthesilea had some minor enemy-detection abilities. Just enough to know there's a threat. It also seems Mitsuru's ice skills go beyond what is normal for other Personas, manifesting in the physical world as well without the need to summon her Persona. That's a Unique Skill, alright.

LUCIA AND JUNO

Belonging to Fuuka, they have the Navi Package (get info on the enemies, sense the location of other beings, heal the party, etc). Navis might appear every game, but that doesn't make them any less unique.

MEDEA

Belonging to Chidori, it could fuck with Navis and, most importantly, heal. Chidori had one of the strongest healing powers, from people to plants to herself. Derived from this, she could also transfer some (or all) of her own life to heal someone else, even from the brink of death. Junpei would later inhereit a weaker version of this.

HIMIKO, KANZEON AND KOUZEON

Belonging to Rise, all her Personas have the Navi Package, though a bit more active than Fuuka's, mostly due to her experience and training as an idol (having to know what people want and how to please them without letting them step on you is an art).

NECRONOMICON, PROMETHEUS AND AL AZIF

Belonging to Futaba, they also have the Navi Pack, though way more active than Fuuka and Rise's, reflecting Futaba's deeper understanding of cogniton and her experience obtaining information.

LOKI

Belonging to Akechi, it could cause any being to go berserk, including himself. This power tells us that Akechi needs to get proper therapy.

AZATHOTH AND ADAM KADMON

Belonging to Maruki, they can alter a person's cognition of themselves and/or the world. The world-reaching powers he showed were the results of many shenanigans that had nothing to do with him, but it's still a pretty strong power, as shown with Rumi and Sumire.

Before anyone says anything, I count Third Eye as a gift by Yaldy rather than a natural skill. You can count it if you want, but for me its an extra thing. This also implies it's an AKIRA skill, not a PERSONA skill. Same with Minato's Great Seal. That's a MINATO skill, not a PERSONA skill (one born from having an embodiment of Death inside him for years). Both of them could still use those powers even if they didn't have access to their Personas, say, if they were reaped or something.

I truly believe every Persona has or is capable of having a Unique Skill, but either they aren't shown or the User doesn't know about it. Based on their Shadows, what unique skills would other characters have? For example, I would love to see Madarame's.

[mosthomoeroticenemies]

The Contestants

Cherik (Professor X/Magneto) - X-Men

Fuffy (Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Megop (Optimus Prime/Megatron) - Transformers

Curtwen (Curt Mega/Owen Carvour) - Spies are Forever

Thoschei (The Doctor/The Master) - Doctor Who

Perryshmirtz (Perry the Platypus/Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz) - Phineas and Ferb

Catradora (Adora/Catra) - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Soukoku (Osamu Dazai/Chuuya Nakahara) - Bungo Stray Dogs

c!TnTDuo (c!Quackity/c!Wilbur Soot) - Dream SMP

Spy/Supervillain - Genghis Khan by Miike Snow

Batman/Joker - Lego Batman

Wrightworth (Phoenix Wright/Miles Edgeworth) - Ace Attorney

Batjokes (Batman/Joker) - Batman

Lawlight (L/Light Yagami) - Death Note

Bowiugi (Bowser/Luigi) - Mario

Stanarrator (Narrator/Stanley) - The Stanley Parable

Kidlaw (Eustass Kid/Trafalgar Law) - One Piece

Shuake (Goro Akechi/Akira Kurusu) - Persona 5

Cuttletavio (Craig Cuttlefish/DJ Octavio) - Splatoon

Gethan (Rupert Giles/Ethan Rayne) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Zosan (Roronoa Zoro/Sanji) - One Piece

ChellDOS (Chell/GLaDOS) - Portal

Jesus Christ/Judas Iscariot - The New Testament

Gwensuzie (Gwen Cooper/Suzie Costello) - Torchwood

Krisnix (Phoenix Wright/Kristoph Gavin) - Ace Attorney

Griffguts (Guts/Griffith) - Berserk

Hannigram (Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter) - Hannibal

Ghiralink (Ghirahim/Link) - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Valvert (Javert/Jean Valjean) - Les Miserables

Abestache (Detective Abe Lincoln/Wilford Warfstache) - Markiplier Cinematic Universe

Sasunaru (Naruto/Sasuke) - Naruto

Jedediah/Octavius - Night at the Museum

Nami/Kalifa - One Piece

Gabv1el (V1/Gabriel) - Ultrakill

Kazumaji (Kazuma Kiryu/Goro Majima) - Yakuza

Zukka (Zuko/Sokka) - Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ineffable Husbands (Aziraphale/Crowley) - Good Omens

Billford (Bill Cipher/Stanford Pines) - Gravity Falls

Evelyn Deavor/Elastigirl - Incredibles 2

Jennifer Check/Needy Lesnicki - Jennifer’s Body

Kigo (Kim Possible/Shego) - Kim Possible

Sportarobbie (Sportacus/Robbie Rotten) - Lazy Town

Swan Queen (Emma Swan/Regina Mills) - Once Upon a Time

Hardenshipping (Magma Leader Maxie/Aqua Leader Archie) -Pokemon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire

Westley/Inigo Montoya - Princess Bride

Sonadow (Sonic/Shadow) - Sonic the Hedgehog

Plabs (Plankton/Mr. Krabs) - SpongeBob SquarePants

Kylux (General Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren) - Star Wars

Johnchurch (Merle Highchurch/John Hunger) - The Adventure Zone: Balance

Basigan (Professor Ratigan/Basil of Baker Street) - The Great Mouse Detective

LonelyEyes (Elias Buchard/Peter Lukas) - The Magnus Archives

Johnjack (Jack Harkness/John Hart) - Torchwood

Blicy (Bloom/Icy) - Winx Club

Riddlebat (Batman/The Riddler) - Batman comics

Shin Soukoku (Atsushi Nakajima/Ryuunosuke Akutagawa) - Bungo Stray Dogs

Snowbaz (Baz Pitch/Simon Snow) - Carry On

Komahina (Nagito Komaeda/Hajime Hinata) - Danganronpa

Wonder Woman/Cheetah - DC

Spamvil (Jevil/Spamton) - Deltarune

Rk1000 (Connor/Markus) - Detroit: Become Human

John McClane/Hans Gruber - Die Hard

Fenders (Fenris/Anders) - Dragon Age 2

Vegekaka (Goku/Vegeta) - Dragon Ball Z

Rapple (Apple White/Raven Queen) - Ever After High

Billdip (Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines) - Gravity Falls

Radiostatic (Vox/Alastor) - Hazbin Hotel

Sirdust (Angel Dust/Sir Pretious) - Hazbin Hotel

Fengqing (Feng Xin/Mu Qing) - Heaven Official’s Blessing

Blitzer (Blitzø/Striker) - Helluva Boss

Martha May Whovier/Betty Lou Who - How the Grinch Stole Christmas

ZaDr (Zim/Dib) - Invader Zim

Sarumi (Fushimi Saruhiko/Yata Misaki) - K Project

Metadede (King Dedede/Meta Knight) - Kirby

Gandalf/Sauron - Lord of the Rings

Island Husbands (Ben Linus/John Locke) - Lost

Metromind (Megamind/Metro Man) - Megamind

Sherliam (Sherlock Holmes/William James Moriarty) - Moriarty the Patriot

Bujeet (Buford/Bajeet) - Phineas and Ferb

Grovyle/Dusknoir - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky

Shassie (Shawn Spencer/Carlton “Lassie” Lassiter) - Psych

Rayaari (Raya/Namaari) - Raya and the Last Dragon

Tycutio (Mercutio/Tybalt) - Romeo and Juliet

Sherliam (Sherlock Holmes/James Moriarty) - Sherlock

Obikin (Anakin Skywalker/Obi-Wan Kenobi) - Star Wars

Obimaul (Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul) - Star Wars

Oncelax (The Onceler/The Lorax) - The Lorax

Owen Harper/Mark Lynch - Torchwood

Lord Hater/Wander - Wander Over Yonder

Gelphie (Elphaba/Galinda) - Wicked

Cruellanita (Cruella de Vil/Anita) - 101 Dalmations

Angelo Lagusa/Nero Vanetti - 91 Days

Discotrain (The Conductor/DJ Grooves) - A Hat in Time

Klapollo (Klavier Gavin/Apollo Justice) - Ace Attorney

Wrightdot (Godot/Phoenix Wright) - Ace Attorney

Kaneda/Tetsuo - Akira

Sydney Bristow/Lauren Reed - Alias

Ellen Ripley/The Xenomorph - Alien

Zadison (Zoe Benson/Madison Montgomery) - American Horror Story: Coven

Sterling Archer/Barry Dylan - Archer

Y’all (The Poll Takers)/Me (The Poll Maker) - askeletonwar

Just Walk Out!/Papyrus - askeletonwar

Londo Mollari/G’kar - Babylon 5

Rampage/Depth Charge - Beast Wars: Transformers

Pinariz (Riz/Pina) - Beastars

Kunieda Aoi/Hildegarde - Beezlebub

Sebagrell (Grell/Sebastian) - Black Butler

Gus Fring/Walter White - Breaking Bad

Spangel (Spike/Angel) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Spuffy (Spike/Buffy) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Winteriron (Tony Stark/The Winter Soldier) - Captain America: Civil War

Stucky (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes) - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Carulia (Carmen Sandiego/Julia Argent) - Carmen Sandiego

Macavity/Munkustrap - Cats (1998)

Caius Marcius Coriolanus/Tullus Aufidius - Coriolanus

Dean Pelton/Dean Spreck - Community

Shadowghast (Caleb Widogast/Essek Thelyss) - Critical Role

Blumentrio (Caleb Widogast/Eadwulf Grieve/Astrid Becke) -Critical Role

Theopin (Lapin Cadbury/Sir Theobald Gumbar) - D20: A Crown of Candy

Hero/Villain - dannyphantom.exe

Clex (Superman/Lex Luthor) - DC

Babsquinn (Batgirl/Harley Quinn) - DC

Seavil (Jevil/Seam) - Deltarune

Rengoku Kyoujurou/Akaza - Demon Slayer

Mal/Uma - Descendants

Reed800 (Connor/Gavin Reed) - Detroit: Become Human

Ryokira (Akira/Ryo) - Devilman

Maxwil (Maxwell/Wilson) - Don't Starve

Nikki/Mackenzie - Dork Diaries

Gell/Frisky - Dot X

Dr. Horrible/Captain Hammer - Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Count Dracula/Jonathan Harker - Dracula

Joan Watson/Jamie Moriarty - Elementary

Zerxus Ilerez/Asmodeus - Exandria Unlimited: Calamity

Gratsu (Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster) - Fairy Tail

Gary/John - Faith

Peter Griffin/The Chicken - Family Guy

John Crichton/Scorpius - Farscape

Emiya Archer/Cu Chulainn - Fate Stay Night

Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII

Cidnero (Nero tol Scaeva/Cid Garlond) - Final Fantasy XIV

Willry (Henry Emily/William Afton) - Five Nights at Freddy’s

Victor Frankenstein/The Monster - Frankenstein

Cure Peach/Eas - Fresh Pretty Cure!

Haikaveh (Alhaitham/Kaveh) - Genshin Impact

Sugio (Sugimoto/Ogata) - Golden Kamuy

Nygmobblepot (Edward Nygma/Oswald Cobblepot) - Gotham

Mabifica (Mabel Pines/Pacifica Northwest) - Gravity Falls

Kagehina (Hinata/Kageyama) - Haikyuu!

[yunoteru4ever]

Sony would now own all of Sakae Esuno's creations in the event of this purchase. (All his manga and their anime adaptions are the property of Kadokawa at current.)

Sony in negotiations to purchase Kadokawa

Anime and Manga fans know that Kadokawa is a hell of a lot more than just the publisher of Elden Ring. Although this WOULD give Sony 69.6% ownership of FromSoftware.

But Kadokawa is also they're a manga/anime/gaming giant that owns tons of franchises and companies. Given that Sony already owns Aniplex and CrunchyRoll, this would further solidify Sony's massive control of anime properties.

Kadokawa's video game franchises include, among others:

Danganronpa

Armored Core

Tenchu

Zero Escape

Fire Pro Wrestling

Mystery Dungeon

RPG Maker

Kadokawa's light novel/anime/manga properties include, among others:

Bungo Stray Dogs

Kill la Kill

(The Melancholy of) Haruhi Suzumiya

Nichijou

Black Rock Shooter

Banished from the Hero's Party

Date A Live

The Deer King

So I'm a Spider, So What?

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Mirai Nikki/Future Diary

Welcome to the NHK

Mayonaka Punch

Another

Blood+

Deadman Wonderland

Sgt. Frog

Redo of Healer

[sonicasura]

How do you think In the Persona 5 / Pokemon Crossover the meet uo bewteen the Pancake Boy, I mean Akechi and Trainer goes

Trainer and Akechi are immediately suspicious of each other. Again, the former has experience with people who have villains for parents so they know something is off in that department. The Detective Prince knows something is off as well but can't pinpoint.

Both get along fine although nobody expected Trainer would have a counter for Loki's Berserk ability: Oración. The song that could calm even the most uncontrollable gods can easily nullify the Persona's unique power. Second surprise comes with Trainer sucker punching Akechi in the face.

The best way to handle a very stubborn individual usually requires some force to get them to really listen. From here, Trainer tells Akechi to carve his own path. He has met multiple people like him who also had nothing to lose or someone to be proud of their accomplishments. Nor notice they aren't truly alone since Akechi has both Loki and Robinhood.

I don't think the Norse God would use that Berserk ability unless they both have solid trust in each other. Akechi disappears without an ambush this time. He has a lot to think about but Trainer's words made a big impact.

[wellwrittenevilbitch]

Who is the better written evil bitch?

Propaganda

The lady bone demon:

she is so evil and i hate her so much. shes also awesome as hell and well written and i love her so much

Goro Akechi:

This "detective prince" from Persona 5 appears to be the perfect student and model citizen. His grades are incredible, he assists the police despite his young age, and his on camera presence is charismatic.

Then you start to learn his backstory. He was raised by his mother, and his father was never in the picture, but he knows who his father is and the father is a terrible person. His mother died and he was left to the foster care system, going from home to home. He had a very rough life, so it's all the more impressive what he's made of himself.

Then the reveal. His life really started turning around when he gained the power to enter the world of people's hearts. Using this power he could learn their secrets and then "solve" crimes they had committed. Or he could turn them berserk so they commit crimes in the first place. Or he could kill them, leaving no evidence of his involvement.

He joins forces with rising and corrupt politician Masayoshi Shido, using his powers to remove any of Shido's opposition and place Shido in better and better standing until Shido is poised to become Japan's next Prime Minister.

But he doesn't actually like Shido. No, he just wants Shido so high to make his fall that much worse, since Shido is his good for nothing father.

But along the way he meets the protagonist, Joker. He becomes jealous of the fact that Joker has friends and respect and people who love him even though Joker has a criminal record and is "trash that lives in an attic". And it's really too late to try to actually make friends with Joker, since two of Joker's closest friends and party members are orphaned because Akechi killed their parents. Not that he feels any remorse for that. Or anything he's done. But his jealousy does make it particularly fun for him when (he thinks) he kills a defenseless Joker in cold blood. The fact that Joker managed to trick him and escape doesn't help his jealousy issues.

He does end up working with Joker again, but now that the cat's out of the bag he spends that time openly relishing any time he gets to kill or hurt the monsters you encounter and shouting the most unhinged things during battle.

In summary, he's an unremorseful murderer with a sympathetic backstory who allows jealousy to drive him further off the deep end than he already was and his victims include some of the most important people in the lives of the protagonist's closest friends.

[scarletwritesshit]

Makoto Niijima x Goro Akechi ☪ They Hate to see a Girlboss Winning ☪ Chapter 1: "Research"

Makoto desperately held onto the handle with one hand while trying to maintain a firm grip on her phone with the other. She was unable to finish her tasks at Shujin Academy before the rush hour hit, and thus was unable to find a place to sit down on the train. It was nearing 5:00 in the evening, the time she had hoped to be home by. Unfortunately, she found herself cleaning up a lot more messes than she anticipated. Ryuji's carelessness can be thanked for that; the sudden influx of discussions about Big Bang Burger would quickly draw suspicion to their group being the ones directly responsible for the murder of Okumura.

Of course, that wasn't true, but they are the ones who infiltrated his palace in the first place. One can only act so inconspicuous when guilty.

Especially if your name is Ryuji Sakamoto.

Makoto struggled to manipulate her fingers to the TV station app on her phone with only one hand. She hung on for dear life as the passengers around her were unaware of the concept of personal space. After a painful moment of finger wiggling, Makoto finally achieved victory and managed to turn into the live programming.

One small problem. It buffered. And buffered. And buffered.

Makoto grew anxious. The program was due to start in a few short minutes. She needed to scavenge every little bit of information she could get her hands on; commentary, footage, anything. With him threatening to disband the Phantom Thieves, every minute he was on air was threat that couldn’t be ignored.

She was determined to take responsibility and monitor his every move.

Makoto breathed a sigh of relief as the app finally connected. The program was only just starting as the applause went wild and the logo flashed on the screen.

She shoved her phone into her pocket to pull out her earbuds and put them in, something she should’ve done beforehand. While still holding on for dear life, Makoto pulled her phone back out of her pocket and rotated it, shaking it in frustration due to the full screen not rotating immediately.

"Once again, we are featuring the ace detective, none other than Goro Akechi, on tonight's show!" the host said with a bit too much enthusiasm for Makoto.

The crowd went berserk, shredding through her ears as if a thousand knives pierced her skull. She didn't exactly understand the hype behind this guy and seeing his fans go feral got under her skin in a way she could not explain. Her eye twitched as Akechi motioned for the crowd to quiet down with a smile on his face.

"I am delighted to be here with you all once again," he said with a smile on his face, although it looked quite forced.

The crowd didn't care or even seem to notice. They once again busted out her eardrums with overly enthusiastic cheering.

All of this for a little chance at free intel, she thought.

"Now then, everyone is absolutely raring to know more about the identity of the Phantom Thieves. Word has been going around that you know their true identity, correct?"

Akechi's expression shifted from a forced smile to a more serious scowl.

"I do. I know exactly who those foul criminals are. It's a matter of catching them in the act so I can bring all of them to justice."

"Does your work permit you to reveal the identities of the thieves to the public?"

Makoto's heartrate soared upon hearing this question. If he dropped the names of the Phantom Thieves on live television, not only would the group as a whole be doomed, but their lives as individuals would be as well.

Akechi shook his head. "I can not yet reveal what the names of the culprits are. If I did, not only would it drive them into hiding, but it would make my mission far more difficult as well."

Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. At least for this evening, the Phantom Thieves were safe.

Akechi crossed his legs and winked at the crowd, his fearsome scowl suddenly turning into a devious smile.

"Besides that, I couldn't endanger my lovely fans, now could I?"

The crowd, of course, absolutely lost it at this clever move of his.

Even when speaking in regards to his greatest enemy, he somehow manages to remain incredibly charismatic. It irks me.

Makoto's head was beginning to ache at the frustration of Akechi's painfully confident attitude and the peoples' blind following of him. With the mission of tackling an entire group that traverses the boundaries of the Metaverse and reality, she was baffled that he was able to still somehow force himself into a charming smile.

It must be part of his scheme, she thought.

The camera focused on him as he described his experiences as if it were some sort of mystery novel directed towards young women. It felt like quite the drag listening to him, but Makoto somehow remained fixated on Akechi as his words captivated the audience. Even if it was all a web of blatant lies, he did a damn good job keeping the audience on his side.

Through her earbuds, Makoto heard a familiar voice call out for her. She quickly turned her attention to right behind her, where the voice was coming from.

"I didn't know you were into that guy's show," Ren teased.

"I'm...I'm only watching it for research purposes," Makoto said in defense.

"I merely jest," he said with a little laugh. "We're going to find out everything eventually with Futaba’s app once we implement it, though."

"There could be subtle details we missed. He's bound to have slipped something under our noses when we weren't paying attention."

"You really take after your sister, never letting even the slightest detail go unnoticed. Just don't watch too much of that guy or I will otherwise have to assume that you're developing a crush on him."

Makoto was taken aback by his unprovoked comment. She was left without words as she felt her face burn up ever so slightly. He looked at her with a teasing smile, completely unaware of the nerve he just struck.

Sure, he has the good looks and a charming personality, but Ren doesn't seriously think that, does he?

Completely averting Ren's mischievous gaze, Makoto rolled her eyes back to her phone, which was still conveniently featuring Akechi at the current moment. She stared at him for a few seconds before Ren once again broke the silence, causing Makoto to immediately turn back around.

“Now you’re really worrying me,” he said.

“Ren, he’s our enemy. I assure you that there is no reason for you to be worried.”

Ren’s bag unzipped, and Morgana poked his head out through the small hole that he opened for himself.

“Then why did you act all flustered now?” Morgana mewed, with an expression as smug as that as a four-legged cat’s could get.

“Not you too…”

Ren pushed Morgana’s head back into the bag and zipped it shut. He protested with a muffled “hey,” which probably sounded like an auditory hallucination of a disgruntled kitten to the passengers around. Morgana shuffled around inside the bag, but did not attempt to reopen it.

“Say what you want but I have a feeling that you’re hiding something from not only us, but yourself. Mehehehe…”

“Morgana, quiet,” Ren said, patting the bag. “My train pass doesn’t apply to cats, you know.”

“Only people have access to those kinds of human rights, Morgana,” Makoto said, putting him down in return for the teasing.

Morgana shuffled around in the bag once again, but Ren kept gently pushing his head down to suppress his meowing. Meanwhile, Makoto turned around to ignore Morgana and Ren's ruckus that was almost directly behind her. She didn't want to draw any more attention to herself, or the fact that she was willingly(?) watching a TV program with 98% of its basis around how incredibly hot Akechi is.

All of his attempts at wooing the audience meant less chance of accidental hints being dropped as to the details of his true plan, but Makoto had to continue watching regardless.

Well, she didn't necessarily have to keep watching, but she chose to as a precaution.

The train was coming to a halt, finally arriving at her stop after what felt like forever. The ride back home usually didn't drag on this badly, but the constant teasing from Ren and the annoying cat made it feel longer than usual. With her phone still in her hand, Makoto struggled to fight through the crowd of people entering and exiting the stop. While she was weaving through the crowd, she looked at Ren one last time to see if he was going to slide her a sly, suggestive smile.

“Well, this is my stop,” she said, in an attempt to not be awkward (or suspicious).

“See you tomorrow morning, Makoto,” Ren said, waving her goodbye.

The bag in which Morgana resided unzipped once again. He shot his head up before Ren had a chance to force him back down.

“See you, Akechi's secret fangirl,” he said, with the intention to get her worked up. He knew that Makoto wouldn't have the chance to retaliate, otherwise, she would miss her stop. Ren shoved his head back into the bag once more, with Morgana mewing out of satisfaction rather than distress.

“Ren...tell your damn cat to keep quiet,” she said between her teeth.

“I'm not a cat!” a muffled voice said from beneath the force of Ren's hand.

Makoto hurried home out of pure irritation from their unwarranted comments during the ride home. She had to rely on her peripheral vision, as her main focus was still the program for any and every crumb of information. Absolutely nothing useful was coming from it; Akechi was being as “lovable” and “trustworthy” as ever.

When Makoto arrived home, she unlocked the door with her free hand and set her bag down on the table. She took out her earbuds and turned up her phone's speaker so that she could hear every single word as she organized her workload from the day.

Shortly after she finished sorting her work, Akechi's overstayed appearance on the show ended, and Makoto was relieved that she could finally turn it off and focus on her work.

Or, she could load up past installments of Akechi’s appearances on her laptop and play them in the background as she worked on homework. Stopping a murderer was indeed of high priority, but balancing schoolwork while keeping her identity as Queen a secret was arguably more important. His shows and interviews dragged on for so long and most of his talk was all drabble in an attempt to charm his female fans, so Makoto could realistically focus more on her work than that guy’s gimmicks.

Except, looking away from her papers for five minutes turned into five hours. Makoto was unaware of how long she had spent “researching” Akechi’s interviews until Sae walked into the living room. Usually, she doesn’t return until later at night, that is, if she returned home that day at all. If Sae is home, then that means-

“A lot more work than usual today?” Sae asked, curious about Makoto’s still unfinished work.

Makoto glanced at the time. It was well past 11pm, and she had accomplished absolutely nothing that evening. No useful notes on Akechi, no completed homework, nothing. Makoto quickly scrambled to close the numerous amounts of tabs she had accumulated, until nothing but an empty calculator page and online library remained.

“…Yeah. Plenty. You’re home early,” Makoto said, attempting to divert the topic.

Sae let out an exhausted sigh as she was interrupted by yet another phone call. Without another word said to Makoto, she made off for the kitchen, probably more for her own peace than Makoto’s.

Makoto looked down at the blank papers that she only just wrote her name on. They had to be done by the next day, and time had been wasted by getting distracted by Akechi’s interviews. So, she had no choice but to stay up into the wee hours of the night to finish everything.

Makoto was unusually sluggish during the morning walking to her first class. She was stopped by Ren and Ryuji, after they had called her name out numerous times to get her attention.

“You alright, Makoto?” Ren asked, concerned. “You seem out of it today.”

“Just…stayed up a bit too late last night.”

“What happened to that whole organized schedule crap, huh?” Ryuji asked.

“I had a lot more work than usual, that’s all.”

Ren cocked his eyebrow as if he knew exactly what she was up to all evening.

“Don’t tell me, you were watching archives of that guy’s interviews again.”

Makoto’s heart immediately began to race.

“Huah? That guy?” Ryuji asked.

Ren pulled Ryuji in closer and whispered into his ear. Makoto was horrified of the words exchanged during their brief exchange. After they were done, Ryuji looked directly at her with a sly, bastardly look.

“Oooooh, Akechi isn’t it?” he said, mockingly.

“Don’t say anything about him here!” Makoto said, grabbing Ryuji by the shirt. “We don’t want anyone to catch onto us being…and besides, what if they think I’m actually a fan of that guy?”

“Woah, chill out man. The way you’re getting so defensive is almost actually concerning to me.”

By now, Ren was watching the ruckus unfold in front of him, as if he were a silent protag in a JRPG. He took a few steps to the side in an attempt to not become involved, despite being the one who started the accusations. He would like to claim they were a joke simply to get under Makoto’s skin, but Ren wasn’t so sure considering her suspiciously snappy defense.

“He absolutely irks me in every way possible. Sae getting to spend half of her life around that thing doesn’t soothe my annoyance for him at all.”

“Struck a nerve, didn’t I?”

“I’m going to strike you out if you don’t stop! I’m trying to do something for the team here!”

Ren was still observing from a distance, looking at them from the side in an attempt to appear less involved. Ryuji pulled his shirt free from her grasp.

“Yeah yeah, say whatever ya want. If you keep actin’ like this, then it’s only fair for us to have our suspicions, ya know?”

Makoto’s eye twitched at Ryuji’s taunt, but she figured that it would be best if she let it go for the day. The sleep deprivation was getting to her, and she hadn’t even made it to her first class yet. If only she didn’t get sidetracked watching Akechi’s interviews all last evening, which she enjoyed far more than she was even aware of.

He really does know how to engage his audience. Even Makoto fell for his dastardly charms.

For only an evening, hopefully.

Author's Note: when i was editing this chapter my basement caught fire and now im convinced this fic is cursed lmao dont worry im all good now ✌️

[mycomicbox]

Random Thoughts on Persona 5 Royal - Part 5

[Progress: January 2nd, base game's ending achieved]

<<< Interlude

In the restaurant in Shido's Palace, there were some pianists playing a song... and it sounds so familiar, but I can't put my finger on what it is...

So, not only does Akechi have the power to make Shadows go berserk, but he also has the same Wild Card as most protagonists (albeit the demo version of it, because he sucks at making friends). I am now realizing that, if I had the Wild Card IRL, it would be wasted on me...

The tie in Akechi's detective outfit has black and white stripes... the same as Loki.

It's quite narratively fitting that I decided to fuse Raoul immediately after the Akechi battle.

The one-on-one fight with Shadow Shido was real satisfying karma. I tried to be cool and finish him off using Raoul, but I got KO'd because of Bless weakness...

Unfortunately, I have been spoiled as to most of the twists revealed on December 24th. They would've been so much more mindblowing if people just knew how to tag shit...

Even the prison wardens have found the will to rebel. Now I want to draw Lavenza.

My headcanon is that Yaldobaoth is made of the same "stuff" as Ameno-Sagiri from Persona 4.

I just saved Christmas by shooting God in the face.

I spent the holiday season with my friends and loved ones. A wonderful way to end off the year.

But... that dream...

I knew that this year would start off great, but this is TOO perfect.

Everything is right... but that's why it's so wrong.

[daz4i]

major spoilers for persona 5 + royal bc almost everything abt akechi is somewhat of a spoiler lol. anyway:

they were literally chosen by (a) god to oppose and challenge each other up until one of them dies, basically

akechi shot joker in the head 👍 (dw he survived)

akechi threw his glove at joker, asking for a duel later on, while also confessing about how much he hates him

^joker held onto said glove and said so in the moments before akechi died

(tbc, akechi died bc he tried to once again kill joker - this time kill his friends too - and failed. again. also more stuff happened but like this was the situation leading up to this^)

another (temporary) god decided that the thing that'll make joker happiest is akechi being brought back to life

they have a unique attack together where akechi lets himself go berserk, trusting joker to watch his back

they go on silly dates together like a cafe and an arcade and such. it's very sweet tbh

in one of those dates akechi takes joker to the one place he feels safe at, trusting him enough with it

akechi trauma dumped onto joker while they were bathing together

joker had to decide whether he wants to keep his friends (and everyone else in the world) brainwashed or let akechi die (again). akechi asked him to let him die. joker does not want him to die. obviously

after letting akechi die (again), months later we see that joker is still holding onto akechi's glove

they worked to solve a case together :) akira dressed in drag for the occasion (there is an actual story reason for that but who cares. it's kinda flimsy anyway we all know it was for fan service)

they're literally a detective and a phantom thief... clearly the most peak dynamic in fiction...

there is absolutely more that i'm forgetting bc it's been awhile since i directly engaged with p5 but fr. the doomed toxic yaoi is flourishing. i highly recommend experiencing it for yourself if you can 🫡

i bring this up every so often but. my dear non-persona followers. are you aware of how insane of a ship akeshu is

[yunoteru4ever]

A lot of us Western-based plebeians rely on automated translations to browse through foreign sites or even to try and translate foreign media at times. Which is obviously far from ideal! ESPECIALLY since applications like Google Translate always struggle the most with languages like Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Russian, Korean, Arabic... you know, all the languages that aren't based in the ol' Latin alphabet. Not only is their sentence structure often very different than ours, but additionally, words can change meaning depending on where they're placed in a sentence, tiny differences in a written/drawn character can radically alter meaning, and so on. Bottom line: When you filter a language that's not based in the Latin alphabet through an automated translator, you tend to wind up with at least *some* sentences that are weirdly parsed or outright nonsensical. (And sometimes, "some" = "most.")

On the flip side? If you translate a language that's Germanic or Romantic in origin through an automated lens, you'll typically find the results quite awesomely readable! You'll still have to deal with some localized idioms, sure, but overall? Smooth sailing.

IN RELATED NEWS: You know Sakae Esuno's most recently completed manga — The Detective Akechi is Berserk! — which never has been released in English or even scanlated into English? Well... the Real Ones® over in Germany have brought the entire series to print in their borders now! Y'know — in German.

German and English are both Germanic languages, you know.

IN SUMMATION: Guess who's FINALLY about to read the latest manga from their absolute #1 fav mangaka :D

...........but like, pretty slowly :P

[sunniedesi]

Future Diary x Detective Akechi Crossover TL

Before anything, I want to thank @syrpai for providing screenshots and information about this crossover after my first post regarding the subject (seriously, you're the goat). I was correct about this story not being in the original manga, though I made the glaring mistake of assuming Shonen Ace didn't digitalize their releases. Turns out they do! And this crossover was featured on their March 2018 issue:

So in conclusion: the crossover between Future Diary, Detective Akechi and Esuno's other works was made after ending volume 2 of Detective Akechi, to commemorate its release, and it was featured directly on Shonen Ace's next issue. With this in mind, I'll leave you with the TL.

Though first, I have to share some important context to understand the story: "Detective Akechi is Berserk" follows the story of Mayumi, a high-school girl who is being possessed by the spirit of acclaimed detective Akechi Kogorou to solve mysterious crimes involving "phantoms," who are criminals from a gang that Akechi is pursuing. The end of volume 2 (the volume that precedes the Future Diary crossover) introduces a new character named Grimoire, a kid and member of the phantoms who lost her dad to a murderer, and later lost her mother to an illness while walking with her in a mall. Grimoire lost consciousness during this tragic event, so her mother got taken away from the scene before she could say her last goodbye. Grimoire used to roam the mall, searching for the place where her mother passed away, until Mayumi helped her find the spot, thinking that Grimoire was nothing more than a lost child. From this point on, her and Mayumi became acquainted, though Akechi doesn't seem too fond of Grimoire... (Mini-spoiler: we also learn at the end of volume 2 that Detective Akechi was likely the one who killed her dad, meaning Akechi is probably more of a villain than a hero). Btw Grimoire is a girl but people refer to her as a boy because she looks more boyish.

The eeeeend!

A few things to note before ending this post:

The quality of page 2 is a little wonky because I accidentally did the cleaning for that image on a version that was a lower resolution, and since I had to redraw a great portion of it in order to clean it... I didn't wanna redo it (sorry!).

The ending here is certainly a bit... confusing. Considering Esuno's three magical girls are, well, magical, it makes sense that they'd dodge bullets with ease. So I guess that explains that part of the ending. Everything else is left a bit more open-ended, which isn't too surprising considering this is probably more of a gag story than something to take as canon. Still, my favorite chapter of Detective Akechi lol.

I know that the majority of people reading this have not read Detective Akechi, so sorry if me dissing this series comes out of left field. I'm not planning on reviewing it, because to be quite frank, I don't think I totally understand the plot lol. So, instead, I'll leave you with my personal thoughts: It's just... incredibly bizarre, and the fan service didn't help. I originally stopped reading after volume 2 because of a particularly distasteful scene where Akechi possessed Mayumi to assault another girl (because he's a huge creep btw), and essentially assaulted both of them in the process, which is just... I think my brain genuinely tapped out after reading that, like how the hell do you come up with that? I decided to read over the series again to write this post, and it just gets weirder and weirder. Including, but not limited to, Mayumi having an Eiji and Sena moment with her brother (iykyk). Out of complete nowhere too. As I mentioned in my previous post, I generally don't have an issue with nsfw topics in stories, in fact, some of my favorite stories do cover nsfw and unhinged plots. As long as it's done with a purpose and isn't mind-numbingly dumb, I don't necessarily mind. Detective Akechi though is just weird, horny, and weirdly horny in ways that detract from the story. This is a personal opinion of mine, but I think it's quite funny that Esuno's favorite topic to write about, which is supernatural detectives, isn't exactly his forte. Something about the Future Diary formula, which probably wasn't intentional, managed to combine his bizarre plot points with the broken psychology of his characters in a way that just worked, though he unfortunately hasn't been able to recreate it since :/

[ellenripleysbelieveitornot]

What about an Akechi/Joker role swap AU where Akechi is still the detective prince and Joker is still the Shujin delinquent, but the major difference is that Morgana never lost his memories and found Akechi before he approached Shido with his metaverse assassination plot?

Like, imagine Akechi, bitter and jaded, who has just awakened Loki and felt the terrifying and thrilling rush of the berserk power. He's formed a plan to get back at his piece of shit father, even managed to set up a meeting, which he had to set up months in advance, and on the day he's going to present Shido with info on the metaverse, he winds up arriving a few minutes late, because even though he intended to be early, he was accosted by a talking cat (he's been in the metaverse, so he can hear him) on the way over, and in the whole wtf-ery of the moment, lost track of time. Shido, being Shido, refuses to see him and will not reschedule because he doesn't like having his time wasted.

Pissed off, Akechi leaves to find Morgana still waiting for him outside. So he doesn't look like an idiot yelling at a cat on the street, he brings Morgana back to his shitty apartment, where Morgana explains why he had found Akechi and whats up. He doesn't know about Yaldobaoth taking Igor's place, he just knows there's two champions, and Akechi was the one he found first, so he must be Igor's chosen champion. (It is my theory that it doesn't actually matter who was Igor's and Yaldobaoth's champions, it was more about the choices they each made and where they ended up.) 

Akechi has no interest in saving the world, but he knows that if he wants to get back at Shido, he needs to become someone of consequence, so he agrees to undergo Morgana's training, since Morgana clearly knows more about the metaverse than he does, and he can use it to solve cold cases, earning him a place as the Detective Prince. He changes a few hearts, to pacify Morgana, too. It takes a couple years, but during his senior year in high school, he makes it, earning himself the cooperation of the police and the spotlight of the public eye. He's getting so close to making Shido notice him that he can practically taste it. Also, what’s this ‘velvet room’ he keeps dreaming about?

Then Morgana finds Kamoshida’s palace and is like ‘heyo, you thought changing hearts in the metaverse was cool, check this shit out’ and Akechi is admittedly intrigued , so he takes a look. He sees the inside of Kamoshida’s heart and is appropriately disgusted and says to Morgana, ‘hey we should totally kill this guy’s shadow.’ Morgana’s like ‘why is your first suggestion always murder, we don’t know what would happen if we killed his shadow, Igor wasn’t very clear about that bit, we should try stealing the treasure instead’ and Morgana has been useful (and it’s been really nice to have the company these past two years, though he won’t admit that) so Akechi agrees ‘fine, we’ll steal the treasure, but if that doesn’t work, then I’m killing his shadow.’

And that’s when Ryuji and Ann make an appearance (’ohmigawd, goro, be more careful with that damn app, i s2g.’) Ryuji’s mom apparently thinks Akechi is pretty neat and watches all his interviews, so Ryuji knows who he is and is delighted to find out that the lame-ass detective his mom has talked about is actually a grumpy badass in the metaverse, with this shadow that has some kind of insane power, and hey, he helped them bring down Kamoshida (alive,) so maybe he is actually pretty cool, even though sometimes he spaces out and talks about evil twins and some longed-nose dude. He decides then and there that he’s going to be Akechi’s best friend, since he apparently has none, and Ann is all too happy to join in for the ride, and all of Goro’s protests have fallen on deaf ears, and they know about the whole detective prince thing being a facade, so he might as well indulge them for now. 

The ‘Phantom Thieves’ (a name that makes Goro want to roll his eyes whenever he hears it, and why is everyone calling him ‘leader?’) gain fame and change hearts, gaining new members such as this weird-ass artist dude who fights with ice, and oh, god, one Nijima is bad enough, don’t tell me there’s two! and she uses nukes, wtf?!

Around this time, he also meets Shujin’s delinquent, enigmatic transfer student whose talk of hope and justice never quite seem to reflect in his stormy grey eyes, and he and Goro are clearly birds of a feather in a way, he can tell, there’s just something about him, and he thinks this guy might actually be his best friend, but don’t tell Ryuji that, he’d never hear the end of it.

Akechi learns the truth behind Akira’s arrest and Shido’s involvement and he is disgusted to find that he genuinely wants to help this guy, and he can’t do that if Shido’s dead, maybe he doesn’t want his revenge as badly as he thought??? Oh, ew, I have feelings that aren’t anger and it’s all my friends’ fault, I can’t just leave them and go off to get revenge, they’d literally die without me, those lovable idiots. Also, when Ryuji saw his home, he pretty much insisted he stay with him instead, and Ryuji’s mom reminds him of the good times he had with his own mother, and he honestly doesn’t think he has the strength to disappoint her like that. So, he decides to change Shido’s heart, but he knows that there’s no way that this little group of miscreants is strong enough to take on the fucked up bullshit that he’s seen in Shido’s heart, so let’s hit pause on that for now.

Shido had Wakaba killed via completely non-supernatural ways and stole her research, same as before, so Futaba still has a palace. He found out Akira worked at Leblanc a while ago and started dropping by, and then somehow Ryuji found out about it, and now all the Phantom Thieves know, so much for a peaceful place to get away, but he actually doesn’t mind that much, and Akira lets Akechi keep an eye on the shop when there are no customers so he can go out and do errands and Boss doesn’t mind, so they’ve ended up hanging out there as a group from time to time and talking Phantom Thief business, so Futaba knows who they are, and asks for their help.

Okumura’s palace pretty much goes the same, Okumura dies somehow, are we responsible, why does murder actually make me feel kinda bad, stupid friends and their stupid good influence. 

Goro attends the Shujin student fair as guest speaker, whoa, the class president being friends with Akechi does have its perks, doesn’t it? Akira finds them all there together and approaches them, tells them he saw them go into the metaverse, awakened his own persona, and saw a guy in a black mask kill Okumura’s shadow, hey why don’t I join you, you probably need all the help you can get, who’s heart are we stealing next, how about Sae, she knows my probabtion officer and has been giving me hell, plus I already checked, she definitely has a palace.

They agree, and oh, hey, Akira can hear Morgana talk now, but WAIT A MINUTE?! Didn’t he hear Morgana talk before when he told Goro that Leblanc didn’t sell sushi, even though Goro hadn’t asked for any?

They hack Akira’s phone, learn that Shido (Akechi recognizes that voice) will have thugs waiting to capture them when they leave the palace. They plan around it, pull the metaverse switch and manage to sneak a heavily drugged Akechi out of the warehouse Shido stashed him in by traveling through the metaverse. Shido’s lackey’s have written a fake suicide letter from the leader of the Phantom thieves, and the chief of police, under Shido’s orders, delivers a statement confirming its authenticity, and look the plan succeeded. All they need to do know is take down Shido.

Things are going great, until they get to the engine room, where Joker, having realized what happened, is waiting for them. Joker, who lost everything after he transferred, who discovered the metaverse completely alone, who didn’t mean to kill that guy’s shadow, but he attacked him first, and Shido had somehow known, had been keeping an eye on him, had him convicted for a crime that he didn’t commit in the hopes that he would break because he needed an agent in the metaverse, and so far he’s had no luck. Joker, who had nothing left to lose and had accepted the only hand that had reached out for him.

They fight, and when it looks like things are going badly for Joker, he pulls out... a second persona?!?! At least, it looks like a persona, but something about it is off. it looks familiar somehow. And then Akira asks if they knew it was possible to fuse personas and Akechi realizes what he’s looking at. These aren’t the clean executions that Caroline and Justine perform, these are personas that have been ripped apart and haphazardly thrown back together with no thought to form or elegance, look, there’s a Yaksini’s arm, and that bit right there clearly used to belong to a Rangda, and I think that piece might have belonged to a Seiryu, and Akechi should stop listing personas now because Ann thinks she’s going to be sick.

They keep fighting. Joker can’t understand the difference in power between them. After all, aren’t they the same? Unloved, unwanted, soldiers pitted against each other by some bullshit higher power?

When Joker shoots the bulkhead door closed and Futaba reports that she’s lost Joker’s reading, Akechi vows then and there that he’s going to kill Shido after all. And he almost does. He stands there, with his gun pressed to the head of the shadow of his father, his friends can’t blame him, and even Morgana knows better than to try and stop him. But he doesn’t. He remembers Akira’s madness there at the end, and wonders what he would have become of him if it weren’t for Ryuji, who somewhere along the way, he’d realized he’d stopped tolerating and started actually liking. Ann, who shared his woes about being in the public eye and swapped tips with him about how to handle the press. Yusuke, who, although he was still completely bizarre to him, appreciated the beauty in life and didn’t tease Goro for his taste in Grandpa clothes. Makoto, who knew the importance of hard work and who, between herself and her sister, had caused Goro to pick up some healthier coping mechanisms. Futaba, who made fun of him for his food blog, but liked the same nerd bullshit that he did and would bombard him with memes until his day somehow became a little less shittier. Haru, who dreamed of starting her own business and actually cared about Goro’s opinions, and could threaten someone with a smile in a way that even Goro was jealous of. And Morganna, who had reminded him what it was like to not be lonely, and demanded more sushi than he could afford, but always made sure Goro ate his fill, instead of getting so focused on his work that he forgot.

Akechi guesses that he must have turned soft somewhere during the past several months, but after seeing what happened to Akira, he can’t help but be grateful, knowing with certainty that if things had turned out differently, that would have been him. Hey, Morgana, you know that world-saving bs you talked about two years ago? Let’s leave this piece of shit here to rot and focus our attention on that instead.

And you guys know the rest.

Or, at least, that’s how I thought it would go. Feel free to share your thoughts. :)

[la-hannya]

Anyone else noticed?

[isolaradiale]

Lost in Space 29

Hello, Isolans! We have conducted an activity check for the month of March!

If your character isn’t on this list, make sure to check this page to see how many stars that character has earned this month! Stars can be used for purchases at the marketplace.

The blogs that were removed from the Isola Radiale masterlist are under the cut. Note that both blogs with broken links and deactivated accounts will be included both at the top of this list and in their proper categories.

If you were removed in error, please simply send a re-application message. Several different people work on the activity checks, so it’s possible there are mistakes! If this happens to you, you will be able to keep everything you previously had, you just may be placed in a different residence.

Our general activity rules regarding checks are as follows:

Make at least two in-character posts during a calendar month (for instance, if the activity check is for January, have two in-character posts between the 1st and 31st of January).

Only one meme response of 300+ words counts as activity.

One-liners or minis not tagged #isola mini also do not count.

Please Note: If you are removed during two consecutive activity checks, you will not be allowed to re-apply as that character for two calendar months. 

Additionally, anyone removed during the activity check will have a 12-hour window from the time of posting to re-claim their character. Any character not reclaimed during that period will be open to the community at large.

Please send in your reapplications from the account of the character that was removed.

Broken URLs:

Berserker (Mysterious Heroine X Alter) (FATE)

Caster (Murasaki Shikibu) (FATE)

Tom Imura (ROT & RUIN)

ACE ATTORNEY (DAI GYAKUTEN SAIBAN)

Susato Mikotoba (HOUSE 117)

 THE ADVENTURE ZONE

Lup Taaco (THE JASTLE [GOLDEN])

Taako Taaco (TOWNHOUSE 232)

 BIOSHOCK

Subject Delta (HOUSE 138)

 BUNGOU STRAY DOGS

Lucy Maud Montgomery (CONDO 416)

 CODE VEIN

Queenslayer (APARTMENT 317)

 CRASH BANDICOOT

Dr. N. Tropy (N/A)

 CYBERPUNK 2077

V (APARTMENT 348)

 DC COMICS

Bruce Wayne (Batman) (HOUSE 149)

Clark Kent (Superman) (CONDO 415)

 DEAD BY DAYLIGHT

Dwight Fairfield (CONDO 427)

 DETECTIVE CONAN

Kaito Kuroba (HOUSE 149)

 DRAGALIA LOST

Nevin (DROPPED, N/A)

 DRAGON AGE

Cole (TOWNHOUSE 234)

Garrett Hawke (HOUSE 144)

 THE ELDER SCROLLS

Abnur Tharn (CONDO 420)

 FALLOUT

The Courier (APARTMENT 351)

 FATE

Assassin (Kama) (CONDO 455)

Berserker (Mysterious Heroine X Alter) (APARTMENT 313) *BROKEN URL

Caster (Murasaki Shikibu) (APARTMENT 357) *BROKEN URL

 FINAL FANTASY

Aerith Gainsborough (APARTMENT 310)

Emet-Selch (APARTMENT 340)

Genesis Rhapsodos (TOWNHOUSE 206)

Warrior of Light (Scholar - Winifred “Winni” Relansi) (HOUSE 151)

Warrior of Light (Warrior - Daigoro Kiyomori) (HOUSE 136)

 FIRE EMBLEM

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (TOWNHOUSE 304)

 GEKKAN SHOUJO NOZAKI-KUN

Yuu Kashima (CONDO 416)

 GENSHIN IMPACT

Barbara (CONDO 411)

Xiao (HOUSE 162)

Zhongli (HOUSE 104)

 GODZILLA

Godzilla (OUTSIDE)

 GRANBLUE FANTASY

Lucifer (HOUSE 161)

 HONKAI IMPACT 3RD

Sirin (CONDO 443)

 HOTLINE MIAMI

Jacket (HOUSE 150)

 IDENTITY V

Antonio (Violinist) (TOWNHOUSE 218)

 KIMETSU NO YAIBA (DEMON SLAYER)

Shinobu Kocho (APARTMENT 303)

 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

Link (Breath of the Wild) (TOWNHOUSE 207)

 MARVEL

Clint Barton (Hawkeye) (HAWKEYE’S HOUSE [GOLDEN])

 NARUTO

Gengetsu Hozuki (APARTMENT 357)

 NEON GENESIS EVANGELION

Asuka Shikinami Langley (CONDO 417)

 ORIGINAL CHARACTER

Azrael (CONDO 417)

Mizi Unipao (CONDO 419)

Roroanoak Barbatos (TOWNHOUSE 219)

Rosa Cervantes (ROSA’S HOUSE [ARCHIMEDES])

 THE OWL HOUSE

Edalyn "Eda" Clawthorne (APARTMENT 350)

 PERSONA

Goro Akechi (TOWNHOUSE 244)

Yusuke Kitagawa (HOUSE 151)

 POKEMON

Raihan (CONDO 458)

 PORTAL

GLaDOS (GLADOS’ HOUSE [FIBONACCI])

 PROMISE OF WIZARD

Mithra (DROPPED, N/A)

 ROT & RUIN

Tom Imura (APARTMENT 354) *BROKEN URL

 RWBY

Oscar Pines (APARTMENT 315)

 SAINTS ROW

Shaundi (CONDO 415)

 SERAPH OF THE END

Mikaela Hyakuya (CONDO 465)

 SONIC

Shadow the Hedgehog (CONDO 402)

 STAR WARS

Ahsoka Tano (APARTMENT 348)

Kylo Ren (APARTMENT 349)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (TOWNHOUSE 207)

The Smuggler (Cyree Bellegar) (HOUSE 148)

 SYMPHOGEAR

Prelati (HOUSE 134)

Saint-Germain (APARTMENT 342)

 TALES OF

Anna Irving (TOWNHOUSE 231)

 TEAM FORTRESS

The Medic (CONDO 434)

 TOKYO AFTERSCHOOL SUMMONER

Protagonist/Wanderer (APARTMENT 322)

 TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLE

Fai D. Flowright (TOWNHOUSE 235)

 TWISTED WONDERLAND

Riddle Rosehearts (TOWNHOUSE 225)

Trey Clover (CONDO 446)

 YAKUZA

Goro Majima (CONDO 417)

 YU YU HAKUSHO

Hiei (HOUSE 134)