Persona Stalker Club
Persona Stalker Club was a web talk show about the Persona series.
Overview
The show was co-hosted by gaming writer and personality Mafia Kajita and voice actress Tomomi Isomura. The show began airing in 2014 on the Japanese video platform Nico Nico Douga, shortly after the announcement about Persona 5 back in November of 2013. The show was usually pre-recorded, though some episodes were live streamed. It aired monthly until April of 2016 when it was announced that the show would be renamed Persona Stalker Club V leading up to the release of Persona 5. In addition to Nico Nico Douga, V also aired on the Abema Fresh! platform. The final episode of V aired in March of 2017.
During the show, Isomura and Kajita would discuss the latest in Persona news. There was a Q&A segment called, "Ah-ha, I S.E.E.S. It" (Japanese: なるほどなー S.E.E.S., Hepburn Naruhodo nā S.E.E.S.) where selected user-submitted questions would get responses from Atlus. There was also a segment where the hosts read user-submitted misheard lyrics from Persona songs, called the "Pers-misheard Theater" (Japanese: ペル空耳劇場, Hepburn Perusoramimi gekijō), a portmanteau of "Persona" and "soramimi", or Persora for short. Sometimes the show would have guests, namely voice actors and Atlus personnel.
Episodes
Persona Stalker Club
| Episode | Title | Airing Date | Special Topic | Guest(s) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | February 28, 2014 | ||||
| #2 | March 27, 2014 | ||||
| #3 | April 25, 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax | Yumi Kawamura | ||
| SP | May 23, 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | Unedited Persona Q special | ||
| #4 | May 30, 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | Lotus Juice | ||
| #5 | Commemorative Persona Q launch Nico Nico livestream ~The Catcher in the Cabbage Patch~ | June 19, 2014 | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | Mitsuaki Madono (Tohru Adachi) | First live stream |
| #6 | July 25, 2014 | Persona 4 Arena Ultimax | Mitsuaki Madono (Tohru Adachi), Shihoko Hirata | ||
| #7 | August 29, 2014 | Persona 4 Arena Ultimax | Tomokazu Sugita (Yusuke Kitagawa) | ||
| #8 | September 30, 2014 | Tokyo Game Show 2014 | |||
| #9 | October 31, 2014 | Kappei Yamaguchi (Teddie) | |||
| #10 | November 28, 2014 | Akemi Kanda (Nanako Dojima) | |||
| #11 | December 26, 2014 | Ami Koshimizu (Yukiko Amagi) | |||
| #12 | January 30, 2015 | ||||
| #13 | Persona Stalker Club: Nippon Budokan Special | February 27, 2015 | Persona Super Live 2015 | Yumi Kawamura, Shihoko Hirata, Lotus Juice, Shoji Meguro | Nippon Budokan was the venue for Super Live 2015 |
| #14 | March 31, 2015 | ||||
| #15 | April 30, 2015 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night | |||
| #16 | May 29, 2015 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night | Lotus Juice | ||
| SP | Sega Live: Featuring Isocchi and Mafia Kajita from Persona Stalker Club?! | June 22, 2015 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night | Toshihiro Nagoshi (Director of Like a Dragon) and Ayana Tsubaki (talent) hosted Sega Live with Kajita and Isomura appearing as guests | |
| #17 | June 30, 2015 | Persona 4: Dancing All Night | Daisuke Asakura (Musician) | ||
| #18 | July 31, 2015 | ||||
| #19 | August 31, 2015 | ||||
| SP | Persona Stalker Club: TGS Edition | September 19, 2015 | Persona 5 | ||
| #20 | October 30, 2015 | Tokyo Game Show 2015 | |||
| #21 | November 30, 2015 | Takahiro Mizuki (sugar sculptor) | |||
| #22 | December 28, 2015 | Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse | Megumi Toyoguchi (Yukari Takeba) | ||
| #23 | January 29, 2016 | ||||
| #24 | February 29, 2016 | Megumi Ogata (Ken Amada) | |||
| #25 | March 31, 2016 | Nosoko (Felt doll artist) | |||
| #26 | April 28, 2016 | Persona 5 | Lyn, Shoji Meguro | ||
| SP | Commemorative Persona 5 release date announcement Nico livestream | May 31, 2016 | Persona 5 |
Persona Stalker Club V
| Episode | Title | Airing Date | Guest(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | June 30, 2016 | ||
| #2 | July 29, 2016 | Yumi Kawamura, Lotus Juice, Lyn, Shihoko Hirata | |
| #3 | August 31, 2016 | ||
| #4 | September 30, 2016 | ||
| #5 | October 31, 2016 | Katsura Hashino, Shigenori Soejima | |
| #6 | December 4, 2016 | Shoji Meguro | |
| #7 | December 28, 2016 | Video Guests: DJ Waka, Takahiro Mizuki (sugar sculptor) | |
| #8 | January 31, 2017 | Ikue Otani (Morgana) | |
| #9 | February 28, 2017 | ||
| Final | Let's Make Like a Tree and Leaf with Ms. Post-Apocalyptic Raider | March 30, 2017 | Live Guests: Rina Sato (Makoto Niijima), Tomokazu Sugita (Yusuke Kitagawa) Video Guests: Jun Fukuyama (Joker), Shoji Meguro, Shigenori Soejima, Katsura Hashino |
| SP | Back for One Night: Escape from the backstages of Yokohama Arena! | August 2, 2017 | Yoshiaki Chigi (From Dengeki Playstation) |
Persora Theater
Stalker Club's most popular segment was the Persora Theater, or the Per(sona) misheard lyrics theater, where viewers would submit what the English lyrics in Persona music sounded like to them in Japanese. These segments included artwork related to the misheard lyrics drawn by Etrian Odyssey's artist Yuji Himukai. For example, in one episode, the English line "Could turn out to be" from "Best Friends" was heard as "kutta nasubi" meaning "eaten eggplant", and the accompanying art showed a hungry Tohru Adachi eating an eggplant animal that Nanako Dojima set out to celebrate Obon Festival.
Albums
The songs that frequently came up during the Persora segments were collected into five albums called Persora: The Golden Best. These albums also included a new remix by a member of Atlus's sound team as a bonus track.
- Persora: The Golden Best
- Persora: The Golden Best 2
- Persora: The Golden Best 3
- Persora: The Golden Best 4
- Persora: The Golden Best 5
Persora Awards
The hosts of Stalker Club held three Persora Awards where they and various voice actor guests would review and select the best Persora submissions. Persora Awards 1 and 2 were released as standalone BD/DVDs and also as part of box collections that included the awards show, episodes of Stalker Club, and bonus content. Persora Awards 3 was only released as part of a box collection.
- Persora Awards: Full Stalking Box
- Persora Awards 2: 20th Ambassador Box
- Persora Awards 3: Memento Mori☆Mori Box
Ah-ha, I S.E.E.S. It
This segment was named after a line of Aigis's from Persona 3. The hosts would read fan-submitted questions, chat about what they thought the answer might be, then read Atlus's response, then say, "Ah-ha, I S.E.E.S. it!" in response. This segment was not always structured as a Q&A and was sometimes just a way of showing new info. For example, during episode 6, they had Adachi's voice actor do combo challenges in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and for each one he completed, they would show cutscenes from story mode. If he failed a challenge, he could still make up for it by chewing on a re-creation of Chie's Meat Gum (beef jerky flakes sprinkled on a regular stick of gum).
Episode 01
Q: What happens if you unzip the zipper between Izanagi's legs?
A: Inside the zipper is a Shadow. A Persona wearing a zipped battle suit represents controlling your suppressed ego with strong willpower.
Q: Why does Shinjiro Aragaki wear his cap and coat even during summer?
A: His Persona suppressing drugs interfere with his body's temperature regulation.
Episode 02
Q: Please tell me where the eyes are on Yosuke Hanamura's Persona, Jiraiya.
A: The two holes in the middle (next to the yellow stars) are the eyes.
Q: What music does Yosuke listen to during battles?
A: Western music so he can pretend to be an expert in western music, Japanese music so he can talk to girls about it, movie soundtracks like Trial of the Dragon, etc.
Q: Why does Mitsuru's father wear an eyepatch?
A: It seems that he was injured by Shadow(s) while exploring Tartarus.
Episode 04
Q: Since Tartarus used to be a school, does it have stuff like air conditioning?
A: The school's original AC units might still be there, but it's highly unlikely that they still function since electronics quit working during the Dark Hour.
Q: What causes the sound effect that occurs when a Persona is summoned?
A: The sound effect represents the summoner breaking the boundary between the conscious and unconscious to use their Persona's powers.
Episode 05
Q: Why do Dojima and Adachi wear the same red tie? It's weird that the two of them wear a plain, bright red necktie that would stand out like a sore thumb even if they weren't detectives. Was it just a coincidence, or is there a reason for this?
A: Dojima couldn't stand seeing Adachi wear some old wrinkled worn-out tie, so Dojima gave Adachi one of his spares.
Q: Adachi's hobby is supposedly "revolver maintenance", but it doesn't seem like he can do things that require dexterity very well, and he's never shown actually maintaining a revolver in the story. Can he really do revolver maintenance?
A: He does maintenance on model guns he owns at home since he can't take his police-issued revolver home.
Q: In a particular scene, Adachi whips out a lighter from his pocket. Does he smoke?
A: Adachi doesn't smoke himself. He keeps a lighter on-hand in case Dojima asks for a light.
Q: Adachi always calls the main characters "naive", "dumb kids", and generally looks down on them, but he's quite relaxed when it comes to Dojima, and I don't think he's ever said a bad thing about him. I want to know why Adachi is like that with Dojima. What happened when they first met?
A: One of the reasons why is because when they first met, Dojima got him sushi so Adachi thought he was a good guy.
Q: In the story, Adachi buys a lot of cabbage. What did he make with all of that cabbage? (Actually, can Adachi even cook?)
A: Adachi would cut up a fresh ball of cabbage vertically into large pieces like it's a watermelon, and have it as a beer snack with some miso and mayo/kewpie.
Q: Adachi, one of the characters in Persona 4, is now a popular character. He's become Persona 4's ratings guy / crowd pleaser. That said, when you were making Persona 4, were you consciously trying to make Adachi a character that wouldn't be hated but rather adored by the players? What is the appeal of Adachi, who, despite being "egocentric", has acquired a loyal fanbase?
A: During production, we cared about all of the characters, not just Adachi. We're quite pleased to see when a character unexpectedly becomes popular. As for his appeal, that's up to you.
Episode 08
Q: How is Aigis able to wear shoes with her Gekkoukan High School uniform when her feet are shaped like that?
A: When wearing her school uniform, Aigis has optional foot attachments with ankles. Also, the tiptoe foot design is to make her more mobile and have better jumping capability. This design was inspired by Bambi and horses.
Q: Is Aigis's body hard or soft?
A: Aigis's exterior body is made of reinforced fibre that's fireproof, bulletproof, and bladeproof to give her defense when fighting Shadows, but it's not particularly thick since she needs to be able to wear clothing over it. The rest was made to imitate a human.
Q: The necklace Junpei Iori wears in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax looks similar to the sword Chidori Yoshino has on her head. Did Chidori make the necklace herself and give it to Junpei?
A: Chidori gave Junpei the necklace, made by an apparel brand she likes, as a present.
Episode 09
Q: Was Teddie's human form based on / inspired by someone else?
A: It's how Teddie imagined an ideal cool guy who would be loved by all.
Q: Chie Satonaka says that Teddie caused a commotion on the women's floor of Junes. What did he say? Was it dirty?
A: Yes, dirty. It seems he began yelling about the brand names and shapes of underwear that caught his eye.
Q: How does Teddie make the glasses in Persona 4?
A: Teddie skillfully constructs them using tools from an optician's store located in the TV World's Inaba and materials he gathers from around the area.
Q: Did Chie and Yukiko Amagi's curry have any curry powder? Also, what kind of seafood did they include?
A: Yukiko probably knew that you needed "curry powder" of some kind, but based on how she picked ingredients plus Yosuke's reaction, Yukiko probably used random yellow powders and spices instead of a solid roux block. As for the seafood, the girls probably didn't use raw fish for health reasons. It's possible they bought fish that doubles as being good for making soup stock (such as frozen squid and frozen shrimp, scallop, frozen tuna for impromptu sashimi, and dried/preserved fish used for ryokan breakfast) thus they could kill two birds with one stone. Those kinds of ingredients might have been why the curry had such varied textures.
Episode 12
Q: During Episode Adachi, Adachi mentions the Moonlight Bridge. Did he used to live in Iwatodai?
A: He didn't necessarily live there, but he worked in the city center, and would take the scenic route back to HQ by driving over to Moonlight Bridge to imitate a character on a popular detective drama.
Nomenclature
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese
|
ペルソナストーカー倶楽部 Perusona sutōkā kurabu | Persona Stalker Club |
Gallery
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Logo for Stalker Club
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Logo for Stalker Club V
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A photo from the set of the program, featuring (left to right) Tomomi Isomura, Tomokazu Sugita (cosplaying Yukiko Amagi), and Mafia Kajita.
