Mitsuo Kubo
Mitsuo Kubo is a character in Persona 4.
Profile
Mitsuo Kubo is a high school student who attends an unnamed school. He used to be a student at Yasogami High School, but he was suspended after Kinshiro Morooka saw him out at night. This incident hurt his pride, and he began attending another unnamed school.[1] Like many in Inaba, he has a crush on Yukiko Amagi, leading him to ask her out on the first day of school, though he is unsuccessful like everyone else. He is characterized as being awkward when communicating with others, with how he addresses Yukiko despite not knowing her[2] and rambling on about his opinions to Rise.[3] Based on his TV World dungeon and his casual wear, he spends a lot of time online and plays video games.
In April, Mitsuo wears a school uniform with a dark colored blazer and a green tie. After he begins appearing in the Central Shopping District, Mitsuo is seen in jeans and an orange shirt, suggesting he may have started skipping school. His orange shirt has rows of "W"s, a Japanese internet slang equivalent for "lol".
Game Appearances
Persona 4
On April 12th, the first day of school, Mitsuo shows up outside the gates of Yasogami High School and approaches Yukiko Amagi, asking her if she wants to go hang out somewhere. Other students show up and comment on how yet another guy is asking Yukiko out. Mitsuo asks Yukiko if she is coming or not. Yukiko replies no, and Mitsuo runs off. After the murder case develops, Mitsuo begins appearing in the Central Shopping District during spring and summer. He criticizes the police for taking so long to catch the murderer, talks down on biker gangs, and suggests that Morooka is the murderer.
During July, a day after Morooka turns up dead, the Investigation Team learns from Naoto Shirogane that the police already have a suspect—a high school boy who goes to a different school. After exams, they overhear that the suspect has gone missing. When they watch the Midnight Channel on July 26th, an image of Mitsuo appears and taunts those watching to come and catch him, but none of them recognize him or know who he is. As the protagonist talks to people in Inaba, he learns that the suspect used to have a job in the Central Shopping District. He asks someone at Souzai Daigaku if a student once worked there part-time. She is shocked by the question, saying she told Mitsuo's old classmate not to tell anyone about him working there. She mentions that Mitsuo used to help cut the meat and suggests the protagonist look for his middle school classmate, who also used to work at Souzai Daigaku, for more info. The protagonist finds Mitsuo's old classmate, learns his name, and sees his old middle school yearbook photo.
When the Investigation Team meets back up, they begin to realize they have had multiple run-ins with Mitsuo before. Chie Satonaka remembers him as the guy who asked Yukiko out on the first day of school, Rise Kujikawa recalls that he asked her what she thought of biker gangs, and Kanji Tatsumi remembers that he got associated with biker gangs because of that news special. They figure Mitsuo must really be the murderer, and these incidents with him are why they got targeted. Using the info they have, Rise is able to locate Mitsuo in the TV World.
The group enters Mitsuo's dungeon, Void Quest, and finds a pixelated video game world that contains references to Shin Megami Tensei, Wizardry, and Dragon Quest. The dungeon was born from Mitsuo's repressed inner emptiness. He did not understand the reason for his existence, and it gave him a sense of fear that outweighed his morality, leading him to solving this problem by committing murder.[4]
As the Investigation Team progress through each floor, they see text that describes events like Mitsuo killing Morooka. Rise interprets this as a reflection of Mitsuo's mental state and that he saw this all as a game. On the last floor, they discover Mitsuo and Shadow Mitsuo. Shadow Mitsuo is silent, and Mitsuo yells at it to say something. Finally, the Shadow says it is empty, and they are the same person. Chie does not understand what's happening and asks Mitsuo if he is the killer. In response, Mitsuo begins laughing and tells her that he is. He threatens to kill the Investigation Team too. His Shadow comments on how it isn't being acknowledged, and then transforms into a baby protected by a mecha.
After defeating Shadow Mitsuo, Mitsuo continues to tell the team that he is the murderer who killed all three victims. This causes the Shadow to disappear, much to the confusion of the Investigation Team. When they take Mitsuo out of the TV, he brags about how people finally pay attention to him. Yosuke gets frustrated due to Mitsuo talking about murdering Saki Konishi for attention, but Kanji stops Yosuke and tells him to call the police.
The police investigation into Mitsuo continues into the fall. As time goes on, the protagonist learns that the police have forensic evidence linking Mitsuo to Morooka's murder but nothing linking him to Mayumi Yamano or Saki.
This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)
On December 7th, the Investigation Team locates the real culprit, Tohru Adachi, in the TV World. Naoto deduces that Mitsuo never actually had the power to use the TV. Adachi says that when Mitsuo showed up at the police station to turn himself in as the murderer, the officers thought it was a prank and left Adachi to deal with him. Adachi then got rid of Mitsuo by leading him to a room with a TV, turning off the lights, and throwing him into the TV. After, Adachi told the others he had sent Mitsuo home.
Unlike with Mayumi and Saki, there is no flashback of Adachi with Mitsuo. Aside from the fact Mitsuo ended up in the TV World, it is unknown how much of what Adachi said is true.
- End of spoilers.
Anime Appearances
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Persona 4 The Animation
Persona 4 The Animation: The Factor of Hope
Persona 4 The Golden Animation
Mitsuo has a small cameo in the opening sequence of episode 1 where he is depicted walking through the Central Shopping District outside of Konishi Liquors.
Manga Appearances
Persona 4
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Appearances in Non-Megami Tensei Media
Visualive Persona 4
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Trivia
- In the original draft, Morooka was not originally intended to die. When revising the script, the writers also added in Morooka's death to try and surprise the players.[5]
Nomenclature
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 English
|
Mitsuo Kubo | |
 Japanese
|
久保 美津雄 Kubo Mitsuo | Mitsuo Kubo |
Gallery
Game Appearances
Persona 4
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Mitsuo's angry casual clothes portrait
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Mitsuo's neutral casual clothes portrait
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Mitsuo's pensive casual clothes portrait
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Mitsuo's smiling casual clothes portrait
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Mitsuo's neutral winter uniform portrait
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Mitsuo's photo portrait
Persona 4 Golden
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Mitsuo's neutral winter uniform portrait
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Mitsuo's angry casual clothes portrait
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Mitsuo's pensive casual clothes portrait
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Mitsuo's smiling casual clothes portrait
Anime Appearances
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Render for Persona 4 The Animation
Manga Appearances
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Illustration in Persona 4 (Manga)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "かつては八高の生徒だったが、繁華街で遊んでいた際にモロキンに見つかり、停学処分を受けた。この一件でいたくプライドを傷つけられた美津雄は八高を退学し、別の高校に転校している。" "Chapter 3: NPCs", Persona Club P4, Atlus, Famitsu Editorial Department. Published by Famitsu (2009). Japanese. p. 143. ISBN-13: 475774630X.
- ↑ "[April 12] Chie: You really had no clue? Sheesh... But then again, that was way over the top. It was creepy how he called you Yuki all of a sudden." Persona 4.
- ↑ "Rise: He came up to me while I was busy working and asked, "Don't the biker gangs bother you?" Just going on and on about how biker gangs can't do anything unless they're in a pack and stuff. He seemed to be the type who just keeps talking, whether you like it or not... if that makes sense. I usually treat those people politely so they don't get offended, but I was so tired that I kinda ignored him." Persona 4.
- ↑ "Chapter 5: Setting", Persona Club P4. p. 187.
- ↑ "Hashino: とくに最初のプロットだと、先ほども言いましたけど展開が物足りなくて、真犯人を追加した以外にもいろいろ変更が入りました。たとえば最初は、モロキンは死ぬ予定ではなかったんです。 Interviewer: えーっ？！ Hashino: ミツオとボイドクエストは最初から予定されていた流れなんですが、そこでひとつ大きな盛り上がりを入れようということになって、そのときユーザーのみなさんの予想を裏切る意外性のある展開をと考えた結果、かわいそうですがモロキンに被害者になっていただくことに。" Translation: "Katsura Hashino: In the first draft, for example, we weren't originally planning to have Morooka die. Interviewer: What?! Hashino: We had planned to include Mitsuo and the Void Quest, but we wanted to put a big surprise in there that would really betray player's expectations, and sadly for him, Morooka was sacrificed for that." "Developer Interview", Persona Club P4, Atlus, Famitsu Editorial Department. Published by Famitsu (2009). Japanese. p. 205. Translation by Alex Highsmith (Persona 4 – 2008 Developer Interview). ISBN-13: 475774630X.