Plot:Persona 4

	This article covers a complete plot summary.
	The contents within will contain major spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

This is a plot summary of Persona 4. In accordance with the wiki's policy for Japanese canon over localization, major differences between the Japanese and English versions of the game are noted here in spots where a person who has played the English version might remember something happening differently. Everything that happens starting on the evening of November 5th and onward is treated as major spoilers and those sections are wrapped in spoiler tags. Based on the events of the sequels Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Persona 4: Dancing All Night, this summary assumes the protagonist obtains the true ending on March 20th. The other possible endings and game over scenarios are treated as alternate endings that are listed at the end.

For the changes and additions made to the plot for the re-release, see Plot:Persona 4 Golden.

Prologue

Persona 4 opens with the protagonist dreaming about a limo driving through fog. Inside the limo, known as the Velvet Room, he is greeted by Igor, who explains that usually only those who have formed contracts can enter this place. After hearing the protagonist's name, Igor tells him his fortune using tarot cards. He draws the Tower, hinting at misfortune, and the Moon, hinting at indecision and mystery. From these cards, Igor reads that misfortune will befall the area the protagonist is about to travel to, and once there, he will be tasked with solving a mystery. And if the mystery is left unsolved, the protagonist's future might be closed off. Igor expects that the protagonist will soon be forming a contract of some sort, and he will see him again soon. Before bidding him goodbye, Igor also introduces his assistant, Margaret.

On April 11th, in a larger, unnamed metropolitan city, the protagonist waits at a train station while television screens play an ad for Quelorie Magic starring idol Rise Kujikawa. After the commercial, the news resumes, and all of the reporters talk about the secretary to an Inaba City Councilman, Taro Namatame, cheating on his wife, enka singer Misuzu Hiiragi, and having an affair with TV announcer Mayumi Yamano. Hiiragi is seeking settlement money, and Yamano has been taken off air. After changing trains twice, the protagonist arrives at Yasoinaba Station, a train station in the small city of Inaba. His uncle, Ryotaro Dojima, greets him at the station and introduces his young daughter, Nanako Dojima. On the way home, Dojima stops at Moel Gas Station in the Central Shopping District to get gas while Nanako uses the bathroom. The protagonist talks to the Moel Gas Station Attendant, who shakes his hand and welcomes him to Inaba. The attendant informs the protagonist that they are currently hiring part-time workers and are okay with high schoolers. Afterward, Nanako notices the protagonist looks unwell and the family leaves.

The family arrives at the Dojima Residence, where the protagonist will live for the next year while his parents work overseas. Dojima is called away due to work during dinner, leaving the protagonist home with Nanako. Nanako explains that her father is a detective. The local news airs a report about Namatame's affair with Mayumi. Nanako finds this boring and changes the channel to one playing an ad for the Junes department store which she sings along to. When the protagonist goes to bed that night, he dreams of being on a red tile path, surrounded by fog. He finds a mysterious figure in the fog who taunts the protagonist to try and catch them. The protagonist attempts to attack the figure, but the fog makes it impossible to see. The mystery figure remarks that people only see what they want to see, and this causes the fog to thicken. Before the protagonist falls back asleep, it tells him they might see one another again in another location.

First Day of School

The protagonist wakes up on April 12th, feeling like he had a nightmare last night. On his way to school, another student passes him on a bike and crashes shortly after. At Yasogami High School, the protagonist is assigned to class 2-2 under homeroom teacher Kinshiro Morooka. Morooka introduces the protagonist to the class as their new transfer student, calling him a loser from the city who got stuck in the boonies. Morooka begins ranting about today's youth, telling girls not to go after the protagonist and also warning the protagonist not to lay a finger on any of the girls. Chie Satonaka raises her hand and asks if the protagonist can sit next to her as there is an open seat. After taking attendance, Morooka is suddenly called away for a staff meeting. While he is gone, students in the classroom begin gossiping about paparazzi coming to Inaba in search of Mayumi, who was supposedly spotted in the Central Shopping District. One of the students asks Yukiko Amagi if the rumor about Mayumi staying at her family's inn is true, but Yukiko refuses to tell him. Chie, a friend of Yukiko's, asks Yukiko if she tried out the thing that happens on rainy nights. Related to this, Chie mentions she overheard a boy in another class claim that Mayumi is his soulmate.

The students are suddenly given an announcement through the intercom, sending them home for the day due to something that occurred near the school. Chie invites the protagonist to walk home with her and introduces herself and Yukiko. The boy with the bike, Yosuke Hanamura, approaches Chie to return a DVD she lent him. He apologizes, offers to replace it once he gets his next paycheck, and then attempts to run away quickly. But Chie catches up to him, and Yosuke hits the edge of a desk, injuring himself in the process. Chie opens the DVD case and yells at him for breaking her Trial of the Dragon DVD. She tells Yukiko to ignore Yosuke while he is hunched over in pain so they can go home. On their way out of school, a boy from another school approaches Yukiko and invites her to go somewhere with him. Two male students witness this and reveal that trying to ask Yukiko out has been named "The Amagi Challenge". After Yukiko tells him she doesn't want to go with him, he runs off. She is confused about what he wanted, and Chie explains that he was trying to ask her out. Yosuke rides up on his bike and observes that Yukiko must have rejected another guy, just like he got rejected last year. Yukiko doesn't remember that, so Yosuke asks her out just to get rejected again before riding off his bike.

While walking on the roads near school, Chie introduces the protagonist to Inaba and talks up Yukiko's family's Amagi Inn, a traditional style inn with a hot springs that brings tourists to Inaba. Yukiko downplays this and insists the inn is just old. The three come across a crime scene where onlookers gossip about a dead body being found there, hanging from an antenna. Dojima happens to be on the scene and spots the protagonist. He introduces himself to the protagonist's friends and advises they all head home. Dojima's partner, Tohru Adachi, runs past the group and throws up, causing Dojima to yell at him to quit acting like a rookie and clean himself up so they can start questioning the locals. Taking Dojima's words seriously, Chie and Yukiko decide to go to Junes another day while the protagonist heads home. At night time, the protagonist is home with Nanako again. She wonders if her father will not be coming home that night. While watching the news, the two learn that Mayumi's dead body was found earlier that day near the Samegawa, and the Inaba Police Department is investigating her death but cannot carry out a full foresnic investigation of the crime scene until tomorrow due to fog. Nanako finds the news scary, but she quickly cheers up when the Junes commercial comes on and sings along to the jingle.

The Midnight Channel

While walking to school on April 13th, Yosuke rides past the protagonist and ends up crashing his bike again, this time getting stuck in a trash can. The protagonist helps him up, and Yosuke introduces himself. Yosuke asks if he heard the news about Mayumi's body being found. He realizes they might be late for school and offers to give the protagonist a ride on his bike. Once school is over, Yosuke offers to treat the protagonist to some cheap steak as a thank you for helping him that morning. Chie overhears this and invites herself since Yosuke broke her copy of Trial of the Dragon. She tries to invite Yukiko along too, but Yukiko has to leave that day to help out at the inn. Yosuke gets the mistaken idea that she is training to inherit the family business, but Yukiko says she is only helping out because it is busy.

Yosuke complains about having to buy food for two; he can no longer afford the original steak place he planned to take the protagonist to, and brings them to the Junes food court to get cheap steak instead. Chie complains about it being Junes, calling it "Yosuke's place". Yosuke explains to the protagonist that he, too, is from the big city, and he moved to Inaba around six months ago when his dad became the manager at Junes. Chie recalls that over the past six months, people have quit shopping in the shopping district in favor of Junes, and smaller stores have begun closing down. Yosuke sees Saki Konishi, a Junes part-timer and 3rd year at Yasogami High, and he goes to chat with her. Yosuke notices that she doesn't look well, but Saki replies she's just tired and regrets leaving school early on the day before. She spots the protagonist and is interested in meeting him. Saki assumes Yosuke and the protagonist must get along well since they both came from the big city and hopes they continue getting along. She thinks Yosuke is a good guy, but teases him and tells the protagonist to say if Yosuke is being annoying. After, she gets back to work.

Chie detects that Yosuke has a crush on Saki and likens their situation to being a forbidden romance due to Saki's parents owning Konishi Liquors in the shopping district while Yosuke's dad manages Junes. Yosuke denies this. To help him, Chie tells him the urban legend of the Midnight Channel: If you watch a powered down TV at midnight on a rainy night by yourself, you can see who your soulmate is. Yosuke finds it childish, but Chie thinks they should all try it that night since it'll be raining. Yosuke changes the subject to Mayumi's death. He thinks it might have been a murder, and giddily jokes about the murderer still being out there, causing Chie to tell him he's the childish one.

At night, the protagonist and Nanako eat dinner when an exhausted Dojima comes home and asks Nanako to turn on the news. Dojima is annoyed by the news airing an interview with the student who found Mayumi's body. The reporter badgers her about why she left school early and if she saw anyone suspicious near the crime scene. As the interview goes on, the protagonist realizes the girl being interviewed resembles Saki. The protagonist heads to his room to try watching the Midnight Channel. At midnight, his powered down TV flickers on, and he sees images of a girl struggling. Shortly after, he hears a voice talking to him. He reaches out in front of him and is able to put his hand into the TV screen. He feels something pulling him from the other side, but he is able to free himself. Confused, he decides to talk to Yosuke and Chie about it at school the next day.

Desolate Bedroom

On April 14th, the protagonist heads to school. Other students at school have heard the rumor that Saki was the one who found Mayumi's body, and Yosuke assumes that was why she looked so down yesterday and further mentions she is absent from school today. Yukiko also seems down and leaves after class to help out at the inn again. Chie asks the two boys if they watched the Midnight Channel last night. It turns out that all three of them watched it, and believe they might have seen the same girl wearing a Yasogami High uniform. Chie is confused about what this means as she thought the Midnight Channel was supposed to show you your soulmate. The protagonist explains he could put his hand into the TV and got stuck momentarily, but Chie and Yosuke assume he was dreaming. Chie's family has been in the market for a bigger TV, so Yosuke takes her and the protagonist to Junes to look at the larger models. While there, the protagonist sticks his hand into a large display model TV and even sticks his head inside. Yosuke and Chie panic when they see this and collide with one another, then fall through the screen with the protagonist into the TV World.

The group lands in a TV studio-looking area full of yellow fog. The three wander around, searching for an exit, when they come across a building with an apartment room with defaced posters and a red noose hanging from the ceiling. Yosuke remarks on how the posters seem familiar, but Chie wants to leave as she feels unwell. Yosuke also feels under the weather, and the protagonist thinks about how his body feels heavy. They leave the apartment and wind up back at the studio-looking area they started at. A mysterious figure resembling a bear mascot approaches them. Chie tries to fight it, and it starts cowering. The protagonist tries talking to it instead, asking about who it is and where they are. But the bear cannot answer these questions as it only knows the inside of the TV as the place where it lives and does not know its name. The bear tells them someone has been throwing people in, and they must leave soon and return to their world since the Shadows make the TV World dangerous. Yosuke gets irritated and complains that they want to escape from the TV but can't find an exit. The bear snaps back that it will help them, creates a stack of TVs that functions as an exit, and then pushes them through the screen.

They find themselves back in Junes, and Yosuke is surprised at how late it has gotten when he hears an announcement for the daily ready made food sale. When he looks around the electronics department, he recognizes the same poster on the wall as being the defaced ones they saw in the apartment room. Chie realizes the woman in the posters as Misuzu Hiiragi, the wife of Taro Namatame. Since she has been in the news due to her husband's affair with Mayumi, Yosuke wonders out loud if the strange apartment room had something to do with Mayumi's death. He quickly changes the topic as the day's events have scared him, and he wants to think about something else. Chie, who still feels unwell, suggests they all go home.

At the Dojima house, Dojima greets the protagonist and asks if he knows anything about Saki. Earlier, the police were told that she is currently missing. On the TV, the news reports about Mayumi's death and how she was staying at the Amagi Inn. The protagonist starts sneezing, and Dojima recommends he take cold medicine and rest. Following his uncle's advice, the protagonist goes to bed without watching the Midnight Channel again that night even though it's raining. Meanwhile, one of the reporters on TV begins talking about Yukiko and gossiping about her possibly taking over the inn soon.

The Magician

On the morning of April 15th, Saki's dead body appears hanging on a utility pole. Dojima leaves the house early in the morning, and the protagonist hears students gossiping about police cars and sirens on his way to school. When he arrives, the principal holds an assembly and announces that Saki was found dead that morning. In the hallways, a student gossips about Saki's body turning up in the same way as Mayumi's, and a girl resembling Saki showed up on the Midnight Channel the night before. Her friend thinks it was a dream caused by the student maybe being interviewed herself.

Yosuke catches up to Chie and the protagonist and admits he watched the Midnight Channel last night. He saw a girl he thought was Saki, and she appeared to be in pain before her image disappeared from the screen. Yosuke recalls how Chie mentioned a guy who believed Mayumi was his soulmate, what the bear said about someone throwing people into the TV, and how the bear told them about leaving before the fog cleared inside the TV. From all of this, he theorizes there is a connection between the Midnight Channel, the world inside of the TV, and the two deaths. Yosuke does not believe that the police can do anything since they have yet to progress on Mayumi's case and asks the protagonist to go back inside the TV with him after school. He knows he might be wrong about all this, but he also wants to know why Saki died. He leaves school to wait for them in Junes. Once there, Chie points out they don't even know if they'll be able to get back out again. Yosuke is hopeful that if they enter from the same TV, they'll run into the bear again and be able to get out. He hands the protagonist a golf club for self-defense, ties a rope around his waist, and gives the other end to Chie to use as a lifeline. Shortly after Yosuke and the protagonist enter the TV, the rope breaks, and a confused Chie is left alone in the electronics department.

Inside the TV, Yosuke and the protagonist arrive in the exact same location as before, confirming that the Junes TV connects to the studio-looking area. The mascot bear returns and recognizes the two from before. He accuses them of being responsible for throwing people into the TV World and tells them to stop, but after Yosuke yells at him, insisting they were not responsible, Teddie walks back on his accusation and says it is just a possibility. From what the bear says, the boys assume the people who got thrown in were Mayumi and Saki and that someone might have thrown them into the TV to kill them. When it gets foggy in the human world, the fog inside the TV lifts and beings called Shadows that occupy the TV World become violent. Seeing that they are in a studio-looking area, Yosuke also figures that the images broadcast on the Midnight Channel must be "filmed" there, though the bear denies that anyone films around there.

Neither the protagonist nor Yosuke has proof they aren't responsible, but Yosuke thinks the bear could be the culprit. He runs out of patience with the bear and tries removing its mascot costume head to see who is inside, but is surprised when it's empty. The bear denies being the culprit and decides to believe Yosuke and the protagonist for now, but makes them promise to help solve the mystery, even threatening not to let them out of the TV again unless they agree. The protagonist recalls what Igor told him in his dreams, and he makes a promise to the bear to solve the mystery. Yosuke feels like the bear is blackmailing them, but he introduces himself and the protagonist, and the bear says its name is Teddie. Teddie cannot fight but provides them with glasses that allow them to see through the yellow fog and offers to take them to place of the last person who was thrown into the TV, hoping they can find clues for their investigation.

Twisted Shopping District

Teddie leads them to the Twisted Shopping District, which Yosuke recognizes as a replica of the Central Shopping District. Yosuke is confused about why it is there, but all Teddie knows is it's "reality" for the person who was there, and Yosuke interprets this to mean it was Saki's reality. As they approach the entrance of Konishi Liquors, two Shadows crawl out of the entrance and approach the group. The protagonist hears the voice from before and summons his Persona, Izanagi, which he uses to defeat both Shadows. Teddie is impressed with his power and begins calling him Sensei. He think the protagonist's power must be why he could enter the TV and that the Shadows attacked because they were afraid of him.

At the door to Konishi Liquors, the group begins hearing voices talking about Junes and how sad it is for Saki's family. Even inside the store, they hear Saki's father asking her why she had to work at Junes, and finally, they hear Saki herself calling Yosuke annoying. Yosuke is in denial and in disbelief that Saki's life was like this, as he always thought she enjoyed working at Junes. Another version of Yosuke with yellow eyes appears and says that he's the one who really thinks everything is a pain in the ass. The other Yosuke claims that the real Yosuke hates living in Inaba and he's afraid of being alone. Furthermore, the real reason why he wanted to come into the TV was because it sounded exciting and he could play the hero; saying it was due to Saki's death was just an excuse. Yosuke strongly reacts to the last part, vehemently denying that he's like that and saying there's no way this other person is really him. This denial causes the other Yosuke to transform into Shadow Yosuke and attack, but the protagonist subdues it with help from Teddie.

Even after, Yosuke tries to deny that it's him again, but Teddie tells him that it came from him and he has to accept it before it goes out of control again. After some words of encouragement from the protagonist, Yosuke is able to admit that his Shadow is him, and it transforms into his own Persona, Jiraiya. Based on what just happened to him, Yosuke theorizes that Mayumi and Saki got thrown into the TV, formed the apartment and shopping district, their own Shadows came out of them, then the fog cleared, their Shadows went berserk and killed them, and then their bodies turned up in reality on foggy days. He feels down about the deaths, as they could have been prevented if someone had been there to help. Teddie sensed that Mayumi and Saki were safe before the fog lifted, as the Shadows didn't attack them. Hearing this, Yosuke believes that he can the protagonist can use their new powers to save people before the fog lifts; that way, no one else will die. With a clear goal in mind, the protagonist and Yosuke agree to return through the same TV and meet with Teddie again. Teddie makes another exit for them and shoves them back out into Junes, where Chie is waiting. She cries and tells them she has been worried this whole time before throwing the rope at Yosuke and running off.

On his way home, the protagonist spots Yukiko near the Samegawa Flood Plain, who is out running an errand for the Amagi Inn. Yukiko is happy to have Chie's support, and hopes that she and the protagonist are getting along with each other. Back at the Dojima Residence, Nanako sees the news about Saki being found dead and figures her dad won't be coming home again. During the news broadcast, it is reported that police suspect Mayumi and Saki's deaths might be connected. After, the news airs an interview with Yukiko about the Amagi Inn. The reporter assumes that Yukiko has taken over managing the inn and makes a big deal of her being a high school aged manager, but Yukiko corrects him and says she is only filling in. He takes note of Yukiko's kimono and makes inappropriate remarks about her, saying the inn must get a lot of male customers. Nanako finds this boring, and she and the protagonist do housework instead.

Late at night, the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel again and sees an unclear, static-filled image of a woman in a kimono. As he sleeps, Igor again summons him to the Velvet Room. Between now and the last time they met, the protagonist has entered a contract in some way and has thus become a guest of the Velvet Room. Now Igor and Margaret will assist him, but in return, the protagonist alone is responsible for the decisions he makes. To signify his status as a guest, Igor gives him the Contractor's Key so he can come and go as he pleases. Igor explains that a Persona is like an armor used when facing hardships, and the protagonist's ability is that of the Wild Card: Similar to the number 0, the Wild Card is empty yet has unlimited possibilities. He encourages the protagonist to nurture his bonds with others and establish Social Links. By doing so, he can further develop his Persona ability. As Margaret says, not only do Social Links help with Personas, but they can also act as guides that shine with the light of the truth.

The Investigation Team

On the way to school on April 16th, the protagonist recalls what Igor said in his dreams about forming bonds and establishes a bond with Yosuke. At school, Yosuke begins to apologize to Chie about the other day, but she is more concerned about Yukiko. Yukiko hasn't shown up for school yet, and Chie believes the person who appeared on the Midnight Channel last night was Yukiko due to the figure's kimono. The protagonist shares with Chie what they learned yesterday, and Yosuke jumps to the conclusion that Yukiko might have gotten thrown into the TV World. Chie tries calling Yukiko again and is relieved when Yukiko finally picks up and hears that she is just busy with a large reservation at the inn. She gets mad at Yosuke for getting her worked up over nothing. Yosuke thought people appear on the Midnight Channel after they are inside the TV, hence why he thought Yukiko might have gotten thrown in. He suggests they go to Junes after school to check it out. In the electronics department, the protagonist sticks his hand into the TV and beckons for Teddie. By talking to him through the TV screen, they learn that no one else has gotten thrown into the TV. Chie decides to warn Yukiko about it and walk her to school just in case, and the protagonist exchanges phone numbers with Yosuke so they can talk to each other after watching the Midnight Channel.

In the evening, Dojima and Adachi are out in the field, trying to investigate the two deaths. They have yet to find anything that points to these deaths being murders, though both detectives believe them to be. Adachi thinks it might have been due to Namatame's affair. However, his wife has an alibi, and Namatame himself also has an alibi since he has been living away from Inaba for six months and was seen in an office outside of Inaba on the evening that Mayumi died. Saki's death is also puzzling; the angle that someone silenced her because she found Mayumi's corpse doesn't make sense, as she died well after discovering Mayumi's body. Ultimately, the only thing that Dojima is sure of is that the culprit must be in Inaba. When the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel that same night, a clear picture comes on, vastly different from the static-filled images he saw the night before. He sees Yukiko dressed in a pink gown, calling herself Princess Yukiko, seemingly on a TV show with a title overlay. She tells the viewers that she wants to score herself a hot stud. After, she runs into a large castle behind her. Yosuke calls the protagonist immediately. He thinks she looks like Yukiko for sure, but she sounded odd. Not sure what else to make of this, the two agree to meet with Chie at Junes in the morning.

The protagonist meets Yosuke in the Junes food court on April 17th. Yosuke brings fake swords from the Junes storeroom to use as weapons in the TV World. An officer sees the boys, immediately finds them suspicious, and brings them to the Inaba Police Department. Thanks to Dojima, they get off the hook, but he lectures them, and the police confiscate their weapons. Yosuke overhears two officers talking about Yukiko going missing and later questions Adachi about this. Adachi figures the two are friends of Yukiko's from school, and reveals that Yukiko has been missing since last night. The police are treating this carefully since corpses have been found on foggy weather days. Furthermore, since Mayumi berated Yukiko's mother to the extent that she collapsed, Adachi says that some are speculating Yukiko might have something to do with Mayumi's murder, and that is why she disappeared. Dojima yells at Adachi, and he quickly runs off, telling the boys to forget what he said. Chie catches up to the two at the police station, also aware that Yukiko has gone missing after going to her house. Yosuke shares with Chie that one of the detectives thinks Yukiko might have killed Mayumi, which Chie thinks sounds ridiculous.

Chie takes them to Daidara Metalworks in the shopping district to buy replacement weapons and armor for the TV World. Yosuke hesitates to let Chie come along, but Chie insists on going since Yukiko is in trouble and she picks out some equipment to protect herself. To not get caught by the police again, Chie suggests they go home and put on their school uniforms over their equipment so they look less conspicuous. When the protagonist leaves Daidara, he sees a strange blue door, seemingly only visible to him as the others in the shopping district ignore it. He hears Igor's voice beckoning him to come in, and the protagonist finds himself in the Velvet Room again. Igor explains that it is time for the protagonist to use Personas to fight against the impending disaster. By using the Velvet Room and calling upon Igor and Margaret for assistance, the protagonist can also fuse Personas together to create new ones, which his Social Links will empower. Igor reminds the protagonist of his fortune, and forewarns him that being defeated in battle is not the only way to lose; he must solve the mystery.

The Chariot

Back inside the TV World, Teddie tells them that he detected someone in the TV shortly after they left yesterday. He leads the three to Yukiko's Castle, which Yosuke recognizes from the Midnight Channel, and questions who "films" the show that airs. Chie also recalls Yukiko appearing on the TV and talking about "scoring a hot stud", which piques Teddie's interest. However, Teddie has never seen the Midnight Channel before and doesn't understand what Yosuke means about something being "filmed". He assumes that whatever they saw is due to the person thrown into the TV, meaning the broadcast has to do with Yukiko. After hearing confirmation that Yukiko is inside, Chie runs off into the castle by herself to save her.

The protagonist, Yosuke, and Teddie catch up to Chie on the 2nd floor of the castle. The four of them hear Yukiko's voice, praising Chie for being so strong and capable, protecting Yukiko even though she feels she does not deserve it. Suddenly, another Chie with yellow eyes manifests from Chie and begins mocking Yukiko for thinking this way about Chie. The other Chie goes on about the real Chie's jealousy of Yukiko's looks and how she enjoys it when the more feminine Yukiko relies on her, making Chie feel superior. Chie begins denying that isn't her, against Yosuke's warnings. After the other Chie claims that Chie is only friends with Yukiko because she wants Yukiko eating out of her hand, Chie strongly rejects that it's her. Just like with Yosuke, the other Chie goes berserk, transforms into Shadow Chie, and attacks. The protagonist and Yosuke subdue it with assistance from Teddie. Chie yells at her Shadow, asking why she's so quiet now, but Yosuke encourages her to accept it. Chie admits she tried to ignore that part of her, and she accepts her Shadow. It transforms into her own Persona, Tomoe. But she tells the others that even if she did feel like that, she really does treasure her friendship with Yukiko, which the others never doubted to begin with.

Chie feels tired after the ordeal but wants to keep going as she needs to say something to Yukiko. The protagonist believes they should leave the TV for now, and Yosuke and Teddie explain to Chie how people are safe in the TV until the fog lifts and their own Shadows attack them. Chie finally agrees to leave and apologizes for running off by herself. Back in the studio area, Teddie makes Chie a pair of glasses to see through the fog for next time. The three agree to come back inside the TV together. Yosuke nominates the protagonist to be their group leader, as he gained a Persona before either of them and asks him to be in charge of the investigation. Chie and Teddie agree with Yosuke about the protagonist being the leader, and the protagonist accepts the position. Together, the four of them form a bond as the Investigation Team.

That night at the Dojima residence, Dojima asks his nephew if he got involved in something due to what happened at the station earlier that day. The protagonist brushes off Dojima with a non-answer. Dojima seems to suspect there is more to it, though he drops it when Nanako assumes the two of them are fighting. On the news, the weather person reports they will have sunny spring weather for a while. Nanako assumes that the weather lady "decides" the weather since it's always sunny out whenever she says it will be. Dojima attempts to correct her, then decides against it.

Yukiko's Castle

From April 18th to April 29th, the protagonist leads the Investigation Team back into Yukiko's Castle. Together, they find Yukiko and her Shadow on the top floor. The Shadow welcomes the Investigation Team as her three princes and asks them to take her far away. Teddie exclaims that this must be what "scoring a hot stud" means. Chie used to be her prince, but she is no longer good enough as she is too weak to take her away. The Shadow feels like her life has been decided for her due to the inn. She wishes she could run away, but she's useless and can't leave on her own, so she's waiting for someone to rescue her. Yukiko gets offended when the Shadow begins insulting the inn, and, against Yosuke's warning, she denies that it's her. The Shadow goes berserk and transforms, and the Investigation Team defeats her and the Prince Shadow that she summons to battle.

In the aftermath, Chie apologizes to Yukiko. She felt jealous of Yukiko and that jealousy made her insecure. She wanted Yukiko to need her, but she realized that it was actually her who needed Yukiko. Yukiko apologizes to Chie as well. She never saw how her friend felt; she was always focused on trying to escape. Yukiko admits to her Shadow that she did think about wanting to run away and wanting someone to rescue her, though she does not say she hates the inn. She accepts that her Shadow is her, and it turns into her own Persona, Konohana Sakuya. Teddie introduces himself to Yukiko and asks if she remembers who threw her into the TV. She remembers someone saying her name, but that's it. After hearing this, Teddie finally believes that the protagonist and Yosuke really aren't the ones responsible. The group leaves as Yukiko is exhausted, but Teddie is concerned about being left behind. Yukiko asks him to be a good boy while they are gone and wait for them to return. Teddie enjoys the attention and quotes Yukiko's Shadow, asking if they can go somewhere together. Yosuke gets annoyed at him for imitating the Shadow and tells him he can stay here forever by himself.

Back in the Junes food court, Yukiko explains to the others that she has no recollection of what happened to her. Yosuke determines that what happened to her is the same thing that happened to Mayumi and Saki. He hypothesizes that the "Yukiko" they saw on the Midnight Channel was her Shadow, which took form inside the TV. Since Yukiko is worn out, Chie takes her home, and the group agrees to chat again once she's better. During the evening on the day the Investigation Team rescues Yukiko, Dojima brings Adachi by the house for dinner. Adachi formally introduces himself to Nanako and the protagonist. He remembers that the protagonist is a friend of Yukiko's and shares with him that Yukiko has returned home. Adachi still finds the situation suspicious as they just finished questioning her, and she keeps saying she doesn't remember what happened while she was missing. Dojima tells him to shut up and suggests the protagonist ignore Adachi as he is just voicing some fantasy.

On April 29th, Nanako sees a Junes commercial mentioning that the store will be open during Golden Week. Dojima suggests the three of them go on a trip somewhere since it's Golden Week, though Nanako is only interested in going to Junes. Afterward, the protagonist goes to his room and observes that the fog has settled in Inaba. He waits for the Midnight Channel to air and sees that no one appears on television. He assumes that since they rescued Yukiko, they prevented the culprit from murdering another person. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the protagonist, a mysterious figure appears in the Central Shopping District.

The Priestess

When the protagonist goes to school on April 30th, he sees Yukiko at the gates. Her mom has recovered and returned to her manager duties. She notices things have been running better than before with the other inn staff helping out and wonders if perhaps she was overdoing it and taking on too much herself. After school, the group meets on the roof. Yukiko's memory is still foggy: She remembers the doorbell rang, she heard someone asking for her, and then she woke up in the castle. Yosuke believes the police will be useless, and tells Yukiko that they will catch the culprit using their Personas. Yukiko decides to join them as she wants to know why someone tried to kill her. They review what they know so far, namely how all three are women who live in Inaba, and Saki and Yukiko are both connected to Mayumi. Yosuke and the protagonist try Chie and Yukiko's instant noodles, and the aroma is so good they eat the entire bowl. To make up for it, Yosuke and the protagonist offer to buy the girls steak at Junes. In the food court, they resume their discussion. Yosuke wonders if Hiiragi is connected somehow, but Chie knows from the news that she has an alibi.

Adachi shows up in the food court shortly after and spots the protagonist. He lets him know that Dojima will be coming home that night and introduces himself to the protagonist's friends. Knowing that Adachi is a detective, Chie abruptly asks him about the possibility of someone killing Saki to silence her. He goes on about how there's nothing suspicious about Hiiragi, so the culprit might be connected to Saki before telling the kids to forget everything he said else he'll face Dojima's wrath. He reassures them that the police are working on the case before leaving. Hearing his ramblings, Chie thinks Yosuke is right about the police being useless.

The Investigation Team goes to pay Teddie a visit inside the TV World. He gives Yukiko a pair of glasses and explains that his eyes are lenses, so he doesn't need glasses to see through the fog. While trying to demonstrate his skilled bear paws to Yosuke, Teddie drops a pair of gag glasses he messed up on. The gag glasses amuse Yukiko, and she tries them on. She wants to use those instead, but Teddie tells her they don't have working lenses. Yukiko makes Chie try them on as well and begins laughing hysterically. Chie is surprised she's laughing like this in front of other people, and Yosuke, who has never seen this side of Yukiko before, is taken aback by this.

Golden Week

On the evening of April 30th, Dojima tells Nanako that he might be able to get May 4th and 5th off. Nanako gets excited at first, then asks if he will really be able to as he has had to cancel in the past. Dojima reassures her that he doesn't always cancel, and offers to take Nanako somewhere for Golden Week rather than just Junes. He invites the protagonist along and volunteers him to make homemade lunches for their trip since they usually eat ready made meals. At night time on May 2nd, the protagonist and Nanako watch a news report about a thief using heavy machinery to steal an ATM from the credit union. Dojima calls the house shortly after and tells Nanako and the protagonist that he can no longer get time off on the 4th and 5th due to someone else being ill and Dojima being the only one who can take over for him. Before hanging up, he asks the protagonist to take care of Nanako for him.

On May 3rd, Chie visits the protagonist at home and invites him to go out with her and Yukiko for Constitution Day. She extends the invitation to Nanako, and the group winds up going to Junes together, where Yosuke is still in the middle of his shift. Nanako explains they were supposed to go on a trip with a homemade picnic lunch made by the protagonist. Chie is impressed to hear that he can cook and calls the protagonist "big bro", which Nanako starts repeating. Yosuke asks Nanako to judge a cooking competition between him and Chie, joking that they might be as good in the kitchen as Nanako's mother. The mood changes when Nanako mentions that her mom died in an accident. Nanako tells Yosuke not to feel bad about his comments, though, since she still has her dad, and now has a big brother too. The protagonist's friends offer to hang out with her more in the future. Nanako seems quite pleased, and the protagonist forms a bond with her.

The protagonist has no plans on May 5th, the last day of Golden Week, and finds himself at Tatsuhime Shrine in the shopping district. A mysterious fox jumps down from the main hall's roof and hands him a wooden ema tablet. The protagonist reads it and finds a wish written by a boy named Keita, hoping that his grandpa's legs get better. On the backside, the protagonist finds a leaf. Just then, Keita's grandfather just so happens to visit the shrine and sees the leaf that the protagonist has. He recalls that his late wife said it can cure any kind of pain and asks the protagonist if he can use the leaf. The protagonist lets him have it, and the old man immediately becomes more mobile after he sticks the leaf to his leg. He donates to the shrine and then rushes off to visit his grandson. After seeing this, the protagonist thinks the leaves might be useful in the TV World. He forms a bond with the fox to get its aid. The fox then gestures towards the donation box, and the protagonist understands that the fox will help them in exchange for money.

That same evening, the news reports that the suspect in the ATM theft was arrested earlier in the day, and Dojima returned home. He apologizes to Nanako about canceling, but Nanako is in a good mood since the protagonist's friends took her to Junes. Dojima gives her and the protagonist gifts for Children's Day: Nanako receives a platypus t-shirt, and the protagonist gets a pair of swimming trunks.

The Delinquent

When watching TV on May 13th, the news airs a TV special about biker gangs in Inaba. They interview a teenager and cover up his eyes, but Dojima remarks how useless that is since everyone will know that it's Kanji Tatsumi. Kanji isn't in a biker gang himself, but he beat a whole gang up all by himself in middle school after they kept his mom up late at night. The protagonist tries watching the Midnight Channel on May 14th and sees the figure of a guy, but he is unsure who it is, and Yosuke isn't sure either. The two meet up with Chie and Yukiko to discuss the "Inaba Serial Kidnappings and Murders Case" on May 15th at their special investigation headquarters (the Junes food court). All four of them saw a guy, which throws off their previous assumption that the killer is only targeting women connected to Mayumi's death. They believe he has not yet been kidnapped since he didn't have a clear image, and that if they figure out who he is, they can prevent him from being kidnapped. The protagonist watches the Midnight Channel again that night and sees the same figure. After talking to Yosuke, they both think it might be Kanji.

At school on May 16th, Chie also believes it was Kanji on the Midnight Channel. Yukiko is acquainted with the Tatsumis since her family buys fabrics from Tatsumi Textiles and she suggests they visit the store after school. When they arrive, Kanji's Mother is in the middle of talking to a young boy in a blue hat. Chie spots a red scarf, which reminds her of the noose they saw in the TV World. Kanji's mother informs them that Mayumi had ordered a pair of scarves for a man and a woman, but ended up only buying the woman's scarf, and now the man's scarf is for sale in the store. After a delivery person arrives, the group leaves, and spots Kanji outside with the boy in the blue hat from earlier. They overhear that Kanji plans to meet with the boy tomorrow after school. Kanji spots the group eavesdropping afterward and quickly scares them off. After learning about the scarf, Yosuke believes that Kanji's mother fits better as a target since she is directly connected to Mayumi. Yukiko thinks it might be similar to her case, where she was targeted instead of her mother, even though her mother was the one who interacted with Mayumi. Yosuke remembers that Kanji promised to meet up with the younger boy, and the group decides to stake out the textile store and follow the two around tomorrow.

The following day, May 17th, the protagonist and Yukiko stake out in front of Tatsumi Textiles while Yosuke and Chie follow Kanji and the boy in the hat. Yukiko buys the protagonist a drink and hopes she will be able to help if the culprit really shows up. While they talk, the protagonist forms a bond with Yukiko and exchanges numbers with her. At the same time, near the Samegawa Flood Plain, Yosuke and Chie are trying to spy, but they can't hear anything, and Kanji eventually spots them. They try to pretend they just so happened to be walking behind Kanji and try to leave. Kanji reacts to Chie saying the word "strange", and she and Yosuke run away, assuming Kanji is trying to attack them. Kanji chases them, saying they have it all wrong. They lose Kanji and run all the way to Tatsumi Textiles and meet up with the protagonist and Yukiko, but Kanji shows up shortly after and asks why they are there. Yosuke tries to ask Kanji if anything "strange" has happened to him lately. Hearing this word sets Kanji off again, chasing them away from the store. At night, the protagonist hears from Yukiko that Kanji left the house earlier and has yet to return. Though his mother had said he does this, Yukiko thinks it might mean he is inside the TV. When the Midnight Channel airs, the protagonist sees a figure resembling Kanji wearing a bath towel who runs into a bathhouse, confirming that Kanji has been thrown inside the TV. Yosuke calls him immediately, weirded out by what just aired. He calms down and regrets that they weren't able to stick around a little longer, as they might have been able to stop the culprit.

Steamy Bathhouse

When the Investigation Team visits Teddie inside the TV on May 18th, he tells them he knows someone else is inside now, but he can't find them. He suggests they go get some clues about Kanji to make it easier. After talking to Kanji's mother and someone at Junes, the protagonist returns another day and finds the boy in the blue hat. The boy discloses that back on May 17th, he called Kanji strange, and Kanji was quite surprised by this, and his expression changed. The boy believes that Kanji's behaviors until that point were somewhat unnatural and that he has some kind of complex. With this clue, the protagonist calls the group into the TV World again, this time with the fox in tow, and lets Teddie know. Using this, Teddie discovers Kanji's dungeon, the Steamy Bathhouse.

In the last bath, they find Kanji and Shadow Kanji. The Shadow accuses Kanji of deceiving himself and others, claiming to represent what Kanji wants. He is afraid of girls because they would always call him strange and judge him for liking sewing and painting despite being a guy, and would much rather be with men. Kanji asks who the Shadow thinks it is, saying that while looking the same as him. The Shadow says he is him, and Kanji rejects this, causing the Shadow to transform and attack. The Investigation Team defeats it with their Personas, and the Shadow begs for someone to accept it, and Kanji finally admits that he's afraid of rejection from both guys and girls and that his Shadow is part of him. He accepts it, and it turns into his own Persona, Take-Mikazuchi. Back in Junes, Kanji feels a lot better, like he got something off his chest. Chie says they will be waiting to talk to him at school once he's recovered, and Yosuke takes him back home. On the same night after rescuing Kanji, Dojima tells the protagonist that Kanji's mom had reported him missing, but he came home that day. Dojima is somewhat suspicious of the protagonist after hearing he was recently seen near Kanji's family's textile store, though he eventually drops it.

On June 4th, the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel again as the fog settles. He sees that no one appears on the TV and assumes they were able to thwart the culprit again. Meanwhile, in the Central Shopping District, the mystery figure from April 29th appears again, seemingly remarking on how, once again, no one died that night.

The Emperor

Kanji returns to school on June 6th. He was previously unaware that the Investigation Team are his upperclassmen and starts speaking more politely to them. Kanji tells them what he can remember. The boy in the hat asked Kanji if anything had happened lately, and while they were talking, Kanji suddenly asked if he could see him again, leading to them meeting up back on May 17th. Kanji thought he might be into guys since he doesn't like dealing with girls, but he also couldn't admit he might feel that way. Kanji has been interested in sewing clothes since he was a kid due to the influence of his family, but girls and other people would judge him for that when he said it, and he got annoyed. Now that he reflects on himself, he realizes he is afraid of people in general, not just girls. With the TV, Kanji vaguely recalls that someone came to his house, then he went through some dark entrance and then woke up in the bathhouse. He told this same story to the police, as his mom had filed a missing persons report, but they thought it made no sense.

Kanji assumes that the group is trying to solve the mystery, and he volunteers to join to make his kidnapper pay. To welcome him to the group, they take him to the Junes food court, calling it their special investigation headquarters. There, they explain what they have learned so far to Kanji. Since Kanji being kidnapped has thrown off their assumption that the culprit was targeting women, they feel like they're back to square one. Kanji takes out a sheet of paper that he took from some annoying person at school who was asking about him and Yukiko's disappearances and hands it to the protagonist. The group sees "Mayumi Yamano 4/11" and "Saki Konishi 4/13", and figures out they both appeared on the regular television on those days. After questioning Yukiko and Kanji, they realize that all four victims had been seen in the news and media before disappearing. Yosuke thinks they've gotten nowhere, but Kanji points out they were able to predict it was him. After, they take Kanji inside the TV to meet Teddie. Kanji tries on his glasses, except it turns out to be a pair of gag glasses that Yukiko insisted Teddie give him. He takes another pair from Teddie, which also turns out to be gag glasses, before finally getting a real pair.

School Campout

On June 8th, Morooka tells the protagonist that it's health week and sends him to help at the student health association while one of the members is out. The protagonist reports to the infirmary and fills in for Naoki Konishi, Saki's younger brother, who has been out of school due to his sister's passing. During their meeting, Naoki shows up and apologizes for being late. The others tell him it's okay for him to leave, but Naoki is uncomfortable with the special treatment, so they suggest he clean the infirmary with the protagonist while they talk to the nurse. Naoki is blunt with the protagonist, telling him that he hates him since he's friends with Yosuke, and tries to leave without actually helping clean.

When welcoming Kanji to the Investigation Team on June 6th, Chie mentions the upcoming school camping trip and tells Kanji they will see him there since the 1st and 2nd years will be going together. On June 10th, Yosuke expresses his excitement for the upcoming camping trip and hopes it will be fun. He is disappointed when Chie and Yukiko tell him that they have to pick up trash on Mt. Yasogami, cook their own meal, and spend the night sleeping in tents, though he perks up after hearing that people swim in the river. All four of them are in the same group, and on June 16th, Chie and Yukiko go to Junes to buy ingredients to make curry for the four of them. While Yosuke goes to another floor, the protagonist silently watches as neither of the girls knows about cooking and buys ingredients they think should go in curry.

After picking up trash on June 17th, Yosuke looks forward to the girls' meal. He has no expectations for Chie but thinks Yukiko must be a good cook because her family owns a traditional inn. Their curry ends up being inedible, and Yosuke dubs it Mystery Food X. He asks Hanako Ohtani for some of her curry, but she refuses as she didn't bring enough to share. At night time, Yosuke and the protagonist share a tent with Kanji. Yosuke makes a very provocative joke about Kanji's sexuality, making Kanji so wound up that he rushes to the girls' tent to prove he is okay now with women. Meanwhile, Chie and Yukiko share a tent with Hanako, but her snoring is so loud that they can't sleep. Shortly after Kanji finds the girls' tent, Chie and Yukiko come to the protagonist and Yosuke's tent and ask if they can stay in there. At first, Yosuke refuses and says they will get in trouble with Morooka if they get caught out of their tent. But eventually, the protagonist and Yosuke relent and allow the girls in.

On June 18th, Yosuke reminds the girls that he and the protagonist saved them last night and guilt trips them into changing into swimsuits that his coworkers picked out for them at Junes. After seeing the girls in their bikinis, Yosuke makes inappropriate remarks about how they'll look when they grow up, and the girls get mad and push both him and the protagonist into the freezing Samegawa river, then they push in Kanji too, after noticing that he has a nosebleed. While the boys are shivering in the river, they hear noises coming from upstream and discover that Morooka is hungover and has been vomiting into the water falling on top of their heads.

The Idol

When the protagonist sits down for dinner with the Dojimas on June 19th, they watch a news report about idol Rise Kujikawa announcing her hiatus and going to help out at her family's tofu store in Inaba. At school on June 20th, Chie brings up Rise going on break. Yukiko believes Rise will be working at her grandmother's tofu store, Marukyu Tofu, and Yosuke gets excited about the possibility of getting to meet her. Chie mentions that she might get targeted as she was on TV, and if she is, then that will prove the targets aren't connected to Mayumi. When the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel on June 21st, he sees a girl in a swimsuit. Yosuke immediately calls him, saying it has to be Rise, and suggests they go to Marukyu Tofu.

After school on June 22nd, Yosuke is confident Rise was on the Midnight Channel due to her figure. The protagonist heads to Marukyu Tofu with Yosuke and Kanji where they see Adachi directing traffic outside the shop. Kanji scares Adachi away, and Dojima complains about Adachi not staying at his post. He is suspicious of the boys' motives when he sees them, but Yosuke says he is a huge fan of Rise's, and Dojima quits questioning them. The boys go inside the store and find Rise and her grandmother. Yosuke orders some ganmodoki and asks Rise if anything weird has happened to her lately. As it turns out, Rise also saw the Midnight Channel last night but doesn't believe that girl was her since she's never been filmed in that swimsuit before, and the figure on TV had a smaller bust. Regardless, Yosuke warns her that they think the people who appear on the Midnight Channel get kidnapped. Rise thanks him for the warning and gives the boys some extra tofu. Dojima and Adachi return to the store later in the day after the crowd clears. Dojima also tries to warn Rise but is surprised to hear that three boys—possibly his nephew and his friends—have already warned her. Dojima is skeptical that the protagonist was really just there to see Rise, and asks him about this during dinner, but Nanako assumes they are fighting, and Dojima drops it. When the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel again that night, he sees the image of Rise in a swimsuit once more, this time clearer than before.

When the Investigation Team meets at Junes on June 23rd, they decide to stake out Marukyu Tofu and stop the culprit before they can abduct Rise. They first stop at Shiroku Store to buy snacks for their stake out, where they run into Adachi. He complains about being assigned to watch over them but tries to pretend he's there by coincidence. Chie invites him to accompany them, thinking having an actual officer around would be useful. While standing around outside the shop, Yukiko suddenly spots a suspicious man up on a pole. Chie notices that he starts running away, and Kanji leads everyone to chase after him as a delivery truck drives by. The suspicious man threatens to walk into traffic and hold the police liable, but they tackle him before he can do anything. They assume the suspicious man must be the murderer and that he was there to abduct Rise, but he claims only to be a photographer. Adachi handcuffs him and takes him away to the police station. The others wonder where Rise has gone and get worried after her grandmother mentions that she stepped out. When the protagonist tunes into the Midnight Channel that night, he sees a clear image of Rise in a golden bikini, saying that she will commemorate entering high school by stripping. An overly excited Yosuke calls the protagonist, though he is disappointed they couldn't stop someone from being kidnapped despite knowing who was being targeted.

Marukyu Striptease

The group visits Teddie inside the TV World on June 24th. Teddie has gotten lonely and quotes Yukiko's Shadow, asking Chie and Yukiko if he can try "scoring a couple of hot studs" like the two of them. Chie is amused at Teddie not understanding what he's saying, while Yukiko is annoyed he's repeating her Shadow. Like with Kanji, Teddie can't smell Rise, and the group decides to look for some kind of hint to help him find her. Teddie gets concerned that the others will abandon him and confides in the protagonist about how little he knows. The protagonist is supportive of Teddie, and the two form a bond. At school, the protagonist asks a Risette fanboy about her, but the fan suggests talking to someone from the media who would be more up to date. On another day, the protagonist finds a paparazzi in the Samegawa Flood Plain. The man agrees to exchange info, and the protagonist learns that Rise went on hiatus because she's been struggling with her manufactured idol personality versus her real self.

Using this hint, Teddie finds Rise's dungeon, Marukyu Striptease. On the final floor, the group sees Rise and Shadow Rise. Rise pleads with her Shadow to stop, but the Shadow claims that she is the "real" Rise, and that the idol "Risette" doesn't exist. To prove she's the real one, her Shadow threatens to strip naked, conflating her desire to be seen with stripping. Hearing this, Rise ardently rejects that her Shadow is her, and it transforms and attacks. Unlike their battles with the other Shadows, the Investigation Team cannot do any real damage to Rise's Shadow. Teddie helps by launching himself at her Shadow and exploding, deflating in his bear outfit in the process. In the aftermath, Rise concludes that there is no "real self" because the regular girl Rise, the idol Risette, and even the Shadow are all a part of her. She accepts her Shadow, which turns into her Persona, Himiko.

However, hearing that there is no "real self" affects Teddie, and another Teddie with yellow eyes emerges from him. Other Teddie believes that trying to find the truth is fruitless and that it would be better to live in ignorance. The Other Teddie claims that deep down inside, the real Teddie knows exactly what he is, and he is trying to create another version of himself, but is in denial over this. Other Teddie tries to reveal what Teddie is, but Teddie tells it to shut up and runs into it before it can say more. After, Other Teddie tells the rest of the Investigation Team that finding the truth is as simple as believing something to be true, and it threatens to kill them, transforming into Shadow Teddie. Yosuke is concerned about fighting another Shadow without Teddie to help them, but Rise uses her Persona's powers and fills in as their new Navigator, and they defeat Shadow Teddie. Teddie admits to his Shadow that he doesn't know much, but he has the support of the Investigation Team, and he realizes he doesn't have to do this by himself. Wordlessly, his Shadow transforms into Teddie's own Persona, Kintoki-Douji.

Shortly after, Rise is exhausted and collapses, and the girls take her home. While waiting for Rise to recover, Teddie resolves to get stronger and stays behind in the TV World doing situps. That same evening, the protagonist is at home with Nanako when Adachi brings a drunk Dojima back to the house. Dojima complains about the prefectural police office sending a young detective as an assistant on the investigation to help with the investigation due to how little progress the Inaba PD has made. He blames this situation on Adachi bringing in the photographer from Marukyu Tofu and also gets mad at the protagonist for always hanging around crime scenes.

On July 9th, the protagonist checks the Midnight Channel and sees that no one appears. He assumes they have yet again thwarted the culprit. And this time, unlike April 29th and June 4th, the mystery figure does not show up in the shopping district.

The Lovers

The protagonist wakes up on July 10th and hears sirens going by. Chie calls him in a panic, saying that a dead body was found outside of the shopping district. She tells him to come to Junes right away. When he arrives, Yosuke returns from checking out the crime scene, and he reports that their homeroom teacher, Morooka, was murdered and found hanging upside down on a railing on the roof of an apartment. After thinking they understood what was going on with the Midnight Channel and the murders, the group gets demoralized by someone else dying. But Kanji encourages them to keep at it due to how useless the police are. Yosuke knows they can't back down after coming this far, especially after they made a promise to Teddie.

When they go to the electronics department to use a TV and visit Teddie, they find some Junes employees in the electronics area who ask Yosuke if he knows anything about a costumed mascot. Shortly after, they notice that Teddie has come outside the TV and is using a massage chair. After spending time with the Investigation Team, Teddie became curious about the world outside the TV and left through an exit. However, he stayed until the fog lifted from his world, and no one else besides him was there, indicating that Morooka had never been thrown into the TV. Teddie gives the protagonist a pair of pink glasses made for Rise. He assumes she'll be joining the team, and he'll be able to help them fight now that he has a Persona.

In the food court, Yukiko theorizes that since they prevented the previous murders, the culprit might have resorted to some other method to make sure someone died, meaning the only way this will end is if they catch the culprit. Teddie complains about the weather and removes his mascot head, revealing that he now has a human form as a blonde haired, blue eyed boy. His desire to "score with a couple of hot studs" like Chie and Yukiko caused him to develop a body. Since he isn't wearing anything besides the mascot costume, Chie and Yukiko help Teddie pick out clothes at Junes before bringing him to the shopping district to meet up with the boys. Yosuke is unamused when he learns that Chie charged Teddie's clothes to him as he has been trying to save up for a scooter. Yosuke gives up and tells Teddie to take good care of those clothes. Kanji takes Teddie to buy some ice cream bars while the others go to Marukyu Tofu.

The boy in a blue hat they saw in May comes out of the tofu store and introduces himself as Naoto Shirogane, a detective investigating the murders. He asks what the group thinks about how Morooka never appeared on TV. Yosuke feigns ignorance and Naoto leaves shortly after. Rise takes the group to the shrine and explains that she only remembers being at the house one moment before waking up in the TV World. When Naoto asked her about what happened, she never told him anything about the TV and lied about the Investigation Team finding her unconscious at Junes. Rise is in a much better mood now, and she thanks the group for saving her. As Teddie predicted, Rise wants to join the group, and the protagonist hands her a pair of glasses and explains what they're for. Starting on the 11th, Rise will be attending Yasogami High School with them. Kanji meets up with the group at the shrine and reports that Teddie ate a bunch of ice cream bars, and Rise mistakenly assumes he is also one of her upperclassmen. The group isn't sure what to do with Teddie, and Yosuke decides to bring him home with him.

During the evening, Nanako gets frightened when she hears about Morooka's death. The protagonist comforts her and then does a magic trick with his hands. When he goes to bed, he dreams of the Velvet Room again. According to Margaret, the protagonist still has a future. To assist, Igor called him to the Velvet Room to introduce him to new types of fusions that allow him to create even stronger Personas.

At school on July 11th, class 2-2 is introduced to their new homeroom teacher, Noriko Kashiwagi. She shows very little concern over Morooka's death and begins ranting about Rise being at school, saying there's nothing great about her anyway. The students instantly find her annoying. They can't believe they got Morooka and Kashiwagi and think Kashiwagi is out of her mind for thinking she can compare with Rise. After school, the group meets at Junes, where Yukiko and Yosuke make fun of Chie over her exam scores. Rise is amused by the group's banter. She thought it would take her a while to make friends in Inaba. The Morooka case continues to puzzle them since he didn't show up on the Midnight Channel. Yosuke admits that at one point, he thought Morooka was the murderer because of the connection between the victims and their school, and now he feels bad for thinking that way. Chie believes they need to solve the murder for Morooka's sake too. She suggests they go investigate, but Naoto appears in the food court and cuts her off.

Naoto has been working on the case at the request of the prefectural police and shares that the police supposedly have a suspect: a boy who goes to a different high school. Naoto believes their little game will be over soon. Rise is taken aback by what Naoto says. Even if he's a detective, going around and solving cases is just another kind of game. Yosuke also denies this is a game due to his connection with Saki and their promise to Teddie. He mocks Naoto, guessing the police have no more use for Naoto now that a suspect has been found, and that's why he's at Junes at all. Naoto admits that it might be a game, as detectives don't have any personal attachment to cases. However, he is also used to being ignored once he's no longer needed. The group is unsure if the case is really over and breaks for the day.

The Suspect

After exams on July 23rd, the Investigation Team gathers at Junes. They notice Adachi walking around the food court and overhear him, revealing that the police's suspect in the murder case has mysteriously gone missing. When Adachi notices the group has heard him, he reassures them that nothing is wrong and runs off. Yosuke thinks they should stay out of it. Rise asks the others about questions she didn't understand on her exams. Chie recommends she study with Yukiko, but Rise is very straightforward about how she would rather get help from the protagonist, and Chie labels her dangerous. Teddie didn't want to return to the TV World, so Yosuke has been letting Teddie stay at his house in exchange for Teddie working as a mascot at Junes. While the others go to talk to Teddie, Rise asks the protagonist to show her around town, and the two form a bond. At night, the protagonist and Nanako watch more news about the recent murders, but nothing new comes up about the police suspect.

July 26th is the last day of school before summer vacation. In class 2-2, Kashiwagi is excited about her new swimsuit. She reminds everyone to do their summer homework and sends the class to the gym for an assembly. As it's still raining at night, the protagonist turns on the Midnight Channel and sees the clear image of an unknown boy who taunts the viewers to catch him. Yosuke calls shortly after and is confused as he doesn't recall seeing that boy on a regular TV program before, nor did they see the less clear image on any night before. Teddie takes Yosuke's phone and reports to the protagonist that the boy must already be inside the TV, and the "broadcast" they just saw isn't something that's "filmed", but rather the result of his repressed emotions interacting with the TV World. Yosuke has a feeling that the boy might be the murder suspect since he looks like a high schooler, but he decides against jumping to conclusions. After talking to Yosuke and Chie, the protagonist heads to bed, agreeing to meet up with the others the next day.

On July 27th, Rise and Teddie go into the TV World while the others meet at the food court. Yosuke explains his theory that the boy might be the killer, and at first, he tried to kill using the TV until he realized people stopped dying. He killed Morooka without the TV, and then, to avoid the police, he purposely went into the TV, hence why he taunted viewers to catch him. Rise comes and reports that they need information, but they can confirm that someone is inside the TV. The group decides to do some investigation work to figure out who the mystery boy is and if he's really the police suspect. Kanji suggests the protagonist ask Dojima about the suspect, but Dojima refuses to say anything and gets mad at the protagonist for even asking. On another day, the protagonist finds Adachi slacking off at Junes and threatens to snitch on him to Dojima unless Adachi tells him about the suspect. Adachi agrees and says that the suspect used to work part-time in the shopping district. After asking stores in the shopping district, the protagonist discovers the suspect used to work part-time at Souzai Daigaku and later gets a copy of the suspect's middle school yearbook photo labeled with his name, Mitsuo Kubo.

Void Quest

Back in the TV World, the group looks at Mitsuo's photo and slowly realizes many of them have come into contact with him: Chie remembers him as the guy who tried to ask Yukiko out on the first day of school, Rise remembers that he ranted about biker gangs to her, and Kanji realizes he must have been associated with biker gangs due to the TV special. They figure that Mitsuo must really be the murderer who tried to kidnap all three of them. Using this, Rise locates Mitsuo in the TV World in a dungeon called Void Quest which takes the form of a pixelated video game level. As the Investigation Team continues through the dungeon, they see video game text windows that represent Morooka disciplining Mitsuo and calling him a rotten orange, then Mitsuo killing Mayumi, Saki, and Morooka, as well as garbled text. Rise assumes this is what's happening inside Mitsuo's head, representing him seeing the murders as a game. On the final floor, called The Final Chapter, they find Mitsuo and another Mitsuo with yellow eyes. When the real Mitsuo notices the party, he tells them he is the murderer who killed all three victims, and he'll kill them next. The other Mitsuo remarks on how no one notices it and then transforms into Shadow Mitsuo, a small baby-looking figure surrounded by a robot named Mitsuo the Hero. After destroying the robot and defeating the Shadow, Yosuke asks Mitsuo if he's the killer, and Mitsuo claims he murdered all three victims. After this, the other Mitsuo disappears, confusing Rise and Chie as this is different than what happened with the other Shadows.

Once outside the TV, Mitsuo continues telling the group that he did it for attention and didn't care who his targets were. Yosuke becomes emotional after hearing this is why Saki died. Mitsuo asks Kanji if he is going to kill him, but Kanji insists Mitsuo will pay for his crimes and yells at Yosuke to call the police. In the aftermath, the Investigation Team regroups in the food court, with Chie noting that Adachi was happy to see the suspect returned. Teddie brings up memories of Yukiko's Shadow, and they remember each other's Shadows, except for the protagonist, who, as Yosuke points out, never had one. Rise suggests they have a party to gain closure on the case. Teddie wants to have it at Yukiko's family's inn, but it's booked for summer vacation. Instead, they decide to hold it at the Dojima house and turn it into a cooking competition to make omelette fried rice for Nanako. Chie, Yukiko, and Rise all decide to compete with one another. Remembering the trauma of Mystery Food X, Yosuke begs the protagonist to compete against them, and the protagonist picks a style of omelette to make.

At the Dojima house, Nanako meets Teddie for the first time. Due to the case being over, Teddie assumes he will have to return to the TV World as the others kept their promise. Hearing this, Nanako makes him promise to play with her so he doesn't have to leave. The protagonist and Yosuke both encourage him to stay as well, and the protagonist feels his bond with Teddie strengthen. The girls serve up the omelette fried rice they made, and the boys take turns trying each dish before Nanako. Yosuke is excited to try Rise's, which is red and spicy and he doesn't think Nanako should eat it. Kanji tries Yukiko's, which he remarks on being tasteless. Teddie tries Chie's, which he overly enthusiastically declares to be awful. Nanako tries all three of the girls' plates and courteously tells them they're delicious, but the one she enjoys the most is the protagonist's, declaring it the best omelette fried rice she has ever had. After, Yosuke asks the others if they want to go to the summer festival at Tatsuhime Shrine later that month, and the group invites Nanako to come along, too.

On August 12th, the protagonist goes to his room to watch the Midnight Channel. He sees that no one appears, and wonders what became of Mitsuo after the police took him into custody. Meanwhile, in the foggy shopping district, the mystery figure from April 29th and June 4th does not appear again.

On August 13th, Adachi and Dojima show up for dinner at the Dojima house with a large platter of sushi to celebrate the arrest of Mitsuo Kubo. On the news, the reporters talk about Mitsuo's confession and the ongoing investigation. Dojima reassures his daughter that no scary things will happen anymore. Adachi marvels at how Mitsuo's fingerprints were found on a victim's clothes and they were able to build a criminal case against him thanks to that. He starts to speculate about what would've happened if the murderer hadn't been caught before Dojima tells him to shut up before the sushi toppings dry out. As the night goes on, the protagonist thinks about how dinner hasn't been this lively in a long time.

Summer Vacation

From August 15th to August 19th, the protagonist will attend summer school with Rise and Kanji if he gets poor grades on his summer semester exams or work part-time at Junes with Chie, Yosuke, and Teddie if he gets good grades. August 20th marks the first day of the shrine festival, and the protagonist meets the rest of the guys at Tatsuhime Shrine. The girls and Nanako show up later dressed in Yukata. Dojima makes it in time for the festival and takes Nanako around. Teddie convinces the group to walk around in pairs of two instead of as a large group. The girls agree and ask the guys to decide how to pair up. The boys try to discuss how to pair up, but Teddie announces to the girls that he will go around with all three of them since there is an uneven number, and if they pair up, one of the boys will be left out. The protagonist returns to the shrine festival on August 21st with Rise, a girlfriend, or by himself.

On August 31st, the last day of summer vacation, the protagonist hears from Nanako that Dojima got a large watermelon, and he wants the protagonist to call his friends over so they can all share it. Everyone in the Investigation Team is able to come over. Kanji is hyped about the watermelon since he hasn't had one all summer due to how busy they've been. Yosuke assumes it's a whole watermelon they will have to split open themselves, and Nanako gets excited. When Dojima arrives home, Nanako is a little disappointed that the watermelon has already been cut into pieces. Chie and Yosuke tell Nanako they can split open a watermelon next year at the beach, and Nanako is thrilled to hear that the group wants to see her again next year. After, Dojima tells the protagonist it's been so long since he's seen Nanako so happy and tells him he's made good friends.

School Trip

On September 1st, the Investigation Team returns to school, surprised when Naoto meets them at the school gates. Though the case is over, Naoto has some reservations about some of the details, and will be staying in Inaba for now. He addresses them all as upperclassmen. Yukiko suggests they include Naoto in their group since he doesn't know anyone else. They witness Naoto blow off two girls who are trying to ask him out, and he also rejects Chie's offer to hang out. At Junes, they bring up the upcoming school trip since the case is over. Before his death, Morooka pushed for the school to take a more educational trip to Tatsumi Port Island and visit Gekkoukan High School. Due to budget cuts and lower enrollment at Yasogami High, the first and second years trips have been combined, so the whole group will be together. Teddie gets curious about the trip and asks where the island is, but Yosuke yells at him to get back to work.

On September 7th, the protagonist runs into Kanji and Yosuke on his way to school. Yosuke hasn't started packing yet, and Kanji is curious if the news about the murders has been getting much attention on Tatsumi Port Island. Something about the media spotlight on Mitsuo feels wrong to him, as the media seems to be framing him as someone who was born a murderer. Though he doesn't like Mitsuo, Kanji is bothered by all the rumors. Naoto shows up shortly after, walking to school, and Kanji gets flustered and rushes off.

The first and second years arrive at Gekkoukan High School on Tatsumi Port Island on September 8th. They are greeted by the principal and the student council president, Chihiro Fushimi, who delivers a speech about their cultural exchange with Yasogami High. The boys talk about how cute she is, and Chie gets jealous, saying that Chihiro has her beat. Afterward, Chihiro approaches the protagonist and gives him a copy of the schedule for him and his classmates. She directs him to a special lecture on the 2nd floor. Yosuke is bummed out that they have to attend a lecture, and they don't even have any free time that day. One of the Gekkoukan teachers, Edogawa, was originally supposed to lecture about the Qabbalah. But since Yasogami High School means "many gods high school", he gets inspired to instead lecture about Izanagi and Izanami, the founding gods who created Japan, and their tale of separation.

Together, Izanagi and Izanami created many gods and gave birth to the country of Japan. But Izanami died giving birth to the fire god, and Izanagi ventured to Yomi to retrieve Izanami. She asked Izanagi to wait while she spoke to the ones who ruled Yomi. Izanagi's curiosity got the better of him, and he went looking for Izanami, lighting a prong from his comb to use as a torch. The flame revealed Izanami had become a rotting corpse, and Izanagi fled from Yomi. Izanagi blocked Yomotsu Hirasaka, the entrance to Yomi, with a large boulder, and this is where they separated. Izanami declared that she would kill 1000 humans each day due to Izanagi's transgressions. In response, Izanagi declared he would create 1500 birthing huts. Henceforth, Japan was cursed to have thousands die while tens of thousands were born. Furthermore, Izanagi and Izanami's names come from the word meaning "invitation", and Edogawa would be thrilled if everyone took his lecture as an "invitation" to their intellectual curiosity.

At night, Kashiwagi takes the students to the hotel she booked, the Seaside Clamshell Inn on Shirakawa Boulevard. The students are suspicious as it looks similar to a love hotel, but Kashiwagi tells them to head inside. Before the Investigation Team enters, they hear a mysterious voice on the roof, and it turns out to be Teddie with two cats. He quit eating ice cream bars, saved his Junes salary, found out where they were going by going through Yosuke's schedule, and bought a train ticket to join them. He was almost thrown out multiple times, but he persisted, remembering Chie and the others offering to go on a date with him. Yukiko suggests they all go together, and Rise offers to show everyone around during their free time the next day since she has been to Tatsumi Port Island before. The boys also join in, thinking it sounds fun. Kashiwagi comes back outside, wondering why students are still out there. Teddie freezes up and quits talking, and the group passes him off as a stuffed animal.

King's Game

On September 9th, Rise takes everyone to Club Escapade in Paulownia Mall. They run into Naoto at the club and invite him to join them again. He accepts this time. Rise previously held a secret show there but had to cancel due to a power failure, and now the club owes her a favor. Thanks to that, their group is able to reserve the upper floor for themselves. Rise somehow becomes drunk after drinking a soft drink, and demands they play the King's Game. Teddie gets to be the king in the first round, and the protagonist gets to be the king in the second round. Rise and Yukiko somehow become increasingly drunk as the game goes on, and Yukiko asks Naoto to tell them something embarrassing that he wouldn't tell anyone else. Naoto stipulates that he will, but only if they tell him something in return, which Rise drunkenly agrees to. Naoto talks about his life in the prestigious Shirogane detective family, and how his grandfather has connections with the police due to bygone days before forensic science when specialists were often called in to help with cases. However, since investigations nowadays require more medical and scientific knowledge, Naoto must study more. Still drunk, Yukiko, for some reason, tells Naoto that all sounds humiliating.

Naoto considers his turn to be over and, for their turn, asks them the truth about their role in the recent case. Yukiko begins blabbing about them going into the TV and rescuing the kidnapped people by using their Personas to defeat Shadows, and Rise supports this, also shouting, "Personaaa!" Naoto assumes they are making fun of him and don't want to discuss the case. Furthermore, he questions how Yukiko and Rise got "drunk" to begin with when they haven't been drinking alcohol, and Club Escapade hasn't even served alcohol for the past year in a protest against drunk driving. Despite this, Rise and Yukiko still seem to be drunk and pass out shortly after, with Naoto calling the group a bunch of idiots.

On their last day of the school trip, September 10th, the group and Naoto eat at Hagakure in Iwatodai Strip Mall. Rise used to eat there a bunch and even has an autograph hanging on the wall. She is surprised to hear that the Hagakure Special has become a regular menu item and wishes she had ordered it. Yukiko asks Rise what happened last night, as she has no memory of it. Rise also doesn't remember and is under the impression they both passed out. When she isn't looking, Teddie steals Yukiko's ramen. He eats 11 bowls of ramen altogether, gets very full, and can't move. Yukiko coldly tells the others to leave Teddie there since he ate her ramen before she could finish it. On their way back, the protagonist buys Nanako a souvenir at the train station and gives it to her when he returns home in the evening. Dojima arrives home that night and welcomes the protagonist back from his trip. Dojima is curious if the protagonist has interacted with Naoto at all, whom Dojima knows due to the investigation. The higher ups on the investigation have been treating Naoto like an idiot even though he is making sound arguments. Dojima asks the protagonist to try and make friends with him.

The Detective Prince

During the evening on September 12th, the protagonist returns home and watches TV with Nanako. Naoto appears in a special TV interview about the Inaba case, with the reporter hyping him up as the genius detective who helped solve it. He tells the reporter that their current suspect is responsible for Morooka's death, but multiple details don't add up, and he believes the case still must be thoroughly investigated. The reporter is surprised by what Naoto says due to the prior statement made by the police. While walking to school on September 13th, the protagonist runs into his friends, who all saw Naoto on TV last night. Yosuke seems annoyed that Naoto is being credited with helping solve the case when they were the ones who brought in Mitsuo, while Chie is surprised that Naoto even went on TV.

Naoto comes across the group on the road to school and asks if he can talk to them about the case. Naoto explains his theory: All of the victims were in the media before they were kidnapped and then murdered. There was an unusually long period between the 2nd and 3rd murders. But during that time, Yukiko, Kanji, and Rise had all appeared in the media, disappeared, and came back shortly after. Naoto assumed one of them was the culprit at one point due to their ties to the other victims. But when he views them as a group of people who came back after being kidnapped, he now thinks they are the only ones who can rescue people. However, Morooka's death still presents an inconsistency: Morooka was never on TV, and his cause of death was blunt force to the head, while Mayumi and Saki's cause of death is still unknown. The police have yet to explain this; thus, Naoto does not consider the case closed. Remembering what the group told him in July, Naoto says this isn't a game to him either before walking away.

The protagonist watches the Midnight Channel on September 14th while it's raining and sees an unclear yet familiar image. Yosuke calls him, confused about whether they still need to be worried about this when they already caught the murderer. When the protagonist arrives at school on September 15th, his friends talk about the Midnight Channel. Kanji thinks it means nothing since they already caught the killer, and what Naoto said the other day made no sense. Yosuke makes fun of Kanji for thinking about Naoto again, attacking his insecurity over his sexuality. Kanji gets frustrated at Yosuke and leaves, and Chie tells him to cut that out already. Rise is unaware of what happened between Kanji and Naoto before, but Yukiko quickly changes topics to how people in Inaba have been in high spirits lately, yet it seems weird to her for some reason. When the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel that night, he sees a clear image of a figure resembling Naoto in a lab coat. The Naoto on TV invites the viewer to witness him being reborn through body modification. Kanji calls the protagonist in a panic after seeing Naoto on the TV, not understanding how this could happen when they already caught the killer. They agree to meet up with the others after school.

Secret Laboratory

When the group meets after school at Junes on September 16th, Teddie reports that he does sense someone inside the TV World. Yukiko and Yosuke deduce that Naoto used himself as bait and did that interview to get kidnapped on purpose, thus proving the murderer was still out there. Rise blames herself for telling Naoto the case is just a game to him. Chie doesn't understand why, though, as the police are holding Mitsuo. Yukiko recalls how only Morooka had a cause of death, and the group realizes Mitsuo might have only killed Morooka but not the other two. When they enter the TV World, Rise is able to detect that someone is inside, but she can't find Naoto.

The protagonist asks around about Naoto to get information for Rise. Eventually, he meets a police officer in the north area of the Central Shopping District, but the officer tells him to go home. Chie suggests they pretend to be good friends with Naoto and say they're worried because he hasn't been at school lately. The protagonist returns to the officer and tries this, and the officer mentions that he hasn't seen Naoto lately either. The protagonist tries talking to another officer in the south area of the shopping district and learns that Naoto became fixated on trying to solve the case even though the rest of the police consider it solved and have moved on. Due to this, they've been treating Naoto like a child. Using this information, Rise locates Naoto in the TV World and brings the Investigation Team to the Secret Laboratory, an underground base resembling an evil secret society's hideout on a tokusatsu show.

On the bottommost floor of the lab, they find Naoto and another Naoto in an oversized lab coat with yellow eyes who begs the real Naoto not to leave it behind. The real Naoto treats the other one as a child, but Other Naoto points out this is hypocrisy: Adults treat the real Naoto as a child, and now Naoto is treating Other Naoto as a child. Adults only want Naoto's brain for help on detective work, then once they're done, they go back to treating him like a child, making Naoto feel very alone. Naoto looks up to fictional adult male detectives and, due to this, desires to become an adult man. Other Naoto calls "Naoto" a cool and masculine name, but Naoto can't become an adult man because she is a woman. Yosuke and Kanji are surprised to hear this. Naoto tries to act mature, but Other Naoto again mocks Naoto for acting like an adult. Those same adults have hurt her, but that's precisely why she's undergoing body modification surgery, and Other Naoto understands this since it is Naoto.

Hearing this, Naoto rejects that it's really her. Chie tries to stop Naoto, but Kanji encourages Naoto to say it. Other Naoto attacks the group, transforming into the robotic Shadow Naoto. After defeating the Shadow, Naoto recounts her past for the rest of the Investigation Team: Her parents were detectives who died while she was young and she grew up reading detective novels at her grandfather's. Naoto became interested in detective work and began helping her grandfather on cases, but she wasn't always welcome due to her young age. Furthermore, her being a woman doesn't match her mental image of a "cool detective". She brings up how the police are male-dominated and how they would take any opportunity they could to look down on her, but Kanji tells her she's only assuming that. Naoto addresses her Shadow as her childish side and apologizes to it for pretending it didn't exist. She doesn't want to become a man, she wants to accept herself as she is. The Shadow transforms into Naoto's own Persona, Sukuna-Hikona.

In the aftermath, Naoto has successfully proven that the case still isn't over yet. Naoto always believed they would come to rescue her, but Kanji is frustrated over how reckless this was. Naoto tries to get back home by herself, but Yukiko and Rise help her, with Rise telling Naoto that it's not very adult-like to try and do everything by yourself. When the protagonist comes home at night, he finds Dojima, Nanako, and a drunken Adachi, who reports that Naoto returned home earlier that day. Dojima thinks it's suspicious that the protagonist doesn't seem surprised by this news, but Adachi finds it normal since Naoto and the protagonist go to the same school. Adachi was concerned at first, as Naoto could have been kidnapped and turned up dead. But now he assumes that Naoto was sulking after being removed from the police investigation. Still drunk, Adachi begins rambling about how they can't link Mitsuo to any of the murders besides Morooka and wonders if Dojima's detective intuition might be correct about the murderer still being out there. Dojima yells at Adachi to shut up and tells his nephew not to worry about the case.

On October 5th, the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel and sees no one appear. Meanwhile, the mysterious figure from April 29th and June 4th is shown once again in the shopping district, unsure of what to do.

Wheel of Fortune

When the protagonist arrives at school on October 6th, he and the others meet Naoto at the school gates, who thanks them all. Other students have somehow discovered that Naoto is a girl, though some passing by female students find Naoto quite cool. The group meets at Junes after school, where Naoto recounts the kidnapping: She heard the doorbell ring, saw no one there, then was grabbed from behind and drugged, carried somewhere in a bag, and shortly after thrown into a TV. Based on this, Naoto assumes the culprit is a man who is working alone, though she is bothered by how quickly he was able to get her into a TV after the kidnapping. In the case of Mitsuo, Naoto believes that Mitsuo doesn't understand the TV World as well as the other culprit and that perhaps he tried entering the TV out of desperation after the police identified him as a suspect and began pursuing him. Naoto wishes she could question Mitsuo, but she has been removed from the investigation and assumes it's because she brought up the possibility they were wrong about Mitsuo. Now that she is personally involved, Naoto joins the team, and Teddie presents her with a pair of blue glasses.

During school on October 7th, Naoto comes to class 2-2 and asks the 2nd years if they're free later that day. She has scheduled physical examinations to see if they can learn anything about Teddie and if the fog or their powers have any adverse effects on their bodies. After school, the group goes to the hospital together, and are surprised they're given a standard health checkup. When Naoto returns with Teddie, she reports what they know about Teddie is that they don't know anything about him. Even when the hospital staff took an X-ray, it came out blurry. Teddie finds it embarrassing that only the results of his exam were said out loud. He reveals that he stole the results of everyone's examinations and begins reading them out loud. Naoto gets flustered when the topic of her measurements comes up. She announces that they are all perfectly healthy and quickly confiscates the results. As the others leave, Teddie seems disappointed they weren't able to learn anything about him, and he wonders about what he really is. The protagonist encourages Teddie, and their bond strengthens.

A Threatening Letter

The protagonist meets Chie at the school gates on October 11th. She mentions that midterms are coming up and invites him and the others to study after school at Junes. They find Nanako and Teddie hanging out in the food court when they arrive. Nanako mentions that Teddie told her he doesn't know who he really is. He enjoys his life in the real world, but he does want to learn about himself, and he hasn't seen anything in the real world that has helped him figure it out. Teddie doesn't have a sense of time; he remembers that he has always lived in the TV World, and when the TV World became more chaotic, he met the protagonist and Yosuke. Nanako recalls reading a story about a king trapped in a forest because of a curse and thinks Teddie might be a king. Hearing this makes Teddie remember the time he got to be king during the King's Game at Club Escapade, and Chie yells at him not to talk about that in front of Nanako. On October 20th, the protagonist arrives home after his midterm exams, and Nanako hands him a letter from an unknown sender that says, "Quit rescuing people." The protagonist is unsure if this is really from the murderer or if it's a prank letter. Meanwhile, in a dimly lit room, a man in front of a TV scribbles in a journal while rambling to himself about saving people.

The protagonist shows the letter to his friends at school on October 21st. Naoto points out how it was addressed to the protagonist, meaning the person who sent it knows who the protagonist is and what he's doing; she interprets it to mean the culprit doesn't think the Investigation Team could figure out who he is. She advises the protagonist not to show it to Dojima as it might make the situation worse. The group tries to figure out how someone could know so much about them. Teddie has reportedly sensed someone watching them before. Yosuke wonders if their actions have been broadcast on the Midnight Channel, but Chie disagrees since other people don't know what they've been doing. Since they have nothing else to go by for now, Chie changes the topic to the upcoming culture festival. Their class has yet to pick something to do, and hearing this inspires Yosuke to submit an idea. In homeroom on October 22nd, the class reps in class 2-2 go over the four ideas that people submitted: A rest area, a video screening room, a study hall, and a group date cafe (courtesy of Yosuke). The class votes and the group date cafe wins despite no one knowing what it is or how they would run it. The class begins to question if they would even be allowed to run something with a "group date", but since Kashiwagi is busy organizing the two pageants for the culture festival, they've been left to run their booth by themselves.

When the protagonist arrives at school on October 27th, he sees a large crowd of students reading an announcement about the girls' beauty pageant during the culture festival. The list of entrants includes Kashiwagi, Yukiko, Chie, Rise, Naoto, and Hanako. Yosuke spots the protagonist and tells him Chie asked them to come up to the roof during lunch. Once everyone has gathered, Chie gets angry at Yosuke for entering all the girls in the pageant. Due to Kashiwagi planning the pageant this year, even people who got entered by others won't be able to back out. Yosuke goes over their lineup: With a popular girl like Yukiko, an idol like Rise, and a princely detective like Naoto, he feels it would be a waste if they weren't part of it, but this only makes Chie angier since Yosuke has nothing to say about her. Rise agrees to participate in the contest, as she doesn't want to disappoint her fans. Naoto brings up the possibility of getting out of it by talking to the school administration, but Kanji quickly tells her there's no need to do that, and Yosuke and Rise tease him about his crush. After school, Chie and Yukiko pick up supplies to decorate their classroom for the group date cafe, and the class rep lets Yosuke know that he's in charge of running the cafe since he's the one who submitted the idea, which Yosuke is less than thrilled about.

During lunch on October 28th, the protagonist and Yosuke see an announcement about the crossdressing pageant that also takes place during the culture festival. Yosuke is shocked when he sees himself, Kanji, and the protagonist on the list of contestants. Yosuke immediately goes to confront Chie about this in their classroom. She tells him that it serves him right for entering them in the beauty pageant, and suggests he take it up with Kashiwagi, but Yosuke knows there's no way Kashiwagi will let them off the hook. Kanji tries to drop out, but Yukiko reminds him about the school's attendance policy and suggests he not upset a teacher. Hearing this, Kanji thinks that if they have to do this, then they should really get into it, and ask that the girls make them look beautiful. Yosuke is upset that they all got entered against their will, but Chie reminds him that he did the same thing to the girls.

Culture Festival

The protagonist and his class run their group date cafe on October 29th. Kanji is their first visitor, and they try running the cafe with him. However, they have an uneven number of boys and girls, and the protagonist or Yosuke sits in as the 3rd girl. It gets very awkward, and when Rise checks on how it's going, she sees the group dejectedly sitting at the table and quickly turns around and leaves. Yosuke declares it a failure, and the protagonist checks out some of the other booths before heading home. On October 30th, the protagonist, Kanji, and Yosuke get dressed by the girls for the crossdressing pageant. Teddie also joins them as he has nothing better to do. Rise dresses up Kanji as Marilyn Monroe, Chie dresses up Yosuke as a stereotypical high school girl, Yukiko dresses up the protagonist as a female delinquent, and Naoto dresses up Teddie as Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Teddie wins the contest, and the MC announces that his prize is that he gets to be an honorary judge during the girls' beauty pageant later that day. As the honorary judge, Teddie demands that the girls' contest have a swimsuit competition. Naoto assumes Teddie can't just make that happen, but Kashiwagi loves the idea.

Before the girls' contest, another student drops off swimsuits from Teddie for them to wear. Kashiwagi and Hanako taunt Chie and Rise about the swimsuit competition, saying it's their last chance to run away. Chie refuses to back down after hearing their taunts and forces Naoto to participate despite her not wanting to wear a swimsuit. During the girls' contest, all six contestants introduce themselves and then return to the stage in their swimsuits. When it's Naoto's turn, she refuses to come out. Yosuke feels bad for Kanji, but Kanji is proud of her for even showing up during the first round. The MC announces that while the boy's votes are split between different girls, the girls mostly voted for Naoto, and she wins the pageant. Chie finds this turn of events hilarious, while Kashiwagi and Hanako cry over their loss. After the pageant, the Investigation Team runs into Dojima and Nanako. Dojima has to make a trip to the prefectural office and leaves Nanako in their care.

Yukiko makes good on her summer promise to let everyone stay at her family's inn and invites Nanako and the rest of the Investigation Team to stay overnight. Yosuke is excited, and Teddie wants to eat an egg boiled in the hot springs. Chie is surprised, but the Amagi Inn has been getting fewer visitors that year, and they happen to have some open rooms. The boys get a large room to themselves, and Yosuke wonders if something happened there for it not to be booked out. They get spooked when the phone suddenly rings. Kanji answers, and it's the staff letting them know that the outdoor bath is currently empty. Unbeknownst to the boys, the girls are already using the outdoor bath. Naoto asks Nanako if she's afraid of staying at someone else's house. Nanako finds it fun since she's used to being home alone until the protagonist returns. She's also good at watching over the house by herself since she doesn't open the door for strangers.

Teddie suddenly enters the outdoor bath and jumps in, landing on Yukiko's head. The girls get mad when they see the boys outside and throw bathing buckets at them. After the boys leave, Yukiko remembers she got the men's and women's bathing times mixed up. Chie thinks that was mean of them, but Rise suggests they just never speak of this again. In the boys' room, Kanji realizes they must be staying in Mayumi Yamano's room, hence why talismans are over the door. Yosuke thinks they've been had and refuses to stay in Mayumi's room. The four of them sneak into the girls' room but enter Kashiwagi and Hanako's room instead. The two assume the boys are into them, but the boys run away and return to their room. In the outdoor bath, Chie mentions that Kashiwagi and Hanako are in the room next to theirs, and Yukiko says the two often come to the inn together.

The Second Letter

On the evening of October 31st, the protagonist and Nanako watch a news report about Kozai, a representative from an environmental organization. Kozai was in Inaba recently to survey the effects of the thick fog that Inaba has been experiencing for the past few years. Nanako recognizes him because he came to her school during his visit. Lately, there have been rumors about it being harmful to humans, but Inaba city officials denied this and instead suggested it might be related to residents being anxious due to the recent murders. In Kozai's statement, he mentions a young girl who spoke her mind instead of regurgitating rumors. After, Nanako begins coughing. The protagonist sees she has a fever and puts her to rest on the couch. As she falls asleep, she talks about all the fun things they can do over winter before the protagonist leaves in spring.

On November 4th, the protagonist and Nanako are watching TV again when there's a knock at the door. It turns out to be a deliveryman asking where their neighbor's house was. The phone rings shortly after, and it's Dojima letting Nanako know he won't be home until the following evening. She and the protagonist pull out the kotatsu since it's gotten colder, but they discover it's broken. The protagonist promises to take Nanako to Junes to buy a new one, which makes her happy. Later that night, the protagonist watches the Midnight Channel and sees an unclear image. Yosuke calls after. He also saw a blurry, unclear image and recommends they meet with the rest of the group tomorrow to discuss it.

The Investigation Team meets in the Junes food court after school on November 5th. None of them could make out who was on the TV last night because of how blurry the image was. Naoto thought of the politician who had recently visited due to the fog, but he returned to the big city so quickly that she doesn't believe it could really be him. Without anything else to go by, Rise thinks they might need to wait until it airs again until they can identify someone. When Dojima comes home that night, he gives the protagonist a letter that came for him without a sender or return address. The protagonist opens it and finds the culprit has sent him a second letter, threatening the protagonist not to rescue the victim this time or else someone close to the protagonist will be thrown in and killed. Dojima sees it and realizes his nephew really is involved in the murder case somehow. Dojima was trying to treat the protagonist like family and not question him about it, but seeing the letter, he realizes that was a mistake.

Dojima brings the protagonist into the Inaba PD. Adachi joins them in a room with a bed and a TV. Dojima confiscates the protagonist's phone and demands to know what the letter is and what the protagonist has gotten himself into. The protagonist tries to explain, but hearing his explanation about Personas and going into the TV, Dojima is disappointed and assumes the protagonist is making things up. He tells the protagonist to stay the night and leaves the room. Adachi assures the protagonist that Dojima must be very worried about him and brought him to the police station for his safety. Dojima has also been looking into the details of the first case again, and Adachi thinks that might be why he reacted the way he did.

At Junes, Yosuke bought Teddie a children's cell phone and is trying to teach him how to use it. Yosuke demonstrates by calling the protagonist to remind him to watch the Midnight Channel, but the protagonist doesn't pick up, and Yosuke wonders if he's out that night. Since Nanako might be home alone, Teddie wants to take her dinner. Yosuke eventually agrees but first tries calling the house to get ahold of the protagonist. Nanako picks up and tells Yosuke that the protagonist received a strange letter, and her dad took him to the police station after seeing it. Yosuke realizes the protagonist must have received a second threatening letter and calls the others.

The Kidnapper

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

When midnight rolls around on November 5th, the protagonist is still stuck in a room at the police station. He sees the Midnight Channel come on the small TV, and realizes that the person on the screen is Nanako. After seeing the Midnight Channel, Chie calls Naoto and asks how Nanako could have been targeted. Naoto is rushing to the Dojima house on foot to check on Nanako, and reveals that Nanako technically fits: She's the girl Kozai spoke with and has recently quoted in the media. A newspaper got curious about the quote and released Nanako's name and photo in the evening newspaper on the 5th, but Naoto assumes people knew it was Nanako even before then due to how small Inaba is. Naoto had previously thought it didn't count as "being on TV" if it wasn't an image and failed to predict this could happen. Yosuke is on his way to the police station, and Chie calls Yukiko and Rise and plans to join the others at the police station.

Later that night, Yosuke, Teddie, and Kanji all barge into the protagonist's room at the police station. Yosuke tells Dojima that Nanako is missing and hands him his phone. Naoto is on the other end. She is currently at the Dojima residence, and the door is open, but no one is there. She tells Dojima that the serial killer has kidnapped Nanako and reminds him that the case is still open. Dojima tries to get a hold of Nanako and accepts that she really has been kidnapped. He calls the traffic division and tells them to set up checkpoints to look for her, saying it's possibly related to the murder case. Adachi reminds Dojima that the rest of the force thinks the case is over. Dojima is aware of that but refuses to wait for bureaucracy and takes off by himself to look for his daughter.

The girls arrive at the police station, and Yosuke asks Adachi to let the protagonist go so they can also search for Nanako. Adachi says he can't do anything if he doesn't know what's happening. Naoto takes this to mean that Adachi will agree to let the protagonist go if they explain everything to him. Together, the group talks about what they know: Nanako told them on October 30th that she's good at watching over the house because she doesn't open the door for strangers. When Naoto went to the Dojima Residence earlier that night, the door was wide open, and there was no sign of forced entry, meaning the culprit is not a stranger to Nanako. Naoto concludes that the culprit must have gone to the door and rang the bell. Yukiko recalls that it was the same for all of them. Adachi asks what she means by "for all of them", but gets ignored. Additionally, there's another consideration: Since the culprit used a TV in different locations shortly after kidnapping each victim, the culprit must be driving a car big enough to fit a large screen TV. Whatever this car is, it must be inconspicuous as the culprit kidnapped most of his victims in broad daylight, yet there were no reports of strange or suspicious vehicles.

After considering the facts, the protagonist realizes it must be a delivery truck. No one would think twice about a delivery truck, the driver would likely be the same person each time since Inaba is so small, and none of them would know this person's face since Nanako was usually home alone when deliveries were made. Naoto asks Adachi if anyone would fit this profile. Adachi is doubtful about a bunch of high schoolers profiling a culprit, but when looking through Dojima's files about Mayumi Yamano's murder, he notices that there is someone who fits that description and rushes off to call Dojima. Naoto picks up the files and reads that Taro Namatame, Hiiragi's estranged husband and Mayumi's affair partner, became a delivery driver for his parent's business after being fired from his government position. Adachi comes back and tells the group that he needs to get to the crime scene, and if something happens while he's gone, it's not like he would know. Taking this as a sign to leave, the protagonist joins his friends and heads towards Namatame's house.

End of spoilers.

The Hierophant

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

Elsewhere, Namatame is speeding down the road with Dojima in pursuit, and the two get into a car crash near the Central Shopping District. The Investigation Team arrives in the area shortly after. They see Dojima on the ground with Adachi beside him, asking if he's all right, but no sign of Namatame. Naoto gets out her phone and calls for an ambulance while Adachi calls for backup so the police can start searching for Namatame. Dojima explains that he was driving towards Namatame's house, but he saw Namatame drive past, so he turned around and started following. Naoto takes charge and searches the truck in case it rains and evidence gets washed away. She finds a large screen TV in the back and a diary near the driver's seat.

Naoto opens the diary and finds Mayumi, Saki, Yukiko, Kanji, and Rise's addresses. She remarks that even the victims beyond the first two who survived their attempted murders but were never revealed to the public are written in the diary. Furthermore, Morooka's address isn't there. Adachi is impressed and declares that the case is settled. Naoto reads Namatame's latest entries about how he must save Nanako, and then finds a later entry where he talks about putting Nanako into a TV. The group is now thoroughly convinced that Namatame is their culprit, and that he has been using his job as a delivery truck driver to kidnap people.

Chie points out there is a TV and suggests they save Nanako immediately. Teddie stops her, saying it might be dangerous depending on where it leads. There's no fog in tomorrow's forecast, so he recommends they wait until tomorrow and do what they usually do. The group decides their priority will be saving Nanako, and they will leave finding Namatame to the police. An ambulance arrives for Dojima, and the protagonist and Naoto visit him in his hospital room. Dojima knows Nanako must be waiting for someone to save her, and he can't be there for her when she needs him the most. He recognizes that the protagonist and his friends are the only ones who can save her, and begs the two teens to do what he can't. The protagonist and Naoto give Dojima their word and ask that he wait for them to return with Nanako.

End of spoilers.

Heaven

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

When the Investigation Team enters the TV World again, they notice that the fog has gotten even thicker. Rise senses something warm, and leads them to Nanako's dungeon, Heaven. They assume it reflects Nanako missing her dead mother. On the top most level of Heaven, they find a man with his arm around Nanako's neck, whom Naoto recognizes as Namatame. Namatame in turn recognizes the members of the Investigation Team, calling them the ones he saved. Kanji yells at Namatame to let Nanako go, but this only causes him to wrap both of his arms around Nanako's neck. Naoto suggests they try talking to him, and Namatame gives the group muddled responses. On rainy nights, he saw people asking him to save them on the TV, then he kidnapped them and put them into a TV. Yosuke asks him what he means by saving and if his idea of saving people is murdering them, but Namatame denies he's a murderer and again talks about saving people.

Namatame's eyes turn yellow like a Shadow, and he becomes Other Namatame. The Other Namatame thinks the world inside the TV is wonderful, and calls himself a savior. Nanako begins struggling. Yosuke tells the protagonist it's up to him, then him and Kanji run and attack the Other Namatame, forcing him to drop Nanako, and the protagonist runs to catch her. Other Namatame demands the group return Nanako, once again saying he will save her. Other Namatame lashes out, attracting Shadows to merge with him, and transforming him into a large figure with peace symbols named Kunino-sagiri. The Investigation Team defeats Kunino-sagiri, transforming Namatame back into a normal human. Rise sees that Nanako is in pain, and they bring her out of the TV World immediately. Figuring they can't just leave him behind, they bring the collapsed Namatame as well.

At the hospital, the group waits outside of Nanako's room. Teddie comments on how Nanako is so young that her other self didn't manifest like the others, and he hopes she will be okay. The group, especially Naoto, take turns blaming themselves for panicing and not being able to save Nanako faster. Kanji gets mad, hearing his friends talk like this, and reminds everyone that this is all Namatame's fault, not theirs. Adachi walks by the group in the hallway and is surprised they're still there. The doctors won't know anything about Nanako's condition until they can run tests on her. Adachi is also unsure of when they'll be able to start questioning the suspect. He tells the group to head on home so they don't pass out too. On their way out, Teddie hopes that Nanako will recover, and he looks forward to how much they'll play when she is better.

On November 20th, the protagonist sees a weather report about the fog settling in Inaba later that night. The protagonist goes to watch the Midnight Channel and sees that no one appears. He assumes he doesn't need to watch it anymore now that they've caught the culprit. Additionally, in the Central Shopping District, the mysterious figure who appeared on April 29th, June 4th, and October 5th does not show up.

When the protagonist wakes up on November 21st, he notes that the fog is still thick. On his way to school, he runs into Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko. Yosuke shows him the newspaper, which has an article about Namatame regaining consciousness and being named the suspect. Adachi runs into the group and mentions it's okay for them to visit Nanako at the hospital now. He notices they're holding the newspaper, meaning they must have seen the article about Namatame. Adachi reports he Namatame seems confused when they question him. They have also been reading more of Namatame's diary and found mentions of Mayumi and Saki, and believe he was hitting on Saki. Hearing this angers Yosuke, but he calms down after reminding himself that Namatame has been caught now and can't hurt anyone else.

After school, everyone on the Investigation Team goes to visit Nanako. She is in pain but seems happy to see the protagonist. A nurse comes to Nanako's room and yells at Dojima to return to his own room due to his injuries. Outside Nanako's room, her doctor explains to Dojima that they don't understand the cause of Nanako's symptoms. Dojima asks Adachi about Namatame, but their suspect can barely speak, and they're still waiting for his condition to improve. Adachi thinks about how foggy it is outside now and how rumors are spreading about the fog. Nanako's doctor mentions the hospital has been getting patients complaining about health issues related to the fog, which Dojima finds ridiculous. Meanwhile, in the shopping district, two women talk to one another about the fog outside of Marukyu Tofu. They have heard rumors about people getting sick and collapsing. Suddenly, a man in a gas mask rushes over and tells the surrounding people that the fog is poison gas. Hearing this, one of the housewives thinks she is getting ill just standing there.

End of spoilers.

Justice

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

The protagonist makes his way to school on December 3rd for the last day of his winter semester final exams. He and his friends observe how thick the fog is, and Rise likens it to the fog in the TV World. Hearing this, Kanji puts on his glasses from Teddie and tells the others to put them on too. The fog clears when they do so, which makes no sense to Naoto. Chie wonders if the fog is leaking out from the TV World. The group contemplates this, and Yosuke suggests they head to their special investigation headquarters after school. Once finals are over, the Investigation Team and Teddie meet again in the food court. Chie reads a newspaper article speculating about the fog being dangerous. Due to that, people haven't been going outside as much, or even going to Junes. Naoto spots another article about Namatame, which speculates that Namatame murdering Mayumi was due to their relationship. Rise wonders if the police can build a case against him since he talked about the TV World and saving people. Naoto mentions that he may go free, which infuriates Kanji. Yosuke also hopes the case doesn't get dismissed. Namatame killed both Mayumi and Saki, and he is responsible for Morooka's death since the copycat was copying him, and now Nanako is hospitalized.

Hearing Yosuke talk about Nanako, the protagonist remembers his promise to Nanako to buy a new kotatsu. He mentions this to his friends, and they go into Junes and look at the different models together. While shopping at Junes, the group plans to have a Christmas party at the Dojima Residence once Nanako gets better. However, the protagonist gets a phone call and sees that the caller is Adachi, who tells him that Nanako's condition has suddenly changed, and her doctor wants the protagonist to come to the hospital immediately. There, Nanako's doctor explains to Dojima that they plan to monitor Nanako and then urges him to return to his room. Dojima says he doesn't care about himself and begs them to save Nanako. Yosuke yells at Teddie to do something since he's from the TV World, but Teddie has no idea what to do. Adachi comes across the group. Yosuke asks him about Namatame's case, and Adachi admits they will have a hard time proving guilt due to the "throwing people in TVs" angle, plus Namatame having a solid alibi for Mayumi's murder. Kanji gets angry and tells Adachi to bring them a TV, and they'll show him how it works.

Suddenly, a nurse comes from Nanako's room and asks her family to come in and talk to her. The protagonist goes to Nanako's bedside. She tells him she is scared and dies while holding the protagonist's hand. Dojima doesn't make it back to her room in time and arrives after she has passed, falling to his knees. While the Investigation Team mourns, Dojima starts walking off, away from Nanako's hospital room, passing by Adachi on his way. Adachi realizes Nanako died, then looks back in the direction that Dojima is walking and reveals to Kanji, Naoto, and Rise that Dojima must be headed towards Namatame's room. Kanji grabs Adachi by the collar and demands he tell them where Namatame's room is before Dojima makes it there and does something to him. Teddie stays behind in Nanako's room, lamenting that he couldn't save her.

End of spoilers.

The Seekers of Truth

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

Outside of Namatame's room, two police guards stop Dojima and tell him he needs permission to speak with Namatame. Dojima demands to know who permitted Namatame to kill Nanako and begs for someone to give him his daughter back. The Investigation Team and Adachi make it to Namatame's room. The officers take Dojima away and Adachi goes to get a doctor, leaving Namatame's door unattended. The group enters and finds Namatame on the ground. The clock strikes midnight, and the Midnight Channel comes on a large screen TV in Namatame's room. There, they see an image of the yellow eyed Other Namatame inside Heaven. Yosuke is confused as he thought they defeated his Shadow, but Naoto recalls that Namatame didn't face his Shadow, nor did it return to him as a Persona, and assumes they might be seeing his Shadow right now. The Other Namatame taunts the group, saying that he failed to save Nanako, but he'll get away with it anyway. The real Namatame is confused by the image on TV and begs it to stop. But hearing Other Namatame's words, Chie takes this as a sign that Namatame isn't insane and knows exactly what he is doing, and Yosuke no longer cares about the law. Other Namatame says he will keep saving people, and Kanji thinks they need to do something so that can't happen. Naoto points out that due to the large screen TV in Namatame's room, theoretically, he could escape into the TV World, but he might not be able to find a way out. Rise and Chie are taken aback by what Naoto is suggesting.

Yosuke appeals to the group: If they don't do something, Namatame will never get prosecuted, and he'll keep saving people. All they have to do is push him into the TV. Yosuke offers them a chance to leave the room, but first, he asks the protagonist what he thinks. To Yosuke's surprise, the protagonist doesn't agree with him. The protagonist asks him to wait and thinks the group is missing something. Even though they just heard the Midnight Channel, the protagonist doesn't understand Namatame's true feelings. Something still bothers the protagonist, thus he is still convinced they're missing something. Yosuke feels like the protagonist is giving him non-answers, and asks for a straight answer: Are they throwing Namatame into the TV or not? The protagonist yells at Yosuke and the others to calm the hell down. Yukiko and Rise agree, saying none of them are thinking straight with everything that has happened. Naoto apologizes for her rash suggestion and says that truthfully, not everything about the case is clear to her either. Slowly, the group agrees that things are still unanswered, and they need to think this over. The nature of the group's bond changes, and no longer are they just the Investigation Team but also the Seekers of Truth.

Adachi comes into Namatame's room and asks why the group is there. Naoto claims they were keeping an eye on him since the officers were busy with Dojima, and she knew it would look especially bad for Adachi if he were to escape. Adachi plans to arrange for Namatame to get transported elsewhere and asks the Investigation Team not to tell anyone they were there. Outside of Namatame's room, the group begins speculating. Yukiko is confused about why Namatame killed anyone in the first place. Naoto goes over the police investigation into the first murder and how there was no convincing motive for Namatame to kill Mayumi due to their affair. Adachi walks out and mentions he could hear everything they said, suggesting they lower their voices. A nurse looking for the Investigation Team finds them and asks them to return to Nanako's room with her.

Teddie finds himself in an unknown place. He doesn't think he's back in the TV World, and his last memory was him being with Nanako in the hospital. He no longer knows why he exists and asks what he should do now. In the real world, the Investigation Team returns to Nanako's hospital room where her doctor announces that Nanako revived. The whole group is relieved to hear this, and the doctor suggests they get home for the night. It's only then they realize that Teddie is missing. In the shopping district, Yosuke tries calling Teddie but can't get ahold of his phone. Yosuke hopes he just returned home by himself, and tells the group to meet at their headquarters tomorrow. While the others leave, the protagonist stays behind and stands there while it snows, unsure if he made the right decision to stop the others from murdering Namatame.

While the protagonist sleeps that night, he dreams of the Velvet Room once more. Igor comments that the path the limo is driving down is getting harder to see, and if they continue driving like this, they might stray from their path. Igor asks the protagonist to reflect on his journey so far. The protagonist's head fills with the voices of his school friends, people around Inaba, and the members of the Investigation Team, whom he has gotten close to. The limo stops moving, and Margaret reports they will be stopped while they confirm the direction they're heading in. Igor tells the protagonist that the Velvet Room is shaped by his mind; perhaps now is a time to stop and reflect rather than to act.

End of spoilers.

Interrogation

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

The protagonist wakes up on December 4th with Yosuke ringing the doorbell. He still can't find Teddie. The two go to Junes together, where Rise and Kanji report they went into the TV World but couldn't find Teddie there either. Naoto is concerned about him but suggests they turn their attention to the case before Namatame gets transferred. At a glance, Namatame seems guilty, but his lack of motive to kill Mayumi and them not understanding what he means by "saving" throws them off. Yukiko recalls that when Namatame saw the Investigation Team, he said he had saved all of them. But if he saves people by killing them, then didn't he fail to actually "save" any of them?

Naoto also remembers that the Other Namatame on the Midnight Channel said that he failed to save Nanako. Chie then wonders if he really was trying to "save" them by putting them into the TV. Yosuke thinks this doesn't make sense, as Namatame still killed Mayumi and Saki unless there's another person involved. The protagonist brings up the warning letters, which told him not to rescue anyone and threatened to kill someone close to him. Rise points out how strange that is, since Namatame thinks he's saving people by putting them in the TV. The protagonist thinks that someone other than Namatame wrote them. Previously, Naoto thought that, aside from Mitsuo's copycat murder, there was the only other culprit. But now she has begun to consider that there's another culprit, and Namatame might not have killed Mayumi and Saki.

At the hospital, Naoto manages to distract the guard outside of Namatame's door with a fake emergency in the hospital lobby, and the entire group goes back into Namatame's hospital room, this time to question him. Namatame seems to understand what the group wants and answers the protagonist's questions: He didn't murder the first two victims, nor does he know who did; he "saves" people so they won't get killed, the first person he put in the TV was Yukiko, he went into the TV to help Nanako and escape the police, and he is unsure of what the protagonist means about the warning letters. From this, Naoto gathers that after Mayumi and Saki's deaths, Namatame realized the people who appear on the Midnight Channel die, and he kidnapped Yukiko in order to save her, then he kept doing this as more people appeared. Naoto asks Namatame to tell them whatever they can, as they are the only ones who can fully understand what he says.

Namatame recalls that back in April, shortly after his affair became public knowledge, he went back to his parent's home in Inaba. One night, he happened to see Mayumi on the Midnight Channel. He thought Mayumi was calling out to him for help. When he reached out to try and touch her, he put his hand into the TV and saw it go in. He thought he was going crazy. The next day, Namatame returned to the political capital for work. And the afternoon after that, he got fired from his job, and Mayumi was found dead. He thought back to the image of Mayumi he saw on the Midnight Channel and thought maybe she really was calling to him for help? He watched the Midnight Channel on another night and recognized the person was Saki, who had found Mayumi's body. His father had given him a job with the family delivery business when he came back to Inaba, and he recognized Saki as he had delivered packages to her family's store. He decided to warn Saki, but he saw her on the TV again that night, and then the following day, she was found dead.

After Saki, Namatame next saw Yukiko on the Midnight Channel. He thought Yukiko was smiling from inside the TV, and he got the idea to put people inside the TV for their own safety. He remembered how he tried to tell Saki, but she still died, and he began to think that all he could do was kidnap people and put them into the TV. Namatame also tried to tell the police at some point, but they didn't believe anything he said; he figured he was the only one who could protect these people. Due to his job, he knew the area well, had a large truck and had a cover. But as he talks to the Investigation Team, he wonders if he wasn't actually saving anyone. Naoto explains that if someone is still in the TV when it gets foggy in Inaba, they die. Everyone who Namatame put in the TV could have died, and the Investigation Team had been saving people. Namatame saw that the people he saved had returned to their regular lives, so he was completely unaware of how dangerous it was until he went into the TV with Nanako, and he further had no idea that people couldn't get out on their own.

The Investigation Team recognizes that Namatame truly was trying to save people. He apologizes for everything he has done, and Naoto apologizes to him because they almost blamed everything on him. Namatame's police guard returns and sees the group all in his room. He kicks them out so they can prepare Namatame for transfer. Before they go, Namatame asks the Investigation Team to find the real culprit. Back in Nanako's hospital room, Chie recalls this is where they last saw Teddie. Knowing that Namatame didn't commit the first two murders, Naoto believes they should be looking into what happened with Mayumi and Saki, especially since the police consider the matter over. Yosuke suggests they split up around town and talk to people around Inaba the following day. The protagonist returns home for the day and wonders if they'll really be able to learn something.

End of spoilers.

The Culprit

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

On December 5th, the protagonist heads to the shopping district and speaks to people on the streets. After talking to a woman near the shrine who doesn't recall any other suspicious people, he begins asking everyone he encounters about both the murders and anyone suspicious. However, he doesn't learn anything new. When he meets with his friends at Aiya that night, they conclude that none of them have learned anything. Naoto establishes there are three criteria for the culprit: They must have a connection to both Mayumi and Saki, they must have been able to observe the Investigation Team, and it must be someone who could go to the Dojima residence without looking suspicious. Naoto is stumped and goes outside for fresh air. The protagonist and Yosuke join her. The protagonist begins thinking about everyone he has met in Inaba and realizes that only one name sticks out: Adachi. He brings this up to Yosuke and Naoto. Naoto thinks that Adachi would have been able to control information due to his position, but Yosuke is doubtful, as they're talking about Adachi, who seems incompetent. Naoto recalls something about Adachi that bothers her, though she can't quite explain it.

The three go back inside Aiya and explain to the others that it could be Adachi. Yukiko doesn't believe it could be him. She remembers that Adachi came to the Amagi inn when Mayumi was staying there, and said he was there to protect Mayumi from the media. Naoto is surprised to hear about this and finds it makes him more suspicious. She recalls that Adachi also questioned Saki multiple times too, though she had assumed it was because the police had little else to work with at the time. Yosuke realizes they've been running into Adachi a lot as well during their investigation, and Rise thinks he'd be able to drop the threatening letters in the Dojima's mailbox without it looking suspicious. Yukiko wonders if it really is him, but Naoto considers this only a theory for now. She calls and asks if Adachi is available to talk right now, but is surprised to learn that he is at the hospital overseeing Namatame's transfer.

The group gets to the hospital and finds Adachi talking about Namatame being transferred. Naoto points out how Adachi has seemingly been rushing to transfer him. Dojima shows up, looking for Namatame to question him, and is angry to hear that he's already gone. Dojima thinks Adachi has uncharacteristically been taking his job seriously, then turns his attention towards the Investigation Team and asks why they're at the hospital. The protagonist questions Adachi about Mayumi, Saki, and the threatening letters. Adachi claims he forgot about the letter due to Dojima's accident, and asks why the group is questioning him anyway. They tell him they know Namatame did not kill the first two victims, and they think it might be Adachi.

Adachi gets annoyed and tells the group they already know Namatame put everyone in, like his diary said back in November. Dojima questions what he means by putting people in, thinking back to the talk about TVs which Dojima had initially dismissed. Naoto finally realizes what has been bothering her about Adachi: Back on November 5th, when she said that the victims beyond the first two who survived their attempted murders but were never revealed to the public are written in the diary, Adachi, for some reason, declared that the case was settled. Naoto doesn't understand why he said that, when he said it. She is aware that the police investigation wasn't treating Yukiko and the other's disappearances as being linked to the murders, as there are countless cases where people disappear and go without contacting someone for a few days. Naoto asks Adachi for a response, but Adachi yells that he is busy and runs away.

The team follows Adachi to Namatame's former hospital room, but they don't see him there. Dojima enters after, saying Adachi must still be in this hospital wing as no one has seen him leave. A nurse comes to take Dojima back to his room. Before he leaves, he asks the group to find Adachi. After, Yukiko looks at the large screen TV and discusses the possibility of Adachi entering it. Chie assumes he would be able to if he's really the murderer. Naoto says that if they find him in the TV World, then that would prove he's the culprit. Since they aren't sure he went in through that TV and they don't know where it leads, Rise suggests they use the usual TV at Junes.

End of spoilers.

The Star

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

At night on December 5th, the protagonist dreams of the Velvet Room again, except he doesn't see Igor or Margaret there this time, and only Teddie is there. Teddie lost consciousness and wandered endlessly before hearing a car approach. He has realized he is just a Shadow from the TV World who gained human emotions and wanted humans to like him, so he made himself forget that he's a Shadow and took on another form. Teddie thinks he will turn back into a normal Shadow soon, and asks the protagonist to apologize to Nanako for him, as he could not do anything for her. The protagonist tells Teddie that Nanako came back around, and Teddie is happy to hear that. He expresses his gratitude for meeting the protagonist. He isn't sure what to do now, but he knows he has to leave now, and disappears from the Velvet Room. Igor and Margaret reappear after, and Igor believes the protagonist may have summoned Teddie there when he reflected on his friends before. The Velvet Room is a place for those with an ego. Shadows, fragments broken off from egos, usually wouldn't approach it. The limo begins driving again, resuming their journey.

On December 6th, the group still can't find Teddie. They enter the TV World without him to search for Adachi. Once inside, they see the fog has gotten even thicker. Rise senses that Adachi is definitely inside the TV World, confirming that he's the real culprit and the one behind the murders. But Rise cannot pinpoint his exact location and wishes Teddie was there to help. Teddie reappears in Nanako's hospital room. Nanako regains consciousness and sees Teddie. She remembers hearing him, the protagonist, and everyone else telling her not to give up. Nanako's doctor hypothesizes that Nanako was able to revive because everyone's voices reached her even while she was unconscious. He admits there are still many unknowns about Nanako's condition. Hearing that something is "unknown" is comforting to Teddie. He, too, is an unknown, and the way he can change is also unknown. Even though he's just a Shadow, his voice still reached Nanako, and she came back to life. He resolves to get back to the Investigation Team and tells Nanako he'll come back sometime.

In the TV World, Rise has been trying to locate Adachi, but she still can't pinpoint his location. She wishes Teddie was there; even if his nose is completely useless, he would still support her, and the others appreciate how lively and energetic he is. Rise gets exhausted, and they leave the TV World. As they sit in the food court, they suddenly spot Teddie. He apologizes for vanishing but has finally figured out many things about himself. Yosuke says that even if he's a Shadow, he didn't attack them like the others and wanted to make the TV World peaceful again. Additionally, they had assumed he was a Shadow or something similar to one. Naoto reasons that even if Teddie was born a Shadow, he now wields a Persona, and thus must have developed an ego, making him similar to humans. Just like the rest of the Investigation Team, Teddie has been trying to figure out who he is. Yosuke fills him in on what happened while Teddie was gone and how they discovered that Adachi is the one who murdered Mayumi and Saki. Teddie doesn't think he'll be much help if Rise can't find him, but Kanji says it's hard for them to get into it without Teddie's bear fur. The group agrees to return to the TV tomorrow to try and find Adachi, this time with Teddie.

End of spoilers.

Confession

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

The Investigation Team returns to the TV World on December 7th. Teddie tries his luck at finding Adachi, and senses something in the direction of Mayumi's dungeon, the Desolate Bedroom, where the protagonist, Yosuke, and Chie came from shortly before he met them back on April 15th. Yosuke remembers it as the strange apartment with defaced posters. When the Investigation Team enters, they find Adachi in a corner complaining about Mayumi not being single, unaware the group is also present. Adachi is caught off guard and turns to face them, calling them all persistent. Yosuke demands to know if he threw Mayumi into the TV or not. Adachi says he was curious about something and called her out to the lobby of the Amagi Inn, but then she started screaming.

In a flashback only shown to the player, Mayumi comes to the lobby of the Amagi Inn after being asked there by Adachi. When she arrives, she asks who he is and why he wants to talk to her. Adachi approaches her, backing her against the large TV in the lobby. He asks her if the rumors about her are true and assumes her being in an affair must be a lie. Mayumi feels she owes him no explanation. Adachi reacts poorly to this and thinks a little fear will straighten her out. He reaches out towards her, and her entire body falls into the TV behind her. Adachi is visibly shocked at this and observes that people can fully go inside the TV.

Back in the present, Adachi tells the Investigation Team that at some point, he heard the rumor about the Midnight Channel through the police, and then he touched a TV screen by chance and discovered he had a special power. Hearing this, Yosuke assumes he later tried testing this power out on Mayumi, but Adachi says he was trying to teach Mayumi a lesson for betraying him; he never intended to put her into the TV. Adachi further recalls how both Mayumi and Saki struggled. Hearing this, Yosuke assumes he was responsible for murdering Saki as well. Adachi recalls that he asked Saki to come into the station to question her since she had found Mayumi's body and how he was trying to be nice to her.

In another flashback shown to the player, Saki enters a room at the police station and asks if he called her in to continue questioning her. Adachi reveals this was only a pretense, dropping the subject immediately. He backs her up against a small TV in the corner and instead brings up how he saw her with Namatame that afternoon. As he gets close to her, Saki slaps him away. Adachi asks if he's no good, then pushes her into the small TV behind her. After, Adachi comments to himself on how the world's gone to shit and complains about being stuck in a small town, though he thinks this power makes up for it. He sticks his head into the TV to taunt Saki, saying he'll let her out if she begs for it, then he remarks that there's no way he'd actually enter the TV, calling it dangerous.

Back in the present, Adachi tells the group how it was easy to throw in a slender high school girl, and Yosuke is furious to hear him say this about Saki's death. Adachi claims he had no idea it was dangerous in the TV, and it's not like he was trying to kill them, but Yosuke calls him out on this lie as he knew what happened to people inside the TV after Mayumi turned up dead. Adachi doesn't really care if he's lying and asks why it matters if he knew or not. After some questioning from the protagonist, Namatame's involvement comes up. Adachi remembers that Namatame called the police late at night, sometime after Saki's body was found. Naoto recalls that Namatame said the police didn't take him seriously, and she assumes that's Adachi's fault.

In another flashback only shown to the player, Namatame has called the police station and gotten Adachi on the line. Their conversation starts in the middle, with Namatame having already explained an unknown amount of detail about the victims and the TV. Adachi asks Namatame if he seriously expects the police to believe whatever he's saying about a girl in a kimono appearing on TV and her being the next victim. Namatame insists it's true and asks for the police to protect her. Adachi replies that there's no way the police will act based on some crazy story like that, but he encourages Namatame to "save" her by himself if he really wants to.

Back in the present, Adachi thinks about how lucky it was that he took Namatame's call. Despite the appearance of the figure in the fog on dungeon deadlines, Adachi says that Namatame continuing to kidnap people and the Investigation Team continuing to save people resulted in a neverending game of cat and mouse. When the group asks why Adachi did all of this, he says he has no reason; he did it because he could and thought it was fun. Chie is in disbelief that he murdered people for fun, but Adachi denies that counts as murder. He only put them into the TV World, and he also had nothing to do with the Investigation Team being kidnapped.

Adachi never thought the Investigation Team would find him, though he feels a game needs some excitement, like what happened with Mitsuo. Hearing this, Naoto realizes that Mitsuo never had TV-related powers, and Adachi must have thrown him into the TV. Adachi confirms Naoto's theory. Mitsuo had turned himself into the police, but the officers thought it was just a joke due to his age and left Adachi to deal with him. Adachi thought it would be bad if the police had pinned the crimes on Mitsuo, and that would cause Namatame to quit kidnapping people, so he led Mitsuo to a room at the police station, turned off the lights, then quickly pushed him into a TV, and told the other officers he had sent Mitsuo home. Adachi was annoyed since the Investigation Team saved Mitsuo and he got named the culprit, but Namatame kept saving people anyway.

Yosuke is disgusted that Adachi treats this like some kind of game, and vows to never forgive him for this. Adachi doesn't care, though, as the fog is leaking into reality, and soon the TV World and real world will merge. Rise suddenly notices that the Adachi who has been talking to this time isn't the real Adachi. Teddie identifies the fake Adachi as a Shadow, but he is confused as the Shadow does not seem to be going berserk like other Shadows. Adachi feels that the TV World favors him, and assumes the Shadows must want the same thing as him since they don't attack him. By the end of the year, the TV World will become the new reality, and Inaba will become lost in the fog. He invites the group to come and find him, and they'll see whom the TV World sides with.

Kanji gets mad and rushes to attack him, but Adachi's projection vanishes in front of them. Rise thinks that Adachi has gained some kind of power after entering the TV, and Teddie wonders if it's influencing him. Yukiko and Chie wonder what Adachi meant about the TV World and the real world. Teddie assumes that the TV World will take over the real world, causing Inaba to become isolated from the rest of reality, and the people there will turn into Shadows. Rise senses Adachi's presence coming from elsewhere, and the window in Mayumi's apartment is replaced by the entrance to Adachi's dungeon, Magatsu Inaba. The protagonist tells his friends that they'll put an end to this, and the group is determined to defeat Adachi.

End of spoilers.

Magatsu Inaba

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

As the Investigation Team makes their way through Magatsu Inaba, Adachi's voice taunts them, telling them to go do their homework or asking why they don't just believe Namatame did it like the others in Inaba. After going through Magatsu Mandala, the group makes it to the upper level of Magatsu Inaba where they find the real Adachi. Adachi tries to justify why merging reality and the TV World is okay, but the Investigation Team finds his reasoning absurd. Chie doesn't understand Adachi or why he became a police officer. Rise denies Adachi's claim that their reality shouldn't exist. Kanji tells him that if he wants everything to disappear, why not go disappear himself instead?

Teddie senses something is wrong and similar to Namatame, Adachi gains yellow eyes and a purple aura and becomes Other Adachi. The Other Adachi recalls that the Investigation Team saw Shadows as mere monsters, but they were trying to do what they wanted, and the Investigation Team got in their way. He says that dumb kids like them won't be needed in the new world. Yukiko turns this back on him, calling him a kid who is throwing a tantrum, which gets a reaction out of Adachi. Naoto tells him that no one can truly live alone and that by distancing himself from people, Adachi has only made it hard for himself. And though he finds humans annoying, he has been a huge annoyance to others. Adachi tells them to shut up, saying they don't understand what he's been through. Yosuke recalls what Adachi said about seeing who the TV World sides with. Yosuke tells Adachi he's no chosen one, he's just a criminal. Other Adachi goes berserk after hearing all of this and attacks the group. During the fight, the Investigation Team is surprised when he summons his own Persona, Magatsu-Izanagi. Ultimately, they defeat Adachi, and he changes back from Other Adachi.

In the aftermath, Adachi remarks that he has nowhere left to go anyway, and their world will still change with everyone becoming Shadows. He begins laughing about this, but his body is taken over by a being that introduces itself as Ameno-sagiri. Ame commends the group on being good actors who helped influence what people desired. The merging of the TV World and the real world is what mankind desires, and it seeks to grant their desires. The TV World is a so-called hollow forest; it was born from human desires and exists within their hearts, and is also a part of the Sea of the Unconscious. Hearing this, Kanji assumes that Ame is behind everything. Ame further explains that the fog exists because humans see what they want to see instead of seeing things as they truly are. Yet sometimes they long for the truth, and this longing is like a light that breaks through the fog and torments the Shadows. Yukiko realizes this is why Shadows would lash out and attack people. Chie tells the being to shut up and threatens to fight it with their special powers. Ame knows that they have those powers, as it was the one who gave them the power to enter the TV for being able to go through the Hollow Forest.

Naoto asks if this means Ame also created the Midnight Channel. Ame reiterates that humans crave lies and that the Midnight Channel is something to support this: a window into the hearts of those who see what they want to see. Rise assumes that the people on the Midnight Channel appeared because they were on people's minds due to the media, and Naoto applies this to the Namatame they saw on December 3rd, which didn't reflect Namatame's true intentions at all. Yukiko realizes this means that the Namatame who appeared on the Midnight Channel was a result of all of them assuming he was the murderer. Kanji and Yosuke tell Ame to shut up, saying that they don't desire to become Shadows; else, why did they fight so hard to get where they are?

Though it gave them power, Ame did not expect them to be able to subdue their own Shadows, which were trying to kill them, and then use them as Personas. It observes this as a new possibility for humans, which it wants to understand. It transforms Adachi's body into a gigantic eyeball figure and fights against the Investigation Team to test their power. The Investigation Team is victorious and shows Ame what they can do with the power that comes from the heart. Ame clears the fog from Inaba but says it will always be around and will return one day if mankind desires. Teddie declares they won't let that happen. Ame says that time will tell, then disappears, returning Adachi to normal. Chie asks if Ame has been manipulating Adachi, but Naoto is uncertain but believes Adachi also wanted the world to end.

Adachi realizes that even the plot to merge the two worlds has been stopped. He tells the group that if they think they can change the future, then go do it. Yosuke replies that everyone has that power; it's not special. Adachi isn't sure about that. He assumes the group came into the TV World to kill him in the first place and tells them to leave him behind so the Shadows will finish him off instead. But as Yosuke points out, all that would do is cause another dead body to appear in Inaba. They're taking him back with them so he can live and be prosecuted for his crimes, as that's how it works in the real world. Adachi accepts this and returns to the real world with the Investigation Team. In Junes, an officer approaches Naoto. He informs her that, as a favor to Dojima, the police have called an ambulance and will be protecting Adachi. Adachi is speechless when he hears this, and Naoto asks them to bring the stretcher.

With the fog finally gone, the Investigation Team walks through the Central Shopping District. They see a boy going to play outside now that it's sunny. The protagonist leads his friends in a group cheer and they celebrate.

End of spoilers.

Christmas

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

The Investigation Team meets in the Junes food court on Christmas Day. Adachi has confessed, meaning Namatame will presumably be re-examined as a suspect, and the group considers the case closed. Dojima calls the protagonist and says that Nanako has gotten a lot better and he can continue being treated as an outpatient, so he and Nanako are temporarily coming home for Christmas. The group is happy to hear that, and Chie declares they'll throw a Christmas party for Nanako. Much to Yosuke's displeasure, Yukiko, Chie, and Rise are set on baking a Christmas cake, and Chie invites Naoto to help. Naoto has never made a cake before, and Yukiko happily tells her they've never made one.

Nanako and Dojima arrive home by nighttime, and Nanako is excited to try out the new kotatsu. Chie tells everyone the cake is ready, and Yosuke braces himself for the Christmas version of Mystery Food X. Kanji, who brought his health insurance card with him, offers to taste test the cake before Nanako, but she takes a bite before him finds it delicious. The boys are genuinely confused and try the cake themselves. They are all shocked that it tastes good, and Yosuke wonders if the girls really made it. Chie thinks they have cooking skills, though Naoto reveals this was their third attempt. Afterward, Teddie gives Nanako a Christmas gift of a Teddie doll made from his fur.

Dojima thanks the group for everything. Adachi has confessed, and though some of his testimony is unclear, Dojima believes he will pay for his crimes. Dojima finds what the group said about the TV World hard to believe, yet he knows that some things just can't be explained, like Nanako and her miraculous turnaround. He thinks back to what a senior detective once told him about how everything has another side you can't see. Though Dojima was supposed to be helping the protagonist, the protagonist has ended up helping him, and Dojima looks forward to the rest of their time together. It dawns on the Investigation Team that the protagonist's time in Inaba is coming to an end in spring, and they'll have to make the most of their time.

End of spoilers.

The Third Letter

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

On March 20th, the protagonist prepares for his departure from Inaba. After visiting all the people he's connected with and telling them goodbye, the protagonist feels there's still something left to do and doesn't go home yet. For some reason, he feels compelled to stop by the Junes food court one last time. By coincidence, the other members of the Investigation Team also show up, all of them having a feeling they would run into each other if they came back to their investigation headquarters. While reminiscing about the events of the past year, Yukiko and Yosuke remember that it was Chie who told them about the Midnight Channel first. Chie isn't sure where she heard it from but thinks it was a rumor she heard. Kanji questions the origin of the rumor, but no one knows. Yosuke brings up that even though they caught Adachi and the fog cleared from their world, the TV World is still foggy. Naoto recalls that Ameno-sagiri said the power to enter the TV can be traced back to itself, but Chie recalls that the protagonist could enter the TV even beforehand. She also wonders about Adachi and Namatame since they could also interact with the TV without Personas.

The protagonist suddenly remembers that Nanako gave him a letter before he left the house. He reads it and sees that it's from Adachi. Adachi has accepted that this game is over and has agreed to play by the rules of the real world. But something about the Midnight Channel has been bothering him, and he can't do anything about it while he's in custody. Adachi recalls that someone might have told him about the Midnight Channel right when he had just come to town, even before hearing about it at the police station. Adachi can't remember who he heard it from, but he feels it's related since something similar was in Namatame's police statement, and they both received powers. Yosuke understands what Adachi is getting at and has a similar feeling. The TV World, the ability to go inside the TV World, and the Midnight Channel all feel like separate things, so why were they all linked together?

Yosuke and Chie assume there's some kind of "conductor" who might have told Adachi about the Midnight Channel in the first place. Naoto recalls that Ame told them they were all good actors, and wonders if it meant that all of them, plus Adachi and Namatame, were unknowingly actors in a larger plot of sorts. Yosuke thinks this so-called conductor was scheming to turn everyone into Shadows, and they instigated the events of the past year. The protagonist heads back into town, finds Nanako and Dojima near the Samegawa Flood Plain, and asks them if they remember what happened the first day he arrived in Inaba. Nanako recalls they stopped at Moel Gas Station, and the protagonist looked sick after talking to the attendant. Dojima is surprised and concerned at the protagonist suddenly asking these questions. The protagonist tells him it's nothing to worry about, and Dojima hesitantly suggests he come home a bit early since it looks like it's about to rain.

End of spoilers.

The Conductor

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

When the protagonist arrives in the Central Shopping District, he does not see the same gas station attendant. He enters the Velvet Room, where Igor presents him with an object to help dispel lies, the Orb of Sight. After exiting the Velvet Room, it begins raining in Inaba, and the protagonist suddenly sees the gas station attendant from April 11th standing at Moel. The protagonist repeatedly tries asking the attendant about Adachi and Namatame before they finally quit playing dumb and begin laughing. They confirm they gave Adachi, Namatame, and the protagonist a jumpstart of sorts. The attendant picked the protagonist due to his potential. And by giving the protagonist a jumpstart, the attendant set in motion a chain of events leading to others awakening their own powers.

The attendant sticks out their hand and reminds the protagonist of when they shook hands back on April 11th. That handshake gave the protagonist's power a gentle push, and the attendant did the same with Adachi and Namatame, all in order to stir things up in Inaba. But the results ended up being greater than expected, strong enough to flood Inaba with fog and clear it. The attendant questions why the protagonist is there, calling him a greedy fool. The fog rolls into the shopping district and the attendant reappears, now introducing herself as Izanami. She explains that Ameno-sagiri is a temporary form born from herself. Originally, Izanami thought the protagonist was just a fool, but now that his power has exceeded her expectations and he stands before her, she decides to fight him for real. She says she will wait for him in a particular place and vanishes. Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko find the protagonist shortly after. He explains what he just learned, and they realize that this Izanami is the conductor they are looking for. They agree to meet up at Junes with the others and finish this for good. In his mind, the protagonist tells himself they can't just leave Izanami be, or Inaba might become covered in fog again.

Back at the Junes food court, the Investigation Team recaps everything they have figured out: Izanami disguised herself as a gas station attendant and greeted the protagonist, Adachi, and Namatame when they arrived in Inaba. Naoto speculates that the protagonist and Adachi both had Personas named after Izanagi because they both received power from Izanami. Additionally, while the rest of the Investigation Team had to face their Shadows to gain their Personas, the protagonist did not. Yosuke recalls that the protagonist could stick his hand into a TV before getting a Persona and thinks what Izanami said about giving his power a jumpstart must be true. Lastly, Naoto assumes that since Ame nor the Shadows ever left the TV World, Izanami must have spread the original rumor about the Midnight Channel. Yosuke assumes that over time, stuff like "you have to watch it by yourself" and "you see your soulmate" became part of the rumor. After talking about the different people who appear, the group assumes that everyone saw the same person on the Midnight Channel, but the clarity of the image must have varied from person to person, such as when Yosuke was certain he saw Saki. With the protagonist leaving the next day, Kanji and Rise suggest they quit sweating the details and go after Izanami.

End of spoilers.

Yomotsu Hirasaka

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

The Investigation Team enters the TV world once more. Rise senses a new location in the TV World, and the others assume Izanami awaits them there. They're determined to go there and defeat her before the protagonist leaves. Before they set out, Chie tells everyone that it's been fun. There were times when they could have given up and times when they could have looked the other way, but they didn't. They kept going on, experiencing things for themselves and coming to their own conclusions. Yosuke wants to keep living that way. But there's a limit to how much one person can figure out on their own; this time, they had each other.

Rise leads them to Yomotsu Hirasaka, which she comments on looks and feels different from everywhere else they've been in the TV World. Izanami speaks to the group as they progress down each path. She asks the protagonist if he remembers seeing Yomotsu Hirasaka in his dreams on the first night he came to Inaba. She assumes he dreamt of it because she gave him a jumpstart. On other paths, Izanami explains that she selected three people—representing despair, emptiness, and hope—who came from outside Inaba in order to figure out what mankind desired. Of the three she selected, one was unable to awaken his power as he could not see things as they truly were, another gave himself up to something other than the truth which caused magatsu to corrupt his awakened power, and the third still fights on in search of the truth. From their actions, she learned mankind doesn't care for the truth, and thus she planned to fulfill their desires by covering everything in the fog.

Izanami finds it foolish that the Investigation Team fights for the truth, saying that knowing the truth won't make people happy. And since they won't, she believes it would be best if humans instead went back to a world of nothingness, with only fog, Shadows, and silence. She repeats that this is what humans desire, and she is only going along with their wishes. Rise admits to the protagonist that there are some things you might not see, and though it might be easier not to see them, not everyone thinks that way. She rejects the idea that they want the world to be covered in fog, and she thinks Nanako and Dojima would agree. Rise doesn't want to let Izanami do what she pleases and tells the protagonist they have to stop her.

As they approach the last path, Izanami vows to fight them on behalf of mankind. Naoto confirms that Izanami is behind people being able to enter the TV, the Midnight Channel, and creating a rumor to make it known. Izanami corrects her, saying that it was the people who determined what appeared on the Midnight Channel, referring to both the people watching and the people being shown; some people want to expose their hidden sides, and others want to see things being exposed. Naoto and Yukiko figure that Izanami blames this duality—human curiosity—for what has happened, as though she may have given three outsiders a push and planted an idea, but it's everyone's fault that the rumor spread and things got worse. Izanami says that it is due to human curiosity that humans only see what they want to see and believe only what they want to believe. Thus, mankind desires a world covered in fog. Though many people are exactly as Izanami says they are, the Investigation Team themselves don't want that world, and they fight Izanami, who reveals to them her form as a large, wrapped figure.

Despite their attempts to whittle her down, Izanami is seemingly impervious to their powers. The protagonist recalls what Igor and Margaret told him, and he uses the Orb of Sight to reveal Izanami's true form as a skeletal, corpse-like figure hidden within her wrappings. Izanami bids the Investigation Team goodbye and begins attacking the protagonist with the Thousand Curses. One by one, the protagonist's friends save him, but in the end, he, too, succumbs to Izanami's power. The protagonist feels his consciousness start to fade, but the voices of the people he befriended in Inaba reach him, and Teddie's voice reminds him that he isn't alone. Everyone the protagonist has formed very deep bonds with empowers him, and his Izanagi transfigures into Izanagi-no-Okami. Izanami is in disbelief that the protagonist still stands, asking how an individual will can surpass the collective will of mankind. No longer needing his glasses to see the truth, the protagonist tosses them aside and defeats Izanami with the Myriad Truths. As Izanami begins to vanish, she still believes it would be easier for humans to live in ignorance. Kanji and Chie remind her that's not true and is something she assumed. Izanami acknowledges their power must be mankind's potential, which she underestimated. They might have cleared the fog from both worlds, but they'll have to make their own happiness.

Igor summons the protagonist to the Velvet Room one last time. Though there were many times the fog obstructed their path, they ignored the easy way out and kept moving towards the truth. Margaret announces that they will soon arrive at their destination. Igor congratulates the protagonist on fulfilling his contract and encourages him to see the bright future of the world they fought for. Back in the TV World, the yellow fog clears, and the Investigation Team witnesses Yomotsu Hirasaka replaced by a scenic landscape that Teddie remembers as being what the TV World used to look like long ago.

End of spoilers.

Leaving Inaba

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

On March 21st, Dojima and Nanako take the protagonist back to Yasoinaba Station, where the protagonist's friends have gathered to say goodbye to him. Nanako tearfully hugs him goodbye. Dojima thanks the protagonist: Adachi has confessed to his crimes, the police are building a case against him, and Nanako has recovered. He considers the protagonist to be part of their family. Teddie announces that he is returning to the TV World to ensure nothing bad happens there again. Despite trying to sound dramatic, Chie is sure he'll come back to get ice cream, and Yosuke thinks it won't be any different since he'll go in and out of the big TV at Junes. Yosuke invites the protagonist to come back during spring break, and Yukiko offers to make reservations so they can stay at the Amagi Inn. On the train platform, each member of the Investigation Team, Dojima, and Nanako all tell the protagonist goodbye and that they will see him again. As his train departs, the Investigation Team begins running after his train and waves as it goes out of sight.

After the credits, Chie assumes that they'll be fine even though it'll be lonely without him. Teddie agrees, saying that no matter how far apart they are, their hearts will always be connected. And so long as their hearts are connected to those they can trust, then together, they can help each other search for answers. As the protagonist looks at a photo of him and his friends, Teddie's narration concludes that so long as you're connected to others in the same world, then you'll never truly be alone.

End of spoilers.

Other Endings

This section contains spoilers. (Skip Section)

Failing to clear a dungeon by its foggy weather deadline leads to a game over. The protagonist is in his bedroom, hears sirens go by in the distance, then gets a call from one of the Investigation Team:

• On April 29th, Yosuke calls the protagonist and tells him that Yukiko's dead body was found.
• On June 4th, Yukiko calls the protagonist and tells him that Kanji's dead body was found.
• On July 7th, Chie calls the protagonist and tells him that Rise's dead body was found.
• On August 12th, Yosuke calls the protagonist and tells him that Mitsuo's dead body was found. Yosuke doesn't understand what happened, and asks the protagonist if he thinks Mitsuo went into the TV to kill himself.
• On October 5th, Kanji calls the protagonist and tells him that Naoto's dead body was found.
• On November 20th, Kanji calls the protagonist and tells him that Namatame's dead body was found as was Nanako's.

After, Igor offers to rewind time.

The protagonist's dialogue choices on December 3rd can also lead to different endings. If the protagonist agrees with Yosuke, the group pushes Namatame into the TV and returns to Nanako's room. The group realizes Teddie is missing, and they later find a note from Teddie saying he went back to the TV World for good. Time fastforwards to March 21st. It's still foggy in Inaba, and the news reports about Namatame's death and the end of the murder case, though many things have been left unsolved. Before taking his nephew to the train station, Dojima brings up vigilante justice, implying that he is well aware of what the protagonist and his friends did.

Or, if the protagonist prevents Yosuke from killing Namatame but is unable to convince the group to continue solving the mystery, then the group leaves Namatame's room and returns to Nanako's room where they discover that Nanako made a comeback, but she is extremely weak. The group realizes Teddie is missing, and they later find a note from Teddie saying he went back to the TV World for good. Time fastforwards to March 21st. It's still foggy in Inaba, Nanako is too weak to come home and see the protagonist off, and the news reports about Namatame's upcoming trial. Dojima thinks Namatame's sentencing will be light due to a lack of evidence. Before taking his nephew to the train station, Dojima asks the protagonist if he's satisfied with the choices he has made in the past year.

In both versions, Dojima then drives the protagonist to Yasoinaba Station, where the protagonist's friends see his train off, all of them somewhat sad and dejected.

If the protagonist fails to name the culprit three times on December 5th, he will shake his head in frustration outside of Aiya. Naoto points out that Namatame did commit crimes and has been arrested for them, meaning the case might as well be over already. Yosuke looks up at the snow and says the truth of the murders will be lost to the fog. They later find a note from Teddie saying he went back to the TV World for good. Time fastforwards to March 21st. It's still foggy in Inaba, Nanako is still in the hospital, and the news reports about Namatame's upcoming trial. Before taking his nephew to the train station, Dojima expresses his doubts that Namatame is actually the murderer. Regardless of the protagonist's response, he notes that there haven't been any more murders in Inaba. Dojima then drives the protagonist to Yasoinaba Station where the protagonist's friends see his train off, all of them somewhat sad and dejected.

If the Investigation Team fails to clear Magatsu Inaba by the deadline, then on December 24th, the protagonist observes his room is full of fog. When he opens his curtain, he sees it's extremely foggy outside too. Naoto calls the protagonist and tells him that Inaba is full of Shadows. Shortly after, Naoto is heard screaming as a Shadow seemingly attacks her. After, Igor will offer to rewind time like in the other dungeon deadline failure endings.

	This section is in need of research.
	Reason: Does the post-credits animated scene with Chie and Teddie still play if you *don't* get the true ending?

If the protagonist doesn't go to Junes on March 20th and never makes it to Izanami, then on March 21st, the same sequence as the true ending occurs where the protagonist's school friends come to see him off at the station then the Investigation Team runs after his train as it leaves.

End of spoilers.