Persona 5: The Animation Episode 12: I Found the Place Where I Belong

Berry’s Impression

The Kaneshiro case comes to a close, which I found pretty sudden but looking back on it, Kaneshiro is a person that doesn’t have a personal relationship with any of the characters. Handling him was easy enough, it just took me awhile in the game now that I remember. :p Those damn security dogs…

I found it interesting that they mixed the Palace segments in with their day to day moments. For me, it made it more fun to watch because it gave us the opportunity to watch the characters interact with each other and deepen their bonds with each other, especially with Makoto since she’s new. And look, this may be me being biased but I also loved seeing Ren and Makoto hang out, even though that’s what happens in the game. Me and Shadow seem to share a lot of the same opinions about P5 in that Yusuke is best boy, Makoto is best girl, and we both ship Ren/Makoto so get prepared for us to talk about that a lot. Anyways, I loved the arcade scene because we saw Makoto get REALLY into the game and scream in front of everyone (I liked The Gamr Over screen). It’s especially nice because Makoto isn’t the type of girl to just hang out and be normal. She’s used to be being responsible and studious, handling all the student council work and then going home and just studying. She’s never really been to places like the arcade, and any place where people her age just hang out. She also doesn’t really know how to interact with people her age either, so she’s learning lots of new things. Another sweet moment I loved was Ann formally apologizing to Makoto about blaming her for Kamoshida. They both agree to let things go of things in the past and they learn to be more friendly with each other by calling themselves with their first names, and making a badass pair in the Metaverse! It’s nice to see Makoto strengthing her bonds with the others, while also growing herself. I also agree with what Shadow was saying last week, when Shadow said that the anime was kind of toning down Makoto’s character. But this time I thought we saw a better Makoto, where the dorky side of her personality showed in the arcade, and the intelligent “I don’t give a fuck” Makoto in the palace. I love her! Focusing on other characters for a bit, we also saw Ryuji casually talking with his old trackmates, and Yusuke and Ryuji being kind and buying Ren a TV! And by “buying” I mean putting it on Ren’s tab, but…it’s the thought that counts?

Either way, they finally cracked the code and made their way to Kaneshiro’s treasure. They all make a calling card and decide to plaster them all over Shibuya, causing enough attention to make one of Kaneshiro’s lackeys grab a card and read it to him. At first he seems unphased by it all, but of course it bothers him as he’s changed the treasure room into a vault when the Phantom Thieves get there.

I forgot that Kaneshiro turns into a fly in the boss battle lmao. I also forgot about him spitting out some “sick” rhymes as the gang fought him. All I remember was the stupid pig that almost killed me in the game. I mean, the fight itself is pretty silly. You would expect that the boss fight against the boss of a crime syndicate, who makes kids carry drugs and sell their bodies, would be an intense fight. Nah. Kaneshiro’s a fucking bug and he spins on a piggy bank. At least I felt like the fight scene this time was a lot better. The animation actually looked good and there were a lot more dynamic shots. What’s interesting is what Kaneshiro said in the end before disappearing. There’s someone in a black mask that can already enter Palaces and do what they want, linking that to the mental shutdowns affiliated with the train and bus accidents. We also saw a dark figure again, watching The Phantom Thieves fight against Kaneshiro. Just who could they be and what do they want?

Returning home, the kids leave with Kaneshiro’s treasure, which turns out to be in a gold briefcase. When they open the case in Ren’s room, they find 30 million yen! But…they’re fake. Poop. At least they have their satisfaction in taking down Kaneshiro……and a gold briefcase wink wink.

In the end, when Makoto brings a cup of tea to Sae, we learn that Kaneshiro indeed confessed to his crimes, so it was all a success. Makoto has made some pretty big strides after all of this. She’s resigned from helping the principal on the Phantom Thieves case and calls them just (since she’s part of them now). She’s also questioning herself, asking her sister what the point of studying is. Sae retorts with a “success is all that matters” and even mentions that the Phantom Thieves ruined her chance at a promotion. Makoto muses to herself how her sister has changed, and with Makoto’s self-reflection and new mindset, it kind of creates a bigger gap in her relationship with her sister. I really love Makoto’s growth. At first when I was playing the game, I did NOT like her. But as we learned more about her and how terribly Sae had screamed at her for being useless (that hurt me bad), and just seeing all the pressure that was on her shoulders, I loved it when she had enough of being a pushover and finally started thinking and doing things for herself. No more Mrs. Nice Student Council President Girl, she can finally just be herself, and now she’s found a place where she belongs!