WMG / Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth

Pre-Release

Movie Genres to be tackled, or movies that will get an Affectionate Parody.

• Horror is likely a given. Assuming that choosing the female P3 protagonist over the male option will change parts of the game as well, something regarding the Final Girl trope could be in play.
  • Jossed. The game's director even strictly forbids using outright horror in design this run.
• Traditional Film Noir, featuring the player team as the hard boiled detectives. Could lead to some jokes assuming the player is on the P5 side.
  • Jossed.
• The shot with dinosaurs in the trailer could imply a Jurassic Park parody.
  • Confirmed. The second movie is called Junessic Land.
• Maybe a Western? It could be fun walking through a Labyrinth themed after a ghost town while fighting cowboy and tumbleweed shadows and F.O.E.s, with the Boss fight evoking a Showdown at High Noon.
  • Jossed.
• A sci-fi Space Opera.
  • Half confirmed. The third movie is a sci-fi movie but not a Space Opera. Instead, it’s about a society of robots where Individuality Is Illegal.
• An overly dramatic or comedic romantic movie, to allow the players to ship Joker with their preferred partner like the first Persona Q did.
  • Sadly, Jossed. There is nothing really romance-related, this time.

For this game, the Persona 3 female protagonist is not human.

• Her "I am him, he is me." line at her reveal being incredibly similar to the standard "I am thou, thou art I." is entirely intentional.
• As her story is considered non-canon her use in one of the Persona Q games, which are, would require some twisting. Rather than exactly being the girl we know, she is a Shadow similar in nature to Teddie.
• The Persona 3 male protagonist having a free roaming Shadow is possible as those with the Wild Card are not limited to a single Persona, and thus are not limited to a single Shadow.
  • Jossed. She's an Alternate Self to the male Persona 3 protagonist from a different timeline.

The Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves will have a clash of ideals.

• The Investigation Team are all about justice, so they'd assume that the Phantom Thieves are evil (especially with their use of Heel–Face Brainwashing) and try to fight them. In-turn, Persona 4 had a lot of Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male comedy, and considering the Phantom Thieves' most frequent targets were abusers, they'd view them as self-righteous hypocrites. The S.E.E.S. will be the neutral ground trying to bring them to peace.
  • Jossed.

Possible Friendships Developing Between the Three Groups

• Given that the previous game developed relationships with S.E.E.S. and the Investigation Team, obviously more friendships will spawn between them and the Phantom Thieves.
  • P3 Hero, P4 Hero, and P5 Hero: All three feel an affinity for each other, just the P3 and P4 heroes did in the previous game. Of course, ideologies could still clash between the P5 and P4 heroes, since the Investigation Team are at this point trying to solve a murder case and prevent more possible murders, while the Phantoms opt to steal the hearts of corrupt individuals.
    • Joker has a separate Unison attack for the P3 and P4 Heroes, so some interaction and bonding is guaranteed.
  • Persona 3 Portable Heroine with S.E.E.S. in general: The Heroine is very quick to integrate herself with the S.E.E.S cast, since she too was part of this group in her own universe. The members of S.E.E.S., particularly Junpei, Yukari, Akihiko, and Shinjiro feel attached to her. The P3 Hero and Heroine also develop affinity toward each other, coining to the line "I am him, and he is me?"
    • Played with. Its made clear the Heroine knows S.E.E.S. but S.E.E.S. doesn't know her, due to being from different worlds altogether. She feels isolated knowing her friends aren't exactly the same as she knows them in her world and keeps her distance. S.E.E.S. picks up on this and try to befriend her.
  • Kanji and Yusuke: Both have artistic interest, and despite their appearances and personalities differing entirely, they still form an Odd Friendship because of it. For added hilarity, if this does happen, Matthew Mercer will be Acting for Two (assuming he reprises both roles).
    • Unfortunately, Jossed, in regards to Mercer reprising his role as both characters, due to the game being released with no English voice cast.
  • Fuuka, Rise, and Futaba: Carrying over from the previous game, Fuuka and Rise are still close, and try to bring Futaba into their circle of Support characters.
    • Confirmed; they have a unison attack. However, Fuuka and Rise don't remember each other.
  • Mitsuru and Makoto: As someone who once was, or in this case, still is the Student Council President of Gekkoukan High, Mitsuru could give Makoto advice on how to be a better President at Shujin.
    • Confirmed; they have a unison attack and give each other advice on how to get along with their underclassmen. Mitsuru even gives Makoto a bike glove and invites her to go riding with her someday.
  • Akihiko, Chie, and Ryuji: Given their enthusiasm for training, they'd form a friendly competitive streak with each other.
    • Somewhat confirmed. They don't have a unison attack, but there's a dead end event in the third level where Akihiko talks to Ryuji about muscle training (and Chie somehow gets reluctantly roped into it.)
  • Teddie and Morgana: The two would bicker constantly. Teddie, for once again, being jealous over another cute animal taking the spotlight from him, and Mona being annoyed by Teddie's immaturity. Also, Teddie flirting with Ann would immediately put him on Morgana's "Shit List". Although, they still can understand each other when it comes to not being able to remember who they were before losing their memories.
    • Somewhat jossed. Morgana does get annoyed with Teddie for insisting on competing who is the cutest mascot (particularly because Morgana doesn't think himself as one), especially during their special screening event, but other than that, they become great friends. Of course, Morgana certainly doesn't take too well when Teddie hits on Ann, but Teddie understands how he feels and respectfully steps off, taking a Bros Before Hoes stance on the situation. The two do still get jealous of Koromaru (especially Teddie, who is seen glaring at him in jealousy in a hub scene), though Morgana only gets jealous when Ann tries to put him.
  • Koromaru and Morgana: Mona would get along better with Koromaru because of the latter's more calm nature. Or alternatively the Cat vs Dog dynamic will be in full effect, starting with Koromaru giving into his natural instincts to chase Morgana and Morgana holding a grudge for the puppy for it.
  • Teddie, Koromaru and Morgana: Regardless, one thing that is certain is that Teddie will definitely be jealous of both Koromaru and Morgana because he thinks he should be the only cute animal mascot.
    • Confirmed! The three have a unison skill and they get into a showdown over who’s the best mascot.
  • Akihiko, Shinjiro, Ken and Futaba: The former two would be reminded of Akihiko's younger sister by Futaba, and try to be brother figures toward her. Meanwhile, Ken relates to her about his own issues with a Missing Mom and the fact that they're both Featherman fans.
    • Ken and Futaba is confirmed, but not Akihiko and Shinjiro with Futaba. Akihiko and Shinjiro never bring up Miki, but Futaba does nickname Akihiko "Hikohiko." There is also an event in the fourth labyrinth where Ken and Futaba talk about Featherman.
  • Junpei, Yosuke, and Ryuji: From what is briefly seen in Junpei's character trailer, he'll hit it off with Yosuke and Ryuji. All three have similar personality traits anyway, like being somewhat perverted.
  • Rise and Ann: Like in the previous game with Yukari, Rise can help Ann overcome her issues with expressing her feelings.
  • Yukiko and Haru: Yukiko would become interested in growing plants, thinking she could use some of them for cooking. Of course, Haru is willing to teach her. Hilarity Ensues with Yukiko's Lethal Chef tendencies. Both also like scary movies quite a bit and both are not girls you want to cross.
    • Confirmed; they have a unison attack.
  • Goro and Naoto might get along fairly well since they are both Kid Detectives, and might team up to try figuring out more about how the labyrinths work and why they are all here. Bonus points for Goro being considered the Second Coming of the Detective Prince (Naoto).
    • Confirmed; Akechi and Naoto share a Unison attack and also discuss things together.
    • Of course, this also has the possibility of going the opposite route, as we are talking about detectives here. Naoto might start suspecting that Goro is being less than sincere about his camaraderie. She may find out who Goro truly is and what his hidden agenda is, and try to find a way to hand him over to the police. Goro, on the other hand, gets suspicious about Naoto possibly knowing more about Goro than what (he thinks) the Phantom Thieves know, and tries to set her up and smear her name if not outright eliminate her.
    • Jossed. They get along very fine and Naoto is one of the only people Akechi actually has something close to a friendly relationship with given that none of the other Phantom Thieves particularly care about him (except for maybe Joker). Nothing about Akechi's betrayal is even referenced.
    • There may be a third route which divulges hidden information and relation with this two during the time between Persona 4 and Persona 5. The assumption is that Naoto is, at some point, met Akechi before the beginning of Persona 5. Akechi may hold Naoto as a mentor in the field of detective work. However, some unfortunate events happened and Naoto disappeared during the time of Persona 5, while Akechi felt guilty about the incident but choose to keep it to himself until they both met. It is possible that Akechi will be overprotective to her while Naoto had no idea what is going on. Bonus point for the fact that Akechi is actually younger than Naoto in the Persona universe, while the time travel in the game allows 18-year-old Akechi to meet 16-year-old Naoto. Seeing Akechi doing something like this will add a more humane side of Goro who is an antagonist some point later in Persona 5.
    • Jossed. They get along fine but the speculated "hidden information" doesn't exist in the game.
  • Goro and Ken: Goro might also get along fairly well with Ken, considering their similar backstories and how they are both of the Justice Arcana. Seeing Ken as a younger reflection of himself might also add to Goro's already growing uncertainty about his goals concerning betraying the Phantom Thieves for the sake of his revenge against Shido.
    • Partly confirmed. Ken helps him open up about his loneliness, but Akechi never reconsiders betraying the Phantom Thieves.
  • Mitsuru and Haru: After hearing of Haru losing her father, Mitsuru offers condolences. She relates that if her father had died (which he does later in Persona 3), she would be lost, because protect her father was her guiding purpose in life. Also, because of their similar upbringings, they may take to each other quickly.
    • Confirmed; they have a Unison attack.
  • Yosuke and Yusuke: Due to having similar names and both having different flavors of Susano-o for their Ultimate Personas.
    • Jossed. They rarely interact and don't have a unison attack.
  • Akihiko, Chie, and Makoto: Due to their shared interest in martial arts (boxing for Akihiko, kung fu for Chie, and aikido for Makoto).
    • Chie's character trailer reveals that this trio has a triple team attack, so some sort of interaction with the three of them is almost guaranteed.
    • Chie and Makoto especially might get along, due to their admiration for the police, and goal of becoming police officers (a police commissioner in Makoto's case) in the future.
  • Goro and P3P Heroine: As the first character from the older games to ally with the Phantom Thieves, she is an outsider to the group dynamic and is the only one unaware that Goro is a murderer and traitor, meaning she will be the first person to have a completely genuine friendship with him.
    • Jossed. They rarely interact in the game and don't have a Unison attack.

The casts of Persona and Persona 2 will show up.

Because why not.

• Since the first two games are set in their own separate universe, they might get representation as a Bonus Dungeon film distilling key locations from its games, but more in the vein of a Theme Park Version than a genre spoof. Their film will be depicted as old and dusty, as if it had never been touched in years. If their respective casts don't appear, then their roles may be acted out by their Q equivalents and player characters instead.
  • Jossed.

The Traitor will pull a Heel–Face Turn, and their second Persona will become playable.

Akechi's time in the labyrinths will spur them to place their growing friendship with the Phantom Thieves over their revenge against Shido, allowing the player to wield Loki. If Victory-Guided Amnesia comes into play, they will ask the Thieves to stop them when the time comes.

• Jossed. Sort of. He does seem to be right on the edge of pulling one thanks to his experiences, but as Foregone Conclusion is in effect concerning memory loss at the end of the game, it just results in Redemption Failure before it can even begin.

The Traitor's second Persona will be usable only as a sub Persona.

• It won't be in its Persona 5 design, but the normal recurring demon design instead. The Traitor will, however, slip and call its name when used instead of the catchall call of "Persona!" the others all use when using abilities from a sub.
• They will specifically avoid "upgrading" when given the chance and just obtain a stat boost and extra skill just as Koromaru and Shinjiro did in the previous Persona Q.
  • Half-confirmed. The Traitor can only stat boost their initial Persona but Loki isn't in the game at all, although Dummied Out content implies he was meant to be obtainable.

I Just Shot Marvin in the Face will come into play.

S.E.E.S. shoots themselves in the head with gun-shaped Evokers. Naoto and most of the Phantom Thieves use genuine firearms. This is a recipe for disaster.

• Actually, only Naoto has a real gun. The Phantoms use models of guns, though whether Cognition also applies to wherever they are might still make this a disaster.
• Jossed. The Phantoms' guns don't work in the movie world. However, there's a hub scene where Ryuji aims an Evoker at his head and then points it at Junpei and Yosuke, scaring them.

Naoto will be weak to Nuclear and/or Psychokinetic attacks.

Since she's never had a weakness. Bonus points if she asks what the hell just happened and her teammates poke fun at her suffering the same indignity they had to.

• Jossed, Naoto is not weak to Psychokinetic and/or Nuclear attacks.

When each cast joins the party.

• FeMC will join in the Kamoshidaman dungeon (which is also the first), since the cutscenes of her thus far have her in dingy buildings and alleyways, similar to that setting. She'll join the P5 cast as a primary protagonist.
  • Confirmed by Famitsu issue #1554.
• P3 will be introduced in the sci-fi world, given one of the robots there resembles Aigis. Cue minor Angst from FeMC that none of her friends recognise her (save maybe Aigis getting the same impression from her as from her male self.
  • The P3 cast (or at least P3MC and Aigis) is confirmed to meet FeMC in the sci-fi world.
• P4 will join in the dinosaur/ Jurassic Park world, since the trailers thus far show them there and that's where Yu and Joker have their fight. This will happen before meeting the P3 cast, judging by Yu's line of "Save the reunion for later" (not to mention how much thicker tension of FeMC waiting to find her friends, only to discover they don't recognise her, would be if they were the last ones to join).
  • One of the cutscene teases from FeMC's character trailer has Junpei act surprised towards her while Yosuke is around, suggesting the P3 cast is in fact the last to join.
  • Confirmed. The P4 cast is introduced in the first part of Junessic Land. Yosuke joins the team during the third part.

Melee only characters from P3 and 4 will get Psi/ Nuclear skills. Also, anyone from those games with Hama/ Mudo skills will now also get normal Bless/ Curse skills.

For example, Aigis (who is a physical fighter) will gain Nuclear abilities while Koromaru (who has Fire and Mudo skills) will gain the Eiha skill line.

• Confirmed. Koromaru and Naoto get Kouga and Eiha skills while Aigis gets Nuclear skills. Oddly enough, though, Psychokinesis goes to Ken.

FeMC will be from further in P3 than the rest of that cast, and part of her dissonance with them will include the female route changes in P3P.

Until this is explained, she will be shocked to see an active Shinjiro and Junpei acting like Chidori is fine. While talking to her "friends," she'll be made more uncomfortable to hear them describe the MaMC version of events instead of what she remembers. Bonus points if she comes after Jan 31st, meaning she's aware MaMC's days are numbered too.

• If she's past the trip to Inaba, she also might run into the same issue(s) when interacting with Yukiko.
• Jossed: FeMC made no such reaction other than being sad that her "friends" didn't recognise her. There's also her ending which pretty much confirms that, in her universe, it also takes place before Shinjiro's death. And for Yukiko's part, she doesn't recognize her at all.

A cooking contest between the P3, P4, & P5 girls

• Like in the previous game, the girls will want to compare their cooking skills against each other. The girls of P5 are never shown cooking, so now we might see now they fair. Of course, given the Persona girls track record for being lethal chefs, it will inevitably end in disaster.
  • If we are betting who will win the contest, my money is on P5 girls.
  • Jossed.

A Shadow Joker will appear at some point.

His eyes flash gold like a Shadow's at the 2:05 mark of the second trailer. Either that or Arsene bursts out of him or talks to him at that moment.

• Jossed.

FeMC will have been stuck in Kamoshidaman for some time before meeting the P5 cast.

Her first appearance in the second trailer has her in a dilapidated building next to an incinerator bin. She also seems on edge and readies her Naginata as soon as she hears something, which would make sense if she's been hiding in that world for some time already. Bonus points if she's the one who shows the Thieves how to escape the movie thanks to this (she would have needed the extra manpower to get out herself).

• The first part is confirmed by Famitsu issue #1554. However, the part about being a guide to the Phantom Thieves is jossed. They're the ones who save her from Shadows and show her how to leave the movie world.

FeMC meeting S.E.E.S. as an outsider will let Atlus address/ acknowledge the criticisms she's received.

E.g. her being "too happy" for her game.

• Jossed. The characters mention that she easily gets along with everyone, but specific criticisms like "being too happy", which are only relegated to a vocal minority of the fandom, are not mentioned especially since they've never been a big deal in the Japanese fandom.

Like in the first Persona Q, the player will have to manually enter a name for each of the protagonists.

• This has something to do with the obligatory Hello, [Insert Name Here] stuff that occurs at the beginning of every game.
  • Confirmed. When the other protagonists introduce themselves upon first meeting, you have to name them.

Goro is up to something and will clash with the others at some point.

The opening animation has shots of him interspersed with the other Thieves instead of having his own section in their montage, and the end has him standing on his own on a rooftop while Joker runs across them and jumps to street level. This may have something to do with him being the traitor and having his own agenda back in Persona 5 and bring him into conflict with the other Thieves before the inevitable memory wipe at this game's end.

• Bonus points if Naoto finds that out and calls Goro out of it. Further bonus points if she reveals that she knows about some of the police/government corruption that led to the story of Persona 5.
  • Jossed. Other than being considered an outsider to the Phantom Thieves, Akechi cooperates with the group without a hitch.

The cast will end the game with the protagonists stealing someone's heart.

It will either be one of the three original characters or Goro, if the above WMG holds true.

• Confirmed! They're actually Hikari's and Enlil's.

FeMC will have to prove her identity to the rest of the cast because she comes from a point after Death left her, meaning Aigis can't recognise her.

Thankfully, Male!Makoto seems to recognise her on some level when they meet, so he may be able to help her out.

• Fortunately, Aigis has the exact same feeling towards FeMC that she felt with P3MC. Even outright states that she can tell that FeMC is also an important person to her and will protect her and P3MC.

The alternative versions of the P3 MCs in their counterparts' respective universes were their siblings

Noticeably in the cutscene in which they first meet each other, their reactions indicate some sort of familiarity. Remembrance of a family member that was killed in the car crash of that night?

• As much as this is cool and all, but they're not related at all. Not as siblings nor cousins. Though their connection remains vague since the only thing that was mentioned in the game is that they have the same heart/soul. But they're definitely not siblings.

FeMC will get some additional closure compared to the rest of the cast.

This will can in one of two ways:

• Her finding peace with being the odd one out in this game before returning to her own, complete with getting a longer farewell scene than everyone else, OR
• Since this game seems to confirm the female route of P3P takes place in an alternate timeline, Atlus will take this opportunity to give FeMC a new ending. This could either be done by integrating her into the current timeline during or after the events of Persona 5 (meaning she can meet back up with the Phantom Thieves after Persona 5 concludes) or Margaret (or any other Velvet Room resident from beyond 2010) telling her how to minimise the grief her version of S.E.E.S. goes through.
  • Jossed. She returns to her timeline after the events of the game.

FeMC makes her debut in the game by pulling a solo Big Damn Heroes moment for Morgana (at least).

Her character trailer includes a cutscene of her walking out of an alleyway and into a fight with two Shadows, and one of the gameplay snippets later on show her posing with Morgana as if pulling a second Big Damn Heroes. Most likely she has to bail some or all of the Thieves (including Morgana) out early on (given the implication in the opening animation that she's been in Kamoshidaman for a long time, this makes sense), then gets to show off with whoever she saved when they go to rescue everyone else.

• Jossed. She's first encountered in the 3rd part of Kamoshidaman and the Phantom Thieves are the ones who rescue her, not the other way around. As for the Big Damn Heroes moment, it's during the Phantom Thieves' heist to steal Kamoshidaman's statue.

The overall theme of the game...

• Will be about how movies can influence the minds of those who watch them, either for good or bad.
• Tying into that, the common cliches of each movie genre the team enters will be deconstructed as they fight through it. Kamoshidaman, for example, will bring up tropes such as Designated Hero and Protagonist-Centered Morality.
  • Junessic Land seems to be going with Designated Villain and The Complainer Is Always Wrong.

The bosses of each dungeon will be whoever is the protagonist of that movie

• For example, a superhero movie dungeon has Kamoshidaman, the possible protagonist, as the most likely candidate to be the boss of the dungeon.
  • According to the narrator, the protagonist of Junessic Land is the herbivore pack. How would this work?
    • Just off the top of my head, a Stegosaurus can grow up to 30 feet and 7 tons. "Eats plants" does not equal "not dangerous".
    • Of course, they are going to be the Greater-Scope Villain.

The Traitor will be unlocking his own arcana bonds.

• He's a wild card who went unguided for years while Velvet Room of his timeline was compromised, and there are three other Velvet Room attendants in this game to get him up to speed. Discounting modified Justine and Caroline.
• He and PT spent most of their time together acting at each other without showing their true feelings, so they won't be able to build tangible bonds. Instead, all Goro's social links will be with P3/P4 protagonists and party members who wouldn't have any reason or need to play pretend with him. Joker, Sae, Shido, or Sojiro being possible exceptions.
• At least one advanced Arcana with an attendant who takes horrified offense at his long-standing obliviousness. And with more Justice oriented characters like Mitsuru and Naoto.
  • If Victory-Guided Amnesia comes into play again, these bonds and possible character development will be erased from the Traitor's surface memory. But the Attendant Social Link will hold onto his forgotten Compendium as a keepsake.
  • Jossed.

The movie theatre is a Palace.

• Since the focus of the story appears to be on the Persona 5 cast, it's possible that the setting of the game is in another Palace, and the only way out is to grab the treasure. One of the new characters introduced in this game may turn out to be the palace owner whose distorted desires are creating this Palace.
  
  With that in mind, it's possible that the FeMC, and maybe the Persona 3/4 characters, are just cognitions that exist in this Palace for some reason.
  • Confirmed! The movie world is in fact, Hikari's Palace. Hikari is a socially awkward girl, whom, especially in a conformist society like Japan, would lead to her being heavily bullied. The theatre is Hikari's palace, a representation of her distorted desire to to be normal so she wouldn't be bullied.

FeMC comes from AFTER the events of Persona 3 and she just doesn't remember it.

• Meaning she'll discover that she's Dead All Along. She'll either go back to her home world and let history play out or escape into the main timeline's 2016/17 (i.e. when Persona 5 takes place) and try to find a place there, possibly with this version of S.E.E.S or just Aigis. Of course, this reveal would also explain where her version of S.E.E.S. is: back home. The Dark Hour is gone so they literally can't have come into the theatre with her. Bonus points if she learns this while the P3 cast is still around, so feels guilty sitting on this knowledge.
  • Jossed since FeMC's ending plays almost identical to both P3MC's endings in Persona Q and Persona Q2.

The running theme of the game involves defining Justice, with each movie showing a false definition to be struck down.

• The Kamoshidaman trailer falls back on "he's invincible" as the only justification for him being called a hero. Might Makes Right confused with Right Makes Might. None of the player characters buy into the premise in the first place: FemC coming in without context (and being around long enough to see how lacking substance he is and how difficult it is to actually live in his world), and the Phantom Thieves coming in already hating someone who looks identical. This leads to the intended plot breaking down while they steal the audience's sympathy. (But they probably don't make their arguments clear yet...)
• The Junessic Land trailer casts the powerful predatory dinosaurs as villains by default in contrast to the above. But then suddenly expounds that The Complainer Is Always Wrong, and claims that this is justice and the minority should be cast out. (A reaction to Kamoshidaman being dogpiled?) Not being controlled by the movie's plot, the Investigation team and/or Phantom thieves would actually listen to the complainer instead of dismissing them immediately, and disagree with just leaving them to die for one disagreement. The conflict between the IT and PT gets defused somewhere in that, and the thieves point out that they're all outcasts from the wider group.
• A.I.G.I.S. has little information yet. Edit: A.I.G.I.S. seems to be about the dangers of individuality as Chibi!Aigis (best nickname I could come up with) gaining individuality is seen as being dangerous to the AI society, with the narrator saying that 'Individuality is just a detriment.' The main characters would also derail the plot by asserting that individuality is important and that forcing uniformity isn't beneficial. Also fitting that the Male and Female Persona 3 protagonists meet in this film/stratum as they will probably try and individualise themselves because they are alternate versions of each other.
  • The only direct mention of Justice in the A.I.G.I.S. trailer was how humanity warring over different ideas of Right led to their extinction. (Perhaps this is where the intelligence behind the theatre starts arguing agaist the party's ideals directly?) But it also gives the impression that the party has stopped taking the Narrator seriously.

Hikari is dead

Yeah, it's been done already. But her Finger Framing scene seems connected to how she entered the shadowy otherworld of the theatre. And a fall of that height isn't survivable under normal circumstances.

• Adding on to this, maybe Hikari killed herself (as in committed suicide).
• Adding further onto this, the opening shows Hikari surrounded by eyes looking down at her. Maybe she became famous with a movie she made, attained public attention, and the pressure of having to live up to their expectations caused her to kill herself.
  • Hikari is confirmed alive. Although it's not surprising that if the persona users didn't come in to stop her in time, she won't be any longer.

Both P3 protagonists have an Alternate Self of each other in their respective words.

Basically, they’re actually two different people who had part of Death sealed inside them in their respective worlds, but both of them still exist in the other. What the story could reveal is that even when Makoto/Minato eventually dies and becomes the Great Seal like in canon, this could mean that his version of Kotone (actual name from an official adaptation) might possibly still be alive, just not as involved in P3’s events, and vice versa.

• Jossed.

The 4th and 5th movies will bring back elements of Persona 2 and 1

The first movie was where the P5 party enters and incorporates one of their villains, the second brought in the P4 party and a location named after one important to them, and the third brings in most of the P3 party and incorporates Aigis into it's plot. Looks like a countdown.

They can't bring in the Persona 2 or 1 parties, the lineup is crowded enough as it is. But they could bring in more of the early plots.

• As an example, the fourth could be a supernatural slasher movie based around Persona 2's Joker(s). Character beats could include
  • Shinjiro mentioning that they've been dealing with persona-using assassins for a while, then being surprised that the rest of SEES didn't know about that aspect of Strega.
    • Jossed.
  • P3 Hero being familiar with the Joker concept in a bit of Recursive Adaptation.
  • P5 Joker finding out just how much baggage his codename has.
  • The Traitor realizing that his shtick was nothing new.
  • The above 2 being possessed and turning against the party briefly.
    • All jossed.
• Elements from P1 the 5th movie could include:
  • Evil Corporations - SEES and the Phantom thieves are quite familiar with the idea.
    • Jossed.
  • Cursed Theatre - They're already in a Cursed Theater, but the explanation for it could reflect the Snow Queen quest.
    • Jossed. The theater is actually a corrupted Lotus-Eater Machine, after all. Maki was trapped by one in P1, but it has nothing to do with the Snow Queen Quest.

The Game’s Main Theme and how it ties in to the themes of P3, P4 and P5

• So, from the looks of the various films the main theme seems to be defying the path set in stone and finding the ‘Road Less Taken’ in order to find your individuality.
• If this is the case then it ties in really well to the themes of P3, P4 and P5.
• Persona 5's theme is Freedom, which ties in well to Individuality as well the Phantom Thieves are fighting to free those less fortunate from corrupt adults.
• Persona 4's theme is Truth, and knowing who you are allows you to stand on your own two feet and resist society’s attempts to conform you.
• According to the Fridge Brilliance page for Persona Q one of the main themes for Persona 3 is Purpose, or finding a reason to live/keep on fighting. Obviously that varies from person to person so all of our purposes allows us to be unique individuals.
• So how does that tie in to Hikari? Maybe she knew what her purpose in life was and the truth about herself but she didn’t have the Freedom to pursue that path- maybe due to Corrupt Corporate Executives controlling her decisions? Could also tie into why the P5 crew have extra emphasis as they are helping to regain her freedom.
  • Tying into this maybe the first four films are films Hikari was forced to make (as Superhero films, Jurassic Park-esque films, Sci-Fi films and Animated kid’s films make a lot of money) and the final film is the film Hikari wanted to make but couldn’t because it wouldn’t make money? Maybe Film Noir for example.(Added WMG, Hikari is/was a director)
  • Jossed. Hikari has nothing to do with the corporate movie industry. None of her movies make any money at all. Also, the fifth labyrinth is not a movie.
• Maybe that’s why she was surrounded by fire in the opening trailer when she fell of the skyscraper- because she was burnt out.
  • Confirmed! Hikari's past is all tied to this. Her elementary teacher made her a scapegoat, she was bullied in middle school, and her relatives forbid her from becoming a film maker. She had no freedom to pursue her dreams, no will to stand up to conformity, and no purpose to pursue her dreams. She just wanted to escape it all, and so Enlil trapped her in the theater.

A villain from Persona 4, or someone based on them, will be an antagonistic force in Junessic Land

• Kamoshidaman obviously has the Starter Villain of Persona 5 as its villain while the villain of A.I.G.I.S. resembles Shuji Ikutsuki from Persona 3. Going by that logic, and the fact that Kamoshidaman introduces the Persona 5 crew, Junessic Land introduces the Persona 4 crew, and A.I.G.I.S. introduces the Persona 3 crew, it's a safe bet to think that you'll be going up against a Persona 4 villain.
• Confirmed, though maybe not in the way you expected; it's a dinosaur version of Shadow Yosuke.

Fuuka, Chie, Yukiko, Rise, and Yusuke will have a Unison Attack

• It will be Mystery Food X: Ultimate, combining the Lethal Chef skills of all five of the deadliest chefs in the party. It won't end well for the baddies.
  • Jossed; there is no unison attack featuring Mystery Food X. Also, Yusuke was never known to be a terrible chef in Persona 5 to the extent of the girls.

The "Input Name" section will actually have enough letter spaces to properly put "Minato Arisato" in English.

A nitpick with the first Q was that there weren't enough spaces to put in one of the P3 Hero's names. Might also happen so it can properly accommodate "Ren Amamiya" and "Yu Narukami".

• In the Japanese version of the game, it's always been there. However, it seems to be sadly jossed for the English version.

Nagi will have some sort of Relationship with Philemon.

• Jossed. The only thing that relates to them are they are both beings spawned from the collective unconsciousness, but otherwise they have nothing in common.

Atlus lied about the Western version not getting a dub and will surprise us right before release by revealing that there actually is one and the voice actors were keeping it a secret.

• Very, very, very unlikely, but it's worth speculating. On the off chance that this is the case, this would explain:
  • 1) Why the game is being released in the west almost 7 months after it came out in Japan.
  • 2) Why Atlus didn't provide any explanation whatsoever as to why there wasn't a dub despite literally all other Persona games getting one.
  • 3) Why none of the English voice actors from any of the core games have said anything at all about it (e.g. being excited for it, commenting on one of their characters, etc.), almost as though they're trying to save face.
    • The game sold relatively poor compared to other titles of the same time such as Super Smash Bros: Ultimate in Japan and Atlus probably didn't think it was worth the investment, not to mention the Nintendo 3DS is slowly being phased out in favor of the Nintendo Switch. It's very close to the release date of the game, and something as important as an English dub not being announced means there most likely won't be one.
    • So, jossed, more or less.

Post-Release

Hikari likes ninjas

• This idea came from the game's scenario team giving the idea of “a considerate girl who blends into her surroundings.” So who would better blend into their surroundings better than a ninja. Perhaps in her younger years, she loved the pop culture ninja.
  • Or if one wants to go for the theatrical approach, she likes kuroko, who were stagehands who assisted in the kabuki theater. They also wear clothes that resemble the modern popular culture appearance of a ninja.
  • Jossed. Ninjas are not seen anywhere in the game, and when Hikari said blending into everyone else, she actually meant isolating herself from anyone else so she won't be noticed or attract attention/abuse anymore. (Just like how a brick wall is "normal")
  • I'm aware ninjas are not a part of the game, just an interesting idea if Hikari actually likes ninjas. It is a WMG, nothing confirm or deny that she doesn't like ninjas.

Hikari is Sleepy Depressive

The entire Theater world is considered a dream where the hapless souls of people end up there to escape reality by watching movies made of pure negativity and put themselves in a negative emotional cycle. In other words, Hikari only has access to the theater when she is asleep, where she would watch those movies to feed in her negative emotions. Could this mean that her method of Escapism is oversleeping?

Hikari visited Tokyo Destinyland once

Not so much for the rides, but because of the characters she enjoys there. And if the theme park had an animation studios there, which would interest a movie director like herself.

Enlil is created by Nyarlathotep to fight Yaldabaoth

All of Enlil's behavior sounded like that she was trying to counterbalance Yaldabaoth Yet, it seems to end up in the same Obliviously Evil way as Izanami. Are there ANY chances that Yaldabaoth is not Nyarlathotep and both Nyarlathotep and Philemon had realized that Yaldabaoth is a standalone threat and Enlil is Nyarlathotep's method of fighting him?

• Remember "Nyarlathotep" is not simply a really strong demon in Persona 2. It represents the collective negativity and is a collective entity like Philemon. It can obviously create different deities to trial humanity, just like Philemon gives people strength to fight them.
• This further proves that why Yaldabaoth can compromise the Velvet Room, because he doesn't belong in the Persona world at all.

Persona Q2 will get a "proper" manga adaptation

Given that Persona Q has both the Roundabout manga and its own mainline adaptation, Persona Q2 should be able to receive the same treatment.

If Hikari were to have a favorite types of games.

Futaba would most likely show Hikari games that are like an interactive film, and games that put an emphasis on a cinematic like experience. Hikari would also most likely enjoy them if the story is well crafted.Thematically, Hikari wouldn't be bothered too much so long as its good, but if the game is centered around with film aspects like Viewtiful Joe or New Cinema Labyrinth the game, she would totally would check them out.

• Probably she just wanted a game with a more positive and less depressing message like, Persona 4 or Pokémon Platinum and not something outright depressing or bitter like Shin Megami Tensei II or Persona 2: Innocent Sin?

Hikari occasionally does Guerrilla Filmmaking

Like how Futaba meddles in computer hacking, Hikari meddles in guerrilla filmmaking, which is making films on a low budget with a skeleton crew and limited props. Often filmed in real locations without a film permit.

At first, she did this by pure accident, but later she occasionally does this out of necessity, though unlike Futaba, she would prefer to stay in the law's good graces.

Hikari will make a cameo in one of the later games

Even though this is unlikely given her status as a Persona Q character, she does her have her fans, who has expressed desire to see her make an appearance.

Hikari will help Yuuki Mishima on his Phantom Thieves documentary

Because of her work on New Cinema Labyrinth, her work would be reconised by Yuuki.

The Cinema District is made out of Kegare energy

• In Persona 2, they introduced a concept called Ideal Energy and Kegare, which are energy powered by human psyches. Ideal Energy is generated by dreams and hope, but Kegare is generated by guilt and despair. Within Persona Q2, the Cinema District produces only negative memories, thus bringing despair. Hikari's Cinema is differnt because Doe manipiulate the Kegare energy in a way to help her regain her memories. But because he too is corrupted by Hikari's Kegare, he cannot transform it into Ideal Energy. It is only through the Persona-users help that the movies become powered by Ideal Energy.

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