Episode 7 Summary - The Stranger Called "I"

Megumi has a flashback of Shin and Takuro using their Personas followed by what appears to be a car accident. She cries out but bangs her head and finds herself on the train. Two girls sitting opposite her giggles.

Takuro has noticed Megumi acting strangely lately. She's been very quiet, doesn't answer people much as if she was deep in thought. Perhaps it's because Takuro said he didn't want to go to the inn at Kurobe Bay with her, a reward for being "half day chief inspectors". After thinking for a moment, he makes up his mind to go and Kanaru invites everyone. Inui hints heavily in the background that he wants to go too. Eventually, they decide to invite him along as the driver for their weekend break.

By now, Megumi had reached the Ayanagi Hospital to visit her Senpai, Yumi. She was on the roof gazing out into the open space before her when a white feather appears. It disappears when Megumi arrives on the rooftop.

The next morning, Jun and Shin were ready to set off for Kurobe Bay and as usual, Jun was the one who woke up earlier. Shin runs downstairs to find his brother only to find Ryo reading his newspaper. Just as he was about to leave the house, Ryo tells him to be careful much to his surprise.

Megumi had decided to invite Yumi along. In the car, Takuro was getting excited that there were three girls and three boys as if it was one of those arranged student parties where the guys and girls meet one another. Shin doesn't quite get what he was hinting at but Yumi did. She appeared to be much better than she was back when they last saw her at the hospital.

Yumi goes onto to ask Shin to thank their older brother for saving her. Shin nods but is reminded of the secrets Ryo was keeping from them. She also seems to know Kanaru because they had performed Kagenuki together before. Megumi becomes very upset when she hears this and scolds both of the girls to make sure they don't do it again.

Things were tensing up a bit when a large truck drives pass them. Megumi is reminded of that accident again and Jun manages to catch her thoughts.

Arriving at the inn, a middle aged woman welcomes them warm heartedly. It appears Megumi and Yumi had been here before when they were just starting out in the dance club. As the friends made their way in, Jun stops his brother to ask if Megumi had a younger brother.

Meanwhile at the police station, Eiko had got a permit from Ryo to use the archives so that she could look up all the disappearance cases that has happened in the past ten years at Toyama. Quite a number of results came up. One of them had the Kurobe inn's manager name on it, "Hiroji Sema".

Back at Kurobe, the friends were hanging out at the beach. Kanaru was playing with the dog while Inui was trying to get a more lively expression from her. Takuro and Yumi weren't with them. Soon, Shin and Megumi arrives back with some drinks. Jun had made the excuse that the shop was too far so he never went with them.

Looking around, Megumi becomes worried about Yumi and goes looking for her. She finds her at the top of the lighthouse and thought she was thinking of committing suicide again. Fortunately the idea has left Yumi's mind now and she thanks Megumi for inviting her along on the trip much to Megumi's relief.

The sun was soon setting as the two friends have a little talk together. Long ago, they had practised dancing here at Kurobe together. Megumi would always give up on dances that she could perform so Yumi always had to encourage her. It seems something else was troubling Megumi again. Yumi could feel it. However, Megumi doesn't tell her what it was that was troubling her. Instead, she asks if it's all right to give up on something one has tried their best at. In the end, Megumi remembers the promise they made, that she won't try to avoid her problems again and apologises to Yumi.

Just as they were about to return to the inn, the feather appears before Yumi again.

At the inn, Yuko Sema was talking with Jun and Shin. She told them the two girls had stayed at her place for three months one summer. At the time, something appeared to be bothering Megumi. As she continued to talk, Jun couldn't help but notice the photo of she and her husband. When asked, Yuko tells them that he disappeared ten years ago without a trace leaving only his ship behind.

Meanwhile, Kanaru and Megumi were just about to get out of their bath when Takuro accidentally opens the door. Fortunately they had the towels covering their fronts but, that didn't stop Takuro getting into trouble. Later, when the friends get together to play cards, Takuro claims he didn't know it was the ladies' bath time and that he didn't see anything anyway. Megumi blushes, saying she had yet to grow much to the joy of the older guys. Maybe they can take a peek after her body's fully developed then? Of course not.

As Ryo and Eiko continued examining the disappearance cases, they noticed that there were always feathers left behind no matter where the incidents took place. What was the connection?

Late night, Shin and Jun finds Takuro sneaking out. They decide to follow him and finds out he was practising controlling his Persona. Megumi arrives too and was as upset as she was about "Kagenuki" as when they were in the car earlier. Just as she was losing control of herself, Shin puts a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

To their surprise, he reveals that Yumi may also possess a Persona and that she probably got attacked by someone like Sotaro before. Shin continues saying that he too was attacked and even though he doesn't know what's going on, he knows they will have to fight one day. The police won't be helping as Megumi had hoped. They did keep the karaoke incident closed up after all.

As the friends talked, Jun once again read Megumi's thoughts. It was a traffic accident that took place when Megumi was younger. Her younger brother was thrown out of the car in a crash, fatally injured while Megumi survived. If only she could have controlled her Persona properly back then.

Soon, Inui and Kanaru also arrives wondering where they had gone. They came out looking for them when they found no one was around at the inn. It appeared Yumi had gone out too. Panicking, Megumi breaks into a run towards the light house. Takuro and Shin follows close by. Takuro tries to use his Persona to carry him over quickly but, he fails to control it again.

Shin attempts it too when suddenly, he spots the mysterious girl in red appear before Yumi. She turns round and rushes towards Shin, right up to his face until his Persona slashes out at her. She bursts into feathers but appears one last time before disappearing again.

Megumi was closing towards the stairs of the light house now but, Yumi was already falling over the rails. Crying out, Megumi's Persona is summoned and she saves Yumi just in time before she falls to her death. A tear falls from Jun's eye as he senses a heart has been shattered.

Meanwhile, Inui had the whole action recorded.

Next episode, "Under the Kusunoki".

A girl named "Mayuri Yamasaki" transfers over to Shin's class. She seems very mysterious with her mature character and quietness. She seems to know Kanaru but, Kanaru doesn't appear to be that comfortable seeing her again. Suddenly, strange phenomenons start happening during the night at the school. Suspicious about the bizarre incidents, Shin and his friends decide to go to the school late in the night to solve the mysteries.

Thoughts

The summary from Newtype and the official site said they were going to a hot spring inn so I thought this would be a fan service episode but, once again they've kept it to the minimum which is good. I don't mind fan service since it's usually always a good laugh such as in RosaVam but when it comes to shows with a more serious storyline, I would prefer it if it was omitted.

Again, more encounters with the mystery girl. She appears to be hostile because Shin's Persona tried to attack her when she charged towards him. Could this really mean she represents the sea monster Centus?

Also, it's good to see Ryo is opening up a little more after the last episode and Shin has revealed more about their situation to his friends. It appears they're finally going to prepare themselves for whatever they will need to face in the future. Somehow I don't think they will just face Soutaro unless he's become even more stronger than before.

Finally, I liked the original song during their drive. I think it was Yumi Kawamura who was singing (also sang P3 OP "Burn My Dread") but, I'm not sure because it doesn't mention anything in the ending credits like shows usually do.

A nice episode focusing on Megumi. Now we know why she hates Kagenuki so much. She couldn't use her special ability to save her little brother.