Episode 15 Summary - The One who Seals Tomorrow

It is the day the Kanzato family is moving into their new home. Young Ryo stands outside in the sunshine with his puppy as he gazes pass their hedge. Someone was hiding there. A young girl finally peeks round the corner to say hello. Ryo smiles and greets her back before he is called back inside to clear up his own luggage.

Back in the present, Kunio was waiting under the cool shades of trees outside Ayanagi General Hospital. Tomohiro spots him and walks on over reminding him that smoking was prohibited but, Kunio didn't have it lit and was only keeping it in his mouth. He had with him some documents relating to those who were caught in the incident from the other night three days ago when one of the Marebito had gone berserk.

Even though there were no casualties, there are a large number of people who were being classified under apathy syndrome. It felt very much like what happened ten years ago during that disaster. When Tomohiro tried to ask why they had become this way, the doctors had replied that it was still under investigation. There really isn't much they could do under the current circumstances when they can't get any new information.

At the dorm, Jun was looking for his brother again but he was out. Jun spots his phone ringing and picks it up out of curiosity. It was Kunio ringing. Before he could answer, Takuro drops by to say Shin had already gone out by the time he woke up in the morning. He never asked Shin where he was going because it looked like he wanted some time alone. Takuro walks off. Jun looks at Shin's phone but Kunio had hung up.

Moments later, Takuro was back with some drinks while Jun was staring at the Persona statue Shin had moulded. Takuro comments how good Shin's artistic skills were and asks if had ever thought of going onto art school. Jun replies that Shin hadn't thought anything about it yet. Takuro wasn't surprised considering how he's more concerned over the disappearance of his brother. Although the dream Shin had wasn't a good one, Takuro was sure it was a good sign their brother would be back. Jun nods in agreement. One day they will see each other again.

Somewhere in town, Shin was deep in thought still bothered about what he saw that night. Could it really have been his brother that he saw? Unaware that Kanaru was following him, he walks on past the park and the laughter of children there stops him. He decides take a stroll there and slowly walks in as the children run by him. He suddenly hears a cry behind him and turns round, surprised to see Kanaru had been knocked down by one of the kids. Realising that she had been discovered, Kanaru blushes and frantically tries to pick up her books. Shin smiles and goes over to give her a hand.

Sitting on a bench under the shades, Kanaru sits embarrassed unsure of what to say. Just when she begins to speak, Shin hands over the lucky charm he had given her from before. Kanaru still had it and had dropped it earlier. She takes it as Shin asks if it was still working and was glad to see Kanaru nodding. Kanaru tries to return it but Shin tells her she can keep it because it was working for her.

Shin looks out at the playground area and asks if it was true what Mayuri said about how they used to come here a lot because it resembled the garden they used to play in. Kanaru answers they do drop by occasionally. She tries to continue the conversation with her own question but hesitates for a moment before she finally asks Shin was his dream for the future was. Shin was a little surprised at her sudden enthusiasm but manages to answer that he didn't really have one at the moment.

In return, Shin asks if Kanaru was planning to work as an interpreter because he had caught sight of a language school guide while picking up her things. It turns out it was just something the teacher had recommended to her. Shin smiles commenting on what a good student Kanaru was. She disagrees saying she could only memorise set phrases and wouldn't be able to use it in real life. Shin laughs saying he wasn't good at either. Kanaru mentions the word "paintings" (which is the same pronunciation for saying "yes" in Japanese) but, Shin misunderstands and stares at her awkwardly, thinking she was agreeing with him about his low academic skills.

Realising what she just done, Kanaru tries to make up for it blurting out how good Shin was at art, sports and what a nice person he was. Again, Shin is surprised by her sudden reaction. Worried she'll embarrass herself more, Kanaru gets up to leave in a hurry.

It was now lunchtime and the police station was getting their deliveries. Kunio picks up Akihiko's order, Gyudon Ramen and uses the opportunity to ask him about everything he wanted to know, handing over his badge and demanding three hours of his time. What has happened to Ryo and what was the truth behind the case Akihiko was trying to conceal now? Are the apathy syndrome victims, Reverse cases, the disaster that happened ten years ago and that incident they witnessed three days ago all linked together?

Akihiko decides it was no longer worth hiding the truth. Returning Kunio's badge, he admits that he came to Ayanagi to look into the Persona cases. He invites Kunio to sit down as he explains.

A flashback is seen of Ryo returning home and happily giving his puppy a hug before we are back to the present. Jun was back in their own home to wait for their brother again but he knew he wouldn't be back.

Later in the evening, Shin also returns to his own home. Reaching out for the hidden spare key, he realises someone had already taken it. He enters the house and sees a pair of boots by the entrance. Thinking it could be their brother Ryo, he rushes in only to find a man in with silver hair cooking in the kitchen. The man turns round to welcome Shin back home then asks him to get the plates. Unsure how to react, Shin gives the natural reply that he was back home. He then tries to find out who this man was.

Moments later, the two were sitting down eating the fried rice Akihiko had finished making but Shin had yet to find out who he was. Seeing how Shin wasn't eating, Akihiko urges him to eat up. Akihiko gets up to find something to drink from the fridge. He asks if there was any isotonic drinks but Shin, who was still uncomfortable with the stranger around, says there was only mineral water. Not very pleased, Akihiko takes it anyway and suggests they buy some because it's a good supplement when one doesn't have a good appetite.

Akihiko sits back down and proceeds with eating his own portion. As he does so, he asks how well Shin can use his Persona. Shin continues to act very obediently, replying that his Persona only appeared when he was in danger. However, before he could continue, Akihiko raises his cup of water and complains about how old it was. Panicking a little, Shin checks the date on the bottle and sure enough, it was out-of-date. Akihiko angrily says to him water was the source of life should be considered very important towards Shin's growth.

Shin apologises and suggests they drink tap water instead because it was fresh from underground. As he rushes over to help Akihiko fill his glass, it occurs to him he hadn't asked who the man was. Akihiko gives his name and calmly tells Shin to sit down so that he could talk about his brother with him.

At the same time, both Takuro and Megumi were taking a break for the night. While Takuro was reading over some fashion magazines before heading out to work, Megumi comes out of the shower and teases Takuro for not studying. Innocently, she sits on the table in front of Takuro, swinging her bare legs and flapping the lower part of the t-shirt to cool down, revealing her stomach while doing so. Takuro looks up and blushes as he tells Megumi to control herself a little but, she doesn't understand what was wrong. It was then that Inui drops by and does his part too, explaining what Akihiko was about to.

Finishing up, Akihiko washes the dishes as he begins to talk. He reveals that the Marebito are a group of Persona users who are artificially merging multiple Personas together and that the person that went berserk three days ago was one of them. They forcefully extract Personas from others and absorb them. These victims were referred to as the "Reverse", a term that Akihiko and his team came up with. However, they have yet to find out why the Marebito were doing this. What they were certain was the Marebito were conducting illegal experiments that were threatening the lives of others.

Akihiko continues that he and Ryo had once investigated many cities to find out which one had the highest number of Special Class A Persona users and Ayanagi turned out to be it. It also explains why the number of apathy syndrome cases continue to increase even after the mass outbreak that happened ten years ago.

They had predicted that a group of people like the Marebito would appear and since then have been searching for highly talented Persona users, the only ones who can face them. Thus, they deliberately leaked information about how to perform "Kagenuki" amongst young people so that they can scout for the ones they're looking for with the help of rumours.

When Takuro and Megumi learns about the truth behind "Kagenuki" and how the Marebito ended up having the upper hand half a year ago, the pair becomes very upset because of all the people that has been hurt so far such as their friends Yumi and Takahashi.

Akihiko too apologises and it was now did Shin understand what that list Ryo had was about. Jun too soon overhears and joins Shin to listen to what Akihiko had to say.

Akihiko continues that he and Ryo were part of a special ops organisation that was formed to gather suitable candidates and create a Persona team. However, their project was abandoned a year later due to the objection they faced from many countries. More importantly, the biggest problem they faced was that they found that there was an age limit to be able to summon Personas. Even though there didn't appear to be a specific age range, no one within the police force could do it.

Jun was puzzled why Ryo could still summon but Shin remembered the drugs Soutarou had shown him. Akihiko replies that there were drugs that can increase the age limit and that they were the very same drugs the Marebito were using. Learning how dangerous it was to use the drugs, Shin gets up angrily demanding to know why Akihiko didn't stop his brother. He replies that his brother had a sense of duty to learn what was going on after finding out the project was resumed.

Ryo had never talked about it much to Akihiko and when they had tried to inquire about the matter they were told to keep quiet about it all from their superiors. This could only mean there were someone amongst them supporting the Marebito. The only thing they can do now is find those capable of standing up against them. Having understood what Akihiko meant, Shin asks if that was really Ryo that they saw back on top the building. Akihiko replies he doesn't know.

Meanwhile, Kunio had tried to sneak into Akihiko's office to steal his disc but is surprised to find it was addressed to him. Both Akihiko and Inui had told everything to that they had to. Now it was up to Shin and the others to decide what they want to do.

That night, none of the friends could sleep. Shin and Jun stood in their brother's room as they thought over what they had to do. Shin asks if Jun knew that their brother could summon a Persona long ago and Jun gives a nod. Eventually Shin smiles, deciding they'll continue to believe their brother is alive and have him explain everything when they find him again.

The next day, Shin drops by their parent's memorial and finds Kunio nearby. Shin walks over thinking Kunio had something to speak to him about again but it was just a coincidence. As Kunio walks away, Shin glances at where he was standing and finds his family members had also passed away during the disaster that happened ten years ago.

Shin rushes up to Kunio to thank him for taking him to the dorm without asking anything about what had happened just as Kunio was hanging up on the phone. Tomohiro had spotted a member of the Marebito and was trailing them. He decides to let Akihiko know and tells Shin to think carefully about how his brother must have felt before deciding what to do next.

Next episode, "The Child of Liberation and the Spirit of Healing".

Thoughts

So lets see... The police tried to form a secret special ops group to counter the Marebito that appeared after the mass outbreak of apathy syndrome ten years ago. The plan didn't go well because they faced objections and didn't have suitable candidates. Eventually they had to resort to leaking information about "Kagenuki" to scout for the right candidates. Now they've found Shin and his friends to form a team to face the Marebito. Exciting. Guess what they'll do after learning the horrible truth.

So I was also right about the age limit. I guess this means Akihiko can't summon his Persona anymore.

Besides that, we see more of his character from P3. Watch him gorge down that food and talking about nutritions again! Didn't know he could cook though. I guess he learned that from Shinjiro. Now why didn't he wash with his gloves on instead of putting them back on afterwards?

Also, good to see Kunio and Tomohiro's hardwork finally paying off. Looks like Akihiko has opened up and has decided to let them help him out to face the Marebito. It makes sense why the police force would try to cover up all these Reverse and Kagenuki incidents now.