Late getting this typed up to post because it's been a busy week preparing for interviews and assessment centres.

Episode 22 Summary - Yorishiro

Enraged by the look of the Ayane clone's soul-less eyes, Sotaro strikes out at her with his Persona.

Watching, Saki is shocked to see the weapon fails to make a mark on the Ayane clone. A much greater sized Persona appears before them and starts tearing Sotaro's Persona away. As Saki sits nearby helplessly, she is blown away against one of the walls and is forced to witness Sotaro's death, his Reversed body falling to the ground.

Back in the main room, Kanaru was trying to move Jun only to find Kyujo right before her. She almost loses control of herself again but manages break away from the trance. Kyujo strikes out at her and manages to injure her hand, knocking her back against one of the other capsules nearby. When she recovered, she couldn't believe what her hand was composed of. With Kanaru thrown aside, Kyujo had taken Jun into his own arms and was about to carry him away. He reveals that Kanaru was just a improved version of a prototype that he had created with emotions. However, her multi-OS system was now failing to work.

Just as Kyujo was about to eliminate the useless model, Saki also arrives in the main room to report that Jun can no longer summon his Persona. Kyujo runs a check and is surprised to find what Saki said was true. Saki had now come to realise that it was useless transferring Personas to others because they will never settle down. She also knew that she and the other Marebito members were just "guests", expendable containers just to let Kyujo achieve his goal. However, she had tried to believe it was all for a great cause.

Kyujo replies those that do not have a heart or have shut their hearts up should just be used before being returned to the sub-conscious where they belong. He strikes out at Saki too and despite the resistance she tries to put up, Kyujo's Persona form was too powerful for her. Just as Kyujo was cutting into her Persona, Saki manages to strike out at a machine behind Kyujo to create an explosion.

At the police station, Akihiko had somehow managed to narrow down where the Marebito's base was. It was an underground infra-free facility which couldn't possibly have been built without other people knowing about it. There must have been a cover up so it was a good idea they've only tried gathering a small special ops group. Akihiko had thought of using Jun's power to locate the Marebito's base by locating the pain their Personas were emitting but, he had given up on the thought when Jun confessed he couldn't summon it anymore. Now if the Marebito found this out he could be in danger. Just as they were about to set off, Inui bursts into the room.

Their superior, Nakamura had arrived. Akihiko was going to be removed from his position and all their operations to battle the Marebito were to be ceased. Kunio has no choice but to ring up Shin and the others to inform them what has happened.

Meanwhile outside the dorm, Takuro was angry that Akihiko hadn't informed them about his plans. Megumi didn't disagree but felt there was nothing they could have done. Now that they knew Yuki had taken over Jun's body, they wondered where Jun was. Just then, Shin appears and tells them that he was sure Jun was together with Ryo by the Whale's side.

Shin then blames himself for not learning sooner what power his younger brother's Persona had just because he didn't want to endanger him. He had never thought things would end up this way if either Yuki or Jun had become separated. He then thinks about all that's happened so far; Apathy Syndrome, personality switching, people dying... His very own parents had been partly responsible for because of their research. Shin begins to feel as if he was responsible for the death of Takuro's father and friend, their classmate Yumi's current state and Megumi's little brother.

At the police station, Akihiko was in trouble. His superior Nakamura had found out about his operation and has put a stop to it. He questions Akihiko's abilities to to stop any information regarding their DSI research to be leaked into the public domain. Kunio scorns at his words, angry that he had already known where the Marebito's base was located. Nakamura remains calm. He already knew how much effort Kunio had put into the Reverse cases but says that what the Marebito did was not of their concern. Otherwise Akihiko wouldn't have such a hard time trying to deal with them.

Akihiko tries to argue that children have been kidnapped and that he will need the special ops team to help rescue them but, Nakamura already knew he had let them get involved on purpose. Including all the fights that involved Personas so far. He never thought someone who had a good conscience like him long ago before he joined the police force would go so far. It was a pity for what happened to Ryo for he could be considered one of their elite members. Nakamura continues that he will not put their efforts to waste and will send a team over when the time is right.

Hearing this, Akihiko gets up angrily from his seat. Nakamura seemed to care more about retrieving the results of Kyujo's experiments afterwards than what was happening now. However, Nakamura didn't care what they thought and reminds them not to leave and take further action without prior consent. He gets up to leave and Inui follows. Kunio was surprised at Inui's move but Inui replies it was his job to follow orders from his superiors. Akihiko had no choice but to contact Shin and the others to standby.

Soon Shin and the others receive the call from Kunio. Shin is disappointed nothing is going to happen and after a little hesitation, decides to go himself. Takuro had already read his mind and offers to go with him. He tells Shin he shouldn't be going alone like his older Ryo had. Takuro is reminded of the time he and his father had struggled alone too. He knows Shin might be panicking quite a bit right now after all that's happened but, before he can help anyone he needs to try letting others help him. Takuro summons his Persona and this time, he manages to stay in control.

Megumi too gets up and tells Shin that she thinks his parents started to author picture books for children as their only way to repent for their sins, even though they knew they had done something unforgivable. Megumi goes on to say that she thinks Shin shouldn't feel responsible for what his parents were involved in. Even though she feels there maybe a much more special meaning as to why he possesses a Persona than they did, she thinks he should try letting others who also possess Personas to help. She was sure that was what Yuki and Jun were trying to achieve too. And so, the three friends set off towards the Marebito's base.

Meanwhile, Kanaru had managed to escape with Saki from the explosion using her Persona. Arriving at a safe spot, Saki tells her to return to her friends and reveals that Kanaru's memories were all made up. Mayuri Yamasaki was a character created in her thoughts so that maintenance could be carried out when it was necessary. When Kanaru had stopped sending the data back that she had gathered from Kagenuki, Saki made her appearance as Mayuri. However, when Saki met her, she felt that Kanaru had become a real person.

With this knowledge in mind, Kanaru starts making her way back to Shin and others but trips. She looks at her damaged hand and clutches it sadly. Suddenly, she hears Megumi's voice calling her. She looks up and sees Megumi hovering down from the sky. Megumi herself didn't know why her Persona took her to where Kanaru was. She takes a hold of Kanaru's hand to help her up and notices the wound. Just as Kanaru was about to tell her the truth, Shin and Takuro also catches up. Learning Jun was still with the Marebito, they make their way into the base leaving Megumi and Kanaru behind.

With only the two them outside, Kanaru reveals that she was the one who made Kagenuki popular and was also the reason why people were turned into Reverse victims. She was one of the Marebito. No, she was just one of their puppets.

Megumi was clenching her fists as she listened but loosened them again. At the edge of tears, she kneels down next to Kanaru who also had tears seeping into her eyes and ties a handkerchief around the wound.

Stepping inside, Takuro and Shin was just in time to see Saki's Persona being absorbed by the Ayane clone's Persona but there was nothing they could. Saki's Reversed corpse was now left on the ground as the cloned Ayane prepares to attack her new prey. Takuro walks up to his colleague and classmate, surprised that she was one of the Marebito who were responsible for all the Reverse victim's deaths including his best friend. However, he was more angry at the mastermind who used them.

While Takuro distracted the Ayane clone, Kyujo had also arrived now and was furious, thinking Shin had removed Jun's conscious which was key to bringing back his dear Ayane. He transforms into his Persona form and attacks Shin. A fight breaks out as Kyujo demands Shin to return Jun so that they may all be merged into one single entity. Shin on the other hand tries to rescue his brother's body from Kyujo. Just as he was about to be struck, Kanaru runs in to knock him out the way. She is deactivated again, falling onto the ground.

At this point, Megumi also catches up just as the dark Persona Kyujo stored in Kanaru appears. Megumi cries out to Shin to save Megumi and his Persona turns round just in time to shatter the dark Persona before it could attack Shin. At the same time, Kyujo manages to take this opportunity to have Shin's Persona in his grasp. Kanaru wakes up, returning to her normal self and summons her true Persona, sending out a powerful burst of energy that breaks up Kyujo's hold on Shin and the cloned Ayane's hold on Takuro.

Recovered, Shin fully concentrates his attack on Kyujo and gains the upper hand. His Persona slices Kyujo into pieces which the cloned Ayane picks up and tries to absorb too. However, Kyujo was still alive and manages to take control of the cloned Ayane's powerful Persona. Just as he was about to unleash a ferocious attack on Shin and his friends, Jun returns with his Persona and manages to suppress the power.

Lying about the Marebito base unconscious, Shin finds himself in a dark tunnel as he runs towards the light at the end, passing by little Ayane without noticing. There he finds Yuki and Jun together by the sea under a clear blue sunny sky. He smiles happily thinking his brother had returned but to his surprise he runs off, bidding farewell to Shin. In the distance, their oldest brother Ryo was also there.

Back in the real world, a white feather is left where Jun's body was and young Ayane was standing next to her clone surrounded in blue light.

Next episode, "Embrace the Bond"

Kanaru now knows that her memories were all made up and that she was just being controlled by Kyujo. Lost in despair, she departs from her friends and makes her way alone to the sea. However, the place where her peaceful memories of being with Shin appears before her.

Thoughts

Nothing much to say about this one because I'm not really surprised Kanaru's the one who started the whole Kagenuki trend. It's good to see her friends trying to forgive what she's done unconsciously, though. And it's interesting to see she has a "bad" Persona created for her by Kyujo but now she has her very own. Probably formed from her life experiences and because it might still be developing, it has that watery bubble shape.

So is this it? This is the showdown over and now it's about recovering from the aftermath? Not too impressed to be honest. Characters were being killed off too quickly and some of the Personas just seem way too overpowered. It looks like we'll be seeing what happens to Kanaru and what will Ayane do with her clone next? Will the "Whale" still be in rage? Is Kyujo's work going to be carried on by Akihiko's superiors?

After watching this episode, I was wondering if "Trinity Soul" is actually just referring to the links between Kanaru, Takuro and Shin because it showed them joining together in a triangle when they flew off.

Will be interesting if it ends up being a bad ending but, most shows end happily. Maybe the Whale uses its mighty powers to return the world to normal. From the preview it sounds like the Whale or Ayane will be giving Kanaru some guidance to rescue her from her despair.