Last Episode 26 Summary, The Future that Surfaces

Shin was now with the Whale as the past memories of his brother Ryo were shown before him. He was sitting on the grassy plains in front of their home and it was sunset.

Young Ryo was walking towards the kennel with his dead pet dog in his arms. Laying it down, Eiko tells him that she had saw the car's number but Ryo remains silent. She asks where his parents were and sadly, he says they were going to be late home again. Gently, Eiko takes out her handkerchief and spreads it over the dog. She tries to comfort Ryo but before she could he walks off alone. She too decides to leave in the opposite direction, giving one last glance back before leaving the area.

After watching Eiko leave, Shin follows his brother into the woodlands behind their home. There, he was crouched on the ground crying. Suddenly, his Persona appears surprising young Ryo as it begins slashing about in rage, cutting down all the trees nearby. Seeing how scared his brother was, Shin tries to step into help but a burst of white feathers brings him back to the present where the results of Ryo's raging Persona can be seen. The grown up version of Ayane stood before Shin.

Somewhere else in the city, Akihiko was confronting Ryo. Akihiko believed their goal was to find a use for Personas and was sure the time would eventually come. However, Ryo believed when the time did come, all Personas would be released into the sea of unconsciousness and be reborn anew. He didn't want that to happen and wanted to break the cycle not just to fight against the Marebito but, also so that the average person wouldn' t have to deal with them either.

Akihiko continues the argument that there are times they will need Personas but, Ryo doesn't think Personas are tools for humans to use to fight. They are a source of problem for humans. Akihiko tries to convince him by asking how did Eiko, the one he dearly loved, managed to find him at the snowy plains half a year ago. It was because she was under the guidance of her own Persona and feelings and, Akihiko is sure Ryo knows that.

However, Ryo was still not convinced and believes the tragedy never would have happened if Personas weren't there. He plans to end Personas for good this time and disappears before Akihiko could continue the debate. Akihiko walks over to find a white feather where Ryo had been standing. He asks if Ryo really was planning to destroy all Personas.

Back in the hospital, Megumi could see from TV broadcasts and the patients around her were all calling out in pain. Tomohiro had also seem to have gained the Persona of Kunio's wife who, apologises for not being able to protect their daughter Yuna. It appears the suffering of the Whale was expanding rapidly in the real world as it continues to unleash its anger. Kunio reveals to Megumi that they had confirmed at the Marebito's base that Kyujo had been merging Personas to cause all this so that they could bring the Whale into the real world but, he also urges her not to take action. They had already done enough.

Meanwhile, back at the Kanzato residence, Ayane tells Shin this is where the weakest part of the sea of unconsciousness stood and also where it ended. Seeing her again, Shin demands to see his brother and sisters again and to his surprise, Ayane tells him he will be able to see them again. He continues, asking why she didn't want him to approach the Bionoid Ayane when his father had wanted Shin to help free her from the Whale. Unlike her father, Ayane didn't want to be freed so that she can live again. She just wanted to rest in peace.

However to do that, she had to free the Whale from its anger and pain first which means she has to possess another's body and so she waited. When she learned that Ryo had hated his Persona and Jun had wanted himself to be separated from his sister's Persona, Ayane tried to free the Personas from them but somehow, the Personas stayed with them. She looks over at Ryo who had now also appeared.

Shin was happy to see his brother again but was also confused at why he had decided to let Ayane take away Jun and Yuki too. He demands to know where they were. In answer, Ayane says they were asleep in Shin's dream which was what guided Shin to the place they were in now. If it wasn't for his Persona keeping his mind together, everything that he wanted to forget would have became lies while his dream that he had back on the shore would have became reality. Everyone he wanted would have been back.

Hearing this, Shin thinks back to the picture book "Feathers of a Whale" his parents drew and realises this was all the opposite of what its ending was. The book showed the boy all alone in the end when all the villagers were actually there. Shin turns to his brother determined to return to the real world but, Ryo tells him to stay with the Whale.

Back in the real world, the Bionoid Ayane was making its way towards the sea. Akihiko was keeping a close eye on it and was making sure Inui was on standby, ready to detonate the bomb he set on her as soon as she reached Toyama Bay. Suddenly, Ayane appears. Immediately, Akihiko tells Inui to detonate the bomb but he hesitates since they were still within a area where innocent civilians could be present. Knowing that Ayane could cause more deaths Akihiko urges Inui to detonate anyway but he is too slow to enter the code. The bomb is blown away into the air as Ayane merges with her Bionoid self.

Megumi had left the hospital now, keen on doing something to prevent the imminent disaster. She tries hard to fight Ayane with her own Persona but her attacks were useless and eventually her Persona almost gets destroyed. Fortunately, Takuro had noticed she had left and had come out just in time to help her. He teases her for being a tomboy and together they fight on.

Meanwhile, Shin was trying to convince Ryo to return with him to the real world together with Jun and Yuki but, Ryo insists he and the younger siblings were staying. He suggests Shin does the same too. Shin backs off a little and thanks his brother for always making decisions to protect him and, thinking Ryo was insistent with staying with the Whale to protect them, he tells him to stop protecting him.

Ayane had now released all the Personas that had been absorbed to fight Takuro and Megumi. Shin could see them falling in battle and jumps out in an attempt to grab them but to his surprise, he finds himself holding Kanaru's hand instead. As the struggling Megumi and Takuro reach out for each other's hand for what looked like their last moments together, a light suddenly appears in between them. Kanaru's Persona appears sending a powerful blast that frees their Personas from Ayane.

However, Ayane had now reached the point where the Whale was and reaching out with her Persona, she lifts part of it out of the sea just before Shin rushes in to attack. Unfortunately, his brother Ryo steps in to stop him and tries to persuade Shin to free himself from his own Persona. Ryo claims the sword Shin's Persona holds now was created when it pierced through the Personas of their parents who had been in search of atonement which, gives it the ability to free others from their Personas.

Shin wasn't willing to let Ayane destroy the Whale. He rushes forward to fight his brother again despite being injured from his fire. Clashing, another memory flashes by before Shin. In it, Ryo had confronted Kyujo having found out what his true purpose was. He was the one that made Ayane what she was, making her wandering in between the world of the dead and the living. He was the one that transferred the sins that plagued their parents mind over to Shin. And, even though Kyujo could have saved Jun and Yuki he didn't. In anger, Ryo decided to use his Persona to kill Kyujo.

Partly convinced the Personas really were the cause of all their pain, Shin was on the edge of giving up his fight until Jun and Yuki appears. Jun tells him Ryo knows the Whale is angered about how humans are meddling with Personas and merging them together. That's why Ryo's trying to calm it down. And because he felt Shin, Jun and Yuki's suffering were a result of letting Kyujo treat them, he thought it was best to let the Whale cleanse the world.

On the other hand, both Jun and Yuki has decided to rest together with their brother Ryo so that he wasn't alone in the other world. Yuki thanks everyone for the times they spent together before she and Jun flies towards Ayane. Shin tries to stop them by giving chase. He flies past Ryo who, to his surprise, doesn't stop him. Shin orders his Persona to slash away at the links that held the Whale as Ayane made her descent to merge herself. Despite his efforts, Shin's Persona is held captive as he helplessly watches Jun descend towards Ayane.

Suddenly, a blast of light damages Ayane's Persona freeing Shin. Ryo was giving him a hand now. Together they finish off Ayane's Persona, freeing the Whale back in the sea. Ayane is left to descend together after it, tears flowing from her eyes as she is finally freed. Holding Jun, Shin invites his brother Ryo to go back with them as Ryo's Persona faded away into a gust of feathers. Ryo takes off his glasses and utters some words.

Moments later, Shin was kneeling on the sandy shores where the waters were filled with white feathers. Inui, Akihiko, Kunio, Megumi and Takuro were with him. Both Shin and Jun gazes sadly at their brother Ryo's dead body who looked at peace.

Soon it was spring. Shin was reading "Feathers of a Whale" outside their home as cherry blossom petals fell by. Jun was inside clearing up the house. He gazes into the mirror and smiles, putting away his sister Yuki's dresses for good. He goes outside to see if his brother was all packed too. Shin gets up and putting down the book he says he was. He had already sent all the luggage over to his new residence where he'll be going to university. Fortunately Megumi was already there to help with his luggage.

Jun congratulates his brother for finally making it into university after a year of idleness. Takuro was envied Shin's school was close to where Megumi had moved to too. Hearing this, Shin tells his brother to try and not bother Takuro too much when he's working at the shop. Takuro's been promoted to manager now after all so it's an important time for him. Jun assures his brother it'll be fine, confident in his own customer service skills.

As Shin locks up their house, he kneels down to hide the key in its usual place but then pauses, asking if Jun has the spare key. Learning he had it with him back at the school dorm, the two brothers leave the house and start walking down the road. For a moment, Jun pauses to look back. Shin turns round to ask his brother what was the matter and he replies it was nothing. Shin then does the same. His brother asks if they should have a race to the bus stop but his brother replies no. They'll just walk.

Thoughts

Hmmm, interesting how this episode's opening had no credits scrawled all over it. I know the OST with Yumi Kawamura's ending song "Found Me" comes out this week but, it was great being able to listen to the second half of the song at the end. Good to see the overall composition for the full song doesn't change much and the lyrics still have the same theme to it.

That aside, I was kind of disappointed Akihiko didn't summon his Persona to fight Ryo and all they did was just talk it over. I guess that would be a good thing in the real world. Then there's also how Akihiko's last resort seemed to be the bomb.

So judging from this episode, I'm guessing this is what's been happening...

Ayane's "tainted" Persona meant that she couldn't rest at peace because it angered this "Whale" which is, maybe responsible for controlling the cycle of life and didn't like how Personas were being meddled with in the real world. Somehow the Personas are being treated like "souls" in the show.

So this caused her father to change his goals, trying to create a powerful enough Persona to free his own daughter from the "Whale". On the other hand, Ayane was just waiting for a chance to possess a Persona user's body so that she could fall back into the cycle of things but, even though Ryo and Jun didn't want their Personas anymore, she couldn't separate them. In the end, she decides to resort to using her father's creation which was finally completed after merging countless Personas together. A Persona powerful enough to let Ayane hold the Whale while she merged with it but, this was going to cause the same chaos that occurred ten years ago because her actions would anger it again, wiping people of their Personas.

Ryo knew what Ayane was up to and decides to let her go ahead with it at first because he had a hatred towards Personas - especially after what happened to Eiko. Jun and Yuki decides to join their brother so that he wasn't lonely by letting Ayane take them away. Then towards the end of this episode, they try to prevent the Whale from unleashing its anger by merging their Persona with Ayane. This would free Ayane and also let Shin stay alive along with all his friends.

However, Shin and Ryo manages to destroy the new Persona that Ayane now had just in time, killing her again only this time, it was using the gifted sword from Shin's Persona which means it freed her from this "tainted" Persona, allowing her back into the cycle of life and rest in peace.

Well, that's the end of Persona Trinity Soul. The overall visual and audio presentation of the show was good in my opinion but, I think the story could have been a lot better. They've been drag out the mystery too long to the point that the interest just drops and when they do explain matters, they put too much detail into one episode for the viewer to take in. The plot also seemed to be inconsistent, jumping between ideas which appear to be completely unrelated. There's not a lot of action scenes either which I wonder if it has anything to do with the low budget feel of the show. Maybe action scenes and quality animation would have cost them too much... The rendering of the backgrounds are pretty good, though.

This will be the first show that I've managed to complete writing "summaries" for every episode. Been pretty hectic balancing this with real life work so kind of thinking about doing what other Anime blogs do i.e. just write a few lines of summary and some thoughts.