This was definitely a fun episode both for having the most action we’ve seen since the first episode and also having some good character moments for Yu, Marie, and Adachi. It was a compelling episode and the only downside to it was that they had to make Ameno-sagiri a complete pushover in order to fit everything within this episode. But considering he got a big boss battle last time…it’s not such a big deal.

Since they handled events in a slightly different manner from even Golden I was curious throughout the episode about how things were going to turn out. Some scenes I was worried were going to be left out, were simply moved a little and still worked out really well. It was fun seeing these characters interact more and getting that emotion from Yu at different points in the episode.

A nice surprise was the additional flashes of Adachi’s life that we got. It wasn’t too in-depth, but you can see how cut off from the world he really was. It wasn’t that he didn’t work hard or that he lacked dreams of his own, but he was just really removed. He just never really had bonds before he got to Inaba and you can see how that slowly ate away at him over time. Perhaps he really did have the desire to make friends, but he lacked the confidence to follow through on it. By the time he was capable of doing that kind of thing he was just so jaded about the world.

I’m curious about everything Adachi saw and how he responded to it. For all their sakes lets hope he skipped over the King’s Game incident XD. Yu could see how Adachi was watching him and the others and realize just how alone this guy was. I’m sure for Adachi seeing that kind of life that Yu was living would only hit home harder where he currently was. Sitting alone and waiting for the world to end.

The initial confrontation with Yu and Adachi did have some tension. It’s easy to tell just how shocking this all was for Yu. This person that Yu thought he understood was actually the killer they’d been hunting all this time. That his actions caused such harm and indirectly lead to Nanako’s current state. Of course Adachi used his brand of logic once more. What Yu believed in was what he believed Adachi was and that ended up betraying him. Really Yu could have gotten himself killed there if Adachi had been extremely serious. Don’t mess with a man with firearms when you don’t have a persona or anything out.

I’d like to give some credit to Yosuke for being the first one there to find Yu in Junes. It was more of a stretch here in how he realized that’s where Yu would be. Since that original confrontation with Adachi happened in a different manner game wise. There it was more of Yu going back into the TV after the group had confronted the illusion of Adachi in Yamano’s hotel room. Either way, it was still a good moment. A reminder that Yu doesn’t have to do this by himself. Yosuke understands to a degree that Yu has this connection with Adachi, but it’s still better to rely on his friends.

Good moments for Marie though in this one. She was such a key individual in helping to get Yu back on track. Saying that maybe everything he did meant nothing wasn’t the kind of thing she wanted to hear. After all for Marie everything that Yu did had a lot of meaning. He helped her try and find her memories and was such a key individual in her creating new ones. Without that connection to him she wouldn’t even have ended up in the velvet room and who knows what she’d be like right now. No matter his motivations the result was important.

I think in the end Yu just needed someone to be there. Even if he misjudged Adachi and even if the consequences were serious, it all had meaning. Could have practically walked into a confession with how Marie was going all out to express her feelings there. To let him know how happy everything he did made her. Giving him the comb was a nice way to remind him that he can’t afford to lose here. He’s too important to her so he has to be sure to come back in one piece again.

Of course things didn’t go so smoothly. With Ameno-sagiri being beaten to a bloody pulp Marie was approached by a shadowy figure. Just nothing good can be read from that scene. The fog vanished as it usually does at this point in the game and Marie vanished as well. Obviously at episode 7 we’re not done yet, so it should be interesting to see things unfold from here.

The fight with Adachi was pretty fun and the most action we’ve gotten since that OP moment in episode 1. While again they made sure that it was 1v1 fight, they did do something different with it this time. There is a difference between going alone to confront Adachi and everyone holding off the shadows while he goes to fight them. In the first encounter he was alone when doing it, but here he did have the others in the same general area giving him support.

This time it wasn’t a straight Izanagi showdown, but Yu was actually showing his bonds through that fight. It was fun seeing him use all the max social link personas that he had gained through the story. He relied on those bonds and used as many of them as he could. Instead of the usual discussion with Adachi we got to see them arguing about bonds and their meaning. Adachi did his best to poke holes and made his arguments, but Yu managed to hold up alright. Even if it’s cliche, even if it’s just whitewashing, that doesn’t really matter. He cares about his friends and they care about him. The strength he gained from those bonds is no illusion.

The action was pretty good with Yu going through all those persona. Some had more chances to shine than others, but it was still good. Poor Naoto’s max Fortune persona got owned pretty hard there, but the others did alright. It felt right to have Dojima and Nanako’s social links play a big role in that fight. In the end it came down to Yu being fearless and just attacking with all he had. Adachi didn’t have it in him to shoot Yu or at least couldn’t do it while he had the chance. The end result being Yu’s victory and of course gaining Adachi’s persona. Their bond changed and from it came a pretty badass power.

Overall it’s probably my favorite episode of P4 so far. They could have done more with the boss battle at the very end, but the focus was on Adachi and the new content so I’m ok with that. The preview looks like it could be a pretty hilarious episode to follow up on. The main focus has been on Marie with Adachi getting his share the past couple episodes. With Marie…gone and Adachi beaten we can catch up with the group and see what they’ve been up to. With what could be a scary even at Christmas time XD. Time to see if Yu has become the harem king while we haven’t been watching.
Score: A