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heartlyre · 6 years

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META NOTES: The Answer

all notes compiled during various playthroughs of The Answer, for those curious and for my own personal reference in the future. bc i can’t be assed to turn it into an actual meta post lmao.

as always, this is an extension of Hamuko’s main verse wherein she is the male protag’s sister and he fulfills the requirements to create the Great Seal.

i doubt anyone following me cares, but just in case: THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE ANALYSIS. THIS POST VERY SOLIDLY SPOILS THE ENDGAME OF P.ERSONA 3 AS WELL AS ITS EPILOGUE. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED BOTH PARTS.

it’s doubtful that Hamu would have remained at the dorm after her brother’s death — too many memories. either moved to the standard female dorm or chose to spend spring break living with Yukari or Mitsuru

Aigis DOES still keep Minato’s Evoker. Hamuko was not the one who picked it up during the final battle versus Nyx and afterwards couldn’t bear to see Aigis parted from it in the name of her own selfishness.

it’s been less than a month since the loss of her brother. she’s still horribly shell-shocked, and it shows —— she’s still pleasant and is obviously trying to keep up her former appearance of cheer, but she is incapable of not being sad and will ( silently ) bristle should anyone tell her to ‘ lighten up, ‘ no matter how well-intentioned it may be.

she is not at the dorm until after the first battle with Metis, and instead arrives with Yukari. she doesn’t seem entirely pleased to be back.

Hamuko spent the entire night of March 5th by her brother’s side, watching him for signs of difference, though she knew from the moment they arrived at the dorm that something was wrong. by the time he was gone, she’d already been weeping for hours.

The Answer marks the beginning of Hamuko’s Arcana Change, wherein she still retains her original arcana of The Fool, but if she were inspected by Mitsuru or Fuuka, she would seem… distorted? Her own version of Orpheus remains unchanged physically — still keeping his golden hair and heart-shaped lyre — but he seems tarnished, almost. Something akin to rust has begun to appear on his joints, and his hair looks to be thinner…

is all but silent through Metis’ initial explanation wrt the Abyss of Time, choosing to watch quietly rather than speak. all it takes is Metis saying that she’s trying to lead them through the Abyss of Time to save Aigis — to save her sister — for Hamuko to believe her and be on board with going in.

Mitsuru does not choose her to step up as the field leader, both out of respect for her recent loss, and because there is tactical strategy in having Aigis, the new holder of power of the Wild Card, as their leader rather than Hamuko. she accepts this with grace ( despite clearly being somewhat disappointed ) and instead settles back into her former role of ‘co-leader’

essentially Hamuko acts as a more quiet version of Yukari during the beginning sequences. she vocally agrees that she just wants to get through the Abyss of Time as soon as possible — leaving unexplained that this is mostly because she doesn’t want to be thrown back into battle, when every move she made was once intended to protect her now deceased brother — and expresses wary curiosity similar to Yukari’s when asking Aigis why she can now change Personas as Minato could. she is… unreadable to the others, but at heart, is both hurt and somewhat offended that she, as Minato’s sister, wasn’t chosen to step forward in his place.

she joins the party as a permanent member and is irremovable as soon as dungeon crawling begins, at least for the first few bosses. for all her unspoken wishes not to go back into battle, she says simply that she’d prefer to go into the Abyss and fight rather than stand around. in truth, she’s drawn a connection between the Abyss’ sudden appearance and Aigis’ inheriting of her brother’s Persona —— she suspects from that moment forward that it has something to do with Minato, and she actively wants to get to the bottom of it.

her Orpheus’ skillset reverts back to ‘Agi’ / ‘Matarunda’ / ‘Diarama’ and proceeds to re-learn the same skills he’d had during their Journey. intended to act as the ‘mage’ to Aigis’ brute force.

she is mildly upset by the flashback of Ken’s memories in the police station, but says little, only coming over to stand by him and rest her hand on his shoulder in a show of solidarity.

seems to be upset by the talk of her teammates chasing the thrill of battle, but again, says nothing besides quietly agreeing with Yukari’s sentiment of ‘If we don’t keep our eyes forward, it’s all a waste of time.’

smiles a bit at watching Akihiko’s flashback, commenting on how ‘handsome’ Akihiko was when he was younger. her mirth quickly fades.

stiffens when Metis mentions feeling a ‘presence’ outside the last room on the second floor. no reaction but for a ‘!’ above her head before running out of the lobby to go see for herself. will comment on how strange this is should she be approached by Aigis before going into the next dungeon.

here, Hamuko is no longer a permanent party member. though she’ll make it known to Aigis that she’d prefer to go down into the Abyss and that her place as co-leader means she keeps a good eye on healing everyone, she’ll also say that she feels it would be best if someone stayed up on the second floor of the dorm for the time being. she smiles. it’s fake.

physically stiffens during Junpei’s flashback and looks… almost angered by the revealed breach in her and her brother’s privacy. ( “someone took a peek into [ his ] file when one of the teachers left it lying around. both of [ his ] parents are dead.” / “it’s just a rumour!” ) both siblings had wondered how the gossip about their parents and living situation had spread so early into the year (Junpei himself places his memory flashback as ‘the night that Akihiko-senpai found me,’ which is less than two weeks after the Protagonist arrives in Iwatodai. the siblings were at Gekkoukan for 12 DAYS until the rumour got out — ) and now that Hamuko has her answer, she’s visibly dismayed.

she swallows it back for the most part and doesn’t mention it past a quiet, near emotionless “… so i guess now i know how the gossip got started,” but she’s still clearly bristling at flashback!Junpei’s “that stuff only happens in soap operas!” remark.

Junpei will comment when approached by Aigis about how ‘Hamu-tan’ seems to be acting a bit colder towards him ( though he brushes it off as her merely being on edge in general because ‘the past few weeks have been hard on her, ya know?’ ) in addition to standard dialogue about how his father is, at least, still alive, and therefore he has it easier than most of the other dorm residence . Hamuko, in turn, will wonder aloud if the Arisato’s file would have been looked into had they grown up here like everyone else, and acknowledges that perhaps she’s being a bit harsh thanks to her lack of perspective on abusive parents.

not much to comment on with Mitsuru’s door, only a look of worry for Mitsuru when she says how strange it was to have seen her father again as if he were alive. talking to Hamuko in the dorm brings about a soft mention of how she thinks she’s beginning to figure out the connections between everyone’s flashbacks, but that because Aigis is the leader now, Hamuko is going to keep it to herself until she has more evidence.

Yukari’s flashback also leaves little to comment on from Hamuko besides a murmur of her friends name once the flashback is over, though she does add a quiet “me too” when Yukari mentions wanting a sign she was moving in the right direction equal to the same blessing Aigis received in the power of the Wild Card.

when Yukari reveals the connection between everyone’s doors and points out that it was the awakening to everyone’s Personas, and Mitsuru mentions that Fuuka, Aigis, and Metis’ memories all have no need to be revisited, Hamuko also adds that as her Persona was awakened in defense of him the same night he awoke his, it’s likely that her memories were also unnecessary. speaking to Hamuko in the dorm afterward shows her mulling over the idea that the Abyss of Time is connected to all of them, musing out loud about the shadowy black figure they’ve been seeing and wondering if it’s connected to the presence outside her brother’s now vacant room.

she does not come into the dungeon for the final door, stating that she feels like she really needs to be up on the second floor in the dorms and that she hopes Aigis understands

Upon finding the last door in the Abyss’ furthest level: > Junpei: ‘what did we do to deserve this?’ > Hamuko, softly, but with contained anger: ‘nothing. we’ve done nothing to deserve this.’

Hamuko comes out of Aigis’ flashback in stunned tears at the sight of her brother’s retreating form. once Fuuka says, ‘I didn’t expect to see him again, even if he had his back turned,’ Hamuko reacts with a ‘!’ over her head, stumbling where she stands to the point where Akihiko has to steady her. a party member asks if she’s okay, and she nods, attempting to stand on her own again, but she’s clearly shaken. “… it was really him, then? the rest of you saw that too?’

the cutscene continues until Aigis says that she’s done nothing but chase him in her dreams, and Hamuko murmurs, “I’ve had dreams like that too… he doesn’t turn in mine either, if it makes you feel any better.”

the Shadow version of Minato and Metis’ comment of “this is the reason why everything is happening. this was born from all of you.” draws a pained, whimpered “no” from her. she is left unable to move, and takes the Shadow’s first strike — from her own Orpheus —- to initiate combat. she spends the rest of the battle awake but incapacitated.

she’s standing for the Shadow’s rather gruesome disappearance, but immediately sinks back to her knees after Akihiko’s comment of “we did it.” besides her soft whisper of ‘brother…’ the cutscene continues as normal

… until Metis’ comment of ‘you were unwilling to let go of something precious to you,’ Hamuko, swiping at her eyes and shouting, angrily, shakily: ‘AND WHY IS THAT A PROBLEM?? WHY IS ANY OF THIS A PROBLEM?? WE DIDN’T DESERVE THIS! NONE OF US DESERVED THIS!! WE JUST WANTED TO LIVE, TO GO TO SCHOOL LIKE TWO NORMAL KIDS, AND INSTEAD I WAS FORCED TO WATCH AS HE —” Hamuko: … Hamuko, standing and turning to Metis, sadly, but firmly: ‘I lost someone who was just as important to me as Aigis is to you. I lost my only family left, someone who I loved more than my own life, less than a month ago. he was my everything. and you just… you expect me to just let go?’

falls silent once more as a party member quietly says her name. the cutscene proceeds as Metis explains that defeating the Shadow may mean that SEES can once again leave the Abyss of Time.

Junpei: “No one is seriously thinking about going back to the past, right?” Hamuko, glancing away guiltily: “…” … Akihiko: “Even if it hurts, we have to deal with it and accept the present.” Hamuko, as though coming to a realization: “Akihiko-senpai…

Hamuko, softly after Yukari’s outburst against Ken and Akihiko’s supposed ‘selfishness’ for not wanting to return to the past: “… I agree with them, too. Junpei-kun is right —— there’s no guarantee that even if we did go back, everything wouldn’t just happen exactly the same way it did. And I… I can’t watch him die in front of us again. I can’t… I can’t lose him. Not again. It isn’t worth the chance.”

despite Hamuko’s agreement with Ken and Akihiko, she ultimately takes a stand with Metis and Aigis, stating that her stance as the secondary leader means her allegiance goes to the leader proper. To Aigis: “I lead with my brother. I will continue to lead with the person who inherited his powers, regardless of your decisions or how I feel about them. It’s my job to have your back, after all...”

speaking to her in the dorms only ends in her saying: “I still think it’s wrong of us to go back and undo the sacrifice he made for us… but if you agree to go to the past… then I guess I’ll just get one more chance to see my brother again, won’t I?”

Metis, while standing in front of the arena preparing for battle: “This is a real battle, and there will be consequences if they lose.” Hamuko: “Consequences?? What kind of consequences???”

Akihiko, while facing the team in the ring: “Let’s get this over with.” Hamuko: “… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, to both of you...”

speaking to Hamuko in the dorms after Akihiko and Ken have been sealed leads to a single comment of “Make sure you’re ready. I won’t be losing anyone else. Not you… and not them.”

Junpei: “I dunno, do you really see us being able to go back and pull off another miracle, better than he could? I think this is something we’ve got to figure out on our own. You agree, don’t you, Hamu-tan?” Hamuko: “… Yeah. I’m not going to like facing Yukari-chan… but this is how it has to be.” and, while smiling, “Try not to hurt me too bad, okay? I won’t want to have to kick your butt again for payback later.”

the end of Junpei and Koromaru’s fight has Hamuko shaken, but she says nothing but a quiet ‘we’ll get you guys out of there soon’ once they’re sealed.

the scene between Metis and Aigis in which Metis offers Aigis her life should she die so that Metis wouldn’t be alone weighs heavily on Hamuko, and it’s clear that she understands when she says, simply “… that’s the pain of being a sister.”

Yukari: “It’s strange. I kinda want to say ‘long time no see’ to you guys.” Hamuko: “Yukari-chan… please, please don’t do this. You’re making a mistake.”

Mitsuru, in the ring: “Show me your resolve!” Hamuko: “Senpai… Yukari-chan… I’m sorry, but you’re both wrong.”

As Yukari breaks, Hamuko sinks to her knees next to her friend, opposite where Mitsuru would sit. Yukari’s cries of “I want to see him!” are only met with a hushed, “don’t you think I do too? I want him back… I want him back more than anything i can think of. but not like this. not this way… not to take what he gave us and throw it back in his face…”

speaking to her before the final battle will reveal that she’s nervous, and she outright states that there’s something almost familiar beyond that door… like she’s been there before. she warns Aigis to be careful, but states that she believes Aigis can bring them out to the other side safely.

Fuuka, upon seeing Minato’s essence forming the Great Seal: “What… what is this?” Hamuko, tearily: “…Brother… that isn’t… is it?”

Yukari, after watching Erebus attempt to attack Aigis: “I won’t let myself run this time.. He’s watching us, and I won’t let him down!” Hamuko, with barely contained fury: “You leave my family alone, you freak! If you want a fight, you come at me!”

Yukari: “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. He did this, made the seal, because there was no other choice. If there was an easier way, he would have taken it. It’s still sad, but… If I think of him as protecting us, forever… it helps a lot. ” Hamuko: “…He was always a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. He did what he did because he had to… because he cared about you guys… because I care about you guys. And it’s as simple as that.”

Hamuko recognizes the Velvet Room from descriptions her brother had given her, and offers a smile and a quiet ‘it’s nice to finally meet you’ to Igor and Elizabeth.

as Aigis fades after coming to her answer: “No!!! Not you too, Aigis! I’m not losing you too!!!”

as the final cutscene plays, Hamuko can be seen touching a pair of silver headphones where they rest around her neck. tears roll down her face, but she smiles.

#✤ ⤞ ⦅ she’s talking to angels; she’s counting the stars || { headcanons } ⦆#( h.c. update )#( an.s.wer tag pending)

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