The Persona 3 Portable Creator’s blog was updated yesterday, so here’s the translation of part 2. Soejima’s writing this time, so expect art! :D

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Hi.

This is Soejima, handling the character design of Persona 3 Portable.

And it is finally announced, P3P, Persona 3 Portable!
To present the world of Persona 3 with plenty of new elements, as a developer, there are things I feel strongly about.

For people new to Persona 3, and for people who did play the PS2 version, do give the PSP version a try and enjoy the evolution of the system from three years before!

Now, P3P has many aspects worthy of mention, but as the character designer I will talk about the character design in this installment.

Aiming to become the best school-setting RPG, the characters that appear in Persona 3 vary from robots to dogs.
It was very challenging to create and design unique characters that would hardly appear in a normal school-setting…(laughs).
But thanks to this, each character has their own charm and good points, and even now, I have a special emotional attachment to each of them.

Speaking of characters, in this version of P3, a major new element is the female main character!

In the Persona Series, the only other time there was a female main character was in Persona 2 -Punishment-, but this is the first time you get a choice between the male main character or the female main character.

To decide on how the female main character would look took a very long time, and in the end the design went through 3 to 4 revisions.

The main character is a special existence within the game, not because the character traits are what ultimately moves the story along, but because it is like one’s other self within the game and has to be differentiated from the other characters in the story. Even if the main character looks cool, if the player cannot connect to the main character, the design fails as a main character, and this is a difficult thing to overcome.

The initial design for the female main character in P3p was a female version of the original main character (laughs).

They shared the same hair color and eyes. But after drawing that, it wasn’t what I wanted so I moved on.

Because it was to be a new main character, so if she was the same as the original it would be meaningless, and also mainly because I wanted to show how the impression of the same world and story development would change with a different main character.
The female main character I had so much trouble coming up with can be said to be the main character, but not the heroine.
If I drew the ideal girl, she would become the heroine and not the main character.
That was the one point I had the most problems with, and so with the help of a female staff member I managed to finish the design of the female main character.

Till now, with only the male main character option, the school-life setting in P3 was only half-fulfilled, but with the female main character option, I feel that the school-life RPG P3 will finally be complete.

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And thats the end of Part 2. Seriously, a female version of the original? As much as it probably won’t work, I’d want to see that. Here’s hoping he puts it in the concept artbook (If they do release one).

さて！
Now!

解禁になりましたヾ(゜ω゜*)人(゜ω゜*)ノ
I can finally release this ヾ(゜ω゜*)人(゜ω゜*)ノ

昨年に続きシンガポールにて開催される“Anime Festival Asia 2009(AFA09)”に今年も出演させていただきます.。゜+.(・∀・)゜+.゜
I will be performing again at “Anime Festival Asia 2009(AFA09)”, which was held in Singapore last year..。゜+.(・∀・)゜+.゜

2009年11月22日（日）.。:*☆
2009.22.November（Sunday）.。:*☆

韓国ライブ終わってすぐに
また海外ライブが決まり嬉しいですヾ(゜ω゜*)人(゜ω゜*)ノ
Just as the Korea live is over
I am happy to be able to hold another overseas liveヾ(゜ω゜*)人(゜ω゜*)ノ

またシンガポールのみなさまに会えるっ
I’ll be able to meet all of you in Singapore again

昨年すごく盛り上がったので
今年もまた新たな歌声を届けられるようがんばりまあす！
It was really exciting last year
I’ll do my best in delivering my new songs again this year!

英語勉強の成果も!!ぅしっ残り２ヶ月ちょい！がんばります(^∀^)!!
I’ll be able to show off the results of my English studies too! Two more months! I’ll do my best (^∀^)!!

写真は韓国で有名なアイス.。゜+.(・∀・)゜+.゜でかすうます
The picture above is of a popular ice cream in Korea..。゜+.(・∀・)゜+.゜Its huge and tasty.

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Buchou! We’ll be glad to have you again! (*ﾟДﾟ)ゞ

Hi,

It may be sudden, but have you seen this week’s Famitsu?
Doesn’t it sound like shady rumor material?

No gravure here (But of course),
This is the scoop on Persona 3, the PSP port!

Title screen images. We have a shujinkou-ko!

With that said, I’m Hashino of Atlus, in-charge of the development team.
We’ve made SMT3~Persona 3, 4 to date with this team.
Looking forward to your support.

From today onwards, I get to use this space to bother the other members of the development team.
Updates may be irregular, but I’ll bring you the insider information(!?) on P3P
For everyone who wants to play a portable version of Persona 3, please stay tuned!

On a light and energetic console like the PSP, we hope to bring the amusement of Persona 3 to a greater number of game fans. With this hope in mind, the development team of P3 and P4 are putting their all into this port!

Even with that said, it isn’t just an ordinary port, everyone.
Many, and various things are happening (Or should I say, have happened!?)

In P3P, as director, and along with the team who made P3 together and love P3, we put a lot of heart into this.

The fruit of everyone’s hard work, with content nearing completion, which would make you think “Ah, but you all really put too much enthusiasm into this!” (It’s really near completion, all that remains is the mastering!!)

In the hopes that this will become a classic RPG to be associated with the PSP platform,
I’ll put my anticipation into this, and continue the reporting.

Hm, it was a lot of work (Or rather, we’re in the midst of a whole lot of work)
We thought the conversion from PS2 to PSP would be smooth, but we were so wrong…
Keeping things the same -> but porting it to a portable console, meant we had to change some of the gameplay aspects, but to have such a large-scale change…
Plus an additional mode which was included on a whim but now takes up a huge part of the game.
It’s the start of a hell and a path of no return.

From the director’s view, the development team’s work is nearing completion.
As to how well it was made… I wonder! (Nah, I think it’s really well done.)

To players who feel like playing P3 again after a long time, and to players who have played the PS2 version before, the PSP port has content which you’ll probably enjoy playing through once again.
Do check the updates here from now on, too!

To end off, here are videos of the console (development/debug work in progress).
(Videos can be streamed from the blog page)

Kuma is debugging too

Playing through portable P3 with ease-.
Check back for news here again!

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The videos have some pretty funky new music, so grab your headphones!

I thought they would want to remake P2 for the PSP first. Probably too much trouble?

Preorders for P3P are open at Amazon.jp here
The official site opens on the 24th of August.

Now, time to get my copy of Famitsu…

It’s been warm around Singapore lately, and I can’t stay within the comfort of the air conditioning in my room through the day because of the nasty module known as the Final Year Project, which means that I have to go out around the island sourcing for various materials and doing research all over the place.

But that’s not the point. Whats the best thing for hot weather? Ice-cream does the trick all right, so does any iced drink. But theres something really effective. That’s right, ghost stories!

Unfortunately I don’t have many friends to talk to about ghost stories. There are two possible topics that come up when I talk to my classmates. One, school. Two, the final year project.

Ugh.

But there is a quick solution to that! In goes my copy of Zero: Akai Chou (aka Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly) to the innards of my dusty PS2. Hours later, I’m feeling colder than Siberia.

Which brings us to the topic of the post.

Reading the staff blog for Crimson Butterfly, I came across this particularly interesting entry about a staff member’s apartment being haunted when he started working on the game.

The following is a translated excerpt, dramatism intact.

——————–

“At around 4am, in the middle of the night, I felt my hand being gripped tightly by someone and jerked awake.

I could tell that the hand was rather slender, but it was dark in the room and I couldn’t see clearly. I sleep on my side, with my hands gathered near my torso, and the hand clearly came from above me, where the opening of the futon is…The hand was slim and small, and probably belonged to a woman or a child. However, it had a grip abnormally strong.

On top of being cold, it’s grip got stronger with every passing night…A few days after this happened, my hand was in pain. The pain gradually travelled up to my elbow, and subsequently my shoulder. This lasted for about a week.

Like this, I went through a terrifying period. It happened every night, at around the same time. However, when the production (of Crimson Butterfly) got busy, I was unable to go home for a while. When I did return home, the woman’s hand did not appear.

By that, a realization suddenly dawned upon me. On days when I sprayed Febreeze in my room, the woman did not appear. Perhaps it is because Febreeze cleans out the air in the room? Does that mean ghosts are air pollution? Isn’t this some important discovery?

In any case, I posted this in the company’s bulletin board: “To all who are troubled by spirits, I advise you to spray some Febreeze”.

Which led to my becoming “The man who exorcised spirits with Febreeze”, and I became a little popular for a while.

“Since we used the theme of “supernatural encounters” in our previous game, maybe that ghost is trying to say “Let me appear in the game too~”?”

“Shall we make a game about exorcising spirits with Febreeze next? Like, “You have to use the Red Febreeze here~!” or something. Kidding.”

“That story is going to end with “But there was really a woman in my room!” right?” ←I didn’t deny this.

“You better get rid of it properly soon or it’ll come back after a while” ←I didn’t deny this too.”

——————–

Febreeze is now amazing. It eliminates odors and bacteria, and now even does the exorcism for you too. Get your bottle today.

This is yet another post of me contemplating if I should get Minorin’s CD single that’s about to release next week. It’s not like I know it only recently, more like I’m just lazy at posting it up as usual. Gunpla and work takes up most of my time nowadays.

With Minorin’s single releasing on June 3rd, I don’t have adequate funds to get it, since the DVD is within the same month as well on the 24th of June, AND I’m going to Daicon for Minorin as well.

And speaking about the DVD, wasn’t there supposed to be a Blu-Ray version? o_O?

Excuse me while I continue to ponder on it over a cup of water… I’ll probably need more than just -a- cup.

Another blog banner change. Wish I was there at the studio shoot =D

…And I just realised that Minorin’s blog changed her banner picture. I’m such a bad fan, I hardly read her blog nowadays OTL

….and another thing regarding the Minorin photobook: you need to be a fanclub member in order to get it. Looks like I need to source it from YAJ again… meh.

I RAEG!!!

Mizuki Nana、水樹　奈々 2009年5月18日

あ☆
今日はＭａｙ’ｎちゃんも収録が一緒で♪
Ah☆
Went recording with May’n-chan today♪

エタブレを歌ってくれたことやアニサマのこと☆
Talked about Eternal Blaze (cover that May’n did a few days back) and Anisama

色々お話しました♪
いつか一緒に歌えるといいな～☆
We chatted about other various things♪
I hope one day we will be able to duet a song～☆

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May’n 2009年5月18日

あっ
水樹奈々さんとミヒマルさんにも久しぶりに会えましたーっ
Ah
It’s been a long while since I met Mizuki Nana-san and Mihamaru(GT)-san

奈々さんにエタブレのこと言ったら、知ってくださってたみたい(*´д｀*)きゃー
I talked to Nana-san regarding (my cover of) Eternal Blaze, and it seems that she knows about it(*´д｀*) kyaa (Probably regarding the new song that she performed during the recording, Kimi Shinitamou Koto Nakare)

しかも
アニサマ今年も違う日だからダメだけど、いつか一緒に歌いたいねって言ってくださったああああ(*´д｀*)(*´д｀*)(*´д｀*)
Furthermore
We could not sing together again this year because we were on different days in this year’s Anisama (Animelo), but she told me about singing together someday aaaaaah(*´д｀*)(*´д｀*)(*´д｀*)

あわわ奈々さまから言っていただけるなんて(*´д｀*)
aasdjkhf to be spoken of by Nana-sama like that(*´д｀*)

奈々さん本当に優しくて大好きです(*´д｀*)
Nana-san is so affectionate, I love her(*´д｀*)

But here’s some more prominent updates taken from her blog!

1) ANISAMA recording 150509

Photo with…

From left to right:
May’n
aa (from Savage Genius)
ELISA
AYANE
Momo-i

And May’n was ranting and raving on Minami Kuribayashi, because she composed the song for this year’s Animelo theme song.

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2) Anison Cover LIVE 090509

She performed in Shinakawa(?) Stellar Hall, and covered 2 all-time favourite anisongs.

First is Takahashi Yoko’s Cruel Angel Thesis, the opening theme from the TV anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The second song is Nana Mizuki’s Eternal Blaze, the second opening theme from the second Nanoha series.

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Wish I was at the hall that day, it would have been awesome to hear Bucchou singing the two songs! Especially Eternal Blaze, although I’m curious as to how she faired for covering Cruel Angel Thesis as well.

Here are a few of my favourite quotes, translated by J1m0ne:

”
マレーシアねぇ。みのりんが変な病気に罹らないといいけど。(Ah, Malaysia. I hope Minorin doesn’t catch some weird disease there)
マレーシアは暑いし海だし、みのりんの水着姿は！？ (Malaysia’s hot and it’s got beaches… Minorin in swimsuit!?)
台湾に行ったときパスポート取ったから問題ないが、７月なんて休みとれねーぞorz (I got myself a passport when I went to Taiwan [for her live] so that’s no issue for me but I can’t get off days in July orz)
この中に一人くらいマレーシアに別荘持ってるやつとかいないのか。 (Does anyone have a holiday villa in Malaysia)
みのりんは急に俺がおっぱいを揉んでも怒りませんか？ (Would Minorin get mad if I suddenly groped her boobs?)

and the usual radish related jokes…
芽原って大根足だったのか (Minorin has radish legs)
みのりんは大根じゃない！ (Minorin is not a daikon!)”

Just go to atemonai to read more of such quirky and amusing quotes that 2ch had posted about.

Today I’m writing from a certain studio in the city. The sakura are in full bloom here, has everyone had their flower-viewing sessions yet?

I went to a place called Tatsumi Kaihin Kouen (Tatsumi Seaside Park) last weekend to enjoy the blossoms. I’ve been going there for flower-viewing in the past two to three years, so it comes highly recommended.
The sight of a few hundred metres of sakura trees in full bloom is a sight to behold, and yet hardly anyone goes there! It is quite a little-known flower-viewing spot in the city.

Moving on to Persona, we are finally three weeks away from the day it goes on sale.
Have you checked the official site? It was updated yesterday. The most interesting bit about the update has to be the battle system preview.
To make the game fit for portable gaming habits we had to tweak many things (including the speediness of the battle flow), but even so the battle system is the one aspect of the game we put a lot of effort into, so do go watch the previews.

The battle replay in the later bits of the video had skip on, isn’t it really fast? It’s easy to get addicted to the pace with skip turned on, but as a developer I would say that it’ll be nice if you limit the usage of skip to times where you are in a rush…

It’s a battle after all, so if you’re free, please enjoy it.

[Meguro Shouji]
◆Director of Persona
◆Sound Composer for Persona 3, Persona 3 Fes, Persona 4

Below is an excerpt of the post, containing the great news.
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嬉しいお知らせその１
Parade tourの追加公演が、DVD＆ブルーレイで発売されることが決定しました
パシフィコでの横浜スペシャルですよ～。
昨日はカメラがぐるんぐるん動き回っていました
Great News no.1
It has been decided that there will be a DVD and Blu-ray release for Parade Tour’s recorded footage
The Yokohama special is inside too~
Was shaking the camera yesterday

嬉しいお知らせその２
Parade tourのライブ写真集の発売が決定しました
仙台公演と、横浜公演の模様がぎゅっと詰まった写真集になります
Great News no.2
A collage of photographs from the Parade tour has been confirmed
There will be loads of photographs from the Sendai and Yokohama performances

嬉しいお知らせその３
２００９年６月３日！
茅原実里　NEWシングルの発売が決定しましたぁ～
只今はりきって製作中ですよ
Great News no.3
On the 3rd of June, 2009!
Chihara Minori NEW SINGLE release~
Currently very excited working on its production

嬉しいお知らせその４
２００９年８月１日＆２日！！
河口湖ステラシアターでのライブが大決定しました
私の憧れの野外ライブができるぞーーーーーーー！！！！
しかも２DAYS
On the 1st and 2nd of August, 2009!
LIVE at Kawaguchiko Stellar Theater has been confirmed!
I have been longing for an outdoor live performanceーーーーーーー！！！！
And it’s 2 days :D:D:D

Here’s the guide on how to get there.