For the time between saving Kanji and the arrival of the next "victim", most of the work done is on strengthening your already established S.Links. While others are available, you were given a year to complete the task given, and some of them need to have you meet or establish a relation with others for them to work. This lets you learn more about your various established S.Links and, as we find out after maxing out one of the S.Links, will allow you to gain access to the highest form of that Persona group, as well as allow other members of the Investigation Team to understand themselves.
CLOSER TO THE TRUTH
Being able to gain more S.Links shows that many of the links already established do need love so you can find more information about the town and people, as well as help your friends. By deepening these Links, you learn more about your friends and they begin to help out more and more - every other level or so added more to their abilities to fight with the others and Protagonist. Early on, they gain the power to take a mortal blow for the Protagonist, but as things continue, they gain more and more able to help others out, helping out others with standing when they're knocked back, or even breaking them out of some of the ailments you can get. In the meantime, more talks with others allow for learning more and more about the characters and why they are acting the way they are - Ayame does her best to get better, practicing an instrument that, at first, she was not very good at, and she gains more confidence over time. Kou and Daisuke both show off that there are more to them, with both having serious issues that effect their abilities and actions towards others. Nanako asks serious questions and, while able to deal with her life in a very serious and mature way, she still shows her age and remains the most precious of Cinnamon Rolls, up there with Castiel of Supernatural and Steven from Steven Universe.
(I have not seen Supernatural Season 11 yet, no, why do you ask? Huh? Oh, the Persona I summoned? No, it's not because I'm doing this, I'm just going to kill the writers who think that was ok)
Dojima's history only adds more to why he acts the way he does and the rather sad case about his wife and why he continues to search for information about what happened the night she died. Though the case is not a massive one, it's an example of how one small thing can really effect someone, and how that changes his interactions with Nanako. His job and the work to find more causes a lot of issues, as he can't think of a way to really talk to Nanako about this, and even has a hard time talking with the Protagonist. In other cases, he looks at the Protagonist with some confusion and even thinking that the Protagonist has something to do with the deaths and disappearances, especially with what happened early on (I still blame Yousuke for that) but also for his connection to Yukiko after her disappearance. Add in Kanji, who is a known trouble-maker, and Dojima will definitely have issues with the Protagonist's friends.
For now, we do have one or two new S.Links, and the maxing out the links, giving us an unbreakable bond and allowing for that character to admit to his own character flaws and work to fix them.
The Moon Card (XVIII): Ai Ebihara
Showing up as an uninteresting girl who has to 'help' the sport's team you joined when you started the Strength Card, Ai is there due to having skipped classes to go shop. Though she appears superficial, Ai also shows off times when it becomes obvious her attitude is actually from having been hurt or with few people paying attention to her, or those who do pay attention having ulterior motives. She seems fine with the Protagonist due to how he deals with her, and his courage of going out with her on the first trip, ditching class, but also that he does his best to understand her and won't always take her pushy nature. Despite that, Ai is still an interesting character and shows some more depth than expected.
The Empress Card (III): Margaret
The one who holds the book that involves all the Personas you create, Margaret mostly works with Igor and is his silent partner for the most part. This card comes up only if your Intelligence is high enough, and she mostly asks for the creation of Personas with certain advantages, most of them making them more balanced throughout their links. The link continues more and more as you create more and more of the Personas she wants, which can often demand you level up so you can create more and more Personas with various types of balance and abilities. This does mean she speaks up more and it makes things interesting as she gains more and more interest and a desire to help the Protagonist as she can.
ACCEPT AND OVERCOME YOUR WEAKNESS
Depending on how often you give different people attention, you will probably get Yousuke's S.Link of the Magician to max out first. "Max" is at level 10, and creates an unbreakable bond between the Protagonist and the one that the S.Link represents. In this case, we also discover that those who are part of the Investigation team, their Persona changes as well.
This does make sense that the Persona would change as well, as it's often created via the Investigation Team accepting a part of themselves that they don't like. With the continued growth of the various ones in the group, even allowing them to admit to issues they still have or deal with problems they'd had beforehand, or ones that even came up and remained despite everything.
Jiraiya to Susano-o
Allowing Yousuke to figure out for himself what it is that he has issues with, as well as how he feels towards the Protagonist (as a friend, despite what the fanfic and yaoi might think) before the two have a fight. This mostly works for Yousuke to realize he is an equal to the Protagonist and how he's allowed to still be upset and sad over the loss of Saki-sempai, as well as realize that he now enjoys the small town he once hated, not to mention that he realizes how much he really cares for those he sees as true friends. Yousuke learns more as he befriends the Protagonist, and admits a lot about himself and his motivations, not to mention gaining probably the first friendship where he's thought of as an equal to the other person.
In this case, a trickster-esque folk-hero becomes a far more violent but also redemptive god as his Persona reaches it's highest level and becomes Susano-o. A god of storm and sea, Susano-o is most famous for a rivalry with his sister, which resulted in him nearly causes eternal night and also got him banished down to Earth, only to kill a huge dragon, Yamata no Orochi. As the main Persona of the Magician-holding Yousuke, this does make sense in some cases, especially for the major tale of defeating a great monster who killed women. Though not a direct correlation, Yousuke realizing his equal status to the Protagonist, as well as finally coming to peace with himself, and is happy to have gotten to his full potential. Knowing his strengths and weaknesses allows Yousuke to move forward, and to know how far he can go and how much he can help.
Next time: The Media and False Perceptions
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