Hi guys I used to do trailer analysis for P5 back in the days, and I I just wanted to share with you guys what I've found so far in the upcoming P5 Scramble game. I hope you guys find this useful, and please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions and/or corrections. It's been a while since I played P5 and the info on P5S are all new to me so I may be rusty on some of the lore and stuff.

I. Intro

It's interesting that P5S is taking the idea of road trip, because according to past interview, P5 was originally supposed to take a road trip format, but they decided to change it to what it was and adopted a more traditional setting and positive attitude because Japan was going through a very difficult time with the major tsunami disaster at that time. In a way P5S may have been what they've been wanting to make all along.

II. Basic Info

The story takes place about 6 months after the events of P5. The protagonist reunites with the gang and they stumble into the metaverse while they were preparing for a road trip. Instead being transported to a palace, they find themselves in “Jail” where shadows are stealing people's wishes on behalf of the King, the master of that domain.

There are multiple incidents of people changing their hearts/mind, similar to previous game but happening on a massive scale and it's happening all over Japan. The gang suspects that the existence of jail is somehow tied to it, so they go on a road trip to investigate.

III. New Characters

Sophia: It appears that she lost her memory and the only thing she remembers is that she is supposed to friends to people.

Hasegawa Zenkichi: Police detective

Sees Phantom thieves as the suspect for recent crimes, and Hasegawa makes a deal with the gang and tells the gang that he wont arrest them as long as the gang provides info to him.

Admits he doesn't have evidence

Ichinose Kuon: Food enthusiast(reporter?)

You meet her at Beef tongue BBQ restaurant, she makes recommendations. There is a lot of reference to food in party member conversation and background chatter, and it appears that eating local cusine may be a side quest that you complete as you go from once city to another.

IV. Geography

So looking at the trailers, it seems like the gang is going North, starting from Tokyo, Sendai, Hokkaido and Osaka.

I've googled map the travel route, and if the trailers are in chornological order, it appears that the gang is traveling North to Hokkaido, and heads back south and then west to Kansai. Assuming that they are not just taking the same road back, they will be passing Niigata Toyama, and arrive at Osaka, which is just south of Kyoto.

Yusuke mentions Kyoto in the trailer, which makes perfect sense for an artist like him, so it's possible that Kyoto would be the stop before/after the Osaka arc. A detour to Nagoya is possible if they head straight south from Toyama area. There is no solid information here, but at least this will give a general idea as to where the gang could be traveling along the way.

V. Antagonists

Shinjuku: Hiragai Alice

An up and coming underground idol

Jail:Amusement Park

Her new album(?) is called “Macaron Cannon”

Lots of references to stand 52 card deck, both in real world and in jail

It appears that she may be the King of Shibuya Jail

In the real world she makes an appearance near Hachiko statues and talks about how everyone wants to be a “different you” sometime, and how she can fullfill that wish through her fantasy “wonderland”. On the surface she seem to be talking about her shows offering sense of escapism, but this sounds like she is alluding to her Jail.

Sendai: Natsume Ango

Author of Prince of Nightmare

Jail: Medieval Castle

Ads show that the book has sold over million copies, and anime adaptation is due soon. These ads can be seen in both Shibuya and Sendai.

Existence of Shitenou or 4 heavenly kings. It's a common Japanese trope where you have 4 major sub villian working for the head honcho. My guess is that they are devout followers who are somehow involved in Natsume's work(i.e manager). One of the king is called Doma.

It appears that the city is celebrating the renowned Tanabata festival. If the info in the wiki is correct, the events of this should be happening around August 6th to 8th, a month after July 7th.

Statue of Date Masamune, famous Samurai from the Sengoku Period. Morgana says Yusuke might feel inspired seeing that. Considering that the antagonist in this arc is an author who is also in the creative arts, we might be see a clash of artistic values/philosophy here, featuring Yusuke

The Tanabata Matsuri is supposed started by Date Masamune as a way to promote culture advancement for woman. The festival features 7 different decorations, and these decorations represent various “wishes”, such as long life, wealth, avoiding disaster, good harvest for fishing.. more importantly there is one wish specifically for excelling in academics and reading/writing.

Also, interestingly enough, there is an ad on one of the Shibuya bookstore. There is a testimonial by one of the fan(a 28year old housewife) who says that “she can't go back to the reality after reading the book” and another testimonial by 35 year old man in which he says“my life has changed”. Normally you would take that comment figuratively, but you can't help but wonder if there is something more to that testimonial.

Hokkaido: Hyodo Mariko

Politician. Friend of Haru's father

Jail:Snow City. Morgana senses sadness in the jail, which could indicate that past tragedies may be what's driving Mariko?

AFAIK, Haru's father was trying to get into politics in the last game, and it appears that this could be a showdown between Mariko and Haru about the role of social elites in society. It's also interesting to note how Mako explains how the Former Hokkaidō Government Office, AKA “Aka Renga” is an important cultural monument/symbol of Hokkaido, which further alludes to the theme of politics in this story arc.

Osaka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tLDmDYPMBE

This is one of the main streets of Osaka, and A statue of Biliken is clearly featured in the trailer.

This is interesting, because similar to Masamune Statue in Sendai, it appears that Biliken is a symbol and guardian of that area, symbolizing certain ideals. Buying/giving Billiken gives you luck(AKA granting wish for good fortune). Represent “no worry” ideal. Could it be that a certain antagonist, like an up and coming religious cult leader is promising good fortune and spreading a very skewed interpretation of the “no worry” ideal?

There is a “Motsu-Nabe” restaurant, a speciality in Hakta region, and it appears that the city is known for it's Fugu cusine.

VI. Antagonists: Observation

Looking at these 3 main antagonists, it appears that the antagonists have gained fame fairly recently, and it there is something fishy about the way they've become famous. Based on background chatters through the trailers, it seems like many people are literally worshipping these antagonists.

Mornaga thinks the popularity of these people seems rather excessive and is in one of the trailer he even asks whether “Prince of Nightmare” is a good book. Also, theres a background chatter in Shibuya where people are saying “(he/she) is not as cute as people make it out to be”, which could be the a reference to the Alice by someone who hasn't had their wish stolen by the King.

Based on what we have so far, it appears that these antagonists are somehow enslaving, or mind-controlling the people around them by stealing their wishes and using that as a means to gain fame in their field, and the enslavement/mind control is somehow tied to promising to fulfill people's wish and stealing them instead. It appears that Alice is selling the wish to be someone else. Mariko on the other hand is trying to sell the idea of making their city a “Snow City” they can be proud of and be recognized around the world.

When you combine the idea of wish fullfillment, and the fact that people are questioning the true validity of Alice and Natsume, I get the sense that there is a lot of denial going on. It appears that Alice and Natsume wasn't able to cope with the fact that they are a failing commercial artist, while Mariko's desire to create an ideal city seem to be driving by a past trauma she refuses to acknowledge. It's almost as if they are selling the idea of wish full-fillment(which can also be a form of denial) to prey on other people and grant their own wish.

I also find it interesting how the mythology and icons of the local culture seem to play a role in the story. This relationship is very clear in Sendai where Masamune statue and the 7 strips of wish all seem to indicate theme of being cultured. Billiken is a symbol of “no worry” mindset in Osaka. Aka-renga is an important political symbol of Hokkaido. I also found out that the red star on the Aka Renga building symbolizes the pioneer spirit of the people who were settling down and developing the city in Meiji period.

http://www.sapporo.travel/find/culture/former_hokkaido_government_office/#no2

While not explicitly stated Hachiko is one of the most iconic statue in Shibuya which symbolizes loyalty, and possibly a theme that is explored in Alice's story arc.

Before I move on, I want to make a distinction here that the theme of Wish/願い in this game is quite different from the them of Desire/欲望. While the desire in last game are cardinal sins, and they are unethical by nature, the wish in this game seems rather innocent and there may not be ill will associated to it. It's entirely possible that these antagonists actually have good intentions, but their intentions are lead astray by the mastermind behind all this. In that respect, it seems like the antagonist's story arc isn't all about straight up coercing them to give up their evil desire, but to help them come to cope with their failures and face reality.

VII. Digging Further

Asaka(?) Christi

One of the train ad shows an ad for weekly Monday(a reference to weekly Sunday magazine), and features the name “Asaka(?) Christi”. These magazines usually feature sexy shots of Gravure idol in their color pages, so it could be reference to that. Christi may be a possible antagonist, or supporting cast in one of the story arc..

Also here are some screenshots I've found that is worth mentioning.

Exhibit 1. I have no idea where this is, but could be one of the smaller towns the gang passes by during the road trip. It could be that the gang may be spending some of their time away from these major cities for subplot stuff.

Exhibit 2. I have no idea what this is about, but seems very important.