Persona 5 Strikers: Alice’s Calling Card

Well, looks like I wasn’t quite finished….I am currently playing Persona 5 Strikers and upon reaching the conclusion of the first part, lo and behold what appeared on screen…. I have reason to believe there may be more, so why not take the opportunity for some more textual analysis courtesy of the Phantom Thieves.

*Calling card -* *予告状 – (Yokokujou)*: For those wondering what it is, In the game, Persona 5, these cards were sent by the Phantom Thieves to the persons they target, indicating an imminent attack on their psyche to “change their heart”, i.e. to make them confess what they have done and change their ways. Basically the card outlines their particular crime, why they’re being targeted, and informs them that the attack is coming the following day.

(The Japanese word for “calling card” which is 予告状 (Yokokujou). Oddly enough, in the soundtrack, the lyrics of the battle song “Take Over” make reference to a “prior notice card” which is a direct translation of the word.)

In the original Japanese version, the calling card is read out in the cutscene of the broadcast. In the English version, this dialogue differs slightly from what it says in the calling card but the gist is the same. The calling card is in game as it appears on screen during the cutscene, but the bottom is missing and has been completed thanks to the spoken lines in the Japanese version.

*Original text:*

人の心を弄ぶ女
柊アリス殿。
偽りの光で人を貶め、
愉悦の為に傷つける。
そんなヤツを、私達は許さない。
アンタが奪った人々のネガイ…
今宵、我々が頂戴する。
**心の怪盗団より**

​

*English (my translation, not necessarily the English translation of the game):*

To the woman who toys with people’s hearts
Miss Alice Hiiragi.
Behind a fake image, you degrade 
and hurt people for the sake of your own personal enjoyment.
Such an individual, we cannot allow to continue unhindered.
Tonight, we will take (back) all of the desires you have stolen from people.
**From the Phantom Thieves of Hearts**

​

*Romaji:*

hito no kokoro wo moteasobu onna
Hiiragi Arisu-dono.
itsuwari no hikari de, hito wo otoshime,
yuetsu no tame ni, kizu-tsukeru.
sonna yatsu wo, watashitachi ha yurusanai.
anta ga ubatta hitobito no negai 
koyoi, wareware ga wo choudai suru
**kokoro no kaitoudan yori**

​

​

***Notes:***

柊アリス殿:  Hiiragi Arisu-dono. Welcome back to the wonderful rabbit hole of Japanese names. She’s a showbiz person and therefore her name, Alice, is written in Katakana. Last name is Hiiragi, using the equivalent Jinmei character.

​

ネガイ (negai) 願い   wishes, requests, more so than “desires”. The English version of the game translates it as desires, however the word in Japanese is different from Yokubou that as in desires from the original Persona 5.

​

貶め (otoshime); from 貶める  (otoshimeru), to look down upon, be contemptuous of. This is yet another Hyougai kanji that is not taught in schools.

​

アンタ: (anta) is a very rude form of you. It is a contracted form of あなた (anata) which is a standard polite form of you.

​

​

頂戴する: a nice formal way of saying to take, to gladly accept taking something.

​

許さない: (yurusanai): The negative form of 許す (yurusu( meaning to forgive, allow, overlook

​

ヤツ (yatsu): rude form of “hito” (person). Can be translated as guy, bloke or worse, asshole depending on the context. (Trying adding the rude plural form “ra” to it and you basically have, “those bastards”)

​

​

怪盗団 (kaitoudan): The Phantom Thieves, or literally, “ghostly thief band”. all 1 word with 3 characters.

より (yori): It’s a special “yori” here, not the comparative one, used to say less than/more than. Rather here it is similar to “kara” meaning from.

​

*Previous posts (Persona 5):*

[First Calling Card (Kamoshida)](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/10usyu7/persona_5_first_calling_card_kamoshida/)

[Second Calling Card (Madarame)](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/114xbyo/persona_5_second_calling_card_madarame/)

[Third Calling Card (Kaneshiro)](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/1197pw4/persona_5_third_calling_card_kaneshiro/)

[Fourth Calling Card](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/11avlbd/persona_5_fourth_calling_card_japaneseenglish/)

[Fifth Calling Card](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/11cffo0/persona_5_fifth_calling_card_japaneseenglish/)

[Sixth Calling Card](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/11efwr3/persona_5_sixth_calling_card_japaneseenglish/)

[Final Calling Card](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/11hb0ht/persona_5_final_calling_card_japaneseenglish/)

Leave a Reply
You May Also Like