Intro
The world of Persona 5 is filled with many cheerful and colorful characters. In contrast, Munehisa Iwai is perhaps the most intense character you will meet on your journey. He means business and doesn’t like to joke around; he takes his profession as a model gun salesman with the utmost pride and dedication.
This pride doesn’t come from nowhere, though; talking to Iwai reveals his past with the Yakuza. Therefore, he tries to live by a code even if that part of his life is in the past. Developing your bond with Iwai will allow you to customize your guns with additional abilities such as higher accuracy or inflicting status effects.
These added skills for your guns can be convenient if you like to use your firearms. On top of the fact that I think Iwai has one of the better stories in the game, this will be worth your time. By reading this Munehisa Iwai Guide, you can learn how to level up your relationship most quickly with him and what each ability does.
Description/Overview
Iwai owns the shop “Untouchable,” specializing in model guns, armor/clothing, and other weapons like knives, brass knuckles, axes, etc. Located in a back alley in Shibuya, Untouchables is as shady as its place.
After finishing the first palace, Joker tries to sell the medal the Phantom Thieves stole from Kamoshida’s Castle at Untouchable. After pocketing a cool 30,000 yen, Iwai anticipates a visit from 2 detectives investigating illegal guns being circulated.
He gives Joker a bag with a realistic-looking model gun to hide the evidence, telling him to come back with it later. The player can’t do this until their Guts stat is at level 4 (Dauntless). Doing this will start the Hanged Man’s relationship with him.
Iwai’s story revolves around his history with the Yakuza and his adopted son Kaoru. When Joker starts working at the shop, Iwai asks him to do other favors to help him find out what his old Yakuza friends are up to.
The story ends with Iwai telling his son the truth about him being part of the Yakuza and finally being able to let go of his past.
Confidant Guide
Abilities and General Overview
As stated previously, to even start your relationship with Iwai, you must have level 4 guts. This is a steep requirement, especially for how early in the game he is introduced.
Good ways to increase Guts include participating in Tae Takemi’s clinical trials, reading books, and studying in the school library when it is busy. Iwai is available on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings and on rainy days.
When you form a bond with Iwai, you will unlock the ability “Starter Customisation,” which allows you to slightly increase the accuracy or power of your guns.
This is a valuable feature of the game. Personally, I gave more precision to the low-accuracy guns and more power to the weaker guns to average them out. Still, you can go to either end of the spectrum.
After this point, various hangout moments with Iwai will cause your proficiency to increase. This can be useful for leveling up that stat too. You will need it for things like being able to craft more thief tools in your bedroom or progress the confidants with Yusuke Kitagawa and Haru Okumura.
Upon attaining Rank 3, you will unlock the ability “Camo Customisation.” This allows you to give your guns a slight chance to inflict various status ailments like shock or burn. These can be useful if you play around with status ailments in your playstyle.
However, it is essential to remember that this only gives you a chance to inflict a status, so you shouldn’t rely on it. Instead, treat it like a pleasant surprise when it happens instead of expecting it to.
Reaching Rank 5 gives you the “Discount” ability, which, as you may guess, gives you a discount on the cost of gun customization, 50% to be exact. This helps you experiment more with the system, seeing what works and what doesn’t.
This is especially helpful in Persona 5 Royal, where the ammunition used for your guns is restocked after every fight in the metaverse. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case in Persona 5, making your firearms more precious and reserved for enemies that have an exploitable weakness to guns.
Rank 7 will bestow the “Expert Customisation” ability, which gives you more customization options for your guns. As a result, you now have access to 2 extreme versions of the 2 you originally unlocked, granting even more power and accuracy.
This comes at a cost, however. When you equip the customization that gives more firepower, for example, the accuracy of your gun goes down and vice versa. Therefore, it is crucial to consider if the loss is worth the gain when you play.
After Rank 7, Joker must have a Guts level of 5 (Lionhearted) to progress to Rank 8. Additionally, after reaching Rank 8, it cannot be completed until Joker completes a mementos request dealing with an old friend of Iwai’s pressuring and threatening him. Returning to Iwai after completing this request will allow you to finish Rank 8.
Finally, after reaching Rank 10, you obtain the ability “On the House,” which allows you to customize your guns for free. This shows how grateful Iwai is for all you have done for him and his son. Additionally, you will be able to fuse the ultimate persona of that arcana, Attis.
Dialogue Choice Guide
To maximize your free time in Persona 5, you can follow this guide to determine which dialogue options give the most points to your relationship with Iwai. For maximum effectiveness, make sure to have a persona of the Hanged Man Arcana in your party.
Rank 1
- (P5R only) “So, what’s my first job?”
Rank 2
- “How’s your cold?”
Rank 3
- “I always knew you were a thug.”
- “We made a deal, didn’t we?”
Rank 4
- “Where’s my reward?”
- (P5R only) “I agree.”
Rank 5
- “You’re pathetic.”
- “I’ll stick around for the guns.”
- (P5R only) “You’re right.”
Rank 6
- “Girls.”
- “You should buy us something.”
- (P5R only) “He’s my age, so it comes easier.”
Rank 7
- “Absolutely.”
- “He’s clever.”
- (P5R only) “Bring it on.”
Rank 8 (Before Mementos Request)
- “I did it all for Iwai.”
- “I will”
Rank 8 (After Mementos Request)
- “I dunno.”
- “I guess I could consider it.”
- (P5R only) “Understood.”
Rank 9
- “Are you sure he’s still alive?”
- “You need to trust your son.”
- “Kaoru is really strong-willed.”
- (P5R only) “Like father, like son.”
Rank 10
- This is the final rank, so gaining more points doesn’t matter. Instead, pick the options you want to hear and enjoy!
Key Moments
Starting Your Work at Untouchable
After returning to Iwai with a high enough Guts stat, Iwai says Joker can keep the gun in the bag as it is more convenient for him. Joker asks him about the possibility of purchasing more firearms like the one in the bag, to which Iwai offers him a deal.
In exchange for Joker’s compliance with helping Iwai take care of “business” and occasionally helping around the shop, Iwai will provide Joker access to a special menu of realistic-looking model guns for a reasonable price.
Listening in at the Diner
Your first favor for Iwai is accompanying him to a diner where he meets up with an old friend, Masa, from when he was in the Yakuza. Joker sits with them as they chat about their friend Tsuda and talk about the two meeting up to bury the hatchet.
Upon hearing the signal, Joker calls Iwai on his phone to provide him a convenient way to leave the conversation. Still, Iwai asks Joker to stay behind and leave the call going.
When doing so, Iwai finds out about a deal going down that Masa thinks he’s trying to get a piece of. As a thank you, Iwai offers to pay for whatever Joker orders at the diner; what a nice guy.
Hunting at the Rumor Mill
Iwai sends you out to find information on the deal Masa mentioned in the diner. He says a homeless man in Shibuya will know about it. Upon seeing the homeless man, he tells you about a 100-million-yen agreement with the Hong Kong mafia.
When you return to Untouchable to tell Iwai about what you found out, someone else is in the store with him. It’s Tsuda, Iwai’s friend from the Yakuza. Tsuda asks Iwai for a large order of guns and threatens to tell Iwai’s son Kaoru about his past with the Yakuza unless he rushes his order to which Iwai obliges.
Despite the pressure Tsuda put on him, Iwai is happy about the info you told him. However, Tsuda knows your face, which could prove to be a problem…
Dinner with Kaoru
Being a bit caught up with errands, Iwai asks you to escort Kaoru to the diner you went to before for dinner, saying he’ll meet up with you later. You talk with Kaoru for a bit about him and his dad. He reveals that Iwai isn’t his real dad and that his parents died in a car crash at a young age.
Then he asks you if Iwai has said anything about him weighing him down and wonders if Iwai even considers him his real son. Kaoru mentions Iwai’s gecko tattoo on his neck and why his dad got it. He did it to help make Kaoru feel better about a similar mark on his neck that he got bullied for at school.
Eventually, Iwai shows up to say he can’t stay for dinner but tells you that he’s almost figured out what happened surrounding the 100-million-yen deal.
Making Peace with Tsuda-San
Iwai finds out that the deal with the Hong Kong mafia involved them supplying an arsenal of guns to the Yakuza. But he figures that Tsuda wouldn’t have been asking him for guns if everything went through ok. Using this, Iwai arranges to meet with Tsuda to exchange his silence on the issue for Tsuda leaving him, you, and Kaoru alone.
You tag along to act as Iwai’s witness to make sure Tsuda doesn’t do anything reckless, but the plan falls through. Tsuda isn’t willing to back down about his gun order.
Desperate to cover up his mistake, he pulls a gun on you and Iwai, threatening further action if Iwai doesn’t deliver the weapons. Iwai tells you to forget about everything and distance yourself from him, but your inner Phantom Thief won’t let that happen.
After dealing with Tsuda’s shadow self in the Metaverse, Iwai receives a phone call from Tsuda in the real world telling him to forget about his threats towards Iwai. It would seem that the change of heart went through, and Tsuda returned to being an honorable member of the Yakuza.
Like Father, like Son
During an evening shift at Untouchable, Iwai gets a phone call from Masa saying he has kidnapped Kaoru and to come to the seaside park. When you arrive, Masa is intimidating Kaoru with a knife and asks Iwai to give him the guns he would have given to Tsuda.
Iwai tells Masa that the guns have been dismantled, but Masa threatens to tell Kaoru everything about his father’s past. With some encouragement from you, Iwai tells his son the truth about how his mother abandoned him and how he was a part of the Yakuza.
Despite Masa’s taunting, Kaoru isn’t phased and declares that even if they aren’t related by blood, he and Iwai are connected by the Gecko and doesn’t care about his dad’s past.
Then Tsuda appears to deal with Masa since he snitched on him and to prevent him from bothering Iwai and his family ever again.
FAQs
Question: What Days can I Hang Out with Iwai?
Answer: You can hang out with Iwai on the evenings of Thursday, Saturday, Sunday as well as rainy days
Question: How Do I Hang Out with Iwai?
Answer: Iwai can be found in his shop Untouchable in a back alley in Shibuya. It should be marked on your map.
Question: Are there any Social Stats I Need for Iwai?
Answer: You will need Guts level 4 to start your relationship with Iwai and Guts level 5 to continue it later on.
Question: Who Voices Iwai?
Answer: Iwai is voiced by Kaiji Tang in the English dub and Hisao Egawa in the Japanese dub
Munehisa Iwai Guide: Final Thoughts
Personally, Iwai is one of my favorite characters in Persona 5. His story about being a single dad with a shady past is exciting. His relationship with his son and you are heart-warming, like a micro version of Joker’s relationship with Sojiro Sakura.
His confidant abilities are also helpful, meaning you’ll want to get your guts stat up as soon as you can to get started. Given he is one of the game’s shopkeepers, you’ll be seeing him more often than other non-party member confidants and getting more attached. That was my experience anyway.
The abilities themselves allow another level of experimentation and customization of playstyle. Persona 5 (and the games preceding it) are all about choice, not just in what you do day to day in your free time but also in how you fight in the shadow world of each game.
When you unlock the 50% discount and especially when customization becomes free, you will be able to mess around and see what works for you.
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