Is Persona 5: Mementos Mission Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read

Overview

A model named Mika stands accused of poisoning a music industry producer. A killer dubbed the Twin Fanged Killer is murdering criminals one by one. Something that sounds like a loose, monstrous Cerberus is prowling where it shouldn't be. Mementos Mission drops Ren Amamiya and the rest of the Phantom Thieves into a run of self-contained mystery cases like these, investigating alongside Goro Akechi and digging into Tokyo's criminal underside between trips into the Metaverse. Rather than retell Persona 5's main story, this manga spinoff uses the game's cast and setting to build something closer to episodic detective fiction with superhero-style heists attached.

What it does well

The case-of-the-week structure is the right call for a spinoff like this. Instead of compressing an entire JRPG's story into a few manga volumes, something that tends to flatten everything that made the original worth playing, Mementos Mission sidesteps that problem by telling its own self-contained stories using the same cast and world. Each case gets room to be its own thing, whether it's untangling a poisoning accusation or chasing down a killer with a very specific set of targets, and that variety keeps the manga from feeling like a pale echo of the game. Rokuro Saitou's art is doing real work throughout: the Metaverse action sequences have the same stylized punch the franchise is known for, and the quieter Tokyo scenes keep the cast's personalities instantly recognizable even without voice acting or UI flourishes to lean on. At three tight volumes, the pacing stays brisk, each case gets enough room to land without any of them overstaying their welcome.

Where it falls short

The trade-off for that case-of-the-week format is depth. Nobody in the Phantom Thieves grows much across these three volumes, the manga is built around watching an already-established cast solve problems rather than develop further, so if you want character work, this isn't where to find it. It's also written assuming you already know this cast: the Metaverse's rules, the Phantom Thieves' dynamic, and most of the cast's personalities are treated as given rather than introduced for newcomers. And because each case wraps up on its own, there's no larger mystery or arc pulling you forward volume to volume, which keeps the stakes feeling contained rather than escalating.

Verdict

Mementos Mission finds a smart lane for a game-tie-in manga: instead of retelling Persona 5's story worse than the game already tells it, it uses the same cast for mystery cases that stand on their own. Rokuro Saitou's art keeps the Phantom Thieves feeling like themselves throughout, and three volumes is exactly the right length for what this is. It won't deepen your attachment to this cast, but if you already have one, it's an easy, well-made way to spend more time with them.