I failed to mention this when I was playing the first game, but now that it’s come up again, the DL-6 Incident is obviously inspired by the story of Chizuko Mifune, right?
She was a self-proclaimed Psychic from Japan, in the first decade of the 20th century. She was convincing enough that a university professor named Tomokichi Fukurai fully believed in her powers, and organised a public demonstration.
It went badly (it was revealed that the sealed messages she was reading had be written by Fukurai and not a third party as claimed), and she was lambasted by the press. She committed suicide only four months later.
Compared to Misty Fey’s high-profile demonstration of psychic abilities and subsequent lambasting by the press when they seeming failed, leading to her disappearance.
It seems to be a fairly popular cultural touchstone in Japanese media, as not only can you see the inspiration here, but it’s also the inspiration behind The Ring franchise, and the fortune-telling confidant in Persona 5 is named for her.
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