My final update on the image thing: Well, I don't think anyone's going to be able to give a conclusive answer at this point.
The earliest points in time that I could find where the image was found on the internet was September 23, 2015 at 1:24 PM EST, where it was found on the
AllGamesBeta Twitter and some Japanese image board (possibly 2ch) at the same exact time. The images uploaded were of different resolutions, too, so it's unlikely that one took it from the other.
Speaking of resolutions, I at least found a higher resolution version of the image through the Japanese image board compared to what people have been using everywhere instead (which is the smaller AGB version).
Unfortunately, AGB doesn't remember where it came from, so the answer's been obscured on that front.
The Japanese image board had uploaded full scans from Famitsu (at 1:23 PM EST) alongside this "clean" cover art picture at 1:24 PM EST. Because this was ~2.5 hours later than when the Famitsu scans were surfacing around 11:00 AM, it probably means they were all coming from the same person, and therefore the same source which was the magazine itself (though, they were separated in two different posts, with the feature scans at 1:23 PM and the "clean cover art" at 1:24 PM).
Combined with the similarities this has to some other bonus merchandise included in magazines, the most logical assumption is one of these:
- This issue of Famitsu magazineor at least select copies of itcontained a poster or clear file for the Persona 5 cover. Somehow, this was mentioned literally nowhere, and there were literally no pictures floating around of this poster or clear file.
- This was a promotional poster for the magazine sent to retailers alongside its release. A staff member didn't respect the "Not for Sale" part, and a person went home with the poster along with their magazine to scan everything (if it wasn't the staff member themselves).
I think it's #2.
Edit: Wait, the higher image resolution version wasn't even that new, and is one of the easier things to find if that's what my focus was. There's even a way larger one:
Ah well x 2. Mysteries abound!