Supernatural Tone
The Supernatural and You
In general, the separation between the normal and the supernatural in VRM's setting is strong; you can't solve most mundane problems with supernatural solutions unless a specific rule overrides this. For instance, you can't usually just kill your enemy with your Persona in the middle of the street--but you might be able to infiltrate his Palace and change his heart. This brings the corollary: when the natural and supernatural cross over, something is usually wrong. It is a problem to be solved.
This means that Persona abilities, including passive abilities, do not work much in the real world unless specifically ruled otherwise. (For instance, Resonance works within the limits of that file's parameters.) It also means that supernatural problems, by contrast, cannot usually be solved with natural solutions. It goes both ways.
There are exceptions. Sumaru, for instance, is a space where the line blurs, and it's easiest for any space to become a supernatural space. More on that in the Sumaru City file.
Balancing Life and the Supernatural
Even the villains have day jobs. Yesterday was a terrible tragedy, but today you must still go to school. Characters have lives outside the supernatural battles we provide, and maintaining this balance is vital to continuing those lives. This is something important to our theme.
However, there are rare exceptions: a few characters focus on the supernatural to the detriment of their normal lives. This is something we portray as a problem in general.
For instance, there's Takahisa Kandori, who is a dead man walking and has no space in his life for the mundane. Takaya Sakaki is somewhat more moderate in this realm, but still believes the mundane world has little value. Both of these are major antagonists. A character like Junpei Iori is not an example of this problem; while he does focus on his supernatural life to the detriment of his studies, he still has manga and games and a normal life.
Overall, for a healthy character on VRM, this balance is important.