Persona 4 - Misunderstandings and Truth

As a reminder, this video isn't to attack anyone or label anyone as a terrible person, I don't do that in the video, but I know bad actors will take it that way. I don't condone any attacks on people, I can disagree with you, but I don't want anyone to get on the case of others over an interpretation of media - Even if it's an interpretation I view as dishonest, that doesn't give you a green light to attack others. If you disagree with me on any interpretations that I have, or believe that the characters are whatever you view them as, that's fine. I am merely expressing my interpretation and how I view some critiques to be made in bad faith. I try not to do things in bad faith myself, but like I said in the video, I don't view my analysis as the be all end all of this discussion. Just be kind to people, enjoy media, and if you're gonna analyze something, please, just be open minded that you could be wrong.

"Humans fail to see things as they truly are. They choose to see only what they wish." Wow, that line of dialogue does roast most of Twitter. 😂

Persona 4 discourse kinda shines a light on how media analysis/literacy has progressed (or more stagnated) as the years go by. The stories behind Naoto and Kanji isn't simply, "Oh, Naoto's trans actually" or "Kanji's totally gay." It's about them learning not to be held down by societal stereotypes about them. Naoto was embarrassed to be a girl not because of gender dysphoria, but because she believed that being part of the police/detective department meant that she'd be looked down upon because she was a girl. Kanji's deal is that he's afraid of showing his softer, more sensitive side because he wants to be viewed as tough, masculine guy, who isn't tied to "weaknesses" like looking or acting feminine. It's why the story's themes hit as hard as it does and is also why the whole "character is x-coded" stuff annoys me because it's just a slightly prettier way of putting people into stereotypes.

The Naoto thing is the one that irritates me the most. It’s a very Japanese character arc: Japan is a patriarchal country, Naoto makes the public think she’s male because they won’t accept her as a detective otherwise. To turn it into “Naoto’s trans and if you disagree you’re transphobic” is to strip away the Japanese roots of the game and force a western filter on it

While I know Twitter won’t like this one, you’ve likely survived worse. Would be amused if someone tried to do a rebuttal.

Honesty, it’s kind of scary just how accurate Japanese writers from over a decade ago perfectly predicted the cyber social dynamics of today.

There are 3 reasons why Kanji is my favorite: 1. Kanji's emotional arc resonates with me. 2. Speedo means you're comfortable with your body. 3. Give 'em the CHAIR!

what people need to understand Kanjis story not about sexuality Naoto story is not about being trans is about accepting for who you are

Atlus: Kanji is a character who has always been misunderstood and had his manhood questioned due to his softer sides. This has made Kanjo turn into raging, insecure person unable to form proper relationships due to fear of rejection. His story is commentary on social expectations and inspection what it means to be strong man. Twitter-PEOPLE: KANJI IS GAY, YOU BIGOTS! PERSONA IS HOMOPHOBIC GAME! The story never ends

As a Gay male myself, I deeply resonated with Kanji and his struggles cause it felt it was directly taken from my life, throughout my childhood and teens I had to deal with a lot of negative stuff, I was different from most kids, I didn't like football or sports for that matter, I wouldn't roughouse or play with car models etc, I was more of a soft kid who would enjoy spending time indoors doing more arts 'n crafting stuff like drawing and enjoying media and later easily most of my life shifted into online stuff, and also living in a small town that feels trapped in the past, there was a lot of negative stuff thrown my way, the other kids would call me names and even bully me, even my own dad would act like a piece of shit with me cause I wasn't the "manly man" son he wanted and constantly try to force his believes onto me, like forcing me into a soccer team or.. gambling, and later in Highschool when I started to come out I was freakin out and burrying myself in layers of denial cause I was groomed into believing that gay males are... "wrong" and if I was one, who knew what could happen to me, those were really dark days, I was messed up, I would even Google shit like "how to stop being gay", but as time went on, thanks to getting to know other gay folks and pieces of media like P4, I started to climb my way out of the dark hole I dug for myself, and eventually accepted the fact that I'm gay, and that I wasn't less of a person or that I deserved to be punished, I learned to block out all the insults and stereotypes and just not give a damn about what others might think of me. And honestly now that Persona, a piece of media I deeply love on a personal level, has entered mainstream thanks to P5 and ports, a lot of people who play it only see the surface level, saying stuff like "Kanji's totally gay" or "Naoto's definetely trans" and getting pissed over the fact that the game or the fandom at large won't acknowledge or try to "contradict it" pisses me off, granted on my first playthrough I also thought Kanji was gay 'cause of how much of myself I saw on him, but that was me projecting hard, on later playthroughs I understood Kanji's story and struggles and that they don't really are about him being gay, but I didn't care, Kanji still resonated a lot with me, didn't matter if he was gay or not at the end of the day, cause what he went through and his resolution to push forward and improve himself are still real. Ironic how these people are literally part of the problem of forcing social labels onto people based on surface level impression, that made Kanji and Naoto feel forced to hide their insecurities and true self and put on a mask to be able to be "accepted".

I sometimes get confused whenever people debate about Kanji's sexuality. He is into girls as revealed from his feeling towards Naoto, but before this Kanji still had those same feelings before he knew her actual gender. But one thing I keep track is how he never showed these feelings to anyone other than Naoto. So as a fun harmless joke I like to say he's NaotoSexual.

The most terrible thing that can happen to a Persona 4 fan is seing the game trending on Twitter.

It's really odd people automatically label Kanji as gay because of his shadow when his whole story arc and the game itself is basically about shaking off stereotypes from certain labels and seeing more than the surface level I feel people get too desperate to have physical representation that they don't realize how, even people with completely different lives and appearances, can have very similar lives and problems. I also feel these types of people are usually the ones that claim they want to understand everyone

Presently, it kinda pisses me off how tomboys are seen as trans. Like I used to get the same questions as Kanji and Naoto. “Are you gay because you like things like Star Wars and Power Rangers?” “Are you a guy or something cause you don’t dress feminine enough, you’re weird.” Especially teenagers, hyper focus on who people think they are, and words hurt more than they actually should. It’s all apart of growing up and growing into yourself. I’m still kinda a tomboy, tho I dress more feminine now depending on my mood. I found out for myself that I wasn’t gay, nor was I trans, instead of forcing myself into that box and going along with how people saw me as, a weird quiet tomboy who should be gay or a guy. Kinda like how Twitter wants Kanji and Naoto match what they perceive them as, and not who they actually are.

I'm honestly surprised nobody talks about how Naoto's shadow tackles the subject on a male-oriented society. The whole reason why Naoto's shadow wanted to make Naoto a man was because of Naoto's inner desire to succeed in the police force, which at the time was very skewed into male favor.

The thing I love most about media is empathizing with characters who share a core aspect I can relate to even if not the same experiences. Or admiring those I wish I could be more like. Kanji and Naoto are kinda a mix. My personality is like neither of them. My experiences aren’t exactly the same as them. But I do connect with them. That fear of rejection and wanting to be relied on is something that strikes deeply with me. And I admire both of them greatly. I don’t need a character to be exactly like me to feel a connection. Representation is important. Headcanons are fantastic. But I feel we lost the importance of empathizing and connecting with those who aren’t just like us. It’s okay to have a different interpretation so long as we don’t force them on others. They won’t be as receptive if you force your opinions. I like hearing people who have a different interpretation because it exposes me to different ideas and also help me connect with that person. But at the end of the day, it’s okay if you disagree. The internet is so concerned with wanting to prove we’re right and everyone is wrong we’ve forgotten how to just sit down and be okay with those who see things with a different lens.

So i'm a trans guy, and while I don't feel that Naoto's storyline is trans, I can see how Naoto's story would specificaly speak to trans women, as opposed to trans men. but I honestly agree with the points you made here! I've always interpreted Kanji as bi, but specifically due to his crush on Naoto before an after finding out that she's a girl. But like you said, that's not the point of his story and chracter. Kanji is a character I heavily relate to and love so much, and I think he's a shining example of interests not determining one's identity.

I still find it fascinating how Kanji’s struggles in-universe are tied to people not bothering to actually get to know him and instead judging him based on stereotypes… and he has this exact same problem in real life, which you would only realize if you decide to actually get to know him instead of relying on stereotypes

I'm with you kamen... Persona 4 is forever blessed with this curse... and as an SMT fan I understand your and many persona fans' frustrations.

Thank you for clearing up that Naoto isn't trans. I've tried to explain it to some people but..... well you can take a guess what was said to me. :/ And you are absolutely correct about things being a product of their time period and thus were not made with the modern mindset, so it'd be unfair to push what's 'correct' today onto what was yesteryear. Keep in mind the same people saying they're on 'the right side of history', which is BS because history always changes as do social norms, would be saying and believing the opposite of what they currently believe if they were born and raised in the 1800s.