Contents:
- IS PERSONA 4‘S KANJI GAY OR NOT?
- PERSONA 4: GOLN MOD RTOR GAY ROMANCE OPTN
- IS PERSONA 4'S KANJI GAY OR NOT?
IS PERSONA 4‘S KANJI GAY OR NOT?
One of the most pellg parts of Atl’ Persona 4 is the qutn of one of s characters’ possible homosexualy. Persona 4 ma great stris the portrayal of homosexualy gam wh the character of Kanji, a rough-and-tumble lquent who may or may not be gay.
In Kanji’s alternate world, his other self appears as a near-nu, “gay” soundg versn of himself who habs a men’s bathhoe, strongly suggtg that the character ho homosexual sir. The game, however, never really mak ncrete whether or not Kanji’s gay or jt sexually nfed, which has trated some gamers.
PERSONA 4: GOLN MOD RTOR GAY ROMANCE OPTN
“The Japane are more fortable wh the ncept of beg gay and not beg gay at the same time. In this se, mak sense that, the end, the game is not tellg you what to thk about Kanji or even if he is gay.
“That flamboyance was also what the viewers of the Midnight Channel [a TV channel that shows what’s happeng the alternate world] wanted to see: a typil gay person on TV that people would lgh at. However, the game has long been ntroversial for the way handled two characters who are implied or perceived to be queer: Kanji Tastumi, who the game impli to be gay or bisexual, and Naoto Shirogane, who many fans view as eher a transgenr man or nonbary.
The game strongly dit that he may be gay (or bisexual), and Kanji's Shadow -- signed as an credibly mpy gay stereotype -- outright says he prefers men. His Shadow tentnally plays to stereotyp and homophobic trop by makg unwanted advanc toward male party members and ditg his sexualy stems om hatg girls. On top of that, there are stanc where other characters make homophobic ments toward him, most egregly when Yose asks if he'll be "safe" stayg a tent wh Kanji.
IS PERSONA 4'S KANJI GAY OR NOT?
Many crics at the time noted the flaws his portrayal and wished to see him fively nfirmed as gay, but were nohels thrilled to have a character like Kanji exist.
The extreme and disturbg parts of his Shadow uld have arisen bee the are the only reprentatns of gay people Kanji has seen. Regardls of whether Kanji is gay, straight, or bisexual, his storyle has a clear msage about genr rol and expectatns that fs wh Persona 4's general theme of acceptance.
I was so nnected to the character, and felt that his characteristics and msage were so clear, that I was more than a ltle angered by the way Kanji was terpreted a recent vio on The vio qutn was a rant, wrten and performed by se edor Anthony Burch, which he argued that vio gam sperately need homosexual characters that didn’t nform to obv stereotyp. Burch lled out Persona 4 as an example of a game which handled homosexualy extremely poorly. Is he gay?