persona 4 is one of the most queerphobic things i've ever seen. the fact that that game actually has people defending kanji and naoto as interesting explorations of identity and not just atlus being absurdly reactionary and dedicating 2 separate characters to the argument that all queer people are simply confused and anxious over not performing their agab well enough blows my mind. the complete rejection of any possibility that queerness could be normalized or sympathetic, and even the very possibility that anyone could legitimately be queer and not just a scared child
atlus did better than this in 1999! what the fuck!
i once saw someone compare persona 4 to madoka magica because both seem like they might be queer but aren't textually queer. but if madoka magica was like persona 4 it would end with madoka looking at homura and saying "it seems like you might be in love with me, which would be SUPER GROSS so i need you to get away from me!" and homura saying "oh my god no i'm not gay don't worry! there's a perfectly heterosexual explanation!" and madoka would still act homophobic because that's what must be done to anyone who it's POSSIBLE might be anything other than cishet
persona 4 is so revealing about the ways "normal" is enforced, it boggles the mind some people can't see that
kanji is especially egregious, as well as removing yosuke's bi shit very late in development. i may just hang out in too many megaten communities, but i've landed on being pretty neutral on naoto and think there's a lot to do with gender norms in japanese culture as well as being fine to be read as a trans narrative. i mean even yusuke in p5 clearly is written to be queer, but never given the proper storyline for it.
i'm mildly optimistic with atlus removing the transphobia in persona 3 reload. hopefully this continues the trend and we never see a story like catherine again, which may actually be the most hateful and transphobic narrative i've played before
the dungeon being naoto's shadow trying to forcibly perform srs on naoto tips it over the edge for me, if it being in the same game as kanji wasn't enough for me to no longer give any benefit of the doubt
but i agree the kanji stuff feels actively malicious in a way the naoto stuff doesn't
Kanji had the potential to have an absolutely fantastic story of self-discovery and acceptance. I genuinely despise how they wrote his character as it stands. So much more could’ve been done. I mean hells, he was my favorite character up to the point where his sexuality started getting waved off. I even named my cat after him. >w>
And don’t get me started on Naoto. The end of that dungeon’s dialogue had me fucked up for a couple of days. I was not ready for that at all.
am i stupid was madoka magica not explicitly queer
i promise i don't have fandom brain but like those were lesbians on screen, right? i didn't just imagine that?
they don't kiss, so some people* try and argue they aren't. but i agree with you
*not just open reactionaries either! some of them are arguing it's yuribait and that that is a super harmful thing to say they're gay because the show doesn't have big flashing letters saying THESE GIRLS ARE IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER, LIKE ROMANTICALLY
i agree! some people think that isn't enough for them, idk what the fuck they want
2024 rerelease of Madoka Magica where it pauses at certain moments and Kyubey just pops out with a big glowing neon arrow colored like the lesbian pride flag and says something like, "Oh these are some gay-ass girls huh, like, super lesbian, they don't kiss but my girls are GAY, they are romantically in love with each other." -- before disappearing off screen again and everything resumes
NB: I have not seen more than an episode of Madoka Magica (I should, though)
i really like it! it's one of those things that's been with me long enough i am entirely non-objective but i think it's very good
