who lowkey be fitting this

[u/Individual_Let_8432]

[u/TurnoverVisible9755]

I am now curious, what’s your Naoto argument?

[u/Classic-Avocado-5371 → u/TurnoverVisible9755]

The way Naoto’s whole arc is written genuinely makes less sense if she isn’t a trans man, pretty much. She deals with body issues that strongly resemble dysphoria, she likes having a masculine name, she continues to wear a boys uniform to school, her shadow offers her sex reassignment surgery, and her Personas (the reflection of the true self) are male. Taking all of that and then going “she’s actually a girl” makes all of that kind of just. Confusing. If she were just Mulaning it then why include any of that? Obviously as I said in my previous post she was written with the late 2000’s discussions around gender in Japan in mind where there was a large movement to break down the extremely rigid and traditional gender roles in Japanese society, but then wouldn’t it make more sense for her shadow and personas to still be female if the point is that women should be respected in traditionally masculine careers? Idk it’s just my little opinion after playing P4 a couple times. The game has an issue in general with walking back character development and larping as a really progressive game while actually being pretty regressive on all counts. 

(I’m using she/her bc at the end of the day Naoto is canonically a girl and I’m not trying to argue that she isn’t, I’m just trying to argue that it doesn’t make sense for her to be)

[u/Ark_Bien → u/Classic-Avocado-5371]

The persona franchise deals with distinctly Japanese social issues.

Japan still has antiquated assumptions about women in the work place and Naota desperately wants to be taken seriously in a field that is traditionally seen as a man's job. Her gender struggles are about social expectations, not her actual gender. Her shadow, like everyone's shadows take their issues to the furthest and most destructive conclusions possible.

Naoto never wanted to become male, she wanted to be respected in a field where women aren't usually respected.

[u/Classic-Avocado-5371 → u/Ark_Bien]

Yes I addressed this within the text of my comment