Something or Other

wrenchdolt:

theplatybadger:

I really, really, really, really, really dislike that people think he isn’t gay or at least interested in men because that whole development with his character in the game means it was completely for naught and the player is missing the point entirely.

It’s pretty obviously in the original…

I’m sorry, but you’re missing the point. Kanji’s true insecurities were not about his sexuality; they’re about gender roles. He is a guy who likes girly things. People judge him for it, and the girls he would have wanted to hang out with (because they share similar interests) shun him. He starts to fear and dislike girls then, because he experiences them as cruel and judgmental. They don’t accept him.  When he’s approached by Naoto he’s unsure. Someone is finally interested in him, but they’re a boy. And he realizes, wow this is where he fits in. Gay men would accept both his feminine and masculine sides. His shadow embraces homosexuality because this is where Kanji could find his place in the world. Hence shadow!Kanji’s plea; “I don’t care who. Won’t anyone please accept me?” 

When Kanji faces his shadow he tells him “it ain’t a matter of boys or chicks”. The real issue was his fear of being rejected. On the question of Kanji’s sexuality I would say he’s not gay. He wants to be accepted by someone regardless of their gender. It does not have to be a guy, it just has to be someone who likes him the way he is. 

Exactly. While there is a possibility of Kanji being gay or bisexual seeing as Atlus left it up to the fan’s interpretation, that really was not the point of Kanji’s shadow. I hate it when people take it at face value like that. It’s like saying that Yukiko’s really a slutty princess trying to ‘score a hot stud’ or that Rise’s actually a stripper. 

And the whole thing about Naoto; no, she is not canonly trans. Her issues with gender were social, not sexual. You CANNOT determine whether someone is trans based on that. It’s like saying that someone is gay because their mother babied them at birth. Naoto did not feel like a man trapped in a woman’s body, she felt like a woman trapped in a man’s world. There’s a difference. In her social link, she came to terms with her gender and her place in the world and actually admitted to the protagonist that she is glad to be a woman.