Spoilers, Y'all
Author's Note: The following blog post was written after watching the latest Rev Rant on the site, in which Mr. Burch deplores the lack of cool, interesting gay characters in video games. In the video, he holds up Persona 4 as a video game that seems to make strides to present a gay character in a game and fails, and calls the decision to say whether or not Kanji is gay "cowardly". I felt that Mr. Burch had an incorrect close reading of the character, and ended up sending him an email about why I thought he was looking at the character in the wrong light. I ended up enjoying the process of trying to explain Kanji's position in Persona 4, and have decided to share my rational with y'all here. This blog is written in the letter format I sent to Mr. Burch.

Dear Anthony,

I just watched your Rev Rant this week about the ways gay people are represented in games. Boy, did I get a charge out of it. I haven’t felt this kind of seething anger and desire to type furiously since….well, since you posted Runner. After watching, I immediately wanted to respond to your rant, and try and correct what I saw as a major factual error of the rant….and the thing that may prevent your enjoyment of Persona 4.

Yes, I’m writing to you based on your comments on Kanji Tatsumi in the rant. And I’m writing this because I think you REALLY misinterpreted what P4 was trying to say about Kanji. In fact, using Kanji as an example of a gay character in a game is proof positive that you have the wrong read on the game.

But I’m jumping ahead of myself. Let’s get your words on the page.

You said in the video that, in the portrayal of the character Kanji, Atlas, “sotra half-assed it. Is he gay? Is he not gay? You can argue that this is because of different definitions of sexuality in japan vs. here, and that (sexuality) is not as clear cut as that, but the game still made me feel that that was a cowardly move, to make a character, and actually explore what it’s like to be gay in high school when that’s not really the accepted norm, and then refuse to say whether he’s gay or not.

The big problem here? Your speech makes it clear that you missed out on the key aspect of the Kanji story line, the part where the game reveals the truth of Kanji’s sexuality. And the game DOES address Kanji’s storyline. It DOES address Kanji’s sexuality. And the revelations about Kanji’s sexuality provide insight beyond the simple categorization of “gay” or “straight”; it cuts to the heart of a completely different, equally vital discussion, one that exists even in our American society.

You see, Kanji isn’t gay.

He’s not.

As Kanji says inside the T.V, after finally sedating his shadow self, “It ain’t a matter of guys and chicks….”.

The game certainly makes it SEEM like he’s gay. His interaction’s with the “boy” Naoto and, of course, his shadow on the Midnight Channel are all designed to make it look like he’s gay. Persona 4 really goes far to make you think that Kanji is, in fact gay.

And so many people WANT Kanji to be gay. In fact, I think the reason you included him on this list is specifically for that reason. You, like so many other game players, WANT Kanji to be gay, because video games are in desperate need for gay characters who are not stereotypes. And if Kanji, in your mind, was gay, it would provide some really interesting interactions throughout the game, just as you said; it would allow the game to show interactions of a gay teenager in high school. And that would be just the kind of insightful, meaningful representation of homosexuality that gaming needs.

But Persona 4 doesn’t make it so simple, and you punish the game for what it isn’t; a sophisticated, heartfelt, and honest interactive experience involving someone coming to grips with their homosexual urges.

The problem, though, is just that; you are punishing the game for what it isn’t, and you’re not seeing what the game actually is.

Persona 4 does have a message about Kanji, and it has nothing do with whether or not he’s actually gay.

Persona 4 doesn’t care if Kanji is gay.

Persona 4 doesn’t care if Kanji is not gay.

The game is not interested in Kanji’s sexuality in and of itself.

No, Persona 4 is interested in Kanji for a different reason.

The key to understanding Kanji isn’t sexuality. It’s Gender.

Now, you may think I’m crazy. You may think that the game puts a ton of time into portraying Kanji as gay, particularly with his near-naked, heavily lisped shadow inside the T.V. The game, you say, seems to want to have Kanji be gay, and doesn’t go through with it.

But take another look at the dialog in the game, particularly from Kanji and Shadow Kanji inside the T.V

Just before the fight against Shadow Kanji begins, he utters this very interesting line;

“What does it mean to ‘be a guy? What does it mean to be ‘manly?’ Shadow Kanji

Shadow Kanii hits upon one of real Kanji’s sorest spots; for all of his tough guy shenanigans, his leather jacket and “shouting at Media”-itude, Kanji, according to his hearts, true desire, doesn’t understand what it means to be a ”guy”….and, more importantly, why he isn’t a guy.

Yes, Kanji has that air of overcompensating manliness that we always link to heterosexuality, but his heart tells a different story…a story about the real reason his shadow has manifested.

“Oh, how I hate girls……

(The girls say)’You like to sew? What a queer!’

‘Painting is so not you!’

‘But you’re a guy! You don’t act like a guy! Why aren’t you manly?’

“They look at me like I’m some kind of disgusting freak, and say that I’m a weirdo!” Shadow Kanji.

“The girls of Inaba High reject him. They call him queer. Why? Because Kanji likes to sew. He’s good with textiles. He likes to do crafts, He enjoys knitting. He does things that are “queer” for a guy to do.

Kanji, in the opinion of Inaba High, has to be gay, because he doesn’t do the things a guy is “supposed” to do.

THIS is the key to Kanji.

For the people of Inaba, a person’s sexual preferences are not dependent on what sex an individual actually likes. It doesn’t have anything to do with attraction. Heck, it doesn’t have anything to do with sexuality whatsoever. Because Kanji doesn’t act like a ‘man”, he is not engaging in things that are “male”. For the people of Inaba (and, I would absolutely say, the people here in America) you can’t be a man, like to sew, and still be straight. Kanji likes to do girly things, and not manly things. Therefore, he must be gay.

And this gets to the heart of what Kanji represents in Persona 4, and why he’s such a wonderful character, in spite of what he “isn’t” to you. Kanji, as a character, represents the way that society(Japanese society, and, I would say, American society) handle Gender and Sexuality.

People, in general, need to characterize things, separate items and people according to differences. You are gay or straight. You are a Democrat or a Republican. You are Rich or Poor. If you are male, you like to have sex with women. If you’re female, you like to sew and do arts and crafts. If you’re a man, you like to do “manly” things, like play sports or get into fights.

YOU, as an individual, do not make these choices. YOU, as an individual, do not choose whether or not you like guys or girls, whether you like sports or crafts. Society, that all seeing eye, determines what you SHOULD like, what you SHOULD enjoy doing. Your reality, your existence; it’s socially constructed. Society determines what you are supposed to be.

For the kids at Inaba High, because Kanji is a guy who likes to sew, he HAS to be gay. That’s all he’s allowed to be. That’s all society allows him to be.

Kanji has to be gay, because society deems him to be gay, not because he is actually attracted to other men.

Kanji Tatsumi is a character with a startling, and true, revelation: We are trapped in the roles we are given by society, We HAVE to fit into the categories that define people.

In Kanji Tatsumi, we see that sexuality is defined by others, towards us. We don’t choose our sexuality, instead, we have it assigned based on what we are “supposed” to be.

Think I’m still crazy? Good! But I’m not done yet! There’s one final piece to Kanji’s puzzle!

I have no sense of whether or not you made it to the end of the game( and by that, I mean the very very all the way super true super true ending) because the very end of the game provides a final twist on the Midnight Channel.

Since you, at the least, have gotten to Kanji in the game, then I’m sure you know what the Investigation Team THINKS the Midnight Channel is: a representation of people’s deepest, most secret desires and beliefs. The Shadow bosses are representations of what the individual on the Channel wishes they could be, or yearns to be, or actually is. Denying that truth makes the shadows stronger.

You know that song, but did you make it to the very end of the “true ending” of P4? The final final boss actually reveals the actual truth of the Midnight Channel: the mysterious shadows figures are not the representations of the captured student’s greatest fears and desires.

In actuality, the image on the midnight channel is generated by Inaba’s perception of whoever had recently showed up on normal television. The shadow Kanji, almost totally naked and with Heavy Lisp, wasn’t generated inside his heart; it was what the town THOUGHT Kanji was, what Inaba THOUGHT was Kanji’s true self: a closeted homosexual.

Kanji’s story isn’t about what was inside his heart. It’s slyer, sneakier than that: it’s about what Inaba THINKS Kanji is supposed to be.

And we can all relate to that, right? Did you ever have a hobby, or an action, or a habit that others construed as “gay”? Do you have reactions that aren’t considered manly? Well…..why aren’t they manly?

Me? I’m a hopeless romantic. I love romance films. I love a good love story. I’m emotionally needy. I’m easily overwhelmed by my buried emotions. I’ve cried in public, for god’s sakes. I am a person who engages in activities that are “not manly”. But I am straight. And that doesn’t matter. Society has determined that my actions, and my choices, mean that I’m gay.

For Persona 4, society limits us; it breaks us down into categories, stereotypes, roles and characters. We are SUPPOSED to act in certain ways, and conform to certain standards.

“What’s the matter with doing what I want to do?” Shadow Kanji

Kanji does things that mean, for society, that he has to be gay.

Kanji isn’t allowed to be the person that he actually is: a guy who enjoys “feminine” pursuits, like sewing and painting. He doesn’t want to be rejected by the people around him. For being something he’s not “supposed” to be. He doesn’t want to have his pursuits laughed at. He instead wants to be respected for who he is, not what he is supposed to be.

“Won’t someone….anyone…..accept me for who I am?!” Shadow Kanji.

“I’m just scared shitless of being rejected….” Regular Kanji

Kanji's story is the story of what it means, and what if feels like, to have a generalization assigned to you.

Kanji ain’t no coward, sir. He may not be gay, be his story still makes him one of the richest, most interesting characters in the entire game.

And he really doesn’t belong on your list of gay character portrayals in video games. He deserves a totally different list.

PHEW! That takes care of that. I hope I was able to provide some measure of insight into the way Persona 4 understands Kanji, and why your criticism of the Kanji character in the video is unfounded. Persona 4 doesn’t drop the ball with Kanji Tatsumi.

You judged Kanji because he was supposed to be gay. He was supposed to fit into you grand scheme, your design of homosexual characters in video games. When Kanji didn’t easily fit into your group of positive gay characters, you chastised him and the game, and cut him down to size. You didn’t see, or respect, the person that Kanji actually was, or the game that Persona 4 actually is.

Sounds familiar?

Thank you again for posting the Rev Rant. I think there are certainly game writers who are better than you, but no other writer in all of gaming gets me whipped up into a writing frenzy like you do.

Sincerely,

Droll