This is a very self-indulgent piece for me. I myself am transgender nonbinary, which has led to me seeing myself fairly unrepresented in modern media. It’s getting better, but it’s not what I’d like it to be.
In 2008, Persona 4 released for the Playstation 2. It had a completely different atmosphere than its predecessor Persona 3, focusing on the ideas of identity and definition of the self over Persona 3’s themes of death, dread, and grief. It was a fairly solid story, but there were a significant number of issues with it.
The primary issue with Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden comes in the form of the way it writes its characters and their interactions. Yosuke Hanamura, while he may be a fan favourite, is the worst offender. His character frequently objectifies the female cast and spews homophobic remarks at another character, Kanji Tatsumi, whose arc focuses on coming to terms with his sexuality. Many fans and fanfiction authors have taken to augmenting Yosuke’s actions, making him less outwardly homophobic and pushing closer to a sense of internalized homophobia.
However, there is another issue that stems from this story: Naoto Shirogane. Naoto Shirogane is, as canon puts it, a female detective who pretends to be a man in order to garner even a shred of respect from their peers due to a combination of workplace misogyny and lack of female representation in the industry. At the end of their dungeon, they are revealed not to be a man, but a woman, in what many consider a trans coded scene.
Many fans take this reveal as fuel that Naoto should have actually been a trans man or trans nonbinary. This is due to the fact that even after this reveal, Naoto continues to bind their chest and wear more masculine clothing, as well as fans believing that ‘pretending to be a man for workplace respect’ is incredibly unrealistic and absurd writing.
This section of fandom has sparked lots of debate online, and as a result has plunged Naoto’s character into infamy, leaving them to be regarded as merely a topic for debate.
However, a select few fans have taken the previously mentioned reveal a different way: Naoto is not a trans man, but a trans woman.
Despite certain scenes providing ‘evidence’ that Naoto is AFAB in canon, there are a significant number of lines that would lead their reveal to be much different. Language like “crossing the gender barrier” and “I can never be a man” makes this arc feel more like coming to terms with an internalized transphobia, and accepting themselves as transgender male-to-female.
Additionally, this gives credence to the “pretending to be a man” facet of the story, as Naoto would be hiding their gender identity for fear of both workplace misogyny and transphobia.
All in all, Naoto Shirogane is an incredibly complex character, and should not be boiled down to their gender. They are a source of gender euphoria and representation for some, and that must be appreciated, but it cannot be singled out as the only aspect of their character.
Representation is important, but it should not be taken as the only important trait of a character, or else the character and story will suffer.
