Kanji Tatsumi Analysis; The Emperor's New Clothes || Persona 4 Golden Analysis

[Music] hey I did a bunch of research for this video and intend to cover kani's character as thoroughly as I can so if you end up at any point feeling impressed or learning something new I'd ask that you please leave a like comment and share this video where Persona fans might see it so this work doesn't get completely sent down the toilet this video is chunky and heavily scripted and edited so I hope that you'll enjoy the effort that I put into it Kanji Tatsumi our wonderful cinnamon boy soft inside crunchy outside probably one of the most beloved characters in Persona 4 according to news flash Persona Channel 2015 Atlas announced him to be the sixth most popular character on their Niko live stream although I wouldn't be surprised if it was even higher in the west especially in the years that have happened since kanji is a cinamon roll a teddy bear type character someone who is rough and rugged on the outside and sensitive and kind to those who meet him and get to know him truly serious about his values and dedicated to caring for his mother and her store having no qualms about disrespecting authority of any kind if they stand against what his True Values are well all the same being extremely respectful to any Authority that he honestly thinks deserve it he's the fourth addition to the investigation team and the core of the second dungeon in Persona 4 Golden the initial impression of kanji is this sort of secretive violent delinquent driven home by his imposing height tendency to use aggression as a form of warding off unwanted attention and his choice of clothing he does all right academically if I wanted to be optimistic but his atten tenant record is very poor and he's generally considered similar in terms of social aloofness and sexual euphemism unawareness that Yuko has making sense considering out of the entire cast they actually have the most similar type of background between Tatsumi textiles and the aagi in often having a sort of amicable relationship similar to this before being introduced into the story of the game Yukiko was the only person to personally have known kanji although mainly superficially and we see that elaborated on in very slight ways although Yukio seems not confident enough to correct the record on anything in particular kji loves his mom growing up at the textile shop he came to love sewing animal crackers and generally despite these more gentle things became a person so invested in these things he loved that he became a violent person who warded off anyone he thought were bad Often by physically fighting them famously getting on TV after being mistaken as a crazy biker gang member when in actuality he was fighting off biker gangs in enaba that he thought were ruining the Safety and Security of his beautiful town that he loved also stereotypically with how he looks he has an unintentionally harsh mouth often using very disrespectful Japanese slang but this acts more like a natural defense mechanism to get people off his back rather than anything that he means in terms of well meanness that's enough introduction let's get into Persona 4's Emperor Arana Tatsumi looking first at the dungeon before we make our way in we see the continuation of this trashy late night Public Access television theme that the game has been going for leaning into to those real life Sensational shows from the mid to late '90s and some of the early odds kanji appears in a towel as a mock reporter doing research on the a superb site for those searching for Sublime love that surpasses the separation of the Sexes this hyper caricature like gay stereotyping and flamboyance and the tone change of his voice in both the Japanese and English performance is an immediate contrast to the inflection and appearance of kanji in the game thus far and obviously due to this hyper change leans in on the Curiosity over the secret meetings with the strange boy from earlier when trailing kanji this risque a parody play on investigative journalism through the midnight Channel tells us a few things but I'm going to wait until describing any other significant factors before going into my analysis upon arrival into the dungeon it's confirmed to be a sauna a big sweat box or as the TV title States a bath house Western culture has a history of associating baths and showers with men as gay with jokes about dropping the soap being overdone and noticeable to most people thing is due to The Stomping out sometimes literally of burgeoning Christianity through the soku and Edo period Japan used to be a very sexually open culture prior to the the modern period especially in comparison to many other countries in this time period being gay hasn't typically been seen as an overwhelmingly immoral or sinful act with many prominent figures in Japanese history being some form of gay or bisexual in fact in some factions the pursuit to being the greatest male self as a samurai often led to the glorification of maleness that would celebrate homosexual Behavior as a sort of type of appreciation for mess of the highest degree yes in general the Kiki the records of ancient matters that concern so much of the mythology of Persona 4 and is the founding of the Shinto Doctrine is very sex positive in general Buddhism typically asked for celibacy but only in that sexuality is a desire that must be expunged like any other in order to escape the cycle of death and rebirth the mai restoration era starting in 1860 generally sent homosexuality for the first time in Japanese history as a negative thing as an Act passed in 1872 was the first to ever criminalize the act of sodomy although it was quickly repealed 7 years later in 1880 still due to the westernization of culture among other things leads homosexuality to be understood negatively or sometimes denied although not the same cultural understanding perspective or scrutiny that is associated with many of the other historically judeo-christian cultures and classically abrahamic align ones of the time oh boy so what was that all about basically I wanted to give a better context for people who may have been raised in more western or traditionally judeo-christian or abrahamic cultures that this sort of general idea that homosexuality is by default a sin is not something that was inherent to many cultures during a lot of the similar time periods much of the anti-homosexual sentiment seemed to have been buried after an introduction of Buddhism but more so after an introduction of open cultural Exchange in the 1800s previous to this era Japan was fairly sex positive that's what I'm trying to get across because I know a lot of people may not be obviously Japanese themselves or speak Japanese or have personal experience in Japanese culture this is important because there's something very distinct being done here with the bath house theme that is lost I think on Western culture that mostly see gay people and bath house as haha Prison Sex joke I wanted to get across that there's so much more going on here so what is going on here something called cruising for sex or haena became common as well with a well-known gay bar being reported as early as the 1600s named Yin machaya not being the only one and bathouses with explicit purposes of gay men meeting each other for haena in other words it's not that bathouses being naked around men is inherently gay like one may associate with Western lens which is actually fairly normal among Japanese families even to this day with Fathers and Sons bathing together but specifically the idea of gay and Hatten based bathouses in Japan have existed for a long time and even somewhat continue culturally today some regular bathouses will even offer specific hotten areas so if the implication of the bath house in Persona 4 didn't seem subtle it's probably less subtle than you even thought before we continue with greater context on some of the history of homosexuality in Japan I do feel the need to mention G bashing which in is literally the English words gay bashing it's worth noting that this is something recent culturally wise because the lone words are brought from English aligning with the westernization of the mai era and Beyond gay bashing refers to violence perpetrated toward gay men sometimes performing hatina at public parks as is another historically popular place for gay people to meet and hook up these gay bashing cases sometimes lead to hunting or Slaughter cases one famous example being ashiana Park par where a man stabbed another man performing haena in the thigh and killed him the trial determined that it was a quote unquote mistake murder caused from conflict the last addition is just to add that while homosexuality has been approved praised religiously backed and supported and generally seen as culturally acceptable to some degree or another in broader Japanese history the extreme change in attitude and Remnants started from the mayi era still exist today so well depending on the area or place as is historically true regardless of culture support may actually be much higher or lower in Japan other places groups and areas as well as of course individual discriminatory people still exist and the justice system does not often try in the way that we would think is fair there's plenty of institutional discrimination against gay people across the board many of the off-hand comments from kanji come into two categories while you work through the dungeon that is references or euphemisms to gay Acts or ideas the ideas of yearning for understanding of something he can't quite describe meeting kanji on the third floor there is a mention of looking for the encounters but not finding them possibly due to the fog the sign also refers to this place as a Rosy steamy Paradise rather than a bad bad bath house going to Classic imagery in the Rose the meaning seems to be the same here the rose represented the idea the concept of romance but the Thorns being the much harsher reason for the search for Yuko searching for her prince was merely the way to escape per indecision but with kanji that thing is yet to be made even apparent although hinted at so far the mini boss is mostly absent of gay euphemism but instead is literally referred to as a fight saying that now that he sees fine young men have arrived he wants to see them fight and pour their blood and guts the Ultraviolence and Hyper masculine depiction of the boss gives a feeling that what kanji is searching for is all things manly but through the fog is only able to find these hyperm masculine classically Associated images the mini boss also is a wrestler with a pink mustache which is most likely a reference to Hulk Hogan this isn't just because of him being one of the most popularly recognized wrestlers in wrestling history but also because he performed under the WWF in the'80s new Japanese pro wrestling or njpw another thing of note is the Western idea of man being at play here rather than the reserved refined Bushido that often perpetuated male society and perception in Japan certain Western traits started being adopted in the post-war period in the showa period during World War II in 1946 and Beyond this is when the occupancy of Japan by American soldiers began for the rebuilding period in this time alongside countless other cultural artifacts The increased height and musculature of soldiers as well as the long-standing involvement there from Hollywood and American Media to Japan depicting a strong dominant type of man someone with thick facial hair eating meat and even the idea of drinking carbonated drinks like Coca-Cola became associated in Japan with manliness via cultural assimilation finally we find kanji disagreeing with his shadow kanji shadow goes on a tiate on why he prefers men to women but none of this has to do with love or attraction instead coming from this seemingly a deep-seated personal experience and bullying by girls who question his meekness they also refer to him as a queer in the pejorative sense probably planting this idea that the things he likes can't be manly they can't be who he is but instead must be representative of something larger that he doesn't feel comfortable associating himself with his more calm and non- manly Hobbies something implied being raised by an old mother to work at a textile shop he likes sewing in fact in an optional Reay night dialogue re remarks after wondering where kanji gets his clothes that it's likely all his modifications are actually custom and that he indeed is the one who's making a lot of his clothes there's also aspects of this that are elaborated on more of course in his social link but we'll get to that in a bit he speaks on how he felt unaccepted undesired and degraded by girls that he grew up around girls who expected him to be playing with bugs and fighting with the other boys on the playground rather than the naturally gentle and quiet boy that kanji was now for the shadow kanji boss fight the sign in the room before the fight and behind him actually says commod Modo generally meaning to protect or guard and meaning for boys together is generally meant for the protection of men and boys the symbol of the two circles in close proximity is a normal sign sometimes used to refer to money or weather in Japan in this case I believe that it follows the meaning of strong recommendation the flower pedals for new life change and rebirth and the Love on the circles that close in around the Sign and Banner I think think fully means to fully Embrace protect and Foster the development of our young men rather than stifling and crushing their true selves let men Embrace who they are protect manliness any way that it exists the boss himself has two lais both made half black and half white with the classic Macho mustache this is likely the Yen and yang thing represented by the positive and negatives of masculinity and also by the two types of kanji one of the enemies is is named nice guy while the other is tough guy they both put up barriers for each other and protect kanji with Buffs the two sides of himself the weaker nice guy who he feels he's always been deep down and the tough guy he feels that he has to be in order to ward off judgmental people seeing him as weak or girly the two sides of kanji that protect him the figure in the middle similarly has an enlarged musculature of the black and white henchmen enemies splitting in the middle to cradle a naked and defenseless kanji the tough and nice side letting him remain within the flowers while from either side the facade digs Thorns into his actions adding to the idea of him being defenselessly cradled between the two halves the red circle cheeks are often associated with childlike Behavior youthful navity or meekness each side of him also wields the gender signs turning them up and down seeming to convey the confusion although when he attacks he sometimes throws them into the air confidently flexing as they stab into the ground more reflecting the female sex symbol a prideful confidence in having a feminine nature upon defeat the line actually changed a bit possibly due to a western audience likely not being privy to many of the cultural aspects of this dungeon and Ark in English he reaches out desperately in sadness and says accept me in the Japanese he says IU which means many things to go to die and to come but like in a sexual way this likely was a double anandra fitting euphemism with failure and a desire to have someone go away with him so while the intent of the line wasn't totally carried over I think the important aspect of it was without seeing too overly insensitive or homophobic in regards to mythology I couldn't find much like the previous three only Japanese culture Al artifacts that build more on this metaphorical image it may or may not feel like it to you but there are many things that I don't include due to myself thinking that they may be a bit of a reach or don't add anything meaningful to the understanding of the character still I try to find everything that matches here if it wasn't already abundant by many prior lines kanji says it ain't a matter of guys or chicks I'm just scared shitless of being rejected so uh our families run a textile shop for Generations oh yeah you you already knew that my parents are kind of weird they they say stuff like dyes are one with the universe and cloth is alive that's the kind of house I grew up in so I've been interested in sewing and stuff since I was a kid the second I say stuff like that people look at me funny girls make fun of me the people in the neighborhood treat me like I'm some zoo animal so I would was sick of everything I guess I wasn't really afraid of girls I was just scared of people in general I know kanji sexuality is a largely spoken about aspect of his character so we will circle around to it later in his segment but I want to make sure that we cover his full character and context first so for now with that kanji awakens to T mikazuchi which is what we'll be getting into next Tak mikazuchi lorewise is a god of thunder and lightning which explains his electric type attacks from kanji he was also birthed from the blood rened when Izanagi killed one of his sons kagutsuchi following the murder of isanami he wasn't the only God born from this event such as o yamatsumi who also has purpose in Persona for Golden story but this is the place that Tak mikazuchi was born from sticking to the theme of the main cast coming from izanagi's actions the protagonist our inner self his design represents this too with a lightning bolt being held as a weapon the large Skeleton on the design despite fitting with kanji shirt also pantomimes the classic view in cartoons manga and more of a person's skeleton becoming visible when they're struck by lightning the body shape however is a robot something that can operate with the strength of its parts but instead is given artificially big manly muscles things unnecessary to a machine as if the true functioning strength of kanji is existent regardless of his muscles the smaller head in general shape could also refer to further reference of wrestling with a mask and a disguise other aspects in moves I also discussed and have further ties to his ultimate Persona which of course I covered in its own separate segment kanji social link is the first of the main cast who doesn't become available through a cutscene hanging out event instead he's conscious of a rumor around school that targets him and due to him not wanting you and the others to have rumors spread about you guys he doesn't want to cause any of you all trouble After all you've done for him and so he stays away but he says that if you need him to reach out he'll do what he can this is only if you find and listen to him first of course you might miss out on the dialogue if you spoke to the girl on the second floor who mentions him starting his own gang to bully people this is actually a reference to a recurring delinquent group the one scen in ch's social link as well as many others she tells you where he is and says it's scary that he's hanging around outside the sewing place like that's so creepy this dialogue is supposed to inform the player that kanji has an available social link but you can't actually start it until you've spoken with her and heard the rumor about him the funny thing is in the practice building some additional dialogue is him shyly letting you know that he wasn't peeking in on the room he's standing next to which is the sewing crafts Club room it's a cute sign that he doesn't have the courage to quite go into the room but he's still interested in what's going on inside upon remating kanji he asks you why you're making a scary face at him and if you're going to tell him something bad the first social link is in my opinion probably the weirdest of his Social Links and is framed really awkwardly when the girl tells you the info of this obviously false rumor the internal dialogue of yukami says it seems kanji is bullying people even if you haven't already met the real delinquent group you should still know this is false then in this social it's kind of framed like you're taking him out to lecture him the first option responding to if you're there to lecture him is basically three varyingly harsh ways of responding yes with the least yes answer being weirdly passive aggressive saying I'm just here to talk as if you're some Church Pastor getting on to you for kissing your girlfriend in the back of the youth group bus then after kanji hears the rumors about him being in the group he is surprised and asks if you suspect him again you get three answers that basically cast doubt on kanji with the least aggressive being I want to believe in you once again feeling very very passive aggressive I mention all of this because to my knowledge this is the only point where the protagonist is definitively and confidently wrong about something in Persona 4 like we already saved kanji in the bath house why would you believe a rumormonger more than a person that he should have learned more about in the bath house it's also odd with it being almost never seen otherwise the main character taking the Reigns from the player I enjoy the novelty of it in a sense though just from its sheer Rarity but it's probably one of my least favorite ranks the rest of the social link is great though and all of the dungeon analysis stuff will be coming back as we cover his link you eventually let kanji know the rumors are no trouble to you and that you just want to help kanji asks then if he can talk to you sometime how he feels cramped inside of himself and how he feels too dumb to work it out on his own he says that but kanji is well not the brightest also a pretty active thinker when it comes to figuring out who he is he's someone who is more concerned than most of the characters in trying to understand himself you see this contemplative face that he makes very often as a way of reflecting on aspects in cutscenes going forward some of which we'll be mentioning in further contexts the first thing that we cover with kanji social link is the ability to tone down the tough guy side of his personality it becomes very clear that he says aggressive things almost without will when he feels threatened in some way it's become a chronic way of coping with a deep sensitivity and so is something he will have to actively think about when talking to others in order to overcome this defensive reaction he tells the a cook he's going to destroy the store and then looks over at you and adds just so he can rebuild it better than ever it comes off as an awkward comment but he's trying his best to momentarily write the wrongs that give the wrong impression he wants to be a man but he doesn't want anyone to feel hurt or threatened we also see a cop come in and question him what he's up to despite him just sitting in a minding his own business he says that he's always getting interrogated like that how he feels like because of his defensiveness and current expression of himself he's causing trouble for his own mom and others around him mentioning her sprouting more white hairs he also hates being wrongly accused of things when he's not trying to cause trouble for anybody it ends up being the same as whenever he was bullied by the kids at school for being too girly and weak but in Reverse by adult strangers kanji mentions something here which I think is very wholesome to his character filial piety without explaining it to the player this is a teaching in Confucianism regarding the respect between parent and child the idea that the child should give great respect to one's parents and Elders in Japan the idea of kohai and Senpai goes farther than an assertion of class placement of older and younger in school it does the work of the senior co-workers and the junior ones it goes into Family Matters there are essentially four levels of Japanese based entirely on respect or intimacy for the person that you're speaking with the words you use the grammar the intonation all of this is important in Japanese for people to relay proper respect to others that is something that kanji actually shows a lot of care to do as he doesn't just call you yoske Yuko or CH Senpai from time to time he refers to yoske in conversation with you as yoske Senpai even when he's not around and he dots on all of you for being responsible kind and taking care of him as Senpai should his mention of phop piety also adds to this aspect of his character he is probably ironically one of the most actively concerned with respect for others of any of the characters in the game which plays good contrast to him also being seen as so harsh and him wanting to become better for this scene it ends with him talking about how he now feels he has the power and people behind him to make a better change for himself to help this city because he feels he's caused a lot of trouble for everyone next social link is kanji taking you to meet his mother because she wanted to know you this is really sweet and showing that the sensitive relationship between him and his mom is you know very close but also showing that filial piety and respect for his Elders is a big priority to him however the introduction goes off the rails very quickly when he's misinformed about his mom actually being in the hospital turns out she was in the hospital but only to take someone there from here kanji gets upset and storms off this link serves to introduce the plot thread that kani's Dad is dead and that that specifically was a very traumatic experience for him and start planning what his Arc ultimately ends up focusing on what it means to be a man kani's mom mentions how she feels that kanji has become cowardly how he used to love playing house or doing homech instead of sports and physical education how because of this he didn't have very many male friends but girls didn't accept him either they thought he was weird this confirms more of what the shadow alluded to after this consistent unacceptance he started getting into fights and bleaching his hair but she mentions lately he does seem to have some sort of change in him that he might actually be letting himself have fun again that's why she wanted to meet you because she thought you may have been the cause of it and while the true cause was him facing his own insecurity as his shadow I guess in a roundabout way you kind of were the cause for that too the next area we see on the next rank is going to the general location for much of his social link in the future kanji notes that this is a place that he always liked in part because it made him feel this fractioning reasons but for the moment I want to point out this as another irony to his current appearance He makes himself seem big aggress and intimidate others out of fear but he really desires to be small to help others to not stick out be respected and left to rest maybe like all the houses down the hill leading into the mountains but it also goes to the flamboyant nature of his shadow while he acknowledges there is a part of him there that wants to be accepted he doesn't want to be the type of person to assert his acceptance over to others he just wants to be loved and understood for who he is on his and whoever else's own grounds it's poetic an artist should totally draw a Whimsical waterc colory picture of kanji looking wistful looking out at the town down below that would be nice there's another assertion toward the hospital being a place that makes kanji feel weak although he doesn't go into things himself and he notices that the kid from the hospital is sitting there by himself the kid lost a doll that a female friend had given to him truth is though he didn't lose it a boy in his class stomped on the doll and bullied him for having a doll and being girly then to prove he wasn't girly in a moment of insecurity made him throw it into the river but he did want the doll he let her down and now he feels awful kani's response is to chastise the boy for running away then everyone goes down to the river although only kanji goes in to search alone after failing to find the dog all kanji insists that the boy apologize to the girl and take responsibility telling her that he threw it away but in exchange kanji has an idea to make a custom version of the Rabbit doll for the boy himself this doubles down kani's strong sense of responsibility and Justice well also showing his kindness he doesn't realize it but in this this action he's taking is a harmonious combination of the tough and nice guy self and a reach towards the idea of Manliness that he's really been searching for he relays to you how he contextualized the situation the boy was looking for acceptance and to do it made the person cry who already accepted them he sees this as him and his mother and an opportunity to stop the kid from getting into a toxic acceptance cycle that he got into with a kid that seemed interested in traditionally feminine things as well it obviously gained some sympathy from him next link he gives the rabbit to the boy the boy wants one for himself as well and turns out that kanji May may have enjoyed doing it a little more than you would have thought he made a second one just in case that did happen kani's initial embarrassment to admit that he made it is kind of cute but whenever the kid learns that he did make it he doesn't see kanji as weird or gross as a freak he calls him cool this is important to kanji because kanji lying or trying to avoid the fact that he made them is him searching for acceptance because the things in life we love most are often hurt most when they're trampled on to get personal for a moment you know there are many things in life that I love deeply and feel are important to me things that have significance and quality that I am attached to or even that I think are important pieces of media outside of me with these pieces of media I often don't try to sell or convince anyone to experience them unless the person is really close to me even then I might end up not doing it it's because I'm scared of of them not liking it or of misunderstanding it because in a way I feel a part of myself is being rejected or misunderstood when I see it mischaracterized it's very rare that I feel this way about media generally I can enjoy something and then separate it from the author or from other people's communities and perceptions but when I do feel that way it doesn't come out of nowhere it's a valid feeling to have and it sucks it sucks most when people don't State a lack of Interest or don't point out potentially valid criticisms but through their misunderstanding devalue the piece of art without any sense of respect I've seen some people Express mockery toward the idea itself of giving high value to media and art but art is not just entertainment art is a reason for being it is the most expressive way of conveying aspects of The Human Experience that make breathing worthwhile it's the most Dynamic form of understanding philosophy the things that we do in this world our Hobbies the things that we consume in this world a complex dish a painting on a wall a specific story or gameplay mechanic these are the things that allow us to contextualize and translate life's meaning to others so of course it's not just a game just a movie just a show just a painting it's never just a rabbit just a hike just a drive never just a drawing just a speech Just a Song those things are life and if one of those things is deeply close to you they are important and deserve as much respect afforded to them as the average person take pride in what you do and what you like take pride in life just wanted to get that bit out of the way there's likelihood other aspects of this idea will lay in the rest of his Arc and elsewhere but but after kanji is taken a back for not being mocked for the things that he loved and enjoyed he promises to make more stuffed animals for the child the child leaves and The Game notes that kanji looks more mature in his smile than usual still feeling embarrassed as if he got exposed for something he tries hard to hide behind his tough guy demeanor but it kind of falters in this case him being a tough guy and nice guy presented to the child that you can be manly and still so or cook or do anything traditionally seen as feminine because manliness is what you define it to be for yourself and femininity is who you are when you want to be feminine the significance of the place is brought up again saying it really is a great place but mentioning how he never noticed how the wind was different before until now whatever change that is it's a seemingly Pleasant one for him the next rank is divided into two segments the first is the the boy telling kanji that everyone loves his things how even his mom wants an offer to pay for one and how his teacher was wanting a pink alligator kanji doesn't want to be paid he sees it as wrong since he's not a professional but this shows potential in kani's ability it's not a useless hobby as he mentioned in the last link but something he could genuinely do kanji mentions the pink alligator is probably in reference to a story book and this is not the only place the story book is mentioned nanako also reads it for a school assignment at one point during adachi's social link although I think that the mentioning of it here is much more different people like to mention its inclusion as if it's just a trivia piece and that's fine but you have to think back to how this recontextualizes Akin's work from Persona 3 in Persona 3 Akin the son the dying man writes a story to leave a legacy he writes a story about a pink alligator who due to his color and being an alligator is unable to easily catch food but finds a friend in the singing bird one day when he is dizzy and tired he accidentally eats his friend from his hunger and upon inducing vomit to retrieve it confirms the bird is dead he then cries so much that he drowns himself in his tears causing a beautiful Lake to form in his place a place with beautiful flowers and Delicious Fruit where the other residents end up relaxing and being happy never knowing how it came to be or of the alligator who created it traditionally the story is about ainad not being able to live a long and happy life but how he could still pass on knowing that maybe his story would leave a legacy for those to read it consider it being reading material at school and even seeming to be common knowledge among the residents of enaba the book seems to have made a huge success in the time since aanad has moved on but the story's use of the metaphor makes it fill with kanji in a very different way kanji is the pink alligator being aggressive someone people fear but being pink or girly feminine on a base level considered weird this is his tough guy he is pink but he isn't bullied because his aggression masks that insecurity the bird is the nice guy he sings loves to keep others company and is a nice person willing to lend a helping hand at one point kanji was hungry for acceptance and almost most swallowed the nice guy part of himself to obtain it but in facing his shadow was able to see the value of both parts of himself and instead of being left alone forever he accepted it and tried to strike the right balance kanji got the happy ending that ainad had trouble writing because kanji does have further opportunity to grow and change this isn't the end of his story the second half of this rank is when kanji opens up significantly on the major thing that happened to him in elementary school he mentions how thinking back he had this crush on this girl way back in the day so he fixed her backpack strap by sewing on it to make her happy but the next day all the girls in class were making fun of the girl for what had happened he mentions how she cried kanji is a really well- written character partly because of lines like this I don't know why but you know I've done something wrong his heavy amount of self-serious reflection and genuine compassion in observing things met with slight stiff in articulateness really portrays the troubled soft yet stiff character of kanji they did a great job writing him from here kanji ends his link saying that he likes being thanked being appreciated for whenever he does something nice he never thought it would happen but he wants to make others happy and he's happy to be needed again he's embarrassed but he mentions that he's going to go to the fabric shop in Oka and buy himself some more stuff by himself for the stuffed animals he's taking strides finally to accept and take pride in the things that mean something to him next social link a ton of dolls are given to the kid and the kid after being refused for the offer to pay confirms that he is from tatsam textiles so he runs off to see his mom here we get the tie-in into kani's Central character Arc in a more blatant fashion kanji tells you how he used to think that the word strength was about doing what needed to be done like a man he mentions how he saw catching the killer as a part of that too but there's something else he needs to confront the proper suggestion then is his past he mentions his other hem in the TV world the girl he made Cry he thinks to himself a bit and then he says it ain't that easy to become strong is it kanji thinks a moment before he then Smiles with a gentleness that the player States he'd never seen from kanji kanji doesn't say what he's decided instead he says he needs to go back to the store since his mom has been hassling him to sell his creations at the shop coming back to fop piy and now him finding something to pay his mom back for and show his appreciation in the link where he mentioned filio P initially he talks about his Persona ability and how he mentions that he's finally able to return the favor to the people he loves by catching the killer here he changes this assertion no he already had and has the ability to pay her back it has has nothing to do with Supernatural Powers he has power with the things that he loves and cares about separate from his persona it's honestly a good bit of subtle character writing that I'll mention again is something some people really talk as if the Persona series doesn't have truth is people who say this just aren't taking the time to notice it next social link is essentially the fruit of his actions every bit of the link so far comes back in together the cop his mom the kid the delinquent group and his insecurity of it all it all ties into a bow here the cop comes up to him as the rumors have spread further about the delinquent group when you try to explain the Mis understanding to the cops they intemp to take you in too as a confidant then the kid in question shows up and speaks for kanji the cops can't believe it the idea that kanji and his rough exterior would be making dolls for children he finally asserts confidently to people who have traditionally judged him harshly what his interests are and the things that make him insecure he finally faces the possibility that they may laugh or mock at him but he doesn't step down lastly his mother comes in and also reassures that her boy kanji would never do such a thing and that of course she believes kanji without a second thought kani's a good boy a good man and the connections that he made along the way all stand in Testament to him kanji allows himself to cry he always plays tough but it's clear that kanji has accepted fully the part of himself he tried to hide so deep and far far away and he's happy with who he finally is for once in his life the last loose end draws us back to his favorite spot the other day I I went to visit dad's grave it's the first time I went on my own I had a lot to tell him how was it well I felt like I could finally face him a little late though dad told me something right before he died if you're a man and you have to become strong felt like he was telling me I wasn't a real man pissed me off so I changed my looks and pushed myself away from people fighting gangs thinking I was keeping mom safe and even trying to catch the killer was just being stubborn I thought all that was how I was becoming strong that I was really making up for all the trouble I caused that wasn't it that ain't what Dad meant I still don't really get what being strong means but I'm going to start by not lying to myself no more being scared scared of everyone hiding my hobbies staying away from people anytime any place I'm going to bust right through as my own self that's the way to deal with that other me in the TV world as long as there's someone like that snot-nosed kid to accept me I ain't afraid of nothing there's one more thing I figured out re stopped by our store the other day she said the dolls were cute so I told her I made them then she said that was creepy kind of stung but I kept on showing the other stuff I made and in the end she said maybe you're an amazing guy after all pissed me off the way she said it but that aside I get it now this is what he was talking about just been throwing in the towel all this time of course no one could understand me I've been keeping my distance out of fear so I decided that I'd do things my way no matter how tough but it ain't just about hanging out with guys who understand you and telling the rest to get bent you got to make an effort if you want people to understand you it didn't even cross my mind to try to tell them my story I let them think whatever they want I didn't put in the slightest effort to try and make them understand it's easier for me to act tough so from now on I got two rules rule one be myself rule two get people to understand me now I can say it straight out huh that other me is me kani's story is about the search and understanding for what it is to be a man and the conclusion that the elements of being a man that are important are to be true to yourself to stand by your principles and to the things that make you you try to understand those things the people around you and let others understand it as well everything else can be manly if only you do that and have confidence while doing it kanji learned that he is the artist of his own destiny Others May draw a picture of him but he's the one one who paints it and he is the one who has the power to show their artists where their mistakes have been made being a man isn't about getting into fights being aggressive musculature it isn't about sports or Hobbies even being a man is about whatever you do as a man the stereotypes are just the normative societal averages that is the core of kani's link and about the struggle that he overcomes but there are still more aspects to it so now I want to finally talk about kanji sexuality and how that comes into play in regarding the themes of Manliness in the story what his sexuality is and what it means to him something made abundant through the story is like Yuko kanji has a general aloof and childish understanding of sexuality and love when jokes references or euphemisms are made a lot of the time he's totally unaware to their implication I think this leans in on on the reinforced idea that kanji isn't confident how he feels sexually but also like Yuko leans on the relatable adolescence of the characters in trying to figure out exactly what is how they feel this idea of aloof confusion is reinforced heavily it's implied after the hot spring in some of his optional night encounters for example that miss kashiwagi is trying to come on to him but he's totally unaware of her advances and keep thinking that she's taking him into her office because he's in trouble for some reason when it becomes obvious to the player that she's trying to seduce him something also can be seen in when he pushes Nao to enter the beauty contest so that he can make sure how he feels but it seems ill-fitting for someone like me to get up on stage I wonder if there's any way I could take it up with the school authorities I don't think it's a problem at all I mean just do it you know seriously what are you saying um I beg you please be in it if you do my uh doubts will finally be cleared come on make me a man doubts what are you talking about despite this there is also a number of things stated by Kani directly one example is him recalling how he remembers liking and having a crush on the girl that he fixed the strap of in elementary school and that it might have been due to that that he felt compelled to help her this also leads to what he said both as a shadow and not an idea that because he was embarrassed for helping the girl he liked and was specifically targeted by girls as well as the fact that the girls in his home classes started to bully and stay away from him his impression of girls as judgmental and cruel sort of became a traumatic experience for him coping he decided he hated girls and closed himself off to his feelings of them he seems not too find overly feminine or cutesy women attractive at all such as the many running gags of kanji not understanding reay's appeal and of him asking how old she is when they first meet which is definitely one of the best roasts in the game what is fairly unusual is Persona 4 perhaps uniquely gives one character in the party that being kanji romantic feelings toward another that being now though not in a subtle there is a bit of an implication sort of a way but in a very blatant way as to the rest of the group even teasing kanji for his obvious liking of nauto and his poor ability to be subtle about it yoske even pushes as to supporting kanji to make moves on nuto sometimes although to no notable Avail obviously NATO who despite being biologically female presents in a traditionally masculine way through the earlier parts of the story opts to hide and keep her bust pressed down when na does try out for the beauty contest kanji is definitely L attracted to her but her outfit doesn't show her as any more feminine really than what the general standard for her already was she basically ditches the hat and that's it maybe you could argue that she's wearing makeup but it being so subtle along with the context she's in and her feelings in that situation aam's razor implies that's not really the case either later when yoske mentions it being a bummer that Nao didn't come into the second round kanji agrees but then gives a super wholesome line that I'm including just because it's like literally like the cutest thing ever too bad kanji huh no um well yeah don't you think it was Brave of her to at least show up in the first round the thing is though while we don't have the details behind the meeting of kanji and NATO before kani's dungeon in specifics other than Naruto seeming to ask kanji questions in due to him being a possible future victim for the case from kani's point of view he felt inexplicably attracted to Nal from when they first met this could could be due to Nao seeming to not have any issue with his appearance rumors and attitude of kanji giving kanji the idea of being accepted which aligns more with his character Arc there's many hypothetical things that we could maybe guess as to the root of the attraction here trust me I deleted a paragraph of doing that just after realizing that I wasn't largely analytical or contributing to the central point going into his dungeon he is confronting some of the feelings I mentioned earlier I think it's possible that these potential homosexual feelings compounded with the memory of being called queer for his Hobbies coincided with his search to understand what it meant to be a man Persona likes to make mythological and historical parallels and this idea lines up perfectly with the samurai I talked about in the past who revered and sought the ideal melness in craft some of whom by showing homosexuality as an act of understanding research and appreciation for the male form this also lines up with the midnight channel for specifically being an investigative journalist he is going in to find out how men really are and who knows what will happen to him as he goes in as he says we also then see being raised by a traditional mother in a rural Japanese town and family business the melding of traditional Japanese culture prior to Magi era even and values and the modern-day westernized view on manliness becoming all mixed up in kanji especially with the Declaration from his father and his burgeoning sexuality this goes back to mix the Western and [ __ ] jaese depictions of Manliness in his dungeon with more Western wrestlers and references to Western icons and Hyper masculine hyper muscular men set within deep-seated historical gay locations like haena bathouses kani's sexual curiosity and confusion his seeking to be a man all the stuff that he introduces to you that seems to be crammed up inside his head is something he has trouble organizing and this chaos Clash of cultures in the dungeon help reinforce that after defeating kanji Shadow but before kanji passes out he says it's not a matter of guys or girls he's just afraid of the rejection he says something similar outside of his dungeon too that he wasn't just scared of girls he was scared of people in general the rejection of it all which would seem to concern from a more sober kanji the sentiment of the statement the shadow was putting forward and how that really was truly how he felt deep down I say this for clarity because while I don't feel it is as much of an important factor with kanji the TV world isn't just a reflection of the subconscious of the individual but the attitudes toward the subconscious and the general impressions of the individual by the public subconscious as a whole for more info on that I have a full video on the midnight Channel a lot shorter than this one explaining exactly what that is and how it works too with all the given evidence it seems the most supported perspective is that kanji is well as he says he is he wants someone he can love and feel accepted by whoever that sex or gender may be he does seem to have personal preferences and tastes as all people do like him definitely not finding more cutesy hyper feminine archetypes like REI attractive and obviously loving naal androgyny before and after he is aware of her biology he also is aloof and unaware and hence multiple times that he is still trying to figure himself out blatantly in the text of the story so then with his own personal tastes withheld tentatively and for the time we know him kanji is attracted to men and women whether this be bisexuality pansexuality or any more of the sort whatever term you think is best if the person fits his personal preferences and most importantly if they accept him as who he is the sex of the person does not seem to be a concern what does his sexuality mean to Persona 4 though well largely it's just one piece of the confusion toward his identity and how he understands societal conventions for manliness and the seeming misalignment of that in his personal interests and feelings it adds a unique human element where regardless of a person's sexuality or self if they are not heartless they can come to empathize and understand more about themselves and while there was by no means any reason for me to go this extensive into this aspect of his character considering the legacy of discourse I thought it was suited being thorough for a full analysis rather than a shorter blurb now moving on the specific kanji used for kani's first name kanji which include many different combined combinations of kanji for interpretation containing the characters for complete and two his last name Tatsumi is a single character and that means to abstain as we discussed kanji has two halves inside of him the tough guy and the nice guy but he wasn't complete until he embraced and let both take appropriate Reign inside of himself instead of one protecting or destroying the other as far as abstain means in regard to his name I believe that you could thoughtfully come up with something as easily as I could there are plenty of things that kanji abstains from learns to stop abstaining from and learns to start I don't believe his last name says a huge amount additionally in regards to his character that we haven't already covered or that is extremely specific without maybe reaching Kanji Tatsumi is the Emperor Arcana a card that represents reason the ability to see things as they are this is something that kanji is seeking to understand fighting between interpretations time periods and cultures and of course with his own feelings before grounding himself and coming to an answer the answer also o represents power but not outer power inner power seen as the emperor is without his court in informal clothing sitting on a throne of rams horns and red color pallet this also represents kanji who chose outer power to defend and scare off those who would hurt his feelings in the insecure parts of himself over his Arc he becomes confident he loses that insecurity over his Hobbies as well as becomes a less aggressive and violent person his outer power becomes inner the higher polarity then of course means to see things as they are and use your power in a good way that benefits and understands the reason of yourself in the world it also represents one who AIDS and helps others with his inner strength rather than ruling with his position in this case kanji showed the inner power his love for sewing and used it to help a boy and eventually so many others giving them the things that they wanted while before we met kanji he was suppressing the sight of himself and fighting with others vocally being aggressive even to his mother and random others in the world this is representative of the lower polarity which is when the person does not see the world as it is and instead is deceived by appearances his constant misunderstandings of people as attacking or looking down on him and having his weakness is represented here the lower polarity is also associated with negative masculine stereotypes like Mach Mo the act of being overly Macho making War which in kani's case is just as obvious violence and abrasive nature it also connects to the anger of saying or acting without thinking all of these very clearly connect to kani's growth starting in the lower polarity and working and finishing in the upper polarity as a calm confident mature person Kanji Tatsumi the emperor the person is one of the most long and closely beloved characters in in Persona 4 as I'm writing this I actually can't think of a single person I've ever heard say they don't like him although of course they must exist somewhere then again I don't really want to meet them kani's story is more than a tough guy with a soft side that generalization shows no respect or understanding of who kanji is kanji is a fully realized person someone who due to his personal Pride his fear and his seeking of acceptance was thrown into a mishmash of cultural identity clashing with his interests that only started to press on him even harder and harder as he came into adolescence kanji is someone who respects his Elders follows rules and is inherently gentle and understanding and by the end of the game he's someone who truly only lives by the way he feels happiest becoming the ideal man that he struggled so long to Define and discover his message of being comfortable with your identity whether that be in your interests Hobbies talents or sexuality is something countless people have latched on to as is so easy when you have as kind of a heart as kanji he's clumsy and articulate but even as that may be he decided to try his best to make sure other people can get to know the kanji that kanji came to love in regards to the theme of Truth things follow pretty clearly kanji was obstructed by his own lack of understanding compound Ed with the combined cultural influences and negative reinforcing factors to search for a manliness that already existed within him eventually he faced himself and realized that a real man is Kani thank you so much for watching this to the end if by any chance you aren't already subscribed or haven't liked or commented I really hope that you do I hope it's clear how much effort went into this video I tried my best to phrase the information and there's plenty of things I thought may have been stretches that I went ahead and didn't even include in the video I have videos on his color theory and design as well as his other forms of personas which may or may not be out when this is uploaded but it certainly will be soon if you don't see it now thanks again and to help me keep this level of effort and quality up or even get better I appreciate help on patreon I seriously seriously seriously need it without my supporters on patreon doing another giant series on a game like this will not be possible that's all for now see you [Music] soon

Channel: Hiding in Private

Views: 64,747

Keywords: persona 4, Persona 4 Golden, p4, p4g, persona analysis, p4g analysis, persona 4 golden analysis, kanji tatsumi, kanji persona 4, p4g kanji, kanji persona, emperor social link p4, p4 analysis, persona, shin megami tensei, smt, persona 4 ultimate analysis, game analysis, video game essay, p4 bathhouse dungeon

Id: VcwOUuA01vA

Length: 59min 55sec (3595 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 03 2022