Representation is so sparse that a “wink, wink,” just gives the creators plausible deniability. meta, and reality for the Umineko world as a whole. I know High Guardian Spice traumatized the world, but you gotta be specific. Im comfortable and sometimes even insistent on Beato and Yasu being the same. Creators can’t leave this stuff up in the air.

Umineko… I feel like the creator wanted to create genuine representation but was so vague about it that conflict arose. a lot of people see lion as nonbinary, or at the very least gender non-conforming. i like that ryukishi made lion's gender ambiguous, since it's kind of acknowledging that yasu isn't 'only' trans because of her negative life experiences / genital trauma / being raised as a girl to hide her from kinzo. It’s not too out of line considering the treatment of Mikan and the chef guy who’s name I forgot. yasu's a trans woman, the confessions chapter of the manga makes it a lot more apparent. The trans representation often is perverted or creepy. Ryuji being kidnapped by those two gay men in either version of Persona 5 is horrendous and a serious stain on the game. Japan has a very problematic history with LGBT+ representation. I would be fine with Yasu if it wasn’t for the surgery aspect since it hedges into the corrective surgeries done to intersex people. I feel like a trans/nonbinary narrative was being put into the story intentionally as evidenced by the ambiguity of Lion’s gender. Yasu didn’t make the conscious decision to identify as a woman (in the sense of discovering their gender as they grew up), it was forced upon them after an admittedly necessary corrective surgery. I personally consider them nonbinary but their story is very problematic, for lack of a better term. Honestly, it feels like another case of Japanese media pushing things way too far into the realm of insulting and offensive. Chihiro wearing “girl’s” clothing doesn’t make him a girl and he’s uncomfortable with being perceived as female. The example is just my experience and only a perspective. I’m not saying that this feeling isn’t a sign of being trans, just that it isn’t a definitive sign. For a time I thought maybe I’m gnc or more masc aligned, but I felt uncomfortable when I changed my style. I, for one, often feel less feminine due to my very small chest and lack of curves and that I’m bad at makeup and doing my hair.

Many people, cis or otherwise, feel that they don’t fit into these expectations. This is not a feeling unique to the queer community. Chihiro doesn’t want to be a girl, he felt bad for “failing” to fit into society’s masculinity standards. I see it, but if you think the creators were trying to put a subtle trans reference in these franchises I-Umineko has a much stronger case for this but gets it bungled. The people drawing an analogy to the trans experience remind me of those who do the same with Danny Phantom being trans. I understand where the people who see him as trans are coming from, but the game has nothing supporting it. These are just my thoughts on how these games mishandled these storylines.

Note: I’m not attacking anyone’s arguments since I’ve read only Nezumi’s, which I think is great. I just watched two really great retrospectives on Danganronpa 1 and 2 by NezumiVa and it got me thinking about Chirio and Yasu from Umineko.I’m hesitant to count either of these two as trans, Yasu especially.

Yasu umineko