P4: The Naoto Question

[Green Sparrow 795]

Okay, I don't know HOW I missed this, but there is apparently much discussion among Persona fans about Naoto's... everything it seems lol

My Naoto Interpretation
I believed that Naoto was born a female. She was raised in a family of detectives and she desired to follow in those footsteps. However, due to the (apparently) sexist environment of detective work, she lowered her voice and dressed like a man (in order to be seen as a man) in order to be taken seriously. Her shadow self mentions how she desires to undergo an operation in order to physically change her sex so that she can be a man full time. I believed all these changes that Naoto made or wanted was to pursue her passion of being a detective, not because she didn't like being a woman.

Argument
There are others that believe that Naoto is a transgender, a boy, and many other things that I simply did not see during the times that I played Persona 4.

I'm not looking for a big heated debate over the real-life issue, just THIS character in THIS game. Am I missing something? In my eyes everything seems to point to Naoto being a girl who merely changes clothes in order to pursue a career goal. Was there a translation error? Are some people just forcing their own issues onto this character and presenting it as fact? Or is Naoto's character left ambiguous in order for the player to interpret her however they wish?

Any help would be appreciated!

[Pangoro "Sen" 445]

I believe your original interpretation is correct, yet it could potentially not be the case. While never actually discussed, many people consider it canonical, and I'm pretty sure she's not exactly transgender. It's kinda like Kanji's case. Most people assume he's actually gay/bisexual or whatever, despite the fact that it's never been brought up as being canonical. In both cases, this can be easily seen while progressing through their Social Links. So, to sum it up, I'm on your side with this, but we still can't be certain!

 

Oh, also, not quite sure if this is how it works, but I'll still try my best with this. If Naoto truly was transgender, then (s)he would technically be gay, provided that the preferred gender was introduced. This can be proved simply by the fact that you(as the main character) and Naoto can date. So, yeah...again, not sure if that's quite how it works, but at least I tried to give my best explanation to that side of the story!

 

Hope some of this was helpful in some way!

[Cucco 1,907]

Yeah, definitely a dude. LOL.

[Green Sparrow 795]

Hope some of this was helpful in some way!

It was very helpful, thanks! 

Yeah, definitely a dude. LOL.

I KNOWRIGHT!?!? I knew scenes like this existed, but people just seemed so adamant that Naoto was a guy. Thanks for reassuring me lol