There has been a lot of debate on Bridget this past day, so I just wanted to go over what we know and how I've interpreted everything. Let me know what y'all think!
"You're hidin' your true self for the sake of other folks" "I haven't even told my parents" I literally don't see how this can be interperated as Bridget being a boy because if they she was line makes absolutely no sense. I feel like even if Arcsys decides to say that Bridget isn't trans all the people saying she's a boy are still going to be wrong and Bridget will at the very least just be androgynous/non-binary. Which would still fit Bridget's story is Strive coming down to "Be your true self".
and she wasn't groomed to be a girl. as someone who was raised a man and pushed to do manly shit my whole life it didn't change the fact that im not a man inside. she was just fortunate enough to have her parents raise a trans woman as a girl. raising a child a certain way wouldn't all the sudden make them trans later in life they were born that way.
Great video! Just finished watching it and my only thing I’d add is that if you enjoy lore Bridget’s theme song is suuuper well made and lore heavy. Not only do the lyrics tell us a very intimate account of her dysphoria and feelings of discomfort, her emotional state is even reflected in the instrumental of the song, as the music goes from slower and more orchestral in the beginning when she’s wrecked by self doubt, to this faster, funky upbeat tune when the self doubt transforms into self acceptance. It’s a really beautiful journey, both lyrically and musically
I really hate how some people are purposely misinterpreting the Extreme Route/Flawless ending and also calling all the other endings non-canon. I'm seeing this basically everywhere, it's driving me nuts. I just hope arcsys or Daisuke outright confirms what Bridget's identity is sometime soon, because discussion surrounding this game and character has been very toxic.
YUP, like never been a thing before, and now for Bridget, some of her endings are "bad." Like I don't really get upset at either dumb statements like that, just because I like to believe that people are sincere in their confusions, but the wording just made it seem horrible for outsiders. Like "Only in the bad ending she comes out as trans," you have to know how much worst that sounds then, "in one route, she flat out states she's trans, as with the others, it's left ambiguous as to whether she comes out or not."
@@swimcheesy186 I like the fact that pretty much every character in the game you are encouraged to do flawless route because there's no real resolution if you stop short of reaching the last stage or if you need another character to help you, one of the most blatant examples is Zato who needs to do the flawless route in order to understand what Millia wants because if he doesn't get it he's left still questioning why, but apparently for Bridget both ending routes are valid because?
Don't expect them to confirm canonicity for another 4-10 years. Tradition has it that some parts are taken from all paths. So, Bridget confirming with 100% authority "I'm a girl!" won't happen until then. Heck, it took 20 years to get to this point.
@@ChocolateBar999 except this argument falls kinda flat when ya look at other arcade modes than just Zato's. Baiken's for instance, you'd be fuckin' laughed at for trying to call the alternate routes "Good" and "Bad" endings. The Flawless ones for Baiken merely gives extra clarity on her and how she is currently, not separate things into a bad or good arc where one is valid and the other is not.
@@ChocolateBar999 not really, this isn’t the only time that a none level 9 ending has either more information or is a better ending. I mean, have you seen millias? It’s just Nago: Impressive.” Millia: “He was strong.” That’s like the whole thing. In other routes, it explores and dives into her and Zato’s relationship. So yeah, I just don’t buy that argument at all, especially because I’ve done every arcade and every route.
Bridget's story is my introduction to guilty gear, I discovered her from a meme on Tumblr about her queerness and honestly I'm in love. It's a well told story, it's sweet, and when I see her I really relate - I especially enjoy the fact that when the conversation is getting stressful she tends to crunch down and sometimes even rock, as it's a way I (and many others, most of them (including me) autistic) self soothe, and I think it really helps to tell her story.
Someone in the comment section already has explained the Otokonoko thing, so I wouldn't repeat it. Arcsys changed the icon on Bridget's hat from male to ambiguous for a reason. I think that the ambiguity is the main core of that conversation. People just cut the corner and went straight to the conclusion. We don't really know what the true self the writers are referring to, but there are three possibilities that I can think of. 1) Bridget stays being an Otokonoko. He realizes that is nothing wrong with a boy being cute, and embracing cuteness is what the true self means. 2) Bridget becomes an ordinary boy. He was forced to dress like a girl, returning to what he "meant to be". 3) Bridget becomes a girl. After all, she likes what she becomes. Let's wait a year or two and stay tune to the next Guilty Gear to find out what's going on:)
Thank you so much for bringing up that the superstition was already long gone, people say “OH BUT ITS ALL FOR NOTHING AWWWW *insert bee movie court breakdown meme here*” thinking that the superstition is still there.
EDIT: (RUclips seems content to eat any additional posts I make to this thread, so I will not in fact be responding any longer to the one obsessive guy in the thread that's proven he's never even watched the entire flawless route) Good video helping to clear up the subject~ Another thing is, even in the *heavily* flawed argument to ignore anything in the "non-flawless" route (that I've seen parroted around a lot), Bridget still admits to running away and not being true to themself in the flawless route. In the ending convo of the flawless route, Ky talks about not wanting to lie to himself or his family, and Bridget openly states they wished they could be like him in that same conversation. Bridget even goes on to state that they want to live as their "true self" after seeing Ky's resolve in the ending. Basically, this is a character that, since their introduction, has *always* stated and clarified that they were a guy. So you have to ask, what is Bridget running from? They've achieved success and recognition AS a man, from both the world and their village... so what are they running from then? what are they not being true to themself about? Even if you ONLY count the flawless route, you are left with the undeniable fact that Bridget is not being honest with themself and is running away from confronting that.... and the only thing that thing can be, in any honest reading, is their identity as a man-- the thing they've insisted on from day one. If they were truly a guy deep down, how were they not *already* living as their true self? And when Ky demonstrates the resolve to literally come out as your true self despite what others might think, that's when Bridget finally feels she has the strength to be true to herself and stop running. TL;DR ignoring the non-flawless route is dumb, but even if you DO, that still doesn't equal "Bridget is and has always been a guy", in fact quite the opposite really.
YUP, like going through and playing all the arcade routes myself, I can tell you that they'll hide stuff in like the stage 1 loss route, probably knowing lore nuts like myself will hunt it down. Yet now this losing route thing is being an argument, and also people only taking Ky's stage 9 speech at like super face value I guess. I really like to believe people are sincere in their confusion, but I don't know how you could watch all of the arcade routes and say oh yeah, Bridget is male in all the ends but the bad ending. Like bruh, what?
@@swimcheesy186 Because its literally only brought up if you don't get the Flawless route whereas if you do fight Ky and beat him in stage 9 it doesn't get brought up at all making the conclusion more ambiguous but all the more narratively satisfying for those who actually cared about Bridget's story and not just looking for self validation.
"Even if you ONLY count the flawless route, you are left with the undeniable fact that Bridget is not being honest with themself and is running away from confronting that" Except Bridget is and is way more sure of what they want to be in fact if you don't do the flawless route the end result feels more like they're being pressured into conforming into one ideology which is the same one they've been put on since birth due to a superstition and as many trans players have pointed is not a positive outcome because its brings up the allegation of grooming.
I’m making a guilty gear video and i’m so scared, mainly because the whole community is swamped with argument about Bridget and Goldlewis (I bring him up because now his character is getting watered down to being a groomer when…that’s not what that is at all) While I see Bridget as a girl now (since gg world uses she/her and she’s okay with being called “onnanoko”/“i’m a girl” etc. ) i’m totally okay if arcsys seeing her as a boy and I will call him “he/him” as Bridget. Or just they/them. However so many people are becoming terrifyingly transphobic (one guy made a video and used a transphobic meme in his pinned, showing he’s disingenuous towards other sides) and also I hate how so many use the “bad ending” word because bad endings were never mentioned until Bridget. The other side does the same like harassing artists which is not good, especially some with language barrier. I’m glad Bridget is trans, and if arcsys says otherwise I will respect it and use the pronouns. (Testament is already great, I love them too) but I do hate how this now is getting to bad transphobia, especially at an all time high outside of GG. The “groomer” talk wouldn’t exist if this was one year prior (people being advice about if you’re trans or not is not grooming it’s exhausting) and I think it’s still fun. Thank you for being a neutral stance without easily slipping to transphobia. EDIT: Holy crap the comments are great. Not only are she/her people with the belief of her being trans, but people who use “he/him” on Bridget and is not transphobic. I’m glad there’s a lot more respect here than other vids where it’s just rage bait or transphobia.
can't lie, i feel a little bad for OP (can you even say OP on youtube), because people have been using their other video of Bridget's dialogue to justify a lot of shitty takes lmao it seems like to my understanding that "Bad Ending" (i've never played guilty gear before, i'm here for the Discourse) as a term has never been used before, just looking at the history of r/guiltygear, until now. am i gonna say people are only saying it's a "bad ending" because it involves a trans person, and that the "Bad Ending" talking point is based solely off of transphobia yeah, i am. seems like talking to other people in the community that the term "Bad End" has never been used before. really makes you think good video. i'm not really into fighting games, but seeing the bridget character come out has made me very slightly more interested in playing one. by like 5%
Let’s go, I’ll take a 5% increase in an interest in Guilty Gear 😎 but yeah, I’ve done all these arcades and also explained other arcades in depth, and not until now has anyone every said that there are “bad” endings. Like there is literally a route where you have to lose round 1, do you understand how easy the bot is on round 1? 🤣 like all the routes are meant to give us more information about characters. So yeah, it’s just dumb and it sucks that people from outside communities who don’t understand the arcade mode now think(and I don’t blame them, I’d think the same thing probably) that a character is only trans in a bad ending. Anyways, appreciate you watching and the kind words!
People are saying bad ending because "The ending were you loose" doesn't roll of the tongue the same way. Stop projecting your ideas onto why people call an ending, were the player looses, bad.
@@kenkaneki3873 if that's the case then people would use the term "Bad Ending" in reference to other endings where you lose, but they don't i've talked to a lot of people and i've looked up "Bad Ending" on various guilty gear places. no one used the term "Bad Ending" until now. there's literally only one explainer for this
@@phoenixRose1724 Ken seems to be asking for understanding of those who talk about the "bad ending" without knowing how endings work in GGST (there are more than two endings, not just a good and a bad one, and they all contain real information). The talking point may have originated from people grasping for ways to invalidate a trans identity, but it's spread outside of that now. You did say it was based off of transphobia, which is very likely the case, but Ken was talking about the overall discussion and not grouping people's intentions together. The talking point is simply effective, portraying the issue more black and white than it is, and it makes sense if you have limited familiarity with the game.
this video is legit great. i'm so glad someone else understands that she was super successful as a male bounty hunter, bringing home great wealth and even, because she presented as male at the time, causing her village's superstition to fade away. she had everything going for her as a man and yet *still* struggled with her identity. she likely would not be going through all of this if she was comfortable as a man. also glad you pointed out that strive doesn't really have "bad endings" in the arcade mode lmao. i think it's neat that the ending where she specifically comes out is one where goldlewis is right there supporting her. anyway i don't wanna write a whole essay but i just love how strive handled her character.
Yeah, the bad ending thing was the moment I was like ok, I feel like I have to make a video on this ASAP. Like, I really hated this misinformation being spread around(Because like look at the Hero Hei video, from the outside GGST lens, this looks like a horrible forced trans situation. And I love strive and Bridget, so I really just wanted to try and help. But thank you so much, means a lot and hopefully I did a good enough job telling her story.
It does have "bad endings" but not bad in the sense that the situation is worse but more so bad that its incomplete and the resolution is left hanging its why the most common route of defeating Nagoriyuki in stage 8 will have him leave without saying anything if you don't do the flawless route or if you need a character assist he also just leaves with nothing being resolved.
The situation between Japan and the west is, complicated at best The thing is, Bridget as a character is one of the epitomes of the 男の娘 (roughly meaning _male girl_ and a word play of 男の子) character. To give a lesson about that type of character, the type I have a very large grasp on for pretty much a decade, 男の娘 is actually quite a deceptively simple thing, a male character with the kawaii characteristics of a female anime character. For most of the time, an 男の娘 character wants to live with that kawaii charm while acknowledging the maleness of his body. While what mentioned still the dominant trait to this day, some newer ones does attempt to beam 男の娘 in a more mixed light and may have believed that it is relatable or at least a kin to transgender (some examples include Wondering Son, Mahou Shoujo Site, and Zombieland Saga), but from further observations, there may have been, some misunderstandings and that side is still the minority to this day. From my experience in reading 男の娘 material and observing transgender, there would be one major difference between them, which is 男の娘 still regards the male body whereas transgender does not (with some willing to undergo surgical change). To translate from the Japanese light, Bridget does seem acknowledge his maleness in body (男) and has fullfilled his dissolution of the superstition, but all over the course of his journey as a bounty hunter, he felt like the girliness (の娘) he had all of his life did gave him the happiness backed up with a loving family in the face of the village's behavior. To me, he would still think of himself as this boy living that girly life, therefore the embodiment of 男の娘 and I think the 8-7 ending is not as simple as it looks and I think there's just no reason for him to throw away his maleness just like that, which imo is a better thing than just slapping that transgender on his nun habit. This is my educated thoughts and I'd wish you guys can understand where I'm in.
I understand, and I think this is probably what’s being gone for, but since it’s very closely related(as you pointed out) to being trans, it’s getting thrown with that. I don’t think people are wrong, but I do agree with you quite a bit. Bridget(from my understanding of the lore) probably wants to be view as a women, but also act knowledges and is comfortable with her masculinity, as well as her femininity). I think it’s much more of a mix situation then one gender or another. I think the “I’m a girl,” is her wanting to be called she/her(since she’s more comfortable with that,) but not like saying I want to throw away my masculinity(which also ties into what she fears her parents might view her coming out as.) Compared to Testament, who has been able to explore and understand their own gender, Bridget is still exploring. Definitely something I’ve been thinking about a lot, so I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
I was against it for a while but I understand that,the whole Otokonoko concept I'm familiar with since crossdressing while I was younger was something my mother an sister liked to do for Halloween,I've also been the crow,the big difference it was solely appearance an I like disguises,an looking cute,still a male straight an all that just liked cute things,I'm mixed an have slightly straight hair an a soft appearance,I guess I related to the character since I like fighting an I'm really good at fighting but still liked Otokonoko,anyways my ex-wife an others say I would make a pretty girl but,I'm a dude an don't care about being a girl or changing myself I just thought crossdresses was interesting back then,ended up living my life like that,I'm know by my friends as the dude with as many weapons as plushies lol,that being said I liked the character cause dispute their cute appearance they were manly but now they are just a girl kinda messes with how I view the character but it's okay,they may be fiction but I'm glad they are happy.Still don't like the left in reality though mostly cause I don't like to be force fed but this this is okay with me
It’s one continuous through-line. One ending does not disregard the canonicity of the others, the arcade modes here are treated in “wide(ish)-linear fashion. It’s like the optional routes in FF7R, does whatever cloud wear during Wall Market invalidate what he doesn’t wear if the player chooses it? No. So the same can be applied here.
Btw, while the symbol on her hood is considered the be used primarily as the androgyne symbol by many countries in the west, in Japan, it is one of three symbols that exclusively mean "transgender". I dont have the link at the moment, but the jp wiktionary page for unicode symbols has them labeled as such. And, i will be honest, out of the three options, the one chosen is the best looking choice for a little adornment on a hood. The others would look clunky.
Exactly! However, I do get and hope that people can see why she’s scared to come out, but I have no doubt from what we know about the parents from the lore that they’d accept her! Similar to Testament and Kliff, Testament was never able to come out to his adopted father(or maybe they did and Kliff kept their secret till Testament was ready to tell the world,) but no doubt in my mind Kliff would have accepted and loved Testament all the same, especially where they are now!
I think Bridget definitively being Male or Female is not the point of the story. From what I see, after achieving all of their goals, becoming a successful bounty hunter, proving the village superstitions wrong etc, Bridget thought that would be the end of it. However, the point of the misgendering with Goldlewis is to show that despite achieving all this, Bridget still has to deal with the same issues they had in XX. The story is then about "where does Bridget go now?", and the interpretations of the endings is all with how you read into the words spoken. Bridget is tired of hiding their true self, the true self could be the person underneath the clothes being hidden away (sex), or the realisation that the clothes are their true self and not the physical characteristics (gender). The popular ending (8, heart loss 7) is prefaced by "I'm scared of losing what I have" and to me, that fear is losing everything they have gained up to that point by accepting their true self (whatever that may be), and by proclaiming to be a girl, it is coming to the conclusion that "I won't lose anything if I accept what I am at this moment and don't try to fight against it", perhaps thinking that they got to this point by being raised and constantly mistaken for a girl, so just accept it. The other endings aren't as clear, because they are not meant to be, the other endings are meant to be more along the lines of "You achieved what you wanted, and that part of your life is over, so what do you do now as you still have plenty of years ahead of you". Bridget thought the happiness of being accept by the village and being a successful bounty hunter would be enough to last a lifetime, but as is the case with most things, that happiness wears off. In the end, Bridget is offered the support from Ky and Goldlewis that whatever they chose, there will always be people around to accept and support whatever decision is made, and it is Bridgets own decision, doesn't have to be influenced in order to protect their family, and shouldn't be made with the fear of losing everything that they have achieved so far. Bridgets adventure to prove themselves to their village is over, and now Bridget has been guided to starting a new adventure of self discovery.
thats a nice way of looking at the popular ending. So yeah seems like the loss ending is the easy path, and the flawless path is the strong, hard path. Bridge being a character who is at a point where he easily could end up in both directions
Bridget helped me realize that i was lying to myself and running away from my truth. forever thankful for her for that. I've never actually played ggs tho cause its not on Xbox sadly
Thank you very much, like I said, I just think this story is really beautiful, and I hate that people are trying to twist it into something its not. I've loved what Guilty Gear has done with like all of it's characters, and Testament and Bridget have had great, but sadly also kinda social controversial stories. But I'm a big fan of it, and think it's being done much more naturally then other have been trying to play it as. I just hope that this video is good enough at explain it and doing Bridget justice!
This is the only video I've found that actually puts together the whole picture without cherry-picking the facts. Bridget's story can feel messy, but I think Strive managed to pull it back and prevent Bridget from falling into some very harmful tropes.
Thank you, that was the goal 🙏 so glad the video turned out alright! And it’s messy for sure, but maturing and finding yourself can be messy. It’s also left vague, so unless we get more concrete answers, no one can say for sure what’s up with Bridget. However, folks that use cherry-pick or “bad ending,” like bruh, no way am I gonna take you seriously in this discussion 🤣
@@TheOdinsLance How are traps harmful to traps people? They are guys who may or may not like to crossdress and look women. That has nothing to do with trans people. Even in real life there are many beautiful and effeminate looking men who look like women. They are sometimes even harassed and told they aren't effeminate men but trans people who just haven't come out yet, and when I see stuff like that it makes it seem like jealousy or projection. Can't a man just be beautiful whether they be trap or real?
@@namename2040 the term "trap" specifically refers to the trope of an effeminate male character presenting as a woman to trick straight men in to having sexual feelings for them as a joke. This has roots in transphobic "gay panic" and perpetuates the harmful idea that trans women are actually just gay men trying to trick straight men into having sex with them. Crossdressers are not "traps" and other effeminate males and feminine presenting characters shouldn't be referred to as "traps" as it perpetuates this stereotype. A "trap" may or may not refer to a trans person, but the name in and of itself is a reference to an idea that has been used to justify violence against trans individuals for decades. In previous incarnations of Bridget, presenting as a woman had no other purpose other than to invoke the "trap trope." Reframing this part of the character removed that dynamic. Edit: I'm not going to reply and ping this thread again, I just hope that who ever reads this understands the negative impact that the term "trap" has on trans people and the LGBTQ community as a whole. Trap is a slur and shouldn't treated lightly.
Thanks for making a follow-up to your first video. How I see it is that any other interpretation besides her being trans just doesn't make any sense to me. Even if we ignore her "bad ending" the flawless ending with Ky simply cannot be interpreted in any other way. Bridget has said that she hates hiding the truth from other people and has to run away from her problems. The "hiding" in question does not make sense if you believe that she is hiding being a boy from everyone. Not only does her family and village know that she was born as male, she would always correct people if they mistook her for a girl and she has quite literally made her name for herself as a male bounty hunter. If she truly viewed herself as a boy this is the exact opposite of hiding the truth as she goes out of her way to say that she's boy. What she's hiding is that she feels as though she's a girl which she is keeping from her family because it believes that it will hurt them, hence her fear of losing what she loves. I've heard the argument of Bridget having not been confused about her gender before, but these people I feel fail to realize how people work. Bridget's confidence in her gender before came from wanting to not only prove her village wrong about their superstitions but to make her family proud as she thought that they hated raising her as a girl. She did achieve her goal in the end but because that was the entirety of her aspirations, having achieved that goal she has nothing left for herself. This is a phenomena that many people experience, not just trans people, and they often find themselves questioning their existence. This is where Strive Bridget finds herself and I think makes perfect sense for her character to take since gender identity has always been important to her character. I just think this heavy backlash comes from people who don't like change. The same thing happened with Testament earlier but they're case was even worse because Testament has always been a non-binary character. The confusion of them being a man comes from localization, which those same people now say that localization is pushing an agenda by making Bridget trans.
My pleasure, happy people are enjoy it! And exactly, I think that’s the bigger take away I wish people would take. Like this isn’t just a trans persons issue, it’s an issue a lot of people experience, that being true to themselves, getting freedom yet still holding onto others views and values of you, the idea of fulfillment when you have everything that is supposed to make you happy, and really just the idea of maturing yourself. Being in college myself, I can relate to all these questions she’s asking herself and her fears. So, I just wish more folks would see that beautiful writing side, as opposed to whether she’s actually trans or not. Bridget might not even know the answer to that question herself yet!
Was people getting mad to something that feels like character development? Like after this video i can understand about more, cant really firm opinion about
People were getting mad, I think, because of the whole "bad ending" thing in the arcade, which I think is dumb, as well as if Bridget's true self is referring to themselves as a male(like we thought coming out of XX) or female(what we've just learned from this arcade.) People felt like the trans community was possibly forcing her being trans, and it was just getting out of hand. So like I said, I think the timeline and character development can explain it all.
People are mad because it pushes a stereotype associated with changing feminine male characters genders for woke points and anyone who followed Bridget's story from XX can say how badly that'll loo if that was the intention because unlike Testament who was always confirmed to be non-binary and even had a female VA in the first GG Bridget was always confirmed to be a male who was forced to be a girl at birth due to a superstition and his story was to prove his worth as a male despite his overly feminine traits he grew up with now come Strive he's achieved his goal but doesn't feel any better and is now struggling with his identity, something that was never brought up in the previous games as he was very much confidant that he was a male despite his appearance, so fans of the previous games don't like this regression because its conforming to the generalization that men can't be feminine without being seen as trans which is not a positive message even if their intentions were in the right place it feels like the writers didn't actually play to previous games.
@@zraiarz9301 calm down, i just saw this video recomended , i bearly know the character nor play these games thats why i said only what i could understand.
Something I wanted to add here: the Japanese bio didn't use a single pronoun when describing Bridget. Take it however you want, but I would like to assume they did it to 1. avoid instant backlash in japan, and 2. hide the secret in arcade mode. However in English (or any other language) it would be very weird so they add pronouns based on her arcade mode story, or resumed their previous one (in Chinese it uses Him), still makes sense as the bio doesn't include the strive story.
Interesting, and that’s what I’ve heard too. I think that fits with being themself. That also would explain why a lot of the routes leave it ambiguous. Still a great story about being yourself!
This is false. In the bio for the Japanese version Bridget is still referred to as a male and is only referred to as female in English and the localization team has been called out for taking liberties to fit an agenda. The Arcade route isn't even hidden its the same as everyone the problem is that it spread because the person fought the incomplete loss route to push a narrative.
Why would you so blatantly lie? The first line in Bridget's backstory in the bio says he was brought up as a polite young lady, but that he's a boy. 男の子である.
@@devondorr8212 ... Which is part of the bio, is it not? Also, there literally aren't pronouns in Japanese like there are in other languages. He/She don't exist.
I’m gonna be copypasting this big summary from RUclipsr SugarPunch’s video on LGBT and Non-Binary representation in Fighting Games made basically a bit after Bridget’s Strive reveal. “At some point before the events of Strive, Bridget does manage to achieve what she's been chasing after since XX; to prove her 'manliness', she actually becomes a top-class bounty hunter with tons of money, and is so successful that her village even stops believing in the twins superstition. But she finds that even this doesn't bring her the closure or satisfaction she thought it would. Even though she's far from home and no longer obligated to abide by the superstition, the fact that she has spent her entire bounty hunter career attempting to defy it means that she never truly escaped it in the first place, forcing her to abide by a false expectation that she put on herself. But to lose this identity she has built for herself would mean that she is nothing without it; "I'm afraid of losing what I have", in her own words. It takes a pep talk from Good Dad Ky and Pro-Trans Uncle Goldlewis to learn that her hardship hasn't been for nothing, and she now has the freedom to choose who she wants to be; to be the person that makes her the happiest, not the person she thinks people want her to be. It is actually an extremely common theme in Guilty Gear Strive that characters come to terms with who they are and their place in the world; Testament, Bridget, Baiken, Jack-O', and many more share this theme. A lot of people expressed that this change in identity also takes away from her representation as a transfemme male, but I don't think anything is taken away from the character at all. If you looked up to Bridget as a transfemme icon, you absolutely still can. The important takeaway from the story is that labels aren't as carved in stone as people think they are. People change, learn things about themselves, and sometimes come across bumps in the road. Some people spend their entire lives never knowing who they really are. But Bridget teaches us ultimately that you can choose who you want to be. Not because anyone expects it from you, not to prove yourself to anyone, but because you deserve to be the person who makes you the happiest. Be who you want to be.” Which I think was always meant to be the general idea, Bridget made the choice to address herself as a girl in the hard route on her own. Talking with Ky about coming out, was basically also her decision since trying to come out with a possible new gender identity can be a really difficult thing, especially for a village that formerly had a superstition on Twin Boys
I agree with this overall and I think they hit most the points. I think the fact that we know Bridget heavily values and loves her family and village also plays a large role in her story, but I’m glad to see others are coming to the same ideas as I am! Thank you for sharing!
vdll400demoa_0_sin かっこいい靴ですね 踏み心地はどうですか？ ……人の都合の vdll401demoa_0_sin 私の方が年上…… vsin400demoa_0_dll ん？ よく分からないけど ありがとう！ vsin401demoa_0_dll ちびっこの子守りかぁ 仕方ないなあ There are also several dialogues of Sin with other characters, but for some reason they are not active, perhaps they are going to return interactions intro and they will be there
While I don't agree with everything in the video, I think you set out your thoughts on the matter without demonising any party very well. If only others, especially those of the GG subreddit & twitter as a whole could display their own opinions as respectfully as you have. There's some comments in this comments sections I agree with while others, I disagree with so I think I'll throw my own thoughts here. When one of Bridget's voice lines first leaked with no context surrounding it, I personally think it was reasonable for people to get annoyed over people labelling Bridget as a transwoman, though some people did take it a bit too far. Now that information is out in the open, there's no real justification for people to still continue attacking others over their opinion on the matter. I've talked with a few friends over the whole mess and one brought up a particular character: Vivian from Paper Mario. It'd seem like there's no connection between the two, but there actually is. Vivian is seen as trans in one continent while is considered female in other areas... and this is something that, to my knowledge, is universally accepted. With Bridget, many in one area wanting to see him as trans while another continues seeing him as a man. I'm not crazy for thinking these two cases are very similar, right? Unfortunately, I doubt this'll be resolved or cleared up in the same way and I fear if Daisuke's response (if he does give one) isn't what these people on twitter or reddit or whatever other site want, this whole discourse could get even worse. All in all, it shouldn't really matter and that one line being leaked turned this into something that just shouldn't have happened. Bridget is Bridget - he/him, she/her, they/them? Technically speaking, they all fit for Bridget since his entire thing is gender non-conforming. Personally, I'm going to continue calling him a very beautiful man but I'm not gonna throw a hissy fit if someone used she or they when talking about Bridget. I still think the connotations surrounding his backstory to be incredibly disturbing when people think of him as trans and it's utterly befuddling to me seeing more than just a few people outright ignoring or even trying to make it out like it's nothing bad. I've seen quite a few people in the trans community straight up say Bridget would be a horrible trans rep... and despite what I've said about respecting everyone's own opinion, I have to agree & the more people who realise this, the better. There. I could type more but I'd then be repeating what other comments have already been made. That's all... I just want this whole stupid discourse to end so we can all enjoy those sick yo-yo tricks from Bridget him/her/themself.
Thank you, I try 😭🙏 and all good. I’m even changing my views and thoughts on Bridget, getting to read and discuss here in the comments. And sadly I’ve seen a lot of that, people taking just one line out of the arcade and using it to support their argument. You see it all the time irl, people just ignoring contradictory stuff while pushing supporting stuff. But oh well, I’m agreeing more and more with it doesn’t matter and no one is wrong. Bridget is a feminine male in Japan, but we in the west would probably more closely relate that to being trans. So I don’t think it’s wrong that way, but as most routes and I think even the “I’m a girl” route lead to is that fact she’s still maturing and learning about herself. She doesn’t have a concert answer, and being that she’s young, that’s fine.
@@swimcheesy186 I can say the same, my thoughts and opinions have been changing as more time passed. Comparing my thoughts now to when that voice line first leaked... admittedly a little embarrassed and while some of those views, I still hold, I feel like how I see things now are ultimately for the better. Simply put, everyone's opinion on this is valid in some way shape or form, no matter how they interpret the different endings & I hope more people can eventually realise this is the healthiest view to have. At this point, I'm probably more miffed at Bridget not having a general British accent despite being from England, like come on! I'm fine with the VA work though and it's not any real problem, haha. 😊
Fair fair, that's just the like most sound argument I've heard if you really don't want to believe in this english dub I guess. So I was like at the VERY LEAST, you can't say she's still male and happy as a male and identifies as a male. Cuz I mean, even with this video and hopefully others speaking up about her story, folks will twist it how they want.
So I've been doing a deep dive into this topic, and it seems that part of the issue is that there is, as always in these situations, miscommunications in the translations from Japanese to english. Now let me make two things straight. 1. Bridget DOES say the "i'm a girl" line does exist in the japanese, and 2. This is essentially a "coming out" story for Bridget, just not a conventional one. Now let's talk about the endings issue real quick before I explain the differences. While you can say all endings expand the world, there are endings with conflicting outcomes. Bridget's endings, in themself, can be seen as conflicting because in one, the one where they are losing to Ky badly enough that he has to stop the fight, Bridget somehow "works up the courage" to just come out as a girl, while in the other endings, where they are in a better position, they remain more vague. Also, we know endings can be non-canon, because in Bridget's previous appearance, his brother was kidnapped in one ending, and now that seems to be irrelevant. So the 'i'm a girl ending' can easily be seen as what happens should Bridget fail in their quest. So what is Bridget's quest? Well for the most part, it's to work up the courage to do... "something". As the main site states, and this is copied right from the page, "Bridget showed talent as a bounty hunter and managed to bring home great wealth. This led to the village superstition fading, but it also left Bridget without a goal". So with that alone, we can see that the base plot of Bridget is that they have no aspirations at the moment, and they are questioning what goals they have they have for the future, their previous goal being "becoming a bounty hunter to break the superstition", which is finished. So this is where the translation seems to vary, because in the japanese version, apparently Ky and Bridget's conversation is more direct, and explains that Bridget is worried about staying a bounty hunter. That's what this is about. When they say they "haven't talked to their parents about it", they are talking about their career as a bounty hunter. This can be seen in the english version too, because when they talk to Goldlewis, it's directly talking about about him hiding the details of his job from his family. he even states that "he's riding that horse too" which isn't meant to be analogy, but a direct comparison to their two situations. Every bit of dialog can that can be contributed to Bridget "being a girl" can just as easily fit into this "being a bounty hunter" frame too, save for the one time they actually say "I'm a girl" in what is a moment of weakness, which is egged on by Goldlewis misgendering them after being told "he's a boy", because it reflects how they don't see themselves as "strong" like Goldlewis and Ky in that moment. Also, for Bridget, it's easier to come out as a "girl" (even if that's not what they want), than to come out as "Their True Self", that being a bounty hunter. So yeah, chalk it up to meanings being misconstrued in translation, which seems to be the case most of the time in these situations. I'm not even blaming localizes, because most of the details are still there. It's just harder to see without the direct confrontation about the real issue Bridget is facing.
I see what you’re are saying and appreciate you sharing and looking into it. That’d make a lot of sense if Bridget being a bounty Hunter wasn’t known to the parents. Since she’s from a village of bounty hunters and made it her goal to become a well known bounty Hunter for the village sake, I’d be surprised if her parents don’t know yet. If that is the case though, I think you interpretation would be the correct one. I’m not fully convinced on it yet, BUT, it has opened my eyes to a new possibility and would also be an interesting dynamic. I’ll keep it in the back of my mind for now, again, thanks for sharing!
@@swimcheesy186 Ok. Also, just realize that I never said that Bridget's parents "don't know", just that Bridget hasn't "talked to them about it". Bridget comes form a rich family, and their parents clearly cares about them enough to want to protect them, so even if they DO know, it's still likely Bridget has never talked to them about it out of fear of what they might think.
The way I see the Arcade endings is more like that they are all canon and it’s more like they they’re continuations of each other like how Nago constantly talks about ‘next time’ it seems like the stage 8/9 endings are kind of like at a later date
Yep 🤝 that’s pretty much how I see them all. Like they all don’t happen, but all the information given is. Like Baiken talks about her sword in the “bad,” endings and with those, we even learn the swords name: Regret. I doubt that she’s going to come out be like actually, the swords name is Yoru or something 🤣 but yeah, I agree
I think bridget has attracted a lot of new people to the community (myself included). Many people (like me) are just excited to see a canon trans character in a video game and are interested to learn more about both the character and the game she's a part of (I'm definitely planning on picking up strive when it goes on sale to try out bridget and a few other characters that have caught my eye), but there seems to be another smaller subset of people who are coming into the gam/fandom spaces just to troll, spread information, and generally be annoying because they don't like seeing lgbt rep in videogames. Hopefully those kinds of people will grow bored or disinterested and move on, and all the people actually interested in the series will join and start playing to make the fandom of this game even more vibrant and fun.
I hope so too, I’m just really frustrated and kinda upset people are still using the “bad ending” argument, because that seems to be the only thing they can really fall on at the end of the day. But yeah, it’s been awesome on my end to see a lot of comments from people on all these Bridget videos saying that this character had gave them an interest in the game.
5:00 agre about the coming out stuff, but Bridget clearly hasn't come out as FTM to the town yet, it's still only the parents who know. The town thinks Bridget is a wealthy badass FEMALE bounter hunter and is probably getting loads of marriage proposals and stuff. The wealth earned uplifts the town so they suffer less, are less prone to superstition, but probably still hate twins. Bridget wants to come out to the town (not just help them build libraries and hospitals) but is worried no amount of philanthrophy will overcome their twinsphobia.
People seem to forget that Bridget's "search for a purpose" is also an issue of how he feels about his profession. Plenty of his dialogue (3:20) and some of his theme song's lyrics (I've moved on, by my own will, I had nothing else I wanted to do, Wasn't hard, but I didn't hate it, I did not even like it) can be about this struggle. While he's making bank on bounty hunting, his unfulfilled dream has always been to be an entertainer (I already have the gifts just can't open the box). He has the money, but he still would rather do what he always dreamed about. We know this from the lore, and you can see it in how he always sings and dances. His quest isn't only about his gender. But if we were to dive deeper into the gender debacle, let's look into the beginning of his theme song. -The town inside me -And everyone's voice -Only I'm not there -Just watching from afar -I can't go home -Because I'm afraid -Something will change The village already knows he's a boy, but in those 6 years that he kept doing bounty hunting between games, he hasn't been in his village. If so, he might have issues with how they'll treat him if he returns when, despite being post-puberty, he still looks and dresses like a girl. I might be wrong here, however. About the bad ending, don't Ky's and Faust's arcade paths have a contradicting outcome depending on your performance? If so, I'd say the bad-good ending argument still has merit to it. And now, for the biggest can of worms, Japanese otokonoko culture. When he says "Onnanoko desu kara" to Goldlewis (who's as dense as a box of rocks), it might have been said in a half-joking manner, where it's not about identity, but rather "Haha, how can a guy be this cute, of course I'm a girl (male), silly." This is a VERY common trope. You know, in various yaoi H-manga featuring traps/otokonoko/cute kawaii boys/whatever the hell, the uke/bottom can sometimes say he's "turning into a girl" when he's orgasming while getting railed in the butt. That certainly isn't a transgender coming out story now, is it? (WARNING: Potentially NSFW arch-img.b4k.co/v/1660238578857.png ) Just wanted to give my three cents on the matter, especially since he's referred to as transgender only in the western press, Japan still calls him a boy. ArcSys really has some explaining to do, but I think they'll wait a bit, since the current shitstorm is literally free marketing. Bridget going on a rescue mission to find his kidnapped brother that we were teased is what we should've gotten, anyway. That could've been a great expansion to his lore.
and that right there is my biggest issue with this. The voice lines leaked early and then colored everyone's perspective on the lines which could easily be referring to other things. They could also refer to being trans, but it doesn't fit nearly as well overall with the story and character in the past games imo. Can't say stuff about that or you're transphobic now though (despite bridget being better trans rep before getting the Trans™label slapped onto him because it was a story about being true to your real self no matter what others think)
I don’t think it’s about being a performer, but I could be wrong. The cultural difference is for a sure a big factor here, since in Japan, there is that more feminine boy trope, but here in the west, we’d more say that’s being trans. I think that cultural difference is where the biggest confusions are coming, but I don’t think right now at least(if we learn more about Bridget in the story that pushes her as a male, then this end up being an issue,) this is a bad take on the character culture wise, but we shall see. As for the song, I’ll have to do some more research into it before I can personally feel confident in that for how it speaks of Bridget and her story. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and perspective, thank you!
@@swimcheesy186 the west would say it's being trans, but that'd be wrong and cultural appropriation. Even *if* you take all the different routes at face value about being trans or not, he's clearly only at the stage of questioning and trying to figure out who he really is, thus not trans yet. Another thing is if he's supposed to be trans, why would they put the androgynous symbol instead of the trans one? There's lots of details put into everyone's outfits in strive, and they aren't prone to potential mistranslation either. They already have a hooded and hoodless model. Could have had one with androgynous for the story until the end and swapped it to the trans symbol. Could have even only shown the androgynous one in the pre release footage too. It's clearly specifically androgynous In the end idc if he is or isn't trans, I just want it to be well done in the story and not rushed, which it isn't well done and is rushed currently in the popular Twitter interpretation.
think roger is briget's twin brother because back then briget now has a twin brother it hasn't been revealed yet if i'm wrong cause i only watched guity gear strive for a month Besides, I did not find anyone talking about the twin brother with briget
Bridget the first cis trans woman fr fr An inspiration On a serious note, goddamn they obviously did their research when it comes to trans women with her story, some of the clips you showed hit home in a big way. Diasuke, our god. No notes.
For the future, general consensus among the trans community is to use the current pronouns when talking about them historically, regardless of what they were being called at the time.
Gotcha, sounds good. I’ll keep that in mind for the future! I appreciate you explaining that rather then trying to cancel me 🤣 and of course I want to be as respectful as possible!
5:35 "he's clearly upset about being a boy" that or clearly upset people keep calling him a girl and the necessity of reminding them - because of still dressing like a girl under a state of duress. There's no "it's a long story" if the reason Bridget dresses in girl clothes is because "I like them and I feel like a girl". That's not a long story at all. The long story is "I'm still hiding I'm a biological male from my home village who thinks I am a wealthy female adventurer .. so I'm going to keep disguising myself so they don't murder me and kidnap and torture my brother to death" Bridget is tragic in entirely different ways than people acknowledge
Bridgets character assuming she comes out as a girl feels kinda forced imo. Like the entire character was based around being forced to be a gender he didn't identify as, and trying to break free from that, only for him to just choose to become the very thing he was trying to escape after achieving his goals?
I really do how they confirm one way or the other I feel like a lot of this video is a reach especially due to missing context from the Japanese side and considering one of the main reasons Daisuke made Bridgette is because he wanted to make a cute character and thought making them female would be boring. This isn't the first time localizers tried to force a character to be trans when they aren't. Crossdressers are a big thing in Japanese media and localizers keep trying to convert them into trans people. Like Astolfo or Rin from Catherine. Why is it so wrong to exist as a crossdresser it doesn't hurt anybody. I don't care if in the end Bridgette does end up being trans however would kind of makes his story and struggle kind of pointless.
Hello, sorry to ask but would you mind explaining some things please? I'm making a character and these discussions on Bridget might help with a (possible) trans character I'm making. If not, sorry to bother you.
I've wanted to talk about this SO much myself, but you really nailed a lot of what I've been thinking about her Arcade Mode. It's honestly kinda disgusting how much displacement and just downright misinformation were needed for this controversy, when it shouldn't have been one in the first place. It really sucks that your recording has been used so much for this, especially since most people who came to a conclusion from it won't watch this follow up from their own source.
Yeah, people also be nit-picking stuff out of the video to “support” their side, but is what it is. And much appreciated, I tried my best 😭🙏 I just hope I did her story justice and correctly.
I disagree with the interpretation that Bridget was upset at being a boy in the convos with goldlewis. It's the opposite, he's annoyed that he keeps calling him a lady.
@@jaygin6518 yeah, Bridget was born a boy, raised as a girl, wanted to prove their masculinity and that they are a man, and is now feeling that maybe they are a girl. People and characters can change! Until we learn more, Bridget could see herself as a girl, a feminine male, or maybe something else entirely. Her just wanting to be a girl is just her wanting to try and be herself, not worrying about what others will think, especially the ones she cares for and loves the most.
personally I don't care if bridget stays male or chooses to identify as female, all I care about is... that yoyo trick was sick bro! but seriously though, I prefer the flawless run where it's left ambigous on whether or not bridget chooses to stay a he or become a she (though I'm leaning towards the former), and that at the end of the day, bridget is still bridget, and I personally consider that the canon ending.
FACTS, Bridget yo-yo game be on point!!!! And yeah, I do like the ambiguous routes as well. I hope we see more of Bridget, because her story right now is about learning about themselves and can take many twist and turns along the way. And I think that's the biggest take away, Bridget is Bridget at the end of the day, and Bridget will be who they want to be!
Yoyo tricks and rocking that jacket, which I want. I'll admit, I recently just bought a yoyo to learn how to do some tricks. Personally I'd rather have Bridget identify as a male because that's what Bridget tried to push in the previous games. Though I won't really settle on a side until the devs come out (heh) and confirm what's what. Bridget is adorable and Bridget can be Bridget's trueself whatever that may be.
@@PinoyRiceCake agreed, I prefer it for bridget to stay a male and always thought that was the decision at the end of the flawless run. surpringly a lot of japanese agree too.
I’m not gonna lie I am disappointed that I will not see him in boys clothes. I’m sorry no matter how you slice it feels like a contradiction. because it’s gonna be seeing two ways accepting A persona version of you and The other but you was not to hide behind no mask. it would be interesting having two character with those ideal confront the other. when it comes to Bridget all I see it’s a character who’s took his mask off just to put on another.
Fair, the whole point is she’s trying to gain the courage to take off the mask, but I understand why you see it that way. That’s also why I really hope(even though regardless of the outcome, it’s going to piss people off,) that we get a conclusion to Bridget’s situation.
6:30 "why throw all this away to come out as a girl" zero evidence whatsoever Bridget's village is transphobic - that's pure fancruft the established threat is "we murder the younger of twins" that threat has never been neutralized - the fear is coming out as male the foreword for strive never established that Bridget revealed maleness to the village at whole Bridget did reveal "I left town, became a warrior girl, earned lots of money, here have some" so they all love "Bridget who we think is the rich daughter of that mansion family"- sure but there's zero evidence Bridget revealed "I'm a younger male twin you would have killed". No evidence "Bridget the son" was ever accepted. That "briefly tried living as a boy" footer was absent from the game, absent from the forward, and tacked on in a September 18th interview that Daisuke redacted in October 28th. If that happened in any respect Daisuke likely meant "wore men's clothing in private but didn't try doing it in public because still terrified of the crazy murderous villagers" Did we even find out why Bridget's brother went missing in one of the XX endings? Uncle mentions, Bridget goes looking - zero followup. I figured villagers kidnapped the bro and were going to kill him because of superstitions
I'm not trying to start anything just wonder why Brig talking about hiding being a girl? I saw it as hiding the ability to be more masculine because he(?) Is locked in the past.
Nah, all good! Like I said, just want to help answer questions and also understand others interpretations. Hiding being a girl I think stems from her parents wanting Bridget to be a man after they forcefully raise her a girl for many years(obviously to keep her alive, but they did regret it,) and as well as make sure her village can't still say that male twins lead to bad luck. They could say, if she comes out to them, that this is some weird loophole, and raise one of all male twins as female. The conversation where she also says that she's afraid of losing what she has I think supports this. Again, she has loving and proud parents, and the respect of her village. Why throw away that source of happiness and purpose just to come out as a girl, when it would be better to just keep it to herself? I think those are the reasons she's keeping it in.
I've been trying to like put my thoughts into words and idk why I can't, I figured that Brig having KY as a role model was because he is a traditional guy so she has somthing to strive towards as a goal (Pun not intended) and with KY telling her how much he's been through i figured she was opening up to the idea of both options, at first I thought it was giving her the ability to look however she wants because she's been mistaken so many times for a girl or she'd have the confidence to try being a girl agian and allow people close to her to call her whatever they want (Like the gold lewis cowgirl thing) but thinking about it now the trans stuff does add up even though it's a bit... idk in our face? I always loved guilty gear lore because I experienced it through the songs and learning their hardships that way and it got me close to tears a lot of the time though I did only come in at strive and I've been slowly learning the people that aren't in strive yet (which included Brig before a couple days ago) and I've enjoyed them all and I've been excited to hear all the songs that some could have but Brigs left me feeling a bit empty, Like it didn't explain anything I didn't already know or it left me suffocated with options like I didn't get to have an opinion on this character since I learned about all this stuff with her before listening to her song.
@@kloud1559 all good, sorry for not replying sooner 😖 but it’s more seems like she feels like a girl on the inside. And with the whole male twin fear and her parents feeling bad for raising her as a girl, Bridget fears that actually coming out as a girl will disappoint her parents and take away from the male twin fear that she disposed by becoming successful.
I personally prefer to call Bridget a "he". I can see how that can be offensive but I think its not a warcrime. Its just a bunch of pixels and at the end of the day do you really think Bridget we know and love himself would mind? I think not. Male and female traits are part of him after all. The only thing that bothers me about the whole situation is people being oversensitive and too serious about the whole thing. Like banning people im chats and stuff. Its just a fictional character. Chill out. Either way I dont really mind how people call Bridget, but Im going with the femboy angle. I think its an acceptable way to think about this whole thing.
I don't know. It's such a small thing to do. Most importantly there's a long history of insisting on using incorrect pronouns for trans people in real life and in media. The way we think and talk about fiction influences how we talk and interact with the real world and vice versa. Even if this is just a fictional character, you send a very different message to people than you might want to by insisting on he/him. You're of course free to have your head cannon, just keep in mind that other people are probably not gonna have that context.
agreed, though you have to be careful, some people are (ironically) not as tolerant as others, even when talking about fictional characters which is just weird
This. Pixels, fictionnal character. But damn, people are acting like he is the new flag of transidentity in the world. And these people coming from nowhere just because they saw Bridget telling she's a girl in one ending... They never knew about the game, never cared and just act like it's now their game. But what pisses me of is that they are suppose that it's bad to be a femboy? Not to speak about the toxicity of other being no more gay because they are now f@ping to a girl. Not to mention the whole "YoU aRe MiSgEndeRinG hEr". Let's just enjoy the game for what it is and have fun, can we?
Fair enough, and indeed not a war crime. Folks still call Testament he or even she when playing the Japanese! And at the end of the day, it’s just a video game. You can call the character whatever you want, and calling Bridget he isn’t exactly wrong, so is what it is.
To me making Bridget female is actually cis, that was the gender they were rasised and asigned at birth. Technically beforehand Bridget whould be a trans man in the they were raised female but now identify as male. Im tryed of people acting like trans woman is the only gender in existence.
7:44 "Kai would've been exiled, executed" ie exactly what we're told would happen to Bridget if her ever came out as a male in the village. This is actually worse than your usual FTM transition. If FTMs transition yes they often do face violence, but they at least have chance to go back in the closet for survival if it looks like people might get violent, for a breather until there's an escape plan. Bridget outing himself leaves no backpedaling room - once the secret is out it's out. There's no "no little girl, you don't need to insist on a boy, you just go back to being a girl and we'll leave you alone" room by the oppressors - it's literally a target on Bridget's back as soon as the village finds out. Bridget is a great warrior but we're talking about probably thousands of unpredictably violent people - numbers catch up on you. It is -being a younger twin- which inspires parallel horror to gears - just like Bridget's bear gets confused for being a gear. There's no hint that transphobia exists on such extreme levels in this world that people would hate them and fear them on the level they do gears. I've never seen a character in even a slightly violent way, the most offensive was just the guy who went limp mid-fight when he figured it out. If anything Dickerson seemed the most intimidating and subtly violent and seemed to be pressuring Bridget to identify as female, maybe because he thought Bridget wanted that, but in a very domineering way.
I completely disagree. Everyone that meets Bridget on first glance believes that he's a girl, so that can't be "what he's running away from" in this route. There'd be nothing to run away from, he could just stop correcting people when they're mistaken and it would do the trick. The route with Goldlewis plays more like at the end of the day he'd rather indulge playfully the mistake by saying "i'm a girl teehee" than making things awkward by continuously correcting him (something that we gnc guys tend to do as well). The path with Ky is much more telling because of the lines "I won't change no matter what happens" and Bridget getting inspired by it saying he's going to live as his true self, a guy.
I don't know how to clearly state this, but it would be more unlikely that Bridget is "running away from the fact that they are a man" right? Also it's not like she can " just stop correcting people when they're mistaken", she has to accept her own identity first before able to do that.
"The path with Ky is much more telling because of the lines "I won't change no matter what happens" and Bridget getting inspired by it saying he's going to live as his true self, a guy." How in the world are you able to conclude that when the dialogue RIGHT BEFORE that was about how Ky came out publicly with his gear, throwing away his past achievements in order to be his true self? Why would Bridget, who has for the whole Guilty Gear series portrayed themselves as a male so gleefully before, suddenly not feel as confident doing so now? The obvious answer is a struggle with identity. It is basically the crux of Bridget's entire storyline in Strive, down to the theme "This Town Inside Me". In no point during the Extreme Route was masculinity ever implied as being what Bridget wanted to pursue. Bridget looked up to Ky because he was able to be true to himself despite losing what he has achieved in his past, and it's quite obvious what path Bridget wants to take after that encounter. It makes more sense that throwing away the masculinity Bridget built in order to become more true to themselves was the whole point to the story than continuing playing the charade of portraying themselves as masculine while also acting feminine. You are being incredibly disingenuous if you still think Bridget's identity is still up for debate. And as was said in the video, all endings are supplementary to the story. Saying that the Hard Route ending is not canon is just being ignorant.
@@Mirlo2hu I agree that is probably what they were going for but the problem is that, given Bridget's previous characterization and backstory, what Nio Brando says just straight up makes more sense. Bridget has always been shown as everyone mistaking him for a girl despite him just wanting to prove himself as a man. There's not really all that much conflict to Bridget coming out if everyone already thought of him as a girl before, hence it doesn't really make all that much sense for him to be even worried about it in the first place. It's not like the parents were abusive or anything, they love him and he knows this, so it can't be that what she's afraid of right? The town had zero problems thinking she was a girl as well, in fact, they favored that over him being male. It's just really sloppily implemented with what came before. Bridget being unsure of what he or she is now that they've accomplished all they wanted is just easier to understand and see rather than the flipflop of "I was raised as a girl but I wanted to be a boy but now I actually want to be a girl"
@@cia4u401 The problem is, Bridget was sure that she were a man back in XX, hence why she always corrected people. "There's not really all that much conflict" only applies to other people who took Bridget as a girl on the first sight. But for Bridget herself, who had been insisting that she were a man all these past years, it would be very conflicting. She's not worrying about people not accepting her gender identity, more about herself regretting or not feeling satisfied for such decisions. Also, just watch through her dialogues with goldlewis. A lot wouldn't make sense if the true self she was hiding was "to be more masculine" or "remain a boy".
@@devondorr8212 Except that a major theme in the story is just being yourself despite what others might think. Both Ky, Goldlewis and Bridget say this at one point of another. If the conflict is coming purely within Bridget themselves, then it should've been shown/explained that way, because as it stands even the people that do recognize Bridget and are aware of their reputation as a bounty hunter (like Goldlewis) still confuse Bridget as a girl. Again, I'm not saying that's not what Strive's going for. I'm saying that it just doesn't work that well if you take into account their backstory and previous motivation before Strive, and it ends up being confusing at best.
Bridget was always a boy and even the former developers said that they designed Bridget as a guy because they thought a boy in a dress would be funny. Arc just changed that for woke points. There is enough prove like interviews from older development members or how Arc changed the Wiki entries one day before reveal. It is so disrespectful to the series, the former developers/designers and the longtime fans.
Lmao, idk about disrespectful. It’s their game, they can treat their characters how they want. And characters can change, and visions for a character can change. Like idk who this is disrespecting, they leave it vague so you can see her how you want to see her I think. A lot of people seem to also love that Bridget’s been added to the game, and I bet you 95% of players can give two sh*ts about the lore. So yeah, sorry you feel that way.
![[#2024MAMA] G-DRAGON - 무제(Untitled, 2014)+POWER+HOME SWEET HOME+뱅뱅뱅+FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ox29z5Nf1Uk/mqdefault.jpg)
"You're hidin' your true self for the sake of other folks"
"I haven't even told my parents"
I literally don't see how this can be interperated as Bridget being a boy because if they she was line makes absolutely no sense. I feel like even if Arcsys decides to say that Bridget isn't trans all the people saying she's a boy are still going to be wrong and Bridget will at the very least just be androgynous/non-binary. Which would still fit Bridget's story is Strive coming down to "Be your true self".
and she wasn't groomed to be a girl. as someone who was raised a man and pushed to do manly shit my whole life it didn't change the fact that im not a man inside. she was just fortunate enough to have her parents raise a trans woman as a girl. raising a child a certain way wouldn't all the sudden make them trans later in life they were born that way.
Great video! Just finished watching it and my only thing I’d add is that if you enjoy lore Bridget’s theme song is suuuper well made and lore heavy. Not only do the lyrics tell us a very intimate account of her dysphoria and feelings of discomfort, her emotional state is even reflected in the instrumental of the song, as the music goes from slower and more orchestral in the beginning when she’s wrecked by self doubt, to this faster, funky upbeat tune when the self doubt transforms into self acceptance. It’s a really beautiful journey, both lyrically and musically
Indeed it does! Some people have been asking for me to do GGST song breakdowns. Might finally be time 😤
@@swimcheesy186
Dewit
I really hate how some people are purposely misinterpreting the Extreme Route/Flawless ending and also calling all the other endings non-canon. I'm seeing this basically everywhere, it's driving me nuts.
I just hope arcsys or Daisuke outright confirms what Bridget's identity is sometime soon, because discussion surrounding this game and character has been very toxic.
YUP, like never been a thing before, and now for Bridget, some of her endings are "bad." Like I don't really get upset at either dumb statements like that, just because I like to believe that people are sincere in their confusions, but the wording just made it seem horrible for outsiders. Like "Only in the bad ending she comes out as trans," you have to know how much worst that sounds then, "in one route, she flat out states she's trans, as with the others, it's left ambiguous as to whether she comes out or not."
@@swimcheesy186 I like the fact that pretty much every character in the game you are encouraged to do flawless route because there's no real resolution if you stop short of reaching the last stage or if you need another character to help you, one of the most blatant examples is Zato who needs to do the flawless route in order to understand what Millia wants because if he doesn't get it he's left still questioning why, but apparently for Bridget both ending routes are valid because?
Don't expect them to confirm canonicity for another 4-10 years. Tradition has it that some parts are taken from all paths. So, Bridget confirming with 100% authority "I'm a girl!" won't happen until then. Heck, it took 20 years to get to this point.
@@ChocolateBar999 except this argument falls kinda flat when ya look at other arcade modes than just Zato's. Baiken's for instance, you'd be fuckin' laughed at for trying to call the alternate routes "Good" and "Bad" endings. The Flawless ones for Baiken merely gives extra clarity on her and how she is currently, not separate things into a bad or good arc where one is valid and the other is not.
@@ChocolateBar999 not really, this isn’t the only time that a none level 9 ending has either more information or is a better ending. I mean, have you seen millias? It’s just Nago: Impressive.” Millia: “He was strong.” That’s like the whole thing. In other routes, it explores and dives into her and Zato’s relationship. So yeah, I just don’t buy that argument at all, especially because I’ve done every arcade and every route.
Bridget's story is my introduction to guilty gear, I discovered her from a meme on Tumblr about her queerness and honestly I'm in love. It's a well told story, it's sweet, and when I see her I really relate - I especially enjoy the fact that when the conversation is getting stressful she tends to crunch down and sometimes even rock, as it's a way I (and many others, most of them (including me) autistic) self soothe, and I think it really helps to tell her story.
Someone in the comment section already has explained the Otokonoko thing, so I wouldn't repeat it.
Arcsys changed the icon on Bridget's hat from male to ambiguous for a reason.
I think that the ambiguity is the main core of that conversation. People just cut the corner and went straight to the conclusion.
We don't really know what the true self the writers are referring to, but there are three possibilities that I can think of.
1) Bridget stays being an Otokonoko. He realizes that is nothing wrong with a boy being cute, and embracing cuteness is what the true self means.
2) Bridget becomes an ordinary boy. He was forced to dress like a girl, returning to what he "meant to be".
3) Bridget becomes a girl. After all, she likes what she becomes.
Let's wait a year or two and stay tune to the next Guilty Gear to find out what's going on:)
really hate that cis men are leading the discussion on this one. any trans person can instantly recognize a trans narrative at play here
Thank you so much for bringing up that the superstition was already long gone, people say “OH BUT ITS ALL FOR NOTHING AWWWW *insert bee movie court breakdown meme here*” thinking that the superstition is still there.
EDIT: (RUclips seems content to eat any additional posts I make to this thread, so I will not in fact be responding any longer to the one obsessive guy in the thread that's proven he's never even watched the entire flawless route)
Good video helping to clear up the subject~
Another thing is, even in the *heavily* flawed argument to ignore anything in the "non-flawless" route (that I've seen parroted around a lot), Bridget still admits to running away and not being true to themself in the flawless route.
In the ending convo of the flawless route, Ky talks about not wanting to lie to himself or his family, and Bridget openly states they wished they could be like him in that same conversation. Bridget even goes on to state that they want to live as their "true self" after seeing Ky's resolve in the ending.
Basically, this is a character that, since their introduction, has *always* stated and clarified that they were a guy. So you have to ask, what is Bridget running from? They've achieved success and recognition AS a man, from both the world and their village... so what are they running from then? what are they not being true to themself about?
Even if you ONLY count the flawless route, you are left with the undeniable fact that Bridget is not being honest with themself and is running away from confronting that.... and the only thing that thing can be, in any honest reading, is their identity as a man-- the thing they've insisted on from day one. If they were truly a guy deep down, how were they not *already* living as their true self?
And when Ky demonstrates the resolve to literally come out as your true self despite what others might think, that's when Bridget finally feels she has the strength to be true to herself and stop running.
TL;DR ignoring the non-flawless route is dumb, but even if you DO, that still doesn't equal "Bridget is and has always been a guy", in fact quite the opposite really.
“If they were truly a guy deep down, how were they not already living as their true self?” *I love you.*
What is a woman?
YUP, like going through and playing all the arcade routes myself, I can tell you that they'll hide stuff in like the stage 1 loss route, probably knowing lore nuts like myself will hunt it down. Yet now this losing route thing is being an argument, and also people only taking Ky's stage 9 speech at like super face value I guess. I really like to believe people are sincere in their confusion, but I don't know how you could watch all of the arcade routes and say oh yeah, Bridget is male in all the ends but the bad ending. Like bruh, what?
@@swimcheesy186 Because its literally only brought up if you don't get the Flawless route whereas if you do fight Ky and beat him in stage 9 it doesn't get brought up at all making the conclusion more ambiguous but all the more narratively satisfying for those who actually cared about Bridget's story and not just looking for self validation.
"Even if you ONLY count the flawless route, you are left with the undeniable fact that Bridget is not being honest with themself and is running away from confronting that"
Except Bridget is and is way more sure of what they want to be in fact if you don't do the flawless route the end result feels more like they're being pressured into conforming into one ideology which is the same one they've been put on since birth due to a superstition and as many trans players have pointed is not a positive outcome because its brings up the allegation of grooming.
I’m making a guilty gear video and i’m so scared, mainly because the whole community is swamped with argument about Bridget and Goldlewis (I bring him up because now his character is getting watered down to being a groomer when…that’s not what that is at all)
While I see Bridget as a girl now (since gg world uses she/her and she’s okay with being called “onnanoko”/“i’m a girl” etc. ) i’m totally okay if arcsys seeing her as a boy and I will call him “he/him” as Bridget. Or just they/them.
However so many people are becoming terrifyingly transphobic (one guy made a video and used a transphobic meme in his pinned, showing he’s disingenuous towards other sides) and also I hate how so many use the “bad ending” word because bad endings were never mentioned until Bridget. The other side does the same like harassing artists which is not good, especially some with language barrier.
I’m glad Bridget is trans, and if arcsys says otherwise I will respect it and use the pronouns. (Testament is already great, I love them too) but I do hate how this now is getting to bad transphobia, especially at an all time high outside of GG. The “groomer” talk wouldn’t exist if this was one year prior (people being advice about if you’re trans or not is not grooming it’s exhausting) and I think it’s still fun. Thank you for being a neutral stance without easily slipping to transphobia.
EDIT: Holy crap the comments are great. Not only are she/her people with the belief of her being trans, but people who use “he/him” on Bridget and is not transphobic. I’m glad there’s a lot more respect here than other vids where it’s just rage bait or transphobia.
can't lie, i feel a little bad for OP (can you even say OP on youtube), because people have been using their other video of Bridget's dialogue to justify a lot of shitty takes lmao
it seems like to my understanding that "Bad Ending" (i've never played guilty gear before, i'm here for the Discourse) as a term has never been used before, just looking at the history of r/guiltygear, until now. am i gonna say people are only saying it's a "bad ending" because it involves a trans person, and that the "Bad Ending" talking point is based solely off of transphobia
yeah, i am. seems like talking to other people in the community that the term "Bad End" has never been used before. really makes you think
good video. i'm not really into fighting games, but seeing the bridget character come out has made me very slightly more interested in playing one. by like 5%
Let’s go, I’ll take a 5% increase in an interest in Guilty Gear 😎 but yeah, I’ve done all these arcades and also explained other arcades in depth, and not until now has anyone every said that there are “bad” endings. Like there is literally a route where you have to lose round 1, do you understand how easy the bot is on round 1? 🤣 like all the routes are meant to give us more information about characters. So yeah, it’s just dumb and it sucks that people from outside communities who don’t understand the arcade mode now think(and I don’t blame them, I’d think the same thing probably) that a character is only trans in a bad ending. Anyways, appreciate you watching and the kind words!
People are saying bad ending because "The ending were you loose" doesn't roll of the tongue the same way. Stop projecting your ideas onto why people call an ending, were the player looses, bad.
@@kenkaneki3873 if that's the case then people would use the term "Bad Ending" in reference to other endings where you lose, but they don't
i've talked to a lot of people and i've looked up "Bad Ending" on various guilty gear places. no one used the term "Bad Ending" until now. there's literally only one explainer for this
@@phoenixRose1724 Ken seems to be asking for understanding of those who talk about the "bad ending" without knowing how endings work in GGST (there are more than two endings, not just a good and a bad one, and they all contain real information). The talking point may have originated from people grasping for ways to invalidate a trans identity, but it's spread outside of that now.
You did say it was based off of transphobia, which is very likely the case, but Ken was talking about the overall discussion and not grouping people's intentions together. The talking point is simply effective, portraying the issue more black and white than it is, and it makes sense if you have limited familiarity with the game.
@@kenkaneki3873 you can lose in the extreme route and still get the extreme ending... there is no bad end there never has been for any other character
this video is legit great. i'm so glad someone else understands that she was super successful as a male bounty hunter, bringing home great wealth and even, because she presented as male at the time, causing her village's superstition to fade away. she had everything going for her as a man and yet *still* struggled with her identity. she likely would not be going through all of this if she was comfortable as a man.
also glad you pointed out that strive doesn't really have "bad endings" in the arcade mode lmao. i think it's neat that the ending where she specifically comes out is one where goldlewis is right there supporting her.
anyway i don't wanna write a whole essay but i just love how strive handled her character.
Yeah, the bad ending thing was the moment I was like ok, I feel like I have to make a video on this ASAP. Like, I really hated this misinformation being spread around(Because like look at the Hero Hei video, from the outside GGST lens, this looks like a horrible forced trans situation. And I love strive and Bridget, so I really just wanted to try and help. But thank you so much, means a lot and hopefully I did a good enough job telling her story.
It does have "bad endings" but not bad in the sense that the situation is worse but more so bad that its incomplete and the resolution is left hanging its why the most common route of defeating Nagoriyuki in stage 8 will have him leave without saying anything if you don't do the flawless route or if you need a character assist he also just leaves with nothing being resolved.
The situation between Japan and the west is, complicated at best
The thing is, Bridget as a character is one of the epitomes of the 男の娘 (roughly meaning _male girl_ and a word play of 男の子) character. To give a lesson about that type of character, the type I have a very large grasp on for pretty much a decade, 男の娘 is actually quite a deceptively simple thing, a male character with the kawaii characteristics of a female anime character. For most of the time, an 男の娘 character wants to live with that kawaii charm while acknowledging the maleness of his body.
While what mentioned still the dominant trait to this day, some newer ones does attempt to beam 男の娘 in a more mixed light and may have believed that it is relatable or at least a kin to transgender (some examples include Wondering Son, Mahou Shoujo Site, and Zombieland Saga), but from further observations, there may have been, some misunderstandings and that side is still the minority to this day. From my experience in reading 男の娘 material and observing transgender, there would be one major difference between them, which is 男の娘 still regards the male body whereas transgender does not (with some willing to undergo surgical change).
To translate from the Japanese light, Bridget does seem acknowledge his maleness in body (男) and has fullfilled his dissolution of the superstition, but all over the course of his journey as a bounty hunter, he felt like the girliness (の娘) he had all of his life did gave him the happiness backed up with a loving family in the face of the village's behavior.
To me, he would still think of himself as this boy living that girly life, therefore the embodiment of 男の娘 and I think the 8-7 ending is not as simple as it looks and I think there's just no reason for him to throw away his maleness just like that, which imo is a better thing than just slapping that transgender on his nun habit.
This is my educated thoughts and I'd wish you guys can understand where I'm in.
I understand, and I think this is probably what’s being gone for, but since it’s very closely related(as you pointed out) to being trans, it’s getting thrown with that. I don’t think people are wrong, but I do agree with you quite a bit.
Bridget(from my understanding of the lore) probably wants to be view as a women, but also act knowledges and is comfortable with her masculinity, as well as her femininity). I think it’s much more of a mix situation then one gender or another. I think the “I’m a girl,” is her wanting to be called she/her(since she’s more comfortable with that,) but not like saying I want to throw away my masculinity(which also ties into what she fears her parents might view her coming out as.)
Compared to Testament, who has been able to explore and understand their own gender, Bridget is still exploring. Definitely something I’ve been thinking about a lot, so I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
I was against it for a while but I understand that,the whole Otokonoko concept I'm familiar with since crossdressing while I was younger was something my mother an sister liked to do for Halloween,I've also been the crow,the big difference it was solely appearance an I like disguises,an looking cute,still a male straight an all that just liked cute things,I'm mixed an have slightly straight hair an a soft appearance,I guess I related to the character since I like fighting an I'm really good at fighting but still liked Otokonoko,anyways my ex-wife an others say I would make a pretty girl but,I'm a dude an don't care about being a girl or changing myself I just thought crossdresses was interesting back then,ended up living my life like that,I'm know by my friends as the dude with as many weapons as plushies lol,that being said I liked the character cause dispute their cute appearance they were manly but now they are just a girl kinda messes with how I view the character but it's okay,they may be fiction but I'm glad they are happy.Still don't like the left in reality though mostly cause I don't like to be force fed but this this is okay with me
It’s one continuous through-line. One ending does not disregard the canonicity of the others, the arcade modes here are treated in “wide(ish)-linear fashion.
It’s like the optional routes in FF7R, does whatever cloud wear during Wall Market invalidate what he doesn’t wear if the player chooses it? No. So the same can be applied here.
Btw, while the symbol on her hood is considered the be used primarily as the androgyne symbol by many countries in the west, in Japan, it is one of three symbols that exclusively mean "transgender". I dont have the link at the moment, but the jp wiktionary page for unicode symbols has them labeled as such. And, i will be honest, out of the three options, the one chosen is the best looking choice for a little adornment on a hood. The others would look clunky.
i think something very important is that bridgets parents gave her; her weapons and education her parents always wanted whats best for her.
Exactly! However, I do get and hope that people can see why she’s scared to come out, but I have no doubt from what we know about the parents from the lore that they’d accept her! Similar to Testament and Kliff, Testament was never able to come out to his adopted father(or maybe they did and Kliff kept their secret till Testament was ready to tell the world,) but no doubt in my mind Kliff would have accepted and loved Testament all the same, especially where they are now!
I think Bridget definitively being Male or Female is not the point of the story.
From what I see, after achieving all of their goals, becoming a successful bounty hunter, proving the village superstitions wrong etc, Bridget thought that would be the end of it. However, the point of the misgendering with Goldlewis is to show that despite achieving all this, Bridget still has to deal with the same issues they had in XX.
The story is then about "where does Bridget go now?", and the interpretations of the endings is all with how you read into the words spoken. Bridget is tired of hiding their true self, the true self could be the person underneath the clothes being hidden away (sex), or the realisation that the clothes are their true self and not the physical characteristics (gender).
The popular ending (8, heart loss 7) is prefaced by "I'm scared of losing what I have" and to me, that fear is losing everything they have gained up to that point by accepting their true self (whatever that may be), and by proclaiming to be a girl, it is coming to the conclusion that "I won't lose anything if I accept what I am at this moment and don't try to fight against it", perhaps thinking that they got to this point by being raised and constantly mistaken for a girl, so just accept it.
The other endings aren't as clear, because they are not meant to be, the other endings are meant to be more along the lines of "You achieved what you wanted, and that part of your life is over, so what do you do now as you still have plenty of years ahead of you". Bridget thought the happiness of being accept by the village and being a successful bounty hunter would be enough to last a lifetime, but as is the case with most things, that happiness wears off. In the end, Bridget is offered the support from Ky and Goldlewis that whatever they chose, there will always be people around to accept and support whatever decision is made, and it is Bridgets own decision, doesn't have to be influenced in order to protect their family, and shouldn't be made with the fear of losing everything that they have achieved so far.
Bridgets adventure to prove themselves to their village is over, and now Bridget has been guided to starting a new adventure of self discovery.
thats a nice way of looking at the popular ending. So yeah seems like the loss ending is the easy path, and the flawless path is the strong, hard path. Bridge being a character who is at a point where he easily could end up in both directions
I really like this interruption, and agree full heartily! Appreciate you sharing ❤
Bridget helped me realize that i was lying to myself and running away from my truth. forever thankful for her for that. I've never actually played ggs tho cause its not on Xbox sadly
super respectful breakdown bro, props for tackling such a contentious issue
Thank you very much, like I said, I just think this story is really beautiful, and I hate that people are trying to twist it into something its not. I've loved what Guilty Gear has done with like all of it's characters, and Testament and Bridget have had great, but sadly also kinda social controversial stories. But I'm a big fan of it, and think it's being done much more naturally then other have been trying to play it as. I just hope that this video is good enough at explain it and doing Bridget justice!
This is the only video I've found that actually puts together the whole picture without cherry-picking the facts.
Bridget's story can feel messy, but I think Strive managed to pull it back and prevent Bridget from falling into some very harmful tropes.
Thank you, that was the goal 🙏 so glad the video turned out alright! And it’s messy for sure, but maturing and finding yourself can be messy. It’s also left vague, so unless we get more concrete answers, no one can say for sure what’s up with Bridget. However, folks that use cherry-pick or “bad ending,” like bruh, no way am I gonna take you seriously in this discussion 🤣
When you say harmful trope are you referring to crossdressing?
@@namename2040 I'm refering to traps. I think that Bridget being a crossdresser that later comes out as trans is a much healthier message to send.
@@TheOdinsLance How are traps harmful to traps people? They are guys who may or may not like to crossdress and look women. That has nothing to do with trans people. Even in real life there are many beautiful and effeminate looking men who look like women. They are sometimes even harassed and told they aren't effeminate men but trans people who just haven't come out yet, and when I see stuff like that it makes it seem like jealousy or projection. Can't a man just be beautiful whether they be trap or real?
@@namename2040 the term "trap" specifically refers to the trope of an effeminate male character presenting as a woman to trick straight men in to having sexual feelings for them as a joke. This has roots in transphobic "gay panic" and perpetuates the harmful idea that trans women are actually just gay men trying to trick straight men into having sex with them.
Crossdressers are not "traps" and other effeminate males and feminine presenting characters shouldn't be referred to as "traps" as it perpetuates this stereotype.
A "trap" may or may not refer to a trans person, but the name in and of itself is a reference to an idea that has been used to justify violence against trans individuals for decades.
In previous incarnations of Bridget, presenting as a woman had no other purpose other than to invoke the "trap trope." Reframing this part of the character removed that dynamic.
Edit: I'm not going to reply and ping this thread again, I just hope that who ever reads this understands the negative impact that the term "trap" has on trans people and the LGBTQ community as a whole. Trap is a slur and shouldn't treated lightly.
At the end of the day bridget will be bridget and that is what matters i think
Agreed 🤝
Thanks for making a follow-up to your first video. How I see it is that any other interpretation besides her being trans just doesn't make any sense to me. Even if we ignore her "bad ending" the flawless ending with Ky simply cannot be interpreted in any other way. Bridget has said that she hates hiding the truth from other people and has to run away from her problems. The "hiding" in question does not make sense if you believe that she is hiding being a boy from everyone. Not only does her family and village know that she was born as male, she would always correct people if they mistook her for a girl and she has quite literally made her name for herself as a male bounty hunter. If she truly viewed herself as a boy this is the exact opposite of hiding the truth as she goes out of her way to say that she's boy. What she's hiding is that she feels as though she's a girl which she is keeping from her family because it believes that it will hurt them, hence her fear of losing what she loves. I've heard the argument of Bridget having not been confused about her gender before, but these people I feel fail to realize how people work. Bridget's confidence in her gender before came from wanting to not only prove her village wrong about their superstitions but to make her family proud as she thought that they hated raising her as a girl. She did achieve her goal in the end but because that was the entirety of her aspirations, having achieved that goal she has nothing left for herself. This is a phenomena that many people experience, not just trans people, and they often find themselves questioning their existence. This is where Strive Bridget finds herself and I think makes perfect sense for her character to take since gender identity has always been important to her character. I just think this heavy backlash comes from people who don't like change. The same thing happened with Testament earlier but they're case was even worse because Testament has always been a non-binary character. The confusion of them being a man comes from localization, which those same people now say that localization is pushing an agenda by making Bridget trans.
My pleasure, happy people are enjoy it! And exactly, I think that’s the bigger take away I wish people would take. Like this isn’t just a trans persons issue, it’s an issue a lot of people experience, that being true to themselves, getting freedom yet still holding onto others views and values of you, the idea of fulfillment when you have everything that is supposed to make you happy, and really just the idea of maturing yourself. Being in college myself, I can relate to all these questions she’s asking herself and her fears. So, I just wish more folks would see that beautiful writing side, as opposed to whether she’s actually trans or not. Bridget might not even know the answer to that question herself yet!
Was people getting mad to something that feels like character development? Like after this video i can understand about more, cant really firm opinion about
People were getting mad, I think, because of the whole "bad ending" thing in the arcade, which I think is dumb, as well as if Bridget's true self is referring to themselves as a male(like we thought coming out of XX) or female(what we've just learned from this arcade.) People felt like the trans community was possibly forcing her being trans, and it was just getting out of hand. So like I said, I think the timeline and character development can explain it all.
People are mad because it pushes a stereotype associated with changing feminine male characters genders for woke points and anyone who followed Bridget's story from XX can say how badly that'll loo if that was the intention because unlike Testament who was always confirmed to be non-binary and even had a female VA in the first GG Bridget was always confirmed to be a male who was forced to be a girl at birth due to a superstition and his story was to prove his worth as a male despite his overly feminine traits he grew up with now come Strive he's achieved his goal but doesn't feel any better and is now struggling with his identity, something that was never brought up in the previous games as he was very much confidant that he was a male despite his appearance, so fans of the previous games don't like this regression because its conforming to the generalization that men can't be feminine without being seen as trans which is not a positive message even if their intentions were in the right place it feels like the writers didn't actually play to previous games.
writing it off as "feels like character development" would be kinda like a gross underselling of the issue of both the narrative and character
@@zraiarz9301 calm down, i just saw this video recomended , i bearly know the character nor play these games thats why i said only what i could understand.
@@TheFainter94 i mean theres nothing not calm about what I said but ok
Something I wanted to add here: the Japanese bio didn't use a single pronoun when describing Bridget. Take it however you want, but I would like to assume they did it to 1. avoid instant backlash in japan, and 2. hide the secret in arcade mode. However in English (or any other language) it would be very weird so they add pronouns based on her arcade mode story, or resumed their previous one (in Chinese it uses Him), still makes sense as the bio doesn't include the strive story.
Interesting, and that’s what I’ve heard too. I think that fits with being themself. That also would explain why a lot of the routes leave it ambiguous. Still a great story about being yourself!
This is false. In the bio for the Japanese version Bridget is still referred to as a male and is only referred to as female in English and the localization team has been called out for taking liberties to fit an agenda. The Arcade route isn't even hidden its the same as everyone the problem is that it spread because the person fought the incomplete loss route to push a narrative.
Why would you so blatantly lie? The first line in Bridget's backstory in the bio says he was brought up as a polite young lady, but that he's a boy. 男の子である.
@@tewiinaba1359 Because that is about their backstory, which is also present in English version.
@@devondorr8212 ... Which is part of the bio, is it not? Also, there literally aren't pronouns in Japanese like there are in other languages. He/She don't exist.
I’m gonna be copypasting this big summary from RUclipsr SugarPunch’s video on LGBT and Non-Binary representation in Fighting Games made basically a bit after Bridget’s Strive reveal.
“At some point before the events of Strive, Bridget does manage to achieve what she's been chasing after since XX; to prove her 'manliness', she actually becomes a top-class bounty hunter with tons of money, and is so successful that her village even stops believing in the twins superstition. But she finds that even this doesn't bring her the closure or satisfaction she thought it would. Even though she's far from home and no longer obligated to abide by the superstition, the fact that she has spent her entire bounty hunter career attempting to defy it means that she never truly escaped it in the first place, forcing her to abide by a false expectation that she put on herself. But to lose this identity she has built for herself would mean that she is nothing without it; "I'm afraid of losing what I have", in her own words. It takes a pep talk from Good Dad Ky and Pro-Trans Uncle Goldlewis to learn that her hardship hasn't been for nothing, and she now has the freedom to choose who she wants to be; to be the person that makes her the happiest, not the person she thinks people want her to be. It is actually an extremely common theme in Guilty Gear Strive that characters come to terms with who they are and their place in the world; Testament, Bridget, Baiken, Jack-O', and many more share this theme.
A lot of people expressed that this change in identity also takes away from her representation as a transfemme male, but I don't think anything is taken away from the character at all. If you looked up to Bridget as a transfemme icon, you absolutely still can. The important takeaway from the story is that labels aren't as carved in stone as people think they are. People change, learn things about themselves, and sometimes come across bumps in the road. Some people spend their entire lives never knowing who they really are. But Bridget teaches us ultimately that you can choose who you want to be. Not because anyone expects it from you, not to prove yourself to anyone, but because you deserve to be the person who makes you the happiest.
Be who you want to be.”
Which I think was always meant to be the general idea, Bridget made the choice to address herself as a girl in the hard route on her own. Talking with Ky about coming out, was basically also her decision since trying to come out with a possible new gender identity can be a really difficult thing, especially for a village that formerly had a superstition on Twin Boys
I agree with this overall and I think they hit most the points. I think the fact that we know Bridget heavily values and loves her family and village also plays a large role in her story, but I’m glad to see others are coming to the same ideas as I am! Thank you for sharing!
@@swimcheesy186 No problem
We are waiting for Sin :)
By the way, in the 2nd season they will add more Delilah
THEY WILL? I hope so, and working on the arcade run though soon!
@@swimcheesy186 I looked at the new dialogs in the patch, there are dialogs for the character _dll, this is clearly short for Delilah
vdll400demoa_0_sin
かっこいい靴ですね 踏み心地はどうですか？ ……人の都合の
vdll401demoa_0_sin
私の方が年上……
vsin400demoa_0_dll
ん？ よく分からないけど ありがとう！
vsin401demoa_0_dll
ちびっこの子守りかぁ 仕方ないなあ
There are also several dialogues of Sin with other characters, but for some reason they are not active, perhaps they are going to return interactions intro and they will be there
@@HighTemplar OMG, getting my hopes back up! Thank you. To be fair, this season’s theme does seem to be maturing, sassy kids. She’d fit in well!
@@swimcheesy186 I wonder who will be 4th, maybe A.B.A? She hasn't been in the series for a long time.
While I don't agree with everything in the video, I think you set out your thoughts on the matter without demonising any party very well. If only others, especially those of the GG subreddit & twitter as a whole could display their own opinions as respectfully as you have. There's some comments in this comments sections I agree with while others, I disagree with so I think I'll throw my own thoughts here.
When one of Bridget's voice lines first leaked with no context surrounding it, I personally think it was reasonable for people to get annoyed over people labelling Bridget as a transwoman, though some people did take it a bit too far. Now that information is out in the open, there's no real justification for people to still continue attacking others over their opinion on the matter.
I've talked with a few friends over the whole mess and one brought up a particular character: Vivian from Paper Mario. It'd seem like there's no connection between the two, but there actually is. Vivian is seen as trans in one continent while is considered female in other areas... and this is something that, to my knowledge, is universally accepted. With Bridget, many in one area wanting to see him as trans while another continues seeing him as a man. I'm not crazy for thinking these two cases are very similar, right? Unfortunately, I doubt this'll be resolved or cleared up in the same way and I fear if Daisuke's response (if he does give one) isn't what these people on twitter or reddit or whatever other site want, this whole discourse could get even worse.
All in all, it shouldn't really matter and that one line being leaked turned this into something that just shouldn't have happened. Bridget is Bridget - he/him, she/her, they/them? Technically speaking, they all fit for Bridget since his entire thing is gender non-conforming. Personally, I'm going to continue calling him a very beautiful man but I'm not gonna throw a hissy fit if someone used she or they when talking about Bridget. I still think the connotations surrounding his backstory to be incredibly disturbing when people think of him as trans and it's utterly befuddling to me seeing more than just a few people outright ignoring or even trying to make it out like it's nothing bad. I've seen quite a few people in the trans community straight up say Bridget would be a horrible trans rep... and despite what I've said about respecting everyone's own opinion, I have to agree & the more people who realise this, the better.
There. I could type more but I'd then be repeating what other comments have already been made. That's all... I just want this whole stupid discourse to end so we can all enjoy those sick yo-yo tricks from Bridget him/her/themself.
Thank you, I try 😭🙏 and all good. I’m even changing my views and thoughts on Bridget, getting to read and discuss here in the comments. And sadly I’ve seen a lot of that, people taking just one line out of the arcade and using it to support their argument. You see it all the time irl, people just ignoring contradictory stuff while pushing supporting stuff. But oh well, I’m agreeing more and more with it doesn’t matter and no one is wrong. Bridget is a feminine male in Japan, but we in the west would probably more closely relate that to being trans. So I don’t think it’s wrong that way, but as most routes and I think even the “I’m a girl” route lead to is that fact she’s still maturing and learning about herself. She doesn’t have a concert answer, and being that she’s young, that’s fine.
@@swimcheesy186 I can say the same, my thoughts and opinions have been changing as more time passed. Comparing my thoughts now to when that voice line first leaked... admittedly a little embarrassed and while some of those views, I still hold, I feel like how I see things now are ultimately for the better. Simply put, everyone's opinion on this is valid in some way shape or form, no matter how they interpret the different endings & I hope more people can eventually realise this is the healthiest view to have. At this point, I'm probably more miffed at Bridget not having a general British accent despite being from England, like come on! I'm fine with the VA work though and it's not any real problem, haha. 😊
It’s worth noting the androgyne symbol is aligned similarly to how it would be on the full transgender symbol
Fair fair, that's just the like most sound argument I've heard if you really don't want to believe in this english dub I guess. So I was like at the VERY LEAST, you can't say she's still male and happy as a male and identifies as a male. Cuz I mean, even with this video and hopefully others speaking up about her story, folks will twist it how they want.
So I've been doing a deep dive into this topic, and it seems that part of the issue is that there is, as always in these situations, miscommunications in the translations from Japanese to english. Now let me make two things straight. 1. Bridget DOES say the "i'm a girl" line does exist in the japanese, and 2. This is essentially a "coming out" story for Bridget, just not a conventional one.
Now let's talk about the endings issue real quick before I explain the differences. While you can say all endings expand the world, there are endings with conflicting outcomes. Bridget's endings, in themself, can be seen as conflicting because in one, the one where they are losing to Ky badly enough that he has to stop the fight, Bridget somehow "works up the courage" to just come out as a girl, while in the other endings, where they are in a better position, they remain more vague. Also, we know endings can be non-canon, because in Bridget's previous appearance, his brother was kidnapped in one ending, and now that seems to be irrelevant. So the 'i'm a girl ending' can easily be seen as what happens should Bridget fail in their quest.
So what is Bridget's quest? Well for the most part, it's to work up the courage to do... "something". As the main site states, and this is copied right from the page, "Bridget showed talent as a bounty hunter and managed to bring home great wealth. This led to the village superstition fading, but it also left Bridget without a goal". So with that alone, we can see that the base plot of Bridget is that they have no aspirations at the moment, and they are questioning what goals they have they have for the future, their previous goal being "becoming a bounty hunter to break the superstition", which is finished.
So this is where the translation seems to vary, because in the japanese version, apparently Ky and Bridget's conversation is more direct, and explains that Bridget is worried about staying a bounty hunter. That's what this is about. When they say they "haven't talked to their parents about it", they are talking about their career as a bounty hunter. This can be seen in the english version too, because when they talk to Goldlewis, it's directly talking about about him hiding the details of his job from his family. he even states that "he's riding that horse too" which isn't meant to be analogy, but a direct comparison to their two situations. Every bit of dialog can that can be contributed to Bridget "being a girl" can just as easily fit into this "being a bounty hunter" frame too, save for the one time they actually say "I'm a girl" in what is a moment of weakness, which is egged on by Goldlewis misgendering them after being told "he's a boy", because it reflects how they don't see themselves as "strong" like Goldlewis and Ky in that moment. Also, for Bridget, it's easier to come out as a "girl" (even if that's not what they want), than to come out as "Their True Self", that being a bounty hunter.
So yeah, chalk it up to meanings being misconstrued in translation, which seems to be the case most of the time in these situations. I'm not even blaming localizes, because most of the details are still there. It's just harder to see without the direct confrontation about the real issue Bridget is facing.
I see what you’re are saying and appreciate you sharing and looking into it. That’d make a lot of sense if Bridget being a bounty Hunter wasn’t known to the parents. Since she’s from a village of bounty hunters and made it her goal to become a well known bounty Hunter for the village sake, I’d be surprised if her parents don’t know yet. If that is the case though, I think you interpretation would be the correct one. I’m not fully convinced on it yet, BUT, it has opened my eyes to a new possibility and would also be an interesting dynamic. I’ll keep it in the back of my mind for now, again, thanks for sharing!
@@swimcheesy186 Ok. Also, just realize that I never said that Bridget's parents "don't know", just that Bridget hasn't "talked to them about it". Bridget comes form a rich family, and their parents clearly cares about them enough to want to protect them, so even if they DO know, it's still likely Bridget has never talked to them about it out of fear of what they might think.
The way I see the Arcade endings is more like that they are all canon and it’s more like they they’re continuations of each other like how Nago constantly talks about ‘next time’ it seems like the stage 8/9 endings are kind of like at a later date
Yep 🤝 that’s pretty much how I see them all. Like they all don’t happen, but all the information given is. Like Baiken talks about her sword in the “bad,” endings and with those, we even learn the swords name: Regret. I doubt that she’s going to come out be like actually, the swords name is Yoru or something 🤣 but yeah, I agree
I think bridget has attracted a lot of new people to the community (myself included). Many people (like me) are just excited to see a canon trans character in a video game and are interested to learn more about both the character and the game she's a part of (I'm definitely planning on picking up strive when it goes on sale to try out bridget and a few other characters that have caught my eye), but there seems to be another smaller subset of people who are coming into the gam/fandom spaces just to troll, spread information, and generally be annoying because they don't like seeing lgbt rep in videogames. Hopefully those kinds of people will grow bored or disinterested and move on, and all the people actually interested in the series will join and start playing to make the fandom of this game even more vibrant and fun.
I hope so too, I’m just really frustrated and kinda upset people are still using the “bad ending” argument, because that seems to be the only thing they can really fall on at the end of the day. But yeah, it’s been awesome on my end to see a lot of comments from people on all these Bridget videos saying that this character had gave them an interest in the game.
5:00 agre about the coming out stuff, but Bridget clearly hasn't come out as FTM to the town yet, it's still only the parents who know.
The town thinks Bridget is a wealthy badass FEMALE bounter hunter and is probably getting loads of marriage proposals and stuff.
The wealth earned uplifts the town so they suffer less, are less prone to superstition, but probably still hate twins.
Bridget wants to come out to the town (not just help them build libraries and hospitals) but is worried no amount of philanthrophy will overcome their twinsphobia.
People seem to forget that Bridget's "search for a purpose" is also an issue of how he feels about his profession. Plenty of his dialogue (3:20) and some of his theme song's lyrics (I've moved on, by my own will, I had nothing else I wanted to do, Wasn't hard, but I didn't hate it, I did not even like it) can be about this struggle. While he's making bank on bounty hunting, his unfulfilled dream has always been to be an entertainer (I already have the gifts just can't open the box). He has the money, but he still would rather do what he always dreamed about. We know this from the lore, and you can see it in how he always sings and dances. His quest isn't only about his gender.
But if we were to dive deeper into the gender debacle, let's look into the beginning of his theme song.
-The town inside me
-And everyone's voice
-Only I'm not there
-Just watching from afar
-I can't go home
-Because I'm afraid
-Something will change
The village already knows he's a boy, but in those 6 years that he kept doing bounty hunting between games, he hasn't been in his village. If so, he might have issues with how they'll treat him if he returns when, despite being post-puberty, he still looks and dresses like a girl. I might be wrong here, however.
About the bad ending, don't Ky's and Faust's arcade paths have a contradicting outcome depending on your performance? If so, I'd say the bad-good ending argument still has merit to it.
And now, for the biggest can of worms, Japanese otokonoko culture. When he says "Onnanoko desu kara" to Goldlewis (who's as dense as a box of rocks), it might have been said in a half-joking manner, where it's not about identity, but rather "Haha, how can a guy be this cute, of course I'm a girl (male), silly." This is a VERY common trope.
You know, in various yaoi H-manga featuring traps/otokonoko/cute kawaii boys/whatever the hell, the uke/bottom can sometimes say he's "turning into a girl" when he's orgasming while getting railed in the butt. That certainly isn't a transgender coming out story now, is it? (WARNING: Potentially NSFW arch-img.b4k.co/v/1660238578857.png )
Just wanted to give my three cents on the matter, especially since he's referred to as transgender only in the western press, Japan still calls him a boy. ArcSys really has some explaining to do, but I think they'll wait a bit, since the current shitstorm is literally free marketing. Bridget going on a rescue mission to find his kidnapped brother that we were teased is what we should've gotten, anyway. That could've been a great expansion to his lore.
and that right there is my biggest issue with this. The voice lines leaked early and then colored everyone's perspective on the lines which could easily be referring to other things. They could also refer to being trans, but it doesn't fit nearly as well overall with the story and character in the past games imo. Can't say stuff about that or you're transphobic now though (despite bridget being better trans rep before getting the Trans™label slapped onto him because it was a story about being true to your real self no matter what others think)
Question here, so is calling him a femboy wrong now? Things use to be so simple
He's still the cute trap/femboy we all know and love.
I don’t think it’s about being a performer, but I could be wrong. The cultural difference is for a sure a big factor here, since in Japan, there is that more feminine boy trope, but here in the west, we’d more say that’s being trans. I think that cultural difference is where the biggest confusions are coming, but I don’t think right now at least(if we learn more about Bridget in the story that pushes her as a male, then this end up being an issue,) this is a bad take on the character culture wise, but we shall see. As for the song, I’ll have to do some more research into it before I can personally feel confident in that for how it speaks of Bridget and her story. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and perspective, thank you!
@@swimcheesy186 the west would say it's being trans, but that'd be wrong and cultural appropriation.
Even *if* you take all the different routes at face value about being trans or not, he's clearly only at the stage of questioning and trying to figure out who he really is, thus not trans yet.
Another thing is if he's supposed to be trans, why would they put the androgynous symbol instead of the trans one? There's lots of details put into everyone's outfits in strive, and they aren't prone to potential mistranslation either. They already have a hooded and hoodless model. Could have had one with androgynous for the story until the end and swapped it to the trans symbol. Could have even only shown the androgynous one in the pre release footage too. It's clearly specifically androgynous
In the end idc if he is or isn't trans, I just want it to be well done in the story and not rushed, which it isn't well done and is rushed currently in the popular Twitter interpretation.
this discourse tastes like vegetables i don't like
think roger is briget's twin brother because back then briget now has a twin brother it hasn't been revealed yet if i'm wrong cause i only watched guity gear strive for a month
Besides, I did not find anyone talking about the twin brother with briget
Bridget the first cis trans woman fr fr
An inspiration
On a serious note, goddamn they obviously did their research when it comes to trans women with her story, some of the clips you showed hit home in a big way.
Diasuke, our god. No notes.
For the future, general consensus among the trans community is to use the current pronouns when talking about them historically, regardless of what they were being called at the time.
Gotcha, sounds good. I’ll keep that in mind for the future! I appreciate you explaining that rather then trying to cancel me 🤣 and of course I want to be as respectful as possible!
5:35 "he's clearly upset about being a boy"
that or clearly upset people keep calling him a girl and the necessity of reminding them - because of still dressing like a girl under a state of duress.
There's no "it's a long story" if the reason Bridget dresses in girl clothes is because "I like them and I feel like a girl". That's not a long story at all.
The long story is "I'm still hiding I'm a biological male from my home village who thinks I am a wealthy female adventurer .. so I'm going to keep disguising myself so they don't murder me and kidnap and torture my brother to death"
Bridget is tragic in entirely different ways than people acknowledge
Remember Bridget is a ruthless bounty hunter
Hope more people see this video and stop arguing about this one character
Bridgets character assuming she comes out as a girl feels kinda forced imo. Like the entire character was based around being forced to be a gender he didn't identify as, and trying to break free from that, only for him to just choose to become the very thing he was trying to escape after achieving his goals?
I really do how they confirm one way or the other I feel like a lot of this video is a reach especially due to missing context from the Japanese side and considering one of the main reasons Daisuke made Bridgette is because he wanted to make a cute character and thought making them female would be boring. This isn't the first time localizers tried to force a character to be trans when they aren't. Crossdressers are a big thing in Japanese media and localizers keep trying to convert them into trans people. Like Astolfo or Rin from Catherine. Why is it so wrong to exist as a crossdresser it doesn't hurt anybody.
I don't care if in the end Bridgette does end up being trans however would kind of makes his story and struggle kind of pointless.
Hello, sorry to ask but would you mind explaining some things please? I'm making a character and these discussions on Bridget might help with a (possible) trans character I'm making.
If not, sorry to bother you.
I've wanted to talk about this SO much myself, but you really nailed a lot of what I've been thinking about her Arcade Mode.
It's honestly kinda disgusting how much displacement and just downright misinformation were needed for this controversy, when it shouldn't have been one in the first place.
It really sucks that your recording has been used so much for this, especially since most people who came to a conclusion from it won't watch this follow up from their own source.
Yeah, people also be nit-picking stuff out of the video to “support” their side, but is what it is. And much appreciated, I tried my best 😭🙏 I just hope I did her story justice and correctly.
I disagree with the interpretation that Bridget was upset at being a boy in the convos with goldlewis.
It's the opposite, he's annoyed that he keeps calling him a lady.
Fair fair. It really does come down to how you interpret the way she’s saying it, since the wording can really be either meaning.
@@swimcheesy186 if you factor in the backstory it make more sense for Bridget to be a boy
@@jaygin6518 yeah, Bridget was born a boy, raised as a girl, wanted to prove their masculinity and that they are a man, and is now feeling that maybe they are a girl. People and characters can change! Until we learn more, Bridget could see herself as a girl, a feminine male, or maybe something else entirely. Her just wanting to be a girl is just her wanting to try and be herself, not worrying about what others will think, especially the ones she cares for and loves the most.
@@swimcheesy186 yeah grooming and societal pressure is so cool and such a good message .
@@jaygin6518 yep, that’s the message… not overcoming those. People have trauma, and Bridget is currently trying to rise above to be their true self!
personally I don't care if bridget stays male or chooses to identify as female, all I care about is...
that yoyo trick was sick bro!
but seriously though, I prefer the flawless run where it's left ambigous on whether or not bridget chooses to stay a he or become a she (though I'm leaning towards the former), and that at the end of the day, bridget is still bridget, and I personally consider that the canon ending.
FACTS, Bridget yo-yo game be on point!!!! And yeah, I do like the ambiguous routes as well. I hope we see more of Bridget, because her story right now is about learning about themselves and can take many twist and turns along the way. And I think that's the biggest take away, Bridget is Bridget at the end of the day, and Bridget will be who they want to be!
Yoyo tricks and rocking that jacket, which I want. I'll admit, I recently just bought a yoyo to learn how to do some tricks.
Personally I'd rather have Bridget identify as a male because that's what Bridget tried to push in the previous games. Though I won't really settle on a side until the devs come out (heh) and confirm what's what. Bridget is adorable and Bridget can be Bridget's trueself whatever that may be.
@@PinoyRiceCake agreed, I prefer it for bridget to stay a male and always thought that was the decision at the end of the flawless run. surpringly a lot of japanese agree too.
I don’t think Bridget has a gender on the official character page they don’t gender them like at all except when they tell the story
I’m not gonna lie I am disappointed that I will not see him in boys clothes.
I’m sorry no matter how you slice it feels like a contradiction. because it’s gonna be seeing two ways accepting A persona version of you and The other but you was not to hide behind no mask. it would be interesting having two character with those ideal confront the other. when it comes to Bridget all I see it’s a character who’s took his mask off just to put on another.
Fair, the whole point is she’s trying to gain the courage to take off the mask, but I understand why you see it that way. That’s also why I really hope(even though regardless of the outcome, it’s going to piss people off,) that we get a conclusion to Bridget’s situation.
I sse it as there confuesd about who they are.
6:30 "why throw all this away to come out as a girl"
zero evidence whatsoever Bridget's village is transphobic - that's pure fancruft
the established threat is "we murder the younger of twins"
that threat has never been neutralized - the fear is coming out as male
the foreword for strive never established that Bridget revealed maleness to the village at whole
Bridget did reveal "I left town, became a warrior girl, earned lots of money, here have some" so they all love "Bridget who we think is the rich daughter of that mansion family"- sure
but there's zero evidence Bridget revealed "I'm a younger male twin you would have killed".
No evidence "Bridget the son" was ever accepted.
That "briefly tried living as a boy" footer was absent from the game, absent from the forward, and tacked on in a September 18th interview that Daisuke redacted in October 28th.
If that happened in any respect Daisuke likely meant "wore men's clothing in private but didn't try doing it in public because still terrified of the crazy murderous villagers"
Did we even find out why Bridget's brother went missing in one of the XX endings? Uncle mentions, Bridget goes looking - zero followup.
I figured villagers kidnapped the bro and were going to kill him because of superstitions
What're Goldlewis' true feelings!?!?!??!?!
I don’t, gonna try to go into that in the arcade breakdown, but like, poor guy 🥺 he do just wanna support Bridget at the end of the day
What if the meme calling season 1 the average lgbtq group chat is true? Omgomg
I'm not trying to start anything just wonder why Brig talking about hiding being a girl? I saw it as hiding the ability to be more masculine because he(?) Is locked in the past.
Nah, all good! Like I said, just want to help answer questions and also understand others interpretations. Hiding being a girl I think stems from her parents wanting Bridget to be a man after they forcefully raise her a girl for many years(obviously to keep her alive, but they did regret it,) and as well as make sure her village can't still say that male twins lead to bad luck. They could say, if she comes out to them, that this is some weird loophole, and raise one of all male twins as female. The conversation where she also says that she's afraid of losing what she has I think supports this. Again, she has loving and proud parents, and the respect of her village. Why throw away that source of happiness and purpose just to come out as a girl, when it would be better to just keep it to herself? I think those are the reasons she's keeping it in.
@@swimcheesy186 I'm dumb, The reason she's keeping the fact she's more comfortable as a girl or...?
I've been trying to like put my thoughts into words and idk why I can't, I figured that Brig having KY as a role model was because he is a traditional guy so she has somthing to strive towards as a goal (Pun not intended) and with KY telling her how much he's been through i figured she was opening up to the idea of both options, at first I thought it was giving her the ability to look however she wants because she's been mistaken so many times for a girl or she'd have the confidence to try being a girl agian and allow people close to her to call her whatever they want (Like the gold lewis cowgirl thing) but thinking about it now the trans stuff does add up even though it's a bit... idk in our face? I always loved guilty gear lore because I experienced it through the songs and learning their hardships that way and it got me close to tears a lot of the time though I did only come in at strive and I've been slowly learning the people that aren't in strive yet (which included Brig before a couple days ago) and I've enjoyed them all and I've been excited to hear all the songs that some could have but Brigs left me feeling a bit empty, Like it didn't explain anything I didn't already know or it left me suffocated with options like I didn't get to have an opinion on this character since I learned about all this stuff with her before listening to her song.
I shall reply to whatever comes in the morning when I get up I'm hella tired lol
@@kloud1559 all good, sorry for not replying sooner 😖 but it’s more seems like she feels like a girl on the inside. And with the whole male twin fear and her parents feeling bad for raising her as a girl, Bridget fears that actually coming out as a girl will disappoint her parents and take away from the male twin fear that she disposed by becoming successful.
I personally prefer to call Bridget a "he". I can see how that can be offensive but I think its not a warcrime. Its just a bunch of pixels and at the end of the day do you really think Bridget we know and love himself would mind? I think not. Male and female traits are part of him after all. The only thing that bothers me about the whole situation is people being oversensitive and too serious about the whole thing. Like banning people im chats and stuff. Its just a fictional character. Chill out.
Either way I dont really mind how people call Bridget, but Im going with the femboy angle. I think its an acceptable way to think about this whole thing.
I don't know. It's such a small thing to do. Most importantly there's a long history of insisting on using incorrect pronouns for trans people in real life and in media. The way we think and talk about fiction influences how we talk and interact with the real world and vice versa. Even if this is just a fictional character, you send a very different message to people than you might want to by insisting on he/him.
You're of course free to have your head cannon, just keep in mind that other people are probably not gonna have that context.
agreed, though you have to be careful, some people are (ironically) not as tolerant as others, even when talking about fictional characters which is just weird
This. Pixels, fictionnal character. But damn, people are acting like he is the new flag of transidentity in the world. And these people coming from nowhere just because they saw Bridget telling she's a girl in one ending... They never knew about the game, never cared and just act like it's now their game.
But what pisses me of is that they are suppose that it's bad to be a femboy? Not to speak about the toxicity of other being no more gay because they are now f@ping to a girl. Not to mention the whole "YoU aRe MiSgEndeRinG hEr".
Let's just enjoy the game for what it is and have fun, can we?
Fair enough, and indeed not a war crime. Folks still call Testament he or even she when playing the Japanese! And at the end of the day, it’s just a video game. You can call the character whatever you want, and calling Bridget he isn’t exactly wrong, so is what it is.
To me making Bridget female is actually cis, that was the gender they were rasised and asigned at birth. Technically beforehand Bridget whould be a trans man in the they were raised female but now identify as male. Im tryed of people acting like trans woman is the only gender in existence.
7:44 "Kai would've been exiled, executed" ie exactly what we're told would happen to Bridget if her ever came out as a male in the village.
This is actually worse than your usual FTM transition.
If FTMs transition yes they often do face violence, but they at least have chance to go back in the closet for survival if it looks like people might get violent, for a breather until there's an escape plan.
Bridget outing himself leaves no backpedaling room - once the secret is out it's out. There's no "no little girl, you don't need to insist on a boy, you just go back to being a girl and we'll leave you alone" room by the oppressors - it's literally a target on Bridget's back as soon as the village finds out.
Bridget is a great warrior but we're talking about probably thousands of unpredictably violent people - numbers catch up on you.
It is -being a younger twin- which inspires parallel horror to gears - just like Bridget's bear gets confused for being a gear.
There's no hint that transphobia exists on such extreme levels in this world that people would hate them and fear them on the level they do gears.
I've never seen a character in even a slightly violent way, the most offensive was just the guy who went limp mid-fight when he figured it out.
If anything Dickerson seemed the most intimidating and subtly violent and seemed to be pressuring Bridget to identify as female, maybe because he thought Bridget wanted that, but in a very domineering way.
:D😊
I completely disagree. Everyone that meets Bridget on first glance believes that he's a girl, so that can't be "what he's running away from" in this route. There'd be nothing to run away from, he could just stop correcting people when they're mistaken and it would do the trick. The route with Goldlewis plays more like at the end of the day he'd rather indulge playfully the mistake by saying "i'm a girl teehee" than making things awkward by continuously correcting him (something that we gnc guys tend to do as well). The path with Ky is much more telling because of the lines "I won't change no matter what happens" and Bridget getting inspired by it saying he's going to live as his true self, a guy.
I don't know how to clearly state this, but it would be more unlikely that Bridget is "running away from the fact that they are a man" right? Also it's not like she can " just stop correcting people when they're mistaken", she has to accept her own identity first before able to do that.
"The path with Ky is much more telling because of the lines "I won't change no matter what happens" and Bridget getting inspired by it saying he's going to live as his true self, a guy."
How in the world are you able to conclude that when the dialogue RIGHT BEFORE that was about how Ky came out publicly with his gear, throwing away his past achievements in order to be his true self?
Why would Bridget, who has for the whole Guilty Gear series portrayed themselves as a male so gleefully before, suddenly not feel as confident doing so now?
The obvious answer is a struggle with identity.
It is basically the crux of Bridget's entire storyline in Strive, down to the theme "This Town Inside Me".
In no point during the Extreme Route was masculinity ever implied as being what Bridget wanted to pursue. Bridget looked up to Ky because he was able to be true to himself despite losing what he has achieved in his past, and it's quite obvious what path Bridget wants to take after that encounter.
It makes more sense that throwing away the masculinity Bridget built in order to become more true to themselves was the whole point to the story than continuing playing the charade of portraying themselves as masculine while also acting feminine.
You are being incredibly disingenuous if you still think Bridget's identity is still up for debate.
And as was said in the video, all endings are supplementary to the story.
Saying that the Hard Route ending is not canon is just being ignorant.
@@Mirlo2hu I agree that is probably what they were going for but the problem is that, given Bridget's previous characterization and backstory, what Nio Brando says just straight up makes more sense. Bridget has always been shown as everyone mistaking him for a girl despite him just wanting to prove himself as a man. There's not really all that much conflict to Bridget coming out if everyone already thought of him as a girl before, hence it doesn't really make all that much sense for him to be even worried about it in the first place. It's not like the parents were abusive or anything, they love him and he knows this, so it can't be that what she's afraid of right? The town had zero problems thinking she was a girl as well, in fact, they favored that over him being male.
It's just really sloppily implemented with what came before. Bridget being unsure of what he or she is now that they've accomplished all they wanted is just easier to understand and see rather than the flipflop of "I was raised as a girl but I wanted to be a boy but now I actually want to be a girl"
@@cia4u401 The problem is, Bridget was sure that she were a man back in XX, hence why she always corrected people. "There's not really all that much conflict" only applies to other people who took Bridget as a girl on the first sight. But for Bridget herself, who had been insisting that she were a man all these past years, it would be very conflicting. She's not worrying about people not accepting her gender identity, more about herself regretting or not feeling satisfied for such decisions.
Also, just watch through her dialogues with goldlewis. A lot wouldn't make sense if the true self she was hiding was "to be more masculine" or "remain a boy".
@@devondorr8212 Except that a major theme in the story is just being yourself despite what others might think. Both Ky, Goldlewis and Bridget say this at one point of another. If the conflict is coming purely within Bridget themselves, then it should've been shown/explained that way, because as it stands even the people that do recognize Bridget and are aware of their reputation as a bounty hunter (like Goldlewis) still confuse Bridget as a girl.
Again, I'm not saying that's not what Strive's going for. I'm saying that it just doesn't work that well if you take into account their backstory and previous motivation before Strive, and it ends up being confusing at best.
I don't know anymore. But I do think the Idea of him being Groomed to now say She's a trans female doesn't sit right with me morally.
I think he is still a dude
Bridget was always a boy and even the former developers said that they designed Bridget as a guy because they thought a boy in a dress would be funny. Arc just changed that for woke points. There is enough prove like interviews from older development members or how Arc changed the Wiki entries one day before reveal. It is so disrespectful to the series, the former developers/designers and the longtime fans.
Lmao, idk about disrespectful. It’s their game, they can treat their characters how they want. And characters can change, and visions for a character can change. Like idk who this is disrespecting, they leave it vague so you can see her how you want to see her I think. A lot of people seem to also love that Bridget’s been added to the game, and I bet you 95% of players can give two sh*ts about the lore. So yeah, sorry you feel that way.
It's Daisukes baby so there's literally no one to disrespect.
Bridget is *he*