yeah, I really like how chihiro and mondo are such polar opposites that really contrast masculinity, mondo being a very macho masculine presenting man who appears strong but feels weak, meanwhile chihiro is very feminine in appearance yet still strives to be stronger, and finds the courage to come out to mondo for help, resulting in chihiros death and mondos despair. trans headcanons are fine and valid as fuck but you can't just ignore that part of the story.
As a trans person, I have nothing against people headcannoning chihiro as a trans girl, but I myself think he is just a cis guy and here’s why. From what I know, he was bullied for being “too feminine” which makes me think he presented himself as a girl to be accepted by society and others around him. He looked up to mondo because he was manly and strong and the stereotype of a man, or atleast what he thought a man should act/ look like. I believe he was scared of people knowing he wasn’t a girl because he was scared what happened before would happen again. He came to mondo for help, to be strong, to be “manly”, to be what I think he wanted to be like. I do believe if the game was redesigned/ made in 2021 there would be a lot more detail into his character and there is a big chance he could be a trans girl. But for now until anything is proven true or false, those are my thoughts on him.
I'm trans myself, and I personally totally disagree with people saying that HE is trans. Chihiro is a boy. He says it. Telling he's a girl is transphobia. Because 2 big points : 1. Telling that a boy cross-dressing is a trans girl. Do I really need to explain more ? That's transphobic (and sexist btw) as hell. 2. Chihiro is a representation... Of a trans boy. He's a boy who had to grow up as a girl because hé was ''weaker'' than the other boys. He's not trans. He's a trans representation. That's not the same thing. I won't talk much about the first point, because I think that it explains itself correctly, but I'm gonna talk about WHY Chihiro is a representation of a trans boy, and not a trans girl. And I'm gonna use his backstory. Because, waw, I'm not gonna erase his whole character by saying that he's trans, since he's not. He was bullied because he was feminine. He was bullied because people told him ''You're not strong enough to be a boy !''. So he decided to disguise himself as a girl. To play with his feminity to pass as a girl. To be a ''trap''. And he HATED THAT. He tells it. He tells to Mondo how much he did, and still do at the time, hate ''tricking others into believing that he's a girl''. He wants to ''ERASE THIS PART OF HIMSELF''. He says it. I'm litterally quoting the game. He's described as a little boy, who always known he was a boy, who hid himself by acting as a girl not to be harrassed. He said himself that HE HATES BEING SEEN AS A GIRL. And people are calling him a girl. That's transphobic. Because yes, he's trans. A trans boy. He was outing himself when talking to Mondo, to starts his social transition. To become himself. It's almost said like that in the game. I remember when I first have seen the dialogue. I was in the closet, and I was wearing a dress because I just went home from school and this day I had to wear one. I had a crisis. The first gender dysphoria crisis of all my life. I was just starting to ask myself if I was really a girl, I didn't even know what ''transgender'' means ! The only other time I had a crisis because of a fictional character is when a trans character had one in the book, and that everything he felt was explained. It's the only other time I had one. Chihiro is a man. A cis one. But he's trans-coded. And that's beautifull. Telling he's a trans girl is erasing his whole story, his whole trauma, but also erasing a trans coded character. He HAS gender dysphoria. The same as I have, about me being weak. About my body being perceived as feminine. If he was a trans girl, he would have NEVER ask Mondo to work with him. He would have explained to others that he's not a boy. But he would not have asked to Mondo to train with him. Mostly toxic trans fem are saying he's trans, because they're seeking representation, and I understand that. But I can't understand how they can think that Chihiro is a trans girl just because he wears a dress. They're fighting AGAINST the idea of trans women being juste men in dresses, but as soon as a man, coded to have a story of a trans one, wears a dress, that's a trans girl ? No. Just no. Isn't it explicit when Chihiro says that he HATES being seen as a girl, because ''He's not one''. I think it's even implied in the japanese version that he's not a trans woman and that he feels like mocking them ! Yes, Chihiro is a trans representation. Yes, he's a cis man. He's not a trans girl. He's still a representation. A good one. And the crazy ones telling that he's a girl because he wears a dress makes him a bad trans representation.
@Nicholas Graysen omg i love you and your little bot buddy below LMAO anyways just so yall know it took a google search and they take automatic paypal payments and then take your money. bwabwa please report the comments above!!
@@windcrystal1349 i agree. If a reboot of DR1 i would want him to be a trans BOY. Not a trans Girl. Edit: i would like to say i dont have a problem with the trans fem headcanons.
I feel like another problem to consider is that Japan's views on transgender people are kinda...different from America's views on them. Not necessarily hateful, but different.
As a trans person who is a big fan of Chihiro (obviously) I personally headcanon him as cis, but I do see where the people who hc him as trans come from
I think there’s something nice about the fact that we can see them as cis or trans, but we should understand that since they’re not explicitly trans, it’s not “good” representation.
I feel that chihiro’s character is more a commentary on gender stereotypes more than having a trans character. Keep in mind that this game was made 10 years ago and trans people weren’t hitting public attention like they are now. I feel that their character is more “stop pushing gender norms or it’ll make people be fearful to be themselves” rather than “he was scared into being transgender” I hope that makes sense. Great video Oliver :D
I feel like Chihiro and Mondo’s characters were more about exploring toxic masculinity, that one was physically strong but mentally weak, and the other was vice versa. I wish they weren’t killed off so soon because they could’ve explored more into that concept. Despite this, I don’t have a problem with people headcanoning Chihiro as trans because they can relate to his experiences. As long as they’re not calling people transphobic for not having the same headcanon, I don’t mind.
personally i refer to him with he/him pronouns, mostly because alter ego, who chihiro programed, does too, so i assume that's what he prefers to go by.
Yeah that’s another reason why I personally think he isn’t trans . I don’t think he was expecting others to come by much less conversate with alter ego
i think even his daughter, nanami, refers as him as "father" in some point of the story, and, nanami being an AI, why chihiro, supposed to be a trans person, not programed nanami to call him "mother"?
The problem with trans Chihiro headcannons is that, most of the time, they're not just headcannons. Some people genuinely believe that Chihiro is canonically a trans girl, and anyone who dares to debunk them is a transphobe. These people have come to love a version of the character that they've created, not the one who's actually on the game. And that's a problem not just with Chihiro, but literally every fictional character ever. And I personally think that's a major disrespect to writers, and even the characters themselves.
I don’t think it’s possible to consume media without creating a character who is different for you that they are for every other person who also experiences that media. We all bring our own biases and experiences to characters, which is why some people can love a character and another can hate that same one. They’re not different, they’re just being interpreted differently by different people and i don’t think that’s disrespectful to their creator - that’s just how art is, usually
BIG agree. It’s okay to head cannon Chihiro as trans and have fun with it but it’s definitely not okay to force that onto other people and being accusatory if they don’t accept their head cannon as cannon.
@@GypsyxDarling Creating a different version of the character for yourself is not what's disrespectful, forcing that headcanon on other people, spreading misinformatiom and absolutely believing it to be facts rather than it just being their own perspective is what's harmful and disrespectful.
idk much abt danganronpa but the trans vs not trans argument is something i deal w/ all the time in the hunter x hunter fandom. people are always at each others throats arguing about whether neferpitou and alluka are trans. the author purposefully did not use any gendered language for neferpitou so a lot of people headcanon them as nonbinary or agender and alluka is referred to w/ he/him pronouns by her abusive family, but her brother - who is canonically the only one who loves her - uses she/her pronouns and refers to her as his little sister so a lot of people think she is a trans girl. im personally in the camp that pitou is agender and that alluka is a trans girl but if i were to say that to someone on reddit i would probably get a 7k word lecture on why i'm wrong lmao also dude!!! ur so close to 100k omg!!!
Ok but I completely agree and it made me smile causse I myself am Agender and it makes me happy to see a headcanon with us. I usually dont see people talk about us much, so this made my night :]
I feel like Alluka being trans and Pitou being agender is completely canon, lol. People just want excuses to not acknowledge that, I think. The creator of HxH even attempted to tackle trans topics multiple times (although sort of clumsily) through Yu Yu Hakusho and another manga that I forgot the name of.
@@crypticcorvid i think it's canon too but i didn't wanna outright say that because i didn't want to start an argument lmao. i'm so tired of trying to explain that to people
@@furuyawn Yeah, it sucks to run into people like that, lol. They're always the ones most interested in arguing for no reason too. I have no clue how people actually use Reddit, where I see this like everytime, lol.
HxH Spoiler Warning just in case I'd like to count Chimera Ant Kite too. Tho I see them as their own person, since human Kite was a man, being reborn in female body wouldn't change that. What's confusing is that when talking with Koala, Kite is using feminine pronoun and masculine when with Gon (there are some theories about that). I've seen people hc them as either trans guy or transmasc, I go with the former. Seeing people portraying them as strictly feminine and god forbid, even sexualizing them, makes me super uncomfortable. Same character or not, Kite is my favorite and sometimes I get pretty protective of him.
As a cis guy who had a similar experience as Chihiro, I can tell you that Chihiro's actions To me, seemed perfectly normal. And while I never cross-dressed, I've had a very strong desire to do so And still look up to a lot of people who do. I wouldn't say I made it through high school fine, and to this day those years are some of my most painful and suppressed memories. Chihiro being cis to me isn't transphobic or a lack of representation, It's a person who struggled with trauma induced gender dysphoria. Something that is more common in trans folk, but not exclusive. And for those saying that cis people don't have lasting gender dysphoria, I'm a balding man with a beard who still feels like they're too feminine, Despite knowing better, because that's how hellish the world can be.
as a Trans person who loves Chihiro, I have nothing against this and i have no offense to it, He has a reason to crossdress due to him being bullied for looking "Too feminine", he's still a Cis male and only pretended to be a girl to avoid getting bullied, I honestly didn't understand why people saw him as trans because he literally told Mondo he was a male, even monokuma told everyone Chihiro was a boy. so that headcanon is kinda weird.
I think the head cannon comes from people’s personal experiences that may be similar to Chihiro’s bullying. And since they have similar problems they relate themselves to the character. So that might be where it originated
i personally have the headcannon that chihiro is a trans girl mostly because the game was made in 2010 and if it were made in modern day (and not by a cishet person) chihiro would probably be trans
@@greensun0008 What is that supposed to mean? Of course the character would be different if it were written in a different time and by a different type of person. That could apply to literally any character ever.
I don't see Chihiro as trans due to his backstory, how he was bullied in to presenting as a girl. He didn't want to be bullied so he accepted these bullies in to making that decision in his life to be who he was not, then he came across Mondo who was everything he wanted to be. He was essentially bullied in to a gender role he didn't want to be.
I don't think you're wrong, but I do think there's still a bit more in the game that could be read in a different way. Mentioned it in my own comment, but it stuck out to me that when the game shows the flashback photos of the students all happy and friendly with one another, Chihiro still seems to present as feminine, and the story is that it's during that time that the students all share their biggest secrets with one another. One *could* read that as Chihiro deciding they prefer to present as feminine while they're in a supportive environment, and that it's only the pressure they were under in the killing game that made them want to change, similar to how the initial bullying pushed them toward presenting as female in the first place - in each case, it's unfair, undue pressure the character is forced to shoulder. Again, you're not wrong for reading it the way you do, as I think that's more overtly what the text was aiming for, but I do think there are valid alternate readings.
I'm another trans person dont @me )) I usually have problems with people saying that he is trans, and not necessarily cause they connect to him due to trauma, it's more like they think making a character trans will make them better? And being trans is like being in the cool kids club, and trying FORCING that headcanon into other people like its fact, n its usually people who arent trans who do this calling others transphobic, I dont see a problem with cis ppl headcanon someone as trans or liking a trans character, it's just how they ACT with said character and how they ACT AROUND OTHERS is which gets me, Dont shove your headcanon down peoples throats like its fact, don't act like making him trans will make him better or give you brownie points or act like being trans is like being a popular kid at school, cause it's not like that! Its traumatizing, dont push him on a high chair simply cause hes only trans cause that's seems creepy as fuck to only treat trans characters as holy gods but have different taste with other characters
Oh god yeah. I’m not in the danganronpa fandom but I’ve seen tons of cis people with trans headcanons and it feels so. Weird. Like they wanna be part of the “trans club” without having to be trans??? They’re usually super disrespectful about it too, it makes it so hard to have trans headcanons as a trans person for comfort because cis people will f*tishize it....
My headcanon is that chihiro is a trans guy. That he came out at a young age, was bullied back into the closet, and then came out before being killed. And that monokuma knew that chihiro identified as male so thats what was on his thing =)
As a trans person it really hurt me to have someone say to me "You're transphobic" for not sharing their Chihiro is a trans female HC. If anything I see Chihiro more as ftm than mtf, because as someone who is afab, I really relate to him and especially his trauma. I do get the other argument though, it does have some qualities that relate to mtf trans people and I do in fact see that and it's valid all the way, but me personally? Will always see Chihiro as male or even nonbinary using he/them pronouns. It's also part of me being trans that projects onto him where I see him as being ftm! But people seeing Chihiro as mtf? Entirely valid! It's fine by me! I understand people's points :D I'm glad you made this, it helps both sides see other people's points. It's really helpful! Your art is godlike btw :0
Honestly, I used to think that the headcanon of Chihiro being a trans female was absolutely ridiculous before watching this since I wanted to stick strictly to the canon of the game. But now after having finished watching this, I am relaxed much more on that idea. I still don't think Chihiro is trans female, but I can now see why someone would think that. Heck, I'm even thinking of headcanoning Chihiro is some form of Non-Binary (probably demi-gender since I myself am a demigirl and I heccing never see representation of that anywhere). Thanks a bunch for changing my mind on this topic man, Trans Rights! B)
Tbh this makes me happy, even tho I'm unsure about my gender anymore, like I used to think I'm also a demi girl, but my genders super fluid (sometimes I feel more girl sometimes I feel more Nonbinary) but I never tend to feel more as a boy or use he him pronunces and I'm pretty sure people who are genderfluid fluid between all gender identitys I only fluid on the girl(96% of the time it's demi girl) --(and ofc what's inbetween from demi girl to demi Nonbinary to a gender extra extra just not boy related genders weirdly) ---> nonbainry
@@d3ddll138 hey!! from what i know, that sounds like genderdoe! which, in its most nutshell form, is genderfluidity but never male. genderfaun is the reverse. if there’s any better labels for those, i can find them.
@@d3ddll138 another, more taken seriously way of referring to "genderdoe" is Girlflux! Just in case you don't like having a label tied to an animal. Alternatively, Boyflux is an equivalent to "genderfaun".
as a trans guy myself, i personally noticed people headcanon characters they like as trans/enby/etc because they themselves ARE gender-nonconforming? and tbh i don't really think there's an inherent problem with that but obviously it's possible that a character is HCed as a certain identity because of fetishization, which is a whole 'nother topic and a whole 'nother problem.
as a kaminari (mha) kinnie transguy who headcanons kaminari as a transguy i totally agree! a lot of the time, i headcanon characters to be lgbt or neurodivergent because we don't have that kind of representation in media and i've never seen the harm in that. also people who headcanon ppl to be lgbt for fetishization makes me wanna rip my hair out istg
Mhm! This. I headcanon a character from IDV as trans and did so way before they dropped. As soon as their voice reveal dropped and happened to sound "not stereotypical cis male" so to say people started saying they're trans canonly (which ni they aint) and harassed peoples orher headcanons over it. Also just... a lot of nsfw with that hc out of nowhere . As someone who hc them as ftm pre all that it felt uncomfortable to see them start hc that just to start spamming nsfw of them /gen /I'm nonbinary btw so ya trans too
I think even if chihiro isn’t trans they’re still a very intriguing character with a complicated relationship with their gender and we need more of those. But oh how I can’t stand how trans people will be ridiculed no matter what character they headcanon as trans/non-binary. In instances like chihiros you get people saying “they’re gender non conforming, stop trying to take away different forms of representation” but when ya headcanon a character that doesn’t really have any “trans” traits you get “literally nothing about this character is trans why not headcanon ones that act trans”. Just let me vide with my silly little headcanons for my silly little hyperfixations
I wholeheartedly agree with this, every time trans peeps hc someone as trans we need a 50 page essay on why or its "unrealistic", but if they don't "act trans" then our hc is nonsensical as if trans people don't just exist irl. I also dislike being gnc and trans as mutually exclusive, im a trans dude but still love being androgynous and presenting that way, am I no longer trans because of that ? Like shit just let us live they're fictional characters
I honestly just refer to him as a male because: Before his death, he said “he wanted to be more of a man.” And wanted to embrace his masculinity. He embraced his very feminine side after he was bullied for being “to feminine.” I don’t have a problem with however y’all wanna refer to him, but I personally and going to refer to him as male because of all the trauma. I know this was all addressed but I’m kinda explaining it again? So I’m gonna refer to him as a male just because of all the trauma behind his female side and him not wanting to be presented as female. I also don’t feel that he’s “transphobic.” Because all of this trauma really affected him, so he just embraces his female side. So I don’t want to associate him with all of this trauma. Unless it is canon that he is trans I will still refer to him a male (I have 0 problem with anyone who is trans or if he is trans.) and all of this is just head cannons it really shouldn’t be this much of an issue, I’m just trying to contribute a bit
Yeah. If in the writing he is a male who identifies as such, then he is a male. Your clothing preferences or how you present yourself don't define your gender. I can understand how some people would want him to be a trans girl because inclusivity is NEEDED so badly in media, though I don't think in this case he was.
Kinda 8 months late but exactly I’m fine if people want to go with their head cannons but getting mad cause people don’t like your opinion and have their own or telling people who don’t know who he is that he is this and that without the actual game lore I feel is just wrong
Haruhi Fujioka - "Listen Senpai, I don't really care whether you guys recognize me as a boy or a girl. In my opinion, it's more important for a person to be recognized for who they are rather than for what sex they are."
Really good video! I totally agree with your points :) However I would add something that I feel is important to note in order to understand the intent behind Chihiro as a character (which would be the same for Naoto from Persona 4 from what I've heard, she's surrounded by the same discussions). They were meant to be a commentary on Japanese hyper sexist society. The whole world has a problem with toxic masculinity but Japan sure has it pretty bad. While I do agree, like you said that it is important to acknowledge the transphobic stuff in Chihiro's writing, I wish pro trans Chihiro would also acknowledge the initial intent behind them. It just doesn't sit right with me that an equally important problem (talking about sexism) gets pushed aside so easily. Long story short headcanon stuff as you want but don't be a jerk about it to other people. And on the other side, don't be a jerk to people about their headcanons.
As a trans person, I believe that they are cis and just more interested in “feminine” things such as skirts and dresses. It also just feels weird using she/her pronouns for them because it sorta makes me feel like I’m being transphobic and disrespecting a persons preferred set(s) of pronouns. Now I don’t care if you say they’re trans, I will respect anyone’s opinions on this subject matter. Anyways that’s just my opinion on this subject. (Also I was using they/them pronouns for Chihiro because I don’t necessarily know their pronouns)
Same! I decided to whenever to refer to Chihiro online in public as they/them pronouns because of two reasons: 1. To not offend anyone for if I use a different pronoun for Chihiro when talking about them(because I know there’s different parties that would want others to say the same thing they’re saying whether it’s he or she) And 2. I think Chihiro would probably use they/them pronouns if they were still unsure if they wanted to still be presented as female or male.
One thing I wanna note: The reason Kyoko didn't even consider Chihiro being trans is because she picked up on how Mondo called him a dude, thus getting rid of the possibility he's anything but a guy. She's extremely astute on how people refer to others (she even uses it in the trial after that to clear up Hagakure), so she would be fully aware of what he meant. And people tend to trust Kyoko's reasoning, but she wanted to prove his physical body to ensure people knew he was specifically a cis man. At least, that's how I see how everyone handled it.
I'm a cis guy who was bullied for being weak when I was younger too. Instead of doing something like Chihiro did, I internalized it and isolated myself from others. I was always off in my own little world where I could be happy. Neither of these approaches were healthy. I think Chihiro was both a victim of toxic masculinity AND femininity. He was harassed for being weak ((not feminine, just because he was not strong)) and so he thought "Well, girls are weak so if I look like a girl, no one will bully me for being weak!" ((which is toxic femininity)) and later wanted to change that. He ran from his problems but he later realized that wouldn't solve anything and was ready to become stronger for himself. He was killed by Mondo, another victim of toxic masculinity who was convinced he wasn't strong and was jealous of Chihiro's "strength". But the strength they referred to was different. CHihiro admired Mondo's physical strength and wanted to train with him, not the girls. Not even Sakura, the Ultimate Martial Artist and a far stronger human than Mondo. Sakura is a girl and so she wouldn't understand Chihiro's plight like Mondo would. Meanwhile Mondo was jealous of Chihiro's mental strength, his courage to face his fears and take them head on. He murdered Chihiro in a fit of rage because he was jealous that Chihiro could face his fears when Mondo couldn't. Mondo was reckless and that lead to his brother's death and he had been running from that ever since. But when Chihiro talked to him, talked about facing his fears, Mondo couldn't run anymore. He went berserk and killed the smol bby. I just feel that the specific situation of Chihiro doesn't make Chihiro trans. When he was young he wore "boy" clothes and he only started wearing "girl" clothes after being bullied. He thought he could hide by dressing like a girl and that would solve all his problems but all that did was temporarily store them away. he had to do something eventually and he did. He knew he was a boy and he wanted to be more masculine so he was asking someone he trusted to help him. That's just my two sense
the side of the fandom that sides with mtf chihiro completely ignore the reasons why. they always say "he was happier as a girl" but he wasn't. he chose to hide as a girl due to bullying as a survival method. he didn't like it, he just used it as a shield. that's why he came to mondo HAPPY and EXITED to become masculine. he came to the strongest and manliest person he knows for help.
mtf chihiro enjoyer here! like oliver points out in the video, if a cis man is being bullied he's more likely to become hyper masculine and not...become MORE feminine (and fun fact! ik a cis guy who was bullied for being too feminine and guess what? he tried to become hyper masculine and developed a toxic masculinity mindset). also...hcing chihiro as mtf is not erasing her backstory, whatever you may think. no ones saying she didn't get bullied? i've talked to multiple trans women on this subject manner and they've all said that their experiences are very similar to chihiro's. and not to mention in the anime (which i KNOW is a watered down adaptation, but it's still canon) chihiro actually says "it's time for me to BECOME a man" and "it's time for me to BECOME who i'm supposed to be" which are literal hints that...chihiro really doesn't see herself as a man. and the end of the day you can think chihiro is a cis man or whatever, but you just need to recognize 1) the transphobia in chihiro's character/backstory and 2) that mtf is not erasing chihiro's character and real life trans women have had similar experiences.
@@atleynater still? the comment quite literally stated he was excited n happy to be MASCULINE,, dont know abt you but it seems like chihiro never wanted to be feminine in the first place and the reason he faked being a woman was to just stop the bullying... can u explain how his backstory is even transphobic?? (yeah ik this is years ago but i just recently found out abt danganronpa lmao)
@atleynater Chihiro says he only became feminine to avoid bullying and dies trying to become more masculine so he's seen as a guy. It's canon that he's a feminine man. there's no transphobia because his story has nothing to do with being trans and has everything to do with toxic masculinity and societal standards
I think people have got it all backwards. While Chihiro is 100% a feminine cis guy dealing with toxic masculinity and Asian male beauty standards ( not 100% on this one I’m just going off what I know from many Asian based webcomics that involve men cross dressing to avoid being bullied for being too feminine so don’t quote me on this) who even gets killed for his urge to be more manly. I think if you truly wanted to read his arc as trans you’re looking the wrong way. He has more rep for trans men then then trans women. Think about it. His biggest secret is being a man, he’s shamed into dressing like a girl, he looks up to and confides in mondo about wanting to be more masculine and even his “coming out” leads to his death. That’s his whole character arc and everyone seems to ignore it and goes straight into calling him a trans girl simply because society pressured him to be as such due to his femininity. We as people in the LGBT+ group urge against gender norms but I’ve noticed even more of us start saying characters are trans simply/only because they fit gender norms.
honestly this fully reflects my own opinion on chihiro lmao, as a trans guy the entire thing did make me very uncomfortable (mostly the part where they're discovered to be born male). i've always kind of described it as how someone would write a trans person having done no research at all and only the barest surface level understanding of trans people. that's not to say that's the intention obviously nor that they write chihiro to be trans, but it's always how it came across to me. someone who gets the impression trans people only transition because they don't feel secure in their birth gender and can be "fixed" if they try hard enough. obviously that's not the intention here, but that's how it came across. people can believe what they're a trans girl or a cis guy and it doesn't bother me, the entire debate is dumb, just let people use whatever pronouns they want for them and move along lmao
I personally headcannon him as just a femenine boy, but i definitely get headcannoning him as trans, i believe its just perspective and how you view him as a character yk. well, the last part is obvious.
EDIT : I made this comment before I watched the vid and before I got an in depth look at why some see him as a trans girl , please check the replies to see my feelings after this vid I think saying that he’s trans would kinda just.. get rid of his whole “arc” (even tho he didn’t really get one lol rip) yknow ? Like I won’t attack anyone over this however people act as if feminine guys don’t exist.. the whole reason he crossdresses anyways is to stop bullying , we don’t even know if he likes it . It’s not like he’s cross dressing cause he likes it it’s cause he wants to avoid bullying . I just think it’s a very shallow headcannon personally but I won’t stop people from thinking he’s a trans girl
Tbh as a trans guy myself I was bullied into presenting more masculine when I was younger bc I wasn't "pretty/girly enough" alongside my peers. I just gave up and decided I'd be a guy so people would leave me alone. So its always confused me why ppl dislike the trans chihiro headcanon so much just bc he was bullied. Like yeah I was bullied into presenting as a guy, but it doesn't change the fact that I am in fact trans, and that I eventually realized being known as a guy makes me 100x more happy and comfortable. Being bullied has nothing to do with being trans whatsoever. I'm not even the most masculine guy ever, im still hella feminine, but I'm still a guy nonetheless and I'm happy as a guy. That being said I don't HC chihiro as trans, personally. But I can understand why other people do
@@puppiekit yep few years ago feminine trans men would be called trenders because they are “fully masculine”. As soon as a trans guy puts on “feminine” clothing or makeup it’s a riot, and it’s transphobic really because they still see you as the female sex as if cis men aren’t feminine either. Glad times have changed
@ネズミ I think you're completely misunderstanding their use of shallow. It makes sense to call the headcanon shallow because most of the time it's people taking Chihiro face value and saying "trans" bc hes a male wearing feminine clothing despite his entire arc circling him wanting to be seen as stronger, less weak (less feminine which is ... pretty misogynistic of the dr team but im not surprised). No one is ripping away trans representation, they're just critiquing it because it IS poor rep.
This is or nb or gnc is probably the answer especially considering some of the later material i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/ff/2b/feff2b686cca575c96b9d7f010ce994b.jpg Like the outfit here is definitely more androgynous than strictly feminine or masculine.
@@acelittlefire I didn't want to specify because it's kind of spoilerish but the "kokichi did nothing wrong" argument; though his design and talent is uh.. quite something
@@emiliaf-w6700 oh- okay, someone must be pretty blind if they think KOKICHI did nothing wrong (this is coming from someone who loves him). like, i don't believe he's completely, outright evil, but he's in no way some "sweet cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong uwu"
10:09 I read the Princess Jellyfish Manga, and yeah he actually presents male most of the time (In all of the scenes where he's alone or with his family: you only really see him present female when he's with the other characters). But yeah I think this video's awesome, and I love danganronpa so much so it makes me crazy happy to see you do art for it and stuff. My favorite part of the whole series is SDR2, and I think it has the best cast of characters, so if you can you should definitely watch it!
I personally hc as genderfluid or non-binary. That they aren’t too uncomfortable with feminine clothing at times but likes presenting masc or androgynous most of the time. I really like the idea of Chihiro embracing both of their femininity and masculinity with the help of Mondo :)
tbh i don't really like the transfemale hc. i understand transmale if anything. his whole character and story and struggles are about how he feels weak and not manly enough. i feel like the transfemale idea perpetuates the idea that feminine or "weaker" males are not man enough. chihiro was insecure in his masculinity so presented as a female/feminine because of his own insecurities. he didn't want to be a female, he just wanted to be able to see himself as enough of a man. i guess i just don't want to ignore his trauma associated with being see as a female and not a male.
I heard that Chihiro was made as the author's statement on Japan's very toxic masculinity, especially at the time it was created. Therefore, I do headcanon him as cis, but people headcanoning as trans are fine as well. As a trans person, I headcanon lots of canon cis characters as trans as a comfort thing, and it makes sense that other trans folk take comfort in characters like Chihiro
as a nonbinary person, i actually heavily see myself in chihiro. i came out as a trans guy at first and tried so hard to live my life as a stereotypically masculine guy and didn't understand why that made me uncomfortable, since living as a girl would /also/ make me uncomfortable. once i started accepting i was nonbinary, and leaning more into androgyny, that's when i started being more comfortable and happy with my gender identity. i feel like chihiro took a similar path and might've ended up identifying as nonbinary as well if they hadn't died so early. the reason i think so is because i don't believe a cis person would publicly present as the opposite gender for so long if they were fully cisgender - unlike trans people who often have to pretend to be a gender they're not for safety reasons, cis people literally have no reason to force themselves to live as the opposite gender. which means that chihiro either felt somewhat comfortable being perceived as female, or didn't fully feel comfortable being perceived as male. which is why i think, before they died, they were probably in a questioning phase and on the path of trying to figure out if they preferred to be perceived as male or female - and i believe they might've come to the conclusion, eventually, that they fit somewhere in the middle. of course this is just a headcanon, and i think everyone is free to headcanon whatever they want. (especially if it's a headcanon that brings you comfort or makes you happy - no one should get shit for things that makes them happy, especially not when it comes to fictional stories and fictional characters.) but it personally makes me upset when people try to argue that "chihiro is 100% male in canon" or "chihiro is 100% trans in canon". i don't think chihiro's true gender was ever actually revealed in canon. we know they were assigned male at birth, we know they spent most of their life presenting as female, and we know they wanted to get stronger and potentially be perceived as more masculine. but i don't think any of those things have anything to do with their actual gender identity. so as far as i'm concerned, chihiro's canon gender is unknown.
spoilers for danganronpa lol i really like how chihiro and mondo are such polar opposites that really contrast masculinity, mondo being a very macho masculine presenting man who appears strong but feels weak, meanwhile chihiro is very feminine in appearance yet still strives to be stronger, and finds the courage to come out to mondo for help, resulting in chihiros death and mondos despair. trans headcanons are fine and valid as fuck but you can't just ignore that part of the story and the message on toxic masculinity. very nice video Oliver! I liked hearing your perspective
I lowkey feel like that saying Chihiro being a transwoman is very harmful as it kind of enforces the stereotype that women are weak, as in if a man is weak it means he is a woman and stuff. I once saw a community post saying that danganronpa is extremely transphobic for "deadnaming" Chihiro and i still think about that a lot lmao
I want to start this comment by saying I am nonbinary so I relate to Chihiro in some ways Second, I personally think they're nonbinary as well. From my personal experience, I went back and forth a lot between presenting and identifying as male and female. I think Chihiro was just trying to find the right identity for themself and was coming to terms that they can be feminine without being a girl. (does this make any sense? I hope I'm working this right) I think they wanted to be stronger and maybe try to be a little more masculine to simply explore themself without the fear of other people pitching in their opinions? My opinion obviously comes from my experience but I see where every point of the arguments come from and I can honestly agree with most of the points. But overall, I think Chihiro was coming to terms with the fact that femininity doesnt mean female and masculinity doesnt mean male and maybe just wanted to express how they truly felt without being ashamed or bullied again That's just my opinion though, I'm open to other ideas
I honestly never realized this was even a debate until like a week ago, when someone got mad at me for referring to Chihiro as 'she' I don't get why some people are so angry about this, it's not a huge deal, but I guess I'm a little biased. I think it's just fun to headcanon characters as lgbt, and for the most part I never really thought of it as a trans thing whenever I called Chihiro 'she' even after they died, I guess I just got used to it?? I mostly like the headcanon them like that anyway because one of my old trans girl friends loved Chihiro to death and she took a lot of comfort in them because her family was violently transphobic. I didn't even know what Danganronpa was back then, but I understood what she meant when I played the game. I guess I mostly headcanon them that way in respect for my friend, plus I just think it's neat. Some people get so heated over this shit it's ridiculous lmao, if you headcanon them as trans then cool, and if you don't then that's also cool. Just dont be a dick about your own or other people's opinions and it should be fine
I honestly think that people headcannoning Chihiro as trans is completely valid. As a trans person, myself, I do headcanon him as a cis male. But I really don't understand why people get so angry over it. Of course, there was Chihiro's whole masculinity arc and whatever, but honestly the hc isn't harmful, so I don't think that people should be getting super heated over it
Personally, I'm angry about it because it's transphobic. He's written as a trans BOY. He's telling by HIMSELF that HE HATES BEING SEEN AS A GIRL. Ngl, I'm crying RN, because I understand Chihiro SO MUCH, and I feel like others DON'T. He's a boy. He's saying it. He's saying that he WANTS to be more masculine because being a girl is HURTFUL for him. That's what I say. Everyday. And NOBODY hears me. And when Chihiro says it, nobody hears him. He's a boy. He says it. Not trusting him is saying that someone CANT know his own gender. And I think we both see why it's transphobic. I'm against him being trans, because it erase his voice, it erase his struggles, it erase his dysphoria, cause yes, again, he has dysphoria. A ''trans boy one''. For me, erasing his voice, it erases mine, and yes, I'm crying now, because again, I have to fight against my brothers and my sisters for my voice to be heard. Because people don't hear what a trans representation says. Again.
@@windcrystal1349 I totally get that!! and honestly I think that maybe he would've been written into the game as a canon trans guy if it weren't for like-- transphobia within "the industry" or whatever. If you do follow the canon, though, he was written to be a cis boy who crossdresses because of trauma. And he DOES feel dysphoria because of that cross-dressing. I'm of course not saying this to invalidate your headcanon of course!! I think it does really suck that people erase the fact that he can know his own gender, but each situation with hcs and stuff is real. Some people feel invalidated because of Chihiro being trans in any way, or the opposite. I think each case is different and listening to what each person has to say is really important. Some trans women really relate to Chihiro, and that is why they hc him as a trans girl and it may feel invalidating for them to see other headcanons. Again, each situation is individual. And yours is totally valid!! But it's important to listen to other people's reasons for their headcanons as well
@@windcrystal1349 honestly, he experiences a lot of dysphoric symptoms. He didn’t seem to want to be a female. And seemed uncomfortable with it. He was pushed into a role he didn’t want to be, and he decided to go along with it because he didn’t know how to deal with the bullying.
As a person who watched the firat anime adaptation back in 2015, I geniunely thought Chihiro was a transgirl who felt like the only way she could be safe was to only be fem, and got killed when she decided to embrace her masc side and "become stronger" or a detransitioner (but with less words because I was ten at the time) so I can geniunely see both sides to this. I think both sides are valid in this, and much like the June Egbert headcanon in the homestuck fandom, can just vibe with each other. Neither side is inherently transphobic for their headcanons. As a transguy who was very in the closet but also just starting to peek out and had very mysoginistic/cisnormative standards for myself that I didn't just fit, Chihiro was an important character to that helped me realize there is another way. In turn I also got very attached to AlterEgo when Chihiro died lol
I think the biggest problem is that Chihiro's gender only came into question after they died. like even if we get Chihiro's back story, it's not directly from them, and they don't get to say if they identify as a girl or a boy. it just feels weird that the game reviled a very personal secret of a character after they die and not letting the character explain how they feel. I have no opinion on if Chihiro is trans or not, I just feel like it was kinda poorly handled
Honestly, i dont mind if you headcanon chihiro as a transgirl or not, just dont harass people who don't follow the headcanon (and dont harass ppl who have the headcanon for those who stick by the canon!).
Oh the DR fandom is crazy so I typically ignore it. I knew there was some things within the fandom dealing with Chihiro but I didn’t realize how deep it went. Personally, I’ve always considered them to be cis, and I typically use he/him because of canon and what not. However, honestly I have no issue with people considering them to be trans. It makes sense, and all the points you made just does make sense for it to be that way. For me, I always just loved Chihiro as a character for their personality just resonated with me, they’re cute, and even though the whole gender reveal was a huge plot point, Chihiro to me as a character, was always more then just a character who cross dressed. With them making Alter Ego, and just everything to do with that added more to their character as well, which honestly even extends to DR2 as well. They will always be one of my favorite characters within the series honestly
Ah yes, the timeless "Trans Chihiro" debate. When I first played through Chapter 2 of THH, I was immediately uncomfortable with the whole situation. The whole idea of everyone seemingly equating genitals to gender and the entirety of how Chihiro's backstory was presented just didn't sit right with me. Personally, I don't believe Chihiro was intentionally written to be transphobic, but rather their character was intended to be a commentary on gender roles in society. I think it just happened to be an unfortunate accident that the writers unintentionally played into some transphobic ideas. I'd say this was also likely due to the time the game was written as trans people weren't given much of a voice or platform back then, so any criticisms about how some commonly seen characteristics in media were transphobic were not heard. Initially after knowing Chihiro's story, I was immediately down for the trans/non-binary headcanon, it just made sense to me. After getting a little more involved in the fandom though, I found a PLETHORA of posts and videos saying that the trans Chihiro headcanon itself was transphobic and I felt really bad. Obviously I didn't want to hurt any transgender folks or speak over them, but as a genderfluid person, there were definitely some aspects of Chihiro's story that I could see in myself and I just didn't quite feel right wholeheartedly saying Chihiro was strictly a cis male and that saying they were anything else was harmful. I definitely understand where those who disagree with the headcanon are coming from, and for the most part I agree with the sentiment, but really it all comes down to how strictly you follow the canon. Personally, I like "reading between the lines." Art is largely meant to be up to interpretation, and Danganronpa is no exception in my opinion. But I can understand why people would want to follow the canon as it is and how that would lead to a disagreement over Chihiro's gender. I'm just upset over how out of proportion the debate has gotten. It's one thing to have a civil disagreement, but I've seen so much name calling and hurtful words being spoken by both sides and it's entirely unnecessary. It also bothers me that Chihiro's character to the fandom has largely been watered down to this debate. Chihiro is one of my FAVORITE Danganronpa characters and I could go on for hours analyzing their character and the impact they had on the entire franchise of games, but every time I see Chihiro content all I see is heated gender debates. Personally, I'm generally in favor of a non-binary/genderfluid Chihiro headcanon (mostly because I am genderfluid and who am I to deny myself projection onto my comfort characters), but I definitely understand where everyone is coming from. At the end of the day, art is up to personal interpretation, so Chihiro can be written however you best see fit. I just wish this debate wouldn't be so aggressive and that more people could appreciate and talk about Chihiro beyond their gender :)
yh yh i've been called transphobic for hcing chihiro as trans girl too and its always done by the cis fans who enjoy speaking over real life trans people. (im also nb =D) and i agree, chihiro is honestly one of my favorite characters and i wish she wasn't watered down to just what her gender is (same thing goes with tenko. she's my fav v3 character and its so upsetting that she's just watered down to the sexuality debate).
When I first saw Chihiro I said that they were trans. My older brother’s friend shouted that they weren’t trans. To me it doesn’t matter much if they’re trans or not, but sorta found it shocking that in the game were kids kill each other that this is what people focus on. Not the executions, trial or ships. The characters gender. It just rubs me the wrong way. Forgot to say that this was a lovely video here! I love Danganrompa, and I’m glad that you played and are talking about it.
the cringe side of DR fandom really be out there doxxing people over hcs and ships when the series is about high schoolers forced into murder- as one of the non-toxic ones, we don't claim _that_ side
It's freaking pathetic in all honesty. As someone who is in the lgbt community, I HATE how they make such a big deal over someone's gender or sexuality, and make it seem like that's their personality, when really, it isn't! BEING GAY/LESBIAN/BI/PAN/ASEXUAL/TRAN/ETC.IS NOT A PERSONALITY TRAIT! Being gay is just showing what sex/gender you are attracted to, simple as that.
@@dreemysweety Well, yeah. It is. I was just explaining a problem I've been seeing lately in the danganronpa (as well as many other) fandom/community. Sorry I didn't specify it.
Edit: I made a mistake when I mentioned something about Chihiro’s death position. Please see one of the replies for a clarification Whether or not Chihiro is trans, their death does parallel a lot of real life situations. Mondo’s motivations for killing them were, spoiler alert, because he felt jealous of Chihiro that they could face their fears instead of running away from them, but it’s reminiscent of the idea of “trans panic”, where someone revealing that they are transgender leads the person they’re telling to kill them due to the shock. The fact that this also takes place in a locker room, something that a lot of transphobes are worried about trans people “infiltrating”, and while this point might be a bit of a stretch and probably doesn’t change much, but it’s still worth noting. Finally, Chihiro is basically crucified. I have no clue why Mondo did this, but it’s the sort of thing that makes and example out of someone. If Chihiro is trans, this whole scene would be invoking a shit ton of the trans community’s trauma, which is why I prefer to think that Chihiro is cis.
Just gonna pop in and say Mondo did NOT crucify Chihiro. That was Togami because he's an asshole who wanted to make things more interesting and to out Toko as Genocider Syo. (Note that Togami did not definitively know Chihiro was cross-dressing. He had a feeling but had no concrete evidence.) Mondo specifically moved Chihiro's body to the girl's locker room so that nobody would be like "Why is Chihiro in the boy's locker room? She should be in the girl's... Oh that's why." and thus keep his secret. Togami came in sometime after and set up the Genocider Syo situation. Granted this doesn't change the fact that Mondo had specific ways he referred to men and women and he started using the words he used for guys long before anyone else found out, which is what Kyoko caught him on and is what spurred her to checking Chihiro's body.
A counter reason for him not going down the more masculine route, is because Mondo already filled that role and Chihiro was meant to be opposite of him (while also greatly relating with him)
I personally see Chihiro as a cis boy. Mainly because I love the duality between him and Mondo, how they both see strength and weakness, and how they are both jealous of each other. That's a pretty interesting conflict.
I know I'm way too late, but I don't care. I'm a character driven writer, and I think Chihiro's character arc wouldn't work if Chihiro was a trans girl. Mondo is driven into a blind rage from envy because Chihiro decided to be proactive and stop hiding who he was. Mondo, the epitome of manliness for Chihiro, felt like a coward when compared to him. That doesn't work for a trans girl. I can understand why trans people identify with Chihiro's character, but that doesn't mean the people you identify with have to be or should be just like you.
Pro cis chihiro person here, but I have to disagree. I can still see mondo envy chihiros strength, were he coming out to him as MtF trans, instead of just „I‘m a boy, I need to get stronger, please help me take away the power from monokuma and anyone who bullied me“. But for that to work, the backstory would need to match this approach, which it doesn‘t.
greatly said, imo ppl who headcanon him as mtf just plainly ignores the fact that chihiro WANTS to be MASCULINE and not feminine, chihiro probably even felt uncomfortable wearing female clothing lmao
As a Chihiro Kinnie I say, he's more likely ftm than mtf and I view him as a cis man I don't get why if a trans person disagrees that Chihiro is trans than they are "faking it"(being trans and yes it's happened) it's really upsetting
The thing about Chihiro is he's a trope about the more rigid gender roles in Japan, which (I think they're getting better but I haven't kept up with things) affect most people to some degree, and not a commentary on transgender people or transphobia specifically. It's also true of Naoto from Persona, Ritsu from Fruits Basket, Robin from AA, etc. etc. Westerners (of which I am one but not one of these specific people) took that trope as queer-coding when the official translation of the game came out because in Western media that would be the case (the unofficial forum translation that preceded that had cultural notes, iirc, and was more clear on the issue because of that). Unfortunately, those same Westerners, when Japanese people tried to helpfully explain the trope, harassed and bullied those people. Also unfortunately, as it was 2011, 2012, I can't recall the specific tumblrs where that occurred (if they're even still active), but I did personally witness it firsthand (which I know comes off as "Just trust me" but like... it was eight years ago). So while it's fine to headcanon Chihiro as trans, there are reasons people are against that headcanon for irl real trauma/damage that the camp of "is trans" has caused in the early fandom and from a racial/cultural differences aspect (dunno if that's the best way to put it, but like... I'm white, but it seems kiiiiinda very racist to me to bully Japanese people because their media has tropes commenting on things in their culture that hit different in the US when this is not our playground, these are not our dolls, we should not dictate how they should be played with, and doing so reeks of US superiority and supremacy over the ~ignorant~ Japanese). Of course, few people want to actually consider the cultural differences between Japan and the US. And then also the difference of time, Dangan is a decade old and even in the US trans people weren't exactly common in media with nuanced or sensitive portrayals practically nonexistent (still aren't, but as with the rest of the alphabet soup it's improving). Because it's just easier to go off the text itself stripped of those contexts to support or disprove the headcanon, but those contexts are important. It's perfectly fine to headcanon anything about any piece of media, regardless of it's origin, but it's when people start insisting that their headcanon is canon and, more importantly, harassing people that do not share that headcanon that there's a problem. It's an even bigger problem when it's a piece of media from a country and culture you (general, not you personally, you seem great!) are not apart of and you bully and harass people from that country and culture because your interpretation is better and more enlightened because your country and culture is more enlightened and therefore that country and culture is backwards and bad (which some of the takes from that time were on the verge of if not outright). It's... complicated. If this were a trope having to do with cis heterosexual people, it would be pretty clear that we could just accept cultural differences and move on with life, but as you said, this is some of the very few shreds of representation available, so people are very... emotional about it in both directions even without that layer, but... it's still not ours. We should demand more and better from our own media and be respectful of other cultures' own relationships with gender and sexuality in their media, not demand catering to from a country and culture of which we are not part. If Japanese people want more and better trans representation in their media or find this trope harmful or complicated *they're* perfectly entitled to seek changes, but it's not for us outsiders to dictate or demand as some more recent posters on Tumblr I've come across seem to want to do. Anyway, that was a lot of words. I hope you have a great day.
One thing that doesn't get brought up enough in regards to Chihiro: The cultural differences between Japan and the US in how issues of gender identity are presented, perceived, and discussed. This feels like something really important that gets ignored in the broader discussion of Chihiro's identity.
honest I think it's a bad idea for that headcanon to exist considering they never looked at the backstory the character's backstory is what brings them to where they are and yet these people never looked at the Backstory
honestly.. this is the most well thought out video i’ve seen about the situation. i love how you acknowledge both sides of the argument instead of just sticking to one based on personal bias. this actually gave me a new way to look at them! also your art is amazing, definitely subscribing!
Brief explanation why chihiro is a boy and wants to be considered a boy. So, Chihiro had made it clear he doesn’t wanna be perceived as a girl, it’s just he doesn’t wanna be bullied. He presented as female solely for the fact of not being bullied. Being trans is when you are already the gender *cough cough* but chihiro shouldn’t be trans because that would just completely erase his whole gender. If you disagree I want to know why- also I want to make it known I am trans so pls don’t get mad at me speaking on this as a none trans person lol
I'm guessing (like most anime) Chihiro's "cross dressing" was just meant to be a character trait that they had. (Like Felix from Re:Zero) I'd be surprised if they were written to say any message about gender roles, bullying, or the trans community. That being said, are they an unintentionally bad representation of the trans community? Yes! I agree with what Oliver said in the video.
I don't think it's necessarily bad representation since it's... not representation. Should there be more representation of trans characters in games? ABSOLUTELY. Is there anything wrong with headcannoning a character as trans? Not really. But I don't think it's fair to then say "Some people think this character should have been trans, therefore they are bad representation."
@@aislynncarpenter701 Yeah true, you can't claim something as bad representation when they're not even explicitly shown as representation of the group in the first place
@@SaKura-il8opfrom what I've heard Ferris is more like a June Egbert situation where they only came out in material released after the main series ended
Never mention Felix and gender in one text. Only thing that can come about are flame wars. So anyway, Felix was originally a girl, who was retconned into a trap, who was retconned into a transgirl. The anime has not yet adapted the transgirl retcon, therefore in the anime, he's a guy. Hence why I, an anime viewer refer to him as such. Feel free to disagree, this argument won't ever lead anywhere.
Also from a trans perspective (ftm), I kind of automatically thought that Chihiro was cis. I was also bullied for being weak when I was younger, and my reaction was similar to Chihiro’s. Although, at least in my case, the femininity was less of a way to make them bully me less but more of a coping mechanism. I didn’t think I could become stronger, so I resigned myself into the role of being weak. Thinking of the bullying as something inevitable, as an affirmation of my own idea of weakness even, made it easier to deal with. Seeing something similar in Chihiro (retreating into femininity as a defense from bullying) was something I really liked. It was also kind of something I imagined myself as wanting to be. Like, if Chihiro could be a guy while using femininity as a defense mechanism, then surely I could, too. Note: Not to imply that femininity = weakness or anything. It’s just how I thought of it in like elementary/middle school.
I think Chihiro is like me as a teen. I had gender dysphoria but opted NOT to transition and I don't regret that choice. Chihiro just wanted to be more masculine but he was so conditioned to act feminine because he looked feminine. And no, I don't think saying "My headcanon overrides actual canon" is valid for anything.
8:10 It is mentioned in one scene in OHHC that Haruhi's mother was indeed aware of him cross dressing. During the flashback in episode 10 when Haruhi's father is talking to his co-worker he says something along the lines of "he'd never love someone the way he loved his wife and she was OK with him dressing like a woman" (at least in the English dub). (This is honestly just a one off line so I can see why someone wouldn't remember that line, I've just seen the whole series at least 2 times and thought it was an interesting detail)
Being a trans femboy I usually felt very pressured to dress masculine cuz even other trans males would say I was faking being trans when I decided to dress femine but all so use he/him pronouns, and yet still that character hits so damn close to home- whether they r trans or not trans
I love your take on them, honestly- from past experience, I've seen and gone through a lot of different opinions on this topic, but I think the one I've settled on is (among?) the least popular: personally, I view Chihiro as a trans guy, but if other people want to see them as other things, cool! Just don't be a dick about it And like, my reasoning for that is just bcs, as you said, Chihiro's experience is one I can relate to as a transmasc person. I can see how transfem people can relate to them, I can see the argument to be made for whatever you see them as, so as long as you're not an ass about what other people think, like- cool! Different opinions are good sometimes, actually!
Personally from my point of view, I think the trans headcannon is stupid and only pushing in more equality into an already good character with a message I relate to. He is a guy, they refer to him as a guy, alter ego calls him a guy, monokuma, etc. This includes past stuff, looking and UDG they mention this and it's still HEAVILY hinted with the slight look of toko that he's a guy. You are counterproductive to the trans cause if you force this theory down people's throats, you can want more representation but this is forced representation from an already toxic community
Firstly: i love the background in the art Secondly: After watching this I choose a side to the arguement- like both have very good points and idk which one to support
I know people are looking through the comments to see peoples opinion on the matter but can we take a second to appreciate the art of Chihiro and how detailed and amazing of a job the artist did!
Honestly when it comes to DanganRonpa, there have been a number of LGBT coded characters in both the games and the animated series DR3: Future/Despair series. But I do think that when it comes to these characters specifically, they always have some undertones of phobia written to them. It could possibly be just due to writers being oblivious to certain aspects of people and might be just going off what they themselves know or perceive. I don't wanna say they don't like gay or trans people in general, but it just seems peculiar to me that (Spoiler alert) characters that are coded as LGBT in some way always die. And yeah, I know. It's DanganRonpa, where the majority of your favorite characters are gonna die, but it's just so weird to me that the only character to escape this fate so far has been Shuichi, who was debatably claimed to be bisexual based off of in-game interactions, due to being the main protagonist. Meanwhile the majority of characters that were seen as LGBT like Teruteru, Komaeda, Kokichi, and Sakakura (to name a few) were seen as antagonistic and some overly sexual-harassers in nature... and the common theme among every single one is they all die. While I like DanganRonpa, it's really hard a lot of the times to just overlook how they tend to write LGBT coded characters. Even when you put in their sad backstories as a means of making me feel for them, it's still hard to let go how they're presented initially.
@Sh0res 0f The N0rth While I, again, can't say with certainty that the creators were intending to be phobic with their characters or their backstories, saying these games were made in early 2000s is a misconception. Trigger Happy Havoc came out in Japan in 2010 and the latest, V3: Killing Harmony came out in 2017. The anime DR 3, which had the most blatant case of Bury Your Gays depicted, was released in 2016. In Japan, they had a gender affirming surgery law approved in 2003 and go into effect in 2004. In 2003, Aya Kamikawa was the first openly transgender politician to be elected into Japanese office. In 2005, Kanako Otsuji came out as lesbian and was a huge push for same-sex couples being able to rent houses together from the Osaka Prefecture Housing Corporation. HOWEVER, you also had Japanese politicians like Tokyo's Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, who claimed that gay and lesbians were "deficient somehow" attributing it to something wrong with them genetically and feeling "sorry" they were in the minority. Interestingly enough, he made this comment in 2010, the same year DanganRonpa Trigger Happy Havoc put out their first demo and then full game. So to say they could be completely oblivious in regards to the treatment of the LGBT wouldn't actually be correct. It could lean either way from biases towards the LGBT community or not being knowledgeable. That's why I mentioned in my initial post that I can't say for certain the way they lean because we don't exactly have that information.
I just wanted to dip into something that has bothered me ever since I had a character and people misrepresented them, despite me, as the creator, stating that they were wrong and being accused as being hateful for having the character be such. First off, thank you for mentioning CROSS DRESSING DOESN'T EQUAL TRANS. So many people try to be sensitive to trans-people now days on the internet that they conflate cross-dressing as the character being trans. The character mentioned was an innocent character that was wanted for murderering their boss. They were a generally flat-chested, lithe woman. She found she could easily pass as a boyish man with a bit of work, so she started dressing as a guy, presenting as a guy - She was already a bit tomboyish so it wasn't hard for her- and most people thought she was. Her storyline got resolved though, she even had a romantic interest, and so she revealed "Actually, no I'm not a guy. It was a ruse to keep the law off me. But since I'm not afraid of getting caught I can go back to being a woman." Despite this, people still called her a guy (Both OOC and IC), as she enjoyed the male style in her world. She liked her suits, putting up her hair in certain masculine styles and whenever I tried to clarify, no... She's not trans she started liking the style so kept with it, but she's still a woman, identifies as a woman and shed her masculine disguise (despite keeping the masculine aesthetics). ... Apparently representing a character this way is 'transphobic'. So, a character who had no issue with her birth-gender, who only used her traits to disguise better to keep from getting caught, who revealed herself after her issues was resolved is apparently transphobic? You want this character to, not only, have the trauma of being the one accused of murdering her boss (Who she was in love with), having to hide herself, but want her to have body-conformity issues as well? No, it doesn't work like that. ... My rant is, yes, Crossdressing doesn't equal trans. Stop conflating it with it. And thank you for repeating this through the video as some people don't seem to understand and consider that refusing that a crossdressing is trans is transphobe. Jus'... stop.
Omgg all your art is beautiful but THIS IS A MASTERPIECE what the actual fRiCk. Chihiro looks so soft. I love your art style so much and this is a really good video Oliver 💕💕
7:27 But what if they're already trans? Personally, I feel like Chihiro tells a transgender story but is pretty much the opposite of transgender. They, who I will refer to with he/him pronouns, were born as a boy, chose to be a girl, but then experienced dysphoria towards his own gender. It's not quite the same since he had the choice of identifying as a girl and doesn't have to do anything like take hormones to properly transition, but a lot of struggles and actions line up. He still had to do something in order to feel comfortable in his own body as his own gender so he could be ready to come out, for instance. So I think he should serve as an inspiring story towards transgender people without actually being transgender. This also makes a lot of the things that happen in the game very trans-friendly. Mondo specifically put Chihiro in the girl's locker room because Chihiro wasn't ready to be out yet, for instance. And a sort of iffy thing is Byakuya's comment, in the context of the story. Byakuya says he sensed something off with Chihiro's body as a girl; it's very wrong in normal circumstance, and I mean, Byakuya's certainly not a hero here in chapter 2, but let's think about that. So, of course, Chihiro was born as a boy and thus, as a girl, wouldn't seem to fully pass. But what if that's not the only reason? One of the school pictures we see shows Mondo and Chihiro already bonding, along with sports-talented Leon. So, what if Chihiro was already working towards passing as a boy towards the end of the final semester or so? Thus, Chihiro would be more masculine. This could've also given him more confidence when the time came that his secret was going to be revealed. Finally, something that seems fine on the surface that isn't actually great contextually is the pronoun usage. Yeah, while it'd be good for them to swap pronouns on a dime upon finding out that someone is transgender, it's definitely bad that they all chose and were strongly proficient in referring to Chihiro as he/him before knowing why he presented as a girl. I wonder how the translation did on that? Sooo yeah, a transgender story told by a cisgender character. Though Sean VanSant's headcanon that Chihiro is a trans boy is also great. BTW I really like the art in the video, good job!
This is just a theory I just came up with it's definitely not what actually going on but still kinda, interesting? So what if the uncertainty of Chuhiro's gender is on purpose, so both trans people and cis feminine boys or masculine girls can relate to him, if they have a similar trauma. Cause personality I see him as a boy who after getting bullied for seeming feminine he decided to hide in a way that won't change who he is in personality but this also could be a result of how I relate to him in the way that I'm a cis girl that was bullied for not being feminine and was isolated as a result. Maybe they made him so uncertain so more amount of people can relate to him all for their personal reasons.
I see Chihiro as a femboy, im a trans guy and a femboy so i like seeing a femboy that isnt overly sexualized in the shows and such. I don't see him as transphobic either.
I too am indifferent and refer to chihiro as they/them, now I am cis so I don’t claim to know anything about this but I was reading a book and the person said they would be using she/her pronouns and for us to please respect their headcannon and I was cool with it but then I looked at the comments and there was so much stuff like “no❤️” and just general disrespect. There were some people defending the person but so many were being super rude and it was super upsetting :(
Couldn't agree more. You can have your headcanon and that's all well and dandy, put it in your fanart or fanfiction and I'll look at it with a respectful lens... but when people start arguing the toss that I (a trans guy) am a transphobe 'cause I don't believe Chihiro is trans? Ugh, it's so annoying for so many reasons. 1. it was 2010, no one's immediate thought would be his gender identity so that's why the cast immediately went to he/him pronouns 2. they missed the point of Mondo's character. He wasn't a transphobe, he had unresolved trauma that festered into something more dangerous overtime 3. Slapping an inaccurate label like 'transphobic' on a company is very damaging for their image and spreads misinformation 4. just plain disrespectful 5. i don't know why i'm still numbering things 6. help me i can't stopppppp][]'#[] [#d'#fg] '
i mean, queer is an umbrella term for all identities who are not cis or straight. we are all queer, even if we don't actually use the term queer to define our sexuality or gender identity.
Tbh I saw this hc that Chihiro was a demi boy and I’ve been riding that wave ever since. Chihiro was my favorite character in Dr1 and holds a big place in my heart, knowing trans people (and just anyone really) find comfort in this character I’ve come to love is super valid and puts a smile on my face. I’m not trans myself and cannot begin to imagine the struggles all of you face, but i hope a bit of support can help in any way and hopefully more proper trans rep comes out in media. 💕
I sometimes meet in the middle and headcanon Chihiro as a trans _boy._ I do the same with Mondo sometimes too just for fun. Small addition, if you need it: From what I've heard, Chihiro's character origins are generally thought to be a commentary on the culture of conformity that exists in Japan, which didn't translate well in English localization.
I don't really have much else to add, most of these other comments write my thoughts out perfectly 😅 Just thought I'd thank you for bringing up this topic, it's really something I want to see talked about more! It's also really nice to see all these mature, civil discussions in the comments, nice to see people peacefully and respectfully conveying their thoughts!
In summary, Chihiro was just a femboy, which is just a body shape which males can sometimes born with, who was mocked at due to this, so he decided to crossdress and pretend to be a girl so people would not mess with him anymore. It's quite offensive to trans people the fact that there are fans claiming that he is trans/transphobic only because he crossdresses/wants to actually be stronger to be able of accepting himself without pretending to be a female
I like referring to Chihiro as a he, because I think it’s a good take on toxic masculinity, and how it sucks.
Yes.
yeah, I really like how chihiro and mondo are such polar opposites that really contrast masculinity, mondo being a very macho masculine presenting man who appears strong but feels weak, meanwhile chihiro is very feminine in appearance yet still strives to be stronger, and finds the courage to come out to mondo for help, resulting in chihiros death and mondos despair.
trans headcanons are fine and valid as fuck but you can't just ignore that part of the story.
Same
YES!!! This is the main reason people try to discourage others ruling him off as cannonically trans!
@@Naiobia yeah, cause i feel like the issue of toxic masculinity is important as well, especially in countries with strict gender roles!!
As a trans person, I have nothing against people headcannoning chihiro as a trans girl, but I myself think he is just a cis guy and here’s why. From what I know, he was bullied for being “too feminine” which makes me think he presented himself as a girl to be accepted by society and others around him. He looked up to mondo because he was manly and strong and the stereotype of a man, or atleast what he thought a man should act/ look like. I believe he was scared of people knowing he wasn’t a girl because he was scared what happened before would happen again. He came to mondo for help, to be strong, to be “manly”, to be what I think he wanted to be like.
I do believe if the game was redesigned/ made in 2021 there would be a lot more detail into his character and there is a big chance he could be a trans girl. But for now until anything is proven true or false, those are my thoughts on him.
I'm trans myself, and I personally totally disagree with people saying that HE is trans.
Chihiro is a boy. He says it. Telling he's a girl is transphobia.
Because 2 big points :
1. Telling that a boy cross-dressing is a trans girl. Do I really need to explain more ? That's transphobic (and sexist btw) as hell.
2. Chihiro is a representation... Of a trans boy. He's a boy who had to grow up as a girl because hé was ''weaker'' than the other boys. He's not trans. He's a trans representation. That's not the same thing.
I won't talk much about the first point, because I think that it explains itself correctly, but I'm gonna talk about WHY Chihiro is a representation of a trans boy, and not a trans girl. And I'm gonna use his backstory. Because, waw, I'm not gonna erase his whole character by saying that he's trans, since he's not.
He was bullied because he was feminine. He was bullied because people told him ''You're not strong enough to be a boy !''. So he decided to disguise himself as a girl. To play with his feminity to pass as a girl. To be a ''trap''. And he HATED THAT. He tells it. He tells to Mondo how much he did, and still do at the time, hate ''tricking others into believing that he's a girl''. He wants to ''ERASE THIS PART OF HIMSELF''. He says it. I'm litterally quoting the game. He's described as a little boy, who always known he was a boy, who hid himself by acting as a girl not to be harrassed.
He said himself that HE HATES BEING SEEN AS A GIRL. And people are calling him a girl. That's transphobic. Because yes, he's trans. A trans boy. He was outing himself when talking to Mondo, to starts his social transition. To become himself. It's almost said like that in the game.
I remember when I first have seen the dialogue. I was in the closet, and I was wearing a dress because I just went home from school and this day I had to wear one. I had a crisis. The first gender dysphoria crisis of all my life. I was just starting to ask myself if I was really a girl, I didn't even know what ''transgender'' means ! The only other time I had a crisis because of a fictional character is when a trans character had one in the book, and that everything he felt was explained. It's the only other time I had one.
Chihiro is a man. A cis one. But he's trans-coded. And that's beautifull.
Telling he's a trans girl is erasing his whole story, his whole trauma, but also erasing a trans coded character.
He HAS gender dysphoria. The same as I have, about me being weak. About my body being perceived as feminine.
If he was a trans girl, he would have NEVER ask Mondo to work with him. He would have explained to others that he's not a boy. But he would not have asked to Mondo to train with him.
Mostly toxic trans fem are saying he's trans, because they're seeking representation, and I understand that. But I can't understand how they can think that Chihiro is a trans girl just because he wears a dress. They're fighting AGAINST the idea of trans women being juste men in dresses, but as soon as a man, coded to have a story of a trans one, wears a dress, that's a trans girl ? No. Just no.
Isn't it explicit when Chihiro says that he HATES being seen as a girl, because ''He's not one''. I think it's even implied in the japanese version that he's not a trans woman and that he feels like mocking them !
Yes, Chihiro is a trans representation. Yes, he's a cis man. He's not a trans girl.
He's still a representation. A good one. And the crazy ones telling that he's a girl because he wears a dress makes him a bad trans representation.
@Nicholas Graysen omg i love you and your little bot buddy below LMAO
anyways just so yall know it took a google search and they take automatic paypal payments and then take your money. bwabwa please report the comments above!!
@@windcrystal1349 i agree. If a reboot of DR1 i would want him to be a trans BOY. Not a trans Girl.
Edit: i would like to say i dont have a problem with the trans fem headcanons.
I feel like another problem to consider is that Japan's views on transgender people are kinda...different from America's views on them. Not necessarily hateful, but different.
@@ehveqa I know it’s so good 🤤
As a trans person who is a big fan of Chihiro (obviously) I personally headcanon him as cis, but I do see where the people who hc him as trans come from
I agree
I agree
Same!! I'm trans as well, but I see Chihiro as a boy who just wants to be himself :)
I’m also trans and I think he’s cis.
I think there’s something nice about the fact that we can see them as cis or trans, but we should understand that since they’re not explicitly trans, it’s not “good” representation.
I feel that chihiro’s character is more a commentary on gender stereotypes more than having a trans character. Keep in mind that this game was made 10 years ago and trans people weren’t hitting public attention like they are now. I feel that their character is more “stop pushing gender norms or it’ll make people be fearful to be themselves” rather than “he was scared into being transgender” I hope that makes sense. Great video Oliver :D
I agree with this a lot! I definitely think it was more focused on toxic masculinity, and gender role stereotypes :D you explained it perfectly!
Completely agree
i actually didn't think of this take, so thank u, i definitely agree w this one
I've seen a few posts about Chihiro made by people who are from or have lived in Japan. They all seem to agree this is the case.
I think that too
I feel like Chihiro and Mondo’s characters were more about exploring toxic masculinity, that one was physically strong but mentally weak, and the other was vice versa. I wish they weren’t killed off so soon because they could’ve explored more into that concept.
Despite this, I don’t have a problem with people headcanoning Chihiro as trans because they can relate to his experiences. As long as they’re not calling people transphobic for not having the same headcanon, I don’t mind.
Ah, the problem with fleshing out characters after they have died~
my thoughts exactly
ll genders, cant be changed
@@LavaCreeperPeople you obviously don’t know the difference between gender and sex. even then, science wouldn’t agree with you that there’s 2 sexes
Toxic masculinity wasn't when guys tease other guys for being feminine or something?
personally i refer to him with he/him pronouns, mostly because alter ego, who chihiro programed, does too, so i assume that's what he prefers to go by.
I agree
Yeah that’s another reason why I personally think he isn’t trans . I don’t think he was expecting others to come by much less conversate with alter ego
thats a great point honestly
ll genders, cant be changed
i think even his daughter, nanami, refers as him as "father" in some point of the story, and, nanami being an AI, why chihiro, supposed to be a trans person, not programed nanami to call him "mother"?
The problem with trans Chihiro headcannons is that, most of the time, they're not just headcannons. Some people genuinely believe that Chihiro is canonically a trans girl, and anyone who dares to debunk them is a transphobe. These people have come to love a version of the character that they've created, not the one who's actually on the game. And that's a problem not just with Chihiro, but literally every fictional character ever. And I personally think that's a major disrespect to writers, and even the characters themselves.
Correct
I agree. While I headcanon, I try to make sure I don't force the headcanons on anyone else or mistake the headcanons as canon.
I don’t think it’s possible to consume media without creating a character who is different for you that they are for every other person who also experiences that media. We all bring our own biases and experiences to characters, which is why some people can love a character and another can hate that same one. They’re not different, they’re just being interpreted differently by different people
and i don’t think that’s disrespectful to their creator - that’s just how art is, usually
BIG agree. It’s okay to head cannon Chihiro as trans and have fun with it but it’s definitely not okay to force that onto other people and being accusatory if they don’t accept their head cannon as cannon.
@@GypsyxDarling Creating a different version of the character for yourself is not what's disrespectful, forcing that headcanon on other people, spreading misinformatiom and absolutely believing it to be facts rather than it just being their own perspective is what's harmful and disrespectful.
I’m cis and I have no problem with him being trans in people’s HEADCANON. But I’ve been harassed for explaining that I use what is said canonically.
two of my favorite things: danganrompa and oliver’s antics
yep!
Yes
*danganronpa
mhm
@@handlelicker989 not a spelling bee 😀
idk much abt danganronpa but the trans vs not trans argument is something i deal w/ all the time in the hunter x hunter fandom. people are always at each others throats arguing about whether neferpitou and alluka are trans. the author purposefully did not use any gendered language for neferpitou so a lot of people headcanon them as nonbinary or agender and alluka is referred to w/ he/him pronouns by her abusive family, but her brother - who is canonically the only one who loves her - uses she/her pronouns and refers to her as his little sister so a lot of people think she is a trans girl.
im personally in the camp that pitou is agender and that alluka is a trans girl but if i were to say that to someone on reddit i would probably get a 7k word lecture on why i'm wrong lmao
also dude!!! ur so close to 100k omg!!!
Ok but I completely agree and it made me smile causse I myself am Agender and it makes me happy to see a headcanon with us. I usually dont see people talk about us much, so this made my night :]
I feel like Alluka being trans and Pitou being agender is completely canon, lol. People just want excuses to not acknowledge that, I think. The creator of HxH even attempted to tackle trans topics multiple times (although sort of clumsily) through Yu Yu Hakusho and another manga that I forgot the name of.
@@crypticcorvid i think it's canon too but i didn't wanna outright say that because i didn't want to start an argument lmao. i'm so tired of trying to explain that to people
@@furuyawn Yeah, it sucks to run into people like that, lol. They're always the ones most interested in arguing for no reason too. I have no clue how people actually use Reddit, where I see this like everytime, lol.
HxH Spoiler Warning just in case
I'd like to count Chimera Ant Kite too. Tho I see them as their own person, since human Kite was a man, being reborn in female body wouldn't change that. What's confusing is that when talking with Koala, Kite is using feminine pronoun and masculine when with Gon (there are some theories about that). I've seen people hc them as either trans guy or transmasc, I go with the former. Seeing people portraying them as strictly feminine and god forbid, even sexualizing them, makes me super uncomfortable. Same character or not, Kite is my favorite and sometimes I get pretty protective of him.
As a cis guy who had a similar experience as Chihiro,
I can tell you that Chihiro's actions
To me, seemed perfectly normal.
And while I never cross-dressed,
I've had a very strong desire to do so
And still look up to a lot of people who do.
I wouldn't say I made it through high school fine,
and to this day those years are some of my most painful and suppressed memories.
Chihiro being cis to me isn't transphobic or a lack of representation,
It's a person who struggled with trauma induced gender dysphoria.
Something that is more common in trans folk, but not exclusive.
And for those saying that cis people don't have lasting gender dysphoria,
I'm a balding man with a beard who still feels like they're too feminine,
Despite knowing better, because that's how hellish the world can be.
as a Trans person who loves Chihiro, I have nothing against this and i have no offense to it, He has a reason to crossdress due to him being bullied for looking "Too feminine", he's still a Cis male and only pretended to be a girl to avoid getting bullied, I honestly didn't understand why people saw him as trans because he literally told Mondo he was a male, even monokuma told everyone Chihiro was a boy. so that headcanon is kinda weird.
Yea I agree I never understood it after watching the video I can see more why people would head canon it but I just personally don’t see him that way
I think the head cannon comes from people’s personal experiences that may be similar to Chihiro’s bullying. And since they have similar problems they relate themselves to the character. So that might be where it originated
i personally have the headcannon that chihiro is a trans girl mostly because the game was made in 2010 and if it were made in modern day (and not by a cishet person) chihiro would probably be trans
@@greensun0008 What is that supposed to mean? Of course the character would be different if it were written in a different time and by a different type of person. That could apply to literally any character ever.
I think it’s mostly because of how they relate to him. And it’s just a head cannon and all that lol
I don't see Chihiro as trans due to his backstory, how he was bullied in to presenting as a girl. He didn't want to be bullied so he accepted these bullies in to making that decision in his life to be who he was not, then he came across Mondo who was everything he wanted to be. He was essentially bullied in to a gender role he didn't want to be.
I don't think you're wrong, but I do think there's still a bit more in the game that could be read in a different way. Mentioned it in my own comment, but it stuck out to me that when the game shows the flashback photos of the students all happy and friendly with one another, Chihiro still seems to present as feminine, and the story is that it's during that time that the students all share their biggest secrets with one another. One *could* read that as Chihiro deciding they prefer to present as feminine while they're in a supportive environment, and that it's only the pressure they were under in the killing game that made them want to change, similar to how the initial bullying pushed them toward presenting as female in the first place - in each case, it's unfair, undue pressure the character is forced to shoulder.
Again, you're not wrong for reading it the way you do, as I think that's more overtly what the text was aiming for, but I do think there are valid alternate readings.
@jmn327 Chihiro doesn't hate being feminine, he hates being bullied for it. In that picture he's not bullied so he's a feminine guy
I'm another trans person dont @me ))
I usually have problems with people saying that he is trans, and not necessarily cause they connect to him due to trauma, it's more like they think making a character trans will make them better? And being trans is like being in the cool kids club, and trying FORCING that headcanon into other people like its fact, n its usually people who arent trans who do this calling others transphobic, I dont see a problem with cis ppl headcanon someone as trans or liking a trans character, it's just how they ACT with said character and how they ACT AROUND OTHERS is which gets me,
Dont shove your headcanon down peoples throats like its fact, don't act like making him trans will make him better or give you brownie points or act like being trans is like being a popular kid at school, cause it's not like that! Its traumatizing, dont push him on a high chair simply cause hes only trans cause that's seems creepy as fuck to only treat trans characters as holy gods but have different taste with other characters
Oh god yeah. I’m not in the danganronpa fandom but I’ve seen tons of cis people with trans headcanons and it feels so. Weird. Like they wanna be part of the “trans club” without having to be trans??? They’re usually super disrespectful about it too, it makes it so hard to have trans headcanons as a trans person for comfort because cis people will f*tishize it....
Fucking Aeris Akamatsu. They did this shit to me.
@@idontwannalive5386
wait what did Aeris do O_o
@@rpcsa8 It's a long *ss story, one second while I make my tea. Please be patient.
@@rpcsa8 Also, editing the comment because I keep accidentally using the incorrect pronouns. .-. My bad, I am not used to this at all.
My headcanon is that chihiro is a trans guy. That he came out at a young age, was bullied back into the closet, and then came out before being killed. And that monokuma knew that chihiro identified as male so thats what was on his thing =)
Monokuma says trans rights-
That’s my head canon too! Makes a lot of sense tbh :)
i've always liked this headcanon too! definitely made me feel more comfortable when i was playing through the game
Wait this headcanon is so good
Like seriously I headcanon this now thank you :0
I like that but won’t the gang finding out he has a male genitalia contradict that?
Alternative title: the video where oliver doesn’t read manga so you let him know
As a trans person it really hurt me to have someone say to me "You're transphobic" for not sharing their Chihiro is a trans female HC. If anything I see Chihiro more as ftm than mtf, because as someone who is afab, I really relate to him and especially his trauma. I do get the other argument though, it does have some qualities that relate to mtf trans people and I do in fact see that and it's valid all the way, but me personally? Will always see Chihiro as male or even nonbinary using he/them pronouns. It's also part of me being trans that projects onto him where I see him as being ftm! But people seeing Chihiro as mtf? Entirely valid! It's fine by me! I understand people's points :D
I'm glad you made this, it helps both sides see other people's points. It's really helpful!
Your art is godlike btw :0
Honestly, I used to think that the headcanon of Chihiro being a trans female was absolutely ridiculous before watching this since I wanted to stick strictly to the canon of the game. But now after having finished watching this, I am relaxed much more on that idea. I still don't think Chihiro is trans female, but I can now see why someone would think that.
Heck, I'm even thinking of headcanoning Chihiro is some form of Non-Binary (probably demi-gender since I myself am a demigirl and I heccing never see representation of that anywhere).
Thanks a bunch for changing my mind on this topic man, Trans Rights! B)
Tbh this makes me happy, even tho I'm unsure about my gender anymore, like I used to think I'm also a demi girl, but my genders super fluid (sometimes I feel more girl sometimes I feel more Nonbinary) but I never tend to feel more as a boy or use he him pronunces and I'm pretty sure people who are genderfluid fluid between all gender identitys I only fluid on the
girl(96% of the time it's demi girl) --(and ofc what's inbetween from demi girl to demi Nonbinary to a gender extra extra just not boy related genders weirdly) ---> nonbainry
@@d3ddll138 hey!! from what i know, that sounds like genderdoe! which, in its most nutshell form, is genderfluidity but never male. genderfaun is the reverse. if there’s any better labels for those, i can find them.
@@iirosekitty omg thanks dude! I thought I WA just being stupid and that didn't exist now I'm super happy
@@d3ddll138 another, more taken seriously way of referring to "genderdoe" is Girlflux! Just in case you don't like having a label tied to an animal. Alternatively, Boyflux is an equivalent to "genderfaun".
@@passingextraterrestrial oh thanks! I'm really fine with both labels tbh :D
as a trans guy myself, i personally noticed people headcanon characters they like as trans/enby/etc because they themselves ARE gender-nonconforming? and tbh i don't really think there's an inherent problem with that
but obviously it's possible that a character is HCed as a certain identity because of fetishization, which is a whole 'nother topic and a whole 'nother problem.
YES THANK YOU!!! Cis people who use trans headcanons for weird like mpreg f*tish stuff make me so uncomfortable >~
as a kaminari (mha) kinnie transguy who headcanons kaminari as a transguy i totally agree! a lot of the time, i headcanon characters to be lgbt or neurodivergent because we don't have that kind of representation in media and i've never seen the harm in that. also people who headcanon ppl to be lgbt for fetishization makes me wanna rip my hair out istg
Mhm! This. I headcanon a character from IDV as trans and did so way before they dropped. As soon as their voice reveal dropped and happened to sound "not stereotypical cis male" so to say people started saying they're trans canonly (which ni they aint) and harassed peoples orher headcanons over it. Also just... a lot of nsfw with that hc out of nowhere . As someone who hc them as ftm pre all that it felt uncomfortable to see them start hc that just to start spamming nsfw of them /gen
/I'm nonbinary btw so ya trans too
i understand. i'm trans (non-binary) myself and yet, i'm guilty for that too.
@@shroomd7657(Non-binary here) SAME, Execpt I'm also a Kirishma Kinnie and also think he's Trans too
I think even if chihiro isn’t trans they’re still a very intriguing character with a complicated relationship with their gender and we need more of those. But oh how I can’t stand how trans people will be ridiculed no matter what character they headcanon as trans/non-binary. In instances like chihiros you get people saying “they’re gender non conforming, stop trying to take away different forms of representation” but when ya headcanon a character that doesn’t really have any “trans” traits you get “literally nothing about this character is trans why not headcanon ones that act trans”. Just let me vide with my silly little headcanons for my silly little hyperfixations
I wholeheartedly agree with this, every time trans peeps hc someone as trans we need a 50 page essay on why or its "unrealistic", but if they don't "act trans" then our hc is nonsensical as if trans people don't just exist irl. I also dislike being gnc and trans as mutually exclusive, im a trans dude but still love being androgynous and presenting that way, am I no longer trans because of that ? Like shit just let us live they're fictional characters
exactly! thank you.
I want to like this but
6 9
@@leleponz4248 lol
I honestly just refer to him as a male because:
Before his death, he said “he wanted to be more of a man.” And wanted to embrace his masculinity. He embraced his very feminine side after he was bullied for being “to feminine.” I don’t have a problem with however y’all wanna refer to him, but I personally and going to refer to him as male because of all the trauma. I know this was all addressed but I’m kinda explaining it again? So I’m gonna refer to him as a male just because of all the trauma behind his female side and him not wanting to be presented as female. I also don’t feel that he’s “transphobic.” Because all of this trauma really affected him, so he just embraces his female side. So I don’t want to associate him with all of this trauma. Unless it is canon that he is trans I will still refer to him a male (I have 0 problem with anyone who is trans or if he is trans.) and all of this is just head cannons it really shouldn’t be this much of an issue, I’m just trying to contribute a bit
Yeah. If in the writing he is a male who identifies as such, then he is a male. Your clothing preferences or how you present yourself don't define your gender.
I can understand how some people would want him to be a trans girl because inclusivity is NEEDED so badly in media, though I don't think in this case he was.
I agree with both of yall! I don't think chihiro wasn't supposed to represent trans to begin with. Everything the game says speaks for itself.
Kinda 8 months late but exactly I’m fine if people want to go with their head cannons but getting mad cause people don’t like your opinion and have their own or telling people who don’t know who he is that he is this and that without the actual game lore I feel is just wrong
Haruhi Fujioka - "Listen Senpai, I don't really care whether you guys recognize me as a boy or a girl. In my opinion, it's more important for a person to be recognized for who they are rather than for what sex they are."
Haruhi was so ahead of her time (Haruhi said it doesn't matter what gender she's seen as so it doesn't matter if I use she/her, right?)
@@theendisnear6068 Yeah I think that Haruhi doesn't care, a lot of people say that Haruhi is either genderfluid or agender sooo
Really good video! I totally agree with your points :)
However I would add something that I feel is important to note in order to understand the intent behind Chihiro as a character (which would be the same for Naoto from Persona 4 from what I've heard, she's surrounded by the same discussions). They were meant to be a commentary on Japanese hyper sexist society. The whole world has a problem with toxic masculinity but Japan sure has it pretty bad. While I do agree, like you said that it is important to acknowledge the transphobic stuff in Chihiro's writing, I wish pro trans Chihiro would also acknowledge the initial intent behind them. It just doesn't sit right with me that an equally important problem (talking about sexism) gets pushed aside so easily.
Long story short headcanon stuff as you want but don't be a jerk about it to other people. And on the other side, don't be a jerk to people about their headcanons.
As a trans person, I believe that they are cis and just more interested in “feminine” things such as skirts and dresses. It also just feels weird using she/her pronouns for them because it sorta makes me feel like I’m being transphobic and disrespecting a persons preferred set(s) of pronouns. Now I don’t care if you say they’re trans, I will respect anyone’s opinions on this subject matter. Anyways that’s just my opinion on this subject. (Also I was using they/them pronouns for Chihiro because I don’t necessarily know their pronouns)
that's so valid
@@neptuneex_ ty! Your opinion makes a lot of sense and I can see why you think he’s a Demi-boy
@@filmmloverr
thank you!
@@neptuneex_ np!
Same! I decided to whenever to refer to Chihiro online in public as they/them pronouns because of two reasons: 1. To not offend anyone for if I use a different pronoun for Chihiro when talking about them(because I know there’s different parties that would want others to say the same thing they’re saying whether it’s he or she)
And 2. I think Chihiro would probably use they/them pronouns if they were still unsure if they wanted to still be presented as female or male.
One thing I wanna note:
The reason Kyoko didn't even consider Chihiro being trans is because she picked up on how Mondo called him a dude, thus getting rid of the possibility he's anything but a guy. She's extremely astute on how people refer to others (she even uses it in the trial after that to clear up Hagakure), so she would be fully aware of what he meant. And people tend to trust Kyoko's reasoning, but she wanted to prove his physical body to ensure people knew he was specifically a cis man. At least, that's how I see how everyone handled it.
I'm a cis guy who was bullied for being weak when I was younger too. Instead of doing something like Chihiro did, I internalized it and isolated myself from others. I was always off in my own little world where I could be happy. Neither of these approaches were healthy.
I think Chihiro was both a victim of toxic masculinity AND femininity. He was harassed for being weak ((not feminine, just because he was not strong)) and so he thought "Well, girls are weak so if I look like a girl, no one will bully me for being weak!" ((which is toxic femininity)) and later wanted to change that. He ran from his problems but he later realized that wouldn't solve anything and was ready to become stronger for himself. He was killed by Mondo, another victim of toxic masculinity who was convinced he wasn't strong and was jealous of Chihiro's "strength". But the strength they referred to was different. CHihiro admired Mondo's physical strength and wanted to train with him, not the girls. Not even Sakura, the Ultimate Martial Artist and a far stronger human than Mondo. Sakura is a girl and so she wouldn't understand Chihiro's plight like Mondo would.
Meanwhile Mondo was jealous of Chihiro's mental strength, his courage to face his fears and take them head on. He murdered Chihiro in a fit of rage because he was jealous that Chihiro could face his fears when Mondo couldn't. Mondo was reckless and that lead to his brother's death and he had been running from that ever since. But when Chihiro talked to him, talked about facing his fears, Mondo couldn't run anymore. He went berserk and killed the smol bby.
I just feel that the specific situation of Chihiro doesn't make Chihiro trans. When he was young he wore "boy" clothes and he only started wearing "girl" clothes after being bullied. He thought he could hide by dressing like a girl and that would solve all his problems but all that did was temporarily store them away. he had to do something eventually and he did. He knew he was a boy and he wanted to be more masculine so he was asking someone he trusted to help him.
That's just my two sense
the side of the fandom that sides with mtf chihiro completely ignore the reasons why. they always say "he was happier as a girl" but he wasn't. he chose to hide as a girl due to bullying as a survival method. he didn't like it, he just used it as a shield. that's why he came to mondo HAPPY and EXITED to become masculine. he came to the strongest and manliest person he knows for help.
mtf chihiro enjoyer here! like oliver points out in the video, if a cis man is being bullied he's more likely to become hyper masculine and not...become MORE feminine (and fun fact! ik a cis guy who was bullied for being too feminine and guess what? he tried to become hyper masculine and developed a toxic masculinity mindset). also...hcing chihiro as mtf is not erasing her backstory, whatever you may think. no ones saying she didn't get bullied? i've talked to multiple trans women on this subject manner and they've all said that their experiences are very similar to chihiro's. and not to mention in the anime (which i KNOW is a watered down adaptation, but it's still canon) chihiro actually says "it's time for me to BECOME a man" and "it's time for me to BECOME who i'm supposed to be" which are literal hints that...chihiro really doesn't see herself as a man. and the end of the day you can think chihiro is a cis man or whatever, but you just need to recognize 1) the transphobia in chihiro's character/backstory and 2) that mtf is not erasing chihiro's character and real life trans women have had similar experiences.
@@atleynater still? the comment quite literally stated he was excited n happy to be MASCULINE,, dont know abt you but it seems like chihiro never wanted to be feminine in the first place and the reason he faked being a woman was to just stop the bullying... can u explain how his backstory is even transphobic??
(yeah ik this is years ago but i just recently found out abt danganronpa lmao)
@atleynater Chihiro says he only became feminine to avoid bullying and dies trying to become more masculine so he's seen as a guy. It's canon that he's a feminine man. there's no transphobia because his story has nothing to do with being trans and has everything to do with toxic masculinity and societal standards
@@RaidenTheRipper88 oh my godddd yesss i dont know why people even sees him as a girl.. like a trans woman would not do that?? 😭
I think people have got it all backwards. While Chihiro is 100% a feminine cis guy dealing with toxic masculinity and Asian male beauty standards ( not 100% on this one I’m just going off what I know from many Asian based webcomics that involve men cross dressing to avoid being bullied for being too feminine so don’t quote me on this) who even gets killed for his urge to be more manly. I think if you truly wanted to read his arc as trans you’re looking the wrong way. He has more rep for trans men then then trans women. Think about it. His biggest secret is being a man, he’s shamed into dressing like a girl, he looks up to and confides in mondo about wanting to be more masculine and even his “coming out” leads to his death. That’s his whole character arc and everyone seems to ignore it and goes straight into calling him a trans girl simply because society pressured him to be as such due to his femininity. We as people in the LGBT+ group urge against gender norms but I’ve noticed even more of us start saying characters are trans simply/only because they fit gender norms.
honestly this fully reflects my own opinion on chihiro lmao, as a trans guy the entire thing did make me very uncomfortable (mostly the part where they're discovered to be born male). i've always kind of described it as how someone would write a trans person having done no research at all and only the barest surface level understanding of trans people. that's not to say that's the intention obviously nor that they write chihiro to be trans, but it's always how it came across to me. someone who gets the impression trans people only transition because they don't feel secure in their birth gender and can be "fixed" if they try hard enough. obviously that's not the intention here, but that's how it came across. people can believe what they're a trans girl or a cis guy and it doesn't bother me, the entire debate is dumb, just let people use whatever pronouns they want for them and move along lmao
Honestly I feel the same way too
I personally headcannon him as just a femenine boy, but i definitely get headcannoning him as trans, i believe its just perspective and how you view him as a character yk. well, the last part is obvious.
Plot twist they're trans with internalized transphobia
Oh shit 😳
thats pretty much my exact hc
That is my hc for chihiro
EDIT : I made this comment before I watched the vid and before I got an in depth look at why some see him as a trans girl , please check the replies to see my feelings after this vid
I think saying that he’s trans would kinda just.. get rid of his whole “arc” (even tho he didn’t really get one lol rip) yknow ? Like I won’t attack anyone over this however people act as if feminine guys don’t exist.. the whole reason he crossdresses anyways is to stop bullying , we don’t even know if he likes it . It’s not like he’s cross dressing cause he likes it it’s cause he wants to avoid bullying . I just think it’s a very shallow headcannon personally but I won’t stop people from thinking he’s a trans girl
i see you E V E R Y W H E R E
He def doesn’t like it, he liked it at first, but actually despises it.
Tbh as a trans guy myself I was bullied into presenting more masculine when I was younger bc I wasn't "pretty/girly enough" alongside my peers. I just gave up and decided I'd be a guy so people would leave me alone. So its always confused me why ppl dislike the trans chihiro headcanon so much just bc he was bullied.
Like yeah I was bullied into presenting as a guy, but it doesn't change the fact that I am in fact trans, and that I eventually realized being known as a guy makes me 100x more happy and comfortable. Being bullied has nothing to do with being trans whatsoever. I'm not even the most masculine guy ever, im still hella feminine, but I'm still a guy nonetheless and I'm happy as a guy.
That being said I don't HC chihiro as trans, personally. But I can understand why other people do
@@puppiekit yep few years ago feminine trans men would be called trenders because they are “fully masculine”. As soon as a trans guy puts on “feminine” clothing or makeup it’s a riot, and it’s transphobic really because they still see you as the female sex as if cis men aren’t feminine either. Glad times have changed
@ネズミ I think you're completely misunderstanding their use of shallow. It makes sense to call the headcanon shallow because most of the time it's people taking Chihiro face value and saying "trans" bc hes a male wearing feminine clothing despite his entire arc circling him wanting to be seen as stronger, less weak (less feminine which is ... pretty misogynistic of the dr team but im not surprised). No one is ripping away trans representation, they're just critiquing it because it IS poor rep.
To end all discourse:
Genderfluid Chihiro.
1. Doesn't get rid of inner turmoil
2. Inclusive and wholesome
SO TRUE
This is or nb or gnc is probably the answer especially considering some of the later material
i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/ff/2b/feff2b686cca575c96b9d7f010ce994b.jpg
Like the outfit here is definitely more androgynous than strictly feminine or masculine.
YES
Exactly
Or... say he’s canonically Cis male but it’s FINE to headcannon him as trans female
I'm not sure if you've played the whole series yet, but get ready for the kokichi argument
also woooo world's end club coming onto the switch soon :)
OML I forgot abt that. That's gonna be a....interesting vid if he ever makes one abt him.
wait what Kokichi argument- i can think of several ngl-
@@acelittlefire I didn't want to specify because it's kind of spoilerish but the "kokichi did nothing wrong" argument; though his design and talent is uh.. quite something
@@emiliaf-w6700 oh- okay, someone must be pretty blind if they think KOKICHI did nothing wrong (this is coming from someone who loves him). like, i don't believe he's completely, outright evil, but he's in no way some "sweet cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong uwu"
@@acelittlefire yeah he was literally designed after nazi imagery and in someway caused 3 deaths so,,,
10:09 I read the Princess Jellyfish Manga, and yeah he actually presents male most of the time (In all of the scenes where he's alone or with his family: you only really see him present female when he's with the other characters). But yeah I think this video's awesome, and I love danganronpa so much so it makes me crazy happy to see you do art for it and stuff. My favorite part of the whole series is SDR2, and I think it has the best cast of characters, so if you can you should definitely watch it!
I personally hc as genderfluid or non-binary. That they aren’t too uncomfortable with feminine clothing at times but likes presenting masc or androgynous most of the time. I really like the idea of Chihiro embracing both of their femininity and masculinity with the help of Mondo :)
i will now be linking people to this video whenever someone says some dumb shit about chihiro this was so well put together
tbh i don't really like the transfemale hc. i understand transmale if anything. his whole character and story and struggles are about how he feels weak and not manly enough. i feel like the transfemale idea perpetuates the idea that feminine or "weaker" males are not man enough. chihiro was insecure in his masculinity so presented as a female/feminine because of his own insecurities. he didn't want to be a female, he just wanted to be able to see himself as enough of a man. i guess i just don't want to ignore his trauma associated with being see as a female and not a male.
I heard that Chihiro was made as the author's statement on Japan's very toxic masculinity, especially at the time it was created. Therefore, I do headcanon him as cis, but people headcanoning as trans are fine as well. As a trans person, I headcanon lots of canon cis characters as trans as a comfort thing, and it makes sense that other trans folk take comfort in characters like Chihiro
as a nonbinary person, i actually heavily see myself in chihiro. i came out as a trans guy at first and tried so hard to live my life as a stereotypically masculine guy and didn't understand why that made me uncomfortable, since living as a girl would /also/ make me uncomfortable. once i started accepting i was nonbinary, and leaning more into androgyny, that's when i started being more comfortable and happy with my gender identity.
i feel like chihiro took a similar path and might've ended up identifying as nonbinary as well if they hadn't died so early. the reason i think so is because i don't believe a cis person would publicly present as the opposite gender for so long if they were fully cisgender - unlike trans people who often have to pretend to be a gender they're not for safety reasons, cis people literally have no reason to force themselves to live as the opposite gender. which means that chihiro either felt somewhat comfortable being perceived as female, or didn't fully feel comfortable being perceived as male.
which is why i think, before they died, they were probably in a questioning phase and on the path of trying to figure out if they preferred to be perceived as male or female - and i believe they might've come to the conclusion, eventually, that they fit somewhere in the middle.
of course this is just a headcanon, and i think everyone is free to headcanon whatever they want. (especially if it's a headcanon that brings you comfort or makes you happy - no one should get shit for things that makes them happy, especially not when it comes to fictional stories and fictional characters.) but it personally makes me upset when people try to argue that "chihiro is 100% male in canon" or "chihiro is 100% trans in canon". i don't think chihiro's true gender was ever actually revealed in canon. we know they were assigned male at birth, we know they spent most of their life presenting as female, and we know they wanted to get stronger and potentially be perceived as more masculine. but i don't think any of those things have anything to do with their actual gender identity. so as far as i'm concerned, chihiro's canon gender is unknown.
spoilers for danganronpa lol
i really like how chihiro and mondo are such polar opposites that really contrast masculinity, mondo being a very macho masculine presenting man who appears strong but feels weak, meanwhile chihiro is very feminine in appearance yet still strives to be stronger, and finds the courage to come out to mondo for help, resulting in chihiros death and mondos despair.
trans headcanons are fine and valid as fuck but you can't just ignore that part of the story and the message on toxic masculinity. very nice video Oliver! I liked hearing your perspective
I lowkey feel like that saying Chihiro being a transwoman is very harmful as it kind of enforces the stereotype that women are weak, as in if a man is weak it means he is a woman and stuff. I once saw a community post saying that danganronpa is extremely transphobic for "deadnaming" Chihiro and i still think about that a lot lmao
Someone being respectful and thoughtful about their side of the argument and not attacking people who think otherwise? What is this???
I want to start this comment by saying I am nonbinary so I relate to Chihiro in some ways
Second,
I personally think they're nonbinary as well. From my personal experience, I went back and forth a lot between presenting and identifying as male and female. I think Chihiro was just trying to find the right identity for themself and was coming to terms that they can be feminine without being a girl. (does this make any sense? I hope I'm working this right)
I think they wanted to be stronger and maybe try to be a little more masculine to simply explore themself without the fear of other people pitching in their opinions?
My opinion obviously comes from my experience but I see where every point of the arguments come from and I can honestly agree with most of the points.
But overall, I think Chihiro was coming to terms with the fact that femininity doesnt mean female and masculinity doesnt mean male and maybe just wanted to express how they truly felt without being ashamed or bullied again
That's just my opinion though, I'm open to other ideas
I honestly never realized this was even a debate until like a week ago, when someone got mad at me for referring to Chihiro as 'she'
I don't get why some people are so angry about this, it's not a huge deal, but I guess I'm a little biased. I think it's just fun to headcanon characters as lgbt, and for the most part I never really thought of it as a trans thing whenever I called Chihiro 'she' even after they died, I guess I just got used to it??
I mostly like the headcanon them like that anyway because one of my old trans girl friends loved Chihiro to death and she took a lot of comfort in them because her family was violently transphobic. I didn't even know what Danganronpa was back then, but I understood what she meant when I played the game.
I guess I mostly headcanon them that way in respect for my friend, plus I just think it's neat. Some people get so heated over this shit it's ridiculous lmao, if you headcanon them as trans then cool, and if you don't then that's also cool. Just dont be a dick about your own or other people's opinions and it should be fine
I honestly think that people headcannoning Chihiro as trans is completely valid. As a trans person, myself, I do headcanon him as a cis male. But I really don't understand why people get so angry over it. Of course, there was Chihiro's whole masculinity arc and whatever, but honestly the hc isn't harmful, so I don't think that people should be getting super heated over it
Personally, I'm angry about it because it's transphobic.
He's written as a trans BOY. He's telling by HIMSELF that HE HATES BEING SEEN AS A GIRL.
Ngl, I'm crying RN, because I understand Chihiro SO MUCH, and I feel like others DON'T.
He's a boy. He's saying it. He's saying that he WANTS to be more masculine because being a girl is HURTFUL for him.
That's what I say. Everyday. And NOBODY hears me. And when Chihiro says it, nobody hears him.
He's a boy.
He says it.
Not trusting him is saying that someone CANT know his own gender. And I think we both see why it's transphobic.
I'm against him being trans, because it erase his voice, it erase his struggles, it erase his dysphoria, cause yes, again, he has dysphoria. A ''trans boy one''. For me, erasing his voice, it erases mine, and yes, I'm crying now, because again, I have to fight against my brothers and my sisters for my voice to be heard. Because people don't hear what a trans representation says. Again.
@@windcrystal1349 I totally get that!! and honestly I think that maybe he would've been written into the game as a canon trans guy if it weren't for like-- transphobia within "the industry" or whatever.
If you do follow the canon, though, he was written to be a cis boy who crossdresses because of trauma. And he DOES feel dysphoria because of that cross-dressing.
I'm of course not saying this to invalidate your headcanon of course!! I think it does really suck that people erase the fact that he can know his own gender, but each situation with hcs and stuff is real.
Some people feel invalidated because of Chihiro being trans in any way, or the opposite. I think each case is different and listening to what each person has to say is really important. Some trans women really relate to Chihiro, and that is why they hc him as a trans girl and it may feel invalidating for them to see other headcanons.
Again, each situation is individual. And yours is totally valid!! But it's important to listen to other people's reasons for their headcanons as well
@@windcrystal1349 honestly, he experiences a lot of dysphoric symptoms. He didn’t seem to want to be a female. And seemed uncomfortable with it. He was pushed into a role he didn’t want to be, and he decided to go along with it because he didn’t know how to deal with the bullying.
As a person who watched the firat anime adaptation back in 2015, I geniunely thought Chihiro was a transgirl who felt like the only way she could be safe was to only be fem, and got killed when she decided to embrace her masc side and "become stronger" or a detransitioner (but with less words because I was ten at the time) so I can geniunely see both sides to this.
I think both sides are valid in this, and much like the June Egbert headcanon in the homestuck fandom, can just vibe with each other. Neither side is inherently transphobic for their headcanons.
As a transguy who was very in the closet but also just starting to peek out and had very mysoginistic/cisnormative standards for myself that I didn't just fit, Chihiro was an important character to that helped me realize there is another way. In turn I also got very attached to AlterEgo when Chihiro died lol
I think the biggest problem is that Chihiro's gender only came into question after they died. like even if we get Chihiro's back story, it's not directly from them, and they don't get to say if they identify as a girl or a boy. it just feels weird that the game reviled a very personal secret of a character after they die and not letting the character explain how they feel. I have no opinion on if Chihiro is trans or not, I just feel like it was kinda poorly handled
Honestly, i dont mind if you headcanon chihiro as a transgirl or not, just dont harass people who don't follow the headcanon (and dont harass ppl who have the headcanon for those who stick by the canon!).
Chihiro is a really cool character, wether they are trans or not, I just think their neat
Oh the DR fandom is crazy so I typically ignore it. I knew there was some things within the fandom dealing with Chihiro but I didn’t realize how deep it went.
Personally, I’ve always considered them to be cis, and I typically use he/him because of canon and what not. However, honestly I have no issue with people considering them to be trans. It makes sense, and all the points you made just does make sense for it to be that way.
For me, I always just loved Chihiro as a character for their personality just resonated with me, they’re cute, and even though the whole gender reveal was a huge plot point, Chihiro to me as a character, was always more then just a character who cross dressed. With them making Alter Ego, and just everything to do with that added more to their character as well, which honestly even extends to DR2 as well. They will always be one of my favorite characters within the series honestly
I’m a trans guy so I get really defensive over chihiro being seen as a trans girl because of how I relate to it and see his experience
Ah yes, the timeless "Trans Chihiro" debate. When I first played through Chapter 2 of THH, I was immediately uncomfortable with the whole situation. The whole idea of everyone seemingly equating genitals to gender and the entirety of how Chihiro's backstory was presented just didn't sit right with me. Personally, I don't believe Chihiro was intentionally written to be transphobic, but rather their character was intended to be a commentary on gender roles in society. I think it just happened to be an unfortunate accident that the writers unintentionally played into some transphobic ideas. I'd say this was also likely due to the time the game was written as trans people weren't given much of a voice or platform back then, so any criticisms about how some commonly seen characteristics in media were transphobic were not heard. Initially after knowing Chihiro's story, I was immediately down for the trans/non-binary headcanon, it just made sense to me. After getting a little more involved in the fandom though, I found a PLETHORA of posts and videos saying that the trans Chihiro headcanon itself was transphobic and I felt really bad. Obviously I didn't want to hurt any transgender folks or speak over them, but as a genderfluid person, there were definitely some aspects of Chihiro's story that I could see in myself and I just didn't quite feel right wholeheartedly saying Chihiro was strictly a cis male and that saying they were anything else was harmful. I definitely understand where those who disagree with the headcanon are coming from, and for the most part I agree with the sentiment, but really it all comes down to how strictly you follow the canon. Personally, I like "reading between the lines." Art is largely meant to be up to interpretation, and Danganronpa is no exception in my opinion. But I can understand why people would want to follow the canon as it is and how that would lead to a disagreement over Chihiro's gender. I'm just upset over how out of proportion the debate has gotten. It's one thing to have a civil disagreement, but I've seen so much name calling and hurtful words being spoken by both sides and it's entirely unnecessary. It also bothers me that Chihiro's character to the fandom has largely been watered down to this debate. Chihiro is one of my FAVORITE Danganronpa characters and I could go on for hours analyzing their character and the impact they had on the entire franchise of games, but every time I see Chihiro content all I see is heated gender debates.
Personally, I'm generally in favor of a non-binary/genderfluid Chihiro headcanon (mostly because I am genderfluid and who am I to deny myself projection onto my comfort characters), but I definitely understand where everyone is coming from. At the end of the day, art is up to personal interpretation, so Chihiro can be written however you best see fit. I just wish this debate wouldn't be so aggressive and that more people could appreciate and talk about Chihiro beyond their gender :)
yh yh i've been called transphobic for hcing chihiro as trans girl too and its always done by the cis fans who enjoy speaking over real life trans people. (im also nb =D) and i agree, chihiro is honestly one of my favorite characters and i wish she wasn't watered down to just what her gender is (same thing goes with tenko. she's my fav v3 character and its so upsetting that she's just watered down to the sexuality debate).
When I first saw Chihiro I said that they were trans. My older brother’s friend shouted that they weren’t trans. To me it doesn’t matter much if they’re trans or not, but sorta found it shocking that in the game were kids kill each other that this is what people focus on. Not the executions, trial or ships. The characters gender. It just rubs me the wrong way.
Forgot to say that this was a lovely video here! I love Danganrompa, and I’m glad that you played and are talking about it.
the cringe side of DR fandom really be out there doxxing people over hcs and ships when the series is about high schoolers forced into murder- as one of the non-toxic ones, we don't claim _that_ side
@@acelittlefire you...... got a good head on your shoulders.
It's freaking pathetic in all honesty. As someone who is in the lgbt community, I HATE how they make such a big deal over someone's gender or sexuality, and make it seem like that's their personality, when really, it isn't! BEING GAY/LESBIAN/BI/PAN/ASEXUAL/TRAN/ETC.IS NOT A PERSONALITY TRAIT! Being gay is just showing what sex/gender you are attracted to, simple as that.
@@justagray-ace2787 is this about the discourse with Chihiro? It’s seems rather vague on what you’re talking about.
@@dreemysweety Well, yeah. It is. I was just explaining a problem I've been seeing lately in the danganronpa (as well as many other) fandom/community. Sorry I didn't specify it.
Edit: I made a mistake when I mentioned something about Chihiro’s death position. Please see one of the replies for a clarification
Whether or not Chihiro is trans, their death does parallel a lot of real life situations. Mondo’s motivations for killing them were, spoiler alert, because he felt jealous of Chihiro that they could face their fears instead of running away from them, but it’s reminiscent of the idea of “trans panic”, where someone revealing that they are transgender leads the person they’re telling to kill them due to the shock. The fact that this also takes place in a locker room, something that a lot of transphobes are worried about trans people “infiltrating”, and while this point might be a bit of a stretch and probably doesn’t change much, but it’s still worth noting. Finally, Chihiro is basically crucified. I have no clue why Mondo did this, but it’s the sort of thing that makes and example out of someone.
If Chihiro is trans, this whole scene would be invoking a shit ton of the trans community’s trauma, which is why I prefer to think that Chihiro is cis.
Just gonna pop in and say Mondo did NOT crucify Chihiro. That was Togami because he's an asshole who wanted to make things more interesting and to out Toko as Genocider Syo. (Note that Togami did not definitively know Chihiro was cross-dressing. He had a feeling but had no concrete evidence.) Mondo specifically moved Chihiro's body to the girl's locker room so that nobody would be like "Why is Chihiro in the boy's locker room? She should be in the girl's... Oh that's why." and thus keep his secret. Togami came in sometime after and set up the Genocider Syo situation. Granted this doesn't change the fact that Mondo had specific ways he referred to men and women and he started using the words he used for guys long before anyone else found out, which is what Kyoko caught him on and is what spurred her to checking Chihiro's body.
@@lunethemooncat6355 ah, sorry, I haven’t watched the show in a long time so I forgot that Togami sucks. Thanks for the correction
@@lordoftheducks332 No problem! =)
half of tumblr would kill anyone who says "chihiro is cis canonically"
Tumblr moment
the fact it came out in 2010 is terrifying :/
Dgr is turning 11 this year god-
Edit: I was 4/5 when it released.
A counter reason for him not going down the more masculine route, is because Mondo already filled that role and Chihiro was meant to be opposite of him (while also greatly relating with him)
I personally see Chihiro as a cis boy. Mainly because I love the duality between him and Mondo, how they both see strength and weakness, and how they are both jealous of each other.
That's a pretty interesting conflict.
I know I'm way too late, but I don't care. I'm a character driven writer, and I think Chihiro's character arc wouldn't work if Chihiro was a trans girl. Mondo is driven into a blind rage from envy because Chihiro decided to be proactive and stop hiding who he was. Mondo, the epitome of manliness for Chihiro, felt like a coward when compared to him. That doesn't work for a trans girl. I can understand why trans people identify with Chihiro's character, but that doesn't mean the people you identify with have to be or should be just like you.
Pro cis chihiro person here, but I have to disagree.
I can still see mondo envy chihiros strength, were he coming out to him as MtF trans, instead of just „I‘m a boy, I need to get stronger, please help me take away the power from monokuma and anyone who bullied me“.
But for that to work, the backstory would need to match this approach, which it doesn‘t.
greatly said, imo ppl who headcanon him as mtf just plainly ignores the fact that chihiro WANTS to be MASCULINE and not feminine, chihiro probably even felt uncomfortable wearing female clothing lmao
As a Chihiro Kinnie I say, he's more likely ftm than mtf and I view him as a cis man I don't get why if a trans person disagrees that Chihiro is trans than they are "faking it"(being trans and yes it's happened) it's really upsetting
The thing about Chihiro is he's a trope about the more rigid gender roles in Japan, which (I think they're getting better but I haven't kept up with things) affect most people to some degree, and not a commentary on transgender people or transphobia specifically. It's also true of Naoto from Persona, Ritsu from Fruits Basket, Robin from AA, etc. etc. Westerners (of which I am one but not one of these specific people) took that trope as queer-coding when the official translation of the game came out because in Western media that would be the case (the unofficial forum translation that preceded that had cultural notes, iirc, and was more clear on the issue because of that). Unfortunately, those same Westerners, when Japanese people tried to helpfully explain the trope, harassed and bullied those people. Also unfortunately, as it was 2011, 2012, I can't recall the specific tumblrs where that occurred (if they're even still active), but I did personally witness it firsthand (which I know comes off as "Just trust me" but like... it was eight years ago). So while it's fine to headcanon Chihiro as trans, there are reasons people are against that headcanon for irl real trauma/damage that the camp of "is trans" has caused in the early fandom and from a racial/cultural differences aspect (dunno if that's the best way to put it, but like... I'm white, but it seems kiiiiinda very racist to me to bully Japanese people because their media has tropes commenting on things in their culture that hit different in the US when this is not our playground, these are not our dolls, we should not dictate how they should be played with, and doing so reeks of US superiority and supremacy over the ~ignorant~ Japanese). Of course, few people want to actually consider the cultural differences between Japan and the US. And then also the difference of time, Dangan is a decade old and even in the US trans people weren't exactly common in media with nuanced or sensitive portrayals practically nonexistent (still aren't, but as with the rest of the alphabet soup it's improving). Because it's just easier to go off the text itself stripped of those contexts to support or disprove the headcanon, but those contexts are important.
It's perfectly fine to headcanon anything about any piece of media, regardless of it's origin, but it's when people start insisting that their headcanon is canon and, more importantly, harassing people that do not share that headcanon that there's a problem. It's an even bigger problem when it's a piece of media from a country and culture you (general, not you personally, you seem great!) are not apart of and you bully and harass people from that country and culture because your interpretation is better and more enlightened because your country and culture is more enlightened and therefore that country and culture is backwards and bad (which some of the takes from that time were on the verge of if not outright).
It's... complicated. If this were a trope having to do with cis heterosexual people, it would be pretty clear that we could just accept cultural differences and move on with life, but as you said, this is some of the very few shreds of representation available, so people are very... emotional about it in both directions even without that layer, but... it's still not ours. We should demand more and better from our own media and be respectful of other cultures' own relationships with gender and sexuality in their media, not demand catering to from a country and culture of which we are not part. If Japanese people want more and better trans representation in their media or find this trope harmful or complicated *they're* perfectly entitled to seek changes, but it's not for us outsiders to dictate or demand as some more recent posters on Tumblr I've come across seem to want to do.
Anyway, that was a lot of words. I hope you have a great day.
One thing that doesn't get brought up enough in regards to Chihiro: The cultural differences between Japan and the US in how issues of gender identity are presented, perceived, and discussed. This feels like something really important that gets ignored in the broader discussion of Chihiro's identity.
i agree because chihiro isnt white
@@2mfours*body discovery music starts playing*
honest I think it's a bad idea for that headcanon to exist considering they never looked at the backstory the character's backstory is what brings them to where they are and yet these people never looked at the Backstory
honestly.. this is the most well thought out video i’ve seen about the situation. i love how you acknowledge both sides of the argument instead of just sticking to one based on personal bias. this actually gave me a new way to look at them! also your art is amazing, definitely subscribing!
What if I played chaotic neutral and head cannoned him as a trans male? 👹
Brief explanation why chihiro is a boy and wants to be considered a boy.
So, Chihiro had made it clear he doesn’t wanna be perceived as a girl, it’s just he doesn’t wanna be bullied. He presented as female solely for the fact of not being bullied. Being trans is when you are already the gender *cough cough* but chihiro shouldn’t be trans because that would just completely erase his whole gender. If you disagree I want to know why-
also I want to make it known I am trans so pls don’t get mad at me speaking on this as a none trans person lol
I'm guessing (like most anime) Chihiro's "cross dressing" was just meant to be a character trait that they had. (Like Felix from Re:Zero) I'd be surprised if they were written to say any message about gender roles, bullying, or the trans community. That being said, are they an unintentionally bad representation of the trans community? Yes! I agree with what Oliver said in the video.
I don't think it's necessarily bad representation since it's... not representation. Should there be more representation of trans characters in games? ABSOLUTELY. Is there anything wrong with headcannoning a character as trans? Not really. But I don't think it's fair to then say "Some people think this character should have been trans, therefore they are bad representation."
@@aislynncarpenter701 Yeah true, you can't claim something as bad representation when they're not even explicitly shown as representation of the group in the first place
Isn’t „Felix“ actually a trans girl who prefers feminine language and the name Ferris? But this somehow got lost in translation?
@@SaKura-il8opfrom what I've heard Ferris is more like a June Egbert situation where they only came out in material released after the main series ended
Never mention Felix and gender in one text. Only thing that can come about are flame wars.
So anyway, Felix was originally a girl, who was retconned into a trap, who was retconned into a transgirl. The anime has not yet adapted the transgirl retcon, therefore in the anime, he's a guy. Hence why I, an anime viewer refer to him as such. Feel free to disagree, this argument won't ever lead anywhere.
Also from a trans perspective (ftm), I kind of automatically thought that Chihiro was cis. I was also bullied for being weak when I was younger, and my reaction was similar to Chihiro’s. Although, at least in my case, the femininity was less of a way to make them bully me less but more of a coping mechanism. I didn’t think I could become stronger, so I resigned myself into the role of being weak. Thinking of the bullying as something inevitable, as an affirmation of my own idea of weakness even, made it easier to deal with. Seeing something similar in Chihiro (retreating into femininity as a defense from bullying) was something I really liked. It was also kind of something I imagined myself as wanting to be. Like, if Chihiro could be a guy while using femininity as a defense mechanism, then surely I could, too.
Note: Not to imply that femininity = weakness or anything. It’s just how I thought of it in like elementary/middle school.
I think Chihiro is like me as a teen. I had gender dysphoria but opted NOT to transition and I don't regret that choice. Chihiro just wanted to be more masculine but he was so conditioned to act feminine because he looked feminine. And no, I don't think saying "My headcanon overrides actual canon" is valid for anything.
THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THIS!!!!! I love your drawing of Chihiro!
8:10 It is mentioned in one scene in OHHC that Haruhi's mother was indeed aware of him cross dressing. During the flashback in episode 10 when Haruhi's father is talking to his co-worker he says something along the lines of "he'd never love someone the way he loved his wife and she was OK with him dressing like a woman" (at least in the English dub).
(This is honestly just a one off line so I can see why someone wouldn't remember that line, I've just seen the whole series at least 2 times and thought it was an interesting detail)
Chihiro is honestly an amazing character (at least to me-)
9:58 Holy shit, male-presenting Kuranosuke Koibuchi is the embodiment of my transition goals.
Being a trans femboy I usually felt very pressured to dress masculine cuz even other trans males would say I was faking being trans when I decided to dress femine but all so use he/him pronouns, and yet still that character hits so damn close to home- whether they r trans or not trans
I love your take on them, honestly- from past experience, I've seen and gone through a lot of different opinions on this topic, but I think the one I've settled on is (among?) the least popular: personally, I view Chihiro as a trans guy, but if other people want to see them as other things, cool! Just don't be a dick about it
And like, my reasoning for that is just bcs, as you said, Chihiro's experience is one I can relate to as a transmasc person. I can see how transfem people can relate to them, I can see the argument to be made for whatever you see them as, so as long as you're not an ass about what other people think, like- cool! Different opinions are good sometimes, actually!
Personally from my point of view, I think the trans headcannon is stupid and only pushing in more equality into an already good character with a message I relate to.
He is a guy, they refer to him as a guy, alter ego calls him a guy, monokuma, etc.
This includes past stuff, looking and UDG they mention this and it's still HEAVILY hinted with the slight look of toko that he's a guy.
You are counterproductive to the trans cause if you force this theory down people's throats, you can want more representation but this is forced representation from an already toxic community
Firstly: i love the background in the art Secondly: After watching this I choose a side to the arguement- like both have very good points and idk which one to support
I know people are looking through the comments to see peoples opinion on the matter but can we take a second to appreciate the art of Chihiro and how detailed and amazing of a job the artist did!
Honestly when it comes to DanganRonpa, there have been a number of LGBT coded characters in both the games and the animated series DR3: Future/Despair series.
But I do think that when it comes to these characters specifically, they always have some undertones of phobia written to them. It could possibly be just due to writers being oblivious to certain aspects of people and might be just going off what they themselves know or perceive. I don't wanna say they don't like gay or trans people in general, but it just seems peculiar to me that (Spoiler alert) characters that are coded as LGBT in some way always die.
And yeah, I know. It's DanganRonpa, where the majority of your favorite characters are gonna die, but it's just so weird to me that the only character to escape this fate so far has been Shuichi, who was debatably claimed to be bisexual based off of in-game interactions, due to being the main protagonist. Meanwhile the majority of characters that were seen as LGBT like Teruteru, Komaeda, Kokichi, and Sakakura (to name a few) were seen as antagonistic and some overly sexual-harassers in nature... and the common theme among every single one is they all die.
While I like DanganRonpa, it's really hard a lot of the times to just overlook how they tend to write LGBT coded characters. Even when you put in their sad backstories as a means of making me feel for them, it's still hard to let go how they're presented initially.
@Sh0res 0f The N0rth While I, again, can't say with certainty that the creators were intending to be phobic with their characters or their backstories, saying these games were made in early 2000s is a misconception. Trigger Happy Havoc came out in Japan in 2010 and the latest, V3: Killing Harmony came out in 2017. The anime DR 3, which had the most blatant case of Bury Your Gays depicted, was released in 2016.
In Japan, they had a gender affirming surgery law approved in 2003 and go into effect in 2004. In 2003, Aya Kamikawa was the first openly transgender politician to be elected into Japanese office. In 2005, Kanako Otsuji came out as lesbian and was a huge push for same-sex couples being able to rent houses together from the Osaka Prefecture Housing Corporation.
HOWEVER, you also had Japanese politicians like Tokyo's Governor, Shintaro Ishihara, who claimed that gay and lesbians were "deficient somehow" attributing it to something wrong with them genetically and feeling "sorry" they were in the minority. Interestingly enough, he made this comment in 2010, the same year DanganRonpa Trigger Happy Havoc put out their first demo and then full game.
So to say they could be completely oblivious in regards to the treatment of the LGBT wouldn't actually be correct. It could lean either way from biases towards the LGBT community or not being knowledgeable. That's why I mentioned in my initial post that I can't say for certain the way they lean because we don't exactly have that information.
I just wanted to dip into something that has bothered me ever since I had a character and people misrepresented them, despite me, as the creator, stating that they were wrong and being accused as being hateful for having the character be such.
First off, thank you for mentioning CROSS DRESSING DOESN'T EQUAL TRANS. So many people try to be sensitive to trans-people now days on the internet that they conflate cross-dressing as the character being trans. The character mentioned was an innocent character that was wanted for murderering their boss. They were a generally flat-chested, lithe woman. She found she could easily pass as a boyish man with a bit of work, so she started dressing as a guy, presenting as a guy - She was already a bit tomboyish so it wasn't hard for her- and most people thought she was.
Her storyline got resolved though, she even had a romantic interest, and so she revealed "Actually, no I'm not a guy. It was a ruse to keep the law off me. But since I'm not afraid of getting caught I can go back to being a woman." Despite this, people still called her a guy (Both OOC and IC), as she enjoyed the male style in her world. She liked her suits, putting up her hair in certain masculine styles and whenever I tried to clarify, no... She's not trans she started liking the style so kept with it, but she's still a woman, identifies as a woman and shed her masculine disguise (despite keeping the masculine aesthetics).
... Apparently representing a character this way is 'transphobic'. So, a character who had no issue with her birth-gender, who only used her traits to disguise better to keep from getting caught, who revealed herself after her issues was resolved is apparently transphobic? You want this character to, not only, have the trauma of being the one accused of murdering her boss (Who she was in love with), having to hide herself, but want her to have body-conformity issues as well? No, it doesn't work like that.
... My rant is, yes, Crossdressing doesn't equal trans. Stop conflating it with it. And thank you for repeating this through the video as some people don't seem to understand and consider that refusing that a crossdressing is trans is transphobe. Jus'... stop.
I fricking love chihiro and the way you draw them is so CUTE!!! the shading is godly 🥺🥺🥺I miss them so much
When your favorite art RUclipsr draws your favorite character from your favorite game
It’s too much 🥲
Omgg all your art is beautiful but THIS IS A MASTERPIECE what the actual fRiCk. Chihiro looks so soft. I love your art style so much and this is a really good video Oliver 💕💕
7:27 But what if they're already trans?
Personally, I feel like Chihiro tells a transgender story but is pretty much the opposite of transgender. They, who I will refer to with he/him pronouns, were born as a boy, chose to be a girl, but then experienced dysphoria towards his own gender. It's not quite the same since he had the choice of identifying as a girl and doesn't have to do anything like take hormones to properly transition, but a lot of struggles and actions line up. He still had to do something in order to feel comfortable in his own body as his own gender so he could be ready to come out, for instance. So I think he should serve as an inspiring story towards transgender people without actually being transgender. This also makes a lot of the things that happen in the game very trans-friendly. Mondo specifically put Chihiro in the girl's locker room because Chihiro wasn't ready to be out yet, for instance. And a sort of iffy thing is Byakuya's comment, in the context of the story. Byakuya says he sensed something off with Chihiro's body as a girl; it's very wrong in normal circumstance, and I mean, Byakuya's certainly not a hero here in chapter 2, but let's think about that. So, of course, Chihiro was born as a boy and thus, as a girl, wouldn't seem to fully pass. But what if that's not the only reason? One of the school pictures we see shows Mondo and Chihiro already bonding, along with sports-talented Leon. So, what if Chihiro was already working towards passing as a boy towards the end of the final semester or so? Thus, Chihiro would be more masculine. This could've also given him more confidence when the time came that his secret was going to be revealed. Finally, something that seems fine on the surface that isn't actually great contextually is the pronoun usage. Yeah, while it'd be good for them to swap pronouns on a dime upon finding out that someone is transgender, it's definitely bad that they all chose and were strongly proficient in referring to Chihiro as he/him before knowing why he presented as a girl. I wonder how the translation did on that? Sooo yeah, a transgender story told by a cisgender character. Though Sean VanSant's headcanon that Chihiro is a trans boy is also great.
BTW I really like the art in the video, good job!
this is literally the absolute most crisp and clean lineart ive ever seen omg
This is just a theory I just came up with it's definitely not what actually going on but still kinda, interesting? So what if the uncertainty of Chuhiro's gender is on purpose, so both trans people and cis feminine boys or masculine girls can relate to him, if they have a similar trauma. Cause personality I see him as a boy who after getting bullied for seeming feminine he decided to hide in a way that won't change who he is in personality but this also could be a result of how I relate to him in the way that I'm a cis girl that was bullied for not being feminine and was isolated as a result. Maybe they made him so uncertain so more amount of people can relate to him all for their personal reasons.
I see Chihiro as a femboy, im a trans guy and a femboy so i like seeing a femboy that isnt overly sexualized in the shows and such. I don't see him as transphobic either.
I agree with you fellow femboy.
Let's go femboys! Let's overthrow the non femboys
@@JlBUNROCK
Yes!
I too am indifferent and refer to chihiro as they/them, now I am cis so I don’t claim to know anything about this but I was reading a book and the person said they would be using she/her pronouns and for us to please respect their headcannon and I was cool with it but then I looked at the comments and there was so much stuff like “no❤️” and just general disrespect. There were some people defending the person but so many were being super rude and it was super upsetting :(
I think that while chihiros writing wasn’t the best it also is written in a way that they can be head cannoned in practically anyway
Couldn't agree more. You can have your headcanon and that's all well and dandy, put it in your fanart or fanfiction and I'll look at it with a respectful lens... but when people start arguing the toss that I (a trans guy) am a transphobe 'cause I don't believe Chihiro is trans? Ugh, it's so annoying for so many reasons.
1. it was 2010, no one's immediate thought would be his gender identity so that's why the cast immediately went to he/him pronouns
2. they missed the point of Mondo's character. He wasn't a transphobe, he had unresolved trauma that festered into something more dangerous overtime
3. Slapping an inaccurate label like 'transphobic' on a company is very damaging for their image and spreads misinformation
4. just plain disrespectful
5. i don't know why i'm still numbering things
6. help me i can't stopppppp][]'#[]
[#d'#fg]
'
I mean, does it really matter? Can’t we just have a character without a huge debate? Goodness
I'm here I'm not queer but I'm bisexual and non-binary my dear
i mean, queer is an umbrella term for all identities who are not cis or straight. we are all queer, even if we don't actually use the term queer to define our sexuality or gender identity.
@@neptuneex_ shut up, you cannot decide what labels people use to describe themselves
@@harlequinz they were just explaining what queer meant
@@harlequinz
hey, why so rude? i was just explaining, what is wrong with you?
@@noname-fs6mt
yeah, exactly.
Tbh I saw this hc that Chihiro was a demi boy and I’ve been riding that wave ever since. Chihiro was my favorite character in Dr1 and holds a big place in my heart, knowing trans people (and just anyone really) find comfort in this character I’ve come to love is super valid and puts a smile on my face. I’m not trans myself and cannot begin to imagine the struggles all of you face, but i hope a bit of support can help in any way and hopefully more proper trans rep comes out in media. 💕
Oml i l o v e Chihiro I love them with my ENTIRE being- my babeyyy
I sometimes meet in the middle and headcanon Chihiro as a trans _boy._ I do the same with Mondo sometimes too just for fun.
Small addition, if you need it: From what I've heard, Chihiro's character origins are generally thought to be a commentary on the culture of conformity that exists in Japan, which didn't translate well in English localization.
I think chihiro is a boy. He just likes to wears dresses.
I don't really have much else to add, most of these other comments write my thoughts out perfectly 😅 Just thought I'd thank you for bringing up this topic, it's really something I want to see talked about more! It's also really nice to see all these mature, civil discussions in the comments, nice to see people peacefully and respectfully conveying their thoughts!
Heres an example:
James Charles cross dresses(kind of), but identifies as a male.
In summary, Chihiro was just a femboy, which is just a body shape which males can sometimes born with, who was mocked at due to this, so he decided to crossdress and pretend to be a girl so people would not mess with him anymore. It's quite offensive to trans people the fact that there are fans claiming that he is trans/transphobic only because he crossdresses/wants to actually be stronger to be able of accepting himself without pretending to be a female