Top 5 problematic characters
Oh dang, there are a few. This is the one post that’ll probably annoy people, so discourse mode engage. (I’m not really that woke, I’m like…half asloop, so if you think I’m wrong, I probably am :D)
5. Chihiro Fujisaki (DR1)
Now I love Chihiro and that’s no bad thing. But the way his story played out has some somewhat awkward interpretations. For a start, he dressed as a girl because he was weak. That, for me, is probably the most problematic thing - simultaneously implying women are weak, as well as that if you’re not a strong man, you’re practically a woman. It’s just all a bit awkward - though remarkably, the anime dealt with this a little better than the game, if memory serves.
4. Shirokuma and Kurokuma (DRAE)
This one is probably more unintentional than the others. When you meet Shirokuma for the first time, he delivers a “I’m your ally. Look, I’m all white, see?” like he’s just been pulled over by a cop and it’s super awkward. Kurokuma, I’m sure, is intended to be a bit of a pastiche of gangsters, which is fine. Just, compared to Shirokuma’s “white is your friend” gimmick, it’s easy to get the wrong idea.
I’ve mentioned this many times before, so I’ll keep it brief. Angie deserved better than to be portrayed as “weird Pacific islanders and their silly religions”.
Juzo is the personification of the “tragic gays” trope. I got all excited when we finally had a canonically gay character…then they made it the whole reason that Junko got away with despairing the world. Of course, you could argue that it’s not trying to say that being gay is something to be kept secret, more that Juzo himself had unjustified shame and Junko is evil and played on that. Which makes sense, and is a great way to show Junko as a horrible person, but it remains that the only gay guy in the entire series was partly responsible for the end of the world because he was gay.
OK, I am vastly underqualified to talk about the way racism differs and what’s acceptable in different countries. But Bandai literally looks like some outdated cartoon representation of a black person in 1950s America. It’s hugely uncomfortable.
But anyway, yeah, I still love DR. Please don’t hate me.