Umineko & Gender Expression
I recently played through all of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, and I was honestly taken away with the themes it explored in Chiru. It's not a topic I would have expected to see from Ryukishi07 after Higurashi, but then again I guess he has always played with identity issues, albeit in a different light.
I knew that Ryukishi was always very knowledgable in psychology, but given the nature of Higurashi and even earlier parts of Umineko, I couldn't have expected the series to become such a stellar example of gender identity issues.
The catbox that is Yasuda Sayo may be hands down the most interesting and intricate thing he's created.
And because it's so fascinating and complex--it boggles my mind that I see a large chunk of the community lean towards only one interpretation of Yasu. Or feel they need a direct answer.
One of the biggest themes surrounding Yasu as a whole is indecision. Interestingly, the fragment meant to represent their hope is in the form of Lion, who takes on an ambiguously gendered identity. I can't see this as a mere coincidence.
I ruminated on the topic for quite a while after I finished the game, and came to the realization that no matter which answer I tried to choose, none felt quite right. And that's when I realized--an answer isn't needed. Yasu doesn't require a label to be understood. What Yasu was born as, what their gender is or their current genitals--just does not matter. As Will said, it's an answer that lies outside the catbox (of the game). We don't need to know it to understand Yasu as a character and the struggles they go through.
I think ultimately, what Yasu was born as is irrelevant. Yasu's birth genitals existed for a very short amount of time, and there is a strange importance placed on something that may not have even existed for a year and did not impact their gender. Damaged or removed sex organs leads to a hormonal deficiency, and affects the development (or non-development) of sex organs and whether or not your body goes through puberty. Yasu was raised female and believed to be so, until their body failed to show signs of puberty. Dysphoria can be caused by a number of factors, and not all have the exact same symptoms. Yasu's dysphoria appears to be a symptom of lacking those organs entirely, rather than due to a gender assignment given to them. However, we do not have enough information to determine if that is the sole factor.
Due to Lion's existence, we can surmise that regardless of the incident, Yasu would have issues with their identity to some extent. Hence, the cliff incident is irrelevant in the overall picture--and thus to the story at hand.
The key factor here is ambiguity and indecision. Yasu was unable to choose whether to pursue their lifelong view as what they considered to be a normal girl in the form of Shannon, or to find a new life and happiness in the form of Kanon. Kanon was not necessarily born out of want; but as a means to cope with the reality of their body and lack of expected development. Despite Kanon initially being a persona that Yasu shoved all their ugly and negative feelings on, Kanon eventually gained importance as a person due to Jessica, thus leading to further identity struggles.
I think that to label Yasu is to take away their struggles. The fact that they hadn't decided what kind of life to lead. That they were unstable, swaying between sides, unable to choose just one identity to go forward with.
Not everyone in this world fits cleanly into a box, into one single label. Many reject it outright for their own idea of freedom. So who are we, to label Yasu, who was still in the midst of figuring out who they were? To deny their indecision and decide it must be one way? There is a lot of discussion about agency regarding LGBT+ characters, yet all the talk of interpreting what one must be, to have one, true labeled identity, erases that very agency.
Yasu is interesting and complex because there is no answer. There are many works of LGBT+ characters coming to terms with their identities, but not very many where one dies in the midst of that journey.
Many themes in Umineko are left up to interpretation--including many things regarding Yasu--so while it's not necessarily wrong to think on it, I also want to present the avenue that not coming to a clear answer can be an answer in and of itself.
