My issues with Tetro Danganronpa: Wada Masanari / Masami
With Wada I honestly have no real clue if I should refer to the character as a he or a she, so for the sake of my sanity, we’re using they/them pronouns for this one.
Wada being transgender is something I take issue with as a trans individual myself, I won’t harp on people who don’t have a problem with it or like it, but I feel as though the representation could’ve been better. Wada’s transgenerism feels more like forced representation than an actual part of their character, with them not really showing anything that would hint at them not being cis during the duration of Tetro Pink.
While one could argue that there wasn’t enough time to show it, or that maybe Wada didn’t feel safe showing that part of themself. I say that there definitely was time for that, especially when Hiroaki made Wada clothing. I’m not saying that if you’re transfemme that you can’t wear / enjoy wearing clothes that aren’t feminine, but I am saying that this would have definitely been an opportunity to showcase their transness.
The sudden nature of them being trans is something I don’t particularly enjoy. I will say that it isn’t unlikely to discover yourself later in life but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth at the notion that Wada died before given the chance. Gender identity is a very diverse experience for everyone but most commonly people do in the very least show signs of being a different gender.
One interpretation of Wada being transgender that I personally DO enjoy and feel is done rather well is in the fic 99+ Notifications by TheSparklyKitten, Sc0r3cr0w, and ClemViAstro, with them having written what is in my personal opinion a very natural progression of gender exploration and exploring one’s identity. Somewhat similar to my own, in the fact that from MY personal experiences (although yes everyone’s may be different), exploring one’s gender is a gradual process that does take some time.
The reason why I feel as though Von PUSHED trans representation into Tetro with little to no actual consideration is because of how much lack of actual content (literally there being absolutely NONE) where Wada is shown to question their gender and identity. It is not a requirement, but considering that we are talking about a FICTIONAL CHARACTER I feel as though at least having hints of gender confusion and wanting to figure themself out could’ve helped it make more sense.
Now of course you can absolutely just have trans characters for the hell of it (Look at my colorful rainbow of ocs, including the ones that are just the tetro cast ocifed cough cough Hirokawa.), but this only really makes sense if said character had already figured their gender out BEFORE the story takes place.
This is not to say that Wada couldn’t have figured themself out after Tetro Danganronpa: Pink had finished, but it just seems so unnecessary to do if the character is dead. Like the potential for representation was smacked out of our hands by Von choosing to needlessly kill of a character that many have said should’ve died during the series itself. This is not the only writing choice of Von’s I disagree with, Tetro is something that has become one of my many hyperfixations, as such I have MANY opinions on it. This is just one of them, rooted mostly in the fact that I am queer, I am more specifically trans, and it pisses me off that Von did this. There’s so much lacking trans rep in shows, especially for trans women, so to have a character be transfem but be dead before they even discovered themselves is just so gross to me.
Again, not the only “rep” in Tetro that instead seems like a huge slap in the face.