More on the Persona (Elements, Folklore,and Transformation) - Take-Mikazuchi the Emperor

PERSONAS: The Dungeon

Like Yukiko's Castle, the Steamy Bathhouse serves more as a way to throw in the stereotype of what the outside world might believe or say that the other person wants, but instead of being based on complete rebellion against tradition while embracing an ideal, this is more going towards what society or others would think they wanted. If you don't like the opposite gender, then you're obviously homosexual. For Kanji, this translates into going somewhere that might accept him - a tough guy who does things for 'nice' reasons - and where he might find someone who shares in his interests but won't laugh at him for having those interests. In the case of Kanji, instead of looking for a 'prince' to take him away, he's searching for someone who will accept him, and this manifests as the idea that it must be a man (because of a bad experience or experiences with girls) and that it must be in a homosexual way. This is part of the reason why Kanji's actual sexuality is a bit harder to figure out - he might be gay, but it's more likely he's bisexual because of how he reacts to the girls, and because of his issues with that sexuality. It's often shown in media and through conversations about media's portrayal of bisexuals that being such is very hard - I often use the "Chasing Amy" analogy because it does have points where the female protagonist points out that she 'loves who she loves', but at the same time is ostracized when she begins to date a guy who she cares for after spending a lot of time exclusively dating women. Though the main issue with the story is to not be so emasculated by having a partner with more 'history' than you, another issue is with sexuality itself, and the problems that can come from trying to find yourself and letting others push you into a specific box.

The Steamy Bathhouse - Floor 10

Arriving at Floor 10 of the Bathhouse, after the Shadow begins to warm to the Protagonist as someone who will accept him, the group is confronted by Shadow Kanji, who serves only to enrage Kanji with his admissions of liking guys and why that is, not to mention his deeper seated fears of not being accepted by anyone. The Tough Guy and Nice Guy summoned by Shadow Kanji in his next form are ones that focus on boosting and aiding the Shadow, not to mention making it near-impossible to throw out the stronger attacks against everyone, forcing you to focus your attacks and status ailments on the Tough and Nice Guys before you can even work on damaging the very dangerous Shadow Kanji. Compared to Yukiko's battle, this one is far more stressful and dangerous, and harder to get through. While Yukiko might have held back a bit at first because her Shadow still trusted Chie and the others, Kanji has no such trust, and as such his power is quicker to display and his allies serve to only keep him from attacks, and thus from any attempts to defeat the rejected Shadow and allow Kanji the time to finally accept that part of himself.

The Emperor: Take-Mikazuchi

Going from the more human and hidden Shadow you fight, with dual color schemes to show his 'nice guy' and 'tough guy' personas that he shows off to the masses and the few, Kanji's Shadow is similar to Chie's in that they are both strong and protecting themselves from harsh truths, or trying to wrap themselves up in an identity that can sometimes appear ill-fitted. Where as Chie's Shadow attempted to look like Yukiko with it's long, black hair, and was more feminine in a dominate way, Kanji's Shadow wraps itself into a rose and masculine shell, hiding behind two strong, burly men who keep away or strengthen his views. In contrast, the Persona that Kanji gets after finally accepting himself is taller than most, with a skeleton outline on a burly, almost robotic body that is over-proportioned in some areas and smaller in others. He carries a lightning bolt, and is the main one outside of the Protagonist who uses Zio (Lightning) attacks on his opponents, not to mention his physical strength. In contrast, Take-Mikazuchi seems larger than the other Personas, and ready to battle anything and everything that gets in his way, if not through magic than by physical strength alone.

Named for a god created by Izanagi after he slew the fire-god Kagutsuchi, Take-Mikazuchi is one who descends to pacify the deities of Izumo on command of Amatsu, and engages one in the first sumo wrestling match, easily defeating him. He is considered a god of thunder and a sword-god, which explains his use of that element as well as his wielding the thunderbolt like a sword, save when he drives it into the ground to summon lightning. Considering the main Persona of the Protagonist, as well as the one that Kanji gains, it's not surprising that this one appears after Kanji is saved by the group and accepts himself.

The Emperor's focus on control and power is a good one for someone so dangerous as Take-Mikazuchi as well as someone like Kanji. As he learns to control himself, by learning more about himself and accepting that to add to his power, Take-Mikazuchi becomes stronger as well. Thunder and swords themselves are also things that demand a great deal of control and that are often seen as a sign of power - Lightning is often seen as the highest form of fire, or a symbol of particularly strong gods, such as Zeus or Thor in Western mythology. Having weapons or lightning itself weaponized often a sign of power and status, and with now, the idea of controlling lightning safely has spurred on a sudden interest in Tesla and his experiments with electricity. 

ELEMENT

Element: Zio (Electricity)

          Weakness: Garu (Wind)

Electricity is an element that is not really seen within the standard mix of spiritual elements uses by various religions and people, but it is often put into the category of 'fire' or a higher form of fire, and linked to heavenly or divine power and might. Thunder and Lightning Gods are often depicted as the strongest of their group, and even as the leaders in some cases. Control over this element is one that demands control of other elements as well. 

Of course, this element is abound in various other games and genres as well - Lightning Elementals are in many of the fantasy games or MMOs, and control over lightning is shown as a power that can be gained by the Sith in Star Wars, especially those who give fully into the Dark Side. But as an element or power, it's often one of the strongest ones that you can gain, or signifies the approach of powerful beings. Those with lightning as a power are often bigger or stronger than the others, and quicker to anger and fight (such as Sailor Jupiter from Sailor Moon). But they are also shown to have a variety of passions and feelings, and will do their best to fight for their cause.

Kanji's determination and work to figure himself out, to 'control' himself through self-knowledge and understanding his limits, means that holding a power over lightning is something he has to master. Knowing enough about himself to calm down and even hit his Shadow only shows that while he is confused about certain aspects of himself, he also knows that this confusion can be easily cleared up by reminding himself of why he does this or why he thinks a certain way. Even with being the butt of some jokes, Kanji becomes a bit slower to anger, and his understanding of himself will help the others they meet up with and who join them in the quest to discover the killer.

Next Time: The Long Lull (May-June/July)

"Sea of the Unconscious" - Shadow Kanji Analysis

Unlike some of the other dungeons, the Steamy Bathhouse feels more like Kanji's attempt to hide himself over being found, and it's only after being pursued for so long, he's finally open to the idea of being 'found' by the Protagonist and being accepted. That only happens after meeting the Shadow and having to deal with the more aggressive Gigas-Hogan (I will call them that because seriously, they look like him). When you find Shadow Kanji and the real Kanji, you find that Kanji is much quieter until Shadow Kanji continually states that he only likes men. Kanji's rejection of him is what sets off the battle, and the continued determination to find someone who 'accepts' him, and the Shadow's angry retort to toss aside anyone who gets in his way.

[I am a Shadow...the true self]

Kanji Tatsumi: The Emperor Take-Mitzuchi

Shadow Kanji is very aggressive, making him an even harder boss to deal with than Shadow Yukiko. He also has two lesser Shadows working with him, both of whom are very, very hard to defeat if you're attempting to spam attacks on everyone.

Kanji himself is met shortly after it's revealed by the Midnight Channel that he'll be the next victim. Seen talking to a strange, slender young man dressed in dark blue, Kanji is seen muttering to himself and then, when annoyed or embarrassed, attempting to threaten the group while they watch over him to try to stop the killer. This fails quickly, and the group is forced back into the TV World to rescue him. Unluckily, due to Teddie's inability to figure himself out and Kanji's own inner turmoil, the group has to rely on information from the slender young man to get there, finding out he has a 'complex'.
Kanji at the beginning is overly tough and puts on a very tough-guy appearance and attitude when you first meet him and is very quick to anger and even more prone to misunderstandings. Half of the dialogue ends up with him chasing after you or the others in an attempt to beat you up or try to argue about the misunderstandings.
After accepting his other self, Kanji seems more self-aware of himself and who he really is. As much as the others, he understands what it is that brought up his Shadow and what he really wanted and was attempting to get. Kanji is not always the quickest to understand the whole thing, but he does his best and will push forward with everyone after he's joined the team. Next to Yosuke and the Protagonist, he's one of the stronger fighters and will always work to deal as much damage as he can.
Even though Kanji's sexuality is the main reason for his Shadow appearing, he is still teased about it by the others, especially by Yosuke. However, he seems more confident in himself and his 'true self', so while he gets angry and gets into a few different antics, overall he's a great help to the group and does ultimately add something new to the group dynamic.

TAROT ANALYSIS

The Emperor (IV), Reversed

The Emperor is often just that - a man in power, often depicted in a way different from the Empress, who lounges in beauty and flowers. The Emperor is often shown ruling over a blasted or stony landscape, with harder features and battle armor worn and ready, holding an Ankh and a globe. He symbolizes the top of the secular hierarchy, and holds control over all he surveys. 

Reversed, though, this meaning changes quickly. The Emperor goes from being in control and having a solid foundation to holding control by sheer force of will. Reversed, the card means that there's an abuse of power and a hold onto power in a bad way, or simply a stopping of thinking and instead holding hard onto old ideas. This could also represent negative authority figures in your life - Kanji is known to Dojima through police work, meaning he's been arrested or in trouble more than once, resulting in him having to deal with the police. Despite Dojima's authority and ability, he's unable to really connect with younger children or teenagers, and that means he can sometimes come across as very harsh when he's worried or upset about something.

The main focus of the Emperor is control, though - reversed, that control is lost or held onto in a very negative or toxic way. In Kanji's case, his control of situations and of himself is, at the time, very tenuous and he's been pulled into bad situations due to his inability to control himself and articulate what he really wants or feels. Turning the card upright will allow Kanji to control himself more, understand when to speak and when to threaten, as well as give him more confidence in what he likes and realize that he doesn't have to stick to one side or the other, despite his confusion.

THEME: Sexuality and Gender

I continually mention this about Kanji, because for this part, sexuality is a more important part of what makes Kanji a target and what pulls out his Shadow. Kanji's sexuality is never explicitly stated as 'gay' or 'straight', and another character's introduction will only make this subject a bit more confusing. For now, I'm fine with breaking it down based on "The Genderbread Man" {Source: It's Pronounced Metrosexual}, as I think that will help explain why I see Kanji as a bisexual (the spoilerific character that, in game, we've only met but don't have the name of yet, will play into this too)

Gender Identity: Male

Gender Expression: Male with Female-coded Interests (sewing)

Biological Sex: Male

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual or scoring at least 3-4 on the Kinsey Scale (homosexual with heterosexual tendencies).

When Kanji finally confronts and accepts his Shadow, he has to explain to it that it doesn't matter to him if it's women or men - that he wants to be accepted. It might be from bad experiences with women that his Shadow gained the idea of being homosexual, not to mention the incidents with the slender young man who was asking him questions and who Kanji is shown to find handsome, or at least get flustered around. He later gets a bloody nose when he sees the girls in their bathing suits, hinting at least an attraction to the girls in a sexual way (he turns around when the girls arrive, and other events later on hint at his attraction to certain types of women). Kanji accepts that he is a male and sees himself as such, but his sexuality is the main source of his confusion, and as he stated after he accepts himself, he is interested in someone who will accept him. Without more confirmations about what he feels, Kanji's sexuality is left up to whatever the player feels he should be. Again, my personal headcanon is that Kanji is bisexual, though possibly homoromantic.

Next up: More on the Persona

"Search for Your Heart" - Steamy Bathhouse Analysis

The world that Shadow Kanji 'creates' to deal with his issue is the Steamy Bathhouse. Subtle, the symbolism isn't always (even Yukiko's Castle, while it took three posts, was still pretty simple), but it also works to explain what the characters are going through, as well as what they haven't faced yet as far as fears and insecurities.
In the case of Kanji, it's played a bit for laughs about his issues with his sexuality and how he's perceived by everyone. Like Yukiko, he's seen as something and his hidden side instantly goes for broke on what it is - Yukiko as the 'damsal/princess' in distress to be 'rescued', and Kanji as the VERY stereotypical homosexual. This also comes through in that the Midnight Channel seems to have warped from simply a place where one sees a blurry image of someone, to something where the Shadows are running TV shows.

Media Influence: Yukiko's Castle (Dating) and Kanji's Bathhouse ('Exclusives')

Both Yukiko and Kanji are the first to really show this off, and as Yosuke said when he first saw the Shadow's 'broadcast', it looked like a tacky show. Specifically, it looks like a low-rent version of "The Bachelorette" or something similar, in which one woman or man is being pursued by a variety of others to become their 'true love'. Yukiko's desire to have someone 'rescue' her creates a show in which she'll find someone worthy of her love.
Kanji's insecurities and confusion about who he does like (I'm guessing that the small, slender guy isn't the first that Kanji was confused about, just the first who actually talked to him) presents itself as an 'exclusive' in which his Shadow goes into a Bathhouse. The nature of the exclusive seems to be to find someone who will join in his 'scandalous' behavior, and who will help him understand gender roles. After all, for a tough guy, he enjoys sewing and creating things that are considered 'girly', and he's questioning his orientation. In this case, his Shadow takes on the role of a 'reporter' who's lines are more from a porno than from an 'exclusive' (so, more late-night 'Skinomax'). What both of them say also shows their repressed feelings and urges, as well as how the media or other ideas have skewed things. Yukiko's Shadow is quick to say she's going to 'score' a 'hot stud' and even admits to be 'stacked' and wearing lacy underwear - she's going to entice a man to 'rescue' her however she can, and inside the Castle, the 'stud' is now a 'prince', going from someone who's simply handsome and sexually pleasing to a more idealized version.
Kanji's Shadow, in contrast, talks about finding someone to explore the "gender barrier" and seek a "subliminal love" as he goes to enter the Bathhouse. While Shadow Kanji does show some of what he really wants (to be accepted despite his interest in 'girly' things), he goes about in a way that is, like many of the other Shadows, to the extreme of what he really feels and believes. He goes into the Bathhouse seeking 'love', but in a more carnal way than Kanji himself might be looking for at the time.

Men Only - Shadow Kanji's Own Misconceptions

As you go through the Bathhouse and later run into Shadow Kanji and his minions, a few things come up - Shadow Kanji is only interested in men, and the voices you hear (implied to be memories or Kanji's inner thoughts) revolve around what is 'manly' and what men do. As I stated before, while Kanji very obviously identifies as male, the fact that he enjoys 'feminine' activities is what ultimately causes some of his issues and his Shadow's misreadings of their own feelings.
Kanji, though a tough guy on the outside and able to fight off whoever he'd like, is overall still worried about what people think of him and this greatly effects his outlook on himself. He's been teased for liking to do 'girly' things (sew, paint, etc) but he's also talked about behind his back by men and women alike. However, Shadow Kanji went with the darker emotions towards women and how they treated him and went to the other extreme - that means he only likes guys and must find a man who accepts him.
Underneath the stereotyping and attacking, Shadow Kanji mostly is looking for someone to accept him no matter what he likes or dislikes, but the Shadow that comes out of Kanji's confusion over liking guys and girls, let alone his social awkwardness that leads to him picking fights or yelling at people, results in the Shadow saying he only likes guys. This means he only wants the guys to accept him, and spends most of the upper levels attempting to flirt with the Protagonist.

Steamy Bathhouse Analysis

Bath houses and public bathing have a VERY LONG HISTORY. Basically any and all bath houses from the ancient world were used in multiple ways, especially for relaxing. Think expensive spa or health club. However, for as long as there have been the types of bath houses where you just went to relax, there has been sex in those bath houses. Wikipedia cites records as far back at the 6th Century BCE, and with various attempts to close bath houses and other areas known for men getting together.
In general, many of the bath houses filled the role of an area for someone to go and have sex with another man - some men might be closeted or not identify as gay or bisexual for a variety of reasons - and for said encounter to be private and anonymous. Bathhouses also served as meeting places and safe havens for homosexual men (and, in some cases, women) during times when homosexuality was not as widely accepted, or are still safe places in countries where homosexuality is not widely accepted. Overall, bath houses tend to be members-only and, thus, exclusive and with a wide variety of rules.
The two main monsters you go up against is one called the Daring Gigas - a larger version of some of the muscular monsters you face off against, who spends most of his time doing wrestler's poses and who's hairstyle reminds me of Hulk Hogan. Like the Knight before him, Gigas is there to show what the Shadow believes the original version wants. In this case, and in the cases of the later Tough Guy and Nice Guy minions who helps the Shadow when it transforms, Shadow Kanji shows that he likes muscular but effeminate men (so, the bara stereotype plays in here a lot) that he believes will accept him for who he is - someone who is similar to him in the sense of being strong and muscular but also who enjoys feminine-coded things. The main thing that Shadow Kanji seems to want, despite his carnal portrayal of it, is companionship and someone who sees him as himself and doesn't judge him for what he likes and his hobbies.
Many of the monsters in the places remain the same, with a few, such as the Officers, added in to possibly relate to the theme. The Knights I only saw in Yukiko's Castle, thus far, and the Officers stay mostly within the Bathhouse thus far. Considering that Dojima knows Kanji through 'work', the officers could also represent what Kanji feels about the police force or those who continually bust him, as well as representing the history that law enforcement has with gay bathhouses (which is to say, a bad one). No matter how awesome some of the officers are, there is always going to be the ones that got into it just for the power, and who will abuse everyone they can.

The bathhouse in general is very straightforward, I think the main conflict in this case is just Kanji's true feelings and his acceptance of them. While Yukiko does deny her 'show' looking like Kanji's, and Yosuke ponders if people are watching the Midnight Channel, resulting in a new question - has the formatting changed because more people are looking at the Midnight Channel, and enjoyed Yukiko's 'Search for Her Prince Charming'? The first two, who had few people watching, seemed to not have any show whatsoever, despite one being a TV Reporter. If the killer did send them in with the intention to kill them, why has the Midnight Channel changed from simply showing the victim in pain or being attacked to now drawing it out?

The Bathhouse is 11 levels, as opposed to Yukiko's ten, and the focus is all on Kanji and his attempt to figure himself out, not to mention accept himself and realize what his true nature is, not to mention find people who will accept him, despite all they saw.

Next Up: Shadow Kanji Analysis