Persona 5 Royal Localization to Be Less Homophobic

[Seeka 12,372]

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/persona-5-royal-makes-changes-to-problematic-dialo/1100-6473784/

One of the biggest localization flukes in the most recent decade has been fixed.

For those not in the know, Persona 5 has two rather homophobic scenes which portray two homosexual men as femme child predators. they chase after Ryuji and Akira/Ren. Not to mention, they are the only LGBTQIA representation outside of a bar owner, the Mama Lala Escargot. While Lala is being expanded upon, Japan kept in these two negative representations.

Yu Namba, head of localization for the project has said these about alterations to the scenes:

However, those characters were "portrayed [as] more like predatory," as Namba himself said. "I think the community had a very strong response to that, and you saw that, and that was definitely altered for Royal," he confirmed.

"As a localization manager, I really cannot do too much about what has already made it into the game," Namba admitted when asked about his capacity to make changes. But in regards to the localization team's response to the original portrayal of those characters, Namba stated, "Our team members felt a little bit of awkwardness about when working on it. And with Royal, we were determined to see if we could do something about it at least localization-wise."

The main question is HOW DID THESE SCENES MAKE IT PAST LOCALIZATION FIRST GO ROUND?

It is currently unknown if Akira/Ren's confidante/social outing scenes with Yusuke have been changed.

Persona 5 Royal will be released, in America, on March 31st.

[LibraOctober98 3,462]

I've  played the game like twice and I don't even remember the scene lol but good for them for trying to change it

[Logan 20,561]

Yeah I remember this, they were really predatory.

[Seeka 12,372]

1 minute ago, Logan said:

Yeah I remember this, they were really predatory.

Yeah, those scenes were painful to watch.

[TEETHTEETH 1,489]

The game is filled with sexual undertones at times, so to include gay men showing interest in a character isnt predatory as much as any other similar scene already included. They are portrayed with strong stereotypes and have plenty of room to develop, but I think it's more important to include them than if they weren't at

I would alter Ryuji's response to be more open minded rather than shocked, and then add same-sex love interests you can choose at the end. 

[Seeka 12,372]

Just now, KaGOATrl said:

The game is filled with sexual undertones at times, so to include gay men showing interest in a character isnt predatory as much as any other similar scene already included. They are portrayed with strong stereotypes and have plenty of room to develop, but I think it's more important to include them than if they weren't at

I would alter Ryuji's response to be more open minded rather than shocked, and then add same-sex love interests you can choose at the end. 

Well the thing is, there isn't a character to play these men off of. Except for Lala Escargot, who, while you see more of, isn't incredibly important. There are no nice gay men excluding her. These npcs weren't even needed. They were included just to be a negative representation.

I would rather have no representation than my representation be solely negative.  Even still yet, all the representative is feminine, which paints all gay men as femme crossdressers, which is far from the truth, even in Japan. I don't need my characters to be LGBTQIA to relate to them.

It's localization darling. They can't alter the whole game. They have to deal with what they got. And after Persona 1 was brutally murdered in the localization, I think the team is way more careful.

[Head Empty 24,256]

13 minutes ago, KaGOATrl said:

The game is filled with sexual undertones at times

There's literally a dozen penis-themed monsters  

[TEETHTEETH 1,489]

1 minute ago, Seeka said:

Well the thing is, there isn't a character to play these men off of. Except for Lala Escargot, who, while you see more of, isn't incredibly important. There are no nice gay men excluding her. These npcs weren't even needed. They were included just to be a negative representation.

Being able to select Munehisa Iwai as daddy would solve all of that and bring a more masculine LGBTQIA  character to balance out the femme. 

With the themes of the game being so dark and predatory within themselves (they are literally killing kids, and enslaving/destroying souls) I dont think they were purposely trying to attack gay people, it's cringey but that IS how a lot of gay people are.

[Seeka 12,372]

Just now, KaGOATrl said:

Being able to select Munehisa Iwai as daddy would solve all of that and bring a more masculine LGBTQIA  character to balance out the femme. 

With the themes of the game being so dark and predatory within themselves (they are literally killing kids, and enslaving/destroying souls) I dont think they were purposely trying to attack gay people, it's cringey but that IS how a lot of gay people are.

Let's not try to make slash fiction reality, mmkay?

It's not how I am. i don't go around purposely hitting on UNDERAGE men. Hell. I'm afraid of hitting on people even three years younger than me. I'm afraid of flirtation myself. And I honestly doubt anyone here would hit on someone who is not of the age of consent. Even if the age of consent is lower in Japan.

It's not right to defend the game to say "it fits the themes of the game" when it's done in an actively homophobic, stereotypical way. There are plenty of ways to have portrayed a homosexual NPC and have them be predatory, but not have it appear homophobic. 

This is a step down from the bicuriousity of Souji, Yosuke's armored closet, and basically the almost LGBTQIA stuff of Persona 4, the bisexual female protagonist of 3, and Jun and Tatsuya basically being canon in 2.

[JINNOCIDE 3,763]

If I read correctly, the japanese version will still keep these scenes, which is awful. And please don't quote me with "but it's part of japanese culture!" BS. There's a old Digimon game with tons of LGBTQIA+ characters (that were toned down when the game came to America, of course). HELL EVEN OLDER PERSONAS (before 3) had ton of inclusive characters.

P5 is a great game but has a lot of social flaws. Why does Ann, a super nice and caring girl outside the Palace Realm, is a super sexualized panter in a world where people's desire is put to the max? 

Her weakened position is her butt up...