Sorry, but after spending literally my entire life in various homophobic communities, this is nonsense. The hurt and embarrassment from seeing a scene like one where two lisping older men try to coerce two teenage boys into taking their clothes off is not something that I can switch on or off simply because I…

I don't see why you would be torn on this—I don't think anyone's asking that every character be bi, and this complaint seems especially silly since, as you pointed out, you can date nearly every significant female character you meet in P5. I'd just like to be able to connect with a character who is meant to be an…

I thought the M/M romances in Inquisition were pretty good. Iron Bull is one of the most delightful characters Bioware's ever written.

Nobody is saying that being gay in the US is the best way to be gay; it very clearly is not. My concern re: Persona 5 is not how homosexuals are treated and perceived in Japan, it's how they're perceived in this videogame. And to give you an idea of how they're perceived in this videogame—imagine Shadow Kanji, except…

There are some unsavory people I've run into on this site before, but I've generally been pretty comfortable using my real name to post here. It wasn't until Matt pointed out that this article might bring some shit down on my head when he emailed me asking for permission to use my comment that I was like "oh yeah,…

Yusuke's blackmail stuck in my craw when it happened, but—going by how he changes as a character post-Madarame—I think that particular incident was possibly a symptom of how he had unconsciously absorbed some of Madarame's qualities after being around him for most of his life. Or maybe I'm just making excuses for him.…

I don't think I've come across that yet. Yeesh.

Yeah, rape is a very common theme (in yaoi in particular). They're very, very fixated on enforcing "male" and "female" roles despite the lack of the other gender.

I don't think it's a particularly GREAT show, but the maturity and sensitivity with which it treats the relationship between Yuuri and Viktor is so novel for an anime series that I'm kinda willing to forgive a lot. It's a sweet, sunny show about gays, which is rare even for western, LGBTQ+-made art and media.

Absolutely. That's why I brought up Yuri on Ice—if those people can treat their LGBTQ+ characters and audience with respect, then Atlus damn sure can as well.

And really, yuri and yaoi are often as regressive in their own ways as anything overtly homophobic, if you're willilng to sacrifice your sanity and eyeballs for long enough to actually look at the dynamics they set.

As someone who has consumed his share of Japanese imported content over the years, I get that to an extent, but like..one of the most popular anime series in the world this past year centered around a gay couple that isn't fetishized or made a joke of. So I'm kinda beyond that being an excuse anymore.

The most generous explanation I can come up with is that it adds a hefty amount of extra writing to the mix, since P3P changed a massive chunk of S-link routes entirely if you played as a girl, and it affected how certain characters would talk to you, and Atlus simply didn't want to face that workload. I could…

And the whole game is about conscientious teens upending the societal status quo, so the gay panic jokes feel especially incongruous in P5, in addition to cruel.

As a gay dude I was really hoping that they would throw in an M/M romance route or at the very least make some inroads from the pretty meanspirited ways they've treated most of the queer characters in the Persona series, but damn if they didn't fucking go BACKWARDS. There are a couple sequences that play on all the…

You know damn well nobody's talking about his legal right to say it. Don't be obtuse. I'm referring to the original comment's implication that he should be above reproach for saying it because he's funny. He isn't (above reproach, that is). This comments section goes nuts over every other bigot that says something…

Uhhh no, he has not "earned the right" to use those slurs. Not when he has a long streak of unambiguous homophobia to go with those slurs, and one that it appears has continued to these specials. And since you admit that you're straight you for damn sure aren't the one to declare that either way.

Hahaha the revised headline is so weaselly. He didn't "reveal" shit, fucking tabloid rags dug through his personal history and doxxed him, and the AV Club hopped right on board. Apology not accepted, y'all can fuck right off.

Unless I'm thinking of a different bullshit outing, didn't they also paint him as a serial rapist and sexual predator in that as well? His suit was entirely justified.

I drive by their main headquarters in Norfolk, VA on a fairly regular basis and it's…odd. All the buildings surrounding it are super run-down and shitty.