July 30th! It's Chie's Birthday! Please like and comment - or share on places like twitter and reddit! I went for a more catchy title this time to see if it would increase CTR. Hope you all enjoy the video - and have a good day! My Main channel "Hiding in Public" is also dropping a video today in 2 hours!
"Takeshi Suuuuucks" Very true words lol. When playing through initially this is what made me a bit turned off to doing Chie's link because it was just the thought of ....really? THIS guy is who u get flustered over and if anything say he's a friend? The feeling of cmon Chie we need to work on that self respect!
The fact he sucks so bad is partly why It really hits home how much growing up has stunted her view of herself and how it's okay for people to treat her in her own mind. Tragic. Takeshi is bad and I hate him
@@HidinginPrivate I know right. It's arguably even worse when you consider that Chie is the most popular girl out of universe, at least in Japan. So many people in real life Japan would love a girl like Chie by their side, and this fucking insensitive asshole is the guy she likes? I wanted to step into the game and hurl that piece of shit in the TV myself on two separate occasions. Edit: I mean even Yosuke, for all the times he rags on Chie being 'unfeminine', at least treats with respect for when the situation calls for it. Heck, even Yosuke's ickier moments, buying the swimsuits and writing her and the other girls in the beauty pagent, shows that Yosuke very much sees her as a girl, and an attractive one at that. Takeshi barely even seems to acknowledge that.
I don't think it's significant, but I've always found it interesting that Chie is the only girl where you choose the prompt "Will you be my girlfriend?" Every girl that you can romance gives you an opening at some point and then you, the MC, always initiate it. But with most of them, you're hugging them when they're down, confessing feelings during a pivotal moment, accepting _their_ confessions or just in some way responding to their blatant interest in you when the subject becomes relevant. Chie's interest in you is no less blatant, but to romance her, the MC has to be the one to even bring up the subject. _You_ make that offer at the end of a SL scene that's primarily about something else. It's a small thing, but I like how it reflects Chie's insecurities.
Chie, the cute tomboy bungus. I ended up romancing her during my first playthrough of the original p4. Sure she can be loud and over the top, but deep down she's a sweet girl with some real relatable character flaws. She's the kind of girl I'd like to be around, one who can be kind of shy but also real casual and just kind of a bro
Another great video! Chie was a character I really liked, I even had my protag romance her mainly because I felt bad “taking” Naoto from my man Kanji lol I never personally though toooo much about her treatment of Yosuke in the game, the money thing was personally something I never really thought of as much more than some comic relief, but it was really interesting hearing a different and more in-depth perspective on their dynamic, ESPECIALLY considering how sick to death I am of the discourse around the equivalent dynamics from P3 and P5
Thanks! Glad you liked! Equivalent dynamics? My main take is, if it affects the real characters in the story outside of the scene it occurs it would be unfair to write it off. The fact that the scooter scene, yosuke's job, and the naoto gift selection all ties in with it means it would feel wrong ignoring it. Considering the flack other characters get, this is a weird one that goes basically never talked about
@@HidinginPrivate what I meant by equivalent dynamics were the dynamics between Yukari and Junpei + Morgana and Ryuji, which similarly feature one character either treating poorly or being casually mean to the other at times, and where some people take issue with the character not being “punished” for said treatment
The design of chie's first persona is modeled after black mamba, the protag of the movie kill bill. This likely is a reference to her enjoyment of martial arts films and to her being seen as having a stereotypical American personality and her mindset, as kill bill was an American martial arts movie that dipicted it's protag fighting the Yakuza.
I really didn’t like Chie at first. I was like, “Wow she’s being a jerk to her friend and she probably doesn’t even realize it.” What I didn’t expect was the game to call her out on that later on, and recontextualize it. I never expected her to be my favorite character in the game, but here we are. She’s extremely relatable, but not in the Yu Narukami “oh wow he’s just like me!” way, but more along the lines of “oh wow… she’s just like me…” I wasn’t a fan of the whole “tomboy” look, either, but even that grew on me. Now I am a firm believer that tomboys are clearly the superior choice. (Joking. (Mostly.))
Unfortunately I am still in the middle of playing the game for the first time so I can't fully watch all of your videos because of spoilers, but I'm glad that there are people who find these characters as intriguing as I do. Chie is definitely a good character. She may not be as nuanced as others but I do love her energy and genuine personality.
A great analysis as always Hiding in Private! Chie's the character that changes a lot in the voice department between Persona 4 and P4 Golden. From the deep, tomboyish, down to earth tones of Tracey Roonie to the energetic, spunky, can-do attitude of Erin Fitzgerald, despite the different voice direction, the character herself stayed the same, and that's honestly such a cool feature that no other char has tbh. Speaking of which, I'm surprised you didn't talk about how Chie's looks and design are basically the backbone of Persona 4 as a whole in terms of art direction! Maybe you'll talk about the aesthetics in a different video?
happy birthday chie! ill be honest this video helped my opinion on chie, she wasnt my favourite, but you did a great job writing this video, and i think i like her more now!!!!
Thank you! Yeah her voice still kinda gets on my nerves but I think the underpinning coping with abandonment and curtailing to be loved is criminally under talked about with her
EKKK I CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH THIS. i absolutely ADORE and love chie so i really cant wait to watch!! sadly i have work so 😞 either way happy birthday chie! and thanks for the hard work again!!
When it comes to social links that Nanako is included, I think all of the party members (except Naoto and Yukiko might also have a part where she’s in it but I can’t remember) have a part where Nanako is included Yosuke for when he’s in your bedroom Chie with the grasshopper Yukiko (probably has one but I can’t remember it) Kanji when he makes the dolls for the kid (I think) Rise when she asks Nanako if she likes Kanamin or Risette
This video surprised me a lot. Mainly how much more relatable I found the analysis and deconstruction of Chies character. Despite that I wouldn't want a girl who takes money out of my pocket without asking. I didn't think much of the Yosuke scene until now and yeah that ain't right. It goes to show that Kanji a year younger has more integrity than Chie.
Glad you gathered something new and interesting from it! I think there's a lot to take from Chie- both positive and negative that really make her a well fleshed out character
It was just dumb gag scene when Chie and Yukiko were startled of Teddie and didn't know what they were doing. Later Chie is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes when he was swamping with works in the summer so it makes up for it. I wouldn't take it seriously with the whole the boys like Kanji screamed at Naoto to accept the pageant after light guiding by Yosuke even tho the girls were confronting about it and Yu with Kanji agreed with the Yosuke and Teddie's "infiltrate the girls's room" at the middle of night then Kanji is just out there. They are all just dumb teenagers.
My biggest takeaway from her social link is that chie was someone who frequently wanted to 'play the hero' according to how takeshi brings up it. But after her introspection, she ends up protecting the kid from the bullies because it's the right thing to do and she's willing to let herself get hurt in order to do so. But another piece of her SL I find interesting is that if you choose the 'yukiko's not that weak' choice, Chie herself isn't convinced of that despite what they've been through so far.
Thank you! She's a rare character who the creators were willing to unabashedly show the full scale of, warts and all. It's part of why I love ATLUS' writing
Just an old Persona 4 fan discovering your work. I cannot believe the depth and understanding you have for this game and its content. I will be supporting your work, always!
Thank you! Glad you found it. This has been a big project spanning 10 months since I started writing and researching and I hope you'll see it through with me! I appreciate the support
Happy belated birthday to Chie! One more thing about how Chie fits in the story is that she in a sense forms the nucleus of the friend group. She's the one who befriended Yukiko. She's the first one who reaches out to you (Yu). She invites Nanako to come along with you to Junes and gives Nanako the idea of calling you oniisan. And she's the one Nanako calls oneesan.
Welp I'm late to this one but man was it worth the wait! I love Chie despite her glaring flaws and this was a great look into her character. There's a lot more depth to her than some people realize. I always liked how chill and down to earth chie's s link struggles were compared to the other girls' stories. That's not a knock against them at all though it's just Chie's problems felt the most personal and relatable to me. It's hard to not measure yourself against other people as your gauge for success or happiness a lot of the time. Finding our good points and what the hell we want to do with our lives is something I think everyone goes through to varying extents. I know I do. Chie's arc is about taking the first step towards acknowledging the good in herself and that she doesn't just have to be "that girl who is Yukiko's friend." She obviously needed someone to tell her that she's a cool person and luckily Yu helps her with that in her s link. I find it fitting for her arcana and inspiring that Chie ends her s link without all her major issues resolved. She has to stay the course and reign in her thoughts of self-doubt and desire to be above other people. She's broken out of her complacency and has to keep working at acknowledging her good points and discovering who she wants to be. It's one of the realest and most relatable stories in the game to me. When wrapping up her s link, it's really heartwarming stuff to see her realize that she can be loved for being herself if you choose to date her too. She's almost a completely different person during the romance scenes. She shows her quiet and introspective vulnerable side a lot more here and it's something not a lot of people will see unless they go out of their way to check out those scenes. That Valentines Day scene is so sweet I almost got diabetes! She also has my favorite 3rd awakening scene in the game. She's very self-reflective here and it shows that she's a lot more wise than she lets on. It's pretty respectable to me how she wants to understand history and the world around her to remind herself of what she fights for and why she does it. So yea dating her makes her development as a person super satisfying to see. It's not required to understand her arc but I think it gives more context towards it alongside the wholesome scenes of course. Great job addressing Chie's flaws here as well. She's my favorite character alongside Yosuke but I don't actually like how unapologetic she is towards him. I respect the hell out of stuff like charging into Yukiko's castle with no weapons to save her best friend but refusing to apologize for bad shit she does is pretty annoying. I would've appreciated at least one scene where she apologizes to Yosuke because it's obvious they really care about each other. Hell, she was in tears when she thought Yosuke wasn't coming out of the TV and is the only person who looks sad for him after Adachi is arrested and he says he finally avenged Saki. Congratulations on making the money scene come off as even worse to me now too lol. I was so focused on her just stealing his money that I didn't realize her words about Junes also prod at Yosuke's insecurities. Pretty despicable behavior and easily Chie's worst moment for me. Funnily enough, Chie alongside Yu are the only people that help Yosuke and Teddie out at Junes during that super busy week of the summer. Maybe she felt she owed him the help after her bullshit but the game never outright states this. There's actually one scene in the main story where she feels bad about her behavior and it's the dreaded hot springs scene. While Yukiko and Rise laugh it off, Chie alongside Naoto say it wasn't funny and that they went too far in their reaction. I remember Chie apologizes to Yu about it in a night conversation so I'll bet the other girls probably do too. I feel the same way about Chie as I do with Yosuke regarding her flaws. There's only a few scenes in a 100+ hour game of her being a dick so I don't really go too hard on Chie for that. Other people not liking her for these flaws is completely understandable to me though. Imo her strengths definitely outweigh her flaws. At heart she's a really sweet girl who wants to use her power to protect her home and the people she loves. I also think she's epic because she made me wanna go to the gym and I haven't stopped since. Thanks for the awesome video on one of my favorite persona characters! I'm looking forward to the Yukiko vid next week!
It's clear that she felt bad, might be more clear in jp ver but she tried to cheer him up and sweet talk in the sorry tone "i drop the tv remote" way with getting heat of the moment airhead cause they were startled thing, sometimes teenagers felt bad and abashed for didn't know what they were doing then trying to sweet talk and excuse to cheer them up at the moment. They understand that it's just a dumb scene thing and they didn't meant anything. She still goes helping him out later.
It’s like the Morgana vs Ryuji situation but not as bad. Both Yosuke and Chie are shits to each other which makes it harder to choose one party over the other like how most people will choose Ryuji because he doesn’t have the attitude of a bratty child who lusts over a girl like a creep which doesn’t get called out on and has a backstory that’s easier to relate to or sympathise with than a being who acts like he’s hot shit. Like Morgana, 4 chooses to punish one side more than the other rather than punish both equally and not put both on notice for being reckless. So just like Morgana, no one calls them out for doing something really dangerous and ill-thought out that someone else would most definitely get shit for. Thinking about; P5’s thorn in the paw is that the Ryuji Morgana conflict came off real one sided and stupid in general. Even if both were meant to be in the wrong, Morgana started it first and most of his exchanges with Ryuji has him put him down or making jabs at him which for a lot of people tends to make them dislike Morgana when the game doesn’t punish him for it nor do they ever actually resolve it properly after the blowoff in the fifth arc that effectively harmed his standing with most gamers because he singled him out for backing down despite everyone else doing so. And the game expects you to sympathise with his frustrations rather than wishing the little fucker would get his much needed comeuppance for being a little shit who put the group into a bad bind because of his temper tantrum.
Chie was a big favorite during both of my playthroughs so far. Therefore, I tried to listen very carefully during your talk of Chie's flaws. And yeah, you're basically right. Like at least two of the Persona Protagonists' wingmen - Yosuke and Ryuuji (haven't played P3 yet) - Yosuke ends up being the butt of jokes and kind of the fall guy in the narrative for the sake of humor. That's how I saw those scenes about Chie spending Yosuke's money. It seems to be mostly played for laughs. But once you shift into the mindset of taking those events seriously instead of humorously, you are 100% correct that it is not Chie's finest hour. Far from it, truthfully. It would be nice for Persona games to give you some capacity as the protag to influence those group events and group conversations based on how far you have progressed your social link with characters - like maybe tell Chie to lay off Yosuke or gently rib her about spending someone else's money without their permission if you've progressed her link far enough. That'd be really hard to design well behind-the-scenes, but it would also make your s-link conversations even more meaningful when they influence the overall plot of how the game progresses and how the group conversations progress.
That kinda fits into an overall issue I have with Personas 4 and 5. You don’t get much say during hangout scenes. Even, when you’re given dialogue choices, they don’t change the outcome outside of one or two lines of reaction dialogue from the others. The protagonist is supposed to be the leader of the group, but oftentimes it feels like the group is leading him.
It was just a dumb gag scene when they didn't know what they were doing and well i mean she is the only one alongside Yu went helping him out at Junes when he was really busy to make up for it. The group just has Yosuke pay with the "We make Yosuke pay for almost everything".
As I recall (could be misremembering) in vanilla p4 yosuke comments he wanted a motorcycle but wasn't able afford one in the first place due to chie's reckless spending of his money. This makes her actions and reaction to the situation even worse in my opinion. I find it interesting that Chie ranked so high in a japanese character poll. As far as I've seen, characters like her often don't do as well overseas, but its very poetic that the character who feels like her true self is so lacking and unlikeable ended up being one of the most liked characters.
Chie, Naoto, Rise, Kasumi, and Makoto are all ranked high in Japan but funny enough characters like Chie and Rise normally don't do that well overseas.
I believe its due to people seeing Yosuke more as a comic relief character whereas Chie is seen more as a girl next door type of character. Even if she's tomboyish, she has a bit of a gap moe that allows others to allude to her femininity. She's also genuinely nice to the protagonist, frank so the player isn't kept guessing on how she really feels and overall, she really brings out the personalities of everyone in the party without even trying. I honestly can't even imagine Persona 4 without Chie as she has such a big influence on the group dynamic as a whole. Now, popularity polls aren't based in reality, it's how we perceive the character and their interactions with the other characters around them and how they build themselves. In reality, you would probably dump every single one of these women simply because their personalities are kind of annoying to live with on a true day-by-day basis. Naoto has issues with interacting and so you're pretty much the lead in everything. Chie is a reckless spender. Yukiko doesn't have confidence in herself so you're alwyas going to take the forefront in the relationship. Rise's obsessions with attention can be downright frustrating at times.
Chie and Yukiko were just being airheads and didn't know what they are doing, just one dumb gag scene. She was trying to say it wasn't enough for them to pay for it, in Japanese it also said they didn't have money for it in sorry tone trying to cheer someone up. It wasn't about reckless spending, it was just about the specific scene as a punchline. Later she is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes in the summer when he was swamping with works at Junes so it makes up for it. The whole group use Yosuke's money with the "We make Yosuke pay for almost everything" so it's with others, Rise, Yukiko and Kanji use his pay respectively in game and animation.
Man, you hit the nail on the head. Some of the actions of Chie can't be defended and yet she blames it on others. That was quite frustrating to me from time to time. Yet, somehow, I still like Chie the most out of the female cast. One particular scene always annoys me and that is the bathhouse scene. The girls were clearly mistaken in the time but somehow the boys entering during the mens time in the hotsprings while the girls should not have been there is an incentive to pelt solid wooden buckets at the boys. I guess it is a Japanese anime trope that girls will use extremely excessive violence when flustered.
I don't think Chie ever trying to blame it on others. Granted the scene is as wacky as it can get but she was trying to say Junes's money being too expensive for her and Yukiko to pay to dispersal the stupid scene where she and Yukiko suddenly become airhead heat of the moment while Yukiko is just non-exsistent and for some how they manage to buy clothes for Teddie. Most of the characters don't know wtf they are doing in the scene, it is heat of moment second anime thing. Later she is the only one alongside Yu still goes to help Yosuke later in the summer so that scene was just really out of character but it's unintentionally airhead but she still trying to help.
It’s not a problem with Yosuke when he’s being a dick and a comic relief because there’s plenty of karma moments to balance out his less pleasant moments but with Chie; the game expects us to be on her side which leads to her bad moments being particularly egregious since she gets a karma houdini for most of them including being a bitch to Yosuke when he’s done nothing to warrant it. It’s just like the Morgana vs Ryuji problem where Morgana doesn’t get as much karma as he actually deserves because of his bratty personality that unintentionally just gets under your skin and the punishment his colleague gets tends to be pretty cruel including the Diet Building scene even if it’s not warranted. One gets off too easy while the other gets it too rough. At least with Chie and Yosuke, they balance each other out with their awfulness.
Great video as always!!! Gonna do some of my own analysis that gets a bit into headcanon territory so fair warning and I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on this. Going back to the dynamics part of Yosuke’s video I think the reason Yousuke and Chie bicker so much is because they’re both complete opposites and yet extremely similar. They are very clearly the most insecure of the Investigation Team, not only based on personal flaws like the others but also on their social standing which isn’t quite as stated with most of them. And they can both be very perceptive, intentional or not in Chie’s case, so I think they’re very away of each other’s insecurities and that makes it easy to belittle each other. Yosuke points out Chie’s “less feminine” traits, Chie makes Yosuke feel inferior both as a man and even as someone who belongs. They represent two conflicting ideas of Inaba too; Chie who hopes to be the one to protect it and Yosuke is the “invader” or outsider. While they get along fine well enough because some too-far teasing on the surface, deep down they can have pretty nasty feels for each other. They’re friends of course but I think how different they are makes them butt heads a lot. But at the same time despite being “opposites” they’re actually mush the same. They both want to feel special and loved in a way that’s very different than the rest of the team, they both feel very insecure by how they’re looked at and treated by others. They’re both one of the only members to not have a dungeon but instead have their issues take hold in the place belonging to their friend. I think they get so mean with each other because they actually see themselves in each other and I wish there was more to show their growing friendship and reconciliation with their problems because while what happened in canon was fine if a little lackluster since they were generally friends-at-arms-length, it would’ve been really interesting to see any focus on how similar they and the Investigation Team are, like how Yukiko came to resent Inaba and shared that feeling with Yosuke but it’s never brought up again, or Kanji and Naoto getting a chance to bond over being different. Like I said kinda headcanony but it was a thought that occurred to me when watching this video and it’s always struck me as odd why Yosuke and Chie in particular are so mean to each other but I think it makes sense to see it as what I said and also a “I’m low on the social ladder so I’ll stand on you to get higher,” especially considering how Yosuke being bi might’ve been a more prominent part of his story if they included it and Chie being unfeminine was already important to her. Like they see they’re different and instead of coming together try to tear each other down to get higher
I also noticed some serious similarities between them. From their insecurity to their genuinely dickish nature at times. Although I usually saw them as a more bickering siblings type relationship. Although, I also think Chie is a bit of a small statement that Yosuke was thinking wrong about Saki at the beginning. Yosuke wanted to be special to people, specifically Saki. She was the first person to show him things to like about Inaba, mostly as lip service but still. 🙄 And as such, Yosuke wanted Saki to think that he was the greatest guy around, or at the very least a great guy to be with. Chie basically already has that kind of relationship. Yukiko all but worships the ground she walks on at the start and is almost certainly head over heels for her, at least at the start. Shadow Yukiko straight up calls Chie one of her princes, it's not even debatable. It is the exact same way Yosuke wanted Saki to feel about him...and it didn't help Chie's insecurities. 😞 On the contrary, it only made them worse, to the point where Chie and Yukiko were bordering on codependent, if not outright codependent. Chie could barely function without Yukiko, and Yosuke likely wouldn't be much better if Saki did return his affection. Heck, considering his similarities with Adachi and him already being willing and able to do sneaky manipulative things to ogle girls she likes, I would not surprised if whatever relationship they got turned dark if his resentment and boredom boiled over. Factor in how Chie's shadow comes directly after Yosuke's, that they're the only shadows in the game to not have specific dungeons besides Teddie, how they are the most insecure, and how they come right next to each other in BOTH credits sequences, the one we see and the beta one, and the similarities seem very much intentional.
@@quentinsands5160 very good points thank you for the reply!! I would seriously love for someone to do a full analysis of their dynamic and the hidden lines between their mythology and in canon personalities. Private sort of touches on that but I think it’s definitely something someone could dedicate time to specially and I’d love to see it :)
@@quentinsands5160 Eh, i think it's just the typical bicker duo in Persona game or like siblings. Chie is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes when he was swamping with works at Junes in the summer so i think it makes up for it and also looked sad for him when he said he finally avenged Saki. Yosuke usually dumping on Chie as a girl to provoke her like the comic relief gag. Like Lisa/Yukari to Eikichi/Junpei, the girls do say they understand them as an understanding friend, in pq Yukari said you could safely butt head with.
Happy you value them so much. The elements I find best about her character are the ones rarely mentioned unfortunately. Bit hopefully this put a spotlight on her full character
Good analysis, also quite the character I might say. I never looked too deep at Chie's personality and insecurities but once you do, it's a whole different character to view. Happy birthday Chie.
Chie also represents a part of Japanese ideals culture called Yamato-damashii or Japanese Spirit. Basically, you must strive to possess three qualities: talent, insight/resolve, and persistence. If you have all three, you're basically a main character and can take on the whole damn world like Yu. Chie the character represents the value of Chie (知恵), which means insight/resolve. Resolve is pretty straightforward: the reason you fight. Since Chie herself was a founding member of the Investigation Team and their very first mission was to save her best friend, that part's covered. The Insight part might be a little abstract, but it's a combination of instinct and intelligence. It's the bright ideas you get out of nowhere. It's the flash of creativity that hits you when you need it the most. That is insight. Chie has more than once, uttered out the truth behind the mystery the Investigation Team was struggling with from time to time. The most prominent example is Chie guessing that the Fog in the real world is coming out from the TV World.
I have to wonder why the other characters never helped out Yosuke when Chie charged Teddie's clothes to his account (which, by the way, shouldn't have been allowed, even if she was a 'close friend', so whoever allowed it likely hated Yosuke and didn't mind potentially getting fired over that). We don't know what sort of allowance or pay the others get, but Yu doesn't even get an option to pitch in to help Yosuke, which is extra weird considering he's likely made more than enough to shrug off the cost of Teddie's clothes.
"My money..!" "Yosuke I have literally made enough to buy the entire branch of Junes your dad manages. Why are you guys arguing over money." (Yu proceeds to dump out millions of yen from a duffel bag he's been bringing around.) "We're set for life. Plus we can always return to the other side, beat more shadows up and make bank."
It was a dumb gag when Chie and Yukiko didn't know what they were doing so of course it doesn't make sense. Later Chie is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes when he was swamping with works in the summer so make up for it.
Yosuke rightfully deserves a lot of punishment for his dickish moments but that Teddie situation is just plain cruel and tone deaf for the sake of “comedy” when he’s actually being generous there. It wouldn’t be so bad if Chile’s debt line didn’t exist because that just makes her look like a toxic friend and the fact it gets brought up yet Chie never directly acknowledging she’s in the wrong for pulling such a shitty act on a friend nor gets punished for it. Between the stupid Morgana vs Ryuji conflict and this, Chie’s immoral spending would make a good argument for a blowoff between her and Yosuke because it’s something even he wouldn’t do plus it’s an act that in another work of fiction that isn’t saddled with bad anime tropes would be point of conflict. If she pulled that back in 2020-2022 with the costs of living, it would come off as completely irresponsible on her part to not let him know ahead of time before making the purchase.
@@HidinginPrivate essentially by my lack of words i meant to say that she just gives me a certain sense of comfort with my identity, as she's a girl who struggles with her own perceived lack of femininity, and that's something I can definitely relate to She has her flaws but at the end of the day she's still herself and only aims for the best and that's something I can wholeheartedly respect Also, amazing work on the analysis, you were able to explicit and cover her in such a good way!
@@HidinginPrivate from my understanding when people say a character is "so gender" is that their gender presentation is on the more gender non conforming side, or that their presentation is something akin to what the person who said it wants to look like. Sorry for the long essay lol
Hello there Private, your video analysis on the characters' personalities and stories have been a wonderful addition to the world of Persona, the content you made has helped me understand these important parts of who they are, what has brought the players to both like and dislike the traits that were positive and negative, then about how they would overcome or grow from (although Chie was doing some shady stuff with Yosuke's money, but that is an understandable flaw) those aspects that belonged to them. This kind of footage shows that they have ''heart'', are real people up until the game's limitations, and how their journeys begin, to the way it comes to and end and how a new one begins. I could even say that one of your analysis videos could talk about the connection between the player and Yu (yes, you).
Eh it was dumb scene of Chie and Yukiko that didn't know what they were doing. Chie is still a sweet girl like being the only one alongside Yu to go helping Yosuke out in the summer when he was swamping with works at Junes to make up and stood up for Kanji or didn't want her friends to become a murderer about Namatame.
The amount of sass when mentioning Takeshi really sells it all to me, kudos to your work so far! It's always a great thing to listen to while trying to go through my own Fool's Journey!
I always really like Chie's Shadow design because it works in multiple ways, with her being on top of the other girls and having them prop up her own insecurity. Also with her shadow having Long Black hair like Yukiko has that represents her femininity, which Chie envies and wishes she was like, and then with the plain looking girls beneath her shadow that represent what Chie doesn't value in herself, which goes into her arc in P4 Arena later about her overcoming her insecurity of being a plain girl compared to the rest of all her friends. She seems to still value the femininity that Yukiko represents to her because her Persona keeps the Long black hair at least for her base form
Been watching these videos for a while, and I'm consistently amazed with the quality and depth you have put into them. I'm currently on my second playthrough of Golden (I missed the true ending the first time through) and watching your videos has given me lots of insight into how well-written many aspects of the game are, even when I don't initially see it myself. This video in particular was a great example of looking at the little details and getting into the character's heads. Thanks for helping make the experience of one of my favorite games even greater!
i love this series so much, I've already seen quite a few of your vids on p4g but i always come back to rewatching them. it's so cool the love and detail you put into all of these videos, and it's one of my fave games of all time so it makes me super happy. I hope they make you happy too! you can definitely tell how much thought and work you put into alll of them. Super excited for your vid on naoto since theyre ur fave!
So I'm not finished with this game yet but I'm Close and omg she is just such a fun character. I've lived in a small town all my life so I relate to a of stuff in this game about Inaba. And chie to me Identity's what a small town girl who enjoys living in a small town. Idk I just get that feeling it's harder to specify more. Definitely my favorite p4 character so far and honest probably my favorite female persona character in general. But to me akechi is the best persona character so far.
Happy birthday Chie! Great video as always. This is the first video I'm watching on release since I've finally managed to catch up and watch the entire analysis series prior to this. I'm really looking forward to the Kanji/Rise/Naoto videos whenever those come out, they're by far my favorite characters in the Investigation Team. I'm not really a fan of Chie; it's not her outgoing personality, I like that they have a character like that in the game, but that she can be a real dick, moreso than anyone else in the Investigation Team. I appreciate that she was written as a not perfect character, just like so many of the Persona characters, but it's a bit much. Especially with her stealing Yosuke's money so much and freeloading off of him for food or whatever, it just feels kinda wrong. In contrast, I feel like I have a lot more appreciation for her social link than I did before. Her social link focusing on her insecurities gives an extra layer of depth to her character that is easy to gloss over, and well, I sure glossed over them. I do also like that although she's outgoing in general, she has these moments where she's so genuine, especially in her romance route. Helped boost my opinion of her a bit. Also, thank you for bringing up Chie's jobless behavior haha. It's an inside joke among my friend group because like, even *Teddie* has a job, but I feel like no one really brings it up lol
Eh saying Chie is moreso than anyone in IT is much. Having foods between friends afterschool in Asian is pretty normal thing. And granted the scene is as wacky as it can get but she was trying to say Junes's money being too expensive for her and Yukiko to pay to dispersal the stupid scene where she and Yukiko suddenly have their heads on the sky while Yukiko is just non-exsistent somehow and for some how they manage to have clothes for Teddie. Most of the characters shown they don't know wtf they are doing in the scene, it is heat of moment second anime thing just to have a "funny" wacky scene. Later she is the only one alongside Yu still goes to help Yosuke in the summer so that scene was just really out of character but it's unintentionally airhead but she still trying to help. Chie still cares great deal for Yosuke as a friend when she was crying over Yu and Yosuke when she thought they weren't coming out the TV or just genuinely look sad for Yosuke when he said he finally avenged Saki so the idiot scene is a bit much. While Naoto can say mean things to everyone, Rise and Yukiko have more their share moments of dickish for laugh or just sadist for anime tropes, so I wouldn't take it seriously.
This is the best channel, how is it not exploding in popularity yet. Also, maybe add those youtube segment things for each category to your vids so the algorithm blesses you, all this work can't go unrecommended
In my reading of Yukiko's monologue, that was Chie's projection of how she sees Yukiko, dependent and powerless on her own, which is a projection of Chie's own insecurities, not a true statement from Yukiko or her shadow. The language in Yukiko's monologue is very similar to Shadow Chie's admission of dependency on Yukiko. I also read Saki's monologue in Yosuke's section as projected from him, because before entering the liquor store, there's emphasis on Teddie, who I concede is not entirely reliable, having said that the midnight channel reflects who is present. I think that it's often misunderstood that the disembodied monologues are projected from the subject because Yosuke and Chie misinterpret what's going on, which is consistent with the motif of the investigation team not having a full understanding of things and the story moving forward with the understanding they have at the time.
One of my favorite moments is during the Valentine's day event, while most of the other party members act like they are surprised the date with yukiko, rise, or naoto happens; Chie is the only one where they acknowledge they know about the relationship, and it's kind of sweet seeing the party give words of encouragement to her
Ah, Chie. She was my automatic pick of who to romance in P4G. I relate to all of her issues a lot, and I also have a lot of similar interests too! Plus, sporty chicks are always sweet. Great video, cheers. I’m so glad people still talk about P4.
when I was playing persona 4 golden, it was a very "brain off, good vibes" experience so its great to see a whole load of videos to help people understand the game.
Was really looking forward to this one. I guess I hadn't realized just how much subtle depth there was to Chie's character. Side note, but I was curious if you plan on talking about non-Social Link side characters for this Ultimate Analysis; while there's maybe not *as much* to say about them, I'd still like to see what you can get out of Hanako or the "significant" Yasogami students/teachers for example.
Love your Persona analysis very much despite of me not being the biggest Yosuke fan and what I said on your Teddie video. Thank you for giving Chie the love and deep dive she deserves!!
Nice to see that these kind of videos exist about P4G considering it’s one of the few games I enjoyed the main character dynamics and their arcs, outside of Naoto since I have no opinion on yet besides the “only people have human rights line to Teddie” because I never started her social link which I might get around to during my second playthrough when I get to it. Suppose it makes sense I start with the character analysis of a character tied as my favourite, again funny that it’s Yosuke. From what I’ve seen I’m a bit late to the party on this game because of it took until last month for this game, 5R and 3P to get ported to Xbox and it taking some convincing to try Golden until I heard of the premise of how the characters develop through reflection and thought it’d be a good place to start.
Someone in the comments said how they wouldn't want to date any of P4's female characters, and this made me realize how rare it is to have girls like Chie who are unlikeable (to some) and not completely villified by the narrative. Too many writers write as if every girl has to be attractive and dateable; otherwise, she's like the most evil bully ever **and still** conventionally attractive. Sure, part of this is due to marketability concerns, but nonetheless it reaffirms the madonna-wh0r3 complex. We almost never see love interests have bad enough flaws that the characters and audience stop to consider if they actually want a relationship with this person. I think we desperately need more stories about recognizing a prospective partner's flaws and recognizing how you will have to actively work with/around said flaws for the sake of the relationship E.g. Chie's spending habits. While P4 unfortunately doesn't have that introspection on the protag's part (since they can't assume the player's choices and reasoning), it does fill a gap in the discourse about flawed female characters: namely, that flaws can make a character straight-up unlikeable to some of the audience, and that's okay. Those same flaws are really appreciated by other parts of the audience, and regardless of audience opinion, flaws don't take away someone's humanity. I appreciate how P4 showcases this with their flawed characters being regularly punished for their icky actions but still allowed to exist and to enjoy their time together
@@HidinginPrivate I can tell you really enjoy this game, it definitely comes across that way. Makes all your videos so much better when you have such a passion for p4
While I do agree with your interpretation that Chie is...kinda a bum and a bit rude to Yosuke, Chie and Yosuke have a bit of a unique relationship. Chie doesn't act the same way with Yosuke as she does with anyone else. I feel like Yosuke can truly be himself around Chie while Chie can truly be herself around Yosuke. Neither side feeling they have to hide themselves of insecurity around the other. Whether this turns into a romance later on or they just stay very good friends, even if Chie has some questionable moments, it doesn't destroy their friendship like it would with most other people which only shows how close they are with each other.
Eh, i think it's just the typical bicker duo in Persona game or like siblings. It was only one time heat of moment startled dumb gag scene thing, Chie is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes when he was swamping with works at Junes in the summer so i think it makes up for it. The group use Yosuke's money with the whole "We make Yosuke pay for almost everything", Rise, Yukiko, Kanji use his pay respectively in game and animation. And the whole group is kind of rude to Yosuke as a gag but Yosuke also says tropey things that pissed his friends off as comic relief so that's expected gag. Yosuke usually dumping on Chie as a girl to provoke her like the comic relief gag. Romance is just zero in question like Lisa/Yukari to Eikichi/Junpei or whatever trope the girls do say they understand them as a friend and only as a friend and heavily reject the ideas, in pq Yukari said you could safely butt head with so it's the bicker friends trope. The game goes out of their way to show the Lisa/Yukari/Chie dynamics with Eikichi/Junpei/Yosuke tropey friends.
Finally getting around to watching this. There's one important note I'd like to make about Chie's shadow, and that's her hair STYLE. That specific depiction of hair, specifically the super long train of hair fanned out on the floor, is typically used in Japanese media and legends as a practically divine or semi-divine marker of femininity. You pretty much never see this kind of hair on characters like Chie; tomboys, warrior women, brash, outspoken, or independent ladies. It's generally emblematic of characters who embody the most traditionally feminine characteristics; demure, quiet, soft-spoken, even subservient, often tragic or sad. Characters like priestesses, princesses, or goddesses, characters like Kaguya-hime. Characters like Yukiko. Additional note: Her first persona is 100% wearing Bruce Lee's iconic tracksuit from his partially completed final film, Game of Death. The Bride also wears this outfit in the second half of the first Kill Bill, which may be where the motorcycle helmet comes from (though the helmet in Kill Bill is also yellow, rather than white, and The Bride primarily uses a sword, so this may be a coincidence). There's a lot more I could say about her (how about the very beginning of the game where her friend gets into a bicycle accident and without even checking if he's ok KICKS HIM IN THE DICK even after he offered to replace the DVD he broke as a result of the accident, and then extorts him for food over it) but suffice to say that while she is my least favourite Persona party member, I still rather enjoyed this video. Good job!
I think you are being too harsh. I don't like ranking friends in video games in general cause it just feels wrong. But he hit the bicycles at the beginning even before class when no one saw it and it was after the class done he returned her then fleeing but hit his crotch on the edge of table in the og text and the DvD is still cherished and popular around 7 years ago so not properly fleeing just made her angry and left. And it wasn't extort, it was after a long time and friends in Asian usually say "fair is fair" with all the breaking their stuff thing so it's pretty much just normal to treat each other foods in the after class. She still cares greatly for her friends like crying when she thought Yu and Yosuke were dying in the TV world, being the only one alongside Yu to go helping Yosuke out when he was swamping with works at Junes in the summer so make up and doesn't want her friends to become a murderer about Namatame, she also looking sad for Yosuke when he said he finally avenged Saki and stood up for Kanji when he is being teased.
Yeah persona has a weird way of having a scene where people are just assholes for no reason. Scenes that just all in all literally have no purpose but to make the characters look like assholes. See the scene in persona 5 where they beat up ryuji
The ryuji scene is different though. These scenes with chie match her consistent character and make her into a more nuanced and improved character due to it
@@HidinginPrivate I don't know it's weird how she treats yosuke like a walking bank saying all these insensitive stuff and then says that their still friends. Honestly sounds like she's being toxic that you don't see much to this extent.
@@Christian-gr3gu I think it comes down to your morals vs theirs. Yosuke got VERY pissed but let his steam off and then they stopped arguing, because, that’s how they always are, taking potshots at each other the whole game but sometimes thinking weirdly similarly and agreeing on things and in general never letting things fester but still pointing out things they find disagreeable.
@@HidinginPrivate the scene having characters barely know what they are doing really. All characters even Chie don't act consistent with their character at all, or I think it trys to make a point how wacky it was. Moreover is how Yukiko who literally was with Chie never react like she was even there. I don't think Chie ever blaming him for it, she was trying to say Junes is too expensive so she and Yukiko have no way of paying it to dispersal the stupid magical airhead of the scene, later she is the only one alongside Yu still comes all the way to help him in Junes in summer so I hardly seeing a scene as wacky as this happening. The scene has both Chie and Yukiko dragging Teddie's naked body and come back in a second with Teddie in some clothes to make it "hilarious". Naturally the scene to me is just general wacky how a magical naked dude appear and two girls being flustered dragging him in some clothes in some seconds, taking it serious that she can call a phone in that stupid scene is a bit much, it's more like heat of moment second anime thing. Like if Yukiko actually has a hand on the matter at all but all characters make quite clear they don't even know wtf they are doing and their heads were unintentionally on the sky for the a wacky anime scene, just to have some "funny" Teddie pun to arguing over him. It's more like she just trying to dispersal that idiot incident so she still trying to help and comes helping him in summer. Chie still cares great deal for Yosuke as a friend when she was crying over Yu and Yosuke when she thought they weren't coming out the TV or just genuinely look sad for Yosuke when he said he finally avenged Saki as I see friends like that, obviously Chie and Yukiko were being wacky airhead to have a "funny" anime scene and not intentionally anything still.
I think the reasons why I felt that her worst moments except for the cross dressing sign up never felt so bad to me are that they usually seem rather outlandish and unrealistic. While now that you talk about them a bit more they are recontextualised, these scenarios are so far removed from my reality like the buying of extremely expensive clothes that I think wow that is kinda mean and nothing more. Yosuke's bad character moments like the homophobia and the extremely inappropriate sexual behavior towards Yukiko and Chie seem so much more grounded in reality for me that I perceived his actions as so much worse during my playtime.
The crossdressing was Rise's suggestion and the girls's effort tho, and Chie was the only one to say she felt sorry about it in night conversation and only joined cause everyone was so excited and had fun at the end so it might be worth it. The boys were also gaslight the girls into it so i don't think it more than anything than gag, Kanji was also pressuring Naoto into it when the girls confronting the boys about it. And even tho Chie and Yukiko dragging Teddie is as much gag as it can be, i think they just don't know what they were doing, later Chie is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes in the summer when he was really busy so it already making up for it.
Chie being very unrepentant of stealing from Yosuke definitely still bothers me. Characters should have flaws but this flaw seems especially cruel to another and probably should have been addressed more seriously in the story. I can only figure Atlus didn't want us to take this as seriously as I do, because no one seems to speak up and defend Yosuke or offer to help pay him back. I assume Atlus does want us thinking everyone is cruel and abusing Yosuke so it is probably safe to conclude this is supposed to be a recurring gag. Still bothers me.
@@madhippy3 eh she definitely felt bad when she tried to cheer him up cause when people feeling bad that's how they acting and try making up overall. And they were just startled heat of moment by Teddie one time and didn't know what they were doing as gag so not like it's on of any purpose or cruel. And she did already making up for it by go helping Yosuke out after so usually it's not a big deal. It is just the one dumb gag scene and it isn't exactly either way cause it is not really matter nor serious. The boys might as well being on serial sex offender registry with Yosuke's thing and the whole "infiltrate the girls room in the middle of night". Or Kanji went scaring a kid and took his diary and gaslighting Naoto into the pageant, Rise gloating at Chie and Yukiko despite just saving her life, Yukiko being a sadistic attempted murderer or the hot spring scene when Yukiko and Rise being unapologetic assholes despite both Naoto being unsure and Chie said it went too far. If it is smt, it Yosuke, Kanji, Naoto approved to murder a man.
I felt the same way playing through p4g. Maybe it’s because i’m a girl but yosukes comments towards the girls honestly hurt me. It’s probably stupid though. For me it doesn’t feel like a relatable flaw I could accept, and honestly I only think they did it for the gag without thinking anything deeper of it. Although I love the persona series, I think the horny, rom-com anime tropes makes not only the characters, but the story fall flat. Everytime it happens in a persona game it pulls me out of the game so quickly
I loved this one Junes interaction between Yukiko and chie. Chie: wow yukiko you’re so pretty, I can never be at your level Yukiko: your a garbage disposal Chie, I can never be at your level, and that’s pretty good too, right?
Nanako actually appears in *every* Investigation Team member's Social Link--although Naoto's is harder to see because by the time you get to that portion of her SL, Nanako will probably be hospitalized. As for Chie...I actually love all the characters in (vanilla) PS4, especially the Investigation Team, and that includes Chie...but damn, she really can be unlikable sometimes. I could get over the camp, the cultural festival, etc. as "going too far", but I do have issues with how she treats Yosuke sometimes. Our introduction is Chie kicking him in the *balls* without even knowing what he did and after he apologized and promised to pay her back. The way he sounded so terrified of her and tried to run away after apologizing, as if expecting a beating, really made me think Chie was going to be a school bully or something the first time I played. Now, I know Japan has a thing with aggressive slapstick humor on females that doesn't culturally mesh with the west and I can accept that. I can also accept that Chie has likely grown since then. Fair enough. ...But then there's *that* scene. Yeah, "charge it to Yosuke". That is just...the one thing I can never get over. Yosuke has moments that discredits the growth in maturity during his Social Link, but this...this spits in the face of everything Chie was supposed to represent in her Social Link. Inaba's protector acting like a schoolyard bully, stealing money, and just not giving a damn as Yosuke looks like he's on the verge of breaking down in tears. I know it's just one scene and it's really unfair to judge her so much for that, but I just...can't get over it. Especially when you do add everything else on top of it. I still love Chie's character, but that left such a bad taste in my mouth.
The camp and the culture festival? Camp was Yosuke's shenningan and Yukiko pushing Yosuke and Kanji but Chie and Yukiko were frustrated that Yosuke was saying insensitive things and Yu agreed to it so it was just gag about them just provoking thing. The culture festival was Yosuke and the boys's shenningan when they gaslight the girls into it and get revenged, the girls did but Rise was the one who suggested it and Chie said in night conversation she was feeling sorry about it but everyone got so excited and has fun at the end so it might be worth it, so i don't see how anything of it going too far, even Kanji was gaslighting Naoto into it. And Yosuke just go hitting his crotch on the table in Japanese and furthermore DvD was still popular and cherished 7 years ago and broke one of your friend is one big thing for it. It's a gag scene but "not giving a damn" is just much, Chie and Yukiko were just getting startled as a gag and teleporting Teddie in some clothes and didn't know what they were doing but she started with saying in sorry try to cheer someone up tone in Japanese, it also said Chie and Yukiko didn't have enough and later she is the only one alongside Yu went helping him out at Junes when he was swamping with works in the summer to make up for it.
That charge to Yosuke scene is less funny to me in 2022 with the costs of living situation where people either loses their homes or can’t afford most foods when bills has to be paid. Though, the original Persona 4 came out in 2008 despite being set in 2011 which is the same year the Great Recession and based on that knowledge; it’s a poorly timed joke. I don’t blame people for disliking Chie for coming off as a leech to Yosuke.
Very good analysis! Also, as a fun tibbit: while exploring a dungeon in P4G, you can run into Chie and Yukiko if both of them aren't in your party. Upon talking to them, Chie may exclaim to have your back as "good ol' super dependable Chie", to which Yukiko will comment how excited she is. Chie then says that she'll protect her too, to which Yukiko will thank her and say that Chie is "really her Prince after all...". Its a really nice interraction which portrays pieces of their dilemmas, with Chie's being wanted by others and Yukiko wanting someone (a prince) to take her away from her struggles, and shows the closeness between the two as they try to overcome them.
@@HidinginPrivate I think it's really cool that you obviously adore the shit out of this game enough to make this series but you don't shy away from critiquing and discussing its less favourable qualities. I think it shows real conviction as a critic, an audience member, and just someone who can take the themes of truth in the source material on board in a thoughtful way. Keep it up!
It was just a dumb gag scene when they were startled by Teddie and didn't know what they were doing but later she is the only one alongside Yu to go helping him out at Junes when he was swamping with works in the summer so it makes up for it.
Chie is the type of person that made me like Tomboy-ish girls. She's also considered to be the number 4 best waifu in all of Persona (higher than Rise) according to a Japanese poll. Though, her pointless hatred towards Yosuke made her a bit annoying.. almost made me think they were siblings that don't get along at first. lol
Is that Katawa Shoujo music I hear as the background around the 39:00 mark? Nice. More than likely it's a generic background music used in tons of stuff, but I think it's a nice touch for this section, as this game seems to have some similar themes as KS, albeit an entirely different genre of game. Good stuff Hiding-kun.
One of the first things I learned about the Persona franchise was that people found Chie annoying, which meant I was pleasantly surprised when she was actually kick-ass.
Frankly...if you consider that it's a whole outfit (presumerably including underwear and shoes, a shirt, pants and socks....120$ doesn't seem that expensive. That said...I'm based. I replayed P4G more or less just for Chie.
