In the same interview Katano said they wanted to change the way the game is portraited and adapt it to a worldwide way of thinking, since it was being well received overseas (in my eyes, making money). Seeing how Testament was confirmed non-binary maybe they wanted to change Bridget story in a way people that don't know the otokonoko subculture could relate to, while keeping the door open in case the fanbase went in flames.

For Japan, I don't know how non-binary genders works there. I've read they only consider someone trans after a sex reassignment surgery and other stuff their law requires (the Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act), so an otokonoko would be male no matter what. Could be a very biased view, I don't have the means to check how the general public sees things, but reading the law can explain why many people wouldn't bat an eye at the doubts Bridget is facing.

That came out sort of clunky in the MTL but I did see that! It definitely explains Testament and fits they're (it's?) lore perfectly fine with becoming more, but I recall Testament getting a proper announcement.

Making Bridget's statement a quieter, more ambiguous one fits with the idea of having an out- one that might end up being taken with how some people are saying the Japanese are reacting to it. I can see your logic there, even if it might have become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Also yeah Japan is simultaneously very progressive and backwards about transgender people. I've met some who would prefer not to get reassignment/affirmation surgery for a number of reasons so requiring them legally to get it just to be seen as their preferred gender is very uncomfy, but also they made Bridget 2 decades ago, when we (The West, for lack of a better designation?) weren't even talking about transgender people.

Also I apologise to @Orphaen if the usage of "transgender" on its own was making them uncomfortable- "transgender people" feels a little clunkier but it's a perfectly reasonable request.

Yeah, gender discussions at this level are quite recent, so it's hard to say they will set something in stone for Bridget any time soon. In my eyes the intention to make Bridget trans is there at least, and they gave enough backstory to make it feel like a natural progression. Testament had their announcement now since it we can agree it fits well with the existing lore, so Bridget can have one in a future game (or drama CD lol).

Fic has been just as combative in their responses and his attitude is what lead Polarisbow getting more heated in the first place yet no one else has been scolding him for it.

I've also seen the same from you in this thread.

Which again, was a response to Fics animosity towards those who feel Bridget is trans. Which you still have not called him out on despite being many instances of him being disrespectful

I think it's fair to say Daisuke might be keeping his options open, but after having gone back and forth on this for what feels like a week already, even though it's maybe 2 days, I feel like it's clear we're not gonna have some resounding and clearcut "win" for anyone. We can keep this debate open, but we may be sitting here a while, maybe forever.

Also @Sleepyhead97 and @Argonis I know I'm not a mod but let's not argue about an argument. I want to suggest we all agree to disagree, but that doesn't resolve the very reason this thread was made in the first place. We're all here to enjoy hypnosis, even Fic.

I was kinda hoping people would use this thread to decide how to tag Bridget, but that doesn't seem to be happing. Mostly just becoming birdsite drama.

The mods are actually talking about making changes to the transgender tag and actually properly tagging transgender characters. You can find discussion about that in the transgender identity tag thread. It's honestly way more productive than what's going on in here. Probably gonna end up locking this thread before much longer. I think I've heard pretty much all the arguments from both sides of the debate.

I tried making my proposal, partially on the basis of the ambiguity of if bridget is even trans, and partially based on the existing rule- but everything kinda fell apart quick :(

not true. you were responding to face with your virgin lore purist vs chad headcanon enjoyer post and it spiraled down form there.

the point is this thread is starting to get more and more toxic as it goes on and i can see when it started as you nore plaris are the only ones in this. As face says i'm going to drop it but i do read the comments to my own threads.

You're right it is getting toxic and I'll take my leave after this but just to clarify the meme post wasn't a reponse to anyone. If it was I would've quoted Face. I was poking fun at the situation as a whole and it went ignored anyway so it's hardly the catalyst. Anyway that's my last comment on this.

I'm not even sure why we are debating a character's identity, which will never have anyone "win", instead of possibly just deciding how to properly tag the original pictures. There are ways to do this without stepping on that many toes. Just add a tag for trans identity. This was brought up at the top of the thread that one existed at one point but was wiped from the site for one reason or another. Hell, in another thread, Mindwipe has mentioned the mods are currently in discussion about reevaluating the transgender tag. Which is a great idea methinks. So with that, why are we here debating the identity of a character. This whole thing is super toxic. I don't have any power here, but if I did, I would close this thread and just allow the mods to come to their decision. All this thread is doing is making people upset.

And if not, maybe we could instead discuss the ups and downs of changing the tag system. I have seen people defending the "tag what you see" style and such. Maybe discussion about that could prove to be even slightly more constructive.

I think things are calming back down thankfully, and while some users were arguing with the intent of "winning" I think most of us accept that there's not really enough to make a final judgement. The trans identity thread has also been chugging along beside this one but there is one issue I forsee regarding it- which is that people are still in disagreement on whether bridget is trans...

I am gonna disagree fully on the tagging system, for a few reasons. Image boorus like ours have been in operation for... I wanna say a decade, maybe longer in Japan, and tag what you see has always been a reliable standard to go off of that makes sure everything runs smoothly.

It works in a vacuum of context as I mentioned elsewhere, is usually pretty easy to account for across multiple boorus if, like I do, you browse multiple, and while I admit it steps on toes, sometimes we have to accept that not everyone is going to be satisfied with the form to ensure that the function remains up to snuff.

Yeah, I did what I could to show how it makes sense in context. Until more things happen people will keep their opinions regardless.



Eh, Fic accused me of hating Bridget and of cultural colonization in the 1st page out of nowhere. It's hard to take things seriously when people start discussing things like that.

I've talked with people like Fic a lot in my life and while I think they go about it the wrong way, I've heard from them why they tend to act how they do. I don't agree with this position, but in their own words they're frustrated by how media they enjoy is being hollowed out and used to push an... agenda of some kind, usually at the expense of the media's quality.

On its own I can sympathize with that, it can be upsetting to see something you love and appreciate be replaced with something unrecognizable, and I suspect that's what Fic is afraid is going to happen to guilty gear, and the best way to prevent that is to do purity tests and aggressively police it.

idk, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But it tends to be very alienating and polarizing. I can't claim to get it or understand it, nor is it right that they started off so hostile, but I also think they care very much about guilty gear and are having a kneejerk reaction to what they see as a hostile presence in the fandom.

kind of funny but looking back it was starting to feel like Fic and Polaris were mirror images. Neither one was going to budge at all.