Kanji Tatsumi is a major character in Persona 4. Kanji is a 1st year student at Yasogami High School and a member of the Investigation Team. He is also the son of the owner of Tatsumi Textiles.
Profile
Kanji is a 1st year student at Yasogami High School. He has a reputation around Inaba as a violent student delinquent after stories of him spread beating up an entire biker gang all by himself. He lives with his mother at Tatsumi Textiles in in Inaba's Central Shopping District. The building serves as both the family's home and a storefront.
Personality-wise, Kanji is hot-blooded, loud and gets riled up easily, especially by Yosuke Hanamura. For example, at one point, Kanji loses his temper after Yosuke calls him "strange", chasing him off and making threats in the process. Even if most people see him as a violent punk, Kanji is generally respectful towards other people, including his classmates, his mother, and the neighborhood children. He addresses the 2nd year students at his school, such as Yu Narukami, as senpai. He also speaks more casually towards Rise Kujikawa, and is generally unphased by her status as an idol. He also seems to have a close bond with Naoto Shirogane.
After confronting his Shadow in the TV World, Kanji now chooses to wear his heart on his sleeve and speak his mind instead of trying to conform to other people's image of him. Deep down, Kanji adores cute things, has a sweet tooth for foods like pudding, and is especially skilled at knitting and other textile crafts. He has other mannerisms that seem unbefitting of his appearance, such as eating animal crackers and wanting to find the rare shape.[b] Kanji also appears to be a fan of wrestling, evident by how he sometimes uses Japanese wrestling terminology.[c]
According to the art director for Persona 4, Shigenori Soejima, Kanji was designed to look intentionally over-the-top, with elements like his skull T-shirt and the way he wears his school uniform jacket to hint at Kanji's rebelliousness being an act. In doing so, Soejima made Kanji look like something of a silly caricature of someone trying to look "manly" without knowing what that really means. Due to the rumors about Kanji, he also made his eyes look intimidating, as if people would be able to believe all of the made up things about him based purely on his appearance.[7]
Gameplay
Kanji is the Emperor Social Link. He becomes a playable party member in June with the Persona Take-Mikazuchi.
Manual
| Manual Descriptions
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| Persona 4
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A first-year student at Yasogami High. It's rumored that in middle school, he defeated an entire gang on his own; he's since garnered a reputation as a notorious punk.
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| Persona 4 Arena
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A young man once feared as a violent punk. Despite his looks, he is goodhearted and a skilled knitter. He prefers fighting up close with powerful throws, and his Persona is the thunderous powerhouse Take-Mikazuchi.
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Persona 4:
Dancing All Night
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A second-year high schooler, one year younger than Yu. Despite the way he looks and acts, he has a surprising softer side, and enjoys knitting and cooking. His powerful muscles and large frame lend themselves to a powerful dance style.
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Game Appearances
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In Persona 4 Arena, Kanji serves as the archetypal grappler character, with high damage output and defense, but low mobility. While his mobility tools and projectile options aren't as limited as similar characters like Potemkin from Guilty Gear or Iron Tager from BlazBlue, Kanji's playstyle and toolkit ultimately lends very well to fighting at close range.
Anime Appearances
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Manga Appearances
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Audio Drama Appearances
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Novel Appearances
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Stage Play Appearances
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Other Appearances
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Kanji is one of the selectable avatars for the pachinko machine. When selected, his mini-portrait will appear on the player's stats screen, and he does the voice over for the machine's functions. He is the subject of some animated events, such as when he tries to make a stuffed animal, or when Rise stands on his back to get a One More out of a tree.
Trivia
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- Some printings of Persona 4 Official Design Works mistakenly list Kanji's birth year as 1995, which would make a 2nd year student rather than a 1st year student at the start of Persona 4. This has since been fixed for the eBook and other prints. Books released later, such as Persona Club P4, also correctly list his birth year as 1996.
- Early in development, Kanji was supposed to be older than the main cast rather than younger. Soejima had an image in his head of Kanji being like an outlaw. But Kanji was also a school student, and Soejima thought an "outlaw student" would be someone who plays music. Additionally, for Persona 4 he had decided on a retro look to fit the outdated countryside image of Inaba. Combining music and retro together, Soejima came up with the idea of Kanji's design being American 1950s rockabilly style.[8][9]
Nomenclature
Names in Other Languages
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Name |
Meaning
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 Japanese
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巽 完二 |
Tatsumi Kanji. The family name means "southeast trigram," and the given name means "perfect two."
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Gallery
Notes
- ↑ Kanji turns 16 at the end of Persona 4 Golden, and off-screen in Persona 4. He is 15 years old in Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, and most of Persona 4 and Persona 4 Golden. He is 16 in Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Persona 4: Dancing All Night.
- ↑ The rare cracker shape is a submarine in the Japanese script. This was changed to a penguin in the English script.
- ↑ Kanji says words like セメント, or cement, which is used in pro wrestling to describe a serious match.[5][6] His usage of wrestling terminology continues in his Arena and Arena Ultimax dialogue.
References
- ↑ "Date of Birth: January 19, 1996" "Chapter 1: Main Characters", Persona 4 Official Design Works, ATLUS. Published by ATLUS. 70. ISBN-13: 978-1926778457., also displays when entering a match with Kanji in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.
- ↑ "Height: 183cm" "Chapter 1: Main Characters", Persona 4 Official Design Works, ATLUS. Published by ATLUS. 70. ISBN-13: 978-1926778457.
- ↑ "Weight: 65kg" "Chapter 1: Main Characters", Persona 4 Official Design Works, ATLUS. Published by ATLUS. 70. ISBN-13: 978-1926778457.
- ↑ "Blood Type: A" "Chapter 1: Main Characters", Persona 4 Official Design Works, ATLUS. Published by ATLUS. 70. ISBN-13: 978-1926778457.
- ↑ "Kanji: おーおー、早速セメント前みたいな空気んなってるっスねー。" Persona 4 (PlayStation 2). Developed by Atlus. Published by Atlus. Japanese.
- ↑ ガチンコ. Retrieved June 4, 2024. Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Chapter 1: Main Characters", Persona 4 Official Design Works, Atlus, Famitsu Editorial Department. Published by Famitsu (2008). Japanese. p. 69. ISBN-13: 978-4757745087.
- ↑ "Chapter 1: Main Characters", Persona 4 Official Design Works, Atlus, Famitsu Editorial Department. Published by Famitsu (2008). Japanese. p. 77. ISBN-13: 978-4757745087.
- ↑ "Chapter Extra: Interview with Shigenori Soejima", Persona 4 Official Design Works, Atlus, Famitsu Editorial Department. Published by Famitsu (2008). Japanese. p. 188. ISBN-13: 978-4757745087.
