We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we finally have our first trailer for Catherine: Full Body, and Atlus has confirmed it’s coming West. The bad news is that the game is slated to launch next winter in Japan. Atlus fans have very mixed feelings about distant winter release dates; they haven’t always turned out so well. For now, though, you can check out the new trailer above, which seems to indicate that Vincent’s newest love interest, “Rin,” is hiding an important secret.
After the trailer premiere, the consensus seems to be that Atlus is hinting at a transgender love interest. You may not have picked up on it upon first watching the trailer, but we invite you now to go back and view it again in light of these facts: The name of this remaster is “full body;” Rin is most commonly depicted lifting up her dress, with the image always cutting off right below her waist; In the trailer Vincent is visibly shocked and shaken at the sight of Rin’s crotch; “Rin” is a gender-neutral name.
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Even as Atlus plays off “full body” as a reference to wine, we can’t help but notice that the silhouetted bottle of wine at the bottom of the official website stands tall, and appears — if you’ll forgive me — rather phallic. Maybe it’s just me. Even if Rin turns out to be cis-gendered, I think it’s safe to assume that Atlus knows what kind of speculative conversations it would inspire with this trailer and with Rin’s portrayal.
Reactions to Rin’s identity have been mixed. While some people have expressed cautious optimism about trans representation in Catherine, others aren’t so hopeful. Apparently Atlus has a spotty reputation with LGBTQ representation in its games, though I’m not familiar enough with the Persona series as a whole or the original Catherine to know why that is. One thing is for sure: they have people talking.
What do you think? Is Atlus clearly hinting at a trans love interest, or is Vincent expressing the same kind of shock and confusion as he always does upon discovering that he slept with someone new? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter — especially if you played the original Catherine.
