Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-25951143-20150101110046/@comment-26871067-20160927232448

Rez spb wrote: > « You could certainly say "well maybe he changed his mind", but there's no indication that this is the case and so you bringing it up is an obvious reach. »

And I definitely say that you have no indication of the opposite. Oh, unless you are a psychic. (That's a joke, not an offense.) So, just another speculation, not exactly a counter. See, both you and me are speculating here unless the author tells us his original intention and why did we had to get what we've got instead. His reason. Current state makes no sense to me and I try to offer some explanation. Deliberately going for a trans is something that might have happened, but Occam's razor tell me that's not the best guess.

> « scenes in the Election arc (so, running concurrently with Killua's affirmations that Alluka is a girl) have the Zoldyck family (yet again, minus Killua and Alluka) referring to Alluka as a boy »

> « some characters believe her to be a boy. »

I offer my explanation of why this could be this way, based on patriarchal families common to Japan. I don't try to argue with the fact, just offering some possible reasons for it to happen. Aside of transgender thing, that's again too complicated. And I find all plushy room and dresses thing strange for a 'serious unemotional assassin family' to do unless we're talking about a girl. Or an attempt to intimidate a boy, but that's highly unlikely.

> « Togashi certainly always had something planned for Alluka »

Yes! But that was a concept, you see. I'd say he wasn't going to reveal the character that soon, but the 2011 anime producers (contract terms, you name it) forced him to speed things up. And while he was thinking about this 'brother-in-concept' and even released first information (Illumi, Silva and other family members calling Alluka 'he' as an example), the character evolved. You know, great writers tend to share with public that characters often 'act on their own'. But that evolution led to a contradiction between early concept and current character. Chapters have already been released, there was no turning back. But the author could not think of a character as a boy anymore, that's why we see more feminine personality, the room, miko outfit and demeanor. I see this explanation as way more simple and obvious, happening to a number of others, elegant and generally believable. In layman's terms, it is more likely to be true than a complex one. It'd be really sad if the author went that 'transgender' path, it would be a halfhearted thing to do regarding both parties, 'cause I believe that if that was the author's intention all along, he would not led the audience in disputes like this one. He's not that bad, is he =)

So, that's why I'm leaning towards human error/evolving character due to haste in production and tight schedule given his talent. As an underlying reason. Not as a result or further explanation. The reason I called what you did a stretch is because it contradicts Togashi's history as an author. Again, Miyuki from YYH, Kyoko from Level E, which I'm offering as evidence that Togashi has an interest in trans representation. You have "he might have changed and no longer wants to put trans characters in his stories", which is not an argument that holds any water even though it is technically true. He might have changed his mind, sure, but that's a cop-out of a reason and I think we both know it.

The only evidence we have that Togashi's opinions regarding trans people are changing are in the opposite direction of what you're suggesting. The only changes re: trans characters that have happened since Togashi created YYH are that his depictions of transgender characters got  better and more respectful.

So, back to canonical stuff:

You are not listening to the thing I am saying over and over again. There is no  character evolution to be speaking of when Alluka being called a boy is happening in the real time of the series at the same time in the series that Killua is calling her a girl. Like, within the same five chapters. The excuse of "patriarchal Japanese families" is just that, an excuse. Alluka's prison being lined with dolls does not mean "she must really be a girl (with a vagina)" or even "the Zoldycks believe her to be a girl (with a vagina)".

Here's an explanation that makes more sense given other evidence: "the Zoldycks are afraid of her (which we know to be true) and want to keep her complacent." This is seen, again, with Tsubone's use of a cutesified male honorific - an example of a halfway placating gesture that reveals the way the person actually thinks.

Let me address the "patriarchal families in Japan" thing - what you're saying makes no sense. I don't even know what you're trying to say - Killua is the heir of the Zoldyck family, there is no reason for them to be treating a cis daughter as a boy since they have a male heir. Bringing a weird interpretation of a Japanese custom into the argument has no grounds, because you've ignored the reasoning for this custom.

You can speculate all you want and say how your use of Occam's Razor somehow made you genuinely think that this convoluted mess of "ifs" that require insertion of your idea of a Japanese custom into the story is more logical than "Alluka is a transgender girl". Meanwhile, to me, Alluka being a transgender girl is literally the easiest explanation.

Here's my abbreviated evidence for this, to spell it out clearly:

1. Within the same arc, Silva, Illumi, Milluki, and Tsubone refer to Alluka as a boy while Killua affirms that she is a girl.

2. A repeated theme of the arc is that Killua is the only person in the world who actually understands Alluka, giving more weight to his perspective on her   (and the chapter title "Siblings", as I mentioned earlier in the thread, agrees with Killua).

3. Togashi has a precedent for transgender characters in Miyuki from YYH and Kyoko from Level E, showing that he is interested in the representation of transgender characters.

Meanwhile, you're repeating a sentiment that I've already disproven and acting like saying it again makes it right or gives it more weight.

Sure, what we're doing is speculation, but half of your speculation has no grounds in the actual text of the story, whereas mine is almost entirely rooted in canon. All you're doing is talking in circles, and it feels pretty clear to me why you're doing so.

"It'd be really sad if the author went that 'transgender' path" - why? What's sad about that? Other than the fact that you already called us considering her to be trans "political correctness" and gave other indications that you think transgender people are fakers looking for attention. And from earlier, what "uncomfortable questions" would be raised by Togashi putting a transgender character in his story? Since he's already done it twice, after all.

You are also consistently trying to argue about Togashi's external reasoning for prior indications of Alluka being a boy, ignoring that I've already addressed this and am talking about in-universe. I literally already said that I don't believe Togashi's intent from the beginning was to make Alluka transgender. I literally already said that the Alluka hinted at in the Zoldyck Family arc was certainly subject to evolution before becoming the character that is introduced in the Election arc.

It feels like you are ignoring half of what I'm saying.