Board Thread:Manga Discussion/@comment-32189512-20180216130910/@comment-2601:600:C880:32E2:C5EA:AF96:C2D9:3EEE-20180417015745

Mountaintimber wrote: 2601:600:C880:32E2:C5EA:AF96:C2D9:3EEE wrote: im sorry if it came across that way you misinterpereted my point. I was stating that while the other ants are refered to as he or she pitou is the only one that is not. I understand that gendered language in japan isn't as common as in the west and that they have different veiws on a nonbinary gender but the fact remains that out of all the characters, pitou is the only one seen who is refered to exclusively with gender neutral language. Im not attempting to say that any other interpretation of the gender nuetral language is false but based on the information presented to us in the source material this is simply my veiw. I agree that until togashi makes an official statement the gender of pitou will remain a mystery but mainly due to the fact pitou is the only one never assigned to gendered language I agree it was to early for me to state pitou is nonbinary as there is no conclusive proof and I was mainly just attempting to relate to the topic of this thread but at the same time I believe it is just as incorrect to assume pitou is either male or female as there is no conclusive proof on that front either. Well in that case, I can inform you that Pitou is not the only character referred to using gender neutral language exclusively. Pouf, fellow royal guard, is not once referred to using gendered language in the manga (in Japanese of course). I hope this doesn't open up a new can of worms but I've simply never felt the need to mention this fact in the past, as it's completely inconsequential in a Japanese context. The people who're fixated on this gender neutral language stuff just seem wholly focused on a different motive without genuine regard to context...

But with that, I believe no one would have reservations on Pitou's gender if it weren't for the more androgynous early design and the implicative mess of the 2004 databook (and maybe the boku personal pronoun but that likely raises less flags with seasoned manga readers). Everyone accepts Pouf as male after all, everyone, Japanese and international fans alike. Probably due to the lack of controversial ambiguity. Pitou's character of female-coded metaphor and a highly more feminized later design make it seem as if there's no less reason to believe Pitou is female as there is reason to believe Pouf is male.

Now I know assumptions in this field can be dangerous and/or unfair, but context and precedent can be enough. Yes, Togashi has a portfolio of gender-non-conforming characters, but they're all given their specific context. Yet every other character is concluded based upon empirical evidence, and we all do this, in every community. Some are unfortunately form bias due to their local translations without regard for the source.

Your personal belief is still a fair point of view, though your reasoning was based on falsehood. What would you now say of my inference of Pitou being female as a complete concept after having learned the above regarding Pouf? I'm not here to change your beliefs, but maybe your method of deduction.

And for anyone else, I really hope you don't run off to vandalize Pouf's page without having first experience heavy discussion and research on the subject. Your fact about Pouf is interesting, I was not aware of that. I know its a difficult thing to provide proof for but i was wondering if you had any way I could check that fact without just going through the entire ant arc of the japanese manga? It's not that I am doubting you its just I would like to be certain. I believe you made some solid points and I very much apreciate the fact that this debate was kept civil. Despite this I still stand by my original beliefs, Upon further research it came to my attention that on top of the use of boku, pitou also happens to be reffered to with kare in the databook. Pitou is also reffered to as a mother protecting her child by killua, this could though be interpreted as just a metaphor and not based on gender. Non the less it seems to me that when refered to in a gendered way it seems to be a mixture of both male and female. To be honest if Pitou were to be any binary gender, they strike me more as male (in the manga, the anime seems to make them more coded as female) Especially considering the explicitly flat chest (again manga only)  and the use of kare and boku (I know boku can be used by girls but its still more commonly male)