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15 Years of Naoto

It's time for another character appreciation post! And it's one we're long due for: Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4.

February 2009, my first Naoto.

Witness the genesis of my eternal awkwardness drawing The Hat. I might not be able to explain why the hat bedevils me so, but I can take a stab at explaining why I love Naoto so much.

March 2009

Persona 4 wasn't my first Persona. I'd played P3 about half a year earlier. But while I liked it, it wouldn't really light up my brain until 2010's P3P. But P4, that was the first Persona I got excited for. And it largely came down to the characters, and ever since playing it, one of my favorites has been the Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane.

May 2009

I wish I could remember more specifics from then, what it was or when it was that first drew me to Naoto. The design is great, very stylish and streamlined with a bit of a 60s/70s flair of nostalgia.

September 2009

And I still love the original VA's performance, the measured way in which Naoto typically speaks, the deadpanning, the momentary awkwardness, the heartbreaking vocal lifts during the more painful and dramatic scenes.

November 2009

If you knew me in 2009, you know that whole year was basically sunk in Persona 4 fanfic and fan art and a ton of it was dedicated to Naoto. This was when my original writing was suffering, and I really turned to fandom for artistic expression. I'd written a little Persona fic prior to that, but now I really got into it, and I made friends with a great community of people because of it.

March 2010

I think in some respects Naoto's a character who's taught me a lot creatively. Naoto isn't easy to write – composed, intelligent, mature, but far from bullet-proof, either physically or emotionally. Detached but not unfeeling, seasoned but in many ways very immature and self-conscious. That air of being in command of a situation, even to an intimidating degree, while in reality being this very small person who fears not being taken seriously and then abandoned.

December 2010

For about a year, I probably drew more Naoto than anything else. (You'd think that would let me master The Hat.) To me, Naoto feels very steely, but with this delicate beauty as well, and I enjoyed capturing that. Possibly drawing Naoto again and again influenced my artistic style overall, taking it out of its more angular style in 2008-9 and into the softer more doll-like look of 2010-11.

November 2012

And of course I was and am a fool for the KanNao dynamic. The contrast between their characters, but the way they also compliment each other while coming at things so differently, is so good.

February 2013

As time's gone by, I've lost touch with Naoto artistically. Other interests, both fandom and original arrived, and I don't regret that. Losing touch with a character doesn't mean I no longer like them. But because most of my P4 stuff is in my creative rear view, I look back on it with nostalgia – a short but happy period in my fandom past.

November 2019

Coming back and drawing Naoto feels a bit like revisiting an old house I used to live in, or maybe a school I went to. And even after all these years, I still remember the lines, the shapes – the Naoto-ness.

November 2023

Someone else might look at this one and compare it to the soft, smiling December 2010 Naoto and think that's not even the same character. But not to me. Looking at them, I see the differences, but I still see Naoto in both of them.

April 2024

Naoto's one of those characters who had a big impact on me, my writing, my style. You don't just forget about that.

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In an odd move, Atelier Iris 3 has two characters with the same birthday -- but I'm sure Iris won't mind having wandering ex-Raider Meyna Neju at her party, even if Meyna does need a little time to warm up to people.

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Happy Birthday to Iris Fortner, alchemist and heroine of Atelier Iris 3.

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Happy Birthday to Pandora from The Caligula Effect 2. Perhaps she'll celebrate with a soothing little walk through a garden.

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Happy Birthday to Killia from Disgaea 5. I don't know how demon overlords celebrate birthdays. Maybe drinking 7UP from a human skull?

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coloring old sketches: the goddess Haephnes cuddling little Revya

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Happy Birthday to small investigative superstar Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 -- who is very serious and adult and doesn't need a birthday cake, oh, you made one, well, okay, maybe one piece but please serve it with very black coffee.

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Aerith.

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Asch and Natalia dancing (because they should). I have a colored version I'll post sometime.

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Some Suikoden fan art. Kelley and Elza, before the scars.

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Happy Birthday to Persona 5's Makoto Niijima! Someone buy her another dot for her name, she doesn't have enough.

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I often call my female OCs, especially the earlier ones, Mary Sues (fondly) because whatever you think a Mary Sue actually is, people like Zoe and Tarla probably qualify.

Rionach here is a much more down to earth character -- she's just a human, nothing special, has no magical powers, doesn't have a grand destiny, and never saves the world or anything.

But she does have heterochromatic eyes and two passionate men fighting over her, so never mind.

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Happy Birthday to Yakumo Sumeragi from Scarlet Nexus, that long-dead faceless guy from the distant past who I'm sure has absolutely no bearing on the story whatsoever.

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Wandering through a, now that I look at it, disturbingly empty city.

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At the last moment, disaster was averted. If only Red realized that –- she might have had some hint of who her real enemies were. As it is, as the summer of 67 goes on and her relationship with her bodyguard crosses the point of no return, she can't shake the feeling that not everything is as ideal as it seems in Cloudbank.

Chapter Seventeen: Red finds herself someplace familiar.

Updates Mondays

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I'd wish a Happy Birthday to Neku Sakuraba, the protagonist of The World Ends With You, but I suspect a loner like him would prefer nobody mention it.

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Happy Birthday to our favorite wolf-riding, chainsaw-wielding princess, Sapphire Rhodonite from Disgaea 3.