**Hello everyone and welcome to NerdCrush! A series of Blogs dedicated to those characters out there that we have a serious NerdCrush on. You know which ones we’re talking about. Those characters who, from the moment they’re introduced, steal the show in our eyes and help carry their prospective plots along like no others could. The kind of characters who we aspire to be more like or perhaps someday meet in the real world through some form of eldritch magic. The kind of characters who, with a mere cameo appearance, can entice us to watch or play something we otherwise wouldn’t have given two shats about. These Blogs go out to those guys (and gals), our NerdCrushes.**

This weeks Nerdcrush is dedicated to the one and only Chie Satonaka of the Persona 4 games and anime series. Chie is one of those characters that has many fans divided; you either love her, or don’t care for her. Me and Chris ran into a similar problem during our play-through of Persona 4, where I absolutely loved her and he didn’t really care for her one way or the other. Oddly enough, the reverse was true of Chie’s best friend Yukiko. Chris loved her yet to me she was just a big bore. Luckily Rise was there to be our middle ground, but that’s another story. Anyway…

The Character:

Chie is tomboy who has no problem speaking her mind or beating the crud out of anyone that comes between her and her goals. That isn’t to say that Chie is some kind of bully though, because she’s not. In fact Chie can’t stand seeing other people being picked on or bullied, and will go out of her way to defend or protect them. She’s upbeat, energetic, and has a fond love of both kung fu movies and Steak. Two loves that come in quite handy when you’re constantly training to be a BA kung fu expert. Despite being a female, Chie is actually one of the most physically inclined characters in the game; second only perhaps to Kanji (a rough and tough biker looking character). While I’m sure many people would prefer to have their female characters meek, or magically/intellectually inclined; I happen to enjoy a female character that isn’t afraid to get her hands (or feet) dirty and literally kick some butt.

Speaking of kicking… this wouldn’t be a very good tribute to Chie if I didn’t mention her “signature” move: Galactic Punt. You see, every character (aside from the main one) in Persona 4 was a unique “follow-up” attack that they use when you, the player, knock down an enemy. While all of these follow-up attacks are cool, Chie’s is clearly the most BA; because Galactic Punt, as the name would imply, is one hell of a kick. After taking a brief second to stretch, Chie winds up and kicks the enemy right into space. No, you heard that right. Into space. Complete with a classic Team Rocket-esc. ping in the sky after they fade into nothingness.

The move was such a signature of hers, that they even used it as her one-hit KO move in the Persona 4 Arena game.

Truly BA.

But lets take a step back here.  I don’t want you all to think that Chie is simply a one-dimensional character that runs around beating things up; because she’s not. Sure her physicality is a major part of her character, but the same could be said of countless other truly awesome characters over the ages. Sure Chie is great at beating stuff up, but she doesn’t do so just for the sake of it, no sir. Like I mentioned before, Chie wants to protect the weak and stop bullies wherever she can. In fact after helping the main character of Persona 4 stop the murders plaguing her home town, Chie decides that she doesn’t want to stop there; and decides to continue her physical training and work to become a police officer. I don’t know about you, but I’d totally watch a cop movie starring Detective Satonaka running around, solving mysteries and kung fu-ing perps into submission. But yeah, the point is that stopping people who prey on the weak isn’t just some minor thing Chie likes to do when it’s convenient for her, it’s a major goal of hers; so much so that she’s willing to devote her life and future to it.

But that isn’t to say that she’s some paragon of virtue either. As with all party members in Persona 4, at one point in the game Chie has to face her own shadow and confront the darkest things that lurk within herself. In Chie’s case, it’s her jealously over the natural talents and good looks of Yukiko, her best friend. Yukiko is one of those girls who has guys throwing themselves at her, despite Yukiko wanting nothing to do with them. Meanwhile, most guys just see Chie as “one of the guys” or are terrified of her because of how fervently she defends Yukiko from creepers and such. Of course you eventually find out that the two of them are secretly jealous of each other, Chie of Yukiko’s aforementioned good looks and Yukiko of Chie’s strength and confidence. Likewise, Chie enjoys how much Yukiko relies on her while Yukiko secretly hopes that Chie will help free her from the family business she finds herself “trapped” in. As with most friendships, their’s isn’t perfect, in in many ways their friendship is but a side effect of their own personal struggles. But it works for the two of them; and as the game unfolds the two of them learn how the other felt and come to accept their own weaknesses, which only serves to strengthen their friendship.

I should also mention that, as with the other party members in Persona 4, Chie represents one of the Major Arcana in a Tarot deck: The Chariot. Which symbolizes victory, conquest, self-assertion, control, war and command. A perfect summary of what Chie and her goals represent.

The Presentation:

With her distinct green jacket and bowl-shaped haircut, you can pretty much take one look at Chie and you have an idea what she represents. She’s a girl who doesn’t care all too much for formality and isn’t exactly keeping up with current hair styles. Likewise, despite being quite cute in her own regard, she isn’t your typical image of “beautiful”. A fact that plays into her jealousy of Yukiko, who has perfectly white skin and long, flowing black hair. Chie also has, when compared to many other female characters, a very “average” body shape; with most of her curves coming from her rather muscular legs and athletic build. Where as Rise and Yukiko are built like dainty flowers, Chie is what I’d call a dandelion; tough yet beautiful in her own right.

I’d also like to mention something that I think a lot of people over-look: Chie’s legs. Where as most of the female characters sport stalking with their school uniforms, Chie does not. A fact that makes sense when you consider how physically active she is as a fan of martial arts. Yet it also speaks a great deal about her as a character. For someone who uses her legs in combat as often as she does, one might expect her to cover or hide any bruises or cuts she gets during her training. Yet Chie does nothing to hide who she is and in fact shows her legs off more than any of the other female party members; including Rise, who is more than happy with her body and has even modeled in a bikini numerous times. Chie’s confidence in herself goes beyond simply “being happy with her looks”, Chie is happy with who she is; and has no problem showing it off even if fashion would dictate she shouldn’t. Chie is Chie; and she’s proud of it!

The Love:

So that’s pretty much it folks. I mean, I could talk about her for hours but I’m sure you all have better things to get to. I have a NerdCrush on Chie because she’s a BA tomboy who isn’t afraid to be herself and kick some butt at the same time. She fight to protect the weak, yet isn’t so noble or perfect that she doesn’t envy her best friend’s good looks. She a realistic, well-rounded character that is both awesome looking and cute while still looking like someone you could bump into on the streets; which isn’t a very easy thing to do. So I got to hand it to Atlus on this one, for managing to design and write one of the coolest characters I’ve seen in a video game/series in a long while. I don’t have many NerdCrushes, but I can firmly say that Chie Satonaka is one of them. And where I drafting a team of fictional characters to save the world, she’d easily have a spot on it for kicking power alone. After all, no one can stop a Galactic Punt…