| Chie Satonaka | |
|---|---|
| Persona character | |
 Chie as seen inPersona 4 Arena | |
| First appearance | Onsen Nozokimi Daisakusen (2008) |
| First major appearance | Persona 4 (2008) |
| Designed by | Shigenori Soejima |
| Voiced by |
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| Portrayed by |
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Chie Satonaka (Japanese:里中 千枝,Hepburn:Satonaka Chie) is a fictional character from the 2008 video gamePersona 4. There, she appears as a high school student who starts investigating a dimension labeled as the TV World alongside her friends. The kidnapping of her best friendYukiko Amagi leads Chie to join the Investigation Team in working in a murder case where the victims are sent to the TV World to be killed by creatures known as Shadows.
Besides printed and animated adaptations of thePersona 4 game, Chie has also appeared in thefighting gamesPersona 4 Arena andPersona 4 Arena Ultimax, the dungeon crawlerPersona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, and therhythm gamePersona 4: Dancing All Night. Critical reception to the character has been positive due to her fighting-related and feminine traits. However, critics were differing when commenting on the English voice acting from Chie featured in the games.
In the designing of the character, various sketches were made with some of them being reminiscent to previousPersona characters.[2] ArtistShigenori Soejima said the concept of Chie was that of a "cute girl who could actually exist in real life". As a result, Soejima paid close attention to how realistic her design could be. The most challenging parts about creating the character was giving a balance between. The shape of her head was also challenging as it could not be too round or too long. As a result, Soejima claimed that he had repeatedly remake the character. According to Soejima, Chie's personality highly defines her character such as how she adores cheap, retro things and other accessories. As a result, Chie comes across as the turning point that defines the overall flavor ofPersona 4. Since Inaba is a rural town, Chie's design originally incorporated elements fitting for such setting such as having a jersey jacket which she often uses for jogging. However, since such jersey did not look well in the game, it was revised and instead her design carried something "utterly lame" which served as a major foundation for the rest of the characters. Her most common color is yellow which made her fit with the game's logo.[3] When it comes to the concept of her design, Chie came across as teenager who pay average attention to her fashion while her hair color was made to be believable in real life.[4]
Her two Personae, Tomoe and Suzuka Gogoen were based on Japanese mythology. Although these two are major figures in myths, they were chosen for Chie as they are one of the strongest women. Chie's personal tastes were incorporated into the two Persoane, resulting in a "macho" feeling whereas Tomoe is based onBruce Lee's design from a movie Chie favorites. They also wear helmets due to the rule that every Personae should wear protective items. This was inspired also by Soejima's fascination with motorcycles helmets. Once Tomoe evolves into Gogoen, her helmet changes from a standard street bike helmet to an off-road bike helmet in order to emphasize thoroughness.[3] Gogoen's weaponry was designed with the idea it can be separated into two different weapons that the Persona could wield at the same time.[4] Meanwhile, Shadow Chie was designed to represent her dark side when it came to her relationship with Yukiko as it emphasizes her jealousy of her popularity leading to the Shadow having two beings, with one being Chie's superiority stepping over Yukiko's body.[5]
Chie is voiced byYui Horie in Japanese. In English, she is voiced by Tracey Rooney forPersona 4,[6] andErin Fitzgerald provides her English voice for all other appearances.[7]Minami Tsukui portrays her in the stage play adaptation ofPersona 4.[8]Mariya Ise was originally cast as Chie in the stage play adaptation ofPersona 4 Arena, but she was replaced byMakoto Koichi following health problems and her pregnancy.[9] A limited edition ofPersona 4 Arena featured the buttons Chie wore inPersona 4 as a bonus.[10]
Chie first appears in the 2008browser gameOnsen Nozokimi Daisakusen, where the player spies on her in anonsen bath;[11] her first major appearance is in the 2008 role-playing video gamePersona 4, where she and her friends, the player characterYu Narukami and the classmateYosuke Hanamura, discover a world within televisions containing Shadows — monsters from repressed parts of people's psyches. Chie is an upbeat girl with an obsession withkung fu, even using those techniques in battle.[citation needed] Chie serves as the player's Social Link toThe Chariot;[12] this is symbolized in the animated series by Yu's usage of the PersonaAra Mitama (アラミタマ).[13] Although initially reluctant, she goes into the TV world when her best friendYukiko Amagi is thrown in, putting her in danger.[14] There, Chie encounters her Shadow who represents her jealousy of Yukiko's feminine side and talents, as well as her wish and need to maintain control over Yukiko.[15] With Yu and Yosuke's help, Chie confronts her other self and joins the Investigation Team.[16] Following the encounter with her Shadow, Chie receives the PersonaTomoe Gozen (トモエ,Tomoe), a muscular female figure wearing a yellow outfit and armed with anaginata, that she uses in combat while she performs kicks.[17] Throughout Yu's interactions with Chie (which can also be intimate), she discovers that she genuinely wanted to protect Yukiko without any underlying selfish motivations. After this, Tomoe evolves intoSuzuka Gongen (スズカゴンゲン), whose yellow jumpsuit turns black and is decked in silversamurai armor. The desire to protect people eventually inspires her to seek a career as a police officer.[18] In the re-releasePersona 4: Golden, Chie's Persona can evolve to a third level to becomeHaraedo-no-Okami (ハラエドノオオカミ,Haraedo-no-Ōkami), which has golden armor and a long flowing cape.[19]
Chie is playable inPersona 4 Arena alongside Tomoe Gozen;[20] InPersona 4 Arena, Chie joins Yu, Yosuke and Yukiko to investigate the TV world after seeing the Midnight Channel. When she enters, she is forced to fight her friends as well as a man,Akihiko Sanada.[21][22] She also appears inPersona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth,[23]Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth,[24] and inPersona 4: Dancing All Night.[25] On October 20, 2017, it was confirmed byArc System Works that Chie would appear in the upcomingfighting gameBlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle.[26] It was further confirmed on January 13, 2018 that Chie would be in the base game.[27] Additionally, Chie is featured in theanime television series adaptation ofPersona 4.[28]
Chie Satonaka has been identified by Kat Bailey fromUS Gamer and Leigh Alexander fromPolygon as their favorite character.[29][30] Alexander cited Chie's final Social Link sequence where she "realises that dedicating yourself to personal growth is cowardice, and that it's all meaningless unless you turn around and start fighting — start /using/ this strength you've amassed."[30] Robert Boyd, creator ofBreath of Death VII andCthulhu Saves the World, ranked Chie as the second best "JRPG warrior heroine." He justified the ranking by saying that she "kicks things to death" and called her a "great foil to the main character’s best friend, Yosuke."[31] Chie was named GamesRadar's favouritePersona 4 character.[32]Kotaku's Mike Fahey called Chie as his favouritePersona 4 character and discussed "swoon[ing] over" her.[33] Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton felt thatPersona 4 featured more depth to its characters than its predecessorPersona 3. The writer cited Chie's "fear for her friend Yukiko and desire to be seen as feminine" as an example of this.[34] Play regarded her as an example of positive writing in regards of female characters and wanted her to see her in more video games besidesPersona 4.[35] The character's fighting style involving kung fu also received praise byFutaman as it highlights her bright personality comparable to Princess Arena fromDragon Quest IV: The Guided Ones.[36]
Critical reception to both of Chie's English voice actresses have been mixed. While reviewingPersona 4,IGN's Jeff Haynes felt that Tracey Rooney's delivery as Chie sounded at times like a 30-year-old woman instead of a teenager.[37] Reviewing the same game, RPGamer's Michael Cunningham felt that Rooney felt "a little stiff" during battle lines, but was fine elsewhere.[38] WhileKotaku's Kirk Hamilton was initially reluctant aboutErin Fitzgerald while reviewingPersona 4 Golden, he eventually grew to like her.[34]VG247's Johnny Cullen expressed excitement at the prospect of Chie's playability inPersona 4 Arena.[39] In reviewingPersona 4 Golden,Destructoid's Dale North revealed he was not a fan of Fitzgerald's voice, due in part to the fact that he preferredYui Horie, Chie's Japanese voice actress.[40] RPGamer's senior reviews editor Adriaan den Oueden's initial impressions of Fitzgerald in his review of the same game were positive.[41] She was also listed as the 10th bestPersona character by Kimberley Wallace fromGame Informer who commented "Chie remains one of the most likable characters to date".[42] RPGFan agreed, regarding her as the best love interest from the entire game and that, while the Yu Narukami is a blank state due the handling of the game, the options given by the player make the two look as the best couple as the player can often support the heroine.[43] IGN also listed her as the eighth bestPersona character, praising her upbeat personality and her interests.[44]
In an analysis ofPersona characters, Ricardo Jorge de Lucena and Ana Raquel Romeu from Universidade de Fortaleza compared Chie to Ryuji Sakamoto fromPersona 5 and Aigis fromPersona 3 due to how they stand out in terms of strengths in their own respective games and how it is noticeable when the three become playable characters.[45] Ghuilerme Pedrosa from Universidade Federal Do Ceara thinks thatPersona 4 often challenged sexual identity andgender norms, with Chie being a subject too when going to Yukiko's Castle from the TV World and being seen as one of Yukiko's princes; In the process, it explored the theme of how Yukiko and Chie are friends who face conflicts related to femininity, awakening of male interest and female independence. However, the game does not explore a possible romantic attraction between these two characters. The writer praised the dynamic between the two characters as Chie is outgoing girl, fan of martial arts and sports, who feels frustrated at not getting people's attention for her beauty whereas Yukiko is a shy and reserved girl recognized for her beauty.[46] Writer Patrick Hayes stated that her Shadow "represents her desire to maintain dominance over Yukiko in their relationship as well as her jealousy of Yukiko's feminine qualities and skills."[47]
Margaret: I am sure that you will soon be able to wield yet another power that has awoken. The Chariot Arcana... How will this power come to shape your future, I wonder?
Chie: So I went to her house and, it turns out Yukiko really did disappear...! /Yosuke: I guess we have no choice but to go now. [But that aside,] the cops are saying some weird stuff. They think Yukiko's hiding to "lay low". Apparently, Yukiko-san's mom collapsed because that announcer lady [Ms. Yamano] bitched her out. They thinkthat gives her a motive, and the fact that she died right after makes her even more suspicious… /Chie:[outraged] What!? They think Yukiko did it!? What the hell iswrong with them!? /Yosuke: Dude, don't snap atme! Yukiko's the victim here, dammit, not the suspect…[…] With the police totally on the wrong track, we gotta handle it ourselves. /Chie: I'm going, too! And that's final! I'm going to save Yukiko no matter what!
Shadow Chie: That's right! I'm the one who can't do anything alone! I can't win as a girl, let alone as a person... I'm pathetic. But Yukiko... she depends on me. That's why she's my friend. I'll never loosen my grip on her... she's too important to me!
Yosuke: This guy and me are gonna catch the culprit ourselves! The police are out of their league in this case, but we've got Personas. /Chie: I'm helping out too! I can't believe someone would throw people into a place like that. I'm gonna sock whoever's doing this!/Yukiko: Let me help too. I want to know why this is happening... especially if someone hates me so much they want to kill me.
Narration: Chie has faced her other self... She has obtained the power to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Tomoe!
Chie: I told you I wanted to become strong so I could protect what matters most to me, right? Well, I want to protect this town.[...] So, I thought maybe I'd become a cop, and have Dojima-san put me through the wringer!
Media related toChie Satonaka at Wikimedia Commons