michifugu

So, I just listened to the Xenochat Podcast episode about “A Return to Queer Theory aka The Queerquel” because lately, I’ve been craving some queer readings and analyses of the Xeno series. Why not, right?

Anyway, I can’t comment much on the early Xenogears segment since I haven’t finished Xenogears, but for the Xenosaga part, I found it weird how they brought up chaos/Wilhelm and Margulis/Cherenkov. I don’t think those pairings have strong queer implications—not that the ships don’t make sense, since I get the appeal and can see why they’d attract fujoshi. But among Xenosaga’s BL pairings, those two aren’t very fleshed out and lack dynamic (and I say this as someone who likes chaos/Wilhelm). While they have an enemies-to-lovers vibe, they barely interact. And honestly, chaos has more homosexual subtext with Jr./Rubedo & Canaan than with Wilhelm.

As for Cherenkov, I don’t read him as gay or bisexual, but I love the interpretation of him as a transgender allegory. It makes so much sense given his complex relationship with his body, self-identity, and inability to sire a child—especially how he adopts toxic masculinity, which mirrors real-life cases of trans men overcompensating to affirm their manhood. For Margulis, I can see him being read as gay since he seems more interested in (and implied to have an intimate relationship with) Jin, though the podcast didn’t mention this.

Honestly, the Xenosaga pairing with the most blatant homosexual tension is the URTV boys (yes, it’s incest, but even if you don’t ship them, their dynamic is extremely fujobait). The way they’re written feels like it was designed to appeal to fujoshi. But I don’t blame the podcasters for not talking about it—incest ships aren’t for everyone.

Moving on, I don’t read Dunban as gay because he barely has a character beyond being Shulk’s mentor and Fiora’s brother. Most XB1 characters other than Alvis feel pretty straight, tbh. Even XB2 and XB3’s casts are way more queer-coded. Honestly, it's the straightest Xenoblade to me.

I also found it weird that they considered the co-ed bath scene in XB3 “queer” and “progressive.” To me, it felt more like Starship Troopers—where the lack of sexual isn’t about progressivism but a subliminal message about fascism stripping away individuality, including sexuality. The soldiers are raised as tools of war, leaving no room for personal desires, which is why they don’t care about nudity. Among all the queer-coding in XB3, this is an odd choice to highlight as progressive and queer.

Another puzzling moment was when they brought up the Bechdel test for Doctus—that’s not queer, and Doctus barely has a character to begin with. The Bechdel test isn’t a great indicator, either—Shion (Xenosaga) has strong feminist writing despite her story revolving around men (play Xenosaga, and you’ll see what I mean).

I was interested when they mentioned Aegis having trans readings, but they only vaguely referenced a Reddit post without elaborating. Why bring it up if you won’t discuss it? lol

That said, I agree Lanz feels aromantic-coded. Some say Sena is asexual, but her yearning for Mio reads more like lesbian-coding—though a lesbian-asexual interpretation could work. Personally, I see Sena as leaning toward women since she shows more interest in them.

Overall, the podcast wasn’t bad, but I disliked how most guests just stated their interpretations without explaining why they read things as queer. It felt more like sharing headcanons than offering substantial analysis (which I'd hoped). Some takes felt like reaches—Dunban and Triton as gay? I don’t see it, especially Dunban, who feels like the straightest guy in XB1. Triton maybe, but Dunban is just low-hanging fruit.

The Xenosaga section was the most interesting, since they offered fresh perspectives—like Cherenkov as a trans allegory, which I can see it & makes sense, like I could read it that way. At least the podcasters framed things as “this could be read as or has possibility to be queer” rather than “this is definitely canon” (unlike Twitter).

Still, I wasn’t fully satisfied. I wanted deeper analysis, like that Mahoako queer analysis on Tumblr. Maybe I’ll have to write it myself someday.

At least, I agree that Lanz & Sena are platonic as hell. Lanz reads as gay/aromantic (he’s more emotionally intimate with men), and Sena as lesbian-coded.

Maybe I’ll give the podcast another shot with different guests, it could be this guest are not my liking lol.