Kanji Tatsumi

Kanji Tatsumi is a playable character from Persona 4. He is a first-year student in class 1-3 at Yasogami High School in Inaba and known to many as a notorious delinquent since middle school.

Appearances

 * Persona 4 / Golden: Playable Character; Emperor Social Link
 * Persona 4 Manga: Major Character; Emperor Arcana
 * Persona 4 The Animation / Golden Animation: Major Character; Emperor Arcana
 * Persona 4 Visualive / the Evolution
 * Persona 4 Arena / Ultimax: Playable Character / Navigator / Protagonist (Kanji Story Route, Episode P4)
 * Persona 4 Arena (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena Stageplay
 * Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Manga): Major Character
 * Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Stageplay
 * Persona x Detective Naoto: Minor Character
 * Persona 4: Dancing All Night: Playable Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P4: Major Character
 * Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth - Side:P3: Supportive Character
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth: Playable Character
 * Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth Roundabout Special
 * Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight: Cameo (DLC)
 * Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: Cameo (DLC)

Design
Kanji is the tallest member of the Investigation Team despite his young age compared to the rest of the Investigation Team. He has a bleached-blond sweptback crewcut with a widow's peak, gray eyes (blue in the animation), with a scar above his left eye. He wears multiple piercings, metal jewelry, and a black long-sleeved shirt with a skull-and-crossbones design on the front, under his school uniform. He also wears a white belt, and like the rest of the Investigation Team, He wears shaded glasses while in the TV World. On days off, he instead wears a black jacket, and in the summer he discards his jacket and dons a black tank top with a flaming skull design. During the campout, he wears his P.E. suit in a fashion similar to his winter uniform.

His character art features tattoos on his left arm. However, the tattoos are absent in certain costumes, such as when he goes shirtless, or dresses like during the school festival.

During the winter in Persona 4 Golden, he wears a snow suit, a black beanie, a maroon pullover, a black winter jacket, black gloves, tan pants and black shoes with red lines. During the True Ending epilogue, it is revealed that his hair is naturally black and he wears glasses. He decides to re-dye his hair blond after being made fun of at the end of Persona 4 The Golden Animation.

In the anime, his hair is more blond than the game. His design also features ear cuffs on his right ear, as well another ear piercing. A similar design is featured in Persona 4 Arena, although it's the other way around.

In Persona 4 The Golden Animation, his shirt is dark purple instead of black.

In Persona 4: Dancing All Night, he retains his Yasogami school uniform, but wears his jacket around his waist. He also wears black sneakers with flames on them, a dark gray tank top with 1+3 in black writing, and a yellow scarf around his head.

Personality
Kanji seems to be a delinquent who was strong enough to fight a biker gang in middle school, earning him a town-wide reputation of wildness and toughness. He drapes his school uniform over his shoulders in a punk-ish style to emphasize the style he wishes to embody. However, when he sometimes gets flustered he tends to threaten people, occasionally getting into fights and scraps.

In reality, Kanji's delinquent behavior is just to hide that he likes hobbies others around him consider feminine, such as sewing or cooking, despite his appearance. When his father died, he told him that he wasn't like a man because he obsesses in sewing, knitting, crafting and preparing snacks, causing him put up this facade. He actually fought down the biker gangs to prove his masculinity and to prevent them from harassing his mother, since he's sort of a mother's boy and cares for her well being more than anyone else. He cares for his mother so much that a simple mention of his mother being in a hospital severely unsettles him.



Kanji's hobbies, or the side of him that he attempts to hide at all costs, includes how adept and passionate he is at sewing, knitting, arts and crafts, as such things are considered feminine, and are things that males his age generally have no interest in because of the potential negative connotations that he believes such interests entail. He has been interested in arts and crafts since he was young and has been honing his skills without anyone knowing. Kanji's cutely designed works, which include knit plushies and plush hand mitts are already being sold as proper goods in the shop. He also conducts handicrafts classes for the neighbors. When it comes to crafts, Kanji is unrivaled. Kanji really wants to join his school's Sewing Club, but he feels as if he might frighten the other club members because of both his reputation as a troublemaker and his general intimidating appearance. He can be seen standing in the Sewing Club classroom, although he has made the Sewing Club members nervous. On his online profile, he is part of the social groups "Let's Sewing," "Knitting Cafe" and "I Like Hawaiian Quilts." Kanji is obsessed with details and compulsiveness at times. However, he's afraid of participating in  such hobbies because girls may ridicule him for it.

Kanji compensates with a tough, hyper-masculine facade in order to avoid ridicule and rejection, by both genders of his peers, as his fellow male peers might interpret his interests as "gay" while his female peers might interpret his feminine hobbies as being "unmanly" and to avoid such rejection, he hides his interests. His Social Link reveals that acting tough has often caused a chain of trouble for Kanji, and he wonders how to prevent such things from escalating. In his Rank 10 Social Link, with Rise Kujikawa calling his dolls "creepy" but nevertheless compliments him as an amazing guy, he realizes that he needs to try to make others "understand" him, something which he never attempted as he immediately gave up on them, and something he hopes will prevent future misunderstandings.

Compared to the rest of the team, Kanji tends to be a bit slow on the uptake. However, he is impulsive and acts faster than he talks. Throughout the game, he realizes that his impulsive actions can drag others down, and that he can balance that by instead giving them his support.



In addition to that, in a Social Link event with Naoki Konishi, it was revealed that the "super yummy croquettes Kanji's mom made" he had 10 years ago were actually made by Kanji himself when he was young. In other words, not only is Kanji good at crafts and sewing, he's also a decent cook. On his online profile, he is part of the social group "Delicious Shops In Inaba." He is a huge fan of popsicles and animal crackers, and is searching for the ultimate secret animal cracker: the penguin.

He has a fondness for cute things, particularly animals, as he is shown to keep many stuffed toys and takes a particular liking towards Koromaru and Morgana.



Kanji is terrified of having the secrets he has kept for so long, his likes and his true nature, revealed and he suspects that he really does have a "feminine" heart. As a result, on the other side of the TV, a dazzling world of love between men was created. Shadow Kanji claims that he hated women because they spoke behind his back, and that men would keep their feminine interests. Kanji did admit that it was saying the real thing. However, this can be just be interpenetrated as his feminine side taken to logical extremes. Kanji's real sexuality is left ambiguous, since he did mistake Naoto's "interest in him" (which is actually her suspecting that he might be the next victim of the serial murders) as a love confession, and Naoto had not been revealed as a woman during that time.



Even after his friends have accepted his long-standing inner conflicts, his likes and hobbies, and the him who represents all those things, he still feels unsettled at times. By the end of the game, Kanji acknowledges a deeper acceptance and understanding of stereotypically "feminine" and "masculine" interests in his Social Link.

Persona 4
Kanji is the only child of the Tatsumi family, owners of the textile shop in Inaba's Central Shopping District. Amagi Inn patrons this textile shop. He is now a student at Yasogami High School, but he often skips class for unknown reasons.

His father died a young age and he lives alone with his mother. Before he died, he told Kanji, "If you're a man, you have to become strong" because Kanji enjoys doing feminine hobbies despite his appearance. Kanji thought his father was telling him he wasn't a real man, which angered him and caused him to become insecure about his masculinity. As a result of this, Kanji drastically changed his appearance and began isolating himself from others. At the beginning of Persona 4, Kanji has no known friends, and people in Inaba (police included) are terrified of him, to the point that when he approaches the Investigation Team, they have to run.



Kanji is first seen with Naoto Shirogane after Yukiko Amagi was rescued from the Midnight Channel, after he's been interviewed on the TV during that night and a blurry image of him can be seen on the TV at the end of that day. Naoto was also able to deduce that Kanji would be the next victim, and tries to seek clues by speaking to him. During that time, Naoto expresses interest in the case, which Kanji mistakes as Naoto being romantically interested in him. The Investigation Team has to sneak up on him because he looks and acts terrifying. Since the Amagi Inn patrons his textile shop, Kanji has been pinned down as a target courtesy of the inn's involvement with Mayumi Yamano. He is eventually kidnapped and thrown in the Midnight Channel, confirmed when a clear image of him appears on the TV and Yukiko dialed his mother, telling her that he never came back after going out that day. Kanji's Midnight Channel dungeon is the "men's only" Steamy Bathhouse.

If Kanji isn't rescued by 6/4 (deadline), the protagonist will receive a call from Yukiko on that day (whose voice is breaking due to how emotional she was being after finding out about Kanji) about a body, being Kanji's. The protagonist blacks out instantly afterwards and is summoned to the Velvet Room, where Igor gives him a choice to try again 1 week prior.



On the top floor, the team finds Kanji confronting Shadow Kanji. Shadow Kanji calls him out on his "charade" and tells him it's awful to deceive himself and other people, and asks Kanji what is so bad about doing what he wants to do. Shadow Kanji continues on how much he hates girls because they are arrogant, self centered, ridicule him on his hobbies and treat him as a "thing," and he prefers hanging out with men because they won't ridicule him for his feminine interests.

After being denied, Shadow Kanji transforms into is a mostly nude version of himself surrounded in a bed of roses while holding two Mars symbols. It represents his sensitive side under his rough exterior which was often unappreciated and even ridiculed by girls, and being thought of as an unmanly degenerate as a result. His Shadow is also accompanied by two other Shadows, one named "Nice Guy" and the other named "Tough Guy."

The party manages to defeat Kanji's Shadow, although the real Kanji still refused to accept it. The Shadow pleaded desperately with the party at this point, asking if anyone would just accept it. Kanji punched the Shadow, but soon accepted it, and so, it transformed into his Persona, Take-Mikazuchi.

Social Link
Kanji's Social Link begins a set time after his rescue, and it can commence as early as June 9th, when a female student on the second floor of the classroom building accuses him of bullying other students. The protagonist can find him in the practice building on the first floor next to the sewing room. To start this Social Link, speak to Kanji and choose to talk to him. Kanji will lead the protagonist to the Samegawa Flood Plain to confront him. Choose to talk about the accusations of bullying. Kanji will then state the accusations are false. Upon seeing the protagonist as a friend, the Emperor Social Link will be established.

As the protagonist continues through the Social Link, he will support Kanji in making dolls for a young boy who the protagonist meets around the third level of the Emperor Social Link. This will lead to Kanji eventually beginning to sell the dolls at the Textile Shop.



At the final meeting, Kanji goes to the Dojima residence with the protagonist. He explains to the protagonist that his obsession with being a real man came from his father's last words. Here, he notes that he finally figured out what being a real man is and what he meant. According to Kanji, a real man is a man who does everything at one hundred percent. Kanji also admits to the protagonist that the manifestation in his personal dungeon truly did represent himself, revealing that he is becoming more comfortable with who he is, especially with his hobbies. He gives the protagonist a cute strap, and his Persona evolves to Rokuten Maou. He then states that he will start a puppet-making class, the first being in the protagonist's room.

Persona 4 Golden
The addition of bikes for the Investigation Team introduced a unique new way of obtaining skills for party members. By going on special forms of dates with each party member, involving the use of the bikes, the player is given the option of either having the party member in question learn a brand-new skill, or relearn any old skill that they have forgotten. The bike skills available to Kanji are listed below.

Kanji can also perform a fusion spell with Naoto called "Beauty & The Beast" when the following requirements are achieved: Kanji and Naoto are both in the active party, and an "All-Out Attack" is performed, but an enemy remains. When performing "Beauty & The Beast," Kanji and Naoto will both run up to each other and summon their respective Personas. Bones will surround them and the enemy as a skull appears from the ground. The skull will emit a bright light from its mouth, damaging the enemy.

Additionally, each party member is able to learn new skills upon the progression of their Social Link. The Social Link skills that Kanji learns upon the development of his Social Link are also listed below.

Persona 4 The Animation
Kanji is first seen fighting a biker gang, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the fray. He is next seen at school where he meets Yu for the first time. There, Yu notices Kanji had dropped a pink bunny keychain, which embarrasses Kanji; he snatches it back and storms off. When Kanji discovers Yosuke and Chie spying on him, he chases after them when Chie mentions the word "gay." Eventually, Kanji ends up chasing Yu and Yukiko, too.



When Kanji woke up in the bathhouse, he suddenly hears someone else's inner voice talking about him; this angered him to the point of refusing his other self, who had appeared to welcome him. As the Investigation Team arrives, they become aware of the fact Kanji has been fighting his Shadow on his own, and handling himself just fine. But soon Kanji tires, and loses his energy; he suffers a backlash as if he had refused his Shadow.

Despite this, he does not fall into unconsciousness, and instead watches with what little strength he has left as his Shadow strikes him down. He regains consciousness long enough to see Yu guarding his prone body, protecting him. Kanji refuses to commit, then Yu's words bring him back to his senses, and it's enough for him to accept his Shadow.

Kanji admits that the Shadow is a part of him, no matter how much he wished he could deny it. His Shadow is then reborn as his Persona, Take-Mikazuchi.

During the battle with Adachi in Magatsu Inaba, Kanji teams up with Naoto to battle the first Reaper, but got moderately injured from it. After he and the other Seeker of Truths' Personas fight against Ameno-sagiri and fail, as he sees Yu in danger, his Persona evolves into Rokuten Maou and gives him the strength to summon the ultimate Persona, Lucifer.

Kanji and Yu's bond is represented by the Persona, King Frost.

Persona 4 Arena
In the game's story mode, Kanji learns that Yu is returning to Inaba for Golden Week, so he plans on knitting a doll for him. In the middle of working, he falls asleep, eventually waking up in the middle of the night but tripping and falling right into the flat screen TV in his living room. When he wakes up, he finds that he is in Yasogami High and discovers the P-1 Grand Prix tournament. Believing this is just a dream, he enters the tournament and defeats opponents one by one without hesitation. In two spots, the player has the choice of believing the entire tournament is still a dream or taking it as reality.

In the main route, Kanji eventually finds out the tournament is not a dream and deduces that the whole fiasco is a result of Shadow Kanji stirring up trouble in the guise of Teddie. At the end of many battles with his seniors, he eventually reaches Teddie and Labrys at the classroom. Teddie, half-jokingly telling Labrys to leave without him, remains alone to fight Kanji who defeats his foe with gusto but is reprimanded for his actions by Teddie himself, who reveals that he is not the same as the Teddie shown on screen or Shadow Kanji. At that moment, "Shadow Kanji" enters the room and echoes statements similar to the Shadow Kanji fight in Persona 4 only, Kanji accepts his problems very quickly and defeats Shadow Kanji without any hesitation.

Once again, reprimaned for his actions, Kanji is told that the tournament was in fact a result of a new foe, Kanji had no choice but to reach the announcement room for answers, save Rise who had recently made a cry for help, and Labrys who had already rushed ahead of him. In the announcement room with no other Persona users with combat abilities, he has no choice but to defend Rise and Labrys from Shadow Labrys who has finally become berserk through Labrys' rejection. After having busted Shadow Labrys, Rise and Kanji comfort Labrys on her troubles and finally get her to accept her Shadow. The three head for the school roof which is actually the lobby and finally return home. Just before bidding Labrys farewell out in the real world, Kanji tells Labrys to stay cheerful and says goodbye with energy, "See ya!" Echoing Kanji, Labrys leaves with the Shadow Operatives and their limo with tears in her eyes. Kanji returns to his family's store and offers to look over it for the day while proudly showcasing his knit dolls for sale.

In an alternative route, Kanji still believes the entire tournament is a dream throughout most of the story. At every turn, he defeats opponents left and right without much hesitation. When he eventually encountered and defeated Naoto in one of the matches, he sheepishly demanded that Naoto call him without an honorific. Later down the line, when he finally reaches the announcement room, he encounters Aigis defending Rise from Shadow Labrys. From this, he immediately assumes that Aigis is the "good robot" and that Shadow Labrys is the "evil robot." When Aigis is knocked away by Shadow Labrys, Kanji intervenes, despite Aigis' continuous pleas for him to take Rise and escape. Thinking that it is his mission to defeat the "evil robot" to avenge the "good robot," he engages and dismantles Shadow Labrys. After the battle, everyone arrives at the announcement room. All of the Shadow Operatives comment positively on Kanji's impressive combat skills, but the Investigation Team, however, is furious at Kanji who not only beat most of them up without pulling his punches, but also still thinks that everything is a dream when it is in fact not. Kanji, having realized this, blushes furiously and apologizes to everyone especially in the context of Naoto, who herself hides her flustered face behind Yukiko.

Play Style
Kanji is a grappler character with multiple options at nearly all ranges, but many of his options suffer from specific flaws, as well as generally having a hard time fighting keep away characters on a consistent level. He has very slow movement options, his run has a noticeable startup, he has a very wide stance and Take-Mikazuchi is very huge. His moves often force him to commit to doing a specific action, especially if it involves his Persona. If he whiffs these moves, Kanji may be taking a lot of damage due to the recovery of such moves. And while he can deal with opponents on his own, if he suffers a Persona Break, he loses some of his most powerful defensive and offensive tools.

To compensate, he has the highest health in the game and incredible damage potential, allowing him to come out of the toughest of pinches with what few hits he is able to land. What's more, his Cruel Attack can lead to some interesting mixups. Should Kanji be put on the offense, it is possible to score massive amounts of damage from several types of resets and grab linking with his command throws. It becomes especially dangerous when Kanji manages to shock his opponent making his approach that much easier.

Kanji's leitmotif/theme is "A Pure-Hearted Beast."

Score Attack
Kanji is the fifth character the player faces in Score Attack. Kanji gains an overall power boost making his grabs even more dangerous.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Kanji and team wind up in an alternate reality resembling Yasogami High School during the Culture Festival. There, they meet Rei, Zen and later the S.E.E.S members. They work together to traverse through the four labyrinths in order to retrieve the four objects safeguarded by Shadows in hopes of leaving the place.

After the combined group defeat Chronos, they return to their respective worlds, their memories of the experience erased. In the aftermath, Kanji is seen studying for exams with the rest of the team.

In the P4 story, Kanji bonds with Ken Amada while helping him knit new shoelaces after his own were snapped. While venturing through You in Wonderland, Kanji is shrunken to doll size after accidentally drinking a shrinking potion and has to retrieve a key needed to open the gate to the innermost part of the labyrinth. While retrieving the key, Kanji and Yosuke are knocked unconscious and their faces fall on each other. P4 hero and Rise refuse to answer any question of what happened.

The group encounters an F.O.E and hide in the men's bathroom to escape it while walking through the Evil Spirit Club.

While venturing through the fourth labyrinth, the Inaba Pride Exhibit, they get chased by a running F.O.E. Kanji distracts it while the team mixes together a chemical weapon to defeat the Shadow. Kanji gets hit by the first shot, but survives the attack.

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Kanji and team enter the TV world on a regular mission when the course suddenly diverts and sends them through into a world filled with dinosaurs. They encounter the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and work together to traverse through the movie worlds, encountering S.E.E.S along the way. During a sidequest, Kanji bonds with Ryuji Sakamoto and learns a unison attack with him. He also took an interest in Morgana as shown when he was introducing himself.

Once the final boss, Enlil, is defeated, the combined team departs and returns to their own respective worlds, their memories of the experience erased. Kanji then goes to the Dojima Residence to watch a dinosaur movie with the team and Yu's cousin, Nanako.

Persona x Detective Naoto
On Naoto's second day of attending Yagokoro Private School to investigate the disappearances of Miyuki Midorikawa and Shirou Konno, Kanji sends her a text expressing concern about her potentially being bullied by her classmates and reassures her that he would head over and beat them up. Naoto replies back by saying she will count on him if anything happens, and feels good knowing that her friends are doing well and that she can rely on them.

Later, after successfully solving the case and returning to the police station, Sousei mentions Ai wanting a "Tatsumi-brand" stuffed animal from Junes.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Kanji Tatsumi is a playable character and he stars in "Best Friends," a song from Persona 4 Arena, and "Time To Make History" (Akira Yamaoka Remix.)

His dance style is the wildest out of all characters in the game. He doesn't really dance well, but can be smooth at times. Other times, he just stays on beat and has fun. He does repeat dances a lot, but he does boast longer FEVERs than other characters.

During FEVERs he normally dances in his own bubble when alongside someone else, unless he's with a girl, in which he dances a bit closer, but not too close. During his FEVERs with Naoto, he normally gets embarrassed and dances worse.

Quotes
P4 Anime (English)= P4A=
 * "Hey! What're you twats looking at?!"
 * "Like hell you are... There's no FREAKIN' WAY YOU ARE A PART OF ME!" (rejecting his Shadow)
 * "I can't help it... I LOVE STUPID CUTE SHIT!"
 * "Look, it made me happy when you called what I made cute. You didn't make fun of me for it."
 * "I said cut that crap out! I hate that this guy's inside me. You've absolutely no idea how freakin' embarrassing it is. It ain't about men or women, I'm just scared shitless of being made fun of. I'm nothing but a big ol' coward who spends most his time pushing people away. Look I already knew that you existed. You're me and I'm you. That isn't some major revelation, you freakin' moron." (accepting his Shadow)
 * "Persona..." (gaining Take-Mikazuchi)
 * "What the hell do they mean? Beefcake?" (in reference to his title)

Battle Quotes
P4=


 * "Deep in the realm of romance!" (E3 trailer)
 * "So, you want a beating." (Entrance)
 * "Outta my way, punk...you're in my way? You're going down, too!" (Intro)
 * "Let's get this man-on-man fight started!" (vs. Akihiko)
 * "This girl can be pretty scary..." (vs. Yukiko)
 * "Not a bad opponent!" (vs. Yosuke)
 * "You'll make a nice punching bag!" (vs. Teddie)
 * "O-Oh..it's you..." (vs. Naoto)
 * "I let my guard down." (Getting hit by Naoto)
 * "Dammit I can't concentrate!" (Combo ending vs. Naoto)
 * "Hold it right there!" (While performing Added Cruel Attack move)
 * "Don't just lie there!" (While performing Added Cruel Attack move)
 * "This'll hurt!" (While performing This'll Hurt! move)
 * "Stab 'em!" (While performing This'll Hurt! move)
 * "Gotcha! Go down!" (While performing Gotcha! move)
 * "I see ya! Thunder time!" (While performing Gotcha! move)
 * "Take that!" (While performing Bet Ya Can't Take This! move)
 * "Bet Ya Can't Take This!" (While performing Bet Ya Can't Take This! move)
 * "Don't underestimate me, goddamnit!" (Upon reaching Awakening Mode)
 * "Hope you're ready!" (When hit while performing Reversal Action, What a Pain!)
 * "Alright! One more! Smackdown!" (While performing super move, Ass-Whoopin', Tatsumi-Style)
 * "Better don't move! Blast off!" (While performing super move, Ass-Whoopin', Tatsumi-Style)
 * "Time to end this! Come! Crush 'em to dust!" (While performing super move, Burn to a Crisp!!)
 * "This'll finish you off! Nowhere to run! Thunder! Burn to a Crisp!!" (While performing super move, Burn to a Crisp!!)
 * "Let's finish this!" (Initiating Instant Kill, The Man Series: Brofist)
 * "Get ready to hurt! Here it goes, dammit! Feel my power! Right!" (While performing Instant Kill)
 * "Thank you, Senpai!" (Defeated by Yu in any match)
 * "I'm done for..." (Defeated by Yukiko in any match)
 * "*shouts in pain* Damm..." (Continue?)
 * "I ain't running in like that!" (Retry)
 * "You cleared it already?! I knew I had skills, but...you surprised me! Come back again, okay? I had fun lettin' you watch my back." (Spoken to you after beating Score Attack with him)

Victory Quotes
General Character Specific P4AU=
 * Sorry, I won't lose a one-on-one match!
 * My Persona'll make the skies rumble!
 * Haaaaah! I win! Wait... whoa! My nose's bleedin' again from all the excitement...
 * You picked the fight. All I did was accept. No hard feelings, got it?
 * Yu Narukami: Heh! Thanks for the match, Senpai!
 * Kanji Tatsumi: Hehe, go me... I was pretty tough!
 * Teddie: Dammit... That Ted had to go bouncin' around like that... How much more adorable can he be!?
 * Naoto Shirogane: Hey, I went for you with everything I had. It was, like, you know, my way of being courteous... and showin' respect for you and stuff.
 * Mitsuru Kirijo: That fur looks amazing... U-Um... could I feel it?
 * Akihiko Sanada: Whoa, check out those muscles! Even a man like me can't help but stare... Wait, no t-that came out wrong! I - Damn it!
 * Labrys: Well, I've had my Persona for a while, so I can't let someone who just got hers beat me. Hm? Wait a sec, how old are you?
 * Shadow Labrys: Did you let it all out? Don't worry, we're here to help you carry your burdens.

Victory Quotes
PQ=
 * General
 * Isn't it too early to be napping? Or what, are you too freaked out?
 * There you have it! The true strength of Kanji Tatsumi, a real man!
 * Sorry, but I ain't gonna lose in a fistfight. Though, y'know... to be honest, I'm impressed.
 * You thought you could beat me with guts like that? You gotta set your teeth like you're about to die!
 * Character Specific
 * Yu Narukami: Someday, I'll be more man than you! Thanks for everything today!
 * Yosuke Hanamura: Say what you want, man, but you're strong too... No wonder you're Senpai's partner.
 * Yukiko Amagi: Yukiko-senpai... You were serious about this, weren't you? I mean, I'm still sizzling in places.
 * Naoto Shirogane: H-Hey... I didn't hurt you too much, did I? Wait, I-I didn't mean that in a weird way, got it!?
 * Aigis: A good scrap with a robot's interesting too! It does make my hands kinda sore, though...
 * Yukari Takeba: That outfit... is it that cosplay stuff? The stitching's done pretty well for that...
 * Mitsuru Kirijo: I don't know Kirijo from Jojo, but I definitely sensed your guts!
 * Akihiko Sanada: Your true man's fists were heavy... Please let me challenge you again some time!
 * Junpei Iori: That was close! I underestimated him 'cause of his looks and almost ended up goin' down... No wonder you're one of Akihiko-san's buds!
 * Shadow Kanji: Seriously, what a bastard! Quit showing up already!
 * "It's awesome fighting next to you, senpai!" (Battle start, with P4 hero)
 * "We're more of a match than that thing!" (Battle start, fighting low-leveled FOE)
 * "Ugh? Wha... what was I fighting?" (Panic)
 * "Hey, leader, don't wear yourself out!" (Low HP, P3 hero as leader)
 * "Yeah, that's right! Scram!" (Battle end)
 * "Good one, Leader!" (Battle end, P3 hero as leader)
 * "All right, let's keep going!" (Result)
 * "I'm even tougher now!" (Level up)

Etymology

 * The name Kanji means "perfect, complete/completion, end" (完) (kan) and "two" (二) (ji).
 * Kanji's surname Tatsumi means "southeast" (巽).

Trivia

 * One of the two of Kanji's English voice actors, Matthew Mercer, called Kanji's character "lovely."
 * At the entrance of Naoto's dungeon, Kanji mentions he used to watch Phoenix Ranger Featherman R all the time as a kid.




 * Kanji made the "Alice" costume that Teddie wore, showing Kanji's talent and expertise when it comes to sewing.
 * The Persona 4 Official Design Works lists his birth year as 1995. It is likely this is an error which is fixed in Persona 4 Arena.
 * Despite the Persona 4 guidebook and Persona 4 Arena saying he is 183cm, the notes for Persona 4 The Golden Animation say he is 185cm.
 * Kanji's outfit in the "Miss" Yasogami High Beauty Pageant resembles.
 * During one of the Emperor Social Link scenes in the game, Kanji mentions "A pink alligator, like in that storybook," referring to the story Akinari Kamiki completed at the end of the Sun Arcana social link in Persona 3.
 * When Kanji equips the Gekkoukan High uniform, his victory pose and lines mirror Akihiko.
 * During the Shadow Naoto battle in Persona 4 The Animation, Kanji is the only male character who doesn't get hit by Galgalim Eyes as he has been buried by debris at that time.
 * In Persona 4 Golden, Kanji didn't have a tattoo on his arm during the summer beach swimming.
 * In both Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Kanji has the tendency of breaking the fourth wall.
 * Exclusive to P4 Route of Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, if the player choose the left path of Inaba Pride Exhibit Third Floor event, while being chased by Macho Man F.O.E, Kanji puts his hands to the screen and directly said, "Wha--Hey--Huh--By myself!?," realizing he has to face the F.O.E by himself.
 * In Persona 4 Golden, Kanji's name is accidentally typed as "Kanju" when initiating a certain rank of his Social Link.
 * In Persona 4 Golden, because of Kanji's young age, he is unable to ride a scooter to Okina Station or the beach with his friends. He instead rides a bicycle.
 * In Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Kanji makes a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in his victory quote against Mitsuru.
 * As one of his victory poses in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Kanji notices the player and then throws his folding chair directly to the screen.
 * In Persona 4 Arena, his Cruel Attack special is based on his follow up attack (Atomic Press), while his Ass Whoopin', Tatsumi-Style SP move is based on his critical attack.
 * In Persona 4 Arena, the S.E.E.S. members comment that Kanji reminds them of Akihiko. However, in Persona Q, the SEES members comment on similarities between him and Shinjiro.
 * Ken however, still indirectly compares him to Shinjiro due to him taking a hit for Ken.

Appearances in Other Media

 * : Playable Character (DLC)