#1 FoolMoon Shipper

in all seriousness, i don't think it's that big of a reach to assume that he has fucked. that he fucked frequently, in fact. at least before he rejoined SEES. some people seem to think that the reason he's reluctant to let kotone into his room (with some people going so far as to say that she's forcing him) is because he's nervous about the potential of sex with her. but it's not that. or, it's not only that.

it's not the sex he's nervous about. it's the fact that if he lets this happen, it means more pain for them both. but the way she keeps pushing him to let her in is making it painful for him to keep pushing her away, too. painful because if he lets her get closer, then his death will just hurt her even more. and knowing that he's going to hurt her kills him.

pretty big evidence to me of him being sexually experienced is the way he tries not to let kotone into his room because he knows what it means and he knows what she wants. if he was sexually inexperienced like, say, ryoji or akihiko, he wouldn't have reacted that way. ryoji and akihiko weren't nearly as embarrassed about the prospect of being alone with kotone in a dorm room.

but shinjiro was, because he knew what it would mean. perhaps akihiko and ryoji were trying to hide their sexual interest, and if they were, then it just reinforces the fact that shinjiro very clearly wasn't.

and if that isn't enough--say, you think that kotone is just being pushy--think about what happens when shinjiro actually lets her into his room. he makes it very clear that if she stays, they're going to be having sex. he gives her one last chance to leave: "you get it, right? go back to your room."

why would he be so certain that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back anymore if she stayed? why would he go as far as saying, "i ain't a nice guy. i can't let you in my room" ?? how am i supposed to take that? it isn't just him saying he's a bad person, he says almost the exact same thing in japanese, "i'm not a gentleman" (俺は紳士じゃねえんだ).

sorry but there is no universe where a virgin would act like that, much less when they're literally alone together in private. and you can trust me, because i used to be a virgin too.

with ryoji and akihiko's romance scenes, the implied sex was a lot more implied. i could even argue that it's generous to say that shinjiro and kotone have "implied" sex. what the hell else would "then let me make myself clear. i ain't holding back anymore" followed by "you spent a long time with shinjiro..." even mean? seems pretty explicit to me, man.

to say nothing of what he says in japanese, which is even more explicit: "just so you know... i won't stop" is my cursory translation of it (言っとくが…止まらねえからな).

i think this scene makes it plainly obvious that shinjiro is nervous, but not about having sex. he's nervous about what the sex means. he spends the entire goddamn game trying to fade into the background, trying not to be noticed, and kotone refuses to let him do that at every turn. he can't reject the love he so clearly desires no matter how hard he tries.

i think that subtext goes over a lot of people's heads and they just interpret him as nervous about the potential of having sex with her. again, it's not the having sex part that he's nervous about, it's the with her part. it's all the thoughts repeating in his head about how this isn't how it's supposed to be and i can't do this to her but i can't keep holding back anymore either, and i know this is selfish but maybe i can give her one last good memory, and maybe i can give myself one too. so she can remember me this way. no matter what happens next.

writing all of that off as just him being a virgin really shows a lack of comprehension of shinjiro's character as a whole. he's a pretty classic bad boy archetype what with the drugs and all. he even says (in the p3p guidebook iirc) that he spends his nights at club escapade. tf is he doing there? working? even if he is, you can't tell me he was never propositioned and never took someone up on that. be realistic. he has to have had at least a few moments of "well i'm gonna die so fuck it" that he regretted in the morning.

one thing i also imagine is that being with kotone is the first time sex has ever meant anything to him. it's not just a means to an end. it's an expression of love, love he doesn't want himself to feel. love he hates himself for feeling. i think that makes their romance more beautiful, even, that he knows what sex is and what it looks like and what it feels like, but even with all that knowledge, kotone makes everything feel new again. because he loves her. and he has to spend the entire night trying not to let himself even think that--because he wants to save her the pain, yes, but because he wants to save himself the pain too. he wants to die with no regrets. he doesn't want to die thinking of the future he could have had with kotone.

a beautiful thing about shinjiro is that he contradicts himself. "i don't deserve anything since i'm going to die anyway" but he can't say no whenever kotone wants to spend time with him. "girls make life more complicated" but he falls for kotone with zero romance flags. "i ain't a nice guy" but he gives her a million chances to back out.

him being simultaneously sexually experienced but also nervous about the potential of being with kotone just backs that up even more. he's a three-dimensional character. arguably one of the best in the entire persona series.

that's why i just can't understand why people wouldn't be able to draw the conclusion that shinjiro has had sex before, and quite a bit of it. by doing that, you essentially lock yourself out of even more beautiful foolmoon angst: "i didn't know it was supposed to feel this way, but this is the only time i'll ever get to feel this."

it even brings up more angst potential if he survives after kotone dies, because then he's forced to live with the fact that he could have had more time with her. and it's his own fault that he didn't.

shinjiro's whole character arc is him beating himself up over his mistakes, and his sexual experience ties in to that very well, in my opinion. giving kotone one last good memory of him but then that ending up being his last good memory of her when she dies and he's forced to live is so heartbreaking.