Sailor Moon

The Revolution Dances: The Pleasures of Transformation in Final Fantasy X-2

This paper argues that Final Fantasy X-2 (2004) deserves serious scholarly attention as a feminist and queer intervention in Japanese role-playing game traditions, one that has been dismissed by fans and critics as "too girly" despite its thematic and mechanical sophistication.

• The paper argues that Final Fantasy X-2 (2004) merits serious scholarly attention as a feminist and queer intervention in Japanese RPG traditions, despite fan and critic dismissal of it as "too girly."
• Tracing online discourse from 2006 through 2023, the authors show the game's dancing, dressphere transformation system, and grief-driven plot shifting from objects of disdain to sites of celebration among queer and nonqueer players.
• X-2 is positioned as the counterpart to Final Fantasy X, which centers a male protagonist contesting religious sacrifice, while X-2 follows its female lead through the aftermath of that upheaval.