theres also this to consider; the series director quit right after p2 and everything before p3 is kinda considered dead (hence why in events like concerts they dont play pre p3 music, currently official art with previous protagonists excludes p1 and p2, etc) so its kinda an "old generation" and "new generation" thing so we could still say minako is the firsT AND ONLY FEMALE MC IN THE NEW GENERATION