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Japan has Splatoon 2 plushies made by Sanrio that include a whitewashed Marina

GameShrink

GameShrink

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,680
Mickagau said:
I was surprised in the first place Nintendo chose to make black/brown characters as the faces of Splatoon 2 (default inkling girl, default octoling girl, Marina) which is their biggest IP in Japan right now.
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Sadly, I think Nintendo would dispute the idea that those characters are "black" in the way we define it.

The unfortunate truth is that when a Japanese-designed character is meant to be black, they usually look pretty stereotypical, so there's zero ambiguity. Otherwise, the character is "ambiguously brown." They could be African, Indian, a Pacific Islander, or just a Japanese person with a deep tan. Most often, it's the latter.

That's part of why stuff like this really stings. It makes you realize that you were giving a company credit for a progressive assumption (or "headcanon") that we all collectively agreed upon.
 
Xaszatm

Xaszatm

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,903
GameShrink said:
Sadly, I think Nintendo would dispute the idea that those characters are "black" in the way we define it.

The unfortunate truth is that when a Japanese-designed character is meant to be black, they usually look pretty stereotypical, so there's zero ambiguity. Otherwise, the character is "ambiguously brown." They could be African, Indian, a Pacific Islander, or just a Japanese person with a deep tan. Most often, it's the latter.

That's part of why stuff like this really stings. It makes you realize that you were giving a company credit for a progressive assumption (or "headcanon") that we all collectively agreed upon.
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In this case, nah, I don't think they would dispute the fact that she is black. Splatoon and Splatoon 2 in particular is based far more off of American culture. And the Octo Expansion, when not being a Vapor Wave aesthetic, is making constant callbacks to the 80's and 90's R&B scene. Marina dresses up in something that is directly inspired by 2-Pac

Which is why this particular doll is so frustrating.
 
Kewlmyc

Kewlmyc

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
26,670
This doesn't surprise me at all. Making dark skin lighter has always been a thing in order to make a person/character "more appealing".

Shit's fucked up.
 
Guts Of Thor

Guts Of Thor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,698
The funny thing is that the defenders in here would throw a shit fit if this was the other way around lol.

We'd be hearing phrases such as, "forced diversity" no doubt.
 
jay

jay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,274
Once you're aware of how deeply ingrained and insidious racism is in more or less all cultures, it's always fascinating to see all the "reasonable" people refusing to "jump to conclusions" about stuff like this.
 
RM8

RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,898
JP
FF Seraphim said:
Probably no thought was even put into it. Did you see what happened with the Naomi Osaka whitewashing this past holiday? My friend Baye was at the forefront of getting them to take issue with it and it was taken down. However, anyone who knows Japan doubts the company learned anything from it.
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What.

*Googles*

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Wow this is rather extreme, lol.
 
GameShrink

GameShrink

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
2,680
Xaszatm said:
In this case, nah, I don't think they would dispute the fact that she is black. Splatoon and Splatoon 2 in particular is based far more off of American culture. And the Octo Expansion, when not being a Vapor Wave aesthetic, is making constant callbacks to the 80's and 90's R&B scene. Marina dresses up in something that is directly inspired by 2-Pac

Which is why this particular doll is so frustrating.
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Well, if they don't care enough to keep her skin tone consistent in official artwork and merchandise, I don't really know how anyone can be 100% confident in this belief.

I want it to be true too, but this is Nintendo we're talking about. I'm sure if they were asked what race these characters are, they'd just say "They're Inklings, not humans. Terms like 'black,' 'white' or even 'Asian' cannot apply to them."
 
genjiZERO

genjiZERO

Banned
Jan 27, 2019
835
Richmond
User Banned (1 Week): Dismissing concerns surrounding racism
I know people aren't like this, but I don't see this as "whitewashing" because the characters are anthropomorphic squids and don't represent races nor cultures that could be implied to have race. To me is just looks like faded the colors. They're ugly, but I think people are overreacting.
 

lost7

Member
Feb 20, 2018
2,750
That's disgusting, but the worst thing is that stuff like this keeps happening and it keeps being justified by quite a few people. Hope Nintendo gets some stick on this matter or nothing will change in the future
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,873
Yeah they fucked up. The pastel key art borders on ok though it still looks uncharacteristically pale, but the plushie is way lighter than that and can't be chalked up to art style whatsoever. Even besides the racist implication it just doesn't look good aesthetically at all, which is particularly disappointing considering the other Sanrio x Splatoon stuff was very well done.
 

Deleted member 33533

Banned
Nov 17, 2017
12,864
GameShrink said:
Sadly, I think Nintendo would dispute the idea that those characters are "black" in the way we define it.

The unfortunate truth is that when a Japanese-designed character is meant to be black, they usually look pretty stereotypical, so there's zero ambiguity. Otherwise, the character is "ambiguously brown." They could be African, Indian, a Pacific Islander, or just a Japanese person with a deep tan. Most often, it's the latter.

That's part of why stuff like this really stings. It makes you realize that you were giving a company credit for a progressive assumption (or "headcanon") that we all collectively agreed upon.
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I don't think Nintendo would write things like this in the game is Marina wasn't supposed to be black.
 
Heid

Heid

Member
Jan 7, 2018
1,807
The entire color palette looks washed out? Not just the skin? Theres like no green in the hair. Looks like shitty production.

I want to give them the benefit of doubt, Japan did make this character right? But Japan is gonna Japan you know lol
 
The BLJ

The BLJ

Member
Feb 2, 2019
698
France
On one hand, I do not think that there is any "intentional" racism behind it - it's pretty evident that the whole point is to have all the colors be lighter, for both characters (although there's the problem of "lighter color" = "cuter" too). But on another hand, the tone deafness that is behind it (and many other instances of characters or people being whitewashed) is alarming. It's not like Japan is some backwater country that's isolated from the rest of the world, and even if they don't necessarily "need" to conform to Western standards, the lack of respect for "ethnic" characters is a universal problem.
How do Japanese people respond to these things anyway? It's evident that a lot of corporates are completely tone deaf on this issue, but how do the consumers react?
 
Gentlemen

Gentlemen

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,497
genjiZERO said:
I think people are overreacting.
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No they're not. They're just reacting to the news and wishing Sanrio (and japanese marketing in general) would do better.

It seems every time a reaction to news of this nature gets dishonestly mischaracterized as a wild overreation it's coded language for 'shut up, colored people' and it's aggravating.
 
Bob White

Bob White

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,929
"The classic" still blows my mind. It sucks that sega's feet where never held to the fire over this.

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Gotdatmoney

Gotdatmoney

Member
Oct 28, 2017
14,487
Mizavari said:
Yeah? Pardon me for not raising a big fuss over the colours of local TOYS. Would you also make a fuss if African countries made skin tones darker for local toys? For example, if they used a completely black shade for people who only have light-brown skin? Because this is essentially what you are all doing.

In Japan, anime characters tend to look more Western-ish (including eye or hair color) but in reality they prefer their own Asian looks. Conversely, there are many gay comics in Japan, but the actual society is still quite intolerant towards homosexuals. Japan is also hentai-land but the Japanese themselves are extremely prudish.

In other words, fictional representations in Japan has nothing to do with their attitudes in reality. A whiter local toy isn't necessarily indicative of racism, nor is a darker shade necessarily indicative of more acceptance. Chances are the matter of race was just not on the radars of the plushie makers. Sure there are some plushies in darker tones. Those are either cats or bears and have nothing to do with racial representation. Most of the other plushies have light tones because that's just what they enjoy.
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Congrats. Your dumb disingenuous shit post got you ban. Also, good job rationalizing huge issues with racism and colorism.
 
L Thammy

L Thammy

Spacenoid
Member
Oct 25, 2017
49,940
Man, it really blows some people's minds that Japanese creators might actually make a character that's just a black person, huh? Like, there has literally never been a single Japanese thing where characters had any ethnicities at all in mind.

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Geg

Geg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,529
Was this posted yet?

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It's not as bad as the promo image makes it look but she's still definitely lighter than she normally is
 
blondkayvon

blondkayvon

Member
Oct 26, 2017
756
This is upsetting. :( For people arguing that Nintendo doesn't even see her as a black character, the skin tone of the plush doesn't even come CLOSE.
 
Yonafunu

Yonafunu

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Oct 26, 2017
2,259
DeuceGamer

DeuceGamer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,476
GameShrink said:
Well, if they don't care enough to keep her skin tone consistent in official artwork and merchandise, I don't really know how anyone can be 100% confident in this belief.

I want it to be true too, but this is Nintendo we're talking about. I'm sure if they were asked what race these characters are, they'd just say "They're Inklings, not humans. Terms like 'black,' 'white' or even 'Asian' cannot apply to them."
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I think Sanrio messed the color palette, but like you say this is Nintendo and as protective as Nintendo has always been with their IP I'm surprised they allowed this. Really should have been something Nintendo stopped from reaching market until the skin color was corrected.
 
Weltall Zero

Weltall Zero

Game Developer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
19,343
Madrid
Ragnorok64 said:
Why are you replying to someone who's banned?
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Take your pick:

- Because they were banned for two weeks so it's not like they're gone forever and won't read the reply.
- Because they fucking want to.

The far better question is, why do you even care? That is so much weirder than replying to a banned person in the first place.
 
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