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I forget, does this column cover general game news or anime-adjacent game news? I assume the latter.

Oh man, I adored the first Coffee Talk, and I’m stoked to see it got a sequel after the untimely passing of one of the core devs.

I am looking forward to A Space for the Unbound!

For a system that sold as middling as it did in the US, the Neo Geo Pocket, and the Pocket Color have very fond reputations. It really is true you don't appreciate things till they're gone.

As for the general gaming market, this week belongs primarily to God of War and to a lesser extent the new Sonic. With Pokemon coming out next week you can tell the holidays are approaching rapidly.

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Oh man, I adored the first Coffee Talk, and I’m stoked to see it got a sequel after the untimely passing of one of the core devs

Well, that sucks to hear. Good on the crew for continuing their work.

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Even if it were the case that the real world somehow wasn't as diverse as it actually was, it behooves a fantasy setting to be diverse because what's more fantastical than a setting filled with people that aren't like you? An entire world of people that don't look like you, don't talk like you, don't eat the same things you do, don't love the same way you do... all of that is what fantasy is built upon. And the idea that these things would make a story too "alien" for readers to identify with is complete bunk when you remember some of the most-compelling manga of the past few years are To Your Eternity and Yokohama Kidaishi Kikou, which star a shapeshifting orb and a robot respectively. If you can't write your story to resonate with people, that's your failure as a writer and not on your weird blue-furred four-eyed scorpion-tailed mouthless centaur that eats through his hooves.

Is that not exactly what Square-Enix is doing? These are European characters being created and written by Japanese writers. Just because they're white doesn't mean they're not foreign or different from YoshiP and the other Japanese staff. Americans may not consider it as such, but whites are a minority in Japan so it absolutely counts as them focusing on a minority group with different culture from their perspective.

This situation is odd to me since I don't recall this being an issue in any other Japanese game in recent times. The only difference I can see is none of those producers were asked about it in interview to draw attention to it from mainstream gaming sites. If Katsura Hashino was asked why there were no black people in Persona 5 would there be an issue, I wonder? I suppose it could seem a tad odd to outsiders that Japan isn't doing what a lot of modern Western media is doing when it comes to race-swapping things to add more diversity. I heard the new God of War made some of the Greek/Norse Gods black. I know the new Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones shows did that as well.
I guess it could be strange if people are noticing that Japanese media isn't doing similar things like changing Japanese Gods or characters ethnicities around and are expecting them to do the same.

Bit of a correction:

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That there is saitom, the artist/character designer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3. According to him, the games reached 480,000 units sold in Japan and 1.72 million overseas.

It's not the games, it's just XB3 that sold 480K in Japan and 1.72M worldwide - XB2 sold over 2 million.

Dark Mac wrote:

Bit of a correction:

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That there is saitom, the artist/character designer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3. According to him, the games reached 480,000 units sold in Japan and 1.72 million overseas.

It's not the games, it's just XB3 that sold 480K in Japan and 1.72M worldwide - XB2 sold over 2 million.

True. Here's a definitive source; (pdf)
Nintendo: Financial Results Explanatory Material
2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year Ending March 2023

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is actually the best selling entry in the franchise (2,44 million units)

chudmaru wrote:

Is that not exactly what Square-Enix is doing? These are European characters being created and written by Japanese writers. Just because they're white doesn't mean they're not foreign or different from YoshiP and the other Japanese staff. Americans may not consider it as such, but whites are a minority in Japan so it absolutely counts as them focusing on a minority group with different culture from their perspective.

Except they’re focusing on a group that some would consider overrepresented in specific mediums. In addition to the fact that in this game they’re not in the minority.

chudmaru wrote:

This situation is odd to me since I don't recall this being an issue in any other Japanese game in recent times.

Because Japanese games either tend to focus specifically on an all Japanese cast or may have a somewhat more diverse cast.

chudmaru wrote:

Western media is doing when it comes to race-swapping things to add more diversity.

How do you race swap in a game that’s filled with fictional characters?

Also Persona 5 did have a black/dark skin bouncer who was a minor character.

chudmaru wrote:

I guess it could be strange if people are noticing that Japanese media isn't doing similar things like changing Japanese Gods or characters ethnicities around and are expecting them to do the same.

Except no one’s asking them to change their gods black they’re simply asking why if you’re making a game inspired by Western Europe why are there no non white characters in the game despite the fact that Western Europe did have individuals of different ethnicities running around even in the Middle Ages.

chudmaru wrote:

Is that not exactly what Square-Enix is doing?

This was more aimed at the kind of person who claims "forcing" POC into writing is anathema to good storytelling.

And past that: no, it's not what SE is doing. You don't get to claim you're basing your world off of anything resembling "realism" and then claim you can't put various ethnicities into your game.

Blanchimont wrote:

True. Here's a definitive source; (pdf)
Nintendo: Financial Results Explanatory Material
2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year Ending March 2023
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is actually the best selling entry in the franchise (2,44 million units)

Thanks for pointing that out, and sorry for the confusion! It was poor phrasing on my behalf.

Even if it's based on medieval Europe, that's still only as a base, and the whole thing is still just fantasy. In fantasy, ya can do anything, even dark elves

Besides, medieval Europe had a lot of ethnicities. Peoples moved and got displaced all the time due to constant conflicts. The Moors of Africa conquered all of Portugal and almost all of Spain for the majority of 7 centuries. Invaders originating from Asia including Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, and the Ottomans. Egyptian rulers interacted before and after the fall of the Roman Empire

Don't believe everything ya see out of Hollywood. Hollywood also perpetuated the false idea (during their Golden Age of the 1950s & 60s) that the Wild Wild West was almost all white when actually 1 out of every 4 were colored people (whether servants or free-men), or that Egyptian Queen Cleopatra was white even if it's Elizabeth Taylor

enurtsol wrote:

Even if it's based on medieval Europe, that's still only as a base, and the whole thing is still just fantasy. In fantasy, ya can do anything, even dark elves

That concept also includes the option of not needing to do everything...

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...or that Egyptian Queen Cleopatra was white even if it's Elizabeth Taylor

Cleopatra was as white or non-white as your everyday Greek. She was of Greek/Macedonian descent, there's not much debate about that in scholarly circles...

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This is because the Iberian peninsula (modern-day Spain)

Bruh. And people wonder why Portuguese get mad when you call them Spanish...

This reminds me of this epic incident where a western writer tried to "educate" the dev of Dragon's Crown concerning the Sorceress having an "objectifying" character design. The dev patiently tried to explain the purpose of the character design - wildly exaggerated on purpose as a parody of other video game characters that were almost as "bad" for no reason i.e. Ivy of the Soul Calibur franchise - and that the male characters such as the Dwarf were similar parodies, basically making the designs for Dragon's Crown have the same purpose for the video games of that era as Konosuba for isekai anime (Megumin was even called "the token loli"). Eventually the dev got sick of the journalist's "westplaining" and stated that the journalist was trying to impose his western values on him, which pretty much ended the "conversation" (which it wasn't, as the journo had no interest in an actual exchange of ideas, but merely wanted to force the dev to adopt the journo's worldview).

This is basically the same: if diversity and respect for other cultures is going to be a progressive value then it needs to ... be diverse with respect for other cultures. It really does appear that respect for diversity only happens when it suits progressive priorities i.e. supporting Ms. Marvel because of the desire to depict religions and historical interpretations that challenge Eurocentrism. But when the other cultures have values that are opposed to western progressivism, they don't get respected at all.

If their anime exports are any indication, Japan, for a ton of reasons, does not value racial or ethnic diversity. (Religious diversity is another matter ... it is generally embraced positively and is inclusive of Christianity, where it is treated far more positively than in western media.) I have seen Kotaku and other progressive sites claim that the reason is Japan's racial homogeneity. Which is, of course, westernist because it treats Japan as if it were some segregated exurb in 1980s America. To get at the real reason, I suggest watching Boarding School Juliet (or even better reading the source material), Unbreakable Machine Doll, Mahouka and FLCL. Its writers do not view - or are not concerned with - the Japanese being the majority race in Japan and preserving that privilege. Instead, they view themselves as ... oppressed minorities. Seriously. They see the world stage as being dominated by Europeans and have a ton of anxiety about their place in it. They very much fear being discriminated against by Europeans. They fear being caught in the middle of European conflicts that have nothing to do with them and being forced to take sides or other positions that are not in their interests (this was a far bigger concern during the Cold War). They fear their economy being dominated by western companies and their culture being destroyed by western influences (pushed by those same companies). And just when the Cold War ended they had to contend with the rise of China and (to a lesser extent) South Korea, who FOR THEM are much bigger challenges than the Soviets were (the Soviets had Japan relatively low on their radar, but China is a direct military opponent and South Korea an economic and cultural one). They are very concerned that the west - and especially America - benefits far more from "good relations" with Japan way more than Japan does, yet they see themselves as stuck with no better alternatives. Their biggest fear is America adopting right wing chauvinist politicians that take an antagonistic stance against them. There was actually a real chance of this happening during the 1980s, but fortunately both Reagan and Bush were adamantly opposed to mistreating Japan. And more recently, yes they were "very concerned" about Donald Trump. But their second biggest fear? America deciding to ditch them in favor of China for money and power reasons. That is a recurring theme of Mahouka and was also recently explored in My Hero Academia when the U.S. president stated "maybe we should ally with the Paranormal Liberation Front because they are stronger." This is notable because the PLF's main motivation isn't money, power or a lust for violence but rather ideological: they want to change a rigid conformist collectivist Japanese culture that they feel discriminates against them into a more individualistic culture that allows them to express themselves, even if the downside is less social cohesion and more violence. In other words, the PLF wants to make Japan more like America.

So in that context, the idea that Japan should be preoccupied with diversity makes no sense to the Japanese. They are far more concerned with their security and survival as an Asian country in a world dominated by the western hegemony. Indeed, even the very idea of increasing immigration and promoting diversity and multiculturalism results in their becoming more western and less Japanese. So, demanding that they do this requires that they stop fighting their own battles - which are very important to them - and start fighting battles for western progressives that have nothing to do with them. Quite the contrary, it would be a surrender to the idea that western ideology is superior and that the Japanese can only improve themselves by adopting it.

Of course, you might respond: "well why are the Japanese so obsessed with blonde blue eyed Europeans to begin with!" Yes, progressives have their narrative about how the world has been colonized with white supremacy so "Valisthea" is part of it. While I do not deny that this is true in some respects, at the end of the day it is up to the Japanese to decide what they like and don't like. It isn't that the Japanese "like everything white." For example the old west - relevant because it is cited in this article - doesn't interest them. Western-themed anime like Trigun and Cowboy Bebop are much bigger hits in America than Japan. Also, while western pop and classical music are popular in Japan, bluegrass and country are not, and the same is true of similar European music.

So this makes the idea that the makers of Final Fantasy should have emulated diversity like the makers of the Rings of Power ... ignores that the makers of Final Fantasy are Japanese. An entirely different culture with entirely different concept of artistic standards. Progressives in the west have decided that depicting diversity is now an objective measure or artistic merit. It is fine if you want to judge western artists by that standard. But doing the same to non-western artists is in fact imposing your standards on them. Especially since - unlike western artists - their motives for doing so often have nothing to do with animus against (for example) black or Hispanic people. By the way: the converse is true when Japanese works do "include diversity". Naruto's Kishimoto and Bleach's Kubo didn't create characters like Killer B and Love Aikawa for the sake of diversity. They did it because they thought that black entertainers that they had been exposed to in western media (70s blaxploitation characters for Kubo i.e. Jackie Tristan = Jackie Brown, 90s freestyle rappers for Kishimoto, plus the professional wrestlers that influenced Killer B and the Raikage) were cool and entertaining and wanted to create characters based on them. OTOH comedians like Will Smith and Eddie Murphy don't have the same "cool" factor which is why the next anime character to be based on them will be the first (plus Japan likes their own comedians better).

So very long story short: you either ACTUALLY respect different cultures or you don't. Claiming that Japanese creators should emulate western studios Amazon, Netflix and Disney in their embrace of diversity means that you don't.

Scarlet and Violet ready on the switch and the hype has long since reach the ceiling in barometer's room, now i just have to torture myself with the usual everlasting question : Which version to start with and main ?

FilthyCasual wrote:

I forget, does this column cover general game news or anime-adjacent game news? I assume the latter.

For the most part, this column tries to focus on video games of a Japanese pursuasion: Japanese franchises, or games that come from Japan, or games inspired by Japanese games. I try to avoid discussing Western games because there are already so many other (better) sources of info for those kinds of games, and because this being "Anime News Network", it kinda behooves me to focus on things from Japan. If I touch on something American, it's more likely because it's something that's just that big/relevant (see: Dad of Boi) or something that's culturally significant (like when I touched upon John Romero seeking employees--John Romero is an important figure in gaming).

This is all subject to change and whim and I can decide to randomly do something else, anything else, at a moment's notice. You have been warned, there may come a day where my entire column is just a big Bonanza Brothers sprite comic featuring the third Bonanza Brother, Bob Bonzales (original character, doughnut steel).

thepepin wrote:

Japan, for a ton of reasons, does not value racial or ethnic diversity.

If I can paraphrase Mr. T, "You got a lotta mouth, and I gotta lotta words for your mouth". But you're evidently a lost cause, your entire screed the same drivel Youtube shoutmen have been clamoring ever since the days of Something Awful. So allow me to direct myself to the other people in this thread whose brains aren't eaten away by the dregs of Youtube:

Anime has always been diverse. And gay. Always.

Cyborg 009, one of the most important manga ever put to paper (and one that has been remade countless times), has featured an international cast since it was established--including the African, Pyunma. Pyunma's original depiction was that of a very racist charicature; by the 1980s, Ishinomori and his studio consulted with American sensitivity readers and used the input to redesign him into a less-offensive character (notably based off of the actor Sidney Poiter). This would have been somewhere between the 80s and 90s, long before many of the outrage peddlers of Youtube were even born.

Japan is not your bizarro ethnocentric paradise being 'trampled upon' by Western values. Never has, and no amount of patreon donations to The Angry Otaku Reviewer is going to make that true. There are generations of non-Japanese and non-cis characters that are central to their stories going back to when Anime began: from Claudia LeSalle from Macross, to Smokey from Battle Tendency, to good ol' Pyunma/Cyborg 008, who debuted back in 1964.

There is no binary where "respecting bigotry and lack of diversity is the only way to respect Japanese culture", especially not with how much Japan has not only opened its doors for its culture to be embraced and enjoyed by people worldwide but with how much Japan itself has embraced foreign culture. As far back as Speed Racer, Japan has appreciated American culture and attempted to share it with others back home. The same way Dexter's Lab plays homage to the superdeformed art style, Speed Racer rendered tribute to the amazing technology of 1950s America, where people had such luxurious amenities they could pursue such frivolous (and dangerous) sports as high-speed races.

To claim Japan does not care about diversity and that any attempt to seek such is an insult to the many people of Japan who themselves come from diverse backgrounds, even back home: the countless mixed-race Japanese people, the countless Neurodivergent Japanese people, and the countless queer Japanese writers and artists who all write, draw, or perform to bring anime to life.

Now, I'm speaking for myself, but as a Puerto Rican man who's been watching anime since 1994 (again: a lot longer than many of the anime fans I rubbed shoulders with at Kumoricon this past weekend), I write this column for everyone: to Dominicans whose first crush was Saori from Saint Seiya, to my Black coworker and her son who bonded together over watching Naruto and Attack on Titan. And it is my desire that the people who've lovingly crafted the media I enjoy, walk away knowing that their hard work was seen and appreciated far off in the boondocks of Puerto Rico by a man who's never so much as tripped on a Tokyo pebble. And the same world that contains Chii, the trans artist that drew The Bride Was A Boy, also contains countless people of countless walks of life who also enjoyed their works.

So I don't really give a damn if telling someone that their attempts at "historical accuracy" are bunk without the inclusion of ethnic diversity is "disrespectful" to "Japanese Culture". Because that's a whole load of crap. Ken Akamatsu made Mana Tatsumiya to be half-Puerto Rican, you can take that from my cold dead hands.

Welcome to This Week in Games. If you can't handle any Melanin, you can wait outside until you're ready to engage with people. Until then: peddle your garbage elsewhere. I'll accept your clicks, but not your bigotry.

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