I'm like 1000% unsurprised that people in Natlan are white given Sumeru, but it's still annoying
Givemeanaccount
Jul 12, 2024 9:27PM
Given that Iansan was the first Nathan character revealed, I thought she was the Pyro archon. But now that the trailer showed this sexy adult lady is actually the archon has made me incredibly happy
ImheretoDie
Jul 12, 2024 11:11PM
I am so p***** wasn't one of them (I forgot which one) is supposed to be based off of Latin America and Africa? Not a single dark-skinned character.
Tan! Tan is what we get!
I need me a masc dreadhead- please :'<
Hylarn
Jul 12, 2024 11:11PM
If you told my Mauvika was a Hoyo character with no other context, I'd have assumed she was from HI3
Classy-Nessi
Jul 12, 2024 11:16PM
Of course Lumine already snagging another one for herself. Harem Collector powers go!
juanelric
Jul 12, 2024 11:44PM
@ImheretoDie Sumeru has the same problem. It covers a lot of irl places inspirations-wise but everyone is just white.
Aquwin
Jul 13, 2024 12:01AM
^i kinda expected it I was hoping it wouldn't be that way but what can we do. Only thing they're willing to give us is characters with the lightest of tan and that's all.
YuriQueen01
Jul 13, 2024 1:00AM
Iansan was the only dark skin character in that trailer! I swear Mihoyo is ok stealing from other cultures, but won't give back to said culture in anyway..
ImheretoDie
Jul 13, 2024 1:10AM
The thing that honestly peeves me most is people saying it's okay because they're Chinese, it's not.
People will get rightfully mad in America if we used Chinese inspiration for a white character (like I said rightfully) but like they're pulling this s***... Honestly, it's kind of sad at this point.
juanelric
Jul 13, 2024 1:26AM
As I said in other posts' comments, I stopped played Genshin Impact a while ago, though it wasn't for this. The fact they didn't change their ways makes me glad I stopped though.
Japanese media also gets a bit of both sides of this, people getting mad over racism and people trying to justify racism because it's Japan (like they want to keep Japan racist, which I assume is the case).
thechampionmike95
Jul 13, 2024 7:11AM
^ two issued I have with your post. One you stopped playing yet you went out of your way just to complain. And two it's ironic that you're complaining about racism when isn't it pretty racist to say only people of color can be from that region? Yeah it would have been nice to see dark skin people, but to be mad over the fact is pretty racist itself.
Aquwin
Jul 13, 2024 7:53AM
^ well as someone who still play the game I'll say i agree with them. And saying isn't it racist to say only people of color can be from that region when it's suppose be pre colonization no not really. But that's not what's being said. If you base a whole region around a peoples culture and the only one's who look like the people from which you are taking inspiration are the enemies and are the only killable humans. As well as everyone of the playable or important character that looks like them have the same backstory that they have a parent from each side so their neutral. Somethings will start looking a little off to most people. Not having even one character that looks like the peoples who's culture your using is really odd.
last edited at Jul 13, 2024 7:57AM
Drago928
Jul 13, 2024 9:04AM
Guess Genshin released a new region cause people are b!tching about skin color again
juanelric
Jul 14, 2024 4:45AM
@thechampionmike95 I'm 1000% sure I don't lose the right to complain about racism just because I don't play anymore.
And I never said nobody should be white. I said they shouldn't all be white, especially based on the inspirations. People claim North Africans and Middle Easterners aren't all dark skinned to justify Sumeru characters mostly being white while ignoring the fact Sumeru also takes inspiration from India and South East Asia. Natlan is based on pre-Colombian America, Sub-Saharan Africa and (apparently) Polynesia and the characters are still mostly white.
I would think a gay friendly place like Dynasty that often pushes for minority (i.e. gay) representation in media would also be sympathetic towards pushing for minority (i.e. race) representation in media.
ImheretoDie
Jul 14, 2024 10:01AM
^ Unfortunately, not everyone on here even likes gay people.
They could just be fetishizing it and fetization does not equal tolerance, especially not of something other than what they're fetizing.
Or it could just be a case of crabs in a bucket.
Fipse
Jul 14, 2024 11:34AM
It is pretty simple, people, especially in China, wont pull as much for dark skinned characters. Does this suck? Sure it does but ultimately Hoyo wants to make money.
moglius
Jul 15, 2024 1:02AM
^ isnt this excuse already played out, where is the proof of this ever happening?
Hylarn
Jul 15, 2024 1:06AM
Colorism is a pretty well-known phenomena?
Kurookami
Jul 15, 2024 3:05AM
Not wanting to get into dedate, but as a stupid joke, when we saw the trailer, we say no one is tan cause they are children of the pyro archon (as a people) and thus are blessed with a natural burn resistance that make darker skin and tan hard to get. It also also why all Shnezayan burn easily :D
Zesc
Jul 15, 2024 4:03AM
@moglius
Chinese Audiences lashing out against black characters is so ubiquitous and wide spread I could not do justice to its full extent, and therefore refer you to the Human Rights Watch release on the topic. As per Y. Yang et al's 2022 paper, the publishing industry shows "the preference for White skin color in East Asian characters in illustrations ", which "is a reflection of widespread colorism in East Asian countries, which refers to prejudicial and preferential treatment of people solely based on skin tones, with lighter skin evaluated more favorable than dark skin".
(It is necessary to understand that the Han-chinese see themselves as ethnically white, just not "caucasian white", especially in the variant strongly pushed by the current governing body.)
Furthermore, as per Y. Cheng"a relationship between two racially superior/inferior human groups is either implied or demonstrated in the narratives and discourses of such an interaction [between the Chinese and Africans] ".
Also compare the role of skin-whitening cosmetics in the east asian market (Korea too, Japan to a lesser but still significant extent). So whilst I can't find any publicly accessible investor reports of MiHoyo where they detail earnings on each character release (do these even exist in english? If anyone can get those, let me know anyhow), Fipse's theory is more than sound.
last edited at Jul 15, 2024 4:31AM
moglius
Jul 15, 2024 4:17AM
^ well.... damn, i guess china is off of my list of countries to visit.
ImheretoDie
Jul 15, 2024 3:20PM
^ I'm sorry to burst your bubble... but most Asian countries think just about the same...
moglius
Jul 15, 2024 5:08PM
oh, i knew that they are rather racist, i just didnt understand how deep into its ideology they were.
girlswhokiss
Jul 15, 2024 6:08PM
I don't play Genshin either but it's disappointing how Latin America is barely acknowledged outside of our own territory and every time we get something overseas, it's either reduced to "brown savages" or "white wearing stereotypical clothing". Yes the way "race" works here is quite complex and here in Brazil specifically it's more about how you identify than how you are physically since most of us are mixed in some way, but it won't kill anyone to have more characters with a bit more Melanin on them or even visible ethnic traits since having lighter skin doesn't mean you won't have other physical traits.
I myself am light skin but in that weird field of not being dark enough to call myself "parda" while having facial traits that makes the racist idiots here ask if I'm asian because they never looked at any of our indígena population. Me being closer to what could be considered white in the Northeast of Brazil in special does not change the fact that the majority is not like me and that even if you're "white" in one location, it might not be enough in other regions because you're clearly racialized. Yes, if you live in those rich neighbourhoods filled with I-Hate-POC-nium you aren't going to see the melanin they hate so much, but that reflects a much bigger social issue.
Also within the same mixed family there will be multiple different traits, my older sister is dark skin and considers herself to be black so it is really weird how the game will get multiple new characters and none of them has darker skin.
It really is disappointing. I do remember seeing multiple videos of "skin-whitening soap" back when I still used social media so it is a general problem. As the other users pointed out though, it's money that decides what we get. At least sometimes things like Michiko to Hatchin or even Giovanna from Guilty Gear pop around.
(My apologies if anything I said sounds weird I don't talk about those things in English so there could be some nuances I'm not aware of lol)
juanelric
Jul 15, 2024 7:07PM
I'm Brazilian as well and I dislike when characters are all just dark skinned (like Beyblade Metal) or all just white. I like Idolmaster because it has three Brazilian characters and they're all fairly different from each other.
Also, US comic books are really bad about this as well. Almost 100% of the Brazilian characters are "born in the Amazon but moved to Rio" (which tells me either they think Rio is right next to the rainforest or they don't know any other city in Brazil) and most of them have Spanish names on top of that.
girlswhokiss
Jul 16, 2024 2:29AM
Yeah same, feels oddly reducing and they never give a very good reason for it, such as them coming from an area where the majority is dark skinned or light skinned, most of them do not put the effort into giving them a more particular trait that would make that justified. I'd love to see both because then it would be more accurate to reality and also opens the door for fun designs. It's not like we also don't have multiple japanese-brazilian or chinese-brazilian individuals. Mentioning those two in special because it's the majority I see.
I did happen to see a clip from an anime called "Na Nare Hana Nare" with a blonde brazilian girl that gives cheek kisses that are oddly gay... hand on face and all.
Agreed on that, coming from USamericans that is more than expected when they won't even bother to learn the difference between Spanish and Portuguese, I've had people try to correct me when I said it was Portuguese and not Spanish in online spaces. Brazil for them is big butts, football (s*ccer), The Amazon, Rio de Janeiro and nothing more. It's why I don't read them at all (Also because of the art style most of them have, which I find ugly and I'd rather not give much attention to media from there).
juanelric
Jul 16, 2024 2:50AM
Narenare is cute, but we definitely don't kiss people as a greeting
So now my headcanon is that Anna made that up as an excuse to kiss other girls
girlswhokiss
Jul 16, 2024 3:36AM
I will adhere to that. o7
It might be a regional thing though because I have memories of getting my cheek kissed, back when I still went outside, as a greeting by old women haha
juanelric Jul 12, 2024 9:24PM
I'm like 1000% unsurprised that people in Natlan are white given Sumeru, but it's still annoying
Givemeanaccount Jul 12, 2024 9:27PM
Given that Iansan was the first Nathan character revealed, I thought she was the Pyro archon. But now that the trailer showed this sexy adult lady is actually the archon has made me incredibly happy
ImheretoDie Jul 12, 2024 11:11PM
I am so p***** wasn't one of them (I forgot which one) is supposed to be based off of Latin America and Africa? Not a single dark-skinned character.
Tan! Tan is what we get!
I need me a masc dreadhead- please :'<
Hylarn Jul 12, 2024 11:11PM
If you told my Mauvika was a Hoyo character with no other context, I'd have assumed she was from HI3
Classy-Nessi Jul 12, 2024 11:16PM
Of course Lumine already snagging another one for herself. Harem Collector powers go!
juanelric Jul 12, 2024 11:44PM
@ImheretoDie Sumeru has the same problem. It covers a lot of irl places inspirations-wise but everyone is just white.
Aquwin Jul 13, 2024 12:01AM
^i kinda expected it I was hoping it wouldn't be that way but what can we do. Only thing they're willing to give us is characters with the lightest of tan and that's all.
YuriQueen01 Jul 13, 2024 1:00AM
Iansan was the only dark skin character in that trailer! I swear Mihoyo is ok stealing from other cultures, but won't give back to said culture in anyway..
ImheretoDie Jul 13, 2024 1:10AM
The thing that honestly peeves me most is people saying it's okay because they're Chinese, it's not.
People will get rightfully mad in America if we used Chinese inspiration for a white character (like I said rightfully) but like they're pulling this s***... Honestly, it's kind of sad at this point.
juanelric Jul 13, 2024 1:26AM
As I said in other posts' comments, I stopped played Genshin Impact a while ago, though it wasn't for this. The fact they didn't change their ways makes me glad I stopped though.
Japanese media also gets a bit of both sides of this, people getting mad over racism and people trying to justify racism because it's Japan (like they want to keep Japan racist, which I assume is the case).
thechampionmike95 Jul 13, 2024 7:11AM
^ two issued I have with your post. One you stopped playing yet you went out of your way just to complain. And two it's ironic that you're complaining about racism when isn't it pretty racist to say only people of color can be from that region? Yeah it would have been nice to see dark skin people, but to be mad over the fact is pretty racist itself.
Aquwin Jul 13, 2024 7:53AM
^ well as someone who still play the game I'll say i agree with them. And saying isn't it racist to say only people of color can be from that region when it's suppose be pre colonization no not really. But that's not what's being said. If you base a whole region around a peoples culture and the only one's who look like the people from which you are taking inspiration are the enemies and are the only killable humans. As well as everyone of the playable or important character that looks like them have the same backstory that they have a parent from each side so their neutral. Somethings will start looking a little off to most people. Not having even one character that looks like the peoples who's culture your using is really odd.
last edited at Jul 13, 2024 7:57AM
Drago928 Jul 13, 2024 9:04AM
Guess Genshin released a new region cause people are b!tching about skin color again
juanelric Jul 14, 2024 4:45AM
@thechampionmike95 I'm 1000% sure I don't lose the right to complain about racism just because I don't play anymore.
And I never said nobody should be white. I said they shouldn't all be white, especially based on the inspirations. People claim North Africans and Middle Easterners aren't all dark skinned to justify Sumeru characters mostly being white while ignoring the fact Sumeru also takes inspiration from India and South East Asia. Natlan is based on pre-Colombian America, Sub-Saharan Africa and (apparently) Polynesia and the characters are still mostly white.
Edit: here's someone who has much more knowledge about this than I do: https://x.com/luzKindred4WR/status/1812119922006221116?t=lecbJn0-UhTV52yVHzPdOQ&s=19
last edited at Jul 14, 2024 5:04AM
DrJamesFox Jul 14, 2024 9:58AM
I would think a gay friendly place like Dynasty that often pushes for minority (i.e. gay) representation in media would also be sympathetic towards pushing for minority (i.e. race) representation in media.
ImheretoDie Jul 14, 2024 10:01AM
^ Unfortunately, not everyone on here even likes gay people.
They could just be fetishizing it and fetization does not equal tolerance, especially not of something other than what they're fetizing.
Or it could just be a case of crabs in a bucket.
Fipse Jul 14, 2024 11:34AM
It is pretty simple, people, especially in China, wont pull as much for dark skinned characters. Does this suck? Sure it does but ultimately Hoyo wants to make money.
moglius Jul 15, 2024 1:02AM
^ isnt this excuse already played out, where is the proof of this ever happening?
Hylarn Jul 15, 2024 1:06AM
Colorism is a pretty well-known phenomena?
Kurookami Jul 15, 2024 3:05AM
Not wanting to get into dedate, but as a stupid joke, when we saw the trailer, we say no one is tan cause they are children of the pyro archon (as a people) and thus are blessed with a natural burn resistance that make darker skin and tan hard to get. It also also why all Shnezayan burn easily :D
Zesc Jul 15, 2024 4:03AM
@moglius
Chinese Audiences lashing out against black characters is so ubiquitous and wide spread I could not do justice to its full extent, and therefore refer you to the Human Rights Watch release on the topic. As per Y. Yang et al's 2022 paper, the publishing industry shows "the preference for White skin color in East Asian characters in illustrations ", which "is a reflection of widespread colorism in East Asian countries, which refers to prejudicial and preferential treatment of people solely based on skin tones, with lighter skin evaluated more favorable than dark skin".
(It is necessary to understand that the Han-chinese see themselves as ethnically white, just not "caucasian white", especially in the variant strongly pushed by the current governing body.)
Furthermore, as per Y. Cheng "a relationship between two racially superior/inferior human groups is either implied or demonstrated in the narratives and discourses of such an interaction [between the Chinese and Africans] ".
Also compare the role of skin-whitening cosmetics in the east asian market (Korea too, Japan to a lesser but still significant extent). So whilst I can't find any publicly accessible investor reports of MiHoyo where they detail earnings on each character release (do these even exist in english? If anyone can get those, let me know anyhow), Fipse's theory is more than sound.
last edited at Jul 15, 2024 4:31AM
moglius Jul 15, 2024 4:17AM
^ well.... damn, i guess china is off of my list of countries to visit.
ImheretoDie Jul 15, 2024 3:20PM
^ I'm sorry to burst your bubble... but most Asian countries think just about the same...
moglius Jul 15, 2024 5:08PM
oh, i knew that they are rather racist, i just didnt understand how deep into its ideology they were.
girlswhokiss Jul 15, 2024 6:08PM
I don't play Genshin either but it's disappointing how Latin America is barely acknowledged outside of our own territory and every time we get something overseas, it's either reduced to "brown savages" or "white wearing stereotypical clothing". Yes the way "race" works here is quite complex and here in Brazil specifically it's more about how you identify than how you are physically since most of us are mixed in some way, but it won't kill anyone to have more characters with a bit more Melanin on them or even visible ethnic traits since having lighter skin doesn't mean you won't have other physical traits.
I myself am light skin but in that weird field of not being dark enough to call myself "parda" while having facial traits that makes the racist idiots here ask if I'm asian because they never looked at any of our indígena population. Me being closer to what could be considered white in the Northeast of Brazil in special does not change the fact that the majority is not like me and that even if you're "white" in one location, it might not be enough in other regions because you're clearly racialized. Yes, if you live in those rich neighbourhoods filled with I-Hate-POC-nium you aren't going to see the melanin they hate so much, but that reflects a much bigger social issue.
Also within the same mixed family there will be multiple different traits, my older sister is dark skin and considers herself to be black so it is really weird how the game will get multiple new characters and none of them has darker skin.
It really is disappointing. I do remember seeing multiple videos of "skin-whitening soap" back when I still used social media so it is a general problem. As the other users pointed out though, it's money that decides what we get. At least sometimes things like Michiko to Hatchin or even Giovanna from Guilty Gear pop around.
(My apologies if anything I said sounds weird I don't talk about those things in English so there could be some nuances I'm not aware of lol)
juanelric Jul 15, 2024 7:07PM
I'm Brazilian as well and I dislike when characters are all just dark skinned (like Beyblade Metal) or all just white. I like Idolmaster because it has three Brazilian characters and they're all fairly different from each other.
Also, US comic books are really bad about this as well. Almost 100% of the Brazilian characters are "born in the Amazon but moved to Rio" (which tells me either they think Rio is right next to the rainforest or they don't know any other city in Brazil) and most of them have Spanish names on top of that.
girlswhokiss Jul 16, 2024 2:29AM
Yeah same, feels oddly reducing and they never give a very good reason for it, such as them coming from an area where the majority is dark skinned or light skinned, most of them do not put the effort into giving them a more particular trait that would make that justified. I'd love to see both because then it would be more accurate to reality and also opens the door for fun designs. It's not like we also don't have multiple japanese-brazilian or chinese-brazilian individuals. Mentioning those two in special because it's the majority I see.
I did happen to see a clip from an anime called "Na Nare Hana Nare" with a blonde brazilian girl that gives cheek kisses that are oddly gay... hand on face and all.
Agreed on that, coming from USamericans that is more than expected when they won't even bother to learn the difference between Spanish and Portuguese, I've had people try to correct me when I said it was Portuguese and not Spanish in online spaces. Brazil for them is big butts, football (s*ccer), The Amazon, Rio de Janeiro and nothing more. It's why I don't read them at all (Also because of the art style most of them have, which I find ugly and I'd rather not give much attention to media from there).
juanelric Jul 16, 2024 2:50AM
Narenare is cute, but we definitely don't kiss people as a greeting
So now my headcanon is that Anna made that up as an excuse to kiss other girls
girlswhokiss Jul 16, 2024 3:36AM
I will adhere to that. o7
It might be a regional thing though because I have memories of getting my cheek kissed, back when I still went outside, as a greeting by old women haha