Current Events > I wish JRPGs would stop doing racism storylines.

(+) Yeah! (+)

They're the absolute worst at it.

Racism in jrpgs is extremely superficial and comes off more like Romeo and Juliet except the Montagues and Capulets are really really really big families.

Gotta go kill God instead

Like what? Its funny because I find when they include gay/identity issues in their storylines, it feels a lot more natural than how the west does it. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the western comics.

The most recent one in my experience was Alexis from Valkyria Chronicles.

CrimsonAngel posted...

Gotta go kill God* instead

Chaos*

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Its funny because I find when they include gay/identity issues in their storylines, it feels a lot more natural than how the west does it.

lol

Chaos?! Where?!

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Like what?

The most obvious example of this is Tales of Symphonia

Tyranthraxus posted...

Racism in jrpgs is extremely superficial and comes off more like Romeo and Juliet except the Montagues and Capulets are really really really big families.

I immediately thought of the Espers and the humans in Final Fantasy 6, and yes.

That game's solution to the matter was "obviously racism is wrong, but one side died out anyway, and the half-blood is now a full blood because LOVE, so oh well, mostly happy ending".

Tyranthraxus posted...

The most obvious example of this is Tales of Symphonia

Shit, never played that Tales game. Probably one of the only older ones I haven't played due to it being on Gamecube at the time.

Tyranthraxus posted...

The most obvious example of this is Tales of Symphonia

Honestly, Symphonia at least feels like it tried and it had a heart for it.

Arise does something similar and it's most soulless thing.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

Like what? Its funny because I find when they include gay/identity issues in their storylines, it feels a lot more natural than how the west does it. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the western comics.

You mean they don't do it explicitly enough to make you uncomfortable? That's a bad thing imo.

Background_Guy posted...

You mean they don't do it explicitly enough to make you uncomfortable? That's a bad thing imo.

When someone is gay, it shouldn't be explicit. They should be treated the same as everyone else, naturally. By making it 'explicit' it's kinda defeating the point of equality unless the story was ABOUT their sexuality.

Edit: Also whats this about me being uncomfortable? Did you mean by the persons sexuality or the terrible writing western comics usually have?

Tyranthraxus posted...

Racism in jrpgs is extremely superficial and comes off more like Romeo and Juliet except the Montagues and Capulets are really really really big families.

I mean you read Romeo and Juliet at high school...which is also the target audience of most jrpgs.

Speaking of missing the point

Is changing God to Chaos an actual Japanese-to-English censorship in JRPGs?

FortuneCookie posted...

Is changing God to Chaos an actual Japanese-to-English censorship in JRPGs?

I thought that was a jab at the Chaos meme from Strangers of Paradise, the new Final Fantasy game coming out.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

I thought that was a jab at the Chaos meme from Strangers of Paradise, the new Final Fantasy game coming out.

This.

Chaos?!

Umm have yall not played any Elder Scrolls game? It's a WRPG and it's all about racism and destroying deities. This ain't exclusive to Japan, folks.

it's done well in Tactics Ogre.

Did a specific game spur this observation, TC or is this just a random thought?

Veggeta_MAX posted...

Umm have yall not played any Elder Scrolls game? It's a WRPG and it's all about racism and destroying deities. This ain't exclusive to Japan, folks.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age are also filled with fictional racism. The Witcher as well.

Its actually done really well in FFXIV, don't know why I didn't bring it up earlier but:

SPOILERS

The plight of the Ala Mhigan people. The subjugation of Doma. How Ala Mhigan society was replaced by imperial rule, and they divided the higher class Ala Mhigans from the lower, technically pitching them against each other. And Doma, on the other side of the world, was afraid to fight back because of they would be made an example of. Villagers literally selling each other out.

Characters like Fordola and Yotsuyu turning their backs on their countrymen because of the prejudice they received, one of them because she was a woman in the worst circumstances imaginable (Rape, prostitution) the other was because her highborn family were disciminated against for being treated better than the lower born.

Even though people say Stormblood was rushed, the Warrior of Light couldn't just waltz in there by themselves to sort everything out. They needed to get people from different cultures to come in and sympathize with the masses, bringing them together and throwing aside their prejudices against one another to drive out the invading force.

And it happened again in Endwalker with the Garleans being seen as the "enemy" while a lot of them fearing the outsiders, Eorzeans in this case, entering their country as an invading force and the fear of being treated like shit, just like in the past where they were driven up North by those same nations.

I mean a lot of the class divide and racism could be seen all the way back in A Realm Reborn, with Little Ala Mhigo, Ilberd and Raubahn's legacy.

Edit: Forgot about the Syndicate, the refugees and obvious class divide there, but you get the picture, already explained the basic outline.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

When someone is gay, it shouldn't be explicit. They should be treated the same as everyone else, naturally. By making it 'explicit' it's kinda defeating the point of equality unless the story was ABOUT their sexuality.

Define "being explicit" lol.

Anyways on topic, I thought FFX handled the anti-Al Bhed prejudice pretty well, especially with relationship between that prejudice and the religion of the setting.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


What I meant is that jrpgs are philosophically shallow cause their target audience are teens. Just something that seems and sounds deep, but its only 3 feet deep.

FurryPhilosifer posted...

Mass Effect and Dragon Age are also filled with fictional racism. The Witcher as well.

I want to say Mass Effect handled it well, but then I remember the Batarians and the Volus and I don't think I want to defend my stance anymore.

xXfireglzXx posted...

I want to say Mass Effect handled it well, but then I remember the Batarians and the Volus and I don't think I want to defend my stance anymore.

Batarians deserved it.

What's wrong with the volus?

Kim_Seong-a posted...

Define "being explicit" lol.

I assume what Background_guy meant was by writing. But I could be wrong.

xXfireglzXx posted...

I want to say Mass Effect handled it well, but then I remember the Batarians and the Volus and I don't think I want to defend my stance anymore.

Mass Effect had a slightly more realistic interpretation including literal genocide but the topic itself was handled with all the consideration of picking a restaurant to get dinner.

Thank goodness Valkyria Chronicles 4 more or less ignored the "Darcsen bad" plot line with the main playable army. Raz is an officer and accepted by all more or less

People try to say racism is logical when it's more accurate to say there is rationality behind racism

What game?

I've noticed at lot of Japanese media portrays racism as being about revenge for past atrocities. Like these racists say "this race did a bad thing years ago so they're bad". It's weird - yeah racists simetimes used those justifications in real life (Curse of Ham, "Jews betrayed Jesus", etc) but usually racism doesn't have such a cut and dry motivation. And almost always it'll eventually be revealed that the persecuted race didn't actually do the bad thing. So the racism would have not been as bad if they had been guilty?

Off the top of my head I've seen this exact plot in Attack on Titan, Valkyria Chronicles, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fire Emblem Three Houses, maybe Triangle Strategy, I haven't finished it yet.

I really do wonder how a JRPG would handle racism with real-world races instead of fantasy ones.

I like how in FFXIV the races that are being persecuted against have the most vile people within their societies too. As if to say not everyone is defined by their race and there will always be people close to you who will stab you in the back.

Love how not everything is black and white in that game, every character has a motivation individually.

Background_Guy posted...

I've noticed at lot of Japanese media portrays racism as being about revenge for past atrocities. Like these racists say "this race did a bad thing years ago so they're bad". It's weird - yeah racists simetimes used those justifications in real life (Curse of Ham, "Jews betrayed Jesus", etc) but usually racism doesn't have such a cut and dry motivation. And almost always it'll eventually be revealed that the persecuted race didn't actually do the bad thing. So the racism would have not been as bad if they had been guilty?

Basically what made me make this topic.

DeadBankerDream posted...

Basically what made me make this topic.

It really feels like it's based more on old Japanese ideas of family shame than real racism. Write what you know, right?

Solar_Crimson posted...

I really do wonder how a JRPG would handle racism with real-world races instead of fantasy ones.

The problem with the topic of racism in JRPGS, or pretty much any work of fantasy, is that both parties involved usually *are* incredibly different.

Take X-Men, for example, what with the whole humans vs mutants thing.
The irony is that mutants *are* dangerous, and some of whom use their powers for evil.

The deal with real-world racism is that our differences are superficial. At the end of the day we're all still human.

Background_Guy posted...

It really feels like it's based more on old Japanese ideas of family shame than real racism. Write what you know, right?

Could also be an insight into how the Japanese view racism. Like Japanese vs Koreans vs Chinese is all about stuff that happened in the past, because all three groups would be considered the same race elsewhere (Asian).