our-ensemble

[our-ensemble]

[our-ensemble]

I've been thinking I really want to do something to try and help folks over in Palestine, so while I can't donate I want to at least help link to some of the general charities for folks there:

Here's arab.org's daily clicks for Palestine!

Here's eSims for Gaza!

Here's the Gaza Soup Kitchen!

Here's the linktree for the Sameer project!

Here's Crips for eSims for Gaza!

Please donate and helps spread the word if you can! If you're like me and can't donate, there's at least the daily clicks site you can bookmark and do!!!

[our-ensemble]

Somewhat related to my last post: Sometimes conversations about Aira and Kaoru's prejudices take precedence over the analysis of marginalized characters in Enstars, which leads to a loss of context.

Undoubtedly, immoral and bigoted characters are not something that should be censured given that they are not proven to correlate with violence, and there are various reasons for such characters to exist. However, even when discussions of censorship are over, some critiques still remain.

When talking about Aira and Kaoru, we are also talking about Hiiro, Rinne, and Adonis - and when people insist that Aira and Kaoru's prejudices are for "development", they often mean that marginalized characters like Hiiro, Rinne, and Adonis are fodder for others rather than characters with their own personalities and interests who fans would also like to see developed. This is the context that is often missing from conversations, which is why they devolve into debates on censorship rather than addressing the original question of examining how marginalized characters are shown in discussions of racism.

Basically, there is nothing wrong with having conversations about Aira and Kaoru's views, but these aren''t enough to form a proper understanding of how racism is explored in Enstars.

[our-ensemble]

Aira and Kaoru have received many comments about their racism, with some arguments being more informed than others. Though, given that they aren't the only characters to have biases and prejudices, some Enstars fans feel that they are receiving a disproportionate amount of criticism compared to other characters. While this critique works in specific contexts, generally speaking, these two have certain problems distinct to them in their writing that other prejudiced characters don't face, hence why they also face more visible criticism.

For the sake of comparison, I'll be referring to Izumi, Koga, and Subaru's once-held transphobia when it comes to the portrayal of bigotry in general across characters in Enstars.

Depth: There is a popular sentiment that "annoying characters are worse than immoral ones" since their personalities can interfere with the ability to enjoy and interact with entertainment. I don't disagree with this statement, however, my problem is that it isn't thoroughly and thoughtfully applied. One of the most important parts of writing is execution, and a poorly executed immoral character can sometimes be worse than an annoying one. Not to mention, being annoying and being immoral are not mutually exclusive - it is absolutely possible for a character to be both. I mention this because it's often argued that the prejudiced views that characters have add depth to them. While this is possible, it isn't a certainty. Depth doesn't come from having a specific trait, but from the exploration of that trait, and that applies to immorality as well. For Izumi, Koga, and Subaru, their transphobia in the past had been attributed to their brash personalities and/or a desire to keep people at a distance. For Aira and Kaoru, their racism is argued to be part of their upbringing or environment (or in Aira's case specifically, an attempt to fit in by internalizing the racist values of others). The difference between these arguments is that we know what Izumi, Koga, and Subaru's personalities are like, which is why we can form a conclusion about how they developed transphobic views in order to fit their personas at the time. As their personalities and relationships evolved, it also had an impact on their transphobic views, which they would eventually leave behind. For Aira and Kaoru, the arguments are based on chance. It's true that people get their views, ideals, and biases from their environment, however: a) we have no reason to assume that Aira and Kaoru specifically got their views from their environment when the source of their views can be something else and b) the change in environment (as in, coming to ES) hasn't led to any changes in values or direct conflicts between characters. (As a clarifying comment, the headcanon above isn't one I disagree with. However, in all fairness, there are other factors {like personal experience or personality for example} that I would like to explore before treating this as the most plausible theory. Nonetheless, it is an argument grounded in reality, and I don't want people to think that it is improbable or unrealistic.) More than that, the fact that Aira and Kaoru's prejudices have nothing to do with their personalities also means that most developments that they have, whether internally or with others, won't affect their biases. This is most evident with Kaoru, who grew intensely and deepened his relationships between the ! and !!-eras yet still maintained his prejudiced views. As such, I can't reasonably argue that Aira and Kaoru's prejudices give them extensive depth given that it leaves them with unanswered questions and unfulfilled development instead of more narrative richness.

Relationships: Continuing from the topic of depth, prejudices can show the relationships and differences between characters by providing topics of conflict and demonstrating contrasts in upbringing. These relationships can be controversial when they occur between the oppressor and oppressed due to the sensitive subject matter and the history of fiction preferring the most comfortable narrative (which is following the status quo). Izumi, Koga, and Subaru's transphobia at the beginning of Enstars was not particularly deep in its message, as their most infamous moments tend to be ones where they simply call Arashi slurs (or what we see sometimes with other characters in the !-era where they say that Arashi is "confused" or "delusional" when referring to herself with feminine terms). However, the distinction I want to note isn't between Izumi, Koga, and Subaru vs. Aira and Kaoru in their comments, but rather Arashi vs. Hiiro, Rinne, and Adonis. As mentioned before, oppressor-oppressed relationships in media are controversial since they submit to the comfort of the oppressor (the examples that best exemplify the specific scenario I'm thinking of are "enemies to lovers" or "unexpected ally/friend" stories where once the bond is established, all oppression miraculously disappears). These relationships, while tricky to write, are still capable of showing the individual traits of the characters in question, like how they respond to conflict, or the different faces they show to different people based on their ranking in society. What I want to focus on in particular are how these relationships show the negative feelings of the oppressed and how they respond to bigotry. Unfortunately, I'm not well read on some of the developments between Arashi, Koga, Izumi, and Subaru, so I will not be speaking on these characters with too much detail. However, the thing I want to note here is that Arashi does have some disagreements with these characters, which adds to her depth and helps her relationships with these characters feel more deep because there is developments from both sides. She doesn't blindly call these characters her friends, but doesn't close off the opportunity to interact with them either (Izumi excluded, given that they've known each other for longer and still continue to develop their relationship as members of the same unit). The moment that stands out to me most is in "Divided Yumenosaki * Hope Bridging Tanabata" / "Seven Bridges" where she brings up Koga's brash nature from last year while he's helping her, showing that she hasn't wiped the past from memory unlike what most stories would usually depict. These sorts of developments aren't possible with Hiiro, Rinne, and Adonis because they already consider Aira and/or Kaoru to be their friends. Their relationship is already in a positive place, so there isn't much incentive for reconciliation. Racism doesn't pose a challenge to these relationships either, or else we would have seen several instances of conflict between these characters by now. In short, while we could have seen interesting conflicts between Aira and Kaoru with others, the types of relationships that they have prevent them from butting heads with other characters rather than serving as a source for conflict.

Surface-level: Put simply, the depiction of racism in Enstars doesn't allow for any deep-reading. The prejudices of NPCs and main characters alike are pretty much on the nose (calling foreign characters scary or violent, making insinuations about being "barbaric", assumptions of being poor, etc). These are one of the easier conversations about racism to have, since even some racists know better than to speak badly of strangers to their faces. Something that Enstars could have explored is the specific pain of experiencing bigotry from someone you hoped to be close to, something which applies to Hiiro + Aira, and Adonis + Kaoru since these pairs are members of the same unit. However, sometimes in fan spaces, the interactions of these pairs are discussed as if they are happening between strangers when these characters have known each other by quite some time. Their bigotry isn't explored (in fanon and canon) as interactions between people who know each other, but strangers who happen to come across one another, which can make these (somewhat rare) moments feel uncharacteristic.

All in all, there is nothing wrong with writing immoral and/or bigoted characters. However, when the execution of these characters doesn't add to their personalities, to their relationships, or to the message of the text, then it's natural for readers to feel confused or deceived, especially when the topic in question is something that many readers themselves are victims of.

[our-ensemble]

I think the reason why some people don't understand why POC aren't too enthusiastic about reading about characters of colour agreeing with the status quo or forgiving racists is because they aren't familiar with what is "normal" for POC.

If I had to compare it to anything, it's like seeing the tomboy who gets a makeover to become a "girly-girl". The reason why people hate this trope isn't because there is something wrong with being feminine - it's because the trope clearly positions being gender non-conforming (going against the status quo/norm) as something to be corrected.

POC aren't upset about characters of colour "not fulfilling their moral standards" or "acting in a way that is not one-to-one with their personal experiences" - they're upset that being anything but forgiving to a racist person (going against the status quo/norm) is constantly being as condemned in fiction and fandom as it is in real life.

It's not easy to "separate fiction from reality" in this scenario because racists use fiction to enforce their reality. POC are dehumanized, treated as NPCs in the lives of others, so racists expect them to follow the same scripts that the benevolent NPCs in their favourite media use*.

And when we don't, that puts a target on our backs. Then, when we point out the scripts that are forced upon us by many societal actors, that puts a separate target on our backs (in places that were supposed to be our refuge, no less.)

The expectation to forgive previous transgressions, to turn a blind eye to people's ignorance, to keep your negative feelings to yourself, to avoid rocking the boat, to nod along, to accept the white word no matter what, to change the way you dress and talk to fit "civil society", to internalize that there is racism but no "true racists"...

...That is what is "normal" for POC.

All it takes is finding the right news channel or calling the right relative to find someone who says that boys wear blue and girls wear pink and that you've started dressing weird and scary and wrong. And, all it takes is finding the right news channel or calling the right relative to find someone who says that POC are too sensitive about slurs and that you're starting to get extreme and bold and the sort of [insert background here] that people are afraid of. That is the norm.

So, when POC complain about a character of colour being too much of a pushover for letting other racists walk all over them without saying anything, what we're actually saying is "why is this all that you want to see?" It becomes much, much easier to notice when other participants within a fandom get upset when you point this out, and start preaching about how unconditional kindness, forgiveness, and patience (following the status quo/norm) is necessary to "move someone out of their racism phase" (something they assume everyone has had).

*(This doesn't mean that "fiction influences reality" but rather that "the choice to fill in the gaps of your knowledge of reality with fiction is up to you").

[our-ensemble]

I saw a certain post on twitter that irritated me, so here's a rant

[our-ensemble]

Just an update on things that I am getting around to:

I'm in the middle of writing up on the Kurone siblings with regards to DID and Indigeneity. I'm also jotting down some things about Mayoi's ethnicity, since Main Story 1.5 is to my knowledge the only place where it's brought up. I'm only consulting Main Story 1.5 when it comes to these topics, since I feel that this is the story that explores these with the most depth, but I'm also trying to see if details are given elsewhere (other stories, interviews, artbooks, etc.)

I've also had a few half-baked thoughts on different things that I never got around to posting since I just couldn't find the right words for them. If there is some interest, I can try posting these thoughts and workshop them over time.

Some of the topics that have been on my mind are: definitions of words (I feel that a lot of people don't know what ethnicity and culture refer to), Shu's DID and Sora's synesthesia as approached by the fandom, and general comments about Enstars' approach to diversity and representation. I'll definitely get around to these in the future, but for now, I'm just trying to find the right phrasing.

Lastly, there are things in media analysis ("death of the author", conversations around moralization, debates on representation, etc.) that I've been debating discussing on this blog. I'm an individual with my own view on these things, and that definitely impacts how I analyze Enstars and how I consider other perspectives. Stating my stance out front will help others understand where I'm coming from, and why. I also hope that my perspective can also help other people consider alternative ways of approaching media analysis.

[our-ensemble]

For anonymous questions outside of Tumblr, I've considered using the site Marshmallow. Here is the link to my account. The only problem is that it won't be possible to share documents like with Google Forms. I also worry that the censors may get in the way of some discussions. I'll test it out for now and we'll see how it works.

I'm still looking for alternatives to Google Docs, since I want a place that is easy to access and free to use (no account making). That being said, I have a question for how people would like me to format the notes.

There are some topics that are quite repetitive among Enstars. Would it be preferable for me to note these in detail, or briefly? If I were to do it, it would be formatted a little like:

Option 1, detail: Story A contains Point A, Point B, Point C...

Option 2, brief: Examples of Point A = Story A, Story B, Story C...

I'm also open to other forms of formatting, especially since I want to try and include pictures wherever possible.

[our-ensemble]

For the mixed characters in Enstars, there is a weird tendency among fans to pick and choose which ethnicity they should be addressed by instead of assessing them in their whole.

Adonis is already subject to a lot of poorly informed misconceptions due to the general lack of awareness of Arab culture. However, when it comes to his ethnicity, his Japanese heritage goes unacknowledged until and unless his mother is put in the picture. Naturally, with him being raised mostly in the SWANA region, it's understandable for people to gravitate towards his personal experiences when describing him; but, this results in people assuming that he is Arab on both sides.

The erasure of his Japanese heritage can emerge from a multitude of things - misconceptions about what a "truly" Japanese person looks and acts like, exaggerations of his "foreignness" both in canon and in fan spaces, and a simple lack of reading among other things. In the end, Adonis doesn't get to connect with Japanese culture the same way that other half-Japanese characters do, which leads to a feeling of disregard with his identity.

Ibuki, as a half-Okinawan, half-American character has already been the subject of a lot of discussions. However, the point that I want to specifically focus on is how people ignore his American heritage, with the only notable exception being jokes. A lot of people talk about Ibuki as if he is a Japanese diasporan who "lacks a link to his culture". Ibuki doesn't lack any links - if anything, he is someone who has links to multiple places. His experiences in both Okinawa and America shape who he is. Ibuki's Idol Story 2 in particular is about him showing American sushi variants to other characters, something he does with confidence, and which those around him respond to with curiosity and respect.

The assumption that a) diasporan's automatically have weak links to the cultures they are descended from and that b) mixed children automatically have weak links to one or many of the cultures they are descended from draws from several types of arguments. While some people understand that cultural experiences can be difficult to acquire based on time and place, others are relying on ideas of racial purity to assess the "validity" of diasporans and mixed children's cultural experiences. This leaves Ibuki in a difficult place when it comes to discussions about his identity even without touching upon his Indigeneity.

Aira is 3/4 Japanese, 1/4 French. This is something generally well-respected by fans, but it often gets twisted around in discussions about Aira's racist comments.

The first argument is that "Aira would not be racist due to him coming from a marginalized background". Most often in activism, we can frequently see solidarity among marginalized groups, but assuming that this is always the case results in overgeneralization. There are marginalized peoples who endorse the status quo, and also those who discriminate. A person's identity is not necessarily indicative of their behaviour and values.

The second argument is that "it makes sense for Aira to be racist, since most marginalized people are". This is the inverse of the first argument, where instead of treating identity as an exemption from bigotry, identity instead becomes the impetus for discrimination. It acts as though discrimination from marginalized peoples is a given, and most people who make this argument never make similar comments about privileged groups in society, who share the same capacity to engage in or reject bigotry.

What both arguments share is that they flatten Aira down to his French heritage. Of course, Aira has received poor treatment due to NPCs' assumptions about his identity. However, that is not the only influence on Aira's life, and a proper analysis of his behaviour can never be accomplished if his French heritage is treated as the one governing principle of his decision-making. Aira's conception of what it means to be Japanese, along with his more local understanding of Japan compared to other characters, are also integral to the mindset that he has. Treating the "undesirable" parts of him as the "foreign" parts risks carrying xenophobic sentiments.

In summary, the way that Enstars characters frequently have their mixed backgrounds ignored has some roots in racism, and makes fan spaces into areas where the concepts of heritage, history, and cultural experiences are diluted to serve certain biases.

[our-ensemble]

On the topic of stereotypes, there are times when Enstars does well.

Aira could have fallen into the well-known trope of "mixed kid who only has relations to one racial group (because the author didn't bother researching anything else, if they researched at all)" - except, his lack of connection with his French heritage has consequences on his self perception, while also presenting a dilemma for him socially since former classmates would perceive him to French (until told otherwise). Thus, something that could have been a shallow choice when writing characters from mixed backgrounds becomes a more realistic exploration of what it can be like to be associated with a specific group without your own say.

Arashi has hovered close to the "team mom" stereotype that many female and/or gender-ambiguous characters get saddled with. However, her tendency to help her friends never comes from a "maternal calling", but from a genuine love and appreciation for those around her. As a result, the advice that she offers is very much the sort of advice a teenager would give, and as the Queen and the heart of Knights, she never acts as a moral backbone but as a supportive friend. Moreover, her habit of dismissing her own concerns and refusing to accept help affects her communication with others and her friends' ability to come close to her, instead of being something that prevents us from seeing Arashi's internal struggles.

Hiiro's intelligence was easily something that could have been written stereotypically, but Enstars took a very careful and necessary approach. People have been quick to assume that Hiiro may be unintelligent, but Enstars clarifies that he is unfamiliar with city concepts, not incapable of understanding them. Additionally, his academic strength shows that a) he is good at following what is expected at him (such as the school system, which "technically" expects students to ace their tests) and b) that he is a good learner, and can retain knowledge of hard-to-learn concepts. While Hiiro's exceptional behaviour may teeter on the edge of brilliance rhetoric (i.e. the idea that a person or group must have a certain level of competence to be given value in society), it never reaches that point because he doesn't "gain value" from his intelligence; instead, it is shown to be a strength of his that he hasn't fully registered. (And since it does bear saying, the fact that people still apply their stereotypical, and frankly racist, ideas onto Hiiro's intelligence shows that this was an important decision for Enstars to take).

I mention this because Enstars, by virtue of being nuanced, is difficult to critique. "Difficult" in the sense that statements made about one character may not apply to another character. However, just because a statement does not apply to other characters does not mean that it is false or disproved entirely. Not all characters are treated equally - and even when talking about one character, things are still complex. For example, a character may be underdeveloped in one area due to the thoughtless implementation of a stereotype, but well developed in another area due to greater elaboration.

To get us on the same page, a stereotype refers to a generalization of a group of people based on their group membership. These generalizations can often be based on truths that become falsehoods due to their overexaggeration.

Stereotypes are frequently used in and transmitted via media (both non-fictional and fictional), making them an important part of analysis. Which characters are written stereotypically? Which characters aren't written stereotypically? How does the stereotype contribute to the understanding of the character or the story? If the stereotype was removed, what would change? If the stereotypical character was removed, what would change?

Indeed, there are real-life people who are considered stereotypical of their respective groups(s). However, that leads to other questions: For media that uses stereotypes in their characters, are they paying respect to the experiences of the depicted group? Are the stereotypical characters used to represent the real-life people who relate to them, or something else? And lastly-

What is the point of using a stereotype?

There is not a fixed answer to these questions. It will depend on what you analyze, and what lens you approach the topic with. Nonetheless, if you cannot answer these questions, then your understanding of characters from marginalized backgrounds and people whose lifestyles differ from yours will remain incomplete.

Enstars goes some steps forwards, some steps backwards with how it integrates stereotypes into its characters, but the specific one that's been in my head for a while is one about Adonis.

Adonis is considered stoic, and has difficulty expressing himself. This can be from a stereotype of brown men considering them less emotional or less warm generally, or it can be from a stereotype of brown characters coming from harsh environments where positive expressions are frowned upon (and their privileged saviour gets to have the "honour" of teaching them about things like smiling and laughing.)

*Also, Adonis' difficulty with expressions is part of the "stoic protector" trope - although not inherently race-related, it can become racialized. This trope can and has been applied to characters from many backgrounds, however, differences in the application of this trope can be based in racist views. For instance, a stoic Black character may be considered more hostile than a stoic white character, even if they are written in exactly the same way.*

But the reason why this stereotype sticks out is because Adonis is also a character who uses Sign Language.

For people unfamiliar with Sign Language, an important part of signing is the use of facial expressions alongside signs. You might see people make "exaggerated" expressions while signing - this is to help with clarity and tone. It can be compared to changing your pitch when asking a question, or speaking in a high or low tone depending on who you're talking to. Expressions help clarify your meaning when signing.

In theory, Adonis might struggle with conveying himself in Sign Language because of problems related to facial expressions.

In practice, last I checked, there were no noted problems with Adonis' usage of Sign Language in-text.

For me, the reason why this sticks out is because once noticed, it makes his character seem a little flatter, with the other uses of stereotypes in his character adding to the damage. The implementation of Sign Language doesn't take Adonis' existing traits into account, such as how things like expressiveness or speaking and signing at the same time might be difficult for him. As a result, both Adonis' (lack of) expressions and his use of Sign Language don't seem to be the most well thought out.

[our-ensemble]

Enstars goes some steps forwards, some steps backwards with how it integrates stereotypes into its characters, but the specific one that's been in my head for a while is one about Adonis.

Adonis is considered stoic, and has difficulty expressing himself. This can be from a stereotype of brown men considering them less emotional or less warm generally, or it can be from a stereotype of brown characters coming from harsh environments where positive expressions are frowned upon (and their privileged saviour gets to have the "honour" of teaching them about things like smiling and laughing.)

*Also, Adonis' difficulty with expressions is part of the "stoic protector" trope - although not inherently race-related, it can become racialized. This trope can and has been applied to characters from many backgrounds, however, differences in the application of this trope can be based in racist views. For instance, a stoic Black character may be considered more hostile than a stoic white character, even if they are written in exactly the same way.*

But the reason why this stereotype sticks out is because Adonis is also a character who uses Sign Language.

For people unfamiliar with Sign Language, an important part of signing is the use of facial expressions alongside signs. You might see people make "exaggerated" expressions while signing - this is to help with clarity and tone. It can be compared to changing your pitch when asking a question, or speaking in a high or low tone depending on who you're talking to. Expressions help clarify your meaning when signing.

In theory, Adonis might struggle with conveying himself in Sign Language because of problems related to facial expressions.

In practice, last I checked, there were no noted problems with Adonis' usage of Sign Language in-text.

For me, the reason why this sticks out is because once noticed, it makes his character seem a little flatter, with the other uses of stereotypes in his character adding to the damage. The implementation of Sign Language doesn't take Adonis' existing traits into account, such as how things like expressiveness or speaking and signing at the same time might be difficult for him. As a result, both Adonis' (lack of) expressions and his use of Sign Language don't seem to be the most well thought out.

[our-ensemble]

Just a reminder, and also something to note for anyone new - you guys can mention any observances or questions about Enstars' representation of different groups via asks! If I can't answer it, I can at least publish it here for someone else to pitch in.

You don't have to wait for me to show interest in a specific topic before mentioning it, especially because Enstars has so much meat to it that I often have a hard time deciding what to talk about when I post. Just remember to be respectful!

[our-ensemble]

Enstars' approach to Tatsumi and religion has been really interesting, especially in "Aspiring * Touch of Feather from Tiny Wings" where he offers a "unique" perspective about God. However, something that I want to note is how they explicitly connect Tatsumi to the history of the Kakure Kirishtan.

To summarize for people unfamiliar with the term, the Kakure Kirishtan, also called the hidden Christians, are a group of Christians in Japan who converted to Christianity after making contact with Portugese missionaries. Then, when Christianity was banned in the 17th century, they would practice it in secret.

Though, what I find most interesting is how much about this gets mentioned in Tatsumi's Idol Story 2. In this story, Tatsumi talks about a very important part of the Kakure Kirishtan faith (after identifying himself explicitly as a member of the community), which is the incorporation of Shintoism. The are three reasons for this: firstly, missionaries mixed Shintoist beliefs and Christianity in their preaching to make it more appealing to locals; secondly, during the time of the ban, hiding Christian rituals behind Shintoist (and Buddhist) imagery would help avoid detection; and lastly, because of the ban on Christianity, there were no external sources to consult with regarding Christianity, so the Kakure Kirishtan would defer to more familiar places like Shintoism to develop their religious understanding. As a result, the Kakure Kirishtan faith would become distinct from other Christian sects because of its relation with Shintoism. (Also, because of this integration of Shintoism, there has been some debate as to whether or not Kakure Kirishtans should be officially recognized as a Christian denomination). To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting Enstars to mention any of this at all, so it was an honest surprise to come across it when re-reading Tatsumi's Idol Story 2 - especially since this is one of the parts about Tatsumi's connection with religion that doesn't get discussed often.

Another thing addressed in this story is the specific development of Tatsumi's family's church. After the ban on Christianity was lifted and Japanese Christians resumed contact with the rest of the Christian world, there were two notable ways in which Kakure Kirishtans proceeded (for those who stuck to Christianity): some would join the Catholic denomination, while others would continue with their current practice (a practice that has been noted to slowly die out in recent times). In Idol Story 2, Tatsumi mentions that his family's church had previously been registered as a Shinto shrine, but was now an official church. That being said, Tatsumi does mention elsewhere that his family still prefers to hide themselves, so it doesn't seem like his community has completely done away with its past. (Though, given how Tatsumi made his grand entrance in the Main Story while quoting from the Bible (among other instances), it does seem like his education extends beyond the Kakure Kirishtan sect). This outlines an important part of Tatsumi's practice of religion, which is how he and his family in the present deal with the reintroduction of Christianity to Japan.

Lastly, a more well-known fact about Tatsumi mentioned in "Reminiscence * Iridescent Obbligato" is that his bedroom walls are stained with the blood of the persecuted. Enstars is not exaggerating the brutal experiences that the Kakure Kirishtans faced, as there are a number of stories of cruel punishments inflicted upon those identified as Christians during the time of the ban. In mentioning this, Enstars paints an explicit link between Tatsumi's feelings as a member of a historically persecuted minority, specifically his own desire to become an idol to make his community seem less unfamiliar and threatening to others, to the long history of Kakure Kirishtan suffering.

All in all, there's surprisingly a lot established about Tatsumi's faith. While not all of these details are strongly explored in his narrative, they show a good understanding of how the specific experiences of the Kakure Kirishtan community would play out in Tatsumi's life, which I'm quite happy that Enstars did since I don't think it's something most fans would consider.

(and if you'll allow me to be cheeky, the fact that the EN translation also maintains the information shared above makes it exceptionally clear that EN fans who consider Tatsumi a follower of European or American Catholicism are making assumptions on their own rather than following what's in the text. I get that Idol Story 2 specifically isn't something that most people have read, but surely you can understand where my pettiness stems from)

[our-ensemble]

Now that 2+ months have passed, it does seem like HappyElements is content with their decision.

As a lot of people have rightfully pointed out, even if HappyElements were to change its course on AKATSUKI (something that they have not shown interest in, to be fair), it certainly wouldn't happen immediately. Enstars stories are written well in advance, so from the company's side, this was a choice that they were committed to making for a while (something that was also noted since the beginning of this conundrum, as several days prior to the release of AKATSUKI's event, HappyElements revealed its social media policy of a) cracking down on "harsh" comments, which I put in quotes since concerns about imperialism that did not include any mentions of harassment or threat towards any individual were also affected by this crack down and b) being stricter on spoilers, all of which were protective measures to prevent criticism, at least on Twitter).

I wonder what really is the influencing factor for HappyElements' decisions when I look back at "Answer * Matrix of Stars Drawn Towards One Another". There's two things to note: 1) Matrix was one of Enstars most controversial stories, receiving mixed reception across fans (as in, critique from multiple fanbases - JP, KR, CN, EN - instead of just one) especially in its second half 2) In terms of money, it was one of Enstars' more successful events (I can't remember how much it earned, but what should be noted is that, if my memory is correct, it received more money than "Origin * Singing the Starry Sky Altered", which is a surprise given how popular the War and it's most influential characters are in the fandom.) The question is about whether or not feedback, both positive and negative, or profit is the most influential decision-making factor.

(Though I will say, given how Enstars completely outearns every other mobile joseimusuke, it does seem like the team might be getting a bit greedy if it turns out that they are trying to earn more only for the sake of earning more. Just my opinion though.)

Matrix, like KAGETSU, also had concerns of anti-Indigenous sentiments, which is why it's an apt comparison. However, it's also true that AKATSUKI is less popular than ALKALOID and Crazy:B, which could affect how HappyElements approaches these units. Since the boycott has largely targeted money-making expenditures (no in-app purchases, no merchandise unless second-hand/bought indirectly to list a few), I'm curious to see how that would play out in the long-run (since I do feel like 2 months is a bit early to make a conclusion for the boycott, which is intended to be much more long-running).

Nonetheless, even though current pressure from email and petitions have not yielded a response, I still think its early to accept that no change of any kind can occur in the future.

What concerns me most is how events like Matrix wound up in the writing room after passing through editing, proofreading, and revisions, and how the response to KAGETSU was dealt with by dividing and punishing fans rather than a proper investigation of the many perspectives related to this topic.

Additionally, I don't feel like we've seen enough from the original 3 members of AKATSUKI's perception of Ibuki thus far to truly, conclusively say that this integration lacks imperialistic connotations. Since the release of KAGETSU, Ibuki has made his motivations clear in other stories like his Idol Story 3. I'm trying to see if there are any mentions from the other AKATSUKI members (such as Scout and Event cards) that give more insight into the in-text angle and HappyElements' approach, because Ibuki's comments alone haven't given too much detail. Understandably, due to the nature of the gacha system, it may take months, maybe years, to get a proper picture - still, that doesn't mean that whatever has been established prior to this "proper picture" is exempt from critique.

And lastly, connecting to the previous point, it is absolutely necessary that HappyElements clarifies its direction. Words like "unity" and "harmony" have been used by the oppressor as often as the oppressed - this is because of subjective interpretations that promote specific notions of these concepts. The attempts to erase the Ryukyuan identity and the Meiji-era laws discriminating against the Ainu were both explained as acts to encourage unity, oneness, and equality by the Japanese government in the same vein as the abolishment of the samurai class. The idea of "one (ethnically homogeneous) Japan" is considered unity by some, and ethnic cleansing by others.

"Harmony" and "unity" mean only as much as HappyElements wants them to, and until their interpretation of these loaded terms with regards to Ibuki and AKATSUKI is made clear, fans are free to analyze the "harmony" presented in Enstars according to every possible definition.

haiii question,,,, sorry for being kinda dumb here but what would be the point of sending emails to hapiele? the story is written already and akatsuki redebuted (???) so what Will they do then? would they just take back the things that happened in the event? sorry again for the bother! i dont go to twt or social media that much so im lost,,,

Thank you for asking, and this isn't a dumb question at all. Of course, contacting HappyElements has been quite the undertaking, so it's only natural to want to know what we should expect. This is a bit lengthy since I wanted to put as much perspective as possible, and as always, I do not mind if others wish to add to this.

The most important thing to acknowledge is that this is an unprecedented scenario, so we're making estimates about how HappyElements will respond. At best, we hope that HappyElements complies with the requests made in the emails and nothing less, with these requests being a) the removal of Ibuki from AKATSUKI since this plays into the existing discrimination and Japanization of Ryukyuans and b) the careful consideration of how Indigenous characters are written going forward. Other additional goals may be added at individual discretion, but in relation to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, this is our main focus.

There is a chance that Enstars can edit or change the story. For example, in Izumi's event, "One Drop * A Specially Chosen Mad Party in UNDERLAND", fans raised concerns about how Izumi and Leo's backstory was mischaracterized in the story, and the line was later changed. However, when it comes to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, we should acknowledge that our concern is with the story as a whole, not a few lines, and so this is not likely. Should HappyElements decide to edit the story, they would likely be attempts to soften the blows that they dealt - but especially for a subject matter like this, it most certainly does not change the fact that the blow is still being dealt.

Another hope is that, even if it does not change AKATSUKI's event, it will push HappyElements to be more considerate in the future with regards to discrimination and characterization. We know that Enstars has been able to change its trajectory with how it approaches topics. For instance, Arashi's earliest stories contained both homophobic and transphobic stereotypes (specifically, she had many stereotypes associated with gay men, which is why the earliest translations of !-era stories tend to use he/him pronouns exclusively. At the time, her gender was not explained.) However, as years passed, the quality of her stories has noticeably improved, with a greater emphasis on her relationship with her gender. Hopefully, pressure from fans will encourage HappyElements to consider the racist, anti-Indigenous message that its pushing, and reevaluate how to approach Ibuki and other marginalized characters.

Some fans are also taking the angle of focusing on mischaracterization as a sort of "foot-in-the-door" technique. Again, as was the case with Izumi, if we can argue that certain things are out-of-character and that the continuous mischaracterization will be a threat to HappyElements' profits, then we might be able to use that momentum to target the racism in the story, since for AKATSUKI, the mischaracterization has been done to facilitate the discrimination that we see, and thus is not wholly separate from the issue. (Though on that note, fans have been asked to emphasize the treatment of Ibuki, since we must not treat occassional mischaracterization as comparable to active discrimination rooted in prejudices that continue to affect Ryukyuans in the present.)

At the same time, we must acknowledge that HappyElements has not made any efforts of note regarding other concerns raised by fans. Most relevantly, the event "Answer * Matrix of Stars Drawn Towards One Another" contains racist, anti-Indigenous sentiments in its depiction of the Amagi village. Instead of taking inspiration from Ainu culture as has been the case with the Amagis thus far, they made the Ainu village a sci-fi setting. Japanese imperialism has worked tirelessly to erase the culture of the Ainu in order to assimilate them. By making the Amagi village less culturally rooted and more fantastical, Enstars erases the presence of Ainu culture from their world - likely because it wasn't deemed interesting enough, since Enstars does value its shock factor - which is insensitive to the plight that the Ainu face to this day.

With all this in mind, we have to remind ourselves that this situation is still developing. The reaction to fans' emails has been mixed in the past, and the response to concerns of discrimination especially has been disappointing. Though, we also need to acknowledge that this is arguably the strongest, most concentrated reaction of the fans towards HappyElements, and we cannot allow them to intimidate us, nor can we allow them to forget that they are enabling dangerous anti-Ryukyuan sentiments that are not without real-life consequence.

Lastly, as I personally see it... even if "nothing" happens, I still ask that fans continue to pressure HappyElements. If HappyElements cannot treat marginalized people with respect, then at the minimum we should do the opposite and show marginalized fans that we stand with them. As I've mentioned time and time again, what we have seen in Enstars is reflective of real-life prejudices that are actively harming people. Even if HappyElements' mind does not change, other people observing the situation may reevaluate their own biases, and we can counteract whatever harms could occur as a result of HappyElements' lack of care.

[our-ensemble]

Another thing about the okama term being used against her, the characters that used it have either apologized for using it (Koga) or were warned against using it (Akiomi scolding/reprimanding Subaru). Both the characters even giving her a completely different nickname ("Ari" and "Rasshi")

I'll have to look for the exact stories, but there's textual evidence in canon that's its not a good word and she strongly dislikes it

Also it appears to be mostly the English server that doesn't give her pronouns, choosing to instead use her name (even if it makes the sentence clunky/awkward), since Japanese doesn't really have pronouns when referring to someone

Thank you, anon!

You focus on an important part that I didn't delve into re: "okama" as used in-text, which is that the slur is established in-text as having discriminatory connotations, and is known by characters in-universe to be used in a demeaning fashion (which as you've pointed out, is something that characters who do use "okama" in a discriminatory manner have worked against repeating). Arashi's discomfort doesn't come just from light teasing, but from actively experiencing prejudice from her classmates, which is entirely erased when people blindly call her an "okama".

Good clarification about pronouns, because I don't think I mentioned that the English pronouns I was talking about were in the third-person, whereas the Japanese pronouns I was talking about were in the first-person. Sure, they're both pronouns, but their usage wouldn't really be one-to-one. I'll see if this is something I need to clarify on that post based on how people react, but I'll keep it in mind if the topic ever arises again.

Also, regarding how Arashi has been treated across servers, it does seem like the English server is the one that's being the most unusual about it. In the Japanese server, means other than pronouns are used to establish Arashi's gender (the ones that come to my mind now are more indirect, but I would by no means call them insignificant). For the Chinese and Korean servers, I haven't seen anyone note instances of denial of her identity, though in the interests of integrity, that one would require a bit more investigation since the Chinese and Korean servers aren't as frequently discussed in the fandom space, especially since the English server came out. Though from my experience, I haven't heard any notice of discrimination against Arashi in these servers' translations.

The point about the English server translation is important because it demonstrates a specific area where Western views on gender (specifically conservative ones) are being applied to Arashi. In this specific case, we (English-speaking fans trying to familiarize themselves with Enstars, to be more exact) need to investigate views about transness in the West rather than views in Japan to understand why this decision about her pronouns is being made, which I hope I was able to convey in that post.

[our-ensemble]

When it comes to Arashi's gender identity, many have been hesitant about labelling Arashi a trans woman in fear of interpreting her identity according to their own biases rather than understanding it in her context. However in doing so, some people circle around to being racist and transphobic, showing an unawareness of queerness as it manifests outside of the West. Below, I'll address some of the ways in which refusing to call Arashi a trans woman can perpetuate unknown biases and prejudices.

(1) The Intersection Between Racism and Transmisogyny To simplify a long story: people in the West have a weird relationship with explorations of gender in other cultures. In particular, there is an obsession with thinking that transness doesn't "quite" exist in other cultures. As an example, the Hijra community of India has been consistently labelled a third gender, and the reasons for doing so has garnered a lot of backlash. Hijras are considered a third gender to some because when it comes to men's and women's spaces, rather than entering one or the other, they create their own space, and the story ends there for the West. Systemic reasons that encourage the Hijra to avoid women's spaces are ignored; the transphobia that makes it difficult for them to enter women's spaces and the threat and discomfort that prevents many from going to men's spaces is used against them to insist that they are neither. It would be the same as saying, "There is a third gender in America, understood to be such because they use neither women's nor men's bathrooms, called 'trans women'" - it completely obstructs any investigation into why a trans woman may not be willing or able to enter many gendered spaces.

As it relates to Arashi, we see a similar insistance from some Enstars fans that she simply cannot be a trans woman for these assumptions about cultural expressions of queerness. One argument is that the concept of trans women in the West simply doesn't exist in Japan. This is an extension of the infantilization of East Asians, which has been used to insist that East Asians "don't know what LGBT+ means", among other racist generalizations around sexuality in particular. This argument excludes Japanese people in general, not just characters, from being trans. Another argument is that Arashi's participation in the male idol industry, or her attendence in an all-boys course, are proofs that she is not a woman. This relies on environmental factors and systemic transphobia to explain Arashi's identity rather than her own feelings on the matter. Given the strictness of transitioning and fears of discrimination, Arashi's ability to go into women's spaces is limited. Also, this argument assumes that all people in all-x spaces identify as x. (As someone who went to an all-girls school, believe me when I say that I had classmates that weren't girls. Just as there are reasons for a trans person to leave a gender-segregated school (dysphoria, transphobia to list a few), there are also reasons for people to stay - friends, location, opportunities in education, etc.)

To talk about transmisogyny specifically as it links to racism, women of colour are held to a higher standard of femininity in general, which bodes poorly when paired with transphobia. We see this again with the Hijra and their gender expression. When a Hijra is feminine, it's often described as a "parody" or "mimicry", a farce to immitate a woman rather than just them being women. This unusual strictness with femininity is a common transmisogynistic argument, but what makes it so threatening when paired with racism is that even self-proclaimed progressives and allies will have no problem applying it when the target is a trans woman of colour.

In Arashi's case, that which is feminine is labelled an expression of gender non-conformity, while that which is masculine is taken as evidence of gender identity. Arashi sometimes acts according to gender norms - modelling is considered a "feminine" job, she's often styled according to feminine trends, her behaviour can be described as "girly", but this, obviously, isn't proof of gender identity. When it comes to masculinity… she has short hair and she wears pants, which is apparently enough for some people to write her off from being a woman in general (I'm simplifying for the sake of brevity, there are much more nuanced takes on her relationship with femininity and masculinity that I won't go into). Her masculine behaviours are seen as the "real" indicators of her identity, while her feminine behaviours are ignored or downplayed in order to deny any relation with femininity at all.

Of course, participation in femininity is not a prerequisite for being a woman, but it means absolutely nothing if one doesn't also acknowledge that participation is masculinity does not stop one from being a woman. Arashi not wearing a dress or skirt does not make her less of a woman, and her wearing a suit likewise does not make her less of a woman. No matter how Arashi presents herself, so long as she calls herself a woman, she is one - misconstructing expressions of femininity and masculinity and entangling them with racist views can only yield prejudiced results.

(1.5) Western Dominance In Gender Expression To extend from the above, the West has a false idea of what things are unique to certain cultures (like with homosexuality) and what things are universal (heterosexuality). Some of you may be familiar with the Western tendency to overestimate (ex. Assuming that everyone in foreign countries speaks English) - when it comes to culture, media, and queerness, we see the opposite. The West tends to underestimate how much it dominates in the cultural sphere, failing to acknowledge how far its values and ideals spread, especially through the media and in international debate platforms. This brings us to an awkward point when talking about queerness and gender non-conformity for two reasons. 1) Ideas of heterosexuality, monogamy, and gender expression considered characteristic of the West are actually the norm even in places outside of the West. For example, it's often brought up that in some East Asian cultures historically, a man with long hair would not be considered gender non-conforming, because this was once the norm. However, it is likewise true that this is not common in the present, which is to cut the hair short. As such, the traditional status quo and the modern status quo are entirely different, with the latter being influenced by the West depending on the period and area. When the status quo between the West and the East is linked, it stands to reason that deviations from the status quo may share links as well. 2) Western ideas of queerness genuinely do influence Eastern ideas of queerness. For some people, Western media is the first place where they get to grapple with different notions of gender and sexuality. It's not a matter of cultural notions of queerness, but cultural openness in discussing queerness. In places where topics like sexuality are a taboo, local queer communities are deliberately kept to the shadows in order to avoid engaging in the "mistake" of acknowledging them. Because of this restriction on local queer identities, Western ideas of queerness may be easier to see. For example, a number of queer terms in Japan are loan words from English - there's clearly some interaction going on.

It's more of an aside to be an honest, but there's quite a lot of oversimplification of West/East interactions in regards to gender expression that assumes that there is no influence whatsoever. Even if Arashi were "influenced by the West" or however people want to put it, she would still be a trans woman, much like others who share her experience.

(2) Pronouns i) Japanese pronouns: Japanese pronouns do not denote gender, though some generalizations and "media tropes" as you can call them exist. For example, a man who uses "ore" would be considered masculine, while a man who uses "boku" may be soft-spoken, polite, or casual. These are just some of many ways in which pronouns may be viewed, but most importantly, they are not restrained by gender - a woman can use "ore" and "boku" as well. That being said, sometimes people can be strict in applying pronouns on queer characters to force and reject certain identities. A similar discourse that comes to mind as an example is a discussion about Mizuki Akiyama from Project Sekai. I believe that at this time, Mizuki does not have an official label, and as far as English pronouns go from what I have seen, they have consistently been referred to with they/them, and I will be respecting this as I write. If there are some facts about Mizuki that I have gotten wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Regarding Mizuki, they use the Japanese pronoun "boku", and the common understanding of their gender is that they are transfeminine. However, their usage of "boku" has been used to deny that they are transfeminine, with some arguing that "although Japanese pronouns don't show gender, 'boku' isn't often used by girls, so Mizuki probably isn't a girl or transfeminine". Not only is that wrong culturally (there are plenty of girls who use "boku"), but it's trying to leverage the ambiguity of Japanese pronouns to be transphobic.

Arashi faces the same problem, but in the "oppposite direction" so to say. Arashi uses the pronoun "atashi", which is primarily associated with young-ish girls. In Arashi's case, the argument is that "although Arashi uses a pronoun associated with girls, Japanese pronouns don't show gender, so Arashi probably isn't a girl or transfeminine."

Both Mizuki and Arashi have their pronouns used against their identities when, long story short: if pronouns cannot determine gender identity, then they likewise cannot deny gender identity. If Mizuki's pronoun does not make her a girl or transfeminine, then by that interpretation, Arashi's pronoun would make her a girl; and if Arashi's pronoun cannot prove her identity, then Mizuki's pronoun cannot be used to disprove her identity. However, since people who deny Mizuki's gender are also people who deny Arashi's gender, the inconsistency in their arguments can be explained by the end result - to deny trans women and those with similar identities the ability to identify with their gender.

Lastly, when translating pronouns, trans characters are treated as a case separate than cis characters. For example, Marisa from the Touhou franchise and Suzie from Deltarune both use "ore" in Japanese. Nonetheless, they are both referred to with she/her, rather than with an uncommon English pronoun choice to reflect the uncommon Japanese pronoun choice. In contrast, when it comes to Arashi, fans are much more hesitant to use she/her, even though Arashi's Japanese pronoun choice represents a more common archetype than the previously mentioned usage of "ore" (as in, just as she/her is quite common in English, "atashi" is quite common in (casual) Japanese). Rather, it is only with Arashi that fans talk about how it is perfectly acceptable for her to use pronouns that are not she/her without ever applying that mindset to cis characters. To extend from that, as I mentioned earlier, there are tropes associated with pronouns. Continuing with the earlier example, Marisa and Suzie's usage of "ore" helps paint them as tomboys, or rowdy personalities (though not every girl who uses "ore" is necessarily characterized as such). When talking about pronouns, rather than assessing which "pronoun trope" would suit Arashi best in English to reflect her choice of "atashi", fans blindly apply Western ideas of pronouns to Japanese pronouns when it comes to gender, neglecting the other information that comes from Japanese pronoun usage. This misinterpretation of how Japanese pronouns function hides her identity, rather than elaborating upon it.

ii) English pronouns: Talking about the EN server specifically, the hesitation in using pronouns at all for Arashi has raised a lot of red flags, since this is a common form of misgendering that trans people face. Misgendering isn't only the use of a "wrong" pronoun (such as using he/him for someone who uses she/they) but also refusing to use pronouns at all, or forcibly using "neutral" pronouns like they/them for someone who has already established that their preferred pronouns are not they/them. This counts as misgendering because the target still does not have their identity acknowledged, just in ways that are less obvious to some.

Conversations around Arashi's pronouns illustrate a greater discourse surrounding trans women's pronouns - "if you use she/her, you're just following status quo assumptions about femininity (think back to that point about mimicry and parody), and if you use he/him, then it's your fault if people think that you are a man". Even when it comes to pronouns, what is or isn't "correct" is decided for the trans woman, not by the trans woman; to take it a step forward, everything that a trans woman does is deemed incorrect in order to dissuade them from finding any comfort in their identity.

When it comes to she/her pronouns specifically, these are gatekept strongly from trans women by TERFs and people with similar ideologies. Again, femininity is strictly held to a strong standard in order to keep it out of trans women's reach. With transphobia rising in many places, we see more and more how pronouns can be weaponized against people in general speech - for instance, because of the campaign launched against her, there are people to this day who continue to refer to Olympic boxer Imane Khelif and other athletes accused of being men with he/him pronouns.

Arashi being the only individual in Enstars to have her pronouns restricted in unnatural ways throughout the EN translation, when other characters have comfortably been referred to be he/him, has been seen as a sign that the translation team is trying to avoid using she/her pronouns.

(3) Two Birds, One Stone - Trans Women and Gender Non-Conforming Men An alternate headcanon to Arashi being a trans woman is calling her a gay man or a gender non-conforming man. For the record, I don't think there's anything ludicrous about playing around with canon, and I am not against the application of headcanons whatsoever - but it is not contradictory to say that headcanons can sometimes be based in stereotypes and prejudices that show off a person's own bigotry. A common form of discrimination against both trans women and gay and/or gender non-conforming men is conflating the two. Trans women are accused of being gay men or non-conforming men who "dress like women to get what they want", while gay and/or gender non-conforming men are called women because "no guy could possibly want to dress like that and/or be attracted to another guy". It's not that these sorts of bigots value one community over the other, it's that they want to be as demeaning as possible through the use of a) misgendering and b) comparison to a group frowned upon in society.

However, what makes this headcanon a bit perplexing when applied to Arashi is the claim that it's done for representation's sake, as Enstars already has gender non-conforming men. For Shu and Hajime, it's a strong focal point in their personal stories, while other characters like Hiyori, Tori, and Mayoi may have some gender non-conforming associations here and there. Even putting aside Arashi's own comments on her gender, she is treated in a way distinctive from the canonically gender non-conforming men in the franchise.

When it comes to fandom behaviour, people who headcanon Arashi to be gay or gender non-conforming are usually revolted when a gender non-conforming character is given a transfem headcanon, showing an inconsistency in how they approach headcanons. Those who use he/him for Arashi are usually offended by the use of she/her for Shu, for example (tying into my point earlier about trans people and cis people being held to different standards of pronoun usage, too). As such, it's clear that there is a problem with transfemininity specifically for these people, and not fanon interpretation or representation as a whole.

Gay and gender non-conforming men have undoubtedly been treated poorly by the media… but so have trans women, who share the same pains. The claim that Arashi cannot be a trans woman because it's "more progressive" for her to be a gender non-conforming man ignores the lack of representation that trans women likewise face (especially since many trans characters like Bridget from Guilty Gear initially began as "trap" characters, and became more authentic representation later in development), and pretends that trans people "have it better" - a form of transphobia intended to divide the queer community.

(3.5) About Slurs The conflation of trans women, gay men, and gender non-conforming men is reflected in more specific forms of discrimination. The word "okama" refers to effeminate men, and has been used as a slur against gay men, gender non-conforming men, and trans women. Some have taken to reclaiming this slur, using it casually as queer lingo.

But the specific thing I want to note is that just because some people have reclaimed it, doesn't mean that everyone has - the term "okama" is still used to demean trans women and gay and/or gender non-conforming men. Western attempts to call the slur totally reclaimed are misguided at best and risk objectifying and sexualizing the target at worst - "okama" can also refer to a recipient of anal penetration, and demeaning comments against queer people frequently reduce them to their (hypothetical) sexual encounters and "fetishistic nature" for the purpose of making them seem "immoral" and "impure". For the last 10-20 years, anime fandoms in particular have acted like "okama" is a totally neutral word, when it continues to be used against queer people in Japan. Additionally, some are under the impression that the term "okama" expresses a Japanese third gender, which is also false and can lead into the discussion above about the intersection between racism and transmisogyny re: the Hijra.

Firstly, for Arashi specifically, referring to her as an "okama" has always read as odd to me given that she clearly rejects the term in-text. When other characters call her an "okama", she frequently, consistently tells them that she does not want to be referred to in that way. She does this most often by telling them that "okama" "is not her name" and that she would like to be referred to by some other name. As such, saying that Arashi is canonically an "okama" goes against what we have seen time and time again in canon (back in 2016, that is). Secondly, given that Arashi is the only character in the game to have the word "okama" used against her, it suggests that there is clearly something to her identity that sets her apart from other characters that we have seen thus far.

I'm not blind to the fact that Arashi began as an okama stereotype - but Enstars has long since abandoned that angle with her and some fans out there really need to catch up.

Ultimately, these are some of the things that come to my mind at this time in discussions about Arashi. While I would like to focus more on canon than on fanon in this blog, I don't think it's possible to have a proper conversation about canon when so many people have such divided interpretations of it. I may add more to this as I remember, but for now, these are things that I hope people keep in mind as they talk about Arashi and transness across different cultures. As always, I encourage people to add their own comments, and I hope that this can help deepen the discussion around Arashi.

[our-ensemble]

The email account that I've used for this blog has been lost and cannot be verified, which is why I have removed the Forms and the Docs as I no longer have access to them. I'll see what I can do instead - I might remake them, or I may have to search for a non-email alternative for submissions and record keeping.

(This is also why I haven't been active at all recently, since it took a few weeks for Tumblr to verify my blog and reset my email).