#bandai homophobia

[the-eeveekins]

TL;DR at the bottom.

A common complaint I've seen after the latest set of G-Witch official artwork is:

"Why are Sulemio fans so upset about the Guel picture? What's wrong with them just hanging out as friends?"

And I can guarantee you this: If Bandai had come out in support of Sulemio in the wake of the show, almost no one would care if Suletta and Guel hung out as friends every so often in official artwork. But they didn't support Sulemio, and even went so far as censoring Kana Ichinose for saying they were married and released a tone-deaf and homophobic statement afterwards. And then, in addition to downplaying the canon sapphic couple, they started spliting them up and pairing them with male characters in official merchandise. Male characters the homophobic elements of the fandom love to pair them with.

Combined with the continued merchandising of Guel's confession and advertising mixing and matching Suletta and Miorine's figures with Guel/Shaddiq/Elan for "Romeo and Juliet" reasons and it paints a pretty clear picture: advertising the potential relationships the sapphic couple could have had with these males characters is almost as important as advertising the canonically married sapphic couple while also (intentionally or not) serving to appease and motivate homophobic elements of the fandom. If we had official artwork of Sulemio kissing or getting married, something more than the malicious compliance-inspired handholding, gazes, and symbolism, I would not care about Suletta and Guel make goofy poses or Miorine and Shaddiq hanging out.

TL;DR Almost no one would give a damn if Suletta & Guel were friendly in official artwork if we knew Bandai clearly and openly supported Sulemio. But we pretty much know for a fact that that isn't the case, thus making any attempt to separate the sapphic couple and pair them with male characters suspect due to their past homophobic actions.

[the-eeveekins]

I've said elsewhere that about the most generous reasoning I could give for Bandai's pandering to the straight ships and the male characters is that they already know Sulemio fans are fully on board and spending money, but they're not seeing that from their usual fans of male characters so they're trying real hard in advertising to appeal to them to spend money on G-Witch.

But even then I can't justify the homophobia and sexism, especially when we know Bandai is intentionally avoiding anything the officially says Sulemio are married outside the show even while still advertising them together and making plenty of merchandise of them two of them together.

You hit the nail on the head about it being like selling Makorra or Masami merch after TLoK ended. The men in this show are so unpopular and they're trying their hardest to keep the homophobes happy that they have to keep trying pair them with the gay girls to sell them and act like these relationships that never happened in the show are somehow on the same footing as the two women who got canonically married at the end.

Like you said, it's insulting to anyone who actually watched the show and isn't deluding themselves like all these homophobes have been for months. I can only hope Sulemio keeps selling and the men keep not selling that eventually Bandai will be forced to give up and really focus on the thing fans actually want, or at least just sell the male characters without trying to "ship" them with Sulemio in the process. And hopefully someday the dinosaurs responsible for the decision to suppress Sulemio will retire or die off and we'll get people who will actually officially recognize their marriage, and vindicate Kana Ichinose.

still insane that even after we already know who suletta married and loves, they still want to pander to different ships and tiptoe around sulemio. it's like still getting official makorra or masami content after tlok ended.

tbf the "pandering" is also vague and usually one-sided. but come ONNN. this is just homophobia and heteronormativity at this point. "let people ship what they want" if it's at the expense of queer fans and the actually canon queer couple then i'm just gonna disagee with that sentiment :) their dancing around sulemio is frankly insulting and i hope i never again encounter media that treats their explicitly queer writing like this.

[ericmicael]

There was a meeting of Bandai shareholders and it seems that a "G-Witch" fan literally became a minority shareholder of Bandai to ask them about the censorship over the SuleMio wedding, and they responded with: "There is diversity in how people interpret the portrayal, and our company does not take a specific position".

This is the first time I see someone using the word "diversity" to deny diversity.

[ironmyrmidon]

You know what's crazy about the Witch From Mercury censorship? People already know WFM as the Gundam with a gay romance. Any homophobic parent who googles "witch from mercury gay" is going to get a yes. They're not gonna let their kids watch it, because it's a gay show. (This is all assuming the parent gets past the word witch, btw).

The lesbian girlies who would have been a fan of the show are alienated, because of Bandai's homophobic censorship.

Who was this for!?

[xcomgiveittoya]

After today’s debacle, I’m fully in tin-foil hat mode about those fifteen seconds of Miorne talking to unconscious Suletta that we didn't get to hear.

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

I do think we need to figure out what a "gay movie" like Is because a bunch of the letterboxd reviews are calling Gonin like "really gay!" and its like ok guys when you say it like that you are giving it a very different vibe then what it is. This is a movie about the Yakuza brutally killing people for stealing from them.

[yurimother]

Kadokawa and Bandai Namco Attempt to Walk Back Lesbian Marriage in Edited 'Gundam: The Witch from Mercury' Interview

In statements made regarding discrepancies in a Gundam Ace magazine interview, Kadokawa and Bandai Namco Filmworks appears to deny the widly accepted interpretation of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury's finale that female characters Suletta and Miorine are married, saying, "We would like to leave its interpretation up to the perspective of each individual viewer who has seen and enjoyed the story."

On July 30, Bandai Namco Filmworks (previously known as Sunrise) addressed differences between the print and digital versions of an interview with voice actresses Kana Ichinose and Lynn. Ichinose and Lynn voice Sulleta and Miorine, respectively, in The Witch From Mercury, the latest entry in Bandai Namco's long-running Mobile Suit Gundam franchise.

In the interview's print version, which was published in the September issue of the Gundam Ace magazine, Ichinose refers Sulleta and Miorine's union:

I liked the epilogue scene where Miorine rests her head on Suletta's shoulder. After three years, I could feel that they were much closer, and seeing the two of them get married really touched my heart.

However, fans noticed that as of July 28, the digital version was edited to exclude the line about the characters' marriage.

In a statement released on the Witch From Gundam website and Twitter account, Bandai Namco apologized and explained the situation in their statement, saying, "In the article, there was a statement based on the speculation of the Gundam Ace editor, and despite requesting revisions during proofreading, the corrections to the passage were not reflected in the July 26 release."

Kadokawa, which publishes Gundam Ace, released a similar statement that likewise attributed the discrepancy to an editor's speculation, along with management and proofreading errors. Translated copies of both statements are available below.

The relationship between Miorine and Suletta garnered praise for its LGBTQ+ representation. A scene from the first episode where the two become engaged after Suletta wins Miorine's hand in a duel went viral online in 2022. Their relationship became a central part of the narrative, and they remained engaged for the majority of the anime's two-season run, which concluded on July 2.

The anime also gives copious evidence that the two are now married. After a time skip, the two women are seen sitting together while wearing matching wedding rings on their left hands and say, "Let's go home," implying that they live together. Additionally, Eri, Suletta's sister, refers to herself as Miorine's "sister-in-law."

Given this evidence, most took it for granted that Suletta and Miorine were now married, including their voice actors, who spoke about their relationship in the Asticassia Radio Committee program (Majo Raji). They became outraged by the apparent censorship and accused Bandai Namco and Kadokawa of homophobia.

Bandai Namco Filmwork's full statement (translated):

Thank you for your continued support of Mobile Suite Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. Regarding an interview published in the September 2023 issue of Monthly Gundam Ace, some of the descriptions in the paper magazine and digital versions differed, confusing everyone who supported the work. We are genuinely sorry. In the article, there was a statement based on the speculation of the Gundam Ace editor, and despite requesting revisions during proofreading, the corrections to the passage were not reflected in the July 26 release. Regarding the work, we would like to leave its interpretation up to the perspective of each individual viewer who has seen and enjoyed the story. Once again, we would like to sincerely apologize for causing so much trouble and worry to everyone who supports the work. Thank you for your continued support. July 30, 2023 Bandai Namco Filmworks

Kadokawa's full statement (translated):

Regarding the Mobile Suite Gundam: The Witch From Mercury interview published in the September 2023 issue of Monthly Gundam Ace, some of the descriptions differ between the paper magazine and digital version. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience we caused to everyone. During the proofreading process, there was a statement based on the editor's speculation, and although Bandai Namco Filmworks pointed out the error, the correction was admitted due to a mistake, and it was released on July 26. This incident was caused by management and proofreading errors by the editorial department. After consulting with Bandai Namco Filmworks, which owns the rights, the digital version was edited with the correction it had initially indicated. Once again, we apologize for causing confusion and misunderstanding. We will strive to prevent this from happening again by strengthening the editorial department's confirmation system. July 30, 2023 Kadokawa Corporation Monthly Gundam Ace Editorial Department

Sources:

Gundam Ace September 2023 No. 253 (digital edition)

Gundam Ace September 2023 No. 253 print edition (as captured by Twitter user zeonicscans)

Mobile Suite Gundam: The Witch From Mercury official website

Gundam Ace official Twitter account

[midnightechoes]

We should absolutely continue talking about and calling out the needless and disappointing homophobia of Bandai Namco's decision to pretend its big new Gundam show's main couple, a sapphic married couple, can be "left open to interpretation", but we absolutely should NOT allow that idea to have gravity. Suletta and Miornine ARE married. They are wives and they have their happy ending together. Period.

[xiiayous]

#givememydamnamusementparkheihachi

𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 

independent roleplay of 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐗𝐈𝐀𝐎𝐘𝐔 from bandai namco entertainment's 𝐓𝐄𝐊𝐊𝐄𝐍 gaming franchise. heavily based on 𝐓𝐄𝐊𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝟑/𝟒/𝟕/𝟖 ( 5 & 6 / bloodline will be canon divergent in portrayal ). priv. sel. multi-shipping. +18. mature themes ahead. personals dni. sideblog to 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬. 

1) mun is a full-time college student w/ an incoming job & two other blogs so activity will be low & sporadic at times. mun is also +21 and will only interact with blogs ran by those +18 & older for personal comfort & protective measures. NO MINORS. mutuals only. follows come from my main blog, sundoes.

2) no homophobia / racism / bigotry of any kind will be tolerated on this blog. 

3) while my knowledge on xiaoyu's character is pretty solid, the lore of the entire game is still a work-in-progress for me, so bare with me as I take the time to learn the full tekken universe. as such, I will try and divide portrayals via each game. most verses will be canon in portrayal with minor divergence except for 5 & 6 ( those verses will be majorly retconned & divergence based due to issues w/ xiaoyu's characterization. )

4) on the note of characterization, I will be stressing the rejection of xiaoyu's regression / childlike behaviors outside of tekken 3 ( not her joviality or innonence, but the underlying infantilism that seems to be written with her character ). she can be bubbly, cheerful, & adorable without being treated like a child. 

5) while we definitely love jin kazama on this blog, this is a multi-shipping blog based on chemistry so there will be other possible romantic interests. there will also be mature themes on this blog such as s.exual situations / violence / etc in the permitted verses.

6) all replies are done via BETA EDITOR & will consist of a format style of small & uncapitalized + color text w/ small icons: please do not feel that you have to do the same. in terms of length when writing, I prefer quality over quantity, just don't give me a one liner if I give you way more than that.

7) I have no interest in participating in call-out post or psas of that nature unless there is a true threat to the community's safety. nor do I have interest in trivial drama. adhere to everything here and everything will be peachy keen !

[the-eeveekins]

Holy fucking shit Bandai.

I can't believe this was your move. G-Witch was created to bring in a new generation of younger fans because the franchise was stagnant and only popular among middle-aged Japanese men. And you SUCCEEDED, beyond anyone's wildest expectations, probably even your own, and grabbed a whole new generation of fans and re-engaged some old ones.

And you choose cowardice. You completely failed to understand your own show and what made it so popular in the first place. You created a BELOVED sapphic couple that was loved and important to so many queer and marginalized people and NOW you're going to hide and call it "open to interpretation?" Just absolute bullshit, Suletta & Miorine are MARRIED, it's in the text of the show, it's supported by the entire staff, including Kana and Lynn! Backpedaling now to appease homophobes is an absolutely cowardly move and you just pissed away all those new fans and the goodwill you built up.

Just imagine having sales numbers like these. Having your show trend weekly during it's airing and multiple times AFTER it airing. Having people celebrate the mention of their marriage so much that Sulemio Marriage trended on Twitter after that interview went live. And you pissed it all away by being cowardly and giving into homophobia.

I want to thank the staff of G-Witch for fighting to give us what we got, and Kana Ichinose for sticking her neck out to say they're married when clearly the suits at Bandai fought against this the entire way. I firmly believe they had a kiss scene planned (there was even a very reputable leak that a kiss was animated!) and maybe even the wedding (listen to The Way We Wanna Go and tell me you can't hear that playing during their kiss or wedding). This is completely disrespectful to the staff who worked hard to bring us this show and the fans who supported it.

Regardless, like I said before: they can try and censor current and future content, but they can NEVER take Suletta & Miorine's relationship and marriage back from us. There is no "open to interpretation", they are textually and canonically married and nothing Bandai ever does will change how G-Witch ended when it aired.

[northwest-cryptid]

You know, I'm not about to defend Bandai or anything but the way I'm looking at it they didn't say "they aren't gay" directly, they had to cover their ass because unfortunately it's very likely they're not allowed to say "yes they're canonically gay" without losing their job and reputation, so considering what we've seen; telling us "it's up to interpretation" when there's only one clear way to interpret it does seem to be a work around for saying "I mean we made it really obvious but we're not allowed to say it"

Honestly still really shitty but I don't know anyone who has any amount of narrative literacy and would interpret them as anything other than a romantic couple who are canonically married. To interpret is literally to translate or explain, in their own words "it's up to interpretation" or "it's up to explanation" and not to get too deep into the reeds here but explanation is literally defined as a statement to make something clear or a reason/justification for action or belief.

To put it really plainly they're essentially saying "we aren't allowed to say that they're gay in an interview but look at the show and think about what it's saying" and as many people have pointed out we have a ton of directly spoken lines, and marriage imagery like rings that tell us everything we need to know, there is no room to doubt, I don't believe they're so much trying to deny it as much as they are trying to save their ass from being targeted by homophobia.

But then I also don't care to defend or even sound like I'm defending any major company or corporation, not like the people who make Gundam need me to defend their ass lol

[anesidoraa]

i feel bad for SULETTA who keeps randomly being forced with guel in some promotions to appease the guel addicts who also insist she's "better" off with guel when it's quite literally a running joke in official material at this point that suletta gives 0 fucks about guel and his advances (see character commentary cd). i feel bad for MIORINE who japanese guel (and el4n) fans give a lot of flak for stupid reasons (being the big bad lesbian who stole suletta from their favorite male character >:(). i feel bad for SULETTA AND MIORINE whose relationship keeps getting trampled on for so many months by bandai's cowardice and the fandom's homophobia, and how a lot of times the fandom centers that male character and his feelings over them, the show's leads.

Funniest thing about G-Witch and the fans is that 90% of the fan art is, understandably, Suletta and Miorine being love dovey with each other.

And then the official art work is always 🎶Suletta and Miorine and Miorine and Suletta and Suletta and Miorine🎶

and their friend Guel.

And honestly I feel bad for Guel, imagine the hell it would be to be forced into an eternity of photo ops with your ex fiancé that you don’t like and your crush who rejected you who are married to each other lol

And all this just because Bamco High Command is non-committal about admitting they made a show that stars a lesbian couple

[raintranslated]

I take a very dim view of inconsistent translations of ambiguous but potentially romantic language

Obviously relevant to the last post about NGE, but I'm also thinking about the way 好き was translated throughout Code Geass.

There are a few significant uses of it, and more than one place in the series where I think it's wrong to use the word "like" instead of "love" (Lelouch and Nunnally talking about Euphy springs to mind -- given later context...), but when it comes to inconsistency that feels like deliberate censorship...

Well, there's the conversation Shirley has with Suzaku in R2 (and then continues with Rolo).

In Bandai's official subs, within a single conversation, the translation of 好き changes repeatedly!

Is Shirley talking about her own feelings for Lelouch? Then the word means "love". Is she talking about Suzaku's? Well, then it's "like"! Talking to Rolo, who she believes is Lelouch's younger brother? "Love" again.

I'm not saying that 好き always has to be romantic, or that it absolutely should have been "love" here, because it's not like Shirley is trying to start a polycule -- she's looking for allies -- but by translating it this way the English subs create a distinction between the feelings of the three characters that just isn't there, textually, and also mess up a direct parallel between this scene and the earlier one with Lelouch and Nunnally. (Suzaku and Lelouch are both asked if they 好き a character, and respond with ああ…好きだった / "Yeah... I did.")

iirc, the official subs have Shirley ask Suzaku if he "likes" Lelouch and declare that she "likes" him too, but then ask Rolo if he "loves" Lelouch and say that she "loves" him too........ it's a mess.

(Again, I would be completely on board with a wholly platonic version of this scene, or a fuzzier translation like 'cares for', which is what I am tentatively using in light novel translations, but the way this was translated kind of reeks of homophobia: complete intolerance for even the potential subtext.)

Side note: None of this is getting into the fact that 好き between two people should pretty much always be treated as romantic. I can honestly make a case for like instead of love in a few situations -- sure, Americans in particular are way freer with the Big L Word than Japanese people, but we still tend to confess our feelings with smaller words and hold onto the Big L until we've been together for a while... it just depends on the characters and the context, is all I'm sayin'.

[ahogeboy]

im late but 🏳️‍🌈 go ham and do like. all the dr1 characters. or all the dr characters you like in general. your life is your own

YES THANK YOU IM GONNA GO FUCKING HAM!!!! I’m just gonna do all the dr characters that i Know cause ik i’m not gonna get any other asks so like. its go ham now or go ham never

DR1

Makoto Naegi - He’s a bicon babey!! also this is 100% me projecting bc im kinnie but uhhhhh gender who? 

Byakuya Togami - He Is So Fucking Gay

Kyouko Kirigiri - Nonbinary lesbian rights!!!!

Sayaka Maizono - BI RIGHTS

Leon Kuwata - Trans bi rights babey

Chihiro Fujisaki - Trans bi rights ... 2!!

Mondo Oowada - He Is Gay

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Also Gay This Is Canon

Hifumi Yamada - cishettie

Celestia Ludenberg - Goth lesbian

Sakura Oogami - BUFF LESBIAN RIGHTS

Aoi Asahina - Bi rights!

Yasuhiro Hagakure - Someone think of an alien bi pun for me

Touko Fukawa - Lesbian with comphet .... also fuck gender 

Mukuro Ikusaba - Gun lesbian

Junko Enoshima - the worst bisexual

SDR2

Hajime Hinata - TRANS BI RIGHTS

Chiaki Nanami - Non-bi-nary.... hehe get it- [shot]

Nagito Komaeda - GAY

Teruteru Hanamura - :( 

Impostor - Genderfluid !!!

Mahiru Koizumi - Big fucking lesbian

Peko Pekoyama - Trans lesbian rights

Ibuki Mioda - Bicon! also fuck gender!!!

Hiyoko Saionji - Lesbiab

Tsumiki Mikan - Canon bicon

Nekomaru Nidai - Gay rights!

Gundham Tanaka - Trans bi dare I say?

Sonia Nevermind - She’s bi and she says fuck!

Akane Owari - Big ol lesbian

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu - Bicon

Kazuichi Souda - Trans bi.... wait no his sexuality is two trucks having s-

DR3

Ryota Mitarai - NB rights!

Seiko Kimura - Trans lesbian rights!!!

Ruruka Andou - She puts the bi in bitch

Sonosuke Izayaoi - Bi 

Chisa Yukizome - Bi time

Juzo Sakakura - Gay rights!

Kyosuke Munakata - fuck you i fucking hate you

Daisaku Bandai - he’s too good to be straight

Kazuo Tengan - FUCK YOU I FUCKING HATE Y-

Natsumi Kuzuryuu - trans lesbian rights!

Sato - Trans lesbian rights... 2!!

Miaya Gekkogahara - NB lesbian

NDRV3

Kaede Akamatsu - She’s lesbian !!!

Shuuichi Saihara - Bi, trans, and emo as FUCK

Amami Rantarou - Nonbinary fuck gender

Kirumi Toujou - GOTH LESBIAN

Hoshi Ryouma - Gay icon

Tenko Chabashira - Lesbian, duh

Angie Yonaga - Bi!

Himiko Yumeno - Trans lesbian

Korekiyo Shinguuji - bro i am NOT getting into this-

Miu Iruma - Biconic

Kokichi Ouma - [dodges ouma discourse]

Kaito Momota - Bi w/ internalized homophobia 

Maki Harukawa - Trans lesbian and EMO

Kiibo - Nonbinary bi :] (robot smile)

Tsumugi Shirogane - Junkosexual

[touchoffleece]

Once again showing the obvious:

Suletta and Miorine are in love, and most of the people who worked on G Witch know this and ship it.

Bandai are just cowards and don't want to confirm the obvious because of homophobia related reasonings.

So, how am I supposed to interpret that new skit with Suletta seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time, thinking that it's a goddess, and immediately deciding that she will build a "Statue of the Glorious Ms. Miorine"?

[cuddlymikleo]

The never ending Sormik discussion

Honestly my dash is daily full of people argumenting about Sormik (and why it’s canon/not canon) and this needs to stop. It’s freaking as canon as a gay ship can be, and it’s done delicately and beautifully. Bandai Namco (specifically, Hideo Baba) stated it’s canon, and they gave a shit ton of hints in the game. Done. Get over your homophobia and face the truth a game from Japan involved homosexual characters. If you’re just some ignorant shit who can’t accept facts, then please just shut up and leave the people who in fact do want to enjoy the ship alone.

It just happens because it’s a gay ship. Honestly, if one of the two were a woman, then no one would complain. Apparently, people need the authors to scream “THESE TWO ARE CANON” and even then they’d get doubted lmao.

Update: I by any means do not want to say that it’s not okay to ship something else in Zestiria (e.g. Sorali). Just saying the hate on Sormik needs to stop.