#look... it's frustrating. especially knowing as someone w a 3character name that people just give up pronouncing your name the longer it

[phoebified]

the issue with chiyo is not that she's not a believable child character, it's that this character relies on watered-down stereotypes.

the fact that she's the only Japanese character and she's portrayed as a magical girl is also questionable. And "conniving, world ending east asian" + "Evil Asian Girl" are VERY much so stereotypes that STILL affect the world today. i would know, i have frequently struggled with overcoming other people viewing me through these lenses. i get that she hasn't come out in game yet, but the fact that we've even SEEN her in this light so far is a big issue for me. i want it to be clear this is probably the thousandth time i've seen these archetypes, and frequently i've seen them juxtaposed to one another. seeing them all in one place in one character is very frustrating when it's coming from a game that's supposed to be all about promoting diversity and being yourself. i mean, just the fact that she's showed as standing pigeon-toed -- i'm sure if any of you have watched anime, you know that's supposed to be a cute-factor thing -- tells me that she's definitely playing to stereotypes. the pose is really sort of the cherry on top for me.

is the issue that colorful, peppy japanese children can't exist? or even that they can't be "evil"? not at all. the issue is that these are not real people, these are fictional characters made up to sell a product. we have had plenty of colorful, peppy, evil japanese children that have been used to sell many products already. for once, it would be nice to get some representation that is... well, good.

reasons chiyo is a racist stereotype. lots of thanks for @goldngroves for helping with the post

first of all I'm not Japanese or east asian. japanese and east asian ppl please feel more than free to correct me on anything or add to the post.

second, she got a Japanese name, she's meant to be Japanese and her whole design supports it in worst way possible since it leans on stereotypes of Japanese person image.

and before i start, sso made this design for PROFIT. which might be the worst part. racism is profitable. stereotypes of japanese ppl are profitable, bc they lean on images ppl already hold and know. this also enforces those stereotypes and exploits harmful colonialist and violent imagery by very wealthy white people, aka ppl who dont have to suffer from the enforcement of those stereotypes and who are also the ones to create them in the first place

1. sso got 1 Japanese character and her look is colored hair and colorful childish clothes. leans very much on the weeaboo image of japan and implies we can't have a japanese character without it resembling an extravagant anime character. cute emoji cat thigh high socks, cute colorful and big shoes and jewelry.

2. asian person w colored hair, bc "all asian ppl look the same and boring" so we must give the asian person colored hair - repeating theme in western media. and shes the only one out of both dark and soul riders with hair in unnatural color while being the only east asian one.

3. her name might be actual Japanese name, but it's a two syllable name, very short, "cute" and "easy to pronounce" in western eyes. this is a common thing for east asian ppl in western media, god forbid western ppl have to encounter longer Japanese names or even worse, "uncute" short one sylabelle names

4. her whole design n fashion while being the only Japanese character is implication japanese ppl can exist only as small and cute, and that east asians are "not distinguishable enough" to be presented without crazy fashion. that's a problem across all western media, esp kids media

5. her face resembles east asian racist caricatures. shape of mouth especially together with button nose, eyes and eyebrows. i'm gonna add the examples of racist caricatures under cut at the end. please proceed under cut with caution.

6. the stereotypical image of japanese and east asian people in the west is very much "small, petite, cute". japanese ppl are infantilized regulary by the west, to the point western men go to east asian countries in the hope of getting either a "submissive" housewife or think they will get easy sex. this is also how east asian and japanese people are treated in the west, especially women. chiyo is an enforcement of the (very, very terrible and colonialist) stereotype. the only japanese and east asian rider, out of both soul and dark, is a child with a very childish design.

examples for caricatures under cut. trigger warning for racist slur

racist caricatures and yellowface by white actor examples: