Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: My Dress-Up Darling
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave
Posts: 520 Location: Poland |
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Funny then, that you Americans don't seem to care about issue of someone temporarily lightening their hair, or using brown hairpiece, and undoing it to avoid any potential negative repercussions for said brown hair, or the the issues about changing eyelid shape, despite it also being a negative like Gina Szanboti mentioned few page ago. Almost like if you only only care about issues that make you Americans personally uncomfortable, without caring about body issues that are absent in USA. The fact that I haven't seen any darker-skinned native Japanese or someone from SEA area complaining about this episode or this practice anywhere, only Americans, also suggest that. Brown hair can make someone unemployable on default assumption on being dyed and therefore unprofessional, or can harm business that employs brown-haired person, according to what I've heard (mom instantly crossing off childcare with brown-haired caretaker IIRC), not to mention all the pressure on students - there was a lawsuit recently - and it's all based on fears for school's reputation as allowing hair dye. I've heard about much more issues with having non-typical hair in Japan than with having darker skin. EDIT: And BTW, as for policing the body, I've seen posters from Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Philippines commenting about far more drastic policing in their countries, like for example schools straight up shaving students bald for dyed hair or inappropriate haircut, which was "much worse problem for girls, because boys didn't give a shit", so it's not like it's some Japan-only issue. I'll have to ask them next time how their schools treated students with naturally brown hair, though I don't expect much difference. Last edited by a_Bear_in_Bearcave on Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:50 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2363 |
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... huh? I don't think anyone in this thread said anything even remotely like that. Most of the argument was about whether it's reasonable to interpret Marin applying foundation to cosplay as an insensitive reminder/extension of something like blackface, given its distinct role in Japan's history of racial oppression when compared with America. At no point does that involve saying "blackface is OK" (whether the American or Japanese varieties); in fact, agreeing that blackface is ugly and racist is a requirement for there having been that discussion at all, and was repeated explicitly dozens of times during the conversation.
I think everyone agrees that they're not the same thing, but there's disagreement over whether it is racist to artificially color your skin (even if obviously not blackface) because of the practice being similar to blatantly racist practices (especially blackface). I would, for example, probably be a lot more uncomfortable with the scene if it had appeared in an American show, where I would sort of expect it to be very common for people to quickly relate it to skin coloration used in racist caricature, and as a result would expect the show-runners to be very careful about writing a scene focused on it (and the only recent-ish examples I can think of where this was done in American shows went quite far out of their way to make it clear they were adopting it as particularly extreme satire). I think it becomes problematic because the connection of skin coloration to oppressive racist caricature is so widely recognized in American culture (which, in turn, I attribute to America's especially deep legacy of slavery, and American blackface being a very direct outgrowth of that); that shared expectation -- i.e., knowing people will widely react that way -- changes the impact of showing a character doing this (sort of like a word can be offensive in one language but meaningless in another). I'm less sure that argument makes sense in a Japanese context, but it certainly could be the case, and people on the other side of the argument have been pointing out reasons they think it is the case (.. though with no small amount of self-righteous sneering). I'm not sure I'll personally be convinced without having better insight into the Japanese cosplay community's perspective on it (especially from its sub-community of people of mixed race), although I'm less confident now than I was before the "700 new comments". |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1781 Location: South America |
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The definition of racism is the idea that there is such thing as "human races": the biological reality is that there is no such thing. In US culture, "race" is part of an individual's identity: a person's identity is their age, gender, and race. Then, the US culture is, following the definition, an inherently racist culture. To care about the "racial identity" implications of an individual's costume is by itself the result of a mentality that can only exist in people whose mindset was shaped by a racist culture.
It is a fact that we are all living in "Amerika" now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8ljRgcJNM Now, US-specific cultural notions like their "racial" sensibilities have been exported to the entire rest of the world. |
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AmpersandsUnited
Posts: 633 |
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I have to disagree. Black characters are almost always drawn completely differently than tanned Japanese characters. Facial features, hair, and other traits are drawn very specifically depending on which one it is. Even with the newer Shaman King anime toning down his lips, Chocolove still has a bigger nose, puffy hair, and other facial aspects that clearly depict him as black rather than just a dark-skinned Japanese. And even if Attack on Titan didn't literally stop everything just for the characters to ask Onyankopon why he was black it was obvious. The nose thing is a very big giveaway since that's how most Japanese media will depict foreigners, like how Sado from Bleach has a bigger nose than his peers to depict his mixed Mexican-Japanese heritage. Even in live-action productions you can find silly things like Japanese actors taping a big prosthetic nose to their face to depict foreigners. I can understand newer or more casual fans mixing them up, but I think once you've been exposed to these kinds artistic trends and standards it's pretty easy to see the not-Ramlethal character isn't meant to be black. As for the actual topic itself, I've honestly never heard of fake-tanning being offensive. Gaudy and ugly, sure, like how people would make fun of that fake bronze tan you'd see on Jersey Shore, but never actually offensive. But I don't pay much attention to this kind of stuff so maybe that's why. |
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SaneSavantElla
 Posts: 233 |
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Huh those drastic measures do happen in the Philippines, but they're mostly blown out of proportion reports and definitely not a universal policy. So rare that they make it to the local news when they do occur, and are treated with much outrage. I've had friends and relatives who had their hair dyed during high school and most they got was a slap on the wrist. And on the topic of naturally brown hair, it's even more common here than in Japan, mine included (on top of a weird blonde streak on one side) and I never knew anyone who got any flak for it. |
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave
Posts: 520 Location: Poland |
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Well, the people discussing those drastic measures were talking mostly about their distant youth (everybody is now old on Internet), and discussing school punishments in general in relation to current Indonesian manga showing bunch of friends getting drenched with jet of water from a hose as a punishment for skipping class (not that it stopped them from enjoying their youth) and that specific poster mentioning the shaving seems to be Malaysian, so sorry for generalizing here. Japan schools used to be much worse in the past too, from what I've heard. I remember that when topic of Asian parenting, filial duty, minimizing interactions between genders and school punishments comes up in Japanese manga, often many people from other Asian countries compare their own experiences and social expectations of their societies, and they tend to be quite similar. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11451 |
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Since we're talking about hair now, discrimination based on hair is enough of an issue in the US that the House just passed the CROWN Act, to outlaw it in schools, employment and public accommodations (California passed its version in 2019). This type of discrimination is usually aimed at various styles like locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros.
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njprogfan
 Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1181 Location: A River Named Toms |
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THAT PAUSE......(if there ever was a time I wanted to effin' yell when a phone rang....)
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Cecilthedarkknight_234
 Posts: 3820 Location: Louisville, KY |
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Poor Gojo.. he's gonna need a long, cold shower after that. |
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Amuro1X
Posts: 177 |
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I knew what was coming from the manga, but episode 11 still hit different.
He CLEARLY took matters into his own hands in that final scene. |
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2363 |
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Wow, they're really, ah, edging Gojo and Marin really close to the brink here, eh.
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Cryten
 Posts: 1043 |
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Urgh that last scene. Even in erotic / ecchi shows these scenes bring down the show to just awkward and offputting. Almost makes me wish Goro was a bit more explorative and not awkward but these shows tend to be afraid of losing some of its fanbase. IE he cant be more confident then potential viewers.
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dm
Subscriber Posts: 1395 |
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Not a lot of cosplay technique exposition in this episode.
I think a seminar on wing-and-and-tail construction (plus attachment) is in order. Though I suppose the bit about Gojo having to create big parts of the costume from his imagination (plus additional succubus research) might count? (I wonder what the folks in the next room thought of Marin's excited squees.) |
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njprogfan
Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1181 Location: A River Named Toms |
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I must give a shout out for the directing; that scene where they stop and listen to the next room had me howling! And then the elevator! Some really good little things like that makes me appreciate this anime even more. |
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TheWayEyeRoll
Posts: 4 |
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Seemed like an unusually awkward transition between stories this week. The episode left me with lots of questions.
What was the point of the the conversation with the grandfather about spoiler[buying new outfits? Was it implying something happened to Gojo's clothes in the love hotel? Marin noticed something was happening when she was sitting on Gojo, but did she actually realize what it is she felt?] Was there was reason Marin inched off the bed the way she did? What exactly was Marin referring to when she said "That was way too close."? That whole scene was done so well, especially the silent bit. So many wonderful little details. So much tension. So much conveyed without speaking. I'm wondering if next week there will be ramifications or will the story just move along. |
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