so i was debating whether or not to address these tags, because they demonstrate a clear misreading of the post, and i was unsure whether they were plainly in bad faith or a genuine misunderstanding. im deciding to myself take these tags in good faith and correct some of the misunderstandings that are happening here!
"the overall arching problem with this meta is the idea that manga will be diverse is setting yourself to fail. japan is notorious for not having good race relations and views of other ethnicities. I would not expect any of their media to reflect the reality of their country opinions as people will create in a way they see the world. and this is how Japan sees the world"
my issue with this initial section of these tags is that this perspective is deeply fatalist. what is being said here is effectively that because japan is racist and ethnocentric, we just need to accept that that's how they see the world and not criticize it.
i fundamentally disagree with this perspective. we must critique content steeped in ethnocentrism and white supremacy and anti-blackness, because if we do not, we are tacitly condoning it. if we just "accept" japan's nationalism, we are tacitly condoning nationalism. if we just "accept" that japanese media isn't going to have nonwhite characters because of nationalism, racism, and ethnocentrism, we are tacitly condoning the erasure of nonwhite characters and the perpetuation of nationalism, racism, and ethnocentrism. i am utterly baffled about why we should just "accept" racism from any place and people just because that's how "they see the world"?
japanese manga/anime is often racially monolithic (and is often white, for that matter). but it doesn't have to be. and critiquing this media's reliance on white supremacy and anti-blackness is an important step to seeing more diversity in anime and manga.
"FMA is a good example of diversity in manga but that is an exception not a norm"
so fmab is my favorite manga/anime of all time, and i also think it's one of the greatest pieces of media ever created, but it still has elements of anti-black character design. and it is because i love fmab that this reality should be critiqued! fmab is indeed a diverse piece of media, but it, too, is not without flaws -- as is all media. likewise, sxf is not immune from criticism regarding its flaws, including its hegemonic whiteness!
"also this meta is going from the idea that we the western audience default read the japanese characters as white not japanese that's an internal bias that people need to understand and work with"
it is abundantly clear that this comment was made without reading the first link i shared in the post. not reading provided resources will inevitably inhibit one's comprehension of a textual argument, so let me share a few relevant quotes from the previously linked article entitled "The Racialization of Beauty and Whitewashing in Anime" by Chun Park:
"How can we find proof – direct or circumstantial – that there is indeed frequent whitewashing of Northeast Asian/Japanese characters in anime? We’ve already gone over the comparison of traditional Japanese manga from the 1100s-1800s which depicted Japanese with true or realistic Northeast Asian physical features with Japanese manga and anime from the 1950s and onwards which shows Japanese people with specific, idealized or exaggerated European traits. In the latter case, the characters are further infused or polished with a sense of cuteness ( “kawaii” in Japanese) or sexiness, depending on the genre of the anime.... A third litmus test is the comparison of superior (or main) and inferior (or side) characters in certain Japanese anime or manga series, where there is a clear hierarchy based on physical appearance, with more Asian-looking characters being relegated to the inferior or side character roles and the more Caucasian-looking characters being centered as the superior or main character types." (emphasis added)
"Japanese anime characters are stylized specifically towards having white traits. It does not help that Japanese culture traditionally admired light skin and tall noses. Comprehensively or compositely speaking, the Japanese anime characters appear white – in terms of the nose shape (which goes beyond being just tall, since Asian nose is not aquiline and does not become a narrow and pointy triangle), the size of the eyes, the frequent featuring of the double eyelid, colored eyes, and colored hair, etc. etc." (emphasis added)
"As discussed by Shirley Anne Tate in Black Beauty (2009), beauty is racialized–meaning that beauty has become about race with white beauty is the center due to the legacy of Western colonialism and domination. The concept of the racialization of beauty is an apt description of the whitewashing in anime. Anime in its modern form was invented at a time when the West was (and still is) a dominant force for hundreds of years." (emphasis added)
"The solution to whitewashing in anime is perhaps for anime to change and abandon its use of white features. Or perhaps it’s to simply acknowledge that there is this problematic trend and to consume anime with the awareness. Or perhaps the cure is for everyone inside and outside of the anime fandom to discuss this issue further and come to a mutual understanding and consensus about a solution. The cure to the problem is not going to happen if people keep on denying the problems for various reasons." (emphasis added)
in case these quotes don't clarify what's wrong with the argument the tags present: anime characters are blatantly whitewashed in a manner that reinforces white supremacy and racist beauty standards. they are (often) japanese in name and in cultural practice, but they equally often white in appearance. the hegemony of white supremacy is a global issue to which japan is not immune. this is not "an internal bias that people need to understand and work with" -- this is a result of western imperialism (and japan's imbrication within such) bolstering white supremacy through cultural products (here, visual media). plain and simple.
"also to think about why does japan love using germany as their european country of choice"
at last, something i agree with! and also... something my original post was partially about. why on earth might sxf, this japanese media, center germany (but also europe more broadly)? might it have anything to do with global white supremacy and eurocentrism? and how does the centering of a white nation impact the representation of race in sxf? might that have any relation to the utter lack of nonwhite characters in sxf and its potential reliance on anti-black character design?
anyways. my irateness is clearly seeping through at the end, for which i apologize. but again: the screenshotted tags represent a clear misreading of my original post, which i hope i have clarified the various issues and misinterpretations within.
also, obligatory commentary from someone who now teaches literature: while im inclined to believe these tags were written in misunderstanding, not bad faith, it is crucial to exercise close reading skills in these types of discussions to prevent such misunderstandings. it is crucial to read the provided resources in these types of discussions to prevent such misunderstandings. i don't want anyone to dogpile or mock or go after the author of these tags, but i do want to remind all of us that when in doubt about a textual argument, reread. talk to a friend. reread again. and again. however many times until you understand the argument the text is making. the ability to read a text (even something as simple as a tumblr post) and walk away with an understanding of what the text is saying, how the text is saying it, and what effect(s) the text is producing is a vital skill in our world that thrives on sensational headlines and misinformation. it's totally okay to not understand something (especially on first read). it's less okay, in my opinion, to not understand something and try to respond anyway, because there is limited productive conversation that can be had between someone making an argument about a text and someone trying to posit a counterargument who doesn't understand the original textual argument in the first place.
close reading skills matter. criticizing the white supremacist hegemony present in manga and anime (especially in character design) matters. simple as.
