animals can definitely be coded. take for example, the tribe of rushing water from the warriors series. it is a blatant copy-paste (and a disrespectful one at that) of the culture of native american tribes.
however in non-personified animals (like drampa) i agree that they might not be necessarily coded, BUT they CAN be a part of/reflect a culture of a race that you are not a part of, like mousefur said.
its not quite coding, but it still is rather disrespectful to claim a kintype/id that’s part of a race that you arent–that race’s culture is not your own, and while it may not be an issue of iding outside your race, i’d say it’d definitely be along the lines of cultural appropriation.
in regards to drampa, i dont necessarily see THAT much connection to east asian dragon legends aside from the loose design and lazy background. for example, most east asian dragons do not live in mountains and are associated more with weather and water than with the caretaking of children.
in fact, it bears a bit more resemblance to the benevolent yong (용), dragons of korean legend, but merely because drampa lacks legs as if its an imugi (이무기), which is a lesser serpent that can turn into a dragon - and also because yong dragons are said to have more fur.
all in all, i see connections - but it really seems more of a loose representation. it could, of course, possibly be based off japanese dragons, ryū (日本の竜), (for some reason all the fucking yahoos writing wikis about drampa seem to think that the ONLY east asian dragons to ever exist are chinese), but again the connections are basically only from the loose design and benevolence factor.
of course, im not east asian myself–so please, by all means, correct me if im wrong in saying that just because a media largely of one race creates something, doesnt automatically mean that the characters are coded – take jojo’s bizzare adventure for example. much of japanese culture has influenced it, but it has plenty of characters that are white.
in short, if you’d rather be careful and avoid it to be safe – after all, im just throwing in my two cents and its quite possible that an east asian person would feel differently (PLEASE let me know if you do!!) – then go right ahead. all i’m saying is that similarities dont always mean immediate culture-based coding.
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