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jolyneswife-anime-reviews · 2 years

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Why Candy is an icon

Major spoilers for Candy Candy and tw for verbal harassment not explicitly discussed in this post) and death

This anime was one of my favourites as a kid and to this day, it still holds a special place in my heart. While it definitely has quite a few noteworthy characters, none stood out to me like Candy herself, and this is a list of reasons why

She enjoyed more stereotypically "masculine," things and threw the "delicate girl," stereotypes down the toilet- in early 20th century America, when the anime is set, girls were not expected to have hobbies like climbing trees or playing at cowboys, but this is exactly what Candy did, regardless of all the skepticism she faced and the negative comments from those around her about how it was "dangerous,". She dominated too, being skilled enough at tree climbing to beat a professional and win a bet against him in the process. She also had a bit of a temper and a rough side, which also lines up with this - she was often shown getting into scrapes with the boys when they provoked her, and later on with the Leagan children. It's definitely clear that Candy wasn't afraid to stand up for herself and fight against what she deemed unfair, talking back to adults and breaking school rules she deemed unjust, like when she his her pet racoon in the forest so she could keep him.

She never threw in the towel - Candy's life was a very difficult one as shown by the anime. First, the best friend she has known for her entire life leaves her and the children's home they both grew up in, then she's adopted by a family who uses her as a servant and is forced to deal with constant verbal abuse at the hands of their children, who stop at nothing to try to sabotage her, even causing her to get sent to work in Mexico for a period of time, and when it seems like things are finally taking a turn for the better as her relationship with Anthony starts to take off, he dies in a horse riding accident, leaving Candy devastated. A few years later, Candy goes to study in London and meets her next love, Terry Grantchester. The two develop deep feelings for each other but, after they get in trouble with the school directors, Terry is forced to leave so she won't have to. After a while, Candy also leaves to pursue a path in life that is completely her own - she starts to train to become a nurse, after experiencing first hand what it feels like to help the sick. In all this, no matter how difficult life got, how alone she felt or how scared she was, Candy still kept going, even when she was hesitant, in order to reach her goals and find happiness. The fact that she managed to persevere through so much, all the while keeping her smile and staying cheerful throughout the anime, shows a huge amount of mental strength and determination, which are two of Candy's most admirable qualities.

Candy was selfless - her own ambition is proof of this- wanting to become a nurse to help people get better. This is even more clear when she starts working for Dr Martin, despite the fact he can't pay her. Another point in the series when this selflessness is evident is when she was willing to give up everything she had with Terry after realising Susanna, a young actress who was in a terrible accident, needed him by her side to carry on living. Candy realised his importance in her life and left, trying her best to move on.

Candy showed a lot of loyalty to her friends - From the start of the series, Candy is always shown helping and protecting those she considered friends. From helping Pattie hide her pet from the teachers, to pretending she doesn't know Annie so her past at the children's home can remain a secret, just as her parents wished, to nursing Albert back to health when he got amnesia and even staying with him until he regained his memory, Candy definitely did a lot for those close to her and was the type to stick by her friends, no matter how painful or uncomfortable things got.

Candy was stubborn and opinionated - she had her beliefs and principles, and didn't shift from them, even when she was pressured to or when they caused her pain. Throughout the show, she continued to stand up for them and make decisions based on them, even when others were unhappy with these decisions.

She was a style icon - the dresses she wore throughout the series (when she did wear dresses) were instrumental in influencing today's soft, cutesy and fairy tale Lolita style, which means the impact of her stunning princess dresses is still felt today.

If you want to know my thoughts on Candy candy as a whole, click here

Masterlist

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freshwritingarthorse · 1 year

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I am begging writers to understand that if you're going to write an mlm fanfic with a woman as a spurned lover/rival, you need to include another woman in the story to counteract your shitty stereotype (and no, this other woman cannot be the mc’s mother/grandmother/great aunt, etc). She doesn’t even need to have a significant role! She just has to be someone who is not romantically or sexually interested in the main mlm characters. You cannot just have the only woman in the entire story show up, play the part of the bitter harpy to serve as your plot device, and then leave/die.

I’m so tired of seeing m/m fanfic using women as a one-dimensional plot device, because the real problem is the fact that, nine times out of ten, this scorned/angry/bitter woman will be the ONLY girl/woman in the entire fic.

At this point, I've blocked the "Original Female Characters" tag when I'm scrolling through fanfiction, because I am always hoping for: an OC who is fun and supportive of her guy friends (or at the very least, not a shitty person).

What I get most of the time: "uwu *blush* Kuroo-san, sorry to interrupt your very obviously private conversation with Kenma, but do you want to go on a date with me?" Or WORSE -- "Oikawa-kun, ew! You don't really want to date that boy! You should date ME, a woman, instead!" And then there's lots of hair tossing and angry huffing because that's obviously what all women are like.

I’m using haikyu!! examples because that’s what I’ve been reading lately, but to be fair, it crops up in practically every fandom I’ve encountered.

tl;dr - please please please learn to write women in a way that doesn't reflect your (internalized?) misogyny.

#anti misogyny #bl anime #haikyuu #feminism #women representation #writing women #quit assigning every woman in your mlm fanfic the role of villain #SOMETIMES WOMEN ARE MATURE ADULTS WHO DON'T WANT TO SABOTAGE A QUEER MLM RELATIONSHIP #IT HAPPENS

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sick-sad-world-revolution-now · 1 year

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I might just fuck around and start showing my face on social media like an internet addicted narcissist gen z/ millennial/ just so people know this gender non conforming sexy queen is also a proud woman and homosexual. Every weekend its selfies and I will pretend I’m hot as shit, see how far I can go, lmao. Enough with the attractive but self-hating self-identified non-binaries who are actually gender non conforming women with internalised sexism, I want to see my gnc sisters flooding yall Instagram feed, out and proud, and if necessary I will sacrifice myself by doing part of the job myself. Confidence doesn’t care about beauty standards. Be the representation you seek for in the world.

#my text posts #gnc #social media #representation matters #feminism #women representation #gnc women

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the-last-hipopotamovolador · 11 months

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Sick and tired of CIS GAY MAN talking about feminism like they are part of it.

NO, being gay doesnt give you the right to talk about it like you are the center of the topic or like you are some selected ambassador of women's/people asigned female at birth's voices. And NO, BEING GAY DOESNT MEAN YOU ARE FREE OF MiSOGYNY.

DONT TALK ABOUT FEMINISM LIKE IS YOUR FIGHT IF YOU ARE A CIS MAN, BECAUSE IT ISNT, IT DOESNT MATTER HOW GAY YOU ARE OF IF YOU DO DRAG. ITS NOT YOUR PLACE TO TALK ABOUT OUR STRUGGLES LIKE YOU ARE THE MAIN VICTIM TOO.

I SWEAR TO GODS THAT IF I SEE ANOTHER TIKTOK OR WHATEVER OF A GAY CIS MAN TALKING ABOUT HOW OTHER MEN ARE SO MISOGYNIST, EXPLAINING FEMINISM WHILE CALLING THE AUDIENCE SISTERS AND SHIT LIKE THAT IM GOING TO START EATING MY OWN FACE OUT OF RAGE.

#mio #feminismo #feminism #gay #mlm #gay men #lgbt+#feminist #women #women representation #men #cis men #trans feminism #afab #afab nonbinary #trans masc #trans women #trans men #misogny

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internationalwomenday · 1 month

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Women's Political Participation and Empowerment in Post-Coup Myanmar (CSW68 Side Event).

Watch the Women's Political Participation and Empowerment in Post-Coup Myanmar (CSW68 Side Event).

This side event will explore women's political participation and empowerment in post-coup Myanmar. Building on the CSW68 priority theme of accelerating the achievement of gender equality and women's and girls' empowerment by strengthening institutions with a gender perspective, the event aims to explore challenges and opportunities for strengthening women's representation, voice, and agency in Myanmar's post-coup interim democratic institutions, both at union and state level.

Working towards the common goals of opposing the military dictatorship, establishing a democratic federal state, providing humanitarian aid and advocating for the rights of all Myanmar citizens, including ethnic minorities and women, this side event is organised to increase knowledge, strengthen partnerships and facilitate national, regional, and international support for women's political participation and empowerment in Myanmar.

Related Sites and Documents

Concept note and agenda

#women in politics #political participation #myanmar #women's empowement #panel discussions #women representation #csw68 #gender equality

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theographos · 7 months

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Learning time

I have given up on Thomas Astruc's (or asstruc for the intimates) cause a long time ago. He is the living proof that when in a position of power, your ego and feelings of entitlement are your number one biggest ennemy.

So I am writing this post not to try to prove a point to him (I mean, I have twitter, i am french, I could do that directly without any problems) but as a reminder for all of our writers, writers-to be, people who wish to work in chara design, you name it.

This post is about lgbtq+ representation and women representation and may contain spoilers about Miraculous Ladybug, but also can be understood by people who don't watch the show.

A strong female lead ?

For those who aren't familiar with Miraculous, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is the female lead of the show. She is a superhero called Ladybug who works alongside Chat Noir and they form a duo who fights against Hawkmoth, a super villain who has the power to create super villains based on their negative emotions.

But here, the problem isn't that Ladybug is the head of the duo and the one who comes up with all the plans, the problem is that the so called "equality" between the duo doesn't exists.

A strong female lead cannot be considered as such when the men in the show are at best disposable. Of course it depends on the tone of what you're writing : if you intend to make all the men less competent as some kind of satire of how the women were treated in old movies then go for it ! (just be careful to make the satire visible and understandable for th majority of your audience). But it becomes a problem when you pride yourself in having a duo based on equality.

As a quick summary, Ladybug is the only superhero who can purify the supervillains from Hawkmoth's influence, she was the first one to meet the Guardian of the Miracle Box (a box full of jewelries that makes you a super-hero) then became the guardian of a that said box, one of the main sources of information about the heroes for the citizens is on a blog called "Ladyblog", she is the one who gets to choose who gets the super-hero jewelry and who has to give them back to her, at the end of season 5 she is the one who fights Hawkmoth alone, and overall she is the main character of the show, so most of the episodes revolves around her.

Her duo on the other hand, is showned to do way more mistakes than Ladybug, he wasn't even aware of the Guardian's existence until he became mad at Ladybug for repeatedly leaving to some place in secret and not wanting him to know, he had to be mad to have been hidden the existence of the Guardian to convince Ladybug to tell the guardian to go meet Chat Noir, he kinds of is a comic relief character, so he is often in situations where he can be laughed at (Ladybug does too, but it only happens when she is Marinette, but since Ladybug's character is left untouched, it kind of gives the vibe of the mighty hero and the clown that follows her) and it has been showed multiple of times that if Ladybug isn't here, no matter Chat Noir's efforts the city is doomed.

And believe it or not, it's not just a case of main character syndrome, most of the female characters in the show are considered as a real deal compared to male characters.

Alya Cesaire and Marinette's bestfriend.She has been showned to make mistakes, but is also brave, intelligent, at the head of the Ladyblog who also happens to be even more popular then the news on TV. A single girl in middle school is showed to be a more efficient and appreciated source of information than literal journalists. She also becomes the first know to know the real identity of Ladybug, and is actively helping Ladybug in her hero duties unbeknownst to anyone, even Chat Noir.

Nino Lahiff is Chat Noir's bestfriend (when he is a civilian), he is showned as sort of a laid back character with a problem for authority and some insecurities. He is overall fine, but he is still a comic relief character, so really he isn't showed in the same light as Alya for example. He did rejected Hawkmoth's influence from him once, but it was in a really rushed way in an episode where he draws conclusion before having a proper talk with the person, so it's half a victory really.

Chloe Bourgeois is the mean girl egocentric daddy's girl stereotype. At some point the writers tried to write a beginning of redemption arc for her, where you understand that her behavior mainly comes from childhood trauma and a dysfunctinal family, but it has been given up since Thomas Astruc explicitly said that trying to find redeeming qualities in Chloe, a 14 year old girl abandonned by her mother and with a father that compensates with giving her everything she wants, is like defending a r*pist. No, i'm not making this up. Since then she often is an ally of Hawkmoth. Yes a grown man allies himself with a 14 year old girl.

Jagged Stone, a man who abandonned his children and their mother early on in their life, has been given the chance to write his wrong towards his children, without any emotional consequence from them. It means that the day the children learned he was their father, he said "well now i'm ready to be a father" and now they all hangout. One of the two children was mad at the fact that their hid their father's identity from them, but nothing about how he abandonned them without any kind of child support. Even when he became one of the world biggest's rockstars.

Lila Rossi has been hinted by the writers as a villain "who will make Hawkmoth looks like a baby". It's safe to say that she has a huge lying problem because she managed at the age of 14 to convince people she was a famous actress, that songs were written about her but also who managed to lie to three different women and make them believe they were her mothers. Yes, Lila Rossi has three at least three different identities with three different mothers. Oh also she has yet to show any kind of redeeming qualities, so really she can't be described as anything else other than an evil liar. She is also an active ally to Hawkmoth. And she isn't forced to, she just saw a man actively hurting numerous of people every week and thought being her ally was a great idea.

Hawkmoth, even if is unarguably evil, is showed as a grayer light than Chloe or Lila, even though he is a grown ass man with a child. He is desperate for having lost his wife, and is ready to do anything it'll take to have her back. He has made the entire city of Paris suffer à this point and has been showed to be capable of ending the world if he ever won. Though you will have scenes where you can feel how much he is in pain, and in some scenes you see him having quality time with his son. It's not much, but it's a lot more than with Chloe or Lila.

Overall, a lot of main female characters in the show are showed to be able to out-perform literal adults. And while I'm a big fan of characters that goes against the rules and authority, here it's just "girl boss" being taken a bit too far.

Because meanwhile, three of the main male characters in the show are either given a sort of redemption/portrayed as gray compared to children that are yet to be fully aware of the consequence of their actions, or not taken seriously enough. It has been a while since I saw Chat Noir being a hero by himself, without following Ladybug's plan. So again, having the female leading isn't the problem, the problem is that the writers are doing it while dragging the male characters in the dirt or giving them less consequence for their actions compared to female characters.

Marinette is really close to a Mary Sue, and it doesn't make her strong in any way.

If you're writing a strong female character, take a few steps back and try to simplify your plot. Now, is your female character strong because of her, or because you're doing some favoritism/the other male characters are showed to be incompetent ?

A good female representation isn't someone who achieves anything and has every power in the world.

You take your character, you give them strength and weaknesses, you give them good sides and bad sides. Now, take that character and put them in a situation where their weaknesses are showing, for example a loner forced to work with a team, a healer having to fight someone, a 14 year old girl who tends to be a control freak having to fight a grown man who also is a control freak but with a larger scale of control than her. (the last one is a simplified version of miraculous lmao)

And depending on how they make it out of this situation, depending of how they deal with it or why they are in this situation in the first place, this is what will make those characters strong.

Gays in cartoons, is a hint canon ?

Yllogique Have you ever met : the fans on the internet ? *the picture they share*

Thomas Astruc "Stop with the hypocrisy/bad faith. You saw the episodes, you're well aware of what has been hinted or not. It's not a coincidence that Juleka is considered as canon.

Les_Intervalles Their LGBTQ+ identity is not canon because it isn't explicitly showed through a dialogue or an action. For the New York Special, we do not count it since it is not, to our knowledge, reliant on the french production and airing because it is only available on Disney.

Thomas Astruc If there is no action or dialogue, how do you explain that people noticed it ? And for the NY special, you're simply wrong. It has been produced and aired just like the others.

Les_Intervalles There's a difference between a ship made by the audience and a canon relationship. For the special NY, we didn't find any sources confirming a french production, only a source from Disney.

Thomas Astruc Stop with the hypocrisy. You're very aware that the audience would not make those ships if we didn't gave them the elements to do so.

This is a very touchy subject to be honest. Because on one hand having a gay character in your cartoon makes the big boss afraid, and more often than not the show doesn't gets approved or it gets canceled (The Howl House for example).

But on the other hand people have used the excuse of "hinting a character's sexuality" to pass them as gay, just to earn the approval of the LGBTQ+ community. (J.K Rowling for example with her character Dumbledore. It's a whole other subject that is way too long to talk about here, but tumblr is full of people who will talk about it way more than I do.)

So let's recap : If you're too forward, your show gets canceled (even more if your audience rate isn't particulary high), if you're not forward enough then the audience can call you out for trying to queerbait them.

(Queerbait is a term used when a show, a business or something else tries to be appealing for the LGBTQ+ community purely for marketing reasons and without any desire to make a valid representation.)

It's a very hard subject really, even for RIOT GAMES, the one who created League of Legends, a game so popular that they have been able to organize world cups for it for years now, the writers struggle to add gay characters and cannot go further than mere "hints." So for that matter I don't have an answer for you today.

But... I do have some thoughts about how Thomas Astruc justified his hinted gay couples. To him just the fact that people ship them is a big enough proof for their existence.

*insert laugh*

I don't need to write thousands of words as to why this is such a bad argument. If you've been a tiktok, you're aware that there is a ship between Sukuna and Cinderella, and even though it has been created for troll purposes, there's is content for it, it's still a ship. If you've been long enough in the LGBTQ+ community, or even in the Harry Potter fandom or the My Hero Academia fandom, you're aware that gay ships are either misinterpreted friendship/bromance or people who just took two person they found hot and made them kiss.

I am not a pro-shiper, but I am still aware of the fact that content doesn't equal ship. People are shipping everyone with everyone, they don't need anyone's help on that. And while sometimes it's very wrong, like incest or p3do ships, shipping is most often than not empty of canon facts.

If your only argument to say that you have gay people in your show is to say "well people ships them" is not a really great argument. It's like someone apoligizing to you while trying to find excuses and to shift the blame on you.

If one day you arrive in this situation, doing what he's doing isn't of any help. Because at the end of the day, he is still responsible for not being more forward with gay characters. He's not forced to scream on every rooftops that they're gays, of course, but getting visibly pissed at people not seeing his gay characters is misplaced.

If you hint a character's sexuality, it stays a hint. Some people can understand it while other cannot. The fandom will never fully understand everything that you put in your show, because it's still art, and art is subjective.

If your gay representation is based on hints it is normal that people do not notice it. A hint is not canon, because not everyone is going to guess it as hint. People see hints everywhere, even more so on the internet.

So if one day you found yourself in the position of having a hinted LGBTQ+ character that some people doesn't consider as canon, insisted of saying "you're just hypicritical, you're the problem." I recommand you to explain why you decided to leave it as a hint. Explains the differents hints, explain why you have not been more forward about it in the show because it's your show, it's your responsability to say what is canon and what isn't. The fans can say stuff like "it's canon in my heart", you can see fans shipping two characters and loving it so much that you decided to alter the story to make them together (At first Harry Potter was supposed to end up with Hermione Granger, but after seeing the ship between Ron and Hermione, J.K Rowling changed her mind).

But at the end of the day you're responsible of the canon and you're responsible of what you're writing.

And as a side and final note, I wish to reassure the one reading this post and telling themselves "but I have no reasons to have hinted this character's sexuality !". Here is a list of reasons as to why you could have hinted a character's sexuality :

It's a side character. The plot isn't about them, but I still wished to plan out bits of their identity and personality since they appear in some episodes/chapters to make them feel more human and not just plot devices.

It's a background character. Representation comes in many forms ! I decided to draw/add a lot of LGBTQ+ representation in the background of my stories because I wanted to add more diversity while establishing this scene in public. They aren't anything to be proud of since they aren't actively playing a role in my story, but they're still worth of being acknowledged.

This character is just at the beginning of their journey ! More about their identity will be discovered as we go, it's normal to not know everything about them right at the beginning. Stay tuned to see more of their stories !

The character isn't aware of this part of them yet. They will be at some point but it'll take time. They still see themselves as a cishet, but it's because of hetero normalization.

The main plot isn't about romance. Adding a romance sub plot to my story will disrupt the pacing and what I have planned for the future/i don't really enjoy having romance in my shows. I'm still thinking of ways to make their identity more striking to the audience without having them scream it everywhere. If you have any ideas let me know !

It's a corporate issue. The corporation I work for didn't not allowed me the freely show their identity, so I had to tone it down a little. But really for us the writers, they're LGBTQ+

After three hours of intense writing and badfully researching through Thomas Astruc's tweets, here is my post. I have yet to edit it properly yet, so feel free to correct me on some mispellings or problems in my translation of the tweets.

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paisholotus · 3 months

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2/3

Black women expressing themselves. ART!

#black reader #black writers #black tumblr #self post #tumblelog #black girls #black representation #black excellence #black women appreciation

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reimenaashelyee · 1 month

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Hello! I would like to know why you support Palestine over Israel especially since Israel gives equal rights and freedom to LGBTQA++ people and women.

I don't know anon, my home country Malaysia doesn't legally support LGBTQA+ people and discriminates against women too... The logic / gotcha you're trying to imply from your question falls apart for anyone who lives in a socially conservative country (which is the majority of the world btw). Do you also agree the lives and rights of myself, other queer Malaysians and other Malaysians have less value objectively and in a conflict, should be killed indiscriminately because our country is LGBTQA+ intolerant? Yes or no? Get off anon and tell me to my face right now. The lives and safety of civilian people and children are unconditional. Just because a country has a better position on some social rights doesn't mean it is absolved or excused from performing war crimes and other human right violations. See: the US, UK, Australia etc. Folks are free to call out those wrongs whenever they occur. If your sense of justice, empathy and compassion is dependent on zero sum games and conditionality and no nuance, then you're not practising justice, empathy or compassion, but total arrogance and regressiveness. There is no argument to be had here.

#also queer people and women are not allowed to perform human rights violations this isn't the representation we need?????#also it's not like as if palestine doesn't have women or LGBTQA ppl and they are being bombed and starved rn???

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the-aila-test · 4 months

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Native Girls, Women, and She/Theys that stole our hearts and rose our spirits <3

#native women #indigenous women #representation matters #alaqua cox #amber midthunder #devery jacobs #paulina alexis #kiawentiio #lily gladstone #Sivan Alyra Rose

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jolyneswife-anime-reviews · 2 years

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I'm thinking of starting a series about good representation of women in anime on the side of my current content. Would people be interested in reading that ? Let me know what your thoughts are !

#anime and manga #anime fandom #anime discussion #anime review #women in anime #women representation #feminism #mod asks #jolyneswifeanimereviews

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kiranboo · 2 months

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Can I show you what’s underneath? 🍆

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the-last-hipopotamovolador · 2 years

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🤷🏻

#tank girl #mio #meme #harley quinn #jinx #arcane #suicide squad #dc universe #dc comics #comics #lol #league of legends #female character #movies #tv series #women representation #girls #feminism #drake meme

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writingwithcolor · 3 months

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What Makes an Ethnic Villain "Ethnic" or "Villainous?" How Do You Offset it?

anonymous asked:

Hello WWC! I have a question about the antagonist of my story. She is (currently) Japanese, and I want to make sure I’m writing her in a way that doesn’t associates [sic] her being Asian with being villainous. The story is set in modern day USA, this character is effectively immortal. She was a samurai who lost loved ones due to failure in combat, and this becomes her character[sic] motivation (portrayed sympathetically to the audience). This story explores many different time periods and how women have shown valor throughout history. The age of the samurai (and the real and legendary female warriors from it) have interested me the most, which is why I want her to be from this period. The outfit she wears while fighting is based on samurai armor, and she wears modern and traditional Japanese fashion depending on the occasion. She acts pretty similar to modern day people, though more cynical and obsessed with her loss. She’s been able to adapt with the times but still highly values and cherishes her past. She is the only Asian main character, but I plan to make a supportive Japanese side character. She’s a history teacher who knows about the villain and gives the protagonists information to help them, but isn’t involved in the main plot otherwise. Are the way I’m writing this villain and the inclusion of a non-antagonist Japanese character enough to prevent a harmful reading of the story, or is there more I should do?

Why Does Your Villain Exist?

This makes me feel old because David Anders plays a villain with this kind of backstory in the series Heroes starring Masi Oka.

I think you want to think about what you mean when you say:

Villainous (In what way? To whom? To what end?)

Harmful (What tropes, narratives and implications are present?)

I’m relatively infamous in the mod circle for not caring too much about dimensions of “harm”. The concept is relative and varies widely between people and cultures. I don’t see much value in framing motivations around “What is less harmful?” I think for me, what matters more is:

“What is more true?”

“Are characteristics viewed as intrinsic to background, or the product of experiences and personal autonomy?”

“Will your portrayal resonate with a large audience?”

“What will resonate with the members of the audience who share the backgrounds your characters have?”

This post offers additional questions you could ask yourself instead of “is this okay/not okay/harmful.”

You could write a story where your antagonist is sly, sadistic, violent and cold-blooded. It may not be an interpretation that will make many Japanese from combat backgrounds feel seen or heard, but it’s not without precedent. These tropes have been weaponized against people of Japanese descent (Like Nikkei Japanese interned during World War II), but Japan also brutalized a good chunk of Asia during World War II. See Herge’s Tintin and The Blue Lotus for an example of a comic that accurately showcases the brutality of Japan’s colonization of Manchuria, but also is racist in terms of how Japanese characters are portrayed (CW: genocide, war, imperialism, racism).

You could also write a story where your character’s grief gives way to despair, and fuels their combat such that they are seen as calculating, frigid and deeply driven by revenge/ violence. This might make sense. It’s also been done to death for Japanese female warriors, though (See “Lady Snowblood” by Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura here, CW: sexual assault, violence, murder and a host of other dark things you’d expect in a revenge story).

You could further write a story where your antagonist is not necessarily villainous, but the perceived harm comes from fetishizing/ exoticizing elements in how her appearance is presented or how she is sexualized, which is a common problem for Japanese female characters.

My vote always goes to the most interesting story or character. I don’t see any benefit to writing from a defensive position. This is where I'll point out that, culturally, I can't picture a Japanese character viewing immortality as anything other than a curse. Many cultures in Japan are largely defined by transience and the understanding that many things naturally decay, die, and change form.

There are a lot of ways you could conceivably cause harm, but I’d rather hear about what the point of this character is given the dilemma of their position.

What is her purpose for the plot?

How is she designed to make the reader feel?

What literary devices are relevant to her portrayal?

(Arbitrarily, you can always add more than 1 extra Japanese character. I think you might put less pressure on yourself with this character’s portrayal if you have more Japanese characters to practice with in general.)

- Marika.

When Off-Setting: Aim for Average

Seconding the above with regards to this villainess’s story and your motivations for this character, but regardless of her story I think it’s also important to look specifically at how the Japanese teacher character provides contrast.

I agree with the choice to make her a regular person and not a superhero. Otherwise, your one Asian character is aggressively Asian-themed in a stereotypical Cool Japan way (particularly if her villain suit is samurai-themed & she wears wafu clothing every so often). Adding a chill person who happens to be Japanese and doesn’t have some kind of ninja or kitsune motif will be a breath of fresh air (well, more like a sigh of relief) for Japanese readers.

A note on characterization—while our standard advice for “offset” characters is to give your offset character the opposite of the personality trait you’re trying to balance, in this case you might want to avoid opposites. You have a villainess who is a cold, tough “don’t need no man” type. Making the teacher mild-mannered, helpful, and accomodating would balance out the villainess’s traits, but you’ll end up swinging to the other side of the pendulum towards the Submissive Asian stereotype depending on execution. If avoiding stereotypes is a concern, I suggest picking something outside of that spectrum of gentleness to violence and making her really boring or really weird or really nerdy or a jock gym teacher or…something. You’re the author.

Similarly, while the villainess is very traditionally Japanese in her motifs and backstory, don’t make the teacher go aggressively in either direction—give her a nice balance of modern vs. traditional, Japanese vs. Western sensibilities as far as her looks, dress, interests, values, etc. Because at the end of the day, that’s most modern Japanese people.

Sometimes, the most difficult representation of a character of color is making a character who is really average, typical, modern, and boring.

- Rina

#writeblr #Japanese #Japanese women #Villain #antagonist #tokenism #characterization #representation #stereotypes #immortality #superheroes #supervillains #asks

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