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The Assassin's Creed Shadows team has a message for our Japanese community

Acidjuice

Member
For all the ppl who dont understand why its super racists to put black guy in japanese AC as samurai protagonist, lets do lil analogy here, lets take this trailer of marvels Luke Cage:

Its supposedly all fictional since its marvel superhero story, but its set in harlem, so predonominaly black neighbourhood, now imagine Luke Cage is not ur black bro build like a mountain but they decided he is white, or asian(and yup, not 6'5 but say 5'8 japanese looking scrawny/normal guy instead)- wouldnt black ppl and overall every1 be pretty pissed? i know i would be, and im white af eastern european here.

Bonus bit- when that white or asian Luke Cage guy fights we dont get hip hop/rnb/rap music but some country songs, its all fictional so it makes it allright, no? :D

speaking as an actual factual black guy, i wouldnt freak out about it. Remember when in that best selling movie franchise where the white hero goes to the hood with the N word written on a board draped over his torso? or better yet one that you people commenting probably dont know, an old movie called Trick Baby about a white pimp who rules the hood and the pimp game tricking the cops and other pimps in order to succeed.
you guys just invent imaginary stuff to be upset about, then project it on to black people.
 

PeteBull

Gold Member
speaking as an actual factual black guy, i wouldnt freak out about it. Remember when in that best selling movie franchise where the white hero goes to the hood with the N word written on a board draped over his torso? or better yet one that you people commenting probably dont know, an old movie called Trick Baby about a white pimp who rules the hood and the pimp game tricking the cops and other pimps in order to succeed.
you guys just invent imaginary stuff to be upset about, then project it on to black people.
U are then exception, bro, and its fine, i know i would be pissed af if they made geralt(the witcher) non white, it was already cringy af when they made tris(supposedly sexy af mage, looking like this
Kristina_as_Triss_from_Witcher_3_at_Igromir_2013.jpg



) look like this in the netflix series
947104843.jpg
 

Acidjuice

Member
U are then exception, bro, and its fine, i know i would be pissed af if they made geralt(the witcher) non white, it was already cringy af when they made tris(supposedly sexy af mage, looking like this
Kristina_as_Triss_from_Witcher_3_at_Igromir_2013.jpg



) look like this in the netflix series
947104843.jpg
she just looks dirtier and with a different hair color lol. but anyway sure i suppose this imaginary army of black people would be super pissed to see a white guy in a not entirely appropriate role.
 

PeteBull

Gold Member
she just looks dirtier and with a different hair color lol. but anyway sure i suppose this imaginary army of black people would be super pissed to see a white guy in a not entirely appropriate role.
No bro, she looks mid and black, as proven by her wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Shaffer
Shaffer was born in North London to South African parents; her mother is mixed race and her father is Jewish.

2 more pics of her straight from the wiki:
440px-Anna_Shaffer_-_German_Comic_Con_2022.jpg

440px-Anna_Shaffer.jpg

She was never sexy mage material but ofc DEI had to ruin stuff like they always do.
 

Trilobit

Member
I don't think I've seen anyone express "hate towards the idea of Japanese man as the main character in this game". That side of the argument has been in defense of the character of Yasuke. Not the same thing.

If you can't see the systemic racism towards Eastern Asian males in media then I don't know what to say. But the resistance against having a Japanese male lead in feudal Japan speaks volumes of this issue.
 
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Acidjuice

Member
No bro, she looks mid and black, as proven by her wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Shaffer


2 more pics of her straight from the wiki:
440px-Anna_Shaffer_-_German_Comic_Con_2022.jpg

440px-Anna_Shaffer.jpg

She was never sexy mage material but ofc DEI had to ruin stuff like they always do.
lmfao she looks like a white chick and that 2nd picture is super baked to make her look darker. a lot of SA people are of german or dutch aswell.
Ive never seen the show because i dont watch tv cashgrabs from videogame ips, but is she any good in it?
 
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PeteBull

Gold Member
lmfao she looks like a white chick and that 2nd picture is super bake to make her look darker. a lot of SA people are german of dutch aswell.
Ive never seen the show because i dont watch tv cashgrabs from videogame ips, but is she any good in it?
She is mid in it, i watched all the episodes, since im big witcher fan, so top acting skills definitely dont come to the resque there either :p
 
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Topher

Gold Member
If you can't see the systemic racism towards Eastern Asian males in media then I don't know what to say. But the resistance against having a Japanese male lead in feudal Japan speaks volumes of this issue.

What? Read what I said again my man. I didn't make any comment about racism in media. I'm talking about the arguments being made about this game. Someone being ok with the character being black doesn't mean they would be opposed to the character being Japanese. If that were the case then Ghost of Tsushima would have been met with a shitton of resistance and we all know that was not the case.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
She is mid in it, i watched all the episodes, since im big witcher fan, so top acting skills definitely dont come to the resque there either :p
Don’t even know how you could stomach that slop. I watched Season 1 and stopped.
 

Trilobit

Member
What? Read what I said again my man. I didn't make any comment about racism in media. I'm talking about the arguments being made about this game. Someone being ok with the character being black doesn't mean they would be opposed to the character being Japanese. If that were the case then Ghost of Tsushima would have been met with a shitton of resistance and we all know that was not the case.

Then why do so many accuse others of racism when they say they wanted a Japanese as the lead?
 

Trilobit

Member
Ask the person(s) who said that. I don't know who you are referring to.

My point in my original comment was that the racism towards East Asian males is so pervasive and perhaps unsconsious that some people don't even think there's anything wrong in not having a Japanese male as the lead in a game taking place in feudal Japan. So instead they lash out at people criticizing the choice as being racists, which is whack.

But the bias against Eastern Asian males runs like a current through Western media with GoT being a wonderful exception.
 
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What? Read what I said again my man. I didn't make any comment about racism in media. I'm talking about the arguments being made about this game. Someone being ok with the character being black doesn't mean they would be opposed to the character being Japanese. If that were the case then Ghost of Tsushima would have been met with a shitton of resistance and we all know that was not the case.
So, ok. Then that would mean making the main character as the Asian male lead would be the least controversial option and one that should've been pushed through if this was the common conception which we know it isn't.
 

Topher

Gold Member
So instead they lash out at people criticizing the choice as being racists, which is whack.

Who is saying that?

So, ok. Then that would mean making the main character as the Asian male lead would be the least controversial option and one that should've been pushed through if this was the common conception which we know it isn't.

Where are all the people here saying they would have been opposed to the main character being an Asian male?
 
Where are all the people here saying they would have been opposed to the main character being an Asian male?
I never said that. The fact that we can agree on this meant Yasuke didn't have to be the main character in this game and there wouldn't be any issue... IF that were to be the case.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I never said that. The fact that we can agree on this meant Yasuke didn't have to be the main character in this game and there wouldn't be any issue... IF that were to be the case.

Yeah....I agree that there is no reason Yasuke had to be the main character and there would be no issue at all if the character were Japanese instead. That's exactly the point I'm making here.
 

Trilobit

Member
Who is saying that?



Where are all the people here saying they would have been opposed to the main character being an Asian male?

I don't know if you're obtuse or willfully ignorant, but I was being called racist by a gaffer just yesterday. That epithet was thrown around generously. Even 'misogynist' somehow made it into the discussion.

Edit: For clarification the racist label was thrown at those thinking that a male Japanese character would have suited the setting of the game better.
 
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Kokoloko85

Member
lol my fucking god, I've never seen such a funny attempt at trying to hide, cover up and steer away from a point in my life.

You mean, set in the Caribbean? Where you play....a Welsh man?




“Most pirates in this era were of Welsh, English, Dutch, Irish, and French origin. Many pirates came from poorer urban areas in search of a way to make money and of reprieve. London in particular was known for high unemployment, crowding, and poverty which drove people to piracy.”


Not sure if your trolling. Where do people think pirates from that era and region came from?
They were a mixture of people around that region, europeans and people from all over. Many of them from Wales. During the golden age of pirates, they could of been from europe, uk, or run away slaves. Or else where. So thats why it could be anyone, pirates in the carribean were from all kind of backgrounds.

I said Pirate world and Viking land because Im not sure the exact location those games were in.

The original natives of the carribean arent exactly your typical go to for pirates and arent the same people as the majority of carribean people now
 
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Topher

Gold Member
I don't know if you're obtuse or willfully ignorant, but I was being called racist by a gaffer just yesterday. That epithet was thrown around generously. Even 'misogynist' somehow made it into the discussion.

Edit: For clarification the racist label was thrown at those thinking that a male Japanese character would have suited the setting of the game better.

Neither. I wasn't aware of that, obviously, since I just asked the question. If you were referring to that one "gaffer" in your previous comments then that is fine. It came across as a more generalized description of the arguments being made and I don't see that as the case.
 

Acidjuice

Member



Not sure if your trolling. Where do people think pirates from that era and region came from?
They were a mixture of people around that region, europeans and people from all over. Many of them from Wales
https://www.britannica.com/place/Curacao
stop reaching, the main ethnicity was not Welsh at all.
 
Anyone else tired of the endless outrage from both sides of everything about everything? :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Play it, or don't. I'm going to play it I imagine, once it goes on sale (or maybe through a brief sub to +) - looks really nice, and Odyssey is one of my all time favourites...

Well said. It's a bloody video game at the end of the day and I bet there's 20 odd Japanese people that are really upset, while most Japanese gamers couldn't give a toss
 

Kokoloko85

Member
https://www.britannica.com/place/Curacao
stop reaching, the main ethnicity was not Welsh at all.
So who was the main ethnicity of pirates?


Most pirates in this era were of Welsh, English, Dutch, Irish, and French origin. Many pirates came from poorer urban areas in search of a way to make money and of reprieve. London in particular was known for high unemployment, crowding, and poverty which drove people to piracy.
 

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
https://www.britannica.com/place/Curacao
stop reaching, the main ethnicity was not Welsh at all.
Most pirates were European. There's even a point in the game where Edward offers Adewalé the position of first mate but Adewalé declines, stating that a crew of mostly white guys wouldn't be on board with a black man in a position of authority over them or something along those lines. There were also African and indigenous pirates, but Europeans were the majority and a black pirate captain (such as Black Caesar) would have been rare but not unheard of.

Edward Kenway being Welsh (or white which is what the main argument is about) does represent the majority of pirates at the time or at the very least a significant portion of them.
 
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Controversy aside, Yasuke feels like the most token of token black guys. And depending on how the story goes he could step into the realm of the "magical negro". Just, you know, for the Japanese.


This is my primary gripe.

Even outside of the game's depiction, Yasuke as a historical figure is a real-life example of a token black guy; i.e. he was essentially Oda Nobunaga's pet whom he paraded around for his enjoyment for the sole reason of him being dark-skinned.

Literally, the only reason we know about him, and the only reason he is notable in history is because he was a black guy found in a region where he did not belong. Literally the definition of a token.... i.e. tokenized black character.

The mere fact that Ubisoft can't see the irony of this is infuriating. As a black man myself, I'm baffled by the way middle-class liberal white people insist on using tokenized black characters as ammunition in their shitty puerile culture war. Black people really don't give a fuck about black representation as much as these white liberals do, but at least when attempts are made to do black representation in games, they should at least do their best to create interesting, well developed, relatable black characters, and not just tokenized or shitty caricatures who existence is purely designed to pander to misdirected liberal white guilt.

I feel like these folks have some sexual fetish; like they're Blacked.com addicts who fantasize about being cucked by a BBC (or two).
 
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Acidjuice

Member
Most pirates were European. There's even a point in the game where Edward offers Adewalé the position of first mate but Adewalé declines, stating that a crew of mostly white guys wouldn't be on board with a black man in a position of authority over them or something along those lines. There were also African and indigenous pirates, but Europeans were the majority and a black pirate captain (such as Black Caesar) would have been rare but not unheard of.

Edward Kenway being Welsh (or white which is what the main argument is about) does represent the majority of pirates at the time or at the very least a significant portion of them.
you guys do have a point here, although the choice of welsh is a stretch.

my reference was from the argument that the ethnicity should be based on the setting but even so upon researching it i learned that much of the population was african, indigenous, and the european popluation was significantly spanish, and as far as the most common ethnicity to commit piracy it would've been the french, as they legalized it to try and disrupt the spanish trade taking place there.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The black Cleopatra from Netflix exists as much as the black samurai from Ubisoft...

Per a historian, he did.

Translated tweet:

It seems like there's a lot of talk about Yasuke, a black man who served Oda Nobunaga. There are very few historical documents about him, but there's no doubt that he was a "samurai" who served Nobunaga. Regardless of one's social status, if one's master promoted one to the rank of "samurai," one could become one in medieval (warring states) society. I can say this because the historical documents state that ① Nobunaga gave him a "stipend," ② he was given a house, and ③ he was given a sword. Being given a "stipend" and serving Nobunaga closely fulfills the important requirements of a "contract between master and servant" and "agreement to receive a stipend." It is also important that he was allowed to carry a sword, so he was a two-sworded servant and not a servant (servants were not allowed to carry swords). And if he was given a house, there's no room for doubt. He was probably a slave until Nobunaga took over the missionary slave, but due to the above ① to ③ , he probably became a "samurai" of his own volition. During the Honnoji Incident, Akechi's side did not kill Yasuke because he was an "animal" or "not Japanese", but that was only because Akechi did not recognize Yasuke as a "samurai" (probably because he had discriminatory feelings). At that time, it was common for a master to promote someone of low status to a "samurai". To begin with, there is a good example in Hideyoshi.


YfoIe6b.jpeg



 
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Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Per a historian, he did.

Translated tweet:




YfoIe6b.jpeg




He means the super warrior shown in the game. Yasuke is known to have taken part in one battle and would have not been versed in traditional Japanese style combat. It's not known whether or not he was a samurai and there's no record of him donning the armor or using katanas in battle. As such, the game version is a highly romanticized one.
 

ReyBrujo

Gold Member
For all the ppl who dont understand why its super racists to put black guy in japanese AC as samurai protagonist, lets do lil analogy here, lets take this trailer of marvels Luke Cage:

Its supposedly all fictional since its marvel superhero story, but its set in harlem, so predonominaly black neighbourhood, now imagine Luke Cage is not ur black bro build like a mountain but they decided he is white, or asian(and yup, not 6'5 but say 5'8 japanese looking scrawny/normal guy instead)- wouldnt black ppl and overall every1 be pretty pissed? i know i would be, and im white af eastern european here.

Bonus bit- when that white or asian Luke Cage guy fights we dont get hip hop/rnb/rap music but some country songs, its all fictional so it makes it allright, no? :D


For Japanese gamers it's also a nation matter. I think a better analogy would be making Captain America or Spider-Man Asian (like, Chinese).
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The guy is a communist, just because a person is Japanese does not make them correct. If you want the truth just find the sources, there are so few you could cover everything we know about yasuke in a couple minutes.

It's a matter concerning Japanese history, Japanese historians would generally be the best source of knowledge on a matter like this, no?

He means the super warrior shown in the game. Yasuke is known to have taken part in one battle and would have not been versed in traditional Japanese style combat. It's not known whether or not he was a samurai and there's no record of him donning the armor or using katanas in battle. As such, the game version is a highly romanticized one.

Well, yeah, cause it's a video game. I doubt the real ancient group(s) of Assassins that inspired the first game were jumping in hay-bales from the top of towers either.
 
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ReyBrujo

Gold Member
There are very few historical documents about him, but there's no doubt that he was a "samurai" who served Nobunaga.

Somehow Google Translate converts a presumption into a certainty. まちがいなかろう is not "there's no doubt" but "it's probably right (lit. not wrong)". Note that with 上記の①~③により、彼の意思によって「侍」分になったのだろう Google Translate uses the presumption "due to the above ① to ③ , he probably became a "samurai" of his own volition" (or, "he probably considered himself a samurai").
 
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SCB3

Member

Sorry I shoulda clarified, as in William Adams was a real guy but they used him and took creative liberties with to tell a story. It was always portrayed as that, hell if they used Yasuke here instead, it'd be better, the issue for me is AC tries to have it both ways, Realistic to history but taking liberties at the same time.
 

Spacefish

Member
It's a matter concerning Japanese history, Japanese historians would generally be the best source of knowledge on a matter like this, no?



Well, yeah, cause it's a video game. I doubt the real ancient group(s) of Assassins that inspired the first game were jumping in hay-bales from the top of towers either.
Yeah, and there are conservative Japanese historians who disagree. Its historical interpretations between far left political activists associated with the Japanese communist party and conservatives, the same as you would get in any country. What a historian even means these days is up in the air since Thomas lockley was considered one despite being an english teacher who writes fanfic in his spare time. As far as I'm aware this Japanese historian works at a medical school which doesnt have a history course, so you'll have to forgive me if I dont trust this communists interpretation of history.

The fact that Ubisoft themselves admitted yasukes status as a samurai was debatable should tell you that there is no definitive proof and there never will be. far left historians will say he was a samurai and everyone else will disagree, this isn't surprising.
 
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Lokaum D+

Member
Sorry I shoulda clarified, as in William Adams was a real guy but they used him and took creative liberties with to tell a story. It was always portrayed as that, hell if they used Yasuke here instead, it'd be better, the issue for me is AC tries to have it both ways, Realistic to history but taking liberties at the same time.
also, lets be clear here, Willian at least makes sense since he is part of Japanese history and he is even buried in Japan where he lived his entire life, Yasuke was just a nobody that Nobunaga liked cause the color of his skin, he accompanied Nobunaga till his death and that's it, he has 0Zero importance in Japanese history.

Edit: and Adams was actually granted the title of samurai by Ieyasu "In 1605 Ieyasu further granted Adams the status of samurai,[35] and the name Miura Anjin to Addams.[c] Ieyasu also appoint Adams as jikatatori hatamoto, or a direct advisor in the court of shogun."
 
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