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[Crash Station]

They can play it off however they want, but that doesn't make what they actually are any less obvious, unless they dramatically change their designs in the anime.

Like I said, Homo Erectus.

Evolution is a major theme, so they have a reason to look like that. It's not the designs that are the problem, but rather certain scenes that could be taken as totally stereotypical (like that car one above). Whether that was the author's intention or not, I have no idea, but they might need to be changed.

Wait there is literally a character named Adolf?

Not exactly an uncommon name in German-speaking countries. The crew is made up of people from everywhere.

 

[BGBW]

Wait there is literally a character named Adolf?

Are people not allowed to be called Adolf anymore?

 

[Branduil]

Like I said, Homo Erectus.

Evolution is a major theme, so they have a reason to look like that. It's not the designs that are the problem, but rather certain scenes that could be taken as totally stereotypical (like that car one above). Whether that was the author's intention or not, I have no idea, but they might need to be changed.

Not exactly an uncommon name in German-speaking countries. The crew is made up of people from everywhere.

Cockroaches evolving into Homo Erectus doesn't make any sense, though. The author could have made them look like whatever he wanted, so the idea that he just happened to choose a form which coincides with some of the worst racial stereotypes means he's either racist or incredibly ignorant about how such imagery was used.

 

[survivor]

http://whois.domaintools.com/terraformars.tv welp, important announcement next time...

Bleh, garbage manga. Will be interesting to see if any major sites will pick up on its racist imagery when the anime airs.

 

[Hitokage]

To be fair, the roaches are actually red as made apparent in some color spreads. Doesn't get rid of some unfortunate imagery with the black features, but they could play it off as them being Homo Erectus, which is what they're (supposed to be) based on more than black people.

Take a step back and think.

Black people = less evolved?

 

[cnet128]

Wake Up, Girls! 5

God I hate I-1 Club so much. The show is doing a wonderful job of building them up as the "villains".

I hope the girls listen to Twinkle's advice and start actually getting brutally honest with each other, though, because right now there's a ton of pent-up tension hanging over them that isn't going anywhere and it's preeeeeetty awkward. I want to see a Golden Time episode 16 calibre fight break loose!

 

[Admiral Woofington]

To be fair, the roaches are actually red as made apparent in some color spreads. Doesn't get rid of some unfortunate imagery with the black features, but they could play it off as them being Homo Erectus, which is what they're (supposed to be) based on more than black people.

Also, that image is pretty much the only time you see any kind of expression on the roaches' faces.

Anyway, Terraformars anime would be awesome!

If we're going to talk about racist caricatures, anime has done it before with chinese and black people, so it's not like it'd be new. I mean Hunter x Hunter has the most racist caricature chinese character I've ever seen, even if he only appeared in one episode.

though attempting to read the wiki of this anime was an exercise in futility as it appears to be written by a blind person

 

[BGBW]

Cockroaches evolving into Homo Erectus doesn't make any sense, though.

Not defending the imagery here, but when has a manga needed to make sense?

 

[Branduil]

Not defending the imagery here, but when has a manga needed to make sense?

It doesn't have to make sense, but we can at least assume that character designs are chosen for a reason. "They have to look like racist stereotypes because Homo Erectus" is not a valid argument, there's no logical requirement that massively evolved cockroaches look like Homo Erectus.

 

[PdotMichael]

Bunch of people from whatever nations get brutally murdered by black cockroaches.

Sounds like a weird black envy story.

 

[Crash Station]

It doesn't have to make sense, but we can at least assume that character designs are chosen for a reason. "They have to look like racist stereotypes because Homo Erectus" is not a valid argument, there's no logical requirement that massively evolved cockroaches look like Homo Erectus.

The suggestion isn't just that they're evolving, it's that they're evolving into something resembling humans.

 

[e_i]

So Houkago no Pleides is getting a TV anime. Hopefully it will as :SDBurton as the OVA is.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Also the main character seems to be Kondo's long lost brother

 

[Branduil]

Bunch of people from whatever nations get brutally murdered by black cockroaches.

Sounds like a weird black envy story.

The premise seems to be "sub-human savages must be exterminated by elite human soldiers." Which kind of goes back to that whole extremely-racist thing.

 

[Articalys]

So Houkago no Pleides is getting a TV anime. Hopefully it will as :SDBurton as the OVA is.

So are they still making a movie too or is this replacing it?

 

[Crash Station]

I will say that the lack of a badass black character on the human side (so far) and not a few background characters that get killed off quickly is a strike against the author.

I don't know, the guy could be totally racist for all I know.

 

[Hitokage]

I never said anything like that. Homo Erectus just happen to look a bit like black people based on what we know.

No, it's what you're not acknowledging in your reasoning. The suggestion of "oh it's just homo erectus" is absurd for that very reason.

Also, that statement actually is racist.

 

[dakkumauji]

Also the main character seems to be Kondo's long lost brother

is he a stalker with no sense of boundaries cause otherwise no sell

 

[Branduil]

I never said anything like that. Homo Erectus just happen to look a bit like black people based on what we know.

I don't think you want to go with that line of argument.

 

[Articalys]

For what it's worth, the manga was second place in a survey of over a thousand Japanese booksellers last year for what series with five volumes or less on sale by the end of 2012 that they would recommend.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-02-04/japanese-bookstores-recommend-15-top-manga-of-2013

 

[Crash Station]

I'd rather not be labeled as a racist, so maybe we should drop this until the anime comes around.

 

[Hitokage]

cosmic, you're just coming off as extremely naive here, not racist.

 

[Vito]

Bleh, garbage manga. Will be interesting to see if any major sites will pick up on its racist imagery when the anime airs.

Define "major" sites. The ones desperate for clicks will spin it into a story. I'm kinda certain ANN won't to that, but I'd almost bet they'll try and be the first to get the magazine scanned and watermarked for those hits. Either way, clickwhoring ahoy.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

is he a stalker with no sense of boundaries cause otherwise no sell

.....

For what it's worth, the manga was second place in a survey of over a thousand Japanese booksellers last year for what series with five volumes or less on sale by the end of 2012 that they would recommend.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-02-04/japanese-bookstores-recommend-15-top-manga-of-2013

I remember when people kept recommending GANTZ to me because it was highly rated or recommended or some shit. They should have called it CRIEZ. Or WHINES.

It's funny because the main character cries over everything. And it sucks.

 

[fertygo]

I don't know if its racist or not, but first few chapter of TerraFormars is really funny.. like someone drawing all of that after smoking really strong substance.

Watch Araki directing this.

 

[Save 'N Quit]

I come back to find no No-Rin out yet.

Would be pretty upset right now, if it wasn't for the newest TLRD chapter.

 

[Midonin]

It's the cold weather that's delaying Funi again.

 

[PdotMichael]

The premise seems to be "sub-human savages must be exterminated by elite human soldiers." Which kind of goes back to that whole extremely-racist thing.

The premise is highly racist with or without the evolution part. Though I would say the insects/evolution thing is maybe the least offensive part of the story. I think the other characters are also weird insect hybrids.

 

[Dresden]

Terraformars anime? This is going to be racist as fuck.

 

[Crash Station]

cosmic, you're just coming off as extremely naive here, not racist.

That could be it too, but maybe I should explain myself a bit more.

I was mostly talking from the perspective of the author. When I said Homo Erectus look like black people, I was thinking the author grabbed that one pic I posted from Wikipedia, analyzed its features and modeled the roaches after him. Maybe he didn't want to research the species more or maybe the racist undertones are completely intentional. I don't really know.

I'll just say as someone who reads the series, I personally never felt that it was trying to be racist. The human crew is a melting pot of cultures that consists of people from countries you barely even hear about. This includes black people. It just seems to me like a story about humanity fighting against an alien race, nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

This reminds me of that Tintin comic where he goes to the congo. I read it as a kid and didn't realize what I was looking at haha

to be fair it was a different era. A hilariously racist era

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I'll just say as someone who reads the series, I personally never felt that it was trying to be racist. The human crew is a melting pot of cultures that consists of people from countries you barely even hear about. This includes black people. It just seems to me like a story about humanity fighting against an alien race, nothing more and nothing less.

I thought the political aspect of the nations later on in recent chps does start to feel a bit close to being a bit that way.

 

[Jintor]

This reminds me of that Tintin comic where he goes to the congo. I read it as a kid and didn't realize what I was looking at haha

to be fair it was a different era. A hilariously racist era

At least he apologised for it.

I was pretty amused when he did all this painstaking research for China but then portrayed the Japanese as hilariously racist caricatures

 

[Branduil]

That could be it too, but maybe I should explain myself a bit more.

I was mostly talking from the perspective of the author. When I said Homo Erectus look like black people, I was thinking the author grabbed that one pic I posted from Wikipedia, analyzed its features and modeled the roaches after him. Maybe he didn't want to research the species more or maybe the racist undertones are completely intentional. I don't really know.

I'll just say as someone who reads the series, I personally never felt that it was trying to be racist. The human crew is a melting pot of cultures that consists of people from countries you barely even hear about. This includes black people. It just seems to me like a story about humanity fighting against an alien race, nothing more and nothing less.

"It just seems to me like a story about humanity fighting against an alien race, nothing more and nothing less." I think this is what Hitokage was referring to as naive. A story about subhuman savages who are out to destroy civilization is an extremely common racist trope. One that's been discredited in most forms of popular media.

 

[Jintor]

(though it's okay if it's demons or zombies)

(bugs also, depending on your view of starship troopers)

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I prefer my aliens to look like cockroaches and represent social commentary

 

[Crash Station]

A story about subhuman savages who are out to destroy civilization is an extremely common racist trope. One that's been discredited in most forms of popular media.

To be fair, it's actually the humans that are the invaders in this situation. The roaches just want the humans off of Mars.

 

[Branduil]

(though it's okay if it's demons or zombies)

(bugs also, depending on your view of starship troopers)

Well sure. Both presentation and intent matter. Zombies, demons, and bugs are more abstract enemies that don't represent human beings per se. You can also have a story where humans or human stand-ins are the enemy without being racist about it.

 

[ColossalLazy]

"It just seems to me like a story about humanity fighting against an alien race, nothing more and nothing less." I think this is what Hitokage was referring to as naive. A story about subhuman savages who are out to destroy civilization is an extremely common racist trope. One that's been discredited in most forms of popular media.

Lord of the Rings orcs? Warcraft orcs?

 

[MikeHattsu]

The World God Only Knows 06

Uh... Where is this heading then?

Anyway... Looks like a case of extreme lack of self-confidence. And Keima seems to have fallen for her.

 

[SDBurton]

Site's live now.

From left to right, voiced by Aoi Yuki, Ayahi Takagaki, Sora Amamiya, and Sayaka Ohara.

I don't know a single thing about this franchise, but here's what they look like in the game, I guess:

Fuck yes! I was hoping to see more of that gunner girl! I AM SO HYPED!!

Nice visual for the Bushiroad anime bd cover
Also Kirito is a sexy lady

I.... I can work with this.

I'll just quote Kevin:

http://otakomu.jp/archives/53775.html

Twintails + Drills Ooooooh my goodness!

 

[Dresden]

It's a common enough setup (and god knows LOTR has been bashed about it), but it's the depiction of the roaches that takes it over the top.

 

[ColossalLazy]

If the human roaches were white, it would still be racist?

 

[Branduil]

Lord of the Rings orcs? Warcraft orcs?

Orcs in Lord of the Rings don't represent any specific group of humans. I don't know as much about Orcs in Warcraft but they seem to basically be Klingons.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

If the human roaches were white, it would still be racist?

yes because then it's reverse racism

 

[Link Man]

Kino's Journey 10

Well, this episode managed to be creepy and heartwrenching at the same time. That ending, wow.

Spoiler

I wonder if the town was named Hinamizawa...

 

[Jintor]

Like Dresden aludes to LOTR orcs get some flak for some sort of pseudo-mongoloidish stuff that could be attributed to it (what with the people reading LOTR as one big WWII or WWI metaphor that's not surprising). Warcraft Orcs have fallen more into the Klingon pov since Warcraft III though.

 

[Branduil]

If the human roaches were white, it would still be racist?

If things were different, they wouldn't be the same.

I don't think anyone here would say the idea of a fantasy race in of itself is racist. It can be racist, but it's obviously not a requirement. What makes Terraformars racist is the combination of the imagery with the premise.

 

[Tenumi]

I come back to find no No-Rin out yet.

Would be pretty upset right now, if it wasn't for the newest TLRD chapter.

Aw, sweet! New Chapter time! I've been waiting patiently for the newest chapter.

 

[Articalys]

Man, if the discussion is getting this heated now, I don't want to know what it'll be like once the show actually starts airing.