I have an image in my head of the almost all-white Polygon staff waking up each morning sobbing tears of white guilt over the actions of their ancestors. But what if they were told they were continuing the legacy of imperialism? Heads may explode.
There is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy in the way that Japanese video games are routinely judged by Western standards by certain members of the media. The navel gazing of Western critics has repeatedly led to censorship of Japanese games and even limited sales. While this appears like a minor issue, it actually continues a legacy of cultural imperialism that dates back to the 19th century.
The current situation goes as follows: Progressive media outlets and SJW randos on Twitter complain about sexualized characters in Japanese games. Japanese game developers fear angering this group so they get their localization team to cover up certain characters and remove sexualized features. Some games do not even get Western releases for fear of a controversy. Then the cycle completes, only with updated more stringent demands from Western culture critics.
The list of examples of this cycle are endless. Polygon writer Arthur Gies gave Bayonetta 2 a lower review score because the main character’s outfit was “oversexualized.” In general he has a low opinion of Japanese games altogether.
By no coincidence, almost all the games criticized in Anita Sarkeesian’s Tropes series are made in Japan. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women even floated the idea of banning some erotic Japanese games.
Then as a result of the complaining, Dead or Alive 3 Xtreme 3 does not even bother with a Western release because the devs knew people’s heads would explode over big breasted women in bikinis playing volleyball. Star Ocean 5 changed a character’s suggestive underwear to granny panties in both Western and Japanese versions of the game. Tokyo Mirage Sessions underwent dozens of pointless changes like changing the cut of a woman’s bikini.
And when Japanese game devs point out the reality, Western journalists do not act kindly. Like when Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada answered a fan’s question about bikini costumes being in the new game with, “Ask your country’s SJW’s.” An IGN journalist reacted with a disproportionate freakout.
This kind of criticism of Japanese games is steeped in ethnocentrism and a lack of understanding of Japanese culture. In Japan, sexuality is simply perceived differently, and it’s not very PC to get outraged over cultural differences.
In feudal Japan, nudity was very common and socially acceptable in public, thus nudity was not considered erotic. The Japanese also routinely displayed erotic art in their homes called “shunga.”
But when Western businessmen began arriving in Japan, their sensibilities were threatened by all the nudity and artsy porn. In response, during the Meiji Restoration which modernized the country and adopted Western values, the government passed laws banning public nudity and pornography. Even some of the obscenity laws still around today, which result in censor bars in Japanese pornography, are tied to the post WWII US occupation.
Fast forward to today and we are still dealing with similar problems. Some in the Western world are outraged by Japanese cultural attitudes toward sex and this outrage is causing Japan to censor itself. Those who just want to enjoy a Japanese game in its original form will find themselves severely disappointed. But those who get a rise out of inflicting their culture on another will find their plight to be very successful.