Making An Extensive Look At Discrimination in Ensemble Stars.
Due to recent events in Ensemble Stars (Enstars), there has been an extensive look into how the franchise deals with racism and other forms of discrimination. However, this is a long effort that requires looking at 9 years of content to fully understand how Enstars has approached multiple social issues across time, and how this has culminated in the event "Uncertain Skies＊The Legend of KAGETSU's Illuminating Attire of Ascension", along with some very necessary cultural context.
In response to this, I have created this blog with the hopes of being able to receive other people's input as I try to put together a full overview of how Enstars deals with discrimination. I am a lurker in the fandom, so unfortunately I am not familiar with how most social media works; however, I find that Tumblr is pretty easy to access compared to most places, and I prefer sticking to one platform rather than managing multiple accounts, which I hope everyone will understand.
A Google Form and a Google Docs will be provided soon.
As it currently stands, I feel that I will make a video on the situation, but I do not have a channel at the moment. Once things have been set up on my end, I would like to share more information.
In the read more below, I'll elaborate more on what I hope to do with this blog.
So, how is this going to work?
As I have stated before, I want to be able to have input from various places due to my own limited perspective. Again, it is not feasible for one person to look at the entirety of Enstars to find every instance of discrimination (and I do very much want to cover as much as possible - both the big and the small). Additionally, I do not speak Japanese, which means that I have very limited access to information compared to people who do. I'm not asking for extensive analysis, but just for people to mention things that they have noticed in general. Examples of this include: colourism + racism in card art, usage of slurs and other demeaning labels, and handling of specific issues within stories.
Not all incidents have to be negative, though. There are instances where Enstars can be progressive, and these are also important to note since they help with comparing Enstars at its best with Enstars at its worst.
For submissions...
I would like as much evidence as possible- so screenshots wherever possible. Since I understand that HappyElement's social media policy have made doing so risky, I will not publish these publicly unless the individual explicitly confirms that they are comfortable with it. If you do not wish to/cannot submit a screenshot, you can give the Event name + Chapter number/ Idol Story Chapter/ However other way the story is called.
For translations specifically I would prefer it if the person who made the translation recommend themselves to me, or is tagged in the ask so that they can reply easily. I will give full credit to the translator(s) however they desire. Because of HappyElement's policy, I understand that translators may not want to put their names out, so if they want to be referred to by some other manner, such as a nickname, it is totally acceptable. Multiple translations for one section are perfectly acceptable.
Cultural context is very important! That's why, even if you don't have information for Enstars specifically, I would appreciate any information on other contextual cues that are important when discussing these social issues. Although I am familiar with a number of issues addressed in Enstars, it is safer for you to assume that I am not. Unfortunately, I am using classroom rules and will not accept Wikipedia links. Information that may seem obvious to one person may be new to someone else - providing additional information will be more useful than you think.
What are you looking for? Anything. Although there will be a great mention of racism and anti-Indigenous sentiments, I want to also address other concerns like disability and gender, which have been dealt with in various degrees in Enstars. Characters like Adonis, Hiiro, Rinne, Aira, and Ibuki are understandably at the forefront, but please do not feel afraid to submit anything related to other characters.
That being said, lets keep personal interpretation to a minimum. For example, there has been a great debate on whether or not Aira's racism is in-character or out-of-character. This is prone to personal beliefs that detract from the focus, which should be how Aira's racism - irrespective of its canonicality - is dealt with in-text.
Is there a Discord?
I understand that a Discord server would be easy to collaborate on however, simply put: no. I know for a fact that I would not be able to host one, and feel that the lack of professionality might result in conflicts between members as has often been the case with my personal experience.
Will we get updates?
Yes! If not posted here, information should be added to the Google Docs added above.
Are there other ways to help?
At this time, not really. I would like to manage this blog on my own, and I do not feel a need to look for editors, screenwriters, proofreaders, or any other role. This can be set to change, but for now, I just need submissions.
If you have any other concerns, please send them my way!
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Arashi Narukami And Feminine Language (Joseigo, 女性語）
Hello! This isn't a usual style of post of mine, but I had been wanting to make something related to it for a little while.
In the source material, Arashi Narukami uses a style of speech known as Joseigo, or literally, female words/language. It is as the name suggests, a style of speaking predominantly used by women with the intention of sounding softer and more feminine usually spoken in a higher cadence. However there is no comfortable English equivalent for this, and much of it is lost in translation due to it. So I wanted to take a moment to shine a light on this language for people who may not be as familiar with it, as I believe it's a big element in how voice is written for Arashi.
The following will just use certain examples of language to illustrate how this speech comes up in Arashi's normal talking.
(All examples used are direct quotes from Arashi, they are romanised for ease of reading)
In Joseigo, different particles are used at the end of a sentence to soften it. Some common ones are, wa, wa yo, da wa, na no, or opting more often for the polite invitational mashou.
Kyou wa nakanaka haado na ichinichi datta wa ne.
Saikin, oishii ranchi wo dasu omise wo mizuketa no.
Ufufu, sou na na yo~! Ureshii wa, Ritsu-chan. Kizuitekureta no ne ♪
"No" in particular is often a more feminine grammatical replacement for -ndesu or -nda or -nandesu which go on the end of sentences. Attaching this grammar element to the end of nouns or the short form of verbs can indicate there being an implicit reason or explanation for something. The second example used above follows a sentence that is an invitation to eat together, the "no" indicates that the sentence is an implicit explanation for the question that came before, mentioning she recently discovered a new shop.
Another very common ending element that comes up in Arashi's speech is the well known "kashira", which can be used as a replacement for "kana". Used for wondering and questioning.
Tama ni wa issho ni ohiru demo dou kashira?
You will also notice in this example the use of o + noun, adding o or go to the front of certain nouns makes them more polite, which is also used in Joseigo, likely borrowed from Japanese polite language, particularly Sonkeigo.
In more neutral or masculine language, nai + ka can be used to indicate an invitation or prompting intention to perform an action, a more casual form of the verb conjugation -masenka. Similar to English's "won't you do-" or "don't you want to- or "why don't you-" in how it adapts an otherwise negative conjugation into a positive question. However Joseigo commonly omits the final ka, making the question implicit to the sentence's intonation.
Yokattara, tameshiteminai?
I don't have much more to mention, it's hard to expand beyond "this is how it works and Arashi uses it" but gendered language in Japanese is very interesting, there are also more masculine speaking styles. I find this side of Arashi's speaking is really important to how she is communicated as a character, providing a brighter and cuter charm to normal language that aligns well with her personality. Arashi is already very expressive and I find her Joseigo is a part of it, bringing a flair of individuality to her language that accompanies her cheerful demeanor. It's a shame that English doesn't have a straight forward equivalent to it, much of it is lost in my work. I hope in the future more people will be able to recognize her Joseigo and appreciate the extra sparkle it brings to her.
I'll finish off this post with another one of Arashi's more common integrated phrases. "Ara" or "ara ara" you have likely come across in Japanese media before, and is used to express amusement or surprise, think along the lines of "oh dear" and "oh my ". It is a general expression for anything that piques interest or causes astonishment.
The stereotype of hip-hop and rap being violent isn’t something that happened on its own, but is the result of these art forms being associated with the African-American community. Even if Enstars never depicts a Black American, that does not change the fact that stigmas which Black Americans face are being applied on hip-hop and those who participate in it through association. Even if we are using the broad term “American” without applying any hyphens, quantifiers, or adjectives, through observation it is clear that we are not talking about the lifestyles of the white, upper-to-middle-class of the U.S in this “vague” discussion of American violence - we are talking about the experiences of Black neighbourhoods in a way that blocks further inquiry into the racial structuring of the U.S and how that affects the spread of violence.
(Long post, more below)
The idea that violence is inherent to hip-hop and rap is a reductive way at looking at art, and it completely obliterates stories about the African American experience. In discussing hip-hop, people rightfully clarify that songs about violence are just one part of a wide-ranging genre, and that the pearl-clutching that people feel over “violent” rap is never extended to depictions of violence in other genres. To this conversation, I also want to add that saying that hip-hop songs are “just violent” disrespects the work of Black hip-hop artists.
What does it mean for a song to be “about violence”? Self-proclaimed critics of hip-hop never clarify what this means, because that would mean having to expend effort in understanding the lyricism in these songs. Countless Black hip-hop artists and rappers have used music to express the various encounters they have had with violence, how these encounters affected them, how they try (or even fail) to cope. Events like losing loved ones to gang violence, losing loved ones to drugs, dealing with police violence, dealing with lacklustre educational systems and lacklustre healthcare, misogynoir, internalized racism… all of these and more are tackled through song, only to be completely ignored under the never-clarified label of “violence” - or worse, to be mislabelled endorsements of violence just because they approached the topic in a way that didn't appeal to the sensitivities of the masses. Why are we more surprised by the expression of grief and anger towards systemic violence and not by the systemic violence itself?
This is not something that works against hip-hop’s appeal, but is part of it. People around the world can relate to the experiences illustrated by hip-hop artists and rappers - gangs, drugs, shootings, internalized racism, structural barriers, being able to confront these things has brought people outside of the U.S into hip-hop’s orbit. Even those who cannot relate to it can appreciate the artistry. You shouldn’t be surprised to hear hip-hop artists outside of the U.S cite big names like Tupac and Biggie Smalls as their inspirations, nor should you be surprised that the Kendrick-Drake beef crossed international borders.
But this brings us to a problem that the hip-hop community has faced for years. These mentions of violence initially began from people in the same neighbourhoods, facing the same struggles, and as hip-hop expanded, you now see people from different (better) neighbourhoods who never had to deal with things like gangs or guns or anti-Blackness making the exact same songs. The culture and experiences of low-income African-American communities became aestheticized, and are treated as meaningless embellishments. What sort of imagery do you think lyrics like “Shoot ‘em up” in “CIVIL WAR” are supposed to evoke?
Some people may feel that the gang aesthetics are used as a metaphor/allusion for something else. But in that case, what is this “something else” supposed to be? What part of “CIVIL WAR” as we have seen in the MV, heard in the lyrics, or observed in Crazy:B and AKATSUKI generally shows us this other meaning? [The story was not released at the time that I write this. If the story explains why these aesthetics were chosen, so be it. But the fact that these arguments are made pre-story release, without supporting evidence at this point in time, is my main critique].
Additionally, I have seen some people argue that its only natural for there to be lyrics alluding to violent and sound effects like gunshots given that Megasphere Match is a competition. However, if that is the case, then where are these elements in the previews of the other competition songs? Admittedly, its early to judge because it will take time for us to hear the full releases, but the previews alone are wildly different.
I know some people don’t understand why you should spare consideration for a group from the current hegemonic power, but that completely misunderstands the status that Black Americans hold in the U.S (alongside the status of other marginalized groups).
Racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, ageism - all of these rely on the same lines of reasoning and assign value to different groups based on insignificant traits. Don’t let the fact that some of you may never meet an African-American in your life allow you to accept the racist argument that “some groups are more prone to violence”.
With the announcement of Boemika (which is not without its own concerns), there is no need to speculate on Adonis' homeland, but there is one point that I want to make about fan speculations of Adonis' homeland before we move on.
In the past, many fans have assumed that Adonis was from Saudi Arabia. This is often because they were associating him with the first Middle Eastern/SWANA country that came to mind. However, this was never a logical assumption to make, as Adonis states in the !-era Scout story “1001 Arabian Nights” that the country that he comes from is small and not well-known. Given that Saudi Arabia is a large and well-known state, it does not fulfill the metric for this.
But there is another important thing to note, which is that Enstars was released just a few years after the Arab Springs. As a consequence of the repression and violence from governments and armed groups following domestic protests and uprisings, there was a surge of refugees from Syria, Yemen, and Libya. Importantly, the Arab Springs did not have the same consequences everywhere, and not all countries would experience the violence witnessed in the states mentioned above. To assume that all SWANA states were rife with violence and an outpour of refugees is in fact an overgeneralization. Saudi Arabia in particular is said to be unaffected by the Arab Springs since an uprising never occurred, and the general lack of war in Saudi Arabia also means it does not meet the metric for being Adonis' homeland.
With this in mind, Adonis’ background might be influenced by specific states. The problem is that the refugee crisis is often the only thing that people know about countries like Syria, Yemen, and Libya, so referencing the refugee crisis does not indicate deeper knowledge of these countries. Also, the overgeneralization of war across the SWANA region means that speaking about the refugee crisis doesn’t guarantee that the person speaking is actually aware of where and who the crisis is affecting. If people think Syria and Saudia Arabia are the same country, then there is no guarantee that they are truly talking about Syria even if they mention it specifically by name. As such, we can’t truly conclude that Adonis and his homeland (which we now know to be Boemika) are based off of these specific states or will reference them in any way.
Quickly trying to get together why some people are not happy about a fictional country (Boemika) being Adonis' proposed homeland as of Megasphere Match:
Enstars is a contemporary series that occurs in a universe essentially like our own, with the same nation-states. Real states like Japan, France, Italy, and America are mentioned by name. Inventing a state means going out of the way to (re)define the world – and we have to note which part of the world is and is not receiving this behaviour.
Eqypt, another country in the Middle East/SWANA, is mentioned by name. What differences are there between Egypt and Boemika’s depictions that lead to Egypt being mentioned by name but Boemika being invented from the ground up?
To what extent is Adonis’ experiences going to be concerned with SWANA - whether it be politics, or culture, or norms, anything really - in the absence of a specific, grounded root in SWANA?
Adonis’ homeland is in a state of war. Depending on the country that he (might have) belonged to, it would either be accurate or an overgeneralization. Now that the option for seeing a real state is discarded, there is a greater fear that this can be an overgeneralization because Enstars “technically” does not have to concern itself with facts.
Continuing with the above point, inventing a fictional country can lead to the oversaturated implementation of stereotypes under the excuse that “unless characters are explicitly from real-life countries, they cannot be stereotypes of real-life groups”. This excuse does not work because this fictional country is being used as a proxy for real-life countries, including political and social concerns in SWANA. Since it exists as a representation of a real-life group, it can still carry stigmas associated with that group.
Mentioning a real-life country would involve bringing up controversial history related to that country which Enstars may prefer to avoid in its description of war. However, Enstars’ ability to describe war, namely its causes and its consequences, is constrained by not engaging in history. Events like structural changes imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the 80s and the 2011 Arab Springs are fundamental to understanding SWANA. If you delete history, then you are left with making “timeless” assumptions about the social culture in these nations, which leads to stereotypes and overgeneralizations. I am not saying that Enstars must mention these historical events, but that taking them out of the worldbuilding means losing the parts of war that are actually relevant
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Analysis and comparisons of Western and Eastern cultures would be unfathomably different if it didn't boil down to equivalent exchange.
The West has labels therefore the East doesn't. The East has hierarchies therefore the West doesn't. The West has trans women therefore the East doesn't. The East has gender non-conformity therefore the West doesn't. Westerners argue over everything therefore Easterners don't. Easterners are quiet therefore Westerners aren't...
It's such a bizarre line of logic. Obviously, it's xenophobic in how it overgeneralizes and misrepresents random traits, but even if it wasn't, it's such an inconducive and baffling way of understanding the world.
Out of curiosity, has there ever been a list made for Enstars MVs regarding flashing lights? I feel like some units are more prone to that sort of lighting than others (Eden, UNDEAD, Crazy:B, to list a few) but an actual list naming specific songs would be more helpful in the case of light sensitivity, especially when playing the game
Importantly, the Dreams Lives and Starry Stage + Starry Symphony won't be included in the count because concerts in general tend to have erratic lighting
Out of curiosity, has there ever been a list made for Enstars MVs regarding flashing lights? I feel like some units are more prone to that sort of lighting than others (Eden, UNDEAD, Crazy:B, to list a few) but an actual list naming specific songs would be more helpful in the case of light sensitivity, especially when playing the game
I get where the notion of "people need to read more uncomfortable topics in fiction" is coming from but:
People don't have the same definition of discomfort. Some people consider it "anything unpleasant" while others consider it to be more extreme feelings of anger, fear, and confusion. It's totally fine for discomfort to exist along a spectrum, but the problem is that when this isn't taken into account, you have people insisting that having a negative response to a traumatic stimuli is the exact same as being bigoted. Discomfort isn't inherently tied to ignorance or aversion (it can be tied to these things, but it has to be proven or else you'll just make weird assumptions about strangers).
"Uncomfortable things" aren't the only thing that people need to confront. In fact, people have an easier time picking apart things they have negative feelings about because finding a source for those feelings might help them disappear. It's positive and neutral feelings - comfortable things - that people struggle with. Some people are uncomfortable with seeing a man in a dress, but that also exists alongside the comfort of seeing a man in a dress solely in the context of a joke at said man's expense. Some people are uncomfortable seeing racialized people in positions of authority, but that also exists alongside the comfort of assuming that a racialized person has a lower position in society compared to oneself. Getting familiar with discomfort also has to include getting less comfortable with things you assume to be true and/or take for granted.
Most posts (that I've seen) about it are condescending and assume that most people don't know why something makes them uncomfortable. Many people (minors included) can articulate their discomfort well enough. It's a question of what arguments they currently have, not whether or not they have arguments.
Fandom often tries to make an exception for people who have comfort ___ (comfort franchises, comfort characters, etc.), which makes the assumption that all people who have a comfort ___ treat that thing or character the same way. Some people can approach their sources of comfort critically and some cannot, but like with all fandom matters, it's a matter of practicing social media etiquette like using appropriate tags and blocking rather than assuming that people with a comfort ___ cannot engage in critical analysis.
Bouncing off of point 4, not all people who can read uncomfortable things can stand analysis and critique. There are people who can read uncomfortable things but utterly refuse to interpret it in challenging ways, and these people are often hypocritical in how they approach comfort/discomfort in fandom.
Also, positivity and negativity aren't helpful in determining the validity of an interpretation. Much like with discomfort in point 1, positivity and negativity are interpreted in different ways. People want fandoms to be "more positive" while also holding space for angst, and people want fandoms to be "more critical" while also holding space for crackships. Maybe it is contradictory, maybe it isn't, but it definitely isn't something that can be used as a measuring stick for how you understand comfortable/uncomfortable media.
It's used more frequently against marginalized people than fandom spaces are willing to admit. If you hate racism in a given franchise, you're just a white person who hasn't engaged in the appropriate discourse instead of a racialized person whose trauma is inescapable even in fandom spaces. If you hate misogyny in a given franchise, you just hate men instead of being tired of seeing women fill the age-old role of "seen and not heard". By taking away a person's identity and reducing them to what they are/aren't comfortable with, fans get comfortable advising marginalized people on how to react to the frustrations that they have been dealing with well before coming into contact with fandom instead of trying to follow their own advice of challenging norms.
The quote "good art disturbs the comforted and comforts the disturbed" (I'm paraphrasing) is an ideal, not a reality. Art has been made at times to harm, not always to help. This has to be taken into account because it can influence how "comfortable" something is (even if done accidentally).
Also related to point 8, people manipulate their interpretation of comfort/discomfort in whichever way helps with their argument. For example, in the argument that "[white] autistic people cannot stand rap as a genre (and rap alone) due to the sensory overload" the genuine discomfort of being unfamiliar with and holding aversive feelings towards Black art is eclipsed by a claim of discomfort due to stimulation. By shifting the domain of discussion from race to mental health, many white people try to get away from talking about their discomforts by instead mentioning times when they themselves were the ones being othered, even though it does not fit the context of the discussion. By changing who gets labelled "comforted" and "disturbed", fandoms prevent challenging discussions featuring the perspectives of stigmatized groups.
Don't get me wrong - concepts like the "need for comfort" have played an important role in understanding bigotry especially among conservatives, but there are more elements at play here than just discomfort.
I disappeared off of the internet because things got busy on my end, but I hope to be back in February! I will be answering asks and DMs after my "proper" return but for now, I just want to say that I'm not dead :)!
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(x) whatever, making a better post for this and maintagging it. please do not support the new akatsuki event, and even stop supporting enstars and happyele as a whole. happyele already have a known track record of racism and fascism in enstars, and now they make a new event with a militaristic outfit that look like a nazi uniform, for the unit that they've already used to spread imperialist propaganda before. this is no coincidence. they have no intent to stop. please do not look away from this.
The Use of Military (and related) Aesthetics Until AKATSUKI's Fan Thanx Event
The recent AKATSUKI event has garnered concern for it's use of military uniforms given the imperialistic history of the military and its position as an institution that enforces the status quo using force. To get a greater view on this matter, I'll talk about other instances about the use of military aesthetics in Enstars and how that can inform how we see these costumes. (*This is a long post).
Because the story for the event is not out yet, no speculation about the story is being made, and it should be understood that the situation about this event can change depending on what details are revealed in the future.
Before heading further, I do think it is important to note that I did have to rush through in writing this all out due to personal commitments in life that make it difficult to dedicate a lot of time to this analysis. If you see any typos or odd sentences, I'll do my best to clarify them, and if you see something that is incorrect or you feel like adding on to, you are free to comment on it!
We'll begin by looking at similar controversies to the ones raised about the Fan Thanx Event.
This isn't the first time that military uniforms have been used, especially not with AKATSUKI. In the !-era event "Clash of Arms! Opera of Moonlight Romance", AKATSUKI (along with some other characters) wear military uniforms as part of an opera taking place in the late Meiji-era (the Meiji-era is from 1868 - 1912, this event would take place in the latter half, with some fans also including the early years of the Taishō-era [around WWI] due to the overlap). The event is associated with the song "Kengeki no Mai" (剣戟の舞).
The Meiji-era and the Taishō-era are important for the establishment of Japanese colonial rule, which involved the colonization of Indigenous groups in Japan (the Ainu and the Ryukyuans), Taiwan, Korea, and parts of China throughout these years. Thus, the military uniforms from these eras are controversial because they represent a force that subjugated, oppressed, and colonized different groups. To bring up this imagery casually (something which Enstars isn't the only franchise to do) makes this history feel disrespected and ignored. Although the story of Opera has nothing particularly strong about it - the story isn't invested in the military background enough to add or subtract from the conversation - the song "Kengeki no Mai" continues to be remembered for it's lyrics, which discuss evildoers who are slain for the sake of the city (paraphrased) - or as simplified by others, imperialism.
The costumes and the song have been a point of contention for a long time, especially for those who have been on the receiving end of Japanese imperialism. What this uniform has meant for different communities in the Meiji and Taishō-era is never explored by Enstars itself.
Another controversy, this time from the !!-era, is for the costumes from the event, "SHUFFLE * The Unknown Holy Night and Nighthead". The costume is a mix of a train conductor's uniform with punk aesthetics. However, the use of punk aesthetics brought up a glaring problem, which was the influence of Nazis in punk spaces and how that carries over into other punk-related ventures.
Punks often took clothing associated with the establishment and altered them as a sign of rebellion, which was especially noticeable with military and police fashion. However, a large pattern that was also observed in punk spaces was the presence of Nazis. The punk slogan was often to do things for the sake of "shock" - something which, for some people, meant openly proclaiming to be a Nazi. The fashion inherited from Nazis can still be observed among punks even if they aren't Nazis themselves. This has brought about critiques about the existence of Nazis in punk spaces and the inability to use their aesthetics against them in a time where fascism is as persistent as ever.
Importantly, prior to the MV's release, when all the fanbase had was the cards, many fans struggled to place the aesthetics of the Shuffle unit. Several had noticed features resembling military and/or Nazi uniforms, which led to a spike in concern. While subsequent information released about the event helped clarify the direction of the unit, the criticisms of the outfit still remained as many fans felt that more take care should have been taken, such as through the employment of a sensitivity reader, to ensure that the costume didn't resemble something it had nothing to do with.
The comments above have also been made for the costumes from the !-era story "Resurrection Sunday", where some fans felt that the costume was drawing too closely to Nazi aesthetics.
There have also been several events making use of police uniforms ("Police", !-era; "RELOADED", !!-era). While these costumes haven't garnered similar backlash, fans have not regarded these highly.
Although Enstars has dabbled in military and police aesthetics multiple times over the years, not all of these instances have been deemed equally offensive.
Ibara is a character who is deeply entrenched in military aesthetics, moreso than his peer, Yuzuru, who attended the same Himemiya family-run military orphanage. The military orphanage is one of the more "out-there" pieces of lore that Enstars has, but it has often been tied to the franchise's lack of hesitance in… making plot points that most wouldn't undertake. That being said, the military orphanage hasn't been a reason for controversy due to it's unrealistic nature - it's too far removed from reality to stir up the feelings mentioned in the incidents above. The uniform for the orphanage, as seen in Ibara's unbloomed card for the "Frontline Watchdogs" event, is nondescript, and the emphasis of the military environment is on how it has affected Ibara and Yuzuru rather than anything kind about the military itself. That being said, there is still the question about if the orphanage needed military aesthetics, or if it could do without them.
As for Ibara himself, he still retains military influences to this day. However, as was mentioned with the orphanage uniforms, many of Ibara's outfits don't draw from specific iterations of the military, instead relying on more fictional notions about the military which are mixed with idol aesthetics. He is "a man influenced by the military (for better or for worse)" rather than "a military man". While not everyone is pleased about Ibara's military influences, it hasn't crossed into offensive territory because it doesn't valorize the military, and it's distance from the real-life military also keeps it distant from victims of the military.
Additionally, ALKALOID as a unit has a soldier motif, but it's actual military inspirations are limited. Their designs, when coupled with their choreography, has led to some describing them as "toy/fairy tale soldiers", rather than an idea of soldiers grounded in reality. Additionally, because ALKALOID pulls from other aesthetics (the suit of cards motif, Hiiro and Aira being compared to a swallow and swan respectively, etc.), the soldier theme is heaavily reduced, especially when compared to other renditions of the military in Enstars. All in all, while the idea of soldiers is used for ALKALOID, it's not an execution rooted in reality, nor is it the sole focus of their theming.
That being said, ALKALOID's case isn't perfect. Given that each member of ALKALOID is from a marginalized community, some fans have expressed discomfort about these members who struggle under the status quo being designed to embody an institution that defends the status quo. It has also been noted since ALKALOID's integration that each member shares a name with a Japanese war vessel, which draws a harsh link with the military that the average person wouldn't notice. While the soldier-fantasy idea that ALKALOID uses has been much preferable to other military aesthetics, there are still important concerns about what this aesthetic means for them and how far it has, is, and will be taken.
In the present, AKATSUKI's Fan Thanx Festival outfits have been compared to the Taishō and early Showa-era military uniforms, which would span the time from around WWI to WWII. For this reason, the linkage of the event outfit to the Nazi aesthetics is direct because this was the time period (the Showa-era in particular) when Japan was fully integrated as an Axis power.
As we see more of Ibuki, more of our questions about how his integration into AKATSUKI will proceed are being answered. One area of concern was Ryukyuan representation. In all the songs released since Ibuki's inclusion, the influences on the music and the costumes have been entirely Western. In the comments of the MV*, Ibuki's presence is taken as the beginning of AKATSUKI's Westernization - which places his inclusion in AKATSUKI entirely upon him "as a half-American" rather than him "as a half-Okinawan". Ibuki still references Ryukyuan culture, such as his continued integration of Uchinaaguchi phrases into his speech, but it hasn't been integrated into AKATSUKI's image as a unit (I have another post about AKATSUKI and non-Yamato cultures that I will get to another day). Because most of Ibuki's references to Okinawa take place in stories rather than in music and aesthetics, judgements about the integration of his culture will have to wait until after the story releases, but from the aesthetics front, there is nothing to state.
As has been stated with ALKALOID above, because Ibuki is from a marginalized community that has been strongly impacted by the status quo, associating him with the military is contentious - especially because of the continued presence of the American military in Okinawa. A fear in tandem with this is Ibuki being characterized as a colonizer rather than the colonized. *Some fans have explicitly drawn the aesthetics of the video to the Westernization undertaken in the Meiji-era, the term for which can also mean "civilization" or "enlightenment" (文明開化) (<- an extra note: this refers to a specific idea of civilization, this isn't the generic/casual Japanese word for civilization). The problem of "civilizing" lies in what is deemed a "civil" society - many of these "civilized/developed/modern" societies were ones that punished and devalued marginalized groups, particularly Indigenous peoples. The cruel treatment of these groups can range from forced labour to assimilation to genocide. The Meiji-era in particular was known for it's push for homogenization as a colonial tactic.
There is an entirely different conversation to be had about marginalized people who acted in service of colonial regimes vs. those who acted against them - but the fact that such topics are being brought up so casually in a gacha game at all is what some fans find pressing. The use of the Taishō-Showa uniforms, along with AKATSUKI's use of the Rising Sun flag upon adding Ibuki to the unit and the plotline about the Idol Colonization of Okinawa have all culminated in an uncritical understanding of colonialism that doesn't grapple with the "other side" of the story.
*Although I am making note of things I have seen from Japanese fans, I explicitly want to state that this should not be seen as a reflection of the JP fanbase as a whole. I'm only noting that these were JP comments for the sake of clarity in case this is something that people havn't seen in other spaces at this time. That being said, the sentiments of civilization and Westernization that I have discussed above are not a uniquely Japanese sentiment, since there are plenty of people on the English side making the exact same comments. Please don't make any generalizations about any particular group, and try to understand the different approaches that people have taken to this topic.
I'll try to explain this as best as I can but there are certain arguments re: AKATSUKI that are so difficult to address socially because they're made from people who think that colonialism isn't really a thing any more.
I mean, AKATSUKI is a traditional unit who is now going through period of change/modernization. What some people are assuming is that by going through this period of change, they are moving past some archaic (read: colonial) ideals - but that's never how it was.
Colonization was never an archaic thing. It was done by nations that were "developed, civilized, and innovative", or in other words, modern. The idea of modernizing doesn't contradict AKATSUKI's colonial notions, it's consistent with them. Change in structure doesn't equal change in ideology + colonization is still colonization even if the perpetrator knows about "new" things like streaming services.
and for controversial number 2: there are certain arguments re: AKATSUKI that are difficult to address socially because they come from people who think that there's nothing wrong with paternalism. There's way too many people comfortably saying that AKATSUKI is "trying to help/improve/teach Ibuki with cultural values" without thinking twice about the words coming out of their mouths.
I'll try to explain this as best as I can but there are certain arguments re: AKATSUKI that are so difficult to address socially because they're made from people who think that colonialism isn't really a thing any more.
I mean, AKATSUKI is a traditional unit who is now going through a period of change/modernization. What some people are assuming is that by going through this period of change, they are moving past some archaic (read: colonial) ideals - but that's never how it was.
Colonization was never an archaic thing. It was done by nations that were "developed, civilized, and innovative", or in other words, modern. The idea of modernizing doesn't contradict AKATSUKI's colonial notions, it's consistent with them. Change in structure doesn't equal change in ideology + colonization is still colonization even if the perpetrator knows about "new" things like streaming services.
Since the EN server is gradually approaching the release of Matrix I want to get a feel for when people think writing about it is best. This basically helps with organizing myself - I'll talk about it no matter the result
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Quickly jotting down my thoughts on the Amagi village
The way that Enstars goes about the Amagi village mostly boils down to 1) a specific (prejudiced) interpretation of isolated, marginalized communities and 2) emphasizing a sense of ~difference~.
The first point is about how the Amagis are framed in a "cult-like" way. I don't think this was directly intended (as in basing the Amagis off of cults) but the indirect consequence of trying to address the topic of isolated/closed marginalized communities. An isolated community is one where interactions with outsiders are limited and/or prohibited. These communities are usually also far from other groups to prevent any interaction.
There is a prejudice against marginalized peoples which states that they attempt or succeed in creating isolated communities because of either a) an inability to assimilate to their surroundings and get along with other groups (and especially in places where there is a history of conflict between groups, an inability to "move on" from the oppressing group's mistreatment) or b) a desire to build their ranks for a race war/reverse racism. The most extreme examples of isolated marginalized groups tend to be either extremist groups or cults.
Because of these assumptions, addressing this topic is risky from the start because writers tend to either scold marginalized peoples for not "making up" with their oppressors (while also implying that not forgiving their oppressors is just as bad as being an oppressor) or they rely on extreme, bigoted caricatures of groups for their narrative which neither they nor their audience criticize.
The reason why I say that Enstars is coming at the Amagi village from this angle is because of the message of Rinne and Hiiro's cultural woes throughout !!-era. Undoubtedly, the theme of their complaints about society and their interactions with others is about recognizing oppressed peoples in society and learning to live side-by-side with them. However, the root of this message is the Amagi village. This sentiment of "living side-by-side" is specifically directed towards the Amagis in response to their conservative lifestyle...
... Except there isn't any proper analysis into how this lifestyle emerged in the first place. As readers, we are aware that the Amagis were oppressed. But we aren't given any context about how the Amagis are seen in the present and how that may impact any of their attempts to "live side-by-side" with people who potentially hate them. Likewise, we aren't told about the circumstances that guide this lifestyle. We're supposed to believe that the Amagis' suspicion of their oppressors is equivalent to bigotry (which becomes easier for readers to believe when 99% of what we knew about the village pre-Matrix was about Rinne and Hiiro's mistreatment).
By making the Amagis isolated, we don't need to confront the power dynamics between Indigenous peoples and their oppressors which affect how things like "forgiveness" and "tolerance" are constructed. It also makes it easier for people to blame the existing power dynamics on Indigenous peoples because of their "partial credit in the relationship".
The second point is about how marginalized people are always conceptualized as "whatever the privileged aren't" - which is part of the infamous "us vs. them" argument. The most infamous examples of this are painting marginalized peoples as lesser: less developed, less civilized, less moral, and so forth. However, the equally infamous and important stigma around marginalized people is the "noble savage" idea which takes existing prejudices and filters them through rose-tinted glasses (while continuing to make caricatures of and promote lies about marginalized peoples).
For the Amagis, this is the most obvious in the reveal in Matrix that their society is actually secretly more advanced than Japanese society (something which was never touched upon at any point before Matrix, and I cannot recall any story after Matrix that has brought up the Amagi technology either).
The issue here is that no matter whether it's a technologically advanced or agrarian society, the point that Enstars is emphasizing is that it is a different society that the "average" person cannot relate to. It plays into the "noble savage" notion in the idea that it paints the Amagis not coming into contact with other societies as a matter of safeguarding their technology rather than something... more nuanced? elaborate? thought out?
This plays into the existing prejudice that Indigenous peoples are incompatible with "modern, normal" societies. Many people assume that Indigenous peoples do not participate in urban life, or that their lifestyles are stuck in certain historical periods. Not only is this incorrect, but it forgets very important influences on Indigenous communities in the present, such as moving out of their communities to find work, becoming displaced as a consequence of structural racism, personal desire/interest, among other things.
Given that the Amagis are based on the Ainu, this choice about their village grows all the more concerning. The Ainu are not strangers to "modern" society, so it's not as if it was "necessary" to write an isolated community if Enstars wanted to talk about contemporary Indigenous life. The choice to isolate the Amagis is about a specific narrative on isolated communities, one that can be concerning for Indigenous peoples.
(Note: I don't want to imply that isolated marginalized communities do not exist, or that writing about one is unrealistic. However, given the types of stereotypes and prejudices that many groups in the world fall victim to, I encourage people to think about the relationship between marginalization and isolation, especially how it gets used against marginalized people.)
