Lack of "black" hairstyles

[kyuven]

You kinda just made my point about Japan, but that's one person -.-

Was agreeing with you on that point, actually. Japanese culture likes "youthfulness." It's very pervasive in the culture. Pigtails on grown women aren't frowned upon if she can pull off the look well enough.
It was one person I knew, but a good number of women up to their 40s on television would wear them.

[Black91CRX]

Not really a "black" race in the game. It would be different if Eorzea had their own version of say, Redguard's like The Elder Scrolls lore has.

[Ghastly]

Please keep in mind the majority of this game's development team is Japanese. The lack of "black hairstyles" is highly likely to be due to the fact that the development team can probably count the number of black people they've ever met on their hands. It's hard to conceive of or design for something you have no regular contact with.

I'm sorry but that's the dumbest argument I've ever read.

[QiLymePye]

I'm sorry but that's the dumbest argument I've ever read.

exactly. maybe 40 years ago, but not in today's world, where we have a ton of sports figures, actors, singers, etc. Hell they have had "Black" characters in previous ff games. It wasn't hard for them to "conceive" fairies and demons and "cat people", etc. Im sure they never met them but conceived them nonetheless.

[Zaft]

snip

The arguement of "but not in today's world" is void when you're talking about another nation. You're looking at this from an American PoV. Now look at it from a Japanese PoV. Do you think they care about our sports figures, actors and singers? Could YOU name Japan's famous sports figures, actors or singers? Unless you're extremely into Japanese culture, I doubt it. Additionally, Japan has a VERY small black population. My real life black friend lives in Japan as an English teacher, and he is stopped constantly by people who ask to take photos with him. They refer to him as the n-word, because that's what they think is acceptable. They ask him how big is :rooster: is. Etc. The only blacks that most Japanese know of are the ones that are in our video games or movies, and those are usually the stereotypical "loud-mouthed, badass black man who dies", so it's not surprising that they're poorly represented in Japanese video games.

[kyuven]

The arguement of "but not in today's world" is void when you're talking about another nation.

This is precisely what I've been saying. WHITE people get stopped on the street and asked to pose for pictures in many areas. We called it the "Unicorn Phenomenon."
It's almost impossible for Americans to even comprehend because our culture is so mixed. Theirs isn't.
Hell I've met some people from Asian nations (not Japan) that didn't even realize green was a natural eye color until they met me.

[Ghastly]

You're comparing normal people to people working in a global company? A lot of regular people in USA don't know what a nation and a continent is. Regular people are regular people. I expect more from a global company like Square-Enix.

[kyuven]

You're comparing normal people to people working in a global company? A lot of regular people in USA don't know what a nation and a continent is. Regular people are regular people. I expect more from a global company like Square-Enix.

The design team is "normal people."

[Squintina]

You're comparing normal people to people working in a global company? A lot of regular people in USA don't know what a nation and a continent is. Regular people are regular people. I expect more from a global company like Square-Enix.

Yeah, I would hope SE would have some people who are aware of black people's existence. Others have already pointed out FF13's Sahz.

There's also the cornrows in the ff7 movie!


And artists often draw inspiration from each other. Although not overly common, there are black characters in anime and manga too!


So it's not inconceivable that the SE artists might have seen a black character somewhere.

And even if they didn't, should localization teams point this kind of stuff out..
Well maybe the forum people will pass this along to the devs to look forward for a future patch!

[Welsper59]

exactly. maybe 40 years ago, but not in today's world, where we have a ton of sports figures, actors, singers, etc. Hell they have had "Black" characters in previous ff games. It wasn't hard for them to "conceive" fairies and demons and "cat people", etc. Im sure they never met them but conceived them nonetheless.

... You uhh... you're really not used to the idea of different cultures are you? By "culture", I'm not referring to your neighbors or anything, I'm talking about how another country actually is. Just visiting isn't enough, you gotta live there or experience what it is as a day-by-day. Regardless of the fact that Japan is a 1st world country, they still experience things WAY differently than people in America (and to a slightly lesser extent Europe). You know where you would normally see black people in Japan? Okinawa. Do you know why? American army/military bases. Everyone else in Japan might only see a black person on TV, and 9/10 times, this person will be a hulking bald male like Bob Sapp... and we do have a bald option in this game. You ever been to China? White folk are essentially celebrities and, no joke, they will want to take pictures with someone just because they're white and it's not common AT ALL to see foreigners like that in almost every part of the country.

Seriously, you can't criticize another country without actually experiencing how things are there. In fact, the afro look is generally a comedy tool in Japan. Why do you think the character of Sahz has bird living in it? It's like a birds nest. Of course, they don't mean any harm by it and don't intentionally mean to disrespect anyone by it, but that's how things are treated in different countries. In Japans case, with an afro, they know a good number of people in the west sport that, but it's far and few a common thing (that's not for humorous reasons) in the country itself. After the disco era, there's just no reason that they see to have an afro in a serious manner for stuff unless there was an apparent demand for it.

Actually, I just recalled something. You do see a good number of black people in the Tokyo areas, like Shinjuku, but uhh... it's not a positive thing. They're generally tied to a supposed Nigerian mafia and nothing but scam artists or the like. Not stereotyping on that neither, I can't even count how many times I've been asked if I want some "drugs" or "ti***es". Otherwise, legit residents or travelers that are black are very rare. Oh and, again, all the ones I've encountered were bald.