POC representation

[NessaWyvern]

That's not necessarily the case.

If the story is set in Japan then yes, characters will look "white" and not Asian to us, but Japanese people will just read that as "default human being" and assume they are Japanese.

But if the story is not set in Japan, then the characters won't be made to look any different, but context will tell you where the story is set. Character and place names, written text, settings, world maps will indicate what ethnicity (or fantasy equivalent) the characters are intended to be.

Eorzea is clearly a European-styled fantasy setting, regardless of who is writing it or who it is targeted at.

So basically, they’ll make characters look “white” regardless of where they are from? And Japanese people see “white” features as a default human being? Like Suzaku in Code Geass having brown hair and green eyes despite being “Japanese”? That’s still kinda weird.

[Iscah]

So basically, they’ll make characters look “white” regardless of where they are from? And Japanese people see “white” features as a default human being? Like Suzaku in Code Geass having brown hair and green eyes despite being “Japanese”? That’s still kinda weird.

Yes and no. They will draw characters with what we interpret as "white features" but it's not necessarily intended that way. (And whatever the origins, at this point it's just how it works.)

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mukokuseki

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/...-white/340084/


On a similar vein, a while back I attended a talk by a picture-book illustrator and she talked about how one of her books had gone well internationally because people would look at the simply-drawn girl and assume it was "someone like them" - she didn't look like any race in particular, but people assumed their own.

[NessaWyvern]

Yes and no. They will draw characters with what we interpret as "white features" but it's not necessarily intended that way. (And weather the origins, at this point it's just how it works.)

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Mukokuseki

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/...-white/340084/


On a similar vein, a while back I attended a talk by a picture-book illustrator and she talked about how one of her books had gone well internationally because people would look at the simply-drawn girl and assume it was "someone like them" - she didn't look like any race in particular, but people assumed their own.

So, according to the articles you referenced, it's either 1. To make characters look distinct, or 2. Japanese animators are appropriating "exotic" features from other races. And I still think it's weird, because the Mukokuseki article, states that they deliberately give Japanese people the "white" features, because they think it looks more desirable, whilst giving Korean and Chinese characters "Yellow skin and smaller eyes".

And you can't really blame people for interpreting the features as "white" for characters who have eye colours that is Blue/green/grey and hair that is blonde/red/brown whilst also having pale skin, as this is typically seen in people of European descent, and not often seen elsewhere.

I grew up watching Inu Yasha, where most characters did have Black hair and dark eyes (minus the demons), and you could tell the characters apart, so it can be done, but for some reason most anime don't do it.

Anyway, back to the OP's statement, the characters are like that due to cultural stuff in Japan, and since Final Fantasy games are primarily targeted at Japanese audiences, that's why you don't see many features from other races, besides Japanese and "white". It is what it is.

[Iscah]

And you can't really blame people for interpreting the features as "white" for characters who have eye colours that is Blue/green/grey and hair that is blonde/red/brown whilst also having pale skin, as this is typically seen in people of European descent, and not often seen elsewhere.

Yeah, I'm not saying they're at fault for reading it that way - and also, importantly, it does not apply here in this game, at least for Hyuran characters, except possibly for the Far Eastern characters using the same models as "European" Eorzeans.

Eorzea is clearly equivalent to Europe, maybe with some part of Africa mashed into the bottom of it. (The rest of Africa, at least geographically, may be Meracydia - what little we know of real-world-equatable information is that it's somewhere to the south and that aloe and sesame, both African, are native to it.)

[NessaWyvern]

Yeah, I'm not saying they're at fault for reading it that way - and also, importantly, it does not apply here in this game, at least for Hyuran characters, except possibly for the Far Eastern characters using the same models as "European" Eorzeans.

Eorzea is clearly equivalent to Europe, maybe with some part of Africa mashed into the bottom of it. (The rest of Africa, at least geographically, may be Meracydia - what little we know of real-world-equatable information is that it's somewhere to the south and that aloe and sesame, both African, are native to it.)

They probably just chose their fantasy-Europe as the main setting because it would go down better with Japanese audiences. Also, European people commonly have brown/black hair and brown eyes, yet you don’t really see this in the scions. They’re pushing that pale-hair, pale-eyes, pale skin thing that is favourable in Japanese media.

So it probably does still apply in this game.

[Iscah]

They probably just chose their fantasy-Europe as the main setting because it would go down better with Japanese audiences. Also, European people commonly have brown/black hair and brown eyes, yet you don’t see this in the scions. They’re pushing that pale-hair, pale-eyes, pale skin thing that is favourable in Japanese media.

That doesn't mean the characters are meant to be Japanese though. But the implications of that "stateless" character design means that you can't tell the difference between "anime character who is Japanese" and "anime character who is English" because they'll come out looking the same due to the art style, so you have to rely on other cues besides the characters' appearances to work out the intended equivalent.

The logic that "they're meant to be Japanese because Japanese people make their Japanese characters look indistinguishable from European characters" doesn't hold. It just means you can't tell which one is intended by looking at a picture of the character without context.

Nothing about the characters seems Japanese. Not their names or the way they dress or the place they live in. They write in an English-derived alphabet. They are actively contrasted with the Japanese-inspired Doman and Hingan characters.

[NessaWyvern]

That doesn't mean the characters are meant to be Japanese though. But the implications of that "stateless" character design means that you can't tell the difference between "anime character who is Japanese" and "anime character who is English" because they'll come out looking the same due to the art style, so you have to rely on other cues besides the characters' appearances to work out the intended equivalent.

The logic that "they're meant to be Japanese because Japanese people make their Japanese characters look indistinguishable from European characters" doesn't hold. It just means you can't tell which one is intended by looking at a picture of the character without context.

Perhaps I mis-communicated my point here. My point is, that is mostly directed at the OP, is that main characters in FF14, and in Final Fantasy in general look the way they do because of Japanese culture, and how they like using characters that appear “white”/pale. Regardless of if the character is Japanese or not.

For example, when a noodle company drew Naomi Osaka, who is a Haitian-Japanese tennis player, as much paler-skinned and with light brown hair.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46986366

[Enla]

I grew up watching Inu Yasha, where most characters did have Black hair and dark eyes (minus the demons), and you could tell the characters apart, so it can be done, but for some reason most anime don't do it.

Part of it is a borrowed issue from adapting from manga. Having different colored hair + widely different silhouettes makes it easier to tell characters apart when it's just black and white ink. Plus it gives an interesting little color 'punch' when the mangakaka is allowed to do a color spread. The other part is partially style laziness. You'll notice a lot of anime have characters with same face+hair syndrome, A1 Pictures is a huge offender with their titles, so the addition of colors is there to help you tell who is who at a single glance without confusion. Stuff like Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent where everyone has a unique body shape + face on top of having black hair + black eyes is pretty rare in the industry outside of film.