Reddit reviews Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-American President, Volume 1

> You say the cast of FF15 is white and eurasian, but I see a LOT of Asian (and specifically, Japanese) beauty standards and aesthetics represented in them. The main character especially looks very Japanese to me.

They're still white. It's not new for Japanese culture to celebrate white beauty under their own aesthetic. Japanese fashion magazines do it all the time. I'd still call it extremely problematic.

> I don't think Cloud was meant to be Japanese either -- but he is very clearly modeled off of a Japanese person.

I disagree and I think the people who designed Cloud would disagree as well. I think they were just going for an ethereal, idealistic sense of Japanese beauty which tends to sway Eurasian.

> It's why there are arguments about Aladdin being more American than Arabian -- he might have a vaguely "arabian" design, but culturally he exhibits mostly American attitudes. (And in doing a bit of cursory googling, apparently Aladdin was originally Chinese in the 1001 nights! TIL.)

The Aladdin controversy is not so much about Aladdin as it is about Jafar. His features are deeply caricatured whereas Aladdin is "normal".

As an aside, this is an issue that constantly vexes Fiona Staples, the artist behind Saga. The protagonists on the series, Alana and Marko, are supposed to be South Asian and East Asian, respectively. Marko was inspired from a mixture of Japanese models and actors while the model for Alana's mother was Indian and her father "remains a mystery", but he is still a dark-skinned man.

Besides which, what exactly are "American" attitudes and mannerisms? Compassion and a rebellious streak are not exclusive to one culture.

And Aladdin in the original story is Chinese in the sense of the Middle East and North Africa's understanding of "China", which was derived only from rumors and vague reports. Super cool of the BBC to make a series and recognize that by casting Jason Scott Lee, though. I devoured any media I could find of Asian men when I was a kid because I rarely saw myself represented on screen.

> For a more "extreme" example: the manga "Fake" by Sanami Matoh is set in NYC, with a mostly "American" cast. I put American in quotes there, because as much as I love(d) the manga, the character interactions are pretty Japanese. Things like, "are you half japanese? Your eyes are so dark!" and the big emphasis on the sempai/kohai relationship of two of the characters.

That's actually very interesting! I'll have to check that series out. I've also been interested in Eagle, which is a Japanese manga about an Asian American candidate aiming for the presidency, but it's been really hard to track down.

> Anyway. I think it's an interesting question, because even when an author is trying to write foreign characters well, it's very hard to completely remove all traces of your own home culture. Obviously western writers aren't any better at it than anybody else.

I agree. My goal was to point out how pervasive and omnipresent white representation and white beauty standards are. Even Final Fantasy derives the naming and cultural inspiration behind its characters from western fantasy, rarely Asian.