LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

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LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby Domosuke » Mon Sep 05, 2016 2:57 pm

So many issues.

Call me an SJW, I don't give a fuck, I really don't. I still love Shenmue, I'm still going to buy Shenmue 3, but I believe the majority of us Shenmue fans are grown, so we can have a discussion like this.

But as a gay black man, I just noticed how homophobic the Shenmue series is, has anybody else.

Come to think of it, all of the LGBT characters are villains or antagonists in a very sinister way.

Chai, Yuan and Yuan's boyfriend Don Niu are prime examples.

I know Japan isn't the most LGBT friendly place, and I'm also aware the game takes place in the late 80s, but lord have mercy.

Another thing, Yuan was turned into a woman and many other LGBT characters were censored or altered in a way in the North American release and it seems nobody ever talks about this or sees how fucked up this is.

Maybe it's just the video game industry in itself. I don't know.

Discuss please.
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby MaxTheRabbit » Mon Sep 05, 2016 6:43 pm

chai was gay? I thought he was just retarded

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby Yokosuka » Mon Sep 05, 2016 6:55 pm

MaxTheRabbit wrote: chai was gay? I thought he was just retarded


How he's retarded?
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby shredingskin » Mon Sep 05, 2016 7:46 pm

Domosuke wrote: all of the LGBT characters are villains or antagonists in a very sinister way.

Another thing, Yuan was turned into a woman and many other LGBT characters were censored or altered in a way in the North American release and it seems nobody ever talks about this or sees how fucked up this is.

Maybe it's just the video game industry in itself. I don't know.


I don't get why is sinister that a gay character is a villain. I agree they are overly charicatured for being the main villians but not because they're gay, I don't think it works well in a place that should be considered the "most dangerous place on earth" to have the main bad guys doing some cheesy slaptick humor. But that's my taste.

Also the sex change has to do with the puritan approach to sex that USA has, you can see how a lot of european games get the same treatment and remove any sexual content (indigo prophecy and culpa innata come to mind), it would not be weird that japanese take "western market" as "USA market" and target it as is.

Japan has a lot more of cultural heritage in art with crossdressing than western abrahmanic countries, it's pretty normal in popular and "high" art forms, don't let the blindness of other people blind you.
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby Spaghetti » Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:06 pm

I don't really get the homophobia angle tbh, Don Niu and Yuan's sexuality don't really play into their stories at all. They're not bad because they're gay/bisexual, they bad and gay/bisexual. So why are the only identifiable non-straight characters in the game villains? I dunno, but it's not like Ryo is Mister Heterosexual 1986. The man's as asexual as they come. He's got revenge on his mind. He's murder-sexual.

I know in the Japanese version of Shenmue II Ren refers to Yuan as "he", which I guess is kind of anti-LGBT, but it's never stated whether Yuan is transgender or just a cross dresser, and really; being insulting like that is in Ren's character. Although, Ryo does it too, so... Don Niu refers to Yuan as "boyfriend" too, so I'm staking money on just cross dresser over transgender.

In general, Shenmue just avoids the subject of sexuality, and that's why Yuan and Don Niu's preferences are really very downplayed and inconsequential.

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby ShenGCH » Tue Sep 06, 2016 4:39 am

Is there any evidence whatsoever that Chai is gay? First I've heard of it :???:

Also, in what way is Shenmue remotely "homophobic"? It's neither covert nor overt about anything relating to sexuality, and in the only instance wherein homosexual characters are introduced - Dou Niu and Yuan - they're hardly screaming about it from the rooftops, are they? It's completely neutral and simply is in terms of its existence, as opposed to having some agenda or bias towards their relationship.

Please explain.
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby MaxTheRabbit » Tue Sep 06, 2016 9:07 am

Yokosuka wrote:
MaxTheRabbit wrote: chai was gay? I thought he was just retarded


How he's retarded?

he talks like a derp and walks like a derp, and he eats non food items like my hong kong ticket

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby chrisjfinlay » Tue Sep 06, 2016 9:27 am

Spaghetti wrote: He's murder-sexual.


I'm stealing that one!
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby RenDur89 » Tue Sep 06, 2016 10:40 am

I don't find The Shenmue series homophobic at all. Dou Nui and Yuan's sexuality aren't the focal point of Shenmue 2, and Chai is just very creepy and scary.
Last edited by RenDur89 on Tue Sep 06, 2016 4:10 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby south carmain » Tue Sep 06, 2016 11:40 am

There would probably be a better case at portraying the game as racist rather than homophobic
Image

Although if anyone feels the game is either I personally would think that they're just looking for reasons to be offended.

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby BlueMue » Tue Sep 06, 2016 1:24 pm

Man this guy that from the Wise Mens Qr. that I talked to in my video about Xiuying keeps popping up.
Since he's close by, let's not forget the dude who looks at plates rather than women. I'd say he's porcelain-sexual. :lol:

There is definately not much significance of the sexuality of the character in Shenmue for the story. Like also has been said before racism would a bigger points. Of course there are some NPCs that are really cliche but in general I think that Shenmue II handles this rather well. The people in the game don't look extremely chinese to me. Not at all.
It's a bigger point in Shenmue, where the dialogue about the Chinese people carries some undertones that they think bad about them. But then again these people are Japanese and it's just realistic that they take this stance.

By the way that big fat ugly guy is called Dou Niu, with u's at the end. He is the head of a criminal mafia organization but it's not the Cosa Nostra. So he isn't a "Don". No offense but I'd wanted to get this off my chest as it's a common mistake / typo that people love to make.

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby Spaghetti » Tue Sep 06, 2016 1:55 pm

BlueMue wrote:By the way that big fat ugly guy is called Dou Niu, with u's at the end. He is the head of a criminal mafia organization but it's not the Cosa Nostra. So he isn't a "Don". No offense but I'd wanted to get this off my chest as it's a common mistake / typo that people love to make.

Snap, I totally goofed on that. Childhood phonetic mispronunciation coming back to haunt me. I thought I kicked the habit when I realised his name is a Romanised version of "Big Ox" or whatever, but I guess not.

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby RenDur89 » Tue Sep 06, 2016 3:57 pm

Me too, wasn't sure if thinking Dou first was right or Don, always go with your first thought.
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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby AM2 » Tue Sep 06, 2016 4:04 pm

Story is set in 1986's Japan.
Get over it.

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Re: LGBT-Homophobia Characters/Storylines (Censorship)

Postby ShenGCH » Tue Sep 06, 2016 5:00 pm

south carmain wrote: There would probably be a better case at portraying the game as racist rather than homophobic
Image

Although if anyone feels the game is either I personally would think that they're just looking for reasons to be offended.

Precisely. They're actively seeking to be angry/offended because they want something to be upset about so they can blame everything/everyone but themselves as the cause of their problems, so they look here, there, and everywhere for the sweet nectar that is something to be offended about, and when they can't find something 'solid' they start to cherry-pick, misrepresent, and create their own interpretations based on their own warped views (all of which can be refuted effortlessly because they neither hold water nor contain any evidence), all while using the argument of 'well, of course you wouldn't understand!' as their defence. It's utterly laughable, sad, and pathetic.

That's why people like Anita Sarkeesian are laughed at by the logical and educated, and praised by the lunatics.

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