oh no why?

hey I hear you, and its good that you're pointing it out for other people to be aware...do you mean that people color their skin to cosplay as brown characters or that there is a problem with brown people cosplaying, just wanted to clarify :o

Thank you! Both things tbh on the one hand people will tan or use dark foundation to look black (like a black character) and at the same time shame black people for cosplaying their favorite character that is white. In the history of rasicm against black people there is a huge part about mocking us and our looks.(google jim crow) I know that in that manga it isn't intended in a bad way but I still feel the need to educate people on it.
My point is that if you have fair skin and you want to cosplay as a black character you can do so with staying white just like a black person can cosplay a white character. (if we are going for the accuracy route a white person shouldn't cosplay at all because most of the characters are asian)
I'm really happy that someone is interested in that topic.

Oh really? that happens in the cosplay world, wow well they're buttholes to be honest. I am a human living in Africa at the moment and so defenitely been on the receiving end of prejiduce from brown humans concerning my looks but,...i shrug it off or fight them (in my head haha) its not a big deal as long as they don't apply the atrocities similar to Jim Crow. I have been wanting to cosplay as Ed from Cowboy Bepop, who is much darker than me and thought of putting on a tanner for the aesthetics, is that bad? Just wanted your opinion

Also want to add,..thats also a reason why I really respect Africans and am thankful,..yeah they can be "rascist" too but in their history its just not in them to completely and absolutely degrade a whole group of people,...dont get me wrong they have enslaved their own and have century long wars with each other but ...they're not Pathologically fucked up,..in my home country there is just too much happening to women,..they are enraged and the African country where I live they're like..why would we do that to our OWN women? I just have to say, one day, latinos and africans will unite and that would be a good day. then the rest of the world can follow suit, sorry drank too much coffee. rant over

Is it really racism though to try to be more accurate? And the fact to discourage/limit anyone to not cosplay their non ethnicity not also racism? Now if you dye your skin a certain color for the intent to shame, thats a different story.

Now if you color your skin blue to cosplay a smurf, is that equally racist? We also dont know the ethnicity of some anime characters so who is allowed to cosplay as those unknown ethnic characters, if any? Sorry for the ramble. just wanted to play devils advocate.

Alright, I didn't want to answer this at first because everyone has a different opinion and I understand that. BUT in my opinion anyone that isn't directly affected should not even have an opinion. It basically means that for example a white person can't tell a black one what rasicsm is and what isn't. If it hurts the person being targeted it is not for the other to decided if it truly hurted or not (hope you can understand that so far sorry english is not my native tounge)

With that in mind I would say it is not racist to try to be accurate But as I'm pretty sure I mentioned before that there is a big history of mocking black people for their skin tone by using it as a costume. It still happens up to this day and the problem is that we still get the bad treatment for our skintone that we can't change. For us it's not a costume, for us it's a ticket of life long rascims and discrimination, to explain my point further.

Is there a history of slavery because of blue skin? I never said that they can't cosplay a black character, they can but it would be nice to not use dark foundation or anything. I can cosplay any character that I want as well but; will I tape my eyes to make them more asian or cover my body in white paint? No. I won't.

So dear Person writting the comment. If you try to play devils advocate please think before hand, do your research and try to get some background on history, human rights and anthropology. Have a nice day and sorry if I sounded rude or anything it wasn't in my intentions.

look my friend, you didn't even answer my question which spurred on this devil's advocate...is it alright (according to you the offended) for me to wear a tanner so that I can portray a slightly darker character?

You are skewing this conversation a little which usually happens when someone decides to bring in the history of race which is a sensitive topic for obvious reasons. we know this. some people are ignorant about it but yes I'm (i hope we) are aware of the harsh reality. Like I've written before, mistreatment for skin color is EVERYWHERE, some history in different geographical places are more intense than others....you are not rude but for sure, you're young, passionate and full of indignancy. I'm a teacher so yeah, introducing you to the term "blood memory" coined from Martha Nussbaum. look it up, read a book of hers and maybe it can help with certain things I don't know, have a good day

Asia is very different than the states. The distain for darker or tanned skin is not at all related to African Americans.
In ancient times if you were tanned it meant you were a poor farmer who had to stay in the sun (as an Asian woman- when I get tan I get very very dark almost comparable to a Middle Eastern to Asian-Indian type complexion) and if you were light it meant you were rich enough to stay inside and become pale.
Basically if you were tan you were a poor country bumpkin. Therefore they consider girls with light skin to be more attractive (it's just rooted in their culture).

Additionally there aren't many black people asia so they are not used to it, sometimes they'll do /say offensive things without knowing better (it’s still racism but it’s without malicious intent)

Back to the root subject- dark foundation is a trend unrelated to black people called kuro guaru that goes against the beauty standards set in japan of the perfect pale female. Gyaru style aims to be/represent strong and independent females who don’t want to follow the beauty standards.

You need to expand your worldview from what you see immediately around you. Nothing is ever black and white, there is always a grey area. Where the answer usually lies. Instead of getting triggered do some research. If you google “Japanese wearing dark foundation” you will find multiple articles about Garyu. I just did it too to double check make sure to scroll down just a bit.

thank you, "triggered" was the right word here. Anyway @Celh, hope you can just take a breather and realize there's a world out there outside of the perspectives you have experienced...take it from a person living in Africa, the USA is a small place compared to what is out there kay' kid?

I'm sorry, but a white person can't tell what racism is? Are you kidding me? That sentence there, is racism. The definition of racism is, amongst others "Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized."
Basically, you are telling me, that for some reason I'm not able to understand the concept of racism. Maybe white people are not a minority, but that is not needed to be discriminated against. Not to mention, that in places where white people are a minority, they certainly are discriminated against. So, please, tell me more about how a white person is somehow above experiencing racism...
Saying that a certain RACE can not be a victim of a certain RACE-CENTERED crime, or tell what it is because of their RACE, is the height of racism. Just to make it more obvious, say this sentence: "White people cannot tell what racism is, since white people aren't good enough to be victims of racism." Now say the same sentence with "black" instead of "white". You get utter bullcrap.

On another note, making an accurate cosplay outfit (complete with achieving a similar skin tone, wether it's brown, pale or any other colour) is not racism, unless said cosplay contains political meaning or is intended to make fun of said ethnicity. Sure, if some asshole decided to mock a POC, or even a whole race by making a cosplay of them, that's racist. But if someone just wants to cosplay a beloved character, like Kitagawa wants, and they happen to have dark skin, then that's not racist. I can cosplay people of whichever race I want without being racist, and every single race and ethnicity under the Sun can do the same. Don't make a problem out of nothing and stop being racist. Thank you.

Is this so called accuracy even necessary though? Also. It isn't that no one can cosplay someone who is not their race, but that it is unnecessary to change their skin tone to do so. Just get the costume correct. The skin tone isn't necessarily a part of that costume.

Even in Japan it is not easy being darker skinned. Especially for women, paler skin is prized. Gyaru is a minor subculture. Women who are Asian but have darker skin are pressured to lighten it. Good luck if you are biracial. And you get stared at or worse if you are of African decent. So yeah the context is different over there. But they still have issues with colorism.

But your smurf example is why they call it the devil's advocate...There are no blue people. Why are we talking about the effects of colorism and racism in the real world while bringing up something fictional? Can you not think of something real? Can you not understand how callous it is to compare something real to something obviously fake? Imagine living in a culture where your natural skin tone is considered less than for a second. Then imagine how stupid it sounds for someone to compare the shit you get just for how you were born to something fictional. No coloring your skin blue to play a smurf isn't racist because smurfs are not real.

there's triggers being set in this thread...can we just take a step back and let whoever think whatever (╯°Д °)╯╧╧ conclusion: although skin coloration isn't necessary it can be used aesthetically by the person according to choice, nothing is going to stop this decision be made but the important note is that each person has the right to do what they want and there is NOTHIng not even a thread on a yoai site that is going to stop that. I am going to get tan (becuae i like the color ) and cosplay and to the guy/girl that wants to use foundation, go you as long as you're happy and want to stay in character, yay.

It certainly can be used. Like all things in life no one can stop anyone from doing anything. Just know that if you post pictures of your skin altered cosplay on the internet you might get shit for it because in the real world skin color isn't just an aesthetic. So real people, who have had to deal with real shit because of those "aesthetics", will take a offence. ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Here I could be wrong. Also this couldve been answered already, i just didnt want to read the whole thing (i got the general idea). But if it has been answered already, dont mind me.

But since this is a Japanese manga. What if this wasnt a character of African American race? What if it was simply a TAN asian? Because in many cases Asians can get tan very easily (i am and many of my friends are very tan asians).

Lets assume she was simply cosplaying as a tan asian. Therefore it dont have much to do with racism, right?

But lets say it does. Lets assume she cosplaying as an African American. We cant exactly expect a race from a whole different country to understand the problems that mainly center in the US. Its hard because 1) It didnt happen in their country. 2) since it isnt exactly in their history. They arent taught much about it if any. 3) even if they did. We cant expect them to get everything right since they ARE in a different country where they speak a whole different language (language barrier).

Although, I definitely understand your point. I completely agree that aesthetics can do without skin color. But we shouldnt be so hard on a manga that originates in a whole different country with very different social norms.

I just wanted to add that. I understand if you dont agree on my point at the end. I realize that it isn't exactly my choice on what to say on whether or not we should be so harsh on them since im not of African American race. So I completely understand. I just wanted to point out key points to consider.

On another point that I am Asian. I am pretty sure that it does not involve the African race in the cosplay. Like I said in the beginning of the comment above (which is a key point) is that i think it just cosplaying as a tan asian. (A commenter said above but i will elaborate) It is a reference to a style in Japan called Gyaru which is often mistaken as African American culture appropriation.

Gyaru fashion is a fashion style protesting against a social norm of japan that women must be light skin, cute, pure, etc. It comes from the asian stereotype that if you are tan, you are poor (of low class and outdoors working ), if you are light skinned, you are rich (of higher class and indoors working).

Now Gyaru fashion is a type of fashion protesting to these ideals (that light skins girls are better than tan skinned girls, that all asians are light skinned, that anime girls are all light skinned, Etc). By dressing with gyaru style they try to prove that tan girls DO exists. Girls dont have to be cute, pure, innocent. Girls can be however they want. Its kinda similar to the feminism movement.

So i believe the manga isn't appropriating African American culture, but instead referencing gyaru culture.

Sorry thats a lot of read, but I hope that changes up things and gives you a different point of view.

THANKYOu! In the part about tan asians you read my mind! Im Korean and in the summer I get ssoooooo dark it’s crazy! I was thinking about tam Asians and how it’s probably wasn’t even related at all to African Americans!

then let them,...everybody is a critic anyway so yeah. I am too a real person that has had to deal with real situations concerning my ethnicity so yeah...I don't know ya'll younger generations are just getting sensitive in the wrong areas...target actual real world happenings instead of taking it out on someone who has nothin to do with it , okay?