Square Enix Censoring a Class in Bravely Second

[Thepowaofhax]

For those who are currently unaware, there is a class in Bravely Second that is based off of Native Americans, called the "tomahawk" class. With on exception. Instead of it being based of Native Americans in the West, Square Enix had changed it to the people who murdered them. Fucking cowboys.

The demo leak is here, and many rumor articles (this as an example) prior to this have been buzzing about this. The demo further confirms this.

As someone who is against censorship, I see no reason for this change. It is the byproduct of the devs confused about if it is offensive or not (mainly due to the authoritarian left that seems to have a huge grip on the West in some aspects). It's one thing to censor it, but this also quantifies as "whitewashing" in their eyes, so they would complain either way (muh cultural appropriation).

So I ask you this; what was the point of whitewashing this class over people who will most likely not even buy the game? Why is there continuing censorship in games created in Japan that were localized to the west?

 

[mew_nani]

There's been a lot of uproar concerning things that some people deem... offensive to Native Americans, like the Washington Redskins' name and logo. They likely changed it from that to cowboys as to not... offend these people. I personally don't get it myself, as redskins was intended as a term of honor to Native Americans and most of them don't really mind the name. Eh, not much you can do about people so wound up that even Halloween costumes are considered offensive. They might be afraid of having unwanted controversy over a class that probably isn't offensive to Native Americans at all... after all some of these people are just...

 

[Thepowaofhax]

There's been a lot of uproar concerning things that some people deem... offensive to Native Americans, like the Washington Redskins' name and logo. They likely changed it from that to cowboys as to not offend these people. I personally don't get it myself, as redskins was intended as a term of honor to Native Americans and most of them don't really mind the name. Eh, not much you can do about people so wound up that even Halloween costumes are considered offensive.

The problem is that they kinda replaced it with the people that kinda brought a gun to their head during a certain era. I see no logic behind it; at this rate, it would probably be better just to keep it as the original class art amidst this controversy.

 

[mew_nani]

The problem is that they kinda replaced it with the people that kinda brought a gun to their head during a certain era. I see no logic behind it; at this rate, it would probably be better just to keep it as the original class art amidst this controversy.

The people they are trying to avoid via censoring classes couldn't really care less, as I haven't heard a complaint or boycott from them yet about the Dallas Cowboys. Apparently depicting Native Americans in media, even in ways that aren't offensive and are meant in the best intentions, is offensive and must be outlawed. Even if it was meant as an honor, even if a lot of Native Americans like the presentation... because certain... people... deem it's offensive to Native Americans, because they said so.

 

[Thepowaofhax]

The people they are trying to avoid via censoring classes couldn't really care less, as I haven't heard a complaint or boycott from them yet about the Dallas Cowboys. Apparently depicting Native Americans in media, even in ways that aren't offensive and are meant in the best intentions, is offensive and must be outlawed. Even if it was meant as an honor, even if a lot of Native Americans like the presentation... because certain... people... deem it's offensive to Native Americans, because they said so.

I don't see why they have the blatant hypocrisy to attack something meant in best intentions or good depiction, that's just blatant hypocrisy. And honestly, I don't see that audience buying the game whether it is uncensored or not. So I see no reason why Square Enix had to change the class art/dialogue.

 

[Bay]

While there are some Native American elements with Aimee's design, because it's a Japanese game it's likely she's also based off the Ainu people since in the Japanese version Aimee has a different Japanese accent.

Personally I love her new design better. Her original design has her in underwear instead of pants and a bit fan-servicey for my tastes. Her new design still shows some skin, yeah, but at least she's not running in underwear anymore, lol.

As for the censorship, I can understand Square Enix wanting to be cautious. Concerning the developers already putting themselves in an odd situation with a character based on the Ainu people, I'm fine with the change.

 

[Thepowaofhax]

While there are some Native American elements with Aimee's design, because it's a Japanese game it's likely she's also based off the Ainu people since in the Japanese version Aimee has a different Japanese accent.

Personally I love her new design better. Her original design has her in underwear instead of pants and a bit fan-servicey for my tastes. Her new design still shows some skin, yeah, but at least she's not running in underwear anymore, lol.

As for the censorship, I can understand Square Enix wanting to be cautious. Concerning the developers already putting themselves in an odd situation with a character based on the Ainu people, I'm fine with the change.

Honestly, with the picture supplied in that link, I don't really see a connection between the design and the garb used by the Ainu people. If it was based on that people, however, there would be no reason to censor it unless they're afraid of the oh-so-prevalent ESRB that seems to have a grip on other devs.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I'm reminded of the backlash on the new Lone Ranger movie a few years ago for their portrayal on Native Americans (and Johnny Depp playing one himself). Consider us lucky that the rice field hat from Splatoon wasn't removed for being "offensive" towards Japanese/Chinese stereotypes, much like the Tomahawk class in Bravely Second.

 

[Zet]

Does SE do their own localisation in the west? I thought it would be Nintendo Treehouse doing the localisation for nintendo games mostly.

 

[Bay]

Honestly, with the picture supplied in that link, I don't really see a connection between the design and the garb used by the Ainu people. If it was based on that people, however, there would be no reason to censor it unless they're afraid of the oh-so-prevalent ESRB that seems to have a grip on other devs.

Aimee's garb you probably won't connect to the Ainu people right away, but I also take in consideration her accent as the developers mentioned a few times concerning that. They even teased that the localization will have a difficult time with her dialogue. But yeah, they're already aware some changes will need to be made.

Does SE do their own localisation in the west? I thought it would be Nintendo Treehouse doing the localisation for nintendo games mostly.

Yeah SE does their own localization in the west, at least for the Bravely series. Nintendo does all the marketing.

 

[Thepowaofhax]

Aimee's garb you probably won't connect to the Ainu people right away, but I also take in consideration her accent as the developers mentioned a few times concerning that. They even teased that the localization will have a difficult time with her dialogue. But yeah, they're already aware some changes will need to be made.



Yeah SE does their own localization in the west, at least for the Bravely series. Nintendo does all the marketing.

I'm going to be honest with you, I was completely unaware that she an Ainu accent, however I don't think they should've changed the class art and instead alter the dialogue style to where it wouldn't be as much as a problem. As long as it doesn't censor or change the dialogue in a major way I'd be fine.