... Natlan ✧ Ignition Teaser: A Name Forged in Flames REACTION ✧ Genshin Impact

[@glory_m99]

I am from the Middle East and most people here either white like AL-Haitham or tan like Dehya and Cyno and I always find it weird when people say Sumeru doesn't reflect how people look!! Like, how do people think we look like?! I think the thing the people should focus on is the cultural errors more because we have tons of that in almost every game has cultural influence from Middle East about the complaints about Natlan characters, I think it's valid tho

[@akiratachibana7709]

agree

[@eve_ningmusic]

I think it depends on which location you're from as well! Considering Sumeru isn't one location like Liyue and Inazuma is and instead a mix of multiple areas, I definitely think some regions will look closer to the Genshin demographic than another. Thank you for your insight on this!

[@Jinni-iras17514]

I feel plenty represented. Get the food, music, and exploration right and that's all I care about. They could have turned my people into dinosaurs and...actually I wish they did that it would be pretty cool.

[@eve_ningmusic]

I'm glad that you feel represented! I'm honestly still looking forward to learning more about the real life mythos behind the story they'll be doing for Natlan!

[@mustsnip537]

culture is more then just skin tone. people focus too much on that and forget all the other stuff hoyo does to represent the areas they are showing.

[@eve_ningmusic]

I agree that culture is more than skin tone, which is why although I am incredibly disappointed I'm still going to hope that the research done for mythos and story will at least live up to expectations. I think its just because colorism and white-washing is so prevalent in global media, people are mainly upset that Genshin still continues to play into this when they could be the ones to break the mold

[@kyoken8691]

There's a character in this teaser that wasn't properly introduced. When the phoenix is zooming in on Capitano there's a tall male character with animal ears beside him. This character is Ororun, his image is clearer in the VA introductions on twitter. Also, while representation is a valid concern you also have to look at it from the lens of a chinese company in china with chinese employees whose main audience are the chinese people, and which is monitored by the CCP to promote chinese values because their media empire has grown huge this past couple of years. They will prioritize sinicization over "accurate representation" because that is part of what their culture is. This is simply a fact of life we have to accept unless we are all willing to impose cultural change on the chinese.

[@ryublaze0328]

ororon

[@idrawyt635]

Adding more onto the second paragraph, there are MANY people saying the designs for Natlan characters seem as if darker skin colors were in mind but designers were forced too make the characters lighter by higher ups. Idk how much water it holds tho…

[@eve_ningmusic]

I'm curious to what Ororun actually is cause he doesn't look dragonlike? He feels very kitsune but im not really sure what hes supposed to be based on? But you have a good point about the CCP thing though. However, I wouldn't say that this is part of Chinese culture as a whole. CCP guidelines to MAKE it Chinese culture sure, but it probably doesn't summarize Chinese culture in general (It tows the line of orientalism but I know what you were trying to say). I can't say I have ANY solution for this because its literally a whole other government agency making the rules, but it's disappointing that this seems to be WORSE than what we've seen happen in Sumeru. (also the EN casting as well is NOT helping either)

[@eve_ningmusic]

@@idrawyt635 Its possible and honestly I can see where they're coming from ESP since it happens a ton already in the American animation industry (to a lesser degree than this)

[@kyoken8691]

@@eve_ningmusic The clear image of Ororon shows him having a wolf-like ear. So he's definitely not dragon-like. And yes the CCP does in a way get to dictate what chinese culture is. When K-pop started influencing chinese media, they literally passed a law to restrict portrayals of effeminate men and to force chinese celebrities to endorse chinese ideals on masculinity. Though to be fair masculine men in china still look less manly compared to the western ideal man.

[@qizeaqfile]

One of the things I love about Genshin is, the way they do with "representation" is more about "culture" then someone "skin tone". As someone who has darker skin myself that is something I only care about than something as insignificant as the color of their skin tone of a fantasy world. To the people who care soo much about "representation" of "skin tone" more than anything else, then good for you, less money to spend. I guess Natlan is not looking great at all for you. Fontaine is my most anticipated region and it doesn't disappoint, I'm planning to skip Natlan and saving my money to Snezhnaya but after the teaser trailer, my excitement for it surpasses Fontaine. The design of the characters far more great than I expected. It's really bad for me, my money will go down in drain as I want everyone.

[@valerie_sees]

So-called "representation" that picks and chooses what to implement into their medium is shoddy and lazy work. Sure, it can look like people are focusing too much on skin tone alone, but you have to remember that physical features like that are also important to any ethnic group out there. Skin tone IS culture, my friend. As much as we may want to think that it doesn't matter, it would be foolish to say that it doesn't considering the current status quo of society and it would be blatantly ignorant to do so. When you set out to build in-universe representations of real-life groups of people, like what Genshin says they do (and have pride for themselves for it), it would be a disservice to implement sub-level and deep cultural ideologies, places, and people, but then leave out the most surface-level cultural characteristics that they possess, in this case being skin tone.

[@Aximanda]

Gotta say, I'm a bit dissappointed by the look of Natlan. I'm quite a huge fan of Aztec iconography, so seeing the cool patterns and colors they used be replaced by pastel-looking graffity seems really out of place. Now, this could very well be a plot point (out with the old, in with the new or something like that), but i really hoped that after the steampunk-aesthetic of fontaine, we would go back to something more fantasy and low-tech. I'm open to let it grow on me though and i'm happy that they twist things up as always (even though i prefer the untwisted version, it still shows Hoyo's creativity). 6:02 Maybe it's just her or some devices power; using fire to contact all the other tribes or tribe elders or dragon overlords and/or have them remotely tune in to watch what seems to be a competition. Using fire to communicate would also be a fun nod to smoke signals. I could write lack of representation of darker skintones off as a chinese company making a game in a japanese style. Squid game also doesn't have a whole lot of diversity and that's fine because of the nature of what it is and the context of how and where it's made (i know it's korean, but it still illustrates my point). But the fact that the Natlan enemies seem to be of the darkest skin, that's an issue. It's tone-deaf insensitivity in the best case. But i don't think Hoyo has some racist agenda, yet they're also too smart to be that ignorant. So the only thing that's left is that they probably know that even though people seem to want diversity, they sadly won't prove it with their wallets.

[@eve_ningmusic]

I wonder if the graffiti style could have been influenced because of ZZZ's release as well, so to save on resources they went with that type of design. I LOVE THE SMOKE SIGNAL IDEA YOU MIGHT BE ON TO SOMETHING I agree that Hoyo doesn't have a racist agenda, but they definitely play into the hand of contributing to the global idea of colorism which is disappointing when they've already shown they are so thorough with their research. I'm really hoping the story will do justice to these cultures at the bare minimum.

[@dou5397]

ehh while i agree completely that we need more varied skin tones, specially since the enemies have them, i still think that people care way too much about it, to me its a great thing if we have it, dissapointing that we dont, but it doesnt affect my enjoyment of any other aspect of the game

[@eve_ningmusic]

And that is totally your opinion! I'm mainly speaking out about this because I've done research work for representation in media and how it's affected people, and it's been a re-occurring issue not only within Genshin but with general globalized media. I think most people are disappointed because it seems like Genshin could have taken the route of not contributing to colourism (esp since they do a ton of research), but still have not done so!

[@valerie_sees]

That is, well, your opinion, but to say that others "care too much about it" just because you don't understand THEIR own opinions is telling.

[@dou5397]

@@valerie_sees yeah, it's telling of my opinion wich is what i said. That's how opinions works

[@valerie_sees]

@@dou5397 I'm entirely sure you didnt understand my earlier comment

[@dou5397]

@@valerie_sees try actually saying what you think and maybe we all can be sure we understand each other

[@idrawyt635]

I say everyone just doesn’t play for most of 5.0, but there’s no way THAT many people are gonna be in agreement. I know content creators ARE expressing their disappointment, but I feel like most say it a few times and just continue on… But I don’t really know how much difference it would make anyways. 😔

[@eve_ningmusic]

What will hurt is if their sales are down honestly

[@outlierjack4722]

如果你说的沉欲谷代表了你的国家的文化，那我假设你大概率是国人？可能你常年在外收到西方的文化熏染，但是在国内，大众就是不怎么喜欢黑人，这个跟种族歧视没有关系，因为在中国人的观念里没有种族歧视这一概念，只是纯粹的喜欢和不喜欢，大部分人不喜欢的情况下怎么可能会出纯黑皮的角色，迪希娅这样的被晒而深色的皮肤我觉得已经是米哈游的极限了，再黑我觉得在中国不可能会有任何市场。

[@eve_ningmusic]

Yes, I am Chinese (apologies that I can't write back in Chinese though my writing skill are ABYSMAL). I will put a caveat that I mainly view things in a Westernized lens because that is how I was taught. I think what you may be describing is the nature of having a monocultural society in China, which DOES contribute to the colorism from a Western perspective. I can not fault people for being a part of a monocultural society, however, as a global game company that takes from different cultures it would at least be nice to see those people reflected in the game as well. Not doing so is just another form of cultural appropriation. I think the main example I can think of right now is Ororon who is most likely derived from Ọlọrun, a diety from the Yoruba region in West Africa and who is depicted as a dark skinned diety. It just feels like a repeat of Candace who is based on Kandace, and even Candace is darker skinned than Ororon. Apologies for the rambling, but I do think that the dislike of darker skinned people, at least in certain Eastern countries, mostly stem out of just fear. More exposure to different cultures and people that don't look like ourselves may help, which is why I think that representation in skin tone is super important.

[@aliwi3476]

It's fire ring not South America, also to those people want something just deal with it especially when characters was created months before

[@eve_ningmusic]

At the moment its seeming like Natlan is based on Aztec, South America, Hawaii'an and West African inspirations. I'm still waiting for other regions within the ring of fire to fully confirm if this is actually that, but that'll probably be confirmed the closer we get to Natlan. And to just "deal with it" seems a bit harsh when people already have, ESPECIALLY with Sumeru. People HAVE been dealing with it, and are allowed to be critical of media that they enjoy. They are allowed to want their countries to be represented fairly similar to regions like Liyue and Inazuma

[@aliwi3476]

@@eve_ningmusic Food, References to real places , names, etc. It's enough because it's still Genshin with Teyvat world not Earth copy. Also literally: Mavuika may be named after the Māori fire deity Mahuika, who is typically depicted as female. She is the wife of Auahitūroa , the god of comets and origin of fire. She is the figure from which the hero Māui obtained the secret of making fire.

[@gladiusbladeofthenorth9939]

As someone from a culture being represented in Natlan, i am disappointed by the lack of melanin, and i already expected it anyways. I am still excited for Natlan, because the environments aee lovely and the music too, but it is disappointing to see the lack of variety. I wouldn't use reverse 1999 as an example tho, it is still bery much lacking in tha department

[@eve_ningmusic]

I wish that you guys could have more diversity within your casting, but I hope at least the game can honor your cultures in a respectful way through storytelling and lore! Also thanks for telling me! Reverse 1999 is only a game I've looked at in passing so thank you for the information!

[@Tovy]

So are we sure which nation Natlan represents? Is it Spain, America or the Ring of Fire. Or just all of them?

[@eve_ningmusic]

At the moment its seeming like Aztec, South America, Hawaii'an and West African inspirations based on the names of the characters and their ties to certain deities within those regions

[@Tovy]

The Archon (I assume) looks like Rengoku

[@eve_ningmusic]

RENGOKU WAS NOT MY FIRST THOUGHT BUT YOU'RE KINDA RIGHT

[@randomfanatic3178]

I do i agree the trailer was kinda underwhelming when it came to skin tone representation i might've gotten my hopes up thinking every charecter in Natlan was gonna be a darker skin color but once i saw the previews with charecters i kinda felt disapointed

[@eve_ningmusic]

Yea honestly, with the amount of work put into researching history and mythology for the game, I feel like skin type would be the least they could do.