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For anonymous questions outside of Tumblr, I've considered using the site Marshmallow. Here is the link to my account. The only problem is that it won't be possible to share documents like with Google Forms. I also worry that the censors may get in the way of some discussions. I'll test it out for now and we'll see how it works.

I'm still looking for alternatives to Google Docs, since I want a place that is easy to access and free to use (no account making). That being said, I have a question for how people would like me to format the notes.

There are some topics that are quite repetitive among Enstars. Would it be preferable for me to note these in detail, or briefly? If I were to do it, it would be formatted a little like:

Option 1, detail: Story A contains Point A, Point B, Point C...

Option 2, brief: Examples of Point A = Story A, Story B, Story C...

I'm also open to other forms of formatting, especially since I want to try and include pictures wherever possible.

[our-ensemble]

For the mixed characters in Enstars, there is a weird tendency among fans to pick and choose which ethnicity they should be addressed by instead of assessing them in their whole.

Adonis is already subject to a lot of poorly informed misconceptions due to the general lack of awareness of Arab culture. However, when it comes to his ethnicity, his Japanese heritage goes unacknowledged until and unless his mother is put in the picture. Naturally, with him being raised mostly in the SWANA region, it's understandable for people to gravitate towards his personal experiences when describing him; but, this results in people assuming that he is Arab on both sides.

The erasure of his Japanese heritage can emerge from a multitude of things - misconceptions about what a "truly" Japanese person looks and acts like, exaggerations of his "foreignness" both in canon and in fan spaces, and a simple lack of reading among other things. In the end, Adonis doesn't get to connect with Japanese culture the same way that other half-Japanese characters do, which leads to a feeling of disregard with his identity.

Ibuki, as a half-Okinawan, half-American character has already been the subject of a lot of discussions. However, the point that I want to specifically focus on is how people ignore his American heritage, with the only notable exception being jokes. A lot of people talk about Ibuki as if he is a Japanese diasporan who "lacks a link to his culture". Ibuki doesn't lack any links - if anything, he is someone who has links to multiple places. His experiences in both Okinawa and America shape who he is. Ibuki's Idol Story 2 in particular is about him showing American sushi variants to other characters, something he does with confidence, and which those around him respond to with curiosity and respect.

The assumption that a) diasporan's automatically have weak links to the cultures they are descended from and that b) mixed children automatically have weak links to one or many of the cultures they are descended from draws from several types of arguments. While some people understand that cultural experiences can be difficult to acquire based on time and place, others are relying on ideas of racial purity to assess the "validity" of diasporans and mixed children's cultural experiences. This leaves Ibuki in a difficult place when it comes to discussions about his identity even without touching upon his Indigeneity.

Aira is 3/4 Japanese, 1/4 French. This is something generally well-respected by fans, but it often gets twisted around in discussions about Aira's racist comments.

The first argument is that "Aira would not be racist due to him coming from a marginalized background". Most often in activism, we can frequently see solidarity among marginalized groups, but assuming that this is always the case results in overgeneralization. There are marginalized peoples who endorse the status quo, and also those who discriminate. A person's identity is not necessarily indicative of their behaviour and values.

The second argument is that "it makes sense for Aira to be racist, since most marginalized people are". This is the inverse of the first argument, where instead of treating identity as an exemption from bigotry, identity instead becomes the impetus for discrimination. It acts as though discrimination from marginalized peoples is a given, and most people who make this argument never make similar comments about privileged groups in society, who share the same capacity to engage in or reject bigotry.

What both arguments share is that they flatten Aira down to his French heritage. Of course, Aira has received poor treatment due to NPCs' assumptions about his identity. However, that is not the only influence on Aira's life, and a proper analysis of his behaviour can never be accomplished if his French heritage is treated as the one governing principle of his decision-making. Aira's conception of what it means to be Japanese, along with his more local understanding of Japan compared to other characters, are also integral to the mindset that he has. Treating the "undesirable" parts of him as the "foreign" parts risks carrying xenophobic sentiments.

In summary, the way that Enstars characters frequently have their mixed backgrounds ignored has some roots in racism, and makes fan spaces into areas where the concepts of heritage, history, and cultural experiences are diluted to serve certain biases.

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On the topic of stereotypes, there are times when Enstars does well.

Aira could have fallen into the well-known trope of "mixed kid who only has relations to one racial group (because the author didn't bother researching anything else, if they researched at all)" - except, his lack of connection with his French heritage has consequences on his self perception, while also presenting a dilemma for him socially since former classmates would perceive him to French (until told otherwise). Thus, something that could have been a shallow choice when writing characters from mixed backgrounds becomes a more realistic exploration of what it can be like to be associated with a specific group without your own say.

Arashi has hovered close to the "team mom" stereotype that many female and/or gender-ambiguous characters get saddled with. However, her tendency to help her friends never comes from a "maternal calling", but from a genuine love and appreciation for those around her. As a result, the advice that she offers is very much the sort of advice a teenager would give, and as the Queen and the heart of Knights, she never acts as a moral backbone but as a supportive friend. Moreover, her habit of dismissing her own concerns and refusing to accept help affects her communication with others and her friends' ability to come close to her, instead of being something that prevents us from seeing Arashi's internal struggles.

Hiiro's intelligence was easily something that could have been written stereotypically, but Enstars took a very careful and necessary approach. People have been quick to assume that Hiiro may be unintelligent, but Enstars clarifies that he is unfamiliar with city concepts, not incapable of understanding them. Additionally, his academic strength shows that a) he is good at following what is expected at him (such as the school system, which "technically" expects students to ace their tests) and b) that he is a good learner, and can retain knowledge of hard-to-learn concepts. While Hiiro's exceptional behaviour may teeter on the edge of brilliance rhetoric (i.e. the idea that a person or group must have a certain level of competence to be given value in society), it never reaches that point because he doesn't "gain value" from his intelligence; instead, it is shown to be a strength of his that he hasn't fully registered. (And since it does bear saying, the fact that people still apply their stereotypical, and frankly racist, ideas onto Hiiro's intelligence shows that this was an important decision for Enstars to take).

I mention this because Enstars, by virtue of being nuanced, is difficult to critique. "Difficult" in the sense that statements made about one character may not apply to another character. However, just because a statement does not apply to other characters does not mean that it is false or disproved entirely. Not all characters are treated equally - and even when talking about one character, things are still complex. For example, a character may be underdeveloped in one area due to the thoughtless implementation of a stereotype, but well developed in another area due to greater elaboration.

To get us on the same page, a stereotype refers to a generalization of a group of people based on their group membership. These generalizations can often be based on truths that become falsehoods due to their overexaggeration.

Stereotypes are frequently used in and transmitted via media (both non-fictional and fictional), making them an important part of analysis. Which characters are written stereotypically? Which characters aren't written stereotypically? How does the stereotype contribute to the understanding of the character or the story? If the stereotype was removed, what would change? If the stereotypical character was removed, what would change?

Indeed, there are real-life people who are considered stereotypical of their respective groups(s). However, that leads to other questions: For media that uses stereotypes in their characters, are they paying respect to the experiences of the depicted group? Are the stereotypical characters used to represent the real-life people who relate to them, or something else? And lastly-

What is the point of using a stereotype?

There is not a fixed answer to these questions. It will depend on what you analyze, and what lens you approach the topic with. Nonetheless, if you cannot answer these questions, then your understanding of characters from marginalized backgrounds and people whose lifestyles differ from yours will remain incomplete.

Enstars goes some steps forwards, some steps backwards with how it integrates stereotypes into its characters, but the specific one that's been in my head for a while is one about Adonis.

Adonis is considered stoic, and has difficulty expressing himself. This can be from a stereotype of brown men considering them less emotional or less warm generally, or it can be from a stereotype of brown characters coming from harsh environments where positive expressions are frowned upon (and their privileged saviour gets to have the "honour" of teaching them about things like smiling and laughing.)

*Also, Adonis' difficulty with expressions is part of the "stoic protector" trope - although not inherently race-related, it can become racialized. This trope can and has been applied to characters from many backgrounds, however, differences in the application of this trope can be based in racist views. For instance, a stoic Black character may be considered more hostile than a stoic white character, even if they are written in exactly the same way.*

But the reason why this stereotype sticks out is because Adonis is also a character who uses Sign Language.

For people unfamiliar with Sign Language, an important part of signing is the use of facial expressions alongside signs. You might see people make "exaggerated" expressions while signing - this is to help with clarity and tone. It can be compared to changing your pitch when asking a question, or speaking in a high or low tone depending on who you're talking to. Expressions help clarify your meaning when signing.

In theory, Adonis might struggle with conveying himself in Sign Language because of problems related to facial expressions.

In practice, last I checked, there were no noted problems with Adonis' usage of Sign Language in-text.

For me, the reason why this sticks out is because once noticed, it makes his character seem a little flatter, with the other uses of stereotypes in his character adding to the damage. The implementation of Sign Language doesn't take Adonis' existing traits into account, such as how things like expressiveness or speaking and signing at the same time might be difficult for him. As a result, both Adonis' (lack of) expressions and his use of Sign Language don't seem to be the most well thought out.

[our-ensemble]

Enstars goes some steps forwards, some steps backwards with how it integrates stereotypes into its characters, but the specific one that's been in my head for a while is one about Adonis.

Adonis is considered stoic, and has difficulty expressing himself. This can be from a stereotype of brown men considering them less emotional or less warm generally, or it can be from a stereotype of brown characters coming from harsh environments where positive expressions are frowned upon (and their privileged saviour gets to have the "honour" of teaching them about things like smiling and laughing.)

*Also, Adonis' difficulty with expressions is part of the "stoic protector" trope - although not inherently race-related, it can become racialized. This trope can and has been applied to characters from many backgrounds, however, differences in the application of this trope can be based in racist views. For instance, a stoic Black character may be considered more hostile than a stoic white character, even if they are written in exactly the same way.*

But the reason why this stereotype sticks out is because Adonis is also a character who uses Sign Language.

For people unfamiliar with Sign Language, an important part of signing is the use of facial expressions alongside signs. You might see people make "exaggerated" expressions while signing - this is to help with clarity and tone. It can be compared to changing your pitch when asking a question, or speaking in a high or low tone depending on who you're talking to. Expressions help clarify your meaning when signing.

In theory, Adonis might struggle with conveying himself in Sign Language because of problems related to facial expressions.

In practice, last I checked, there were no noted problems with Adonis' usage of Sign Language in-text.

For me, the reason why this sticks out is because once noticed, it makes his character seem a little flatter, with the other uses of stereotypes in his character adding to the damage. The implementation of Sign Language doesn't take Adonis' existing traits into account, such as how things like expressiveness or speaking and signing at the same time might be difficult for him. As a result, both Adonis' (lack of) expressions and his use of Sign Language don't seem to be the most well thought out.

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Just a reminder, and also something to note for anyone new - you guys can mention any observances or questions about Enstars' representation of different groups via asks! If I can't answer it, I can at least publish it here for someone else to pitch in.

You don't have to wait for me to show interest in a specific topic before mentioning it, especially because Enstars has so much meat to it that I often have a hard time deciding what to talk about when I post. Just remember to be respectful!

[our-ensemble]

Enstars' approach to Tatsumi and religion has been really interesting, especially in "Aspiring * Touch of Feather from Tiny Wings" where he offers a "unique" perspective about God. However, something that I want to note is how they explicitly connect Tatsumi to the history of the Kakure Kirishtan.

To summarize for people unfamiliar with the term, the Kakure Kirishtan, also called the hidden Christians, are a group of Christians in Japan who converted to Christianity after making contact with Portugese missionaries. Then, when Christianity was banned in the 17th century, they would practice it in secret.

Though, what I find most interesting is how much about this gets mentioned in Tatsumi's Idol Story 2. In this story, Tatsumi talks about a very important part of the Kakure Kirishtan faith (after identifying himself explicitly as a member of the community), which is the incorporation of Shintoism. The are three reasons for this: firstly, missionaries mixed Shintoist beliefs and Christianity in their preaching to make it more appealing to locals; secondly, during the time of the ban, hiding Christian rituals behind Shintoist (and Buddhist) imagery would help avoid detection; and lastly, because of the ban on Christianity, there were no external sources to consult with regarding Christianity, so the Kakure Kirishtan would defer to more familiar places like Shintoism to develop their religious understanding. As a result, the Kakure Kirishtan faith would become distinct from other Christian sects because of its relation with Shintoism. (Also, because of this integration of Shintoism, there has been some debate as to whether or not Kakure Kirishtans should be officially recognized as a Christian denomination). To be honest, I wasn't actually expecting Enstars to mention any of this at all, so it was an honest surprise to come across it when re-reading Tatsumi's Idol Story 2 - especially since this is one of the parts about Tatsumi's connection with religion that doesn't get discussed often.

Another thing addressed in this story is the specific development of Tatsumi's family's church. After the ban on Christianity was lifted and Japanese Christians resumed contact with the rest of the Christian world, there were two notable ways in which Kakure Kirishtans proceeded (for those who stuck to Christianity): some would join the Catholic denomination, while others would continue with their current practice (a practice that has been noted to slowly die out in recent times). In Idol Story 2, Tatsumi mentions that his family's church had previously been registered as a Shinto shrine, but was now an official church. That being said, Tatsumi does mention elsewhere that his family still prefers to hide themselves, so it doesn't seem like his community has completely done away with its past. (Though, given how Tatsumi made his grand entrance in the Main Story while quoting from the Bible (among other instances), it does seem like his education extends beyond the Kakure Kirishtan sect). This outlines an important part of Tatsumi's practice of religion, which is how he and his family in the present deal with the reintroduction of Christianity to Japan.

Lastly, a more well-known fact about Tatsumi mentioned in "Reminiscence * Iridescent Obbligato" is that his bedroom walls are stained with the blood of the persecuted. Enstars is not exaggerating the brutal experiences that the Kakure Kirishtans faced, as there are a number of stories of cruel punishments inflicted upon those identified as Christians during the time of the ban. In mentioning this, Enstars paints an explicit link between Tatsumi's feelings as a member of a historically persecuted minority, specifically his own desire to become an idol to make his community seem less unfamiliar and threatening to others, to the long history of Kakure Kirishtan suffering.

All in all, there's surprisingly a lot established about Tatsumi's faith. While not all of these details are strongly explored in his narrative, they show a good understanding of how the specific experiences of the Kakure Kirishtan community would play out in Tatsumi's life, which I'm quite happy that Enstars did since I don't think it's something most fans would consider.

(and if you'll allow me to be cheeky, the fact that the EN translation also maintains the information shared above makes it exceptionally clear that EN fans who consider Tatsumi a follower of European or American Catholicism are making assumptions on their own rather than following what's in the text. I get that Idol Story 2 specifically isn't something that most people have read, but surely you can understand where my pettiness stems from)

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Now that 2+ months have passed, it does seem like HappyElements is content with their decision.

As a lot of people have rightfully pointed out, even if HappyElements were to change its course on AKATSUKI (something that they have not shown interest in, to be fair), it certainly wouldn't happen immediately. Enstars stories are written well in advance, so from the company's side, this was a choice that they were committed to making for a while (something that was also noted since the beginning of this conundrum, as several days prior to the release of AKATSUKI's event, HappyElements revealed its social media policy of a) cracking down on "harsh" comments, which I put in quotes since concerns about imperialism that did not include any mentions of harassment or threat towards any individual were also affected by this crack down and b) being stricter on spoilers, all of which were protective measures to prevent criticism, at least on Twitter).

I wonder what really is the influencing factor for HappyElements' decisions when I look back at "Answer * Matrix of Stars Drawn Towards One Another". There's two things to note: 1) Matrix was one of Enstars most controversial stories, receiving mixed reception across fans (as in, critique from multiple fanbases - JP, KR, CN, EN - instead of just one) especially in its second half 2) In terms of money, it was one of Enstars' more successful events (I can't remember how much it earned, but what should be noted is that, if my memory is correct, it received more money than "Origin * Singing the Starry Sky Altered", which is a surprise given how popular the War and it's most influential characters are in the fandom.) The question is about whether or not feedback, both positive and negative, or profit is the most influential decision-making factor.

(Though I will say, given how Enstars completely outearns every other mobile joseimusuke, it does seem like the team might be getting a bit greedy if it turns out that they are trying to earn more only for the sake of earning more. Just my opinion though.)

Matrix, like KAGETSU, also had concerns of anti-Indigenous sentiments, which is why it's an apt comparison. However, it's also true that AKATSUKI is less popular than ALKALOID and Crazy:B, which could affect how HappyElements approaches these units. Since the boycott has largely targeted money-making expenditures (no in-app purchases, no merchandise unless second-hand/bought indirectly to list a few), I'm curious to see how that would play out in the long-run (since I do feel like 2 months is a bit early to make a conclusion for the boycott, which is intended to be much more long-running).

Nonetheless, even though current pressure from email and petitions have not yielded a response, I still think its early to accept that no change of any kind can occur in the future.

What concerns me most is how events like Matrix wound up in the writing room after passing through editing, proofreading, and revisions, and how the response to KAGETSU was dealt with by dividing and punishing fans rather than a proper investigation of the many perspectives related to this topic.

Additionally, I don't feel like we've seen enough from the original 3 members of AKATSUKI's perception of Ibuki thus far to truly, conclusively say that this integration lacks imperialistic connotations. Since the release of KAGETSU, Ibuki has made his motivations clear in other stories like his Idol Story 3. I'm trying to see if there are any mentions from the other AKATSUKI members (such as Scout and Event cards) that give more insight into the in-text angle and HappyElements' approach, because Ibuki's comments alone haven't given too much detail. Understandably, due to the nature of the gacha system, it may take months, maybe years, to get a proper picture - still, that doesn't mean that whatever has been established prior to this "proper picture" is exempt from critique.

And lastly, connecting to the previous point, it is absolutely necessary that HappyElements clarifies its direction. Words like "unity" and "harmony" have been used by the oppressor as often as the oppressed - this is because of subjective interpretations that promote specific notions of these concepts. The attempts to erase the Ryukyuan identity and the Meiji-era laws discriminating against the Ainu were both explained as acts to encourage unity, oneness, and equality by the Japanese government in the same vein as the abolishment of the samurai class. The idea of "one (ethnically homogeneous) Japan" is considered unity by some, and ethnic cleansing by others.

"Harmony" and "unity" mean only as much as HappyElements wants them to, and until their interpretation of these loaded terms with regards to Ibuki and AKATSUKI is made clear, fans are free to analyze the "harmony" presented in Enstars according to every possible definition.

haiii question,,,, sorry for being kinda dumb here but what would be the point of sending emails to hapiele? the story is written already and akatsuki redebuted (???) so what Will they do then? would they just take back the things that happened in the event? sorry again for the bother! i dont go to twt or social media that much so im lost,,,

Thank you for asking, and this isn't a dumb question at all. Of course, contacting HappyElements has been quite the undertaking, so it's only natural to want to know what we should expect. This is a bit lengthy since I wanted to put as much perspective as possible, and as always, I do not mind if others wish to add to this.

The most important thing to acknowledge is that this is an unprecedented scenario, so we're making estimates about how HappyElements will respond. At best, we hope that HappyElements complies with the requests made in the emails and nothing less, with these requests being a) the removal of Ibuki from AKATSUKI since this plays into the existing discrimination and Japanization of Ryukyuans and b) the careful consideration of how Indigenous characters are written going forward. Other additional goals may be added at individual discretion, but in relation to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, this is our main focus.

There is a chance that Enstars can edit or change the story. For example, in Izumi's event, "One Drop * A Specially Chosen Mad Party in UNDERLAND", fans raised concerns about how Izumi and Leo's backstory was mischaracterized in the story, and the line was later changed. However, when it comes to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, we should acknowledge that our concern is with the story as a whole, not a few lines, and so this is not likely. Should HappyElements decide to edit the story, they would likely be attempts to soften the blows that they dealt - but especially for a subject matter like this, it most certainly does not change the fact that the blow is still being dealt.

Another hope is that, even if it does not change AKATSUKI's event, it will push HappyElements to be more considerate in the future with regards to discrimination and characterization. We know that Enstars has been able to change its trajectory with how it approaches topics. For instance, Arashi's earliest stories contained both homophobic and transphobic stereotypes (specifically, she had many stereotypes associated with gay men, which is why the earliest translations of !-era stories tend to use he/him pronouns exclusively. At the time, her gender was not explained.) However, as years passed, the quality of her stories has noticeably improved, with a greater emphasis on her relationship with her gender. Hopefully, pressure from fans will encourage HappyElements to consider the racist, anti-Indigenous message that its pushing, and reevaluate how to approach Ibuki and other marginalized characters.

Some fans are also taking the angle of focusing on mischaracterization as a sort of "foot-in-the-door" technique. Again, as was the case with Izumi, if we can argue that certain things are out-of-character and that the continuous mischaracterization will be a threat to HappyElements' profits, then we might be able to use that momentum to target the racism in the story, since for AKATSUKI, the mischaracterization has been done to facilitate the discrimination that we see, and thus is not wholly separate from the issue. (Though on that note, fans have been asked to emphasize the treatment of Ibuki, since we must not treat occassional mischaracterization as comparable to active discrimination rooted in prejudices that continue to affect Ryukyuans in the present.)

At the same time, we must acknowledge that HappyElements has not made any efforts of note regarding other concerns raised by fans. Most relevantly, the event "Answer * Matrix of Stars Drawn Towards One Another" contains racist, anti-Indigenous sentiments in its depiction of the Amagi village. Instead of taking inspiration from Ainu culture as has been the case with the Amagis thus far, they made the Ainu village a sci-fi setting. Japanese imperialism has worked tirelessly to erase the culture of the Ainu in order to assimilate them. By making the Amagi village less culturally rooted and more fantastical, Enstars erases the presence of Ainu culture from their world - likely because it wasn't deemed interesting enough, since Enstars does value its shock factor - which is insensitive to the plight that the Ainu face to this day.

With all this in mind, we have to remind ourselves that this situation is still developing. The reaction to fans' emails has been mixed in the past, and the response to concerns of discrimination especially has been disappointing. Though, we also need to acknowledge that this is arguably the strongest, most concentrated reaction of the fans towards HappyElements, and we cannot allow them to intimidate us, nor can we allow them to forget that they are enabling dangerous anti-Ryukyuan sentiments that are not without real-life consequence.

Lastly, as I personally see it... even if "nothing" happens, I still ask that fans continue to pressure HappyElements. If HappyElements cannot treat marginalized people with respect, then at the minimum we should do the opposite and show marginalized fans that we stand with them. As I've mentioned time and time again, what we have seen in Enstars is reflective of real-life prejudices that are actively harming people. Even if HappyElements' mind does not change, other people observing the situation may reevaluate their own biases, and we can counteract whatever harms could occur as a result of HappyElements' lack of care.

[our-ensemble]

Another thing about the okama term being used against her, the characters that used it have either apologized for using it (Koga) or were warned against using it (Akiomi scolding/reprimanding Subaru). Both the characters even giving her a completely different nickname ("Ari" and "Rasshi")

I'll have to look for the exact stories, but there's textual evidence in canon that's its not a good word and she strongly dislikes it

Also it appears to be mostly the English server that doesn't give her pronouns, choosing to instead use her name (even if it makes the sentence clunky/awkward), since Japanese doesn't really have pronouns when referring to someone

Thank you, anon!

You focus on an important part that I didn't delve into re: "okama" as used in-text, which is that the slur is established in-text as having discriminatory connotations, and is known by characters in-universe to be used in a demeaning fashion (which as you've pointed out, is something that characters who do use "okama" in a discriminatory manner have worked against repeating). Arashi's discomfort doesn't come just from light teasing, but from actively experiencing prejudice from her classmates, which is entirely erased when people blindly call her an "okama".

Good clarification about pronouns, because I don't think I mentioned that the English pronouns I was talking about were in the third-person, whereas the Japanese pronouns I was talking about were in the first-person. Sure, they're both pronouns, but their usage wouldn't really be one-to-one. I'll see if this is something I need to clarify on that post based on how people react, but I'll keep it in mind if the topic ever arises again.

Also, regarding how Arashi has been treated across servers, it does seem like the English server is the one that's being the most unusual about it. In the Japanese server, means other than pronouns are used to establish Arashi's gender (the ones that come to my mind now are more indirect, but I would by no means call them insignificant). For the Chinese and Korean servers, I haven't seen anyone note instances of denial of her identity, though in the interests of integrity, that one would require a bit more investigation since the Chinese and Korean servers aren't as frequently discussed in the fandom space, especially since the English server came out. Though from my experience, I haven't heard any notice of discrimination against Arashi in these servers' translations.

The point about the English server translation is important because it demonstrates a specific area where Western views on gender (specifically conservative ones) are being applied to Arashi. In this specific case, we (English-speaking fans trying to familiarize themselves with Enstars, to be more exact) need to investigate views about transness in the West rather than views in Japan to understand why this decision about her pronouns is being made, which I hope I was able to convey in that post.

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When it comes to Arashi's gender identity, many have been hesitant about labelling Arashi a trans woman in fear of interpreting her identity according to their own biases rather than understanding it in her context. However in doing so, some people circle around to being racist and transphobic, showing an unawareness of queerness as it manifests outside of the West. Below, I'll address some of the ways in which refusing to call Arashi a trans woman can perpetuate unknown biases and prejudices.

(1) The Intersection Between Racism and Transmisogyny To simplify a long story: people in the West have a weird relationship with explorations of gender in other cultures. In particular, there is an obsession with thinking that transness doesn't "quite" exist in other cultures. As an example, the Hijra community of India has been consistently labelled a third gender, and the reasons for doing so has garnered a lot of backlash. Hijras are considered a third gender to some because when it comes to men's and women's spaces, rather than entering one or the other, they create their own space, and the story ends there for the West. Systemic reasons that encourage the Hijra to avoid women's spaces are ignored; the transphobia that makes it difficult for them to enter women's spaces and the threat and discomfort that prevents many from going to men's spaces is used against them to insist that they are neither. It would be the same as saying, "There is a third gender in America, understood to be such because they use neither women's nor men's bathrooms, called 'trans women'" - it completely obstructs any investigation into why a trans woman may not be willing or able to enter many gendered spaces.

As it relates to Arashi, we see a similar insistance from some Enstars fans that she simply cannot be a trans woman for these assumptions about cultural expressions of queerness. One argument is that the concept of trans women in the West simply doesn't exist in Japan. This is an extension of the infantilization of East Asians, which has been used to insist that East Asians "don't know what LGBT+ means", among other racist generalizations around sexuality in particular. This argument excludes Japanese people in general, not just characters, from being trans. Another argument is that Arashi's participation in the male idol industry, or her attendence in an all-boys course, are proofs that she is not a woman. This relies on environmental factors and systemic transphobia to explain Arashi's identity rather than her own feelings on the matter. Given the strictness of transitioning and fears of discrimination, Arashi's ability to go into women's spaces is limited. Also, this argument assumes that all people in all-x spaces identify as x. (As someone who went to an all-girls school, believe me when I say that I had classmates that weren't girls. Just as there are reasons for a trans person to leave a gender-segregated school (dysphoria, transphobia to list a few), there are also reasons for people to stay - friends, location, opportunities in education, etc.)

To talk about transmisogyny specifically as it links to racism, women of colour are held to a higher standard of femininity in general, which bodes poorly when paired with transphobia. We see this again with the Hijra and their gender expression. When a Hijra is feminine, it's often described as a "parody" or "mimicry", a farce to immitate a woman rather than just them being women. This unusual strictness with femininity is a common transmisogynistic argument, but what makes it so threatening when paired with racism is that even self-proclaimed progressives and allies will have no problem applying it when the target is a trans woman of colour.

In Arashi's case, that which is feminine is labelled an expression of gender non-conformity, while that which is masculine is taken as evidence of gender identity. Arashi sometimes acts according to gender norms - modelling is considered a "feminine" job, she's often styled according to feminine trends, her behaviour can be described as "girly", but this, obviously, isn't proof of gender identity. When it comes to masculinity… she has short hair and she wears pants, which is apparently enough for some people to write her off from being a woman in general (I'm simplifying for the sake of brevity, there are much more nuanced takes on her relationship with femininity and masculinity that I won't go into). Her masculine behaviours are seen as the "real" indicators of her identity, while her feminine behaviours are ignored or downplayed in order to deny any relation with femininity at all.

Of course, participation in femininity is not a prerequisite for being a woman, but it means absolutely nothing if one doesn't also acknowledge that participation is masculinity does not stop one from being a woman. Arashi not wearing a dress or skirt does not make her less of a woman, and her wearing a suit likewise does not make her less of a woman. No matter how Arashi presents herself, so long as she calls herself a woman, she is one - misconstructing expressions of femininity and masculinity and entangling them with racist views can only yield prejudiced results.

(1.5) Western Dominance In Gender Expression To extend from the above, the West has a false idea of what things are unique to certain cultures (like with homosexuality) and what things are universal (heterosexuality). Some of you may be familiar with the Western tendency to overestimate (ex. Assuming that everyone in foreign countries speaks English) - when it comes to culture, media, and queerness, we see the opposite. The West tends to underestimate how much it dominates in the cultural sphere, failing to acknowledge how far its values and ideals spread, especially through the media and in international debate platforms. This brings us to an awkward point when talking about queerness and gender non-conformity for two reasons. 1) Ideas of heterosexuality, monogamy, and gender expression considered characteristic of the West are actually the norm even in places outside of the West. For example, it's often brought up that in some East Asian cultures historically, a man with long hair would not be considered gender non-conforming, because this was once the norm. However, it is likewise true that this is not common in the present, which is to cut the hair short. As such, the traditional status quo and the modern status quo are entirely different, with the latter being influenced by the West depending on the period and area. When the status quo between the West and the East is linked, it stands to reason that deviations from the status quo may share links as well. 2) Western ideas of queerness genuinely do influence Eastern ideas of queerness. For some people, Western media is the first place where they get to grapple with different notions of gender and sexuality. It's not a matter of cultural notions of queerness, but cultural openness in discussing queerness. In places where topics like sexuality are a taboo, local queer communities are deliberately kept to the shadows in order to avoid engaging in the "mistake" of acknowledging them. Because of this restriction on local queer identities, Western ideas of queerness may be easier to see. For example, a number of queer terms in Japan are loan words from English - there's clearly some interaction going on.

It's more of an aside to be an honest, but there's quite a lot of oversimplification of West/East interactions in regards to gender expression that assumes that there is no influence whatsoever. Even if Arashi were "influenced by the West" or however people want to put it, she would still be a trans woman, much like others who share her experience.

(2) Pronouns i) Japanese pronouns: Japanese pronouns do not denote gender, though some generalizations and "media tropes" as you can call them exist. For example, a man who uses "ore" would be considered masculine, while a man who uses "boku" may be soft-spoken, polite, or casual. These are just some of many ways in which pronouns may be viewed, but most importantly, they are not restrained by gender - a woman can use "ore" and "boku" as well. That being said, sometimes people can be strict in applying pronouns on queer characters to force and reject certain identities. A similar discourse that comes to mind as an example is a discussion about Mizuki Akiyama from Project Sekai. I believe that at this time, Mizuki does not have an official label, and as far as English pronouns go from what I have seen, they have consistently been referred to with they/them, and I will be respecting this as I write. If there are some facts about Mizuki that I have gotten wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Regarding Mizuki, they use the Japanese pronoun "boku", and the common understanding of their gender is that they are transfeminine. However, their usage of "boku" has been used to deny that they are transfeminine, with some arguing that "although Japanese pronouns don't show gender, 'boku' isn't often used by girls, so Mizuki probably isn't a girl or transfeminine". Not only is that wrong culturally (there are plenty of girls who use "boku"), but it's trying to leverage the ambiguity of Japanese pronouns to be transphobic.

Arashi faces the same problem, but in the "oppposite direction" so to say. Arashi uses the pronoun "atashi", which is primarily associated with young-ish girls. In Arashi's case, the argument is that "although Arashi uses a pronoun associated with girls, Japanese pronouns don't show gender, so Arashi probably isn't a girl or transfeminine."

Both Mizuki and Arashi have their pronouns used against their identities when, long story short: if pronouns cannot determine gender identity, then they likewise cannot deny gender identity. If Mizuki's pronoun does not make her a girl or transfeminine, then by that interpretation, Arashi's pronoun would make her a girl; and if Arashi's pronoun cannot prove her identity, then Mizuki's pronoun cannot be used to disprove her identity. However, since people who deny Mizuki's gender are also people who deny Arashi's gender, the inconsistency in their arguments can be explained by the end result - to deny trans women and those with similar identities the ability to identify with their gender.

Lastly, when translating pronouns, trans characters are treated as a case separate than cis characters. For example, Marisa from the Touhou franchise and Suzie from Deltarune both use "ore" in Japanese. Nonetheless, they are both referred to with she/her, rather than with an uncommon English pronoun choice to reflect the uncommon Japanese pronoun choice. In contrast, when it comes to Arashi, fans are much more hesitant to use she/her, even though Arashi's Japanese pronoun choice represents a more common archetype than the previously mentioned usage of "ore" (as in, just as she/her is quite common in English, "atashi" is quite common in (casual) Japanese). Rather, it is only with Arashi that fans talk about how it is perfectly acceptable for her to use pronouns that are not she/her without ever applying that mindset to cis characters. To extend from that, as I mentioned earlier, there are tropes associated with pronouns. Continuing with the earlier example, Marisa and Suzie's usage of "ore" helps paint them as tomboys, or rowdy personalities (though not every girl who uses "ore" is necessarily characterized as such). When talking about pronouns, rather than assessing which "pronoun trope" would suit Arashi best in English to reflect her choice of "atashi", fans blindly apply Western ideas of pronouns to Japanese pronouns when it comes to gender, neglecting the other information that comes from Japanese pronoun usage. This misinterpretation of how Japanese pronouns function hides her identity, rather than elaborating upon it.

ii) English pronouns: Talking about the EN server specifically, the hesitation in using pronouns at all for Arashi has raised a lot of red flags, since this is a common form of misgendering that trans people face. Misgendering isn't only the use of a "wrong" pronoun (such as using he/him for someone who uses she/they) but also refusing to use pronouns at all, or forcibly using "neutral" pronouns like they/them for someone who has already established that their preferred pronouns are not they/them. This counts as misgendering because the target still does not have their identity acknowledged, just in ways that are less obvious to some.

Conversations around Arashi's pronouns illustrate a greater discourse surrounding trans women's pronouns - "if you use she/her, you're just following status quo assumptions about femininity (think back to that point about mimicry and parody), and if you use he/him, then it's your fault if people think that you are a man". Even when it comes to pronouns, what is or isn't "correct" is decided for the trans woman, not by the trans woman; to take it a step forward, everything that a trans woman does is deemed incorrect in order to dissuade them from finding any comfort in their identity.

When it comes to she/her pronouns specifically, these are gatekept strongly from trans women by TERFs and people with similar ideologies. Again, femininity is strictly held to a strong standard in order to keep it out of trans women's reach. With transphobia rising in many places, we see more and more how pronouns can be weaponized against people in general speech - for instance, because of the campaign launched against her, there are people to this day who continue to refer to Olympic boxer Imane Khelif and other athletes accused of being men with he/him pronouns.

Arashi being the only individual in Enstars to have her pronouns restricted in unnatural ways throughout the EN translation, when other characters have comfortably been referred to be he/him, has been seen as a sign that the translation team is trying to avoid using she/her pronouns.

(3) Two Birds, One Stone - Trans Women and Gender Non-Conforming Men An alternate headcanon to Arashi being a trans woman is calling her a gay man or a gender non-conforming man. For the record, I don't think there's anything ludicrous about playing around with canon, and I am not against the application of headcanons whatsoever - but it is not contradictory to say that headcanons can sometimes be based in stereotypes and prejudices that show off a person's own bigotry. A common form of discrimination against both trans women and gay and/or gender non-conforming men is conflating the two. Trans women are accused of being gay men or non-conforming men who "dress like women to get what they want", while gay and/or gender non-conforming men are called women because "no guy could possibly want to dress like that and/or be attracted to another guy". It's not that these sorts of bigots value one community over the other, it's that they want to be as demeaning as possible through the use of a) misgendering and b) comparison to a group frowned upon in society.

However, what makes this headcanon a bit perplexing when applied to Arashi is the claim that it's done for representation's sake, as Enstars already has gender non-conforming men. For Shu and Hajime, it's a strong focal point in their personal stories, while other characters like Hiyori, Tori, and Mayoi may have some gender non-conforming associations here and there. Even putting aside Arashi's own comments on her gender, she is treated in a way distinctive from the canonically gender non-conforming men in the franchise.

When it comes to fandom behaviour, people who headcanon Arashi to be gay or gender non-conforming are usually revolted when a gender non-conforming character is given a transfem headcanon, showing an inconsistency in how they approach headcanons. Those who use he/him for Arashi are usually offended by the use of she/her for Shu, for example (tying into my point earlier about trans people and cis people being held to different standards of pronoun usage, too). As such, it's clear that there is a problem with transfemininity specifically for these people, and not fanon interpretation or representation as a whole.

Gay and gender non-conforming men have undoubtedly been treated poorly by the media… but so have trans women, who share the same pains. The claim that Arashi cannot be a trans woman because it's "more progressive" for her to be a gender non-conforming man ignores the lack of representation that trans women likewise face (especially since many trans characters like Bridget from Guilty Gear initially began as "trap" characters, and became more authentic representation later in development), and pretends that trans people "have it better" - a form of transphobia intended to divide the queer community.

(3.5) About Slurs The conflation of trans women, gay men, and gender non-conforming men is reflected in more specific forms of discrimination. The word "okama" refers to effeminate men, and has been used as a slur against gay men, gender non-conforming men, and trans women. Some have taken to reclaiming this slur, using it casually as queer lingo.

But the specific thing I want to note is that just because some people have reclaimed it, doesn't mean that everyone has - the term "okama" is still used to demean trans women and gay and/or gender non-conforming men. Western attempts to call the slur totally reclaimed are misguided at best and risk objectifying and sexualizing the target at worst - "okama" can also refer to a recipient of anal penetration, and demeaning comments against queer people frequently reduce them to their (hypothetical) sexual encounters and "fetishistic nature" for the purpose of making them seem "immoral" and "impure". For the last 10-20 years, anime fandoms in particular have acted like "okama" is a totally neutral word, when it continues to be used against queer people in Japan. Additionally, some are under the impression that the term "okama" expresses a Japanese third gender, which is also false and can lead into the discussion above about the intersection between racism and transmisogyny re: the Hijra.

Firstly, for Arashi specifically, referring to her as an "okama" has always read as odd to me given that she clearly rejects the term in-text. When other characters call her an "okama", she frequently, consistently tells them that she does not want to be referred to in that way. She does this most often by telling them that "okama" "is not her name" and that she would like to be referred to by some other name. As such, saying that Arashi is canonically an "okama" goes against what we have seen time and time again in canon (back in 2016, that is). Secondly, given that Arashi is the only character in the game to have the word "okama" used against her, it suggests that there is clearly something to her identity that sets her apart from other characters that we have seen thus far.

I'm not blind to the fact that Arashi began as an okama stereotype - but Enstars has long since abandoned that angle with her and some fans out there really need to catch up.

Ultimately, these are some of the things that come to my mind at this time in discussions about Arashi. While I would like to focus more on canon than on fanon in this blog, I don't think it's possible to have a proper conversation about canon when so many people have such divided interpretations of it. I may add more to this as I remember, but for now, these are things that I hope people keep in mind as they talk about Arashi and transness across different cultures. As always, I encourage people to add their own comments, and I hope that this can help deepen the discussion around Arashi.

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The email account that I've used for this blog has been lost and cannot be verified, which is why I have removed the Forms and the Docs as I no longer have access to them. I'll see what I can do instead - I might remake them, or I may have to search for a non-email alternative for submissions and record keeping.

(This is also why I haven't been active at all recently, since it took a few weeks for Tumblr to verify my blog and reset my email).

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I'm grateful for all the media analysis there has been regarding Enstars and it's treatment of social issues, especially after AKATSUKI's event, but truthfully, acting as if Enstars is the only piece of media to ever have "problematic" aspects cheapens some of this analysis.

For many fans, Enstars passed the line - but the important thing to remember is that media which has not passed the line is not media that is "unproblematic", but media that has not reached a point where moments that are "tactless" or "poor in taste" follow specific and hostile ideologies.

Again, the way that people have been rethinking their engagement with Enstars is commendable since its not something that everybody is willing to consider; however, if this sort of thinking isn't applied to other spaces, then we risk running into the same problems over and over across time.

Enstars' problems aren't unique to it - and are likely being inherited from other media, so its definitely a system to be mindful of - which is why I hope that the lessons that we're picking up from Enstars are also applied elsewhere.

By applying this level of analysis and conscientiousness towards original works and fan spaces, hopefully we create respectful places of discussion where the ideologies that hurt people in real-life aren't also being used to hurt them in fiction and fandom.

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‼️‼️‼️ATTENTION ALL TUMBLR ENSTARIES!!!‼️‼️‼️

If you are upset about the recent changes made to AKATSUKI and the way they’re using Ibuki’s character—Then you should consider participating in the 3rd Official Enstars Boycott Blast! It is a mass emailing event where we send a ton of messages to Happy Elements K.K. More information about the event will be below!

(Much thanks and credit to @HAHIHUHEHO_dono on Twitter for he “How To” guide on sending in a support ticket!)

‼️‼️‼️Link to Ensemble Stars Support Webpage: https://ensemble-stars-music.zendesk.com/hc/ja/requests/new?ticket_form_id=39118306285209

Remember, your voice matters! We can make Happy Elements take accountability and bring change!!

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I don't wanna be that guy but I wanted to add to your post as an Adonis stan: Adonis is never treated as being Japanese within the text. He's mixed, his mother is Japanese, and took the decision to more or less raise her children in the culture of the country where they spent most of their time (not uncommon IRL). Neither he nor the other characters consider it. It's not about "internalized" racism, it's about racism on the part of the writers. Doylist explanation for a Watsonian question, I guess. Mixed kids have complex feelings on identity and if he decided not to consider himself such that'd be one thing, but it isn't even posed as a question

Thank you for adding on!

100% agree with that point about Adonis not being treated as Japanese. I wouldn't personally call it a "grey area" but I suppose he's... treated as Japanese when convenient? For example, with language, if my memory is correct, it's stated that he did learn a bit of Japanese before coming to Japan. The thing is, it's necessary for him to know Japanese in-text in order for him to interact with other characters, and also in order for HappyElements to explain hiring a native Japanese speaker to voice him without doing an accent. So if anything, it seems to be "fortunate" for him to be half-Japanese when it comes to his writing. Otherwise, it isn't kept in mind.

It could have been a chance to point out how Adonis being treated as a foreigner and having his Japanese background unacknowledged is not unusual form of prejudice against mixed kids. In particular, those with appearances strongly leaning towards one ethnicity are forced to identify exclusively with that ethnicity rather than deciding for themselves. However, not only is that clearly not the direction taken with Adonis - it's been done in a better fashion with Aira.

For Adonis' upbringing, I wonder how strong his exposure to each culture is, since we do see that he was in the Middle East/SWANA in his youth, but he also has had some interaction with Japanese culture before coming to Japan. Like you've mentioned, it's by no means unusual for his mother to bring him to Japan and raise him with Japanese culture - it's just that there's the question of how strong his mother's influence would have been, how much he retained from SWANA, the exact things that he was taught... But again, definitely worth noting how him being raised in Japanese culture is both a) a fact and b) unacknowledged.

Then, with other characters not acknowledging that he's Japanese and treating him exclusively as a foreigner, my current theory is that it has something to do with his appeal being The Foreign One, and so if his Japanese heritage is acknowledged too often, it would "weaken his charm point" or something to that effect.

Since I never really posed it as a Watsonian question, I don't mind the application of a Doylist perspective. The reason why I don't tend to lead in with Doylist explanations myself is because fandom spaces can be remarkably hostile towards them, hence I try to ease my way into them. Additionally, while I do definitely have my own opinions on this matter, I want to make sure that I'm showing other interpretations, too. I'm thankful to see the application of a Doylist lens, and if you don't mind me elaborating more, this is why I want to go into the idea of internal racism with regards to choices made among the writing team.

Enstars explicitly condemns racism, but something that literature in sociology and psychology has started to elaborate on is that condemnation of racism alone isn't enough for someone to not be racist. One can condemn acts of racism while still holding racist views. Some theories that explore this are modern/symbolic racism (belief that discrimination doesn't really exist anymore, derogation of groups isn't based on their racial background but on their "inferior cultural values"), aversive racism (rather than feelings of hostility and aggression, one feels fear and discomfort around outgroups) and ambiguous racism (one holds both positive and negative stereotypes - assumes that the former cancels out the latter).

So, for Enstars, the condemnation of racism alone isn't a defense against racist values to some because that shows their external values, but it does not show their internal values. There are different ways of expressing racism, and just because someone discourages 1 way of expression doesn't mean that they themselves may never engage in the other 99.

From my memory, what little Enstars has had to say on Arab culture has been far from the best (but since my memory has been pretty weak on this point, I've been trying to read up more. By all means if anyone else wants to add, they're free to do so). That's why there have been very strong concerns of anti-Arab sentiments, which you may be interested in since I feel that this, in tandem with many other things said on this topic, may work with your point about racism in the writing team (which I certainly hope to address in the future). Additionally, that's a very important part of comparing Adonis' writing to Aira's, since it ties into concerns of racism that people have had for a while, which have only grown stronger with Aira's addition to the franchise.

He does state in his !!-era self-description that he's "born to a Japanese mother and a foreign father", which I personally took as him identifying with both to some extent - but of course, identity is more than just a sentence, and while Enstars has "said" that he identifies with both cultures, its up to them to "demonstrate" it. His identity really hasn't shaped any of his interactions, and for reasons that you mentioned yourself, I wouldn't be astonished if people who read a portion of his stories without reading his profile never came to the conclusion that he is mixed since it's truly an ignored part of his self conception and other characters' conception of him.

Thank you for mentioning this, since the lack of acknowledgement of his Japanese heritage is something that I've thought about, too. As I read more, I can only wish that this topic is elaborated upon and clarified, and hopefully my perspective above may have been of interest to you. I hope you have a nice day!

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A little whiteboard for Valentines for anyone who wants to hang out!

The board will be available for 24 hours, closing at 5:00AM UTC. I'll try my best to download it before then. Let me know if there's any difficulty in accessing it!

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I go into this a little at the end of the last post, but to elaborate on it a bit more:

To analyze Enstars properly, we need to acknowledge the difference between potential development and existing development.

There are a lot of directions that Enstars can go in - and we need to be comfortable with recognizing that some of them contain imperialism, racism, anti-Indigenous sentiments, and other forms of discrimination.

Additionally, we need to note that just as there are instances where Enstars is progressive, there are similarly instances where Enstars can be regressive. There is as much reason to assume that Enstars can get better as there is to assume that it can get worse.

Yes, Enstars has near limitless potential right now, but at the same time, the existing development has led much to be desired, and acknowledging one while discounting the other is an incomplete critique (unless you intend on focusing entirely on one domain, but even then, these two do tend to influence each other).

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Comparing Aira and Adonis on Internalized Racism

Enstars approaches internalized racism differently between these two characters - not in the content of their feelings, but their exploration of them. To explain that more:

When it comes to internalized racism, its a central component of Aira's character arc, as his experiences in the past have contributed strongly to his inferiority complex.

These experiences include a) feelings of inadequacy due to performing at a below-average level compared to everyone else around him (also leading to him being on the cutting block for the !!-era Main Story, which was an external blow to him), b) having an "unusual" interest in idols that others didn't share and saw as strange and c) being unable to fulfill his classmates' expectations of him based on his identity.

Specifically, while he was an object of interest due to his French heritage, his lack of connection to it meant that he couldn't fulfill the idea of a foreign or mixed-race student that his classmates had of him, thus they lost interest in him. Furthermore, his appearance would have made it different for others to take his claims of being Japanese seriously, and it has prompted Aira to try and figure out "more Japanese" ways of doing things (I believe this was mentioned in the story for Izumi's 5-star card, "Evening Glow Paddle").

Ultimately, identity is a very integral part of Aira's personal story. He faces the problem of being tied more to one identity than another, which often leads to him being misidentified since he has always considered himself Japanese, nothing more, nothing less.

(Unfortunately, I have not read his recent event, "Scent of Summer! Yellow Summer Sparkle", wherein he actually has the chance to go to Paris and visit his grandparents. As a result of that, there are undoubtedly parts of Aira's development that I'm missing. However, a very important thing to note is that Enstars has developed this aspect of Aira's character well up until this point since a) Aira's feelings are relatable to many people around the world, making it a relevant narrative that appeals both to people who relate to him and people that don't and b) the information is mostly revealed in a well-written manner, making Aira's circumstances clear without frequently being so explicit as to come off as lecturing or breaking the fourth wall, as Enstars tends to do.)

As for Adonis, his internalized racism is currently at the discretion of fan interpretation. By that, I mean that while there are certainly reasons supported by the text why fans may interpret Adonis as having internalized racism, there isn't a lot of meat to these interpretations - not because its impossible or nonsensical, but because there simply isn't enough elaboration on this point to give this interpretation a lot of confidence.

Adonis at times describes his own body as frightening (ex. Athletics, Prologue 1, "Anyhow, it's this body of mine - your heart would probably stop beating from just having me looming behind you." <- also, the catalyst for me writing this post) His comments are the same as those that others make around him, both NPCS and some other characters. Adonis' size and appearance has led to untrue assumptions being made about him, leading to people avoiding him or assuming the worst. (There's more nuance to this, but I won't get to it now.)

Again, it is by no means unusual for Adonis to have internalized racism - but the question is: at what point did these feelings emerge, and why?

Because while Aira's internalized racism, as explained above, has both a known source and known influences on Aira's self perception, the same cannot be said about Adonis. The comments that Adonis makes, like in the example from Athletics, begin and end at that. We don't know the history of these sentiments and where they emerged from, nor do we know what else it could say about Adonis' perception of either himself other than that he, much like everyone else, finds his body intimidating.

I'll explain a few fan theories to show how this has all been left in the air.

Theory 1 - Adonis first encounters prejudiced sentiments in Japan and integrates them into his perception of himself: Not impossible; however, because of Crossroad, we have some idea of how Adonis was back when he first came to Japan, which gives us a way to compare Adonis from his earliest appearance timeline-wise to his most recent appearances. Going off of memory, there's nothing at the moment that suggests that Adonis' self-perception in the domain of race has shifted since coming to Japan - meaning that his self-deprecating comments aren't a "new" emergence. They can't really be traced to a specific point in his arrival in Japan, nor do we get any internal (from Adonis himself) or external (from other characters) comments about changes in behaviour. As such, there's nothing to suggest that he is picking up norms from Japan since it could be argued that he already had these sentiments.

Theory 2 - Adonis picked up self-deprecating comments from back home: Another theory that isn't impossible. Talking about real-life specifically, anti-Arab sentiments have made it difficult for many Arabs to find pride in their heritage. Internalization of racist sentiments (such as the SWANA region being inherently violent or opposed to progressive values) has also influenced political and social cleavages. But... these sentiments don't arise randomly. A lot of people can tie their development of these sentiments to specific sources: foreign media - especially of media peddling racist sentiments - influences a lot of people in their youth, revisions and rewritings of history may lead to false perceptions of society and culture through exaggeration or erasure, and quite often elites tend to prefer the West since the West is seen as the pinnacle of civilization, thus, participating in Western practices differentiates them further from "the uneducated", to list a few examples.

As such, saying that Adonis picked up his self-deprecating comments from back home without giving more details isn't sufficient. If he picked it up through media, then what did he watch? Books, newspapers, movies? Was it foreign or domestic media? If he picked it up from history, then who is writing the books? What sort of education did he receive? If he picked it up from sentiments in the elite class, then what level of participation did he have? Was his father a nationalist, or an ally of the West? Who in the elite class is he picking this up from?

Theory 2.5 - Adonis picked up self-deprecating comments from his family: ... I'll be honest, I would be surprised if Enstars went with this one given how they've marketed Adonis' mother as the darling of the Otogari family. This would tie into the above when it comes to Adonis' father, by claiming that he does, indeed, have negative perceptions of Arab culture which he could have passed onto Adonis. This could also be a case of Adonis' mother harbouring anti-Arab sentiments that she could have accidentally shared with her children. However, this theory requires a great level of assumptions about Adonis' family unit (and the portrayal of Adonis' family in general has been of great concern, which is a point to be addressed in the analysis of "Romance * A SWING NIGHT to Sing Along to").

Theory 3 - Adonis' comments are not supposed to be a representation of himself, but are actually the implementation of a stereotype from the writers: The stereotype in question is the assumption that some Arabs (among other groups perceived to be "inferior") envy the Global North for their "sophistication, elegance, and industrial successes" and denounce their own "savagery and lack of innovation". This stereotype isn't an elaboration on Theory 2 but a distortion of it where supremacists in the Global North externalize their feelings of superiority towards Arabs to claim that this sentiment that "Whites are superior" is common around the world (or among the "educated", at least). As such, it erases all the factors that I discuss in Theory 2 that contribute to internalized racism, replacing them with age-old racist theories about superiority among races.

It wouldn't be the first stereotype to be included in Adonis' writing. But at the same time, there is the objection that this stereotype - assuming that this is the angle that the writers are taking - is written to be countered, not to be endorsed. In the last 9 years though, Adonis' feelings on race have been the same, with some arguing that this point about racism has stagnated, and so this narrative - whether countered or endorsed - doesn't exactly... exist (which isn't without its implications).

The importance of comparing Aira and Adonis' internalized racism is to illustrate one way in which Enstars shows that it can handle discussing social issues with remarkable consideration via Aira, which makes it's lacklustre commentary with Adonis much more frustrating to readers (especially since Aira has not been in the game as long as Adonis has, yet on this matter, his internal feelings have been better explored).

(Another thing to note: as has been mentioned a few times in the past, since Enstars is an ongoing gacha game, we do have to consider how some of the comments can be either proven or disproven in the future since the story isn't over. That being said, that doesn't change the core of some criticisms raised above. One thing I want to draw attention to is the fact that at no point in Aira's writing re: internalized racism have fans ever felt the same frustrations that they have about Adonis. Yes, there are some things that we simply don't have the foresight for, but it's Enstars' responsibility to make sure that fans can feel that there will be some future benefit/relevance to whatever is being published in the present. We are reading in the present, not the future, so we cannot pretend to know more than what has been shown. The writing for Adonis in particular remains abstract in its potential directions in the future, as it has been for a long time, which is why its not unusual for fans to be pessimistic about his writing.)

It's not just important for considering how Adonis written, but the varying quality of Enstars' mentions of social issues in general - especially since this discrepancy in writing quality has led to concerns about colourism and internal racism <- not to be confused with internalized racism.