Splatoon 2’s New Female Duo Are Instant Favourites, But Not Without Controversy

J Station X: Nintendo introduces new Splatoon 2 characters Pearl and Marina, but their reveal raises questions about race and representation in Nintendo games.

[Blastoise]

Damn. Those are some ugly characters

[TekoIie]

There's so much controversy that I can't even find it with a Google search!

https://www.google.co.uk/se...

I understand you want some twintelle-esqe outrage that died in less than 24 hours but your not getting it. Splatoon has allowed for you to make your own Inkling black so there is nothing to rage about here. Please go else where if this is the sort of bait you intend on posting.

I think Marina and Pearl will be really fun additions. Maybe we'll see them interact will Callie & Marie during the game too.

[Jasmino924]

Honestly not bait, I just thought it was an interesting topic to talk about. I'm genuinely excited for Marina and Pearl and I personally don't agree with all of the criticisms being levelled at Marina, mentioned in this post. (Most of the criticism is on social media btw, which is why it didn't show up on Google!)

I have updated the post to mention that you can make black Inklings though, thanks for pointing that out.

[TekoIie]

"Honestly not bait, I just thought it was an interesting topic to talk about. I'm genuinely excited for Marina and Pearl and I personally don't agree with all of the criticisms being levelled at Marina, mentioned in this post. (Most of the criticism is on social media btw, which is why it didn't show up on Google!) "

That's fair but calling it a controversy is a bit misleading then. Perhaps including those social media posts would've helped since the only ones currently included are positive of the characters.

[admiralvic]

If you want my honest opinion, this is one of the problems with society today and why, just because someone is expressing something, doesn't mean it needs to be a talking point.

While I don't want to make a blanket statement that these things are never malicious or that special interest groups are always wrong, because sometimes they're right, a lot of things, this included, feels like these people WANT to be angry and manipulate things to be awful. I really don't want to put it like this, but I am willing to bet if you went to an alternate timeline where Pearl is a white Octoling with revealing clothing and Marina is a black Inkling with modest clothing, you'd probably see people talk about how Nintendo doesn't want to put the spotlight on black characters or a way to avoid depicting black persecution (having her being an outsider because she is an Octoling, in addition to being black, is a good way to draw that parallel), with something equally stupid like the modest dress suggests she is ashamed of her body, where as the white girl, who would be skimpy in this world, is proud of hers.

This is part of the problem with so many people calling foul and complaining about every little thing. It happens so often that it is hard to take the stance seriously. It's to the point where it's damned if you do, damned if you don't and I wouldn't be surprised if that makes people overly cautious to include people of color, because they simply don't want to deal with the complaints.

All these topics, even if you think they're interesting to talk about, is make people roll their eyes and groan that another person wants to nitpick another thing, especially when very few of these people seem to consider Japanese culture.

Again, don't get me wrong, I am not against people having legitimate beefs, like you really should be able to make a black character in Animal Crossing or adding homosexual relationships to Tomodachi Life, but things like this feel like a massive reach and should just be ignored. Similar to the people who're calling Pearl a loli.

[Jasmino924]

@Tekolie I'm hesitant to include the negative social media posts because I don't want the people who posted them to see backlash. Not everyone who disagrees with them is going to be level-headed.

And re: calling it a controversy. Again thanks for the feedback and will keep that in mind for next time.

[krontaar]

How does this garbage get approved. Tired of bait articles.

[Jaypi03]

Let me guess, some characters are female, so you got one side whining about SJW's and you got the other drooling all over one of them.

[BenjaMan64]

Meh. Some fools find everything sexist, racist and/or satanic. Screw them and carry on.

[Aquietguy]

I'm pretty sure there will be some xenophobia found as well.

[TheOttomatic91]

Wait what Controversy?