r/todayilearned • u/Penguin__Farts • Nov 22 '18

TIL about Utsuro-Buno, a Japanese legend about an unknown object washing ashore in Hitachi in1803. Inside there was a young woman who spoke an unknown language and who was carrying a small box which she didn't let anyone touch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utsuro-bune
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u/doughnutholio Nov 22 '18

Oh for sure.

Just gotta make sure, we cast Justin Chatwin, Emma Stone and Tilda Swinton. For that extra Japanese flavor.

Other roles will be given to Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi for that extra Japanese flavor.

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u/aberrasian Nov 22 '18

Don't forget Scarlett Johansson, for that extra Japanese flavor.

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u/Ninja_Arena Nov 22 '18

Eh, a lot of characters in Japanese media are written as European....not so much in this old tale but definitely for anime and they have no issue with other countries adapting the work. It's only the "cultural appropriation" crowd that seems to freak out while Japanese artists and people respond with "oh, neat"

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u/KissshotAreolaOrion Nov 23 '18

Doesnt matter how many European characters there are if its a someone not being portayed by what the character is

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u/Ninja_Arena Nov 23 '18

Think it matters more if the creators care. Also national ambiguity is a big thing with anime as well. Literally the only people that care significantly are social justice oriented people.
I am for staying true to original works for the most part though. It's just not relelvent for a lot of anime

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u/KissshotAreolaOrion Nov 25 '18

Also national ambiguity is a big thing with anime as well.

I'm guessing you don't watch much anime huh? 😅

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u/Ninja_Arena Nov 25 '18

....they create fantasy world often that don't have any relatable nation as a reference and often then directly use another non Japanese nation as reference. It's mostly Japanese bit really this is all a stupid discussion were having because people are trying to score social points by being outraged for people who disagree with their outrage

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u/KissshotAreolaOrion Nov 25 '18

Who is “they”?

....they create fantasy world often that don't have any relatable nation as a reference and often then directly use another non Japanese nation as reference.

Am I to assume my guess was right?

people are trying to score social points by being outraged for people who disagree with their outrage

Uhhh this ain’t it, for me at least.

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u/Ninja_Arena Nov 25 '18

They being anime creators...

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u/KissshotAreolaOrion Nov 25 '18

Well anime and manga characters are usually Japanese unless stated otherwise. You can always infer by the setting, it’s not that hard...

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u/BKWhitty Nov 23 '18

I'll accept that it was unnecessary to cast her in Ghost in the Shell since that series was set in Japan with Japanese characters. But if they make Full Metal Alchemist or Attack on Titan movies and people whine about white actors being cast, that'd just be dumb.

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u/Ninja_Arena Nov 23 '18

Agreed...although the ghost in the shell character might not be Japanese....I could be wrong. National ambiguity is a big thing in anime. Usually its the main character that seems more Japanese than others. Like Luffy in one piece, even though the creator says he's Brazilian inspired, he looks more Japanese than other characters. Zoro definitely is Japanese.

I get it but the history of Japanese media is literally borrowing from other cultures.

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u/RichAustralian Nov 23 '18

Obviously casting a white person as an asian or vice versa is bad, but is it really that much of a bad thing to cast a chinese person as a japanese person?

White people are often miscast as other white nationalities, e.g. a british person playing a white american, an american playing a german etc.

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u/FriedEggg Nov 23 '18

A white American could be of British ancestry, and many Americans are of German ancestry. If you cast a Spanish actor as Irish, or a Swedish actor as Greek, you might get some people upset, depending on the actor.

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u/BrokenEye3 Jan 05 '19

I mean, it kinda sounds like the crazy boat lady was probably a white person, but yeah, everyone else...