Comment by Worshiper of Xebec on Record Of Ragnarok - Chapter 86

@Worshiper of Xebec sybau.

@Mari

They legit didn't have a black guy in the shinsengumi tho. There is no reason to add him. What would you think if they made Marthin Luther white in this manga?

@Worshiper of Xebec and exactly how does that matter?

@DaCup Using Martin Luther king as an example is a very shallow one. The character you're comparing him to will probably have zero dialogue what so ever so him being dark skinned will most definitely have no impact in the story whatsoever because at the end of the day, the main people fighting are japanese. You shouldnt be bothered or even care so much. It's probably like a small reference to Yasuke or something. Plus the person who is writing the plot is probably Japanese and if they aren't offended then let them run with it

@Tia

You just said that my comparison was shallow and thats it. Didn't have any sort of argument at all.

Then you just say that the skintone doesn't matter since it doesn't impact the story since he is a background character. And I think that is a valid take, so why if it doesn't matter since he is a background character did they make him black? It doesn't matter anyways since he is a bg character right? So why go out of you way to change it?

Then you say I shouldn't be bothered by it or even care, but that is simply stupid since if we reversed the roles, you and many others would lose their sh***. But I have realised that you seem to dodge that fact anyways.

Yasuke reference would be stupid aswell, he is a thing on its own, why add him to the shinsengumi. That looks stupid. Along with the fact that it shouldn't matter right? Cause he is a bg character right?

The only good and valid take is the last part, and that is that the author made it this way. But well that is at that point just stupid from the author then, he can make it like that if he wants, but at the end of the day there was no purpose in it and he just black washed a character. If an author did this the other way around by white washing, would you not say that is also stupid? Although knowing how much a story can be influenced by the pressure of your audience, it is not impossible that he was forced to make that character black for no reason.

@DaCup do you have any media literacy what so ever? Plus the character in question might not even be black and him being a reference to yasuke isn't stupid because it may have been the creator's choice to add more REPRESENTATION. I said it doesn't matter because in truth it's not hurting anybody because most of not all the background characters there are FICTIONAL. They dont exist in the real world. HOWEVER. If the roles were indeed reversed and someone as esteemed as Martin Luther king who has every single action from his pride to his pain defined by the fact that he is a black person, have that aspect of him erased, then that would he an attempt to erase black culture.  Not to mention, the character you're talking about might not even be a confirmed black person because mangas love to introduce characters with dark features that are somehow Asian. You getting triggered by the appearance of an extremely irrelevant dark skinned character screams micro aggressions. And about the yasuke reference, have we forgotten that record of ragnarok isn't historically accurate in a lot of aspects?? So them drawing a black characters from a different time period doesn't seem that far fetched now does it?

The fact is, them adding a black character was not with intention of erasing Asian culture especially since the author and if not half of the management team is Asian. But if a historical figure who is known because of the fact that yes they are a black person and they speak for black rights were to have the fact that they were black simply wiped off, that would be an attempt of erasure.

Let me try and speak things in your terms. If someone like let's say the first Chinese emperor was turned into a black person, your point would apply but right now it doesn't.

@Tia

You are right about the marthin luther thing, BUT black people do NOT need representation. At the end of the day it wasn't neccesary, and yet they did it. 

All black people need is the same treatment as any other person, which is in fact what is happening in most countrys btw. They do NOT need to be forced in characters who are originally white or asian.

And when this happens in reversed roles when we are talking about a black character turning white, then you would be mad too EVEN IF its a bg character. No one would ever let it slide.

@DaCup while I do agree that in certain scenarios black representation is not necessary like let's say a romance novel set in Japan. The random appearance of a black character will not be necessary in that case but if we're talking about record of ragnarok, a show/manga that's supposed to represent humanity as a whole where we've seen multiple races and ethnicities to skip an ENTIRE race and shrug it off is very weird. Plus the character we are arguing about MIGHT NOT EVEN BE BLACK. animes and mangas love to do this thing we're they'd introduce a character with dark features and they just end up being gyaru or naturally darker skinned.
Plus we don't know who that background characters is based off. Our only information is that he's from shinsengumi. We don't know who he's based off or referencing and the closest possibly reference if the character is even black is Yasuke. And let's stop treating record of ragnarok like it's an accurate depiction of history.

Plus saying 'all black people need is the same treatment as any other person' would have to mean that black people are acknowledged like every one else rather than ignored. Because if black people were treated just the same as every other person, There'd be more shows with black characters and in turn more black representation. The argument for black representation wouldn't be a thing if black rep was more common just like how Asians want proper and accurate representation in western shows.

@Tia

Dawg I dont think u understand black representation has been put in litteraly almost everything, modern shows games name it. In the west there is 100% more black characters in your show then white at this point.

Do you think people are getting tired over nothing? There is a reason why the original comment was lamenting about this.

Also a quick google search gives you all the info you would need. The shinsengumi were a group full of asians, none were black or even darker skinned.

If they wanted to implement a black character they shouldve just done it with an originally back character, because I do get that this about humanity and that would indeed mean black people should be represented aswell. But the way it was done just seems very stupid.

They couldve put Frederick Douglass in there or something, but this is just stupid. He**, just put Lebron James in it.