Sure am glad Japanese media itself is known for its respectful and non-appropriative attitude towards the Christian faith. Definitely not a solid 100 anime series where the main character kills the actual Christian god (who is evil and deserved it).
I was definitely laughing about people like "You'd never do that to a catholic church" and like while there is a point that's valid to BE RESPECTFUL WITH OTHER PEOPLES STUFF like... nah we would. We totally would!!! We probably have!!!
In Assassin's Creed: Valhalla one of the primary mechanisms for gaining resources you need to upgrade your stuff is pillaging English churches and lighting them on fire after you kill everyone.
Oh, I'm sure that it does for lots of christians, but I just wanted to point out that japanese also use religious symbols for artistic inspiration without considering if that could be perceived as offensive by some people.
I don't even think have to go to "other relilgions," you can just look at how many Japanese games involve rampaging through shrines and temples that get busted up. Yakuza? Okami? Tenchu? Sekiro? Evil buddhist monk is a Japanese fantasy trope!!
Ok just so people stop being pedantic I forgot you don’t kill the pope you kick the shit out of the pope, attempt to assassinate him multiple times, go into the “I’m going to kill this guy” magic space from AC and then think better of it at the last minute.
I mean, you do run through multiple cathedrals during Ezio's trilogy often breaking things with a casual, "Bene, a way back up if I fall." Not to mention the whole Isu issue. And the Norse pantheon all actually being precursors. Oh and you can hang on Zeus' Godhood as a joke.
I looked at the cutscene last night and like he does the move and then attempts to kill him but walks away in disgust, I think he does get killed in the next game but I forget how
That's surprising. I want to check back because I have the clearest memory of having killed the pope then started up the sequel to see they had retconned it and thinking to myself "I wonder if letting you nemesis live is gonna have some negative consequences for you?"
My memory of it is that you get to choose whether or not to kill him at the end, but then the next game establishes that not killing him was the canonical ending. It was the peak of the binary morality era of games!
That said, I haven't played it in a long time, so I could be misremembering
Ultraman is an interesting case because the showrunner Eiji Tsuburaya was a devout catholic and the use of catholic imagery in the show was a reflection of his faith.
Of course, Evangelion used catholic imagery because it was cool when Ultraman did it so your point is entirely correct
This is correct, though the example used is from Ultraman Ace, which was made after Tsuburaya died and he had no direct involvement in its creation. Though he did have Ultraseven crucified in his show, which was made while he was still alive.
To be fair, it’s not as though western media don’t use other religions ALL THE BLOODY TIME, completely devoid of context or even really respect for the original material just because they think it looks cool. There are sooo many games, movies, whatever, that use Norse mythology because it looks-
cool. I mean, Marvel. Literally does not give a single cahoot about what Norse mythology was actually like, in favour of just using some basic elements. Most stuff just uses the names of Norse creatures and maybe a winter aesthetic? It’s set dressing. You can’t exactly criticize Japanese media doing
The same thing if you aren’t going to criticize every western piece of media that similarly treats foreign religions with such disregard. I actually respect Japanese stuff far more in this regard, because at least when I see it in anime or whatever, it’s given a proper sense of weight.
Funny story is the Lisbon earthquake actually was real and exactly as devastating as it appeared in Rogue, but its still kind of hilarious that they went, "Yeah one of the worst natural disasters in European history was cause some guy stole an artifact."
Agreed! It's highly entertaining when done right. And as a bonus, you learn Cool Stuff along the way. Like how there are ancient artifacts secretly stashed beneath the churches and streets of Lisbon, and if you fiddle with any of them: EARTHQUAKE. 😂
To be clear, haven't played Shadows yet. But surely everything that happens in these shrines is on the player. Ubisoft does the set dressing, and whatever happens in there is something *I* did.
It's like asserting that with Max Payne, Remedy disrespected New York 'cause some asshole (me) charged around an apartment building drawing dicks with bullet decals.
honestly i wouldve expected more intellgience and nuance from somebody (multiple people!) from aftermath than to contribute to the pile-on of a japanese woman working in games with this absurdly false equivalency but i guess thats the enthusiast press for you
It’s also just right wing politicians freaked out about post covid foreign tourism because the yen is in the toilet. My best guess is nobody in Japan gives a shit or thinks it’s serious.
It's so sad that games were coopted by the global far right to spread their ideology. Shin Megami Tensei has you constantly killing the christian god and not a single person cares about it, and so many other games have the player desecrate places of worship...
From what I'd heard the game actually reviewed well in Japan. Also when i first saw your post come up on my TL I tried like 3 different searches for the screencapped article in the original post and couldn't find it. Not even with a literal quote search of the headline.
Iirc one of the political parties jumped on it but they're some crank minority party no one cares about. It's a non issue people are trying to hype up to do.... Something
close—dude is a member of the ruling party (LDP) but unlikely to win his reelection so seeking attention, which is why he was able to get the prime minister to comment
AC "disrespects" multiple churches over the course of the franchise, being able to destroy a shrine isn't even in the top 50 fucked up things the game allows you to do
You don’t kill him though. You fist fight him, leave him bloody and beaten while you talk to an ancient super intelligent being who’s more interested in talking to your descendant, leave, then his son kills him a poison apple a few years later.
the Whole Deal of assassin's creed is that while on paper it sounds like the most american hog slop imaginable, it's actually extremely, at times borderline whimsically french
Comments
So thank you for informing me you kill the Pope
This actually fucking rules.
I think when you send people overseas specifically to convert people, you lose the ability to complain when people portray your religion.
I have never been pressured to convert to Shinto
I had lost my way for a moment but am now back on the path
Both are derivatives of Chariots of the Gods.
Bless the Chu-Chu and his water. Bless the coming and going of him. May his passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people.
That said, I haven't played it in a long time, so I could be misremembering
Of course, Evangelion used catholic imagery because it was cool when Ultraman did it so your point is entirely correct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake
Hey check it out this earthquake actually happened! But it's because of glowing science-apples or whatever don't worry about it.
The real history mixed with just the silliest pulp scifi tropes.
Nothing else like it.
Also watched her disrespect many a church. She thought I wouldn't notice or mind. I do. VERY MUCH. 😂
Granted... it probably was not related to stealing an alien artifact from underneath a church.
"Im right here."
But mostly because what actually happens is so much funnier.
You have a fist fight with him & then inexplicably spare him.
You do throw said son off a wall though.