In a series of tweets that Katsuhiro Harada posted on his official Twitter account, the man in charge for Bandai Namco’s popular fighting franchise stated that he and his team has no issue axing their plan of adding the Filipino-inspired character dubbed as Josie Rizal on Tekken 7’s roster “if something happen”.
Harada’s tweets were in line with the negative feedback that the game developer received from a few culturally-sensitive Filipinos because of the heroine’s name which is patterned to the name of the Philippine’s national hero, as well as some of the aspect of the female character that may give out the wrong impression of the country and its citizens.
But what really blew these seemingly harmless online thought exchanges out of proportion is when GMA News Online published a story that initially dragged the National Commission of Culture and Arts to the picture. In their report, an NCCA coordinator for Bayaning Bansa named Dr. Leodenito Cañete claims that he plans to “correct any wrong impressions” about the Philippines and Dr. Jose Rizal brought by Tekken’s new character.
In response to the report, NCCA issued an official statement in various platforms claiming that Dr. Cañete is not an NCCA official and that his sentiments “is not reflective of the stand of the Commission”.
The NCCA added that it “shall issue an official statement soon on what actions it will take upon studying the legal aspect of this matter, in coordination with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines”.
“If Josie can’t get supported in the Philippines, we give her up anytime. TEKKEN7 arcade board has a network update system. We can change plan and change characters anytime & quickly.”
Katsuhiro Harada
Despite the clarification made by the NCCA, Josie Rizal’s fate still hangs in the balance. But if Harada’s tweets and statements are anything to go by, it seems that their new heroine just isn’t worth the trouble if it means having to deal with any of the concerned government agencies in the country.
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Not to divert the topic or anything. But did someone proofread this article? It feels amateur-ish. And please stop with the double quotes. It’s like reading a gossip article.
As if alam ng mga nagreklamong “culturally-sensitive Filipinos” na to ang totoo at kumpletong story ng buhay ni Rizal. Tama yung ibang comment, puro reklamo wala namang naitutulong sa progreso ng Pinas. Mga utak-talangka!
They should also remove the Philippines from their in game map just to be extremely safe from these culturally-sensitive Filipinos.
Gusto kasi ni Jhosie Rizulz para ireflect ang pagkabobo at jeje ng masa
Patawa naman ang mga sensitive sa gobyerno. CGI lang yan di yan totoong pilipino. Bakit sina Anna Williams at Christie Montiero, labas ang boobs pero wala kang maririnig na reklamo sa America at Brazil? Kung Josie Rizal man ang name ng character wala na silang pakialam doon. Umuusad na ang ibang bansa pero wala pa rin tayong iniisip kundi alagaan ang image natin noong Spanish era. Liberated na ang mga Pinay hindi na naka baro’t saya na sumusunod lang sa lalaki mga ogag.
This is so stupid. A huge gaming corporatikn decides to represent a noypi in its game and dumb asholes complajn about sheit that dont hold ground.
Tanhena pilipino daming reklamo sa buhay josie rizal lang k co com plain pa,fock rizal hnd its just a name. Its not like inihian ni katsuhiro ang banhkay ni jose rizal. Besides generic naman ang name na josie at rizal
Agree. Pangalan lang yun at kahit magpunta sila sa Spain at Mexico madaming may pangalang jose rizal. Utak biya lang talaga yung culturally sensitive na mga ogag.
So what is the best name? Inday Garutay?
If they want to keep this character in the game and not offend anyone’s feelings, the solution is actually simple. Change the character’s name. There you go. It’s really that simple.
actually that aint an option. As per Harada, its either they dont changed anything or dont have the character at all
dami kasi arte ang Pinas, wla namang mapagmalaki.. nawala tuloy exposure natin.
Culturally sensitive pinoys are the bobos and idiots of our society. Puro pangangalaga sa heritage kahit wala namang tulong sa progress. Pati CGI character sa isang laro e pinapatulan masyadong mababaw at isip bata ang mga nasa NHCP.