I'm Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness, Doesn't Mean I'm a Villain - Vol. 2 Ch. 12.1 - Publisher 2nd Edition

[Keansor]

I'm so glad Japan was (probably) pissed about it too. I also agree that they could have just changed some of her physical traits to reflect the blessing instead like making her hair blond or something.

 

[AdamHu]

I honestly got incredibly pissed off when I was reading the web novel and reached the white washing plot point. It was such a jarring change that I dropped the series a few chapters in.

My main appeal to this series was seeing a dark skinned protagonist and watching her deal with such ostracization and gradually coming out of her shell. Changing her skin color to white was the equivalent of making a gay character in a show straight.

Sure, it's not the only thing their character would be about, but a lot of people probably gravitated towards the character because of that aspect of them. To suddenly take that away would make the character unrecognizable and slash away some of their appeal to the fan base.

Spoiler

And worst of all, she never at any point in the web novel try to change her skin color back and accepts it as if it's an improvement. Which not only did the color change not have a whole lot of narrative purpose, but the author seemed to imply it as an actual improvement to her appearance which is just yikes

 

[Dab1029]

Popcorn time

 

[Gurgling]

Ah. It made it much more emotional this way. I'm relieved it was changed

 

[Bakubread]

Oh thank god, I was gonna have a lot of trouble continuing this is the big turnaround for her was that she stopped being a minority and that was treated as a good thing

 

[RubyRan77]

why didn't they just change her eye color or hair

 

[ARC414]

WRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

 

[AnacondaHL]

Or even better, actually use a good visual metaphor and properly MIX THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT AND DARK.

Give her light streaks in her hair. Or heterochroma. Or make all 3 of the physical characteristics that have been mentioned repeatedly since chapter 1 (eye color, hair color, skin color) a MIX.

 

[smoothoperator]

I'm glad I spend time fighting for justice over drawings, really gives me a big ego boost!

 

[Natoto]

Instead of yelling “white-washing” just say “I like the MC with dark skin better”

 

[DarkieM]

Leave her black hair! :'(
No hair white-washing! D:<

 

[Pringless]

@AdamHu 😬

 

[areticentreader]

I'm still so glad they edited it, it was kinda disheartening that the story (visually) was about to go in the direction of everyone starting to accept the mc bc she was no longer dark. i esp liked this one for having a character with my skin color who didn't get it from just being at the beach a lot

 

[Delhii]

Well, so what! To change the skin color back and change the story to sell the manga is ridiculous. BOTTOM!
Don't change stories for the fun of the fans!

 

[reu]

@Bakubread
She's not a "minority" you dumbnut, she's that world's only bearer of the Dark King's Blessing - population one.

 

[Qayin]

Original > edited (read: censored)

The entire scene that follows with her parents makes much more sense after her skin is turned to a normal skin tone. Receiving the blessing of the Dark Spirit turned her hair and skin dark, so why wouldn't the blessing of the Light one do the same? Of course the original authour could have changed an eye, part of her hair or whatever, but I don't really see any difference between "whitewashing" her skin rather than hair or eyes.

The fact people see wrong in it tells two things: how they're most likely Americans, and how they're actually the ones obsessed with physical appearances with a heavy dose of hypocrisy.

tl;dr: shut the fuck up, mangaka and editors fucked up but whatever, let's carry on without the "das raysis!" angle, shall we? ffs.

 

[CrimsonDX]

I honestly would have preferred it if her skin remained light. It fits so much better with the story.

 

[IncomeTaxEvasion]

It's very silly that people are assuming this change was only made in response to western backlash. If only westerners were upset they wouldn't have changed it. If you say that the only people who would get upset are selfish Americans ignorant of Japanese culture you're really just exposing your own ignorance. Colorism is a big problem in japan too since there's a large variation in skin tone among asian people as well. Naturally tan asian people are often told they are ugly or made to feel bad about their skin so they would be upset about this too.

TLDR you're right it isn't a race issue it's an issue of colorism among asian people in Japan and claiming it was changed to please Americans is ignorant and wrong

 

[jinzo1598]

solo los gringos pueden ser tan racistas ,

 

[TripleEm]

After reading the first page a couple times, I finally understood it. At first I thought they were saying that fan backlash is what turns her white, but it's actually the opposite. Fam backlash for turning her white is what caused them to make her black again. Which I'm honestly surprised happened. Grateful, but surprised.

But I also agree that you should have had some type of change to reflect why she is being treated differently. Making her blonde would work.