Is "whitewashing" a thing in Japan? Is it something they have any awareness of?
Edit: Apparently there was a backlash against the whitewashing from readers of the manga so the mangaka reversed course and decided to not change the heroine's skin color. That chapter's up on mangadex. I don't know if the backlash was over the notion of whitewashing as it's understood in the west or just because a major charm point of their "milk chocolate goddess" had been taken away, but there you are.
Edit: Apparently there was a backlash against the whitewashing from readers of the manga so the mangaka reversed course and decided to not change the heroine's skin color. That chapter's up on mangadex. I don't know if the backlash was over the notion of whitewashing as it's understood in the west or just because a major charm point of their "milk chocolate goddess" had been taken away, but there you are.