Tag: vaan

Posted on

With the recent re-release of Final Fantasy 12 it seemed more than appropriate that we celebrate with a Vaan appreciation post.

Think how exciting video game industry could be if instead of modelling protagonist after protagonist off B.J Blazkowicz they started looking to Vaan for inspiration. 

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– wincenworks

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

-Icy

Posted on

What if I just think Final Fantasy has bad costume design in general, regardless of sex? Or damn near any Square game? Is it okay to think that?

Seems to me it’s okay to think that, especially since we very much agree that FF has LOTS of horrendous female costumes to offer as well.
But it’s not so fine if you only voice that opinion with the male characters.
It’s really suspicious how people get vocal with “I don’t like it because of bad design” only when a dude is shown in skimpy armor, even though there are plenty more ridiculous female costumes to pick apart.

In the context of sexualized male armor, how much comparison do we actually have? Almost none.

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How does male sexualization go “right”, then? There’s barely any standard to hold on to. So much so, that many people think that skimpiness itself is inherently feminine.

I have said already (and still stand by it), we’ve seen so many ugly-as-hell female armors in mainstream games that I do not mind if the first prominent sexy male armor in a while gets to be badly designed. We need to catch up on all kinds of skimpy male armor, “good” and “bad” alike, anyway.

Also, personally I really don’t find it bad in FF standards. The franchise always liked their costumes ridiculously over the top and silly, so this thing is actually not that unusual for them.
Part of the joke of our post was the fact how epicly the dudebros overreacted to a design that was just natural progression from how older Final Fantasy bishounen looked.

mahoukokorohime submitted, in response to the Fran bingo: Not that it makes it acceptable, but Vaan from the same game also had some armor deficiencies. Also, that game gave us Judge Drace, who has some of the most comprehensive armor ever seen, let alone of a female character. So remember how some people try to claim that sexy armor is just a thing we have to live with because of the mythical “Asian culture" ?  And franchises are only capable of targeting one demographic so must oversell to it? Final Fantasy XII, from a franchise with no shortage of underclad female characters, provided both bare chested pretty boys and a woman in an amazingly badass suit of armor.   Though personally I think if Fran had been issued or stolen Vaan’s pants, that would have been a remarkable step forward in progress. - wincenworks

Anyway, to answer what you were actually trying to pursue with that question: everyone’s perfectly entitled to personally find that character (if not all FF visuals) bad design-wise, but it would be advised if they kept that opinion, well, personal.*

Skimpy male armor is so scarce in mainstream media that there is no way to criticize any particular one without sounding as if you found the mere concept of a man in sexy armor bad.
And, if you asked me, that concept, unlike the concept of sexy female armor, is not bad, it is subversive and therefore sheds light at the inherent problem of skimpy female armor.

~Ozzie

* Is is also advised to examine thoroughly what exactly makes the design supposedly “bad” to you.
If you (likely) discover that it’s the same element that makes the design “sexy”, then you officially missed the point.

PS: Regarding your other message concerning Japan’s sensibilities, I’d advice you to read this post.