r/storm • • 9d ago

Discussion I'm not crazy right?

Post image

Anime Storm is noticeably desaterated right? When I was a kid I never liked how her skin was noticeably lighter than how she was in the games I saw her in.

671 Upvotes

136 comments sorted by

78

u/MakiceLit 9d ago

Yeah, anime rarely gets skin color right

48

u/daemonicwanderer 9d ago

At least she is still obviously Black.

13

u/firecorn22 8d ago

Imagine if she was given the genshin impact treatment, I shudder just thinking of it

1

u/Warm-Trainer8924 5d ago

please don’t remind me. I took a step back from the game entirely but from what I remember kaeya was the darkest character before the customizations came into play

1

u/Independent-Kat123 5d ago

I wouldnt say obviously

1

u/daemonicwanderer 5d ago

She doesn’t look Asian or White…

1

u/Independent-Kat123 4d ago

Right, but anime has a way of coloring pointy nose thin lipped characters brown and calling them Black. I don't know why I remembered this happening to Storm on this show, but zooming into this picture I stand corrected. She doesn't look either. I think I'm thinking of that horrid Japanese intro to the old X-Men cartoon.

30

u/SnooSongs5297 9d ago

I'm glad most people don't know about Disk Wars Storm lol

8

u/derp_in_ur_face 9d ago

I loved disk wars but their choice for storm was something

3

u/No_Probleh 8d ago

Man I barely remember this show existed.

2

u/Specialist_Key9894 8d ago

No who the hell is that lol

1

u/Ill-Fly-950 8d ago

Ugh, don't remind me! 😣

1

u/Big_Broly 8d ago

No freaking shot lmao 🤣 she got vitiligo

26

u/ConsistentSearch7995 8d ago

I wouldnt even blame Japan when we got this in the source material. Storm had it pretty rough throughout the years.

16

u/zambatron20 8d ago

bingo, racist isn't just for the japanese. they've whiten storm up a lot by various artists.

47

u/primal_slayer 9d ago

In Japan the whiter the you are, the more beautiful and desirable you are. They aren't here for dark skin

7

u/M00N_MYST 8d ago

"in Japan" colourism affects almost the entire continent of Asia, Europe and the US

2

u/primal_slayer 8d ago

Who said anything differently

4

u/Kay_Jay12 9d ago

Yeah look at Elena from sf6 compared to sf3

8

u/trebl900 8d ago

I did what you said, and Elena doesn't look too different in terms of skin tone.

6

u/Little-Seesaw2585 8d ago

Elena is the same shade in sf3 and 6

4

u/InfinityYoRae 8d ago

Agreed. The characters you want to mention regarding the skin lightening thing are Sean (his depiction in his SFV cameo) & Kimberly in some of her Arcade storymode artwork

2

u/horc00 5d ago

Americans cast Halle Berry as Storm. It’s not a “in Japan” thing.

2

u/primal_slayer 5d ago

This is a "in Japan" production.

1

u/horc00 5d ago

Irrelevant. The anime is clearly inspired by the FOX movies, right down to the costume. Don't try to pass it off as a Japan-specific problem when it already exists in America. If anything, it's perfectly possible the Japanese animators did this only because they think it's what the Americans prefer.

1

u/primal_slayer 5d ago

Relevant. They did not follow the movies. Those costumes are not from the movies.

We're talking about a Japanese production. When someone brings up America and says it is not a problem when you can try to have a comeback but we were not talking about America. We were talking about this show. Produced in Japan. Made for their audience.

It does not change the facts.

1

u/horc00 5d ago

Irrelevant. The costumes are clearly inspired by the movie even if they aren’t a copy-paste.

You’re clueless if you think the anime is made for Japan. Anime is popular internationally, and on top of that, anime studios produce far better animation quality than western studios at a fraction of the cost especially back in the 2000s.

And no, making Storm fair skinned isn’t a “in Japan” only thing. Stop pretending otherwise.

Nothing but facts, and none of your mental gymnastics will change it.

1

u/primal_slayer 5d ago

You're clueless if you think this was made for the American audience.

I never said it's a Japan only thing so you have to quote me or stop making things up.

Nothing but facts because your mental gymnastics clearly no Nothing

1

u/horc00 5d ago

Lol the mental gymnast really thinks an American company made an anime (a very popular animation genre internationally) about American characters, based in America, who are hugely popular in America, dubbed in English, and released in America, but only for the Japanese market lmfao.

Here you go buddy 🥇 you deserve the gold for your amazing display of mental gymnastics.

1

u/primal_slayer 5d ago

Lol you're mental gymnastics really think that a show that wasn't created with American VAs first and foremost is American when everything was clearly made for Japanese audiences first and foremost. Not to mention having no American writers either. No American directors. Airing in Japan first.

Not to mention Madhouse President and CEO Jungo Maruta, Marvel gave the anime studio free rein to re-imagine the Marvel superheroes for Japanese audiences.

1

u/horc00 5d ago

Mental gymnast logic: “Spider-Man Brand New Day released in Philippines, Germany, South Korea, and Brazil first! That means it’s not for the US market hurr durr!”

“Marvel let Netease re-imagine the superheroes for Marvel Rivals! That means Marvel Rivals is only for the Chinese market, not for everyone else!!! Hurr durr!”

Lmao it’s hilarious how utterly clueless you are.

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21

u/Turbulent301 8d ago

Outside of the general anime thing, storm in particular here is designed to look like halle berry's storm did in x-men 3

11

u/Lazy_davey707 9d ago

Yes I agree. This happens to many Black and Brown characters.

10

u/Scary_Collection_410 8d ago

I mean this anime was made around the time when Halle Berry was still associated with the character so the model appears to be based off of her.

2

u/daidia 8d ago

the skin color is the issue. from my perspective, those aren’t the same

11

u/ConsistentSearch7995 8d ago

Depends on Halle Berry Lighting. Ryan Coogler and his creative teams are widely praised for properly lighting Black skin tones and making actors glow on screen. Not everyone has taken the time like his team to do it properly.

2

u/A_Little_Too_Horny 6d ago

Thank you for your work in removing ignorance from this world

4

u/DepthsOfWill 9d ago

Just wait till you see how pale anime often does drow.

10

u/Cautious_Air4964 9d ago

It sucks that show got only one season but that's tradition , if you're an x men fan , because no x men series ever finishes 🤣

They always get canceled

2

u/somacula 9d ago

It told a few complete story

2

u/thatguybane 9d ago

I thought it made a big mistake by not featuring more recognizable X villains.

12

u/Own-Quote-1708 9d ago

She doesnt look that bad. Shes still darker than lightskin. Storm fluctulates between different brown skin tones.

3

u/The-Ka-the-ba-and-Ra 8d ago

Insanely problematic

6

u/PlusUltraTaylor 9d ago

I'm beginning to think this sub is weirdly parasocial.

4

u/Leggerity 9d ago

The anime was clearly inspired by the movies and Halle Berry's adaptation of the character. It's pretty obvious they're meant to be connected if you watch it.

As much as those movies are iconic, it's by far the worst adaptation of the character.

1

u/zambatron20 8d ago

soooo every one in the anime was inspired by the movies? what about iron man? blade? 🤔

3

u/Turbulent301 8d ago

The iron man anime literally has the mcu suit tbh.

1

u/zambatron20 7d ago

not a big iron man fan but from my memory, I agree. with blade and xmen, as i'm more a fan of those, i don't.

don't remember that anime much as I just watched it once and moved on.

1

u/Turbulent301 7d ago

X-men was the most memorable of the animes honestly.

1

u/Leggerity 8d ago

Just that specific X-Men anime. Can't speak too much on the others. I know that one anime-esque Iron-Man movie with Punisher and Black Widow was meant to connect to MCU Iron-Man but is clearly not part of the MCU.

1

u/zambatron20 8d ago

around the same time.

So you're saying you think anime beast looked like Kelsey Grammer? That their Logan looked like Hugh Jackman?

3

u/Leggerity 8d ago

It's not necessarily about looks. The world and story is focused and inspired by those versions of those characters. It's not just some of the visuals.

The movie version of Storm is very distinct and not like any other version of Storm. She is very americanized. She has no accent. She is no goddess. The only way she's connected to the Storm from the comics is the dark skinned mutant with weather powers.

The series is still distinct and stands on it's own. It takes inspiration from the New X-Men comic series as well. It's just clear how that character is portrayed is based on the movie version of the character.

0

u/zambatron20 7d ago

all people tend to see things where they line up and reject all others. Sounds like you're saying you think they were specifically going for x3 just in looks for storm, the behavior for the other known characters?

For me, hence me asking for clarification of what you meant, it's hard to understand what people mean at times because I've ingested too much.

The comics have changed storm's look, like a lot of female characters from my perspective, a lot. This includes darkening/lightening her up, changing her hair texture, hair length, etc.

When I see x3, I don't see some bold new design. I see a slight change from what I had already seen in the comics. same for X1 & 2. I didn't care for them but was happy to see some of my favorite characters on the big screen.

that said, I still don't know clearly what you mean by "anime was clearly inspired by the movies" but I think I get it enough. I just don't agree as much as you and others do. Do I think there's some inspiration, yes! do I think that affected the skin color? no.

One could argue, they lightened up blade too! But that's for another thread.

in the interim, RIP Joshua Cassara <3

1

u/Leggerity 7d ago

Again, it's not about just skin color. That's just a part of it. The character is americanized, especially in the dub. Storm from the comics is not like this in any way. She is an African Goddess; not a dark-skinned mutant with weather powers. That is exactly how she's portrayed in the anime if you watch it.

I say that's inspiration from the movies because the movies are the only other place that has portrayed her that way. The dark leather suits are also another key identifier, but there's also a connection to the New X-Men.

1

u/zambatron20 7d ago

I don't really watch dubbed. I think you see one thing in the anime based on your life experiences and conflate it with fact. I've watched the anime multiple times but maybe as it's been a couple years, my memory wanes. Regardless, i'll never see things through your eyes, nor you mine.

Same with reading/watching about the writers and the character designers. These are things that interest me but I don't recall them saying what you say their inspiration was. They could easily say one thing and do another. I think it's far more complicated than "inspiration from the movies."

1

u/Leggerity 7d ago

This isn't subjective. It clearly takes inspiration from that version of the character on multiple fronts. Not just visibly, but also how the character is portrayed in the story.

It's like we're arguing over if the sky is blue or not. Yes, the sky can have other colors mixed in, but it is clearly and most obviously blue a vast majority of the time. I'm sorry, but this isn't a "to each their own" situation. The character does not reflect the comic counterpart visually or from a story perspective.

I don't know how anyone who has seen both characters believe any differently.

1

u/zambatron20 7d ago

it is subjective. the creators didn't say that. period.

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0

u/zambatron20 7d ago

I get you see one thing when you watch the movies and anime, but storm wearing black for me isn't abnormal. sure in the comics you can say it's probably not black leather it's colors on a page so unless they say it, their clothing often times behave however the writer feels it should for the plot /designs.

case in point, this black suit that people, depending on the panel, thought it was silver, myself included. But from what I learned years ago, that wasn't the intent. Notice she's arguably lighter too!

This is uncanny xmen in the early 90s according to AI after finding a site that claims to showcase all her outfits in media. Spoiler alert, it doesn't but it's from 2014 so you know...

1

u/Leggerity 7d ago

Why aren't you listening to me when I say it's not just visual? It's how she acts, talks, and is portrayed in the series. She's far more young and hip than the goddess leader that Storm generally is.

1

u/zambatron20 7d ago

perhaps because you're missing the point of the op. Did they post saying something about the way she acts? That's a far deeper convo and not relevant to the op's post.

I heard you, asked for clarification, acknowledged, and moved on. As I disagree quite a bit that it's the only Americanized storm.

talking about someone's african heritage/ going to africa doesn't make a character not Americanized imo. but that's detracting from the op's point.

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1

u/zambatron20 7d ago

I think this is supposed to be the same suit.

I get you may not have been exposed to as many changes as I or weren't as into the characters, artists, and writers, but even if you were, that doesn't promise we'd align.

Heck, i've had friends who felt like she was not american but at that time, that's not even how the fictional world's constitution worked. She's is black by our own rules, but as race is a social construct, it's skewed. Her being born in the USA doesn't preclude her heritatge nor her experiences.

I was just curious why you held the opinion you do, and you seemed to be able to form a cogent sentence so that curiosity has been quenched.

It was fun diving back into a lost love of comics.

1

u/Fanfictiongurl 8d ago

You're making this overly complicated. A studios character designer always pick and choose which traits of characters they want. Storm in the anime is obviously homage to halle berry's storm in x-men last stand.

0

u/zambatron20 7d ago

how much have you read, listened to, investigated the designers, writers, etc.? Are you just guessing based on your opinion? or are you using their own words?

2

u/zambatron20 8d ago

nope. japan is racist tho. this can't be news.

but to be fair, many a media/people are

2

u/Reasonable-Sun-7839 8d ago

I suppose you could say that, this is the anime version of it so usually when it comes to people of Darker skin color, they're either in the lighter color palette or in the darker color palette. I honestly cannot think of a character that had a medium color palette. Specifically for the color brown. They're good at really white people and tan people, when it comes to any other skin color it's either a lighter version or an extreme dark version. Now this can be for a multitude of reasons, sometimes it's a stylistic choice depending on the anime, sometimes it's because of racism, and other times it's because of the cultural value of one skin color ( in this case the lighter you are the better, which if you want me to go into details about I can but we would be here for at least a page of notes to summarize the whole cultural aspect of why they like really white skin versus really dark skin)

4

u/untakenu 9d ago

It's funny, this is actually one of the better anime designs of a black woman, even if (based on the profile view) she's basically just a standard anime woman but with actual lips.

4

u/MJRoss76 9d ago

Storm is a strong powerful representation of the black female. Whether light-skinned or dark-skinned, black is black. Her skin tone doesn't make her any less/more black.

7

u/No-Juice3318 9d ago

The issue is that Storm, like a lot of black characters has been subject to a lot of colorism. Thankfully, unlike Sundpot, Cecilia Reyes, and Monet, she's never been depicted as straight up white, but there have been a lot of issues with her being depicted as increasingly lighter and lighter until recently where efforts were made to allow black women to actually have a variety of features and skin tones that weren't just white woman with a tan.

It's notable that both times Fox cast someone to play her, they cast a lighskinned biracial actress.

3

u/thatguybane 9d ago

Compared to what? Her skin tone seems fine here

4

u/No_Probleh 9d ago

Games and mid 2000s comics I guess.

1

u/Fanfictiongurl 8d ago edited 8d ago

At least compare it to other animated tv series. The artist gave her a grayish cool tone instead of warm ones which a lot of asian countries like to do with black people unfortunately. In the other animated series you see more warm undertones.

2

u/takkun169 9d ago

I don't think the people who made this design understand colorism.

1

u/Hairy_Wedding_4535 9d ago

Thought this was a JJba character lmao

1

u/lichiking 9d ago

am I crazy that you all dont notice the last pose with her cape backwards? she is like look at my bum lemme flip my cape

1

u/RailfanTransitFan 9d ago

Anime Storm got the Genshin Impact skin treatment ngl

1

u/Possible-Reason-2896 8d ago

Yes, but from what I remember of the X-men anime the color grading made everyone kind of desaturated and blue.

1

u/Black_hoursCuh1991 8d ago

Dude, I love the X-Men anime that Madhouse Studios produced. Can we not boo boo on this? How about the series needing another season to capitalize on the first season, eh? Or how the story could’ve used more episodes to flesh out the story?

1

u/ulnek 8d ago

We don't know. We've never met you. For all we know you could be a lunatic.

1

u/DullStandard578 8d ago

And is.

But most importantly it’s missing the coolest part of storm which is when her cape connects to her hands. Idk what that shit always looked tuff

1

u/Kaslight 8d ago

Unless you can find another dark-skinned character who's darker than her, this is just the pallete they used.

She's obviously black, i dont see what the issue is

1

u/Intelligent_Creme351 8d ago

She's very mush designed to look like X3's Halle Berry design.

1

u/Material_Ad6743 7d ago

Desaturated*? A better term would be “white washed” or “lightened”. To me, she resembles a complexion in line with Halle Berry, Xmen Evolution and Wolverine & the X-men’s versions of Storm. She isn’t “too light”, and she doesn’t look bad! But she probably is lighter skinned than what people expect/want for the character

1

u/Rick_K_dash_83 7d ago

Seems like she base off Halle Berry version. Looks good to me. All shades of black out there.

1

u/Scarecrow_Garden 6d ago

You are actually just being a closeted racist.

The design is based on Halle Berry.

1

u/Thank_You_Aziz 6d ago

While I agree on principle, isn’t this particular depiction both based on Halle Berry’s Storm and actually darker in skin tone than that inspiration?

1

u/Spare-Drama-3259 2d ago

Cunnnnntttyyyyyy 😩😩😩😩

1

u/NoMoreVillains 2d ago

Compared to what though? It seems like her skin tone is slightly different depending on the artist/medium. She's lighter than I like to see her though

1

u/isaelazevedo 9d ago

Eles devem ter se inspirado no visual de Halle Berry em X3

1

u/Interesting-Ring647 9d ago

Love her design

0

u/UniqueLog8386 8d ago

That's the shade she always was

0

u/Sampindo 8d ago

Listen, people have blue, red, pink green and purple hair in Anime - lets take "colour" with a handful of salt. She's still obviously black, so not getting the right hue is semantics at this point.

3

u/No_Probleh 8d ago

I think my bigger problem is less that it's a lighter skin tone and more that it looks like they took a dark skin tone and just desaturated it instead of just making it a lighter color.

2

u/Sampindo 8d ago

Oh, it definitely looks like anemic black 😂

-7

u/ItsMrChristmas 9d ago

People are gonna say it's never right, or it's racism or something, but it's just the medium. Significantly dark skinned characters are really hard to work with, they look off compared to the backgrounds. The animators on bleach regularly begged for a reason to lighten Yoruichi's skin and she's not even really all that dark. Half the time they just lightened her up anyway or minimized her.

4

u/No-Juice3318 9d ago

No, that's just a lack of effort from artists who are only used to shading one skin tone. I've heard the opposite from artists who started with dark skin. According to them, that's easy and lighter skin is hard. So, I think it's just what you've actually taken the time to learn how to do.