Don’t watch anime, but the whole magic shogunate era clan stuff just seems kinda out of place. On one hand we have a brutal war between man and robot, battling for survival, with both the young and old not free from the horrors of war. Then on the other hand we have people that run up walls, teleport and summon dragons. It just kinda feels like two separate people wrote the story and joined them together. The backstory for most characters I feel is an additional explanation, whereas I feel the backstory for the Japanese characters is more of a justification of their nonsensical nature.
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I don’t think it’s out of place at all lol, it sort of paying homage to Japanese culture and mythology. Yeah there is an anime influence but that’s because it’s a big part of Japanese culture as well.
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Is ow just marvel/dc/pixar bait?
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I don’t really get what you are saying. I haven’t noticed much similarity between Overwatch and the story of Up, for example. Unless soldier 76 has a flying house we don’t know about.
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Need I remind you there is a talking giant hamster?
I wouldn’t look too deep into this game’s lore.
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Welcome to Overwatch!
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Is Cass and Ashe purely designed as redneck-bait?
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Could be age thing. Many devs arent 15 years old.
Im Asian and my childhood cartoons are Anime.
What cartoons the West had back then? I only know South Park, Beeves and Butthead, The Simpsons
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I don’t really see it. Every character in the game is a stereotype of something. None of them have the backstory to justify themselves.
Or are you really going to say that Cassidy cosplaying as a cowboy is really more out of place in the future than a cyber ninja?
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A phrase I will be sure to use much more in the future, specifically when talking about certain US politics.
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Their animated shorts are.
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The dev team is almost entirely composed of proud weebs, so yeah, pretty much.
The entire game is designed around the whole bringing heroes of different countries and cultures together concept though, and a majority of heroes therefore have stereotypical aspects to instantly identify them. While yes, the Japanese heroes could be more nuenced, the Americans are just as stereotypical sans Reaper, as are Reinhardt and Torbjorn.
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To be fair, the hamster doesn’t actually talk, the ball does it for him, but I get what you are trying to say. I just wish more thought was placed into making the world more believable.
We have a talking Gorilla that was raised on the Moon, a Smurf with a sniper rifle and a totally-not-angel that can raise people from the dead…
But it’s the Japanese folk you draw the line at?
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This studio has an entire Cat Café built into the Kanez map. Each of them represents a cat.
It doesn’t get more weeb than that.
Let that sink in for a moment, and then wonder how/why you’re still installed.
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Yes, yes.
https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes/wrecking-ball/
https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes/wrecking-ball/
https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes/wrecking-ball/
Japanese culture has been a thing since the 80s with the emergence of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the exportation and importation of anime through OAVs and television series originating from the 80s onward.
Point is, a bunch of Blizzard’s early staff was immersed in that culture growing in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, that the idea of having that kind of representation just felt like a natural thing. If you ever played fighting games in the 90s and early 2000s, their entire rosters that had that sort of representation.
Think Terry Bogard from King of Fighters or Fatal Fury being the quintessential “American representation” of a street-wise street fighter with little discipline in orthodox fighting, and then look at the Japanese representation being Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami representing Japan with their own backstory tied heavily into Japanese mysticism of ancient clans fighting against each other.
That’s basically what they’re going for here in Overwatch.
(and to be fair, there’s a bunch of other representation I’m neglecting here on purpose).
From the time period where the devs are coming from, 80s stuff had Thundercats, Voltron, Transformers, and some variety shows on early cable television (Nickelodeon etc.) had some American localized, Japanese animation (The Little Bits, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Robotech), being distinctly Japanese fare. By the late 80s and early to mid 90s, Sailor Moon, Dragonball (and Z), Hamtaro, Samurai Pizza Cats… and bunch of other stuff that escapes me were on American airwaves.
It wasn’t all just Smurfs, Power Puff Girls (which did take some Japanese anime inspirations), Batman, Tiny Toons/Animaniacs and Disney Afternoon stuff.
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…how do you imagine this all looks to Cassidy with his 6-shooter from a century ago…? 
Considering there is a cowboy in there it makes sense in the universe of the game.
However kiriko and other recent content since OW2 have clearly been made as weeb bait.
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tbh i think reinhardt’s armor is the most weeb inspired
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That seems like a weird stance to take? These fantastical things aren’t new to the game. Winston has been here since day one. Reaper’s abilities are wholly unrealistic and he’s also an OG hero. Is your definition of believable having the game be something more grounded like a military shooter?