Nazi Pullips Fuck Off

[tikistitch]

Ech. Well, at least she doesn't have a swastika arm band.

Comments

[twotone]

I'm relieved that I'm not the only one who got a Nazi/SS vibe off of her outfit. I was beginning to wonder if I was being oversensitive! I'm still worried about whether or not her armband actually has a swastika or not.

At least she doesn't have Aryan blue eyes, I guess...

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

I'm relieved that I'm not the only one who got a Nazi/SS vibe off of her outfit.

Pretty hard not to, really.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

The Magma Heritage email says, "I am more like a lady spy!" Yeah, that's a great way to stay keep a low profile: dress up like a Nazi chick.

[angelwolf24.livejournal.com]

That is just wrong. :\

[twotone]

The Japanese text on the ad says:

"A beautiful, strong, cool Pullip arrives, looking sweet in her military uniform!"

Her "How I feel" statement is actually "I feel as though I'm a lady spy", not "I am more like a lady spy".

In any case. ARGH. How did this seem like a good idea? There are other military-esque outfits out there!

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

Jesus, why do they keep doing that?!? What's next? Comfort Woman Momoko? Internment Camp 'Scientist' Arale? Mini Blythe with adorable little Enola Gay vehicle?

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Barbie's new series, "Horrifyingly Tasteless Dolls of the World."

[annlarimer.livejournal.com]

I wonder how many times "Barbie as Eva Peron" made it through the preliminary planning stages before someone pointed out that it was probably a bad idea.

[avalonjones.livejournal.com]

In some cases, I like the idea of a doll with a handgun. This is one of the times where I don't.

to play devils advocate....

[tyloncorp.livejournal.com]

while that probibly was the worst way to execute it(alternate colors people! black and red ain't everything!), it does look like a police uniform, dress style. i did a little google digging..

http://www.ashlandpd.org/images/Dress_Uniform_25.jpg

^ features the darker cross sash

http://www.rhydin.org/uniform/mil-uk/wrac86s.jpg

^ features the rank ropes. this is a british women's army uniform

http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/skspy.jpg

^ this is probibly where they are getting the spy angle from. this is a photo of a us CIA agent in north korean military gear. note the baggy sided pants. it also gives me japanese police force vibes but i can't find a danm pic.


nazi unforms tend to feature a more jacket/suit like coat collar, which i don't see here, and a tie, also not seen/shown. also the hats tend to have a buldge in the middle where the insigna lies. there are exceptions to these rules though, i'm going by what i am seeing.

my conclusions:

is it intentionally a nazi uniform: in my opinion, no. all these peices and parts are seen on police uniforms in some form or another. i do not think junplannings intention was to key into a nazi market, but instead to those of us like myself who have a gothic uniform fetish/adoration

is it bad execution?: yes, they could have picked a variety of other colors to do this outfit in that would have avoided controversey. the armband is generlay seen only on MP's and few other dress uniforms, and could have been omitted. the hat symbol, also, was a bad move, and could have been anything. another bad goof. its not the best execution. someone in quality control shoulda cought this, esp if they wanna hit western stores

I have no pullips, and i have a military style outfit fetish/love. I might pick her up, dunno yet. if i do though, the armbands getting scrapped, as is the hat symbol and possibly the belt sash.

don't hate on me or think i'm condoning naziism, because i'm not. it drives me up the wall so bad trying to find doll sized uniforms, both in sd and 1/6th scales. the only other uniformed doll i have is azones lycee love impulse. i'm just offering my 2 cents and a slightly alternative viewpoint. make of it what you will =/.

Further thoughts

[twotone]

Part of my "Ack, Nazi" reaction to this is the fact that it's explicitly a military uniform (Japanese text on poster says so) with a red arm band. Japan's occasional idealization or trivialization of their military history makes me uncomfortable.

Of course, this brings up the question of:
Was this designed in Japan, by Japanese folks who don't realize the emotional impact of Nazi-themed uniforms?

Or was this designed in Korea, by Korean folks?

And should that make a difference?

I have noticed that many Asian "OMG WTF" cultural artifacts (flash animations, "Engrish", etc) are automatically labelled as Japanese, even when they're clearly Korean or from another country.

[tacohime.livejournal.com]

All right, that quelches any desire I ever had to own a Pullip or indeed any Jun Planning merch.

Japan, knock it the fuck off.

Re: to play devils advocate....

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links. I agree--uniforms are kewl!

But I've seen enough dolls cosplaying as Nazis, that I'd be surprised if Jun Planning wasn't catering at least *a bit* to that market, what with the red armband and the hat symbol (as you mentioned). I'm just thinking, no sane person would promote "Barbie dressed as an Enola Gay Bombadier!"

As another example, closer to home, people who do custom GI Joe setups will come up with some severely tasteless and boneheaded dolls. But, I don't see Hasbro come up with a "Heavy Duty Fragging Hanoi Jane" action figures.

Re: Further thoughts

[tyloncorp.livejournal.com]

Yeah i know the feeling. When i was in tokyo, they took us to one of the gothic clothing streets (i forget what it was called, it was the one next to snoopyland.), and i went up and down looking for cool clothes and trenches. i ahd a VERY hard time though, ebcuase alot of the outfits there has blatant nazi symbolism and regalia. it was very fustrating. VERY fustrating. i finally found a gorgeous black trench, so i was happy. but it was kinda disturbing how bad it was. its not personally offensive to me, but i can eaisly understand your concern and others


as for junplanning, i dunno the company, so i could not say whose fault it is.
as for regionality? possibly. the japanese would be more likely to trivialize and foucus on nazi uniforms. the koreans however, would not, for at the time they were a japanese colony and fairly uninvovled with the pacific conflict.

thats a shame though when everything is generalized like that. i purposely taught myself to recognize korean/japanese/chinises text form one another so i always know.

Re: Further thoughts

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

That one's a bit tangled, at least in my head. From my understanding, Pullips were designed in Korea, but are marketed and manufactured by Jun Planning, a Japanese company.

To further complicate matters, I believe Pullip doll herself is supposed to be *Italian*.

Re: Further thoughts

[aphasia.livejournal.com]

i purposely taught myself to recognize korean/japanese/chinises text form one another so i always know.

Thank you.

[twotone]

I mostly brought up the Korean thing because, well, Souldoll and some of the BJD clothes designers are, in fact, Korean. And they use Nazi imagery in their clothes. And yet people ACT as though they're Japanese, and formulate their arguments accordingly. It kind of bugs me... it's just as bad for Koreans to trivialize/fetishize Nazi stuff, y'know? You can't automatically blame the Japanese just because it comes from Asia and is grossly insensitive.

The Jun Planning/Pullip relationship is shrouded in confusion. I believe the actual character designs are copyright Chunsang Chunha/Cheonsang Cheonha, and the official Pullip website was Korean. Jun Planning, despite being the primary pimper of all things Pullip, is officially "sales" or distribution. However, everyone treats Pullip as though it's solely Jun Planning/Japanese, and Jun Planning has never indicated whether the designer(s) for Pullip are based out of Japan or Korea.

Re: Further thoughts

[twotone]

She's Italian-Korean. Half and half.
I don't have her bio on hand, but it focuses quite a bit on how she grew up in a bi-racial family, and so she loves both Korean food and Italian food. I *think* her dad works for the Korean consulate in Italy? Or something like that?

Namu is also half-Korean, although I can't remember what his other parentage is.

Re: Further thoughts

[aphasia.livejournal.com]

Half Italian and half Korean I believe.

The Pullip doll was created by a young Korean girl, the Korean company Chunsang Chunha owns the copyrights and Jun Planning, I believe, is responsible for the dolls that we see today.

Re: Further thoughts

[tyloncorp.livejournal.com]

No prob ^^. I'm fairly good at it now, Its just that sometimes when the Japanese use imported Chinese characters, I get a little confused. But honestly there are enough distinct differences between the three to pick them out if you make the effort.

Re: Further thoughts

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

From Wikipedia:

Family: Korean father (Korean ambassador), Italian mother (interior designer), younger brother (15 year old soccer player)

Sounds awfully similar to Licca-chan's bio! Wasn't her dad a French ambassador or something?

Re: to play devils advocate....

[tyloncorp.livejournal.com]

Hmm, seeing as I had to look up "enola gay" and "hanoi jane,"(my history classes to date did not go into that much detail), I think that shows the perspective issue here. I am an 18 yr old college student who has never been directly affected by this. The closest I get is the fact tht my grandfather piloted a b-17(not sure) bomber. So the impact on me is NOT direct. Perhaps this is why i took the alternate approach here.

They are so just skirting the line of blatancy. I have to agree that it wouldn't surprise me if they were just barely keying into that market, by making those choices. Thankfully, for me at least, its stuff that can probibly be changed or removed with a little effort and graceful fingers.

Then again, what about dolls like Lycee Love Blitz? The way her top uniform jacket is cut is much closer to the typical Nazi uniform, and the red armband. The name's not exactly helping ether. Did she cause as much issues when she first premiered (I found out about her too late, and was very lucky to get Impulse. It was your site actualy that introduced me to the pair =))

the only things keeping the US from pulling this is our obsession with "pc" as insane as it is soemtimes, I concede that when it stops things like what you mentioned, "PC" is our friend. The question is weather or not "PC" is a concept in east asia like it is here.


Then again though, if you look at the nam phai namu doll for example, he's really cutting it close on the aweful chinese sterotypes. All he needs is a yellow complexion and buck teeth =/.But it seems those ideas are so long gone that they don;t cause as much of a stir. a thought, at least.

Re: Further thoughts

[tyloncorp.livejournal.com]

Hmm O.o, strange that they seem obsessed with bi racial heritage, with the western countries no less. last I heard those kinda kids were shunned....

[twotone]

Uh... shunned?
I've generally seen biracial kids exoticized more than shunned in Japan. Neither is really a good thing, and I'll admit that biracial kids are trendier if they're pop-stars/actors/models (i.e. are "pretty things to look at").

** So long as they're white/Japanese biracial. I don't know how Japan treats biracial kids with non-Caucasian parents, although my cousin's best friend as a child was either Mexican or Mexican-Japanese. I have family/friends who've dealt with racism based on their heritage, but I believe that was more anti-Korean sentiment than explicitly based on biracial-ness.

[tyloncorp.livejournal.com]

Actually, i looked about through a couple of military uniform auctions i had saved (including soem clearly nazi stuff), and alot of them do come form korea. bizzare, i had not noticed this before. i know that the japanse colonial period did influce their modern culture a bit, but would it instill that much?

then again, having worked with the nazi's, japan would know how taboo it is and be inclined to NOT do thi sort of thing... so is kores distance from the conflict adding to this irreverence??