‘Stellar Blade’ Director Rejects Criticisms Of Lead Character’s Sex Appeal: “I Don’t Want To See Something Normal; I Want To See Something More Ideal”
Spencer Baculi
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You love to see it: Rather than giving in to the outrage leveled against the attractive design of his game’s lead female character, Stellar Blade director Hyung-Tae Kim is standing behind his creative vision.
Directed by Kim for Korea-based Goddess of Victory: Nikke developer Shift Up and set to be published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Stellar Blade puts players in the shoes of Eve, one of the few remaining humans left standing in defense of Earth following the planet’s takeover by a monstrous alien species known as the Naytiba.
An agile and skilled fighter, Eve’s mission is given renewed purpose one day when she is introduced to the city of Xion, the last remaining human outpost on the planet’s surface.
Finding herself connecting with Xion’s residents, the heroine then resolves to put her abilities to use protecting Xion from any and all Naytiba threats – as well as unlocking the secrets of the mysterious, robotic ‘Mother Sphere’ worshiped by the city’s residents.
An third-person character action game that feels like a mix of Nier: Automata, Devil May Cry V, and a little Metal Gear Rising: Revengance for cybernetic-flavor, one of Stellar Blade‘s most distinguishable features is its depiction of Eve herself.
Based upon a full-body scan of Korean model Shin Jae-eun, the heroine’s appearance is both equal parts feminine and sexually appealing – a stark contrast to the usual character designs that are typically borne out of today’s overtly puritanical and ‘realistic representation’-obsessed media ecosystem.
And yet, despite the usual accusations of sexism this design choice has drawn, Kim has affirmed that he has no interest in changing course.
Offering his thoughts on the topic to GamesRadar, Kim, speaking through a translator, explained that when it came to Eve’s design, “we put special attention on the back of the character because the player is always facing the back of the character when they’re playing.”
“That’s what they see the most of,” he elaborated on the team’s creative philosophy, “so we thought this was pretty important.”
Opining that the choice to present a character with such a sexually appealing design “”has become somewhat of a brave thing to be going for or attempting,” Kim told the outlet that in terms of the very harsh reaction Eve may elicit from global audiences – i.e. terminally online Westerners – “I personally think that compared to movies, animations, manga and so on, people are especially strict towards games. In games, there’s all the views that people have [which are] not always positive about unrealistically beautiful characters.”
To this end, the director then bluntly admitted, “Honestly, when I play a game I would like to see someone who is better-looking than myself.”
“That’s what I want,” he concluded. “I don’t want to see something normal; I want to see something more ideal. I think that is very important in a form of entertainment. This is, after all, entertainment targeted for adults.”
At current, Stellar Blade is on track to stylishly slice its way exclusively onto PlayStation 5 consoles this April 26th.
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