Fans across the internet have been anxiously awaiting the release of the new crossover fighting game, Jump Force, as its February 15th release date rapidly approaches. The game, which pits characters from popular Shonen Jump series such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure against each other as the fight to save the real world from an invading army, is full of fan service and is meant to honor the 50th anniversary of the manga publishing giant.
One element of fan service prominently featured in Jump Force are pre-fight character interactions. Characters will sometimes share unique pre-fight dialogue, usually highlighting how the world of Jump Force is viewed from the lens of a character’s native world, such as Goku challenging Yusuke Yurameshi to a fight, Jotaro Kujo daring Cell to keep up with the speed of Star Platinum, or Killua Zoldyck wondering if Asta’s confidence is a battle strategy.
One of these interactions, between Dragon Ball Z’s Piccolo and My Hero Academia’s Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, quickly garnered the humorous attentions of fans:
In the scene Deku mistakes Piccolo’s appearance as an indicator that he is a villain, to which Piccolo corrects him:
Deku: A Villain…! I have to protect everyone…!
Piccolo: I’m no villain! I’m a Namekian!
Fans found this exchange humorous as, out of context, it could be interpreted as Deku being racist towards Piccolo due to his skin color and appearance, a behavior uncharacteristic of Deku and generally unseen in modern media. These fans quickly began joking about the interaction, including acting hyperbolically outraged ironically, creating and sharing memes, or sharing ‘historical proof’ of Deku’s racism:
WHAT THE FUCK DEKU IS FUCKING RACIST YALL ACTUALLY STAN THIS KID? pic.twitter.com/QnE1oB0FN2
— Iceman Jogeta @ One Piece (@EiyuuJogeta) February 10, 2019
Not racist, he just finished Dragon Ball and never went on to Dragon Ball Z
— – ̗̀Descriptor ̖́- GAm3CrAzY (@wvgAm3CrAzY) February 10, 2019
deku, a racist: *sees a strong black man* wow, a villain!!
bakugo, a half black intellectual: *sees a strong black man* what’s good my namek https://t.co/mxBoj8DEuG
— ˗ˏˋ ιмєωηι ˊˎ˗ (@cinnimani) February 10, 2019
You’d think a fellow green man would be a friend to him but nope, he’s gonna be racist….
— Dice (@extremelanparty) February 10, 2019
I think people are forgetting that in dragon ball everyone assumed that piccolo was a demon, but I’m just going to go along with the racist idea for comedic purposes
— LightHeart99 (@zerentheawesome) February 12, 2019
While the intent behind the reactions and call outs was clearly humorous and even a bit satirical, it appears that ComicBook.com was unable to distinguish between humor and genuine outrage. On February 12th, ComicBook.com ran an article titled “Jump Force’ Tease Has Fans Worried About Racist ‘My Hero Academia’ Scene.”
In the article, author Nick Valdez presented the joke as an actual controversy, including tweets made in jest as evidence that fans were concerned about the apparent racism. In response, some fans turned to openly mocking ComicBook.com for their lacking sense of humor, including Iceman Jogeta, whose racist Deku tweet has over 4,000 retweets, 12,000 likes, and has been used as evidence that the outrage is serious:
Hey dumbasses, this is a joke. pic.twitter.com/DCZQJG2258
— Iceman Jogeta @ One Piece (@EiyuuJogeta) February 12, 2019
Are you guys seriously flipping out over Deku calling Piccolo a villain? Okay. Four words. You ready for this?
THAT’S NOT EVEN RACIST!!!!!!
Sure Piccolo looks intimidating, but that is in no way remotely racist. That’s how he is. You guys are stupid.#JUMPFORCE
— mari (@JamesBondBLHK) February 12, 2019
jp finally started to localize/port more games to the west and shit like this keeps happening lol. If this continues were going to end up going back to 2002
— ossie (@ossieRevival) February 12, 2019
this is for whoever wrote this article >>>> r/wooooshhhh
— † (@braxkn) February 12, 2019
Are people really taking this seriously? It literally means nothing and you guys are calling Deku racist lol. This website continues to post dumb shit as usual pic.twitter.com/bFmVs9aINJ
— Kid 💘 (@TheRealKidOtaku) February 12, 2019
Another user whose tweet was featured in the ComicBook.com article was so baffled by the misuse and mischaracterization of her tweet that she felt the need to clarify the situation for the confused:
Oh, very funny, @ComicBook.
Misusing my tweet to paint a false narrative about my opinion on Deku’s interactions with Piccolo.
Considering how people seem to be finding my tweet through this article, I feel like I should finally set the record straight.
(1/5) pic.twitter.com/dGyo8WmgmE
— Serpent Queen 17 🐍 (@Sugarp1e1) February 12, 2019
I didn’t even know about this “Deku is racist” BS until people started trying to argue with me over it.
When I tweeted that, I wasn’t trying to say that Deku only understands racist beliefs. Hell, the thought didn’t even *occur* to me.
My opinion is *much* different.
(2/5)
— Serpent Queen 17 🐍 (@Sugarp1e1) February 12, 2019
And it’s not even a negative one.
It makes perfect sense to me that Deku would see things from his own world’s perspective.
When I said I loved Deku’s interactions with Piccolo, Luffy, Blackbeard, Sabo, and Renji, I meant it. I genuinely love those interactions.
Why?
(3/5)
— Serpent Queen 17 🐍 (@Sugarp1e1) February 12, 2019
Because they’re references to his experiences in his own world.
If you lived in My Hero Academia and you saw a character like Piccolo, wouldn’t you mistake him for a villain too? If someone could stretch super far or control fire, you would think they have Quirks, right?
(4/5)
— Serpent Queen 17 🐍 (@Sugarp1e1) February 12, 2019
No sarcasm nor politics were intended in my tweet. It was 100% genuine and only the ramblings of your average otaku.
So yeah. I don’t appreciate my tweet being misused like this. The only thing I’m outraged at are the people who jumped the gun on me.
Including you.
(5/5)
— Serpent Queen 17 🐍 (@Sugarp1e1) February 12, 2019
— Serpent Queen 17 🐍 (@Sugarp1e1) February 12, 2019
What do you make of the “Racist Deku” meme and the reactions to it?