Someone's gotta explain to me how they are finding this title racist. I would hear you if ...

well if u consider the fact that in modern day usage the only ppl who are called barbarian/barbaric are black and brown ppl then yh. ppl who call poc ppl barbaric do so cuz they think poc ppl have “a lesser more violent culture” (eg think ppl calling indians barbaric and dirty cuz they eat with their hands). now, is the word barbaric inherently racist? no, clearly there are non-racial uses for the term, but the context matters. calling the only brown man/race of brown ppl in this story is racist cuz it implies that they are inherently violent and exotic, especially in contrast to the white ppl in the story. u can enjoy the story whilst keeping in mind the connotations of words which is what i’m choosing to do. just cuz it’s not a specific racial slur doesn’t mean it’s not racist. racism is systemic and can express itself in subtle ways so it’s best to listen to others when they point it out and digest their thought processes

soz if this isn’t the greatest explanation but tldr yes calling a brown person a barbairan is racist, idk if the actual story is racist cuz the shit just started but i doubt it and yes u can still enjoy it.

also racism and xenophobia are very linked so like yh it’s both

pointing out racism doesn’t reduce someone to their skin tone, it actively reinforces their personhood and allows ppl to exist in a world that doesn’t oppress them

I think your comment was really good! And to continue off of a point: people in this comment section need to realize that you can criticize the work and still read/enjoy it! You shouldn’t feel the need to defend an manga like this because at the end of the day, nobody knows what the author’s intention was or what their view on people of color is. Calling out a bad trope doesn’t mean we are insinuating that the artist is racist either.

But that's the point of the story.

You aren't supposed to be on the side of the religious zealots. They are ignorant bigots that basically kidnap people and keep them in captivity against their will. They view anyone who doesn't follow their beliefs as "barbaric" or "uncivilized" and "sinners." They reflect both modern and historical depictions of how isolated religious cults are.

We are shown panel after panel that they are supposed to be the bad guys. They are even a danger to Mirza if his secret were to get out.

I could understand the complaints if they were being painted in a positive light, but they aren't. The title even reflects this point 'cause Mirza isn't a goddess and Asura isn't a barbarian. The pov of the religious folks isn't the right one whether factually or morally. We're being shown what xenophobia looks like and that it isn't good by any means.

The choice of words in how they address foreigners is part of how readers are shown this.

I digress tho. At the end of the day there are gonna be those who understand and those who don't. This isn't being portrayed in a positive light. There is no way someone is reading this and going "y'know what, maybe those child kidnappers and religious bigots are right about the earth kingdom." And that is the point Chise is trying to show us.

i get that babes. i was explaining the meaning of the word and why it has specifically racist connotations. i wasn’t describing the story itself, just the title. like yh clearly the ppl who kidnapped a child are evil bigots, i don’t think anyone is arguing against that

First of all, I'm not saying you can't criticize this. And I can also I agree or disagree with your opinion.
That's why I asked you to explain to me how you ended up with that conclusion, because it didn't come to me as strikingly.

For one, racism isn't only related to the skin tone, it englobes all the different traits that can set aside one group from another. And it implies discrimination mainly because of those traits.
While xenophobia is the fear, distrust, or disdain of outsiders, foreigners, or anything perceived as culturally alien.

Throughout history, empires used the term "barbarian" to describe people outside their borders who did not share their societal structures. The Romans called the Germanic tribes and the Celts "barbarians." They were of the exact same race and skin tone as many Romans, but they were considered uncivilized outsiders.
Both the Western Romans and later the Byzantine Empire labeled incoming Slavic tribes as barbarians as they expanded into the Balkans.
Anglo-Saxon and Frankish chroniclers (who were white, Christian, and European themselves) referred to the pagan Norsemen as bloodthirsty savages and barbarians due to their raider culture and non-Christian religious practices.
In the early days of Roman expansion, the Ancient Greeks actually considered the Romans themselves to be "barbarians" because they spoke Latin instead of Greek and didn't share classical Greek customs.

Even poc among themselves have considered each other "barbarians".
The Aksumite elite (in Ethiopia) viewed the surrounding tribes as "uncivilized pagans" and "barbarians" because they lacked walled cities, lived nomadic lives, and did not share Aksum's urban, literary, and religious culture.
In West African countries like Mali and Songhai, the divide was strictly based on religion and urban literacy. A dark-skinned scholar in Timbuktu viewed a dark-skinned, non-Muslim hunter or nomad as culturally inferior and "barbaric."

Xenophobia is by far the main culprit here, but I have to agree that in some cases, racism can also play a role in it.

And of course, there are instances where white people have called poc that word, but it is hardly solely because of their skin color, and it isn't the ONLY modern day usage for the word.
Also, this anime: "The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King."
PS: The Barbaric King depicted in it is white.

What I find surreal is that, this type of address only bothers people when it involves poc. And that's how segregation works. That's why I was saying to stop reducing others to their skin color.


Also, in this story, the title doesn't really convey the objective "truth" of the matter. Since Mirza isn't even a "Goddess," so we can presume that Asura isn't a "barbarian". It mainly portrays how those religious people are viewing them.
It means the author is using a classic narrative device: the unreliable or perspective-based title. Instead of serving as an objective summary from an all-knowing narrator, the title is written from the lens of the dominant societal bias within the story.

It immediately establishes the world's status quo before the reader even opens chapter one. The title forces us to confront the characters' public labels first, so that the main narrative can systematically dismantle those labels as Mirza and Asura get to know the "real" person beneath the title.
And I think it's kind of an intelligent way to craft a title that conveys much more that those ridiculously lenthy japanese novel titles... :')

Besides, when an author titles a work after a lie believed by the characters' oppressors, the title itself becomes an act of commentary on how power structures use language. The religious temple needs Mirza to be a "Goddess" to justify keeping him captive and maintaining their authority. They need Asura to be a "Barbarian" to justify their hostility and fear.

On a pragmatic level, authors and publishers operate in a crowded market where readers browse by genre tropes. It acts as a narrative hook. It draws in readers who enjoy that specific contrast, while giving the author the room to deliver a much deeper, more subverted story once the reader is invested. (well in this case, it came back to bite them in the ass, but well... x))


In the end, it's still a shame that some people will stop at the surface level undertanding of the title: barbarian+poc=racist.
Proof: https://ibb.co/YTJJdMYX

(I have to remind the people who are going to answer me, and who might not read all of this, that I have acknowleged the fact that racism can play a role in the "barbarian" nomination. Thank you for your insight.)

Thank you for having a brain and using it

Xuě huā piāo piāo běi fēng xiāo xiāo
Tiān dì yí piàn cāng máng
Yì jiǎn hán méi ào lì xuě zhōng
Zhǐ wéi yī rén piāo xiāng
Ài wǒ suǒ ài wú yuàn wú huǐ
Cǐ qíng cháng liú xīn jiān

你的图很好，可惜下一秒就是我的了。