In a series of tweets that Katsuhiro Harada posted on his official Twitter account, the man in charge for Bandai Namco’s popular fighting franchise stated that he and his team has no issue axing their plan of adding the Filipino-inspired character dubbed as Josie Rizal on Tekken 7’s roster “if something happen”.
Harada’s tweets were in line with the negative feedback that the game developer received from a few culturally-sensitive Filipinos because of the heroine’s name which is patterned to the name of the Philippine’s national hero, as well as some of the aspect of the female character that may give out the wrong impression of the country and its citizens.
But what really blew these seemingly harmless online thought exchanges out of proportion is when GMA News Online published a story that initially dragged the National Commission of Culture and Arts to the picture. In their report, an NCCA coordinator for Bayaning Bansa named Dr. Leodenito Cañete claims that he plans to “correct any wrong impressions” about the Philippines and Dr. Jose Rizal brought by Tekken’s new character.
In response to the report, NCCA issued an official statement in various platforms claiming that Dr. Cañete is not an NCCA official and that his sentiments “is not reflective of the stand of the Commission”.
The NCCA added that it “shall issue an official statement soon on what actions it will take upon studying the legal aspect of this matter, in coordination with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines”.
“If Josie can’t get supported in the Philippines, we give her up anytime. TEKKEN7 arcade board has a network update system. We can change plan and change characters anytime & quickly.”
Katsuhiro Harada
Despite the clarification made by the NCCA, Josie Rizal’s fate still hangs in the balance. But if Harada’s tweets and statements are anything to go by, it seems that their new heroine just isn’t worth the trouble if it means having to deal with any of the concerned government agencies in the country.
Related Stories:
Filipina Tekken 7 Character Now Official
Tekken 7 has a secret Filipina character?
Jollibee is coming to Tekken 7?
The post Tekken 7’s Josie Rizal May Not See Some Action appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.