How do you feel about Ibuki's Ryukyuan identity being something so heavily involved in the story? I think it's nice to have indigenous characters other than the Amagis but I also don't know a lot about Okinawa or anything, it seems like you do though, do you have any hopes for Ryukyuan-related plot points for Ibuki?
I appreciate his Ryukyuan identity being prominent. I think his existence alone, along with the discussion about him and AKATSUKI, brings awareness to Okinawa, its history, and the issues they encounter with mainland Japan. Culture awareness and education will never be a bad thing!
I definitely wouldn’t say I’m an expert on Okinawa itself or its indigenous peoples, nor will I ever claim to be, so I don’t think I should be seen as any kind of authority about how good or bad it is. I think it has the potential to be handled… very not well, and that does worry me a lot. A lot a lot, to be honest. But I want to have faith until the writing proves me wrong.
That being said, I would love to learn more about Ibuki’s culture through whatever he’s going to be doing with AKATSUKI. When Ibuki was first announced, I was like “omg, RYUSEITAI helped Konata and Hoshijima, maybe AKATSUKI can help Ibuki with something”, so I really hope he takes them back to Okinawa. Kuro clinging to the dock like a cat beca...